Strong Nails

Winter wreaks havoc on my poor nails. Combine that with being an art major and you've got peeling nails and ripped cuticles. Lovely. I also paint my nails far too much for the average human so they rarely get to breathe, poor things. So I've decided to take better care of my nails. I'm leaving nail polish off (cringe) and using some products to rehydrate. The essie Apricot Cuticle Oil is something I've been using for a long time and it's a favourite of mine. It's great because the oil sinks in quickly and doesn't leave your fingers greasy. A good one to carry around with you. OPI's Nail Envy is great for peeling, I guess it's technically a nail polish but it's strengthening so shhh. For a deep hydration I like to use Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream. It leaves your fingers really greasy so it's one to use at night time, but I love the smell and it really hydrates the skin around my nails.

What products do you use to keep your nails healthy?

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100 Posts

This feels like a small milestone, but it's kind of huge for me. I've written 100 posts on this blog. I've been "blogging" and YouTubing for almost 5 years now but I've never been settled in one place. Honestly in my time on the internet I've had about 20 different blogs, and none of them were enjoyed nearly as much as this one. I think the reason I love Amelia Says so much is that I write about what I feel like writing about. Rather than requiring myself to review certain things or only stick to makeup (which I mainly do but I'm making a point here) I let myself write whatever I want. I have an ever-other-day schedule, but it's super loose and I don't beat myself up if I miss a post or two. I mean it's not like I'm blogging royalty or anything, but I try to treat this blog as if thousands are reading it. It makes me much more motivated to write. So 100 posts down, here's to hundreds more.
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RealTechniques Complexion Sponge

Okay, I love my beautyblender. Like, LOVE it. But, the more I use it, the more I've realized that I will eventually have to buy a new one. And, I don't know about you, but repurchasing a $20 sponge kinda makes me want to cry. So, I decided to try out the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge which is pretty highly raved about as well. Also, I love the Pixiwoo sisters so yeah that was my justification.

The sponge retails for $5.99 which is the biggest reason it's so popular compared to the beautyblender. There are some obvious shape differences between the two. The beautyblender is more egg-shaped, with a full bottom, while the RT sponge is fullest in the middle. It also features a flat edge which is supposed to help get into the "contours" of the face. I find that this flat end doesn't work well for me and makes the sponge more difficult to hold. Both feature a pointed end however the beautyblender has a finer, more tapered point.

I use both sponges wet and I've definitely noticed a difference in how they retain water. Both swell to double the size but the beautyblender seems to retain almost no water. The RT sponge, unfortunately, is too porous meaning that it holds a lot of water. This also means that it sucks up A LOT of your foundation. I probably use twice as much with the RT sponge. The RT sponge also feels heavy in comparison to the beautyblender, and has a more springy feel than the softness that the beautyblender has. Both give a nice, airbrushed finish, but I really do think the beautyblender's is more seamless and natural-looking.

While the Real Techniques Sponge is far superior to a normal makeup sponge, I still think it's pretty far behind the original beautyblender. If you're not willing to shell out $20 per sponge it IS a good dupe, but the beautyblender is still my top choice. Sorry wallet.

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Today's Look 01

More new things happening! I want to start doing more face of the days to try and make myself do different eye looks, although today's is pretty boring, hehe.

EYES

Urban Decay Primer Potion

LORAC Nude

LORAC Pewter

Urban Decay YDK

Urban Decay Busted

Urban Decay Blackout

LORAC Mauve

Kat Von D Tattoo Liner

MAC Nylon

Clinique High Impact Mascara

BASE

MAC Face and Body Foundation C1

Chanel Perfection Lumiere Velvet Foundation 12 Beige Rose

MAC Well Dressed Blush

LIPS

Foundation (haha)

eos I'm boring

I've also got some crazy henna going on on my hand! Do you like?

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Pinspiration 01

Pinterest is a constant source of inspiration for me, I could spend hours on it. Frankly, whenever I have a free moment, I'm scrolling through Pinterest. Amongst all the sorority crafts and glittery mason jars, there are some really cool pins so I thought I would share a few of them with you weekly(ish)!

01 Linda Hallberg is probably my favourite makeup artist in the whole world. She's funny and nice and super, super talented. She definitely does some crazy looks but I really, really love this simple fresh look! Basically, my entire beauty board is filled with her gorgeous face.

02 I am all about an all black outfit with a camel coat, and I totally wish I could pull of leather pants. But this pin led be to Damsel in Dior, a beautiful blog written by Jacey Duprie, and let me tell you it'll make you want a new wardrobe.

03 I LOVE blanket scarves, I can never find one that doesn't look ridiculous on me, but that won't stop me from pinning them.

04 Another forerunner on my fashion board is booties and these gorgeous ones from Anthropologie stole my heart, they're unfortunately no longer for sale but on the board they are!

05 I'm a minimalism lover, especially when it comes to nails. This gorgeous manicure is a favourite of mine, but so is the company behind it! Paintbox is a nail salon in NYC focusing on luxe, minimalistic manicures founded by Eleanor Langston. Honestly, just look at the website, you'll fall in love.

What was your top pinterest find this week?
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Shea Moisture

 So I might be somewhat late to the party but I went to a Target outside of my town the other day and discovered the Shea Moisture makeup range. For some reason, none of the Targets in my area seem to carry this range so I was rather excited to spot it. Shea Moisture also makes hair and skincare which is super popular, and the clearly released a cosmetics range somewhat recently. The have a foundation range as well as powders, lipsticks, eyeliners and mascaras. The most exciting thing to me however is that they sell create your own palettes and pans for an extremely affordable price! Shea moisture products are also cruelty-free, paraben-free, formulated with natural ingredients, and certified organic Shea butter.

So I picked up a Wet/Dry Eyeshadow Pan in Montana and a Lip/Cheek Balm Pan in Bo-Kapp Peach.  Montana is a rather metallic champagne that looks show-stopping when applied wet, the swatch really does it no justice (dry on the left wet on the right). The shadow is buttery soft and ultra pigmented. The pan contains .10 oz and costs $4.99. No, that is not a typo, four dollars. My friend Marisa and I were practically beside ourselves, cry-laughing at how cheap they were. It's laughable that MAC shadows contain .05 oz and cost $16.00. Bo-Kapp Peach is a gorgeous peach both on the lips and cheeks. This beauty also cost $4.99 and contains .09 oz. Target also sells individual packaging to put these pans in (I think they cost $1). BUT, most exciting of all is that they sell MAGNETIC PALETTES! A long rectangular one that retails for $5.99 and a larger one (probably slightly larger than a MAC palette, think 88 Palette size) for $9.99 I believe. I mean lets be real, you can't beat the prices. I've already got a wish list that contains a majority of the products they sell. Oops

Have you tried any Shea Moisture products? If not, what have you got your eye on?
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MAC Perfect Topping

So I was perusing the MAC counter the other day JUST LOOKING and the artist got me looking at the Lightness of Being collection and then she said she wanted to try the Perfect Topping Mineralize Skinfinish on my skin tone and boom I walked out of the store swinging this baby in a little black bag. Oops. To be fair I have been looking for a good, natural but strong highlighter and boy is this it. I struggle being pale finding a highlighter that isn't too dark or too glittery. This definitely isn't cool toned, but I find that the gold champagne looks really natural on my skin. This product has been re-released several times and it seems that it is slightly different every time. Something else worth mentioning is the new MAC packaging, I don't like it. I think the magnetic closure is great but the packaging looks tacky to me. I much preferred the matte black with black writing on the window. I know it's about the product inside, but if I'm dishing out this much money I think the packaging should be nice.

Perfect Topping retails for $32 and gets you .35 oz of product, so it'll probably last me forever!

Have you tried anything from the Lightness of Being collection? What are you eyeing?

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Chanel Perfection Lumière Velvet

I know, I know... another foundation? I have a problem. But after surviving the first day of the new semester I decided I needed a treat. Did I actually? Not at all but I did it anyway, devious. So I wandered up to the CHANEL counter and grabbed this little beauty, the CHANEL Perfection Lumière Velvet Smooth Effect Makeup which I have in the shade 12 Beige Rose. It's touted by CHANEL as a lightweight oil-free fluid texture which provides a long-lasting matte-velvet finish for complexion perfection. And boy does it provide perfection. 


If you're one for super glowy skin, this isn't for you, it's definitely a satiny-velvet finish but it looks and feels so much like skin it kind of makes you do a double take. CHANEL suggests you apply this with your fingers, but I think it's far too runny and it sets pretty quickly. I put some on the back of my hand and use my beautyblender to apply. It has that 'dry-oil' sort of feel to it, like the Armani Maestro or Maybelline Dream Wonder, but I find that it blends into the skin even easier. The matte-velvet finish means that the foundation is more long-wearing than it's Vitalumière Aqua counterpart. I find that this lasts really well all day on me, I just get slightly more glowy by the end. It's also worth mentioning that I wear glasses most days, and this is the only foundation ever that hasn't gone all gunky on the bridge of my nose. MIRACLE. The packaging isn't SUPER luxurious for such an expensive foundation, but it is chic and really travel friendly, I guarantee it'll be the lightest foundation in your collection.


So, if you've been dying to try Aqua but have oily skin, give this one a go. Or, if you prefer a satiny finish, Lumière Velvet is perfect for you. This baby retails for a hefty $45, which gets you 1oz of product. Definitely not a bargain buy, but gorgeous nonetheless.


Have you tried any beauty products from CHANEL? 

What's your favourite? 
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Getting Organized

I don't know how many of you are in school, but today is the last day of my winter break and so second semester starts tomorrow. As much as I'm dreading it (college is really not my thing, cliche I know), I love that it makes me even more organized. I think that the most important thing when staying on track for school is to not force yourself to do all these crazy organizational things. It makes me not want to be organized. I've always kept an agenda and that works for me, so that's what I do. I also keep a wall calendar for big deadlines and blog posts etc. so that I can see the entire month all at once.

Target is definitely my favourite place to get school supplies, that's where these beauties are from! The gorgeous agenda (I keep just staring at it) is by mead, the Cambridge line and also comes in a bigger size (can't find it online for some reason but definitely in store). The Sugar Paper Los Angeles line at Target has some of my favourites, but they're often sold out unfortunately. I also picked up this cute little set of notebooks. My classes this semester don't require a ton of note-taking so these ones are fine for me even though there's not a lot of pages. If you have a class with a lot of note-taking get a BIG notebook, there's nothing worse than having multiple notebooks for one class and trying to figure out what notes are where. If taking notes on your laptop works for you, do that. Most of my friends find that easier. I generally, obviously being a blogger, do EVERYTHING on my laptop. This means I have a lot of stuff on it. Also being in Graphic Design I use my laptop a lot. But for note-taking, I personally have to hand write them. I use post-it notes in my Art History textbook because there's so much information, but otherwise I'm not a fan. If they work for you, use them.

If you're just starting out with college, try a bunch of organizational tips and stick with the ones that help you. Pinterest is a treasure trove of ideas.

How do you stay organized?
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L'Oreal Extraordinaire

I found one of the L'Oreal Paris Extraordinaire Gel Laquers in Don't Shy Away at Target for $2 yesterday so I of course bought it. Turns out it's a GORGEOUS blue jelly-creme and I am in love with this colour. I just painted my nails with it today, so no comment on wear. Apparently the 3 step system sold by L'Oreal provides some extreme chipping, so hopefully my trusty Seche Clear and Seche Vite will prevent that. Forever loving dark nails. I also picked up some tulips from Trader Joe's so I thought I would sneak those in the corner, how gorgeous are they?

What have you got on your nails at the moment? I'm in a serious nail polish mood at the moment!
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December Favourites

Favourites posts are some of my favourite (lol) to read,  it's a surefire way to discover great products that other bloggers/YouTubers love. I used to also really enjoy writing them but stopped for whatever reason, so the new year is bringing back the favourites posts! I would also like to apologize quickly for not posting regularly. I recently found out some really difficult personal news, so my mind hasn't really been in the right place. But, we're getting back into the swing of things so on to the products!

For base, I have mentioned the Maybelline Dream Wonder Fluid Touch Foundation (post here) a lot this month. I have the shade Porcelain Ivory and I really love it, but some days it's a bit too dewy and not long-lasting enough. So, I've been loving mixing it with my beloved Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet + (post here) in what I believe is No. 20 Ivory. This mixed with the dry oil fluid creates the perfect satiny base that I've been in love with. I've also been loving my Bare Minerals Translucent Mineral Veil Powder (post here) to set with because it's not too matte and doesn't provide extra cakey coverage. I recently found the Kat Von D Agatha Lipstick in Marshall's (because the label was misprinted) and it was too cheap to pass up! I'm super glad I found it too because it has quickly become my everyday lipstick! It's perfect to pat over my lips and isn't too much of a pinky nude.

I've been loving using my single eyeshadows recently too. I got caught up in palettes and forgot how amazing my MAC and Inglot shadows are. My most reached for have been Mulch, Glamour Check! (LE but very similar to Antiqued), and Inglot P423. I've only recently started wearing eyeliner again and that's because the Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper (post here) is so simple and so beautiful. My fail-safe mascara has been this little sample of the Clinique High Impact Mascara, so much so that I went and bought the full size version! It's gorgeous, it coats each individual lash and really gives volumes without looking clumpy, which is my least favourite thing about mascara. I think I talked about the Vaseline Lip Therapy Skin Protection Advanced in my Starter Kit Post, and it is literally a lip life-saver. NOTHING will moisturize your lips like this beauty, and it's only $1.99 so take that Dior Balm de Rose. I've been using my Clarisonic again the past few months and forgot how much I LOVE the Liz Earl Cleanse and Polish, there's really nothing that I've ever tried that makes your skin as clean and baby-butt soft as this. I also got this new watch so I figured I would throw it in. It's made by 'Rudiger' which I'm pretty sure is not a well-known company. I got it on Amazon with a bunch of gift-cards I had and it's a beauty, so I'll leave you a link.

What have your favourites been this month? Let me know in the comments below!
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