Halloween Vacation

This week I have been so busy with planning my wedding(this saturday!!) and kids, and house and then my company that I work for now Halloween Alley, flew me out to their annual dealer meeting in Edmonton. 

I was so excited to go, I have only been there once on a sea cadet band trip to play a giant military band performance so I didn't get to do anything, kinda same deal I missed out on the mall and going to visit the wonderful Sweet Carousel Corsetry. But it was worth it! I had so much fun learning about the company, how to run and market my store, meeting everyone and of course  ALL THE AWESOME HALLOWEEN COSTUMES AND MAKEUP!!!

I was so excited I did me and my sisters nails for the trip, she is my partner in running this store.

weird coke cans tell the future: hers told her to share with her sister. mine told me to share with my best friend.

I used the new ChinaGlaze texture to do my halloween accent nails, one a pumpkin and the other candy corn(which I actually hate, they taste like rocks). 

I used the OPI acrylic nail base coat for my acrylic nails, and just now as I'm taking off my polish it did a decent job of not dying the nails black, I still will have to file the darker top layer off though because my next nails are planned to be light in colour for the wedding.

The texture worked out well for the pumpkin nail, it gave it that extra touch to the art making it feel more like a pumpkin. The candy corn because I had to layer other polishes on top turned out a mess in my opinion, from far it looks okay: but up close meh.

On Nikki's toes I did a little ghost and "BOO!" on her big toes and used a glow in the dark polish as a top coat.










On the first day we had how to used their vampire teeth and realistic tattoos.  The teeth are pretty cool because they are custom molded teeth. They used the heat activated silica beads that I used to make my orc teeth with. The tattoos are awesome, they stay on for days and look realistic. the edges don't peel right away or show.

I can't just be a nice girl eh? I grabbed the larger teeth meant for men and of course, this tattoo was perfect for here. (sorry for the offensive pic for those who did get offended)

The second day to break up the talk-y seminars we did 2 makeup workshops, one was face painting and the other was how to apply the appliances that we sell. Both my areas of expertise!(though I guess that makes me a bad listener because I jump ahead and just do my own thing because I know how to use the product) 

The appliance workshop was fun, we used a wound stack, gel and liquid blood and a bullet hole appliance.  All made by Wookie fx. I really like the gel blood we got because its just far superior to anything I have ever used before. It's super dark, still a bit runny and a little goes a loooooonnnggg way. It says fresh of hours(I was wearing a long skirt and I had to pull it to the side when sitting down otherwise it would stick to the blood).  Keep an eye out in the near future for what I have planned for these bullet hole applicances, it won't be bullet holes I can tell you that ;)

Damn high heels, always falling down and breaking my knee caps.

This was the rest of the time. Awesome props, they brought a awesome hearse to meet us for the fashion show, awesome cattered food, and of course the fashion show which I posted pics on my facebook.

I can't wait. Watch out in the next 2 months for freakshow grand openings, makeup workshops, costume workshops and much more!!

 xoxox Scotia-leigh.

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Product Review : Merle Norman Nude Inner Eyeliner and OPI Glitter Off

Last week and this week I hinted at that I acquired some new product to try out.

First from my instagram I tried out the new Merle Norman inner eyeliner in nude. I had gone in looking for a new lip pencil plus in a lighter nude than what I already have and this was suggested because its a mechanical liner.

• I normally hate mechanical liners, they seem to dry out faster because they don't have the wood around keeping in the moisture, but this one so far is super creamy.
• It went along my waterline really well. I didn't have to go back and forth to get that colour going through.
• Its more natural looking rather than a white.

The only con was offering this as a replacement for a lipstick, it will be awesome for blanking out my lip line to draw a new one on but its so small it would take too much to 
fill my lips.

a clearer view of the makeup

The Next Product was OPI's glitter off base coat. It works as a stretchy base coat that you can peel off from underneath so you don't have to struggle filing and using a ton of nail polish remover to get those sparkles off.

I also had wanted to try doing some butterfly nail art, so I used some different glitters(small pieces, large pieces, thick and thinner ones) on my toes. Once again when I first try stuff, I shouldn't be watching a movie at the same time(this time it was the Watchmen).

So that's the outcome with the OPI glitter off. 

• The glitter off goes on white but dries clear.
• when you do peel it off it doesn't pull your nail with it.
• most pieces come off in big chunks, not that messy.

The only con is that it takes a while to dry, probably a extra minute.

 xoxox Scotia-leigh.

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Grabs from Online, Sephora and ESP

Earlier today I posted on instagram  a new toy I got, a giant chrome gun. I asked what do you think it is and everyone got it right: its a hair dryer! 

This was my online grab I got this week. I have seen this on pinterest a million times and keep looking for it to get cheaper on ebay.  I couldn't help myself to this 1980's Jedoran .375 Magnum Gun hair dryer this time I looked at ebay. it was about 200-300$ but it still works and is just awesome to own. I don't want to actually use it on my hair, just have something so unique. 


My Sephora grabs were some makeup forever black chrome lip gloss, Sugar Rose tinted lip balm, Urban Decay Naked skin "ultra definition pressed finishing powder" and "weightless ultra definition liquid makeup", Marc Jacobs "Stone Jungle" polish, Nails INC leather and Ciate gold nail studs.

The makeup forever  lip gloss, isn't as thick as I thought it should be, it's black and might look better if I had a matte black base of lipstick.

A few years ago, at my 1st time I ever went to Sephora, I went for my birthday and I got a small sample of this Sugar rose tinted lip balm. I loved it so much I bought it again! Original Post here

Next I got the Urban Decay Naked foundations. I know how popular this line is, especially the eye shadow pallets that I decided that I didn't want to get at this time.

The weightless ultra definition liquid makeup has many many claims:

"100% of participants had a measurable improvement in the appearance of skin imperfections. 96% had a measurable improvement in skin radiance and 93% had measurable improvement in the appearance of fine lines"

left side of photo has Naked weightless liquid Ultra Definition foundation on it

Because it is so fine and thin for a liquid it feels amazing to have on your skin. it keeps good colour and even with a thin layer: it does cover most imperfections.

As my key word was MOST, if you have dry skin and haven't ex foliated, or for many dry sensitive skin people, you will need a primer or at least a moisturiser. otherwise as you can in the photos my flaky skin peaking through.

The Naked Skin Ultra Definition pressed finishing powder is all pros! it goes on really light, fills in imperfect spots and you can't even feel it!

I already posted also on instagam the pedicure I gave myself with my new Marc Jacobs "Stone Jungle" chrome nail polish. It goes on matte, but when you add a top coat it looks super shiny and like real chrome.

I tested out the nails INC leather and the Ciate gold studs together because I love the punk/metal look.

The leather polish dries super fast but you can't use a top coat with it. It even feels like leather!!! The studs I just glued on, and I think they'd work better with a gel top coat, I don't think they'll last every long just glued, because they are flat and nails are curved.

At ESP I got a LCN halloween and winter gel colour kits for fun. This 02 multicolour stars. I hate to admit it but it took me till today to ever use gel colour and I love it! Goes so so smoothly and I love this colour!

Super excited now for tomorrow I am off to Las Vegas! I hope to bring back another group of new products to try!

xoxox Mamma S.

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Starting Off the New Year Wrong

I do realize that it's my first post of 2014, and if you have been following my  facebook you'd know that just for the new year I wanted to do some fun nail art with a new polish I got.

Well following another facebook post I had made about how I am not liking Essie polish any more.
I still will randomly grab it and now I have my big regret and will never do so: my new years resolution.

Sorry that it's a negative review post. But out with the old and in with the new year of trying to find the perfect nail polish.








My last purchase of essie nail polish was "belugaria". its black with inlayed large sparkles. I thought it would be perfect for a back drop for nails.
It was not advertised as having matte smaller sparkles in it(well not where I bought it, online it does), and you can't see them through the glass.

Obviously I was surprised that it had this weird texture, not to say I don't like textured nail polishes, OPI's liquid sand is fine, I don't find it annoying to wear. (my liquid sand review)

•  This doesn't go on very well, usually some fuller sparkle nail polishes go on with a bit of trouble. But this was hard to get to lay even in a streaky way
• even when trying to set a top coat over, it won't set right, parts stick up and out of  it.

without top coat

with top coat, only one nail looks okay(take away that I was so mad that I didn't even bother to do any clean up around my cuticles)

• All I can really say it looks nice in the bottle. even the better pictures online look bad to me. 

Sorry essie but you are no longer valued to me, and especially this one is straight into the garbage bin.

Once salon quality brands go public, salons shouldn't use them anymore for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is that well if you can go buy it for  5$ at wal mart, why would you pay the worth of 8$ that's part of the full manicure price. 

Another, what I think is the more important reason is, once production of a product gets bigger, it's very hard to keep the same quality within that product. that goes for the actual chemicals used in the product and the ideas of the people working for the company.

What are your favourite and least favourite nail polishes?

xoxox Scotia-leigh.

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Hot Buns Review

Very rarely do I buy "As Seen on TV" stuff. But I saw it on the impulse rack at Target and figured... why not?
Lately I have been loving the top knot bun look. I never liked having my hair like this before because when I was a kid I was in highland dancing, sea cadets and soccer, so my hair was always in a bun.
But after getting some more surgery(3 months I will reveal this process) and now being a housewife: I find buns are just easier.

so for those who follow me also on my instagram, you saw this the other day. Sorry I am one day late.

These are the rollers I bought, I didn't get the dark brown(the one I should of gotten) but because I was running around and just kinda grabbed it, I got the blonde ones.


As you can see on the box they come in 2 sizes, I had ended up showing my sister this and because my nice is also in sea cadets, she needs a bun. She has medium length thick, straight hair. It does not stay in anything so I hoped this would help her have perfect hair for cadets.

When I first tried these, I could not for the life of me get the snap to work, also I put them in backwards so it looked messy.
 Then I tried again when my arms weren't hurting so much, and I got it!

    

• when you wrap your hair around it, it gets almost perfectly smooth.
• its easier then pining your hair around a pony tail
• it keeps its shape 

• the snap I find is hard to do(mostly reaching behind your head: you're blind. and then also if you have long finger nails like me)
• when you pull the elastic out to tighten it and wrap it around the bun, it messes up your perfectly laid hair.
• you still have to bobby pin your hair down so its not flopping around from side to side.

so for anyone who's interested this is how you use it:

as you can see the different between

hot buns:

the only reason there's pinned hair around the bottom of these is the extra pieces from my clip in bangs

and just wrapping it around a pony tail:

has anyone else tried these? or do you have a better method?

xoxox Scotia-leigh.

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Instagram Trick Answer

If you were following my instagram yesterday you would of seen this post:

the answer to the trick was this:

I didn't actually get my bangs cut!

I found at ESP clip-in bangs. I love clip in hair cause I'm too scared and beholden to my red hair that I'm trying to grow out to do anything else to it .... like put black streaks in or cut my bangs back to short ones.

So I bought a pair of these in blonde and as I already had an appointment at Modern Twist, I got my girl to dye the blonde bangs up to match my red with some Chi Chromashine. 
"CHI Chromashine Conditioning Intense Demi-Permanent Bold Color offers you true versatility to create natural hues, deep vibrant tones, and intense bold color in one system without peroxide and leaving hair with a gloss shine finish. Now you can express your freedom and choose the right intense color for that natural or bold creative look..."

I love these bangs, they look super cute and don't give me a headache like some other hair pieces do sometimes. It human hair too so I can dye it and wash it and style normally. 



Thanks for those who all tried to take a guess at my trick!

xoxox Mamma S.

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High Heels for Beginers

I was going through my youtube  subscriptions today to see if I have been missing anything.. and I found the perfect video. 

Michelle Phan is an amazing makeup artist and I highly suggest watching her videos, I do all the time and get great tips from her vids.

She had recently posted this video(above) about "how to walk in high heels".
I really needed to watch this video because since my weight loss and my back healing a bit better from it... I've really wanted to wear my heels out more. I have a decent collection and wear them sometimes, but as the video says I always have a backup pair of flats so I can actually do stuff other then sitting there.

Just for a review this is a good chart of different kinds of shoes:




















My usual types of shoes are flats. Especially when you have back problems, can't reach down to tie shoes up or anything they're the easiest. My second kind of shoes I like are platforms and skate shoes. I love the height that flat platforms can give me as I'm 5'2" and can't reach anything, I look short next to most of my friends and all my boyfriends have been taller then me so its hard to hug and kiss.

Now when I talk about my weight loss: I'm not at all saying that plus sized people can't wear heels! Heels are based on your comfort level. there is a challenge for anyone who's more top heavy to stand up straight and then balance on top of that though..But they are great for making your legs look longer.

So I had herd the advice before about trying to learn in smaller heels first and working your way up to it and I am getting it! Porn star heels here I come!

This is level 1. I wear the studded wedges the most, they are super comfortable, I can wear them all day and night and even mosh in them. The plain black ones are good for work and these I wear all day at the salon.

The taller leopard print wedges I still have a hard time with. 

and unfortunately the leopard tattoo print ones are too big on me. They are a size 9 and I lost weight so I went back to my size 7.5/8 shoes.

Also not pictured is a suede burgandy pair of kitten heel boots that I love to wear and are super comfortable... I really should of bought 5 pairs of these in other colours when I found them.

This is level 2. I am currently working in the pink/nude pair and the blood splatter. the Dorthy heels I can wear  out, and the black vinyl ones were okay(once again size 9 and too big). The top marry janes, have a thicker heel but they are taller then what they look like- a kitten heel- so I have a harder time in them :s

These babies are my level 3's. I found them at value village and can't wait till I can get myself up to walking in these stilettos.... soo metal.... *drool*.

BOSS level : I do have a pair of these, in leather(not vinyl like in the photo) and I can manage to stand in them and wear them for at least 20 minutes before severe foot cramping begins. They aren't really made for walking in but some people can do it like the wonderful Miss Bettie Paige.

What kind of shoes do you like the best? What are your dream shoes?

xoxox Mamma S.

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