The day before summer vacation, otherwise known as "the day before the final" + Sephora has come to Montreal!

Two wonderful events are happening tomorrow. For starters, I'm writing a final for my summer course -- and while this isn't particularly pleasant in itself, I will be free to enjoy my summer vacation afterwards. Also, Sephora is (finally!) opening a store in downtown Montreal, and I've promised myself I'd stop by to have a look, once I'll be done with the exam. How can I resist, when it's located a few blocks from campus? I won't buy anything extraordinary -- just an eye shadow primer, really -- but this is much too exciting to miss. 

Meanwhile, I have to get through this final, and for that I must do as much studying as I can in the time that I have left. I'd better get off this blog post, in fact... Yes, in a minute. You can see I'm keeping myself hydrated with this enormous 24 oz reusable cup from Starbucks by my side... and that my brain stays high on sugar ;). 

Strawberry shortcake sundae, yum!

Alright, I'm going back to it. To all people writing a final paper tomorrow or this week, I wish you the best of luck!

Where to buy in Canada: Acrylic lipstick organizer

Lately, I have been looking to organize my make up in a neat, elegant, yet visible way. I want my collection to be beautifully displayed, and my products to be within my sight and reach, so they could be used more often rather than forgotten.

I have been wanting an acrylic lipstick organizer for the longest time; sadly, I only managed to find them online. I say sadly, because I live in Canada, and boy, can it be expensive to get an item to travel all the way here! No, MUJI, I won't pay $25 shipping on top of your already overpriced acrylic cases. No, eBay seller, there's no way I'll give you $30 for one of these either.

I was starting to consider making my own (I wonder how that would have turned out) when I came across a Canadian youtuber showing the lipstick holder I wanted in a video. She mentioned that she found hers at Winners -- we have several of them downtown, so I decided to check them out. Still, I wasn't overly hopeful because every one of those stores is different: since they mostly sell other brands' overstock, the content of the shelves varies from week to week. I had no luck in the first location I visited, but when I scanned the home decor section of another one, there they were! The selection was rather small, but they had a few very nice displays, not only for lipsticks but also for miscellaneous cosmetics. All of them were from the brand "Danielle by Upper Canada", and ranged from $10 (the one that I got!) to $30 (for larger displays). $10 is still not entirely cheap, but the case feels sturdy and I love the way the 3 rows are levelled, so I thought I'd share. This organizer holds 24 lipsticks (I didn't have quite enough, so I made room for a few glosses!).

So if you're Canadian and looking for an acrylic make up case, I recommend having a look at your local Winners store!