1) Furla Metropolis Mini Crossbody - $405 CAD
I have been encountering this mini bag all over social media though it doesn't seem to be a very well known brand.  This bag has been compared to the Chanel Square Mini Bag due to their similar dimensions and flap, however, in my opinion, other than those two factors, I find the Furla bag to be fairly different from the Chanel bag.  The leather, clasp, chain, and colours all differ between the two, thus making the Furla bag unique on its own and not simply a "'dupe" of the Chanel.

There's many things about this bag that I absolutely love.  I find the size and style to be quite classic yet chic and can be dressed up or down for either day or night time wear.  I also love how this bag comes in so many colours and prints, and how it uses a beautiful light gold hardware.

Note: Canadians cannot purchase from Furla's online store, will need to go through Saks, Nordstrom etc.

Purchase and read more on the Furla Metropolis Mini Bag HERE

2) Michael Kors Selma Crossbody (Medium) - $278 CAD
I don't have the Medium Selma, but I do have the Mini one and let me tell you, it's a workhorse.  I have had it for almost 5 years now and have worn it continuously, non-stop and it is still in almost perfect condition, thanks significantly to the Saffiano leather and its structured style.  The leather is so easy to clean and quite thick, so it holds up very well.  The structured style ensures that the bag never loses its shape.  The overall style of the bag is very classic and minimalist, which makes the bag easy to pair with any outfit and for any occasion, even a decade from today.  The strap is also adjustable but only by a couple of inches, however, you can  remove the straps and clip in your own if you prefer. 

My Mini Selma can comfortably fit my iPhone 6, bulky keys, a small wallet, a coin purse, earphones, a couple lipsticks, and with room to spare.  Click HERE to read my full review of the Mini Selma Crossbody bag.

Purchase and read more on the Michael Kors Selma Crossbody HERE

3) Rebecca Minkoff Love Crossbody (Medium) - $405 CAD
This is a beautiful bag that resembles the popular, but oh so pricey, Chanel Boy Bag (which is over $6,000 CAD for the medium!). I recently purchased this bag and I find that it's very well made, of great quality, comes in a variety of colours and fabrics, and can fit quite a lot of things.  I can easily fit an iPad Mini, iPhone 6, a card holder, a longer wallet, my bulky keys, and a catchall, with some room to spare.  The chain is a bit heavy but it is sturdy and well made, and there is a magnetic pocket at the back of the bag which is super convenient for items that you use often.

The only thing is that I would recommend avoiding the "nubuck" leather as it can be difficult to clean, especially if you get a lighter coloured bag like I did.  The "nubuck" leather however, feels luxurious and looks amazing but if you're like me and you're not someone who likes to baby their bags, I would avoid going for the nubuck leather in a light colour.  But if you don't mind taking the extra steps to really take care of your bag, then go for it!

Purchase the Rebecca Minkoff Love Crossbody and find more styles HERE

4) Coach Parker -$425 CAD
Is anyone else loving the direction that Coach is taking these days?  Their new products are unique but wearable and they kind of have a retro/vintage flair, which makes them stand out from other contemporary designers.  Coach has also brought back their "signature monogram" but in a sophisticated manner which I actually think looks pretty nice, as opposed to how the print was used in the 2000s.  The Coach Parker is one of the bags that has adorned the "signature monogram" very tastefully, however, you can also find it in a variety of other colours without the monogram: from lilac, to colour blocks, to black with studs, to tea rose embellishments.  I personally also love the tea rose clasp that comes with some of the Parkers - I find it so feminine and unique.  If you don't like the tea rose clasp, fear not, the clasp on most other Parkers are a simple "C" turnlock.

This bag is also a convertible bag, similar to Rebecca Minkoff's Love Crossbody and Tory Burch's Fleming (see below) where you can change the length of the shoulder strap from a shoulder bag to a longer crossbody.

Purchase the Coach Parker Bag and find more styles HERE

5) Tory Burch Fleming Convertible (Small) - $630 CAD

This bag also takes its inspiration from another famous Chanel bag - the Classic Flap.  Although you can see the similarities between the two, I find that the Tory Burch Fleming bag has a number of features that differentiates itself from the Chanel, for example, the tassel, the leather's print and texture, the shape of the flap itself etc.  I don't have this bag, but having seen it in real life, it is beautiful and the leather is smooth and of good quality.  The great thing about this bag is that it is "convertible" so that the length of the strap can be changed into a shoulder bag or a longer cross body.

Purchase the Tory Burch Fleming Bag HERE

Leave a comment below on which bag is your favourite or if you know of any other bags that are stylish but affordable!

I have been searching high and low for an opaque baby pink that is elegant and classy, and not too bubblegum pop which I think I've finally found with Essie's Minimalistic.

Two coats of Essie Minimalistic nail polish

Colour

Essie's Minimalistic is a beautiful, creamy baby pink that isn't too bright but also not too pale.  I find that it's just on the cusp of venturing into Baby Spice territory if it were a bit more bright or a bit more red/purple, but the polish manages to reel itself back and maintain a professional yet still girly and cute colour.

Opaqueness 

The first coat, like many of Essie's pinks, is rather sheer and streaky, however, on the second coat, it becomes 90% opaque with some areas still showing the nail due to streakiness.  I would recommend three coats if you want complete opaqueness.

Two coats of Essie Minimalistic nail polish

Formula and Finish

I had a bit of trouble with the formula unfortunately - or perhaps it's just my application technique.  The first coat goes on nicely, and the second coat can be hit or miss.  I found that the second coat can glide on to the nail easily - no streaks, no goopiness, and perfectly even or it can be a streaky mess with the polish drying too quickly and going on too thick to fix.  This is definitely a polish where a larger brush would help fix some of these issues.

Two coats of Essie Minimalistic nail polish

Additionally, I had a big problem with air bubbles with this polish - this is the first nail polish from any brand where I've encountered such a big problem with air bubbles.  After drying, the majority of my nails had dozens of minuscule bumps embedded under the polish which drove me crazy.  I redid my nails a couple times to try and get rid of the air bubbles and found that it was important to not shake the bottle, even a tiny bit, before applying.  If you did, you should let the polish sit for at least 10 minutes after shaking.  The one or two nails that dried smoothly had a nice finish but I found could be tad bit more shiny/glossy, but that's mostly just me nitpicking.  However, once I applied a top coat, the bumps went away and became nice, smooth and shiny.

Two coats of Essie's Minimalistic nail polish

Summary

Overall, I absolutely adore the colour - I like it a lot more than Essie's Fiji and it is a good change from when I want to get away from sheer pinks but still want something that can work in a professional environment.  However, the formula and finish for this polish requires a bit of work to get the polish on smoothly, consistently, and opaque.  Since I do like the colour so much, and the air bubbles issue goes away with a top coat, I would likely continue to use this polish and perhaps even repurchase.

Pants purchased from Dynamite Clothing, find similar styles Here and Here | Cami Tank Top, find similar styles Here and Here

I love wearing light, flowy clothing especially during the summer.  However, flowy clothes may sometimes lack form.  A great way to deal with this is to add a belt or to tuck in your shirt, that way, it cinches around your waste, creating an hourglass shape.

• Pants from Dynamite Clothing, similar styles Here and Here
• Cami Tank Top, similar styles Here and Here

Michael Kors Selma Mini Crossbody Bag with a Laduree Keychain as a bag charm

The bag comes with gold hardware which are good quality - despite years of daily use, the hardware hasn't faded at all and is still a beautiful bright gold.  The zipper still works perfectly and smoothly; however, once in a while (though very rarely), the clips that attach the bag to its strap sometimes opens by itself or rather easily, but this is a very minor complaint. 

I paired the bag with an adorable Laduree Keychain that features three mini macarons, a small golden Eiffel Tower, a mini puff ball, and a bow.  The gold hardware and colour scheme ofthe keychain fits nicely with that of the bag. 

The bag easily fits an LV coin purse, large set of keys, a couple lip products, and my phone (not shown)

The strap is adjustable, and based on my height (5'5), I am able to wear the bag at as low as just above my knees or as high just past my butt (the shortest and longest settings aren't really too far a part).  I usually wear my bag at it's longest setting.  The bag can surprisingly fit a lot of stuff.  I can fit my LV coin purse, another small coin purse, iPhone 6s, a set of keys, several lip products, and still have some room.  There is also small cardholder pockets inside the bag itself but I rarely use them.

Here is the bag, worn on it's longest strap setting.

Overall, I feel like this is a great, versatile bag.  I wear this to work, to do errands, to parties, for date nights etc.  It's easy to dress up or down since the style is very classic.  The bag is also very light and as mentioned, can hold a surprisingly large amount of items for its size.  Also, since it's a zipper closure, it's very easy to quickly grab something from your bag or to put it away.

Here's the bag in action!  This is the bag in it's shortest strap setting

I would definitely recommend this bag if you're looking for a simple, sturdy, long lasting crossbody bag that can easily go with any outfit and for any occasion!

You can purchase the Selma Mini Crossbody HERE, and the Laduree Keychain HERE

Today I will be posting a makeup tutorial on how to do a simple halo eye look, featuring one of my favourite eyeshadows - Star Violet by MAC.  This is the first ever tutorial I've ever done, so bear with me if my explanations and photos are still a bit shaky.

"Halo eyes" are an eye look where the outer and inner corners have a darker shadow so that the centre of the eye pops out and creates a glowing feel.  There are multitudes of colour combinations you can do, and they're easy to change up for day or night time.  Below is a photo of the finished look that we will be walking through today.


I don't have a picture for the first step - which is to prep and prime the eyes.  Each time I put on eyeshadow, I always prime my lids first.  Popular products include MACs paint pots, Too Faced Shadow Insurance, and the one I used in this look - Urban Decay's Primer Potion.  This step prevents the shadow form creasing or fading and also makes the shadow more prominent.  After priming, I like to go over the entire lid - even almost to my brow bone, with a base colour that is close to your skin tone.  After you primed, the lid gets a bit tacky, which causes the shadow to not blend as easily.  The base colour takes away the tackiness and also evens out any discolouration on your eye lid.  I used MAC Brule, which is a creamy light beige colour.


After prepping and priming the lid, I used a MAC Kid as a transition colour.  I placed it from my fold up to where my eye socket would be and blended the edges.  MAC Kid is a light matte brown, but feel free to use whichever transition colour you like.  We will be using this shadow to blend the other colours as we go along.  I used a medium sized, fluffy blending brush here.


Next we will take a matte medium brown colour - here I used MAC Swiss Chocolate and apply it to the outer and inner thirds of the eye.  Then take a darker matte brown, I used MAC Brown Down and place it on the outer corner, don't extend it as far in as you did with the medium brown shadow.  Make sure after each colour, you blend out the edges to create a seamless look.  You can also take your brush that you used the transition colour or a clean brush to sweep in windshield wiper motions across the lid and top edge to smooth all the colours out.  You can also go back in with the browns to deepen the colour if you blended too much away.


Now take a shimmery plum shadow, such as MAC Star Violet and place it on the enter of the lid.  I used a flat shadow brush and sprayed a bit of MAC Fix+ to apply the shadow.  Using the shadow wet will make the colour pop just a bit more.  Next, I took my finger (you can also use a small fluffy brush) and lightly patted the shadow on the edges so that it gradually blended in to the matte brown shadows.  I once again took my blending brush that still has a bit of Kid on it to blend out the crease area.


You can leave it there or, if you can make it a bit more glowy.  I took L'oreal Lumi Liquid Glow Illuminator in Ice and gently tapped some product on top of Star Violet, I then took the pink shade in Physician's Formula Natural Nude Highlighter placed it on top of the liquid highlighter.  I used my finger here to tap on the PF highlighter so that it blends into the edges.  I then took my blending brush and used Kid to blend out the crease again.  If you notice the brown shadows fading a bit from the blending, feel free to go back in with those shadows to add in more depth to the outer/inner corners.


For the bottom lash line, I simply took the medium matte brown shade (MAC Swiss Chocolate) and lined the bottom of my eye.  I tapered it so that it's thicker on the other corner, and gradually thins out as it reaches my inner corner.  Lastly, highlight you brown bone (I just used the PF Highlighter), line your upper lash line, and add your favourite mascara and/or false lashes and you're set to go!


Products Used in Order of Appearance:
Anastasia Dip Brow in Soft Brown (not mentioned, used for eyebrows)
Urban Decay Primer Potion
MAC Eyeshadows in Brule, Kid, Swiss Chocolate, Brown Down, and Star Violet
L'oreal True Match LUMI Liquid Glow Illuminator in Ice
Physician's Formula Natural Nude Highlighter
Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper
Maybelline Define-A-Lash (discontinued)
Ardell False Lashes in 110-Black

I recently got the Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons palette for my birthday (thanks sis!).  Although it has already been reviewed and swatched to death, it probably wouldn't hurt to add more reviews and swatches to the internet for all the ladies and gentlemen out there deciding on purchasing one.  I was extremely excited to try this palette as I've heard great things about Too Faced shadows and it is also my first product from the cosmetics company.  The packaging is very cute and good quality.  It is a sturdy case but thin and light weight which I like.  It is easy to open as it has a magnetic clasp but I wish the magnets were a bit stronger just so it's better secured when travelling.




Like all Too Faced palettes, the Chocolate Bon Bons comes with a card with easy tutorials on three looks, usually a natural look, an evening look, and a fun look.  I haven't had a chance to try these eye looks yet, but I love how Too Faced includes these as it helps the creative juices flow when thinking of new looks, especially with the bolder colours in their palettes.





As you may have heard, this palette, along with all of the palettes in Too Faced "Chocolate" line, smells fantastic - like delicious milk chocolate.  I'm so tempted to lick the shadows to see if it tastes like chocolate as well, but it's probably not a good idea.  I found all of the colours to be pretty well pigmented, both using fingers and brushes.  However, comparing to MAC and Urban Decay shadows, I found all of the colours to be much more powdery than what I am used to.  It may be a matter of personal preference or just getting used to the shadows, but I'm not loving how the shadows apply to the eyes.  I find a lot of powder kicks up when using any of the shadows, even the more buttery ones such as Molasses Chip and Cafe Au Lait.  I find with shadows that are more powdery, it makes the palette dirtier quicker, the colours move around on the eye much more, muddy ing the eye looks, and it overall wastes more product.  This is just my initial impressions on this type of eyeshadow formulation, so after it get more used to it and find better techniques on how to apply to shadows, I may like it much more.



Despite my neutral feelings towards the eyeshadow formula, I do like the majority of the colours and found most of them to be very pigmented, and when applied with a finger, they are quite buttery though each shade has different degrees of "butteriness".  The mattes are also surprisingly pigmented and smooth, though there are one or two that goes on a bit patchy which I will point out later in the individual colour descriptions.  I find this palette has a good mixture of cool, warm and neutral shades, and I love how there a couple pops of colour to set it apart from all the neutral brown palettes out there.  I find you can create many looks for any situations with this palette - going to work, feeling lazy and just want to use one shadow (hello Molasses Chip, Cafe Au Lait and Satin Sheets!), going out, dressing up, etc... However, I also found some colours to look a bit too similar and if you use it together, there won't be enough contrast to tell them apart or they would just look somewhat muddy (e.g.: Sprinkles and Cotton Candy, Cashew Chew and Pecan Praline, Bordeaux and Mocha, Malted and Dark Truffle).





Overall, I do enjoy this palette.  I think this is a good option for those who do not have many neutral brown palettes, as this contains a wide variety of cool, warm, and neutral shades with some pops of colour.  This is great for travelling due to the sturdy case and mirror, and it has all the colours needed to produce a variety of looks.  Personally, I may need to play around with this palette a bit more before I can love it as I'm not accustomed to the powdery formula, but I definitely can see why many people rave about Too Faced eyeshadow palettes as the colours are very pigmented and they have a great, buttery texture (and also smells delicious).

This palette currently retails for $59.00 CAD at Sephora for a net product weight of 14.0 grams.  As a comparison, the Urban Decay Naked palettes retail for $66.00 CAD (net product weight 17.0 grams), the Tarte Tartelette palettes retail for $54.00 CAD (net product weight 18.0 grams), and MAC x15 Netural Palettes retail for $85.00 CAD (net product weight 19.5 grams)

You can purchase Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons Palette HERE

I used to always be a dark nail polish girl - reds, dark pinks, stormy purples, and mauvy greys.  However, I've recently began loving nudes and sheer pinks.  Simple, yet elegant, giving the "my nails but better" appearance.  They do take a big more work to get down, as you often have to do more than one layer, but they also last much longer as small chips and worn edges aren't as visible.


This week I've been sporting "Hi Maintenance" by Essie.  This is a neutral toned, sheer peachy pink.  It is slightly more sheer and slightly more pink than OPI's "Bubble Bath", but still very similar.

Three coats of Hi Maintenance by Essie, no top coat

The first coat goes on basically transparent and does not look very appealing.  The second coat deepens the colour and gives a very natural look to the nails.  The third coat really brings the polish to the next level.  Once dried, the polish makes your nails look like those fake nails you see in the drugstore, but much prettier.  The nail line is still very much visible, however that is what I feel give this a "MNBB" appearance.  The finish is very glossy which I love.

If you prefer opaque nude nails, this isn't the polish for you, however if you, like me, do like to see the visible nail line in certain polishes, I would recommend this polish.


I do like the formula, despite it being a sheer polish, I found the consistency to be very good - not too thick and not too thin.  I don't find it to be streaky and it dried at an average speed.  I've been wearing it for about a week now and I only see one teeny tiny chip on the side of my thumb nail.


Overall Score:
Colour - 4/5
Formula - 4/5
Packaging - 3/5 (not the biggest fan of Essie brushes, it's a bit too thin for me)
Price - 3.5/5 ($9.99 CAD, but Essie polishes are often on sale where I'm from)

You can purchase Essie's Hi Maintenance nail polish HERE