1. Surprises in the mail from Marianna at Castellammare Jewelry. If you haven’t checked out her beautiful pieces – go, now. You won’t regret it!
2. My new pair of Paige Edgemont skinnies arrived in record time. You better believe I will be wearing this non stop!
3. After years of waiting, Ottawa finally is home to it’s first H&M. The store opened to the public yesterday but I was lucky enough to score an invite to the launch party on Tuesday. Although I didn’t make any purchases, I did receive a beautiful purse in my swag bag!
4. Wearing shorts in the fall while parking myself on a bench and spending the afternoon reading made my Sunday afternoon. The almond milk latte wasn’t bad either!
5. Sephora has finally restocked their nail polish displays with the new Formula X polish. These brightly coloured stands are neatly organized and have special testing stickers so that you can play with the hues before you buy! I love the new look and will definitely be adding a few polishes to my cart soon!
It’s time to pack up the shorts, sandals and summer beauty faves – fall is here and bringing deeper, richer hues along with it. A great jacket will keep you warm and dry through the damp, chilly days. This RED Valentino Bow Detailed Parka is subtle in colour but packs a real punch in the details. Keeping things classic and simple will make you feel stylish and confident this Fall.
Simple black and white fashion is trending for Fall. To keep your look fun and unique, wear a long lasting red lip to give off a sexy and polished vibe. This YSL Beauty Rouge Pur Couture glossy stain applies flawlessly and has some serious staying power. My go to colour is Rouge Laque – but head over to your local Sephora to test out a few different shades to see what suits you best. If $34 is a little steep for your budget, L’Oreal Paris Colour Caresse is a pretty awesome dupe, however, the colour selection is not as broad.
No matter the season, flawless skin is always in style. La Roche Posay offers a wide range of skincare products to help correct any imperfections that ail you.
With cool weather on the horizon, it is better to prevent chapped lips before they occur. Using a scrub a couple times a week will keep your lips looking soft and supple, not to mention the great canvas they will make for your deep red polish! This fresh Sugar Lip Polish is gentle and natural and does wonders for dry skin.
Gone are the days of bright nails, but that doesn’t mean you have to have boring nails. Pair this Chanel Vertigo polish with almost any other colour and create fabulous Fall friendly designs. The dark grey cream almost appears black in some light, but it is the shine and easy application that cannot be beat.
Now it is your turn to share your Fall fashion and beauty faves!
Sticking with the black and white theme this week – this manicure is a cross between elegant and trendy. To create this looks, start with a white base, I used essie marshmallow, and then paint the tips with a steady hand using an opaque black.
As always, if you’re wearing a fabulous manicure – send some pictures my way. I’d love to see how your rocking some of the new fall nail trends! Tag me in your mani pics on Instagram or Twitter.
This time of the year really makes me remember my childhood. Gearing up to go back to school meant shopping, new supplies, new clothes and when I finally was old enough, new makeup. Today I want to share a few of my favourite beauty buys with you – just in case you are in the market for a little back to school nostalgia. In the near future I will share more depth product reviews of many items you see here.
Laura Mercier Hydrating Primer – If you have dry and flaky skin, this primer is made for you. It will smooth any rough patches and leave your face looking matte and beautiful. Just a caveat – if you have very oily skin this primer may be too heavy and could cause breakouts. YSL Babydoll Mascara – This is my go to mascara. I use it day in and day out. It plumps and separates my lashes like now other. If you’re interested in a full product review just click here. Guerlain Lingerie De Peau – A foundation that applies effortlessly and provides moisture and medium coverage for the entire day – no reapplication required. Layer Lingerie De Peau over the Laura Mercier Hydrating Primer and be prepared to receive skin compliments all day long! Ageless Derma Satin Lip Gloss* – This moisturizing gloss is made with aloe vera and green tea extract which makes avoiding cracked, dry lips a total breeze. It isn’t often you find a lip gloss/lip chap combo that actually delivers the results it promises. After a swipe of Ageless Derma Satin Gloss your lips will be thanking you. Kate Somerville ExfoliKate – I received a tiny tester of this exfoliator and I was hooked. In just two minutes, twice a week you’ll notice a significant change in the appearance of your face. This product will rid your skin of dead cells and eliminate bacteria leaving you feeling fresh faced and beautiful. Almay Lash Care Makeup Remover Pads* – I’ve been known to sleep in my mascara more often than I’d like to admit. In all honesty, finding cotton pads and makeup remover has always been a chore for me at night, but this gentle eye makeup remover allows me to skip this step entirely. These pre-soaked towelettes make taking off my mascara a breeze, consider my days of makeup removal excuses over!
Now it is your turn to share, what beauty products are at the top of your must buy list?
xo Lauren
*These products were provided to me directly from the company for review. All opinions are completely honest and as always, my own.
This weekend I treated myself to a few September fashion magazines. To my delight, beautiful nail art manicures were front and center in both issues, which left me no choice but to try one out. In Style featured a few do it yourself nail art instructionals using some of the best fall trends – so I happily obliged and gave one a try.The Dip-Dye Tips manicure featured both the negative space trend (as long as you use a nude base colour) and a deep blue ombre. You’ll need a makeup sponge, a pale or nude base colour , a deep blue and a top coat. I used Sephora by OPI Bare to Be Different as the neutral colour and OPI I Saw… You Saw… We Saw… Warsaw for the cobalt ombre effect. This manicure is fool proof as long as you follow a few easy steps.
Step 1: Prime your nail with a base coat – preferably a nail strengthener like OPI Nail Envy [product review here].
Step 2: Paint your nails completely using the nude/pink hue and allow it to dry completely.
Step 3: Using a makeup sponge, paint a layer of top coat on the tip and then follow with a layer of blue. Using the top coat first will dilute the colour which will give you the dip-dye look. Lightly dab the painted area on the sponge on your nail from the half way point to your tip, leave the cuticle area untouched. Allow your nails to dry completely before moving on to the next stage.
Step 4: Using a fresh makeup sponge [or the other side], paint the edge with blue polish and tab on the tip area of your nail to saturate the colour.
Step 5: Once the blue lacquer is completely dry, follow with a quick dry top coat to seal the manicure. I used essie good to go for this [product review here]. I am extremely happy with how this manicure turned out – it is very unique and intricate looking.
As always, if you’re wearing a fabulous manicure – send some pictures my way. I’d love to see how your rocking some of the new fall nail trends! Tag me in your mani pics on Instagram or Twitter.
Sometimes I come across a product that makes me feel like a brand has tapped my brain and extracted my deepest, darkest beauty dreams. Qualities I could only imagine in an item magically become a reality – this is how I felt when I found Benefit’s Fake Up Concealer. This ultra-hydrating crease control concealer is the answer to my prayers. For years I have longed for a product to turn my blotchy, blemish ridden skin into a beautiful work of art, yet most concealers enhance my dry spots making them more noticeable than choosing to go bare. When I stumbled across Fake Up on a routine trip to Sephora, I couldn’t help but give it a try. In typical benefit fashion, the concealer is offered in only three shades – light, medium and dark. I’m quite pale but I found the light to be just a tad fair for my skin, which means there is hope for you snow white beauties out there! The medium shade matches my skin flawlessly even without spending time blending. The concealer is comprised of two parts – the inner pigmented area (light defusing and full coverage) and the outer circle (a hydrating formula filled with vitamin E and apple seed extract). It is easy to apply as the goal is to use both parts of the product equally. I rub my finger on the tip of the concealer which mixes the hydrator and the concealer together and then dab on my problem areas.
If full coverage is the look you desire, Fake Up might not be the concealer for you. I find it to be just slightly more sheer than other brands, however, it is buildable. For me, the hydrating aspect is what makes this product irreplaceable. My blemishes and dry patches are being concealed and moisturized all at the same time! Fake Up is the perfect product for someone with dry or dehydrated skin as it will assist in the repairing process.
Some may feel that the price is a bit steep for such a small amount of product. For me, $29 a tube is a small price to pay for smooth, flawless looking skin. If you’re not sure that Fake Up is right for you, I recommend testing it out using Sephora’s extremely customer friendly return policy, which allows to you to return any product, in almost any condition, with no questions asked.
Benefit’s Fake Up concealer is high my list of essential daily use products. The coverage is ample and the hydration is out of this world. This concealer is exactly what my skin has always dreamed of – and the cute disco-esque packaging is a great bonus which makes it easy to throw in your purse and apply whenever and wherever you need!
Have you come across a beauty product that you feel was made for you?
The week before a long weekend always seems to drag by. If you’re in Canada – this Monday is a civic holiday [translation: three day weekend]. Luckily, I’ve stumbled across three new and exciting beauty treats that I can’t wait to share.
Tarte Cosmetics Friends and Family SaleIf you live in the US – this one is for you [Tarte does not currently ship to Canada]. I’m seriously considering order a few items and sending them to my friends and family south of the border – it isn’t often such a large player in the beauty space offers a 30% discount. Some of my go to Tarte products include: the maracuja creaseless concealer and the LipSurgence lip tints. Also – orders over $40 qualify for free shipping – just head over to tarte.com and shop your little American hearts out.
Square Hue Nail Polish BoxThis is the Birchbox/Glossybox/Beauty Box 5 for the nail addict. At $14.99 [plus shipping and handling] a month, you’ll receive 3 full sized bottles of lacquer right to your door step. The polishes are made in the same factories as the major players in the industry and are of comparable quality. You can opt in and out at any time without any extra fees – bonus, they ship to Canada! The August collection is sold out already so if you’re interested in signing up for the Fall, don’t wait too long. Just head to SquareHue.com and follow the easy instructions.
Sephora VIB Rouge ProgramA huge revamp is in the works for the giant beauty product retailer. It is still free of charge to become a beauty insider, but now you will be rewarded based on how much you spend. Previously there were two categories, those who frequented Sephora only a few times a year, and those who spent over $350 in 365 [I’ll let you guess which category I fit into]. Now, Sephora is adding a third category – for the completely beauty obsessed population. To qualify, you must spend over $1000 in a calendar year. By doing so, you will receive exclusive gifts and event invitations, free beauty consultations and much more! The VIB Rouge program will kick off August 12, with extra points and giveaways for all tier members during that week. I suggest saving your pay checks until the launch – who doesn’t love some free beauty product samples and perks!
It has been quite a while since I’ve done a product review. When life gets crazy, the first thing to fall by the wayside is new product purchases. But sometimes a beauty item pops up that I just can’t resist testing out – Too Faced: Better Than False Lashes was one of those must trys for me.
It is no surprise to anyone that I love mascara. When asked what my best physical feature is my response will always be my eyelashes. If I am given the chance to enhance them, you better believe I’ll say yes. So off I went to Sephora to get my hands on this nylon lash system. This product is like nothing I’ve ever seen before, it is a three step procedure that includes priming the lashes, adding the nylon fibers and then sealing them in. Fiberwig mascara is the most similar product I can think of since it adds “fibers” to the end of your lashes. In my opinion, the results are not even comparable – you can see my product review for those paint of false lashes here. Better Than False Lashes comes with two wands of mascara. The first is your seemingly typical black mascara, which applies nicely and doesn’t clump. You need to use this both to prime and to seal.
Left side has one coat of “step 1” mascara.
The second is this white, fluffy, cotton like substance. In all honesty I was a little reluctant to put this near my eyes – but I went ahead with it anyways, I mean what’s there to lose [other than my vision..]. All you need to do is apply it generously to your primed lashes – you will start to see the pieces of white fluff sticking to the ends.
Capturing the white fluff on camera is a challenge. If you look closely you can see a few pieces.
The final step is to seal in the nylon fluff fibers using the black mascara [which is used to prime in step 1]. Although the directions don’t tell you how long you should wait for the nylon fluff to bond and stick, I usually wait about 30 seconds before applying the final sealing coat of mascara. I think that some of the fluff is picked up by the mascara wand when applying the top coat, but the majority of it does seem to stick to your lashes. You want to be generous with the product in this step but remember to take your time. If you rush you will end up with clumpy spider lashes.
Too Faced Better Than False Lashes (left) vs. natural (right)
One word of advice – do not use this system on your lower lashes – you will end up with a huge mess all over your face [yes, I tried]. Otherwise, this mascara is pretty fantastic. You will need to spend some extra time carefully applying each layer, but in the end the effort is worth the results – in my opinion. This system lasts all day for me [and depending how I sleep, I can sometimes get away with wearing it two days in row – BAD LAUREN]. I don’t notice any flaking during the day and the nylon fiber doesn’t irritate my eyes at all.
A rushed application job, but great results none the less.
When it comes time to wash your face at night, any kind of eye make-up removal will do the trick to take this mascara off – a few swipes and your lashes will be bare.
I would highly recommend this product to anyone who wants extra length and doesn’t have the time to apply false lashes. If extra volume is what you crave, you will see a bit of enhancement with Too Faced Better Than False Lashes, but you’re probably better of using a regular mascara and lots of coats.
I don’t know why I love reading about what people carry around with them everyday, but I do. I always find it so interesting to see what is deemed important enough to stash in your bag. I figure if I am intrigued by these kinds of posts, maybe some of you guys are too – which leads me to “What’s In Ellepottsie’s Bag” version 1.0.1. My beautiful Chloé Marcie Satchel Bag, a gift from my Aunt for my 25th birthday.
2. A bottle of essie polish. The colour changes depending on my manicure – you never know when you’ll need a quick touch up.
3. A mini tube of hand cream – that sometimes doubles as face cream. I love this L’Occitane moisturizer, it is a bit of a splurge but a little goes a long way.
4. Nail file – I don’t think this needs any explanation.
5. Band-aids. I only recently started stocking these in my purse – thank goodness I did. When nasty blisters appear these bad boys have been saving my life. Am I being dramatic?
6. A wallet- this is where the magic happens. By magic, what I really mean is a disappearing act, one day it is full of money, the next – there is nothing. This Marc by Marc Jacobs wallet has been my go to for over 3 years now – it is the perfect size, unfortunately they don’t make them like this anymore.
7. Daily planner and a pen. For some reason writing things down is much more satisfying then scheduling appointments in my phone. Call me old school, but it is the only way I can keep track of things.
8. Ray-ban Clubmaster Shades – thanks Dad for the best belated birthday present. Perfect for sunny days, buggy bike rides, hungover brunches and looking fly.
9. I always carry at least one tube of lip chap – usually Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment. It is natural, fresh scented and very moisturizing – can’t go wrong with that.
10. A hair tie. Better safe than sorry, who knows when hair disaster might strike and you don’t want to be stuck without anything to tame your mane.
11. A massive set of keys. I wish someone would come up with a universal FOB system to get rid of these bulky pieces of metal, although there are probably a lot of issues with that idea.
12. Brush-on cuticle oil. As a nail junkie, this is an essential item that goes everywhere with me – sometimes hand cream isn’t enough to soothe hang nails or cuticle snags. Sure, call me high maintenance – but it works.
Only one item is missing from this photo – my trusty [and busted] iPhone. It is a bit tough to take a picture of it while using it to take the picture – I’m sure you get the idea.
1. Surprises in the mail from Marianna at Castellammare Jewelry. If you haven’t checked out her beautiful pieces – go, now. You won’t regret it!
A 5'3 Perspective 