Shopping Luv: Southgate Shopping Centre

When it was announced that Southgate was getting an expansion and a facelift, I was stoked. It could do with a facelift, and LRT extension will help revitalize the area and make it more accessible. But since I now work in Sherwood Park and live in Mill Woods, I only get out to the mall every month or so to play at MAC. I didn't really pay much attention to what new outlets were moving into Southgate.

I've noticed the marketing campaign around the city along with everyone else. I was excited to find out what it was, and when I found out it was the Southgate reopening I was more excited than some people.

I have preferred Southgate ever since I came to Edmonton for university. Even after I chose to stay here, it became my favourite mall. My first three years out of university I worked at West Edmonton Mall, and I enjoyed the atmosphere at the world's largest indoor mall. I think it was how I imagined New York City is: loud, active and busy at all hours of the day.

But I always liked Southgate more. Even though WEM managed to house so many high-end retail stores, I preferred the cool, relaxed atmosphere at Southgate. The mall is so bright and sunny, as though the skylights let in extra light. Southgate also scored the first MAC outlet in Edmonton, and that pretty much solidified its place in my heart.

Earlier this week I booked an appointment at Blu's in Southgate to get some trousers hemmed. I new the mall reopening was today, so I planned to look around and see what was new. I wandered through the newly constructed wing and saw familiar black and white stripes...

Well, bust my buttons - there's a Sephora! No more travelling to the west end of the city for my glam purchases! MAC and Sephora, finally closer to home. What a cost savings in fuel and time! :) Naturally, I had to grab a few items...

By coincidence, I just ran out of moisturizer. I've been using Sweetie's Infinite Aloe, but I've been dying to try Philosophy's Hope In a Jar - 2 oz (CDN$49) after a cousin told me how much she loves it. Gee, what an opportunity!

I finally picked up the Shu Uemura Lash Curler (CDN$19) to see if it's really better than my trusty Life Brand set from Shoppers Drug Mart.

I picked up the Tweezerman Folding Clipper (CDN$10) for Sweetie, who took one look at it and said, "I don't think I'll never use it." Fine by me, that makes me less over budget!

Time for some Too Faced Shadow Insurance (CDN$17) to battle my oily eyelids. I've read so many rave reviews about this eye primer that I just couldn't resist.

I've been wanting a thin eyeliner brush and a pencil brush, so I had to try the Sephora Double-Ended Winged Brush (CDN$18) and hopefully get a two-for one. The bristles are very soft, so we'll see how it applies and holds up.

The best part was that I had enough Sephora points to get a free sample of Benefit BAD Gal Blue mascara, another item on my WANT list.

Quite a haul and a great way to end my day!

Product Lust: Bonne Bell Lip Smackers Jell-o

It's un-PC, but I love Lip Smackers by Bonne Bell. I don't care if they are petroleum-based and don't stay on my lips long enough to moisturize. The flavours are tasty and they make my lips have a sheen without being shiny. I dare say I'd take the mighty Dr Pepper Lip Smackers even over my beloved MAC Lipglass.

I just found out they offer Jell-O flavours. Holy crap, that's awesome! Must have, especially Lime! After all, who doesn't love Jell-O? That bouncy. shiny, tasty stuff.

As kids we played with it constantly, and didn't get in trouble, which made it better. It was sort of the point! It was an inexpensive treat when times were tough, and we could stuff ourselves full without Mom worrying about us overeating.

We made homemade Jell-O with extra gelatin mixed in to make Knox Blox at sleepovers. We bounced them off walls, each other, and the basement floor. Don't worry, we didn't eat those ones!

My first cooking experience was with Jell-O. It had heating, mixing, timing and serving, so it was cooking to me. I made layered Jell-O with fruit for a tea party. What can I say, I was ambitious. I was going to be the Julia Childs of Jell-O!

The first recipe was an unmitigated failure. The first layer hardened too much. Some of the fruit juice from the canned fruit cocktail dropped in the pan, which made the second layer too watery, so it didn't harden enough. The result was like trying to eat spaghetti sauce off a waterbed.

Still, I never lost my taste for it. I even liked to lick the Jell-O powder like homemade Lik-M-Aid (remember those?) while I read late at night in my bed. So bring on the Lip Smackers!

Product Review: Rimmel London Lash Maxxx Waterproof Mascara

In my quest for the perfect long, thick lashes, I'm always testing out new mascaras. Because my lashes are long and sparse, I find that the thickening mascaras are trickier for me to use. They tend to give me spiderlegs instead of lashes.

I decided to give Rimmel London Lash Maxxx Waterproof Mascara a try. It claims to multiply lashes three times. The wand is a one-sided brush instead of the standard spiral brush. I find that the formula isn't too thick, but it does seem to thicken up the lashes a bit.

Still, like most volumizing mascaras, I find that after three weeks the formula thickens up in the tube. I don't pump my mascara, but this happens a lot with volumizing mascaras.

MAC has just released an awesome set of metallic cosmetics in Metal Urge. And this weekend, you can order online with free shipping.

7 shades of Brushed Metal-X Eye Shadow:

• Gilded Ash - dark charcoal grey with pearl
• Gold Spice - metallic coppery gold
  
• Forged Rose - Reddish copper with gold pearl
  
• Verdigris - Dirty deep green with silver pearl
  
• Metalblu - Navy blue with silver pearl
  
• Pink Platinum - Light blue/pink with silver pearl
  
• Material Gold - Pale peach/beige with gold pearl
  

3 shades of Pigments:

• Cocomotion - Dirty gold with an olive undertone and a gold sparkle
• Spiritualize - Yellow green with silver and gold pearl
• Gold Mode - Tan gold
  

4 shades of Glitter:

• Reflects Bronze - Rich sparkling gold
• Reflects Blackened Red - Sparkling burgundy
• Reflects Purple Duo - Rich sparkling purple
  
• Reflects Very Pink - Sparkling fuschia pink
  

Liquidlast Eyeliner:

• Dress Khaki - Khaki green with yellow pearl
  
• Molten Sol - Rich gold with intense metallic
  
• Powerplum - Deep plum with red pearl
  
• Inskpill - Deep green with green pearl
  
• Inky - Navy blue with low-level pearl
  
• Visionaire - Clean baby pink
  
• Classic Cream - White gold
  

Looks great, and I can't wait to buy a couple!

Product Review: Carmex vs. Prairie Dawn Natural Lip Balm

Dammit! I'm hideous again! I have another cold sore!

As sufferers know, sometimes the little buggers come one after another. This one is on the other side of my mouth. I HATE when this happens. I only get cold sores on the left side of my mouth, and this monster tag along is bigger than that last one. I HATE when this happens.

So, since last time (less than a month ago!) I gave you information on cold sores and the treatment I like the best. This time, I'll discuss what to do with the rest of your lips.

Whenever you have a cold sore, it's tricky to keep the rest of your lips moist. You want to lick them because they feel misshapen and dry, so you end up drying them out even more. Wetting your lips and the cold sore dries it out and makes the sore more likely to crack and take longer to heal. So the important thing is to use a lip balm. I tend to choose between two kinds of balm: a balm that tastes bad or a balm that tastes good.

My choice for lip balm that tastes bad is Carmex. Introduced in 1937, it contains methol and phenol to disinfect and cocoa butter to moisturize the lips. Ounce for ounce, I find it works better at softening lips over every other lip balm. The active ingredients are camphor, menthol, phenol, and salicylic acid.

Carmex works well to keep the whole lip soft when the cold sore is healing and doesn't interfere with other treatments. It's not tested on animals, and it works really well to plump your lips while they heal. Best of all, it has no expiration date. I keep a jar marked "CS" just for when I have a cold sore, so I don't mix it up with other jars.

The taste is... well... camphor. It is available in other flavours (strawberry, mint and cherry), but I find that the mediciney taste is still noticeable. I don't mind it so much, but I wouldn't call it good tasting.

Now, for tasty lip balm that works well, I use Prairie Dawn Natural Lip Balm. Listen to this ingredient list:

• Jojoba oil (Organic virgin cold pressed & unrefined from the Sonoran Desert in Arizona)
• Virgin cold pressed castor seed oil
• Alberta beeswax
• Unrefined wheat germ oil
• Vegetable glycerin
• Virgin unrefined coconut oil extracted from the milk of the coconut
• Avocado oil
• Pure essential oils

This lip balm comes in four flavours:

• Sweet Orange
• Lime
• Peppermint
• Black Licorice

Prairie Dawn is really delicious, and it's extra moisturizing. It feels silky and rich on your lips, and because it uses essential oils to flavour, the flavour is completely realistic. Lime tastes like lime, and licorice tastes like licorice. It leaves a nice sheen that isn't too glossy, but lasts for a long time.

So when your lips are really feeling yucky, treat them to something that makes them feel good and fixes them.

Product Lust: Givency Phenomen'Eyes Mascara

I'm somewhat frugal when it comes to cosmetics, but I spend more on products where I think it makes a bigger difference. I find that eye shadows, blushes, lipsticks, etc. are still decent in quality whether you pay $8 instead of $25. I spend money for high end foundations, concealers, etc. because the money goes into things like finer milled powders, nicer consistencies and better colour choices. I do tend to get excited by new products. You may not be able to build a better mousetrap, but surely you can make an eyelash curler than doesn't kink my lashes like a cat's tail that was stuck in a door? Still, I don't relish the idea of spending three times what I normally pay for products that get the job done. Having said that, I got excited when I saw the new Givency Phenomen'Eyes Mascara. I usually use pharmacy brands of mascara, so the $27 pricetag made my stomach drop. Then again, I hate using mascaras because they tend to be clumpy and spiky on my lashes. Maybe it's time I started spending more money on expensive mascaras to see the benefits.

The Phenomen'Eyes wand looks trés cool with the spherical bulb and the soft-looking bristles. The idea of coating every lash is certainly appealing. I find that long mascara wands tend to catch the bulk of my lashes in the middle but almost none on the corners of my eyes. My lashes are long but sparse, so making them all pop is definitely what I'm looking for in a mascara.

This is one item that's going on my shopping list, and I can't wait to see if it works!

Whadda Bahgain: Givenchy at Sephora.com

Two posts today to make up for not posting yesterday!

Wanting to try Phenomen'Eyes Mascara? Sephora.com has a great offer for Givenchy products that lets you try Phenomen'Eyes and Absolutely Irresistable Roll-On, and get a pouch packed with 4 other samples for $52. The fuschia pouch contains:

• Phenomen'Eyes Mascara in Black
• Absolutely Irresistable Roll-On fragrance
• No Surgetics Wrinkle Reducer
• Subli'mine Fluid Foundation
• Continuous Color Radiance Lip Gloss
• Verry Irresistible Givenchy Sensual

Enter promo code LOVELUXE at checkout.

Whadda Bahgain: Clinique at Sears

It's Clinique Bonus Time again! Sears is offering a gift with purchase from 25 October - 12 November 2008.

For those of you who want to try the Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion, this is a great way to try a sample. These are also perfect travel sizes.

If you spend $26.50 CAD (before taxes), you receive the following:

• Different Lipstick in your choice of shade: Spiced Apple (Nudes) or Rose Aglow (Pinks)
• Colour Surge Eye Shadow Duo in your choice of shade: Butter Pecan (Nudes) or Chocolate Kiss (Pinks)
• Rinse-Off Foaming Cleanser
• Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion
• Clinique mirror
• High Impact Mascara in Black
• Cosmetics bag

Link Luv: Makeup Tutorial from Petrilude - "Frozen"

Well, after weeks of being told we're having sunny weather and that snow was far away, we've had a dusting of flakes this weekend. Once again, Canucks are thinking about how to make their costumes for Halloween cold-weather friendly.

This Halloween, Petrilude has been proving why he's my hero for the Youtube makeup tutorial. He has outdone himself and created a variety of incredible looks this year. He's done a snow fantasy look called "Frozen" which seems to go well with our recent change in the weather.

Take a look at this tutorial. I love the snow details as a finishing touch!

His explanations are really clear, and his technique makes it look easy. I'm considering doing something like this for my costume. Even though I'm comfortable doing most makeup looks, I get nervous doing really elaborate looks. Still, he makes this look so easy that I feel that even I could do it.

What are you doing for Halloween this year?

Sephora is carrying the limited-edition Smashbox palettes released in honour of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Young Survival Coalition, an international non-profit network of survivors and supporters dedicated to the issues unique to young women and the fight against breast cancer.

Get pretty for a good cause!!!

The Kit includes:

• Pink Power Eye Palette in Celebrate (ivory sheen/ pink champagne shimmer/ olive shimmer)
• Pink Power Lip Palette in Inspire (pink shimmer/ neutral pink shimmer/ pink beige shimmer)
• 1 dual ended eyeshadow applicator and 1 lip brush
  

Product Review: Rimmel London Eye Twist

I saw a review of the Stila Convertible Eye Color. I wanted to try it out, but I usually order my Sephora products online for the Airmiles. Recently when I was at Shopper's Drug Mart, I found myself in the cosmetics aisle. I decided to try the Rimmel London version.

Rimmel London Eye Twist is a dual eye liner and cream eye shadow combo pen. It's supposed to be very blendable, and I love that the pen sort of looks like a Sharpie marker.

Well, colour me disappointed. I wore this in Two True, the green shades. I used MAC Paint Pots in Painterly as a base so that it wouldn't crease, which is a problem with my oily eyelids.

The good news was that the colour was quite pretty. The eye liner went on in a thick line, but it did blend beautifully. The bad news was that the eye shadow creased withing three hours, even with the Paint Pot under it. It isn't very pigmented at all, so the colour is quite pale.

Overall, I'm not impressed. I won't buy it again.

Product Review: Avon Line 'n Design Eye Duo

I'm extremely lazy when it comes to makeup, so I like products that do double duty. I like the Avon Line 'n Design Eye Duo because it acts as a creamy shadow base and matching eyeliner in one compact unit.

The colours are nice, with a hint of shimmer. I have Nectar Glisten and Shimmering Sand. It's tricky to use a creamy shadow as a base at first because they are a little hard to control, but blending patiently really works. The good news is that it doesn't smear as badly as some products I've tried.

I found this was really useful when I went to visit my sister in London this spring. It was one of the things that helped keep my luggage size down.

What multi-purpose makeup products do you like to use?

Product Lust: Maybelline Go Currant Lipsticks

One of the standbys in my makeup case is the first dark lipstick I ever liked, Maybelline MoistureWhip lipstick in Go Currant. I'm not that crazy about MoistureWhip lipstick. I find it's very soft, but it fades pretty quickly.

Go currant is a deep, rich red. It's not too bright, and just blue enough for my skin tone to give a rose to my cheeks and always make my teeth appear a little whiter.

Still, I was bummed when they stopped selling MoistureWhip. Luckily, Maybelline carried the colour into the Moisture Extreme line. When my latest tube runs out, I'll have to give it a whirl.

Love my Go Currant colour! Maybelline, pretty please with cream and sugar on top, no matter what lines you introduce or kill off, never-ever-ever discontinue this colour!

Product Review: Bourjois Paris Ombre à Paupières

I was in London this spring, visiting my sister. We stopped at a Boots pharmacy during one of the only rainy spells. Since I'd packed lightly, including makeup, I hit the cosmetics aisle to see what was different about makeup in the UK compared to Canada.

It was no surprise that the big boys were all present (Maybelline, L'Oreal, Revlon), and Rimmel London was there, along with Boots brands. But the other large display I saw was Bourjois Paris, and this intrigued me. There are about four Bourjois Paris items available at the Sephora website, but I'd only seen one or two items there and not an entire product line. Sis had bought me a cellphone charm lip gloss as a stocking stuffer last year for Xmas which was a hit, so I decided to take a closer look.

There were all sorts of products lined up, all with cute packaging. I decided to try the Ombre à Paupières, a wet/dry baked mineral eyeshadow (in the UK, they just call it Little Round Pot Eyeshadow). After humming and hawing over colours for about ten minutes (my little sis is sooo patient!), I decided to go with the Rose Tentation, a clear pink with larger gold shimmer. I thought it would match my makeup I'd already brought, but be the pink shadow I was missing. I brought it home and tested it out immediately.

The pot is quite large, and the makeup is baked until it's very hard. I haven't used water on it, but it applies almost like a pot that has already been wetted. The pot is very grainy to the hard and touch, but it goes on smoothly; I don't feel any graininess from the shimmer on my lids. I find that my brush picks it up well, but you have to work it onto the brush.

It's a shame that website really doesn't show how pretty these shadows are, and doesn't show all the cases, because the cases are the actual colour of the shadow inside. The shadows really change with the angle of the light, and it's very sheer colour that builds up slowly. Overall I'm loving it!

Unfortunately, it looks like Sephora is discontinuing the product from their shelves because what they do carry is now on clearance. I really love this line, so I'll have to source them online, or bribe Sis to bring some with her. I'd like to try a few more colours, but I can't choose which: they all look so good! My favourites so far:

• Bleu Myosotis (silvery blue with finer shimmer)
• Prune Intense (purple with gold)
• Rose Peau (pale shimmery pink with finer shimmer than Rose Tentation)
• Marron Glace (shimmering dark brown)
• Noir Cobalt (blue black)
• Rose Perle (iridescent pink)
• Turquoise Ensoleille (golden turqoise)

Product Lust: Urban Decay Urban Ammo Eye Palette

There is definitely a palette of colours I want to try. Urban Decay Urban Ammo Eye Palette (Sephora, $34) has a beautiful range of colours. I like Last Call, an irridescent plummy-purple, and Smog, a deep coppery-bronze.


These are their best-selling colours and they look good. You could use this palette to produce a simple dark smoky eye or a lovely rainbow palette.

Product Lust: MAC Dame Edna Collection

Shut the front door! MAC is releasing a collection 26 December 2008 inspired by my favourite TV talkshow diva, Dame Edna Everage. Yeah Boxing Day!

I looked at the colours, and they look pretty fun. Corals are not usually my thing, but I might give these a whirl as a compromise for the current orange trend. The blues and purples look fun, and the purple nail polish is called Varicose Violet; sign me up!


Lipstick (LE) - $14.00USD
Kanga-rouge – Creamy dark blue red (amplified creme)
Gladiola – Matte mid-tone blue pink (matte)
Coral polyp – Creamy mid-tone coral (amplified creme)

Lipglass (LE) $14.00USD
Hot Frost – Sheer mid-tone blue pink with multi-dimensional pearlized pigments (frost)
Splendid – Frosty pale pinky coral (frost)
Possum Nose Pink – Sheer bright coral with multi-dimensional pearlized pigments (frost)

Eye Shadow Trio (LE) - $32.50USD
Royal Tour Eye Trio
Royal Tour – Mid-tone cool lilac (satin)
Dame’s Desire – Frosty mid-tone reddish purple (frost)
Climate Blue – Dark blue violet with pink pearlized pigments (velvet) (Repromote from Cool Heat)

Wisteria Eye Trio
Fineshine - Frosty true-silver (lustre) (Repromote from Lustrevision)
Wisteria – Frosty robin’s egg blue (velvet)
Divine Night – Frosty charcoal with silver pearlized pigments (velvet)

Highlight Powder (LE) - $26.00USD
What a Dame! – Pale orangey pink
Spectacle – Pale soft pink

Nail Lacquer (LE) $11.00USD
Asiatique – Creamy classic red (creme) (Repromote from Ornamentalism)
Varicose Violet – Frost mid-tone pinkish purple (frost)

Images courtesy of bunnybunnybunny at specktra.net Color collection courtesy of Specktra.net

Whadda Bahgain: Maybelline Great Lash

It's not my thing, but there are a lot of girls who swear by Maybelline Great Lash Mascara as the only mascara they use. For those who love it, this link will give you a permanent coupon for $2 off discount.

If you love Great Lash, save the link and reuse it.

Whadda Bahgain: Lancome Bonus (Online Only)

While supplies last, Lancome is offering a bonus with any $50 online purchase.

What you get:

• Bienfait Multi-Vital SPF 30 Moisturizer tube, 15 ml
• Colour Design Sensational Effects Eye Shadow
• Definicils High Definition Mascara in Black
• Le Rouge Absolu Lipstick SPF 15 in Champagne
• Lancome signature cosmetics case with matching cosmetics pouch

Whadda Bahgain: Estée Lauder Bonus Time at Sears

Until 11 October 2008, if you spend a minimum of $32 on Estée Lauder products, you'll get a nice gift set.

What you get:

• your choice of lipstick shade (warm OR cool)
• your choice of eye shades (warm OR cool)
• Hydra Bright Skin-Tone Protecting Moisturizer or Resilience Lift Extreme Ultra Firming Creme Soft Clean Tender Creme Cleanser or Perfectly Clean Splash Away Foaming Cleanser with the cleanser that works best with it,
• 2 chic bags

If you spend $75 or more you can add the shiny tote bag to the gift for free!

I especially like that you can pick cool or warm eye & lipstick shades.

Pink Bites: Clinique Great Lips, Great Cause Lipstick Set

You may notice that I'm posting in pink all month in honour of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Not only are there already lots of great pinks out there in Beauty Land, there are also special edition products that companies release, donating a portion of the proceeds to charities.

One of my favourites this season is Clinique Great Lips, Great Cause Lipstick ($17). The Colour Surge Butter Shine lipstick is a beautiful shade called Ribbon Pink, the case is a pink bamboo shape, and it comes in a nice silver package with a mirror in the lid. Exclusive to Sephora, $10 from each purchase is donated to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Sometimes with products like this, you read the fine print and find out the donation is going to "Bob's Charity" or the money all goes to administrative fees. BCRF is a good organization: at least 85% of donations goes to research and awareness campaigning, and this October they are awarding over $34 Million in research grants to 166 scientists. Take a look at their website to see some of the work they do and see all their corporate partners.

I'm picking up one for each of the special women in my life as an early Xmas stocking stuffer.