What I Got For Christmas

Hello everyone, first off I just want to say what every other blogger probably says when they write this post, so I am going to be like everyone else for a moment. I want to say that I am not make this blog post to brag about what I got, or to make other people feel bad. I had a few people request this post, so I decided I would write it. I was really blessed this Christmas in all the gifts I received, and I am very grateful, especially for the fun times I had with my family and friends during Christmas. I hope you had a good Christmas and New Years, and I hope your week is going well. After that spiel let's get into it!

I received the Soleil Tan De Chanel, I have heard lots about this in the beauty/Youtube world. It is a cream bronzer base, I have been loving this. I wear it under my foundation and it gives you a healthy bronzed glow. 

I have started collecting Pandora rings. It all started when me and my mom got each other matching rings for each others birthday's. This is the third one that has been added to my collection. This is the Forever Love Ring, it is super cute, and I got it in a size that would fit my middle finger. I like wearing a lot of rings on my hands. 

This is the Mirance Touque from Aldo. I love the light grey color with the white furry pom pom. Touques are essential for the cold Canadian winters.

I really like this gift set, there are 6 sample mascaras and one sample eyeliner inside. Once you have tried and used all the samples, there is a card you can use to redeem a full size of the mascara you liked the most. I think this is a genius idea and it was really good value. My mom purchased this at Shoppers Drugmart, I am not sure if you can still purchase this set. 

This is awesome, it is a speaker that is waterproof and floats. I have used it in my bathtub and by floating in the water it creates great acoustics. 

Every year mom gets me and my brother pyjamas so this year she got me these, the pants are from Superstore and the shirt is from Walmart. They are both really soft, comfortable, and baggy (which is essential in pyjamas). 

This gift is one of those items you don't think you really need, but once you have it you never want to take it off. It is the comfiest thing ever, it is a robe from The Gap. The inside is so soft and I wear it everyday. This robe is like wearing blanket, the inside is so soft. 

I have always loved Lush products and this year I received the Father Christmas Gift Set. This set is filled with all bath bombs as you can see in the picture below. All the bath bombs in the set are apart of the Christmas bath bombs that come back each year. I really like this set because they all smell so good, I really like them all, there re no duds.  

The first time I saw this mug in Starbucks I was completely drawn to it. I don't know why, but I love it it, it is random, funny, and cute. The color of pink is really cute with the little yellow bananas. 

These cute initial earrings are really small, they are cute and dainty to wear. They are subtle to wear, and I really like wearing small studs. 

Thanks for reading! As you can see quite a few of my gifts were centered around comfort. As a university student I am always thinking about comfort. 

On a different note, ***I am announcing that I will be posting every Wednesday.*** I may also post some Sundays depending on my school schedule. If you want to be notified when I have posted you can sign up with your email, or follow my Twitter, Instagram, and Bloglovin' @makeupcuisine. 

All photos taken with my Canon T5i. 

Business enquires at makeupcuisine@hotmail.com.

Talk to you soon!

-Ashley

How I Saved My Dry Skin

Hi everyone, hope your Christmas was well and Happy New Year! Today's post is how I repaired my terribly dry skin. 

I have always had really dry skin, my forehead was exceptionally dry and flakey. I had tried so many things to fix it, I even resorted to Pinterest hacks, but nothing was working. So one day I was in Sephora and there was a trial kit of Laneige for $15, so I decided to give it a try. It claimed to be a hydration kit, and I was always looking for something to hydrate my skin. The kit contained Water Bank Moisture Cream, Water Bank Serum, Multi Cleanser, and the Water Sleeping Mask. 

I continued to use these products, and I quickly saw results. My skin felt softer and my makeup applied so smoothly. I was so excited, my skin had never been so hydrated. I knew that these products were worth buying the full size, so I did. I also added the toner to my skin care routine, I enjoy the toner for getting my skin extra clean after my Camomille Silky Cleansing Oil from the Body Shop. I did not use the Multi Cleanser from the kit very long, because there were small exfoliating beads in the cleanser that irritated my very sensitive skin. I enjoy an oil cleanser such as the one from The Body Shop, the oils in the cleanser are very moisturizing and gentle on my skin. 

I use the toner every morning and evening, along with the serum, and the moisturizer. The Water Sleeping Mask in the photo is still from the small kit I bought. You do not need a lot and I use it when I feel my skin needs an extra boost, which I would say is every few days. 

In the winter I add oils into my skin care routine. Lately I have been using Vitamin E Overnight Serum-In-Oil from the Body Shop, and I have received a sample from Sephora of the NUDE Skincare Progenius Omega Treatment Rescue Oil. I really like the NUDE Skincare Oil, it is very moisturizing on my skin, it sinks in nicely, and I feel it has helped the texture of my skin.

I would highly recommend Laneige skincare, you can find it in Sephora stores in Canada, and I know in the U.S. you can find it at Target. If you have really dry skin, or very sensitive skin I would highly recommend picking up this Laneige Hydration Trial Kit, this kit is larger than the one I bought, but there are more products to try. With a larger kit like this you can make a definite decision on what products you would like to purchase full size.

Thanks for reading! Hope this was helpful to people who have dry sensitive skin like me. These products have changed my skin completely, and I cannot recommend them enough! 

-Ashley

You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @makeupcuisine.

All photos taken with my Canon T5i.

Business enquiries email me at makeupcuisine@hotmail.com.

Christmas Q&A

Favourite christmas song?

My favourite Christmas song is O Holy Night, I really enjoy it as a duet, I also really like Josh Groban's rendition.

Do you go Boxing Day shopping? 

I have always gone with my family every year, it is crazy, but our family loves it. It has become a loved tradition.

Do you wear something cozy Christmas Day or something fancy? 

I wear pants and a nice top, I want to be comfortable but look nice. I have a feeling this year though I will be wearing a dress, because we are going out for a nice lunch instead of cooking.

Stocking or presents first? 

My family is German so we open our gifts Christmas Eve, it is a German tradition. We open our stockings Christmas morning.

What are some of your favourite Christmas movies?

My all time favourite Christmas movie is The Grinch!!!! I love it so much, I have even watched it in the summer time. I also really like Christmas Vacation, Deck the Halls, and Christmas with the Kranks.

What is your favourite thing about Christmas?

I really like walking around and seeing everything decorated, all the lights people put on their houses, and stores too. This will sound cheesy but I really like giving gifts to people picking out that perfect present for someone that you know they will love. I also really love all the baking. I know that is not one thing, but there is lots of fun things that happen around Christmas.

This is how I decorated my room for Christmas. I really like dim lighting in my room, so I decided to decorate my room with lots of lights. I also have a mini Christmas tree in front of my bed (ft. near the end). I also put a bow on the end of my bed.

This is a Christmas tree that is downtown in my city, by the outdoor skating rink. It is super cute and festive in the winter. Music is playing and you can skate and there is a gas fire pit to keep you warm. It is a really fun place to be in the winter.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed my quick Christmas post. I am very excited for Christmas, I love the little traditions that are at this time of year. If I do not post before Christmas, have a Merry Christmas! 

-Ashley

You can find me on Instagram and Twitter @makeupcuisine.

All photos taken with my Canon T5i.

Sephora Haul

Hello everyone, I got a coupon for Sephora where you spend $50 and get $20 off, so it though why not, sounds like a good deal. I realized as a left that everything I got was from the Sephora brand. They really have some great stuff, and they are more affordable than some of the other brands in Sephora.  I have already tried these items the past week so I also included a mini review. 

Let's get right into it!

Sephora PRO Tapered Crease Brush #19

This brush is really great for blending. It is very soft, so it doesn't poke me in the eye like the MAC 217 brush does. I would recommend it!

Sephora Hair Ties

I really like using these for putting my hair into a ponytail because I find it does not leave a kink in my hair, and they are very comfortable to wear on the wrist. 

Sephora Master Cleanse: Daily Brush Cleaner

I never really thought about buying something like this, because I wash my brushes regularly. But this is really good for quickly cleaning eyeshadow brushes when you want to go from using a dark shadow to a light shadow.

Sephora Rouge Shine Lipstick-Lovesick

I really love this it is very natural on the lips and quite moisturizing. I know the matte lip is a trend, but I personally like having shiny plump lips. This lipstick is so easy to put it on, it is like a lip balm with a bit of color.

Thanks for reading everyone, hope your week has been going well!

-Ashley 

You can find me on Instagram and Twitter @makeupcuisine.

All photos taken with my Canon T5i.

Monthly Makeup Menu

Hello everyone, instead of doing monthly favourites I starting, what I am calling, Monthly Makeup Menu (get it because my blog is called makeup cuisine, haha so clever). I will show you all the products I have been reaching for almost everyday that month, and show you the makeup look as a whole. I hope you enjoy this, opposed to the usual monthly favourites. Let's get started! Also, sorry that all the pictures are more on the blue side. There has been no sun where I live and there was snow casting a blue tint. All this resulted in my photos coming out with a blue tinge. Next time the photos will be better!

Pre-makeup Face

Laura Mercier Mineral Powder

This powder with the Sephora #45 brush work so well together, and I always seen to go back to this when I am tired of liquid foundation. I love the natural finish. 

Sephora Classic Multitasker Brush #45

Benefit Hoola Matte Bronzer

If you are a regular reader you know how much I love this bronzer it is the best! Perfect for adding warmth but can also be used for light contouring.

Quo Powder Brush

Found this brush when looking through my mom's old makeup collection. I really like this brush it picks up product really well and there is not a lot of fall out. I use it for bronzer and blush.

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Exposed

What can I say, this is one of my all time favourite blushes, and I highly recommend it to everyone.

L'Oreal Voluminous Superstar Mascara in Waterproof

I have really been enjoying this mascara, though I do not use the primer. I just really like the mascara on its own, I have been going for the natural fluttery look.

I forgot to take photos of the brow products I like using. I use the eyeshadow Faint from the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette it matches the color of my hair well, and I like the way powder looks in the brows apposed to pencil. I have also been loving the Benefit Gimme Brow in Medium/Deep. This is so great the keep my brows hairs in place an to give them a little lift. I kept the lips natural just with some EOS Lip Balm. 

Thanks for reading! 

-Ashley 

You can find me on Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin' @makeupcuisine.

All photos taken with my Canon T5i.

Top Five Sephora Picks for the Holidays

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Sephora is more pricey to shop at, but some of the items make great gifts to give and to put on your Christmas list. I thought it might be helpful to provide some of my favourite products that are worth getting this holiday season.

  

Benefits get your party on--contouring kit: This is a great kit they are selling in store at Sephora. It is $55 and you get 4 full size products, which is an actual value of $131 dollars. So it is a steal of a deal. I think it makes a great gift it comes in an adorable keepsake tin. This is also a great treat for yourself. The products are fantastic, and it is such a great value. There is not one product in this kit that I would not recommend. One last quick tip, with sets like these you can always split it up with other sets. This way you can save money and make personal sets depending on someones makeup tastes.

Sephora Cream Lip Stain: I Love these they are a great dupe for Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks. The Sephora ones are quite a bit less drying. In my opinion they last a lot longer on the lips, especially through eating and drinking. But with these Sephora stains I would recommend getting them without the glitter. I prefer the ones without sparkles that are just plain matte. I have 2 colors, Strawberry Kissed, and Marvellous Mauve.

Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment: I have 3 minis of these and one full size, Fresh comes out with mini sets for the holidays. But not everyone wants all the colors that can come in these sets. The minis have the same great quality as the full size, you will not be making a compromise there. These are so amazing they are so moisturizing and they have a decent amount of color. My favourite shade is Honey, on the Sephora Website they describe it as a warm nude. It is easy to slap on the lips without a mirror wake out the door kind of shade. They fade nicely between applications, and will not go patchy like a lipstick possibly can.

Perricone No Blush Blush: The name to me is a little deceiving, I know of course it is going to give off color, but it is very pigmented. Don't get me wrong I love how pigmented it is. I really like it a lot, the color is the kind of color you wish your cheeks are naturally. It needs to be blended out well, but it looks great on the cheeks. It is very pigmented and I think it would show well on darker skin tones, but I would test it first, because I am on the more fair side.






























Tarte-Amazonian Clay Blush: These blushes are awesome, they claim to be 12 hour wear blush, and I would say they live up to that claim pretty well. They stay on my cheeks the whole day, I would say they fade a touch, but that may be due to the fact that rest my face on my hands a lot. They are one of the longer wearing blushes I know of, and the colors are stunning. I have two of the blushes, the one on the right is a mini from Black Friday set last year (I think it was called captivating), the other blush on the left is exposed. They are both so beautiful. I especially love exposed because the color looks so good on the cheeks. It gives definition to the cheeks with providing nice color. It pairs very well with the Benefit Hoola Bronzer that was mentioned in the kit above. Using both these products you can go for a more subtle approach to the chiseled cheek look.

Thanks for reading, and I hope your week is going well!

-Ashley

All photos taken with my Samsung S6 Edge.

You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @makeupcuisine.

Current Fall Favourites

Like everyone says, "fall is my favourite season of the year." I really do enjoy fall but there is a piece of every season I love. Fall is a great season, but it is also time for me to change up my makeup routine. Time for dark lips, deeper blushes, and a bronzed face. Now for an array of my fall favourites.

Many people like a glowy face come fall to liven up their face, while others people like the polished matte look. Personally both can look good, and is usually a skin type preference. Lately I have have been mixing in both. I have gotten back into wearing my Laura Mercier Mineral Powder Foundation. I really like it a lot in the fall. It has really nice coverage and it wears nicely all day. I use the Classic Multitasker Powder Brush from Sephora, it is nice and dense, and it picks up the powder very well. 

When fall comes around I pull out my more deeper blushes. One of my favourites is Nars Sin. As you can see it is a purple blush with gold running through it. It looks really nice on the cheeks, which would look great on many skin tones. 

I have been into highlighting lately, I was never found of it before. But I have been enjoying liquid highlighter then apply a powder blush on top to lock it in. Two of my favourite liquid highlighters (and only liquid highlighter) are Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Moonstone (I have the travel size) and Benefit High Beam. The Becca Moonstone is more of a yellow based highlighter, and High Beam is a icey pink highlighter. I top it with Physicians Formula All-in-1 Custom Nude Palette, I have mine in natural nude. I use the top two rows depending on the what one of the liquid blushes I am using. I like using highlighter in the fall to keep my skin fresh with a nice glow. Most days I try to keep it subtle, but I can get a little too excited. But the Beauty Blender can take care of that, it works great to blend the little mistakes that are made. 

These are the products I use in fall to switch up my makeup. I know majority of the products were more highend, but these are just the products I have liked to use to change my makeup routine.

Let me know what products you like to use to change up your fall makeup routine.

Thanks for reading, hoped you enjoyed! 
-Ashley 
All photos taken with my Samsung S6 Edge. 
You can also find me on Twitter and Instagram @makeupcuisine.