Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Our Tenth Wedding Anniversary

 Here is a little glimpse into my personal life.

Jason and I were married on December 7th, 2002. It was an extremely small wedding (30 ppl). Seeing to it as it was two weeks before Christmas, we went very simple. No hall, no photographer, nothing fancy. Just two people in love wanting to start the rest of our lives together.

There are a few existing photos which are dark and grainy, taken with disposable cameras by friends and family at the wedding. Having a photographer did not seem like a huge deal at the time but as the years went by, I longed to have something beautiful from the day, captured, to look at and share with the kids.

I decided a couple of years ago that when our tenth anniversary came along, it would be the perfect opportunity to celebrate. So, three weeks ago, after ten years and five children, I managed to get myself back into my dress (with plenty of healthy eating) Jason into a tux and have a good friend and professional photographer Mr.Eric Malette take our Tenth Wedding Anniversary photos. 

These are our hands & my Mom's scrabble tiles.


















Hope you enjoyed seeing a few of my favourites from the shoot!!

Dana xo

Monday, October 8, 2012

New Sigma Products (Coming Soon)


Eye Shadow Bases!!

The Bare, Dare and Flare Eye Shadow Base Kits contain a set of 3 eye shadow bases and one brush for a seamless application (available for $36). The eye shadow bases were made with a smooth and blendable formula to achieve a long-wearing, high pigmented effect. Mix and match these bases with the original eye shadow palettes or wear alone to create a variety of looks. The bases will also be sold individually for $13 each. I don't know the exact size but with MAC Paint Pots at 18.50 + tax Canadian, these are much more reasonably priced.

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I cannot wait for these bases. I always use a base as a professional. It always adds that perfect...well....base for my shadows to stick to. Bases are also great for duochrome shadows to get the true payoff.  It is not necessary to use the exact base colour as the shadow. Pairing a base colour with a different shadow colour will give new life to a shadow.

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The above colours are individual eye shadows from the Paris Palette (all of which I LOVE!) as well as individual shades from the Bare, Dare, Flare palettes. This makes me personally happy, because there are some colours I love from the Bare, Dare and Flare palettes, and some I do not touch at all as I do not care for them, or like the texture, pigmentation etc.

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 Fantastic news about the products found in the Beauty Expert Brow Design Kit. All cosmetic products found in the kit will now be available for purchase individually. I love the complete kit for myself as a pro and use it all the time. It makes sense for a pro as we work on different faces everyday. For a regular person, although you CAN use all colours from dark to light on yourself depending on the look you are going for. Most tend to stick with the shade closest to their brow colour. Many find it pricey as well if you are only interested in a single product out of the big kit (retails for $69.00) The powders as well as the gels and brow pencil will now be sold as singles. The highlight pencil is great and a fantastic creamy base for my highlight. I do not know the prices for the individual brow items as of yet. You can keep an eye on the Official Sigma Beauty Facebook Fanpage and/or their Official Twitter for release dates. I have detailed reviews of the Brow Design Kit as well as the Paris Palette on this blog. Find them here (Paris) and here (brow kit).

Simone (Sigma CEO & Owner) informed me these items will all be available by the end of the year. I believe mainly in November sometime. Keep an eye on Sigma Beauty for the exact release date. 

Don't forget that Sigma will have their annual Black Friday sale (usually FREE SHIPPING!) INTERNATIONALLY! <---now that's a deal!

Sigma also has monthly coupon codes to recieve 10% off your order. 
The code for October is DEAL2012

Happy Thanksgiving from Canada :)









 

Monday, September 3, 2012

Sigma Makeup Paris Palette *Limited Edition*

So here is the low down. Last fall a group of you tube beauty gurus were brought to Paris with Sigma beauty to create this one of a kind palette drawing inspiration each from an assigned landmark in Paris. This palette is the result.  
 
It is unbelievably beautiful. The palette is one of the most visually stunning palettes I own.
 

 
 
Here is a breakdown description of the colours of both the eight eyeshadows as well as the two blushes and one highlight.
 
EIFFEL: Jet black with multicolored sparkle
SEINE: Pearled midnight blue with shimmer
LOUVRE: Saturated, deep turquoise blue
ORSDAY: Bright, vibrant turquoise with gold sparkle
ELYSÉES: Rich burgundy with gold shimmer
NOTRE DAME: Plum taupe with shimmer and flecks of gold
TRIOMPHE: Warm brown with a subtle green sheen (duo chrome)
VERSAILLES: Neutral shimmer with gold and white sparkle
 





I find the shadows with the heaviest shimmer/glitter content extremely soft so take it easy with the brush. Tap off well. I know that was a huge issure for many with the original makeup release by Sigma years ago. I still have those palettes and use them all the time. They are some of my favourite shades ever made and I treat them like gold. These are much better in quality and colour than the trio palettes released over a year ago ( flare, dare and bare) but that is another post for another time.

Blushes & Highlight
The blushes and highlight in the Paris Palette were carefully developed to compliment all skin tones.
ROUGE: Neutral rose color - matte
PÊCHE: Soft and sheer peach color - matte
LUMIÈRE: Subtle and soft pearl highlight
 
 
(Rouge stained my arm for a day) 


Included are a e55 shading brush (MAC 239 comperable)
as well as a f40 large angled contour brush.

They really are all beautiful colours as you can see by the swatches. I have done only one look so far with it. I used Seine, Elysees, Triomphe and Versailles.

I failed to take a picture of that look so I will recreate on my channel in the coming week or so :)

Retails for $59 USD

If you are interested in palette click here

If you are interested in saving ten dollars for the month of September enter the code
SB2012

Much love :)

Beauty Expert ~ Brow Design Kit by Sigma Beauty

Hi Loves,
Long time right?

So Sigma Beauty has released a bazillion products in the past year. Okay, maybe not a bazillion, but a LOT! Some are hits with me and others were just so-so. I will eventually do reviews on all of these items I hope but for now, lets review a few of the new ones. 

The beauty expert brow design kit. If you know me at all, you know how much I love eyebrows. They frame the face, change a makeup look in a heartbeat and good grooming opens up the eye area and can change your looks so dramatically. I have naturally dark brows and a pretty decent shape going on but lets face it, we all need a little help. This kit has got it all. Fifteen items to help absolutely anyone achieve their perfect brow. 

Included in Kit:
5 Brow Powder Shades: Bella, Chloé, Scarlett, Natasha & Valentina
E75 - Angled Brow & E80 - Wand Dual-Ended Brush (spoolie)
Dual-Ended Brow Pencil (medium & dark)
Dual-Ended Brow Gel (clear & tinted)
Dual-Ended Highlighting Pencil (matte pink and shimmer gold)
Small, Medium & Large Brow Stencils
Tweezer
Scissors
Sharpener




Now at first, I thought this is fantastic for me as a makeup artist. But what about the average woman? She may use one colour and never use the others. But, I use a mix of them as well as different colours for different looks. If I want intense I use Valentina. If I want ombre I use Natasha at the beginning of my brow and darken the rest to the ends with Valentina. If I am not wearing much makeup and am quick out the door I will reach for a light, quick fill with Scarlett. For a makeup artist this is a dream. I have all the tools I need to groom, fill, shape and enhance brows in one kit.






I have trimmed with the great little scissors on site. I have used the small and medium stencils for bridal makeup and they are great. I can free hand brows pretty quick and accurate but these ensure balance on both sides. Do one brow, flip it over and do the other.





I love the shimmer gold highlight. I know I wrote pink for the matte one as it does not have a true white hue. None the less it is not pink enough to alter the colour of a highlight laid atop of it. Don't let it scare you. It is non greasy and a fantastic alternative to NYX milk which creases like nobody's business. The brow pencils themselves are also non greasy. They go on pigmented but not eyeliner precise or thick. If that makes sense. We don't want sharpie marker eyebrows. As long as your pencil is sharp, you will get that nice clean line with these pencils. Or get a light natural application with short hairlike strokes. I would prefer a little thinner a pencil if it ever changes.


Love the dual ended brush. The e75 is a sharp angled brow brush comperable to a MAC 266 with bristles a tiny bit shorter. It has inproved ten fold over the original which came with the original brush kits a few years back. The e80 is what I like to call a spoolie and is used to brush and place brow hairs. Its like a dry mascara wand if you will. Speaking of mascara wands, the dual ended brow gel has a clear as well as a tinted end. I find the clear one a little thick so I would suggest running it through a kleenex to wipe ot off a little so it is not goopy. No issues with the tinted gel however, adds a bit of colour highlight and sets the brows at the same time.


 
The sharpener is standard and there is nothing phenomenal about it.
 

The tiny scissors are angled a touch and it works great for me as are the tweezers. They are both sharp and feel/fit great in the hand. 





The packaging is a box with a mirror inside the carboard lid. The scissors and tweezers have elastics built into the packaging in their slots to slide back into for safety. Everything fits and clicks back in nicely. The last thing you want is to open a palette and have everything fall out all over you.
 
In conclusion, this may be one of my favourite items released by Sigma. It saves me so much time every week on the job. It is beyond convenient and I highly recommend it if you are an artist. 
 
This retails for $69 USD.
 
At first, you may say. Holy......
 
BUT....
 
When you break down all that is in this kit, from good tweezers to five powders, the dual gel the dual brush, the scissors, the highlight pencils and the quality of it all?  You would pay and outrageous amount of money if you were to buy these fifteen items seperately. and then you would need to house them all together. It is a MUST investment for makeup artists!!

You can buy it here with a coupon for September good for ten dollars off :)

««««enter the code SB2012










Thursday, February 2, 2012

Annabelle Smoothie Eyeshadow Pencil Swatches & Review

The new generation of brightly coloured long wear eyeshadow. Waterproof, crease-free and mess-free, the Smoothie eyeshadow pencils will keep going as long as you do! Use them as a liner, as an eyeshadow by using only one shade all over the lid or by blending more colours of Smoothie pencils together, or even as an eyeshadow base to give your favourite powdered shadows a professional hold and an outstanding colour pay-off!

They are creamy, light-weight and are available in a variety of vibrant colours. These Smoothie pencils contain no parabens, no preservatives, no mineral oil and no paraffins.

They are only available in Canada and retail for $8.95

I prefer these over the NYX jumbo crayons hands down. These do not have a greasy feel to them and apply like butter. They do however over the months dry out a littleif unused. A few of mine were not as smooth as they were in the beginning, however sharpening them fixed the issue and they have revived.


First Swatch


26 Hours Later (Has been exposed to water)