OPI: My Dogsled is a hybrid

Hi there!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.  I will be reviewing OPI's My Dogsled is a hybrid from the Nordic collection.  

I have to apologize in advance since my pictures were taken early in the morning before the sunrise.  With fall here and before daylight savings, the days start later and end earlier.  Basically when I wake up at 6:45am, it's dark outside.  By the time I arrive home, it's dark outside.  

I painted my nails on Sunday night since I didn't have time during the day and so I end up with pictures with my desk lamp and not naturally lighting.  Sorry about that.  

More after the jump!

Illamasqua: Mini Haul and sale

Hello!

I wanted to show a small haul I bought from The Bay in the Illamasqua counter.  I found out last month that Illamasqua was leaving North America.  I guess this wasn't new news but it was news to me.  More funny is how I found out. I was actually looking up their new colour Melange, and noticed that it was on sale at The Bay.  

The Bay is discounting the make up to 50% off and I took this opportunity to get some nail polish.  It was $8.50 each. The selection varies from online and in-store.

My Haul: DWS, Creator and Faithful

So each polish was $8.50, eyeshadow single was $10, lipsticks were $12, and eyeshadow palettes were $22. The thing about going to the store is people can open the packages.  Before it was 50% off, the polishes were sold for $12.50. I bought DWS at the time. Although it was inside the drawer, I didn't get a new bottle. When I opened it, there was some polish crusted but I didn't really want to go back to The Bay.  Now The Bay has taken away the counter and it is off to the side.  People are able to open all the packages. So I would say that if you're going to the store, be careful of what you're getting.  I checked Creator and Faithful before buying it.

I'll do my review posts later, but I don't know when.  I'm really excited for Faithful though.  The only comment I have to make is, it seems that Illamasqua has glued their tops and their brushes together.  Before I could take the cap off very easily.  What I liked about that is that I can close the brush part off tightly and then place the cap back on.  With the cap glued on, it seems that I can't really twist the cap all the way to close it and then the cap goes really weird, like it's going to explode off.  

EDIT: I put a lot more strength on it, and I was able to get the caps off, but it was not easy.  Weird. Also when I have it closed tightly with the brush cap area, I use the cap loosely to twist it, so I don't hurt myself with the ridges.

Facet's cap off

Anyway, I just wanted to share this in case anyone out there in Canada who wanted to try Illamasqua products and might not know that they were leaving (though I feel maybe I'm one of the last ones to know).  In store there were more selection in terms of polish that are not listed online.  Faithful is not online anymore but there were a few in store.   I just want to say that Raindrops and Facet were not among the polishes available in store or online. Some of the cream blushes in store look nice but also seems like the product was separating a bit or at least there were some moisture droplets on the cream blush. Online there is more selection on eyeshadow quad. 

For me, Illamasqua was always a struggle to buy. I remember going to New York City to pick up Bacterium (which I have since sold, not because of the formula or colour but the old brush).  Then I ordered Raindrops and Pink raindrops on their website and paid a lot for shipping.  There's also the problem of nail polish being considered a hazardous product being shipped out from the UK.  So I was happy it was at the Sephora and The Bay within travelling distance to me.  I am a fan of their nail polishes and I own three blushes which I like. 

Everything was bought by me and I hope you enjoyed reading my little haul and my thoughts.

Have a good weekend!

Nail Art: Bundle Monster BM-410

Hello!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I've had turkey this weekend and it was so good.  It's always nice to spend time with family and have a Monday off. 

I have a quick and simple nail art to share.  It's only simple because I didn't actually do any drawing myself.  I don't really like doing more complicated ones because sometimes I end up removing it, it that means I just spent a long time and it was a waste.  This look, I spent a while but that's only because I encountered some complications.

I used Bundle Monster plate BM-410, the middle left stamp.  I've been wanting to use this and I'm happy with the result.  Then I tried to use my Matte Finish from butter London.  I had it for a while but never used it.

butter London's Matte Finish. I rarely use this and this was part of a surprise box I bought.  

Konad black polish for stamping.

Finish look.  I want to note that my ring finger was painted with Essie's Good to go top coat.  On my right hand, I tried to paint the matte top coat over it and it just smudged like crazy.  It did a little with the Essie top coat as well but not as bad.  This still looks acceptable.  The best result I had with top coat over stamping is Seche Vite. 

Finish look.  While the matte nails do look nice, I went back and painted it all with Essie's Good to Go.  I'm just not a matte type of person and my ring finger looked so shiny, so I decided that all nails will be shiny. After painting it with the shiny top coat, I feel so much better.

My main colour is Essie's Master Plan, which in some angles looks taupe like.  I don't know if it's because I added the Matte top coat.

L'Oreal Haul - Fall Sale

I wanted to share a short post of what I got at the L'Oreal Warehouse sale.  I was able to receive a ticket for the fall time.  This is my haul.

I didn't end up buying so much even though this may be the last time since these tickets come very rare to me.

Anyway, here is the pricing:
Maybelline Clean Express  $5.50
Ombrelle Sun screen  $5.00
Maybelling Master Highlight blush  $3.75
Each Essie was $4.75.  It was buy 5 get 1 free, so I got 6.

I was looking for some darker shades for fall.

Essie colours I got:
Mind Your Mittens
East Hampton Cottage
Warm and Toasty Turtleneck
Fashion Playground (my backup)

Total spent was $43.00