I'm An Addict & Shoppers Drug Mart Is My Dealer!

Anyone who knows me knows that it's near impossible for me to walk into Shoppers Drug Mart w/out dropping minimum $50.  Seriously, every time I go in even if it's for something simple like toothpaste the lure of their great sales and Optimum points get me.  I'm an Optimum Point fiend (for those that don't know you can save these pts and redeem them for free merchandise)...and let's not even get me started on the 20X the Optimum Points days lol!

So yesterday I innocently stop into Shoppers to pick up a package at the post office section (my Model 21 Eyelash order came in :) ).  I walked into the doors of my neighbourhood Shoppers at Yonge & College which I might add is also a Beauty Boutique (meaning that it carries a wider array of high end beauty products - Benefit, Smashbox, Guerlain, Lancome...to name a few).  Right there in the front were these bins marked $1.99 or $4.99 and they were FILLED w/ AMAZING hair products!  I don't mean the crappy kind either - I'm talking Marc Anthony, John Freida, L'oreal Elnett...some reallly good stuff!

Of course like the addict I am I grabbed a basket and just started loading it up w/ Elnett Hairspray ($4.99 reg. $14.99) and other various hair products for ridiculous prices.  Seriously, ppl were staring b/c I was just grabbing away afraid that others would get to something before I had a chance.  And of course like any addict I can always justify such purchases, "It's for my kit, I'm a Makeup & Hair artist" I say to the strangers staring at my almost overflowing basket.

After I loaded up my basket, picked up my eyelashes and roamed the store I went to the cash where the manager asked me how many Optimum pts I had.  I knew they had a special program going on this weekend where if you used 80 000 pts you got to spend $200 on almost anything in the store (you just have to pay the tax).  Normally, 80 000 pts gets you about $136 or something so it was like an extra $64 free!  I knew the sale items at the ridiculous prices wouldn't be around on Sat. for the promotion so I just figured I'd buy them that day and come back Sat. to get my $200 free merchandise of my choice (btw it's actually not THAT hard to get that many pts esp. if you shop on the 20X the pts days).  Then the manager informs me b/c that particular Shoppers is such a high volume Shoppers they are actually starting the promotion a day earlier on the Fri.!  That means not only do I get these AMAZING hair products for at an AMAZING DEAL...I actually get them for FREE!

Well once I found that out they agreed to hold my transaction and items aside while I continued to roam the store.  I literally spent another hr trying to figure out how to spend another $135.  I'm very indecisive and whenever these redeem your pts days come up I only like to spend the pts on things I would never normally purchase or things I hate to spend the money on in the first place (which usually means things for me b/c it's harder for my guilty self to justify it when it's for me and not my kit lol).

After much deliberation and walking around I finally settled on a new Hoola Bronzer by Benefit b/c mine is almost done and it's my Fav. contouring product, Boots Protect & Perfect Serum b/c I like it and haven't bought it for myself in awhile, some hair colour cuz man my roots are getting bad lol and my BIG purchase that I have been WAITING to get but didn't actually want to spend the money on RAPID LASH - it's like $60!  Not b/c my lashes are short or anything - in fact I have great very full and long lashes but for my BROWS!  Which of course if you read my last post you know are lacking and it's a very sensitive issue w/ me.  I've heard great things about this product so I'm really curious to see if it works and helps fill in some of the holes and gaps in my brows!

My order ended up coming to $200.50 how amazing is that!  I planned that too perfection so w/ tax I paid just over $26...can you believe it.  The receipt also says how much you saved and on all the hair products I saved just over $192!!! So that' means I basically got $400 worth of Makeup & Hair products for $26 Yesterday!  Sign me up for Extreme Couponing b/c I think we have a new WINNER lol!

Here's my amazing purchases in all their glory!

Here's Everything!

 Elnett $4.99/bottle you better believe I stocked up!  Esp. the way I got through hairspray lol!

 All of these hair products were $1.99/Each - Insanity!

 My Splurge on Myself Purchases - Funny the Rapid Lash at $60.00 was only a few dollars cheaper than ALL of the Hair Products together lol!

Gothic Barbie Has A Birthday!

So last wk was my b-day...Oct 15 to be exact!  Another year has gone by and therefore that means I'm another yr older...which I'm actually handling pretty well esp. considering I'm in the twilight of my twenties which can be a little scary.  But personally I only find getting older hard when I'm not happy w/ where I am in my life and when I feel I'm not moving forward.  Thankfully, the last 6 mths or so have been amazing careerwise (fingers crossed it keeps up) so it makes the whole aging process a little easier to handle...it also helps that most ppl don't think I'm a day over 24 ;) lol. 

Having a trip to Europe to look forward to also makes having a b-day a lot easier to handle too lol.  I'm actually officially in Paris right now in the hostel bar using up the free WiFi...gotta love that!  Got here earlier today and arrived in London yesterday and not suffering from jet lag too bad at all...amazingly I've always been able switch my sleep and adjust to time zones really easily.  Visited my brother Steve and his wife Ania today...in fact they met me at the train station and I had a wonderful and very French lunch at their place which consisted of: Quiche, Baguette, Cheese, Chocolate, Macaroons & Wine - YUMMY!

So anyway, back to my b-day.  I had an amazing b-day this year which I celebrated w/ my amazing group of friends.  On my actual b-day I went out for a wonderful dinner w/ one special friend and it was amazing and yummy.  I didn't have my actual party on the 15th b/c I had a early morning wedding job on the 16th and definitely didn't want to be hung over on someone's special day.  So I had my big celebration w/ all my super amazing friends on the night of the 16th.  First I met up w/ Sarah my bff for dinner...unfortunately she couldn't come to the bar b/c she was running a half marathon the next day...which she did amazing in btw.  After dinner I headed to The Underground Garage - probably one of my FAV bars in the city (been going there for yrs and never ever have had a bad time).  Very low key and casual and always an amazing mix of ppl w/ great music and no pretenses...hell they have bras hanging from the ceiling lol!

So being that it was my b-day I let loose and everyone did a great job of keeping me well lubricated w/ liquor lol!  Surprisingly, I wasn't that bad the next day thankfully...probably b/c I was smart enough to get a good amount of water in me before bed.  I'm so grateful that I have such an amazing group of friends that always show their support for my gatherings and we had such a great time dancing the night away!

So being that this is a makeup blog I'll tell you about my makeup for the night lol!  I called the look "Gothic Barbie" (only an MUA would name her "makeup look" lol) and I must say I'm really taking advantage of the deep purple/red lips being in!  Love it!

"Gothic Barbie" Look

Foundation: Yaby Liquid Foundation and Powder Foundation - Buff mixed w/ Honey
Contour - Benefit Bronzer in Hula
Highlight - Face Atelier Ultra Sheer in Peach
Blush - Face Atelier in Peach Glaze
Eyes - MAC - Silver Highlight (can't remember name)
                       Gray Lid - Print
                        Black Outer Lid - Black Tie (also used for liner)
Mascara - L'Oreal Voluminous
Eyelashes - Model 21 (I think 5b or 5c but can't remember to be honest)...although I will be reviewing these lashes b/c I LOVE them!
Lips - MAC - Cunning (very deep purple...not for the timid!)

So here's some pics from the night so you can see "Gothic Barbie" in all it's Glory lol!  I know how to cut loose so enjoy lol!

Me w/ fellow Hot Blogger & Friend - Christine Estima

Myself w/ Friend & Fellow Makeup Afficiondo - Miz Ashley Readings ...Yup that's right FISH LIPS!

 Shot Time!...okay this one doesn't really show the makeup but it's fun lol!

Showing off my super sexy shoes...and of course no "Gothic Barbie" is complete w/out fishnets lol!



Kit Organizing!

So for x-mas I got a new makeup kit from my bf Alistair! Thank God b/c my other one was literally falling apart. It was actually quite embarrassing and had been ripping at the seams pretty much from the first wk I got it. It was like a Frankenkit w/ all the ghetto stitching I had sewn on it. My old kit if anyone is interested was the MUFE Professional Bag which was great b/c it was lightweight, clothe over the shoulder bag w/ lots of pockets which I like b/c I do take public transportation so I pack light but the stitching just isn't reinforced enough...apparently it's a big prob w/ the bag I found out from MUFE (they ended up giving me the bag for free b/c they didn't have any in stock when it ripped at first for me and I was leaving for Shanghai).

The new one is a bit heavier but it does seem a lot sturdier and well made but it is still an over the shoulder style bag. I have a ton of room in it and I think for a lot of simple jobs I might be able to pack light and carry a small hair kit in it too! It comes w/ trays in the bottom section but I personally took them out and I'm just putting pouches w/ stuff in there (one good thing I kept from the MUFE bag was all the removable pouches). It's from Yazmo.com if anyone is interested and they sell a ton of great makeup kits whatever your style is.

So I took a bunch of pics of kit so anyone that is interested can see how I pack for a shoot and the kinds of products I like to take w/ me. The stuff I'm showing in the pics is a lot of makeup for me and truthfully most of the time I wouldn't pack all this stuff...as mentioned before I usually like to keep it as light as possible and pack for that specific job if at all possible.

My Kit
The empty bottom where I took out the trays
One of the side pockets. If I do bring hair stuff in this kit this will be a good pocket...otherwise might use it for cellphone, water, apple etc.

Packed Kit
Inside the top of my Kit
Pouches in the Bottom Container (where trays were originally). Can you tell I like Yaby already lol. Seriously condensed my kit SOOO MUCH! I Normally wouldn't bring all the palettes in the pouch to EVERY shoot.
Brush Pouch

Big Pouch #1 - Yaby Palettes and MUFE Flash Palette - 3 Yaby Powder Foundation Palettes (Light, Med, Dark) and Highlighting Palette (Love). 1 Homemade Lip Palette (just took all my lipsticks, cut and smooshed them into empties and put them in a Yaby Freestyle Palette (many different brands). 1 Freestyle palette w/ Yaby Blush and 2 Nixie Blushes w/ a few old MAC Shadows. 3 Eyeshadow Palettes - The one on the far Right is my Neutrals Working Palette w/ cake liners and eyebrow colours too. The others are more fun. They are all a mix of Yaby shadows (pearl paint and reg) and I pressed a bunch of OCC, Face Atelier and Fyrinnae pigments into shadows...plus there's a few old MAC shadows.

Big Pouch #2 - Foundation Pouch - I have another pouch inside that one which holds my Face Atelier Foundations and my Keromask Consealers. 2 RCMA Palettes (which to be honest I don't use that much). Graftobian and Cinema Secrets Palettes and Yaby Liquid Foundations.

Side Pouch Randoms - Mixing Palette, MAC Brown Shadow Palette, Blush Palette w/ La Femme and Nixie Blushes. Benefit Leg Moisturizer (creates a nice sheen on the legs and smells nice :) ). Not shown but also carry hand towel and wipes here too.
Pouches inside the top section of the kit...and there's still more room!

Small Black Pouch - Random Tools - Eyelash Curler, Tweezers, Sharpener, Nail File, Disposables (Lip/Mascara/Spatulas), Scissors, Eyelash/Eyebrow Comb, Tide Stick, Eyebrow Razors Etc.

Bigger Black Pouch - Eye Stuff - Mascara - Black, Clear, Brown, Face Atelier Transforming Gel, Under Eye Brighteners - Benefit and Smashbox, Urban Decay Primer, DUO Eyelash Glue, MAC Matte and Glossy Gel, Fyrinnae Eye Primer and Pixie Epoxy (helps glitter stick)
Lip Pouch - Face Atelier Lip Gloss, OCC Lip Tar in Clear and OCC Lip Balm in Tarred and Feathered, MUFE Glossy Full, Random Smashbox Lip Palette, Face Atelier Lip Putty and Lip RX, 2 Graftobian Lip Palettes, MAC Lip Exfoliater and Benefit She-Laq

Med Black Mesh Pouch #1 - OCC Lip Tars - Black/White and Primary Colours, Alcone Sponges, Smashbox and Benefit Luminizers, Eyelashes, Camera Ready Cosmetics Cream Blush Wheel and Empty Bowl

Med Black Mesh Pouch #2 - Nail Polisher Remover Pads, Makeup Remover Wipes, Eye Makeup Remover, Q-Tips, Various Primers - MUFE, Fyrinnae (Cream and Powder) and Benefit, Cotton Pads, Makeup Puffs, Yaby Translucent Powder, Eyedrops, Mouth Wash, Mini Sewing Kit, Embryolisse Moisturizer, Vaseline, MAC Strobe Cream Etc.

Liquids Pouch - 99% Alcohol, Water, Toner, Glycerin, Final Seal, Brush Cleaner, Hand Sanitizer, MUFE Elixir, MAC Fix + Etc.

Okay so that's EVERYTHING in my kit...and I'm not lying there is still a lot of room in there! Plus like I said before I normally wouldn't bring ALL of this stuff to every shoot. I highly suggest everyone condense their kits...it just makes everything quicker to find and therefore you are quicker on set. I really don't even know what I would do w/ a rolling kit anymore...I don't know if I could fill it lol!