Skincare? ….HELP!

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to talk about something that has been bothering me lately, mostly in the last week or so. I watched a couple skincare routines on YouTube, and it got me thinking….. I want a new skincare routine! The reality is that I have never really had one, and I have become obsessed with finding the perfect products for my skin online. Up until recently, I actually have no idea what I have been using, because it has always been so random! Just samples of things I get in my Luxebox, stuff my sisters have, or anything that simply cleans my face I suppose.

My point is, that I really would love a steady skincare routine. I am DYING to try a Clarisonic Mia, however I can’t buy them where we live and I don’t think I’m heading to a major city any time soon…I hear they work wonders and I want one so bad! I may eventually break down and find a website that I can order one online from. I tried to see if I could from the Sephora website, and apparently that particular item doesn’t ship to Canada…. bugger.

I have very oily skin, oily everywhere! I even use a mattifying moisturizer just to help keep the oil at bay. I also am prone to acne breakouts, and on my best day I still have breakouts or spots here or there. I have a very ugly past with acne, and was even on medication for most of my mid to late teens to keep it under wraps!! At the same time, as frustrating as it might be, I also have somewhat sensitive skin (probably due to the medications I was on when I was younger), and during the winter I do find that my skin can get a little bit flaky, as most of ours do due to the weather changing in the winter months. I don’t use any heavy moisturizers because I fear that they will break me out futher! ….. HELP!!

I thought it would be cool to share my skin type with you all, and see what you use! See you if you have any good ideas, or products that you would suggest I try!!

Let me know in the comments below what you are using! I am dying for a new routine and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

XOXO
Caitlin

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Favourite Fall Nail Colours!

Hello!

Today I bring to you some of my favourite fall nail colours!

I am still currently wearing my gel nails, and right now the are unbearably long! (I have an appointment this Thursday thank goodness!) I LOVE these colours, and the great thing about the nails I have on is that you can wear normal nail polish over them and it won’t hurt the gel underneath!

When I wear colour on my nails, I do prefer to have short nails, so in the pictures below my nails are super long! I personally, would rather wear these colours when my nails are shorter.. but none the less they are amazing colours and I just had to share them with you! Be fair warned that I painted my nails with my left hand, and I’m right handed! So they are some what messy and I apologize!!

Without further delay here we go!

Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro: Lava Red, China Glaze: Emerald Fitzgerald, Revlon: Facets of Fuchsia, Revlon: Jaded Night

Revlon: Jaded Night/ Revlon: Facets Of Fuchsia/ Rimmel: Lava Red/ China Glaze: Emerald Fitzgerald

Each nail has about two coats painted on. All of the brushes are fairly standard with the exception of the Rimmel, which has a very large brush which I love! It actually makes painting your nails super quick and really easy!

Both Revlon and the Rimmel polishes can be found at any drugstore, which is great! I bought the China Glaze polish from the Sally Beauty Supply store here in town, I’ve never seen it in any drug stores.

As for wear? Of all of these I would say that the China Glaze and Rimmel wear the longest. I sometimes have a hard time with Revlon polishes. That being said, I think that a great top coat really helps in this sort of situation. I use the Seche Vite top coat. It took me a while to get used to this product, and the correct way to use it is to actually put it over top of your nail polish while it is still wet! It’s a strange concept, I know, but trust me! It seeps right down into your polish and seals it in for days! I can go up to a week with that stuff on my nails and no chipping!! I know that this product is somewhat controversial due o the fact that it has a particular warning on the bottle… but I still love it!

I love all these colours, and to me they are perfect for the fall and winter seasons! Like I said before, I do think that my nails are really long, and while I don’t mind having longer nails with a french tip, having colour on them like this just looks strange to me!

What do you think? Do you prefer shorter nails when you wear colour? Or do you like them long?

Share with us your favourite fall nail polish colours in the comments below!!

Thanks for reading 🙂

XOXO
Caitlin

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October Luxebox!

Hello!!

It’s probably one of my favourite times of the month when my monthly Luxebox arrives!! This month was no exception! The products were AMAZING!

For those of you who are not aware of what Luxebox is, it is a monthly subscription service where Loosebutton sends you 4-5 deluxe sized beauty related samples. Some months are better than others, I will openly admit, but this month was amazing! I filmed an unboxing video for those of you who are interested, it is posted below the pictures!

I hope you enjoy 🙂

I love how everything is so personal! They even printed my name on the sticker!!

Information on the items I received this month:

Lise Watier Flash Life Radiance Vials:
A concentrate of smoothing agents and moisturizers for a lifting effect and instant radience

Keratase Elixir Ultime:
The elixir brings shine, nourishment and deep conditioning to the hair while smoothing the hair fibre, resulting in incredible shine. The multi-use elixir also helps restore strength to the hair and protects it from external agreesors

China Glaze Crackle:
Features innovative technology that creates a deconstructed crackle design over your favourite shimmer, glitter or creme nail polish

Olay Professional Pro-X Eye Restoration Complex:
Specialized treatment hydrates to restore the area to its optimum appearance by improving the look of crow’s feet. Massaging it in reduces excess fluids to diminish dark circles and puffiness

Lise Watier Plumpissimo Le Gloss:
Instantly makes your lips look fuller, sexier and ‘poutier’.

My take on this months box:

I AM IN LOVE! I am excited about everything in this box this month. I am in the market for a new eye cream, and I have been dying to try the crackle polish!! I love the neutral colour and applicator of the lipgloss and I love to get hair treatments!!

Check out loosebutton.com to get your own monthly subscription!!

Thanks for reading 🙂

xoxox

Caitlin

 

FTC: I am a monthly subscriber to Luxebox and pay for it myself 🙂

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Vancouver Trip!

Hi Everyone!

So a couple weeks ago, my friend: Vanessa, older sister: Nicole and I traveled down to Vancouver for the long weekend. Vanessa and I were going down to see my BFF Chelsey!!!! (Who recently moved down to the big city for school) The trip, was… interesting. We had some car troubles, twice actually, but in the end we made it there safe and sound! We were perhaps a little shaken by everything though!

As usual, when I go to Vancouver I always end up spending waaay to much money. I filmed a haul for you all! It took me three tries, the first two were “too long” by YouTubes standards, .38 seconds too long! Darn, so I filmed it again, this time I tried to be fast in order to cut the time down.

I will post some pictures after the video!! 🙂

As some of you may or may not know, I lived in Vancouver for about 10 months in 2010. Seems like a life time ago! I decided to take Chelsey and Vanessa to a couple of my favourite spots that my boyfriend showed me when we lived in Vancouver.

I also just realized that it would be a good idea to do some swatches of the makeup products that I bought for you all! I have to run off to class, but will do it when I am home from work later!

Thanks for reading 🙂
xoxo
Caitlin

***** I did not take these pictures, my dearest friend Chelsey took these! *****

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Mascara Review – Benefit’s They’re Real!

Hello Everyone,

While I wait for a video to upload on youtube for you all, I thought that I would do a review of the mascara that Shannon bought for me for my birthday in September. It has for the most part dried up and kicked it, but it was a much loved mascara, and one in my opinion worth buying again!

As per the Benefit website here is what the mascara claims to do!

“They’re real! lengthens, curls, volumizes, lifts & separates. Our jet black, long-wearing formula won’t smudge or dry out. A specially designed brush reveals lashes you never knew you had!”

I have to say, that this mascara really does live up to every single claim that it makes! The one thing that I have to say that it perhaps does fall short of, is the fact that it doesn’t hold a curl super well, but for me that’s not really an issue. If you have read our blog, or watched some of my videos, then you know that I am always looking for a mascara that is comparable to Covergirl’s Lash Blast Volume Waterproof. I LOVE that mascara, but my beef with it is that it never seems to come off my lashes! No matter what kind of makeup remover I use. Thus began the journey to find one that is not waterproof, but acted in the same way. Enter Benefit’s they’re real. This one is amazing, and for me is almost up there with Lash Blast Volume.

Now, for some more technical talk. The brush. It, as the picture shows above has a rounded top with little spikes that are similar to the bristles that makes up the brush. This is actually really great for a mascara wand I find! It really makes getting those little baby lashes, and the sides of your lashes all coated up in its jet black colour really easy!! My one disappointment with the brush is that it is rather stiff, that baby is not flexible at all, so it can be a little rough if you hit your waterline with the actual wand, which I sometimes do on purpose to fake the look of eyeliner on my bottom lash line.

As far as I know, this mascara only comes in one colour. Black. Which for me is okay, I don’t tend to gravitate to coloured mascara unless I am in the mood for some playful makeup.

The wear of this mascara is amazing. It lasts all day, doesn’t flake, and you don’t end up with it half way down your face by the time you are ready to take it off.

Here are some photos!

This mascara goes for $22.00 on the Sephora website : http://sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P289307&categoryId=C10339.

I would definitely recommend this mascara if you are looking for fuller, longer and black lashes! They’re full, but not clumpy in my opinion and the mascara stays put all day! No flaking, or smearing at all!

That’s all folks! Thanks for reading 🙂

xoxo
Caitlin

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Arktek Toothpaste Tablets

Hey Shannon here,

A few weeks ago, Caitlin and I were sent toothpaste tablets from Arktek Inc. We were approached after our review of Lush’s less than stellar dirty toothy tablets. Now don’t get us wrong, we loove Lush and the products they create. However, we both found that their dirty tooth tablets taste awful and were a tad bit chalky feeling. To top it all off, Lush’s toothpaste tablets didn’t even leave a clean mouth feeling. Arktek offered to send us some toothpaste tablets that taste great and work well, so we were both intrigued by the idea of them.

Product Overview taken from the Arktek, Inc. website:

“Archtek’s Toothpaste Tablets are a chewable tablet that replaces paste in a tube and creates an incredibly clean feeling mouth. The tablet is placed in the mouth, chewed, followed by normal brushing and rinsing. This is an excellent choice for people on the go, and can be used without water! Children love it too, and parents appreciate the convenience and reliability when compared to a paste.

This tablet also provides ease of use for the elderly and is sanitary, which makes it indispensable in institutional settings. Important in today’s world, both the tablet and packaging are completely recyclable. 60 tablets per bottle.”

(http://www.archtekinc.com/index.php?osCsid=eb7322cb97f95ed64391f31ae19e1297)

We were sent a bottle of the toothpaste tablets as well as some individually wrapped packages of toothpaste tablets.

This bottle has a nice pop open lid. This bottle of 60 tablets (about a month supply of toothpaste) retails on the website for only $3.25

Here is a close up of the individually wrapped toothpast tablet. The bottles are recyclable and the packages are really convenient to throw into your purse or suitcase when traveling.

A close up of what the tablets look like. They are approximately the same size as the LUSH dirty toothy tablets.

Close up of package directions and ingredients.

Initial Thoughts:

Using Arktek’s toothpaste tablets for the first time was easy enough; simply take one tablet, chew it, and start brushing. One thing that was pleasantly surprising was that the tablets dissolve nicely and foamed up like toothpaste from the tube that I’m used to. Also, the toothpaste tablets live up to their claims of leaving a clean minty feeling. I tried to measure how long the clean feeling lasted and it seems to hold through up until you have your next meal.

Because we were given quite a few individually packaged toothpaste tablets, I gave some out to friends for them to try as well. They all were pleasantly surprised at the ease of use and effectiveness of this toothpaste. They all agreed that this toothpaste is very minty, and a nice new take on the regular tube toothpaste.

Pros and Cons:

Lets start with the cons. The only thing I could really think about as a con for this is that you have to order them which might deter some people from getting them in the first place, especially when it’s so easy to zip over to the super market and pick up a new tube of toothpaste. Some may ask about the whitening properties of this product. As far as I can tell after using this product for a few weeks, my teeth are not whiter (although I do already have fairly white teeth). However, there are no claims of whitening on the packaging, so I’m not sure this is a really a con, but rather a point of interest.

Pros: There are several pros to this product over LUSH’s dirty toothy tabs and to regular toothpaste in a tube. First of all, the Arktek toothpaste tablets are already portioned to the correct amount of toothpaste one needs. The pop top on the bottle is easy to open as opposed to squeezing a tube of toothpaste. This may seem like a minor detail, but for those people with arthritis or other pain in the joints of the hands, this may be a very welcome change. As previously mentioned, the tablets leave a very clean minty mouth feeling and are especially convenient when on the go or traveling. Arktek toothpaste tablets also come in recyclable bottles which is a nice alternative to having to throw away tubes of toothpaste every month or so. I have to say, I also appreciate that there is no toothpaste buildup around the opening of the bottle, like the build up that forms around a tube of toothpaste that has to repeatedly be cleaned away.

Final Thoughts:

Would we recommend this product? We definitely would encourage people to try them if you’re interested. For those of you who use Lush’s toothpaste tablets, I would say this is a nice, better tasting alternative in my opinion. And if I had to choose, my vote would be with Arktek. The main deterrent to this product is that you have to order it online which honestly may keep us from using this product further. However, there are many pros to this product that just might make it worth it 🙂

Thanks for reading!

If you have tried this product, or are planning to let us know in the comments below.

(these products were sent to us, we did not purchase them. we were in no way obligated to do this post and all opinions are our own.)

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September Favourites!

Hi Everyone!

Today I bring to you my September favourites! I don’t even know where this month has gone. It’s been super busy this last couple of weeks for both Shannon and I, both of us with work and school. I did manage to film a video for you all so without further delay here we go!

Coming up soon I have a review for you 🙂

xoxo
Caitlin

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Autumn Photoshoot!

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday, I ventured out into the crisp Autumn weather to take “couple” photos with Matt. My friend Arielle took the photos for us, and we managed to get some good ones! I did some photo editing, to make them look “cute”.

Here we go!! :

Thats all! This week is going to be super busy for both Shannon and I, I have filmed my September Favourites, and have a beauty review coming up soon so stayed tuned for that 🙂

xoxo
Caitlin

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