L'Oreal Color Infallible Eyeshadows, 7 Deadly Sins Colour Tag

Hi All,

New posts over at sakuralovely.wordpress.com - please come and visit! I'll continue to update this blog every couple of posts as Wordpress doesn't have a Followers option for non-self-hosted blogs!



http://sakuralovely.wordpress.com/2011/10/29/loreal-colour-infallible-eyeshadow-collection/



http://sakuralovely.wordpress.com/2011/10/31/seven-deadly-sins-envy/

Happy Halloween Everyone!

MOVING!

Hi All,

Decided to harmonize all of my 'blognames' by moving to Wordpress as my 'name' on blogspot was taken! I'll cross-post links for anyone following me with Google Friend Connect, but please add http://sakuralovely.wordpress.com to your dashboards!


Latest entry: http://sakuralovely.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/delicious-calgary/

Daiso + Drugstore Makeup that Loves You Long Time

Consider this my 'not-just-a-brand-snob' post ;). While I adore most high-end brands, at some point after all the fall collections come out I reach saturation and I just can't look at counters anymore. I don't want to discuss new products with SAs, and max out on even reading reviews OF new collections on blogs.

But do I stop buying makeup? Of course not :P

Lately I've really been interested by 'budget'/'drugstore'/'high street' makeup (I'll refer to it as drugstore for the rest of this entry since that's how I think of it) as it's less than  half the cost of my favourite high end brands and if it doesn't work out... well it's all pocket change, really!

Thankfully this post is all about 'hits' for me. XD; The stuff I don't like just gets given away before I can post about it!

Chanel Fall 2011 Makeover at Holt Renfrew

After what felt like WEEKS of waiting Chanel Fall finally hit all the counters in Calgary (and downtown, at least, all on the same day)! Now if you follow me on twitter you've probably seen my numerous assertions that I had no 'lemmings' from Chanel fall - and I didn't - BUT I have a weakness for attending makeup events at Holt Renfrew as I always  have a lovely time and I'm rarely disappointed in the results. 

So of course, when Kim called me to let me know that they were having a special event for the new products with Jason, their national trainer, I signed up (knowing I'd probably end up with lemmings as a result).

Armani Eyes to Kill Makeover at Holt Renfrew

Giorgio Armani cosmetics is one of my favourite cosmetics lines and this is largely due to the excellent service I always receive at Holt Renfrew! The girls at the counter are awesome about contacting me with info about new products and events and every time I've had my makeup done at the counter I've loved the experience! Last week I went to check out their newest products that they finally had all the testers for: the Gloss D'Armani and the Armani Eyes to Kill!

This is Rachel, she's my new Armani SA and she is fantastic. Lovely and patient, we had a great afternoon chatting about the line as she's brand new to it!

Vancouver 2011 + IMATS

I was in Vancouver a couple of weeks ago to visit Christine and Sheila, and it just so happened that IMATS was that weekend too! Here are a handful of my favourite pics from the 4 days I spend in Vancouver, but the link to the photoset is at the bottom!

I didn't take very many pictures since other than the ocean, Vancouver does look a lot like Calgary building-wise, haha.

We were a little later than expected, but we made it!

The NYX booth was by far the prettiest. So many eyeshadows! I've never seen so many in one place before o_O And this was just one corner of the stand!

Every time I look at this pic, I marvel at the makeup. The lines look so crisp!

Kelsie and I on the Burrard Inlet cruise :)

Sheila and I waiting in the 2.5 hr long MUFE line! We lucked out, it was even longer after we went through! I'm only wearing eye makeup here as Vancouver made all of my skin peel :(

Christine and I on the Burrard Inlet cruise. As I pointed out to her, we finally have a pic where we are both looking at the camera, AND where you can tell we are two different shades!

It was actually gorgeous and sunny our last 3 days in Vancouver. Pretty lucky :)

More pics under the cut!

Harry Potter Colour Tag: Ravenclaw

Found on Google Images

This week on Twitter my favourite girls (@Yumeko55, @CuratorofWHB, @Macnunu and @vanityfashionis) and more were discussing the end of the Harry Potter movie series. I am a HUGE fan of the Harry Potter series, both the books and the movies, and I willingly admit that I sobbed through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I grew up with the books and the credits at the end felt like the end of my childhood.

*melodramatic*

To celebrate and commemorate the end of such a world-changing, fantastic series, the girls and I decided to play colour tag and pay tribute to the houses of Hogwarts and the various Wizarding schools. I was tagged with Ravenclaw :)

Shu Uemura Colour Atelier Palette + Brunch

A few weeks ago Eva and I went to Holt Renfrew for the launch of the new custom palettes and the Colour Atelier collection. Since it was a Sunday, we made a full day of it, getting brunch at the Main Dish in Bridgeland, before heading down! This FOTD is from the products I purchased at the event (my makeup from the event wore off pretty fast as Shu doesn't offer anything like eye primers!).

Summer 2011 Looks: Dior Rosy Tan #754 & Dior Sunset Bronzer

This summer my favourite 'looks' have been  neutral, gold, or pink eyes with pink lips. I'm not (yet) calling it a rut as I've used several different palettes in the last few weeks, but as these looks are so low maintenance for me, I love it in the hot weather!

I had kind of written off the Dior Summer 2011 collection as boring but after swatching several times I came home with two things :)

Hello Kitty Memoirs of a Kitty Palette

Despite previous experiences with the Sephora house brand, I really wanted to like the Hello Kitty collaboration when it came out - I especially wanted to like their Say Hello palettes, which were sleek and cute all at the same time! Sadly the first two Say Hello palettes were underwhelming for me, and I had to accept the fact that it didn't make sense to purchase a palette 'just' for packaging - something I swore to myself I'd never do!

Luckily, with Spring came a new collection, and thankfully my swatches went much better this time - though I think I would have broken my 'packaging-only' rule, as the 'Memoirs of a Kitty' palette combines a lot of my favourite things: Hello Kitty, Sakura, and neutral eyeshadow! The picture above will rotate through what the palette 'looks' like, but basically the palette contains:

4 Eyeshadows: Satin White, Shimmery Beige, Gold, Medium Brown
2 Blushes: Peach w/ Gold Shimmer, Pink

Kose Addiction: Out of Africa + Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill #8

I like to think that I have generally good 'auction' skills in that I am patient and persistent enough to endlessly comb online websites to find what I want at a hopefully cheaper price - this is how I've acquired a lot of my KAT-TUN and V6 collections, Tokidoki bags, and more recently, my ADDICTION collection!

Given how exclusive ADDICTION by Ayako is, and how expensive it is on online shops, I often haunt Rakuten and Yahoo!JP to find and bid on auctions, biting my nails all the while, until I've either won or lost the auction. This post is focused on one of my biggest successes: 2 shadows from the Out of Africa collection that came out this past spring :)

ADDICTION Le Mepris Palette + Armani Eyes to Kill Silk #8

Let me tell you friends, somehow when I tell myself I'm not going to buy a lot of makeup while travelling I not only end up buying MORE, but I come home to a lot of makeup. At least with this last San Francisco trip! In addition to all the stuff I'd purchased in SF/at Duty Free, I came home to two packages of amazingness (more posts to come). I finally got around to playing with all of it on my last stretch of days off!

L'Oreal Color Infallible Eyeshadows

If you talk to me at all on twitter you've probably seen that my latest love is the Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Silk eyeshadows - that'll be yet another post, but basically my goal when I went to SF was to pick up three colours since they were so much cheaper there! Unfortunately one of them was sold out, so I'll wait to see if I'll pick it up here before I post about them.

In any case, after seeing reviews of them start to hit the 'net, it was pointed out to me that other brands under the L'Oreal umbrella had similar shadows - Lancome with their Ombre Magnetique and L'Oreal with the Color Infalliable eyeshadows! Both had cheaper price points than the Armani but smaller colour ranges and not available in Canada :(

Vanity-Fashionista was kind enough to surprise me with a load of chocolate (yum) AND two of the shadows to try so I thought I'd compare them to my previous experience with Armani for you!

Definitely a Dior Addict

You know what my marker for really liking a product is these days? Using it before taking a picture when it's brand new. XD;

I purchased Diorkiss, the colour Kate Moss wears in the Be. Iconic. promotions for Dior's new lipstick line during a gift card event at Shoppers Drug Mart. I had a promotion gift card so I got 15$ off, which made thie lipstick a pretty sweet 16$ CAD after tax :)

Product Infatuation: Chanel 90 Fauve & Armani Eyes to Kill #7 Sweet Fire

Of course while Nunu and Sheila were here I picked up a few new things. Most of the time I buy my makeup on my own, but it's fun to have someone with you to ask opinions about (i.e. Does this colour look nice to you? on me?). I picked up two products which I absolutely adore (on their own, and together) and have spent the last 3 days playing with (and being vain, and taking pictures of the results). Plus the looks cumulatively reminded me of cherry blossoms which are one of my most favourite things in the world (obviously).

That is pretty much the only shot I remembered to take with my eyes semi-closed so you could see the makeup! My bad XD;

Weekend Wrap Up [WARNING: Food Heavy]

I'm beginning to think that Beauty Blogger Meet-Ups = Secret Opportunity for food blogging. I say this because despite having my camera with me for Nunu and Sheila's visit, my best photos were of the food we ate... not so much my makeup (or theirs). In fact, the only picture I have of the three of us together my eyes are closed in! (Darn it).

So with that in mind... I'm just going to show you random photos from their trip to Calgary!

(On a related note, I am super bad at keeping my eyes open with flash photography, hence all my 'makeup pictures' are taken during the day XD)

#HelpJapan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Blog Sale

Japan is a country near and dear to my heart, and the devastation the country is experiencing following the 9.0 Tohoku Earthquake is heartbreaking. I am hoping for the safety of the survivors and Japanese people and praying that the tremors and quakes stop and that Japan soon has time to recover.

But as important as positive thoughts, this relief effort needs FUNDS.

In Canada, the Canadian Red Cross is accepting donations for the JAPAN RELIEF EFFORT HERE:
http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=38438&tid=001

Medicins San Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) has sent three teams to the Miyagi/Fukushima area and more are ready to go. You can find more information and donate here:
http://www.msf.ca/news-media/news/2011/03/significant-needs-in-remote-quake-and-tsunami-hit-areas/

Here is how this blog sale works:
- All items will be mailed via air mail by Canada Post. This does not include a tracking number
- 100% of the listed price for each item will be donated to either the Canadian Red Cross, or MSF
- Shipping starts at 5$ CAD and is 1$ for each additional item. This is the only portion of the cost I will keep to purchase packaging supplies

How the Money Will Be Donated
TWO WAYS:
- E-mail me at sakurasunshine.blog@gmail.com to reserve your item[s]

then:

1) I will invoice you for the total amount of items + shipping from my PayPal account
2) At the end of the sale (or weekly) I will donate the money to either Red Cross or MSF and post the receipt on this page with my personal information blacked out

OR

1) I will invoice you for the total shipping amount
2) You make a donation for the item amount to the Canadian Red Cross or MSF and forward me the receipt with your full name

then:

3) I will the items out within one week.

Restrictions:
1) Canada Post does NOT provide tracking numbers outside of Canada without an exorbitant cost. If you would like tracking, it will be extra, please indicate if you would like this
2) I am not responsible for the items once they leave my hands. If you do not receive your item within 6-8 weeks I will file with Canada Post, who insures each package up to 100$. All items will be carefully bubble wrapped and packaged to prevent breakage
3) Sales are first come, first served
4) All prices are in CAD, and are set (no haggling, please)
5) All items are BRAND NEW, never used

Sale Items

Wet n Wild ColorIcon Trios: I Dream of Greenie, I Got Good Jeans + Handwriting Tag

They were a few weeks late but I finally found the new Wet n Wild ColorIcon trios at WAL-MART! Even though Mona had bought me all the pink ones, I was so excited I bought the three I didn't have. Here's hoping they'll all fit into one UNII palette when I'm ready to de-pot!

Blend Perfection? + Chanel Regard Perle

I actually didn't have anything planned after the ADDICTION post but after getting an awesome package today I decided to do my makeup anyway... I have a lot of stuff I've only swatched but never worn (plus I *AM* trying to use up my Bourjois foundation so...)

Today was an experiment in (mostly) foundation application!

A (Really) Dangerous ADDICTION (for my wallet)

I was introduced to ADDICTION by Ayako almost  a year ago by my dear Yumeko, but since the line is SO hard to get (and no one I know had tried it) I was hesitant to spend money just to try a new line out... thankfully this year several of the blogs I love reading picked up pieces to the brand and my interest was peaked... the tipping point was being able to order them from Fumi's Shop at a better price with shipping than Ichibankao and Mihokoshop. It also helped that my #1 Makeup Enabler had recently raved about the line :)

NARS Tainted Love + Random Depotting Project

Every year I end up making un-anticipated, unplanned spring purchases, mostly because some collections seem to be ALL OVER the blogging community and others are missed entirely (so I don't put any extra effort into hunting them)! This was the case with the new NARS Tainted Love gift set (which I've seen on a few blogs since then - but only after I purchased it).

I'm happy though, because I love this set - it is SO pink!

Spring Purchases in Action: Hello Kitty & Benefit Bamba

I (frequently) fall prey to purchasing a lot of things in a short amount of time and then promptly forgetting to use them. I'll usually remember them at some point but... that's not always a guarantee. After Sheila and Christine tagged me to do a blue look last week (I requested inspiration to break out of my rut) I first used tried-and-true products in my stash...

And then realised I had just BOUGHT a blue eyeshadow which I should use - Hello Kitty Charmmy Eyeshadow stick in Kimono.

Guerlain Spring 2011 Collection: Sur Mes Levres

I think this year's spring collections from the luxury Western marques were largely designed to hit my wallet - so many of them focused on pink! It's a good thing I passed on my usual Dior-addiction... made space in my stash (and heart) for other brands! As soon as I saw the promo pictures for Guerlain's Sur Mes Levres collection I pretty much wanted all of it - the hot fuschia background was a REALLY good seller. 


Fortunately, while I did drop a fair chunk of change on this collection I didn't actually buy everything :P

Collection Les Perles de Chanel

I'm sure I'm not alone in the blogging world when I say that the Chanel spring collection was the one I had been most anticipating (since December, right after the Holiday collections were 'done' for me), largely due to the Ombres de Perlées palette but also because the promo was so fresh and light and lovely.

I have spent more or less the last 2 months on-and-off phoning counters around my city trying to determine when the collection was coming in! I actually ended up purchasing several pieces from the entire collection and it was nicely capped off by a Chanel makeover today (in which I literally had Chanel on from the base up)

Photo-bomb: Cross Iron Mills, Canada Olympic Park, & A Shot of Downtown

It's almost the end of January (!) so I wasn't going to post these since they're very Christmas-themed (the remainder of the shareable pics from my cousins' visit up here) but my twitter-friends seemed receptive... so you're all subject to them!

I really thought we took them to more but I skipped out on the Calgary Tower visit (too cold) and then we spent most days at either my house, my sister's, or my various aunts and uncles... so I'll have to try harder to explore my city! These are my favourite picture from where we DID visit :D

This is actually right above Murale (AKA my favourite store ever) in the 'fashion district' of Calgary - it's really the outdoor mall part of TD Square. I'm not sure if the mural is the same - it changes periodically!

Holiday Palette Round-Up

Just a quick post so I can document what I purchased... and because I think all of these palettes are beautiful :)

This post is really short mostly because I didn't take good pictures of FOTDs with these palettes even though I've worn each of them 5+ times since getting them. Oops.

Hello Kitty & Sephora

Look, an actual display!

I feel slightly better than dying now (though I'm still coughing) so I ventured out to the mall and to my surprise and happiness Sephora at Market already had the Hello Kitty display up! I wasn't expecting much since my near Nunu's store in Vancouver only had a stand, but look how pretty the whole display is! I was so *_* even though I'd been really cynical about the line beforehand.


I swatched all the eye products, and the cheek tints! I didn't swatch any of the lipglosses or nailpolishes as the lipglosses were all very transparent on me (NC35) and my hands, and I don't wear nail polish. Plus Nunu already swatched them.


All of these pictures were taken under a skylight (so as much natural light as possible) on an overcast day. :)

Travel Alberta: Canmore, Banff, and Lake Louise

I'll be honest - I'm not a very good 'staycation' person. The only time I really travel around my own province is when we get visitors who have never been here. I'm not the kind of person who likes camping or hiking or generally outdoor activities (ha) so ... basically, my 'Travel Alberta' is a very rare occurrence.

I was lucky enough to have my cousins visit me right after Christmas this year so of course we took them around as much of Alberta as we could... roads permitting! This is really the first time I'd driven to any of these places in the winter (other than with school) so ... it was fun for me to see the place I've lived my whole life in a new light. This post is VERY picture heavy - we went to three different places in a day (and froze the entire time).

Holidays in the Sakura Household :)

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday week! Belated Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to everyone!! I've got lots of random things to post (including a holiday-tour of Calgary courtesy of my cousins) but I wanted to share a few snapshots from the holidays at my house this year. 

I'm pretty sure that at this point my house was a fire hazard... no clear exit routes.... XD