Beauty Look | Anastasia Beverly Hills Palette - Cool Mauve #Makeup Look - #ModernRenaissance Eyeshadow Palette

In the past, for me to be able to achieve a cool toned eyeshadow look, on my skin tone was challenging. The reason it would be difficult is that either the shadows weren't pigmented enough or I had to layer a lot of primer/concealer to get the shadows to look right.

Even though at first glance, the Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance palette looks like a warmer palette, there are a few colours in the palette, that allowed me to create this cool mauve look.

Check it out below!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Palette & Makeup Used

• Lid: Tempera
• Crease: Warm Taupe & Buon Fresco
• Mid Lid: Buon Fresco
• Outer Corner: Cyprus Umber
• Inner to Mid Lid: Vermeer (Mixed with Fluid Sheer #8)
• Lashline: Buon Fresco & Warm Taupe
• Outer Corner Lashline: Cyprus Umber
• Mascara: L'Oreal Voluminous Lash Paradise Mascara
• Liner: L'Oreal Lineur Intense & MAC Cosmetics Feline Eye Pencil
• Foundation: Maybelline FitMe Foundation Shade 315
• Concealer: Maybelline Fit Me Concealer
• Blush: Fluid Sheer #8
• Highlight: Fenty Beauty Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter Girl Next Door/Chic Phreak
• Lips: Maybelline 665 Lust For Blush Matte Lipstick with Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb

Really like how this look came together! I loved how I could use the duo ended brush that comes with this palette to do all of the eyeshadow application. More looks to come!

Product Love | #AnastasiaBeverlyHills Modern Renaissance Palette

Finally!! I have this baby!!

I couldn't wait to get my hands on this Eye shadow palette!  I wanted to see the reviews and makeup looks first before I got it. This is the method I use for my makeup purchases and it's never failed me yet. Once I saw the reviews and the makeup looks, I then headed to Sephora to see the palette in person. As soon as I saw the palette, I was sold!

I have to say, this is my first Anastasia Beverly Hills product purchase, which initially, I thought would have been an eye brow product, since those were the products that put ABH on the map! Bus as ABH started to expand their product offering to other makeup, I was intrigued! 

Without further delay, check out the Modern Renaissance Palette by ABH below:

I really like the mix of matte and shimmer shades in this palette as well as the 2 sided brush, which for me, is a bonus!  Below is my overall impression:

• Pigmented Colours
• Minimal Fallout
• Good blendability
• Loved the velvety packaging
• 2 ended Brush is a plus for travelling
• You can create soft natural looks to super dramatic eye looks

So far this palette is a WIN! To celebrate, I will be sharing a number of makeup looks in the next few days. The looks will be a variety of neutral, soft and super glam looks, which I am excited to share!

Stay tuned!

Lifestyle | My #ThyroidCancer Story....

I was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer in April of 2017 and as a result, I took time away from the blog. There may have been a few blog posts I did, here and there, but truthfully, I wasn't able to keep up with the blog as I was feeling overwhelmed with everything.


Now that I am approaching my 1 year scan, I am ready to talk and share in more detail what has happened, how I found out, what prompted me to look for answers on why I wasn't feeling well. I also wanted to share my "in the moment" experience as it was happening to me.


I wanted to:

• Share things that helped me cope and stay positive
• Shed light on accurate info about Thyroid Cancer since there are many misconceptions
• Reinforce that every Cancer story and experience is so personal and unique
• Provide Thyroid Cancer/Disease awareness 

Therefore, I am scared/excited to share that I have finally recorded and posted my first two videos in a series of videos I will be posting on my YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/MakeupbySand



I feel extremely blessed that I am here to share and just felt that it's the right time. Please stay tuned to the blog for updates on the videos that I will be posting on YouTube! I hope you find the time to take a peek. In the meantime, feel free to check out the newly posted videos below:



My Intro Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTy9xGgna70

My Real Time Video Pre-Surgery:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-ZQUBYKRLo

If I have learned anything during this experience is that life is short and you must start doing the things you want to do and not wait to live your life. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!!

Product Love | My #Fenty Beauty Obsession

Obsession doesn't even begin to describe how I felt about this makeup launch. There have been countless makeup launches that I have seen or I have been a part of, but nothing could have prepared me for what Fenty Beauty was about to do. The industry was going to be shook, and guess what? It has been, but in the best way possible!

For me, whenever I see that a celebrity or a pop culture influencer is putting their name behind a makeup line, I tend to take it with a grain of salt. What I mean by this, is that there are a lot of questions that I want to know answers to when it comes to the makeup line, as follows:

1. How involved is the celebrity with the development of the line? Rihanna was very involved
2. What products are they starting their launch with? Full Collection
3. Where is the launch taking place? Online or In-Store or Both? Both
4. Being in Canada, is this something that will be available here? Yes :)
5. Product quality/validity of Social Media hype? Worth the hype

I ventured to Sephora at Yorkdale and was happy to discover they had the Fenty collection! They also had stock of the popular items and even had an event centred around the launch. I was happy to see that it was FULL Collection, a long list of foundation shades with various undertones, therefore you WILL find your match.

I was able to be colour matched on the fly by 2 very lovely Sephora associates and was able to get my foundation shade. From this point forward, everything was a Blur, I literally picked up #errrythang I could get my hands on, but reason got the best of me. Therefore I went over to the centre of the store and sat down to see what made sense for me. Basically, I had to decide what is going home with me and what was going to stay behind :(

Below you will see my original list of products I was thinking of getting and what I actually ended up getting:

• ProFiltr Foundation
• Foundation Brush
• Highlighting Brush
• Fenty Sponge
• Primer
• Highlight Duo
• Trophy Wife Highlighter
• Matchstix Trio
• Lip Gloss
• Blotting Paper
• Blotting Powder

Here is what I ended up getting:

• ProFiltr Foundation
• Pro Filtr Instant Retouch Primer
• Killawatt Freestyle Highlight Duo in Girl Next Door and Chic Phreak
• Killawatt Freestyle Highlight in Trophy
• Gloss Bomb

Can we obsess on how ahhhmazing the Trophy Wife highlighter is???

I will do a review on the collection in terms of cost, feedback on the products as well as do a Makeup Breakdown in a future post for this Fenty inspired makeup look that I did above.

It's been a while but I am glad I got to share with you my product love this week!

Product Love | #Batiste Dry Shampoo

Get rid of oil and gain volume at the same time? Yes please! I wanted to share a time saving tip when it comes to styling hair. Dry Shampoos have gotten quite the shine in the last few years. The challenge is trying to figure out the one that works and doesn't cost a fortune.

I've tried many different Dry Shampoos over the years and I am currently loving the: Batiste Dry Shampoo

Batiste Impression/Thoughts:

• Medium Weight Spray
• Smells incredible
• Great for absorbing excess oil from roots
• Adds volume
• Price: $8.99 - $10.00 (200ml)

I loved the volume it created after spraying and working it into my roots. The smell is incredible. Great to add to your gym bag or weekend/beach bag. If you ever struggled with "Gym Hair" this product will help by absorbing excess oil, while keeping your hair looking fresh between shampoos.

Important TIP:

Now, here is the thing, if you are not familiar with how to use Dry Shampoos, be sure NOT to spray it all over your hair, it is NOT hairspray. Here is how I use it:

1. Lift small sections from your root and spray lightly
2. Spray 1 section at a time, focusing the spray towards the roots 
3. Wait about a 1 min, lightly work the spray into the roots. 
4. Brush out and you will see the fullness and volume

I will be checking out the other Batiste products for the summer! 

Product Love | Tarte Cosmetics #TarteistProPalette

If there was ever a makeup product that got rave reviews on Social Media, I pretty much went to the store and would buy it without question. Now, I take a bit more time to research, which I think is super important to do before spending any money.

If possible, take the time to see, swatch and play with a product prior to purchase. (This should be the case at most major retailers). I am happy to say that I compared 2 very gorgeous eyeshadow palettes that were launched around the same time. The winner for me was this baby right here: The Tarte Cosmetics #Tarteist Pro Palette!

Why I Love It:

• A mix of Matte and Shimmery finishes
• Loved the warmer and red toned shades 
• 20 Shades (16 Matte + 4 Shimmers)
• Beautiful packaging
• Travel friendly

My only concern was that the matte shadows would be a bit too powdery or ashy during application, but using the right brushes truly makes a difference and I had no problems!

Here are a few Makeup looks that I have done so far using this palette! FYI - I have been choosing this as my go-to Eyeshadow palette pretty much everyday!

One of my fave purchases so far! The price is $68 CDN, so it's on the higher price point side, but if you were to break it down to a per shadow cost, it works out to: $3.40 (Not to bad) :)

One of my fave things about this palette is the colour blocked effect for ideas on which shadows to wear together and the versatility to create literally a million eyeshadow combos!

I picked up mine from Sephora and got myself a few cute Makeup samples, which has worked out well, because I have found thee best Waterproof Black eye pencil! I will also share 4 Makeup looks using the colour row options! Stay tuned :)

Happy Shopping!

Beauty Look | Day to Night #MakeupLook featuring a Red Lip :)

Do you ever do your makeup and then think about changing it up? Maybe you feel you want to be a bit more dramatic or bolder? I totally get it, I go through this alot! Mostly for glam or special event makeup that I do from time to time.

Sometimes the look you envisioned was fine, but you want to take it a step bolder. That's why I'm sharing how I changed my makeup look by altering one thing.

My last post featured a neutral lip with a glam eye makeup. So I altered the lipstick and it made the look pop! This is also a great example of how you can change your look from Day to Night!

The Makeup details are in the previous post (Click Here). The two products I used to change the lips are listed below:

1. NYX Cosmetics Soft Matte Lip Cream in Shade Monte Carlo
2. Christian Dior Lip Liner Pencil in Shade in Rouge Dior

Try your own makeup swap whether it be adding a winged look to your liner or adding false lashes or in this case changing the lipstick!

Happy Lips!