Notable Reads, Vol. 14...

Today will be a very hot and lazy Sunday so I hope that you will all do like me and take it easy. Usually early mornings are quite lively in my yard. The birds, the squirrels and Julius who enjoys to chase them away provide quite a show. Not this morning. They're smart! Staying quiet to keep their energy, I guess they all know it's gonna be a doozie!

C'est la fête des Français!

14 juillet - Bonne fête la France!

Instagram Silliness, Vol 1

Recently, to my daughter's despair, I've started to get into using my iPhone for picture taking a little more. Sometimes they are specifically for a post and sometimes they are for Instagram. Catherine goes nuts when I start snapping pictures at the drugstore and goes almost ballistic when I do that at the grocery store!

Well Sweetness, too bad, I ain't gonna stop! In fact, I'm just getting started! :)

Beauty Tips For Beating The Heat...

It's been pretty hot recently and depending on where you live it may still be sticky and uncomfortable. I've got a few tips that may help if not stay cool at least give you the illusion of freshness. I would have a hard time without my air conditioning but hey, I do have to go out so I can't escape the heat. I'm keeping my fingers crossed we don't lose our electricity like it's been the case in some parts following torrential rains. Believe me, I feel for you!

L'Oréal Magic Nude Liquid Powder / Review

This product is not even on the website yet! Isn't it usually the other way around meaning, you'll see the new offerings on a company's website and then will start looking for it, waiting for it to be available? Anyways, yesterday I stumbled upon this new display for L'Oréal Magic Nude Liquid Powder.

What is it? L'Oréal describes it as a bare skin perfecting makeup.

The texture: very liquidy. In a way it reminded me of Erno Laszlo's Shake-It Tinted Treatment although not as watery, with less alcohol and more pigment.

How did it perform? I tried a darker color on my arm and I must say I was pleased with the coverage. It dried up quite fast and left a nice powdery finish. The problem, it didn't last. About two hours later I could barely see it on my arm and it wasn't due to friction. I must also add that as it did feel powdery smooth it didn't feel comfortable. I got to try YSL Le Teint Touche Éclat recently which was lovely and even Bourjois' Healthy Mix foundation seems more "flexible". I think with L'Oréal Magic Nude Powder one would have to use either a makeup spray or a spritz of thermal water to make it not only feel more pleasant but slightly more dewy.

I didn't see for which skin type L'Oréal Magic Nude Powder is for but, I believe it would be more suitable for combination to oily complexions since it dried so quickly and was quite mattifying. In my case for some reason and I might be wrong here, I would be afraid of oxidation just because of the way it felt on my skin and the fact that at the moment my skin is more on the oily side.

It will be interesting to read the reviews as people get to try it. I guess we'll see soon enough if this new foundation becomes a best seller.


This comment is based on one trial of the product and on my experience. L'Oréal has been one of my go to brands for foundations in the past and I've been satisfied with the ones I've used. It's not because this one is not for me that it's not for you. :)

Notable Reads, Vol. 13 - Taking Things Slow & Thinking About Moving...

Taking things slow...

This month I'll be posting a little less for a few reasons. Recently I've been spending way too much time on the computer. I guess it was in reaction to André's passing, I needed to keep my mind occupied and as I've mentioned before, blogging has helped me immensely last Winter while he was sick. Now it's become a bit much. I need to spend more quality time with my daughter for this will likely be the last Summer where I will not be working, where I can be fully there for her. I've been looking for a job and sadly at the moment there aren't too many postings so most of the time I'll be on the computer will be for my job search.

So don't be surprised if I skip a day or two here and there.

Thinking about moving...

For a while now I've been thinking about moving Icaria's from Blogger to WordPress. Although I'm pretty happy with the look the blog has at the moment, I find there is still room for  improvements. I already have a WP blog that was used to copy/paste entries from Blogger but haven't done much of these in for quite sometime now.

I'm hesitant because I still haven't mastered the functionalities of the other platform and I must admit I find it kind of hard to work with. This is probably because I got used to Blogger in the first place. It's so hard to change but I know it would make Icaria's look more polished and dare I say, maybe more professional.

Most of the blogs I follow are on WordPress and the article mentioned below is one of several that is pushing me to make the move. At the moment I just can't decide on which layout to chose and how to organise the widgets so some of my time on the computer is trying to figure this all out. I'm so not tech savvy!

Why Moving to WordPress is The Right Decision, Fashion Beauty Etc

Little update. When I published this post one annoying thing happened! Below, the font is different. I tried everything I could to change this but nothing worked. Formatting is one of the reasons I want to move. Can you blame me?


Picture taking... 

This is something I find extremely frustrating at the moment. While I was happy to start posting my own pictures, I'm not pleased with most of them especially the ones about colors. I know colors can depend on which browser you use. For example, I find they are warmer with Google Chrome than on Explorer or Firefox. What gets to me in a big way is that it's one thing to have different colors from different browsers but quite another when it on the same post! On the same post, with the same camera, with the same lighting! Grrrr! Case and point, my recent entry Coral Glow Meets an Almost Match, here.

For some picture taking I've discovered that the iPhone works better than my camera! I guess I'll be using it a little more.

My Summer case, can you tell I love spots!

What caught my attention this week...

Ever heard of fish pedicure? I hadn't either until Jane of British Beauty Blogger tweeted about this last week. I'm not sure if I should laugh or be disturbed about this. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2050342/Fish-pedicures-foot-spas-spread-HIV-hepatitis-C.html

The Eye Soothers, Strawberry Blonde. Nic shows us three treatments to help take down the puffiness we all experience once in a while. As mentioned by Nic there's always those good old cucumber slices as well as a few other options as shown in my own Puffy eyes, how to treat them post which you can read, here.

YSL Fall Look 2013: Gris Underground 38 and Beige Gallery 39 La Laque Couture, The Beauty Look Book. Have a look at the new YSL nail polishes, they are stunning!

Hourglass Opaque Rouge, worth the hype? Tattooed Tea Lady. We've all heard about this brands outstanding Ambient Light powders but what about their other products? Here Sophia gives us an honest review of one of their options.

Caudalie Divine Experience, Mostly Sunny. Read Sunny's reviews of the products who are getting more popular by the minute. I simply must get that oil! :)

Fight The Monica Frizz This Summer With LUSH! Beauty Reflections. Tracy tells us about her favorites to fight frizz. Although I do remember the Monica Frizz, I get to live with the Hélène Frizz just about everyday! That's the one I'm trying to fight. :)


For your viewing enjoyment...

This week I'm sending you over to Cherry Sue, Doin' the Do to view a Pink video. True Love. Like Cherry Sue wrote, it is what it is! You sometimes want to smash their face in but then can't live without them. That one really got to me. Not that I have to be reminded but it really made me realise how much I miss him...


I know that for most of us it's been a pretty hot week so what will it be...

Lemonade or Sangria?

Have a great week everyone and keep cool! Hélène xoxoxo

Garnier Fructis Style Thermo Sleek-Spray / Review

In my Quest to find the perfect anti-frizz styling products, I recently purchased a few Garnier Fructis products. I've already reviewed the Triple Nutrition Miracle Oil, here. This week I've been experimenting with the Thermo-Sleek Spray.

How did I use it?

I'm not going by the first two times I tried it since on those days we ended up with rain and it was extremely humid. I don't think anything would have made much difference on my type of hair.

Yesterday...

On towel dried hair. The spray is not that great so I sprayed about ten times in my hand to apply to the length and another seven times or so close to the roots, about one inch from them. Using a comb at this point is a good idea to help spread this gel like liquid evenly. I let my hair air dry about 30 minutes or so before using the blow dryer and honestly, I don't know how this product would fair with a regular blow dryer, I have a pro version that gives a lot of heat and this does make a huge difference as far a end results are concerned, especially for me since as I've mentioned before I have super thick hair.

Blow drying my hair I was a little annoyed by the steam the product caused. It was as if my hair was catching fire! It was not but still a bit scary. Once I was done I did have perfectly straight hair so I figured I'd skip the flat iron. One hour later my hair didn't look so sleek. It was starting to do it's own thing, again! Normally I would have dragged my feet back in the bathroom to plug in the flat iron but yesterday was one of those super hot days so my hair ended up in a bun.

This morning...

My hair feels a bit dry, almost "staticky" which is a little weird for Summer. I do have some frizzes but it's not as bad as with Frizz-Ease reviewed, here. Because of that dry sensation I will not use the flat iron today. It's Saturday anyway and I don't want to damage my hair. I'll simply use a bit of oil to tame it and will likely wear it up again.

Would I recommend Garnier Fructis Style Thermo Sleek-Spray? It's a no for me but yes for some.

It didn't give me the outstanding results I was looking for. If you have thick/coarse hair, I don't think you'll fair much better than I did. If you have medium to thin hair that's already on the "straitish" side then I believe you will likely end up with good looking straight hair. I paid under $4.00 for this but if you have long hair you will find the bottle to be on the small side. It's only 150 ml so if you wash your hair every two days on average you will use this product pretty quickly. I've used it three times and already a fifth of it is gone.

The fragrance is on the strong side when you apply it but fades nicely after an hour or so which is a good thing since I'm not that much of a fan of the "Fructis" smell.

This product seems to have been on the marked for a while in Australia (maybe in other parts of the world as well) but it's not showing on Garnier's Canadian, American or French websites. There aren't many reviews of it either but from the ones I've read Gariner Fructis Style Thermo Sleek-Spray appears to get an average of 3 out of 5.

I will not repurchase but again, it's not because it didn't work for me that it won't for you.

M.A.C Illustrated Makeup Bags, M.A.C by Request 2013 & Turquatic...

Here we have yet another collaboration for M.A.C this time with two award winning illustrators. The result, four makeup bags which can be nice options if you are a collector.

Two colorful bags by New York graffiti artist Indie 184 and two black and white line drawings by Anja Kroencke.

As you can see these two artists couldn't be more different. While Indie 184 clearly shows a modern tagging street style, Kroencke takes us back to a popular style of the late 70s. They are $43.00 each and are available now through M.A.C website.


M.A.C by Request 2013...

Every year M.A.C brings back loved products from the 1990s and 2000s based on votes. From July 8th to 23rd you can cast your own through their facebook page. Who knows, maby one of your favorites will be available in Spring 2014? Based on popularity, three lipsticks and three eyeshadows will be released again for a limited time.

M.A.C Putty! I would LOVE for it to make the cut!

Turquatic...

Here's a bit of ignorance for you, I had no idea M.A.C had a fragrance(s)! They clearly don't promote it at their counters because I've never seen it but I must admit that sometimes it's kind of hard to find their latest collections as well so it may not be surprising. The largest M.A.C counter we have downtown is almost a maze. Now from what I've just read about Turquatic I am more than intrigued. Aquatic with a good dose of Amalfi lemon! My nose is itching at the moment just thinking about lemons!

Originally launched in 2011, M.A.C describes is as being a classic with notes of Anemone, Lotus, Oris and Corsican Blue Cedar. Considered as a unisex fragrance (now that scares me a little for I've never liked one qualified as such so far) I will still sample it since according to the reviews it leans more to the feminine side. Available in three sizes: 6 ml rollerball ($26.50), 25 ml ($36.00) and 50 ml ($59.50).


Do you like these makeup bags? Have you tried Turquatic?

Dior or L'Oréal? Coral Glow, meets an "almost" match!

Did y'all know that I loooove my Diorskin Nude Tan Paradise Duo in Coral Glow?

Ok sorry I couldn't resist but it's true! If it weren't so silly I would probably sleep with it and I'm not the only one who's nuts about this compact. My bloguerette friend Sunny from Mostly Sunny is about to get married to hers. I hope we'll get invited, me and my Coral Glow that is...

Now of course you dont neeeed a compact with both product. You can totally go for separates but ain't it fun to only have one item to carry?

At the drugstore I stumbled upon a L'Oréal product that I had never noticed before and at $3.99, yes that's right, I figured I'd do a little comparison.

L'Oréal The One Sweep Sculpting Blush Duo, I purchased the shade 830 Flush.

It's Canada Day / C'est La Fête du Canada

Happy 146th Canada! 

Joyeux 146ème anniversaire!