May 2014 Favourites

I'm completely and utterly sorry for not posting yesterday- my family flew in from Vancouver and I was so caught up in excitement and then spending time with them that I completely spaced and forgot to post.

Onto another topic, it's the end of the month, which means it's time for me to round up my favourite products, fashion, tv shows, and random loves of the last month. This is my first favourites post (so it will be a work in progress over the next couple months). For this month, I only have beauty favourites, and the show I am currently power watching on Netflix. Either way, let's get into it.

May 2014 Favourite...

...eye product: Physicians Formula Kohl Kajal in Black (part of the 3 pack in Neutral)

...face product: ELF Baked Blush in Pinkalicious

...lip product: Maybelline Colour Whisper in Rose of Attraction

...nail polish: Essie Watermelon

...hair product: Tresemme Platinum Strength Heat Protectant

...tv show: Veronica Mars

Happiness

Today, I had a pretty amazing experience. I am not usually an outgoing smiles all around type person. I usually keep to myself, and keep my head down.

Since I graduated University and moved away from my University town I've been staying with my grandparents, which is fun, I just don't know anyone my age. So spending every day just hanging out by yourself, or going grocery shopping with your nana could cause some to get lonely. I've been enjoying it. I've spent a lot of time thinking about how I want my life to be, and how I will make it happen. I started this blog, where I find myself every day day dreaming about posts, taking pictures and enjoying myself.  Even if no one were to ever look at my little space of the web, I'd be okay with just having somewhere, and doing something I genuinely love.

While I've been working on this self discovery, I've also made a pact with myself to be happy. I've been trying to get my anxiety to a level that I don't have to think about reminding myself to breathe, and worrying about what everyone thinks of me.

I love music, nearly everyone does, I like music that makes you want to dance, dance around in your bedroom or dance in the grocery store. Instead of thinking what other people think of the weird girl with a smile on her face bouncing to the beat of the music walking to get the milk for her granny I just do it.

Today, this older woman was looking at the milk when I skipped over to her with the smile on my face and the bounce in my step. She actually stopped me and told me it is rare for people to express happiness anymore, that no one seems like they are genuinely happy, and that she loved seeing someone with a smile grabbing some 2% milk.

The smile may have gotten a little bigger... just a little though. It got me to thinking though- isn't it sad that an older lady has to stop a young 20 something with a smile on her face and say that it is refreshing? Being in University I met a lot of people who were there, or in certain programs because it was what their parents wanted, or what they felt they were required to do, why is it like this? What is so wrong with being happy?

Needless to say, I'm loving this new outlook I have on everything. Why not just be happy? Anyways, That's my goal. I will continue to deal with anxiety that makes me relive every moment of the day before I go to bed, analyzing every minute detail to think of what could be perceived of me until it snowballs into me thinking about something that happened 2 years ago. I will continue to have to count to 4 as I inhale and to 4 as I exhale while laying in bed, tricking myself into thinking about something else. But I will also be happy. I am challenging myself to write a blog, like so many others do, and ignoring what others will say, because I want to.

I refuse to be held down by opinions, instead I want to be the reason an older lady smiles, knowing some 20 something loved getting the bag of milk for her nana.

Rimmel BB Cream

Recently, while at Shoppers Drugmart, I stumbled upon a sale. Ooops. My grandmother should know to just keep me away from Shoppers- or sales. Well, I was there to shop for a post I'm planning for next week.

Anyways, I was looking into BB creams, as I have mentioned before, BB creams and tinted moisturizers are more my style- not too much coverage (so I don't look horribly hilarious sans freckles on my face). I have been using the L'Oreal Paris Magic Skin Beautifier- and I do enjoy it, but something maybe not $20 a bottle is preferred.

And this is where I found the sale. Rimmel has a couple different BB/foundation type options, and while I am a major fan of their concealers, I had never tried the foundations etc for my fears of weird face. Well, I'm not one to turn down a bargain. The Rimmel London BB Cream 9-in-1 Skin Perfecting Super Makeup retails in Canada for $9.99 half the price of my L'Oreal one! Take in the fact it was on sale for $2.50 less ($7.49) I could hardly say no.. right?

Pros:
- Light coverage
- promises 9 in 1 (primes, moisturizes, minimises pores, conceals, covers, smoothes, matifies, brightens and helps protect)
- Lasts all day
- Under $10

Cons:
- Only 3 shades available (light, medium, dark)
- slightly Orange tint in the Light shade

To be critical, the light shade is slightly orange, now that could just be how it appears on my face, I am very pale. The limited shade selection pretty much made me get the lightest shade available, which is then orange. I am hoping that in the summer, if I get a tan (a girl can dream right?) that it will appear a lot better on my skin.

I have found that the best way to blend this in, personally, at least is with a damp Beauty Blender. It sheers it out a bit, and takes away that orange tint.

Overall, I am using it. Maybe as I get a little darker in the summer, and figure out some more tricks I could grow to like it a little more. But for $7.49, I don't feel like I wasted my money.

Have any of you tried the Rimmel London BB Cream? What is the best way to use it, and not appear orange? :)

ELF Baked Blush Review

ELF Baked Blush in Pinkalicious 

ELF is a brand known for decent quality cheap makeup. I have personally been a fan of their products for a couple years, and when I was on their website and found they had started a Baked line I had to try some. When I purchased them, probably a year ago,  I wasn't overly impressed. Like at all, I threw out the baked eyeshadow I bought a couple weeks after I bought it.. It was only a dollar so I didn't really feel bad about it. The blush had managed to hide itself somewhere among my makeup collection, stashed away.

When I moved last month I did an evaluation of all my makeup and swatched nearly everything with my best friend, editing colours I didn't like and things I never used. The Baked Blush I had gotten from ELF was in the pile of "undecided". To be quiet honest, it was about a centimeter from being in the "get it away from me" pile. I hated it, and couldn't believe I had managed to keep it.

 I was so disappointed by the lack of pigment, honestly the ELF baked products ALMOST turned me off of baked products entirely. The colour wasn't a blush colour, like it had been marketed. HOWEVER I swatched it, noticed it didn't really show up, didn't really have much colour or anything, and then I saw it subtly glisten in the light. It hit me- HIGHLIGHTER!

Since I discovered it's secret highlighter purpose I've used it almost every day. I love this little gem, that I almost threw away. Overall, I am unimpressed with it as a blush, I'm not overly a fan of products that don't do what they say they should, like a blush not actually being a blush. But my best friend convinced me to keep it as a highlighter, and now I'm glad she did.

The slightly blended pink of the marble like packaging makes it a little more natural. It's not as white cast, but the colour isn't really pigmented, so it's not overpowering. The lightness of the sheer white is really natural, and it does reflect the light really well. Overall, I wouldn't recommend purchasing this particular shade, at least, with the intention of using it as a blush, but if you're in the market for a well-priced, decent quality highlighter (especially if you are new to using highlighters) I would say pick it up and try it out!

What kinds of hidden gems, with ulterior uses have you discovered recently? I would love to hear your thoughts!

My post today is up so late because it was absolutely beautiful outside, and I couldn't not spend the day, the whole day, outside. I threw the tennis ball for my dog, and enjoyed the beautiful tree that's blooming in the backyard.

Weekend Update: Go-To Summer Makeup

Quite Frankly, my makeup looks don't change that much between Winter and Summer, I stick to BB creams, maybe switch up bolder reds for bolder pink lips, add pops of colour that are brighter, you know.

However, as I'm getting closer to my University Convocation (I'm still feeling so weird about it, me, having a degree, what?) I'm playing with neutral eyes and bolder spring appropriate lips and finding myself creating the same look over and over again, and changing just the lips.

This is my go to look for a more neutral everyday thing.

To achieve this look I used:

1. Hang Ten SPF 50 Sunscreen

2. L'Oreal Paris Magic Skin Beautifier BB cream (Light)

3. Maybelline Baby Skin Primer (This should be before 2, but math.)

4. Rimmel London Wake Me Up Concealer (Very Fair)

5. Rimmel London Stay Matte Powder (Transparent) 

6. ELF HD Undereye Setting Powder 

7. Milani Brow Fix Kit (Light)

8. ELF Studio Blush (Twinkle Pink)

9. Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer (Medium/Deep) 

1. Maybelline Colour Tattoo (Barely Branded)

2. NYX Matte Eyeshadow (Blame it on Midnight)

3. Urban Decay Naked Palette 

4. Physicians Formula Khol Kajal (Black)

5. Physicians Formula Khol Kajal (Champagne) 

6. L'Oreal Paris Voluminous Butterfly (Black)

7.  Revlon Lip Butter (Wild Watermelon) 

Spring OOTD

Today, Canada is experiencing Spring. By Spring I mean that whole "April Showers brings May Flowers" business. Yesterday it was summer, today it is spring, mother nature hasn't gotten the memo about what the end of May is supposed to feel like.

Needless to say, there are some staples that remain in my closet for this very occurrence. Such staples include my Hunters found online Here. I love these boots, in the winter I use them as winter boots (seeing as how they are water proof- and it snows a lot...) and a cute Rain Coat. My beloved Nana picked me up a cute plaid, peacoat style rain coat. I tried so hard to get a picture of me wearing it, but I was by myself, it had started raining, so that didn't pan out.

I originally had planned on wearing just a white shirt, with black jeggings and my new vans, however.. it rained. So instead I wore this:

Shirt: Urban Planet

Pants: Maurices 

Shoes: Hunter Original Rainboots 

Accessories: Urban Behaviour 

5 Year-Round Vanilla Scents

Summer is a great time to experiment with floral scents, I usually stick with vanillas. I rarely alternate my perfumes, vanilla is my favourite scent, anything vanilla and I am there. In this post, I've put together my three current favourite year round scents. (they are all different vanillas)

I have no idea why I am drawn to vanilla, but I absolutely adore the smell, I've been consistently wearing vanilla scented perfumes or body splashes since I was in High School.

#1 The Long Time Favourite

Warm Vanilla Sugar  captured my heart when I was 15, I have owned one product of it since. In the 7 years since this bottle of amazingness stole my heart I have always returned to it. Bath and Body Works really did a good one with this product- it smells exactly like how it's titled. The scent is a combination of Vanilla, florals and Sandalwood.

Vanilla, White Orchid, Vanilla Tonka, Sparkling Sugar, 

Fresh Coconut, Fresh Jasmine, Warm Vanilla Bean, Cocoa Bean, 

Creamy Sandalwood 

#2 The Close Runner Up

Another Bath and Body Works favourite. Black Raspberry Vanilla  is a close second to my beloved Warm Vanilla Sugar.  This one, is only available online, as they took it out of their stores (which greatly saddens me). Ripe berries and creamy vanilla, such an intoxicating scent. I particularly like this one for Spring/Summer as it is a little more floraly, it smells sweeter then Warm Vanilla Sugar with my body chemistry.

Blackberry, Sparkling Bergamot, Black Currant

Orange, Anjou Pear, Orris, Osmanthus Flower

Sambac Jasmine, Creamy Sandalwood, Vanilla Orchid

Taffeta Musk

# 3 The Solid Perfume

Last year, LUSH launched their Gorilla Perfumes, a collection of liquid and solid perfumes. I purchased their solid perfume, at the time I was travelling to and from Vancouver every other month, and risking a perfume mess was not an option. Vanillary The second my sister saw this, she thought of me, and immediately told me I HAD to buy it. Needless to say, I am in love. It smells so sweet and delicious, I almost want to eat it. (Side Story: I am almost 100% certain that my cousin, on a recent stay here, believed it was a lip balm and tried to use it as such.. it smells that good I think she tried to eat it!) As is standard with LUSH products, all the ingredients are natural.

Vanilla Absolute, Sandalwood, Burnt Caramel, Jasmine, Tonka Bean

#4 The Boyband Perfume

I am a Directioner. There, I said it. I love the 1D boys, I love their music and think they are hilarious. When I first heard they were coming out with a perfume, called Our Moment I said "well here we go *rolls eyes*. Then I sniffed it. I really enjoy this alcoholic beverage called a White Freezie, essentially, an alcoholic melted white freezie (not entirely but that's what it tastes like!), this is related I promise. To me, it smells exactly like that. Almost as if they captured the scent of a white freezie and put it into an adorable bottle. I know that's not the actual ingredients. I wear this all the time, paired with my LUSH Vanillary or on it's own.

Pink Grapefruit, Wild Berries, Redcurrants, Jasmine Petals

Frangipani Dry Wood Tones of Musk and Patchouli 

#5 The Roll On, Ipsy gift

Ipsy rocks, I love nearly everything I get in the bag each month. I believe it was last summer that I received Island Vanilla Perfume Roll On by Pacifica, I love the convenience of a roll on perfume. On top of the convenience of the roll on, the scent is really intriguing especially in the summer. During the winter, this product buries itself amongst all my other body smelling things but in the summer, especially this summer, it's a front runner for daily perfuming! This product is also vegan.

Sweet and Sultry Vanilla Absolute, Honey-Jasmine, Fruits, Deep base of Tea 

All in all, I love these scents. All 5 of them, and I wear all 5 of them on a regular basis.


Bonus Photo.. My dog being super adorable when I was trying to take the pictures!

Review: Lush FUN

Moldable soap- also known as the best invention ever. Lush presented last year FUN, a moldable vegan soap. Like other lush products it's made with natural ingredients that are not tested on animals. Originally I purchased FUN to use as a soap. It was by complete desperation that I discovered my favourite use for FUN (other then making awesome shapes in the shower).

I don't use FUN as a soap, rather a shaving cream. The first FUN I discovered this on was "Sweet As Can Be", the pink FUN. I didn't have shaving cream, I didn't want to go out and buy any, and I needed to shave. I looked into my little stash of Lush goodies and saw the package of pink moldable goodness that I hadn't used yet. Because it's moldable it's great to use on your legs, you can mold it to hold onto it better and it is super moisturizing.

I currently have two different FUN products- "Sweet As Can Be" and the Christmas limited edition scent "What A Softy".

Christmas Limited Edition "What A Softy"

Pros:
- Really great moisturization
- Moldable awesomeness
- Cute packaging (biodegradable)
- Vegan, all natural ingredients
- Smells amazing
- Travels great

Cons:
- Unable to reuse packaging (have to find other storage solutions)

My storage solution: an emptied out Bath and Body Works Candle (and lid)

Literally, that is my only con. I absolutely adore this product, and will not shave without it. It's really moisturizing, which is good for shaving, as it repairs any damage shaving can do to your skin. It makes my legs so smooth, and like I said, it was a complete act of desperation that made me use it, and I am so happy I did.

FUN is available online Here for the price of $6.95 CAD

Lip Product Addict Tag!

Bonus Post! I know I just finished tag week a couple of weeks ago, but a new one is circulating the beauty world, and I wanted to do it! It's only 8 questions and was created by Estee and Amelia (on youtube). You can find Estee's blog Here.

1. Favourite Balm/ Treatment?
I'm currently absolutely 100% in love with Maybelline Baby Lips Dr. Rescue ($4.99 CAN). I have their tinted balm/treatment in Soothing Sorbert. I picked this one for in the winter, or for when I was at work, I wasn't sacrificing colour for treatment. It is medicated which I love, and it really works. So many times in the past winter would my lips be on the verge of cracking and using this even 3 times a day (the recommended usage) and by the end of the day they were almost as good as new.

2. Best Eye Catching Red?
For pigmentation and eye catching quality I love Rimmel London Apocalips in Stellar ($5.47 USD). It is a pigmented red, that is in a lip gloss/lip stick formula, the benefits of a gloss with the coverage of a lipstick. I adore the true redness of this colour, and totally rock it when I'm feeling brave enough, I also think the packaging is super cute, so it even looks adorable in my drawer (where I sit and stare at it wishing I was braver and wore it more!)

3. Best luxury and best drugstore?
I'm not really about "all the luxurious things" life to be honest. I was a student and worked 2 jobs in my final year, and became quite frugal with my money, and I continuously look for good deals. That being said, I don't often buy myself luxurious items if I can find cheaper alternatives.. that doesn't mean when I get them as gifts I don't love the heck out of them.
Luxurious: Lancome "Love It"($24.00 CAN) A very natural shade my grandmother got me for christmas- I may have been overly excited and tried to open the wrong end.. that's why it looks like this. (mental note: when receiving nice things.. open properly)

Drug Store: NYX "Peach"($6.00 CAN) I'm not entirely sure who came up with the name for this, because it isn't really peachy, however when I saw it in the store it magically forced it's way into my basket.. I swear. In all reality, I'm using this as a more dramatic "my lips but better" colour.

4. Best MAC lipstick?
I own two, yes only two MAC lipsticks. My favourite and the one I will repurchase until the end of time, is the Viva Glam V($22.00 CAN). For two reasons, the colour and smell are amazing. The colour is that true "my lips but better" colour. I also absolutely adore the red detailing, I think it looks SO sleek, and I LOVE that the proceeds are donated to AIDS research and treatment. I have currently lost my actual one, so I'm incredibly sorry for the stock photo. I will repurchase when I am near a MAC counter.

5. The most disappointing?
This one is a Colour Lip Balm, from NYX in "Shukran"($4.00 CAN). Seeing as how it is labelled as a colour lip balm, I was expecting some colour, and what you really get is not a lot of colour. The pigmentation is really poor, it hardly shows up, I use it to use it.

6. Liner yes or no?
I do not use liner on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. It seems like a lot of work, and I understand the lasting power of it, I just don't get around to it.

7. Best gloss?
I'm not entirely sure if this classifies as a gloss, but I'm counting it as one. Maybelline Colour Elixir in "Signature Scarlet"($8.99 USD). Again, benefits of a gloss and a stick, but not as pigmented. It has a killer pigment, don't get me wrong.. It's just a lighter shade. I wear this all the time, and really love it. I even recommended it to my cousin for her wedding!

8. Something Extra!
Revlon Lip Butter in "Wild Watermelon"($4.47 USD). I love the lip butters, I am all for them, and this colour is no exception. During the summer and spring I completely see myself reaching for this at least a couple of times a week. I can't describe it, but the colour is amazing.

6 Brushes Worth The Money

Saving money is something I strive for, at the same time, investing in quality products is also super important for me. Especially when it comes to makeup and anything along those lines. It goes on your face, every day.

Quality makeup brushes are rewarding purchases especially when you consider long term savings, splurging and buying the right brushes that are soft, durable and work is the most important to making sure whatever you apply looks right, instead of wasting money every couple months to rebuy brushes that broke, or lost too many hairs.

I present 6 brushes I feel are worth the money (if you are willing to spend it).

Mirabella Eye Blender I received this in my Ipsy Glam Bag 2 months ago, I have not gone a single makeup application without using it since. Only when I was researching it did I find out how expensive it was. $27 is a little hefty for one brush (I'm REALLY glad I got it in a $17/month bag). The quality of this brush is incredible, it picks up just enough product, is small enough to get enough detail and depth in the crease, and is also really great to blend it all together. I like that it is tapered and it really gets the job done. It's only downfall is now I want more.

Sigma E40 Tapered Blending I use this brush to use as a blender, usually clean or with a light brown to blend out my crease. I've been using this brush for over a year and even during vigorous washing I have not lost a single hair. I love Sigma's brushes, the quality is incredible, and getting brushes in kits is well worth it. $14, which for the quality is great, especially considering I've been using it for that long and I haven't lost a hair. My only issue with it is it is quite large, and maybe I have small eyes, but for darker colours using this brush can be a tad overwhelming.

Royal and Langnickel Master Pro Angled Shader I stumbled upon Royal and Langnickel among the booths of Vancouver IMATS 2 years ago. They were having a great deal on brushes, and I immediately was drawn to the lovely blue handle of this one. For $5.99 USD the quality is incredible. It is crazy soft and picks up just enough product to focus a colour in the outer corner. I want to go to IMATS this year just to pick up more brushes from them.

Sigma F40 Large Angled Contour  Seriously, my go to blush brush. I love how soft it is, and it also looks incredibly natural when applied to the cheeks, using any blush. $19.00, Sigma just rocks.

ELF Small Tapered Brush A product from their studio line, which ups the regular $1 price tag to $3. A huge increase I know. It's great for using powder to set under eye concealer, and even for blending out a highlight on the cheeks. The size is perfect and it's a really great quality.

Sigma E55 Eye Shading $12.00Packs on the colour incredibly. Enough said.

Those are it, the 6 brushes I probably couldn't live without, and the 6 brushes I believe are totally worth the money!

I would love to know some of your staple brushes, I'm always in the market :)

Victoria Day Weekend

Canada, like other Commonwealth countries in the world celebrates Victoria Day around the 24th of May. It's a statutory holiday, which means we don't have work and all the stores/banks etc. are closed. Being a History Major, and obsessed with all things British I know the history of the holiday. Queen Victoria is the longest reigning monarch in British History, and her birthday was on the 24th of May, therefore we always have a holiday around or on the 24th. This year the holiday is the weekend before the 24th for some reason, but hey, no work or school right?

My uncle's children were down this weekend for the long weekend, which meant I got to spend some quality time with my cousins.

My 6 year old girl cousin loves makeup and having her hair done, so everyday when I was doing my makeup she did hers. I gave her some neutral colours and an eyeshadow brush and let her go to town. I also was in charge of her hair, which I really enjoy doing. We painted nails and had a great time.

we painted our finger nails with Rimmel 60 Seconds Hot Chilli Pepper

we painted out toe nails with Essie Watermelon

My 10 year old boy cousin is more like me, he doesn't mind being in a quiet space, hanging out on a computer, but he did teach me how to make Rainbow Loom bracelets, with my fingers! It was really cool for him to teach me, and it was a lot of fun.

The three of us were hanging out in my bedroom, with the 10 year old playing DJ on my iTunes, while his sister and I got ready, and danced around.. that was until he noticed the Photobooth icon on my dock, and then bam, an impromptu photoshoot occurred. They loved playing with all the different effects, and since my computer is new, it was my first time playing with them too.

We took the dog for a walk to the park, where the dog explored and the kids played on the swings, slides and bars. I've been going to this park since I was a child, so it was really cool to share it with my cousins.

Besides spending time with my cousins, I didn't really do anything, which for people my age is usually spent drinking. I loved hanging out, and spending time with my family. I also have one OOTD from the weekend, just my hunter green shorts I hauled Here and a polka dotted shirt.

Clothing: 

Shorts- Stitches

Tank Top- Stitches

Shirt- Forever 21

Cardigan- Stitches 

 If you had a long weekend, what do you enjoy doing?

I love.. Spring Nail Polish

Since I am recently unemployed (in between schools, moving etc.) I can finally paint my fingernails, which is something I didn't see a point in when I was working every couple days, it seemed like a waste of time, and product. Well now, I can paint my fingernails as many times as I want in a day (if that's what I choose to do). Below I have my favourite nail polishes for spring, pastels and out there colours I have been rotating on my nails!

OPI- Purple with a purpose $9.95 I love that it's a darker purple, yet still on trend for spring/summer, especially on my toes.

Chinaglaze- Spontaneous $7.95 Lighter than the last purple, but still good for the season, I love how it's not a total lilac, but not a deep purple.

Chinaglaze- Pink Voltage $7.95 BRIGHT PINK I think bright pink makes me look tanner, for some reason, so I rock the bubble gum pink in the spring/summer to not appear as ghostlike.

Chinaglaze- Fuchia Fanatic $7.95 I recently wore this in my last OOTD post Here I love this colour, it looks great on, and is a little darker than Pink Voltage.

Sinful Colours- Frenzy $1.99 I got these in the United States, at Walgreens, on one of many trips with my mom and sister while in B.C. I love the sparkles, especially as an accent nail.

Sinful Colours- Shock and Awe $1.99 Purple and Blue, it's like a perfect blend of the two, great for a more sophisticated spring nail, love this one. It looks really good with Frenzy as an accent nail.

Rimmel 60 Seconds- I Lilac You $3.99 It really does dry fast, it really is a true lilac colour.

Maybelline Colorshow- Pinkalicious $2.99 Another bright pink, love this! (Can you notice a I like pink in the summer trend that's happening?)

Wet N Wild- I Need A Refresh-Mint $3 I have this colour on my toes right now, I love as a true minty green shade, it goes well with everything too.

Orly- Gum Drop $12.50 the most expensive of my list, I love this colour, it's really similar to Wet N Wild's, I really like it.

Old Navy- Preppy Pink $2 It's not really opaque, it goes on very sheer and it is a little difficult to get off, but the colour is worth it, especially with a couple of coats on it.

These are the colours I wear most often in the Spring/Summer, what are some of your favourite spring/summer nail colours?