Holy Grail - Kat Von D Mi Vida Loca Remix Palette

It's baaaaaaack!

My holy grail, all-time favourite eye shadow palette is back and better than ever! I impulse bought the original Mi Vida Loca palette and it quickly became my favourite. I only got into neutral make up since the release of Naked 3. But bright colors? My weakness!

The original palette contains your basic bright colors. But the remix takes it to a whole new level!

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The palette contains 24 eyeshadows in all the shades you could possibly need. It expands on the colors included in the original palette, as well as a collection of neutrals. 

At first glance, Anthem, Destroyer and Hyperballad all caught my eye. After swatching them, Lemmy, Synth and Analogue also have my attention.

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The outer colors are... Muse is lilac purple, Echo is purple glitter, Dark Wave is deep navy, Synth is an electric blue, Hyperballad is a sea blue, Lemmy is grass green, Misfit is kelly green, Vinyl is neon green, Legend is golden yellow, Fran is deep mustard yellow, Analogue is a burnt orange, Harpsichord is a metallic bronze, Rewind is an aubergine, Destroyer is a bright strawberry, Swoon is fuchsia, Love is a shimmery rose, Anthem is purple.

And the inner colors are... Vox is chocolate brown, Moulder is butter yellow, Noble is nude, Skulls is iridescent pearl, Black Metal is your standard matte black, Lyric is white pearl, Strutter is taupe  

The packaging is gorgeous and the colors are exactly what you expect from Kat Von D. Long wearing and super pigmented. You can build up the intensity or blend them together. The look options are endless. So far the looks I have created are in the same color family. But I have plans for some looks, so stay tuned.  

It's my holy grail. It's $71 but that is a pretty good deal for 24 eyeshadows. 

Sampler - Ole Henriksen Sheer Transformation Brightening Moisturizer

I always seem to accumulate a lot of moisturizer samples. And I am nervous to try them because they always seem to be to heavy and make me break out. But I decided to give this one a shot.

Verdict: I really liked it! It wasn't super heavy and it soaked in very quickly without leaving my skin oily. I would definitely use it again, but I have a hard time justifying the $48 price tag. 

Thankful.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow (I'm Canadian). So I thought I would take this time to get all sappy and write some long-winded post about all the things I am thankful for.

First of all, I am thankful for my health. The fact that I can wake up and get out of bed (not that I want to) to go to the gym and I don't have to endure pain or other health issues every day. (Except the self-inficted muscle pain from weights.)

I am thankful for my job. The fact that I am able to work a thousand hours a week to provide myself with the things I need and funds for my makeup addiction. And I have some great coworkers who help keep me entertained and make the day pass a little faster.

I am thankful I can afford my own apartment. Living on my own has helped me retain some of my sanity. I am able to come home and relax. If I don't want to be productive, I have nobody but myself to answer to. 

I am thankful for my cats. Two of which I brought home last Thanksgiving. Nat and Cap are from the same litter. Cap was a runt had a whole bunch of medical issues basically as soon as I brought him home. It was touch and go but he pulled full through. He recently got out and caught another cold, but is once again, safe and healthy again. He is the sweetest little thing. Always the first one to greet me when I get home. Nat is my baby girl. She wakes me up every morning by purring right next to my face. She always sit on the toilet while I do my hair. But that is mostly just to steal my elastics. Fury is the result of why I am not allowed in pet stores. He was adopted from my local Humane Society. He still doesn't answer to his name, but is an easy-going little guy. When Cap escaped, Fury didn't leave my side, cuddling and purring.

I am thankful for my family. My parents who are always there to support me and help me out when I need it. I could not ask for better parents. My sister, who's there for my stupid questions, rare pop culture references and also hasn't seen most of the things. And she makes cute babies. I'm also thankful for my nephew. He is adorable and sweet. And much more pleasant now that he doesn't hate my face.

Which leaves me with my friends.

I have a bunch of friends, all of which I am incredibly thankful to have in my life. Good times and inside jokes. We help each other get through the work days. You're all amazing. But I am going to get specific about three of you that have made a huge impact on me.

Amanda... We have a love that has survived hiatuses and break ups, band members leaving and albums that never seem to come out. But you are my One Love. My Lover Dearest.  And I will always be Good To You until the very end. Even if we don't see each other nearly as much as we would like, it never seems to matter. You will always be 16 to me and boys will never be good enough for you. You have motivated me and inspired me and I am so thankful for you!

Teagan... You are amazing. We balance each other out. You are the best outcome from of that job that I could have hoped for. I will probably never watch half of the stuff that you want me to, but you will love me anyways. (But I did watch and love Parks and Rec. Isn't that enough?) I promise to protect you from bugs and make you do cardio. And I am thankful that you usually go along with it. 

Marco... You little weirdo. My only friend from high school, even though we were never really friends in high school. (I think we discussed the weather once... You were so smooth.) But you have become one of my best friends in the years since. You are ridiculously talented and it's just a matter of time before your hard work and patience pays off. I am becoming aware of your influence on me more and more each day. You never stop surprising me and it keeps things interesting. And I am thankful for that.

Okay, this is getting a little too heavy... 

I am thankful for Starbucks and pumpkin spice lattes. And peppermint mochas! I am thankful for good smelling candles. I am thankful for cute heels that are impossible to walk in but make my ass look fantastic. I am thankful for Chapters and their never ending variety of cute notebooks. I am thankful for Sephora and their VIB Rouge program. I am thankful for Squarespace for this gorgeous website layout! And, finally, I am thankful for any of you that actually read this whole damn thing.

That concludes my hopefully sentimental post about the awesome people in my life and other things that I am thankful for. Can I eat turkey now?

First Off - Coalface

My face is constantly in a state of emergency. Oiliness, breakouts, redness. I've got it all. I was using Josie Maran products (which I will review on another post). But I am lazy and was looking for something a little simple. 

I have used various face cleansers from Lush before. I was in love with Ultrabland before I got my Clarisonic (it wasn't a perfect match). Grease Lightning, Fresh Farmacy, Angels on Bare Skin and Aqua Marina have all been amazing products too. 

But lately my skin has been super oily. So I decided to try out Coalface. It's a bar cleanser. You just get it wet and rub it over your face and then lather it up. It's as simple and lazy as I could ask for!

Coalface is for oily skin. It is made with powdered charcoal to absorb the excess sebum and it exfoliates at the same time. There is rosewood and sandalwood oils in it as well to clear up your skin and get rid of redness. 

I've been using it for a week or two now and I'm in love with it. It made me break out for a few days. Now I am seeing a huge difference in my skin. I have a few breakouts (they all seem to be the deep rooted ones) and a handful of red spots. But it is so much better! I think after another week or so, it should be more or less clear! (Fingers crossed!)

And it has drastically cut down on the amount of oil. I have been using it twice a day (in the morning and before bed). The only thing that I don't love is that it has left my skin dry. But that is to be expected. I've just had to make sure I moisturize (another thing I slack on). 

Sampler - Benefit They're Real! Remover

I'm not picky about make up removers. As long as it doesn't leave a residue and doesn't burn my eyes, I'm sold. I love the rest of the Benefit They're Real! line. So it makes sense to try out the remover as well. 

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Verdict:  All the instructions said was to saturate a cotton pad and wipe your make up off. It did remove my make up, but it was a little thick for my liking. It lathered when I mixed it with water but then it was a little too watered down and more scrubbing was required. Not my favourite way to remove make up but it's definitely not the worst product I've tried. It didn't burn my eyes, which is always a plus for me too. 

This Moment's Obsession - All The Punkin Things!

White Girl Season is officially upon us. And that means all the punkin things have arrived! (Thank you Melissa Trippy for hooking me on that pronunciation.) PSLs are back at Starbucks and I am a happy girl! Naturally, I gravitate towards all the punkin scented things as well. And here are some of my favourites.

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All of these are from Bath and Body Works. (I went a little crazy. Oops.) I got 2 candles and a lotion. The Cinnamon candle smells very cinnamonny where as the other two are on the sweeter side. And they make me and my apartment smell amazing!  

Fall is my favourite time of year and I fully intend to enjoy all the sights and smells for as long as I can!

This Moment's Obsession - OPI Polishes

Fall is around the corner and I am breaking out the fall colors. I know some people save purple lipstick for fall, but that's my go to color year round. Nail polish, on the other hand, I choose more based on the season. So here are some of my current favourites.

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First I've been loving Viking In A Vinter Vonderland. 

This is from the 2014 Nordic collection. It is a dark cream purple. It is really dark and come come across as black, depending on the lighting. But it is still gorgeous. 

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Next is How Great Is Your Dane?

This is also from the 2014 Nordic collection. It is a dark chocolate brown cream. I'm usually not a fan of brown polishes, but this is so pretty.

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And then I have Got The Blues for Red.

This one isn't from a collection. Red nail polish is my favourite. But I didn't have a deeper shade. And it is a blue based red cream, so it's everything I was looking for.  

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Finally, I have Dark Side of the Mood.

This is from the 2015 50 Shades collection. It is a charcoal cream. It's just gorgeous. There is something simple and classic about grey nails, and this goes perfectly with anything as an accent color. 

And those are my favourite nail polishes for fall. And probably winter. I will get a much wear out of these as I can. 

First Off - Josie Maran Argan Creamy Concealer Crayon

Josie Maran is my skin care brand of choice at the moment. My entire skin care routine is from her line. (I will definitely be posting more about it in the future. So keep an eye out for those!)

This is a full coverage concealer. It is super creamy and easily blendable. I picked it up in the color Fair. It doesn't dry out your skin, which makes it comfortable to wear all day. 

However, the one thing I didn't like was that it never seemed to set. It moved around a lot. And it was used up very quickly. But I think that I would buy it again and give it another chance with the right setting powder. 

If you are looking for a creamy concealer that isn't super long wearing, I would check it out.

Holy Grail - The Original MakeUp Eraser

The number 1 rule about skin care is to take your make up off before bed. And how many of us know we should, but disregard it because we are too lazy? We've all done it. 

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I've never been super picky about my make up removers. As long as it doesn't burn my eyes and takes my make up off with little to no effort, I'm content. I usually buy whatever is on sale. But all that has changed. 

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This thing is magic! It takes off everything. And I mean everything! Eyeshadow, foundation, eye liner and even waterproof mascara. All you do is get wet it with warm water and wipe your make up off! It's soft and gentle on your face. And when it's dirty, you can just throw it in the washing machine! There are no chemicals involved. It is the best, cleanest, easiest way to take your make up off.  

If you don't have one, get one. It's under $25 and good for one thousand washes. Why don't you have one? I can not stop gushing about it. I love it!

First Off - Benefit The Porefessional License to Blot

I have tried, and loved, Benefit's the Porefessional Face Primer. I was in the market for a blotting product, so this caught my eye.

I will be up front, I kind of hated it. 

It did mattify my skin a little bit. But it didn't leave a lasting impression. And it smeared my make up. And I didn't like how it made my skin feel. 

It is not my favourite oil obsorbing product. I don't have much else to say about it.