Beauty & The Boardroom

Boss Lady Mug ~ All photography c/o Ally fotography

Makeup for work can be tricky. Today I wanted to share with you my work day makeup routine. There are two requirements I have: 1) The makeup needs to last all day, and, 2) it needs to take 10 minutes or less to apply. Here is my fool proof work makeup step by step:  

Work Day Makeup that Lasts All Day 

1. Skin/Base:

 

First, I start by applying Photo Finish Primer to my entire face. This gives my skin an even look and helps my makeup last all day.

Second, I apply pore professional to my nose. I have massive pores - and this product is a game changer.

Third, I apply erase paste underneath my eyes. I always seem to have dark circles (permanently sleep deprived!) and this covers them without sinking into the creases and looking cakey.

Next, I apply Estee Lauder Double Wear. This is seriously THE best foundation in the world. It is worth every penny. I tried it out last year after seeing so many beauty bloggers raving about it and now it is the only makeup I will use. If you are looking for makeup to last your whole work day this is definitely it. 

Finally, I apply my Makeup Forever powder & Agent Zero Shine. BOOM. Skin is flawless and will stay this way all day long.

2. Eyes/Eyebrows:

 

Next I move on to my eyes. Eye makeup should be kept subtle for the work place- so for me that means a mix of pale nudes, pinks & browns.

To get this "mix" I have always loved the convenience of eye shadow palettes - but I hate how there are always some colors I never use. The Buxom Customizable Eyeshadow Kit has thus become my new favorite (makeup) thing. You can pick your own six buxom colors to customize your own palette. I have one of these for my workday makeup and one for evenings/more fun makeup!

After applying my neutral eye shadow, I curl my  eyelashes then apply Annabelle pencil eyeliner in the thinest possible line I can draw. This is super cheap drug store eyeliner - but I have found it stays in place better than any of the expensive liners I have tried. It goes on really smoothly as well!

After eyeliner, I go for mascara. I am *obsessed* with the L'Oreal double extend - another drug store find. This cheap mascara is the best for elongating your lashes. I swear by the primer side of it! I also really like that the mascara side is that new formula of 'tube' mascara - so it makes removing my makeup at the end of the day so. much. easier. No more raccoon eyes!

Finally I move to my eyebrows. I have pencil thin eyebrows due to overplucking (thanks for that 7th grade me...) I love the Anastasia brow powder duo to fill in my brows. I find pencil fillers to be far too strong for the work place, whereas this powder just adds subtle fill/dimension in line with your natural brows. perfect. 

I finish up my eyebrows with a quick swipe of Anastasia's clear brow gel. My eyebrows naturally point downwards, so I love this gel to just set all the hairs in the exact shape I want.

 

  

3. Lips:

Lipstick for work should be understated. There are two lipsticks that I alternate between. They are soft shades and they also are the best texture! These are NARS "Audacious" in "Anita" and YSL "Rouge Volupte" in "Opera Rose". The NARS by some crazy amazing miracle of science lasts me ALL DAY LONG. Even when I drink my coffee with it on!

And done! That takes me between 5-10 minutes (...depending on how tired I am while doing it haha) I'll put a recap of all the products I used below. I hope you all have an excellent Monday ahead of you. See you back here on Wednesday!

Follow me on Bloglovin' to make sure you don't miss any posts - you'll get an email straight to your inbox (just 1!) with post recaps of all the blogs you follow. It makes it so much easier to find and read posts you are interested in! 

Work Day Makeup Products:

Face:
- Makeup Forever Powder 

- Erase Paste
- Photo Finish Primer

- Pore Professional

- Estee Lauder Double Wear

- Agent Zero Shine

Eyes:
- Buxom Customizable Eyeshadow 

- Annabelle Eyeliner 

- Anastasia Brow Powder 

- Anastasia Brow Gel

- L'Oreal Mascara  

Lips:  

- NARS "Anita"
- YSL "Opera Rose"

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Hello Hair & Honest Blogger Reviews

Hello Hair Hydrating Mask c/o
Swimsuit Top: ASOS

A few months back I heard about Hello Hair. I heard so many great things about their hydrating mask and was dying to try it out myself. When I found out I would be doing a collaboration with them I was ecstatic! I finally had an opportunity this past weekend to try out their hydrating mask: island escape edition. My best friend Maddie and I each tried it and .... we were extremely unimpressed with the results! 
 
The Process:

As you can see from the photos above I used a small palm full of the product, applied it throughout my hair - focusing on the ends, and wrapped my hair in saran wrap (one of the options they suggest to help the oil penetrate). I then left the product on for 30 minutes before shampooing it out with my usual shampoo (Redken, in case anyone is wondering).

My Thoughts:

After trying to blow dry my hair it became immediately apparent that my hair was still completely soaked in the oil. After fully drying it it still looked stringy and greasy! While not pleased with this, it can perhaps be chalked up to my own error / lack of shampooing. I should note that Maddie did not have this problem; but she did tell me that she shampooed her hair THREE times while in the shower because she just couldn't get it out.

After two more showers I finally was able to get all of the product out of my hair. I hoped that, despite the rocky start, my hair would feel/look great after this and thus the shampooing chaos would be worth it.... sadly, this was not the case. I did not notice any change to my hair after using this product. period. Granted, I am very lucky and my hair is relatively healthy (not too dry) to begin with; but still, I hoped to see some difference in the silkiness or smoothness of my hair and was disappointed. Similarly, Maddie told me she likewise did not see or feel any difference at all in her hair.

Things to Consider:

Overall my experience with this product was negative. I would not use it again. However, I do want to ensure a fulsome review and let you know the things I DID like about this product. Here goes:

1) I LOVE that this product is completely cruelty free / vegan. I am a vegetarian (and Maddie is a vegan) and we both love that companies are starting to take notice of our concerns and ensure their products are cruelty free. HUGE props to Hello Hair for being a leader in this regard.

2) The smell is AWESOME. The product has a light (not overpowering) tropical smell that lingered on my hair afterwards. 

3) Different hair types = Different results?
Clearly, this product is loved by many bloggers - including;  my good friend Bree who reviewed the product here as well as another blogger who I absolutely adore, Katrina, and they both loved the product! I definitely believe that it worked really well for both of them. All I can say, therefore, is that perhaps different hair types react differently to this product and thus you should not be discouraged from trying this product just because of me - just be sure to take my advice on the shampooing! 

Honest Blogger Reviews:

Real talk for a moment: It feels WEIRD to say something negative about something that was given to you for free. It feels as though you are letting the company down, and breaking some sort of unwritten rule. I had a hard time writing this post because of that feeling.

Here's the deal though, I also would NEVER write something I didn't believe or endorse a product I didn't actually like, so that left me in quite the pickle! I hope you readers know that every time I have reviewed a product before, what I have said about it has been my honest opinion. I believe (hope!) that the reason I have had the privilege of working with such great companies (Polette Eyewear, for ex.) is because they like the fact that I am actually honest when reviewing things. The way I see it, companies would (should?) rather collaborate with bloggers they know will be honest as their reviews will mean so much more to readers than reviews by bloggers the readers have decided/learned not to trust. 

Anyway, that was a rant & a half, but hopefully you appreciate my honesty and I would love to hear any feedback you may have on this topic! 

Linking up with:
Fab Favourites
Friday Favourites
Friday Finds
link party with osy 
style nudge 
let it shine 
confident twosday 

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Kini Swimwear - Design Process

Happy Friday! Today I am excited to share with you my experience with a really cool company called Kini Swimwear.

Are you looking for the PERFECT swimsuit for this spring/summer?! I had been looking everywhere when I came across Kini Swimwear and knew I was sold. Kini Swimwear is an online swimwear retailer that let's you DESIGN YOUR OWN SWIMSUIT! Yep, you read that right... how great is that!?

The process is really simple, and lots of fun. On Kini Swimwear you start designing your swimsuit by picking from a great selection of top and bottom designs.

From there, the fun part. Picking your colours! Kini offers a bunch of different solid coloured fabrics as well as some really cute patterns. This is where your creativity really gets to go wild. You can pick different parts of the swimsuit to have different colours and patterns. The possibilities are pretty much endless! 

 I had a ton of fun with this part - and actually made and "saved" a number of different designs before finally selecting the one I wanted to get. You can see a couple of my ideas in the pictures below!! Let me know in the comments what you think of these and which one is your favourite!

Overall, I really enjoyed this whole process and can't wait to wear my custom swim suit!. In terms of customer service, I would have to say this is one of the BEST companies I have worked with. I had a LOT of questions (... I think I emailed poor Em & Elle, the owners, at least 5 times!) and they were always helpful and happy to help with tips about measuring your body for fit, and comments about how certain styles fit.

I am more than happy to answer (honestly) any and all questions you may have about Kini swimwear; so feel free to ask away in the comments below!

The only "negative" I can possibly say about them is, you guessed it, the price. I would not normally spend close $200 on a swimsuit. Depending on what you are hoping to spend on swimwear though, I do think this could be a great investment. The way I see it, if you have a swimsuit you absolutely love (because you made it!) then you will have that swimsuit for years, and feel confident when wearing it (something that is HUGE for me when trying to pick amongst the always teeny-tiny, stupidly skimpy cheap swimsuits I seem to find in big box type stores). Something to think about. 

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