Addictions and major hauls

Recently, I have been feeling the need to pretty much buy everything. I am not sure if it is because of Christmas coming up or all of a sudden, I have developed greater needs but I have bought something or the other almost everyday the last month or so and let me tell you, it is NOT good at all for my bank account.

I am lusting over Illamasqua like nothing else. So far, I have ore pure pigment (two of them!), intense lipgloss in temper which unfortunately, turned out more red than orange and I have the pure pigment in Alluvium and liquid metal in Resolute being shipped to me! I know, insane right? I have acquired all these in less than ONE month of knowing about the brand.

I have also been on a nailpolish buying kick. I was at Trade Secrets a week ago and although I had gone in to buy Zoya Crystal, I ended up leaving with three bottles of nail polish instead because of a buy 3 for 20 deal (Zoya costs $9.95 per bottle and it was a good deal). Now I am looking at getting Butter London nailpolishes in Marrow, All Hail McQueen and Stroppy from the Jelly collection.

And how about all these collections coming out from MAC in January? How amazing are the colours from MAC stylishly yours?! I know I am getting AT LEAST 1 lipstick and 1 cream colour base (both in purple) if not more.

Do you feel like you are buying more than usual this Christmas? What's on your wish list right now? Do you ever feel like you are addicted to shopping?

Illamasqua - Art of Darkness - ORE pure pigment

I know I am not very frequent with my posts but when I get excited about something, I find the best course of action is blogging about it. Let me introduce you to my newest obsession - Illamasqua. It is a UK based make up brand, sold exclusively by Sephora in the U.S. BUT not shipped to Canada due to certain restrictions. Although I had come across the brand previously, it wasn't until I saw their Art of Darkness collection on Temptalia that I took notice.

For those of you who read Temptalia, Christine is certainly not easy to please but when it came to this pigment she wrote "You have to see it to believe it" and like countless other make-up fans out there, I was sold. Painstakingly, I finally got my hands on Ore pure pigment from the collection and it is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO pretty!

It is a bronze gold, with flecks of gold and green glitter (tasteful) in it. Temptalia mentions seeing red as well but I only see the green. I was trying to compare it to MAC gold stroke to see if it was similar, but it is completely different. After all, MAC is much cheaper, gives more product and is readily available for those of us who live in Canada than Illamasqua.

I am so scared of using it now because I know I won't be able to get my hands on another one if I do finish this one up. It is a mere 0.04 oz whereas MAC pigments are around 0.15 oz :(.

Ever since I got Ore, I have been constantly looking up swatches of Alluvium pure pigment and Resolute liquid metal from Illamasqua. I have seen several bloggers use Ore on top of Resolute and it looks absolutely gorgeous. BUT, once again, getting my hands on resolute is a bit out of the question now since Sephora doesn't ship Illamasqua to Canada and getting it shipped from UK is just BEYOND EXPENSIVE (for me, anyway).

If you want to see more pictures of Ore and Illamasqua in general, I would suggest visiting:

www.illamasqua.com

www.temptalia.com

www.theglossgoss.com - UK based blogger Tali is a huge fan and uses Illamasqua products for a lot of her looks. I adore the looks that she creates. Definitely worth a look!

I have a new travel destination...

The Shoe Galleries, at Selfridges in London.

A snapshot of Selfridges' Shoe Galleries.

Some details, which is all I need to write:

• 5000 shoes on display in "galleries"
• At least 55,000 shoes in stock at any given time
• 35,000 square feet
• A photo booth where you can take a picture of yourself with your favourite shoe

I'm booking a plane ticket as soon as I can!

(That is; once I have enough money and get over my fear of flying. :))

photos from here and here

Maybelline Falsies Volum' Express - At last my love has come along...

I am the gal with short, almost non-existent lashes and thus, always in the search of that miraculous product that will give me the much desired long and thick lashes. Believe me, when I say that I have tried it all - every product department store or drug store, I have tried and finally found THE ONE!

I also tried the L'Oreal Lash Serum but alas, I just don't have the time or discipline to apply it twice a day religiously in order to see visible results! :

The Maybelline Falsies Volum'Express Mascara definitely delivers on its promise to give you LONG and VOLUMINOUS lashes. Now, obviously, no mascara will make your eyelashes look like the thick fringe advertised but you probably don't want that anyway.

Here are some before and after shots and as you can see there is a pretty big difference. I curled my lashes with Sally Hansen Lacross double curl eyelash curler (which by the way, works just as well as my Shu Uemura curler) and then applied two coats. Until this mascara, I was buying mascara and hardly ever wearing it because something or another always used to bug me but this... I LOVE.

P.S. Excuse the redness of my eyes, these pictures were taken at the end of a long day!

Brogues

So I got a pair of brogues (or oxfords, depending on what you want to call them), and for the life of me, I didn't know what to wear with them. I had to look through my summer wardrobe and found a few outfits I can possibly wear. Here's one option, similar to what I have in my closet.

Today's Wear by artistanoire featuring h by hudson shoes

As I find more combinations, I'll post them

(source)

It's been a while...

It been an awfully long time since this blog was updated. I've been busy and honestly didn't know what to write about. Also Glamourgirl has been busy herself. But I am back, and I'm going to write about a little purchase I made.

So, I went shopping with my mom yesterday and we decided to stop by Payless. My mom was in need of a pair of flats. Anyways, as soon as I enter the store, my eyes quickly dart to a small pink label. It said "Patricia Field for Payless". I did a mini squeal because I love her (as mentioned here) and then I looked below the label and saw that there was ONE more of this item left. I grabbed it and promised myself I would not let it out of my sight. Unfortunately I didn't have my wallet on me, so to leave the store with this item would take a lot of convincing my mom to buy it for me and then I would pay her back when we got home. I then kept it in my hands, walked around trying on shoes myself, while my mother was looking at shoes for her. The sales clerk came over and saw it in my hand and said "That's Patricia Field! I love what she does!" I of course, smiled and said "Uh-huh! Love her too, I'm so happy that this location finally has something of hers!"

Payless usually has some promotion going on and yesterday, I wasn't failed. The buy one, get one half off (BOGO) was happening and it applied to EVERYTHING. As soon as I saw the sign that mentioned it, I begged dear mother to buy the flats she had her eye on so that I could get this beauty for half price. (Yes I am still quite the frugalista, trying to get the best deal possible) On top of that, there was another deal going on that if you were to send Payless a text, you would get a coupon code for an extra 10% off your purchase. Plus these deals could be used in conjunction with each other. Be still my deal-searching heart!

So after being successful at convincing my mom to get her shoes (She likes a good deal too), I was able to get this:


"Lucky" me :)

I know to some it may be "just a necklace" but to me, it's a piece from someone highly regarded in the fashion industry. I also happen to admire her. If I can get it, I will get it.

Telephone

Even if you don't like Lady Gaga (I for one, love her), the fashion and creativity alone is worth the 9+ minutes of your time.

End of Fashion Genius

Alexander McQueen...Rest in Peace
16 March 1969 – 11 February 2010


photo credit: kinho.com

A Shoe Lovers Dream...

Balcun by Javier Gasco

I love shoes. I LOVE shoes. Ballet flats, platform pumps, biker boots, Chuck Taylor All-Stars, I have a love for them all. Except Crocs and Ugg boots. Anyways while browsing another site, I came across a post that talked about a virtual shoe museum. I clicked the link and was transported, like Alice, into a wonderland I did not want to leave. Created by Liza Snook in 2004 (why I'm reading about this now, I have no freaking idea), the Virtual Shoe Museum is a collection Liza compiled from designers and photogs of footwear. You can spend hours viewing shoes by colour, style and material. For example, there's a section on shoes made of edible material, like these made of bread (a yummy pair of "loaf"ers! LOL):


Bread Shoes Black by R&E Praspaliauskas

I used up a lot of time looking at these shoes...time I don't necessarily want back.

If you love shoes as much as I do, or just want to see what else there is, visit the website by clicking here.

(photo credit: virtualshoemuseum.com)

Lip Balm addict

As a recent graduate from University who has a student loan amount greater than her age, I have started looking for cheap alternatives to the products that I generally use. One of my winter essentials is Lip Balm. Can't live without and don't want to. I am a serious lip balm addict and usually end up buying several types just to try them out. One that I had been using for a while is the Fresh Sugar Rose Tinted Lip Treatment with SPF 15. Just like the original Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment, it feels extremely moisturizing and the smell is delicious, albeit with a tint of pink. However, at $27 CDN a tube, it does not come cheap.

Although I did re-stock my tube of Fresh Lip treatment, I have also found alternatives such as the Body Shop Cocoa Butter lip care stick and Dr. Pepper Lip Smacker by Bonne Bell. What I love about the Cocoa Butter lip care stick is that smells and tastes like chocolate, is probably more moisturizing than my Fresh Lip treatment and comes at a fraction of the price at $7 CDN. The only problem is that it is clear so if you want some colour, this is probably not for you.

However, that's where Bonne Bell's Dr. Pepper Lip Smacker comes in! It is under $3 CDN, it is moisturizing, smells AMAZING (and I don't even like drinking Dr. Pepper) and has this lovely reddish colour to it. And guess who else is a loyal fan and raves about it in almost every interview - Rachel Bilson!!!! As for me, I like to switch up all three, depending on my mood.

Fashion Resolutions: 2010

I'm a tiny bit late on the bandwagon of "Fashion Resolutions 2010" amongst the blogs of style but, I'm on it nonetheless.

So, without preface, my personal fashion resolutions of 2010.

Be a bit more adventurous with what I wear (clothing-wise).
I'm no Lady Gaga, but I love that her fashion sense is her. No one can carry it off like she does. I'm sure she has days when she doesn't know what to wear, but those are probably few and far between, compared to the occasions when the average person like me is deciding what to wear.

I need more clothes. Seriously. I have three pairs of jeans in constant rotation and I stick to wearing them with t-shirts and hoodies (yes, this fashionista currently has no sense, heheh.) I do want more variety and there are tons of items I see in magazines that are just added daily to the colossal collection of my fashion dreams.

Something I'd like to try more of is the menswear with the girly touch. It's what Yves St. Laurent was known for doing back in the day. I love the precise tailoring, yet soft and simple lines it can also bring without being to harsh. I don't mean wearing just blazers or the boyfriend jacket over a dress, but sometimes wearing a feminine, fitted blouse with a tie and a pair of long legged trousers and killer heels.

This summer, I did the majority of the season in skirts and the occasional short. It was the first time in a long time I wore something other than yoga pants or capris during the hotter days. I never wear jeans in the Summer, too hot. It was fun. I played around with styles, colours and lengths. I wore them alone, with tights and sometimes neon blue leggings. By wearing skirts I learned my ideal lengths (a bit above the knee and just above my calf are right for me) and that I actually can tolerate showing off my legs without feeling weird. I didn't like them last year but I'm OK with them now, so trying to sport non-pants year 'round is a goal in 2010.

Don't waste money on fads.
Kinda obvious, but I don't want to waste my money on a trend that is in for a micro-season. Certain stores were made for the quick passing trends (Urban Planet, Stitches, Sirens...) where you don't really have to worry about the absolute quality of the fabric and how it was made, if what you're buying is just to fill your closet for the minute (like some of the skirts I wore in the Summer.) I'm all for wearing the trend-of-the-moment however, specific items can't be around forever.

Which simply leads to...

Investing in Quality-made Classics
Classics are trends that always around but don't ever look dated. Torn, acid wash skinny jeans are not a classic. Dark wash, fitted boot cut jeans are. The piece I need to invest in the most is a good winter coat. My brown fur-lined parka, which I bought for $12 and is un-beee-livveeably warm, simply won't last as I get older. I need a peacoat. It's timeless and I can get out of the winter blahs with one in a cool colour, like white, green, pink or blue. I also need a great pair of jeans, a little black dress and handbag too.

Be a bit more adventurous with what I wear (makeup-wise)
I love makeup. On days when I have nothing better to do I play with my makeup. Most days I keep it simple; mascara, eyeliner and LipSmackers lip balm. I do wear and experiment when it comes to eye makeup and its varying colours. There was a point in time when I even wore snow white mascara to school (on dark skin, it definitely stands out.) It's the lips where I need to go out on a limb for.

I went to M.A.C a few weeks ago and saw lip glosses in deep colours I usually dream about wearing. My problem is when I wear lip gloss, it sometimes looks like I had an affair with a vat of vegetable oil. I don't like lipstick because I can't stand the smell and I also (conveniently? or just laziness...idk) can't find a shade that suits me. Though this colour caught my eye and is probably as bold as I'm ever gonna go:

It's a gorgeous shade and the picture doesn't do it enough justice.
I have to go to M.A.C again and talk with a makeup artist who can break me out of a chapstick rut.

That's about it for my style aspirations for this year. It's simple and something I can make happen if I give it effort and maybe not completely forget this all by the end of the month :)

Have a stylishly awesome 2010!!!!


photo: maccosmetics.ca