Weekend Beauty Tip: How To Prevent Foundation From Caking

My skin has been a huge pain in my derrière lately (think lots of red patches, pimples, and all that fun stuff). I've literally had to put layers of concealer and foundation in order to cover it all up, but the result was a cake-face, and it was NOT a good look.

Luckily, on a recent trip to the MAC Cosmetics counter, I learned a really neat trick to avoid the cake face.

Review: L'Oreal Professionel Mythic Oil Souffle D'Or

L'Oreal Professionel's latest innovation in their iconic Mythic Oil range is the "Souffle D'Or" collection.

September Essentials

Happy last day of September, lovelies! With TIFF, fashion weeks and more, it's no wonder the month flew by so quickly.

Here are a few of my essential items that got me through September:

Favourite Nail Looks at NYFW SS14

Courtesy of Essie

I'm seriously obsessed with this matte nail look as seen at Costello Tagliapietra's spring 2014 show at New York Fashion Week. The midnight blue colour is a nice alternative to basic black, and a matte top coat just seems to make any nail polish look that much cooler (seriously...my love affair for matte polish has been going on for quite some time now...)

Check out my post on styleswept.ca for the rest of my favourite nail looks from NYFW (and how to get the look!) 

XO,
Madelyn

P.S. Be sure to follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest and Instagram!

Weekend beauty tip: The magic of tea tree oil

It's that time of year again, lovelies! September is here a.k.a. the January of the fashion world.

And with TIFF, NYFW and other amazing/awesome/uber-cool events and parties to go to and things to do, things are getting prettyyyy hectic.

ICYMI: CoverGirl's Capitol Collection

Brand I love: Philip Kingsley

style-rx loves philip kingsley by style-rx on Polyvore

Wanna know something super embarrassing? I have extremely fine, thin hair...and not a lot of it. Yes, it is very long, but if you take a close look at my scalp, there really isn't much there. I am terrified of balding (it runs in my family). When I was 15, I cut off 12 inches of my hair to donate, in the hopes that it would give me good karma and the hair gods would spare me from the dreaded hair loss the rest of my family faces (yes, even the women). So when I started losing clumps of hair in the shower, I thought my time had come and that the balding process had begun.

#MANIMONDAY: Peachy Sparkles

Confession: This manicure is actually from a few weeks ago, and I've since taken it off. I'm a huge fan of CND's Shellac (who isn't, really?) but I decided to be a little bit daring and try out Artistic Nail Design Colour Gloss. Overall, I was unimpressed. Though it does look really great when it's fresh, the colour quickly faded to a yellow-ish hue, and it chipped several times. I finally got so fed up with trying to fix it, I took it off after less than a week. Sad. Artistic does have great colours, but it definitely does not have the staying power of Shellac. 

Have you tried Artistic Nail Design before? Did it last for you? 

XO,

Madelyn

P.S. Let's be Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest friends! :)

VIDEO: My absolute fave beauty products

So, I've decided to finally start a YouTube channel where I can review some of my favourite beauty products, and give some tips and tricks. It's still under construction (YouTube has changed a LOT since the days where I used to upload videos of me playing piano...thankfully those have been taken down). 

Since I do get sent a lot of products to test (perks of the day job) and also am constantly purchasing new products that I've read about, I figured this could be a good way to give an honest review on what's out there. I'll admit...it's easy to get sucked into the PR game and feel obligated to give a good review when a product is sent to you. But these reviews will be 100% honest, promise :)

First vid? The products in my beauty routine that will never EVER be replaced. 

Which beauty products do you swear by?

Subscribe to my channel, and be sure to tell me what you think!

XO,

Madelyn

PS. Are you following me on other social networking sites yet? Let's be friends! Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr. 

Emmanuelle Chriqui On Beauty And Living Green

Originally posted on styleswept.ca.

Emmanuelle Chriqui is one of those rare celebrities who are truly beautiful inside and out.

The Canadian-born actress (who’s best known for her roles in Entourage and The Mentalist) has been deemed “sexiest celeb” and “most beautiful woman” by several publications, so it seems like a beauty deal would be inevitable. But Chriqui was extremely selective in choosing which beauty campaign to front.

Shades of blue

Clockwise from left: Essie Mint Candy Apple, Essie Rock The Boat, Chanel Nouvelle Vague. 

I know emerald green is the colour of the year, but right now I'm all about the blues. I'm still in love with Chanel's Nouvelle Vague, the it-colour back in 2010, and Essie's Mint Candy Apple is a classic fave. But there's something to be said about the light blue hue of Rock The Boat from Essie's summer collection. Love that it is a true blue - with no hints of green. 

Which polish will you be wearing this summer? 

Ps. Follow me on Instagram! @style_rx

Get the Look: Jennifer Lawrence's Minimal Makeup

Jennifer Lawrence at the premiere of The Great Gatsby. Photo by REX Features

Originally posted on styleswept.ca

Last week, Jennifer Lawrence made a bold move and showed that less is really more by going bare-faced to the premiere of The Great Gatsby in New York.

Test Drive: Rowenta Beauty's Versa Style

Rowenta Beauty Versa Style

Originally posted on styleswept.ca

We women tend to always want what we don't have -- especially when it comes to hair. While I long for big, voluminous curls, my curly-haired friends envy my pin-straight locks.

And though we can't exactly change our hair permanently, we can manipulate it with styling tools. The only problem? It can get costly to invest in, especially when we require different tools for different hairstyles.

That's where Rowenta Beauty's Versa Style comes in handy. This all-in-one styling tool allows you to create several different hair looks; from sleek and straight, to big bouncy curls and everything in between.

Talking Nail Art With Essie's Rita Remark

Essie Canada's Lead Nail Artist, Rita Remark; Photo by Madelyn Chung

Originally posted on styleswept.ca

Rita Remark certainly had her (perfectly manicured) hands full at World MasterCard Fashion Week. As the lead nail artist for Essie Canada, the Toronto native was responsible for creating nail looks for eight shows, including Chloe comme Parris, Pink Tartan and MIZ by Izzy Camilleri.

We caught up with Remark backstage at the tents to chat about her creative process and the nail trends we should expect for fall.

Beauty Look We Love: Comrags Fall 2013

Beauty look at Comrags Fall 2013; Photo Courtesy of MSL Canada

Originally posted on styleswept.ca

Last Thursday, we headed backstage at Andrew Richard Designs to check out Comrags' Fall 2013 collection at The shOws.

Though beauty on the runway can often be a little bit too crazy for everday, we were pleasantly surprised to see that the Comrags beauty look was something that could be worn in real-life and easily recreated at home.

"At a lot of shows, the makeup doesn't look too wearable," said Greg Wencel, celebrity makeup artist and CoverGirl makeup pro who created the look. "When we met with [Comrags designers] Judish Corish and Joyce Gunhouse, they wanted to make sure that it was something that made a statement, but something that someone wouldn't be afraid to actually try."

Wencel's inspiration? A youthful, look reminiscent of a Parisian girl or models backstage sipping wine.

"The Comrags girl has something healthy and organic about her. It's a polished look, that's super pretty and very wearable," he explained.

Wencel gave us a rundown on how to recreate the look at home, using CoverGirl cosmetics:

Sephora Launches BECCA Cosmetics Exclusively in Canada

BECCA Cosmetics Shimmering Skin Perfector; Photo Courtesy of BECCA Cosmetics

Originally posted on styleswept.ca

I love trying out new beauty products and brands, so when I heard that BECCA Cosmetics (a line loved by Gwyneth Paltrow, Beyonce and Kate Moss, to name a few) was launching in Canada exclusively at Sephora, I was super excited to check it out.