On the last day of Toronto Fashion Week, there was one more fashion show happened outside of the tents.  It was the Lucian Matis's Monochromatic Collection.  I had the opportunity to go backstage and chat with the Revlon Nail Expert Leeanne Colley and Gucci Westman Lead Assistant Mimi Imanishi.  First let's talk about the nail looks:



The above nail tips were hand painted by Leeanne Colley and her team for the show. Going with the Monochromatic theme, Leeanne came up with the charcoal black and vanilla nail designs for the show.  In the Monochromatic Collection, Lucian played with textures like leather as oppose to prints like his other collections.  Therefore, Leeanne wanted to create texture on the nails to compliment the collection.  Leeanne said  “I created a combination of sharp geometrical lines to complement Lucian’s monochromatic look. The whites in the collection are winter whites, soft and creamy not stark. I’ve combined them with a rich charcoal gray and strong black accents.”

I'm digging the porcelain shade

The leather-like finish is actually sponged on by using 1 layer of Revlon Nail Enamel in Iconic (a charcoal grey), 1 layer of Timeless (light grey), and finally another layer of Iconic and sponge it to give the texture.  After the center part, they used acentone to clean up the sides.  To create that creamy vanilla ice cream colour, Leeanne used a layer of Revlon ColorStay Longwear Nail Enamel in Porcelain (vanilla cream), a layer of Revlon Top Speed Fast Dry Nail Enamel in Spirit (white), and then another layber of Porcelain to finish it up.  Here's the end results

Model is photoready even pre-makeup... life's not fair... =P

To compliment the boxiness in the clothing of the Monochromatic Collection, Leeanne also created some outlined mani.  She used the fine tip of Revlon Nail Art Expressionist in Night & Degas (the black one) to outline the nails.  She said everything is hand-drawn, talk about skills.



Leeanne was so down to earth and enthusiastic, I got to chat with her more about nails.  I asked her to give us some tips on at home manicure.  She said the key is how you hold the brush.  When you take the brush out from the bottle, you could brush one side of the brush along the side of the bottle, so that only one side has nail polish on it.  Then you would place your brush on the center of your nail and push it towards the cuticle, then brush it back to the tip of the nails.  This way, you can avoid having too much nail polishes on the cuticles and avoid smudges.  I also asked if she has some tip for nail art because I struggle with my right hand all the time.  She said start with the hand that you have the most trouble with.  It made so much sense, because if you were to start on your easy hand, by the time you're done, you will be tired and frustrated, and don't want to do the second hand.  But if you start with the trouble hand, then when you're done, you know your easy hand is gonna be easy, and you will be able to go through with it :D.

Warning: this is going to be a slightly pic heavy post

Entrance of WMCFW

Last week was the time of the year again when every fashionista in Toronto (and nearby cities) gets excited - it's Toronto Fashion Week again, or, better known as now, World Mastercard Fashion Week!  I had the opportunities to attend a few shows on Day 2, as well as going backstage for a bit between shows all thanks to Maybelline's #tweet4aseat Twitter contest!   And I am very excited to share with you my experience!

First thing first, you gotta think of your outfit for fashion week.  I pulled out what I have in my closet, and here's the look:

Top: J.Crew denim shirt | Skirt: J.Crew tweed skirt | Bag: Rebecca Minkoff M.A.C. Shoes: H&M x MMM glass wedges | Bracelet: Pinkbarry | Necklace: House of Harlow 1960

Ever since the Ombré trend has started, I have been going oooh and ahhh when I see a bang on ombré'd hair (e.g. Rumi Neely @ Fashion Toast, Zoe @ Zoella).  It's very low maintenance because you don't have to worry about your roots growing out, you only need to touch up on it once the colour has faded too much or your hair has grown too long that the Ombré no longer seem natural.  But I just love the casual, effortless look of Ombré hair.  However, it took me nearly two years to finally jump the gun and go Ombré.  The product that made me do it is the newly on the market L'Oréal Paris Féria Wild Ombré* dip dye hair kit.

L'Oreal Féria Wild Ombré in 060 for medium to dark brown hair

L'Oreal says the Féria Wild Ombré features the following:

• Expert Brush: Apply formula flawlessly with Feria’s easy-to-use Expert Brush. In one stroke, it’s easy to create individual Ombre looks – ranging from subtle to bold.
• Lightening Technology: Feria’s lightening formula blends naturally with each unique haircolour – No lines! Just a perfectly graduated colour.
• Five Expert Shades: Achieve colour perfection with one of Ombre’s five unique shades that blend naturally each woman’s own unique haircolour.
• Conditioned Hair: Conditioning shampoo deeply hydrates hair, leaving it soft and easily tamed.

It is the time again for Toronto Fashion Week, or now known as the World Mastercard Fashion Week!  I had the opportunities to attend a few shows on Day 2.  On my way in, Mr. Max Kopanygin snapped a few photos of me outside the tents, and it made it on FLARE Street Style!

Credit: FLARE.com

Photo by Max Kopanygin | http://maxkopanygin.com | @maximkop

This past Sunday, a few Toronto beauty bloggers and I met up at Milestones for our regular(ish) TOBB brunch!  Normally, we would chat about beauty, catch up with our fellow beauty bloggers and maybe meet a few new faces.  This time, on top of the aforementioned activities, we have a special guest who flew all the way from the United Kingdom — Amanda Bell, the makeup artist of PIXI Beauty.

Round Table of makeup goodies

If you are an avid viewer of some British beauty vloggers on YouTube, you probably would have heard of PIXI Beauty before.  They are a UK based makeup brand developed by its founder & creator, Petra, with a mission of "simply to bring out the natural beauty in all women – to make women look like themselves, only better.gredients so that skin is treated whilst you wear it".  They have been made available in the U.S. at Target for a few years now.  As you all probably know already, Target has arrived in Canada, and PIXI Beauty is also available now in the Canadian location.  Hurray!