Ever since I first laid eyes on it, I have wanted Deborah Lippmann’s Across the Universe nail lacquer. The dark blue polish with micro and macro glitter is just so perfect and pretty that it has been on my wish list for a while. The only thing setting me back? The pricey C$22 price tag.
When I go on vacation I usually tend to splurge a little and buy the things that I wouldn’t necessarily buy in my hometown. When I was in Montreal recently I picked up three Deborah Lippmann polishes at Murale (owned by Shopper’s Drug Mart) including Across the Universe.
The colour is described as “blazing blue and metallic green glam in sheerest navy (glitter)” and to be honest it’s just so pretty to look at once it’s on. It’s quite pigmented in the bottle but it don’t go on as opaque on your nails unfortunately. I had to do at least three coats to accomplish something similar to what you see in the bottle and even then it was a little splotchy.
For maximum effect I definitely recommend layering this colour over a blue shade. I ended up taking it off and painting my nails with SpaRitual’s Blue Moon (from the 2011 Twinkle collection) and then putting Across the Universe over top. The photos in this post are just the Deborah Lippmann colour alone.
Splotches
So is this a must-have colour? No, I wouldn’t say so. It’s beautiful that’s for sure but for the C$22 price tag, you have to really want it badly, which I did. Am I glad I bought it? Yes, however, I wish it was more opaque on the first coat (rather than sheer and needing multiple coats).
Have you tried Deborah Lippmann’s Across the Universe? What were your thoughts?
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The thing I love most about vacations is definitely the shopping! In the past, I used to go nuts and just buy anything and everything. Now I’m a little more reserved in judgement when I shop, I have to a) really love it; and b) it has to be something that I can’t get in my hometown. I did buy some clothes on this trip but not that many because I do have a lot of clothes already and I would rather invest my money into purchases that would last me longer than clothes would (when I tried stuff on I asked myself “do I love it?” if not, it went back on the shelf).
Of course I did pick up a few beauty products. I’m not going to post what I bought clothing wise, but I did get a few things from Mango, H&M, and Simons – all stores that I don’t have in my city.
So the first things I picked up were from Inglot Cosmetics, which is a Polish-based beauty line similar to MAC. I think Inglot is only available in free-standing stores and all the ones in Canada are in Quebec.
I do have an eyeshadow trio from Inglot already from a couple years back, but I wanted to pick up a few colours that I don’t really have, as well as a fluffy crease brush. The lady at Inglot told me that the brushes are the same as the MAC ones (they are apparently made in the same factory) but it says Inglot instead of MAC on them. I won’t go into too much detail on the products for now as I will be doing a full review post on these products so keep a look out for that.
Inglot 6SS brush
Next up, I finally got my beloved Angel perfume. My friend and I were walking down St. Catherines (where all the mainstream stores are, as well as a number of malls) and we passed by a Shopper’s Drug Mart which had a display of Angel perfumes in the window. The sign beside it was in French but $58 stood out to me because this perfume is pretty pricey. We went inside and after a little confusion we realized that Shopper’s had a promotion going on where you can buy the 25 ml of Angel for $58 (which is the refill price, they threw in the bottle for free). So of course I jumped at it and bought it because I have wanted Angel since Grade 9 (I’m 23 now). We later found out that the size I bought retails for C$98, so I was very happy that I picked it up when I did, I love myself a good deal.
Because Montreal is a large city, they of course had a YSL counter so I picked up a Rouge Volupte Pearle shade in 108 (check out my review on it here) which I originally got in Vegas in August but ended up giving it to my mom. She’s actually pretty much out of the shade so I picked her up one as well. I also got the YSL Volume Effect Faux Cils Shocking mascara as I have heard a lot of good things about it and wanted to try it out.
Last thing beauty related, I picked up five shades of nail polish. Three of them were Deborah Lippmann and I got two from Urban Outfitters.
Deborah Lippmann Girls Just Want to Have Fun
Deborah Lippmann Superstar
Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe
Urban Outfitters Crowded
From Deborah Lippmann, I got the colours Superstar, Across the Universe (wanted this for so long), and Girls Just Want to Have Fun (bought them at Murale because then I got Shopper’s Optimum points), and from Urban Outfitters I got Hot Tub (not shown; it’s a hot pink/fuchsia colour) and Crowded. UO had a promotion on where the nail polishes were two for $8 (one alone is $6), so I thought I might as well pick up another. I’m glad I did actually because these go on really great.
Lastly, I got a new bag. The last few trips I have gone on I have picked up a few purses. Handbags to me are like keychains to others; I save and then buy designer bags as souvenirs (is that weird?). When I went to Mexico City I got a Coach bag, when I went to Montreal in 2010 I got a Louis Vuitton, when I went to Vegas in August I got a Chanel, and when I went to Montreal this last time I got a Marc by Marc Jacobs bag.
Blouse from Mango
I have wanted the Marc by Marc Jacobs “Classic Q” Hillier Hobo for a long time now but I never wanted to fork over the cash to buy it in my city (locally, they only sell it at Aritzia in black). As much as love black purses, I really wanted another staple colour, so when I saw this bag in brown (the colour is called Espresso), I knew I had to have it. This is mainly the reason why I didn’t buy a ton of clothes; I would rather invest my money in a nice bag that will last me many years then spend it on clothes that will last a couple seasons. I’ll probably do a separate post on the bag as well because I know how helpful my Chanel WOC post has been to people and there aren’t many blog reviews about this handbag out there.
So that’s it! I didn’t buy a ton of stuff but I love everything I did pick up. Keep a look out for nail of the day posts and reviews on the other products I picked up!
Have you tried anything I hauled? Let me know your thoughts!
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So I am slowly getting getting back into the swing of things. Whoever said “I need a vacation after a vacation” was seriously a genius. Anyways, I will get onto the haul posts but I’m saving those until the weekend when I’ll have more time to take photos. In the meantime I thought I would share what makeup I pack for when I travel.
The bag I use is the Holt Renfrew Paramount Beauty Bag which was available last Christmas season at Holt Renfrew stores (it’s like a Canadian Neiman Marcus or Saks Fifth Avenue). I am seriously obsessed with this bag. I have a ton of different makeup bags but this one is just the perfect bag for travel. It has three compartments (a large bag, a smaller, separate pouch, and a mesh pouch inside that you can snap out). I put all my makeup in the main bag with the smaller items (like tweezers, eyelash curlers, perfume, etc.) in the mesh pocket. My makeup brushes, as well as Q-tips, cotton pads, and jewelry were stored in the removable, smaller pouch. Everything fit perfectly, and was stuffed full by the time I came home (like always, I loaded up on makeup on vacation).
Anyways, here is what I packed for my trip (this is not including the makeup I bought there, I’m saving that for my haul post).
- MAC Pro Longwear foundation (NC 15)
- It Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereye Concealer
- Maybelline 24-Hour Color Tattoo in Tough as Taupe
- MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study
- YSL Touche Eclat (I forgot what number I am on this, I want to say 1)
- Angel perfume purse spray
- Bath and Body Works Vanilla Noel hand sanitizer
- Clinique trio (I use the colour sable for my eyebrows)
- eos lip sphere (strawberry I think)
- NARS Danmari cheek palette (includes four blushes, one highlight, and a bronzer)
- Urban Decay Naked palette
- Benefit High Beam
- Benefit That Gal! primer
- Urban Decay Primer Potion (mini sized)
- MAC black Liquid Eye Liner
- MAC black eyeliner pencil
- Sephora eyelash curler
- Shu Uemura mini eyelash curler (for those hard to reach lashes)
- DiorShow Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum and Primer (travel sized)
- DiorShow mascara (travel sized)
- YSL Rouge Volupte lipstick in #7 Lingerie Pink
- MAC lipstick in Quick Sizzle, Innocence, Beware!, and Naughty Saute (all from the Shop MAC collection)
- MAC Kissable Lip Colour in Enchantee
- Velour lashes in Lash in City
- Lash Grip eyelash glue
As for the brushes, I brought three eyeshadow brushes (they are all brush sizes and textures), an angled contour brush, a blush brush, a pencil brush, a flat top powder brush (I use this for liquid foundation), a crease brush, and a few others for miscellaneous makeup application.
Phew! Looking back at the list it does appear that I brought a ton of stuff but I did end up using everything except for MAC’s Quick Sizzle lipstick and YSL’s Rouge Volupte #7.
What do you carry in your travel makeup bag? Leave me a comment below!
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