Author Archives: Mary S.

Haul of Shame: Sephora VIB Sale Haul 2014

Sephora VIB Sale 2014 HaulHi! I’m Mary, and I’m a beauty junkie! Here’s my Sephora VIB Sale Haul! 😉

It’s both exciting and embarrassing to admit that I re-qualified for my second consecutive year of being a VIB Rouge member. (Maybe I need to join Sephora Junkies Anonymous. However, if there is such a group out there, I think we would just wind up talking about our favourite makeup items and then enable each other to buy more. Dangerous! We’re talkin’ Code Red or…Code ROUGE! Hehe, I can’t resist cheesy puns.)

Recently, Sephora had their much-anticipated VIB Sale, which only happens a couple of times each year, and it’s available to those who reach VIB and VIB Rouge membership. This time, the Sephora VIB Sale was for 20% off everything in-store and online.

Since I have a lot of favourites, I try to hold out until these sales, so I can stock up. But, of course there are always makeup products that wind up in my cart. (Don’t know how they sneak in there. Life’s greatest mystery. Or not.) *Shrugs shoulders and gives a sheepish grin*

While I don’t often post hauls, I thought I would do one this time because I really enjoy seeing other people’s Sephora VIB hauls. It’s a grown-up version of Show And Tell.

When I was in kindergarten, for Show And Tell, I would often just grab something random to bring to tell my classmates about.

Once, it was a piece of lint that I told the class was part of a cloud from Heaven. (After Show And Tell was over, I didn’t keep the story going. It was just a piece of lint again.)

Sometimes I would bring meaningful things to talk about, but I enjoyed making interesting stories about ‘boring’ objects or even just things that could be considered garbage. (Haha, one time, I brought in trash and explained how it was really a piece of history! Like nearly every kid, I was obsessed with time capsules.)

Well, I don’t have any lint or garbage to show you. Bummer, right?

Instead, I have my Sephora goodies that came in the mail yesterday! 🙂

When I returned home after having a lovely dinner out with a friend, I immediately picked up my camera and became a paparazzi.

This post just contains quick photos of what I got. If you’re interested in seeing a detailed review and additional photos of any of the items, let me know. (Not all the stuff is for me. I got some for my mom, so I’ll only be able to do reviews on the things I keep. I’ll indicate which ones I got for her.)

P.S. Ever since Wiz Khalifa’s album, Blacc Hollywood dropped, I’ve been listening to it almost on a daily basis. I think this is why whenever I read or write the word “haul”, his song “We Dem Boyz” plays in my head. Instead of “Hol’ up”, I think of it as “Haul-up”. Yeah, I know. Something just ain’t right with my mushball upstairs.

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Nail Art: Green Dotticure (OPI My Gecko Does Tricks & OPI That’s Hula-rious!)

OPI My Gecko Does Tricks & OPI OPI That's Hula-rious SwatchGreen and I are tight. We go everywhere together. We watch each other’s back. We are in mad love.

So when I saw that the OPI Hawaii Collection had not one, but two green nail polishes, my heart palpitated a little. Scratch that. It started crunking – that’s how happy it was! 😉

Since I couldn’t choose just one for a manicure, I decided to do an easy Green Dotticure featuring OPI My Gecko Does Tricks and OPI That’s Hula-rious!, which are both from the OPI Hawaii Collection for Spring/Summer 2015. (Click here to see my OPI Hawaii Collection Media Launch Recap post!)

This is such a simple nail design that I whipped up very quickly, and it’s what I wore to the Contessa 2014 Awards.

If your schedule is as busy as mine is and you’re trying to juggle a million things at once, this nail art is for you. It’s fuss-free, and all it consists of are dots arranged in two vertical lines. Easy, effective, and simple to replicate! 🙂

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Blog News: I’m Attending the Contessa 2014 Awards Tonight

Happy Sunday, everyone!

I’ll be attending the Contessa 2014 Awards tonight, which will be hosted by Noah Cappe, the TV personality and host of Food Network Canada’s Carnival Eats!

(You may remember that last year, I attended and blogged about the awesome time I had at the Contessa 2013 Awards. Last year, there was a circus theme. This year, there’s an elemental theme – i.e. earth, air, fire, and water.)

Contessa 2014 Canadian Hairstylist of the Year Awards

The Contessa Canadian Hairstylist of the Year Awards celebrates 26 years of Canada’s top hair talent, and it’s a grand event taking place at the Westin Harbour Castle in downtown Toronto.

I’m not a hair professional, but PR was thoughtful and generous – they invited me to the event and provided me with a courtesy ticket for myself and my “date”. 🙂 (Good thing, too, because earlybird tickets were sold for $175 CAD, and afterwards, leading up to the Gala night, you can buy a ticket for $200 CAD!)

A portion of the proceeds from the Contessa 2014 Awards ticket sales and corporate sponsorships go toward Look Good Feel Better, which is a national, non-profit organization that supports women living with cancer through workshops, which help improve self-image of women fighting cancer.

It includes cocktails, the awards show with artistic presentations, and dinner! There are going to be over 1,000 guests attending, so yes, it’s a big, elaborate event, and I’m looking forward to soaking it all up! (Learn more about the Contessa 2014 Gala.)

While the main stars of the show will be professional hairstylists, there will also be categories for makeup artists and nail artists.

Tonight, check me out on social media, especially Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, as I will do my best to post photos and video clips from the event live. (It’s my way of ‘taking you with me’ and sharing the experience, which is way more fun!)

Also, there will be an official Contessa 2014 Awards Webcast, sponsored by CND. This webcast begins at 7 pm EST.

The entire event is presented by Salon Magazine, and you can see from the image above that there are a lot of professional haircare companies who have sponsored the Contessa 2014 Awards.

I’ll do a recap blog post in the near future, so you can see more from photos of this event that don’t make it onto my social media.

Yup, I’ll be busy working on a bunch of recap blog posts for my lovely readers:

Please stay tuned for those, and be patient. As you know, I blog as a hobby, and these days after my full-time job, socializing, and doing personal projects, I come home feeling pretty exhausted. I’ll do my best to get the posts up as soon as I can. I hope you will find them worth the wait! 🙂

If you’re not familiar with the Contessa Awards, please continue reading the rest of this post because I’ve included the press release that PR provided me with. It includes background information.

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Quick Look: OPI Infinite Shine Swatches, Photos & Press Release

OPI Infinite Shine SwatchesGel nail polish is pretty popular these days, and maybe you’ll find it surprising, but I’ve never tried any of them! (Have you?)

Now, OPI has come out with their own version – OPI Infinite Shine, and what sets it apart from many others is that it doesn’t require an LED light to cure the polish, and you can just use regular nail-polish remover instead of having to ‘soak off’ the manicure when you’re ready to take it off.

Like a regular gel nail polish, it’s supposed to last for up to 10 days, and it comes in tons of different colours – 30!

When I went to the OPI Hawaii Collection Media Launch, PR was generous to provide me with the nail board of all 30 exciting OPI Infinite Shine shades, as well as the OPI Infinite Shine Primer, OPI Infinite Shine Gloss, and a colourful lacquer, OPI Infinite Shine No Stopping Me Now.

Check out this post to see everything closer, but especially the beautiful swatches. There are so many gorgeous colours, and my top picks are To the Finish Lime!, Withstands the Test of Thyme, and To Infinity & Blue-yond!

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What I Wore on My Nails for Hallowe’en

Halloween ManicureThis is What I Wore on My Nails for Hallowe’en! 🙂

At first I really wanted to do some Frankenstein Monster or witch nail art, but I was so pressed for time. However, I didn’t want to just wear any ole manicure. It needed that Hallowe’en spirit!

As I browsed my nail-polish collection, my eyes zeroed in on Pretty Serious Swatch And Learn, the multichromatic green that I designed. (Click the link to see it solo – the multiple colours really shine through that way.)

But it needed more of a festive vibe, so I kept searching for something to layer on top. Finally – I found my bottle of OPI Where’s My Blanket???, which is from the OPI Peanuts Collection. It’s a glitter polish suspended in a clear base, and it has pale peach, black, and white sequins.

Layering a coat of OPI Who Are You Calling Bossy?!?, a black creme also from the OPI Peanuts Collection, I put the green on top. I did this to darken the green. The finishing touch was the glitter. Together, I call this manicure “Hallowe’en Soup” – hehe, it’s the first thing that sprung to my mind!

Edit: This is the manicure I wore to the OPI Hawaii Collection Media Launch on October 31, 2014!

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Quick Look: OPI Hawaii Collection Swatches, Photos & Press Release

OPI Hawaii CollectionLast week was pretty amazing because I got to attend back-to-back exclusive nail-polish events: the Nicole by OPI 2015 Collection Blogger Dinner on Thursday and the OPI Hawaii Collection Media Launch on Friday! (Many thanks to PR for the invitations!) 🙂

Today, I have a Quick Look Post on the OPI Hawaii Collection for Spring/Summer 2015, which will hit stores on February 4th, 2015.

At the OPI Hawaii Collection Media Launch, PR was generous to provide me with all 12 shades contained in a beautiful collectible keepsake box! 🙂 They also graced me with the official press release, promotional card, and nail-swatch board, so I could share further information with all of you.

Included in this Hawaii Collection by OPI are bottle shots that I eagerly photographed, so you can see each shade up close and personal!

My initial reaction when I first ‘lei’-ed eyes on the OPI Hawaii Collection? *Jumps up and down after seeing two greens* (Hehe, I couldn’t resist the corny pun!)

Also, I thought that the gold with glitter was so different than the rest. It’s wild, crazy, and unexpected from OPI, which makes me curious to wear it even more! 😉

Overall, the Hawaii Collection by OPI explodes with a wide variety of colour, which jives with my mental images of Hawaii’s lush scenery! (What a wonderful way to temporarily ‘forget’ about winter coming and focus on spring and summer, right?)

This is one of my favourite OPI collections since the OPI Brazil Collection, and I’m excited to wear and review a bunch of them. (Check back soon for my separate blog posts on select shades, and feel free to let me know if there are particular ones that you’re most interested in seeing in-depth first!)

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Blog News: I’m Attending the OPI Spring/Summer 2015 Media Launch Today

Suzi Weiss-Fischmann OPIHappy Hallowe’en, everyone! I hope that you have some fun plans tonight. (Hallowe’en is my favourite holiday!)

Yesterday, if you visited Swatch And Learn or followed me on my social media, you know that I got to enjoy a wonderful blogger dinner unveiling the Nicole by OPI Spring 2015 Collection!

Well, I hinted that the nail-news train would keep on chugging.

Guess what? I’m attending the OPI Spring/Summer 2015 Media Launch this morning, and Suzi will be there to talk about the creativity and inspiration behind it all. (Needless to say, I’m beyond excited! Maybe I should breathe into a brown paper bag to calm myself? Haha!) 😉

Keep your eyes glued to my social media this morning starting at around 11 am EDT because I’ll be sharing photos and more, especially on Twitter during the event! (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, and Pinterest)

As usual, I’ll be whipping up a detailed blog post in the near future covering the event to walk you through everything I see, hear, taste, and maybe smell! 😉 (In case you didn’t see, it’ll be a post something like the one I wrote the first time I met Suzi, the second time, and the third time!) 🙂

Thanks to PR and to you, my encouraging and kindhearted readers. Without incredible readers like you, I wouldn’t have opportunities like this!

(Also, thanks to my boss for letting me take the day off work! I rarely take vacation days for relaxation. Haha, they’re always for things like meeting with people at the bank or the law firm to sign papers when I bought my home, unpacking after moving, helping my mom shop for a winter jacket, etc. Finally I took a vacation day that is relaxing and exciting at the same time!)

Edit: Click here to see my Quick Look post featuring OPI Hawaii Collection Swatches, Photos & the Press Release!

Edit 2: Click here to see my OPI Hawaii Collection Media Launch recap post!

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