My friend Samra BBMed me with a video project involving Glow Magazine where she works as an online editor. I kinda get a kick out of doing video things so I said yes. The video is part of their Shop Like A Blogger series. Basically, I went to Shoppers and talked about my top beauty products which were nails and mascara (duh). They also gave me a $100 gift card to make those things a reality. The video turned out really well and I’m pretty pleased with it.
Chanel is creating another Fashion’s Night Out collection. Last year, Les Jeans de Chanel was only available in the US. I had a friend track them down for me. Luckily, Canadians will be able to purchase them at Chanel Bloor Street, Holt Renfrew Bloor Street and Holt Renfrew Vancouver this time around on September 6, 2012. Les Twin-Sets de Chanel is a three shade collection of lipstick and nail polish duos. I really like Provocation and Infidèle with Provocation being my favourite. I’ll be tracking those two down on September 6. images: fashionmagazine.com
OPI is the collaboration kings in the nail world. I think OPI Man with a Golden Gun will be the very best. That’s right, OPI and James Bond. OPI is celebrating James Bond’s Golden Anniversary with this special polish and a whole collection based on Skyfall, the latest Bond movie due out this year. Man with a Golden Gun is a top coat that contains 18 karat gold and comes in a limited edition gold coloured bottle. It will be released in October and will retail for $37.50. I need to get my hands on this badly. image: OPI Facebook
I blogged about one of my latest nail polish interests, The Dickensian Volume by strangebeautiful. I ordered the set from the States and decided to share some photos of some of the colours. Jane Schub (strangebeautiful) has drawn inspiration from the dark side of Dickensian times. Referencing the Brothers Grimm, Dickens, Edward Gorey’s The Loathsome Couple and dark earth elements such as coal and shale. The moody and mysterious polishes come in ten metallic shades. The packaging for the Dickensian Volume is really pretty lovely. The forumla on the nail polish is thicker than most I use but it dries extremely smooth and perfect. I found the brush a bit difficult to work with. While I love the packaging to death but a shorter brush would be perfect for this polish. None of the polishes have names or numbers so it’s a bit hard to tell the difference from photos. Some of the blacks have hints of red, blue or green and there are a number of different shades of grey.
Chanel is one of my all time favourite nail polish brands. It looks great, applies easily and lasts long. When I saw Janine post a sneak peak at the Chanel Fall 2012 Makeup and Nail Polish collection I freaked out. The three new Chanel Nail colours are Frenzy (milky greige, with a hint of lavender), Suspicious (bright fuchsia red) and my favourite Vertigo (black with a shimmery red undertone). This beautiful trio will be hitting Chanel counters across the country on August 27, 2012. image: imabeautygeek.com
My Barber at Hollow Ground Barber Shop introduced me to candles from Baxter of California. Since 1965 Baxter of California have provided men with grooming products. They have a range of skincare, shaving and hair care products. In addition grooming accessories, candles and fragrances round out the product selection. Baxter of California also collaborates with brands like Saturdays NYC, Porter and Unionmade. These soy wax-based candles are geared towards men and are produced with the brand Joya. I love the Tubereuse Noir scent which has fragrance notes of Tuberose, Bergamot, White Tea Rose, Geranium and Camellia. The packaging, designed by Marc Atlan is very cool. You can get a wide selection of Baxter of California products (including the candles) at: Hollow Ground Barber Shop 1053 Bloor St W. Toronto image: baxterofcalifornia.com
I’m a little late on catching up with the Givenchy perfume news and I just recently discovered Dahlia Noir. The ad campaign features one of my favourite models Mariacarla Boscono and photographers Mert & Marcus. I have no idea how this fragrance smells but the ad campaign and description make me very curious. The video for Givenchy Dahlia Noir is quite dramatic and fun. Riccardo Tisci gave an interview to vogue.com.au when Dahlia Noir launched. Tell us about the notes, why did you choose rose and wood notes? From my first meeting with François Demachy [the perfumer] when we were developing the Dahlia Noir range, I spoke to him about emotions and olfactory memories, not formulas. I remember the smell of my mother and sisters’ make-up, which had a distinctive powdery and rosy scent. This is why we constructed Dahlia Noir starting with a rosy note, enriched with iris and mimosa. We then added sophisticated woody notes such as sandalwood and patchouli to give the fragrance a contemporary edge. What was the thought behind naming …
I embarked on my most ambitious nail journey this week, a 10 colour manicure. The idea came to me as I was staring at the new Essie collection, Poppi Razzi. I wanted to use all four of these neon shades but I would need to use the dreaded white polish to make the neon pop. I hummed and hawed over using the white base for about half an hour before deciding that I would do this mani properly. I started with two coats of MAC x Liberty London Vestral White. I was very careful with these coats. I took my time, minimized streaking and allowed each coat to dry. I then used two coats of Action for the overall base color. Initially, I was only going to use Camera, Lights and Bazooka for the dots but I realized I needed more variety. I turned to another neon polish from Essie called Funky Lime Light. I felt that some blue and green were essential. I don’t have a neon blue so I used Chanel’s Coco Blue …
NARS x Thakoon Nail Polish My latest nail polish obsession is the NARS x Thakoon Nail Polish collaboration. I’ve been waiting for over a month for this collection to come out. I absolutely love the vibrant colours. I can’t wait to rock an ombre nails with these beauties or use my new nail dotting skills to come up with something. In conceptualizing the shade range, Thakoon was inspired by the vibrant colours found in Indian spice markets. The highly saturated, high-shine shades come in an opaque finish, perfect for spring. Formula is long-wearing, chip-resistant and toluene, formaldehyde and DBP free. The shades are Anardana – Azalea pink, Ratin Jot – Orchid purple, Amchoor – Bright yellow, Kutki – Powder blue and Koliary – Cyan blue. The collection is available now at NARS counters across the country and online at narscosmetics.ca for $21 bucks a piece. NARS has a great formulation for their polish and is one of my favourites. image: courtesy of NARS.
I love fashion and beauty but I am also very aware of how fucked up the industry is. Hence, why I love this video created by Jesse Rosten
