This palette is a gorgeous neutral and compact palette – great for everyday and on the go wear. Most of the shades are matte, with a slight shimmer to three dark brown colours. The darker eyeshadows are quite pigmented, but I find the lighter matte shades to be a bit chalky – but that tends to be the case with lighter matte shades. 

Next up are eyebrow products: the Brow Wow and the Precision Brow Pencil, both in the colour Brunette. I really like these products for the summer because I tend to wear lighter makeup in the Summer so I define my eyebrows a bit more. The great thing about these brow products is that they are not limited edition – brows all year round!

The Precision Brow Pencil is similar to ABH’s brow Wiz. The pencil is super thin and not too pigmented, allowing light, thin and feathery strokes. To be honest, I prefer eyebrow pencils that aren’t so pigmented because it allows more room for error and it’s buildable. The other end contains a thin spoolie which is great for brushing the eyebrow hairs and blending the pencil. 

The Brow Wow is a unique concept – it’s a brow powder that comes in a tube and has a sponge tip applicator. At first I thought it would be similar to eyeliner because of the packaging, but the powder is completely dry and applies like eyeshadow. This needs to be applied with a light hand because it’s SO pigmented! I wouldn’t use this by itself, but use the Precision Brow Pencil to outline and shape my eyebrows and use the Brow Wow to fill in the sparse areas.

What are some of your Summer favourites? (It doesn't have to be make-up!)

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Earlier this Spring (I know,,, I’m super late…), Sephora released the Chic It Easy set. This is my first purchase from the Sephora sets and I'm pretty happy with it. Through the enablers and deal finders of the Canadian Beauty Bloggers Network, I was able to get this set for only $33 due to a mispricing on their website.
This set was worth it even without the discount, retailing for $56 and containing two full sized items!
This set includes:
Formula X The Colors Nail Polish in Pyrotechnic (0.13 oz at $4.23)
Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 20 in Nude (1 oz at $22.00 USD)
Caudalie Beauty Elixir (1 oz at $22.00)
Atelier Cologne in Orange Sanguine Cologne Absolue (0/14 oz at $16.80)
Klorane Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk (1 oz at $11.00 USD)
NARS Cosmetics Lipstick in Jungle Red ( 0.11 oz at $35.00)
Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat in No. 2 Luminous Ivory (0.1 oz at $50.00)
MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua XL Eye Pencil in M-10 (0.01 oz at $6.25)
This whole kit is worth $167.28 which is a complete steal!

Although the Caudalie Beauty Elixir. Klorane Dry Shampoo and Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizers are not full size, they are equal to the travel size sold by the impulse section. The two full sized products in this kit are the NARS lipstick and the YSl Touche Eclat, both of which I’m excited to try out.

Have you purchased a Sephora set before? What did you get?

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School starts again in two weeks and I’m actually so excited! I’ve been spending my Summer working, so going back to school will be a nice little break for me. One thing I don’t have to worry about in preparation for school is make-up, because Quo has me covered with their Back to School Collection. This limited edition collection contains:

Daily Beauty Palette ($42.00)

This palette is huge, containing 28 eyeshadows, 7 eyeliners and 3 blushes. The shadows are sorted by matching colours in 7 columns to represent each day of the week. I think this is a great palette for those who like to add a bit of colour to their eyes everyday as it contains neutral and bold colours. The pigmentation of the shadows are decent and buildable – but I wouldn’t swap out these eyeliners from your normal routine.

Taking Notes Beauty Palette ($32.00)

This palette has the cutest form, mimicking a zip three-ring notebook with four card slots and two removable palettes. Each palette contains 6 eyeshadows, 1 eyeliner, a blush, a bronzer, and 2 lip colours. This palette would be great for on-the-go make-up applications, but again, I would recommend using your own eyeliner and lipstick.

Hall Monitor Clutch ($22.00)

This clutch has contains four card slots and a coin pocket on the inside and a phone holder on the outside. This comes in handy if you don’t have a phone pocket in your purse or backpack. I’m definitely going to use this to protect my new phone since it will take a while for my eBay case to come.

Get a Grip Magnetic Brush Set ($38.00)

This kit contains 5 brushes: powder, blush, flat eyeshadow, liner brow and crease blender as well as a magnetic stand hat suspends the brushes upside down. Not only is this great for display, but it also helps the brushes dry after being cleaned.The Quo Back to School collection is definitely more suitable for pre-teens and teenagers who wear or are looking to wear make-up on a daily basis. I like that they incorporated Back to School as a theme because I mostly think of stationary and clothes when I hear about Back to School shopping. 

Are you excited to go back to school? If you aren't in school, what will you be doing this September?

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I am a huge fan of Korean food, but one dish that hasn't quite won my heart yet is bibimbap. Bibimbap is literally translated to "mixed rice", and is usually served in a hot stone bowl with various veggies, a sunny side egg and gochujang (a Korean hot sauce). Enter Bi Bim Bap, a restaurant that adds a twist to this Korean staple. Bi Bim Bap provides various Korean dishes and allows diners to choose what goes on their bibimbap (egg, beef, chicken, spicy chicken, tofu or mushroom) as well as the rice (white or brown). 

Every meal comes starts off with a small plate of kimchi, pickled daikon and carrots as well as a bowl of miso soup. To start, I always get the Kim Chi Fries: julienned fries topped with kimchi, Korean BBQ sauce, sesame mayo and green onions.
Next up is my favourite: the Beef Bibimbap, which comes withradish, spinach, bean sprouts, carrots, cucumber, burdock, cabbage, zucchini,  dried seaweed, sesame seeds topped with thin marinated slices of beef. I always add soy garlic sauce and a bit of original gochujang to my bowl for a little sweet heat, before mixing it up. The hot stone bowl keeps everything piping and helps to cook and bring everything together. I like to press the contents onto the sides of the bowl to keep it hot and to crisp up the rice.
The meal then ends with a refreshing cold cinnamon drink which is topped with a single pine nut. This drink is like heaven because it cools down the tongue - whether it be from the heat, the spice, or both!
If you live in Toronto, I definitely recommend checking this place out - it's definitely one of my go-to places for a hearty meal. Bon appetit!

I can't believe it's already August! I don't know about you guys, but my summer just flew by - especially since all I've done so far is work... And catch Pokemon... But that's besides the point! Another month by means another Topbox - woohoo!

In this month's Topbox, I received:

Smashbox Photo Finish Pore Minimizing Foundation Primer (7 ml $11.66)

I actually have a wedding to go to this weekend, so YASSSS to this product!

NYX Butter Gloss in Raspberry Tart (8 ml $7.99)

I'm kind of sad that I didn't get more of a neutral colour as I find purple lip glosses tend to be splotchy so I'll have to use it over a purple lipstick.

Novex Argan Oil Deep Conditioning Mask (100g $6.57)

I haven't heard of this brand or this product before, so I'm interested in trying this out. With that being said, my hair isn't really dry so I'm not sure if I'll see a difference.

Elizabeth Arden Skin Illuminating Retexturizing Pads (3x1.2 ml $4.41)

These will also come in handy for the wedding since I will be staying at a hotel and can bring these along - I just love these samples for travelling!

Bonus Free Brow Waxing & Design from Caryl Baker Visage 

Total Value: $30.63

I definitely like this box more than Julys because it comes with products that I would use - it didn't exactly wow me though, but maybe next month!

HOW MANY POKEMON HAVE YOU CAUGHT?!

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After a couple months of tracking my empties and tosses, I feel like I should only buy sample sizes of products now. It feels so satisfying knowing that I used something up rather than letting it sit in a corner forever. With that being said, there a some more sample I've used this month, so let's get into it!

Rating Guide:

☆ - All aboard the nope train!

☆☆ - Meh... It's okay

☆☆☆ - YAAASSSSSS!!

Sample Size

Caudalie Crushed Cabernet Scrub ☆

I found the seed powder too coarse for scrubbing, but the scent was nice mix of herbal and floral.

The Body Shop Tea Tree Mask ☆☆

This mask was easy to apply and provided an even application - something I seriously have trouble with in regards to masks.

Rodial 5 Minute Facial ☆☆

The sample wasn't much for me to give a proper review, so it's an okay for now.

Philosophy Purity Cleanser ☆☆

Honestly, I think this cleanser is overhyped - I actually don't think it does a good job for a cleanser as there is still some makeup left over when I tone my face.

Korres Wild Rose 24 Hour Moisturizing and Brightening Cream ☆

I wasn't a fan of this because I found it a bit too thick which resulted in some break outs. I mixed this with another moisturizer to thin it out.

Nexus Shampoo & Conditioner ☆☆

Herbal Essences Shampoo & Conditioner ☆☆

Full Size

The Body Shop Vitamin C SPF 30 Moisturizer ☆☆

This used to be my go-to SPF moisturizer, but now my skin has become too sensitive for thicker moisturizers. I think this would be a great option for normalskin types.

Bed Head Control Freak Shampoo & Conditioner ☆☆

One word: PUMPS!

Tosses

Say Yes To Tomatoes Acne Spot Stick ☆

I've had quite a bit of trouble with this acne spot stick. If not used for a while, some brown stuff builds up on the silver rolling ball applicator which is a huge turn off. When I finally did use it, I found it didn't really help. Then the bottom broke and all the salicylic acid solution leaked so... It just wasn't meant to be!

Do you prefer pumps or squeeze shampoo/conditioner bottles?

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