So if you are anything like me, you love hitting the scented candle section of Bath and Body Works as soon as you enter the store.  I love the scents of their candles and how they do certain scents to match the time of year.  For example, right now for fall they have cinnamon and clove, homemade cookies, apple crumble, etc.  Truly fall scents perfect for Thanksgiving and leaves falling, and the sun setting early.  You know, typical fall stuff.

I could seriously go nuts in that store, except one thing hold me back.  The prices!  Now I’m not talking about the soaps here, I’m talking about the candles.  The three-wick ones (14.5 oz.) retail for $24.50 in Canada.  I know they often have buy-one-get-one sales, but still, they are pretty darn expensive.

Anyways, last week I was stocking up on my groceries for the week at the Real Canadian Superstore and I saw that they had 20 oz. soy-blend scented candles for, get this, $5.  Yes folks, five whole dollars.  And man, do they smell delish.  They come in four scents for fall, Cinnamon Bun, Banana Nut Loaf, Angel Food Cake, and Apple Crumble.

I ended up choosing the Cinnamon Bun one but it was a tough decision.  These really are a great deal, not only are they so inexpensive and smell yummy, but they are soy-blend so they are good for the environment (unlike the Bath and Body Works ones).

Anyways, I thought I would do a quick post here about them.  I often do find some great deals so I created a new section, appropriately called “Cheap and Chic”.  It was either that or Frugal and Fabulous, I thought Cheap and Chic sounded better…

On a side note and speaking of Bath and Body Works, they are offering on their Canadian Facebook page right now a deal for a free product after you spend $10.  Check it out here.

From L to R: MAC Myth, MAC Blankety, Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Liberte, YSL Rouge Volupte Lingerie Pink, MAC Viva Glam Gaga I, MAC Quite Cute, YSL Rouge Volupte Frivolous Pink, YSL Rouge Volupte Fetish Pink, MAC Candy Yum Yum

If there is something you should know about me regarding lip colour, it’s this: I only wear pink or nude.  I hate to say it but I really think that dark colours, reds, etc. don’t look good on me.  I would totally pull off a hot pink lip confidently, but if I were to wear a bold red one, forget it.  I’m just not comfortable with it.   So here is my collection.  These are the colours that I reach for most often and my most recent shades.  I have a ton of other lipsticks that are pretty old which I wear every once in a while, but these are the colours that are on regular rotation.

Alright, so when it comes to lipsticks for me, like I mentioned before, I gravitate towards pink colours and nudes.  I like my ‘sticks to have good payoff and a unique shade.  The hotter the better.  As for my nudes, I want it one of two ways, one being concealer on lips (MAC’s Myth) or an everyday “I’m wearing lipstick but it’s not that noticeable” kind of shade. Nude colours are perfect for lazy days or office jobs.  My favourite shades of nude are Myth and Blankety, both by MAC.  Blankety, although it looks brown in the tube, is a nice neutral colour, it adds a bit of life to you compared to what Myth does. As for pinks, I am obsessed with baby pinks, MAC Viva Glam Gaga I, Saint Germain and YSL Rouge Volupte #7 Lingerie Pink (which are more of like porn star pinks).  I also love hot pinks a la MAC Candy Yum Yum and YSL Rouge Volupte #8 Fetish Pink.  And then I have the plain old “work-appropriate” pinks which are like neutral pinks like YSL Rouge Volupte #19 Frivolous Pink. To round out my collection I also have a few random colours like MAC’s Quite Cute (a white-lavender shade) and Chanel’s Rouge Coco Shine in Liberte which is a coral colour (shocking I know, I never wear coral.  I’m still trying to adjust).

Alright, so what do I look for when choosing a new lipstick?  Colour, colour payoff, and other little “bonuses”. For example, YSL lipsticks (my favourites) smell like mangos and literally glide on your lips and are the creamiest lipsticks I have ever come across. They are quite pricey (at $34 USD, $37 CDN I think, a pop) but to me, they are so worth it.  Also, they don’t sell them in my city so whenever I travel I grab one so then I don’t feel that guilty. As for the rest of my colours, I really like MAC lipsticks, there are a variety of different shades, in different textures, colour payoffs, and more.  With MAC you can get a sheer, glossy lipstick (Cremesheens like Quite Cute), or a creamy crazy colour payoff one (Amplified ones like Blankety or Saint Germain), or a pigment-rich shade with absolutely no shine (Matte colours like Candy Yum Yum or Myth).  Check out Nordstrom’s guide to MAC lipsticks here.

Honestly, it may look like I have 10 lipsticks that are the same colour, but trust me, they all apply differently, some have shine, some are brighter than others, etc.  They may look the same, but there are a variety of factors that make them different.   So how do you choose the perfect colour for you?  Well, it depends on a variety of different factors.  Don’t just buy the colour if you love the shade. Sure, I love the look of orange lipstick, but trust me, I’ve tried it and it makes me look like a clown.  Take a look at your skin tone, hair colour, face structure, etc.  There are a number of different things to take into consideration when choosing the perfect colour for you.  I’m no expert on this topic, but if you do a quick Google search on it I’m sure you will find a number of different hits that will help you find your perfect shade. What are your favourite lipstick colours and brands?  Leave a comment below.

From left to right: OPI You Don't Know Jacques!, OPI A Little Rosti At This, OPI William Tell Me About OPI, Essie Sand Tropez, Spa Ritual Sacred Ground

It’s my favourite time of the year! Forget summer, forget Christmas time, I am in love with fall.  Everything from the crisp smell in the morning, the falling yellow leaves, Ugg boots, jeans, hoodies, plaid; I love absolutely everything that fall has to offer.  This season is the transition from daylight at 8 p.m. to sundown at 5:30, so naturally fall brings darker colours.

Just like how you would wear black tights with dark coloured boots, I love dark colours on my nails.  For me, fall is all about dark shades, winter is full of glitter, spring brings pastels, and summer screams bright colours.  I am totally obsessing over dark purples right now, I am actually wearing OPI’s William Tell Me About OPI, a super dark purple colour that looks like black in some light, on my nails as I type this.  I am obsessed.  It’s such a pretty dark colour that screams fall to me. The other colours I love for fall are reds (even though I’m not usually a red fan), silvers, nudes (like Essie’s Sand Tropez, which isn’t a dark colour but it’s a neutral shade so you could wear it year round), and shades similar to You Don’t Know Jacques.  Also, as a side note, metallic shades are totally hot for the nails this season, so a colour like Spa Ritual’s Sacred Ground (the grey colour pictured above) is totally on trend.

So those are my favourite colours for fall, what are some of yours?

Also, totally off topic, but I got my hair done. Finally!  I have been wanting to go lighter for a long time now, but a few months ago I got my hair re-dyed and instead of putting in dark brown she put in black which is hard to lift. Anyways long story short, everywhere I went they told me I needed a colour corrector which is super expensive and kind of damaging to your hair.  Well get this, when I finally got my hair done on Tuesday, my stylist said that I didn’t need the corrector.  Yay!  I was so happy, dodged that bullet! Also, don’t forget to subscribe!  I decided that once I hit 100 subs I will hold a giveaway!  You can subscribe below :).