This line of dry shampoo is created by the gorgeous model and youtuber Ruth Crilly (A Model Recommends). As I have black hair, I always look for invisible dry shampoo because I am too lazy to to brush out those white powder. I used to use one from Oscar Blandi but it’s too expensive too replace. I tried one from Vidal Sassoon but the pump clogged after 2 uses. Never thought it’s so hard to find an invisible dry shampoo! These ones do not leave any white powder or cast on my hair at all, that alone was amazing.

London is the more sophisticated of the two and has a musky scent. Rio reminds me of a carnival in a hot summer day. I thought I would like London more because I am normally not a tropical scent kinda gal but Rio is bright and not overbearing.

However, the most important part is how does it fare? It’s actually the best dry shampoo I’ve ever tried. My hair usually start to get quite oily on the 2nd day, I used it on 2nd day, even 3rd day hair and it’s able to make my hair feel and look clean.

Basically this is a huge winner in my book. Thank you AMR for saving my hair!

Let’s toast to the end of dry shampoo hunt… finally.

*Item(s) provided to me for consideration

Since a little while ago it seemed like the beauty blogger community went nuts for the Oribe Texturizing Spray. Being a student, I clearly cannot justify/afford spending that kind of money on a hair spray. While I was perusing the drugstore one day I found this interesting little number so I decided the give it a try.

The Garnier de-contructed texture tease dry touch finishing spray is a winner in my opinion. It’s drugstore (I got it for less than $5CAD), and it works like a beaut. I spritz some of this in my roots and partway down the shaft of my hair, mess up my hair a bit and voila, instant volume! Easy volume, no fuss. I also like how it doesn’t weight my hair down. I usually use this on 2nd day hair since I usually have pretty decent volume on 1st day hair, but 2nd day hair… you know how it is.

The only down side is it has quite a strong scent that lingers a bit. It’s clean fresh scent so I don’t mind it that much. For a few bucks, I can deal.

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The super sleek compact houses 3 gorgeous blushes – Luminous Flush, Incandescent Electra, and Mood Exposure. I love how I get a  rose, peach, and plum blush all in one! This palette is very travel friendly, especially when you are indecisive like me! It is also a very great way to sample the blushes as they are $41CAD each. I honestly can’t finish a full size blush so $67 for 3 blushes is a great way to sample this range of blushes.

Look at how gorgeous the swirls are in each blush! They are all really pigmented and have good lasting power. There’s some shimmer when you look at them in the pan, but it doesn’t really transfer when it’s on the cheeks. It just gives a lovely sheen and does not make you look like a disco ball at all!

Go get this palette now if you don’t already have it in your collection!

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I have previously tried some samples of IOPE moisturizers and fell in love with them. Unfortunately at that time Korean skincare still isn’t a huge thing in N. America so I wasn’t able to get my hands on them without paying an arm for it. When I was in Korea this past summer, I made it a mission to pick up a moisturizer from them, so this IOPE Ultimate Hydro Cream flew home with me (as they don’t seem to carry the one I tried out before). This is what their website says about this product:

1. Bio liposome charges moisture to your skin
2. Bio liposome contains 14 superfruits and protect skin cells
3. Hyaluron acid forms moisture film on skin and keeps moisture of skin.

It has an interesting texture that is between gel and cream, which makes it more lightweight than your usual heavy-duty moisturizer. One thing I particularly enjoy about this moisturizer is how quickly it gets absorbed. I wake up in the morning with smooth and supple skin. It also has a very faint scent that is actually quite soothing, but don’t worry, it goes away fast.

This has quickly became my go-to moisturizer for winter. There are more venues to get it online now but they still cost a lot more than if you would get it in Korea. But don’t fret! If you are in the GTA area, I found out yesterday that the Amore store in Pacific mall carries it for $44CAD, which is comparable to Korea (albeit a bit more expensive, still much better than the $60+ price tag online). BRB, I’m gonna go slab some of this on my face now…

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To me, masks are like the first aid kit of my beauty/skincare world. Whenever I feel my skin being gross/congested/dry/oily/whatever, I reach for a mask to save my face. Here are a few that I am loving currently!

When I feel like my skin needs hydration, I always reach for the Clinique Moisture Surge Overnight Mask. I tried a sample of this from a previous Sephora 500 points perk and I was in love. I apply it after cleanser and toner at night, and wait 10-15 min before I hit to sack so it has some time to be absorbed and won’t all wipe off on my pillow case. The next morning my skin always feels happy and plumped!

On the other hand, when I feel like my skin needs a proper deep cleanse, I use the Origins Clear Improvement to help things out. I love using charcoal masks and seeing how it dries. It leaves my skin nice and clean.

When my skin is super angry and I feel like there are acnes waiting to surface, I scramble for my Aesop Parsley Seed Cleansing Masque. I went a long way trying to find this mask after seeing so many bloggers rave about it – and it’s totally worth the search! The smell was very herbal, which took me a while to get used to. However, my skin feels so clean and smooth afterwards. This is quickly rose to holy grail status.

Are you a mask gal? What is your favourite mask?

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I mainly apply this with the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge. What I really like about this is how it starts as a light-medium coverage, but can be easily built up to a full coverage. It has a natural finish, it’s not matte, but not too glowy (contrary to its name). I normally always use powder with all my liquid foundation/BB cream, but I don’t have to use powder for this one at all. I wore this for 8+ hours everyday and I never looked oily at the end of the day. Another thing I love about this is how I don’t feel like I have foundation on my face!

The only con about this foundation is the packaging. It looks very sleek, however there’s no pump! It can get messy, especially in the morning when I’m caffeine-less. If they add a pump to the foundation I think this would be the absolutely perfect foundation inside out.

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I mainly focused on skincare since Sephora came out with a couple good skincare kits. I picked up the Beauty Unmasked kit ($37 CAD, currently out of stock), which has 4 mini masks. I have already tried the Origins Clear Improvement mask, but the other 3 are all new to me so I am very excited to try them (Boscia Luminizing Black Mask, GlamGlow ThirstyMud, Peter Thomas Roth Cucumber Gel Mask). The other one I picked up was the Cleansing Ritual To Go set ($24 CAD). Again, I’ve tried the Origin Modern Friction and I really enjoyed it. The other 3 items in this set are Boscia Tsubaki Cleansing Oil-Gel, First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser, and Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Peel. These are all perfect for travelling as they are all travel size, which will be super handy for those of us who will be traveling this holiday!

One last thing I picked up is a new foundation. I have been using BB cream for the longest time but I have decided to get a new foundation as it’s winter time. I settled with NARS Sheer Glow (in the shade Punjab), as all the reviews I’ve seen are wonderful. I am super excited to try this!

And I just realized… I forgot I also picked up some Ribbon Hair Ties (in green) that’s on sale! I am so excited to try some hair ties that won’t leave a kink in my hair!

I am super excited to try all these goodies out! Keep your eyes out for some review in the future!

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So.. winter is officially here in my books since we had some proper snow this past week, so I was rummaging through my lipstick drawer so found this babe that’s perfect for fall!

MAC Party Line is officially described as a “red-toned plum”. I totally agree with this. It looks a bit intimidating in the tube since it looks quite dark, but on the lips it becomes slightly lighter and much more wearable. I am not a huge fan of dark lip colours but this one is perfect for those of you out there who want to venture into the dark lip zone and want to test the water first. It is different from everything else I have in my collection but still work/school appropriate in my humble opinion. As this is a cremesheen formula (my fav!), it feels moisturizing on the lips and the colour payoff is great. I only used one swipe in the above picture.

Do you switch up your lip colour for winter? What’s your favourite shade for this chilly season?

Thanks for reading!

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Although I am occasionally slacking off with my skincare, one thing I always remember to do is to exfoliate my face. I just love the feeling of smooth, freshly exfoliated skin.

I have tried quite a number of exfoliators for the face, both chemical and the ones with beads. The Ole Henriksen Walnut Complexion Scrub does the job better than any other scrubs I’ve tried. It has bits of walnut powder that does the majority of the work, but it also contain soothing ingredients such as aloe vera gel, chamomile and ginseng. When using the scrub, make sure you don’t overdo it because if you scrub hard with a lot of the product, you can end up irritating your skin since the walnut bits are quite hard I find. Don’t ask me how I figured that one out. However, if you use a small amount and appropriate pressure, it is better than any other exfoliators I’ve tried. It leaves my face so smooth that I can’t stop touching. It also has a nice scent that is not overpowering and does not linger for too long. I recommend using this every week or so, since this is strong stuff, you don’t want to overdo it.

If you are looking for a heavy duty facial exfoliator for this upcoming winter, I suggest you to check this out! Just remember, a little bit goes a long way my friend.

Okay, it’s that time of the year and I felt like my inner beauty-obsessed self  need to re-emerge from where I buried it. I have really capped my spending on beauty and skin care products for the last little while, but I still spent hours on Sephora just to browse all the wonderful products out there. So naturally you can imagine when it’s time for 20% off, there are a bunch of stuff that I would like to get. Obviously I won’t get everything I want as they will break my bank, but one can wish right? So here are my picks…

1. Marc Jacobs Sky Liner Seven Piece Petite Highliner collection – I have previously declared my love for the Highliner, and they are hella expensive on their own. I feel like with the 20% discount, it makes the price of this set much more palatable. Plus, it’s a great way to try out different colour eyeliners!

2. NARS Audacious lipsticks – I am aware I don’t need another lipstick, but I have heard only positive things about this line of lipsticks, and the packaging is just… perfect. The shade range is pretty big too. I have a hard time deciding which one is my fav but I am very inclined to check out Natalie, Kelly, and Vivien.

3. Glam Glow Gift Sexy – I love Glam Glow. I have tried both the white and black one and enjoyed them equally. I still haven’t had the chance to try ThirstyMud because I just can’t justify spending $76 on one tub of mask. This set comes with a small jar of YouthMud and Supermud, and with the 20% off I think I might just bite the bullet on this one.

4. Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette – After lipsticks, I think my 2nd favourite beauty product category is blushes. I am ashamed to admit to how many blushes I have, but come on. Just look at this. It just looks… divine. Argh I want to take you home so bad.

5. Bite Beauty Best Bite Remix – Bite Beauty brought out another similar set previously, but with different shades. My lovely friend and fellow blogger Pearlessence got me that as a gift and I friggin’ loved it. It feels so comfortable on the lips and it has such great pigmentation. This set is so perfect for the colder months. Consider it done.

6. Chloe Rollerball Trio – One Chloe rollerball would cost you $30CAD normally. This is currently on sale for $36 and there are 3 of them! With the 20% off… its cheaper than getting one rollerball on its own. Just think about it. The Chloe perfume is such a beautiful scent too. Timeless.

7. Sephora Favourites Beauty Unmasked – I can’t round this up without some sort of Sephora set. I love masks and this quartet is right up my alley. I have the Origin Clear Improvement mask and love it. The other 3 have been on my to-try list forever. Into the shopping cart it goes.

I think I should end it there because otherwise it will go on forever. What are your picks?? I would love to hear some recommendation from you girls since I haven’t been beauty shopping for a long time and I am ready to go all-out!