Sparkled Beauty

A quick post today to let you know some awesome deals I found in the weekend. While doing my Winners check, just in case another Cargo Mediterranean set shows up, I found ...

... Nubar Polka Dots (reg. 24, on sale for $20 on Nubar website vs. $17 at Winners), I was so excited.

Not a huge saving but I have wanted all 3 bottles for a while - White Polka Dot, Black Polka Dot, and Diamont top coat.

A few Korres products showed up on the shelf too. This must be "Boxing Month" at Winners, they have brought in so many new brands.

I got the Antioxidant Sunflower and Hydrating Evening Primrose Eyeshadow quad - Cool Collection (reg. $35, Winners' price $9). Each shade - Silver, White, Plum and Purple - has its own lid, supposed to be long wearing and creaseless.

Also found a Korres Lip butter in Plum (reg. $12, I paid $4). There seems to be only one shade available.

Macadamia Natural Oil hair care products were at Winners for a long time but this Discover the Secrets of Healthy Hair gift set was on clearance for $36 (retails $99, Winners' original price: $70). I didn't pass it up:
- Rejuvenating Shampoo 300ml (reg. $21)
- Moisturizing Rinse 60ml ($6)
- Healing Oil Treatment 125ml ($39.95)
- Deep Repair Masque 250ml ($33)
- Healing Oil Spray 60ml (%14.50)
- Nourishing Leave-In Cream 60ml ($6.50), and
- A wide tooth comb.

Looks like the Healing Oil treatment is the most expensive by itself, already costs more than what I paid for the whole set. I'm happy.

There are some Smashbox from the Untamed collection (lip glosses, eyeliners, etc.), if you are a fan of the brand. Check out your Winners, you never know what you can find.

A side note: There is a great deal on Physician's Formula at Shoppers this week - 40% off sale plus mail-in rebate stickers on certain products which would end up costing you close to nothing. You'll need the stickers, the rebate forms from the brand's website, and your receipt to do the rebate.

A little math here for you:
- pH Matchmaker blush in Natural, reg. $17.99, after 40% off: $10.79, after $9 rebate: $1.79

- Eye Booster 2-in-1 Lash Boosting Felt-Tip Eyeliner + Serum in Ultra Black (this is the felt tip, not the thin brush), reg. $16.99, down to $10.19, $1.19 after $9 rebate.

Note that there are certain products with $6 rebate stickers but I think the rebate period for them has passed. So please check the list of current rebates to grab the right products in store.

Have a great first day of the week, everyone. I'm at a conference till Wednesday but will be thinking of good food and shopping most of the time :)

Shoppers: Sat - Mon: 18,500 Optimum points ($25 value) with $75 purchase; Tue - Fri: Free $10 Shoppers gift card with $50 purchase.

*** Sat only:
- Balea shampoo, conditioner/ Herbal Essences hair care: CAD1.99 (limit 4, after limit and rest of the week: CAD2.49)
- Quo brushes: 40% off
- Garnier facial moisturizer (including the BB cream): 40% off (rest of the week: 25% off)

*** All week:
- Physician's Formula: 40% off
- Maybelline Expert Wear mono eyeshadow, Great Lash mascara, Line Expert eyeliner, Baby Lips, Shine Sensational gloss: CAD3.99
- Maybelline SuperStay 24hr lip color or 10hr stain: CAD9.99
- Maybelline Expert Wear quad, trio eyeshadow, Unstoppable eyeliner: 2 for CAD10 (or CAD8.99 each)
- Cover Girl LashBlast mascara, Perfect Point eyeliner, OutLast Double lip shine/ lipstick: 2 for CAD16 (or CAD9.99 each)
- Cover Girl NatureLuxe, TrueBlend, Advanced Radiance liquid or powder foundation: 2 for CAD25 (or CAD13.99 each)
- Almay Intense I-Color eyeshadow: CAD6.99
- Almay eye: 20% off
- Revlon ColorBurst lip butter, matte lipstick, Super Lustrous gloss: CAD6.99
- Revlon Brow Fantasy, eyeshadow, liner, mascara: 20% off
- Revlon Custom Eyes mascara: 2 for CAD10 (or CAD6.99 each)
- Rimmel Lash Accelerator mascara, Clean Finish foundation, bronzer: CAD6.99
- Rimmel Lasting Finish lipstick, Vinyl gloss: 2 for CAD7 or CAD5.99 each)
- Vichy cleanser: CAD12.99
- Neostrata All in One Night, Eye contour serum, Firming Anti wrinkle cream, Night Repair cream: 35% off
- RoC Complete Lift skin care: 20% off
- Marcelle Hydra-C Eye Roll-on: CAD17.99
- Marcelle BB cream: CAD18.99
- Organix (385ml), Head & Shoulders (400-420ml) shampoo/ conditioner: CAD4.99
- I Love... bath products: 2 for CAD9.99 (or CAD7.99 each)
- Quo Mother's Day Interchangeable brush set: CAD35
- Quo by Orly Instant Artist Nail art polish: 2 for CAD7 (or CAD4 each)
- Sally Hansen Gem Crush, Smooth & Perfect, Diamond Strength nail polish: CAD6.99
- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear nail polish: CAD2.99
- L'Oreal Color Riche nail polish: CAD7.99
- Rimmel Lasting Finish nail polish: CAD2.99
- Revlon classic nail polish: 2 for CAD8 (or CAD6.99 each)
- Essie nail polish, treatment: 2 for CAD18 (or CAD11.49 each)
- 10,000 Optimum bonus points with purchase of 2 Biotherm sun products
- Lancome GWP of $35 or more, valued $133, with Renergie Lift Volumetry cream, Genefique concentrate, Bi-Facil makeup remover, Color Design eyeshadow quad, Juicy Tubes gloss, Hypnose Drama mascara and a cosmetic bag
There are also some GWP offers with certain fragrances.

*** Until Friday, May 18:

- Spend $25 or more on Quo products and receive x20 Optimum points
- Spend $5 or more on essence products and receive x15 Optimum points
- Spend $25 or more on participating P&G products (on 1 receipt, after all discounts) and get 2,500 Optimum bonus points, .
Applicable brands: Always, Cover Girl, Crest 3D White, Gillette, Nice ’n Easy, Old Spice, Pampers, Secret, Tampax, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Olay, Venus, Ivory, Natural Instincts, Oral-B and Duracell.

Lawtons: Sat: x10 Airmiles with $45 purchase. There are some 10% off discounts but I won't list them here, please check your flyer
- Vichy, La Roche-Posay skin care: 25% off
- Unison anti-aging mask: 20% off
- Marcelle Revival skin care, Sheer Tint moisturizer: 20% off
- Aveeno facial scrub, cleanser, toner: 30% off
- L'Oreal Dermo-Expertise Age Perfect: 25% off
- L'Oreal Ombrelle sun care: 20% off
- Dermaglow SPF70/ 100 cream: 25% off
- Avene sun care: 25% off
- Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater/ Lavender collection: 20% off
- Upper Canada All About Hands/ Feet products, Urban Spa bath: 30% off
- Cover Girl Lip Perfection/ Volume Exact line: 20% off
- Physician's Formula: 20% off
- L'Oreal lip: 25% off
- Maybelline eyeshadow, eyeliner: 25% off
- Marcelle coloured cosmetics: 20% off
- LA Splash: 15% off
- OPI: 15% off
- Del Sol nail polish: CAD7.99
- Mavala Stop Biting: BOGO.

Walmart:
- Aveeno shampoo with bonus conditioner/ styling product (310ml): CAD7.97
- Pond's skin care: CAD4.97
- Garnier Skin Renew skin care (including BB cream): CAD12.97
- Cover Girl LashBlast, Volume or Fusion mascara: CAD6.97
- Rimmel SunShimmer bronzer: CAD6.98
- L'Oreal Voluminous mascara: CAD5.96
- L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadow, Colour Riche lipstick: CAD6.96
- L'Oreal True Match makeup, Magic Perfecting base: CAD9.96
- Maybelline Baby Lips: CAD3.67
- Essie nail polish: CAD7.96.

Boy, was I in for a big surprise with Maybelline Color Show in Denim Dash. I bought only 1 shade from the line at my Walmart to try out, and now I want more!

When I saw the sneak peek of the line, I was quite curious. Maybelline has done great jobs with their Color Tattoos and the Instant Age Rewind concealer that I've been loving, but has been pretty quiet with nail polish. A new line at drugstores is always welcome.

And I was so happy with Denim Dash, for quite a few reasons. First, it is a one coater. It has been a while since I found and wore one coaters (read La Senza nail polish), almost forgot how good they make me feel. Love the opacity, quick and easy.

Second, it is a matte with a light layer of extremely fine silver shimmers. I was not prepared to see Denim Dash with a matte finish (on all my nails except the accent nail which had a top coat on top). Note that the shade IRL is darker, like true denim colour.

You can click the pics to enlarge, they show the silver shimmers better. The top coat also dulled the shimmer, so pick your option with this shade :)

And third, only until the third day that minimal tip wear started to show up. Yes, it is a matte nail polish that did not chip the first few hours of wear, you don't see that often. Huge kudos to Maybelline.

There it is, the silver sheen in the bottle and on the matte nails. By day 2, I kinda wanted to slap a top coat on, as the matte started to turn a little shiny. But again, it's your personal choice how to wear it.

All in all, Denim Dash is definitely a winner. It would be a great nail polish to travel with, dries quick and lasts long.

Some more information about the Color Show line. There are 30 basic shades and extra 10 with effects:
- Denim (notice the word "Denims" on the cap label, under the word "Color Show"): with Denim Dash and Styled Out
- Metallic: Bold Gold, Navy Narcissist, Amethyst Ablaze and Blue Blowout
- Shredded: Purple Possibilities, Carbon Frost, Magenta Mirage and Silver Stunner.

Maybelline Color Show is available now at Walmart for CAD2.96 (6ml) and other drugstores in May for CAD3.99.

Yes, Murale (by Shoppers Drug Mart) has been online for about a month now, for all Canadians out there. I don't live near a Murale store, so I welcome the opportunity to browse and/or shop higher end makeup online, especially for brands I don't normally have access to.

I was kindly offered a credit to shop on Murale online store. The site was easy to browse, I got shipping confirmation (with tracking) the next day and received the package 3 days later. Shipping costs $8.50 flat rate (or free with $75 purchase, as a promo at the time).

I found the products I added in the cart stay there until I checked out, even without me creating an account. I couldn't decide what to get right away, so I did sleep on it. The next day I went to the site, and my tentative items were still in the cart. Quite convenient.

The products came wrapped up nicely in white wrapping paper, inside a Murale box, inside the shipping box. You might argue the double packaging, but I love the sturdy white box and am happy that no shipping stickers or labels were put on it. I can always reuse the box for storage or gift giving.

Inside the box was an envelope with a hand written Thank-You note. The receipt (on the left in the pic, under the box) stated the Optimum points I earned with the purchase, and noted their return policy.

And get this, there was a pre-paid return label (with tracking number) included in the package. This means a free and easy return. That's customer service quality! They also called me "Gorgeous" in all communications and signed as "The Murale Team". I appreciate the corporate culture they promoted.

What I got:
- Juice Beauty Blemish Clearing serum with Salicylic acid and CoQ10, 2oz/ 60ml
- Caudalie Cleansing water, 3.4oz/ 100ml.

They offer 3 free samples with any order, so I picked:
- Skyn Iceland Oxygen Infusion Night cream, 1.7g
- NARS Sheer Glow foundation in Fiji, 4ml and
- Darphin Ideal Resource Soothing Retexturizing Radiance cream - Normal to Dry skin, 1.5ml.

Murale is still in the process of adding more brands to the site. I am glad to see a Canadian shopping site for brands that aren't widely available. Plus, lots of brands on the site have the same price structures as in the US (which is not always the norm for Canada - case in point: Sephora). And you can earn Optimum points with your purchase. Right now you get 18,500 points with $75 purchases.

Next time you need some new makeup or skin care, give Murale's site a browse.

Shoppers: Sat & Sun: Free $10 Tim Card with $50 purchase; Mon - Fri: Free $10 Shoppers gift card with $50 purchase
*** Sun & Mon: Cover Girl eye/ lip: 25% off (rest of the week 15% off)

*** All week: A few brands/ items have 15% off but I won't mention them here. Mass cosmetics x15 Optimum points when you spend $15 ore more on Maybelline, L'Oreal, Revlon, Cover Girl or Almay
- Olay, Garnier, No7 by Boots skin care: 25% off
- Etival skin care: 20% off
- Biore skin care: CAD8.99
- Marcelle skin care: 15% off
- Clean & Clear/ Neutrogena acne care: CAD7.99
- Ombrelle/ Avene sun care: 20% off
- Bioderma: free Sensibio H2O makeup remover (250ml) and makeup pad container with purchase of $26 of Bioderma skin care
- Quo brushes, implements, lashes: 20% off
- L'Oreal One Sweep, Wear Infinite eyeshadow, Telescopic mascara, eyeliner, Infallible lip: CAD7.99
- Rimmel eye: 25% off
- Maybelline Color Sensational gloss, Define a Brow liner, EyeStudio duo shadow, Line Stiletto liner, Lash Stiletto mascara: CAD9.99
- Maybelline Expert Wear eyeshadow quad, Studio gel liner, Color Tattoo eyeshadow, Volume Express mascara, Color Sensation lipstick, Fit Me/ Dream makeup: 20% off
- Annabelle Glitterama liner, Skin True concealer, Liquid eyeliner, Pigment dust: CAD5.99
- Sally Hansen Complete Salon, Nail Growth nail polish: CAD5.99
- Sally Hansen nail treatment: CAD7.99
- Revlon classic nail polish: CAD5.99
- Revlon ColorStay nail polish: CAD4.99
- Revlon implements: 30% off
- Quo by Orly mini Mother's Day set: CAD42.

*** From Saturday, April 21 to Friday, May 18:

- Spend $25 or more on Quo products and receive x20 Optimum points
- Spend $5 or more on essence products and receive x15 Optimum points
- Spend $25 or more on participating P&G products (on 1 receipt, after all discounts) and get 2,500 Optimum bonus points, .
Applicable brands: Always, Cover Girl, Crest 3D White, Gillette, Nice ’n Easy, Old Spice, Pampers, Secret, Tampax, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Olay, Venus, Ivory, Natural Instincts, Oral-B and Duracell.
Note that for Cover Girl, there are double offers on Optimum points this week.

Lawtons:
- LA Colors/ LA Girl: 20% off
- Revlon Color Burst lipstick/ gloss/ lip butter, Just Bitten lip stain: 30% off
- Cover Girl ShadowBlast, LashBlast mascara, Exact Eyelights: 20% off
- L'Oreal eyeshadow: 25% off
- Vasanti: Free Maic liner with $30 Vasanti purchase
- SInful Colors nail polish: 2 for CAD6
- Crabtree & Evelyn body lotion, shower gel: BOGO
- EcoTools brushes, accessories: BOGO
- Live Clean hair care: BOGO (reg. $7.49)
- Live Clean body lotion, liquid hand soap: BOGO (reg. $4.99)
*** $15 purchase of Belvedere products (including Live CLean) = 10 bonus Airmiles; $50 purchase of L'Oreal, Maybelline, Garnier = 25 bonus Airmiles.

Walmart:
- Sally Hansen Insta-Dri nail polish: CAD4 (reg. CAD4.97)
- L'Oreal Color Riche nail polish: CAD3.46 (reg. CAD5.46)
- Maybelline Shine Sensational gloss: CAD3.46 (reg. CAD5.76)
- Neutrogena moisturizer, cleanser: CAD6.27 - CAD19.97 (reg. CAD7.77 - CAD24.97)
- Garnier Skin Naturals Pure/ Fresh/ Moisture Rescue cleanser: CAD5.58 - CAD6.38 (reg. CAD6.97 - CAD7.97)
- Live Clean bath, baby, hair care: CAD4.47 (reg. CAD5.96)
- Aveeno lotion: CAD9.97 (reg. CAD11.27).

Superstore: Tax free on Sat for most provinces, Fri & Sat for NS. The fine prints say "excludes Joe Fresh baby and/or Joe Fresh apparel), so Joe Fresh makeup is ok, just a suggestion :)

Check back my posts on Joe Fresh Spring lip products and Joe Fresh Spring nail polish for swatches and shade names.

The Bay: Lancome GWP of $35 or more, until Sunday, May 6. The gift is a 7-pc set, values up to $176, which include your choice of a serum, skin care, body treatment, makeup remover, blush, eye makeup and lip colour, and a makeup bag. With purchase of $85 or more, you will get an additional makeup brush set.

Sears: Clinique GWP of $28.50 or more, until Tuesday, May 8. The gift values up to $70, includes All About Eye serum, Clarifying lotion 2, Rinse Off Eye makeup solvent, Colour Surge eyeshadow duo (choice of pinks or nudes), Different lipstick (pink or nude), High Impact mascara in Black, and a makeup bag.

EDIT: Lise Watier online warehouse sale is this weekend. Shipping (Canada only) is $10, or free with $75 purchase. Last sale, I picked up some gift sets that were of great value.

Remember this bunch I found from the Annabelle Big Show LE display? These are Annabelle Big Show Lip shines in Dare and Rave and lip liners in Show Girl and Heatwave.

I have recently found out that the Lip shines are permanent and now moved to the regular display. The lip liners (from that LE display), however, are indeed LEs. They are already gone from my Shoppers, and are hard to find now. I would suggest you grab them quickly if you can still find them.

Here are the swatches, with flash, to help with your decisions :)

The pair on the left is Big Show Lip shine in Rave and lip liner in Heatwave, both in the hot coral/ pantone orange colour family. They compliment each other really well. The Lip shine is sheer with beautiful gold shimmers, and the lip liner is almost matte.

On the right are Big Show Lip shine in Dare and lip liner in Show Girl. Show Girl is more of a hot pink than a purple like Dare, but they too work well as a pair. Dare is quite unique among the Lip shine colours Annabelle released, the pink/ fuchsia shimmers in it are really pretty.

Here they are without flash. The Lip shines are still shimmery like mad. The lip liners show its matte finish better here, still hot :)

Like I mentioned in the display post, there are 12 shades of Lip shines, with testers. I won't doubt that you will find a shade to your liking.

They are not sticky, non drying, wear well during reasonable time period - I got about 3-4 hours. The lip liners applied underneath would help with pigmentation, but the Lip shines are perfect if you are looking for a sheer lip look, or pop them on top of a lipstick.

I am wearing the second pair - Dare and Show Girl here.

With the natural pigmentation on my lips, Show Girl's hot pink was lost and became more purple, which worked for Dare's advantage. Having said that, if you pair Show Girl with a bright pink lipstick, it would look more true to its colour.

In the shade, they look even more purple, lol.

The darker liner, lighter gloss look, I know, is not everyone's taste. Some would say it's a pet peeve, and I agree. But this is a testing look, I want to give them both a fair chance on the lips, so I didn't blend them out evenly.

And also because I only wore them to the playground for like 10 minutes, lol. Remember the FOTD that you saw on the Tuesday post?

All in all, I am loving the pairing between the Lip shines and the LE lip liners. Glad I got the LE liners before it's too late as they are hot and bold, great for summer.

The Lip shines are a lovely addition to Annabelle's lip gloss lines, and I kinda dig Dare, the purple shade. It might not be a traditional summer shade, but I wear all kinds of colours year round anyway, depending on mood, not much on season.

If you are one of those lucky ladies that got to make your own Lip shine shades at the Premier launch, don't neglect them and start showing them off, to my envy :)

My very first OOTD post, blame the coloured denim trend! The weekend was sunny with bright sky, not as warm as it looked but Squirt and I had our "photo shoot" anyway.

This is the hot pink skinny jeans from Sirens. I have become a fan of this store when they feature latest fashion trends - coloured jeans and blazers, sheer chiffon blouses, colour-blocking fitted dresses, asymmetrical hemmed skirts, etc.


The jeans are surprisingly comfortable and stretchy enough to accommodate regular movements of my legs. I'm well... not tall (lol) so they are long on me. I have to fold them in a few inches for the flats.


The rest of the outfit:
- Black tank underneath a sheer top from Urban Behaviour
- H&M recycled wool blend cropped blazer
- Old Navy croc printed flats
- Nevada necklace from the Bay
- Earrings and rings from Claire's
- Chopard sun glasses.

What I used on the face:
- Cetaphil moisturizer SPF50
- Marcelle BB cream in Light to Medium
- Vichy Norma Teint foundation in Sand (review to come), no concealer
- Cover Fx Setting Fx translucent mineral powder in Light
- tarte Amazonian Clay blush in Charisma.

For the eyes:
- Maybelline Color Tattoo in Too Cool
- Annabelle 4Show eyeshadow quad in Pop-Eye (using the lime green and aqua shades)
- Annabelle Custom quad single eyeshadow in Helium as brow bone highlighter
- Annabelle Smoothie eyeshadow pencil in Licoriche, smudged out on lower lash line
- Gosh Velvet Touch eyeliner in Banana for inner corners
- Annabelle Le Big Show mascara in Black.

For the lips, stay tuned for the next post to find out :) It's exciting, I promise.

And as always, close-up on the eye makeup.

I have lots of respect for fashion bloggers to take OOTD every day. Squirt was my photographer and she didn't know the skill to angle up to make me look taller and all, but she's all I got lol. This was just our trip to the playground, I must be the trendiest mom there for the day.

Winners has become alive again with so many new beauty products, so this is a heads-up on what you might find in store.

A new shipment of Cargo products has just arrived, with the mini 7in7, eyeshadow quads and duos, Lash Activator, etc.
EDIT: the brand is on HauteLook the day after I posted this, so I now add price comparison too. I got a blush in Mallorca for $9 (vs. $12 on HauteLook, retails $29), Safari and Mediterranean sets for $15 each (vs. $18 on HauteLook, reg. $34).

The Safari set (Spring 2011) has:
- BeachBlush in Coral Beach (full size)
- Eye lining pencil in Khaki (full size)
- Eyeshadow duo with a gold and a khaki (full size),
- Lip gloss in Serengeti (mini),
- 3 Triple Action mascara (mini).

The Mediterranean set (Summer 2011) has:
- Blush in Mendocino (full size)
- Eyeshadow duo with a gold and a copper (full size),
- Better-than-waterproof mascara (full size)
- Lip gloss in Morocco (mini),
- Swimmables Waterproof Eye pencil in Teal (mini).
Both sets comes with a small makeup bag.

I only paid $12 for the Mediterranean set because the teal liner was missing. Don't know if I'll keep it, cause the liner is kinda the reason I wanted the set at the first place.

I also found new Stila products. The brand was just on HauteLook, so I do some price comparison.

- One Step primecolors $8 at Winners vs. $6 (or a set of 3 for $10) on HauteLook
- Convertible eye colours have similar price at both places (around $7-8)
- One Step foundation $13 at Winners vs. $8 on HauteLook
- Kajal eyeliner (I found Sapphire) $9 and Smudge Stick Waterproof eyeliner (in Koi and Silver Dollar) $8 at Winners vs. $5 on HauteLook.

Considering HauteLook's Canada shipping isn't cheap, it's probably still worth it to get Stila from Winners. I think I'll only keep the Smoky Eye (Platinum collection) Talking palette ($13) though. Any of you has this palette?

From Pixi, I bought:
- Lumi Lux Radiance powder in Peach Petal $10 - beautiful rose patterns, good size too
- Lip blush in Love $7. I saw this shade in Sam Schuerman's Valentine tutorial and has been wanting to get it.

Both these items were on HauteLook before, for $7 and $5 respectively, so yeah, we pay a little more in store. Do you feel like Winners is our HauteLook lately, with no shipping cost?

I don't think we have access to this brand much, though this is not the first time I saw it at Winners.

On to nail polish.

With Color Club, I found 2 new sets with no names, just "All About Color" sticker on the packaging, $15 each.

It looks like these bottles are randomly selected to put in sets. I have no clues on shade names for the first set, as bright colours could end up anywhere.

For the second set, the first 3 shades are from the Under the Mistletoe collection, which Winners had before. The second last shade looks like Covered in Diamonds. I don't think I would ever know all names for sure. Why do they do this?

And Jessica, which I notice a small display a while ago but didn't really look.

This time, I spotted Iridescent Eye and gasped. It is the exact dupe of Chanel Peridot, with the price tag of $6. How can I not get it?

Words are there are other Jessica shades that dupe Chanel colours, and they might even have better quality/ application. The nail polish section just got a little more exciting :)

I also found Color Club magnetics, LA Girls trios and some sets from random brands that I never heard of.

Skin care wise, I have been really into serums lately. I love how fast they sink into the skin, ready for moisturizer instantly.

I found H2O Green Tea Antioxidant serum (25ml, $10, was $36 before being discontinued last summer) and Sea Results Daily Defense serum (30ml, $15, reg. $60 on H2O website).

Looks like online reviews are more positive toward the Sea Results serum than the Green Tea one, so I might not keep both.

So, what is on your Winners radar now?

Before we start with the deals, I just want to thank you all for your support and understanding toward my little announcement yesterday. It means a lot, so thank you!

Shoppers: Sat only: x20 Optimum points with $50 purchase
*** Sun & Mon:
- Cover Girl Exact Eyelights pencil/ mascara, LashBlast mascara, ShadowBlast eyeshadow, Outlast lip: CAD6.99 (Limit 4, after limit and rest of the week: CAD8.99)

*** All week:
- Fragrance clearance (selected types): CAD17.77
- Life brand/ Balea/ RoC skin care: 25% off
- Olay Age Defy, Regenerist, Total Effects, Pro X skin care: 25% off
- Dermaglow skin care: 20% off
- Marcelle Essentials skin care: CAD14.99
- Neutrogena/ Aveeno sun care: 20% off
- L'Oreal Colour Riche lipstick, Voluminous mascara: CAD5.99
- Almay Smart shade makeup: 30% off
- Almay eye (selected types): CAD6.99
- Revlon Age Defy, ColorStay, New Complex makeup: 30% off
- Revlon classic lip (selected types): CAD7.99
- Maybelline eye, SuperStay lip, Instant Age Rewind concealer, Dream makeup: CAD7.99
- Maybelline (selected types): 15% off
- Cover Girl LineBlast 24 hour eyeliner (Shoppers exclusive): CAD12.99
- Cover Girl (selected types): CAD8.99
- Rimmel Lasting Finish makeup, eye: CAD5.99
- Physicians Formula: 30% off
- Essie nail polish: CAD7.99
- Revlon nail polish/ treatment: 15% off
- Sally Hansen nail art pen/ treatment: CAD7.99.

Lawtons:
- Skin Doctors skin care: BOGO
- Neostrata skin care: 25% off
- La Roche-Posay Effaclar: 25% off
- Dermaglow cleanser: 20% off
- Vichy sun care: 25% off
- Got 2b/ L'Oreal Studio line hair care: BOGO
- Softlips lip balm: BOGO
- Essie nail polish: CAD8.99
- Compliments nail polish remover/ implements: BOGO
- Ardell lashes: 15% off
- Annabelle: 20% off
- Revlon foundation, powder, concealer, primer, blush: 25% off
- Maybelline Dream Nude airfoam foundation, Fit Me: 25% off
- L'Oreal mascara: 20% off
- Cover Girl NatureLuxe mascara, ShadowBlast eyeshadow: 25% off
- Vasanti: 15% off.

Walmart:
- Revlon ColorStay eyeshadow quad with bonus nail polish: CAD11.56
- Cover Girl Lip Perfection lipstick/ pencil: CAD7.27
- Olay cleanser: CAD6.77 - CAD7.77.

I have found myself online shopping more often than going to stores. They make it too easy to hand over your cc, don't they :) Stay tuned at the end for a little notice.

I have given in to the indie nail polish craze, just 2 purchases for now, but who knows later :)

From the famous Nerd Lacquer, I got the trio from the NerdCrush series - The Quantum Bluniverse, Cyance Friction and The Selfish Green.

Some background on this etsy store: the nail polish is so popular that the store only opens at certain time, and for a very short time period. Then the store is set on vacation mode (like right now) so the owner can fill orders and ship them out. And there's always the story of limited sources of supplies and time that most indie sellers face.

Due to raves on nail blogs, I couldn't pass up Nebula (from the Spaaaaaace series) and Gorramit (from the Firefly series) either. All 5 are heaven in the bottles and quite unique, don't you agree?

Nerd Lacquer sells for $10/ bottle, shipping to Canada for 5 bottles is $8.50. I placed the order on March 12, got shipping confirmation on March 27, and received the package on April 10, almost a month all together.

Harlow & Co also sells Nerd Lacquer but stocks are also low or sell out quickly. It is always a crazy race trying to order some pretties like these.

From Dollish Polish, I got The Cake is a Lie, 3 Best Friends that Anyone Could Have and Heart of Glass.

Same story, the store is on vacation mode at the moment. Dollish Pollish sells for $8 a piece, shipping to Canada for 3 bottles is $4.85. I ordered on March 11, got shipping confirmation on March 20 and I got them a week after. Less wait time than Nerd Lacquer.

One thing I don't like about etsy is that stuff doesn't stay in your cart when you are trying to get through with payment. If a certain item sells out before your payment is accepted, it just disappear from your list. It frustrates people.

At Lawtons, I found the Revlon Gucci Westman Escapism (LE Spring/ Summer) collection on clearance. These have quite short shelf appearance, I was surprised.

I got:
- ColorBurst lip glosses in Sizzle, Sunbaked and Bellini, $2.62 each. I didn't get Crystal Water as many people said it was just glitters, no pigmentation
- Nail polish in Sheer Seafoam and Surf, $.99 a piece. I passed on Gold Coast and Runway Pearl, saw no sign of Red Bikini.

After checking swatches online, I found out that Sheer Seafoam, while looking awesome in the bottle, is extremely sheer :(

For new display update, look what I found at Lawtons too - a brand new/ untouched Wet n Wild Color Icon LE collection called Be Jeweled.

If you haven't heard, this collection is Wet n Wild's version of China Glaze Prismatics. We have to pay about twice as much compared to the US (CAD3.99/ bottle), but at least we (the Maritimes) get them, and they are still cheaper than China Glaze. I'm hoping it will make its way to Walmart and Shoppers too but I don't know that for sure, unfortunately.

Now on to a bit of blog announcement, I will be posting less often on here from now on. A big nail blogger announced a hiatus yesterday, realizing that nail polish had taken over her life. I think I am on the same boat, not to the same magnitude but a similar case, which got me thinking a lot.

I have been blogging almost daily since the very beginning, knowing that it takes a lot of time and effort, but see that quite a number of posts don't get a comment for a while now. I do know that lots of people read and move on (I do too, most of the time), but maybe the things I post about don't spike enough interest for comments.

I appreciate all of you and am happy when you told me you found the blog useful, but I will slow it down, both blogging and shopping, before they become a source of frustration instead of inspiration. I am still around on here and twitter, if you need me. Have a great day!

I don't get why it took me so long to wear the Wet n Wild Color Icons. I was so eager to receive them through a swap, then they sat in a box. Waiting no more, today I have Wet n Wild It's All in the Cut to show you.

I know this post is late, and this line is not even available in Canada (so far) but you can at least get its dupe - Sally Hansen Be-Jeweled from the Gem Crush line - which is available at Walmart and Shoppers now. You kinda need it :)

It's All in the Cut has beautiful purple and pink glitters (in different sizes) packed in a clear base. The bottle looks tiny but it actually houses 10ml, not bad at all.

And like I said before, with glitters like this, I always use a base to help with opacity and easier removal after. With this mani, the base is Joe Fresh Hula, a pale baby pink.

The first pic is under weak sunlight, and the second is with flash. You can see the pink glitters coming out to play here.

And here too. You might notice the colour on my ring finger is a little darker than the rest. I did a thicker layer on it, just to see what difference it made. So lilac or darker purple, your choice.

This polish is an absolute love. Again, case in point, awesomeness can come in small packaging.

How was everyone's Easter? Overdosed on chocolate yet? I did a bit of shopping at Bluenotes in the weekend for their black label coloured jeans. I love now have almost every colour I wanted, except yellow.

Also participated in the Bay 20% F&F sale - I got a Topshop dress and BCBG Generation bracelets online, and some fashion jewelry BOGO in store. Surprisingly, I didn't get much makeup. A switch in interests, maybe :)

The extra long weekend has begun. It has been a rough week for me, not blogging much, all I want to do now is sleep. Hope everyone has great plans to have some fun. Here are deals for this week.

Shoppers:
*** Sat & Sun: Spend Your Points - 50,000 points = $100 (extra $15) or 95,000 points = $200 (extra $30)
*** Mon - Fri: Free $10 Shoppers gift card with $50 purchase

*** Sun & Mon:
- Coppertone/ Hawaiian Tropics sun care: CAD7.77 (limit 4, after limit/ rest of the week: CAD7.99)
- Biore/ Garnier skin care: 30% off (rest of the week: 25% off)

*** All week:
- Nivea/ Bioderma skin care: 30% off
- Vichy Cellebiotic/ Liftactiv/ Neovadiol/ Purete skin care: 25% off
- Neostrata/ Cliniderm skin care: 25% off
- RoC Retinox skin care: 20% off
- No7 by Boots skin care: 15% off
- Rimmel Moisture Renew lipstick, bronzer, Sexy Curves mascara, Stay Glossy gloss, Glam Eyes mascara/ eyeshadow: CAD4.99
- Maybelline Mineral Power/ Fit Me makeup: 15% off
- L'Oreal/ Revlon (selected types): 15% off
- Revlon/ Almay eye: 25% off
- Cover Girl (selected types): 20% off
- Annabelle Big Show Lip Shine, Skinny eyebrow pencil, Smudgeliner: CAD6.99
- Marcelle facial cleanser (selected types): CAD10.99
- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear/ Rimmel Lasting Finish nail polish: CAD3.99
- Quo by Orly gel nail: 10% off.

Lawtons:
- LA Colors/ LA Girl: 20% off
- Milani: 15% off
- L'Oreal True Match makeup/ Studio Secret primer: 25% off
- Maybelline Baby Lips/ mascara: 20% off
- Almay foundation/ powder/ concealer/ blush: 25% off
- Cover Girl NatureLuxe: 15% off
- Mitsura makeup: 25% off
- Bonne Bell lip smacker: BOGO
- Simple skin care: 20% off
- Neutrogena naturals skin care: 15% off
- Upper Canada bath/ body: BOGO
- Fruit & Passion Grapefruit Guava collection: 20% off
- Nivea Visage Pure & Natural/ pink or blue line: CAD7.99
- Revlon beauty tool: 20% off (extra 5 Airmiles with 2)
- Mavala nail polish: 20% off
- imPRESS Broadway/ Kiss nail enhancement/ accessories: 15% off
- Gilette/ Venus Embrace disposable razor: BOGO.

Walmart:
- Cover Girl True Blend liquid makeup, pressed powder: CAD9.47 (reg. CAD11.47)
- Maybelline Volume Express mascara: CAD5.96
- Rimmel Lash/ Volume Accelerator with bonus Soft Kohl pencil: CAD6.98
- Garnier Ultra-Lift/ Ultra-Lift Intense skin care: CAD12.97 - CAD16.97 (reg. CAD16.47 - CAD21.47)
- Live Clean Fresh Face skin care (new): CAD12.97 - CAD19.97
- Olay Classic large size moisturizer: CAD9.57 (reg. CAD11.97)
- L'Oreal Ombrelle Complete/ Kids sun care lotion: CAD16.97 (reg. CAD19.97).

I finally did an ombre mani with Butter London Disco Biscuit, another shade from their Spring collection. And it is a great one.

Disco Biscuit is a hot magenta pink with blue shimmers, a perfect shade to make an ombre as the opacity is buildable.

What I did:
Thumb, index and pinkie: 3 coats
Middle finger: 2 coats
Ring finger: 1 coat.

At one coat, it is a sheer baby pink colour, would be perfect to do those "glitter sandwich" looks - I might try that next. It then becomes truer to the bottle colour at 2 coats. One extra third coat for opacity, less VNL, but the difference is minimal.

I personally prefer how Disco Biscuit looks at 2 coats, a right amount of pink without being overwhelmed. This is a pink that I can wear and actually like, maybe because of its opacity levels where I feel like I have a choice of how it would look on the nails.

The blue shimmers are visible but not easy to capture on camera. Here you can see them in the bottle and on a few of my nails. Blue on magenta pink, it is a "Cheer You Up" type of colour.

Application is as easy on this one as with Knackered, so far I enjoy the Butter London brand. Wear wise, it gives around the same amount of time like most brands (2 - 3 days) but I would change my nail colour by then anyway.

Disco Biscuit was provided for review by Nail Polish Canada. Don't forget to enter the contest to win the whole Spring/ Summer collection on their product page before April 15.