Dear Readers,
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas today! 🙂
Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, I extend my heartfelt wish for you to enjoy the love and warmth associated with the festive season. It’s a great time for us to get together and appreciate the company of loved ones.
To those who are alone on Christmas, just know that my thoughts and heart are with you. I pray that you will be strong and will still feel the magic of Christmas. *Big hug*
Love,
Mary
A while back, I had the pleasure of test-driving the 100% natural Consonant Natural Foaming Face Wash (Pure Unscented) in the cute travel-sized can.
Considering that the Consonant Natural Foaming Face Wash won two awards (Globe and Mail Style Beauty Awards’ Best Cleanser and Beauty Connexion’s Top Beauty Product), it had a lot to live up to.
Full of nourishing botanicals such as Tea Tree Oil and Grape Seed Oil to hydrate the skin, the Consonant face wash also promises to eliminate an uneven skin tone and fight blemishes.
Additionally, it’s supposed to be able to remove makeup (even stubborn eye makeup), and it’s pH-balanced.
So how did it fare? Learn more about my experience in this post!
My complexion has a warm undertone, so silver can sometimes be tricky for me to pull off. Nevertheless, I’m always game when it comes to testing out a new silver nail polish because I love how celebratory it looks!
Essie Apres-Chic from the Winter 2015 Collection is a silver that would warm the nail-polish-loving hearts of the Snow Queen and Frosty the Snowman.
Tin Man, eat your heart out!
Wintry with a wind-chill factor of minus twenty, Essie Apres-Chic certainly keeps its cool and found its way onto this blogger’s nails!
I wore this a while ago, but finally I’m bringing you the full review and more swatches of this flashy Essie nail polish.
Considering that green nail polish is my ‘Comfort Colour,’ it’s surprising how it’s been a while since I sported one!
Pretty Serious Hack the Halls, come to mama! 😉
Hailing from the Pretty Serious Ghosts of Christmas Future Collection, this new grass green with a metallic foil finish is what I imagine the lawns in the year 4000 to look like. (Maybe by then, they’ll be self-watering.)
Whoa – can you believe that Christmas is just days away? Where did December go? I feel like in the blink of an eye, the Efficient Elves came, wrapped up the month in curly ribbons, and are already preparing for next year’s campaign!
Hey, did any of you watch the Miss Universe 2015 competition? I rarely ever tune into beauty pageants, but I saw short snippets while also checking out Mariah Carey’s Christmas specials.
It was unfortunate that Steve Harvey flubbed his climactic announcement, which led to initially crowning the incorrect winner. However, this is just another reminder that people make mistakes. We’re human. And sadly, people get socially crucified when they’re not flawless. It didn’t help that, in his case, his mortifying mistake was broadcast live, opening a can of worms for ridicule and memes referencing that Kanye-Taylor-Beyonce awards-show moment.
I don’t know a lot about Steve Harvey, but the way he handled this major slip-up makes me respect him. He didn’t externalize things and list excuses for why he read the card wrong. He was accountable for his actions, he apologized to the appropriate individuals, and he expressed that he was upset about making the mistake.
It sounded genuine to me, and although it may affect his future career opportunities, it means a lot that he owned up to it right off the bat. (I’m not a fan of sweeping things under the rug due to inflated egos.)
It’s really crazy how quickly December has gone by so far. If it zipped by any faster, it would be like a ferret racing to beat a red light!
A classic red creme is a staple for most traditional Christmas manicures, and you may remember that I sported Essie Shall We Chalet? (from the Winter 2015 Collection) in freehand holiday nail art and a stamped ugly Christmas sweater nail design.
Even beyond the holidays, you can’t go wrong with a red nail polish because it’s one of those colours that’s easy for everyday wear, and it’s a simple way to add a bold BAM to your look.
The very few times that I’ve met celebrities in person (Maestro Fresh Wes at Hero Burgers, Avril Lavigne during her early free-mall-tour days, etc.), I’ve always managed to keep my cool. However, when it comes to nail polish, I get starstruck with the drop of a hat. 😉 *Squeals*
This was certainly the case with Essie Starry Starry Night, which is from the upcoming Essie Retro Revival Collection that officially launches in January 2016! (Click on that link to see the Quick Look post I did a few days ago.)
Like Gloria Swanson, Essie Starry Starry Night approached me and said, “I’m ready for my close-up!” However, unlike the fictitious, fading star from Sunset Boulevard, even after all these years, its light still shines brightly.
Essie Starry Starry Night was originally launched in 1997, and it has reached cult status. After extending a poll for beauty enthusiasts to weigh in and vote for their favourite shade to be resurrected, it was no surprise that the twinkling blue wonder named after the heavenly bodies rose to the top of the wish list!
Over the years, if you’ve ever taken a peek on eBay, the going price was around $700 CAD – obviously a price point that only a slim margin of people could splurge on.
I’ve been waiting for the re-release of this colour for the longest time and am ecstatic that now it will not only be available again, but for a reasonable price. Love it when nail polish can be enjoyed by more people!
Since I’ve never owned the original Essie Starry Starry Night, I can’t compare it to see if the colour, sparkle, or formulation is a dead-on match. Nevertheless, it is one of my cherished nail polishes, and I’m thrilled to have it in my collection!
Justin Bieber Someday is an eau de parfum that was originally released in 2011. It was later sold and is currently under the careful wing of Elizabeth Arden.
Marketed towards his fan base of primarily females aged 14 to 18 (at least back then), it’s no secret that I fall way outside that demographic. (I fall somewhere between the Paleozoic and Triassic eras, to be exact.)
Nevertheless, I put down my granny cane, adjusted my spectacles, lined up my doilies, and poured myself some Earl Grey tea into a gold-rimmed cup laced with English roses before getting ready to test out this fragrance. Why? I believe that anyone can wear whatever scent they want. “Age is just a number,” said this blogging dinosaur.
Even when a fragrance is made for a specific gender, age, or personality, if you feel great wearing it, go for it! Dissolve those unnecessary boundaries. The world has built enough walls.
Before we begin the Justin Bieber Someday perfume review, I want you to know where I’m coming from. Generally, I tend to enjoy the sweeter, gourmand eau de parfums, and even those that aren’t necessarily billed as being sweet become that way when interacting with my body chemistry. However, in the past year, I have also started to enjoy more mature, floriental and spicy fragrances.
Created by Honorine Blac, the perfumer of Fiermenich, Justin Bieber Someday is classified as a fruity gourmand fragrance. From the description alone, it sounds like something I might like.
In this post, you’ll see photos of the bottle and hear my thoughts on what I think of the Justin Bieber Someday perfume.
P.S. I’m having a spontaneous surprise: a Justin Bieber Someday 50 mL Eau de Parfum giveaway for a brand new bottle! It’s open to Canadian readers only until this Saturday December 19th, 2015 at 11:59 pm EST. (Scroll to the bottom of this post for the full details and to enter.) Edit (Sunday December 20th, 2015): Congratulations, Rebecca! You’ve won my giveaway! Please check your e-mail shortly and reply to my e-mail within 24 hours to claim your prize! Thanks to everyone for participating, and come back again soon, as I’ll be having nail-polish giveaways.
P.P.S. In case you missed it, yesterday evening, I published a blog post on the OPI Hello Kitty Collection launching in January 2016!
