Vincent Longo Water Canvas Base Review

About a mth or so ago the wonderful ppl at Apothica sent me a full size bottle of Vincent Longo's Water Canvas Base/Primer to try.  Anyone who knows me knows I'm kind of obsessed w/ finding the perfect primer...I don't know how this even started.  I heard a lot of good things about the Vincent Longo line and esp. about the primer and their Water Canvas Foundation (which I was VERY tempted to try but worried since I was picking from online I would not pick the right colour). 

Unfortunately, I haven't found anywhere in Toronto (although it is available in Vancouver) that sells Vincent Longo cosmetics and there isn't that many places that sell it in the US either (quite a few places in California) which is a shame b/c there are some great reviews about some of the products...well at least we can all order from Apothica!

So overall I like this primer.  I really wanted to try it out on a number of my clients as well as myself to really get a thorough opinion of the product and I can say there was no one that it didn't work well on.  It feels VERY light...lighter than any primer I think I've ever used!  As you may remember I reviewed Arbonne primer not that long ago and I really liked it b/c it left a really soft almost baby powder sort of feel on my skin while this product I didn't really feel at all although it did work by extending the wear time of my foundation, helping the foundation blend and spread easier, stopping makeup from creasing in my laugh lines and minimizing my pore size. 

Some ppl might like that you really couldn't feel it and I have to say I think it's a really good primer for men's grooming jobs b/c it just goes on so smooth and light and personally when I'm doing men's grooming I try to use a very light hand w/ my makeup and literally only apply makeup where necessary b/c let's be real it doesn't matter who the guy is they usually want to spend as little time in the makeup chair as possible and want to have the makeup feel as light as possible. 

Also in the past I've had issues w/ silcone based primers like Arbonne and Smashbox getting bally on occasion when you layer the foundation on top (usually just using less of the primer solved this problem).  I had no issues w/ this primer doing that on any of the clients I used it on and I used it on ppl of all ages, genders and races. 

Technically, it's suppose to work best w/ the Vincent Long Water Canvas Foundation but let's be real usually that's just a marketing ploy to get consumers to buy both products.  It worked fine w/ any of the different foundations I used on my clients from liquid to powder to cream. 

The price is a little high for some ppl.  It really depends on what your budget is.  It's around $44 and the tube isn't that large but a little bit goes a LONG way.  It has a gel like consistency and it's not greasy feeling at all. 

I think overall I really liked this primer for my Men & Children clients b/c it did feel super light and not greasy but I think for myself I still preferred the Arbonne primer b/c I really liked velvety smooth finish I felt on my skin after I applied it and I think it just worked a bit better for my skin type. 

Heartland

You may remember back in the Fall I got to work on a really cool shoot on a horse farm w/ some cute boy models and photographer Jamie Fleck and stylist Alexandra Loeb.  The theme or concept of the shoot was two brothers working on a horse farm in love w/ two girls.  I finally got my hands on the final product and now I can share it w/ you!

The shoot has a nice commercial fashion look to it and will be a nice addition to my men's section.  I think it turned out well esp. considering it's not always easy to work w/ live animals (we did at one point have a wild stallion running loose and I think the owner almost had a heart attack over that one) and the wind was also something to contend w/ (always esp. annoying when it comes to keeping the hair in check).

W/out further adieu here's the pics!

 I think this is my Fav pic from the shoot!  Look at that gorgeous background!

 What a cutie!  Both guys were really sweet!



OPI Shatter Nail Polish Review

Even though I get regular manicures and I'm all about keeping my hands relatively nice and pretty (I figure b/c my hands and fingers are in ppl's faces all the time it's important) I don't normally blog about nail polish...I leave that up to my friend and nail polish fiend Ashley Readings.  I don't even normally buy nail polish for myself b/c I just go and get manicures every 2 wks and they have an amazing selection of colours so why bother...although I will admit I frequently choose my nail polish by it's cute name!

I do have an array of nail polish for shoots b/c it is sometimes necessary to do manicures on set and over the last yr I've found myself getting creative w/ the nails for editorial shoots...I'm literally becoming a one woman control freak - Makeup, Hair & Nails...God help me if I ever figure out how to work a camera!

Anyway, OPI came out w/ a limited addition Katy Perry line of nail polish.  I don't know any of the colours in the line to be honest but I did notice the Shatter Nail Polish immediately and knew I had to have it.  It has a really cool 80s feel to it b/c it creates this black shattered or cracked effect on the nail.  I figured not only would it be great for me and my manicures but I'd LOVE to incorporate it into a shoot in the future!

Well I'm not the only one who wanted this nail polish.  It's literally selling out EVERYWHERE almost IMMEDIATELY!  Well last night I was at my local hair supply shop buying weft to make extensions for one of my brides and I saw the OPI Katy Perry display and she actually had a couple of bottle of the Shatter nail polish.  I immediately grabbed a bottle and knew I wanted to try it out immediately!

On the bottle it says to use Shatter w/ the Katy Perry nail polish line...well that's just a marketing ploy it will work on any nail polish.  I went and got a polish change today at my local nail salon - I got OPI "It's All Greek To Me" which is a very vibrant magenta.  Normally, this is a colour that I love for Summer but would avoid in the Winter when I tend to choose darker colours but when you are using Shatter which is a black nail polish you want the first colour to be a high contrast to it so a bright and vibrant colour like pink, blue, yellow, orange etc. work really well!  I got the nail colour at the salon but I didn't ask them to put the Shatter on b/c I wanted to experiment w/ it myself after.  I was a bit skeptical that I would like the effect or that it would work but it does and I LOVE it! 

Personally, I would say clean off the brush quite a bit before you apply a coat of Shatter.  You don't want it to completely cover the original colour b/c you want enough of the original colour to show through.  Plus the streaky coat will help it "crack" and "shatter" better to create the effect you want.  I would definitely say try it out if you're looking for something fun and different for your nails.  It has a really cool 80s or rock and edgy feel to it that I really like and you can get creative w/ the colours you layer underneath it.  I also think it looks really good on short nails (which I have)...sometimes new and popular nail styles or techniques only look good on longer nails but this definitely works on shorter nails. 

Here's some pics of my nails all Painted & Pretty!

 Excuse my dry and cracked cuticles this cold weather is KILLING me...and my hands!



Caruso Ion Steam Rollers Review

For Christmas one of my gifts was the Caruso Ion Steam Rollers.  I'd heard and read about them for awhile and I wanted to give them a try myself.  I've used Hot Rollers in the past but I've always hated how clunky most of the systems were and that's why I've tried to never bring them w/ me on set.  As you all know I try to keep my kit light and compact and carrying a set of Hot Rollers doesn't really work for me. 

The Caruso Roller system isn't necessarily that small...well the little thing that heats up the rollers is small and compact but you do have to of course carry the rollers which aren't tiny but you could always just shove them randomly in the nooks and crannies of your kit or bag. 

There is also a travel version where the heat up system is a bit smaller than the ion one and it has dual voltage...in retrospect I probably should have got that one b/c I really can't imagine there being that much difference between how long the curls last w/ the ion one compared to the reg. one...although they say the curls are suppose to last longer w/ the ion one.  Also I should mention you don't have to use the Ion setting w/ the ion one it does have a normal setting as well and the ion setting does make a bit of noise but personally it doesn't bug me.

So basically the great thing about this curler system is it sets your hair using steam and therefore it doesn't damage your hair...which for ppl that are constantly heat styling their hair is a great thing!  Also the steam prevents frizz for a smooth and long lasting curl.  You put like a cup of water in this little system and it heats up in literally under a min (in the old systems you use to have to add a pinch of salt but you don't have to do that anymore).  How quickly it heats up is another plus to me compared to hot roller sets which sometimes take like 10 mins to heat up.  You individually pop the curler on the heat system and in under 10 sec the foam on the roller is heated up and you're ready to wrap your hair in the roller.  While you're wrapping your hair in the one curler you throw the next curler on the heat system to heat it up.  You then secure the roller w/ these red plastic cage sort of things which although make the curlers clunkier to carry around are really great and securly holding the roller in place and helping the steam set plus and this is a big plus for me they don't leave any sort of crimp or mark on the hair like I've found some clips from traditional hot roller systems do. 

You get 30 rollers in like 5 different sizes w/ the set which is great.  Tons of sizes and for me w/ my long, very straight and thin hair I only use like 12-14 of the larger size rollers for my entire head.  I haven't really used the smaller curlers yet so I don't know how my hair would look w/ them.  Although I really love the soft, bouncy curls I get from the larger rollers.  I've used the system about 6 times now and I really like the results although I'll be totally honest I haven't found that the curls last for DAYS w/ me...but I really need to cut some layers into my hair b/c it is so long and straight right now.  Also it's really cold and windy here in Toronto so that probably doesn't help the curls...esp. since I've mostly used the system on nights out on the town and my hair has gotten pretty tangled and wind blown.  Usually after a couple of hours the effect I've been left w/ is a really nice blow out hairstyle...and there is nothing wrong w/ that!

So here's some pics of me using the system w/ the final results!

FYI my hair has NOT been straightened in the first couple of pics...it's really that flat and naturally straight just from blow drying lol!  Also I'm growing out my bangs if you can't tell lol.

 Wow my hair is getting so long!  I haven't had it this long in YRS!  Need some layers though that's for sure!

Me w/ the rollers in!

 These are the curls after the rollers first come out before they been shaken out a bit w/ my fingers

 After the shake out...gorgeous results!

 Love the Volume!

 Love it all pushed to one side...very sexy!