Red & Navy

I love red and navy together so I may have gone slightly overboard with the matching on this outfit... but at least my sunglasses are different? Speaking of, I really can't get enough of flash lenses these days. I want to collect them all!

Dress: The Kooples (similar) / Shoes: Joules (c/o) / Bag: Joules (c/o)
Sunglasses: Ray-Ban (here) / Bracelets: AVON (c/o) (here and here)

Mes Vacances: Québec City

Bonjour! I'm now back from my vacation and thought I'd share a few pictures with you all. The first stop on my east coast itinerary was Québec City.

Since this was my first time visiting, we made sure to hit up as many of the tourist attractions as we could. Old Québec is a popular destination with its historic buildings, fortifications, and view of the St. Lawrence River.

I especially loved how quaint and charming the neighbourhood was. BC is such a new province by comparison so we don't get to see architecture like this anywhere. Some of the structures we saw date back to the 1600s!

A relatively short drive away from the city is Île d'Orléans, which has apparently been described as the "microcosm of traditional Québec and as the birthplace of francophones in North America." With lots of farms and wineries, I can see this being a great place for locals to escape to.

Close by was the Chute Montmorency, a waterfall that is actually higher than the more famous Niagara Falls.

I spent a lot of my time in Québec eating copious amounts of carbs (I'll be posting some of my favourite vacation eats soon). Of course, brunch everyday was a necessity.

We also discovered a great lookout spot by the Citadelle de Québec, which gave us a different view of the famed Château Frontenac. So pretty, isn't it?

Hope you enjoyed this re-cap... Montreal is coming up next!

Lancôme Grandiôse Mascara

The beauty blogosphere has been abuzz recently over a very exciting launch: Grandiôse, Lancôme's newest mascara. With its patent-pending "Swan Neck" wand, this mascara allows easy access to all lashes from corner to corner and root to tip.

I was lucky enough to get a peek at this new launch from Influenster and although the wand took some getting used to, I really like it. Lancôme recommends positioning the brush at the root of the lashes starting at the outer corner of the eye moving inward and extending through the lashes using a zigzag motion. It was easy to capture all my lashes this way and the elastomer brush allowed for a more precise application.

Where the mascara falls short for me, unfortunately, is the formula. Those of you who love the look of super dark lashes will be pleased with the ultra black pigments. However, long-time readers know I have issues with many mascaras causing my stick straight lashes to droop and while Grandiôse didn't make my lashes fall completely, the curl did not hold as well as I was hoping.

Summary: loved the wand, disliked the formula. If only Lancôme would release this in a different formula!

GIVEAWAY: Obiqo Skincare {CLOSED}

Since I'm away on vacation right now, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to host a giveaway! And what's better than some super luxe skincare to pamper your body in the summer heat?

Obiqo Skincare is a range of sea-inspired products coming all the way from New Zealand, which features ingredients such as nutrient-rich sea kelp and anti-ageing marine extracts. Since my skin has been feeling a little weather-worn these days from too much sun, I've been actively using the Silky Body Butter and Refreshing Body Wash, which I was sent by the company to try out.

Both products are made with marine extracts and sea lavender sourced directly from New Zealand. The body butter is super creamy and rich but still absorbs well into the skin. The body wash is great as well; my favourite part is the scent which I can best describe as being somewhat spicy. It's the same scent as the body butter but stronger and really awakens the senses on sleepy mornings.

Now for the fun part... Want to win your own Refreshing Body Wash and Silky Body Butter? Just enter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Giveaway open to Canadian residents only (sorry!) and ends August 18. Good luck!

YVR > YYZ

Well, as the shirt says: I'm off from YVR to YYZ... with a little detour thrown into the mix. My summer vacation plans this year involve a trip out east to rendezvous with various friends in Quebec City, Montreal, and my hometown of Toronto. Be sure to follow my travels on Instagram, and I'll be back in 2 weeks!

Tee: One Method / Jeans: 7 For All Mankind (here)

Shoes: Nike (similar) / Sunglasses: Ray-Ban (here)

Can we also talk about how amazing this t-shirt is for a second? When I discovered Toronto-based One Method and their capsule FREE TRADE COLLECTION, I immediately set phone reminders for its release and made my order as soon as it launched. I've already gotten tons of compliments and even influenced a few friends to get their own tees. Hopefully the company releases some more cities in their next collection because I know many people who want them...  *hint*hint*