January Low-Buy

Today’s post is on all of my January purchases, as well as how I did on my first low-buy of 2017!

As a reference, I gave myself a $100 budget on makeup products for January.

Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cleanser – $26

I had a $15 off coupon for Kiehl’s that I had to use up within the month. I wasn’t quite sure what to get since I have enough skincare in my stash already. After a review by Stashy, I thought this might be a good one to pick up for when I’m done my current cleanser, especially because I already love the Ultra Facial Moisturizer. I bought this in the limited edition Tegan and Sara Foundation packaging – thought I might as well, since 100% of the profits go to their foundation, of which the mission statement is to “fight for economic justice, health, and representation for LGBTQ girls and women”. It’s all for a good cause!

Best of the Best: 2016 Favourites

Although we’re already into the middle of January, today’s post is on my favourite products of 2016. This post focuses on my favourites in each makeup category, although there are a few categories that I did not include because I either did not try anything new in that category, or I didn’t find anything I loved during the year. A few of these products you will have also seen in my two bi-annual favourites posts.

FACE PRODUCTS

Foundation Primer: Shiseido Glow Enhancing Primer

I discovered this primer in early 2016, and although I’ve only used up sample after sample of this primer, I’ve fallen in love with it. It goes onto the skin feeling like a moisturizer, and applies smoothly without giving that typical silicone feeling that a lot of primers do. It feels very hydrating on my dry skin, and I’m really glad I still have a few tubes of samples left of this before I need to start purchasing it!

Late 2016 Favourites

Today’s post is on the products I loved in the last half of 2016. Although most of these were not new releases in 2016, they were all products that came into my collection during the last half of the year. In case you’re interested, I did a 2016 mid-year favourites post here.

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

I received this palette in a giveaway from dear Robyn of Lipstick on the Lake in August, and I have been absolutely loving it since. It’s a very versatile palette, and is in constant rotation in my makeup routine. My review of the palette can be found here.

Product Comparison: MAC Cleanse Off Oil vs Muji Cleansing Oil

Today, I wanted to do a comparison between the MAC Cleanse Off Oil and the Muji Cleansing Oil. I’m a long-time loyalist to the Cleanse Off Oil, and it has been my HG makeup remover for over 6 years. However, at $38 a bottle, it’s quite expensive, so there is always an opportunity to find a less expensive product. I’ve tried a few oil cleansers from other brands in the past and they did not work for me. Enter the Muji Cleansing Oil!

I purchased a travel size (50mL) of the Muji Sensitive Skin Cleansing Oil for $7.50 while on my trip to Toronto back in May. This is a recommendation from Stashy, who is also a MAC Cleanse Off Oil lover. However, it wasn’t until the beginning of November that I took it out for the first time to try. Now that I’ve been using it for a month, I wanted to share my thoughts on how the two compare.

November Low-Buy

Today I wanted to share with you my November haul and how I did on my low-buy. Spoiler alert: I failed miserably in my low-buy!

Sephora VIB Haul 

 

I only bought 5 things during the Sephora VIB sale, most of which were replenishments for things I’m running low on. In the last two years, I’ve become one of the people who shop at Sephora only during the bi-annual sales, and even then, I usually don’t go crazy. I went into more detail about my Sephora haul here.

October Haul and Low-Buy

Today’s post is on everything I bought in October, and how I did on my low-buy for the month. There are some goodies in here!

Nail Polishes

As my mentioned last month, I’m wanting to do an overhaul on my nail polish stash (nail polish trash post to come in a few weeks’ time!) I saw that these Sally Hansen Hard as Nails polishes were on sale for $1.99 each at Shoppers one week, so I had to take that as an opportunity to pick up a few polishes that I was interested in. I picked up the shades Orchid Around, Shine On, and Mauve Over.

Engagement Shoot Makeup Look

I have mostly either been doing makeup posts or wedding posts, but today’s post is both of these topics combined! We just had our engagement shoot this past Sunday. Since we got engaged by the water, we wanted to reflect that and decided to do the shoot at a lake in the Rocky Mountains.

A few months ago, our wedding photographer asked us if we were okay doing the shoot at 6 in the morning on a Sunday, since apparently the period shortly after sunrise or before sunset is considered “golden hour” for photography. Without thinking, we said, “Yeah, sure, whatever makes the photos look the most flattering!” We are both morning people, but when it actually came down to it the morning of, it was a little tough. Since we had to be at the lake by 6 am and the drive out there is roughly an hour and a half, I couldn’t get my hair and makeup done that morning since no one would be available to do for me at 3:00am (lol). With hair, I needed serious help as I am completely useless with doing my own hair. I got my hair done Saturday afternoon and basically tried to not sleep on it that night.