Sparkled Beauty

It has been a long time that I showed you a NOTD post.

When life gets busy, the hands sure take some serious beating and neglect. I still wear nail polish every but without the proper care I normally have for my nails.

Just to keep the flow going with a Rimmel post yesterday, I thought I would show you a nail polish from the brand. This is Rimmel Diamond Dust, from the Glitter - High coverage line, graciously given to me by a blogger friend, thanks to her recent trip to the UK.

Looks like this shade is from the Precious Stones collection, first released in 2012 in the UK. I can't recall if Canada ever got it on our shelves.

I had some doubt on the "high coverage" claim so I did one coat of OPI Give Me Space as base on the index and ring fingers, on its own on the pinky, and experimented with Diamond Dust on its own (2 coats) on the middle finger.

Obviously, it does not need any base for opacity, but the base is helpful to change the colour tone of the mani or when it comes time for removal :)

If you have access to this shade, I sure recommend it. The bottle is small (8ml), £3.99.

Now that I showed you W7 The Cheeky Trio palette, I will now show you Rimmel sculpting & highlighting kit in Coral Glow, designed by Kate Moss I was sent for review.

Very similar concept of a face palette that includes a highlighter, a bronzer and a blush but Rimmel squeezes them into a palm-sized plastic compact instead of a long metal palette.

Similar claims too - long lasting colours that blend seamlessly for a radiant healthy glow. I do find that to be true, don't have any problem blending the colours out and then they don't look overdone.

The brand does not offer "one colour theme fits all" but 3 colour options for this palette, more accommodating than W7 :)

Another difference is the finish. It might not very visible in the picture but the highlighter and blush in this palette are slightly shimmery, not matte.

A face chart is included in the back of the palette to give you a rough idea of product/ colour placement, if you are new to these products.

Appropriately named, Coral Glow has a beautiful peachy toned blush that would work for any skin tone darker than very fair. The highlighter shade is ok. I appreciate a bit of a sheen instead of complete matte but it is not strong enough to my liking.

The bronzer would suit a lighter to medium skin tone on the shy side, can work as a light bronzer but not contour colour for me. Golden Bronze would probably be a better fit for me, colour wise. Lighter skin tones probably go for Golden Sands.

I do recommend this kit for travelling, when you find the colour option that works for you. The palette is 0.65oz/ 18.5g, $9.98 at Walmart vs. 0.74oz/ 21g, $9.99 with W7 The Cheeky Trio palette.

Brand new in the primer scene at the drugstores is Rimmel Fix & Protect primer - 8 hour hydration (005, with pink cap), sent to me for review.

You might be more familiar with Rimmel Fix & Perfect pro primer (002, with blue cap), meant to smooth, resurface, brighten, mattify and protect.

The Fix & Protect primer claims to offer protection against pollution and stress, with skin perfecting effects. A slight overlap with the Fix & Perfect, but without the matte finish.

On my combination skin, it works very well with matte/ non-dewy foundations, adding a bit of a glow from underneath, to avoid that flat look that a matte finish might give. However, under luminous foundations, it turns oily after about 5 hours. Nothing a blotting paper can't fix though.

I can't say that it prolongs the lasting power of foundations but it preps the skin well, with no slippery feeling nor residue left behind. Very comfortable on.

The "protect" aspect of the primer is harder to notice, and it also does not blur my pores

The brand also suggests it be worn alone as a brightening protective shield against stress and environmental aggressors and to prevent skin from drying out. This way, it feels a little more like a skin care product, but I still incline to reach for regular serum/ moisturizer for that purpose.

The lotion-like texture also gives the product the more skin care than primer feeling. If you do not like silicone-y type of primers, Fix & Protect might be for you.

Ingredients: Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Propylene Glycol, Talc, Dimethicone, Phenyl Trimethicone, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Vinyl Dimethicone/ Methicone Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Dimethicone/PEG-10/15 Crosspolymer, etc.

The tube is of standard size - 1oz/ 30ml, retails $10.99.

Rimmel's launch for The Only 1 lipsticks was somewhat quiet, except for coverage on a few UK blogs, but they deserve more than that, with some notes :)

Claim to be full coverage with one swipe, vibrant, luminous and long lasting while being moisturizing and comfortable, these lipsticks perform a lot like Maybelline creamy matte lipsticks, except for the finish of course.

According to the brand, the lipsticks are formulated with an oil blend for glide and lightweight feel, Rosa fruit oil and vitamin E for moisturization and advanced polymers for staying power.

I hunted down the 3 shades I wanted the most: It's a Keeper, Call Me Crazy and One of a Kind and love them quite a lot.

Note #1: Canada only gets 12 from the full range of 15 shades available in the UK:

- 110 Pink a Punch, 120 You're All Mine
- 200 It's a Keeper
- 300 Listen Up
- 510 Best of the Best
- 600 Peachy Beachy, 610 Cheeky Coral, 620 Call Me Crazy
- 700 Naughty Nude
- 800 Under My Spell, 810 One of a Kind and 820 Oh So Wicked.
So, 100 Pink Me Love Me, 500 Revolution Red and 710 Easy Does It are UK exclusives.

Note #2: Smaller Shopper locations only have a display of 7 shades, because of limited shelf space I assume. It took me a few trips to gather these 3.

Note #3: The finish of these lipsticks starts out satin, then slowly turns to semi matte as they wear off. The fading naturally starts from the inside of the lips but in general, they wear quite well.

Pigmentation is great with all 3, only requires a thin second layer to perfect the application. The flat slanted tip requires more patience to stay within the lip line :)

Left: luminous shine in the sun, right: muted finish in the shade. It's a Keeper (far left) gives my dark lips the most natural pink tint, the only shade with very subtle shimmers (note #4).

Call Me Crazy is very bright, rivals the level of Maybelline Color Sensational Vivids while One of a Kind is the darker red that is easier to wear, very flattering on medium skin tone.

Final note: quality in the line is not as consistent as that of Maybelline creamy mattes, as certain shades apply more patchy than others, e.g. Under My Spell which I skipped.

The lipsticks are 0.11oz/ 3.4g, $7.98 each at Walmart or $9.99 at Shoppers.

It has been a good mail week, and I found fun new products to play around with. Here they all are :)

Let's start with the Sephora VIB sale. My US CP package from Tiffany at Will Work for Makeup came in with items that either were a lot cheaper in the US or I couldn't get here.

Not much, just 2 Hourglass Ambient Lighting powders in Diffused Light and Dim Light, reg. $45 (vs. CAD52) each and a Lorac Pro palette, reg. $42 (vs. CAD55).

These cost $110 (after 15% VIB, no tax where Tiffany lives) instead of CAD155 (after tax here), even after shipping, it was a steal. It sucks to realize that with a VIB discount, Canadians just get to the amount that Americans pay regularly.

I did get a few things from my Sephora during the sale:
- Shu Uemura eyelash curler, reg. CAD24
- OCC lip tar in Nylon, CAD19
- Stila Countless Color pigments in Acoustic and Finale (LE), CAD29 each.

I see that there are 10 shades of these on Stila website, only 7 on Sephora. Naturally, I kinda want the 3 that aren't at Sephora lol - Center Stage (pink, peach & blue), Melody (purple) and Encore (champagne & brown). The collection is coming to selected Shoppers soon, I don't know how many shades. Review for the 2 shades I got is coming.

I regret not getting a NARS Boys Don't Cry (Pierre Hardy) blush and a Buxom coconut-scented Hot Escapes bronzer because of pinksofoxy :) Oh well, next time!

On to drugstore stuff. Karen from Frazzle and Aniploish was helping me hunt down goodies that I couldn't wait to get my hands on.

Yes, these :) They are the Maybelline Color Tattoo Duochromes that might show up in Canada later, but they are LE, I could not miss the chance to collect them all.

First row, from L-R: 10 Precious Pearl, 15 Blue Paradise, 20 Waves of White, 25 Shady Shores.

Second row: 30 Icy Mint, 35 Cool Crush, 40 Seashore Frosts and 45 Lavish Lavender.

I think Maybelline starts the numbering again just with this collection, so the numbers might happen to be the same with current shades, a bit confusing, but whatever. Swatches will be up soon.

More duochromes, in naii polish form this time.

Here are the Funky Fingers duochrome bunch with, from top left, clockwise, Venom, Pink Pixels, Mood Ring and Primrose.

Haven't got around to wear any of these yet, but they look awesome in the bottles. If Funky Fingers could do it, why can't others? I need more good duochromes, more brands should join the bandwagon!

Gotta give Funky Fingers an award for funny looking bottle shape lol. They are awkward to hold for pics.

More lemmings to fulfill, this is a Wet n Wild LE palette galore :)

In the background are the Color Icon eyeshadow medleys with a MegaLiner liquid liner attached, in 34120 and 34121 (no names).

In the front are the Color Icon eyeshadow palettes in Nude Awakening and Going in the Wild (LE).

No sign of these in Canada yet, at this point, unfortunately.

I was so happy to get my hands on the Jesse's Girl Julie G Frosted Gumdrops collection for cheap. It was on Groupon US for $13.99, I begged Karen to get me one.

From L-R: Blueberry Fizz (blue), Rock Candy (light green), Crushed Candy (lilac), Tangerine Dream (yellow orange), Sugar Rush (orange red) and Hot Cinnamon (raspberry red).

Making a rare appearance at the top is Maybelline Vivid lipstick in Blazen Berry. This is one of the two shades Canada missed out on, the one I wanted the most. Yes, I ask Tiffany for 2 tubes of it, just cause.

And you know these highly anticipated Rimmel Apocalips, don't you?

Rimmel said these won't get to the US next year, I don't even know if Canada will get them. And hell no, I won't wait till then to find out.

I got Apocaliptic and Stellar off echemist for $7.25 each, free shipping. Not too bad!

Wore them over the weekend, let's just say they are shockingly amazing. You gotta try at least one!!! Need swatches to prove it?

What's new in town? Milani shelf at Lawtons is fully stocked with new products that American bloggers have been raving about. It didn't help that the brand is 25% off this week with bonus Airmiles :)

I bought:
- Eyeshadow primer, reg. $9.99
- Multitasker face powder in Medium, reg. $10.49
- Color Statement lipsticks in 20 Uptown Mauve, 24 Black Cherry and 26 Nude Cream, reg. $6.99
- Color Statement lip liner in True Red, reg. $3.99.

Could have got a lot more with the eyeshadow pencils, blushes, etc. but I stopped there lol.

A brand new Cover Girl Flamed Out collection has showed up as well. Cover Girl is 20% off at Lawtons, so I caved.

I got 5 shades of eyeshadow pencils. From top to bottom: 300 Silver Flame, 350 Melted Caramel Flame, 335 Ashen Glow Flame, 345 Ice Flame and 310 Red Hot Flame, reg. $7.49.

Just a note, the names are only on the plastic wraps, once you peel them off, you are left with just numbers printed on the pencils. I hate referring to a shade by number instead of name. Frustrating!

The 4 eyeshadow pots don't come with plastic seals, so only numbers, no names. I got 345 (dark pink), 315 (blue), 355 (dark brown) and 325 (green), reg. $4.99.

Some good news from Lawtons. First, they now carry Wet n Wild, including the Fergie nail polish (not makeup). Product selections are similar to what we see at Walmart and Superstore, but Lawtons run sales more often :)

Second, those with good eyes will notice those little boxes on the bottom right corner in the pic. Yes, Real Technique brush sets have arrived as well, prices range from $19.99 to $23.99. Individual brushes will be available later in the summer.

Not pictured, but I also got an awesome deal at La Senza with their 40% off weekend promo. Sale on top of sale, and the loyalty discount, I got about 70% off regular price for the Body Kiss bras they have just launched. They are kind of awesome :)

I have done a lot of swatching and testing over the weekend, so stay tuned for reviews. Hope every had a good weekend and some good family time with loved ones.

Yes, you guessed it. The biggest part of my weekend haul is Hard Candy :)

My most lemming (but not the only one) the moment I saw detailed pictures of the release was the Candy Sprinkles collection - picture from Body and Soul Beauty.

My Walmart was a little late getting the new products in, which caused me a few stalking trips around town. But it was a good thing in the sense that I could see swatches of the colours before buying. For that reason, I was successful in narrowing down to only a few shades.

I held my breath when I saw the display, silently grabbed 5 bottles then exhaled lol.

From L-R:
- Gummy Green and Sweet Tooth (Candy Sprinkles collection)
- Jubilee and Celebrate Sequins (Crystal Confetti collection) - Black Tie Optional was sold out or I would have got it too.
Yes, I knew about the bar glitters in Jubilee curling up but I couldn't help it. It was pretty and different
- Crush on Amethyst (Crushed Chromes collection).

The nail polish are CAD3.98 a piece.

Other Hard Candy products I picked up:
- All Lid Up cream eyeshadow in Purple Heart, CAD5.98
- All Glossed Up lip crayon in Love Bite, CAD4.98, and
- Shadow Dancer liquid to powder eyeshadow in Night & Day, CAD5.98.

And if you missed my note in the flyer deal post, Walmart now carries Pure Ice nail polish. I found them in an end cap display, CAD1.97 a pop.

The two shades I got are glitters, of course - Look My Way and Come Closer. Lol the names together sound like an invitation, don't they?

My main reason to go to Shoppers this weekend was the $3.99 deal on Rimmel (selected) eye and lip products.

I wanted more lipsticks from the Kate line, which turned out to be not part of the sale (only the regular Lasting Finish lipsticks are). I was just lucky because a wrong sale price sticker was put at the Kate section, and the cash had to honour it.

I bought #06 and 09 from the regular Kate line, #104 and 107 from the matte Kate line, reg. $7.99 each. I'm digging the red packaging, not that the black doesn't look great itself.

Other things on sale:
- Gosh nail polish in Girls on Film. My location seems to clear out all Gosh nail polish they have at CAD3 a pop (reg. $7). Only found one shade I liked
- Nivea lip butter in Vanilla & Macadamia, CAD2.49 this week. Canada unfortunately only gets this scent and the regular scent, not 4 like in the US, and they took a while to show up on the shelf too
- Peptalash, reg. CAD24.99 on sale for $19.99. The product got some good reviews on beauty blogs. Would this help my sad lashes? We'll see.

I have been to several Lawtons to hunt for this display, thanks to the tip of a lovely reader. It is Revlon Pacific Coast collection, which have the four new shades of lip butters that Revlon Canada confirmed we'll get.

The status of the display proves that the lip butters are for sure the heart of this collection. Only four items per shade, so if you find the display, jump on it. I don't know if the shades will become permanent after this display is gone.

Only bought Wild Watermelon and Sorbet (the two brighter shades), I tried to be good. Revlon is 20% off this week at Lawtons, so I paid $7.60 each (reg. $9.50).

Only one slot each for the baby sticks, but they offer minimal colour payoff, so I wasn't terribly sad that one was already gone. The nail polish and eyeshadow quads can wait.

I'm sorry for those who don't have a Lawtons. My hope is the display will show up at Shoppers and Walmart soon. Shoppers is offering the 25% off coupon on regular priced items tomorrow, but you have to spend $50. Otherwise, we'll count on weekend promos at Shoppers or lower retail price at Walmart.

It is an exciting week for shopping deals, which is a great therapy for the little breakdown I had in the weekend.

A quick note to my American readers, Lancome is offering 50% off on their Color Design eyeshadow quads when you buy any mascara at a Lancome counter. Canada is unfortunately not included.

Another note for my Canadian friends, Real Techniques brushes have made the appearance on my Walmart's shelf (see picture). If this little town of Halifax has them, the chance your neighbourhood does too is quite high. At this point, only the brush sets (3, as pictures) are available. Single brushes will be up on Farleyco (direct link) shortly, while waiting for retailers to fully hop on the wagon.

At Shoppers, I combined the x20 points with $75 cosmetics purchase with some good sales. First is the 50% off on selected Cover Fx products.

The flyer only mentioned Conceal Fx but CoverFx announced more products to be cleared out - Radiant Fx powder, SkinPrep/ ClearPrep/ BritePrep/ EyePrep primers, brush cleanser, brushes and kits, at both Shoppers and Murale until April 19, while quantities last.

I picked up the Redness Treat + Conceal kit (reg. $45), ClearPrep (reg. $39) and the 160 Cream foundation brush (reg. $38).

Note that there wasn't any sale sign at the CoverFx section in my store as of yesterday but the products scanned 50% off. It's safe to check at the scanner first before paying. The x20 point event is going on all week, so you still have time :)

Quo brushes are BOGO (the free item has to be the same as the paid item), so I got two of the crease shadow brush (reg. $13 a piece).

Selected Rimmel products are 30% off this week, I picked up some items I have been eyeing for a while:
- Wake Me Up foundation in Soft Beige, reg. 12.99
- ScandalEyes Waterproof eyeshadow stick in Blamed Blue, reg. $7.99
- ScandalEyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal liner in Nude, reg. $7.99.

The Nivea lip butters are in the flyer for 25% off but my store won't get them until some time in March :(

Remember when I told you about Layla's new displays of Caviar and Bubbly Effect at Lawtons?

Well, it's time to say goodbye as they are like 75% off, $3 - $3.75 a piece.

The three on the left are Caviar Effect in 12 Samba, 11 Flamenco and 03 Valzer. I looked up the names on these as all they had on the cap is the numbers.

On the right are Bubbly Effect in 04 Cherry Muffin, 02 Black Forest and 01 Meringue Pie (names on the bottles this time).

On the top are the Vaseline Lip Therapy lip balm in Cocoa Butter, on sale for $1.79 (reg. $1.99) and buy 2 get 4 bonus Airmiles. The cuteness is overwhelming :)

I also made a quick stop at The Body Shop to use my $15 off $40, expiring at the end of the month. Got some gifts which I don't picture here :)

These items are all on sale, thought I should let you know, in case you need some.
- All 100ml hand creams are $10 (reg. $20), so I got the latest scent - Absinthe
- All the EDTs in the Voyage collection are $20 (reg. $25) if you have a LYB card. I got Amazonian Wild Lily
- Love Etc. heart-shaped solid perfume is $5 (reg. $10), and
- Soaps are 4/ $10 (reg. $4 each), Chocomania is a great scent.

Then with a purchase now, you'll get another $15 off $40 coupon on the receipt, good for the whole month of March.

Bath & Body Works has the Signature line on 5/$30 or 3/$24 (excluding EDTs and Forever Red). With the $10 off $30 coupon in a previous receipt, I paid $20 for 5 products (64% - 76% off). This is a lot better than the B3G3F sale they offer quite often.

I got the Golden Sugar scrubs (226g/ 8oz, reg. $16.50) in Twilight Woods, Paris Amour and Moonlight Path, with duplicates.The product is quite new to the line, available in only a few scents for now.

The packaging is gorgeous, with the gold cap and the lower part of the tubes. The pattern at the top is quite sophisticated and eye catching. For $4 a tube, don't mind if I do (haul) lol.

Also, the 3-wick candles are 2/$22, if you need any. I'm not sure how long these sales last, please call up your store before heading out.

This is more like "Last week finds", but we'll just go with the general theme for simplicity.

The most epic find would be the lipsticks from Shoppers' 3-hour BOGO event last Wednesday. I cracked my brain trying to think if I need anything, but as soon as I went in the store and saw these, I was sold.

THESE, are the L'Oreal Caresse lipsticks that quietly arrived on the regular shelf without me knowing. I thought there would be a huge display of some sort.

There were no testers, so I grabbed a few and check online swatches later.

First row, from L-R: Cardinal Plume, Blushing Sequin, Fiery Veil, Velvety Fuchsia and Violet Chiffon.
Second row: Rose Taffeta, Cotton Pink and Pink Cashmere.

These retail $12.99 regularly, a bit high for drugstore lipsticks, so a BOGO sale was perfect.

Another lemming killed - Annabelle TwistUps. I have been waiting for a sale to get them. Regular retail price is $10.49.

From top to bottom: Mai Tai, Fizz, Kinky Pink and Royale. Sorry the colours didn't show up well in the pic.

Rimmel lipsticks happened to be on sale that week for $5 (before BOGO), and there were testers.

From L-R: In Vogue (Lasting Finish line), #10, #12 and #90 (Lasting Finish by Kate line). I went for bright reds and corals, not really fall yet :)

Let's just say I am good in the lipstick department for the whole year lol.

Superstore offers a $3 off $12 coupon for Joe Fresh makeup this week, so I got a matte lipstick in Brick and a lip tint in Ruby, $6 each before discount. Both are darker than what I normally wear, now these are great for Fall.

Also found the one and only teal/ forest green bubble necklace, $14. Just in time to cure my crave after seeing these all over fashion blogs.

Words from Joe Fresh were that they came out with 2 colours for now (turquoise and raspberry) - can't say mine is turquoise though. There are 2 more coming in December (black and cobalt).

I know there are tons of these on ebay, but I love supporting our own Canadian brand. Plus, the necklace is of great quality, and I got all these on tax free day, my favorite time to shop!

From H&M's 25% off Metro Day last Thursday, I found some fabulous items.

I went in, planning to get a pair of pants and of course walked out without them lol, because of the sparkly cute awesomeness.

Got myself an opalescent necklace ($24.95 before discount) and a pair of flats with a cat face at the front for Squirt ($11.95), with ears and bows and everything. We were both excited. Wish these flats came in my size too, I can wear size 4 Girls. Yeah, I'm young in spirit :)

And lastly, a newly found love from Dynamite, I found this cheetah print dress on sale, couldn't get a good pic to show you how pretty it is, so I use stock pic this time.

Now I had a dress just like this from Topshop a while ago, paid quite an amount for it, but still couldn't leave this dress alone. I might try to be good and bring it back, but I don't know.

Reg. $44.90, now $25, wouldn't you grab it already? Note that Dynamite does not offer a refund on sale items but an exchange is possible. So you do have to find new things to buy if you bring something back. Think twice before pulling out your credit card. I'm trying to give you all information you need here :)

There is always a survey invitation on the receipt from Dynamite for 15% off your next purchase. It is very dangerous, speaking from experience!

Hope to hear what you got last weekend. And if you have favorite Caresse shades, do share so I can decide the must-haves. Have a great day!

Rimmel makes pretty decent polish. My stash of the brand grew a bit after a Kijiji haul, so I thought it's time to post it up.

First row, from L-R: Rimmel 60 Seconds (different packaging) in Fusion, Mania and Va Va Voom.

Second row: Rimmel 60 Seconds in Camouflage, Green with Envy, Pulsating, Night Before and Hard Edged.

I wasn't even aware what the old 60 Seconds looked like before the packaging with "new precision brush". I wasn't into the brand early enough to know whether this old packaging was a geographical difference, or a pre-revamp version. Love old polish hauls, they always spark questions like this, lol.

First row: Rimmel Sun Shimmer in Pearly White, Super Wear top coat and Stronger base coat.

Second row: Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro in Marine Blue and Steel Grey, Rimmel Play Fast in Night Before, Rimmel Lycra Wear 10 + Minerals in Posh Trash and Insolence.

See what I meant about different packaging versions? I have 2 Night Before, 2 bottle designs. Certainly like the one in this second picture better, but I never saw any bottle like this from Rimmel before. Very interesting. Their latest bottle look with the Lasting Finish line looks quite "pro", but not very unique.

How has your weekend gone? We had quite a long day yesterday shopping, spent a little more than I wanted. Sales were so good this time of year. If you get anything good, do share.

It's always so hard to get back to normal life after a little getaway. I am still recovering, believe it or not. But the sun is out this morning, hopefully we'd have a nice day for a change.

I have a fun NOTD for you today, with extra pics, as I had a chance to take them outside.

It's Rimmel Posh Trash, a fun light brown that almost blends in with my skintone, i.e. an enhanced nude look, lol.

This first pic is taken the way my NOTDs are normally taken - at night with flash. The flash seemed to darken the brown colour a bit, cause as you can see in the next 2 pics (taken in daylight), the colour is a little lighter. But I like this dark colour too, if this were the real colour of this shade.













The picture on the left is under direct sunlight, and on the right is indirect sunlight, by the window. It's interesting how it shows up differently in the 3 pics, and I'd say the last pic is the most accurate. This colour is definitely not a duochrome or anything, but I like it a lot for work. Like most Rimmel, application on this one is easy and smooth. The brand should bring out more colours :)

I'm back home from Toronto and back on the blog too. Sorry for not posting during the last 4 days. I was without internet at the hotel room, and then was out and about most of the weekend. But I have some fun things to post today :-)

As you might have known, Rexall Pharma Plus is having 50% off sale on all nail polish and nail treatments starting last Saturday, I certainly couldn't miss it. The items in the pic were accumulated from a few different Rexall's during my "treasure hunt" with some lovely friends.

First row, from L-R: Del Sol Ruby Slipper (from a small display of about 5-6 shades, wish they had more, CAD5.49 after discount), Sally Hansen Complete Salon in Commander in Chic, Gray by Gray, Fairy Teal, Purple Pulse (CAD3.99) and Del Sol Pretty in Pink.

Second row: Revlon Grape Icy, Peach Smoothie (Scent of Summer collection) and No Shrinking Violet (CAD2.75 each), Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro in Steel Grey and Marine Blue (CAD2.49).

These are basic popular shades from each brand, I always wanted to get them but couldn't bring myself to pay full price. Half price? I could do, lol. There wasn't any great deal on makeup, so I didn't get any.

My free time in Toronto wasn't all about shopping though. I was very lucky to meet up with a few Toronto bloggers, and my best friend from uni. We talked, we ate (Indian, Korean, Vietnamese food, sushi, dim sum, omg), we drank (bubble tea, milkshakes, Frappucino, martinis, etc.) and we talked some more. We even had a haircut together, lol. Time seemed to pass by too quickly when I was with them. Love you, my dear friends!

And look what they gifted me, out of kindness. I was so touched, didn't know what to say except thanking them.

First row: Etude House Mini Heel Pedicure 02, Borghese Rome Scarlet C, NYC Frightful Fingers in Phant-asmic and OPI Jade is the New Black.

Second row: Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Admiral Blue and Emerald Green, Sally Hansen No Chip in Endless Claret, Sally Hansen Star Opal in Crystal Opal and a pink Sally Hansen Nail Prisms.

I am over the moon with this stash, as I either never own anything like it (expect lots of "My very first..." posts soon), or they are hard to find/ discontinued shades. I feel so blessed.

Toronto is a great place to hang out, with great company from you, ladies, plus good selections of food and entertainment, and public transportation makes it a little easier to get around. I had a lot of fun and hope to be back in November for IMATS. Can't wait to see you all again.

This colour traces way back to when I first started buying nail polishes (which is a bit after when I started to wear makeup that included more than a lipgloss, lol), one of the "originals".

I was searching around for a green and Rimmel Camouflage came up quite often on blogs with gorgeous swatches, so I went and bought it. And it never fails me.

With good application skill, you could get away with 1 coat, but I did 2. Very happy with it, but I added some glitters anyway, as the glitter kick is still going strong until I could own all the glitters in my wish list :-) I know it's not summer anymore, but at least summer is still on my finger nails in the weekends with bright/ fun colours.

The special "sparkle effect" is indeed Claire's Sparkle. The glitters are in the same tone with Camouflage, so they make a really good pair.

Just a little note: I didn't do a Flyer deals post this week, as I took a sick day on Friday and didn't have access to the flyers. I took Squirt to the Halloween event at her school at night (she is a Minnie Mouse this year, if you want to know, lol) and I briefly looked online when we got home. Didn't really see not-to-miss kinda deals, so let's just let it go this time :-)

Have a great weekend!

Today is quite out of routine for me. Squirt is spending a day with my co-worker whose grandson is about her age (playdate is what they call it, lol). The house was so quiet in the morning, love it :-)

The bf has his Convocation today, so we'll be at his school for part of the afternoon. This guy is collecting degrees, I can't understand why he loves studying so much, lol.

Anyway, it was time to change my nail colour last night. The bf suggested me to try the colours of his school (gold and black), and I thought it was fun. So here it is!

For gold, I went with Rimmel Dazzle, a cute subtle gold with enough shine but not too overwhelming.

For black, I reached for Sally Hansen Hard as Nails with Nylon in Beet Red. It isn't a true black, as you can see the shine in the bottle, but it's dark enough. The purple shimmer is not really visible on the nails.

I choose to do a big black stripe down in the middle of my index and ring fingers instead of painting the whole nails black - to tone down the contrast a bit, lol. I don't have any black konad polish, so this "design" has to be it, for now :-)

Hope you have a good weekend!

I just came back from outside. It was AWESOME out today. Yesterday, it was all rainy and grey, and today I woke up with lots of sun and surprisingly warm weather. At least the tallships can't complain that this little town doesn't treat them well when they are here.

Basically I spent the whole afternoon at the waterfront with Squirt and the bf, so no Sunday shopping for me. I stopped by Shoppers yesterday and did a small haul. Can't help it. In my haul post last week, I mentioned the Rimmel Eyeful Eye Glisteners were on for CAD5.99 and I grabbed the 2-for-1 bonus package, so it worked about CAD2.99 a piece. This week, Shoppers has them on for CAD4.99, together with the Stir It Up eyeshadows (also in 2-for-1 bonus packages). There seems to be no info about these babies on Rimmel website, so I can't add a link here. I'm always sucked in when eyeshadows are on sale, especially these Stir It Ups, normally sold for CAD11.99 a piece. So, here's what I got:
- Eyeful Eye Glistener 500 Stand Out, 700 Girls Only, 200 Straight Lace
- Stir It Up 400 Out of the Blue (green with purple sparkles) and 800 No Way (grey with white sparkles).
CAD2.50 each, I didn't do too bad there, did I?

I am loving the "berries" on my nails this weekend :-) I have Revlon Not Too Blue-berry (scented) on my fingers and Revlon Blackberry on my toes. Loving both of them.
My first time using a Fruitful Temptations - Scented when Dry polish from Revlon. I hauled all 8 colours from the collection but consider Not So Blue-berry quite special and different from the rest. The colour is half blue half purple, depending on the angle you look at it. Most of the time, it looks like lilac/violet colour. Regarding the scent, Not So Blue-berry smells like cotton candy, sweet (not in a bad way) - not overwhelming. After a day wearing it, the scent faded a little but I could still smell it, which was nice. I don't know why Revlon didn't include yellow, orange or green to make the collection a little more exciting. 5 among 8 shades are from the red family of colours. Sucky!

Now I don't normally like pictures of polish on toes, as certainly pictures of the feet aren't really nice to look at. Let me make this an exception, as I so love Blackberry right now. It was like the best shade of red that I came across. I hate red shades that are too overpowering, too bright or don't have a character. Blackberry looks a little darker in the bottle but appeared very nicely on the nails. It's like a deep maroon kinda red. I tried taking pictures of it both in the shade and in sunlight, while we were taking a break at the waterfront (My bf was teasing me for taking pictures of my feet). I choose the pic in the shade, as it showed the colour better. But believe me, this polish looks awesome under the sun, sparkly and charming.

To end the post, here's a picture I took of the HMS Bounty. Do you recall seeing it before? Yes, it was in Pirates of the Caribbean, a celebrity, lol. I was so excited when I read about that in the info board, as I had no idea I had seen it :-) You're probably tired of me talking about tallships. Well, they are gone tomorrow after the Parade of Sail when they sail one by one around the harbour and off to sea. It was just one of those exciting events (they only come in town every 2 years) that I like to brag about a little. We did have fun today. Squirt had her face painted (a "Princess" face) with lots of pink and sparkles. When we were tired of walking in a big ocean of people, strollers, dogs, we sat down having some food on the patio of Victor. It was nice.

Hope you all had a nice weekend.