HAUL: #BBLOGGERSCA Swap and Toronto Meetup!

This past Saturday, I met up with 10(!!) Toronto bloggers from the Canadian Beauty Blogger Network for a few purposes: 

1 // To celebrate the fact that Zoe of Writing Whimsy was in town 

2 // To celebrate the fact that Megan of Megan Joy was back in Toronto 

3 // To swap a bunch of unwanted beauty goodies because one woman's trash is another one's treasure

4 // To eat ice cream and do general catching up things

5 // It was also Youtube Fan Fest (which made Young-Dundas a ZOO)...so we passed by but didn't dive into crowds of teenagers. 

WHAT I PICKED UP: 

Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara

Because Megan and Julie were both wearing it and spoke highly of it (their lashes also looked amaze).

NARS Blush in Orgasm 

Because everybody and their mom says it's good, so I needed to try it. 

Sonia Kashuk Eye On Neutral - 02 Instructional Eye Shadow Palette

Because Target is gone and I will miss the convenience of purchasing Sonia Kashuk in my own country.

Dolce and Gabbana The Eyeshadow in 120 Romance

Because Zubie is all grey everything and told me I should get outside of my comfort zone. 

Vasanti Luminous Cream Blush in Pinnacle

Because I've never tried anything from Vasanti. 

Amika Dry Shampoo

Because my hair is an oily mess without it. 

A FEW PHOTOS OF THE SWAP: 

Let the destash begin! #bbloggersCA

A photo posted by Julie Martinson (@swatchandreviewcom) on May 2, 2015 at 2:40pm PDT

Meeting @writingwhimsy! With... @livingthegrey @stephh_lau @SwatchandReview @ItsMeganJoy cont'd... pic.twitter.com/ftKHZ1qU2q

— Chelle (@mu_your_mind) May 3, 2015

HOW THE SWAP WORKED: 

We went to a Tim Horton's, dumped out our beauty things on a big table, then went around one at a time choosing a couple things that we had our eye on. If two people wanted the same thing, we would rock/paper/scissors (or fist fight). Though, it seemed everyone was too nice to want the same things as someone else (I wanted to see a fight over a lipstick). Progress had been made in terms of clearing the table, but there was a TON of things left over, so we encouraged random, curious strangers to take some goodies. The looks on their face were priceless. Makeup DOES make people happy :) 

After that Julie of Swatch & Review brought the remaining makeup to a shelter and we gave the nail polishes to our waitress at Spring Rolls. It seemed like everyone's goal was to take home significantly less than we had brought. I think that everything is now in a better home, which means SUCCESS! 

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE: 

Chelle of Make Up Your Mind

Jenn of A Beautiful Zen

Jenn of Vibrant, Vivacious, Veracious 

Julie of Swatch & Review

Kaitlyn of Kaitlyn Elisabeth Beauty 

Megan of Megan Joy

Shawna of Spill the Beauty

Vanessa of Citron and Guavaberry

Zoe of Writing Whimsy

Zubie of Living the Grey

Have you ever done a swap? How do you get rid of your unused beauty things? Would you like to see anything reviewed? 

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HAUL: Peace out, Target Canada!

I love Target. There was one in Waterloo, which I visited at least monthly to ogle at all the Sonia Kashuk and Pixi and NYX things. Sure, there are lots of Targets in Toronto, but none in the general vicinity of my house (GTA suburbs) or work (down in the down town). Sad life. 

I was a bit disheartened when Target announced its departure from Canada but I can understand why. The Waterloo location was like a ghost town – even during Black Friday, etc. and although Target selection is pretty great (even in Canada) prices were never as quite as good as Wal-Mart. 

The bright side of the story is that liquidation = discounts = hauls. So, Charles (aka boyfriend who lives closer to a Target) was kind enough to pick up a few things for me, 30% off of course. I heard the sales for non-makeup stuffs were not so great... on to the good stuff :) 

Sonia Kashuk Small Hair Brush

100% fueled by the recommendation of Aleeza from Stylish and Literate, who compared the $12 SK version to the luxe Mason Pearson Brush. The brush is a mix of plastic and boar bristles which makes for a killer de-tangling and shine-adding brush. Loving it, thus far.

Sonia Kashuk Large Powder Brush

There’s something so sexy about the shape of the black-handled Sonia Kashuk Brushes. I have yet to try it but Paula’s Choice tells me it’s pretty good.

L’Oreal Miss Manga Mascara

This is my first L’Oreal mascara. Raves upon raves I have heard about it, but I won’t be trying it until I start wearing makeup again. I'm exited to see if it’s better than my HG CoverGirl Clump Crusher Mascara.

Have you picked anything up from Target's liquidation sale? 

 Featured items are gifts

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What I Got For Christmas 2014

Hope you had (or are having) a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! I actually received all of my gifts prior to Christmas Day, so I was able to prep this post before all the hustle and bustle of Christmas and Boxing Day. A few Secret Santa's, as well as a couple gifts to myself made for a very merry Christmas. In addition to these goodies, I also received the monies from family and lots of love from friends :) 

This year, I participated in three Secret Santa's. For a $10 limit with a school club, I wished for and received the Shisedo cotton pads (because useable gifts are the best gifts!). For another school club with a limit of $30, I got a book that I've been meaning to read - Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami with an adorable little bookmark. Finally, for the Canadian Beauty Bloggers Network $30 Secret Santa, from the lovely Courtney of La Belle Sirene Blog, I got the Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics - After Dark Stained Gloss Test Tube Set, which I'm beyond excited to try. 

  

Holiday sales mean that I'm obliged to treat myself a little. From the Sephora Black Friday sale, I picked up the Bite Beauty Lush Lip Trio which includes the Bite Beauty Lip Lush Lip Glosses in Rambutan, Currant, and Strawberry. Since online orders require purchases of $75+, I caved and finally purchased the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette, which has been sitting in my Sephora cart since it was released. I justified it with the need for free shipping and by telling myself that if I use the palette every day for a year, it'll be totally worth it. 

Then, Sephora sent me a $15 off $50 coupon for being aweseome (being a Beauty Insider), and with that I stopped in-store for the Boscia Makeup Breakup Cleansing Oil and also repurchased the Laura Mercier Mineral Powder Foundation, this time in Natural Beige, a perfect colour match . 

With my online order, I received a load of 12 samples including the Benefit Stay Flawless 15-hour primer, Fresh Seaberry Moisturizing Face Oil, Laura Mercier Flawless Skin Face Polish, Cover FX Calming Primer, Nude Perfect Cleanse Omega Cleansing Jelly, Jurlique Purely Bright Radiance Serum, Lancome Advanced Genifique, Laura Mercier Foundation Primer, Radical Skincare Skin Perfecting Screen, GlamGlow Dualmud Power Cleanse Treatment, and Living Proof Satin Hair Serum. 

On Christmas Eve, my grandparents brought over gifts that my aunt sent in from NYC - a box of books. The book for me was Sweet & Vicious: Baking with Attitude by Libbie Summers. Can't wait to try out some of the recipes. From my uncle, a gold camera necklace that doubles as an ACTUAL film camera. It's the Diana Baby 110 Gold, which comes with a 24mm and 12mm lens. I purchased some 110 film, which was quite the $$ to acquire, but I can't wait to test it out! 

Thanks to my wonderful family, all my Secret Santa's and Sephora for making my spend my university meal money on makeup. Want to see a review of something? Let me know! 

No press samples here, just purchases and gifts. 

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EVENT: IMATS Toronto 2014 + Mini-Haul

My first ever IMATS (International Make Up Artists Trade Show) experience... I attended IMATS on Saturday, November 22, which was sold out by the time I had gotten there. Thanks to the tips from IMATS veterans, I arrived at 7:40AM. There was already a huge line of 100+ people. I picked up my pass and walked in at 8:30 AM. Popular booths like Make Up For Ever (40% off discount), MAC (20% off discount), and Nigel's Beauty Emporium (with Too Faced, Anastasia, Kevyn Aucoin, and a ton of lashes) were crowded upon opening. 

I didn't really plan on "going" with anyone in particular but met up with a ton of Toronto beauty bloggers. The list is quite long... Upon walking in, I spotted the flawlessly grey hair of Zubie's Musings who introduced me to Laura of Lipstick and Laura and Shawna of Spill the Beauty. I also spent quite a bit of time walking around by myself and with Jenn of A Beautiful Zen, Jenn of Vibrant, Vivacious, Veracious Beauty Blog, and Meg of Meg's Makeup Bag. Shoutouts to Stephanie of theFantasia, Aleeza of Stylish & Literate, and Tess of Makeup By Tess who I hadn't seen in a while, as well as Arianne of Glitter Geek (whom I had just met for the first time!). I also met up with Julie of Swatch & Review, Jenn of Scarlet Beauty, and Chelle of Make Up Your Mind to take a CBB Network photo! 

In addition to all the wonderful beauty bloggers, here's a few snaps of the sights of IMATS.... 

Amazing body painting...

A UNICORN!! 

All the baby (fun size) beauty blenders...

a little learning about MAQ-pro cosmetics... 

many, many Morphe palettes... 

 contemplating the purchase of $8 liquid latex from Jordane Cosmetics in preparation for next Halloween (ALREADY!)... 

Ohhs and ahhs for the Hakuhodo brush displays... 

 And a TON of people. It was crowded, almost suffocating but bearable because of all the makeup goodies there were to check out. 

Contrary to popular belief, I don't spend copious amounts of money on beauty product, so long as I can help it (#studentdebtproblems). I spent a total of $99 dollars on four items, which required a lot of restraint - the Ben Nye Banana Powder ($12) from Nigel Beauty Emporium, Hakuhodo Yachiyo Brush - medium ($50), Hakuhodo Eye Shadow Brush Flat and Round J5523 ($23), and a Beauty Blender ($14). The Banana Powder and Beauty Blender seem to be cult staple items and I had wanted to try them for a while. As for the Hakuhodo brushes... I'm considering them to be investment pieces in my brush collection. Also, special thanks to Jenn's friend Tian for the NYX Butter Gloss! 

Would I recommend IMATS? DEFINITELY! If you're a beauty blogger, beauty enthusiast, or MUA, then by all means check out what IMATS has to offer. 

Were you at IMATS? What did you pick up? 

I went to IMATS courtesy of a press pass to cover the event. This is not a sponsored post and all items were purchased by me. 

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EVENT: INGLOT Toronto and mini-haul

If you love watching beauty videos or reading beauty blogs, chances are you've heard of Inglot. Inglot is a Polish brand known for their mid-range pricing and huge colour selection with over 1,500 colours. This weekend, Inglot Toronto (located at 19 Dundas Square) opened its doors to the public.

 I attended a blogger preview the Thursday before to see what all the hype was about... 

Among other things, Inglot is most well-known for its Freedom System - a palette system that allows you to create customized palettes from face, eyes, lips and brow product in pan form. The eyeshadows were calling my name and Jenn of a Beautiful Zen and Nicole of Nicole About Town are pro-enablers, but my powers of resistance are pretty good so no eyeshadows this time around. However, when I have a bit more $$ and no student debt I plan to slowly put together a palette. 

Overall, the store is fairly organized. The Freedom System items are laid out on tables so that you can mix and match your own custom palettes of blushes, face products, eyeshadows, eyebrow powders/creams, concealers, lipstick pans etc. Everything else (nail polish, gel liners, brushes, lip sticks, lip glosses, pencil eyeliners, mascaras) is housed on shelving with swatches and plastic applicators for convenient, hygienic testing. 

Prices were a few dollars premium over the online store, so it's still cheaper to buy Inglot at makeup trade shows (ex: IMATS), in the States, Europe, or online. That being said, the convenience of having a store to actually touch the products without traveling far, far away is greatly appreciated. 

I budgeted $25 for myself to spend on Inglot products, since they were 20% that day. Despite wanting one of everything, I opted for the Inglot Sleeks Cream in 90 ($14) and the Inglot Nail Enamel in 202 ($12). I've already started playing with both and will let you know what I think in a future review! :) 

Do you like Inglot Cosmetics? Have you checked out the Inglot Toronto store yet? 

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Back to School Nail Art + Haul #agreatstart

Back to school is only a couple weeks away. Depressing, I know, but at least there's back to school shopping... for supplies... but not school supplies, nail art supplies! Back to school is the perfect time to update your look. Plus, even if you're not in school, why not start the fall off right with some brand new beauty products :) 

The LOOK: A lilac base (Rimmel 60 Seconds Nail Polish in I Lilac You) with accents of "school-related" stuff drawn with the Kiss Nail Art Paint & Stencil Kit, as well as three glitter nails (using Hard Candy Nail Polish in 799 Soda Pop). 

THE HAUL: So... I was gifted a $50 Walmart gift card to shop for items for a "Total Nail Treatment". Given the huge nail art selection, I was really impressed with how much I could buy with $50. At your typical drugstore markups I could probably only get half of what I purchased during my trip to Walmart. I'm pretty basic when it comes to nail treatments. I mostly focus on the nail basics (remover, cotton rounds, and polishes). Here's what I picked up: 

• Pro-Series Latex-Free 30 Premium Wedges // $5 
• PUREDERM Green Tea Essence Mask // $1.88 (not nail related but while you do your nails, you may as well work on your skin too!)
• Hello Kitty Peelable Nail Polish // $3.97
• Swisspers Make-offs Hypoallergenic Cotton // $2.94
• Kiss Nail Artist Paint & Stencil Kit // $10.97
• Rimmel 60 Seconds Polish in I Lilac You  // $2.98
• Rimmel 60 Seconds Polish in Hot White Love // $2.98
• Hard Candy Nail Color in 799 Soda Pop // $3.98
• Equate Non-Acetone Nail Polish Remover // $1.87
• Sally Hansen Color Foil Nail Polish // $6.94

TOTAL (with tax): $49.16

Overall, I could create at least 10 different nail art designs with the stuff I picked up. I'm really happy with my purchases and can't wait to do more with what I picked up. Also, I'll DEFINITELY be reviewing that Hello Kitty polish (spoiler: it smells like blueberries!) 

Press samples featured

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HAUL: Smashbox/Bourjois Warehouse Sale 2014

On fun size beauty, deals are always welcome. Through my work, I got my paws on a ticket for the Quadrant Cosmetics 2014 warehouse sale. In a nutshell, Quadrant Cosmetics is the Canadian distributor for Smashbox, Bourjois, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Lacoste, Hugo Boss, Escada and more. 

I'm not into perfumes (a few samples is plenty for me), but you'll know that I go crazy for cosmetics. Prices were a steal of a deal. $2 for individual beauty products $5 for sets, and $1 for polishes. There were tons of bins for Smashbox and Bourjois. Naturally, I got whatever caught my eye because almost anything is worth it for $2!

SMASHBOX ($12 total): Halo Hydrating Perfecting Powder in Light/Medium (with brush), Eye Shadow Palette in "Admire Me" (Limited Edition), Photo Finish Light Foundation Primer, Photo Op Eye Shadow Trio in "Alabaster/Sky/Truffle", Image Factory Air Blush Whipped Cheek Colour in "Dusty Rose" & "Berry Bliss" (Limited Edition)

BOURJOIS ($11): French Manicure Blanc Glamour, So Laque Nail Polish in "Coral", French Riviera Set (Bronzing Powder, Illuminating Touch in "Rose Essentiel", 3D Effect Gloss in "Brun Poetic", Mini Black & Gold Reflections Eyeliner, Powder Brush - see below), Gold Liquid Eyeliner, Healthy Mix Brush Concealer

 Samples (free) + brush with the French Riviera set

I'm above and beyond happy with my purchases and may have purchased a little extra not shown here ;) Let me know if you'd like to see something reviewed! 

Have you ever been to a warehouse sale? What's your favourite Bourjois/Smashbox product?

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