How I Prepare for an Evening Out/Holiday Party

Hey everyone,

It's the most wonderful time of the year, and getting closer to the time where there are parties every weekend, lots of drinks to be had and not much sleep. At this time of the year it's nice to take a little bit of extra time to make up for those drinks and the lack of sleep, while still looking effortlessly gorgeous for the upcoming parties. Here's what I like to do! (In no particular order!)
Also: My top 5 tips are at the bottom of the post- so keep reading!

 A couple of days before an event I usually like to apply a clay mask. This will really help draw out any impurities and dirt, but it may result in a break out. It's great for a really deep clean and helps to exfoliate your skin, prepping it for other products you may use. 

 My personal fave is Soap and Glory's "The Fab Pore". It's great because you don't need a lot of product and it doesn't dry my skin out too much. I find that if you're experiencing breakouts before an important night out, bringing out a clay mask can make a huge difference.

The night before an event is a great time to use a different type of treatment mask. The Origins "Drink Up Intensive" overnight mask is essentially a really thick night cream which helps your skin to look plumped up and refreshed, and it also creates smoother, softer skin for a better makeup base. If you find that a clay mask or astringent toner is too harsh, sometimes following up with something like this can really help avoid any dry patches or flakiness. 

 When you have some spare time a few days before a party I like to get the little annoying tasks over with. These include whitening my teeth (something I don't do very often, but have recently started), cleaning my ears, tweezing my eyebrows and trimming my nails etc. I also make an effort to apply lots of lipbalm and avoid drying lip products, especially if you're going to be rocking a bright red at your next event!

 Something that will always make a dramatic change to your skin is to really make sure you cleanse your face. I like an oil cleanser to remove makeup and an exfoliating cleanser in the morning. By washing your face as soon as you don't need makeup on anymore, the more time your skin will have to repair and breathe a bit. If you finish work at 5 but don't cleanse your face until you go to bed at 11, thats 6 hours your skin could be absorbing moisturizers, serums and treatments.
(Caroline Hirons is a genius!) 

 I also like to make sure I tone my skin. I don't often use the Clinique toner because it isn't so great for my skin. It's incredibly drying and irritating, but when used on occasion it can help get rid of breakouts very quickly. To balance it out I like to use The Body Shop's Hydrating Toner from the Vitamin E range to soothe my sensitive skin.

 Keeping your skin hydrated will vastly improve the quality of your skin, and it will really affect the way makeup looks on your face. I like to switch up my moisturizers during the day and at nighttime for best results. In the morning I use The Body Shop's Vitamin E Moisture Serum and Indeed Labs Hydraluron Moisture Jelly. In the evening I use more intense products, like The Body Shop's Vitamin E Serum-in-Oil and Cliniques Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+. 

 I also like to treat my hair to some natural products that will help tame it before styling, but also keep it in good condition in the days and weeks before. I've used sulphate free and natural hair products for the past two years and have noticed my hair growing a lot longer and generally in better shape. My favourite product for a bit of heat protection is Live Clean's Argan Oil spray. Probably my Holy Grail hair product is Organix Coconut Milk hair serum. Not only does it add shine and softness, as well as keeping my hair hydrated, it also smells divine. 

 I also want my body to look nice too! I like to use Olay's Quench plus Touch of Sun to add a bit of colour to my skin and to keep it soft. I also have been using Tarte's Amazonian Self-Tanning lotion on my face to keep it the same colour, but you could also just use a slightly more tanned foundation to match your body.

 Here's my teeth with some whitening strips, cute, I know.

 And my lovely red face after dealing with some messy eyebrows.

 In the weeks and days ahead of an event I also try and drink as much water as possible. Unbelievably, this is the hardest thing for me to do! I'm so forgetful and definitely don't drink enough water, but this will make a huge difference to the overall quality of your skin, hair and nails before a party. It's also great if you're going to be drinking alcohol to stay hydrated before and after a party.

 I like to use a hair mask the day before an event. This is the Theorie Argan Oil Ultimate Repair Hair Mask. I found it at Winners for $8.00, but it retails for $36.00! 

The day before is also a great time to exfoliate and shave! My favourite razor is the Venus sensitive one, and my favourite scrub at the moment is by Soap and Glory! If you don't want to use a self-tanning moisturizer, now would be a good time to break out a thick body butter to keep your skin hydrated. It will allow your skin to look plumper and less dull (happens to face as well as body!) and it also adds a nice glow- especially important if you're wearing a dress!

I hope you enjoyed these tips! If I had to recommend 5 which make the most difference it would be:

1) Drink lots of water

2) Get as much sleep as you can

3) Wash your face every day and night with no exceptions at least for one week before an event- the difference in your skin will be incredible

4) Take as many days off of makeup leading up to an event, it's a nice chance to let your skin absorb more treatments and not be smothered in foundation

5) Don't be afraid of a weekly face mask. It will vastly improve the top layer of your skin if you exfoliate

Thanks for reading!
Megan

Shimmery Holiday Makeup

Hey guys! 

Today I'm going to do quite a simple shimmery eye makeup look. It's very easy to do, and if you're a matte makeup lover like I am, this could really pack a punch! Enjoy!! 

To begin I used MakeUpForEver's HD Foudation in the shade 115

I just applied a light layer to even out my skin tone. 

I then applied Covergirl's "Ready, Set, Gorgeous" concealer in the lightest shade. 

I used this to highlight points in my face... And it looks ridiculous. 

Here's the finished effect  

I then used taupe, cool-toned eyeshadow to fill in my brows. 

Finally some brows! 

I then applied Benefit's cream eyeshadow in "RSVP"

Then I used Stila's duo shimmer in "Kitten". I took the lighter shade all over the lid and the deeper shade in the outer corner. 

I then took "Naked2" and "Faint" from the Urban Decay Naked Basics palette. I blended this in the crease of my eye to add some depth. 

I then took the "browbone" shade from the Wet and Wild "Walking on Eggshells" shade to highlight user my brow and in the inner corner of my eye. 

Then I took "Crave" from the same Urban Decay palette and softly blended it in th outer corner of my eye. 

Then I powdered under my eyes and my face. 

I added a blush by Quo in the shade Spice. 

The. I contoured and highlighted my face using Loracs "Tantalizer". 

I added Buxom's gloss in "White Russian"

This is the look with the gloss. 

I also tried it with a red lip using Hourglass "Icon" 

Here it is with a red lip!!

I hope you enjoyed this post and found it helpful! 

Thanks for reading! 

Megan 

Holiday Manicure Idea

Hey everyone,

Today I'm going to share a very quick and easy nail tutorial which looks nice and festive but still suits most outfits and isn't too over the top. 

I used three shades from Essie. I used the "No Chips Ahead" topcoat, "Blanc" and the sparkly shade called "Set in Stones" 

To begin I just cleaned my nails and tried to shape them somewhat. I had broken my pinky nail the day before which really added to the glamorous effect. 

I used Blanc and did two coats to get a very opaque finish. 

Then I added Set In Stones, focusing the bigger chunks of glitter at the top and moving it downwards for a sort of ombré effect. This would also look great with an really glittery accent finger, but I wanted to go all out since it's the holiday season! 

It could use a bit of cleaning up, but this is the finished look. I think it works really well with most looks and it's pretty subtle while still being sparkly and a bit dressy! 

I hope you guys enjoyed this little manicure! It's nothing too crazy but I think it's nice and easy for last minute holiday parties! 

Megan

Dior "Dream Skin Capture Totale" First Impressions Review

Hey everyone,

Apologies for the late upload- I had written this all out last night but had my final exam this morning and completely forgot to post!

This review is on a sample sized product, so I can't make any long-term claims, but I think it makes for a good first impression review. Enjoy!

 The tiny sample size that I had didn't exactly make it clear if it was skincare or makeup. I had opened it the night before, thinking it was a moisturizer or serum, and then when I saw the tint I decided it was makeup and saved it for the next morning.

 When I receive samples like this, most of the time I leave them for when I'm desperately running out of products to review, or they seem particularly interesting. This was a bit of both, and I applied it thinking it would be a sort of BB cream 'coverage with benefits' type of deal. I was amazed when I found out the full size retails for $115.00 CDN

 It has a pink tint to it, later I realized it wasn't a specifically made for a skintone like this, rather it's just a tinted product which sort of colour-corrects and mattifies.

 At first application I noticed it smelled incredible- it was a very floral scent but not overpowering. I deliberately applied it over my lips to show what sort of coverage it had. 

 I have some crazy blemishes and acne scars on my jaw line, and as you can see it didn't cover any of this, but it really did diminish the redness. 

 I liked how natural and mattifying it was. At this stage, I was very impressed. 

 Then came the horrific flash photo test. Turns out this product is probably marketed to layer with makeup. It left an unflattering white-cast to the skin, and even someone as pale as I am can't get away with that. In fact, in flash photography I barely look alive. (Also it really is just a very unflattering picture - but the best of all the ones I took... Fantastic.)

 I added some concealer (MAC Studio Finish in NW15) , powder (MAC's Mineralize SkinFinish Natural in Light Plus) and put my eyebrows in after realizing what a horror I looked like in the flash picture. (My lips is Marc Jacobs 'Kissability' over a very old GOSH lipliner!) 

 Turns out it did layer rather nicely and meant I didn't have to have a ton of makeup on areas of clear skin that I have.

Overall, my first impression of this product is a bit of a mixed one. The Sephora website claims that this is a skincare/primer hybrid product which can be applied morning and night. Personally, I wouldn't apply this at night time at all because it does have the tiniest amount of coverage and I have white pillow cases. It does mattify the skin really nicely and it felt incredibly light on my face. I think it would make a very luxurious primer, and if I had unlimited makeup funds I would purchase a full sized product just to experiment with it a bit more, I feel as though it could be a really great product - it just needs a better description of what it does and how to use it.

I hope you found this review a little bit helpful! Thanks for reading!

Megan