Easter Nails with CND Chic Shock

With Easter coming up this weekend, this manicure featuring the CND Spring 2018 Chic Shock Collection could not be more appropriate. Thanks to Hazuki at Onyx Aesthetics for giving me such  cute Spring-ready nails!

The Chic Shock Collection adds four new creamy opaque shades to CND's lineup: Jellied (pastel yellow), Candied (pastel pink), Taffy (pastel blue-green), and Gummi (pastel purple). All four are available in Shellac and Vinylux, CND's long wear polish line. I love Vinylux because it truly does last a long time, making it great for short vacations or special event days when you really don't want to be dealing with an accidental chip. The formula has also been revamped this year, thanks to the addition of vitamin E, keratin, and jojoba oil for that extra bit of goodness. Plus, the brush is now wider and curved for easier application.

Hope you all have a great Easter long weekend! Thanks to this mani, I'm kind of craving some Cadbury Mini Eggs... anyone else?

One Week in Oahu

Aloha! It's been a while since my last post... things have been busy with wedding planning and also an incredibly short trip to Hawaii for some sunshine and warmth. I have been to the Big Island and Kauai before, but this was my first time in Oahu.

The Hawaiian islands are so diverse; Oahu being the most populous with a "big city" vibe. Nonetheless there are still some quiet beaches like Lanikai Beach in the east.

We wanted to do a mix of culture and history with beach and relaxation. For one of our culture days, we headed over to the Polynesian Cultural Center which ended up being a ton of fun. We learned about all the different Polynesian cultures (not just Hawaiian), went to a luau, saw a great live show, and even got to do some rowing.

Pearl Harbor was #1 on my fiance's to-do list so we went on a full tour, which included the USS Arizona Memorial. Being Canadian, I only knew the basics about what happened that fateful day of December 7, 1941 beforehand so I really learned a lot through our visit.

We also explored the USS Missouri, a real battleship that has been decommissioned and is now available to the public.

A trip to Oahu would not have been complete without many strolls along Waikiki Beach, one of the most famous beaches in the world. It's got a spectacular view of Diamond Head.

Wanting to stay active even though we only had a few days on the island, we made sure to do a hike. The Lanikai Pill Box Hike was super short and easy with incredible views. Truly, a great reward for little effort!

Kailua Beach was just down the road from the hike so we made sure to stop off there as well for a quick dip in the ocean.

And now we're back to our regular lives! This trip was much too short but we are looking forward to returning later this year as part of our honeymoon. In the meantime, I'll just be dreaming about those palm trees and gorgeous sunsets.

MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Color Shadow

I feel like I can't keep up with MAKE UP FOR EVER's new launches sometimes... the brand is constantly innovating and building on its products, making beloved staples better and better. For example, the Artist Shadow collection, first introduced back in 2014, has just been relaunched as the Artist Color Shadow.

With 121 shades and 5 different finishes (matte, metallic, diamond, satin, and iridescent), the refillable pans are now rectangular instead of round to fit into revamped packaging that looks a little sleeker this time around.

As always, in addition to its large offering of shades, customization is key to this line, meaning you can pick and choose your eye shadows to create your own palette. It is actually more cost-effective to go with a bigger palette too; a single is $24 CAD, a duo is $37 CAD, a trio is $50 CAD, a quad is $63 CAD, and a six is $77 CAD (for a $134 value).

I have really been feeling a more pink-based eye look lately after rediscovering my love for my Urban Decay Naked3 Palette so I wanted to pick some similar shades from the Artist Color collection to try out. I went with M546 (a matte dark purple taupe) and S542 (a satin pinky clay).

The texture on these shadows is really soft and blendable although I did need to layer a bit to get enough pigmentation for the above swatches. It seems to be less of a problem when actually creating an eye look although I felt M546 could have been darker based on its description. S542 is very pretty neutral that makes an excellent brow highlight.

Overall, the quality is what we've all come to expect from MUFE and highly recommended for both professional make up artists and makeup aficionados alike!