New York Meet-Up Information!

Thanks to all the amazing people who voted for me on the New York contest, I WON!!! Thank you so much to you who voted, I am so amazingly grateful. I won a trip to New York during Fashion Week and will be there for nearly a week. Please watch my video, it is very heartfelt. I can't wait to meet those of you who live in New York, so here's the details on the meet-up.

Date: Saturday, September 10, 2011
Time: 1 pm
Location: Bryant Park, at the Fountain
Nearest Subway: 42 St - Bryant Park

We will be meeting around the Josephine Shaw Lowell Memorial Fountain which is located at the western entrance of Bryant Park. The location may or may not be crowded so please be sure to look around, I will be standing near there. Be sure to bring a camera if you want to take pictures! I will let you be my guides if you want to go to a nearby Sephora, depending on the number of people who show up - this may be impossible to do with a larger crowd but we'll see! Otherwise we can just hang out at the park and talk. I hope to see you all there. :)

You can RSVP on Facebook if you like

IMPORTANT: WEATHER PERMITTING THE LOCATION MAY CHANGE THE DAY BEFORE IF IT IS POURING RAIN, SO PLEASE CHECK BACK ON FACEBOOK AND/OR TWITTER FOR UPDATES ABOUT THE MEET-UP.


Bryant Park on Google Maps


Thanks again!!!

Essence/Catrice Blogger Event in Berlin

I finally had time to edit the pictures and video I took at the Catrice & Essence blog event on August 27-28, 2011 in Berlin. Over fifty of the top bloggers and Youtubers from the German-speaking realm were invited to participate at the event which was hosted at the posh nHow Design Hotel. The rooms were pink! You can see a full room tour, my outfits and makeup, and more footage from the event in my video. I didn't take that many pictures so definitely take a look:

We were introduced to the upcoming fall and winter collections of both brands, and got to sample the entire stock of their product range including nailpolish, skincare, makeup and more. They also had artists on hand if you wanted to get a make-over or have your nails perfectly manicured.

Lest we should go hungry there was a tasty smorgrasboard of snacks, treats and drinks on hand. The brownies were simply too good to pass up...yum!

The elevators were all different color schemes - this one was pink! How cute.

In the evening we were invited to the panorama suite on the rooftop with a beautiful view over Berlin, where we were treated to more food and an open bar with champagne whilst being serenaded by the piano man.

More food was consumed....

Bloggers get thirsty too...ahem! *hiccup*

It was a relaxing evening and it was so interesting to finally meet all the people behind the names, and to meet new ones that I haven't heard about before. It was quite a busy day and since I had been up since 5am due to catching an early flight to Berlin, I can't tell you how exhausted I was at the end and how well I slept in the gigantic bed.

The next day we had a lovely breakfast buffet but I was hardly able to get any food down somehow. I had planned a public meet-up with some of my viewers in Berlin at the Alexanderplatz, which is a big public meeting point in the centre of town. I handed out make-up to everyone who came, since we received so many goodies at the event and I wanted to share it around a bit. I had so much fun meeting my viewers and was surprised how many came. Thanks so much to all of you, it was really great to have a coffee at Starbucks with you. Now I'm really looking forward to the meet-up in New York!

Finally, here's some pictures hamming it up with Ebru from Ebruza's Beauty Lounge on Youtube. She is the most subscribed German-speaking beauty guru in Germany.

So that's it! I hope you enjoyed the pictures and video and were able to get a small impression of the overall event. Thank you so much to Catrice & Essence for the opportunity! I had a lot of fun. Chikarina also wrote a really great blog post about the event in German, if you want to see more pictures. She also did a much better job than me at swatching all the new products if you're interested.

My weekend hiking trip

This weekend my boyfriend and I had another couple staying over at our house, old friends, and we decided to take advantage of the sunny weather on Saturday to do some hiking near Mount Gurnigel. Here are some views from one of the peaks, it's very scenic. Hiking is also an excellent way to exercise without boring yourself to tears! Pack a lunch and plenty of water, then hit the great outdoors.

It was so hot! Here I am all red-faced and sweaty - but it was worth it for some fresh mountain air.

We also spotted cattle along the way; some were coming down the mountain at the end of the summer season grazing on the alpine pastures...

And some were still happily grazing. I believe these are actually young steer.

This calf was so cute!

This beautiful alp cottage is very characteristic of the region. Farmers live up there in the summer to take care of the animals and make traditional cheese, only to come down at the end of the summer season back to their regular farms. The large bells you see hanging on the cabin are worn by the cows when they are led down from the mountain pastures back into the valley, as it's quite traditional. They make a lot of noise!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures! How was your weekend?

Kosmetik Kosmo Binoctium (Chanel Paradoxal Dupe?)

I recently had the opportunity to meet Michaela, better known as Koko on Youtube, at a blogger PR event in Berlin (more on that later.) She gave me some samples of her new cosmetic line Kosmetik Kosmo, and I was really intrigued by one of the nailpolishes from the line, Binoctium. This is supposed to be a dupe of the famous Chanel Paradoxal nailpolish which was released for Fall 2010.

Here I am wearing Binoctium, on my ring finger I also have two brand new yet-to-be-released glitter polishes (Essence Color & Go in Time For Romance and Essence Nail Art Special Effects Topper in It's Purplicious)

I don't have Chanel Paradoxal so I can't make a direct comparison if this is indeed a dead on dupe, but from the pictures I have seen of Paradoxal, I think Binoctium has a slightly weaker purple shine to it and the effect is less intense. But again, that's just my guess. I would describe the color as a gray-aubergine-taupe base (cream finish) with a red-toned purple shimmer effect that shows up more or less depending on the light.

The quality of this polish was medium - it applied a bit streaky and "pulled" the color in some places but after the second coat it was opaque. The bottle is short and stubby (8ml) and was a bit hard to handle, but if you're used to mini polish bottles that shouldn't be an issue. I cannot say anything about the lasting power yet as I haven't worn it long enough, and as I change polish quite frequently this isn't much of an issue for me.

However, if you're looking for an inexpensive alternative to a color close to Chanel Paradoxal, this might be a very good alternative. Binoctium costs 3.99 Euro + delivery and can be purchased at the Kosmetik Kosmo online shop (website in German, limited countries of delivery.)

Sleek Oh So Special & Curacao Palettes

I recently got some new Sleek products to play around with!

Sleek Oh So Special Palette (£9)

Sleek Curacao Palette (£9)

Both of these are mineral based eyeshadow palettes and I really like them so far. They are very pigmented, which is especially surprising since they are so inexpensive! I'm very pleased with the results I've had so far, and I've even taken the Oh So Special palette along for several overnight trips already because it is so small and thin making it very portable for traveling, and perfect for daytime looks. I also like the variety of matte and shimmery shadows that are offered in each palette.

Aruba Blush (£7)

Aruba blush came out with the Caribbean collection (same of the Curacao palette) and it's a vibrant and intense matte orange. It is incredibly pigmented and would work well on darker skin. For fair skin, you have to use a very light hand. I like to use a stippling brush and tap off the excess on the back of my hand before even touching my face with it. This orange blush really warms up the face!

Pout Paints left to right: Cloud, Peek-a-bloo, Pin Up, Peachy Keen, Mauve Over (£7)

The Pout Paints are an intriguing new product that I am very much looking forward to playing around with some more. They are richly pigmented liquid lipsticks, where a pin drop size is enough to cover your entire lips. They go on creamy but dry down a bit after a while to a satin finish. I haven't tried these on my lips yet but I'm very interested to see how they live up to the OCC Lip Tars, of which I own two. The Pout Paints can be mixed together to create a whole variety of new shades, although I noticed right away that Cloud was a bit watery in texture, unlike the others.

Sleek Makeup can be purchased through their online shop, or at Superdrug pharmacies in the UK.

New Urban Decay products

Today I've got some new Urban Decay products to show you. First up are the Glide-On Cheek Tints. ($24 USD)

Top Row left to right: Score, Fetish, Quickie

Bottom row left to right: Bang, Crush

Left to right swatched on arm: Quickie, Fetish, Crush, Bang, Score

These cheek tints are a bit different from other cream blushes I have tried because they feel a lot more slippery and light in texture, almost a gel consistency. Maybe that's why they are called tints instead of cream blush? I will have to experiment a bit more with these but I think the colors are really adorable. Although some of them look very bright in the pan, they can be blended out quite easily on the cheek for a more subtle look.

Next up are the 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliners ($18 USD)

Top to bottom: Eldorado, Siren, Retrograde, Woodstock, Radium, Demolition, Smog, Perversion, Bobby Dazzle, Revolver

Right to left: Eldorado, Siren, Retrograde, Woodstock, Radium, Demolition, Smog, Perversion, Bobby Dazzle, Revolver

As you can see from the picture above, they are indeed waterproof and smudge proof. The only way to remove these is with an oil-based eye makeup remover. Almost all of them except for Demolition and Perversion have a shimmery finish. The applicator is a brush wand and the hair is quite fine. 

In a previous post I reviewed the Illamasqua Precision Ink liners, and I do have to say I prefer them over the Urban Decay, especially the gold one Alchemy. It has a much finer golden sparkle, whereas the Urban Decay Eldorado falls a bit flat in comparison and is very yellow looking. Urban Decay does offer more colors than the Illamasqua Precision Inks, so that is an advantage, and the product does live up to its expectations of being waterproof.

Lastly there's also the Urban Decay Supercurl Curling mascara ($20 USD)

I don't normally like curved brush heads because they don't suit all eye shapes, but the rubber brush head looks quite promising. I honestly haven't tried this mascara out yet but I'm quite looking forward to giving it a go!

Have you tried any of these Urban Decay products? If not, what is your favorite product from this brand?

Clothes, Shoes and Purses Purge

Today I was going through my closet trying ot pick out outfits for Berlin this weekend, and I just had a moment of insanity! I was so frustrated that probably half or more of my closet was filled with clothes I never wear anymore because it's just not my style anymore, or they are just way too big on me now and just look rather unflattering.

So I had a bit of a purge...this is one of the piles of stuff I weeded out.

I don't know why it's so hard for us to get rid of old things. We always have this thought in the back of our head, "Oh I can't get rid of that, I might wear it someday!" Ladies - NO! If that shirt has been collecting dust in the back of your closet for over a year without being worn once, chances are you'll probably never wear it again so just part ways and be done with it. There's loads of charities you can donate your things to. I discovered some things I dragged around with me that I bought when I still lived in Montreal!

I filled up 3 bags of clothes, shoes and purses for charity. Some things were a bit hard for me to part with because they are clothes I purchased quite recently and are still in trend, but because of my weight loss, I now look like I'm swimming in them!

Goodbye stuff! I can't say I will miss you, but I hope someone else out there will find joy in something in there.

Now my closet is rather empty looking, and it's now at a point where I actually need to buy clothes, rather than just buy it for kicks. All my clothes from last fall/winter don't fit me anymore since I started my weight loss after that time, so I pretty much need to buy a new fall wardrobe. How exciting!

I also rediscovered a rather expensive camel colored winter coat I bought at Benetton a few years back, and last winter I couldn't wear it anymore because my arms looked like sausages in the sleeves and I could barely button the front. Now it fits again - even feels a bit loose! I'm so excited to wear that coat again this winter.

Well that's about it for me, have a great weekend everybody and I hope to see some of you at the meet-up in Berlin.

Alexandra Stan - Mr. Saxobeat Music Video look

If you haven't heard Alexandra Stan's song "Mr. Saxobeat" yet, then you probably don't live in Europe. This song has been playing like crazy on the radio here! It's very pop-y and catchy, you can watch the original music video here: link

I loved Alexandra's bold blue look in the video! It's very eye-catching and edgy.

Here is my take on this gorgeous look. Please excuse the huge watermarking, my images get stolen so frequently and used in other people's portfolios! Can you tell I bought some new lighting? What do you think of it for image quality?

Here's my tutorial for this look, and yes, the intro is quite "out there". I felt a bit funny filming it, but in the end I had a blast turning up the song really loud and dancing around a bit - I just wanted to try something different for this!

Face
Lancome Teint Idole foundation, Ben Nye Natural Blush, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Shimpagne,

Eyes
MAC Sea Me Shadestick, Cover Girl loose powder, Kryolan Night Blue L1125, Ben Nye Cosmic Blue, Sugarpill Bulletproof, Sleek Oh So Special palette (light cream color), NYX White, Sephora Keep Blue eyeliner, Lancome Artliner in black, random false eyelashes from ebay, Max Factor False Lash Effect mascara

Lips
MAC 15 Minutes lipstick, Margaret Astor Baby Pink lipgloss

Nailpolish
Kiko Milano Nr. 336

Watch the video directly on Youtube here