Prom!

Hello world!

It's PRAHHHHM season! I thought it would be a fun post to write, as I was a high school senior just last year, so it's fresh memory in my mind.

I was lucky enough to go to two proms during my senior year, and they were both great in different ways. The first one was the prom at the high school I attended at the time, and most of my closest friends were all girls, so it was very much a typical "get a million pictures with each other and drag our dates along, take a 15 minute limo ride to a place we could've driven to, and cry about our hair the whole time" kind of night haha. Looking back on it now, I enjoyed the typical-ness of the night, because it made me feel like I just did a rite of passage as a senior LOL.

The second prom was the with high school I went to for a year in my hometown. It was more fun for me because it was one big catch up with my closest guy friends from home, and I had already gone through the whole typical prom night of stress over things like pictures and flowers the week before haha. I found that I was way more relaxed because I wasn't worrying over all that stuff and how I looked so it was just automatically more fun. My "date" (WEIRDEST term haha) Imaad is one of my best friends so that also took lots of pressure off. I feel like going with a group of friends is more fun because it's so chill. Also, I did my own hair and makeup for the second prom and I liked it much better.

 I wore the same dress to both proms, and to be honest I wasn't in love with it, but it served it's job, and Imaad did such a wonderful job of matching his shiny silver suit to mine (bless him) so that was really nice for pictures hahahaha. Here's what we looked like:

The thing I learned most from going to two proms is that you'll always have more fun when you're just relaxing.
Overall, I enjoyed both nights, the second a little more than the first, and I'm glad I went :)
I know a lot of people stress over it and worry about their dress and hair and if they bought their date a nice corsage, but at the end of the day, it's just a party with fancy clothing,
and parties are for having fun!

//

ENJOY YOURSELF.

Prom isn't meant to be a night where you should be stressed out about shoes or hair or your date. It's a big party, a "rite of passage" in high school, something you mock and love at the same time. Some time from now, it'll just be a story you tell your university friends or your kids, so make sure your story is a good (or at least bareable) one, not one that starts with "ugh".

RELAX.

Your hair looks fine. Your dress is beautiful. It's okay if your date's shade of blue isn't the same. In the end, you're gonna look through all 437 pictures you took that night and you're only gonna choose one for your profile picture ;).

TRUST YOURSELF.
When I say this, I'm 100% talking about makeup/hair LOL.
If you can do your own makeup and the hairstyle you want on your own (provided you practiced a few times before!), save yourself that $30 hair appointment and just do it yourself. No one knows the look you envisioned for yourself the way you do. Alternatively, ask an aunt or cousin who you know can do your hair/makeup for you. Don't waste your money unless you absolutely need to.
I'm definitely speaking from experience, because at the first prom, I paid someone else to do my hair and I wasn't very pleased. When I did everything myself at the second prom, I felt a lot better about it!

BRING THE ESSENTIALS.

You bought a clutch for a reason! Here is a list of the things I think are important to have with you, and of course if you have room, feel free to bring more:

CELLPHONE: Of course! Not only is it always good to have with you for emergencies and to communicate if you're meeting up with people at a certain spot for pictures before prom, most people have smart phones now, which means it doubles as a camera! Obviously this doesn't replace the nice fancy camera to take pictures in a park or to take the high resolution group photos you want, but it's always fun to snap a quick selfie in your limo or inside the venue.
Similarly, if you have a small hand held camera, bring it! There's no harm in taking as many photos as possible, and you may bump into someone you didn't get a photo with before, so it's good to be prepared!

LIP PRODUCT: Whatever you put on your lips that night, whether it's a soft pink lip gloss, or a red lipstick, bring it with you. You're gonna have a long night, and you don't want to end up with faded red lipstick, especially after you've eaten. Chances are, you'll be taking pictures ALL night, even after the nice fancy ones, so be sure you have the ability to touch up every once in awhile.

MONEY/CHANGE: You don't need to bring your whole wallet obviously, and you shouldn't. But make sure you have some change or a few small bills just in case. If for some reason you need to take a cab because you don't have a designated driver or something, you should always be prepared.

HAIR TIES/BOBBY PINS: Be prepared for hair malfunctions! It could be windy outside when you're taking pictures, or your hair could be in your way when dancing, so you should definitely have a back-up plan. You didn't spend all that time for it to fall apart!

OPTIONAL:

EYELASH GLUE: Obviously this only applies if you wear fake lashes. I did, because I like to on fancy occasions. During the second prom, my lashes started to fall off. They had never done it before, so I thought nothing of it. After like, an hour of getting to the venue, they did LOL, and it took all my eye makeup with it. I felt so stupid haha, so if you plan on wearing fake lashes, do NOT make the same mistake as me! They come in such small tubes, so it's a good idea just to bring one along.

CONCEALER: Definitely not something you absolutely need, but if you happen to have that one really obvious dark scar left by a pimple or a red zit, it doesn't hurt just to dot a little concealer on right before pictures! If you have no room, it's definitely not needed, but you'll be taking a lot of pictures!

As you can see, everything fit, and there was still room for any other things you want to bring!

MOST OF ALL, have fun! It's a party, and one of the last times you'll be with your graduating class! Smile a lot, take tons of pictures, dance the night away (even if the DJ is terrible!), and enjoy it :)

Lots of love,
Rachel xxxx

Spring Cleaning - New Makeup Storage

Hey world!

I've been very M.I.A. lately, and for that I apologize! I just finished my first year of university, so exams and moving out of residence has been taking up so much of my time, and I have been feeling super disorganized!
I am a big believer that having a de-cluttered space just makes you feel a little more relaxed and put together, and that's what I've been trying to do. Even though I am a pretty messy person overall, I've been trying my best to get organized so I can try to accomplish all I want on this summer break. I am slowly getting my life (moderately) together, and naturally, the first thing I wanted to organize was my makeup, haha.

I used to keep all of my makeup in a big makeup case, but it was getting hard to deal with. I would have to dig through everything just to find an eyeliner, my palettes were sitting all over my room, and it just took my way longer to do my makeup than I felt it should. I decided enough was enough, and started looking for alternatives.

I was at Target, and I came across a bunch of makeup storage units. They were on sale, so it was a perfect match! I got this one for just over $30, and I think it was a worthy investment. I wish I could tell you what brand this is, but I'm not entirely sure :( They are located on the very bottom shelf of the section where all the makeup bags are in general.
The one I got is grey because I wanted a neutral colour, but there were patterned ones with stripes and animal print if that's more your taste!

As you can see, there are 4 little shelves. When expanded like in the picture below, you can access all of them easily, and there is a bottom section for bigger items.

I organized my makeup in sections.

On the left side, the two shelves hold my eye and lip items, because they all tend to come in a tube form. The top left shelf holds my eyeliners, primers, mascaras, and two of my Maybelline 24 Colour Tattoos (cream eyeshadows), which I am absolutely obsessed with!

The bottom left shelf holds lipsticks, lip balms, lip crayons, etc. Unfortunately I couldn't fit all of my lip products in the shelf because it isn't as tall as I'd hoped, but I keep my most used items, and I can always rotate the products.

On the right shelves, I keep my face/complexion items. On the top right shelf, I have all my mini bottles of primer, liquid highlighters, and two powder cheek products that come in circular form, which is a baked highlighter and a blush. I also have a small bottle of Urban Decay's Setting Spray.

The bottom right shelf carries more face items. My Urban Decay Primer Potion is there because it wouldn't fit on the left side haha :( I have my NARSissist Palette hidden underneath, a L'oreal concealer, and my e.l.f. cheek palettes with bronzers and blushes.

In the very bottom section I keep my big palettes and foundations. I keep them there because the bottom of the makeup storage unit is pretty deep so I can stack items on top of each other. On the right side, I have a big e.l.f. palette hidden underneath everything, my Naked Palette, my Divergent palette which I've written a blog post on before, and a bunch of small eyeshadow palettes from drugstore brands like Rimmel and Covergirl. I also keep my Rimmel Stay Matte translucent powder at the bottom because it doesn't in the shelves haha. On the other side, I keep my foundations and bb creams.

I genuinely think these makeup storage units with shelves are a great way to organize makeup without breaking the bank or having to clear extra space in a drawer somewhere. Organizing everything into sections has made my life so much easier, and now it doesn't take me 10 minutes just to find one item!

How about you? How do you store your makeup? Any tips on organization and DIY makeup storage?

Lots of love,
Rachel xxxx

Lazy Day Makeup

Hello world!

There are definitely days when I don't feel like a full face of makeup is necessary; in fact, most days are like this for me as a university student. Today was no exception, especially since I didn't get much sleep last night due to the How I Met Your Mother finale as I spent majority of my night crying and analyzing the episode haha, so I wasn't feeling too great this morning.

I just wanted to do a short post, showing you what I put on my face on my more laid back days.

FACE

The Body Shop: Aloe Soothing Moisture Lotion

My daily face lotion at the moment, always essential. Made specifically for sensitive skin, as I have rosacea, and it does the trick.

L'oreal True Match: Super-Blendable Concealer and Real Techniques Buffing Brush

I don't think foundation is necessary every day, so most of the time I just use this concealer to cover up any blemishes and redness. I just dot it on and blend it in with my Real Techniques Buffing brush.

I use this concealer in N4-5: Neutral - Light/Medium.

Benefit: Girl Meets Pearl

This is the little purple and white tube photographed on the right. This is just a liquid highlighter, because I always love a more "glowing" look, especially on days where I haven't had much sleep because it really wakes my complexion up.

EYES

I'm not going to lie, eye make-up is something I never skip out on. It's just my personal preference, probably because I look incredibly tired and weird without any eyeliner on hahaha, but it's the one make-up item I've used consistently since I was 14, so I never really miss it! I know for most people, eyes are usually the thing they leave out on more "lazy days" but it's just something I always do.

Revlon Photo Ready: Eye Primer and Brightener

I apologize for the extremely battered up tube, but I've had this particular one for probably well over a year now so it's so dirty haha. For someone who has really dry skin, I have such oily eyelids, so even though I'm not wearing any eyeshadow, I have to put eyelid primer on for my eyeliner.

L'oreal Magic Lumi Concealer

This is supposedly a drugstore dupe for YSL's Touche Éclat concealer. I just pop this under my eyes to brighten them up a little. I don't have particular baggy eyes, but just putting that "illuminating" concealer really brightens up your whole look and makes you look a little more awake.

I use this concealer in Medium.

L'oreal 24-Hour Infallible The Super Slim Liquid Eyeliner

I cannot live without liquid eyeliner. I really like it when it comes in pen form, because it just makes drawing on that cat eye so much easier. The nib on this eyeliner is nice and thin so you can get a precise shape. 

Dual Ended Brush (White and Black Brush)

I used the angle brush to do my eyebrows. I never used to be the kind of person who filled my eyebrows in, but ever since I started to, I've become kind of addicted to it haha. I didn't photograph the powder I used because it's too big to fit in the picture. It comes in this HUGE 144-Piece Eyeshadow e.l.f. palette in Neutral which you can find here, and I just use the matte dark browns to fill them in.

Maybelline One by One Volume Express Mascara

Maybelline absolutely slay in the drugstore world of mascara. I use this particular one for more "natural" lashes because it's not a volumizing mascara, but a super separating and defining one. I love it for days like this :)

LIPS

Burt's Bees Lip Balm with Mango Butter

No colour, just for soft lips :)

So that is it friends! I also completed my picture with my glasses and my large hot chocolate from Second Cup that I bought this morning to try and fill the huge HIMYM-sized hole in my heart. Still sobbing that it's over. :(

What do you use on lazy days? What are your favourite makeup items when you want to wake your complexion up?

Lots of love,

Rachel xxxx

Rachel's Reviews - Divergent Palette

Hello world!

I have decided to try out doing product reviews to begin my blog, as I think they can be really helpful. I am in no means an expert in makeup, but I think I can throw my 2 cents out there and give an honest opinion on different products. Now onto the review!

As some of you may know, the movie Divergent has just been released into theatres, and as a movie that was previously a book trilogy, it has an established fan base, much like The Hunger Games. Because of this established fan base, companies tend to catch on and create products with the name attached to them. One of the products that was created under the Divergent franchise is a limited edition makeup line that is exclusive to Sephora.

I had been eyeing the makeup as soon as it was released online, and after watching the movie with my best friend during opening weekend, I immediately went to Sephora and bought the Divergent Multi-Piece Collector's Palette. I actually bought the last one they had in stock, which is a true testament to how popular this palette is considering it's only been out for a couple of weeks.

Moving onto the actual product itself, this all around face palette retails at $39 here in Canada, and $32.50 in the United States.
The packaging is metal, so the exterior is very sturdy, however it closes with magnets, which isn't great as it feels like it could open easily and ruin the inside. It has the signature DIVERGENT logo written on the front, and has a holographic, shiny finish on the front, which is why in this photo it looks like it has a rainbow design on it. In reality, it is a very light-reflective silver.

Divergent Palette: Outside Packaging

The contents include a pink lip gloss, three eyeshadows, a matte blush, and a matte bronzer. It also has a full mirror, which is always great to have. For $39 you get a good range of products.

Inside the Palette -
Full Sized Mirror, Lipgloss, Three Eyeshadows,
Matte Blush, Matte Bronzer

The best thing about this palette, in my opinion, are the eyeshadows.

They are all very wearable colours, as they are great neutrals, and most importantly, they are super pigmented. There is a matte white, a shimmery golden taupe, and a matte dark brown.
The matte white is great for an under the brow highlight colour. The shimmery brown isn't as pigmented as the other two, but it is still a great all over lid colour that is neutral enough to look subtle, and isn't too sparkly, and the matte brown is perfect to blend through the crease, and it is definitely the most pigmented out of the three.
I love that these are neutrals, because it makes the palette worth buying, as you can use it every day instead of just purchasing it for the novelty of owning something with the word "Divergent" written on it. The pigmentation of the eyeshadows are great, especially the matte dark brown, so I was impressed.

Eyeshadows: Up Close
Matte White: Candor Lace // Shimmery Taupe: Luminous Taupe //
Matte Dark Brown: Envious Chocolate

Next up are the blush and bronzer. The blush is a very wearable rose-pink colour. I like the fact that it is matte, as it is great for days when you don't want any shimmer on your cheeks and you want to keep your look low-key, but still put together.

The bronzer, though I would still call it matte, has really fine specks of gold in it, but it is extremely subtle, and won't make you look like you have shimmer on. Because it is pretty much matte, it is perfect for subtle contouring and shaping your face. It actually reminds me of Benefit's famous Hoola bronzer, as they are similar in colour and finish.

These are both pigmented as well, though I wouldn't say as much as the eyeshadows, but they are both extremely wearable colours that complete an every day look.

Blush: Rosy Horizon // Bronzer: Compassionate Copper

Lastly, the lip gloss. I'm not a fan of lip gloss at all, so I didn't care for it too much. It isn't well pigmented, so it doesn't really add colour to the lip, but it's a good neutral pink colour that will probably look good over a neutral pink lipstick. As an added bonus, it smells like peppermint.

Lip Gloss: Up Close
Pink: Artistic Mauve

As someone who has both read the book and watched the movie, the quirky names of each product was a nice little touch to the palette to make it nice and unique. 

Merchandise and movie-gimmicks aside, the actual contents of the palette were really great. The eyeshadows were the real winners for me, as the colour pay off was great, and I honestly didn't expect that out of a product that was made for a movie franchise. The blush is a really nice rose pink, which is perfect for a subtle hint of colour. The bronzer is perfect for subtle contouring as it is matte, and is a beautiful colour. The lip gloss I could've lived without if that meant there was more eyeshadow, haha.

I can honestly say that even if the word DIVERGENT wasn't slapped across the outside of this palette, I would still be drawn to it. Every single product is something you can wear every day, so it isn't something you just buy for the name and it is a great starter palette. You have everything you need for a complete look in the palm of your hands.
I have to admit that I'm sure much of the price tag factored in the name "Divergent", so $39 is a bit steep. You do get 5 powder products that will last you quite some time, so it is fairly reasonable. 

The palette can be purchased here.

How about you? Are you a fan of the Divergent series? Could you see yourself buying this palette?

Lots of love,

Rachel xxxx