Plum Paper Planner Review

With only one moth left in my 2015-2016 planner it's time to do a final review. It is a Plum Paper Planner M-D-N Vertical weekly planner that started August 2015 and ends July 2016. It has the frosted plastic cover over the paper cover with my monogram and name. I added the To-Do pages in their own tab.

My planner the day I received it.

In general I love the planner, so much so that I decided to stick with Plum Paper for my 2016-2017 planner with some minor changes. I stuck with the vertical M-D-N layout, I personally cover the labels with washi and stickers but still like the three separate sections.

The added tab of To-Do pages I barely used, and I think that's because I had them in the separate tab, I probably should have gotten them dispersed throughout the planner like the note pages are. I did choose not to get them again in my upcoming planner instead opting for the fitness tracking add-on.

As for the cover, I am so glad that they changed it, this one both the plastic and card stock layers have warped and are wavy, I think the newer style will hold up better.  I also wasn't super fond of the fact that the back of the monthly tab pages was blank, which is something they have already fixed in the newer planners.

How the covers have warped

Overall I quite enjoyed my 2016-2017 planner and look forward to starting my new one. Most of the issues I had with this one were things that were fixed in the newer planners or were solved by just not getting that add-on again.

It's honestly so hard not to open up my new planner and start pre-planning in it , I've already done a pen test page and am super impressed with the new papers quality.

Until next time

~Alexandria

Going Purple? Blue? Ion Color Brilliance Brights Review?

Hello again!

I've been wanting to go a fashion colour with my hair again for quite a while but it was always a question of what colour and what brand to use.  I finally decided to go purple  and to use Arctic Fox dye. What followed was a bit of a disappointment that I managed to make work.

Nobody had the Arctic fox in stock and I was impatient, (Lesson for the day boys and girls, be patient and use the brand you actually want to use.) so I went to Sally's and picked up some Ion Color Brilliance Brights in Purple instead.

That night I gathered up my hair dying supplies and set to work.

The wine is an important part of the process

If you don't remember what I looked like here is a picture to show you what I was working with.

Of course, like everyone else in the world I always wait to lighten my hair until it is the dirtiest it has possibly been in my entire life so it looked more like this... shield your eyes, it's bad.

I know...

I bleached it, toned it, and then it was on to the dye. I purchased three tubes of Ion Color Brilliance Brights in Purple and it took two of them to cover my hair for the first round of colour. Despite my having toned my hair after bleaching it went brown toned and I was having none of that, but it was 3am and I was exhausted, so I went to bed and decided to deal with it the next day.

The next day I went back in with the remaining tube of Ion Color Brilliance Brights and about half a tube of Manic Panic in Ultra Violet that I had laying around . What I ended up with was more of a blue than a purple but I decided I liked it well enough and decided that I was done.

This is my end product.

Now on to the review on Ion Color Brilliance Brights in Violet.

I paid $6.49 per 2.05oz tube at Sally's with my member card for a total of $22 incl taxes for 6.15oz of product (for comparison the Arctic fox dye is $20 incl taxes for 8oz of product and Manic panic is $13-17 depending on where you buy it for 4oz of product).

The colour comes in a tube and I definitely recommend a tube key for getting every last bit out easily. It's thicker than Manic Panic for sure but not too difficult to work with at all, I added a teaspoon of water on the recommendation of a friend who had used other shades of the same brand.

The colour payoff wasn't amazing but I did manage to get a colour I was happy with though some of that is due to the Manic Panic judging by how it is fading.

Overall I do wish that I had have waited and gotten the Arctic fox just based on videos I have seen compared to the results I got and results I have had in the past with Manic Panic, but I can't really make any claims on Arctic Fox until I actually try it out when this shade fades.

Next time I will be going purple for sure.

See you next time,
Alex
xoxoxo

31 Days of Beauty -- Day 5

31 Days of Beauty Day 5

Favourite Concealer

source

Welcome to day 5 of 31 days of beauty. Thank you again to Priyanka over at Glamour & Giggles for coming up with this idea! This one is a shorter one.

I have two favourite concealers, one drugstore and one higher end, the higher end one I currently do not own unfortunately but it is still a favourite.

We will start out with the drugstore concealer. Rimmel Match Perfection 2-in-1 Concealer and Highlighter in 125 Fair. I have had a super hard time finding a shade that fits me perfectly in the drugstore and it took me forever but this one does it. I use this mostly underneath my eyes and on the occasional red spot. I love how it isn't a super heavy consistency and it doesn't crease under my eyes. I do wish however that it was easier to clean as the cap gets real dirty really quickly.

The higher end one I really do love I just don't currently own it. It's the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla. I've only gotten to try this one a few times, but it made a huge impression on me. I absolutely love it and I can't wait until I can buy it.

I hope you guys are enjoying 31 Days of Beauty as much as I am!

I'll see you next time!

Alex

xoxoxo

31 Days of Beauty -- Day 4

31 Days of Beauty Day 4

Favourite Primer

source

Welcome to day 4 of 31 days of beauty. Thank you again to Priyanka over at Glamour & Giggles for coming up with this idea!

Today we are going to be talking about primer. I don't have a holy grail perfect primer but I do have one or two that I guess would count as favourites at the moment. I'm going to share two face primers that I reach for regularly and two different eye primers as well.

First let's talk about The Porefessional by Benefit. It is a pore minimizing primer and I do have issues with some larger pores especially around my nose. I don't feel like all foundations necessarily hold onto it though, some of them really kind of slide around on it which is not cute.

My Second facial primer is That Gal by Benefit. I haven't really gotten to play around with a lot of different brands primers other than Benefit but that's okay because the ones I have tried from them have been fairly good. This one is a brightening primer and it has a pink tone to it which evens out my skin quite a bit which makes me love it in the winter. I also find that my foundations tend to apply better over this primer than they do over The Porefessional which makes me love this one just a tiny bit more.

On to eye primers!

Sticking with the Benefit theme the first one I am going to talk about is Stay don't Stray by you guessed it, Benefit. I do really like this primer it's nice and neutralizing on my lids and the shadow sticks to it more or less which is really the most I can ask for out of a primer.

The second eye shadow primer is a cult favourite and it's the original Urban Decay Primer Potion. I'm kinda late to the game on this one, I hadn't tried it until last August when I got my Ammo palette, but I love it. Eye shadow sticks to it, like it is supposed to and it's not super heavy, the only thing I wish, is that it was more pigmented. I'm thinking of picking up a MAC paint pot to try and see if that helps at all.

So that's all I have to say about primers.

I'll see you next time!

Alex

xoxoxo

31 Days of Beauty -- Day 3

31 Days of Beauty Day 3

Favourite Foundation

source

Welcome to day 3 of 31 days of beauty. Thank you again to Priyanka over at Glamour & Giggles for coming up with this idea, it really was an awesome idea.

Today we are going to be talking about my favourite foundation. This is a weird topic for me because I don't currently own my current favourite foundation, and have actually never owned a full size of it.

Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation SPF 15
Available at Sephora

My current favourite foundation is the Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation SPF 15 in the shade 2.5 Warm Sand. This is a light to medium coverage foundation and I know that's going to seem weird seeing that I said I enjoy a full coverage in my every day use, but I really just love how this foundation sits on my skin. I tried it when I had my complementary VIB makeup application at Sephora and I fell in love. I got a sample of it and I have been rationing the sample. I will be purchasing this before spring and summer roll around and I can't wait for this foundation to take it's place in my regular rotation. It is $63.28 CAD after tax and it will be one of my next Sephora purchases I think.

I'll see you next time!

Alex

xoxoxo

31 Days of Beauty -- Day 1

31 Days of Beauty Day 1

Daily Makeup Products

Source

Welcome to the first day of the 31 Days of Beauty tag that I am doing for March. Today we are going to be talking about my daily makeup products, the things that I use pretty much every day that I wear makeup. I think the easiest way to tackle this is going to be by category, so lets just dive right in!

Primer- This one is a tough one because I still haven't found that holy grail primer so I just sort of grab one of my primers at random. But If I had to guess I would say I think I reach for the Porefessional by Benefit the most often. It doesn't meet all of my needs but it does find it's way onto my face quite often.

Foundation- My current daily foundation would be the Kat Von D Tattoo Lock-It Tattoo Foundation in Light 45. It's a pretty full coverage foundation and is quite matte which tends to be the look I go for.

Concealer- I've been using Rimmel Match Perfection in 125 Fair as my daily concealer. There isn't a lot to say about it really, it does what it's supposed to do but it does crease, I am still searching for a concealer that I love more. I actually have my eye on some Nars.

Powder- My daily powder is Rimmel London's Stay Matte Pressed Powder in 001 Transparent. I have been using this for years and I absolutely love it. I have probably bought upwards of 4 of these over the years and I recommend this for everyone from beginners to pros.

Blush- I do try to switch up my blush quite a bit but I do reach for my Tarte blush in magic the most right now. Sadly this shade isn't in the permanent collection so once I run out it's just done, so hopefully I can find a dupe before that happens.

Bronzer- My everyday bronzer is the Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil Bronzer. It's holy grail status and I am not going to go too much into it as I am sure you will see it again this month.

Highlight- This is a weird category because my daily highlight is only my daily by virtue of being the only powder highlight that I own, and that would be the Essence Bloom Me Up Shimmer Powder. It's super subtle and it leaves a nice light highlight. I really do need to get more powder highlights to play with though because I don't tend to reach for liquid highlights and those are the majority of what I own.

Eye shadow- I don't have one specific set of shadows I use daily I really do use something different every day. I make a point of not keeping any shadows in my 'daily makeup' drawer of my makeup storage so that I have to look through and decide on something different every day.

Eyebrows- There are two products I use daily for my brows and they are the Sephora Retractable brow pencil in 02 nutmeg brown and the Essence lash and brow gel mascara. The gel isn't ideal but it does it's job. I love the pencil but wish it had a spoolie end instead of the weird hard plastic comb it does have.

Mascara- I currently have two sample size mascara's that I am bouncing back and forth between as my most used daily mascara's the Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes and the Urban Decay Perversion Mascara. I love them both and they both create different looks on me so I use them about equally.

Eyeliner- I don't have a specific eyeliner that I reach for daily, it totally depends on what I am doing with my eyes, and eyeliner is one of those areas where I haven't really played around to find a perfect daily no thinking product.

So there is day1 down! I hope you guys enjoyed this peek into my daily makeup! Thank you again to Priyanka over at Glamour & Giggles for creating this, remember to go check her out.

I'll see you next time!

Alex

xoxoxo

Ipsy vs. Birchbox February 2015

Ipsy vs. Birchbox 1 of 3 February 2015

For Valentines day my boyfriend got me a 3 month subscription to Birchbox so I could try it out and see if I was really missing anything now that they have arrived in Canada. So I thought starting this month I would compare the two while I am receiving them both and see how they hold up against one another! **ALL PRICES ARE IN CAD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

We are going to start with Birchbox this month because it arrived first.

The packaging is so different from ipsy and it kind of seems a bit wasteful to have a box within a box, like they could have just designed it to have just been one box but I do like the smaller box, it was cute so I guess I can't complain too much.

I was super excited to be getting the February box from Birchbox because some of the products looked awesome but when you get a gift subscription apparently you don't start out with the month you get gifted it, instead you get a “welcome box” which I found disappointing. I messaged customer service asking about this and they said it's because most people gifted a subscription don't have their preferences filled out but I dunno, I kind of feel like I am losing a box, but this could just be me being weird.

Enough of me complaining and on to the actual box itself!

Birchbox costs 14.95 CAD per month and you can find my referral link here.

This box had no theme as it was the welcome box.

Contents: Total Value 16.10

Dr. Lipp OriginalNipple Balm For Lips --Sample Value $3.40 (Full Size $14.50)

It's a super thick yellow ointment consistency that absorbs into your lips pretty easily. When you first start trying to get the product from the tube it is super hard, but as the product warms it is a bit easier. It isn't the best lip balm I have ever tried in my life but it is one of them and I am glad to have it around as we are getting a crazy late winter right now and it's -18 on a regular day here. Overall I am going to rate this product a 9/10 and I absolutely would buy a full size of it, it's definitely on my pre-winter shopping list for next year.

Harvey PrinceHello Body Cream --Sample Value $1.08 (Full Size $22)

The container says Sicilian lemon, Spanish mandarin botanicals and Shea butter. To me it smells like Shea butter and faintly like lemon. I don't find the lotion to be particularly moisturizing, I find it sits on the skin a bit and is a little sticky, especially on my hand. I am rating this product a 4/10 especially when I compare it to my Bath and Body Works lotions. I won't be purchasing a full size of this lotion.

theBalm cosmeticsStainiac in Beauty Queen --Sample Value $2.40 (Full Size $17)

This isn't supposed to be a full coverage tint and it isn't which is great because sometimes you need a subtle bit of tint and that's what this product provides. It is a gel type consistency and blends nicely into my skin and I like it. I am rating it at a 7/10 and I might repurchase it if I am ever looking for a subtle red tint again. But I currently have a tonne of red tints so I am focusing more on getting through them.

Vasanti CosmeticsBrightenUp! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator --Sample Value $5.66 (Full Size $34)

I was super excited to try this cleanser, it's super gritty and smells amazing, it contains papaya and I can definitely smell it. It left my skin feeling clean and soft and left my fingertips super soft as well. My skin was also left looking brighter and it lessened some of the redness around my nose. As far as exfoliating cleansers go I am going to give this one an 8/10 because a lot of cleansers that exfoliate tend to leave my skin dry and this one left is soft and smooth. I think I will for sure be buying a full size of this product.

Whish Shave Crave in Acai Grapefruit --Sample Value $3.56 (Full Size $20)

The smell of this shave cream is super sweet and flowery, I don't get the grapefruit smell at all. It did soften my skin a bit but no more than applying lotion to my skin after a shave. It didn't lather very well and all and all I wasn't super impressed so I am going to give it a 5/10 I definitely will not be buying a full size of this and might in fact pass this sample size on to someone else.

Average rating for items in this month's box is 6.6

Overall I am not super impressed with this month's box but I am looking forward to my first proper box next month!

Now on to ipsy!

Ipsy cost $19.62 this month and you can find my referral link here.

This month's theme was #ipsyLove

The bag is super cute I love the pink and grey together and I can honestly say this has been one of my favourite bags.

Contents: Total Value approx $91.70CAD using exchange rate on 17/02/15

City Color Cosmetics Creamy Lip Stain in Flirtini –Sample Value $4.99USD (approx. $6.18CAD)

This Product is Full Sized. When I swatched this I was super excited, it was really opaque and it's a really nice pink. When I put it on my lips though I found it quite drying, even though I did moisturize my lips before applying it but it still dried my lips to the point of flaking. It looks pretty on my lips but it isn't super long wearing, though it does cling in some spots, so I recommend bringing it with you if you are wearing it out for touch-ups. I give this product a 6/10 and I won't be repurchasing it in the future.

Emite Make Up Professional Eye Lash Curler --Sample Value $25USD (approx. $30.97CAD)

I love this curler, it is wide enough to get every single one of my lashes! Most of the curlers I have tried I have to curl in two seconds but this one it is just so easy. I love it and I am so glad to have gotten it. Would I have spent $30 on it? I have no idea, but I am glad I didn't have to make that choice. 9/10 You go Glenn Coco!

Eva NYC Up AllNight Volumizing Spray --Sample Value $10USD (approx. $12.39CAD) Travel

This product is travel size. I haven't had a chance to do a blow out with this product but I have tried using it for texture and it does deliver. Mine was only partially full because of the cap not being tight enough but we'll see if I get enough uses to get a good opinion about it. Look for a proper review in the future. 7/10 for now.

Mitchell andPeach Fine Radiance Face Oil --Sample Value £15 (approx. $28.53CAD)

This product is half of a full size. The oil smells amazing, you can smell it when you are putting it on your face and I am not sure exactly how to describe it, it's just amazing. It starts absorbing right away but not not too fast and it makes my skin feel so soft, I could definitely see myself using this with the cleanser I got with the Birchbox welcome box. I'm giving this a 9/10 and I will seriously be looking into purchasing a full sized bottle of this depending on how long this lasts me.

ModelCo BLUSH Cheek Powder in Cosmopolitan 01 --Sample Value $11USD (approx. $13.63CAD)

This product seems to be about half of a full sized though it's hard to be exact as the Modelco

website doesn't list sizes, I had to research through YouTube videos. Cosmopolitan is a super pretty ballet slipper pink and it blends very nicely, it does seem a bit powdery and I will have to use it a few more times to see how it compares to the other blushes I own but for now I am giving it a 7/10. I don't think I'll be looking for a full size of this though.

Average rating for this month's bag is 7.6

Overall I think Ipsy took it this month but it wasn't really a fair fight given that it wasn't a normal birchbox. But we will see next month!

See you next time!

Alex

xoxoxo

Ipsy Bag January 2015

Ipsy Bag January 2015

YouTube un-boxing video can be found here.

Products received:

Elizabeth Mott - All Over Shadow Brush in Pink ($9.99)

Hikari Cosmetics – Mechanical Eye Liner in Storm 0.2g ($13 / 0.2g)

(Malin+Goetz) – Mojito Lip Balm 0.2oz ($12 / .35oz)

Pacifica – Natural Mineral Coconut EyeShadow in Ethereal 0.08oz ($14 / 4 colour palette)

Velvet 59 – Velvet Rose Lipgloss in Noisette 10ml ($19 / 10ml)

Value: $55 aprox.

What I paid this month: $17.82 CAD

Rating: I really liked some of the products this month, I have to say the item I was the most disappointed with was the bag itself but that is just personal preference. Overall I like this months bag and rate it an 8/10

Product Breakdown/Mini Reviews

Remember as always if you want a more in depth review on any specific product feel free to ask!

Elizabeth Mott - All Over Shadow Brush in Pink

The brush is quite soft and while it isn't super firm it isn't flimsy either it holds a good amount of product and does a good job in blending as well. Overall 8/10

Hikari Cosmetics – Mechanical Eye Liner in Storm

The liner itself is pretty firm and isn't amazingly creamy. The colour is a very light silver more than it is a grey and it isn't super pigmented but if you are willing to go over it multiple times you will get some colour out of it. I think I need to play with it more but so far I am not super impressed. Overall 7/10

(Malin+Goetz) – Mojito Lip Balm

The balm has a thicker consistency and has a kinda artificial limey smell, it is sticky but that is a typical problem with thicker cream type balms. It was exactly what my lips needed right now between between me being so sick and winter deciding it actually wanted to start happening lately. I like it for when you need some extreme hydration but on an every day basis it would be way too much. Overall 8/10

Pacifica – Natural Mineral Coconut EyeShadow in Ethereal

The shadow while not being what I would call creamy is certainly velvety and it does pack quite a bit of pigment for a light shadow especially when I compare it with the other pacifica shadow that I have tried in the past. It certainly isn't a colour that would work as anything other than a highlight or a base but for those two purposes it certainly does it's job. Overall 7/10

Velvet 59 – Velvet Rose Lipgloss in Noisette

I'm going to be doing a full review for this product so I'll make this quite brief. I had been told the scent was unpleasant and I very much disagree with that. It has a very classic smell to it and reminds me of watching my grandmother doing her makeup. I love the brush and while the gloss was super sticky on my hand it isn't sticky at all on my lips. I love it and I can't wait to see more from this brand! Overall 9/10

Review: GLAMGLOW POWERMUD

Review: GLAMGLOW POWERMUD Dualcleanse Treatment

Scent: Kinda apple-y

Price: $21/0.5oz $76/1.7oz CAD (I got a sample at Sephora)

Where to buy: Sephora in Canada

Time: 5-10 minutes (I went for the ten)

How did it feel on?

It went on smooth and it was tingly in a not-unpleasant but not quite pleasant way, the best way to describe it would be a bit stingy or sting-ly (stingy and tingly). It dried leaving the face with that elmers glue, tight kinda feeling that we all know and love.

On to the review...

The mask is light and dries kind of clear

I have been incredibly sick lately and my skin is reflecting it, I am currently battling a case of bronchitis so bad that it's threatening to develop into pneumonia, and that the coughing has been so bad I actually pulled a muscle in my neck as I found out in a fun ER visit the other day. Like I said my skin is definitely showing how sick I am and it's not pleasant (pardon the pictures in this post if they frighten you hehe). So I decided this was the perfect opportunity to test out and review a sample I had of the GLAMGLOW powermud mask which is the one that comes in the green bin.

First off I have to say I didn't believe the hype about these masks, I mean really $76 for a mask? But I think I am kinda sold on this one. As the mask dried I noticed there were dark spots appearing all over my face where I had blackheads or other acne going on, at first I just figured this was the mask being a bit thicker in spots and drying into little balls but when I rinsed I decided otherwise, it actually pulled all of the blackheads from my skin.

The mask was actually pulling out the impurities... badass.

The mask says it is mud to oil but in my experience it was more like mud to gone, there was no real transition into oil but maybe I rinsed with too much water, who knows? It's not really a complaint so much as an observation. My face did feel a little residue-y afterwards and I just washed it with my regular cleanser and then when my face was dry I finally looked closely, not a single blackhead to be found and my skin is smoother and more even than it has been in weeks. I still have some acne, which obviously one use of a mask isn't going to fix but even that is less inflamed and somewhat diminished.

The after effects, I'm wearing a top I swear

All in all it is probably one of the best masks I have tried, and I have tried a few. I have samples of some of the other GLAMGLOW masks and I am going to try them in the upcoming weeks, probably once a week, and let you know my experiences with them. And at the end I will compare the ones I have tried.

I hope this review was informative and helpful. Will I buy it? Maybe? Not the fullsize no, I just can't see myself paying that much all at once for a mask. But Sephora does carry a 0.5oz of this particular mask for $21 CAD which is much more manageable as a treat to myself.

See you next time!

xoxoxo

Alex~

Tutorial? Review? All of the above?

Okay so let's talk about the products a bit.

Elizabeth Mott 'Tints & Sass' $22.99 USD 0.35oz/10g 

The link above it where you can buy it. The Tints & Sass has kind of a gel consistency and it smells like sweet artificial cherry. It is quite pigmented and needs to be applied evenly or it will streak. That having been said it is quite easy to work with. On the rare occasion I reach for a tint this tends to be the one I go for. The only negative is I can't seem to find anywhere that sells it aside from the Elizabeth Mott website whereas you can pick up Benefit products at Shoppers Drug Mart (The main chain drug store in Ontario).

Benefit Cosmetics 'Benetint'  $30 USD 0.4oz/12.4ml

As with the other the link above is where you can get it. Benetint has quite a watery consistency and I find that it takes quite a bit to get the effect I want. Now I will admit I own the small trial size of benetint and it is possible that there is a different formula to the full size, though that probably isn't the case. The smell is just of perfumed makeup, not bad, just clearly cosmetic. You do have to work in thin layers with this product which does make it harder to over apply it. It is also much more readily available and in general I love Benefit products. This is the only one so far that I haven't adored.


Verdict?
I like Tints & Sass better, I haven't tried the other tints from Benefit so I can't weigh in on them but between these two Tints & Sass wins.

Hope this post was informative and helpful!

See you next time!

xoxoxo

~Alex

Subscription Review: Ipsy

I am subscribed to Ipsy and as such I do an unboxing and review on my YouTube every month.

Starting in December I will be accompanying this with a write up on my blog here. For the months that have already happened however I am going to link to the already existing videos in this post in case anyone is interested in seeing them.

And of course my Ipsy referal link is here should you like to subscribe.

I should be writing up another post either later tonight or tomorrow.

See you next time

xoxoxo

~Alex

Past Ipsy Unboxing Videos:

November 2014 Ipsy Unboxing/Review
October 2014 Ipsy Unboxing/Review
September 2014 Ipsy Unboxing/Review (update)
August 2014 Ipsy Unboxing/Review