Follow Me

WATCHING
SEASON 2 OF DEXTER
The thrill of marathoning a great show like Dexter is akin to the thrill of reading a great book. You take a break to refresh your tea and popcorn, and while the water boils, you can’t help but blab to your clueless roommates about how Doakes just caught Dex out at the cabin red handed, effectively ruining the surprise for them if they ever chose to watch the show. Michael C. Hall is wonderful and frightening as Dexter, and also surprisingly sexy, considering that in “real life” he kind of resembles an X-Filian shape shifter.

WEARING
CHANEL BLUE SATIN
Okay so its shade that came out for Fall, and we’re officially in Spring, and now everyone is going crazy over “Flamingo” and forgetting this colour exists. Think I care? I love dark polishes, and this one suits me perfectly. While under my shoddy indoor lighting this colour looks black, when Blue Satin catches the sunlight, it shines a brilliant, deep blue that is hard to ignore.

WANTING
A WHOLE NEW CROP OF EYE MAKEUP

I knew there was a God somewhere. For years I make fun of people who have pink eye and then I wake up one morning looking like a serial killer with swollen, blood shot eyes and what my roommates described as a “veiny” pallor. Figures. Also, remember that time in the Simpsons when Homer got Lasik and his eyes crusted over? Anyways. Besides looking gross and not being able to leave the house, Conjunctivitis also means that you have to throw away all the eye makeup you’ve been using, mainly mascaras, pencils and liners, which is swell for me since I’m totally broke and can’t afford anything. So far I’ve only replaced my L’Oreal Telescopic mascara, which I have recently become addicted to. Its one of the best drugstore mascaras I’ve tried. Its totally clump free and leaves you with long, beautiful lashes all day.

READING
EDITH WHARTON - ETHAN FROME
This is the price I pay for choosing to take a few extra English classes in my last year “just for fun.” With my final exam a few days away, I’m struggling to finish the novels that got bumped aside this semester in favor of Harper’s Bazaar, the New Yorker’s Anthology of Humor Writing and American Idol. Oh, thank God this book is short, because Ethan Frome is an unreadable train wreck, or should I say toboggan wreck (even though you need to read the book to get my quip, uh… don’t).

Throughout the year I’m constantly moving between my two homes, Montreal and Vancouver. Yet neither of these cities are home to a Sephora, the ultimate beauty and makeup outlet. I don’t understand it. They have one in Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, they even have them in all the dirtbag towns that line the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). I think there’s even one in North Bay. I just don’t get it.

SO, you can understand how jazzed I was to hear the Sephora was putting out a book titled Sephora: The Ultimate Guide to Makeup, Skin and Hair From the Beauty Authority. Finally I could have a piece of Sephora in my home that I didn’t have to go to New York for, and that didn’t expire after three months. And I was not alone in my excitement. At the Chapters checkout counter, the sales woman and I gushed for a brief moment about the joys of beauty products they carry, the empty promises made about a future Montreal location, and the exhilaration you feel when stepping into Sephora’s Times Square store.

Being home sick with no essays or exams in sight has its advantages. When I came home from the store I was able to sit in bed and read the book from cover to cover, and I learned a lot. There was a chapter devoted entirely to what makeup brushes (or I’m sorry “tools”) are used for what task. While over the years I’ve sort of been able to figure it out (big brush - blush, smallish roundy brush - eye shadow base), the book laid it out for me with big pictures and clear explanations.

The book is also full of useful tips like using gold shadow in the corners of your eyes to make you look more awake, and the very bizarre putting Visine on a spoon, freezing it, and then putting it on a pimple to make it disappear.

But here’s the thing. For a book that claimed to be the “ultimate guide” I was expecting an “ultimate guide.” There was very little on actual makeup application. There were chapters on red lipstick, lip plumpers, bronzer application, making your cheekbones look higher and archiving a smoky eye. But the steps were unclear, the descriptions muddled. And while learning to do a good smoky eye is a key step in makeup application, what about just basic blending? How to use eyeshadow pallets? Picking the right shades? Are you a warm or a cool?

I was also hoping that the book would have face diagrams that are so often used by makeup artists. If you’re getting bored with your makeup routine, they can be incredibly inspiring, and also helpful if you just have no clue what goes where. They’re kind of like the Kama Sutra of putting on makup.

The last thirty of so pages of Sephora’s “Ultimate Guide” is basically advertisements. They have pictures of their favourite products that they distribute and abstracts written by the company. And since I can’t just go out and buy these products, save for online, this part of the book was pretty much useless to me.
While this book has some very helpful tips and some very pretty pictures (except for one shot of a model who has a creepy mutant ear) if you’re looking for help on improving your beauty skills or some new inspiration, I suggest looking elsewhere.

Final Say: Sephora: The Ultimate Guide to Makeup, Skin and Hair From the Beauty Authority. belongs on your coffee table, not your dressing table.

For Spring and Summer it seems that geometric patterns, defined angles and chunky pieces are in for bags (although March Vogue told me that bags are out, so you should probably just ignore this). When dramatic geometry is done poorly, I think about bad 80s fashion (shoulder pads come to mind), but when its done well, It gives off the impression of the not too distant future, my favourite era!

Here are a few bags for Spring and Summer that would look great paired with a bomber jacked and a hoverboard.

Gucci Hysteria avalible at Saks.com for $3,900

Marc Jacobs Patchwork Patent Pouchette at eLuxury.com for $1,095

My personal favourite: Zac Posen Rose at eLuxury.com

Oh, Fryes. About two years ago, after of decades of silence from this company, Frye boots sneeked back into style and started showing up on celebs and they’ve been going strong ever since, coming out with new styles monthly. I own two pairs myself (The Campus in white, and the Harness) and can say with confidence that these are probably the best boots that are currently being made. The craftsmanship cannot be beat, with sturdy stacked heels, beautiful quality leather and impeccable attention to detail. The pricetag may scare a few people off, with boots ranging from $200 to $500, but Fryes are worth the investment. These are classic, rugged yet elegant boots you will have forever.

A few of my favourites right now are…

Left to Right: Dorado Riding Boot - $462 at Zappos.com, Tina Tall Pleet - $402 at Zappos.com, Elizabeth Riding Boot - $552 at Zappos.com

MAC’s upcoming Neo Sci-Fi collection to be released next month is a collection that I’m incredibly psyched for, mainly because it has Sci-Fi in the name, and if you know me, you know I have a strange obsession with the idea of the not too distant future.

The Neo Sci-Fi has kind of a Logan’s Run feel to it, with burned orange packaging and bright blues popping up among the brown tones. But unlike Logan’s Run, this collection doesn’t make me want to die of sadness/boredom.

Tell me what you think.

Left to Right: Femme-Fi, Evening Aura, Expensive Pink, Time and Space, Magnetic Fields Left to Right: Phosphor, Metalist, Neon 8, Plasma Blue

This collection hits MAC in May, so make sure to watch out for it.

Images from Temptalia.com

For something that costs about $11 this little facial really did the trick. It has a very refreshing peppermint smell, and left my skin feeling extra smooth afterwards, and into the next day.This product is defiantly a great, and cheap find, and available at all drug store chains. I picked up mine at Shoppers Drug Mart.