Coming back from the dead and Lancôme gorgeousness !

I've been MIA for about 2 weeks but I have a good excuse...I have been attacked by a vicious virus (probably the twisted twin of the H1N1 that we were sick hearing about last year...)

I ended up fainting in my shower last Monday from fever and exhaustion. Sadly , I didn't do it with the grace of a princess : hubby had to drag me out of the shower from my armpits (Glamour , where are you when I need you badly !). Then he carried me upstairs like a prince he is, so I could lay down. I came back to life all groggy and nauseous just to scream that I needed a bucket right away !!! Yes I know the fainting princess coming back to life all rosy and flushed is not my cup of tea...

As I decided that it was not enough to traumatize the poor soul, I began quaking like the San Francisco area and did a very convincing re-incarnation of the Exorcist by having an hyperventilating episode followed by a very convincing spastic status. Let me explain : imagine the claws of an eagle, see ? I did the exact same thing with my hands but instead of having the claws inside, my fingers were twisted outside...Hubby was green ....He nearly call 911 but I prevented this from happening as I used to do that when a teen (yes love, you married a weird fainting lady !) ....Then I spent 3 full days bed ridden with hubby phoning every 10 min from work to make sure I was not climbing the walls and walking the ceilings to have time fly quicker....

So as you can guess no FOTD as I still look pretty awful ....but a little Lancôme pic can do in terms of beauty....

I received this mini palette as a present when I left my previous job. It came with a primer for lashes and a mini mascara (as well as a fantastic lipstick, a serum a nd a body cream, I'll review later)

I know what you think : Humph, boring ! ....but wait until the swatches :

Wohooooo, look at that purple : yummy !

I never bought a lash primer : my lashes are long and healthy (I'd prefer my legs to be described like that but hey, I'll take what I have ...). But I must admit I am completely bluffed by what this primer did to my lashes : They nearly reach my brows !!! Never say never ....

Caro- exorcising the virus with gallons of tea and some Kit-Kat (not very efficient , I must say but pretty good !) xxx

I am relieved OOTD

This blog is about :

-improving my English skills

-talking about make up and a little bit of fashion

So tadaaaaaaa today, I'll play synonyms to fulfill the 1st goal of this blog

Caro had an horrendous day at her job

Caro had a dreadful week at her job

Caro had a terrible month at her job

Caro quited her job and is ready for new adventures, now ! Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaa

To the outfit :

brown turtleneck bought in France while on vacation : Cache-cache

beige kaki pants : Joe Fresh in sale for 9$

Leopard shoes : Franco Sarto in sale too for 49$99 (let's get precise !)

Funky jewelry : gift from mother in law

Camel jacket bought at Zara in Paris (I am SOOOOOOO fancy !) : in sale , a long time ago...So I can't remember the price ....be nice, I am an old lady, my memory is not what it used to be ...

Aldo hat : 3$98 (I told you I'd be precise !)

Bad ass attitude resulting in quiting job : priceless !

Caro-quitter for the sake of her mental state xxx

PS : just to give me a boost of ego : Do you , English people, understand a single word of what I write ? Or do you just watch pics and wonder "who the BEEP is that weird girl ?"

PS II : You'll notice that I start to use slang words ...Is it a clue that my English is improving ?

PS III : Isabelle and Virginie, if you read those lines, the package you sent me was the joy of my ultimately shitty week ! (see again ! forbidden words...I am definitively fluent ....)

NOTD : sparkles and ring finger mani

I need sparkles, I need Barbie nails, I need a funky mani : Yes, I want it all !

In natural light : Revlon scented polish in Grape Icy as a base for all fingers. It's a sheer purple leaning on the pink side.

With Flash : on the ring finger, Sally Hansen Xtreme wear in Strobe light just for fun !

I am really so happy with the staying power of the Revlon nail polishes : they don't chip, they don't flake. They stay put for a good 3 days without looking bad (I hate an old looking mani)

Caro-back in the nail game xxx

Panache EOTD : Amethyst beauty !

Amethyst pigment (Marcelle minerals) was the one that I loved the more when I swatched it at the warehouse sale last week...It was the one responsible for my failure in the partial make up ban (One simple rule to that ban : Do NOT buy e/s anymore...easy...I ended up buying the pigment in the 6 shades available...if falling, let's just fail with "panache" !)

Quote from Wikipedia : Panache is a word of French origin that carries the connotation of a flamboyant manner and reckless courage

The daylight pic doesn't do justice to the gorgeousness of that pigment : a light purple pigment with a pink hue. I also used Snow pigment in the inner corner...

To give depth to the look I used the dark purple from the W&W Lust palette in the crease and the matte black in the outer V.

The flash picks the sparkles better ....

Mascara : Marcelle Volume precision in black

Liner : a mix between Vortex Violet smoothliner (Annabelle) and Feline khol liner (MAC)

Caro-musketeer of the make up world xxx

Silver pigment from Marcelle : EOTD and Modcloth gorgeousness !

EOTD :

Inner corner : Snow from Marcelle minerals

Lid : Silver from Marcelle minerals

Outer V and crease : shimmery black from the Greed palette (Wet & Wild)

On waterline : Feline eye khôl from MAC

Mascara volume precision from Marcelle in black

Sparkles : awwwwwww, beautiful

in case you missed the awesomeness of that silver : a last pic !

I used Painterly paint pot (MAC) as a primer and Milk Jumbo pencil (NYX) as a base color.

OOTD :

Part 1 :

Un-Twill we meet again dress from Modcloth . That dress is love ...

Part 2 : the color kick !

Red patent belt : Tommy Hilfiger

Red chunky shoes : so old I can't remember where I bought them, the label is erased on the sole...

Red jewelry : Casa Luca

Part 3 : Tights: Spanx in charcoal found at Winners. those are working so well to improve your figure without making you feel like a sausage ...

Part 4 : showing a little bit of a black bra : AGRRRRRRRRRR !

Caro-mad woman xxx

The summer OOTD and Sydney's bun

As I said before, girls in blogs inspire me SO much. I saw them wearing summer dresses with tights so I decided to give it a go !

White cotton jacket : from Joe Fresh. I wore it all summer over my swimsuit. Recycling !

Red patent belt : Tommy Hilfiger
H & M floral red dress bought a 100 years ago

big white over the knee socks : Winners

Caramel boots : Sirens

And this is me ! Showing proudly my 1st attempt to a Sydney bun. I received tons of compliments for this bad boy ...I will be eternally in her debt for that !

Caro xxx

PS : Everybody in the blogosphere is doing the 30 for 30. I can't commit to such a task but I have decided that each time I wore an item from my wardrobe, I will put it away. So I'll have to use my whole closet instead of just always wearing the same stuff....Re-interpretation of the 30 for 30 if you want ...

Annabelle warehouse sale : OH MY ....HAUL !

So ...at the beginning of November, I decided to ban some items from my shopping list such as e/s : the following picture is the proof of my complete failure :

Tell me how am I supposed to resist pigments at 2$50 ? And who are you to judge (faking sobs in her voice) ?

As usual my swatches are of mediocre quality but I don't photoshop...

Pigments' description from left to right (Marcelle's minerals)

Amethyst : a gorgeous shimmery lilac with pink undertones (2$50 remember ?)

Snow : a immaculate white, fantastic for the inner corner (2$50 again...)

Silver : obviously a silver metallic pigment (for only 2$50, must I add...)

24 karat : a true gold (the one I 've been searching forever : not orange, not yellow, pure gold for 2$50)

Bronze : a rich copper color completely washed out in the pic (can't believe I picked it for 2$50)

Sapphire : a bright blue, my absolute favorite ( so for 15 $ aka less than a MAC pigment, I have those fantastic colors....)

Liners' description from top to bottom : it's getting even better (1$50 for each items listed below):

Smoky blue Smudgeliner: a dark navy liner infused with black. I can't believe I nearly didn't pick it : it's the same quality as my favorite Smudgeliner (Rich chocolate) and it's a nice alternative to the harshness of black. A definite favorite of mine !

Extra celestial Smudgeliner : a pale teal color. I can't see myself using it now cause it screams summer but we'll see.

Green tease Smudgeliner: a dirty, mossy gold. I used it today on my lower lashline. I's an amazing alternative to a white pencil (I can't wear white on my lower lash line, it looks so fake on me). The golden color just add a pop : the eye looks much more awake !

Envy Smudgeliner : gorgeous olive color. I am a big fan of Olive EOTD and I never found a color like that for a liner. I am so excited to try this one with Club (MAC) : it's his twin in a liner form

I also bought :

- an adorable mini Kabuki fro 25 cents (I should have picked 3-4 of them : it's awesome for the under eye area, the contour of the nose...)

- 2 bottles of Soothing Cleansing Water : it's working as well as my beloved but expensive Bioderma

- 2 mascaras : Volume precision in black is my Holy grail mascara.

- 3 sets of skincare : it was crazy I bought the 2 sets in the plastic boxes for about 10 $ each and a third one was offered for free : I picked the luxurious set with the pretty crocodile look. I am set for the whole year for 9$( price of the green set : hydrating one) + 13 $ (price of the orange set : Hydra C). You have a day cream, a foaming cleanser, an exfoliant and an eye make up remover in the 1st set while in the 2nd you find : a day cream, a night cream, a cleanser and an eye make up remover. In the luxurious set : day cream, eye cream, foaming cleanser and exfoliant. Make the addition : for 22$, it's unbeatable !

- a Haute Gold bronzer back up as I hit pan on my previous one : Holy grail contour bronzer for me !

I went with Gen, a friend and we had a blast : people were amazingly nice over there in spite of the crowd. The Haute Gold bronzer was missing when we arrived but when I asked for it, a sale associate took the time to try and find one for me....There were people all over the place and she took the time to find a 1$50 item for me, I was voiceless (MAC SA , can you note that please ?)

Sad part of the story, Gen said that she will never, ever go to a sale with me cause I stuffed her bag with everything I love from Annabelle-Marcelle and it seemed that I am a very persuasive SA !!! HAha

Have a nice Sunday evening

Caro-bankrupted xxx

the H&M effect : ruffle and floral OOTD !

Blooper ! I found the pic funny so I posted it...bare with me , it's Friday and I am exhausted after an horrendous week at work. I think I'd found Mary Poppins sense of humor completely hilarious today so ....

The H&M addiction :

Black cardi : H&M from the last spring collection. It has 2 buckles on the side to secure the draping, it's absolutely comfy but not slouchy...good buy: 20 $ if I remember well !

Floral dress by H&M : seen on Anh's blog. I just found it was adorable without being too much...And when she said it was 16$95, well..., I couldn't resist. I said it was a dress but for me it's just a tunic as it barely covers my butt ! Nothing that a good pair of black leggings cannot solve though... (H&M again)

The non H&M items :

Big, hot grey wool socks found at Winners

Caramel boots from Sirens

Jewelry from Le Chateau : earrings were removed before pictures because I developed an allergy to them (what can I say, I need gold!....Does nobody understand that I am PRECIOUS ?)

I would have never worn socks over my boots' line before the blogging thing. Reading beauty posts made me try fashion stuff that I would have never thought about by myself. Thanks Kendi, Jodi, Sydney, style underdog, Chloe, Anh and all the other beautiful ladies that opened my eyes on a world of "try it, you'll like it !"

See ! Big military belt worn over a ruffled dress : it works and "that's the way , doudoudoudoud, I like it, doudoudoudoud" (can you see the booty shake....ruffles flying in the air ?)

What with the face ?

I am such a baby !

Caro-mature and respected woman xxx

PS : I needed to ventilate my week at work, can you feel it ?

OOTD : Lara Croft and EOTD : Pixiwoo's

Yesterday, I HAD to go to the Annabelle Warehouse sale but I was short in time as we had to meet friends for a casual supper later in the day ....

So I decided to pick a comfortable outfit to fight the crowd but I had to glam it up for the night so I put on my new fierce boots :

Jacket : Patrice Breal collection (gift from mum !). I love it : I've been wearing it non stop since I got it. It's in linen, it's kaki, it has gorgeous military details (zippers, metallic buttons...) : what's not to love ?

Shirt : in taupe color from Cassis. I bought the shirt for 5$ last winter at the end of the season. It was on the clearance section and a button was missing (for 5$, I ca sew a button !)

Green military pants : Winners . I am a "dress" girl but sometimes I find some pants that don't make me look like a 10 year old boy so I splurge !

Cream boots : Loooooooooooooove them to death. I fell dangerous and Sexy in those. Winners again for 50 $ ! (because there is a stain the size of an ant on the right calf ! Woop, woop in my cart ...)

Big chunky belt and jewelry : no name brand (offered by mum ...again !)

This 2nd pic was taken by hubby discovering a new passion : fashion photographer. He was quite into it, yelling orders : walk, turn, spin, jump ...(Jump ???? in heels ???)

So I obeyed like a nice little wife I am and walked...

Last pic of the outfit : just for the pleasure of showing off my beloved boots !

Make up now ! I copied this look from Pixiwoo. I am such a big fans of the sisters, they are so amazing ...

Products used :

MAC fluidline in rich ground as a base

Sleek palette in Storm for e/S

Marcelle Volume Precision in Black

Annabelle smoothliner in rich chocolate

Rimmel vintage pink on lips

Caro- Lara Croft xxx

PS : lot of damages done at the Annabelle warehouse sale (I went a little bit crazy...). Post is coming soon with swatches ...

Dior, why did you let me down ?

Part I of my sad story (let the kids out of here, it can be a pretty traumatic tale) : In October, I reached the very respectable age of 36 years-old. My mum in a courageous attempt to soothe the pain send me a DIOR Ultra smooth High Impact eyeshadow in Blue declic (226). When I saw the little velvet pouch, I squealed with delight...Then I spent the next 5 minutes trying to open the d?%$n box. As I am a very determined woman, I ended up opening the little blue case with a knife ....I should have understood the sign...

Part II : I again clapped my hands together in an enthusiastic cheer when I saw the e/s in the pan : a baby blue metallic color. I washed my hand frantically then tried to swatch the AWESOMENESS just for the pleasure of swatching...Oups : nothing showed off on my disappointed finger. I laughed in denial and checked a 2nd time to make sure I got rid of the plasticky protector over the e/s : None....(36, remember : Alzheimer is not far away, I have to double check everything...)

Part III : In a last desperate gesture, I grabbed my best patting brush and decided to do a look with that DIOR little treasure (28 $ at Sephora people ! It just must be good, right ?). OH despair, OH tears, I had to scratch the e/s so hard to get a glittery , patchy, sheer, ridiculous amount of gritty GLITTERS....GLITTERS (reminder to readers : abusive amount of negative adjectives and bold letters are a poor representation of infuriated MUA's state of mind)

Part IV : the freaking fantastic mascara (Marcelle Utimate Lash in Navy), the outer V , crease and highlight e/s (Navy blue-sparkling blue-beige color from the Wet and Wild Pride palette) and the Covergirl liner cost less $$$ than the sheer DIOR mess on my lid. How frustrating is that conclusion , kids ?

Lesson learned !

Caro-disappointed high end consumer (gift receiver to be completely honest) xxx

The Minnie mouse OOTD and a mystery solved !

OOTD :

H&M dress bought in sale : 20$ reduced to 17$ because the left strap around the shoulder was un-sewed...I found the dress to be too short so I released the hem and gained about 5 cm....and here you go , you have a work appropriate dress for less than 20 $!

Joe Fresh T-shirt and shoes : less than 5 and 10 S in sale

Opaque black tights.....

Gosh I love that dress : it will be perfect, worn on its own in summer !

JOTD : stolen from my 8-year-old daughter. Yes, I know, bad mum, bad, very bad mum ! (I also stole Halloween candies but only to prevent them from decays...See ! good mum !)

and TADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Juicy tuesday solved the mystery of Satin Taupe e/s for me ...It was always looking bleh on me : I was so disappointed because this MAC e/s is supposed to be perfection. Black base, kids, black base is the ultimate answer to your prayers...The look is not as good as hers because I had a 10 hour wear of it but go and watch her tutorial, she'll convince you (Plus she is Canadian, yeah !)

Caro- Minnie Mouse kind of girl xxx

black coffee with a little cream ...

Big head !

Little body !

EOTD : Sorry, I am washed out by the flash but I did the pics after work and it was already too dark to capture the true colors

I am using again the Wet and Wild palettes :

grey (lid) and beige(highlight) from the Lust palette

shimmery black (crease) and the matte black (outer V) from the Greed palette

OOTD :

a black skirt with different layers : I can't remember where I bought this...

black top with creamy bow : Joe Fresh

Tights : Spanx in charcoal found at Winners for half the price

Shoes : Joe fresh (same bow as the sweater !)

JOTD : bracelet and earrings from Le Chateau . I grabbed those for a fraction of the price because I asked for a rebate as there were some places were the plastic was showing white spots. A few strokes of black nail polish later, they both look brand new !

Caro - caffeine addict xxx

Hitting pan and buying ban ....

So The first person introducing me to the hitting pan phenomenom was Musing on beauty . It means you can see the pan out of your e/s box aka you are nearly finished with it !

You traditionally hit pan on shampoos, soap, perfume ....But, really, hitting pan on e/s ? Is is even possible?...Well I just hit pan on 2 of my e/s which can only mean that I've got too many of them !

Now the questions are : on what I hit pan, why, will I repurchase ?

E/S :

Shroom from MAC : perfect highlight for me, I won't repurchase as I found the perfect dupe for a fraction of the price : Helium from Annabelle

Dazzlelight from MAC : a very shimmery highlight that I loved, loved , loved but now not that much. I used to be a little bit "highlight happy" with this one, now I use it for an all over the lid color. I think it's dupable so no repurchase either

Mascara :

my HG : Marcelle Volume Precision in black. I said it before, it's my favorite mascara ever. It's my 3rd buy. If this is to be discontinued, I'll wear black as a grieving widow for a year !

Liner :

an old , old pencil from Covergirl. Sadly it's discontinued : it was the perfect navy color for the waterline, smooth and creamy. It never moves from the waterline....so sad !

Primer :

TFSI : it' s been gone for a while now. It's an HG product too ...But I have a painterly painpot (MAC) that I want to finish before I give myself the right to repurchase that awesome product...

Benefit products:

Browzing in dark : love it, will repurchase...I don't know what I was doing with my brows before this little palette came into my life. It changed the way my make up looks : so much cleaner and professional looking !

Bluff dust : a yellow powder that was supposed to control the rosiness of my cheeks. I was not convinced at all. I replaced it with the Prep and prime finishing powder from MAC which I simply ADORE...

Blush and bronzer :

NYX blush in Angel : perfect, perfect, perfect ...Sadly , once I'll run out of it, I'll have to go through my ridiculous stash of blushes that collects dust since I discovered that particular blush ! How come a 10 $ blush works so much better on me than a 40$ blush (Yes, I talk about you, Orgasm (NARS)...)

Zebra bronzing powder in haute gold from Annabelle

Perfumes:

Can you see I am a Juicy Couture addict ? I tried the 3 latest ones ! Now I am currently using Peace, Love, Juicy. Those perfumes are all so feminine ! I love them all even if they are quite different one from another. Most importantly for me : they don't change fragrance on me. Let me explain : I tried Happy from Clinique once and it smelled like vomit on my skin (I swear it's true), Shalimar from Guerlain makes me smell like pepper, a Lush vanilla perfume turned out to smell like those cheap little trees you put in your car to hide the smell of gaz ! So, I am more than happy to tell you, those Juicy perfumes stay true all day long on my weird skin ....

Hair :

the discover of the summer : I tried just a little bottle because of the ridiculous price of that Moroccan Oil. I must admit it smells amazing, it makes the hair look shiny and healthy. I will repurchase the big bottle as soon as I can !

Now, to the banning plan : I have gone through my collection to try and find products I hit pan on...Gosh, this is ridiculous ! I clearly have e/s for the 10 coming generations of women after me...It 's just the same for blushes, lipglosses and lipsticks !

So the deal is for those 4 particular kinds of items : I am on a ban...

I'll just repurchase basics if I hit pan.

Tell me how come I am supposed to do that when the hollidays' palette are popping every single day !

Caro-let's be strong xxxx

a manly OOTD : pink biker !

I like to mix and match pieces of cloth that were not meant to meet !

A pink sheer top from Le château bought 4-5 years ago in an outlet

Black straps from hubby

Jeggings from RW&CO : who knew that one day, I'll wear those. I used to say that they were ugly, not classy, ultimately uncomfortable and You'll never see me in those blablabla....Now I admit, I'd sleep in those if I could !

Pink boots from Payless : bought 4-5 years ago and so torn it's not even decent to wear them but I can't resolve myself to throw them away...

I couldn't resist posting this 2nd pic , even though it doesn't flatter my butt ( but hey, let's get realistic my future as a top model was quite dark even before this pic !)... So, where were we?....Oh, yes ! I posted the pic because my 8 year old is my photographer and said : mum your jacket is on the floor and you always say we mustn't DO that....She cracks me up...She is such a sweet nice tyrant !

And ready to go out in the wind (so cold today in Montreal !).

Black leather jacket from La City bought 10 years ago when I used to leave in Paris....A basic stays a basic, doesn't it ?

Pareo used as scarf : offered by mother in law (official sponsor of my scarf collection ...)

Caro-working this week end (but night off for Halloween night with the kids : yeah !) xxx

Blue brown pigment EOTD : Jangsara, my hero !

First , here is the original look. This MUA is absolutely awesome. She does make up like no one else : it's just ART and BEAUTY and .....Go and check her: you'll be amazed !

My pale copy :

Painterly paintpot (MAC) as a primer

Blue brown pigment (MAC) all over the lid

Reflect teal pigment (MAC) over the blue brown pigment

Plum from the Wet and Wild Lust palette in the crease

Vanilla dupe from the Wet and Wilde Lust palette under the browbone

Feline khol liner (MAC)

Volume precision mascara (Marcelle) in black

FOTD :

Annabelle skin true foundation

Annabelle Zebra bronzer

NYX Angel blush

Rimmel Vintage pink on the lips

JOTD :

big chunky jewelry in wood : hoop earrings and a big heart !

Caro-my heart belongs to my blog (poup poup pidou !) xxx