My New Venture

Hey loves!

I have made some pretty big changes in my life recently and have started some new projects that I am super excited about! Today I thought I would share my biggest life change with you.

I have always loved makeup. As a small kid I remember spending hours with my Gram just looking through her makeup and trying everything on and just loving every second of it. My entire family is very “natural” faced people, they rarely wear makeup and don’t have a huge interest in it. I take a lot of pride being different from everyone in my family and having a passion about something that no one else knows too much about. I feel like I can offer them something that they aren’t too familiar with. I am so thankful for those hours spent in my Gram’s dressing room. They made me into the makeup and fashion loving woman I am today!

This summer I wanted to throw myself into the beauty world, to be able to express things I loved with people I had more in common with. That’s why I decided to start this blog. I wanted to share my new products and be able to talk about them for hours with people who can relate. If it weren’t for starting this blog I don’t think I would have made the huge decision I did.

A couple of weeks ago I started my own business. I am new a freelance self-taught makeup artist and I own Lips & Lashes Makeup Artistry by Stefany Allison. It was such a huge decision for me. I have been known in my small community as the “designer/photographer” and unfortunately that wasn’t making me happy, so I stopped. I was afraid people would think “I thought she was a photographer? Now she’s doing makeup? Make up your mind crazy!” But it hasn’t happened. I have received SO MUCH support from everyone that its overwhelming to me. I was known as the little fashionista in school. All my friends knew how much I loved makeup and knew that I could make something of myself in that world. I just never believed in myself.

I have gone through so many hardships this year. I’ve dealt with extremely anxiety and depression and thankfully have been getting help for it. Which was a HUGE step in my life and I’m very proud of myself. Because of my anxiety, I never felt good enough. EVER. So when I started this business, the amount of support I received was unbelievable to me. Maybe I could do this? Maybe I can actually be successful in something I love so much. I’m literally crying typing this because I never thought I would feel this happy and content in my life. Ever. I’m just so happy with my new venture.

Sorry for the novel I just wanted to share a Huge new change in my life and I am hoping to bring more makeup tutorials in the future! I have a section of my Facebook page that shows my #faceoftheday. I thought sharing my personal makeup looks with people would keep them more involved in my work and page!

I’m going to share a couple looks I have done on myself and hopefully share some client work in the near future! I hope you all got through this without falling asleep ha 🙂 xoxo

5 Winter Polishes!

 

 

 

Hey loves! Stef here.

I have been neglecting my nails for a little while now, work wears down my polish a lot so I don’t bother to do them much during the week! I have been trying to make more of an effort to be sure to paint them every Friday night so I have a fresh mani for the weekend.

Today I wanted to share my top 5 winter polished that I have been loving!

 

Sally Hansen Greige- This is what I have on my nails right now. I love the formula of this polish! It’s super cheap and has a great thick formula that helps it last longer. The colour is seriously To Die For!

O.P.I. Yodel Me On My Cell- I am a huge OPI fan and when I seen this colour it caught my eye immediately! I was a little worried it would be a thinner formula, but it definitely has a great consistency. The colour is nothing I have ever seen before. There are tons of different blue and green tones in it, it looks like a different colour in all kinds of lighting!

Sally Hansen Cherry Red- You always need a great staple red in your collection, especially around the holidays! Sally Hansen’s polish is my top 3 favourite formulas and this red is the perfect colour. It’s bright enough to be noticed, but nothing too crazy.

L’Oreal She’s So Matte- When the whole matte nail trend was going on throughout the summer, I went on a hunt for a drugstore polish I could use! I stumbled upon this product from L’Oreal and I really like it! Unfortunately, because it’s a matte formula, it does chip pretty easily. For me, it’s a one day wear type of polish. I sometimes like to top it off with a glossy top coat because I love the thick and dark black the polish is!

Sally Hansen Thinking Of Blue- This polish looks much brighter in the photo than what it truly is. This blue is the perfect in between tone. It’s not too dark where it’s almost black and it’s not too bright of a blue for winter!

I hope you all liked this post, what are your favourite winter polishes?

xoxo.

Current Favourites

Hey loves! Stef here.

Today I thought I would share some products that I have been currently loving for the past few months. Some have become new staples in my beauty routine and some have been life savers for the cold and dry winter weather!

 

Elizabeth Grant Collagen Re-Inforce Platinum 24hr Firming Eye Cream- It’s a mouth full of a name to say, but this cream has been a favourite of mine for a while now. I’m only 23 years old, but I want to be proactive with my skin care to ensure that it stays firm and youthful! This cream is very light and thin and it feels so nice under the eyes in the early mornings.

Got2b Rise n’ Shine Pomade- I lost my favourite styling cream this month, so I had to use my back up. I didn’t like this product when I first purchased it because I thought it was too thick and it just seemed to make my hair chunk together, if that makes sense? For some reason it doesn’t seem to do that anymore and I really do enjoy the way it leaves my hair looking and smelling!

Serious Skincare Pure-Pep Creme Rich- I just discovered this in my drawer a couple of weeks ago actually. I have been struggling with Extremely dry and flaking skin around my nose and I needed a thicker cream to help repair it. This has been doing wonders for my skin (as well as more frequent exfoliating). It has a strong scent, but hasn’t seemed to break my skin out which is much appreciated.

Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge- I still won’t allow myself to spend $30-40 on the beauty blender, so I have been sticking with this sponge. I do like it quite a lot and it seems to do a pretty good job with keeping my foundation even and flawless looking.

Laura Mercier Oil Free Foundation Primer- I love this stuff! I love how it’s such a thin formula and doesn’t seem to leave my skin feeling like silicone. It makes my makeup last quite a while and hasn’t broken me out! Definitely recommend this product.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Monte Carlo- I finally purchased one of these and I will definitely be getting more. I love the texture of this gloss? lipstick? glosstick? The colour is to die for as well!

Maybelline The Falsies Big Eye Mascara in Blackest Black- This mascara and I have had a love/hate relationship ever since I purchased it. It was SO watery when I first started using it. It left enormous clumps on my lashes and was just not natural looking at all. I ended up leaving the lid open a little bit for a couple days to let it dry out a bit. That seemed to work wonders for the formula, because now I really love it! I also never used to apply mascara to my bottom lashes, but with the small wand end, I can’t leave my house without it on the bottom.

Rimmel Eyeliner in Pure White- As you can see, it’s a favourite of mine and Bell’s! This eyeliner is so gross looking and so tiny, I really do need to get another one sometime soon, haha. It is the whitest white I have found and it seems to last on my waterline for a decent amount of time!

Hope you all enjoyed this post!

xoxo.

What’s In My Purse?

Hey loves! Stef here.

I was going through my bag the other day, thinking I really needed to clean it out, and that’s when I thought that maybe I should do a post about what’s in my bag! In the winter months, I normally like to use larger bags and totes, just because I seem to have the need to carry around more stuff with me.

The purse I am currently using is the Kate Spade Cedar Street Medium Harmony Tote. I love this bag so much, it’s enormous, durable and very chic looking.

The only downside to this purse is the fact that I can fit anything and everything in it! Haha. My purse was so filled with garbage I couldn’t even believe it!

Let’s start off with the random stuff (that’s always the funnest)

Ok, so. I’m just going to address this first. Yes, I did have 8 utensils in my bag. No, I was not aware of it. They are now in the sink to be washed!

Ok, moving on! Haha…

I always keep my wallet on me at all times (for obvious reasons), as well as my glasses and emergency kit. I usually keep tums, band aids, kleenex, advil and tampons in there! I have been a little under the weather lately, so I like to stock up on halls and throat lozenges to soothe my throat. I really love the Ricola Green Tea & Echinacea ones, they’re delicious and help with a dry throat.

The items I was most excited to find in my bag were my earrings that I thought were gone forever, my camera remote and 10 bucks!

 

Now onto the beauty products I like to hoard in my bag!

I usually always bring the lipstick that I am wearing with me, but then forget to take it out and then they accumulate to 8 lip products!

My lips go through hell in the cold, winter months, so I like to have lip chap with me at all times. I also always have my blotting sheets in my bag (oily girl problems)

I like to keep a body spray or perfume in my bag. I have a travelo that I have never used because I cannot figure out how to use it! Haha, the instructions are so easy, but I honestly can’t figure it out. Help?!

Other than that, I like to carry some touch up products that I may need during the day, as well as a compact mirror!

 

I hope you all enjoyed getting to peak into my extremely random bag contents!

xoxo.

Christmas Home Tour!

Hey loves! Stef here.

As I previously mentioned, I wanted to share a tour of my home to show you all my modern decorating ideas for Christmas! I didn’t go all out this year, mostly just decorated our living room and a bit in the kitchen, but I’m really happy with how it all turned out. I hope you all enjoy it as well!

A lot of the decor I did it myself (I’m seriously not crafty AT ALL, so the fact that I was able to accomplish some of these DIYs was extremely astonishing to me)

I got all of my inspiration from Pinterest, as most people do! Last year was our first official Christmas together in our house, so I went a little too crazy and bought anything and everything that caught my eye and it was just way too tacky haha! So this year I wanted to go for more of a rustic/chic look. I really love how my ideas turned out and I hope you get some inspiration for your room/apartment/home as well!

Let’s get started! 🙂

We had first decided to do just black and silver this year for Christmas, but seeing as I’m extremely anal, I couldn’t find just strictly black and silver wrapping paper to match everything, I could only find gold, silver and black. Therefore, I just had to add gold to the scheme as well, which turned out to work really well!

I made my little coffee table Christmas tray out of garland from the Dollar Store, as well as the tea lights, pine cones and square glass vases. I added some silver accent balls and a glittery tree to pull it all together! By the way, this candle is my Everything!! Smells just like outside and Christmas, it’s delicious.

For my other accent table decor, I did a DIY post on it if you want to recreate it yourself! Super cheap & easy 🙂

For my gallery wall, all I did was print off festive photos from the internet onto photo paper, as well as some new and updated winter photos of my and my boyfriend! I love this wall, it always brings a smile to my face when I see it 🙂

The glitter deer head canvases were probably the most time consuming DIY I did, but totally my favourite! I get So many compliments on these pieces, everyone always asks where I bought them and if they costed a lot. I think in total, this DIY costed me about $5? Greatest thing I’ve mad yet that’s for sure!

I always get so excited to set up the tree, but since we’ve moved in together and adopted 3 menacing cats, it’s more of a stress causer than anything. As you can see, my cats like to play around and in the tree. They’ve actually broken some branches because they actually sit in the tree! If anyone has any tips to keeping cats out of your tree PLEASE let me know, I’m desperate!

In the kitchen, I wrapped two existing canvases, added a beautiful thick wreath and places a large glass vase filled with silver and gold balls. It’s so effortless and chich looking!

Ok, novel’s over 😉 Hope you enjoy the pics!

xoxo.

Christmas Outfit Inspiration

Hey loves! Stef here.

My mind has been on nothing but Christmas lately! I have our Christmas tree up already, along with other decor around the house to make it feel more festive. I am planning on doing a little “Christmas Home Tour” post soon, so look out for that!

Today I wanted to share my current outfit inspiration for my Christmas outfit this year. I love getting inspiration from Pinterest and I stumbled across tulle skirts. I fell in love immediately. Such a girly piece, paired with more casual items to make it appropriate for a Christmas party or dinner!

I am going to share some photos that I have found for my inspiration, as well as some pieces that I will (most likely) be purchasing for my Christmas Day outfit!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These two particular outfits really caught my eye! I absolutely love how mixing a very causal plaid shirt, with the tulle skirt and statement necklace looks! It’s so effortlessly chic looking and that’s what really inspires me! I also love how casual and comfortable it can be worn.

As for my personal outfit, I found some pieces from Forever 21 Canada that I really love! I wish I could have found a more full skirt, but I will be pairing it with black tights for extra warmth. I can’t exactly decide if I want to try the plaid shirt with the skirt or with the mesh sleeved crop top!

Which would you choose?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you all enjoyed this post!

xoxo.

Candle Crazy

Hey loves! Stef here.

I am so obsessed candles! I love the fall and winter season because my favourite scents come out. I love spicy/cinnamon scents, as well as outdoor and tree scents.

I thought I would quickly share my favourite candles that I have been burning constantly lately!

Left to Right:

B&BW Pumpkin Pecan Waffles, Pumpkin Spice and Salted Caramel from Carlton cards, Apple Pie from Dollarama and Claire Burke Fresh Royal Fir

I have been burning these candles every day and now that winter is finally here, my favourite would definitely have to be the fresh royal fir! It smells like Christmas trees and beautiful snowy days 🙂

I hope you all enjoyed this quick little post. What are your favourite scents?

xoxo.

Modern Christmas Decor DIY

Hey loves! Stef here.

November is here and that means my Christmas mode is ON! I absolutely love Christmas and decorating, so today I thought I would share a quick and easy DIY for a modern twist to Christmas decor.

This year I want to go with a more rustic/modern look with my holiday decor, so when I found this cute mason jar decor piece, I knew I had to make it for myself!

Step 1- Supplies

You will need:

3 mason jars (or however many you want to use)

Twine

White crystals

3 Flameless candles

A plate or decorative dish

Scissors

Step 2- Twine

Cut 3 long pieces of your twine and wrap it around the top of the mason jar.

Tie into a double knot at the front and trim the long pieces!

Step 3- Crystals

Add crystals to your jars. I only used a small amount because my candles were a little big for my mason jars and I didn’t want them to be sticking out the top!

Step 4- Candles

Add your candles into your jars. You may have to wiggle them into the crystals so the bottom is somewhat covered. Turn them on and voila! You now have a cute Christmas display. I added some crystals onto the dish to make it look like snow. I also added some pinecones and silver ornaments around the dish to add more of a Christmas look!

I hope you all enjoyed this little DIY. I’m not an extremely crafty person, but I loved how simple and chic this project turned out to be!

xoxo.

Tea Time

Hey loves – Kira Here!

I am a little old lady when it comes to tea, it is delicious and I can’t get enough! Davids Tea and Teavana are my favourite places to go to get tea. The loose leaf tea by far has a bolder taste and in my opinion tastes a lot better then the tea you by at the grocery store.

I have three different option depending on how much time I have and what kind of flavour I am craving.

When I am in a rush I got straight to my kurig and pop in one of these bad boys! DELICIOUS!

When I am craving an iced tea I go straight to my Teavana’s Berry Kiwi Colada.

Tasting Notes:

Bold flavors of strawberry, kiwi, and prickly pear with sweet pineapple & mango

Description:

Loaded with the flavors of kiwi, prickly pear, mango, pineapple & strawberry with just a hint of creamy coconut, this tropical taste adventure creates the perfect getaway to your own personal paradise. Bold flavors of strawberry, kiwi, and prickly pear with sweet pineapple & mango.

http://www.teavana.com/the-teas/herbal-teas/p/berry-kiwi-colada-herbal-tea

And for this time of year I had to throw in a pumpkin flavoured tea! And for that it is Davids Tea all the way! Pumpkin Chia!

A bit about the tea…

Let’s face it, the best thing about fall is pumpkin pie. And this spiced black tea is arguably just as delicious. It’s got all the warmth of cinnamon, carrot and cloves, plus the sweetness of caramel and pumpkin candy. For a true autumn treat, top it up with steamed milk and stir in a spoonful of brown sugar. It’ll make you wish it were fall all year round.

Ingredients:

Black tea, cinnamon, cloves, lemon peel, carrot, caramel bits, pumpkin candies, natural and artificial flavouring*. Contains milk and soy.

http://www.davidstea.com/pumpkin-chai?&TF=&DEID=

I hope you enjoyed my tea collection!

And remember to stay beautiful!

xo

Hair Care Routine

Hey loves! Stef here.

With all the colouring and bleaching I’ve been putting my hair through the past 2 months, I thought I would share the products I use to keep my hair healthy!

Of course, after bleaching 4 times, my hair is drier than usual, but I take really great care of my hair so I don’t get the breakage and frizziness that colouring can cause.

Here are the products that I use to keep my hair as healthy as possible!

Herbal Essences Colour Me Happy Shampoo- I bought this product on a whim (it was on sale) and I wasn’t expecting too much from it. But, it has helped my colour last longer in my hair! Obviously with purple and blue hair, the colour fades much faster, but I find this shampoo did help the colours life span. I have dyed my hair back to brown, but I do want it to stay rich, so I will continue to use this shampoo.

L’Oreal Paris Hair Therapy Colour Radiance Protecting Mask- Obviously after bleaching your hair 4 times in a 2 month span, your hair is going to be crying for some moisture! I use this mask daily to add back all the moisture I pulled from it. It smells amazing and has given some life back to my hair!

Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Double Care Leave In Conditioner- My hair needs extra moisture, so I do need a leave in conditioner. I have been really liking this particular product for my hair. Only thing I’m not too keen on is how long it lasts. I think I bought it 2 weeks ago and it’s less than half full now!

I also wanted to add some of the styling products I use in my hair! I have very short hair, but I love to have a texture and volume.

I am so in love with doing hair and ever since I chopped mine all off (about two years ago) I still love to try and style my hair differently!

L’Oreal Paris Studio Matt & Messy Styling Putty- This. Stuff. Oh my god it’s my favourite ever. I’m not a huge fan of this specific hair styling line, but this product is the best I’ve ever used when it comes to styling products! A lot of putties and styling creams are sticky and gunk your hair up and make it look piecey. Although I want texture, I want it to look natural. This product has no shine in it, it is completely matt and leaves your hair looking naturally messy. I highly recommend this product to anyone!

John Frieda Luxurious Volume Root Spray- Another styling favourite. I spray this all throughout my hair before blow drying. It leaves my hair so textured and adds tons of volume and thickness.

Tresemme Tres Two Hairspray- I have used soooo many hairsprays in my lifetime. I am a hairspray-a-holic. I will always and forever come back to this hairspray. It is the best for full hold and my style lasts all day!

Aussie Instant Freeze Hairspray- Again, like I said, I’m a hairspray -a-holic so I like my hair to be hard and not move at all. With this hairspray, your hair won’t move for 3 days! It’s honestly like spraying glue in your hair and I LOVE it!

 

I hope you all enjoyed this hair post!

xoxo.