I'm a frequent Shoppers Drug Mart visitor (and avid Optimum Points collector) so it's easy to keep on top of when my favourite items go on sale. Today, I picked up (two of) my latest fave mascara - Maybelline Lash Stiletto on sale for $9 (well, before taxes).

A great shopping resource for drugstore make-up products where you can buy without having to leave the house is www.well.ca. There are plenty of great deals on some of my kit essentials. For instance, Rimmel London Eyebrow Pencils retail for $5.99 while L'oreal Lineur Intense goes for $9.99 - and these are the site's "regular" prices. (Yes, I watch for them to go on sale!) Well.ca also offers free delivery with no minimum amount required to buy. Yes, all the more reason to shop well.ca!

If you're interested in trying out L'oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes, go to www.beautytubes.ca and in the top right-hand side, enter the code below to save $5!
Coupon courtesy of Matchstick and L'oreal

Since mascara should be replaced every 3 months (or as soon as it starts smelling funky!), I always like to use this time as an opportunity to try something new. I'm always a sucker for mascara ads (even though they're usually false eyelash and computer "enhanced"). Over the past year, I've caved to lash blasting images of Cover Girls Drew Barrymore and Rihanna. I mean...it never hurts to try, right?! My lashes definitely need it. With some of the drugstore mascaras I try, I'm pleasantly surprised with the outcome while others...leave something to be desired. Read on for reviews...and just maybe you'll score a drugstore mascara find that's right for you (or save the $10 that you would have otherwise spent on it!).

Cover Girl Lash Blast
Lash Blast has been a personal favourite in my make-up stash since its release last year. The stiff comb-like super wand helps me distribute the mascara to all my lashes—even those tiny baby eyelashes--and these lashes especially need all the help they can get! I’m convinced the large comb-like brush coupled with the over-sized tube actually works better than the usual fibre wand to maximize product distribution from the tube to my lashes. At only about $10CDN ($8 when on sale!), this mascara is a great deal and definitely comparable to higher end (and higher priced) mascaras.


Cover Girl Exact Eyelights Eye-Brightening Mascara
I love the idea, but I’m pretty skeptical when it comes to mascaras that are supposed to be ‘highlighting’, so of course I had to try it out for myself. I wanted to believe the marketing hype with this mascara, but found that it fell short of what it promised. I scooped up Eyelighting in Black Sapphire, the recommended choice for brown eyes. Once applied, I found the Eyelighting mascara to be no different than any other black mascara. The wand is similar to the one found in Lash Blast, which works well with my lashes and saves this mascara from being a total waste! Overall, it’s a decent mascara, but I doubt I’d see a noticeable difference if I were to use the black mascara for blue eyes, the one for green eyes, etc.!

Maybelline The Colossal Volum' Express
I love when my lashes are big and bold, so Colossal? Bring it on! The cross-over multiple fibres of the brush worked well to build up product on my lashes, but actually distributed too much for my liking - weighing my lashes down and undoing the usual eyelash curler lift. The colossal-sized brush also made it difficult to get at the inner and outer corners of the lash line, without the mascara smudging on my skin. As I do prefer the look of volumized lashes, I found it tough to build up coats without looking clumpy (I blame the wand!). The final result were lashes with length, but I would hardly give them the attribute “ colossal”. All in all, a decent mascara, but I likely wouldn’t purchase it again for my own personal use.


Maybelline Lash Stiletto
Lash Stiletto claims to do what for your lashes what it does for your legs – and who doesn’t know the power of the tall heel? Lengthening usually isn’t what I look for in a mascara, but I was pleasantly surprised with the results from Lash Stiletto. The tapered brush (shaped like a tall heel) works brilliantly to build up mascara on the lashes, without being clumpy. The finished result lengthens and adds volume to the lashes. The skinnier end of the brush helps you really define the inner and outer corners of the lash line, where the hairs tend to be short and fine. I love the sleek packaging! Relative to the two ‘big’ mascaras mentioned previously, the Lash Stiletto tube is more compact in size allowing me to squeeze more items into the daily make-up kit I throw into my purse.


L’oreal Beauty Tubes Mascara
Back in early December, I was given a sneak preview of the then soon-to-be released Beauty Tubes Mascara. L’oreal’s latest mascara aims to take your lashes to new heights with a microfibre primer plus mascara product, all in one tube. Once applied, I did notice my lashes were longer with the microfibre extensions at the tips. The mascara works great as a lengthening mascara; I’d recommend it for those (blessed) beauties with already full lashes that just need eparating and lengthening power in their mascara. See the original review here.

Aside from being able to do what I absolutely love, one of the most rewarding things about being a make-up artist is meeting and getting to know the people I am fortunate to work with.

Last weekend was no exception. Saturday started off my first wedding of 2009. It was a gorgeous and clear day for a winter wedding. Despite the early hour, Libby (pictured at right) was fantastic to work with and the epitome of a calm, cool and collected bride. The final result of our session was a classic glam look fitting for the beautiful bride-to-be. Click here to view more of the photos.

On Saturday afternoon, I also had the pleasure of working with bride-to-be, Bex – not for a wedding this time (that's coming up in May!), but for a Bridal Shower (neat idea, right?!). Bex (pictured at left) and her bridesmaids first treated her bridal shower attendees to a cooking demonstration and then to a smoky eye make-up demonstration (yes, that’s where I came in). The demonstrations all went hand-in-hand with the Stepford Wives theme of the shower. Neat ideas indeed! Lesson of the day: it never hurts to look good...even while cooking!

(Thanks for the picture, Bex!)

On Sunday, I had a couple more trials with these two lovely ladies pictured below, Denise and Hun-Sun. Both brides-to-be were after classic and natural make-up looks for their wedding days. We focused on perfecting the skin and adding subtle definition with make-up. I'm looking forward to working with these ladies later this year...and to the rest of the amazing year that 2009 is going to be! Thank you :)

Q: Hi, I'm a make-up newbie - my daily morning routine consists of Vaseline on the lips and mascara on the eyelashes (when I want to be "fancy"!). I'm trying to venture more into the world of make-up, but there's so much stuff out there!!! What's the diff between a lip balm, a lip conditioner and a lip gloss?

A: Both lip balm and lip conditioner are built to lock in moisture for the lips and protect the lips from the external environment. Once applied, they both provide minimal to sheer coverage. Depending on the formula, you can also have moderate to wet-looking shine from either product.

Gloss is primarily more of a cosmetic product, rather than a maintenance product like lip balm and lip conditioner. Gloss can be clear, sheer, or opaque. It can have moisturizing ingredients, or be purely intended for a shiny aesthetic with a sticky like feel. You can build up gloss more than you can a balm and conditioner, and the look is more finished overall versus when you use just a balm.

Now, which to choose? It's good to always have a lip balm/conditioner handy to help maintain soft and supple lips. Remember, make-up always starts with a good base and any lip products you apply will look better on moisturized, non-chapped lips! Yet, nothing beats the look of a high-shine gloss: light-reflecting effects can create the illusion of larger lips and an instant glamourous look.

Go to your local drugstore to score deals on lip balms (i.e. you don't have to spend much on a balm - think Chapstick, Carmex). Save the majority of your pretty pennies for lovely lip glosses - great finds are available both at the drug store and department store level.

(Yes, choose both!)

What a fab, but busy, weekend! Saturday kicked off with my first wedding of the season with the gorgeous bride-to-be Libby. Libby was after a classic 40s glam look for her wedding day (think a la Veronica Lake). The result was a look that was definitely red-carpet worthy (and wedding-aisle ready)! Here are the key elements to Libby's Wedding Day Look:
1. Balance the skin out with foundation.
Skin without foundation can be especially noticeable on camera. Foundation gives the skin a flawless and glowing finish, so you're ready for all those flashing lights!

2. Polished brows.
Libby has naturally perfect shaped brows. To polish the look, I filled sparse areas of the brow with a brow pencil and brushed the brows into place.

3. Strong eyeliner concentrated on the top lash line.
Focusing eyeliner application mainly on the top gives a polished look without looking overdone. Eyeliner that encompasses the whole eye can look too strong, especially when paired with bold red lips. I used a combination of gel liner and liquid liner on Libby's eyes to help give it longevity throughout the day.

4. False eyelashes.
Falsies are like the icing on a cake! Every make-up application looks better with a full set of lashes. When done properly, falsies will not only make the lash line look fuller, but will also make the eyes look larger. Love it!

5. Knock 'em dead red lips.
I used Make-up Forever Blue Red #205 to complete Libby's classic glam look. For tips on how to apply red lips, see this post.

Check out www.artistrhi.com to see more of the behind the scenes photos of Libby's Big Day. Congratulations, Libby!!

Related posts:
WEDDING | All Weddings
GET THE LOOK | Red Lips
Q & A | Choosing the Right Eyeliner Product for You