Wear white in the winter?! Windfall and Elizabeth Grant say YES!

WW4W is an annual awareness campaign in support of Windfall Clothing Service, Canada’s only new clothing bank. Windfall, an award-winning registered charity, collects new clothing and basic needs items and distributes them, free of charge, to Toronto’s neediest citizens through partnerships with 90 social service agencies around the city. Throughout January, fundraising initiatives take place around the city to raise money in support of the WW4W campaign. On January 28th, the official WW4W day, Torontonians are encouraged to wear something white and donate $4 to support this important service.

Elizabeth Grant is a supporter of this very worthy cause and during the month of January, 50% of the online sales of their Finishing Touch Makeup Primer are donated to Windfall. I love it when a great beauty product and cause come together!

Of course you want to know if it's worth spending your money on it or if you would be better off just sending your money directly to the charity.  In this case you can be charitable and beautiful at the same time, this primer is a celebrity favourite for good reason.  I've been using it for the past couple of weeks and I am very pleased with it.  It creates a smooth surface for my foundation application and I have had no issues with my foundation fading away halfway through the day.  This would be best for normal to dry skin types.  It is not oil free so I wouldn't recommend it if you are oily.  I am combo most of the time but go normal in the winter so it has been perfect for me!  

You still have a couple more weeks to try a great primer and support a worthy cause!  Elizabeth Grant Finishing Touch 30ml $30 can be ordered here. 

- Lisamarie -

Hot Pick: Big Necklaces, Big Ideas

 Big chunky necklaces are everywhere this season and I really have to pick a a couple of new pieces for myself, but I haven't quite decided yet. There is so much choice!

Metallics

This Falconiere (above) bronze-tone metal chain and multicolored Swarovski crystal necklace ($460) is big but still somewhat casual.

 Knot Crunchie Collar from Topshop ($75) offers a cheaper alternative.

After a night out, I got a few more ideas:

Le Chateau and Aldo offer cheap and cheerful necklaces ($20-25)

Pearls and Ribbons

7-row pearl and ribbon necklace by Adele Marie ($83)

Black Ribbon and pearls from Lanvin ($496) - available at colette.fr

Stones

Green Onyx necklace by Siman Tu ($850)

Veined Turquoise Necklace by Siman Tu ($745)

-Christelle-

Megan Fox Strips for Armani...and for You.

Megan Fox may not be Oscar worthy just yet (well, who am I kidding? I don't think that's ever going to happen) but she's fronting the new Armani ad campaign for Spring 2010, replacing our favorite fembot, Victoria Beckham. This lingerie line is cute but nothing terribly exciting, based on these pictures. It doesn't matter, mind you: Megan would look hot even if she was wearing Lisamarie's lunch bag, all smeared with ketchup. Whatever she's selling...we're buying!

-Christelle-

Our pretty Priti winner!

I thought I should announce our Priti contest winner so you all won't think that we just kept the nailpolish for ourselves (tempting) - it's Stephanie L from Hamilton, Ontario.  She has received them and said that the colours are beautiful so we hope she is enjoying them.

Don't be sad if you didn't win this one - you still have a shot at our Green Beaver prize package - go enter here if you haven't already!

- Lisamarie -

Everything's coming up roses at Jo Malone!

You may to be old for a story book but you are just the right age for Jo Malone Red Roses Fragrance Chronicle!  What is it?  A romantic rose scent with three accompanying accords.  It contains a 30ml bottle of the Red Roses Cologne - composed from seven of the world’s most expensive varieties of roses as well as a 9ml bottle each of Moroccan Mint Leaf (herbaceous mint and sweet basil, blended with water jasmine and violet), Ice Rose (unique frozen ice accord) and Honeycomb (sweet honey, artfully blended with precious woods and resins) - layer any combination of the four to create your own signature scent.  This is my favourite thing about Jo Malone fragrances, I always feel like a little chemist!

Now I'm thinking this would make a perfect Valentine's Day gift from your honey!  All you need to do is leave this page open on your computer with a post it note attached to the screen saying "Gee, I wish SOMEONE would get this for me for Valentine's Day!"  - luckily men only require very subtle hints like that!

Available in Canada at Holt Renfrew for $110.

- Lisamarie -

Lock & Roll: Tarte from Day to Night...Oh Yeah.

This cream & powder eyeshadow duo from Tarte is a little different from your standard eyeshadow. First, the cream, lightly colored and shimmery, serves as a primer. Then the darker powder is applied on top. Despite the shimmer, and because the bronze color is pretty discrete on my dark complexion, I decided to use this duo for a day look.

The idea was to see if I could take this makeup from day to evening, without the dreaded eyeshadow creases.

This Lock & Roll does deliver on its promise: you get a creaseless eye all day, thanks to the cream primer. The compact size of this tube is great but I still needed to use my finger to apply the primer and applying the powder was a little tricky too.

There was still no crease after 6 hours. I then added just a touch of dark eye shadow, black pencil and eyebrow shadow  to go from day to night.

All in all, I'd like to try a darker color than this bronze but this is a great little product to use for a simple day look or as a base for more elaborate eye makeup.

-Christelle-

La Mer - the hand treatment - hands down, the best hand cream ever!

There is something about the name La Mer that for me, conjures up images of glamour and style.  I love celebrities, celebrities love La Mer so it stands to reason that I will love La Mer too!  With amazing reasoning like that it is astounding that I wasn't a better math student!  I thought the perfect way to start off my La Mer education was with a product I obsess about endlessly in the winter - hand cream!

When I first read on the back of the tube that the hand treatment is so lastingly hydrating, morning and evening application may be all that is necessary, I thought the La Mer people must be on crack.  Do they not know about Canadian winters or my 20X a day hand cream habit?!  I was sure there was no way this was possible and that the "may" part was the out clause for when the twice a day deal didn't work - which just goes to show what I know - Nothing!

I approached this very scientifically, 2 weeks - only apply it twice a day but take normal winter precautions such as wearing gloves.  The results?  Impressive!  I was expecting my hands to be drier by the end or at best, the same.  Nuh uh - they were not just better, but so much better!  Soft, supple, smooth...I'm trying to think of more "s" adjectives here, how about succulent, that works!  The lotion itself is not at all greasy, it takes about a minute to soak in and then it's gone leaving just a nice smooth feeling behind.  It has the La Mer scent which is light and pleasant - it's really just all around awesomeness in a tube!

Of course awesomeness doesn't come cheap!  La Mer hand treatment 3.4oz is $100.  I agree, $100 hand cream isn't for everyone.  University students existing on ramen noodles and ketchup soup should definitely not attempt this (but I highly recommend it for when you graduate and have your kickass, high paying job). Octomoms with 8 mouths to feed and no reality TV show on the horizon should also stay away.  But anyone else with a passion for hand cream and a bit of money burning a hole in their pocket should certainly give this a try.  I also think this would make a fabulous gift from a (generous) friend for a birthday or wedding shower!

Needless to say, I am kicking my hemp protector to the curb, La Mer hand treatment is my new go to guy!

La Mer is available at select Holt Renfrew stores in Canada.

- Lisamarie -

Lancome & Elemis eye serums - youthful looking eyes are just a pump away!

This is not the post I was intending to write today but something miraculous happened last night - I actually used a bottle of something up!  I know what most of you are thinking - "What the hell is she talking about, of course you used it up, you use something everyday and eventually it's all gone, duh!  Why am I reading a blog written by such a stupid person!?!"  I understand your hostility, for normal people this is exactly what happens, for me, never!  I use something halfway and then I get distracted by something newer, better and shinier...it's really tough being me!  But I digress, you want to read about eye serums so here you go:

Lancôme High Résolution Eye with Collaser-5X - Intense Collagen Anti-Wrinkle Eye Serum - 15ml $74 As you know, I love a face serum so it seemed logical to me when I discovered that eye serums existed, that I would love them too, and I do!  This was a perfect eye treatment for the spring and summer, I should probably have switched to something a little heavier for the winter, but I was obviously enjoying this one so much I forgot. What is so great about it you ask?  Well, the texture is excellent, it's light and soaks right in. The technical side of it: it has a special blend of peptides, extracts and vitamins in it that target 5 key types of collagen that make up 80% of the collagen in your skin.  And as we know, collagen is what gives our skin the plumpness, firmness and youthfulness we all crave.  If your eye area is lacking any of these things I highly recommend you give this serum a try!  I also really liked the packaging.  The pump bottle is so much better then messing around with a pot, I expect people who normally use up their products and even (gasp!) wait until they use something up until they buy something new would not like the opaque bottle as it makes it impossible to judge how much is left.

Elemis Absolute Eye Serum Anti-Ageing - 15ml $64 (US) - As long as we're discussing eye serums, I thought I'd throw this one in too.  I discovered Elemis at the spa on the cruise ship I was on a few years ago.  Of course I have a weakness for skin care so when they did the product sales pitch at the end of my facial I couldn't resist picking a few things up.  I really liked this serum.  It was extremely light, almost liquid, absorbed super quick and was very moisturizing.  The only thing I didn't like was the applicator - it's a dropper, which I found a little messy. The dropper also doesn't reach all the way to the bottom of the bottle so when you are on the last inch or so you have to tip the bottle upside down on your finger to get the serum out.  And yes, I really did get that far with this eye serum too - it's not entirely used up, but pretty close!  North Americans can buy Elemis here and other regions can check it out here.

Time to go shopping in my cupboard to see what I will be using next on my eyes!

- Lisamarie -