Tara Goes to Canada / 2013

This summer I took a week-long trip to Alberta, Canada! We stayed in the city of Canmore while driving up to Banff National Park. These are some of my Canadian beauty, fashion, and food finds !

 

Beauty

- Bioderma Sensibio H2O:

  Honestly, I've heard about Bioderma for the longest time and I simply could not bring myself to buy a $40 bottle off of Amazon (since Bioderma isn't sold in the states) So I made it my mission to search for the French brand while in Canada. At last, I got a hold of a two-pack (250ml each) for $30 in Shoppers Drug Mart in Canmore. It is an excellent makeup remover and overall face cleanser. Even after using my holy grail Simple Makeup Remover Wipes, swiping Bioderma across my face revealed to me that my makeup wipes weren't cutting it ! Lets just say I am rationing my bottle...

- Annabelle TwistUp Retractable Lipstick Crayon (Divine):

Whilst in Canada, I thought  I'd check out the local Shoppers Drug and see if there where any Canadian-based products that might be interesting to try out. Of course they had Covergirl and Revlon, but within those well-known brands I found Anabelle. They had an entire display featuring these newly released lip crayons! I was immediately drawn to this Divine shade, a muted coraly-pink. I love the wear time for these lippies! It's a semi-matte finish and I feel like it wears well throughout the day without any blotches or bleeding outside of the lip line. LOVE! ~swatched below

-Revlon Matte Lipstick (Mauve It Over): 

Another well-known collection that is sadly not available in the U.S drugstores is the Revlon Matte Collection. I was looking for the Strawberry Suede shade, but it was no where to be found ): My sister however, found her perfect lipstick shade in Mauve it Over. It's exactly how it sounds, a brown toned mauve-pink. I had to include it in my Canada finds since it is a rare occurrence my sister finds a lipstick she adores. She ended up picking up a second of the same shade for back-up purposes. (Hi, Alita!)

-Quo Lipstick (7):

A Shoppers Drug Mart exclusive! I picked up this Quo lipstick on my last visit after a recommendation from the Beauty Associate working that day. I am a sucker for packaging- and this pop-up lipstick contraption reminded me of the Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet Lipsticks. The color is much more creamy than the Anabelle lip crayon, but just as pretty. Number 7 is a mid-toned raspberry color which will be just as perfect in the fall as it is now ! ~swatched below

-Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation (103 True Ivory):

I almost flipped a lid when I saw these foundations in the Rimmel section! Again, not sold in the States, I HAD to try. It is a very hydrating formula, perfect if you have dry skin. But even with my combo-oily skin type, I found that I don't turn into a grease ball at the end of the day (Just top it off with MUFE Super Matte Loose Powder and you'll be fine!) It is a light to medium coverage foundation, perfect for summer. It claims to have an Anti-fatigue effect, but I think with a little concealer, anything is possible (;

Fashion

-Anthropologie Sunglasses:

 Whether it was hiking to a waterfall, or eating dinner outside, these sunglasses we always on my face. In Canada, the sun seems like it doesn't set until 10pm so I found that these lightweight glasses were the perfect daily accessory! 

Food

-Maple Syrup: 

I know Canadians do maple best, so I had to throw this in the mix. Everywhere you went, there were maple cookies, candies, t-shirts! A little bit more liquid-y than I'm used to in syrups, but yummy nonetheless!

-LifeStyle Collection Cookies (Blueberry and Brown Sugar with flax)

The box shown is the French translation sorry! 

There is quite a story about these cookies... they were first served to my family on the plane as a snack on our way to Calgary, and they were surprisingly tasty!  We later wondered into a local Supermarket and found them on the shelves, we decided to pick up a box (or two). During our trip, we encountered these cookies in different stores all across Alberta, we ended up purchasing TEN boxes in total! Must try! (: