The Miracle of Micellar Water

I am not a super qualified beauty blogger but hear me out: don't we all aspire to have the french girl beauty routine down pat?

Spotlight: Tro & Co.

There is nothing better than finding a new brand to be obsessed with and knowing that it’s completely manufactured in your own country. It’s easy to support fast-fashion stores like H&M, Zara, and Forever 21 knowing where their price points lie, but it’s even easier to support local brands and shops knowing that their products come from your homeland. Since moving to Toronto in particular, I’ve begun to realize how many incredible artisans the city is home to, like Dan; the founder of Whisky & Spice. Another individual who is making waves in Toronto is Tro of Tro & Co.

Tro is super talented and at the helm of his own clothing line. Offering various streetwear-esque tees and sweatshirt options made from bamboo, Tro&Co catches your attention with the graphics and keeps it there with affordable price points. I had the opportunity to ask Tro a few questions about the line, being a designer in Toronto, and the future of Tro & Co.

The Whisper Collection

I have to admit something… I’ve never paid a lot of attention to the beauty industry. As someone who’s interested in fashion, I do have an interest in beauty, but not nearly as much. I think a big part of it is that the concept of makeup and techniques required to maximize it’s potential baffles me and so in part I don’t have a connection to it as most women do. That said, I have always been someone who cares about her nails. Ever since I went for my first manicure a few years ago, they have been one of my favourite treats when I can go and get one. I’ll often opt for at home manicures or just bare nails but with the release of Deborah Lippman’s spring collection, I know I’ll be paying more attention to painting them. The four shades are muted nudes that are versatile and elegant. The colours are fairly sheer so she has launched a CC base coat which is like a primer for the nails. You can also use two coats of it as a top coat if you want to get a matte effect. If you’re interested in what the polish looks like on, the colours were used during New York Fashion Week at Badgley Mischka, Theory, and Donna Karan. You can buy the polishes at Sephora.

{image via Racked}

Catbird Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary

If you’re not familiar with Williamsburg based shop Catbird, consider this an overdue introduction. Known for their curated selection of jewelry and gifts, this year marks their ten year anniversary. Wanting to do something special to celebrate such an important milestone, they created the Ten Year Collection.

“An homage to the streets of our city and you – our kittens. Each piece, made with love in our Williamsburg studio. To thine own swan be true.”

{image via Racked}

The description of the collection (in bold) comes from their website alongside the products available. From kitten matches ($4) to the Swan Queen Ring ($5800), these are pieces that will hold the same significance ten more years down the road than they do now. That’s the lovely thing about Catbird – they know that true beauty never fades away.

Halloween Nail Art

{photo via Racked}

Sticking to the Halloween theme, here is a post geared for the beauty obsessed. Nail brand NCLA has released this year’s Halloween nail wrap collection and they pack a punch. For those of you, like myself, who haven’t quite mastered the at-home mani, nail wraps are a great alternative. Featuring designs like eyeballs, sugar skulls, and spiderwebs, they are a great addition to your Halloween look.

With six different kinds of wraps available, you have a variety of options: Calavera (sugar skulls), Macabre (skeletons), Oculus (eyeballs), All Hallow’s Eve (spiderwebs and bats), Dracula’s Bride (blood splatters), and Web of Lies (black and white spiderwebs). Each pack includes 26 stickers and a nail file for $16, so you and your friends can play around.

Would you wear festive nail wraps? Let me know in the comments!

Into The Gloss Introduces New Cosmetics Line

{image via Glossier}

For the past few years, I have been an avid reader of beauty blog Into The Gloss. Founded by Emily Weiss, the site features the products loved by powerful women (Top Shelf), trials and tribulations of using products, advice and tips, and much more. My favourite posts on Into The Gloss are their drugstore features as they have a variety of products that are affordable yet do a comparable job to high end products.

After years of running a beauty blog, it only made sense for the team to venture into creating beauty products. In a heartfelt letter posted on their blog, Weiss wrote about how the team listened to the community and is using their knowledge along with what the people want, to create affordable products that women will love. The result? Glossier, pronounced like dossier (gloss-ee-ay).

For the Phase 1 product lineup, Glossier introduced skin care. Weiss writes: “The dream products – Soothing Face Mist, Priming Moisturizer, Balm Dotcom, and Perfecting Skin Tint, are everything you need, in my humble opinion, to immediately look like the best version of yourself.”

You can buy the products separately or get the group for $80 (which, in my humble opinion, is a steal!)