Author Archives: Mary S.

Clairol Herbal Essences Touchably Smooth Smoothing Shampoo Review & Pictures

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Clairol Herbal Essences Touchably Smooth Smoothing Shampoo Review & Pictures smallerIn December, my shampoo bottle was nearly done, and I kept procrastinating on purchasing a new bottle. Haha, I ended up making one of those frantic visits to the store when I ran out.

Since I needed shampoo urgently, I wasn’t being picky about which one to get. I literally just looked at the sale prices and then chose the cheapest.

For a hulking 700 mL bottle of the Clairol Herbal Essences Touchably Smooth Smoothing Shampoo, I paid only $4.99 CAD!

Normally when I buy a shampoo, I like to take my time, make sure it smells nice, etc. Usually price is the last factor I consider. (My hair needs to be whipped into shape, so efficacy is of the highest priority usually.)

This time, it was a scan of the price tag, a quick grab, and then a dash to the cashier.

I figured that this Herbal Essences shampoo would be just a ‘quick fix’ until I got one of my favourites later on.

Little did I know that I’d actually like it!

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China Glaze Graffiti Glitter Swatches & Review (Layered Over Topshop Gone Fishing)

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China Glaze Graffiti Glitter Swatches & ReviewAlthough Topshop Gone Fishing was a lovely polish on its own, I felt the itch to layer China Glaze Graffiti Glitter (from the Glitz Bitz ‘n Pieces Collection) on top.

China Glaze Graffiti Glitter is emerald green and black, so I thought this would show a good example of how you can do a tone-on-tone look, as opposed to the high-contrast look I did earlier with yellow polish and Mosaic Madness.

Since you know I looooove green nail polish, I was thrilled with the outcome of this manicure. (I can never get enough green. I could meet a Little Green Man and still want him to wear a green shirt. Yup – insatiable greeeeen fiend here, reporting for duty!)

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Topshop Gone Fishing Swatches & Review

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Topshop Gone Fishing Swatches & ReviewAre you ready for spring? I sure am! (Sorry, Old Man Winter, but I think you should go on a vacation…really far away…y’know, just until the end of the year.)

I wish I could coax Old Man Winter to go away as easily as I can convince my mom’s cat, Pingu, to come galloping to my side. (Literally, I just say, “Cuddles!” in a girly high-pitched voice. It. Works. Every. Time. That smart cat can never get enough attention…hehe! And he’s so cute, so I always want to spoil him.)

Lately I’ve been gravitating toward spring-like polishes. (Hey, if Old Man Winter won’t listen, maybe I can sway Mother Nature with beauty products, right? It’s worth a shot.)

Today I’m very excited to bring you a review on Topshop Gone Fishing!

Topshop nail polish is a new-to-me brand, and I’m shocked that I haven’t heard more people raving about it.

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Haul of Shame: MAC Archie’s Girls Lipsticks, Lipglasses & Brushes

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MAC Archie's Girls HaulWhen I caught wind months ago about a collaboration between MAC Cosmetics and Archie, I knew that my wallet would be wailing.

Unfortunately for Mr. Piggy Bank, I wasn’t wrong.

At the end of January, the MAC Archie’s Girls Collection went live online. (I’ve never rushed home so fast! I literally was running in heels!)

Yes, the collection will hit stores in a couple of days, but for limited editions like this, it can be hard to get hold of because the demand often outweighs the supply.

Since I wasn’t interested in rubbing elbows with others to get what I wanted, I tried my luck online. Thankfully, running home like a maniac after work paid off. I got everything that was on my To-Buy List. To put the insanity in perspective, some items sold out in around an hour or so!

MAC lip products are my Kryptonite. (Oddly, I’m never tempted by their nail polishes.) Maybe it’s that their lip products come in every single shade and finish that you could ever want or need. Perhaps it’s their yummy vanilla-cake-batter scent. Or maybe it’s because they come out with cool themes for limited-edition collections!

Whatever the case, MAC waved their magic wand over me, and I fell prey to the cosmetic curse. 😉

This MAC Archie’s Girls Haul was a major splurge for me, and it’s not my typical beauty-shopping habit to drop a couple of hundred dollars in under 5 minutes. (Heck, if I shopped like that, I’d be broke in less than an hour!)

My birthday is near the end of this month, so I’m considering this as an early present to myself. I don’t really go all-out for my birthday celebrations, and I hardly ever get birthday presents from others, either, so I felt like it was time for a treat…one that wasn’t nail-polish-related! 😉

By the way, you may not have known, but my first beauty addiction was actually lip gloss! I used to have tons, but then I found nail polish, and lip gloss was forgotten. I fear that the MAC Archie’s Girls Collection reinvigorated my love of lip products! (Ahh! Haha!)

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Nail Art Tutorial: Football Nails

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Football Nails Nail Art Tutorial & PicturesWow, last night’s Super Bowl game was crazy intense just like Beyonce’s Half Time performance! (And it was really cool to see Destiny’s Child reunite!)

With the lights going out in the second half and the close scores in the final minutes, I was on the edge of my seat!

Touch dowwwnnnn! (Sorry, I just had to say that somewhere in this post!)

This was the first Super Bowl that I ever watched the majority of, and boy did I pick a good one! This was really exciting, even for someone like me who doesn’t follow football.

On game day, I was sporting these Football Nails! I rushed to whip them up, and they’re so simple, anyone can recreate them. Plus you only need 3 different colours. It’s a great look for someone who doesn’t have patience to do more a more complicated nail design.

So…the Baltimore Ravens won! I’m neither a fan of the Ravens or the San Francisco 49ers, so I knew I’d be happy for whoever won. But I know that a lot of people were really disappointed because the 49ers were the favourites. (In a way, though, I’m a little glad that the Ravens won just because the 49ers won more Super Bowls. It’s nice when the underdog wins.)

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Smorgasbord Sundays & Nail Art: The Super Bowl & San Francisco 49ers Nails

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Super Bowl San Francisco 49ers Nails Nail ArtHappy Sunday, everyone!

Okay, so normally my Smorgasbord Sundays blog posts are not beauty-related. However, because the Super Bowl is today and I did San Francisco 49ers Nails, I thought it was more timely to show you my manicure today instead of Monday.

(Hope you won’t mind seeing more nail polish than expected!) 😉

Also, if you’re not a fan of the San Francisco 49ers, you may want to check out the skittle nail art I did yesterday with the Baltimore Ravens team colours!

I haven’t ‘picked sides’ as to which team I want to win the Super Bowl.

I don’t follow the sport, but there’s so much excitement surrounding the Super Bowl every year that even this non-football fan wants to experience that. Sooo…I’ll be watching the game (and the commercials)! Oh yeah, and the dip with chips I plan to stuff my face with will also make the game more interesting. 😉

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Nail Art: Super Bowl Baltimore Ravens Nails

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Super Bowl Nails Nail Art Baltimore Ravens Will you be watching the Super Bowl on Sunday?

Despite not following football or being a huge fan of it, I’ll still catch the Super Bowl. Why? It’s such a glorified sports moment, and there’s an undeniable excitement surrounding it.

Are you rooting for the Baltimore Ravens or the San Francisco 49ers?

I’ll be happy for whichever team wins since I’m not enough of a fan of either to lean one way or the other.

However, I thought it would be fun to whip up a simple skittle manicure for some Super Bowl Baltimore Ravens Nails! The Baltimore Ravens’ team colours are right up my alley.

In this look, I used Deborah Lippmann Fade to Black, Topshop Glimmer (gold), and Topshop Late Show (purple).

If you want to create Baltimore Ravens nail art with a twist, you may want to add white to the mix in the form of dots. I think that would be a fun addition to this plain manicure.

Edit: For the San Francisco 49ers fans out there, I did a nail-art look with their team colours, too. Click here to see my San Francisco 49ers nail art.

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