A Week of Swatches - Day 1: H&M Beauty and MAC

I have a major problem when it comes to palettes.  Seriously, I could be considered a palette-junkie.  I can't seem to buy enough or have enough palettes.  I especially love Christmas because almost every beauty product line comes out with a special holiday blockbuster.  I am literally drooling over all the palette goodness.

The past few months I've been looking for cheap palettes because I'm on mat leave and trying to keep my extra spending down.  I've found some really great bargains and some NOT so great ones.

First on my list of swatches is Measurable Difference Desert Nights Palette and Hard Candy High Intensity Eye Shadow Duo in Lost & Found.

From left to right, we have the Purple and Pink from the Hard Candy duo.  The purple is stunning but the pink is definitely not a color I would ever wear.  The Measurable Difference palette starts with a grey metallic shimmer, a nude beige (WHICH you can't even see), a silver metallic, a matte burgundy and a metallic burgundy.  I was given the Hard Candy from a friend but picked up the Measurable Difference palette for a whopping $5.99.  I will say that I created a stunning burgundy smoky eye from this palette the other day which I will show you at the end.

I was so excited to get my hands on these two items especially since H&M just re-branded and reformulated their makeup line.  I read about both of these in a magazine so literally squealed in delight when I found them.  However, that's where the excitement ended.

The palette is broken into sections - This is a swatch of the upper row which are the metallic shades.  They almost all look exactly the same.

These are the shimmer shades which is the middle row.

Last but not least, the 6 shades in the middle are the matte row (last) of the palette and then the top and bottom colors are the two blushes.  The matte shades are the only ones that have a shade difference and even then, it's very subtle.  This palette is, unfortunately, going in the garbage.

The blush and highlighter quad is okay.  I will say that the colors are fairly nice but definitely not pigmented enough for me.  Sigh.

So, I've been having dreams about this MAC palette for about 2 months.  Honestly, I am beyond obsessed with burgundy shades and knew this palette was MADE for me.  It's called Burgundy Times Nine and MAC was sold of it for a long time....I did however grab one this past weekend.

There are about 4 shimmer shades and the rest are matte but the greatest thing about this palette are the shades.  They can all be mixed and matched to create your favorite burgundy eye look.  I am over the moon that this palette belongs to me!!

I am LOVING the Measurable Differences palette.  Check out my awesome burgundy smoky eye!!

    

Ipsy Canada September 2015 Review

As most of you know, I was planning on cancelling Ipsy the other month due to a shipping fiasco.  I decided not to cancel it as we are SO close to December/January and I want to see how good the holiday bags will be.

This month Ipsy featured a Face Fashion look which was to "inspire the perfect transition from summertime casual to autumn elegance."  Thank goodness the cosmetic bag is decent because the last few have been poor.  Remember the black summer bag that reminded me of scuba gear??

Inside my Glam Bag I received (from left to right) a NYX Eye Shadow Trio, Pixi by Petra Brow Trio, TreStique Mini Matte Lip Crayon in Nantucket Nude, First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream and Accure Brightening Facial Scrub.

To me, this is the perfect amount of skin and body care products and I LOVE that 3 of my products were cosmetic related.  Perfect!!

Ipsy Canada
Total price per month: $14.95
To sign up for Ipsy - www.ipsy.com

    

Topbox Canada September 2015 Review

As you all know, I am currently receiving a few subscription boxes monthly on my quest to find the best makeup box out there.  So far, I've posted about the Birchbox I received here.  I liked the Birchbox but found it filled with too many body products.

So, how does Topbox compare?  First thing to note, it comes in a cylinder tube.  Kind of cool, if you ask me.  I like the tube as you can wrap it with wrapping paper and keep your brushes or other beauty tools in it.

Inside my cylinder Topbox, I received (from left to right) Barefoot Venus Macademia Oil Had Cream, Benefit Cosmetics It's Potent Eye Cream, Tresemme Perfectly unDone Wave Creation Foam (bonus gift), UniqOne All in One Hair Treatment and Ciate Nail Lacquer in Speed Dial.

Makeup box - ummmm. no BUT I'm still impressed with the products I received.  Hair products are always fun to try and I love orange on my nails so am pleasantly surprised with this box.

TopBox Canada
Total price per month: $13.44 CAD
To sign up for your Topbox - http://topbox.ca/

    

Maple Holistics Spa Day and Giveaway!

**These products were sent to me for review by Maple Holistics.  Reviews are entirely my own personal opinion**

Yesterday was a bad day.

First, Benjamin didn't nap once due to us getting a new roof.  This meant roofers were stomping around, pounding in nails and yelling at each other the whole morning and afternoon AND early evening.  This made for a cranky baby.  Second, I didn't have a chance to have a shower and/or bath the whole day which made for a cranky Christina.  Third, I woke up to two pimples on my chin.

There you have it.  A yucky day all around.  After Allan got home, dinner was eaten, baby was bathed and put down for bed, I handed the baby monitor to him and said "I'm having a Maple Holistics Spa Day".

Seriously, I am SO HAPPY I did.

The Shampoo and Conditioner were so relaxing.  They are limited edition products called "Winter Blend" and they seriously smell like candy canes.  The best part of these products is they make your scalp tingle and give it a nice cooling sensation.  The products are created with a blend of 5 different mint varieties as well as a laundry list of gorgeous therapeutic products (green tea, sea buckthorn and hibiscus to name a few).  My hair was clean and my scalp was tingly and I felt so much more relaxed after using them.  (Quick thing to note, because they are sulfate free you will not get the same lather you do with other shampoos.  I don't use sulfate products personally, so this is something I'm already used to.)

As you all know, I'm a sucker for a good skin mask.  Before opening the mask, I thought it was a scrub BUT was very pleasantly surprised to see it was a mud mask!  I have had mud masks in Thailand and Bali and this one reminded me of one I had during my travels.  I was instantly drawn in by the gorgeous lavender smell.  Seriously, so relaxing and luxurious.  The mask went on super smoothly and hardened within a matter of minutes.

I removed the mask after a few minutes and my skin was SO SMOOTH.  Seriously, I feel like a whole new person.  It's been a long time since I've said this but I will actually be buying this product again once I'm out.  It is seriously fantastic.

Now to the good part - GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

Maple Holistics (and EduMuch) wants to send one of my readers a set of their own Winter Blend Shampoo and Conditioner.  To enter the giveaway, you must live in the USA (or have an address to ship your items to in the US) AND answer this one question - What is your favorite way to relax?

Check out this link too!  http://www.mapleholistics.com/free-products/

    

Art of Makeup - Tal Peleg's Amazing Eye Shadow Designs

This woman's creations are completely mind blowing.  Imagine having this much creativity, and a steady hand, to design art on someone's eyelid.  Seriously, every time I look at these pictures, I get the chills.  You have to check these out!

Sigh, I want nothing more than for her to come over and create some crazy artwork for me for Hallowe'en.  What do you think of this type of art??