Everyone wants pillowy, plump, Angelina lips, but not everyone wants to undergo the drastic procedures of plastic surgery to get them. For those not willing to go on the surgery table, many cosmetic lines have produced lip products promising to "plump our puckers." One such product is Physicians Formula's Plump Palette plumping lip color. This palette comes with 4 shades (thus the palette part) that can be mixed and matched, or worn alone. The palettes range from brown tones to pink nudes to match various skin tones and lip colors. The palette also comes with its own lip brush and mirror for easy application. I purchased the mauve palette and following the packet's instructions, wore the colours consistently for a week.
The colors go on sheer and matched my skin tone well, providing a splash of colour and shine without looking obvious. As for the plumping, immediately after application my lips would feel tingly, kinda like that feeling you get in your mouth right after biting into some really minty gum. After a week and some careful observations I did notice that my lips seemed a bit, well, plumper! Amazing! I have yet to find another product that could yield the same results for such a cheap price. Though I didn't really like having to wear the same lip colour consistently for days on end, I guess one could think of it as being the same as wearing a daily moisturizer and the colours are subtle enough that you could wear them as a "plumping base" underneath whatever other lip colour you decide to slick on.
Final Verdict: Great colours and reasonable plumping action at a good price. Definitely worth checking out.
If you have any ideas for future product reviews, please leave a comment or send me an email at: mizzjblog at gmail.com
Note: This will be my last post until Christmas unfortunately because I am ditching this land of wet rain and slush for the sun and warmth of the Dominican Republic!!!! hahahaha I laugh at your envy :D
My knowledge of beauty products usually extends to what I can find in my local drugstore or in the beauty product stores of my local malls. However if you prefer to shop outdoors and to boutiques along Burrard and Granville in downtown Vancouver particularly, you will come across a beauty boutique carrying the L'Occitane line of products. Originating in Provence, L'Occitane seeks to share French beauty with the world via its line of body/face/hair/aromatherapy products containing all-natural ingredients like honey and tea tree oil. Imagine a more expensive, French version of Body Shop. I first heard about this brand through my sister and mom who are in love with their products. After checking out their website and reviews on MakeupAlley (all of which rate L'Occitane products pretty highly) I discovered this week's Lust:
The Immortelle Brightening Serum is packed with mysterious essential oils and vitamin C which promises its users a smoother brighter complexion. Vitamin C I know does help destroy free radicals in your skin and the reviews (you'll need to be a registered user to view) were super positive for this product, so I think this would be perfect for a complexion pick-me-up during those dark winter months.
If you are ever thinking of experimenting with drugs, or know a younger girl who is contemplating doing drugs, please show her this article! It's so sad to see how a talented, original person like Amy is literally and painstakingly destroying herself, and all in front of the avid public eye. This report and accompanying picture of Amy Winehouse stumbling through the streets of London in jeans and a bra is quite disturbing, especially when you compare it to her once healthy state before she became famous. Winehouse is unrecognizable from the sort of pitiful addicts that you see on any grungy street corner and yet she has recently gotten 6 Grammy nominations! This report also continues on to say how Winehouse has developed a nervous habit regarding her teeth and is constantly pulling on them. Reportedly, she has already lost two. Considering there are constant reports of Amy's parents and in-laws pleading for her and her husband to enter rehab, it doesn't seem like the troubled couple is lacking in familial support - so where have they gone wrong? And why is it that some celebrities are able to handle fame with grace, while others careen mindlessly into a bottomless pit of destruction?
For a long time I've been looking for a daily moisturizer that not only moisturizes but protects my skin from that scourge of dermatologists everywhere: sun damage. Finally, I believe I may have found my perfect love-child between sunscreen and moisturizer.
Lubriderm's daily SPF moisturizer is the perfect blend of moisturer and sunblock. Packed with yummy winter-weather friendly ingredients like vitamin E and emollients such as petrolatum and cetearyl alcohol, this moisturizer works to form a protective layer to lock moisture into your skin and leave it smooth and soft. On the sunscreen side of things, this lotion contains the usual sunscreen protectors like octinoxate and promises UVA/UVB protection while being PABA-free.
I was infinitely thankful for the fact that the lotion was neither thick or sickly coconut smelling like your usual sunscreen, and that it absorbs quickly. The container for this lotion is also great too - it's a squeeze bottle, so there's no silly pumps that require you to drain the bottle upside-down just to get that last little bit of lotion at the bottle's bottom. My only remark about this lotion was that I had to apply a fair bit to get the same coverage as a usual moisturizer. As well, it left my hands feeling a tad parched.
Final Verdict: Nice balance between moisturizer and sunscreen and suitable for light, everyday use. If you require a heavier dose of moisturizing or sunblocking power however, I would not recommend this product.
As always, if you have any suggestions of products you'd like me to try, please leave a comment on this post, or send me an email at mizzjblog at gmail.com
There is something about wool coats that just embody cozy sophistication in winter weather. In a wool coat you are stylish, warm and classic. Now when you add white into the mix you up the style and sophistication factor way up! White screams crispness, purity and classic elegance. In a white wool coat I feel like an Asian Audrey Hepburn. Or a classy Kimora Lee, depending on how I feel that day. Either way, when I saw this coat in the Guess store in Richmond Centre, it literally made me drool. It is white, 60% wool, soft to the touch, double breasted AND has a trench belt WITH convenient side pockets!!!!! I don't even care that it's $207.88 or that it will be nearly impossible to maintain its pure milk-white color. I want it and I will simply wear it in my room if I have to. And I will accessorize it with a faux-fur muff. Why? Just because I can.
Recently I read a story titled "From Russia With Love" in the November issue of Elle Canada. The story featured a man named Vladimir Radovski and his "resexification" program which promises to transform women into irresistible sexpots, guaranteed to snag "every woman's dream" - a rich man. The program, as described in the article is filled with women of all personality types: from the shy and mousy, to the bold and dominant; however they do have one thing in common: a lack of confidence in their sexuality despite their otherwise successful professional lives. Radovski awakens the inner vixen in these women by putting them through a series of role-play exercises, lap-dance lessons, and helpful tips such as "Don't show a man that you're smart... that will only make him feel small and humiliated".
Excuse me?! Not only is Radovski writing off a women's worth, he is writing off men's too. Where exactly does he get off telling women they need to act dumb, and play some "sexual fantasy" role to attract men instead of using their innate intelligence and personality?! I found myself becoming angrier and angrier as I read through the article and by the end I wanted to rip the headline picture of the pudgy, smug-faced, Radovski out of the magazine and burn his image along with every single bra I owned. It was unbelievable to think that he, and the attendees of this "program," actually believed in what he was preaching! What sort of men are so insecure that they would be attracted to a woman who has no independent thoughts and who will simply gaze adoringly at their "man" like some insipid lovesick version of a teletubby?! Perhaps I am lucky in my life to not have met such men. All the men in my life value women for their intelligence and strength, not for how high their breasts point, or how good they look with a pair of rabbit ears on.
And what is Elle Canada thinking by writing an article like this? The way the article is written almost made me feel like I would flip the page and see a convenient sidebar listing Radovski's contact info and addresses for the newest Canadian locations of his classes. Too much text was given to basically an advertisement for Radovski, and not enough given to analyzing why these women attended this program and what Russian men really thought of this phenomenon. God forbid that such cavemen sensibilities ever take hold again in our country - otherwise I may be so incensed that I will not only burn all my bras, but I may lead an uprising to burn down La Senza, and that we all know, would be quite unfortunate.
So the other weekend I went into the Marciano store and it's companion Guess store at Metrotown to try on the dresses I posted about previously, however both dresses were well, disappointing. I'd already decided based on everyone's comments that the Guess dress was not happening so it was up to the Blue Nile to satisfy my expectations of a Vegas-worthy dress. First thing I saw when I walked into Marciano was the Blue Nile dress. It was everything I'd hoped for: floaty and silky with a neckline of black beads and that beautiful rich blue color. Immediately I tried it on, but sadly somewhere between the rack and my body the dress transformed! The front looked great, but the cutouts in the back... they just looked funny and as my male 2nd opinion said "it looks like a sports bra". Sadly, I had to let the Blue Nile go. I then tried on several other options offered by the very helpful staff at Marciano and finally settled on an option that I'd totally overlooked on the website. I suppose it just goes to show that you can't trust what you see online, and that perfect dress may be hidden right under your nose.
Marciano's Mallory Cowl Back dress ($173.47)
