Last-Minute Gift Ideas Under $50

Christmas is mere days away and in an ideal world, you would have been finished all your shopping weeks ago. However, it's not uncommon to find yourself suddenly scrambling last-minute, like when you receive an unexpected gift from a coworker that you want to reciprocate. If you find yourself in a similar situation, hopefully this post will give you some ideas. Bonus: everything is under $50!

For the person on your list who likes a good pamper sesh, the I LOVE Signature Selection Box ($24.99 CAD) features six miniature bottles (100 mL) of I LOVE... Cosmetics signature body washes. The set includes: Violet Dreams, Elderflower Fizz, Exotic Fruits, Glazed Raspberry, English Rose, and Vanilla Milk. You can find this brand exclusively at Shoppers Drug Mart.

If you're looking for stocking stuffers or a little add-on to another present, get some face masks! I like these Renew You from 7th Heaven masks ($2.99 to $4.99 CAD), which offer affordable luxury in the form of 24-karat gold-infused sheet masks and under eye patches.

Another fun idea are Christmas crackers... but not just any old Christmas cracker. The L'Occitane Holiday Kit To Share ($34 CAD) features cute little "crackers" (they don't actually pull apart) that you can split up and hand out to four different people. Inside each one is a mini shower gel and hand cream. I bought these for my coworkers and they loved them!

You can't ever go wrong with a candle, in my opinion. My personal holiday favourite is the Voluspa Crushed Candy Cane Candle ($18 CAD). It comes in a few different sizes but the candy-striped "macaron" is the cutest!

Last but not least, for the person who's hard to shop for, a fancy water bottle is a great pick! After all, everyone needs to stay hydrated. The S'well Traveler Bottle ($45 CAD) features a wide mouth design which is perfect for a coffee but it can also fit ice cubes to keep your beverage extra cold.

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and see you in 2020!

Fitting Room Try-Ons: Nordstrom Halogen x Atlantic Pacific

The exclusive Halogen x Atlantic Pacific Collection dropped at Nordstrom this morning and while I don't typically go crazy over blogger collabs, there's no denying that Blair Eadie is one of the OG fashion bloggers with some seriously enviable style. I originally only went to Nordstrom to see if they had the polka dot tulle blouse but unfortunately, the Vancouver store didn't have it (they only got a small portion of the collection in). However, since I was there anyway I decided to take some fitting room pictures for my friend and figured I might as well share them here on my blog too.

The one and only piece I ended up purchasing was the Heart Jacquard Topper. I'll probably wear it as a light coat but I like that it could be worn as a dress too. It's very feminine with the flared skirt and the heart print is so cute!!

I also liked the Faux Fur Cuff Plaid Coat which Blair pairs with the matching pants in the lookbook as a super chic suit. I didn't buy it because it's not really my style but the pink faux fur cuffs are really soft and it gives off major Cher from Clueless vibes.

I was drawn to the It's In The Cards Sweater as well but once I tried it on I knew it was something I'd never wear. While the print is really fun, I just don't like to wear this much colour on an everyday basis. The sweater is really soft though and I can see it working for a lot of other people.

Last but not least, I decided to channel my inner Blair Eadie with this combo of Bow Collar Blouse and Full Organza Midi Skirt in Navy Plaid. This outfit looks amazing on Blair in the collection lookbook but I am apparently wayyyy too short for it and look absolutely ridiculous. I knew the skirt length would probably never work for me but I did want to like the blouse on its own because I love bows. Sadly, the shoulders were just too poufy for me.

Overall, the collection was very true to Blair's style and I thought the pieces looked and felt really nice in person. It's no surprise it's selling out fast so I'm glad I was able to get a little piece of it. Not really sure where I'm going to wear my new heart print topper but I'm sure I'll find something!

Zoya Fall 2019: Sensual Collection A

When I started my blog almost 10 years ago (OMG, where does the time go?!), it was mostly a way for me to share my obsession with nail polish. Pretty much all of my first posts were nail polish swatches and reviews! In the spirit of nostalgia, therefore, I'm throwing it back to my early days of blogging and sharing some of the polishes from the Zoya Fall 2019 Sensual Collection.

Back in the day, Zoya was really difficult to get ahold of here in Canada but now thanks to retailers like Nail Polish Canada, which sent over these polishes for me to play with, it's much easier for us Canadians to try out different brands. The Sensual Collection features 12 colours in total. Collection A, which I'm featuring today, is composed of neutrals and reds and Collection B is composed of purples and darker shades.

For those of you who have never tried Zoya before, the brand is known for its formula -- it's big 10 free but doesn't sacrifice quality. Not only is the staying power great, but all of the polishes were well pigmented and streak-free. Each swatch you see in this post is two coats.

Joss is a neutral pink crème. It's quite light but would be great to wear in a professional setting. I really liked it.

Kinsley is neutral brown crème. This is probably my least favourite of the shades from Collection A because I don't think it flatters my skin tone at all (kind of blends in like mannequin hands).

Foster is a neutral chocolate brown crème. This type of shade is not for everyone but I actually like a good brown nail polish in the Fall. This one looks super creamy and rich.

Briar is described as warm red crème but I actually find it leans on the dusty rose side. It's my favourite from this collection.

Margaret is a bright red crème. I found this a bit difficult to photograph because in the bottle it seems to have more pink in it. A red like this is a classic for Fall!

Rashida is a red shimmer. This is the type of shade I often associate with Christmas and it's the only one in Collection A that isn't a crème finish. Even though it's a bit early to think about, it would be nice for a holiday party!

Find the Zoya Fall 2019 Sensual Collection online at Nail Polish Canada.