Lusting for Louis

For the last few months I have been absolutely loving the idea of making a Louis Vuitton bag mine mine mine! I always hated the idea of dishing out hundreds of dollars for an authentic Louis, because they make SUCH good fakes nowadays, and everyone would probably just assume that mine was a knock off....Well I have come to terms with the idea that people can think what they want, and that I would FEEL absolutely amazing carrying a beauty like that (real of course).  Although there are many beautiful models of LV bags, and although word on the street is that hobo bags are on their way out, I am drawn toward the gorgeous slouchy care-free nature of the speedy handbag.  I also love the idea that simply placing a cardboard piece in the bottom can create a more structured look, should I ever feel more neat and tidy with my bags.  I, like many girls, absolutely need a larger bag, ergo my first dilemna.  The speedy 30 is probably big enough.....but is it BIG enough? The 35 is sort of inbetween....but if i'm going to go for that size, should I just go all the way and go for the 40? This is where I need help from all you speedy owners....give me your input :)

The last dilemna....of course.....is the print.  Now I do love the bright colorful prints of the multicolour, and grafitti bags, but they are wayyyyy out of my price range.  I have narrowed it down to 2 beauties. The monogram canvas, and the damier azur.  Monogram canvas is classic and lovely, can be worn through all seasons, and when the straps start to tan, it doesn't offset the bag, as it matches the dark leather on the body.

The azur however, is just gorgeous.  The crip light print is perfect for spring and summer, and I am always drawn to lighter clothing and sccessories to offset my dark hair (does that even make sense? lol.)  This is the perfect bag for me, except for one thing.  When the straps tan, they get darker and darker, and eventually it looks really really awkward against the light print of the bag.  So any suggestions as to how to keep the straps light, would be much appreciated, and would make my decision much easier. 


So in summary, what are your favourite LV print/size combos? Maybe one I didn't mention?

tans and turtlenecks

That very confusing time of year is quickly approaching. Yes you know the one, that time of year when there's still snow on the ground in many parts of the world, especially my infamous subzero town of Winnipeg; yet spring is quickly approaching and all the shops are being flooded with floral prints, pastels, and chiffon.  As much as I feen for these items, and even dare to purchase, there is no way in the world that I actually dress my pasty white body in these soft coloured prints.  Even in my safe go-to winter colours, I still look like Casper next to my Hawaii-bound parents who have been 'pre-tanning' for the last 2 weeks, and even whiter next to my newly-arrived friends from Cabo and St. Tropez. 

I wouldn't dare suscept my skin to the blazing lights of a tanning salon and rick pre-mature aging.  And spending $50 a week on a perfectly airbrushed spray tan seems a little harsh on my senior-year university stricken wallet.  My solution? Friends.....I give you, the best of the best of the self-tanners.  This post was inspired by Carly Cristman, who did a youtube post on her favourite tanners. I, too, have been a slave to the drugstore tanner.  I, too, have tried every make, brand, and style of self tanner under $30.  I have even gone as far as mixing a rediculously dark foundation with moisturizer, slathered all over my legs, to deepen their tone for a new years party. *bows head in shame*

I have compiled a list of 4 of my absolute favourite self tanners, based on 4 completely different categories (you choose which would be most important to you in a self tanner....i think all of these things could be important) all of them give amazing colour, so they are listed by secondary characteristics :). Plus, one instant tanner, i.e. a one-night solution for bronzifying your bod.

1. Best Scent

Amber Sun by Norvell Self Tanning Lotion

This tanning lotion wins the title of best-smelling tanning lotion I have ever used.  This is one of the more expensive ones, at about $25.00 a bottle.  It features skin firming properties, gives a beautiful beachy tan colour, and applies just like your favourite body moisturizer.  The smell of this product is a lovely cherry-almond scent, although the website says raspberry almond.  What it really reminds me of is the old Jergens cherry almond scented moisturizer. I`m pretty sure at one point this was the only scent jergens offered, and it was amazing.  This 251ml bottle could last anywhere from 1-3 months, depending on how often you use it.  Bi-weekly use should get you about 2 months of use.

2.  Fastest Colour

Jergens Natural Glow Express

I never see the point in purchasing the "light" version of tanners because ideally, by purchasing a tanner, I am trying to become as tan as humanly possible from a lotion without looking like an oompa loompa; and so this is clearly in the medium/tan colour.  I have a theory kicking in the back of my brain that tanning lotion companies make their packaging obnoxiously orange or bright so that when you hold it up to your orange tan, it won't look so orange, know what I mean?  With this, I have no reason to believe that that is true, however, this product must be used with caution, for its powers are great.  This lotion can deepen your colour by 2 shades with just one use, and give you a full on Cabo tan in about 3 or 4 days.  That being said, you have to be extra careful with the application, especially around the fingers.  The consistency is like a really thick moisturizer, and it does take a little wait to dry thoroughly, because you do not want to get this on your clothes, it will stain like a  mutha mutha.  Although this has a strong tanner smell to it, that's the giveaway that it actuallly works.  It does come in a smaller size bottle, 120ml, but you don't need as much to get the results you want.  I have even used this on my face, I have dry skin, and it has worked really well!

3. Easiest application

Loreal Sublime Bronze Aresol Self Tannign Dry Mist

This stuff has been my holy grail for about 2 years now.  It is rather inexpensive at wal-mart or your local drugstore, has a super super super easy aresol applicator that doesn't clog and gives a nice even flow, and gives a great colour within a few applications.  This can will generally last me about a month, likely beacause It's just so dang easy to apply that I want to do it every day.  I use this stuff on my face and I have no problems with zits or clogged pores or anything.  The smell is tanner-y, but with this I usually apply it before bed; it dries quickly and sinks in and starts to develop within 5 hours.  I highly recommend this if you've ever had problems with streakyness in your tanners and are skeptical of trying it again, this is as easy as it gets.  Also, I find that it doesn't really affect my tile or flooring but I do usually stand over a bath mat, towel, or in the bathtub when I apply it, just in case!

4.  Most Luxurious-Feeling? (lol....category fail)

Loreal Sublime Bronze Self Tanning Gel

Again, an inexpensive drug store item, this self tanner takes the cake when it comes to making my skin feel absolutely amazing.  I used this last spring leading up to my birthday, to ensure I'd have an amazing tan under my crisp-white birthday dress.  On the day of my birthday, I went for a body wrap spa treatment so that my skin would be silky smooth and smell amazing too, which involved exfoliating and wrapping me in this amazing moisturizing oil; while I was getting the treatment, the esthetician made a note to stop and talk to me about what I used on my skin for 10 minutes because it was so amazingly soft already! hehehe *blush*.  I completely attest that to this tanning gel; it feels almost like a silica based makeup primer, and leaves your skin with that velvety smooth texture.  Of course, it also gives an amazing glowy tan.  I absolutely recommend this to anyone who loves having smooth skin.

5. Favourite Instant Bronzer

Lush Silk Stockings Massage Bar

These babies got me through every winter party I had to go to from Halloween (yes it is winter in october here in winnipeg) all the way to Easter (although not here yet, i know it will be winter, still, and i will be using them hehe).  If you've never used Lush massage bars, they are basically a solid brick of delicious cocoa butter along with other moisturizers and conditioners, each with a unique scent or feature.  They melt at anything warmer than room temperature, and soak right into your skin just like a moisturizer.  Silk stockings has a delish cinamonny gingery spice scent and leaves a great bronzed shimmery tan look behind. The kind of bronzed shimmery tan look that you see on the legs of exotic models in the sports illustrated swimsuit issue.  That being said, there is one unfortunate downfall of this product, and that is that it does tend to rub off on clothing, furniture, and other body party (i.e. if you rub your legs with your hands a lot, it will get on your hands, then you clutch, then your boyfriends shirt, etc.).  So try to steer clear of this if you're sporting a particularily light colored outfit, or of you plan on doing a lot of sitting.  I use this when i go out clubbing, to dinner parties (given that i wear a longer dress....knee length or so)  and other events like that.  It's not like a CRAZY rub off, but it's there.

So that's my list!

What are your holy grail self tanners?

....more like Metro CHEAP.

I see it every time I'm in Sephora. dozens of girls swarming the Sephora by OPI nail polish carousel to get their hands on the latest blogged-about shades.  From Metro Chic to It's Bouquet With Me, bloggers have a way of making anything look and sound amazing; and if it's affordable even better! Sephora by OPI is a branch of OPI which I have been disappointed in time and time again, and with the new Glee collection coming out, along with some tantalizing summer colours, I had to get the word out about these babies.  Now I'll admit, every time I wear Metro Chic in a video, I get a billion comments asking, begging me to reply what polish I'm wearing, and I always reluctantly reply "metro chic....but do NOT purchase this shade unless you absolutely can't find another similar one...it is awwwwful!" Let's continnue picking on Metro Chic, shall we?  It takes about 4 coats to get this polish perfectly opaque....and let's face it.....you just can't wear greige in a streaky, thin manner can you? no. Once you've applied your lovely 4 coats, you sit and wait for-ev-er for it to dry completely. fewf. Now i'm the type of person who sloppily applies my nail polish before bed, and when i take a nice hot shower in the morning, all the crusty uneven edges that have dribbled over onto my cuticles and fingers are melted away.  along with half my polish.  You see, when you apply such a thick helping of nail polish, it chips much much more easily.  I have tried nail ridge fillers, base coats, top coats, ands everything under the blue moon, but the only thing that seems to help this stay on any longer than one shower/bath/day of running my fingers through my hair or a text book, is a cement-worthy glitter coat; and I am SO not down with glitter all over my cool edgy grunge polish. So this spring when your sephora by opi is like "yo whats up, we all love glee, buy this nail polish" ....be like "no sephora by opi! yalls are a bunch of chippy chipping chippers!"

Tis The Season For Friends and Family Sales!

So many of you are also followers of my youtube channel, and may have seen the haul video in which I purchased my very first La Roche Posay product, the foaming cleanser for combination skin (click here.... La Roche Posay .......for a direct link to the cleanser).  I am absolutely in LOVE with this product, it lathers like nothing else I have EVARRRR used; It`s extremely cleansing but not too harsh or soapy for my drier winter skin.  Anywhoo, down to the nitty gritty, to keep this post short and sweet, I`ve caught wind of the skincarerx friends and family sale code, which will save you 25% on almost everything on the website SkinCareRx.com ! zomg. The code to use is simply FF25 at checkout, and it expired on December 1st so hurry up and get on that girrrrllll!    I also happened to hear that they are planning some juicy black friday and cyber monday deals for this week...I envy you Americans for your Thanksgiving festivities.....Macy`s parade, sweet potato bake and turkey followed by 3AM shopping!!! oh BABY!  Hope you all use this to your advantage, get that big chunk of holiday shopping done, and try out the la roche posay cleanser for yourselves :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, AMERICA! xoxo

My Own Little Pot Of Happiness!

Ok, so maybe the Lush posts are getting a little rediculous, but I went in yesterday to check out the new Holiday line, with high hopes of seeing a comeback from my favourite Lush product, Santa's rice Porridge Fresh Face Mask.  Made with brandy and cranberries, this mask was detoxifying while nourishing my tired, snow-stricken face, and I looooved the smell, so you can only imagine my disappointment to see that they decided not to bring it back this year......but........

I present to you: Buche De Noel, Lush's newest Limited Edition Facial Cleanser.  Now if you've been reading my blog posts for a while, you might remember my rave about Angels on Bareskin, my absolute fave facial cleanser by Lush. [ click here if you haven't seen it yet: http://deanne5253.blogspot.com/2010/03/lush-angels-on-bareskin-cleanser.html ]  This is very similar in concept, but they have created it entirely around the basis of the Santa's Rice Porridge face mask!  It smells like cherries and almond (LOVE), and applies exactly like Angels On Bareskin [again, click the link to see the application in more detail].  I've only been using this for two days, which is usually enough for me to decide if it's going to irritate my skin in any way, and it's unreal.  I do suffer from a lot of redness in my skin, and find that this cleanser works better with my skin than products i've tried that are geared toward roseacia, including the clinique redness solutions.  HIGHLY recommend, based on scent alone.  OH and also, if you create a concauction of this stuff using more product and less water, i.e. more of a thick, paste type consistency, you can smear it on and leave it for about 5 minutes for a makeshift face mask :) LOVE! 



5 Tips for Lovely Lush Face Masks

I am fully aware that I create a written blog post about once every 2 months, and they are almost always about skincare. Weird. However, as I was scraping the last of my Catastrophe Cosmetic out of its little black jar the other day, I thought, I wonder how many people only use these face masks as a face mask? These things expire so quickly, are people really putting 3-5 face masks on their faces in the span of a week? Any why wouldn't they? Labels like that can be so restricting on our creative minds.  Here are a couple of tips and reminders on how to use your Fresh Lush Face Masks!

For reference, my faves are Catastrophe Cosmetic, Oatifix, and the LE Santa's Rice Porridge.

On my dislike list; Love Lettuce and Ayesha (only because of the smell, couldn't stand to keep these on my face for more than 3 minutes...but I know many people LIVE by love Lettuce.)

1. Body Mask

This is probably the most obvious second use, but looking at that large jar and the quickly approaching expiry date, slap it on....allllllll over.  Some of these face masks including Love Lettuce have little tiny granules in it that will also serve as a nice exfoliant.  I love to use them on my legs....you can either stand around in the bathroom over a towel as it dries, or use it in the tub while leaving your arms/legs out of the water to dry. Or if all of this is a little too much for you, a simple rub on and rinse off in the shower will do just fine!

2. Spot Treatment

Don't reach for expensive drying serums or spot treatments! Lush Cupcake face mask has to be one of the best spot trreatments I've ever used.  I dont get zits often, but when I do they are the kind that I can feel growing deep beneath my skin, without showing any surface evidence.  I love to jump in a bath or open up my pores with some warm water, then use this mask as a little on-the-spot treatment.  Cupcake is a wonderful thick mask made with cocoa which actually pulls impurities out of your skin, although I have not tried any other face masks for this purpose, I'm sure there are many others which would serve just as well!

3. Pack it on, Grind it off

Some of these babies can be prettttttty thick; and coming from a history of store-bought, paraben-filled face masks, you will be tempted to be extra cautious and apply a thin layer of the thick Lush goodness.  In order to achieve full results, you're going to want to apply a thick layer to a clean, prefferably open-pored (i.e. use warm steam or water to open the pores prior to applying) face.  The tough part about this can be taking it off....many Lush masks can include blueberries, almonds, cranberries, etc.  and can be a b!tch to cram down your bathroom sink.  I recommend taking early measures to get a strainer, use a face cloth you aren't emotionally attached to, or even remove it over your garborator in your kitchen sink to avoid any unnecessary clogged sinks.

4. Face Wash

This is a tip you sensitive-skinned girls will love.  I, myself, suffer with a lot of redness on my skin, and anything that foams up too much or has a high soapy content, my skin will tomato-ize in a matter of seconds.  The nice thing about these face masks is they really do get your skin nice and clean, while nourishing it and not leaving any residue behind.  I reccommend using a face wipe or makeup remover prior to this, as you should avoid your eye area and definitley not rely on this to remove eye makeup. The granuled masks also serve as a great exfoliator, although with ingredients like almonds, they can be a little harsh to use more than once a week on your face.

5. Five = Free!

 Possibly the best part of this whole ordeal! Now that you know how to use your Lush face masks, and you'll be whipping through a new one every week, remember to keep all your little black pots! Save 5 of them and bring them back to the store to get a new fresh face mask for FREEEEEEEE!!!!

Clinique Redness Solutions?

I am confused.  A week ago I picked up the Clinique Redness Solutions cleanser after long dealing with redness and splotchiness in my skin, and recent despiration to aquire some clinique skincare.  I have a large hunch that the redness Clinique aim to solve is that of irritated, sensitive skin.  Skin that burns and itches from products, environmentals, and allergens.  Well I am none of the above,  but redness in my skin is something that I have srtuggled with for quite some time, and my next option is high end skin care, hence the purchase. 

Oh great, sideways photo. Well you get the point nonetheless.

It is an oil-free, fragrance-free gel cleanser that is suitable for all skintypes.  Melts away makeup and impurities. bla bla bla. Calms persistent and reactive redness.

Well I will tell you that I also purchased the Sephora face brush with this product, to really massage it into my skin to get the "full monty".  I mean, I want this redness GONE. FOR EV ER....FOR EV ER.....(sandlot? anyone?)  This is how I've been using it and this is how I've found my experience thus far...

I take a Blob...yes that is very technical makeup artist terminology...on my little sephora face brush, as shown.....and massage it into my dampened face all over for about 60 seconds.

Smiling like an ass the entire time...yes there's no other way to do it! Then a simple rinse with warm water and a pat dry.

Well anyway I'll let you know here that my hugest disappointment, which you'll plainly see in this photo, is that the product does not foam up.  It is indeed a gel cleanser.

On a positive note, it does slightly, not significantly, but enough that I am happy with my purchase, reduce some of my redness, But I do feel that the brush helps the product really get into my skin, and feel that if i were to only use my fingers, it would not penitrate and affect my deep redness but would only help with light surface redness.

The product may also be used similar to the likes of Lush's Ultra Bland, just rubbed onto fdry skin and wiped off or rinsed off, which just left me feeling icky, so that was a bust personally for me.

This product definitley does seem like it would cater nicely to all skin types, as it moisturizes and strips oil in all the right spots of my combination skin.

I do only use this product in the morning, as I do not see the point on using it before I go to bed, especially at about triple the price of what I spend on my night time drugstore cleanser.

As an alternative for this, I would recommend the Aveeno ultra calming line, although I find personally that the moisturizer is too thick (I use it as a night cream) and the face wash does not remove makeup very well.

So all in all I am satisfied with the purchase, but do believe that there might be something even better out there.  For now, I will continue to use, and maybe repurchase, this product until the HG redness removal cleanser is found!

What do you use to remove redness from your skin pre-makeup?