In case you were wondering where OPI was going to head next for their nail polish collection, surprise, it’s Iceland!
The nail polish giant has been releasing a lot of collections based off of destinations lately. They’ve always done this in the past, but it seems like all their major collections are based off of various destinations, exotic or not.
For fall/winter 2017, we’re heading to Iceland, the nordic island country in the North Atlantic that is technically considered part of Europe. Just like you would think, it doesn’t get too warm up there, usually up to about 13 degrees C in the summer. Although the capital is Reykjavik, it only has a population of about 121,300. Needless to say, it’s not a very populated country.
This collection, that was officially released on August 2, 2017 features 12 new shades in fall and winter-appropriate colours. There’s lot of deep blues, some nudes, a couple purples, and a few holographic shimmers. For the most part the finish on these are creme.
In addition to the regular formula, OPI also offers these shades in their GelColour and Infinite Shine lines. Most of the colours went on opaque after two coats, with Reykjavik Has All the Hot Spots as the only one needing three, but it’s a metallic shade so I find those to be on the sheer side in general.
Overall, this isn’t my favourite collection. Although the shades are very fall appropriate, I find them to be boring. A few of the colours are also very similar (Suzi & the Arctic Fox and Krona-logical Order), so I wish that OPI switched it up with the colour range with this collection.
If you’re into deep neutrals, I would take a look into the shade range for this one. I’m hoping that their holiday collection will step it up a notch. I absolutely loved OPI’s California collection, so I had high hopes for this one, but aside from a few colours (which aren’t even that show stopping for me), this collection is very skippable.
Are you excited to pick up any colours from the OPI Iceland collection for fall/winter 2017?
Please note, products provided by PR. All opinions are my own.
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I’ve never really heard much about Glossier prior to this summer.
Okay, don’t get me wrong, I’ve heard of the brand, but aside from a few mentions on Instagram, I’ve never really seen much about it. Well, that would probably be because I mostly read Canadian blogs and they didn’t ship to Canada. Until earlier this summer.
The e-retailer began back in 2010 as blog Into the Gloss, a successful beauty blog with a huge readership. One of their successful series was called Top Shelf where they would look into celebrities and influential people’s medicine cabinets (hey, who doesn’t like poking around?!). Since they got so many recommendations on products people loved, they decided to come out with their own beauty line where skin is definitely in.
Glossier isn’t your typical beauty brand. Sure, there’s makeup, but it’s a skincare-focused line that really represents natural beauty. You aren’t going to see fake eyelashes, glitter eyeshadow, or matte liquid lipsticks here. Instead, you’re going to get face masks, moisturizing primers and lipsticks, and clear glosses. It’s all about embracing your natural features and making them look more fabulous.
Since there’s so much beauty buzz about the line, I was so excited to try some of the stuff out. I wanted to do a rounded review on everything they offer, so I tried out some skincare and makeup items. I started with the Milky Jelly Cleanser, which is majorly hyped-about item (they call it the perfect cleanser). This face wash is to be used on dry skin to dissolve away makeup and grime, or on wet skin to add some radiance. It’s a creamy gel formula that doesn’t foam up and is made with a blend of five skin conditioners, leaving your face feeling healthy and uber fresh. It also contains the same gentle cleaning agents found in contact lens solution, thus making it tough on impurities but still safe to use on your eyes (kinda cool if you ask me). I’m used to using foaming cleansers, and that’s what I prefer, but this one did the trick quite well. My face felt really nice and fresh after, and best of all, it didn’t feel tight, which is common after I use a cleanser. I think I would prefer this as a daytime moisturizer as opposed to night, since I usually like to use a cleansing face brush like a Clarisonic, so I prefer something that actually feels like it’s cleaning my face, as opposed to just a wet feeling.
After the cleanser I went in with the Priming Moisturizer, which is probably my favourite item from everything I tried. Since this is also a primer, I’ve been reserving this for the mornings, but I love the idea of the two in one and lately I’ve been seeing a lot of brands come out with something similar (cough.. Smashbox). This plumps skin with moisture to create a cushiony bounce and an even texture, which helps minimize the appearance of pores. It also contains an anti-redness complex, which soothes and evens skin tone, leaving you with a clean, dewy face. A little goes a long way, which is a good thing since you only get 50 ml of product.
Another item I’m totally digging is the Balm Dotcom Universal Skin Salve, which I got in the birthday formula. Although there are six colours or flavours to choose from, I specifically wanted the birthday one since it’s inspired by Milk bar’s famous Birthday Cake (it literally smells amazing… the cake is pretty good too!). Since Rosebud Salve is my favourite beauty product of all time, I knew I would love Glossier’s version. This hydrating, long-lasting multipurpose skin salve and lip balm is designed to hydrate and nourish skin. It’s a waxy texture that is non-sticky and comfortable to wear. The Birthday cake one has a subtle shimmer to it so you may not want to put it on zits, burns or mosquito bites (which is where I usually apply Rosebud Salve in addition to my lips), but this is one of those products that everyone must have in their collection.
Moving onto the makeup, there were three products I was just dying to try out. When it was first released, Boy Brow had a 10,000 person waiting list. Crazy, right!? Available in four shades, this is pretty much exactly like Benefit’s Gimme Brow. It’s like a little mascara for your brows. The creamy wax formula (in blond, brown, black or clear) is inspired by traditional hair pomade to thicken, fill in, and groom brows into place. It’s a flexible formula that doesn’t stiffen or flake and all you have to do it just brush it on your brows.
Another hyped-about product is their Wowder, a loose powder designed to cut shine, set makeup and blur the appearance of pores. I got the set which comes with the Wowder Brush for a perfect application. There are three shades available in this, Light/Medium (which is the one I got), Dark/Deep, and Rich. I wouldn’t really recommend this as a stand-alone foundation, I really like it as a setting powder on top of my foundation already. I did just use that powder exclusively in the photos so you can see what it looks like on bare skin, but I did find my face looked flawless once I applied it. I find with a lot of powders, they have the tendency to make my face look cakey, like you can actually see the powder. I didn’t find that to be the case with this one. It made my face look flawless.
Lastly, since I’ve been seeing tons of Facebook ads for it, I got the Lip Gloss. This little guy is a clear lip gloss that gives your lips a cushiony, ultra shine. You apply it via the doe-foot applicator and although it definitely feels like a gloss (kinda thick and sticky) it is extremely pretty and has a long wear (the gloss stays glossy after an hour). It’s also hydrating with Vitamin E. To be honest, I don’t find the gloss really that special. If I had to pick between the Balm Dotcom and this, I would pick the balm, but I’m not really a big gloss girl, mostly because I don’t like the texture of glosses to begin with. Their Facebook advertising though definitely seems to help since I couldn’t wait to get my hands (er, lips) on it.
Although I didn’t really find any of the products to be that special (don’t get me wrong I really do love them!), Glossier does a really good job with branding. You get the products in a cute box, everything is wrapped in a pink bubble-wrap ziplock bag, and it comes with stickers. I’m not gonna lie, the stickers totally got me. I mean, who doesn’t love stickers?! If you want to try anything from the line, I would recommend the Moisturizing Primer, the Balm Dotcom, and the Wowder, I think these were the three best bang for your money kind of items.
They also have some sets available which give you a nice assortment of products to choose from at a discounted price. I highly recommend the Phase 1 set, which comes with the Milky Jelly Cleanser, the Priming Moisturizer, and the Balm Dotcom (in a shade of your choosing – go with Birthday cake though!!). You can get all three products for $55 and it ships free (yay!). These three products were my favourites, so I can’t recommend this set enough.
I also want to note that although they just started shipping to Canada, I couldn’t help but notice that a few of the products I got were actually made in Canada. Funny how those things work…
On another note, another gal who would totally be into Glossier if she lived in this century is Christine from the Phantom of the Opera. Okay, I know this is a weird tie in, but since the leading lady of the musical is all about a natural look (I bet she would just love Boy Brow), the Tony Award-winning musical is playing in Winnipeg at the Centennial Concert Hall until September 3. I went to the musical this past Friday, and although I have seen it before, this version is a little different as it features new scenic design, new choreography, new staging, and lots of special effects.
I was really impressed with the show overall and although I’ve been to a few Broadway Across Canada productions this year, this one would have to be my favourite. I’ve always really been into musicals, especially when I was younger. My dad had this Andrew Lloyd Webber CD that he would always play and I forgot how many amazing songs Phantom has. The set was definitely different from what I remembered seeing the show the first time (the way the set transforms during the title track is pure magic before your eyes), and my friend, who saw on Broadway, agreed that this touring production definitely switched it up from the original version. I seriously cannot say enough good things about this production, I highly recommend you go see it (plus, the special effects and the talent are awesome!).
If you’re in town this long weekend, I would definitely look into picking up tickets to see the show. It’s one of those classic musicals that everyone should see in their lifetime.
Will you be picking up anything from Glossier? Have you tried anything out already?
Please note, I was sent these products from PR. All opinions are my own.
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Fall makeup. Think dark, bold, and eye-catching. Well, that’s exactly what Mary Kay’s fall collection is all about.
Bordeauxs, pinks, purples.. staple colours that make a statement. Mary Kay’s limited edition collection for fall consists of eyeshadows, lipsticks, and nail polishes. Similar to their spring collection earlier this year, they are offering up those cute eyeshadow quads that fit perfectly in a Z palette, as well as some nail polish colours that promise to keep you looking at your nails all season long.
There are two eyeshadow palettes to pick from in this collection, Simply Smoky, the blue-toned palette for warm tones, and the Rose Nudes palette for cool tones. You can either wear these as an everyday look or make it more dramatic. Each palette has five shades in it and the formula is very creamy and blendable. These compared to the eyeshadow palette from their summer collection are like night and day. The shadows from the summer I found to be very sheer and didn’t have much colour payoff. These ones are incredibly creamy and blend wonderfully on the lids.
I ended up playing around with the Rose Nudes palette last Friday and since I was going out, I wanted to rock a brown smoky eye. I used the bottom colour (as you can clearly see in the photo haha) all over the lid area, with the middle pink for the highlight. For under the eyes, I used the top colour, which is very similar to the bottom one. I actually loved how well this look turned out. I did end up layering some gold glitter lightly on the lids to add some pizazz, but you can definitely achieve a nice brown smoky eye with this palette.
As for the other items, there are four nail polishes, Violet Silk (taupe purple), Pink Escape (baby pink), Rose Blush (taupe pink) and Mulberry Muse (wine). I received two of the four shades, Rose Blush and Violet Silk. The shades are very fall appropriate and colour goes on nicely with two coats. I did experience a few days of wear before chipping. I was a huge fan of their spring collection in this polish formula, as I find the colours to be very bold and eye-catching.
Finally, it’s not a fall look without a bold lip. Mary Kay has released two shades in their limited-edition Lip Suede lipsticks. There’s Mulberry Muse, a bordeaux purple, and Rose Blush, a deep pink. I didn’t think I would like these as much as I actually did. You need to work to get the colour on but once it’s on it tends to stick. I went through my day wearing Rose Blush with no touch ups as it faded to a stain at the end of the day. There was some wear in the inner lip area when I was wearing Mulberry Muse, but it’s a nice deep purple, perfect for the season. I did find these were kind of tacky as you really have to apply the product on your lips. It’s not my favourite formula of lipstick, but the shades are nice.
Overall, this is a typical colour collection for fall. If you like a deep lip and a dark nail to go with it, take a look at what Mary Kay is releasing for the season.
Are you excited for Mary Kay’s fall 2017 collection?
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