Spring 2013 Trend Alert: Black and White

The days are getting longer and the temperatures are rising, its that time of year again- Spring! One of the biggest trends that have hit the runways this Spring season is the back-to-basic black and white look. These two colours are classic  and staples for most women’s wardrobes and when paired together, it can be quite elegant.This trend has stormed runways in all cities and most recently during New York Fashion Week by top designers such as Michael Kors and Oscar Dela Renta. This trend has also appeared in almost all retail stores Spring 2013 collections including affordable fashion stores such as Zara, Forever 21,  H&M and Topshop.

Michael Kors

Oscar Dela Renta

Louis Vuitton  has also followed with the black and White contrast trend as well, however putting a different spin on it with a checkered pattern. Check mate?

My favourite piece that follows this trend can be found at Zara. It  this stripped blouse with pockets that can be paired with black trousers or leggings and a colorful shoe to make the outfit pop.

What are your thoughts on this trend? Yay or Nay?

Let me know by leaving a comment, and don’t forget to Like/Follow!

xoxo,

Lilia 🙂

The Perfect Plum Polish!

Hey everyone!

For this holiday season I am loving warm plum coloured nail polishes. My two favourite plum polishes are by Essie and OPI. They are quite similar but Casino Royale by OPI is definitely a bit deeper than Bahama Mama by Essie, so if you are looking for a deep plum the Casino Royale is your best bet!

Casino Royale By OPI

Bahama Mama by Essie

So take your pick and let me know which colour you prefer!

xoxo, Lilia 🙂

 

Manicure Monday: Caviar Nails DIY!

Hello everyone!

Recently, I’ve seen this super cute nail art all over the place! It is super simple to achieve and a great way to express your creativity since the designs are endless. However, caviar nails can be a little tricky if you are impatient because the microbeads are hard to work with but the end result is very cute!

All you need for caviar nails are…

• Microbeads (Can be purchased from your local art store for under $5!)
• Some old/sticky clear nail polish…. (We all know what I mean!)

First, you start off by applying the sticky polish and then pouring some of the beads onto your finger nails. Make sure to do this over a bowl to catch all the beads that don’t land on your nails! Press down on the beads and let them dry for 15-12 minutes and you’re done!

Here are some of my favourites that I’ve been inspired by!

As you can see, the possibilities are endless, so don’t be afraid to get creative with this nail art DIY!

Hope you enjoyed this post and have found it helpful.

Don’t forget to Like/Comment/Follow 🙂

xoxo, Lilia.

Top 5 Beauty Mistakes and How They Can Be Avoided!

Hey everyone, so I’m pretty sure many of you, like myself, have a few beauty mishaps here and there, but hopefully these few beauty tips will help you steer clear of these top 5 common beauty mistakes, courtesy of Seventeen Magazine!

1. Wash Your Brushes: Not washing your brushes is a huge mistake because unwashed brushes can cause skin irritations and acne due to bacteria that is commonly formed on brushes with heavy product build-up. Remember to wash your brushes at least once a week. To wash your brushes, add a dime-size amount of gentle shampoo (i.e baby shampoo) to a cup, fill it with water and swirl the brushes around. Then, take each brush and rinse it under streaming water. Gently squeeze out the water and form your brush head to its original shape.
2. Don’t Share Your Makeup: Sharing makeup with friends can lead to eye infections and other skin problems, since bacteria easily grows in products that contain high levels of moisture (mascara, liquid liner, lip glass, liquid foundation) If your friend asks to use your lip gloss, put some on her hand, instead of letting her apply it directly from the tube. For eyeliner pencils, dip the tip in alcohol and then sharpen the pencil if you need to share.
3. Cake Face:  Too much makeup can add years to your face and give off the impression that you are trying too hard. Makeup needs to be applied and blended lightly and evenly. The correct brushes definitely help to blend and create a flawless application. If you have clear skin that does not need a lot of coverage, try a tinted moisturizer instead of a heavy foundation. Instead of a powder blush, try a sheer cream blush. For eyes, have fun and experiment with colors. Don’t use black, because it can be too harsh and intense. Instead, try navy, gray, purple or bronze.
4.  Go Easy On the Mascara & Eyeliner: Too much mascara can cause clumpy, crusty-looking lashes. Solution: Use a lash comb to separate lashes after applying each coat of mascara. Another option is to use a mascara that has a brush with tiny bristles, or one that comes with a brush comb. Also, avoid looking like a raccoon with an eyeliner overdo. We can leave the raccoon eyes to Taylor Momsen, thank you very much.
5. Glitter Overload: If you are feeling a bit funky and want to add a bit of glitter to your look, glitter is great. However, too much glitter can be an overkill and make you look like you are dressing up for a character. Instead of overdoing it, try using glitter in one area only, such as glitter lip gloss or glitter eyeliner. 

Hope these tips are helpful! Don’t forget to Like/Follow/ Comment 🙂 

xoxo, Lilia

$250K Black Diamond Nail Polish!

Hey everyone! So i stumbled upon this story today…. apparently the jewelry company, Azature,  has unveiled the most expensive nail polish in the world, which contains 267 carats of black diamonds!!

This one-of-a-kind polish is the newest luxury beauty product to hit the market. It is priced at a cost of a whopping $250,000 per bottle! Azature will also be releasing another version of this nail polish for $25 for all of us regular folks out there… Instead of 267 carats of black diamonds, this more reasonably-priced version will include a real black diamond in each bottle! It will go on sale later this month at Fred Segal stores throughout Los Angeles and most likely some places online as well. You can check out the whole article: here. I personally think that $250k is a ridiculous amount to pay for one bottle of nail polish, but the $25 version of this polish sounds more reasonable!

If YOU had the money to afford this black diamond nail polish, would you buy it?
Let us know your thoughts and don’t forget to Like & Follow! 🙂

xoxo, Lilia!

PS. FUN FACT: With $250,000 you can buy approximately 20833 bottles of OPI nail polish….Now that would be a lot of polish 😉

Beauty Tip Tuesday!

Hey everyone, today I will be posting a few random beauty tips for a new “segment” on our blog called Beauty Tip Tuesday. From now on, every tuesday I will post a few fun and helpful beauty tips! Hope you enjoy and find these tips useful.

1. Fast Way To Treat Blemishes: So, you’re going to need some vodka and ice- and no you’re not going to be drinking it! To treat the blemish, dip an ice cube in the vodka and press it on the pimple for a few minutes. The cold will reduce the swelling while the alcohol helps to dry out the pimple. TRUST ME, this may sound wacky but it actually works because the blemish will actually be gone by the next day!
2. Banish Your Blackheads With Baking Soda: Add water to baking soda until it forms a paste and then apply it to the area affected with blackheads. Let it sit for about 30 minutes and then wash it off with a scrub brush. It should clear up even the toughest blackheads!
3. Use Cold To Boost Shine: You don’t need a bunch of hair products to get that glossy finish to your hair. The first way to boost shine is to rinse you hair with cold water after conditioning in the shower. The second way is to hit the cold button on your dryer at the end of your blow dry and run the air through your hair for 30 seconds! You should be left with a natural glossy finish in your hair!
4. Lemon and Vinegar Nail Care: There is no need to spend big bucks on nail products when you can use things you can find in your kitchen for nail care. To soften cuticles and to prevent them from peeling, rub lemon rinds on your fingernails.  Also apply, vinegar to your fingernails as a top coat before applying nail polish, to help the nail polish adhere better.

Let me know in the comment section below if you have found these tips helpful, and don’t forget to Like & Follow!

xoxo, Lilia 🙂

 

Metallic Mani!

Hey everyone! Today, I decided to try out the nail trend where you paint your ring finger a different color! If anyone knows the name of this design, please comment below… because I have no idea and I’m pretty sure it has a name (other than “nail trend where you paint your ring finger a different color” hehe). This cute nail idea is great for summer since its playing up a bright orange with a bit of a metallic pop. So lets get to it! ALSO, i would like the apologize in advance for my horrible nail painting job.. I’m no professional!

The polishes that I used to create this look are as follows:

I just use a simple orange polish from the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Collection which is available  at most drugstores, and I also used a gold glitter polish and metallic magnetic (didn’t use it for the magnetic design-just the color) polish from Tivoli.

You don’t have to use the exact same polishes as me but these are just the ones i had at home!
If you are interesting in a good metalic nail polish, check out the new Mirror Metallics Collection from Essie: here.

To create the individual gold metallic nail, I applied the metallic polish on my ring finger of both hands. After the first coat of the metallic polish dried, I went over it with the gold glitter polish to add a bit of sparkle.

That’s all it took to get this cute nail design. I hope you enjoyed my quick take on this nail trend and don’t forget to Like/Comment/ and Follow for more beauty tips!

xoxo, Lilia 🙂

Top 5 Makeup Bag Staples

Hey everyone, Lilia here!  Today ill be sharing with you my Top 5 Makeup Bag Staples. These 5 products are my everyday go-to products that I adore. I don’t usually wear that much makeup during the day, so the products mentioned in this post are pretty much all I use for the most part.

1) MAC Studio Finish SPF 35 Concealer

$17 US / $21 CA

This concealer comes in a variety of shades so it is really easy to find the right shade for your skin tone! It provides a long lasting coverage that applied nice and smoothly. This lightweight, creamy concealer is great for everyone. I have dark under eye circles and this concealer does a great job of covering them up and overall brightening my eyes. I don’t recommend this product for those with dry skin, since it does look a bit cakey when applied to dry skin

2) BareMinerals SPF 15 Matte Foundation from Bare Escentuals

 $28 US /$36 CA

I absolutely love this foundation since it provides a great long lasting coverage and it works amazingly with my skin, I have written a product review on this foundation so click here to read more about this product because i highly recommend this to anyone looking for an amazing foundation.

3) Smashbox Liquid Liner 

$22 US/ $25 CA

Before this liquid liner, i had always used L’Oreal Lineur Intense Felt Tip Eyeliner however after I had purchased this product I will never go back to any other liquid liner. This liner stays put literally all day. My eyeliner looks fresh all day up until the moment I take off my makeup at night. This felt tip pen liner applies smoothly and easily, perfect for that classic cat eye.

4) Urban Decay Primer Potion 

$20 US/ $24 CA

I don’t use eye shadow everyday but when i do wear shadow, this eye primer keeps it looking fresh all day, without creasing. I haven’t tried any other type of primer like the Too Faced Shadow Insurance , so I cannot compare this product to any other, but it works great! I also have oily eyelids but if I just apply this primer (with no shadow over top) it totally fixes the problem.

5) Falsies Mascara by Maybelline 

Last Product! I find that drug store brand mascaras work just as great a higher price mascara from Sephora or MAC. This mascara makes my lashes look longer and voluminous, without clumping. I like the winged brush because it applies easier than just a regular brush. Many other drug store mascaras are great like: Lash Blast by Covergirl, Voluminous by Loreal and Colossal by Maybelline, however I really prefer this mascara over any other drug store brand!

Hope you have enjoyed the mini review of these products and have found this helpful in finding your next favorite makeup! Don’t forget to Like/Comment/ Follow 🙂 

Let us know YOUR Top 5 Makeup Bag Staples!

xoxo, Lilia. 

Homemade Face Masks!

Hey Everyone! Recently, I’ve been big on trying out homemade beauty treatments like all natural face masks. You don’t need to be spending big bucks for beautiful, healthy skin since these face mask recipes are all made with ingredients you can find around home.  I have tried these out and they have worked wonderfully on my skin. My face felt amazing after using these, but don’t use them all at once because it will be too much for your skin to handle. Hope you enjoy these quick and easy homemade face masks 🙂

Oily Skin Mask: 

• 1 Egg yolk
• 1 tbsp Honey
• 1/2 cup Oatmeal
• 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Mix all these ingredients together and apply to clean skin, leave on for 10-15 minutes and then wash off.

Acne Mask: 

• 1 tbsp Orange juice
• 1 tbsp Baking soda

Just mix these two ingredients together, and apply onto your breakout/acne. You don’t need a lot since you are only applying to current breakouts and acne prone areas on your face.

All Around Mask: 

• 1 tbsp Hot Chocoloate mix (YES, this includes hot chocolate mix)
• 2 tbsp Yogurt
• 2 tbsp Honey
• 1 tbsp Cream
• 2 tbsp Oatmeal

Mix all these ingredients together, and apply all over a clean face. This face mask is going to smell tasty, but try not eating it because it doesn’t taste as good as it smells! Wait until the mask drys and then wipe off and wash your face. This mask can be refrigerated for a few days if you don’t use the whole thing the first time around.

While you use these masks, you can even cut up some cucumbers to place on your eyelids, this reduces puffiness of the eyes and it feels so relaxing! Hope you try out these masks and tell us what you think of them!

xoxo, Lilia 🙂

Product Review: Bare Escentuals Foundation

Hey everyone! Recently i have purchased the bareMinerals SPF 15 matte foundation from Bare Escentuals. This foundation is great for for all types of skin. I have combination-oily skin, and this foundation works great and reduces oil shine during the day. I have also found that this foundation minimizes my pores and makes my skin look great. This foundation offers full-coverage that doesn’t feel cakey or heavy.

I highly recommend this foundation for anyone with combination-oily skin that is looking for a full-coverage that also feels lightweight and looks natural! I have been receiving compliments on my skin ever since i have started using this foundation.

This product comes in 20 different shades, so it will easy to find the shade that is right for your skin tone. I have olive-medium skin tone with neutral-yellow undertones and the shade Medium Beige is perfect for me.

This product came to $36 CA (not including tax) at Sephora.

You can purchase this product here, at the Sephora website : (x) 

Hope you found this review helpful and will consider purchasing this great product!

xoxo, Lilia 🙂

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