Stylish Sundays: The Red Bow ft. Giveaway

This week's Stylish Sunday is very special! I've been touting companies so far that are international and awesome (Poketo, thanks again for sending me something special, you are the best. I very much look forward to using my agenda when the one I'm using now is all spent!). But sometimes, a little homegrown love is necessary, and for me, The Red Bow is really the creme-de-la-creme of Canadian online retailers. A quaint little e-shop based out of Toronto, I think I want just about every single thing on this website.

For those of us who have, like, grown up and lived and breathed Hello Kitty merch, this shop is a go-to. They have a lot of great Hello Kitty pieces, and also a lot of pieces that are inspired by her iconic red bow (which is where the shop gets its name).

I recently purchased some of their prints a few weeks ago for my new room in my new apartment - three weeks to move in date, so excited. I've been silently stalking for a while but never had a reason to buy and so I was thrilled that my space was going to need some prints, and what better than a little tribute to perfume? I even posted up a photo on my instagram! Aren't they adorable?

Each and every purchase with The Red Bow comes with a lovely little handwritten letter and the kinds of touches that make you feel like you're a person whose business is appreciated, not just some invoice number for a huge CEO who has bought their 10th car with your money. It's the little things that make a big difference for me in a shop and The Red Bow knows exactly how to make me smile.

Can we please also talk about that gorgeous website design? There is nothing worse than a shop selling cute things disguised in an ugly storefront. Am I right, ladies? Of course I am. Bad design is icky, to stay the least. The site is easy to navigate and all of the products are awesome. I also purchased one of their scents, the apple pie one, and it is delicious. The scents can easily be layered for an all around great scent combination.

Like what you see? GUESS WHAT? The Red Bow generously accepted my invitation to partner and so I'm hosting my first giveaway for you guys. You can win a $25.00 gift card for The Red Bow. They ship internationally, so it doesn't matter where you are in the world, you can have a little red bow goodness for yourself!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Sale

I'm doing a blog sale! I have a bunch of items that I either no longer want/swatched once and no longer need, and so I am selling them. I will ship internationally - let me know where you are and I'll give you a shipping quote. NOTE: If you purchase before July 13th and are in Europe, I'll bring your stuff with me to Paris and ship from there so you don't have to pay as much to ship! Prices are negotiable.

Disney collection limited edition Cinderella perfume. Sprayed twice, 50ml 35$. 

From L-R: Kat Von D dark purple lipstick 18$, Kat Von D nude color 15$, Maybelline plum lipstick 4$, Rimmel bright pink lipstick 3$, Rimmel Kate Moss 113 $4, Rimmel Kate Moss l03 $4, Maybelline liquid lipstick 5$.

Benefit Stay Flawless primer, about half used, 15$.

Benefit High Beam, used once 25$. Sold to Anna.

Anastasia Brunette Brow Gel, barely used, 8$. Sold to Anna

Maybelline hip pigment duo 4$

Michael Marcus black shadow brand new, 10$

Rimmel London Quad #036, 4$.

The Body Shop shimmer cubes $5.00

One Direction Our Moment body lotion, 15$.

Laura Mercier eye shadow swatched once, 15$

Kevin Murphy Easy Rider, BRAND NEW, 30$.

Kevin Murphy Night Rider, used once, 28$.

Almay Smart Shade Perfect & Correct Primer, used twice,  5$. 

Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush, used twice, 4$.

Benefit some kinda gorgeous lite, usage shown, 15$

Sephora cream blush, used once. 8$.

Too face melted, limited edition sephora color x2, used once, 20$

Seacret Ocean Mist body butter, UNUSED, 15$

The Body Shop Satsuma body butter unused, 10$

Victoria's Secret Endless love body butter, usage shown, 5$

Maybelline Dream Bouncy blush, 3$ 

Urban Decay Vice 2 palette, minimal usage, brush included. 40$.

Product Battle #1: The Falsies vs. Miss Manga Mascara

I am a mascara fiend (no, seriously... my drugstore had a sale on mascara $4.99 instead of $8.99 for some of my favorites so I stocked up and bought like six because I go through mascara crazy fast). But just because I have my favorites doesn't mean that I'm not always trying new things to see if there's something that I like better. I'm a fan of dramatic lashes. I try to get them as full and long as possible without wearing falsies, even if I'm just going out to the shops or something. I can leave my house with pretty much no makeup on and only feel mildly self-conscious, but I feel naked without my mascara done.

So... I bring you the battle of the mascaras.

On my left eye is Maybelline's The Falsies in Black Drama and on the right is L'Oreal's Voluminous Miss Manga. Both eyes received the same treatment: I first curled my lashes at the root, the middle, and the tips. Then I put on three coats of mascara on the top lashes, one coat on the bottom lashes, some liquid eyeliner from Rimmel on top, and under the eye black liner. I'm also wearing some neutral colors across my eyelid. I think it's safe to say that the difference is quite dramatic.

I'm not wearing a lot of other makeup because I really wanted the focus here to be on my eyes.

The clear winner for me was The Falsies.

So here we have my lashes done with the Falsies. I use pretty much all of the different kids of this mascara, but Black Drama had to be near me and so that was what I picked up. As you can see, now only does the mascara greatly voluminize my lashes, but it also greatly lengthens them - almost to the point that they touch my eyebrows. The length that this mascara helps me achieve is almost double of what my eyelash length is sans mascara. Pretty incredible, right?

And here's my other eye, which is done with the L'Oreal Voluminous Miss Manga Mascara. I don't know if I'm the only person who is finding this to be annoying, but I really, really hate all the new mascaras with the wiggly brushes. I think that this is the "new" mascara trend, brushes that are not firm and instead allow some flexibility, but I find them much harder to use. I found that to be a bit tedious in the first round of application, but I have to say that this brush is a lot easier to use than the one on some of the other mascaras with the same type of applicator.

I think the biggest problem with this mascara is the brush. In some ways, it's great. I think that it does a better job of separating the lashes and definitely doesn't clump as much as The Falsies, where I have to sometimes separate my lashes with a tweezer. You can see that in the  photo of my other eye. But, I absolutely hate the brush and in terms of lengthening capabilities, I really think that this is where this mascara falls short. The cone shape of the brush really doesn't allow for the equal lift and pull that gives you the crazy lengthening on The Falsies. Yes, it does give you the very separated lashes that look like manga lashes, but the models in the commercials also have lashes that go on for days and though I tried three different times I could never get the length that I enjoy in my other favorite mascaras. 

The difference is visible. Because my lashes are so much longer and seem so much more lifted on my left eye, that eye looks a lot bigger than my right one. My lashes are also a lot more visible and turn my eyes into a focal point for my face (which is good because it distracts from a lot of the parts that I don't like about myself, such as my pudgy cheeks) whereas the other mascara makes my eyes fall flat. It's still better than no mascara whatsoever, and for those of you who prefer a natural look, I'd definitely go with the Manga mascara because that's a lot closer to what you're searching for, but for the drama and flare that most girls crave, The Falsies is the clear knockout.

June Favorites!

Hello! Apologies that this post is coming late. I've run into some health issues over the last week or so and then I wanted to post this last night but the internet at my hotel wasn't working. Boo. Here is my much-awaited June favorites post, yay! I have a lot of products this month and a lot of photos of products this month, so make sure to look under the jump!

From bottom left to right:

1. Clinique Turnaround Instant Facial, $45.00 from Sephora. I've loved this product for a long time, but I've recently rediscovered it and started loving it again. My skin's been going through some issues lately - I think it's summer combined with stress - and so I'm willing to try just about anything to get me through my days right now. This product is great. You leave it on your face for 5-10 minutes after cleansing and then you scrub in the beads and you get a nice, clean feeling when all is said and done.

2. Laura Mercier's Translucent Loose Setting Powder, $44.00 from Sephora. For a long time, I really did not like this powder. I found that it just sat on my skin weirdly. Then I started using the Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation (which I would have featured here, too, but the foundation that I chose just slightly beat that one out for reasons I'll talk about below) and it just made my skin so oil-free for the whole day that I couldn't turn back. I'm sorry, Rimmel powder!

3. Marcelle DD Creme, $25.00, local drugstores. I don't know if they have Marcelle everywhere or if it's a Quebec-based brand, so sorry if you can't get this outside of Quebec! The DD creme can be used on its own if you're having a good skin day, or with a BB creme on a bad day. It's a nice, lightweight cream that you apply to your face. It's basically tint free, so it can be used on any skin type. It has SPF 25, so it's a great base and a lovely way to keep your skin free of the sun's rays during the day without using something as heavy feeling as sunscreen!

4. Essie polish in Mint Candy Apple, $10.00, local drugstores. I featured this last month too, but... I'm still loving it. I know, I know, it's bad to repeat favorites, but if I'm still loving it, then it's gonna be in here two months in a row! Oops! 

5. Kat Von D Lock-It Tattoo Foundation, $41.00, Sephora. Like I said above, I almost put in the Laura Mercier foundation here but this one edged it out just by a bit. What I like about this foundation is that it feels so light on your skin but it covers absolutely amazingly. Even when I have redmarks on my skin, I don't really have to add concealer over it because this just covers everything up, and I'm all about efficiency and minimizing the number of products on my face. The full-coverage formula feels like it's lightweight and almost like a tinted moisturizer, but it's got the rigour to stand up to the best of them. It never creases, and one pump of it is enough so it will last a really long time.

6. Marc Anthony Beach Waves Beach Spray. I got this in my Ipsy glam box for the month and I've been loving it. Basically what I do is when my hair is wet, I spray a few pumps of this into my hair from root to tip and I gently scrunch my hair so that it gets some natural volume to it and this just helps it along! I don't know what the full price is, though I imagine it can be purchased at the drug store.

7. Stila eye palette, limited edition. I can't find this on Sephora's site anymore so I think it's no longer available, regrettably. I used to use this palette every single day, but then I started using other products and kind of fell out of love with this one, as is the way that things go! But I was cleaning out my makeup drawer to get ready for another post and I stumbled upon this one and it was like hitting a goldmine, I've been using it all month. I really love reddish-brownish shimmer shadows, so this definitely played into my loves. It lasts really well, even without a primer, and it's the perfect size for your purse!

Thanks for reading! I have some non-beauty favorites as well as individual photos of the products under the cut for you!

Stylish Sundays: TokyoMilk by Margot Elena

ON TIME THIS WEEK! I DOUBLE CHECKED!

I really could have picked any of Margot Elena's sites to be this week's Stylish Sunday selection, but I decided to go with TokyoMilk because a) I'm presently burning the Waltz candle as I type this and it smells delicious and b) come on, what's not to love about the aesthetic of this website? I also literally just finished buying some products from them so it seemed timely to feature them (future Youtube video about all my online shopping to come!).

TokyoMilk is one of four (and soon to be five) websites of beauty & lifestyle products that fall under the Margot Elena brand. If you've shopped at Target and bought any Apotheke:M products, you'll have already fallen in love with Margot Elena's brand of awesome. She's been in the industry for over ten years now and it certainly shows. I think that her team is amongst the most innovative and avant-garde in the lifestyle/personal scent game.

Candles (I have a shameful love of scented candles), creams, perfumes, random oddities, TokyoMilk has you covered. The scents are fresh and carefully thought out. The only ones that I don't like are the absinthe scented ones and that's just a personal preference, but seriously, there is some inventive olfactory delight waiting for you with their products. You can get rum scented stuff, floral scented, fruity... seriously anything that might float your boat probably appears in their selection.

But what is the real standout for me about TokyoMilk (and all of the brands under Margot Elena) is the packaging. If you're into packaging porn, I don't think it gets much better than TokyoMilk. Seriously. I feel like I've been transported to 19th century France, or I've gotten down and dirty in some kind of underground badass fight club (TokyoMilk Dark was a game changer for me in hand creams - désolée l'Occitane en Provence!). The collaged badassery™ aesthetic even extends to the website itself!

My favorite product is the scent trio. At $18.00, it's the perfect gift to give a friend or a female relative, and that way a woman can taper the scent and be inventive! You get to be the scent magician, how sweet! It's also fairly reasonably priced considering that the packaging is so great. I also really love the TokyoMilk Dark shower gels. They are totally the type of thing that I buy myself when I feel like I deserve a treat and what better way to treat yourself than with a luxury shower gel? You'll smell delicious, and you'll have a great start to your morning!

Let me know what you think! Have you tried any TokyoMilk/Margot Elena products?

Playlist #2: Pump Up the Jam

A big thank you to everyone who liked my last playlist - it's now gone gold on the 8tracks website. I am back with another one. This is a perfect mix to get you in the workout mood. Do some serious cardio, practice those squats, and get that booty looking so good that Nelly would describe it as "Bodacious." Let me know if you want this to become a weekly Friday feature!

Also, since it's Friday, I will be following back EVERYONE who follows me on any/all social media platforms, but especially people who follow my blog! So make sure to click some of those follow links on the side!

Stylish Sundays: Poketo

First of all, oh my gosh... I had set this to schedule on Sunday... in a year from now, and I just noticed today. Whoops! So here we go, on a Wednesday, we have a belated Stylish Sunday.

I should probably mention that I am never paid (neither in cash nor freebies) to endorse my Stylish Sunday picks. These are just online shops that I really love and I think that everyone should know and should check out.

Today's Stylish Sundays shop is Poketo. The online version of a small LA shop that I love, Poketo is a must-browse for anyone who loves stylish home decor, stationery, and jewelry. Poketo carries everything that I love, basically. If they started carrying makeup, I would be set. Poketo for life.

I should probably preface this review by saying that I am embarrassingly snobbish about my stationery and I have a whole drawer full of notebooks and agendas, etc. There are no Hilroy notebooks in my life. I just find myself a heck of a lot more motivated to work if I love my stationery, and as a Master's student, finding little ways to want to work is crucial. If you want me to do a vlog of my stationery drawer, comment below! I have some cool stuff. Poketo has the type of stationery that I'm really partial to. As an Art History student, I want to walk around with a notebook and agenda that are well designed, not your stock, run-of-the-mill product. I do carry around some Moleskins because they are a mandatory part of the hipster look, but I much prefer quirky stationery. I currently own the Stick Up Monthly Calendar and my agenda for the year is one that I purchased last year from them specifically to use this year, I was just waiting for my old one to run out.

Poketo's products aren't cheap by anyone's estimation - if you have one of those moms who never bought you brand name stuff as a kid, don't show her this website, she'll have a heart attack, but if you care about design, then this is probably the spot for you.

When I'm not buying my stationery, I mainly use Poketo for furnishing either my own home or for gifts for friends. The 'living' tab always has quirky stuff that you can't really find just by going to local shops. I love accessorizing my home with small items from Poketo - my friends always ask me about what's in my house and more often than not, it's a Poketo item that they're eyeing.

The website itself is also incredibly no frills in the best way possible. It's minimalist design supports the products that it sells perfectly. There are no bells and whistles, it's just straight up good design and  visually pleasing. Perhaps I'm a bit biased as an Art Historian, since my life is seeped in the visual, but I am a sucker for a well-designed website.

The best part about Poketo is that they ship internationally, and if you're lucky enough to live in the US, any order over 100$ is shipped to you for free! Pretty sweet, right? Have you ever bought anything from Poketo? If so, let me know! Comment below with your dream items from the shop!

Playlist #1: Love in the Summer Sun

One of my favorite things about summer is the opportunity to entertain! Summer is a great time for DIY parties with funky mason jar decorations, blankets, fresh fruit, some cocktails, and your best friends. If you don't have a musician in your crew, this playlist will be the perfect ambiance music. Like my mix on 8tracks and comment here with feedback!

EDIT: This playlist became a featured playlist on 8tracks on June 27th.

Get to Know Me

Thanks to Fascination Beauty for this lovely quiz! Here are twenty-five questions that will help you to get to know me. If you fill this out, too, leave me a comment! I'd love to get to know more bloggers!

1. Do you have a middle name? 

I do. Ashley is my middle name, and I'm pretty sure that most people know that, cause I use it professionally!

2. How tall are you?

I am quite short! I'm 5'1". I'm always reaching for things awkwardly and having to ask people to get me stuff off of grocery store shelves.

3. How old are you? 

I'm almost 25! I'll be 25 August 7th. I'm an oldie!

4. Zodiac sign?

Leo!

5. Favourite colour? 

Red!

6. Favourite quote? 

"Though she may be but small, she is fierce!"

7. Any tattoos? 

Nope. Though I do want to get an equilateral triangle on my wrist soon.

8. Any piercings?

I have my ears pierced. My parents got them done for me when I was a baby so I have absolutely no memory of it! Oddly enough, though, I hate wearing earrings so I barely ever have any in.

9. Fears? 

Snakes! They are awful! Ew ew ew ew ew.

10. Do you have siblings?

I do. I have two younger brothers, Mathieu and Benjamin.

11. What are some of favourite movies?

Please keep in mind, I was a Film Studies major in my undergrad, so sorry if some of these choices seem pretentious! 

Last Year at Marienbad, The Social Network, Les 400 Coups, Jules et Jim, Alice in Wonderland (Disney animated version), Inglourious Basterds, 13 Going on 30.

12. Favourite actor?

This is such a difficult question. I think that Colin Firth is pretty amazing, as cheesetastic as a lot of his roles are. Jason Bateman makes me laugh a lot.

13. Favourite TV show?

Arrested Development. It is brilliant and flawless. But right now, I am watching The Good Wife and really enjoying that. Alicia Florrick is awesome, and I tend to enjoy lawyer shows!

14. Loud music or soft?

Loud. 

15. Type of music you like the most?

I have been told that I have a dancer's iTunes, which I take as a compliment. You'll find a lot of Pop, Latin, hip hop, and classical music on there. I also tend to like dubstep, which I realize makes me an icky and despicable person!

16. Favourite artist?

I'm an Art Historian by trade, this isn't a fair question!!!! I really love Meryl McMaster, Martin Creed, BGL, Jordan Bennett, Stan Douglas, Marina Abramovic, etc.

17. Favourite song at the moment?

Fancy by Iggy Azalea.

18. Last song you sang?

It's Not Unusual - Darren Criss' Glee cover 

19. Do you sing or dance in the car?

Yes lol.

20. Who are some of your favourite YouTubers?

Lindsay (BeautyBaby44), and Eva (mylifeaseva) are my two favorite. I watch all of Lindsay's videos and I think we have a very similar sense of style. :)

21. Place you want to visit?

Paris! I'm going to finally get to go in about a month!

22. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?

Manhattan! I know very original right? ;)

23. Favourite food?

Probably Thai or Japanese.

24. What's your favourite holiday?

Probably Thanksgiving - not the colonial element, but the part where I get to eat a lot of food with my family!

25. Any pets?

Nope.

Confessional: Summer Skin Woes

I hate the months of May and June. As a Montrealer, not only does this mean unpredictable weather (seriously - it will rain cats and dogs one day and then be 27 degrees the next), but it means changes in my skin that I haven't quite figured out how to navigate.

This is what I look like with no makeup on whatsoever. As you can see, my skin is kind of blotchy and blahish at the moment. Not ideal skin by anyone's standards. Two months ago, in the lovely month of April, my skin was flawless. Now, I am having crazy acne problems, and I can't seem to figure out how to right it. Well, aside from the cover-up of make up of course.

See? Much better now! But still not perfect. You can still see all the bumps and blemishes, but at lest they aren't red or brown, you know? I'd just rather not have to deal with any of that. Your skin obviously changes a bit with every season, and you need to tailor your skin care to match, but I'm just not sure what new products to try and am turning to you for recommendations.

I have combination skin, and my skin tends to adapt to products quite easily so I have to change up my routine a lot. My current everyday consists of the following:

• Step one: I clean off my face with a makeup wipe, just to get some of the grime and guck that has built up overnight out of my pores.
• Step two: Wash with Kate Somerville DTOX Cleanser
• Step three: Toner from Kate Somerville
• Step four: I apply a small amount of Bliss' Triple Oxygen & C Energizing Cream
• Step five: I moisturize using a Clinique moisturizer.

I also exfoliate twice a week using either Seacret peeling gel or Clinique's exfoliating cream.