I know all of the seasons are the exact same length, but there is something about summer that seems all too short. June, July and now August are whizzing by and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it except enjoy it while it lasts or extend it a little by rebelling and continuing to use makeup from summer collections! The Clarins "Sunkissed" Summer 2016 Collection is classically Clarins in how each product makes anyone look like a sophisticated woman whether you are splashing around by the pool or getting glam for dinner.
This is as naked as I will ever be. I am of course referring to my nails in my attempt at the latest in South Korean nail art trends - "bracelet nails". When I first saw this trend cropping up on Instagram, I wasn't sure what to think, but like a lot of nail art trends (with the exception of crackle polish) this has grown on me. It was also the PERFECT opportunity for getting back on the BCD Nail Art train which has derailed all of us in the last month. I always have so many polishes to get through as I don't do plain swatches here as there are numerous other bloggers that provide that service and do a great job of it! I personally hate massive swatch sessions as they take the fun out of nail polish for me. I'm sure you all can tell that I can paint my nails so why not let this be a space for something a little fun?
With the number of sheet masks I have tried, it is getting harder and harder to differentiate what is a GOOD and what is a GREAT mask. The sheet mask market is so saturated that it really comes down to the minute differences in mask fit, scent, ingredients, how you look in the mask (haha, I know!) and how it makes your skin feel. Generally, I haven't met a sheet mask that didn't make my skin feel good afterwards. What I really need to start doing is the full Korean beauty routine and using a sheet mask EVERY OTHER NIGHT which is apparently when you can start to see results. Seeing as how I have at least 100 sheet masks in my arsenal, I can probably do this for the rest of the year and still have masks to spare!
This was my birthday look. My birthday was July 1st. It is the end of August so I guess this look was long overdue to talk about! I remember it was quite humid in Vancouver that day hence the crazy baby hairs and weird curls that my ghd could not seem to fix. Nevertheless, it was the first time in awhile I had had a birthday party and I wanted to pull off turning 33 (!) by adding something new to my makeup routine - blue liner. Blue liner has been trending this year and looking at these photos now, I wish I had been braver and had a heavier hand with how much blue I was using because it really is such a great colour on everyone!
These mirror nails are all the rage right now in the nail world and though we have seen those countless videos of people magically rubbing powder on their nails to get a truly reflective finish, you really won't believe it until you try it for yourself! There are some incredibly expensive chrome powders ($16.90 USD for 2.5g) and then there are the ones from Born Pretty that are just $1.99 for 1g of powder! The main question being, "Are the cheaper powders any good/better?" Born Pretty has been pretty awesome for me over the years and I shop with them religiously even though I work with them as a blogger too. They just have too many things I want to buy all the time!
Labels: born pretty, chrome, duochrome, gel polish, mirror chrome, Nail Art, nail polish, nails, notd, powder, red carpet manicure
Though I have seen the brand 3CE (3 Concept Eyes) at T&T and on the blogs and YouTube channels of Kbeauty lovers, this is the first time I have actually used any of their products. 3CE is what I would think of as a higher priced Korean makeup brand by Korean fashion blogger, StyleNanda. Whatever makeup product or colours are trending in Asia WILL be in the 3CE product line up I can guarantee you of that! With everything from gel tints for that classic Asian ombre lip or creams and pigments to give you a girly glow, 3CE makes it easy to achieve trendy in just a few steps!
Though highlighting isn't going away any time soon, what I love about the Korean style of highlighting is that the product and manner in which it is applied is still heavily focused on skin. The glow is merely enhancing the skin which is what I love most about the 3CE Stylenanda Shimmer Stick in Pink*. I mean, yes it's still makeup, but there is an element of it that makes me think of skincare.
Last weekend, I attended a "camping wedding" in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island and wore a white dress with blue swirly flowers on it. The dress was a bit short and it seems that my blood has become yummy for mosquitoes in my 30s so my legs and have been recovering from the many MANY mosquito bites that happened. On the plus side, I did manage to do my nails to match my dress (for those who caught a little sneak peak on my Twitter account last week)! I have been wanting to a Marimekko-inspired design ever since one my friends commented that my Remembrance Day nails (here) looked a lot like them. All of this was created using a large dotting tool so there wasn't too much to it!
It's already the end of August and as much as I want to keep languishing in the slowness of summer, I am realizing that I have a whackload of products for summer that I still need to discuss! So, Lord knows I don't need anymore highlighters as it is always the one thing that I tend to forget in my everyday makeup application process, but there is something about looking outside, seeing sunshine and then wanting to "self-illuminate"!
I had a really hard time even swatching this beauty of a highlighter, but Burberry has once again given a whole new meaning to the words "limited edition"! The Spring/Summer 2016 Runway Palette in No.2 Nude Gold* ($72.00 CDN) is truly a thing of total beauty with its intricate lace design being inspired by the latest in women's fashion. This highlighter is both lightweight and buildable and makes skin appear lit from within.
Can you tell I wasn't feeling well when I did these nails? I mean, ou est le "nail art"? I generally love to be a little more exciting than just a plain nude coloured swatch, but when I had this manicure on a few weeks back, I was just feeling stressed and anxious and didn't feel up for even applying studs. It was kind of shocking really, BUT Formula X - Beige from Our Book* (12mL/$16.00 CDN) is a pretty nice nude. Probably one of the nicest I own! This is a limited edition shade from the #ColorCurators series with this and two other colours curated by the Urban Bush Babes.
I am a terrible morning person. I am definitely a night owl and if I have to get up before 8am, I am generally rushing or looking for shortcuts to look my best without needing too much time. Evenings are when I finally take some time for ME. I am almost always exhausted and looking for ways to relax and forget about the stress of the day and prepare for bed which is why I have my showers at night. It is the only time I feel I can be truly selfish which means this is when I pull out all the stops when it comes to experiencing products. Especially products that encourage me to stop, slow down and relax.
I really should do gradients more often because when you end up choosing the right colours, the result is a manicure that you cannot get enough of! I am more familiar with Red Carpet Manicure for their LED gel polishes, but recently they added good ol' regular polish to their collection! Yayyy, more polishes for me to love! This summer, RCM introduced some fun brights that will have you wanting to have summer all year round. As much as I love neons, I am not a fan of wearing them on their own, but in a gradient? Yes, please!
While my husband was away this week, I decided to make use of my nights alone by...playing with makeup! We work opposite schedules so I try not to do any blog related things in the evenings and do the Dr. Phil thing and "respect our marriage". However, the last few days I threw that rule out the window and lived it up!
I received the MAC Smoky Metallic x 9 Eyeshadow Palette* (0.8g each/$42.00 CDN) awhile ago and finally decided to give it a go. I like smoky eyes, but I can't say it's a look I think of doing immediately and looking at the mix of both matte and shimmery shades in this palette initially had me drawing a blank. Each individual shade was gorgeous, but putting them all together seemed a challenge.
I rarely buy bath and body products anymore, but last year when I was staying at my MIL's place, she had an assortment of natural beauty products to use and one of them was from the Live Clean Exotic Nectar Argan Oil collection. The body wash which I became completely enamored with! The moment I arrived back in Vancouver, I bought myself my own massive bottle and became a permanent fan of this collection enriched with 100% argan oil, certified organic grapeseed and olive oil to make sure skin is moisturized to the max!
I don't wear actual gel polish a lot, mainly because you have all seen how often I change up my manicures, but for this post I have been wearing this manicure for SEVEN DAYS!! I have a solid collection of Bio Seaweed Gel polishes, specifically the UNITY All-In-One gel polishes because UNITY polishes contain a base, colour and top coat all in one! It also cures to the touch without that sticky residue that is so typical of regular gel polishes.
Last summer the CBB was part of a Bio Seaweed Gel campaign (here) where a few of us showcased some nail art as well as our experience with BSG. Ever since then, I have been hooked on these polishes as my choice of gel polish! This summer's Carnival Collection is a collaboration with celebrity nail artist Kandi Yamz and features eight bright and happy colours that make us feel like summer is here year round!
Labels: bio seaweed gel, carnival collection, gel polish, Nail Art, nail polish, nails, notd, summer
What is up with this week?! I am just so exhausted when I come home and honestly, as much as I have been wanting to blog, I can barely keep my eyes open. Hopefully I'm not anemic or something because it is incredibly irritating to feel exhausted when you have things to do!
Thermal polishes are some of my favourite polishes and what makes a GOOD thermal is how drastic the colour change is between the two temperatures. If the colour goes from red to a lighter red I will not be impressed. Now, I normally have incredibly good luck with polishes from Born Pretty, but in the case of the Peel Off Color Changing Thermal Nail Polish in A026* the change was unfortunately less than subtle.
Normally, I would never write about nail polish removers because in the end it's all kind of the same, right? You all know that I love nails, nail art and nail polish. Cosmetic Proof began primarily as a nail polish blog and I vowed that no one would ever see my face - just my left claw, but I am glad that I moved into makeup because blogging is now 1000x more fun/taking over every square inch of space!
I do my nails about 2-3x per week which may not sound like much, but multiply that by weeks and years and that means a lot of acetone on the nails which is incredibly drying. You DO NOT want to see what my nails look like after a round of acetone. I have a few non-acetone nail polish removers, but I rarely use them because they never seemed all that effective. A few years ago, I tried a natural brand and that was a total disaster as I had to actually leave the remover on my nails for couple of minutes before my all creme nail polish even budged! Suffice it say, I like acetone.
Labels: green and pure, green beauty, karma organic, nail polish, nail polish remover, nails, natural, organic
Food and hair. Believe me, I have been awfully tempted to drop a raw egg on my head, slather on coconut oil from root to tip or make some sort of avocado hair mask (I think eating the avocado makes WAY MORE SENSE!). These sort of DIYs have been around for awhile, but now that green beauty is suffice it to say, quite 'in", we are seeing some of the more mainstream hair companies integrate this DIY flavour into their products. Earlier this year, Garnier introduced, Garnier Whole Blends, a new line of visually appealing haircare products that contained natural ingredients aimed at caring for specific hair concerns. In addition to hair care, this new formulation would also be a sensorial experience guaranteed to put you in a great mood! There are six blends available and though my hair concerns didn't fit some of them, I wanted to grab a few others just for their scent!
Today's Mani Monday falls on a holiday here in BC and for once I am home and enjoying the day off! I'll probably be blogging, but it'll be nice to sleep in a little. The girls and I have been falling behind when it comes to the BCD Nail Art Challenge, but if we can all get it done this year, I think we can say challenge achieved! I could never do the 31 Day Nail Challenges just because I take a long time creating certain designs and to see them have to disappear after just one day seems so sad!
This week's challenge is "Fox" and lemme tell ya, foxes are hard to draw! My fox's tail still came out looking like a baseball bat, but oh well (inspo for this mani here).
I started off with two coats of Ceramic Glaze - Pure* and then handpainted my fox and paws with CND Vinylux - Brick Knit*. The white details were done with acrylic paint and the black eyes and nose with Essence - Black is Back*. I added some top coat and then I was done!