OOTD: Casual with a touch of Sparkle!

Hi ladies and gents,

It has definitely been a while!  I am so sorry for being so MIA over the past  who-knows-how-long.  I blame work and my lack of social life.  My only form of social media interaction has been instagram - where I seem to be able to remember to post ootd and miscellaneous other tidbits of my life.  So if you're interested in seeing more of me, my instagram is cocomechanel.

Today, I have a brief OOTD for you that I posted on instagram.  I figured every time I post one of these there, I'll post it here with a break down.

Essie: Lights

This spring, Essie released a line of polishes under the name of Poppy-razzi.  It consisted of 4 polishes: Lights, Camera, Action & Bazooka.  Two shades instantly caught my eye and I had to pick them up.  The first of the two shades is this one here: Lights.

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Revlon Super Lustrous Lipglosses: Swatches & Review

Today's featured product has to be one of my favourites.  Revlon always has amazing products - it's one of my favourite drugstore brands.  They're products are affordable and good-quality.  What I'm talking about is... Super Lustrous Lipglosses with SPF 12.  I currently own 6 shades (4 of which are considered new, 2 which have been around a while).  Originally, 4 of these shades were limited edition, though they have now been integrated into the permanent line.

Butter London: Slapper

More Butter London!  It has been a while since I sat down and wrote a blog post.  I have missed this!!  Aside from always loving my usual pink / red / purple polishes, I have always held a spot in my heart for teal / turquoise polishes.  I love how bright and eye-catching the colour is.  Though I do own my share of turquoise polishes, I still decided to pick up Butter London's Slapper - part of their Spring 2012 collection (along with Knackered - see post here).  I have been wearing this colour either on my toes or fingers for about 2 weeks now... I will never tire of this polish!

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I'm back!

Hi all!


It has been so long!  How I've missed you all (an blogging!)
I hope you can excuse my lengthy absence.  I've had things to deal with and no time to blog.
But I am back and promise to get back on the blogging horse.

Look out for some exciting new posts on travel, food & cosmetics from asia!

Talk to you soon!

xo Chanel

P.S.:  What do you lovely, people think about giveaways when I hit milestones?

Trending: Neon Accessories (Spring 2012)

I LOVE neon.  I cannot express to you how much neons draw me in.  I am a sucker for bright and beautiful.  It's fantastic!  I am in love with all the neon accessories that are in all the shop fronts recently.  I'll admit I might have gone just a tad bit crazy.  Don't judge me - I adore brights!  With that being said, I thought I'd share a few things I've seen / bought / stumbled upon for those of you interested in adding a few trendy neon pieces to your spring / summer 2012 wardrobe.  Nothing says "bring on the sun" like a neon!

OOTD: Rumour Has It - Pink Leopard on Black

There is something very something very simple and sophisticated to me about wearing one solid colour and accentuating it with a "pop" - either print, a bold statement piece or colour.   That is essentially what this outfit was inspired by.  I was going for simple and yet fun - perfect for a girls night out.

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Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eyeliner Set in Electric: Review & Swatches

It's been a while since I picked up this travel set from Sephora - around Christmas was when it was released - but it's taken me this long to swatch it all.  First off, I have to say I have always liked Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliners.  They are pigmented, long wearing and don't shift around once they set.  These are the types of creamy pencil liner that you can smudge out or use to tight line.  I believe all of these colours are available through Urban Decay's permanent line.

February Favourites!

Where in the world did February go?  And to think this was a leap year too - giving me an extra day which did not feel like enough.  I have been a busy gal this past February and have not had the time to sit down and blog like a good, responsible blogger.  I hope to do better in March.  Being as busy as I was, I gravitated towards a select group of products and essentially did the same routine most mornings.  So without further ado, here are my {belated} monthly favourites!

China Glaze: Hunger Games Giveaways!!

In the process of re-reading this series - yes I haven't really thought of these since they first came out, were read and put away - I remembered that China Glaze was releasing a Hunger Games Collection in March 2012 (it's actually already in some stores) to coincide with the release of the Hunger Games Movie release on March 23, 2012.

OOTD: When in Vegas...

My first OOTD!  It always seems to me that it's hard to get someone to help taking ootd pictures, so for my first one, I decided to feature one of my favourite "girls night out" outfits - something I coincidentally brought with me to Vegas.

I love dresses.  I also love having one main piece and working my outfit around it.  This dress, I stumbled upon at Forever 21 a few years back.  Initially, I was worried that it would emphasize my bottom half, but with careful styling, it's actually quite flattering.

Shoe Confessions: MK Rock N' Roll Berkley T-Strap

I love shoes. I am a shoeaholic. Anything to spoil my little tootsie's I'll do it!  That being said, I have the oddest sized foot.  I am somewhere between a 5 and a 6.  There are times I fit a 5, other that I fit a 6.  Times when 5.5 is too big and 5 is too small.  It's just hard at times to find a shoe that fits!

Recently, I have been on the hunt for a mid-height, comfortable, heel that I could dress up or down.  I wanted something easy that I could spend hours in.  In my hunt, I came across these babies.  These are leather - unlike the majority of the MK Berkley T-Straps which are patent leather.

Butter London: Knackered

Hello there blogging world.  It's been a while since my last post.  You'll have to excuse my hectic schedule but I'm back!  And I'm so excited to share with you....My FIRST ever Butter London came in the mail the other day.  I ordered Knackered along with Slapper from the Spring 2012 collection as well as the Nail Foundation and P.D. Quick Topcoat.  The order itself took 5 days to ship to me after the purchase receipt was received.  All together 7 business days.

I am so thrilled to have this polish.  Knackered is a grayish-purple-green chrome with fine iridescent glitter.  These photographs do not do this polish justice.  It reminds me of the inside of an oyster shell - which is probably the most accurate description of this polish.  This is one of those colours that changes depending on your lighting.  In direct sunlight, it is pale and sheer, in the shade or indoors, it takes on a silver-gray shade to it.

Lancome L'Absolu Rouge in Berry Noir: Review & Swatches

Today's feature product is a lip product by Lancome.  Lancome L'Absolu Rouge in Berry Noir is my absolutely favourite dark lip colour.  This beautiful shade has SPF 12 and is smooth, creamy and very pigmented.  After lusting after this colour for a year, I finally picked up my first Lancome lipstick and have not looked back.

Sugarpill Loose Eyeshadows: Review & Swatches

from sugarpillshop.com

I heard so much about Sugarpill after IMATS LA 2011.  It was all I heard about on Youtube on blogs for days.  I must admit, there is seriously not that much hype about IMATS Vancouver every year.  I have never been nor do I plan on going just for the fact that I rarely hear anything about it.  However, I would love to go to IMATS LA one day...  Anyways, back to the point, after hearing all these raves about how amazing Sugarpill loose pigments were, I had to order some of my own.

Shop MAC Lipsticks: Review & Swatches

The Shop MAC collection - released on February 9, 2012 along with Cook MAC - brought 6 stunning lipstick shades (5 new, 1 repromote) to MAC counters/stores across North America.  This was one collection, that I was very excited for.  Having had to literally hunt for the Iris Apfel collection, I was happy to see that this collection had not sold out with the first few hours.  I ended up picking up 4 of the 6 available shades.

Cook MAC Tendertone Lip Balm: Review & Swatches

They're back! MAC has finally repromoted their Tendertone Lip Balm as a part of the Cook MAC collection released on February 9, 2012.  Like the crazy lip product gal thast I am, I headed out on the day the collection was released and picked up all four tendertones released with this collection.  I have not used a Tendertone since 2010 or so when they were last released and I used all of my one and only one up.  These little potted lip balms always seem to fly off the shelves so I stocked up!

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed & Tipsy: Review & Swatches

Today's feature product is Blush!  Tarte Amazonian 12 hour/long-wearing Blush to be exact!  I   personally own 2 shades: Exposed and Tipsy.  These are both beautifully pigmented and long wearing blushes.  With simplistic, no fuss and convenient packaging, these are definitely a product to check out.

Benefit 'POREfessionally Pretty' Set: Review

Benefit has some of the most interesting products.  I am a firm believer in their mascara and have been since branching out into their blushes, bronzers and now primers.  The first primer I ever tried was Benefit's IT Girl.  Probably when I was about 16 - 17 or so.  Recently, I have been working off of a small sample of Benefit POREfessional Primer and finally decided to take the leap and buy the full sized product.  To my great surprise, when I arrived at Sephora to purchase the full sized product, for ~$2-$3 more, I was able to purchase this kit, which included a sample of Benefit's new Girl meets Pearl as well as their concealer Erase Paste (in Medium no. 2).

MAC: Fresh Honey Mineralized Blush: Review & Swatch

MAC's Naturally Collection was released in early January and featured 3 mineralized blushes as well 2 mineralized skin finishes (re-promotes) among other products.  The 3 blushes released were Fresh Honey, Subtle Breeze and Early Morning.  I was so tempted to buy all 3 blushes and both MSF, but I restrained myself and picked up just Fresh Honey.

MAC: Iris Apfel Collection in Flamingo & Pink Pigeon: Review & Swatches

This is a somewhat belated post considering that this collection has been sold out for some time now.  However, I figured I would do some swatches and reviews regardless.  Hopefully, if you are interested in these colours, I can provide some possible dupes and/or look-a-likes for these shades.  So without further ado, here are some swatches about the much loved, bird-inspired collection from Iris Apfel in collaboration with MAC. Please note: that this post will be fairly picture heavy for only showing 2 lipsticks.

ATTN: Shop MAC, Cook MAC - On Sale Online Now!

Attention All MAC Fanatics!

Shop MAC & Cook MAC is officially on sale at maccosmetics.com now!

If you don't think you'll be able to make it to a MAC Counter on the 9th - this is your chance!

Products are already starting to sell out (especially the lipsticks!)

Will you be buying online or at a MAC Counter?

xo, Chanel

P.S.: You can check out my "Shop MAC, Cook MAC" post on the release with all the info and official release photos here

Essie: Meet Me at Sunset & Essie Luxe Effects: Shine of the Times

It's been a while since I last did a nail polish post.  This week, I have been sporting this bright almost festive nail combo of Essie 'Meet Me at Sunset' topped off with Essie Luxe Effects 'Shine of the Times'.  This shimmery combo leans towards a festive end but is still bright enough to catch some attention.  It's definitely worth a look.

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Benefit 'Tan About Town': Review

Today's featured product is Benefit's Tan About Town - it was released as a "mini set" exclusively at Sephora over the holidays.  This set which first came out around Christmas time now seems to be all over the check out line at Sephora.  With 3 of their best selling items, this is the perfect little sample pack for a gal on the go!

January Favourites!

I can't believe that January is already over.  It seems to have flown by.  It seems that I have so many favorites this month.  There have been some new discoveries and some older products that I have 'newly rediscovered'.  As part of my effort to save money, I am doing my best to use up as much of the products I already have - instead of just continuing to buy more.  Note: monthly favorites are also long posts for me, as I tend to do a mini review on each product as I go.

Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss: Review & Swatches

As a follow up to my last post, I thought I'd also feature Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss!  I figured a short post with the basics would suffice as these seem to be very much loved lipglosses - however, these are not my favorite by Revlon.  With tall, slender tubes and similarly quilted caps, these glosses are not only beautiful in colour but sleek too!  Again, I own three.  They are more or less the corresponding lipgloss colours to the lipsticks I own in the same line.  I have for you Bordeaux (016), Strawberry (006) & Sunset Peach (022).

From L to R: Bordeaux, Strawberry & Sunset Peach

The formula of these is rather slippery.  In comparison to MAC lipglass, these are less sticky but they are more tacky than Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss.  In general, colours are creamy, fairly opaque and have a high gloss finish to them.

Now for the swatches!  In one swipe, you can see below the pigmentation of these glosses.  Bordeaux is the darkest, deepest and most richly coloured on the bunch.  It is for the most part a completely opaque gloss.  No need for lipstick underneath this one.  It creates a nice vampy, deep wine colour with high shine.  It has no glitter in it unlike the next two.  Strawberry is a cool-toned pink with fine glitter that reflects a variety of colours.  Finally, Sunset Peach (my personal favourite of the 3) is a nice light pale peach high shine gloss with the same multicoloured glitter as Strawberry.  Though all of these colours look beautiful when layered over a lipstick, they look just as pretty on their own.

With these glosses, keep in mind, what you see in the tube, is how it turns out on your lips.  They are true to colour and the pigmentation allows for the colour to transfer seamlessly to your lips.
As for the constantly lip product posts? I know, I know, I own too many lip products - but hey, that's just what I like.  I love my lip products!

What's your favourite makeup product?

xo, Chanel

Revlon Colorburst Lipsticks: Review & Swatches

Give some love to some of my favourite drugstore lipsticks, Revlon Colorburst Lipsticks.  I currently own 3 colors: Raspberry (045), Plum (010) and Peach (075).  My love of these first started about 2 years ago when I started to purchase and wear my own lipstick (rather than borrow my mom's).  These were on sale and I decided that Peach seemed like a pretty and safe colour.  Boy, am I ever happy I picked this lipstick up.  Until this day, Revlon continues to be one of my favourite lip product brand, right next to MAC and Lancome, among other Department store brands. At it's affordable cost and knowing how easily accessible they are, these lipsticks definitely deserve some love.

Trending: Hot Pink Lips

There's always some trend or another that you fall into without even realizing it.  I've been sporting this lipstick/lipgloss combo all month and thinking to myself "I need to do a post on this combo - I LOVE IT."  Then sure enough, I am flipping through a magazine, surfing the web, and checking out celebrities and what do I see?  Hot Pink Lips.  A perfect way to brighten up any look.  A perfect alternative and transition out of bold wintery red lips.

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Maybelline 24 hr Color Tattoo Eyeshadow: Swatches & Review

Today's feature product is the new 24 hr Color Tatto Eyeshadows by Maybelline EyeStudio.  If you have not already read/seen the hype about these, let me explain in brief what these are.  I would describe these to be a cream eyeshadow (or eyeshadow base) created by Maybelline that claims to have tattoo intensity and tenacity.  They are very comparable to MAC Paint Pots.  They come in a vide range of neutrals and vibrant colors (such as Teal, Orange & Purple).  However, these seem to have better staying power than MAC Paint Pots and are much more affordable.

Essie: It's Genius

Another day, another nail color, another Essie polish!  Talk about giving my nails a little TLC.  My favorite Essie polishes are the ones with this type of finish.  An (iridescent) shimmer finish.  Where it is not a creme sheen or a jelly or a foil or metallic but where it looks like it has very finely milled glitter in the polish and is almost slightly metallic when it catches the light.  It's Genius is part of Essie's permanent collection and is a gorgeous dark magenta-purple shade with silver reflects embedded within the polish.

Natural light - catching the light

Shop MAC, Cook MAC: Spring 2012 Collection (INFO & PHOTOS)

I don't know about you, but when I heard I about this new collection launching February 9th, 2012 (in North America and online at maccosmetics.com) I was a little confused.  However, this collection's colours promise to be fun, bright and vibrant!

Among the products being released are (which are limited edition) 3 eyeshadow quads, 6 lipsticks, 5 kissable lipcolours, 4 lip balms, 3 nail polishes, 3 cremeblend blushes, 3 fluidlines as well as things from their permanent line: 2 studio careblend/pressed, 1 mascara and 2 brushes. The packaging looks to be just as fun and vibrant as the collection colours themselves.  Styled after a retro 'done-up' & 'made-up' house wife who goes out, shops then comes home to cook - these colours are bright and vibrant.  Perfect for the upcoming Spring and Summer months.

Revlon Lip Butters: Swatches & Review!

Warning: this post will be very picture heavy. I own 16 of the 20 shades available.

OH the famous revlon lip butters.  When these were released, I, like so many others hopped on the bandwagon and got caught up in the lip butter craze.  I applaude revlon for yet another extremely successful lip product.  These are some of the best lip products I own.

Revlon does an excellent job at producing high quality lip products in a wide range of colorus. The finish of these is along the lines of a  luster lipsticks with a tinted lip balm coloring.  But some are equally as pigmented as lipsticks and they are very reminiscent of Rouge Coco Shines by Chanel (also a luster finish.)  They are a healthy cross between glide on creamy balm and luster lipstick.

So as mentioned, I own 16 of the 20 revlon lip butter shades available.  I might have gone a little crazy - but I found most of these on some sort of sale.  For those of you who are like me and have a hard time deciding on what to get, hopefully this picture intensive post will help you out.

MAC: Tour de Fabulous Lipglass: Swatches & Review

I'd like to welcome to the Tour de Fabulous Lipglass to my ever growing MAC collection.  According to the beauty gurus - and swatches I did myself at the store - this lipglass is a fairly good dupe if not complimentary shade for the limited edition matte lipstick, Flamingo, from the Iris Apfel collection.  I would have to agree.  The Tour de Fabulous collection was named after this one shade and with good reason.  I feel as if this would be flattering on most if not all skin tones.

OPI: Rally Pretty Pink

From the Serena Williams OPI Collection, I introduce to you 'Rally Pretty Pink'.  This duo-chrome foil polish has hints of bronze and purple/plum to it.  I wouldn't per say define this as a 'pink' but more of a bronzed-purple shade.  This beautiful shade goes on purple with slight bronze glitter on first coat and is very sheer - it needed about 3 - 4 coats to achieve full opacity.

Natural light - shaded

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Fresh: Sugar Tinted Lip Treatment (ft. the Mini Kissing Trio!): Swatches & Review

Hello.  I'd like to introduce you to my star lip product: Fresh Sugar Tinted Lip Treatment.  For over a year now, I have been a disciple of these lip products.  I am never without my Fresh Sugar Rosé Tinted Lip Treatment (spf 15).  I have a correction to make - I am on my third tube of this particular color.  Rosé, if I am not mistaken, was their original Tinted Treatment and comes in a baby pink tube.

Sugar fresh & Sugar Rosé are regular size - the others are minis

Essie: Wrapped in Rubies

One thing is for certain, these pictures do not do this nail polish shade justice.  I'm talking about Essie's Wrapped in Rubies.  I have never been so curious about a permanent collection Essie polish as I was with this one.  I swore when I found it that I thought it was seasonal with the way it looks.  Again, this is one of those iridescent shimmer polishes.  This is like an amped up version of what I think It's Genius is (post on Essie's 'It's Genius' to come soon).

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Essie: Angora Cardi

If you haven't guessed already, I am a nail polish junkie. a fanatic. a devotee... I am nail polish obsessed. Well enough about my addiction to nail varnish, this is Essie's Angora Cardi.  The one thing I love about Essie, is their colour selection.  Not just their seasonal collections but their permanent line as well.  The finish and colours are amazing.  My only gripe with Essie?  The consistency of many of their polishes is too thin - which means you need more than 2 coats to get an opaque colour.  Not this one!

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Jewelmint: Silver Swan Bracelet (JM finally in Canada!)

Jewelmint now ships to Canada!  If you haven't heard of Jewelmint, it's a jewelry line/site created by the celebrity stylist, Cher Colture, and fashion icon, Kate Bosworth.  Each month, they release new pieces of quality made jewelry.  Essentially, you need to take a style quiz and they do their best to match pieces they create to your personal sense of style.  Keep in mind, you can always favourite a piece that shows up in your showroom or remove it - as well as see more.   What I love is how different these pieces are and how you don't see things quite like them anywhere else.

Favourite Products of 2011

I cannot believe that it's already midway through January 2012.  It seems that 2011 passed by in the wink of an eye.  I hardly remember what I did and when I did it.  It seems like just yesterday I was celebrating NYE 2011 with my girls.  Talk about fast.  I admit that a lot of things happened in 2011 though.  That being said, I think I've grown up some and though I'm still searching to find myself and what inspires me, I found a lot of things that I liked over the last year.  So without further ado, here are my favourites of 2011!

Disclaimer: all products mention were purchased by me with my own money unless otherwise stated.

December Favourites

This is a little belated but it didn't occur to me to do a monthly favourite blog post.  However, there are a lot of products I really did enjoy and use a lot of over the month of December.  Though I did travel, some of these still came with me and got used.  I will do a 2011 favourites - when I get the chance - which will be up before the end of January... but here are some of my favourites for the month of December 2011.

Las Vegas, NV with the Girls

Palazzo's main entrance

Over the winter holidays, I managed to go to Las Vegas with some of my best friends from high school - ie. my girls!  We had such a blast.  These plans were not long in the making.  We had the idea about a year ago but nothing really came of it until a few months before as we started looking for flights and deals.  Amazingly enough, we snagged a relatively inexpensive flight from Bellingham, WA and a great rate at the Palazzo for a 2 double-bed Bella suite - facing the strip! (our room literally over looked the pool.)

Iris Apfel for MAC Cosmetics

This past Sunday (January 5, 2012), MAC released it's newest collection - Iris Apfel for MAC.  The beautiful thing about this collaboration is the colours they chose to release.  Bold and bright colours perfect for the coming Spring and Summer months.

Flamingo

The part I was most excited about - in this release - was the lipsticks.  They are named after various birds (except for one - Morange - which is part of their permanent line) and are very brightly coloured.

There are 5 limited edition shades:  Flamingo (a light milky bright coral), Party Parrot (a bright red-pink), Pink Pigeon (a 'brightest clean pink'), Scarlet Ibis (a bright orange-red), & Morange (a 'loudmouth orange' - amplified creme).

Lash Lovelies by Benefit

The first thing I usually notice about a person is their eyes.  I adore it when girls have simple eye make-up and long, defined and voluminous lashes.  You know the ones?  Those eyes that you think, "how did she get those incredible lashes when mine are ....", well my personal lashes are straight and not-so-amazing.  I'm working on it.

I was at Shopper's Drug Mart today and came across these babies. or Lovies.  Benefit Cosmetics has come out with a new line of lashes called "Lash Lovies".  The range includes seven styles of flirty lashes with creative names (Big Spender, Debutante, Little Flirt, Pin-up, Prima Donna, Rockette and Starlet) as well as their single lashes (which are appropriately named Going Solo).  They are priced at $18 CAD a pair (or $15 USD from the Benefit website.)

Prima Donna Lash

Sally Hansen 'Co-bolt Blue'

It's been a while since my last post - I've been busy.  I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season!  I know I did - but more about that later.  Quick and easy post of the week - or day.  This is Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri formula in "Co-bolt Blue".

In my opinion, this is a gorgeous, deep marine cobalt blue.  The formula itself is thick and opaque - so realistically, one coat of this lovely color would do the trick - but as always I do two coats because that's just how I prefer things.  It's lasting power is fair enough for it's low price tag of under $4 at any drugstore.