Nails for the Holidays!

I am a HUGE fan of the perfect Mani/Pedi! I have my favourite salons but sometimes I like to try out some nail art for myself!
This weekend is the best time for get in your Christmas Mani while finishing your shopping.
Here are a few ideas I have tried in the past. Some worked, some not so much!

If your a fan of the classic french tips here is some alternatives

Santa Hat: This is fun easy nail art that you can do yourself. If you want to add a gem then I suggest to use a dab of crazy glue for a good strong hold. The crazy glue will come off with salon grade nail polish remover.

Snowflakes: Just a little pop of the holidays. Use a tooth pick to paint the snowflake.







When full nail paint application is best, here are some of my favourites!

I love these natural colour bases and the pop of Christmas on top. Glitter is always to key during the holidays! I love the red and green glitter.

The Christmas trees are super cute and can be done at home!

Snowflakes and Snowman can always pull you through the rest of the winter!






Red is always a classic!! You can never go wrong with this stunning nails!!!

Bows and Glitter and Santa OH MY!!

I rocked these Santa suits last year! It was harder to do them it looks. Mine my not have been this neat and clean but if still looked fun.

Have the prefect red you just have to wear? Just add a bow with some crazy glue and a top coat over the whole nail and you ready to go!

Or if you are in love with a few colours and can't chose, DON'T! Wear them all!






If you have your favourite aesthetician and a little time I would get any of this looks done in the salon with Shellac or Gel Polish and you know this will last all 12 days!!

Let me know if you have a tried any of these looks or if you have new ones too share!

OX Liz

All photo in this blog post where found on Pinterest

Lip Stain

Hello,

The one thing I hate about regular lip stick is longevity. Once I take a couple sips of my coffee in the morning, I would have lip stick on the outside of my lips but nothing in the centre. So I thought that I would give the lip stain product a try. 

Luckily, the Revlon Just Bitten lip stain was on a sale (and marked wrong so policy at our local drug store is the first one is free) so I got 2 colours. 

I got Passion, a bright pink (not so work appropriate but sure is a fun colour)

and Beloved, a darker pinky colour that looks like my lip colour but better.

I tried Passion first (the moment I got out of the store in my car) and loved it. Now this isn't a glossy product so it can be quite drying. It does have a balm on the other side of the product to help set the stain and add a little moisture.

I absolutely love the way this colour looks and it's longevity. I decided not to take it off before bed (as I had only put the product on at 9pm) and when I woke up it was perfectly in place. 

A few days later, I gave the Beloved colour a try for my workday. Unfortunately, it does not have the staying power I was looking for but it is still longer lasting then a traditional lip stick. Overall, I am happy with the colour but when I opened the balm side it was broken :(

So, on first lip stain experience I am pleased with the product but am interested in trying some other brands to test te differences. 

If you have a suggestion for a lip stain for me, please leave a comment :) 

Steph xoxo

These Snow Boots are Made for Walking!

Since Saturday Southwestern Ontario has been hit by some serious amount of snow, and I was left thinking "I need snow boots, NOW". I don't think my UGGs with cut it this year.

Here are some of my top picks that will keep you dry and toasty anywhere you go!

1: These North Face Snowtropolis lace ups are a perfect weekend pair! Wear with jeans or tights and a bomber jacket for a walk with your sweetie or tramps through the mall parking lot snow

2: North Face did it again with their Snowtroplis Tall boots. I love that you could wear this any day of the week, with jean or a skirt.

3:Tofino Herringbone by Sorel will keep you warm and dry in their cool fur lined boots. This will keep you warm on the trail but not really great if you have to dress up in stormy weather.

4:Speaking of dressing up, here are the boots you need! Also from Sorel, these Joan of Arctic are certainly city worthy. Sorel created a boot that does not make you choose fashion or function.

5: Teva has made a light-wight, packable (yeah I said packable!) pair of snow boots! This bad boys can compress down to a regular shoe size in you suitcase but are still one of the warmest boots around. The Jordanelle 2 are great for a weekend ski trip!

6:Canadian designed Cougar's Stanza are the prefect boot for those days that the snow has melted some and is not knee high. The foot covered snow is no match for these super warm booties!

Hope this helps you find the prefect boots for you! I will be hitting the BlackFriday crowd for the prefect pair too, what pair are you hunting for?

XO Liz

High Five for Firday

It's Friday! So here is the Liz installment of High Five for Friday!!!

1: Celeb Crush: J-Law showed off her NEW pixie cut at the Catching Fire Primer in LA this week! 

I love it! She just can't do anything wrong this days. 

2:Weekend Beauty Tip: I am loving the Aveda Holiday line. This video is a great tutorial to add some hollywood glam to you this Christmas party season

3:Christmas Goodies: Loosebutton and Essie have come together to make my kinda of Advent Calendar. No stale chocolate for me, this year I will be counting down the days to the birth of Christ with pretty nails!

4:Friday Funnies: Buzz Feed is always good for a laugh! A Typical Day for a High Schooler in 2005 brought back so many memories! I may have been in University by 2005 but I totally had a pink Motorola Razor!

5:Music on Repeat: Ed Sheern is my new fave. My sister (& co-author) posted his video for I see Fire which is the theme to the new The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug movie. I fell for his hauntingly smooth voice and quite acoustic guitar right away. I had to hear more!! I Highly recommend his album Metascore.

Well there you have it!! Have a Beautiful Weekend!
XO Liz

Photo Source:1:fashionbombdaily.com,2:Aveda Makeup Tutorial: Create Holiday Glamour on YouTube,3:loosebutton.com,4:Buzzfeed.com,5:

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Ed Sheeran "I See Fire" on YouTube

E.L.F. 32 Piece Eyeshadow Palette

Hello!

In my E.L.F. Haul, both my cousin and I purchased the 32 piece eyeshadow palette in natural. I am very happy with that decision and it was only $6.00 but because I had an online special I got it FOR $3.00!!!!! Amazing deal!! 

Here are some shot of the packaging

Overall the colours swatch really well but there are a few of the light matte colours that I couldn't get much from. 

I have swatched them by horizontal line below

As you can see the first shade (and the lightest) does not show up :( unfortunately there wasn't much difference when I applied it on my lid

In this line the third shade doesn't show much when swatched but I was able to build it up as a light base to build my other colours on.

Note: I did not apply any primer before swatching the eyeshadow colours

Leave a comment to tell me if you have tried this palette or if there are any other low cost but high value palette I should try out. 

Enjoy! 

Steph xoxo 

E.L.F. Haul

Hello!

As I have mentioned in other posts, I went shopping in the States last weekend with my cousin Amanda. We headed over there originally to pick up the E.L.F. order we placed online. 

We went a little over board but it was so inexpensive that I got all of this for under $40!! If you sign up for their emails you will get specials for $$ off your online purchases.

Here is what I bought....

Lips

Liners

Spice, Natural Blush, Mauve Luxe, Bark and Bitter

Red Carpet Lip Stain, Crimson Crush Lip Stain, Nude Nectar Lip Stain, and Party Pink Lipstick

Eyes

32 Piece Eyeshadow Palette

Mineral Eyeshadow Primer 

Waterproof Eyeliner Pen

Face 

Warm Bronzer

Brushes 

Powder Brush, Angled Contour Brush, and Smudge Brush

I will try to do some tutorials using these products but for the price point it is definitely worth it!! 

Enjoy!

Steph xoxo 

High Five for Friday

Hello!

It is Friday and I thought I would do a High Five for Friday (as I use to on my old blog) 

1.  E.L.F. luscious liquid lipstick!

I got this in my huge E.L.F. Haul (which will be posted soon) and I love it! My cousin actually had it in her order but decided she only wanted the lighter colour. This is in the colour "Raspberry" and I have worn it all week! It's has great colour and longer staying power then a typical gloss... Best part it was only $1.50!! You just can't beat that.

2. Bloggers: my friend Patti introduced me to the blog, makeupbybrittany.com. She is a very talented makeup artist in my hometown. Check her out if you love all things makeup

3. YouTubers: my favourite (for a while) is Miss Budget Beauty! She has amazing tutorials and reviews on makeup and hair. She also has a vlog channel, Meet the McCools, which is so enjoyable to watch (the British accent makes it even more adorable.) 

4. Kitchen Renos Continue....

I will post pictures of what I have done to my kitchen since moving in but this week I purchased my faucet!!  

5. I had to include a picture of my dog, Holstein, and my mom's Goldendoddle, AJ, in their Christmas sweaters I bought on my trip to Michigan. 

They are all set for Christmas!! 

I also wanted to mention that High Five for Fridays was started on www.thelaurenelizabeth.com/. Check her out for more High Five for Friday links :)

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Happy Friday Everyone!! 

Enjoy!

Steph xoxo