Mashed potatoes and iPhones....

Happy December dolls! Can you believe Christmas is only 24 days away? 

 Since I decided to be "on the ball" this year and start my Christmas shopping early (as in September) I really don't have many more things to buy. This has left me with time to enjoy all the stuff I'm diggin' right now...the little things that make my day a bit better. 

This time of year I am obsessed with Glade's scented candles. The apple cinnamon scent is heaven on earth. What could smell better than baked apple pie? -sweet, spicy, delicious. Hea-ven.

Well hallelujah, Mama has finally entered the modern age and got herself an iPhone 4S. Needless to say I'm completely addicted. I did love my good ol' Crackberry but it was time to upgrade...and Siri is just plain awesomeness.

3 words. Lobster Mashed Potatoes. Yeah they're that good. I thought nothing could top lobster mac n' cheese but this could be a contender. 

Butter? check.

Garlic? check.

Boursin cheese? check.

Lobster? check check check.

Roaaaar. I am completely in love with infinite leopard print scarves. A great scarf can elevate any outfit, even jeans and a t-shirt. Not a day goes by where I don't throw on a cozy scarf and head out the door. 

Dark(er) lips. Ok, so it's taken me forever to come around to this but I'm finally feeling comfortable moving away from nude lips.  A bolder red or mauve lip is perfect for this time of year and I'm not sure why I shied away from this so much in the past. I suppose I was afraid of an overdone look since I like a bolder (smokey) eye. Well not anymore, bring on the colour!

This list of faves could have gone on for days but I had to narrow it down...there are only so many hours in a day to read blogs, am I right?
What are your December loves? Share the good stuff with us! 

Learn to love liquid liner....

Two years ago I stumbled upon a fabulous pen-style liquid eyeliner and it was love at first use.  After years of using traditional pencil liners as well as the click-up "automatic" liner, I dumped them both for my new bestie, 'felt' pen-style liquid liner. 

Admittedly I was intimidated by classic liquid liner because you need such a steady hand to apply it properly and unfortunately my hands are really shaky.

 I mean I'm super shaky...as bad a Lindsay Lohan on day 2 of 30 day rehab stint.  

And since liquid liner sets so quickly and the color is so dark, any mistakes you make (janky zig-zag lines) can quickly ruin your whole eye look and you have to start over...

{just say no to this mess in a bottle} 

This is where a pen-liner comes to the rescue. It offers the smooth, controlled application of a pencil liner without the goopy, unforgiving nature of the dip-in-liquid/cream with a tiny brush type of liner.

{some of my fave liners: Wet n' Wild Mega eyes, Smashbox Limitless Liquid Liner, NYX Liquid Liner in Dark Brown}

The line is clean, bold, and you can easily control the thickness of it from inner eye to outer eye. 

Want cat eyes or maybe a more subtle slightly winged look? A pen-liner makes it easy peasy and anyone can create a gorgeous look, it just takes a little practice.

Of course for the lower lash line I still rely on my traditional kohl pencil liners, but for the upper lash line you can't beat the finished look you achieve with a pen-liner. Perfection!

Check out mama-to-be Beyonce's look, her makeup is totally simple and clean- just a nude lip and some bold liner on the top. How easy is that? Very.

Just about every major drug-store brand of makeup has a pen-style liner so it's definitely worth a try. 

You'll never bother with messy liquid liner again...you can thank me later.   :)

images via google

Oktoberfest....

I'm really loving October and we've actually been having a fantastic fall this year (meaning the snow hasn't started, yet) and the colours and decent temperatures have me all into the season!

Thought I'd share some of my October faves with you...the stuff I've been using a lot and am currently diggin'...

{Finally I got my hands on the Wet n Wild 8 pan palette in Comfort Zone. It's the perfect combo of warm neutrals and olive tones. The pigmentation and quality is a-mazing. Srsly worth every inexpensive penny!}

{1. Maybelline Eye Studio Color Explosion in Amethyst Ablaze and Caffine Rush. I've never really been a fan of Maybelline eye shadows but like so many drug-store brands lately, they've really improved their quality. The application of this shadow is smooth and creamy and the color pay-off is fantastic. I'm beginning to think that my days of buying $15 MAC eyeshadows have come to an end...

2. Just in time for Halloween, orange Sally Hansen polish with a black crackle top-coat.

3. Lancome's newest mascara, Hypnose Doll Lash mascara. Like all of the Hypnose mascara's the application is impressive but the Doll Lash offers a more "wide-eye look with volumized, extended and lifted lashes."  I'm sold, who doesn't want to look like "a doll?!"

 {Ok, so since Captain Jack Sparrow arrived on the movie scene about 10 years ago, pirate costumes have had a serious renaissance and I'm ok with that. Now it's my turn to swashbuckle and plunder my way through Halloween this year.}

{Guten Tag! We survived yet another Oktoberfest at our pub. Older brother decided that on the last few weekends of October, our staff should suit up in lederhosen (the bartenders) and as beer maids (waitresses.) Kitschy? Yes. A huge success with our customers? YES!}

So how has your October been so far? What are your must have products or styles for your perfect fall looks?  

Are you a serious nerd keener like me and already have your Halloween costumes figured out (since September?) 

Blogger meet-up!

So while we were in Greece visiting my mother-in-laws village, I finally had the opportunity to meet up with another fabulous blogger, Irene from Blushingloves.  It just so happens that she lives in a city (Kalamata) about half an hour down the road from our little village and she was just as excited as me to meet up for a frappe (iced coffee) and a face to face visit!  I've been following Irene's beauty blog for almost 2 years now and she's most defo deserving of her blog popularity as she's one of the best European beauty bloggers out there!

We've all heard of meeting up with fellow bloggers IRL (in real life) but I didn't think I'd ever really have the opportunity to meet one of my blog "friends" as they're scattered all over the world. It just worked out so well that this pretty lady happened to live so close to where we were staying. It was meant to be y'all!

 And what a doll she is! We had a great time chatting about beauty products, blogging and family- ohhh we could have talked for hours! She brought along her hubby and 3 beautiful kiddos and they played great together with our 2 little guys, in fact our husbands really hit it off too...

{love this lady!}

I brought her a gift bag of some of my favorite makeup goodies and brands that she's not able to get her hands on in Greece like ELF, Annabelle, Wet n' Wild ,Cargo and NYX.

 Irene was such a sweetie and we had a great time chatting about everything and anything, it was a fabulous blogger meet-up! 

Check out her gorgeous beauty blog for great reviews of her fave beauty products, amazing pics of Greece and more from a girl who loves all thing makeup! 

Winner winner chicken dinner!

Ok so I wasn't playing blackjack (or actually winning dinner) but I did recently find myself the winner of a fabulous beauty blog giveaway of more foundation/tinted moisturizer then I could use in a life-time. The lovely girls Lisamarie and Christelle at Beauty Crazed in Canada randomly selected me as their foundation contest winner. 

I've reached foundation nirvana....check out my winnings y'all

Illamasqua Powder Foundation - 10g - PF215
Shiseido Sheer Matifying Compact Refill - 9.8g - Natural Fair Beige B40
Clinique Acne Solutions - 30ml - 03 Fresh Neutral
Lise Watier 12 HRS Glam Flawless Complexion Foundation & Concealer Duo - 33g - Neutre
POP Beauty No Show Correct & Protect Tinted Moisturizer - 30ml -Two Balance
L'Oréal Magic Smooth Souffle - 20ml - 520 Creamy Natural
Avon Ideal Shade Custom Shade Foundation - 30ml - Mediukm
freshMinerals Tinted Moisturizer - 40ml - Ivory & Natural
MD Skincare All-In-One Tinted Moisturizer - 15ml - Medium-Dark

Source: beautycrazed (http://s.tt/12snH)

I'm super excited to try the Illamasqua Powder Foundation (since it isn't available here in Canada) as well as the L'Oreal Magic Smooth Souffle.

I'll admit I'm a bit of a foundation junky and I'm always on the search for perfect coverage that will magically make me appear pore-less, ageless and downright amazing. That's realistic right?

 Foundation can be ridiculously pricy and you're rolling the dice when you spend the money on trying something totally new, so I kinda feel like I've won the cosmetic-lottery! 

Take a peak at Beauty Crazed in Canada for all things makeup/beauty related and of course some amazing giveaways!

 http://www.beautycrazed.ca/

ELF and Wonder Woman...

I finally broke down and decided to order some elf products directly from their website. Up until now I`ve been grabbing whatever I could find from Winners (TJ Maxx) but the selection is seriously hit or miss and the prices are jacked up for who knows what reason since most elf products sell for between 1-5 dollars (US).  Since we don`t have Target here in Canada yet (2013 seems so long to wait) the only other option is to buy direct. The shipping was fast and cheap and there's always promo codes to be found online for an even bigger discount from their already ridiculously cheap prices.

I won't go into a full review of the haul (and as expected some products are way better quality than others)...but I have to say I love this stuff!

As if I didn`t order enough, while Husband was in L.A. this week on business, he called me from a Target store he`d stopped into while killing a few hours before he flew home. He asked if there was anything I wanted from the store, "Is the the Pope Catholic, is snow cold, is tan better than pale? Yes.

 "Head to the makeup isles and look for the brand called elf." "Elf?" he asks. "Yes elf, just go with it..."
  He actually went over and I walked him through what I wanted him to buy.  He's a good man yo.

I`ve had my eye on MAC`s Wonder Woman collection for Spring 2011 that came out a while back.  Wonder Woman is just about my fave fictional TV character ever and I may have rocked the heck out of my Wonder Woman Underoos once upon a time...but I still felt the collection was a bit gimmicky.
 However I noticed this Mineralized Skin Finish, Pink Power and it was love at first swatch. It`s more like a matte bronzer, blush, MSF highlighter all in one. Perfect for travel. It wasn't cheap but you get so much product (20 g) that it seemed totally worth it.

It`s like a Lasso of Truth- there`s no lying about it, this stuff is fabulous...

Hoarding issues?

So we as women all manage to buy and collect a lot of beauty and makeup related products. But what happens when they start to take over - your countertop, your bathroom, your life!?

Like most areas of my home I try to minimize the clutter and purge the stuff I don't need to prevent pile-ups of unused junk. Easy enough right? No one likes a hoarder.  But when it comes to beauty products I have such a hard time tossing the unused products. 

What if I suddenly run out of Coconut scented body lotion, I have 3 back ups. What if there's world wide shortage of extreme-hold hair spray? I'm covered with multiple extra cans. It's the fear of maybe/possibly/someday needing to use the extra products.

Are all these products really necessary? No.  So why can't I minimize and toss?

 Under the sink mess assortment of products

 (A box of nursing pads and ovulation test kits from 3 years ago...there's just no excuse for keeping those?)

Srsly, so what's my deal?  I go to throw out the products I'm not using then I"ll see that it's practically brand new and it would be so wasteful to throw it away. I just can't do it.  I might want to use it someday, just not in the immediate, foreseeable future or ever really.  But what "if"?

Do you have trouble parting with things that you might someday need even though you never use them? Am I just being thrifty and practical or am I on my way to needing an intervention or making an appearance on TLC's "Hoarding, Buried Alive?"