Beauty, Fashionblogger, Lifestyle, Makeup, OOTD, Uncategorized

Clarins Open Spa Launch Party

November 18, 2016November 22, 2016by Sara Stafford4 Comments

Earlier this week I was so fortunate to be able to attend the opening of Clarins Open Spa at the Hudson’s Bay Queen Street location in Toronto. This marked the official opening of the spa counter in North America, this is 1 of 3 locations, how cool is that?!

For just $35 you can enjoy a 30 minute luxury spa experience, it doesn’t get much better than that! An affordable luxury experience is right up my alley, I can’t wait until I can come in next for my next spa treatment!

The 30 minute Clarins Open spa offers 7 different treatments for both men and women. It starts with a consultation and they will even touch up your makeup at the end. This is great if you want to get a quick spa fix before work, or on your lunch so you can go back relaxed and looking better than ever!

These were some pics I snapped of the products used inside the existing spa room that Clarins had for longer spa sessions.

Let’s talk about the details of this amazing event! Upon arrival Dave’s guests were greeted with Clarins signature cocktails (cranberry and apple), or your choice of red or white wine. The cocktails were flowing all night along with a wide assortment of gourmet appetizers from Oliver and Bonacini. They were all so delectable and I couldn’t pass them up every time they came back with a platter!

My first time trying duck, it was delicious!

The brie with grilled mushrooms was my absolute fave, I think I had about 4 of these!

The macarons were beautiful and I couldn’t let them go without being photographed! We had bluberry, pistachio and hazelnut options!

I’m such a sucker for details so naturally the beautiful white flowers caught my attention right away! The red carpet was an amazing touch, and made us all feel so special to attending this exclusive event! We were introduced to the president of Clarins Canada, such a humble and beautiful lady, the national sales director and the director behind the Spa experience, another beautiful lady with a beautiful and bubbly personality! Eric Antoniotti visited all the way in from Paris. Eric is an international artistic and training directior and wait until I share some exciting news about my night with him below!

The marketing and PR team put on an amazing event and I had a great time getting to chat with them. I enjoyed the cocktail experience at this event as we were able to socialize a lot in a casual yet beautiful atmosphere surrounded by Clarins beauty products. Of course, I couldn’t do my thanks without mentioning the man of the hour (always), Dave Lackie. Dave has connected so many beautiful influencers, bloggers and beauty enthusiasts through the events and I couldn’t thank him enough! If you don’t already follow Dave and love beauty products, follow him for some awesome giveaways and beauty tips!

I was so lucky to have my makeup done by the one and only Eric! I can’t stress enough how talented this man is and how enthusiastic he is about Clarins and every detail that goes into each and every product. . In addition to beautifying my eyes, Clarins has joined up with the Pur Projet which is committed to planting 10,000 trees for medical or cosmetic use. This will help revive the Kuntanawa culture of the Amazon

I was so amazed by the smokey eye look that Eric created for me using Clarins “The Essentials Eye Makeup Palette”. This palette is made with 10 beautiful shades, Eric used 4 to create my look! What amazed me even more was how effortless Eric made this look, and even gave me pointers on how to recreate this look myself. I will definitely be picking up this palette, its absolutely everything and more!

Getting the ultimate VIP treatment!!

The final reveal…

I couldn’t believe how much this makeup made my eyes pop, I received so many compliments on it! I was already wearing Clarins lipstick in plum, I think it was a great pairing for the smokey eye look!

I really did not want to take this makeup off, it was too beautiful and I wanted to enjoy it forever! Now, I can only hope that I can recreate it myself, I think it would be a perfect makeup look for the holidays!

The “Rosewood” shade is absolutely stunning and I think it’s what really made this look so fantastic!

I can’t wait to try out all these products and share my experience with you. I have already been using the Clarins lip oil for a few months and I am so impressed with it. I put it on at night before bed or before I put my lipstick on for a flawless application. All of these products are available at the Clarins beauty counter in Hudson’s Bay, Hudson’s Bay.com or Clarins.com

I got so excited about sharing the products inside my gift bag that I forgot to post a picture of one of the items. I later realized when I was putting away my lovely new products that I had forgot one (and I think this one is going to be my favourite once the cold temperatures creep in and the dry skin comes out!)

Be sure to check out #ClarinsOpenSpa on Twitter and Instagram for a look at the evening through the eyes of all the lucky attendees!

Of course I couldn’t resist snapping some outfit pictures!

I got a lot of compliments on my bell-sleeve top. It’s from H&M, but I haven’t seen it available in stores for a while! The plunging neckline black jumper dress is also H&M! Layering blouses, or turtlenecks under dresses is HUGE in fashion this season so I decided to give it a try. I finished my look with Franco Sarto leather boots and decided to add clip-on pom-poms to the side of my boots!

This top makes me feel like royalty!

Thanks so much for a beautiful evening with so many beautiful people!

xoxo

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Twitter: staff_sara

Costumes, DIY, Halloween, Makeup

DEERific DIY Halloween Costume

November 2, 2014November 4, 2014by Sara StaffordLeave a Comment

Yet another Halloween has come and gone!

I’ve always loved Halloween and going all out with costumes–this year was no exception! I typically like creating my own costumes opposed to buying them from a costume store.For this costume in particular I bought the deer onesie (which can be used again) The rest was all made by hand! You don’t have to spend a fortune to have a great costume, just an open mind and lots of creativity! I hope you enjoy!

DIY Deer Halloween Costume:

To create a look similar to this one you can start with finding something to wear that is all brown. In my case, I lucked out and came across the perfect outfit. Because I started shopping around early for my costume, I was able to get a great deal on it, and that way I didn’t have to make the biggest part of this costume. I found my onesie at Bluenotes and got it on sale for $25.00! It’s almost next to impossible to find a costume for that cheap at a costume store these days! It was actually a Rudolph onesie that came with a hood complete with antlers and ears. I didn’t particularly like the hood and knew I was going to be making antlers of my own so I cut the whole hood right off. I saved the antlers and ears so I could use them somewhere else for my costume.

How-to recreate this look:

Rudolph Reindeer Onesie, Bluenotes, $25.00

Start off with finding a top and bottom that are a similar shade of brown. If you aren’t able to find a onesie similar to mine, try matching brown tights, pants or a skirt to a long sleeve shirt. This onesie also came with pockets (as if it already couldn’t get any better!) I always make my costumes so I cheated a little bit here since the onesie I bought– but I wouldn’t be able to make something for that price.

Once I removed the hood, it was time to start the antlers! You could always go to the costume store and buy antlers, but I wanted to create ones that looked more realistic than store-bought one. I used aluminium foil to create the shape and size that I wanted. Once I was happy with those I began making the paper mâché mix that I would use to cover the antlers with. I hadn’t made this mixture in years, but it’s as simple as 1 part flour to two parts water mixed in a large bowl. I then ripped newspaper into long and thin strips. Next, dunk the strips into the mix remembering to run your finger down the strip to remove excess paper mâché. Begin placing it on the aluminum foil antlers making sure to mould it to the shape you had originally created. I did about two coats of this until it was smooth and no aluminum foil was left showing. You can dip your finger in the mixture and place it onto the placed newspaper so that the pieces stay nice and smooth (makes for easier painting.) When they are fully complete, place them on a drying rack before beginning to paint. I did these the night before and waited until the morning to paint them.

I decided to paint the antlers three different colours to get the look I wanted. I used a beige colour first,and painted two thin coats over the entire thing. I then used a light brown and white until they started looking realistic. I placed this to the side and let them dry as I worked on the headband that they would eventually go on.

I made my own ears out of light brown felt that I cut into large shaped ears (deers have big ears!) My mom sewed them onto the headband along with the fuzzy ears from the hood placing them inside the ones I made. This ended up working out great because the inside of the ears matched perfectly with the tummy. She then stiched these onto the headband and I painted the headband in the same beige colour previously used.. You can use any headband you want as long as it’s about half an inch or more thick. Don’t use a plastic headband as you will find it hard to attach the antlers to this. I made mine so big they were pretty heavy, I ended up having to get my dad to drill them right into the headband (crazy, I know!) After letting the antlers dry completely my dad bolted the antlers into the headband so they wouldn’t fall over or spin. I was extremely happy with how they turned out and it really made the costume come to life!

The final product

While my dad was working away on attaching the antlers I cut out some dots that I wanted to stick on the back of the onesie to make the spots. I bought an 8 1/2 X 11 inch sheet of felt from Fabricland (on sale for $1.00.) What was great about this felt was that it was sticky at the back so once I had cut out all the dots all I had to do was peal back the sticker and place them on the onesie. I opted for two different sizes of dots and started at the top of the onesie and went right down to the tail. Using the leftover material from one of the antlers on the hoodie my mom cut that off and sewed that onto the tail (I had to have the classic white fluffy deer tail.)

Now that the costume was complete it was time to start the fun part– the make-up! I had Googled, pinned, and watched YouTube videos on how others created the deer makeup. I found one that I really liked and her tutorial was really simple to follow. I have provided this video tutorial below. I didn’t make a video of me doing the makeup but I did take progress pictures throughout!

START OFF WITH A CLEAN SLATE. I used a little bit of mascara on the top lash and that’s it! I curled my hair with a curling wand and then pulled it back from my face while doing my makeup.

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Using white face pain ($1.50 from Dollarama)– use a makeup brush to outline around your eyes. I went just above my eyebrows and just below my eyes.I had to do a couple of coats before it was the white enough (careful not to make it too white)

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Next, using bronzer, or light brown face paint (or a combo of the two–that’s what I did,) with another makeup brush, fill in around the white covering your entire forehead and stopping at the bottom of your cheekbones.

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Before starting the dots. Take a small eyeshadow brush and use a medium shade of brown to contour your cheekbones. You can then blend this with the brush you used for the bronzer. To make the white dots I used the same white face paint as I did for the base and applied it with a Q-tip. This is why you don’t want to make the base too white otherwise the dots won’t show up clearly.

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Using the same eyshadow brush/colour you used for the contour begin to fill in your eyebrows with the same colour. Next, using black eyeliner start at your brow and run two lines down to the bottom of your nose. Fill in the bottom of your nose, I also ran some of the eyeliner into my eyebrows so it all blended nicely. I found it easiest to use a gel eyeliner with a very tin-tip brush to get precise lines.

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Using your black eyeliner again make exaggerated cat eyes on the top and bottom. I wanted to make large deer eyes so I extended my lower lash line a lot and added false eyelashes to the bottom and top lash! I went back in and added some white eyeshadow on the top and lower lids. VOILA- There you have it!

The final touches… I parted my hair down the center and did two one-inch thick french braids at the side. I completed the look with painting old faux-pearls bright red and dipped them in red sparkles to make them look like berries!

OH DEER…

Time to get back to the drawing board for next year’s costume!

Costumes, DIY, Halloween, Makeup

Ghosts Of Halloween Costumes Past

October 21, 2014October 24, 2016by Sara Stafford1 Comment

Halloween has always been one of my favourite holidays–only a few weeks to go!

Ever since I was a young girl my mom would hand-make costumes for my brother, sister and I. Those weeks of planning and late nights spent sewing, gluing, ironing, etc have transpired into my life today at 23 years old. I really have my mom to thank for my love of this holiday and for the enthusiasm and creativity we both love to put into costumes. I know that one day when I have kids of my own I will love spending countless hours coming up with ideas and putting it all together.

For now, I will share with you just a few of my previous Halloween costumes that I have photos of.

Stay tuned in a couple weeks time for this year’s costume…a deer ( I can’t wait for the transformation!)

Peacock:

I did this costume over four years ago so bear with me as I try remembering details!

From top to bottom…

Peacock Earrings: Forever 21, Peacock hairclip: hot glue gunned an extra feather onto a clip, Large Fake Eyelashes: Shopper’s Drug Mart, Sequin Bustier Tank: Forever 21, extra peacock feather mask (quick stitch across chest of tank), Black Tutu (Tip: Ask around if anyone took ballet, if not you can make your own with tulle from Fabricland), I also used some extra masks along the left and righthand side of the tutu, Feather-back, glued a bunch of masks onto cardboard so it was sturdy and attached that on string so I could easily wear it like a backpack, Peacock Feathers, this is where I really splurged, but it was a definite must– I got 3 large feathers from Pier One Imports and just stuck them down the tank-top. This really pulled the whole costume together and made it come alive! Fishnets, I got mine for $2.00 at Dollarama–they have great little additions for any costume you just have to go early, Black Pumps, Steve Madden.

Bathtub:

Rub a dub dub…

This was certainly one of my more extravagant costumes that took up a ton of space. It was so fun to create, and super simple! Not only was it a HUGE costume but it was a HUGE hit!

From top to bottom…

I got the Plush Bow Headband/Tube-Top Bath Wrap from Forever 21 as a set. It was around $15.00 and the best part about it was that I was able to use it again! I’m all about trying to use things I already have for parts of my costume or if I have to buy items I try to see if it’s possible to use again! I kept jewellery to a minimum as I wanted to keep the image of being in a bath real, I wore small faux-pearl earrings that actually looked like little bubbles! I wore my hair up in a sock bun with a few pieces down, however you might wear your hair in the bath! Now for the star of the show THE BATHTUB: I kept a large rectangular cardboard box and covered it entirely with white poster board and extended it out about two feet on either side shaping it like a bathtub! I attached the box on white strings so that it would hold up (it was surprisingly light!).Having it on straps was also convenient for travelling with your costume so that it can easily come off/on. I bought a pack of white balloons and tried blowing them up all around the same size to make the” bubbles.” I filled in the extra space with a package of spider web fluff that I bought from Dollarama to have a foam effect. I found a shower head at Dollarama that I decided to transform into the faucet of a bathtub. I bought a small rubber-duck and other things such as a sponge, loofas, back exfoliators, and any empty soap containers you may have sitting around. In keeping with the theme,I finished it all off with turquoise flip flops (these ones were from Old Navy that I already had!)

Baby Doll:

This was a year where I actually went out two nights for Halloween so naturally had to have two VERY different costumes (you’ll see what I mean quickly). This costume was extremely simply as I had an old skating costume that I used and transformed into a baby doll with some little touches.

From top to bottom…

Hair Bows: These were part of the costume that included the white t-shirt with lace and the CUTE checked shorts. You would use any type of ribbon to create this look, if you match the shorts, even better! I loosely curled my hair and put it into pigtails to channel my inner child. I used fake eyelashes on the top and on the bottom I made an exaggerated eye to look like a doll by using white eye-liner and then making a new bottom lash-line and stuck on more fake eye-lashes on the lower “new lid” I opted for freckles, bright blush and bright lip that I coloured just in the middle to complete the doll face. I had some tall white socks and white loafers to complete the costume!

Sugar Skull:

Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos)

I’m a huge fan of all things skulls so figured why not be one?!

I came up with the idea for this costume after countless hours spent searching Pinterest. I had come across a lot of people who had done an awesome job on the makeup so I figured I’d give it a shot. The result ended up being an unbelievable costume which was made entirely by the make-up (I was completely unrecognizable by my very own friends.) I was kind of cool to dress up for Halloween and not look anything like your regular self! This was also the first time I opted for something scary instead of pretty or cute, it was the most fun! This same year I saw a lot of celebrities take on this look too and it started becoming increasingly popular ever since!

Unfortunately I don’t have any tutorials on the makeup as I did this long before I started this blog, but if you search around on Pinterest and YouTube like I did you can find some great tutorials for this! I visited a couple different sites and combined a few looks so that it was exactly how i wanted it to be.

From top to bottom…

Flower Clip: I went to Dollarama and bought bright red fake flowers and cut them off the stem and glued them onto a large clip. Black wig: I also got this from Dollarama ($2.00, such an awesome deal)– this was my favourite part, having been a natural blonde my entire life it was neat putting on a jet-black wig for the night! I pulled the wig to one side and tied it in a low pony tale so it wasn’t taking away from the face makeup. Necklace: I got this skull chocker necklace & bracelet and skull gloves I cut the tips off from Dollarama in the Halloween costume section for $2.00 each, Lace Dress: This was a long-sleeve lace dress that I already had, it was just perfect for the look! I used the same black fishnets from a few years back and the same shoes!

Minnie Mouse:

Last but not least! I was travelling to British Columbia so unfortunately I couldn’t have a large costume and had to keep it pretty small! This seemed to be the year of Minnie Mouse costumes, I knew of three other people who did it that same year! The costume itself I kept simple but the effort on the make-up really made Minnie Mouse come to life! With this costume I put my mom’s years of making children’s costumes back to the test!

From top to bottom…

Minnie Mouse Ears, these are authentic STRAIGHT from Disneyland ears! I had the ears for years and it’s really what made me think to do this costume! Makeup: It was as simple as buying some black face makeup and finishing it off with bright red lips! Again, similar to the sugar skull makeup I looked at numerous tutorials. A lot of people who have done this costume only do the little nose, but creating the mouse heart shaped face MADE the look! Shirt/Skirt I bought a plain black cotton long-sleeve from Walmart and my mom used the extra red material from the skirt to make the bib and stitched on some buttons. The skirt would have been easier if I could have just found a red skirt with white polka dots, but of course when you’re looking for something you won’t find it. So I improvised and with the help of my mom and her handy sewing machine it turned out great! All I did was buy sheets of white felt from a craft store and made a circle stencil and stuck them onto the skirt. Bow Belt: This was a belt that I actually had and it couldn’t have been more perfect for this costume, it’s things like these I’m glad I keep in my costume (you never know when they might come in handy like this did!) I wore thick black tights to make my legs look just like Minnie’s and to match the long-sleeve top! Gloves: I bought plain white gloves from Dollarama and used a black sharpie to colour the black lines after looking at Minnie costumes/pictures online. I didn’t have bright yellow shoes like Minnie does so I just wore black to match the tights!

Check out my post on my DIY deer costume! The makeup on this one is what really makes the look come alive!

Tag: Makeup

Clarins Open Spa Launch Party

DEERific DIY Halloween Costume

DIY Deer Halloween Costume:

How-to recreate this look:

The final product

OH DEER…

Time to get back to the drawing board for next year’s costume!

Ghosts Of Halloween Costumes Past

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