A HUGE HIT AND A LITTLE MISS

I've been feeling like my lashes have been looking a little less than fantabulous lately. To be fair, MAC Extended Play has done me quite well for the past few months. It brings the length and separation and it doesn't smudge in the slightest. However, it does absolutely nothing in terms of volume and if I'm going to bring the DRAMA (betch please, lashes 4 dayz drama) Imma need some volume. So, as I've said so many times before, the hunt was on! The game was afoot.

BEST YOUTUBERS TO LEARN MAKEUP FROM

I love learning about makeup. It's been a passion of mine for many years now. I love watching tutorials, I love listening to pro tips and I love hearing about product recommendation. I swear Youtube has taught me more than makeup school ever did (not that I didn't love school too). Over the years I've grown quite attached to a few Youtubers, ones that never cease to impress me with the breadth of knowledge and their ability to teach. These are my top ladies.

THE DO IT ALL BRUSHES

Brushes are to makeup as fancy language is to a pretentious douchebag. Essential, compulsory, pivotal, obligatory. Take your pick. Trololol. But in all seriousness, brushes are super important to me. It's quite amazing what a difference a good brush can make. It can completely change the way a product works. For that reason I love testing the waters and I've found three face brushes that I reckon are quite exceptional in all that they can do.

WELL, NOW THAT STROBING IS A THING...

When I first heard the term strobing, like many others I'm sure, I kinda rolled my eyes. Once I got over the unnecessary name though, I actually started to enjoy the concept. I could never really get on board with the intense contouring trend. I don't mind it used with a light hand, but I never warmed to the Kardashian thing. Instead I've always been more drawn to simply working with light, or highlighter. That seems to be the essence of this whole strobing trend – bringing luminosity to the face and lifting it, without any of the heaviness of contouring. It's a technique that I've noticed on the runway for years and I'm glad that it's finally catching on in day to day life.

FOREVER 21 STAPLE PIECES

For some reason I never really do posts on fashion. I don't know why. I love fashion and styling almost as much as I love makeup. In my 5 Plans To Update My Personal Style post I mentioned that I wanted to focus on purchasing simple, staple pieces. Ones that are clean, classic and pair nicely with one another. Well I did a little haul from Forever 21 and I think I found some nice pieces that fit the bill.

THE SOUNDTRACK TO MY LIFE

What's that? A CD? Never heard of it. Music is such a big part of my life. It has the power to completely absorb me, to change my state of mind, to bring me joy and to break my heart. It's wonderful. So I had an idea. I thought it might be fun to share some of my favourite songs of all time – the ones that have stuck with me over the years – and to tell you a little bit about each song's history for me. Here goes.

COLOURPOP, I THINK I WANNA MARRY YOU

KathleenLights is one heck of a babe. I've grown quite obsessed with her Youtube channel lately and she raves a lot about Colourpop. You've probably heard the apparent deal with Colourpop. Almost everything is $5 and beautifully pigmented, with a great colour selection. I wanted to put these rumors of greatness to the test so I ordered a smattering of products – Lippy Stix, Super Shock Shadows and a Highlighter.

MINI MAC HAUL

Now that I've got a bit of a tan I found myself in need of a new concealer. My usual MAC Studio Finish Concealer has become too light. So what did I do? I went bought another MAC Studio Finish Concealer in a darker shade. Let that be a testament to how much I love that stuff. And of course, along the way I got side tracked by some other goods that I'd been eyeing up for a while.

HOW & WHY TO SIZE PHOTOS CORRECTLY IN BLOGGER

This might seem like a bit of a dull, technical post, but I'm hoping that it will help some people nonetheless. I've had a few people ask me how I size my photos and I'd like to share with you what I think is the best method.

JUNE FAVOURITES

June was an absolute scorcher of a month. I think we had one day of rain and near 30° weather most days, which is unheard of for Vancouver at this time of year. July seems to be showing no signs of change. It's been nice to be able to wear t-shirts and shorts everyday, but I do feel badly for the poor thirsty plants. They need their water. Anywho, this really has nothing to do with my monthly favourites, but I fancied giving you guys a West Coast update.

VISITING CINQUE TERRE

I realized the other day that I never posted the rest of my pictures from our trip to Europe. It's been a few months since I got back, but hey, who doesn't like to reminisce about the good times. I didn't get many shots of France or Spain unfortunately, but I did go hog wild while we were in Cinque Terre. We ended up doing an hour and a half hike between the first and the second town so photo opportunities were abundant and man is it ever beautiful there. Seriously, breathtaking.

BOLD METALS 300 TAPERED BLUSH BRUSH

Finally! The Real Techniques Bold Metals collection has been made widely available. They're now sold on the Real Techniques website and a few Canadian stores, such as London Drugs. I love the Pixiwoo sisters and their original brush line, so when these brushes were released I was itching to give them a try.

8 BLOG DESIGNS TO DROOL OVER

When I first started blogging, I knew I loved the beauty aspect – the makeup, the skincare, the tutorials, etc. What I didn't anticipate falling in love with was the blog designing aspect. Getting to tweak my own blog here and there, and slowly building into something that I liked the look of (though I never seem to be quite satisfied) has been such a joy. With that in mind, I thought it might be nice to do a shout out to some of the most beautifully designed blogs I've run into.