May Ipsy Bag!

Today was my favourite day to get mail, every month around this time, a lovely pink bubble wrapped envelope finds its way into my mailbox. Sure I pay for it, but the goodies are my favourite, and I honestly look forward to seeing my new ipsy bag everyday.

For those who do not know, Ipsy is a monthly subscription service created by Michelle Phan. In Canada after shipping and the exchange rate is factored in costs around $17 a month, which some months is way worth it. The Glam Bag (what they are called) is a compact makeup bag filled with approximately 5 goodies. Each month follows a different theme, and the bags are always different. I've been subscribed for 13 months, and I love everything I have gotten from the bags. When you join, or sign up you fill out a questionnaire, asking about your favourite products, what you prefer, the skin type you have, if you like bolder or more neutral tones etc. This allows them to totally customize your bag, my best friend is also subscribed, and a few of our products are the same, but we have not gotten identical bags yet.

The bag itself: This months theme was "Fresh Picks" and it had a number of featured brands who send samples for the bags. The bag is super cute, and it is a little more flexible than some of the past bags I have gotten, which is great for filling it with your favourite goodies for purses and backpacks (and wherever else you can think of using them).

What's inside?
Eau Thermale Avene Thermal Spring Water It is branded for sensitive skin, and I know that it works. I'm really happy for a sample size that I can throw in my bag.

Hang Ten Classic Sport Natural Sunscreen UVA/UVB Protection SPF 50 I'm excited to use this product on my face as a sunscreen under my BB cream in the summer. It smells really good, and I am excited to have this in my bag ready to go in the summer!

Eva-Nye Therapy Session Hair Mask I have dry curly hair, enough said. This also smells really yummy and summery and yeah I'm excited to try it.

Pacifica Natural Beauty Eyeshadow Duo #1 Perfect golds for the summer, they are really light, so they are buildable, which for summer is great for a light wash of colour.

Too Faced Choclate Soleil Medium/Deep Bronzer I HAVE WANTED TO GET MY HANDS ON THIS FOREVER. I'm really glad it's a sample size so I can actually test it before I legitimately buy it- but I wanna for the smell alone, I didn't truly believe when everyone was hyping about how awesome it smells, but send me to chocolate heaven I love it. (I may have smelled it, and then made everyone in the house smell it too....)

I'm thinking of every month posting what's in my bag when I get it, and then reviewing each product as bonus posts throughout the following month.. Let me know in the comments if you think this is a good idea?

OOTD: Wednesday

Bonus Post! Again I really liked my outfit today! I went shopping last week with a friend of mine from university and waited patiently to wear some of the items until I had a day I felt I couldn't wait any longer.. Prolonging the newness. I really like the aqua-minty colour, and the cardigan with daisies is great! (They are my favourite flower!)

Face:

Maybelline Baby Skin Primer

L'Oreal Paris Magic Skin Beautifier (Fair) 

Rimmel London Wake Me Up Concealer (Very Fair)

Rimmel London Stay Matte Powder (Transparent)

ELF HD Undereye Setting Powder 

Revlon Highlighting Palette (Rose Glow)

Milani Brow Fix Kit (Light)

Eyes:

Maybelline Colour Tattoo (Barely Branded)-Base

NYX Eyeshadow Single Matte (Blame it on Midnight)-Blending

Urban Decay (Buck)-Crease

Urban Decay (Sin)- Inner corner, inner corner lower lashline

Urban Decay (Toasted)- middle, middle lower lashline

Urban Decay (Hustle)- Outer Corner, outer corner lower lashline

Lips:

Revlon ColourBurst Lip Butter (Sugar Frosting)

Shorts: Stitches

Top: Stitches

Cardigan: Stitches

I also really like this nail colour- I'm probably going to wear it all summer!

My Skin Care Favourites!

I have been blessed by the genetic gods with fairly easy to manage skin, I have sensitive skin that doesn't agree with harsher water (it makes me itchy) and the usual winter dry skin. Throughout my teen years I was ridiculously lucky that my definition of acne was a pimple or two a month, usually around my nose or chin.

That was it, in High School I ignored my parents and NEVER took my makeup off, which was terrible- and now even 4 years since I graduated High School I am so displeased with myself. Because I didn't have a problematic complexion, or issues with oil and pimples etc. I justified not taking it off, and falling asleep with it on almost every night.

Since then I have learnt from my bad habits. I wash my face at least every night, and in the shower as well. I experimented and found a reasonably affordable system that really works on my face, it keeps it soft and even though I never had issues with pimples, my one or two has turned into only one. It was really hard for me to get into the habit of washing my face every night because for so long I hadn't, now it's my nightly ritual- me, my ipod, washing my face, and dancing in the bathroom- I actually look forward to it.

Sure, some nights I might not do the whole shebang, infact there has for sure been nights I've accidentally fallen asleep with my makeup on, and let me tell yah, the next morning my skin is not too impressed with me.

That's my skin story, now onto my skin care routine.

I keep everything I use to wash my face in this basket that I got from Dollarama, I use the basket because I go in between the bathroom upstairs (where my bedroom is) and the shower downstairs (where the beauty corner is). Having it all in one place ensures I will use it, and the storage is really great for keeping it all together.

Sephora Brand Cleansing Oil This baby was $17 for the bottle, which I think is a reasonable price granted you need literally a pump of this to remove all your makeup. It is the first oil I have used to remove my makeup, and I like it so much I don't think regular makeup remover will EVER be an option again. I might be a little weird but I love watching my makeup break up and almost like melt off my face. After it's all rubbed into my face, I splash some warm water on it and wipe it off.

Cotton Rounds I got these from Walmart or something, I keep them in an old candle cup (I removed the wax) to keep them separated from the rest of my routine, I use these to wipe off the Cleansing Oil and the stuff that comes off it is crazy! Any cotton rounds work, I never know which ones I'm using, because I take whichever ones are on sale.

Garnier + Gel Cleanser This is the only product I use for a specific reason, I only use this product on my T-Zone, because it's the only place that is where I get pimples (usually on my chin) and around my nose gets dry, especially in the winter. I got this from Shoppers Drugmart for $9.99 on sale, I believe the regular price is around the $11 mark. The grapefruit and pomegranate anti-oxidants really do make your skin smoother. It also smells really good, I may have gotten some in my mouth... it doesn't taste like how it smells. I promise.

Olay Fresh Effects Shine Shine Go Away This cleanser is used all over my face with the handy little scrubber guy. It suds up really nice, and the batter operated scrubber really gets into your pores and gets everything out. It gently exfoliates, and makes my skin really soft- my old roommate would come up to me and rub my cheeks, until she bought her own. The starter kit retails for $18, which includes a tester of the cleanser, the cleanser on it's own it $9. Overall I've been using this system for a year and I love it. It's also a cheaper alternative (way cheaper) than something like the Clarisonic- that would be a little expensive given how uncomplicated my skin is.

LUSH Breath of Fresh Air Toner Water I love how cooling this is, when I spray it on my face I always get a little chill, you know the good kind, the kind you crave in the summer? It's also really soothing, and it makes me feel a little better about scrubbing my face. It also promotes balanced skin, which I already have, I use this to keep it balanced. I especially love this after using a mask or something really abrasive like LUSH's Ocean Salt.

LUSH Grease Lightning My go to spot treatment. I use this only on areas where I have a pimple, the Tea Tree Oil is awesome for preventing and treating pimples, it is my go to in pimple emergencies. Hands down.

Olay Fresh Effects Long Live Moisture, it's cooling, silicone based and super moisturizing, I use this all over my face and always love the way it feels, you can for sure feel it working the next morning, with how soft your skin is.

I also keep a face cloth in my basket, just to have ready, because I am for sure that person that forgets towels when entering the shower.. I also REALLY hate the feeling of water dripping down my face and neck, so I need this for emergency can't handle it moments.

My lazy one step product. I have gotten into the habit of washing my face every night, but let's say I go out one night, or I've had a long day and am about to crash the second I hit my bed, I reach for LUSH 9-5. This product is great for not needing water, being cleansing, and moisturizing all in 1. Just rub on your face, look like a raccoon, use a cotton round to wipe it off and you're done. I cannot tell you the times I've done this.. in bed, as I'm falling asleep.

Those are my products for my skin care routine, what are yours? Tell me your go to's in the comments!

OOTD: Tuesday

Bonus post for the day! When I was getting dressed today, I didn't think I would like my outfit NEARLY as much as I do. Since I like it so much, I have to share it. 

Face:

Maybelline Baby Skin

L'Oreal Paris Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream (Fair)

Rimmel London Stay Matte Powder (Transparent)

Rimmel London Wake Me Up Concealer (Very Fair)

ELF HD Undereye Setting Powder

Milani Brow Fix Kit (Light)

Eyes:

Maybelline Colour Tattoo (Barely Branded)

NYX Eyeshadow (Blame it on Midnight)

Urban Decay (Naked)

Urban Decay (Buck)

Maybelline Eyestudio Quad (Coral Oasis)

L'Oreal Paris Voluminous Butterfly Mascara

Lips:

Lancome (Love It)

Outfit: 

Blazer: Stitches

Shirt: Forever 21

Shorts: Stitches

Ring: 

Ardenes 

I was never expecting to like how put together this looks, while also being a little casual and summery. I want to wear this everyday now.. I won't, but I want too. 

Review: Maybelline Baby Skin

Primers are really great for making sure your makeup stays in place all day, in the summer its extra important, to provide a barrier between the skin and the product, but also ensuring your makeup stays in place instead of sweating off. I live in Ontario, a province in Canada, it gets really hot and humid here- and the heat waves are almost unbearable. We didn't really get much of a Spring- it's already 25 Degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit).

I wear something under my makeup pretty much year round (if I remember), but in the summer I am always on the hunt for something that will hold whatever little makeup I put on for the whole day. Well, I think I found it.

Maybelline recently came out with a skin product addition to their Baby Lips line, called Baby Skin- it's almost like a cheaper alternative to Benefit's Porefessional. It promises to blur pores and imperfections, while also priming the skin.

Frankly I enjoy it- I am not an oily or a dry skinned person, I'm pretty neutral grounded when it comes to my skin, but I do have some larger more noticeable pores on my nose and in-between my eyes. Usually a bit of concealer provides enough coverage to deal with that- but in the summer it's another layer that could possibly just oxidize and fall off my skin. I really do find that when I put this on my face, especially in those spots my pores don't look as large, or noticeable.

I put it on before my L'Oreal Paris Magic Skin Beautifer BB Cream- and it not only holds it in place, but it almost sheers it out, I don't use as much and get this fantastic feel to my face, that isn't too powdery or overdone, it doesn't feel thick, or like I have another layer of products on my face.

Now for the long lasting part- I took a picture literally after I did my makeup, and another 9 hours later, and to me it looks the same, I didn't notice my makeup oxidizing or falling off, I felt like I had just put it on. Now this might seem like an exaggeration but I promise, it felt like I had done my makeup maybe an hour ago, 9 hours after I had.

Overall, I like this product, it was worth the $7 I spent for it, and it works well, I notice that my pores that I usually cover with some concealer don't need to be concealed, when I wear this, and it keeps everything in place all day. Granted I also used a powder overtop, but I thoroughly enjoy this product. Well worth it in my books!

Mother's Day CakePops!

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the momma's of the world. I currently live with my Grandparents (free rent, home cooked meals etc.) because I am starting College in the fall- after my degree. My beloved momma lives across the country for my dads job, which meant Mother's Day was spent on facetime, and I spent the day with my mom's momma.

I recently purchased a handy-dandy CakePop maker... because everyone needs one of those. I am by no means a cook- my idea of gourmet is anything made in a microwave, or that requires little ingredients. Baking is even moreso not my thing. However, I love cake, and well cake on a stick-perfection.

The kit is legitimately easy to use, it required 4 minutes to make a dozen, and to be frank, I was like a kid in a candy store.

To make my CakePops I used the Duncan Haynes Devil's Food Chocolate Cake Mix (yes from a box), it required 1 1/2 cups of oil and 1 1/4 cups of water along with 3 eggs. Super easy to mix, and it only took 2 minutes in a mixmaster on medium speed to beat all the chunks out of the batter.

I followed the instructions of the CakePops maker- plugged it in and gave it a couple of minutes to heat up until the light turned green.

Once it was heated up, I poured around 1 Tablespoon of the mix into each of the little holes for the CakePops. I used an oven mitt (the instructions told me too!) to close the lid, put on a kitchen timer for 4 minutes and let the machine work its magic.

I used this little fork like instrument the kit came with to remove the baked pops from the maker, and put them on a cookie sheet to cool. I believe the one box of cake mix made like 5 or 6 dozen of them. Awesomely enough, Canadians have these things called Timbits- that we sell at Tim Hortons. CakePops not on a stick or dipped in icing, look and taste exactly like that! Silverlining to how many I made!

As I was getting to the bottom of the batter, I mixed 2 cups of Betty Crocker Chocolate Frosting (about 1 container) and 1 cup of Semi-sweet chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl- and put the mixture into the microwave for 1 minute. This melted the frosting and chocolate chips enough to be smooth and creamy and good enough to dip the CakePops.

Dipping the CakePops was not NEARLY as easy as I expected. After many trials and errors I figured out that dipping the end of the stick into the melted chocolate about an inch or so down and then stabbing them into the side of the CakePop (not down the middle) and putting it in the freezer helped the icing stick to the inside of the CakePop.

After leaving the CakePop in the freezer for around 5 minutes I would dip the CakePop into the warm icing mix. You do have to reheat the icing for about 20 seconds. I did use my finger to get the frosting all the way around the CakePop (and who doesn't love eating frosting off your finger!?)

This is the finished product: Some of it dripped down the stick, but hey at least it's legitimately homemade. And my Nana liked them, which is the best part- and no one got sick, which I'm super proud of.

P.S. Happy Belated Mother's Day to my rock, my best friend, and my biggest inspiration. Love you mommabear :)

What's in my everyday makeup bag?

My makeup bag is a small gathering of all the things I am currently loving. I do have a fair amount of products, the majority of which are stored in combination with my sisters makeup downstairs. (We have a beauty corner set up), since I don't go down there everyday at the moment, it's unrealistic to keep my makeup and such down there as I probably won't use it.

I use this small sized makeup bag that I got from Forever 21 last year. It's pink and white and stripped and really cute! Surprisingly it holds a lot, enough for my face, eyebrows, eyes, and perfume. This bag is literally all I would need for a night or two away without even thinking about what I'm bringing with me.

Face
Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Puff Eye Roller I use this before I do my makeup under my eyes if they are a little puffy, or if I am really tired to combat that and reduce the size of my bags. L'Oreal Paris Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream (Fair/Pale) This is my one step face product, since I have freckles I can't really use a full coverage foundation, so BB creams provide enough coverage without being too heavy and in the summer this is perfect in the heat!

Rimmel London Wake Me Up Concealer (125 Very Fair) I adore this concealer. It has enough coverage to hide my bags and it really does give the effect of being awake, which during the school year is a saving grace. Rimmel London Stay Matte Powder (001 Transparent) This is great for keeping matte in the summer when sweating is a big thing. I use this on my T-Zone in particular, and I got it in transparent to avoid extra coverage. ELF Undereye Setting Powder This stuff is great for under the eyes to set my concealer, I like it.

Revlon Highlighting Palette (Rose Glow) I love this palette, it's perfect for a blush/bronzer/highlight in one swipe, which removes a lot of extra products from this bag. ELF Blush (Twinkle Pink) This is great for adding just enough colour to my cheeks if I want to boost the colour of the Revlon Palette.

Eyes
Along with eyes, are eyebrows- Milani Brow Kit (01 Light) I love this for filling in my brows, I blend the two brow colours together to get a really great natural colour, and the highlight to define my brows. The brush that is included is the perfect size for me. Maybelline Colour Tattoo Metal (Barely Branded) I use this to prime my eyes, the shade is really similar to MAC's Painterly Paint Pot, which for $8 isn't a bad deal, the colour adds a little bit of sparkle to the shadow but it really does stay all day.

NYX Nude Matte Eyeshadow (Blame it on Midnight) For me this is the best crease colour I can find, it is light enough to add some warmth to my eyes, but is really good for blending out colours as well. NYX Love in Rio Trio (Meet me at the copa) I love this trio- it's great for a natural eye. Enough said.

Physicians Formula Kohl Kajal (Nude Trio) I use the champagne colour for my waterline to make me look a bit more awake and also widen my eyes. I use the gunmetal colour to tightline for a natural looking fuller lashline. L'Oreal Paris Voluminous Butterfly Mascara (Black) I LOVE THIS MASCARA it's perfect for a natural look, obsessed. Mary Kay Eyelash Curler I've had this for years, it gets the job done.

Smells 
Pacifica Island Vanilla Roll On Perfume This is great for on the go smell touch up, I love vanillas and this one is summery, which is right on for this time of the year.