Review: Maybelline Baby Lips Dr. Rescue

For quite some time now, everyone has been raving about the Maybelline Baby Lips, and I was never really amused or tempted to try it until the latest line (Dr. Rescue) came out. Now, the difference between the original one and Dr. Rescue is that Dr. Rescue is medicated and heals cracked/chapped lips. If you know me, you'll know that I hate putting things on my lips, yet I own a lot of lipsticks and what not. To be honest, I think it's just my laziness.

Anyways, I finally decided to give this product a try as it was on sale for $3.99 at Shoppers Drug Mart. So I got two, 'Too Cool' and 'Coral Crave.' As of right now, I have 'Too Cool' on and it gives your lips a sort of minty/icy feeling which is subtle and okay. It goes on quite smoothly unlike some other chap sticks which for some reason, do not feel like going over your lips smoothly, I have no idea why.

After a few weeks of using this, I realize that these moisturize my lips really well and I'm really happy that I decided to finally try them!

The label suggests you to only apply this to your lips a maximum of 3-4 times a day. I usually only apply it twice a day and it's already more then enough for me! My lips are definitely much softer and is ready for the winter. I'm really happy with these.

Photo courtesy of, BellBelleBella.

Boxing Week Shopping Haul!

With all the madness that was Christmas and Boxing Day, as well as the ice storm. I was finally able to find time during my busy schedule to do some retail therapy! So today, I finally went downtown which was my first time heading down since coming home, almost two weeks ago! I may or may not have done some Christmas shopping since I didn't have any time to before, but anyways, here's what I got!

Starting off with the first store I hit up, Future Shop because I needed to buy ink for my printer and a tripod. So I purchased the Dynex 60" Tripod that's on sale for $20 right now! I'll be filming my first ever YouTube video tomorrow so stay tuned for more details! 

Roots Cable Knit Infinity Scarf, $48.

That's not a very exciting store to hit up first but I got it over with and then followed by going to Roots to finally get the Cable Knit Infinity scarf that I've been dying to get! It was $48, but I got a $20 gift card during a gift exchange and ended up getting 20% off because I was a student! I ended up paying $27, which is fine with me! It's super soft and chunky, I'm so excited to wear it out!

Nars Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eye Shadow Base, $29.

Tarte Clean Slate Deluxe Primer Trio, $15.

Sephora was the next store on the way! I picked up the Tarte Clean Slate Deluxe Primer Trio for $15, it was one of those Boxing Week Specials. I figured that it was the best way to test out face primers and see which one was good because I've tried the Revlon Photo Ready one and am not very fond of it, nor the Bare Minerals Prime Time. My Urban Decay Primer Potion was running out and I heard good things about the Nars Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eye Shadow Base so I decided to give it a try because I like the doe-like brush more then having a tube and needing to squeeze the substance onto my finger. 

The Tarte Clean Slate Deluxe Primer Trio comes with the Poreless one which is a 12 hour perfecting primer, that is pore refining, waterproof and line filling. The Flawless one is a 12 hour brightening primer, is silicone-free, waterproof and brightening. The last one is the 360 degree Creaseless, which is a 12 hour smoothing eye primer, it also substitutes as a shadow primer and under eye base all-in-one, is waterproof and has a shadow lock formula. One thing I like about this primer trio is that all three samples are for different things and I'm able to test them all out! Bonus is that they're all waterproof!

L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara in Blackest Black, $8.99.

I headed to Shoppers Drug Mart after my little spree at Sephora and sat that their L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara was FINALLY on sale for a decent price as it's their latest mascara and sells for $14.99 on a regular basis. It was on sale for $8.99 so I decided to test it out. I totally forgot that L'Oreal mascaras have that 'rose' scent, so I'm not sure how I'll be able to deal with that, but we'll see. I have high expectations for this, although I'm sure it'll be alright, I'm still looking forward to using it!

Talula Hertford Jacket in Black, $49.99.

I hit up Queen Street West after Shoppers because Eaton Centre was getting a bit crowded and uncomfortable for me and way too warm. So shopping outside in warm weather was a great feeling for me. I went to the Aritzia location there because I figured there'd be less people, in which I was sort of right...it was also a smaller location so a bit more squishy but nothing I couldn't manage. I had seen this jacket online but didn't know how I'd feel about it. I've been looking for a jacket where the zipper was diagonal for a while and so when I saw this, I had to try it on! It originally sells for $120 and was $70 off! It was such a steal! Especially for Aritzia too, so I was super glad they had my size. The torso is a bit short, more so on my waist, but that's nothing I can't deal with and the sleeves are about an inch past my wrist which is fine with me!

All in all, I think it was a good shopping day, not for my credit card but the retail therapy was nice after such a hectic work schedule these past few weeks and the ice storm madness which caused my house to have no power for a few days. It's also good to have internet back!

Happy Holidays everyone! Stay safe, and stay tuned for my first YouTube video being filmed tomorrow with Ashley from Flux & Xoulis!

Sephora Haul!

Since I'm a VIB at Sephora, I received the promotion that was $20 off when you spend $50, so, my friend and I decided to order items together since I didn't need much and this offer wasn't stackable (doesn't go $40 off when you spend $100 and so on) so she just got the Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray, while I got the Nars X Guy Bourdin Blush in Day Dream and the Nars X Guy Bourdin Cinematic Lipstick in Full Frontal.

To maintain my VIB status for next year, I still had some money to spend before being able to maintain the status, so I hit up the closest Sephora store to me yesterday and purchased the Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Foundation in 6.0 and the Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara in 01 Black. I got matched to the Skin IQ of 4Y07 a couple weeks ago at Sephora and didn't have much options when it came down to a foundation that fit my skin tone, the Marc Jacobs and the Lancôme one didn't match at all and only the Laura Mercier one matched. But, I wasn't a big fan of how my face felt with the Laura Mercier one, no matter how well it matched my skin tone. So I decided to go a shade darker, to 4Y08, and got a few more options, like the Nars Sheer Glow (which my friend has been raving about) and the Urban Decay Naked Skin Liquid Foundation which is something I've been dying to try since it came out.

So, I tested it out on my hand in store and it blended really well and was a nice texture with light-medium coverage so I decided to get it, knowing that if it didn't end up working, I'd always be able to return it (one of the best features of shopping at Sephora, returning items even if they're open).

Starting off the the Nars X Guy Bourdin Cinematic Lipstick in Full Frontal, it's a dark-ish magenta shade, I'm really liking that it's creamy and moisturizing. I definitely thought it'd be much brighter then it already is but it's not. It's fairly nice and since I'm trying to get into this lipstick faze, this will be perfect for days I feel like making my lips stand out!

It's a bit glossy and shiny, and I would say more pink than purple. It goes on smoothly and I'm very impressed. This is my first lipstick from Nars and I'm really happy with it. I can't wait to try out more products from them!

Next is the Nars X Guy Bourdin Blush in Day Dream. It's pretty much the same thing as the cult favourite Nars Orgasm blush but less sparkle. It's still glittery but not as much as Orgasm and definitely not as much as Super Orgasm. 

After I got the Nars X Guy Bourdin Cheek Palette last month, I've been completely obsessed. Blush can be put on very subtly or very noticeably and I'm really happy that Nars' blushes are buildable, they're not super noticeable when only one brush stroke is put on. I really like that this is less shimmer as I'm not it's biggest fan, but it is really nice for the Winter time, I'd say its more of a day to day kind of wear, whereas I feel that Orgasm and Deep Throat are for special occasions, to say the least, I'm not one for wearing a lot of make up.

As you may know, I'm a big fan of mascara. I've been trying to find a bottom lash mascara for the longest time and since most of my mascaras are drug store brands, it's obviously difficult to find one besides Maybelline's Big Eyes Mascara that is a 2 in 1. Using regular mascara just makes me look like a raccoon eye, so when I saw MissGlamorazzi's (Ingrid Nilsen) video using the Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara, I knew that I had to try it!

The brush itself is really small and definitely good for the bottom lashes, it grabs each lash and coats it lightly, and isn't too heavy which is good because who wants to have raccoon eyes anyways?

And finally, the Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Foundation! (Such a long name...) So I got this in the 6.0 shade, the shade's that end with ".0" are for warm or yellow-based undertones whereas the ones ending with ".5" are for cool or pink-based undertones. Since I got this a shade darker (4Y08, instead of 4Y07) it does make my face a little darker but the rest of my body is pretty dark and my forehead itself is another story. (My friends said my face was ombré) I'm really liking this, it gives a light-medium coverage which is good for me as I'm not big on feeling a lot of product on my face, it's light and gives a soft natural look with a nice feeling that's not super powdery or cakey kind of feel. I'm looking forward to trying their Naked Skin Ultra Definition Pressed Finishing Powder soon!

So this is it for now, but there will definitely be more haul posts coming up as it's the holiday season and sales are my best friend.

Happy holidays!

Home.

So I finally finished exams and am finally 'home.' But, what does 'home' really mean? My parents have been on this divorce thing for a while and finally separated in the beginning of this month. As much as I'm happy for the two of them to move on with their lives, it's also difficult to wrap my head around the idea that I now have two homes in the city and one in Kingston. 

It's weird that I'm coming 'home' to a place that I've never seen beforehand and is new to me, so really, what is considered a 'home'? I know that it's usually "home is where the heart is" but is my heart really here? Like, I've never been here and I just come home for the holiday and suddenly this is 'home.' 

No doubt this takes a little bit of getting used to and I love the place, it's hardwood flooring, spacious and simple. It also has a bar, which is something I've always wanted. My sister and mother decided to get fancy looking bar stools but I always wanted a simple wood one, which is why I'm guessing we have one... The bedrooms are a bit small, but I'm barely going to be here anyways, so I can deal with that. It's nice to be 'home' for the holidays. This feels more so like a temporary place to sleep, almost like a hotel, but it'll eventually be called home. Just not now.

So this is the living room...I'll probably be spending a lot of time here because theres a wooden bar stool that I am in love with and a bar that I can actually hang out at. It's also nice, I've always been a person to sit on the floor so there's also that. This also leads to the ginormous balcony we've got, it's currently covered in snow and has no footprints on it yet, but it will...sometime soon.

Happy holidays everyone! 

Idea: January Make Up Challenge

So, as you probably know by now, I'm a make up junkie that doesn't really wear make up. So for the month of January, I have come up with a challenge for myself. In order for me to actually be able to say that I have used a product that I own, I will challenge myself to wear make up everyday for a month, but the catch is that I need to use all the products I own, at least once. 

I actually don't know how motivated I will be to actually do this but it doesn't hurt! At least then I'll be able to say that I have used the products I own. I feel like I'll be doing a lot of smoky eyes since I recently mastered the technique...I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Stay tuned for this challenge! :)

Exam Week

It's finally the week that everyone in universities have been dreading all semester long, exam week. Just when I was getting super excited on going home, exams had to wiggle their way into my life and ruin it before I could enjoy the freedom of not having to worry about my grades.

This year, I'm taking four courses and have an exam in each of them. Good thing my exams are separated nicely but sadly, it doesn't allow me to go home any earlier then I'd prefer. (Going home on the 18th).

My first one was last Wednesday for a course called Cities: Geography, Planning and Social Life. It was pretty much an urban geography course twisted with a lot of politics and history. I totally did not like it at all but good thing it got out of the way because my second one is no better. It's called Geographic Information Systems, and as much as I love mapping and stuff like that, this course is way more technical and definitely not my cup of tea. The exam for this GIS course is today at 2 pm and I'm sitting here typing this out because I'm in no mood to review and study prior to the exam, also, I'm hungry.

My last two exams fall on the same day, one in the morning of the 17th and one at night. The first one is The Dynamic Earth, it's a geology course and basically touches base on everything from glaciation to earthquakes/plate tectonics to groundwater. I really enjoyed it even though I had to memorize 50 rocks and minerals for my midterm. Thankfully, the first half of this course isn't on my final and I had a lab exam a week ago, so my memory on a lot of this course is still fresh and will only need some refreshing and some more additional information. My last exam is for my course Race and Racism, I really enjoyed this course and learned a lot about what goes on a daily basis and what can be considered racist and offensive to someone. It definitely opened my eyes to the occurrences in the world and what goes on around me. Our prof for that course already gave us exam questions to study and I feel like the information would go through my head way easier than these first two exams (they're so dense and UGH) but it'll definitely be a lot harder to memorize the discourses and such. Oh well. 

Hardwork always pays off, I'm rewarding myself by going to the gym after this exam and a shopping spree when I get home on the 18th.

Good luck to all you exam writers and happy holidays!

November Favourites

So as November comes to an end and December begins, Christmas decorations officially come out. But before I can start talking about the holidays and how excited I am to go home, the November Favourites post must come out! 

A lot of my make up products will repeat throughout my monthly make up posts, (most likely), I am an university student after all, and we can't always afford expensive stuff! 

Make-Up

In November, I used a few new products and changed up my make up routine for days that I actually wore make up. 

• Maybelline Rocket Volum' Express Waterproof

This was a definite must for November! Being in Kingston, I realized that it's ALWAYS super windy and with the wind comes the tearing of my eyes. Often, I end up tearing up when walking to campus and look like a mess because it's as if I just got my heart broken or something. Thanks to the Maybelline Rocket Volum' Express, specifically the waterproof one, I'm able to arrive on campus with no raccoon eyes, that is, until I take off my make up. Also, I recently realized that this mascara holds up my eyelash curls really well, which is definitely another plus for me! (Nothing ever holds up my curled eyelashes)

• Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Eyeliner

I've been using this eyeliner for quite some time now and find it much easier to handle then the previous eyeliner I used. (L'Oreal Lineur Intense) I find that this Maybelline Eyeliner dries much faster and has a much smaller tip for days when I don't feel very adventurous (which is most days) 

• Urban Decay Primer Potion

After realizing that one of my eyelids is evidently smaller than the other, I finally realized the use of primer and I swear by it every time I use eyeliner. Before using primer on my eyelids, my eyeliner would always smudge or smear somewhere close to my eye (this is the small eye we're talking about). By using the primer, my eyeliner no longer smudges around my eye. I'm not a big fan of the tube application, although it is more sanitary, I still prefer the doe brush. (I plan on testing out the Nars Eye Primer soon)

• Nars X Guy Bourdin Cheek Palette

As you readers may have read, I purchased the Nars X Guy Bourdin Holiday Cheek Palette! It was my first ever Nars product and I had heard so many good things about the cult favourites that I had to get this and try it out! Although the cold wind of Kingston already gives me evident blush on my cheeks, there's always no harm in applying some more for when you're indoors and feel like looking a bit more holiday-like. When it comes to using this cheek palette, I find myself most often using 'Orgasm'. Don't get me wrong, 'Deep Throat' and 'Mistinguette' are really nice but they're more out there and for class, I don't need a very obvious and eye catching blush on my cheeks, so Orgasm does a good job at being subtle but evident.

• Lasting Perfection Collection 2000 Concealer

This concealer does not sell in the States nor Canada, but I got it in the UK while I was studying abroad last year. It is what Tanya Burr swears by and it works really well. They only sell four shades, and I've already got the third shade, so...there's not a great variety. Anyways, it works really well and stays on all day. It's really creamy and it does not dry out the skin. I'm a really big fan of it so far!

What I've Been Listening To

Moving onto music, I'm not much a festive music person, by saying that, I'm sure a lot of people have gasped. But yes, I'm not big on the traditional Christmas songs and carols that are played EVERYWHERE in the month of December. But in November, a lot of new albums came out or I just got a lot of new music on my iPod.

• Hedley - Wild Life

Personally, I really like Hedley. I'm proud of how far they've come from Jacob Hoggard being on Canadian Idol to creating the band and their hit single 'On My Own' on their first album to creating their fifth. Their sound hasn't changed much and their songs are still really catchy. No matter the craziness of their videos, they are still able to come out with better and better songs while maintaining around the same sound.

• A Day To Remember - Common Courtesy

This album was supposed to be released a few months back but due to a lawsuit, it wasn't released until recently. I love A Day To Remember, I haven't been a fan of them for as long as other people have (i.e., the beginning) but I've been listening to them for a few years. This album is definitely worth it and their new songs on the album are maintaining the same genre that they've always been singing

• One Direction - Midnight Memories

Not the biggest die-hard fan of the boys, but really, who could resist them. My friend got me more into them this past year and I will admit, their songs are catchy and really good. I went to their concert in London when they were filming the movie, and they're REALLY entertaining live. Plus, who doesn't like British accents, it's always a plus. This album was released near the end of November but I don't care, I have it and it's pretty damn good. And, if you must know, I've got floor tickets to their show next August! (I had to rub that in...)

• Katy Perry - Prism

Not the biggest fan of her latest album, but I must admit, there are a few songs on it that I find really good. 'Dark Horse,' 'Love Me,' and 'This Moment,' I feel are the best songs on the album, she's kind of switched out of her pop genre, well I guess you could say she's still in it but she's switched sub-genres and I don't think I'm the biggest fan of it, but hey, you win some, you lose some!

Clothing
As the winter months near, I've been wearing more and more sweaters. My current favourite is the heather white coloured Beaver Canoe hoodie that my boyfriend got for me from Target; it's super cozy and thick which is a definite plus to these colder months. Something else I've been wearing a lot my leather boots, they've been keeping part of my leg warm throughout my days in the wind. To get me through the cold, I've been relying on my grey TNA St. Moritz parka, it's really warm and much cheaper than a Canada Goose! 

As, whoever read my blog knows, I've been hitting up the gym lately, and I used to get really bad shin splints, which caused me to drop out of running a marathon earlier this year, but I finally decided to use my orthopedics in my running shoes, and boy, have they made a difference! The last time I ever got a shin splint is when I was speed walking to class in my Chuck Taylors which, don't have orthopedics in them. (Guess we found the solution). Anyways, instead of me buying a random pair of running shoes I liked, I actually went to the New Balance store and got them to narrow down which shoes would be best for the way I walk, so I ended up with a bright pink pair of New Balance Barringer 890v3. They're rather bright but I like them! Plus a portion of the money went to the Breast Cancer research fund.

Something else, I've been really liking during the really cold days is my 'Positive Vibes' beanie that I got from Charlavail! She's a really talented artist and I've been looking up to her for a few years now. She's from Florida and makes a lot of cool art pieces as well as takes really cool and artsy pictures. She's definitely somebody that I'd really like to meet. 

Food & Drinks
Due to the colder weather, I find myself lazier and lazier to cook actual food so I've been relying on eating tacos quite a bit. I'm a really big taco fanatic, and actually don't mind eating them all the time but honestly, there's only so much a university student can afford and cook. In November, I mostly ate tacos with the occasional poutine made or just plain spaghetti. 

RED CUPS ARE BACK AT STARBUCKS, I absolutely love Starbucks, no matter the location, I love the interior of it, it's so comforting even within all the chaos that occurs during rush hour. You know the holidays are nearby when Starbucks begins serving their drinks in red cups. As usual they have their yearly holiday drinks like Eggnog Latte, Caramel Brulee Latte, Peppermint Mocha and their Gingerbread Latte. I love it when the holidays come around. So is it evident that I'm always at Starbucks yet? Because it really should be.

P.S. I feel like this is a not very good favourites list...but hey, it's my first one! So there's definitely room for improvement, I'm also trying to figure out how I want to organize things, so that'll definitely be something to be fixed upon...until then, you'll just have to deal with me :)

Black Friday

So, even though I live in Canada, that doesn't mean we don't have Black Friday sales. I'm pretty sure we only recently started getting them these past few years, but anyways, that didn't stop my friends and I from heading downtown and doing some damage to our bank accounts with whatever we could find!

So, in our little town of Kingston, we headed to Urban Outfitters, it was the talk of the town practically! (well, campus, but really though.) They held 50% off sale items and 40% off textiles and discounts on little knicks and knacks. Going in, the line wasn't as long as I expected it to be but I was really in no mood to look for things, and at the same time, I didn't really need anything. So i just hung around and looked at some stuff that seemed slightly interesting while my friends shopped. 

After that, we headed up to DavidsTea, now, in America an equivalent version would be Starbucks' Teavana. At DavidsTea, they didn't hold anything for Black Friday, but how could anyone pass up an offer to go inside DavidsTea where it's surrounding in a teal and cute little tea cups and mugs? 

Roots held 25% off the entire store, but I got sweatpants from them when they had 40% off, so it was really no big deal as the only thing I really wanted from them were socks...I know. They have really cute reusable bags though!

Finally, we headed to Lululemon, I was looking forward to it because I really needed new gym clothes and I had made a wish list online. I was worried that they weren't going to partake in Black Friday, but obviously they would! Going in, they separated their clothing racks by size, my friends and I were around the same size so we would alternate around. Most of their stuff was 40% off, which is amazing because they barely ever have sales! I ended up getting a sweater and a tank top with a built in sports bra; I had also ordered a 50% off tank top on their website and it came with free shipping so that was exciting. 

Pretty much, I only bought 3 things on Black Friday but I'm happy with my purchases and the rest will have to wait until I earn some more money and can spend it on Boxing Day.

Lululemon Cool Racerback *Mod Waves
$24 CAD, ($48)

Lululemon En Route Jacket
$84 CAD, ($148)

Lululemon No Limits
$39 CAD, ($64)

The Lululemon Cool Racerback, was on the site's "We Made Too Much" page which I actually didn't find until the day before Black Friday, and bless finding that! This racerback was on my wish list so it's really good that I was able to find it and get it discounted! The En Route Jacket and No Limits tank tops were bought in store, they're not shown for sale online, so it's probably an in store special. I got the En Route jacket in dark grey and the No Limits tank top is green and navy blue, but the colour swatch wasn't shown online so I just chose a plain black one.

So here are my "hauls," of Black Friday, if you will. Although, Sephora's $20 off $50 promotion should be coming out soon within the first week of December, with the rumoured release date of Urban Decay's Naked 3 Palette coming out December 11th. So, keep an eye out for new blog posts!

Issue: Eating Disorders

This is a totally different topic from what I usually talk about on my blog, which mostly consists of my day, something I did over the weekend or a product review, but an article came up on my Facebook page today and I feel that it should be something that is addressed because it is an important topic.

I came across an article called '5 Reasons to Date a Girl with an Eating Disorder,' this article listed 5 reasons why dating a girl who is suffering from an eating disorder is good and why it should be done.

The first reason says that because she is aware of her situation, it'll make her overall self look better. The idea that she is aware of her 'surroundings' and that mentally as well as, physically if she spends more time worrying about her looks and her body, that she'll look better (skinnier, perhaps.) It follows by saying that their 'distorted body image' on the inside, will motivate them with the same image on the outside.

The second reason is talking about food. The author speaks about the fact that the girl will be eating 'less,' it's good for you because she costs less. She'll most likely order something small and if she doesn't finish, then you're welcome to finish it for her. This, in the end, means you'll be saving money because she'll be barely eating anything.

The third reason is that the girl will be insecure, leading her to want to impress and please you to no end, thinking that she is good enough and to maintain her self-esteem at a good level. Rather than the average 'obnoxious' girl.

The fourth reason is that most girls with eating disorders are rich, so it's not a big deal for her to pick up a tab or pay for your meal.

And, the final reason is she'll be better in bed due to her insecurities and issues within family or herself.

My opinion about this whole thing is that, this article is disgusting. I can't believe someone would even dare to write about a topic that is affecting so many people in the world. An eating disorder is a very serious issue and should definitely be dealt with. This article just makes people with eating disorders think that it's okay to continue with it. Personally, I'm skinny, heck, I might even pass as looking anorexic. But, I can full on say that I'm healthy, I'm naturally skinny with a high metabolism. This does not hold me back from eating as much as I want, because I want to "look skinny and better." I will eat until I'm satisfied and make sure that my self-esteem is at a good level. No girl should ever feel insecure about themselves or that they need to do something to impress someone else. The only person that a girl should ever impress is themselves. The fact that the author wrote something of such importance, makes me wonder if he/she really thinks that poorly of girls.

Eating disorders is a serious disease that many suffer from. I can't even imagine how difficult it is to suffer from an eating disorder. The only way a girl with an eating disorder will ever be confident with themselves is if they lean towards the people who care and will always be there with them no matter what, through the thick and thin.

To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) is a non-profit organization that strives towards conquering issues like this, anorexia, depression, addiction and suicide. Its vision is that you're not alone, there are people that are willing to help. The road that one is taking, they're never on it alone. 

I'm a big supporter of TWLOHA, I believe that there is someone out there that will help someone suffering, they'll help get them back on their feet and see a reason to continue on living. 

Wizard

So, here at Queen's we've got jackets (aka GPA) in which we show off our "bars" which are pretty much patches on drinking games we've succeeded in and what not. This weekend, a few friends of mine and I decided to go for the Wizard bar. 

Wizard: Within a 12 hour time frame, you must drink your height in beers. After every beer you finish, you must tape it to the bottom of the next beer you are about to drink, before you start drinking it. You are not allowed to puke until you have completed your staff.

So that's, what needs to accomplish. As, I'm allergic to alcohol (don't ask what kind, I've tried many), my friends got me to do this task with cans of Nestea. I was a height of 14 cans of Nestea and as a consequence for me not being able to get drunk, I was only allowed one washroom break; I also have the bladder of a pea, so it was going to be pretty difficult. (This was later altered to two washroom break passes)

Starting at 8 pm, the first few drinks were alright, by the time I got to my fourth, I started feeling my bladder filling up, so I hurried and rushed to the 7th drink, figuring that I'd use my washroom pass for the halfway point. Not the smartest idea of mine, because I chugged my 6th and 7th drink, so it wasn't even in my bladder by the time I booked it to the washroom. I was on about my 9th when my bladder felt REALLY FULL, but my friend had forgotten a few tall boys at her house so we went on an adventure there, which was a bad idea because moving made me have to use the washroom more than ever! I had to walk really slow and eventually started feeling cramps because I had to pee so bad. Finally, got back to the house we were drinking at and drank halfway through my 10th before I couldn't hold it in anymore! So I went for it and was in the washroom for quite a while, keep in mind that puking on my part, was also considered a forfeit (I already felt sick to my stomach). While in the washroom, I could hear one of the guys outside observe and point out how long I was peeing in the washroom and if anyone else noticed that. (5-6 CANS OF NESTEA LIQUID IN YOUR BLADDER IS THE WORST THING EVER, but it is quite the pee of heaven)

Finally down to the last four, I was fine because my bladder was emptied out but I still felt really sick in my stomach, when I finally finished, I went to the washroom and ended up puking up my dinner and lunch (gross, I know) but it was really satisfying and felt really good after I did so.

My friend came late so she started a few hours after my friends and I did, so she still had about 6 more cans left to go by the time I finished. Everyone else had gone to bed, so I stayed up with her so she could finish, but I fell asleep for an hour and by the time I woke up, she was on her last can! Yay! So we taped that on and finished up. We had a lot of duct tape left over, so we decided to leave a message on the floor and then trekked back to my house at 5:30 am. It was a glorious by very liquid filled night!

Review: Neutrogena Deep Clean Foaming Scrub vs. Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Cleans

So about a month ago, I needed a face cleanser and exfoliator so, I went to Shoppers Drug Mart (I guess, you could say that I practically live there, it's 30 seconds away) and I checked out what was on sale, and it just so happened that Neutrogena had a sale on the items, plus extra optimum points if I purchased two products. So I chose the Neutrogena Deep Clean Invigorating Foaming Scrub and the Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser with a Foaming Formula.

Starting off with the Deep Clean Invigorating Foaming Scrub it contains "tingly cool lather energizing microbeads" and it smells good. On the back of the tube, it says that the "light gel formula lathers into bubble foam removing surface dirt, oil and make-up." It certainly feels that this does it's job, although I'm not too sure about the removing make-up part as I always have eye makeup on and this gives a cool feeling when you're applying it to your face, I'm scared to get it anywhere near my eyes. I sometimes use this in the shower and its either this product does remove make-up or water does a better job of doing that. Either way, I'm a fan of this product as well as the other Deep Clean products by Neutrogena, I feel that they do what they're supposed to do and don't dry out your skin when doing so.

Next is the Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser with a foaming formula. This smells alright, it's got a slight chemical smell to it, but it's not bad to the point where you can't use it. I was looking forward to using this and for it to just clean the oil off my face, but it dried out my face! After using this, my skin felt tight and dry, I guess it got on my lips at some point when washing it off because my lips felt like this were splitting and super chapped! I'm not a big fan of putting moisturizer on my forehead because my forehead gets really oily either way, but this totally dried out my forehead to the point where it looked like it was peeling from a sunburn! If you're going to use this, make sure you've got a good moisturizer that hydrates really well! This one is supposed to "remove excess oil, dirt and make-up leaving you with clean and naturally soft skin," it dried out my skin, unless that's considered "excess oil." It also says that it is a "non-stripping cleanser" that cleanses "while maintaining skin's natural moisture balance," I don't think my skin's natural moisture balance is super dry and unmanageable.

As Winter approaches, I need something that gives moisture or maintains my skin's natural moisture when I'm on a rush to go to school, the Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser will not be an item I use for that. I wouldn't purchase this again; but I will stick to the Deep Clean product line. Even though the cleanser is supposed to be for sensitive skin, mine is combination and somewhat sensitive, so in general, I don't recommend this product to anyone.

Deep Clean Image by: Walmart.com

Ultra Gentle Image by: Neutrogena.com

Review: Clear Strong Lengths Shampoo and Conditioner

For a while now, I've been alternating conditioners every time I wash my hair, between Organix hair products, Dove and my Bumble and Bumble Deeep Hair Masque, finally I came across the brand Clear and it's line of scalp and hair therapy products. I had heard of them when they first came out but didn't want to spend money on something if it wasn't any good. From my boyfriend to my best friend, I heard that it did a really good job of cleaning hair and that their hair felt a lot better using this brand's hair products in comparison to what they were using before, so when it went on sale for $3.99 each at Shoppers Drug Mart, I knew I couldn't pass this offer up and picked up the strong lengths shampoo and conditioner.

It usually retails for about $6 - 8, but pretty frequently goes on sale! I'm not sure where else it is sold, but I would guess Target, Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreens, the typical drugstores. First off, this product smells amazing! It's doesn't have a chemical smell but a subtle nice refreshing smell. The shampoo comes out creamy and you're able to lather it up really well. I used the conditioner like I do with my other ones when washing hair, I lathered it in, put my hair up in a bun so it could hydrate and absorb into my hair giving it the nutrients it needs, while showering the rest of my body, and then washing the conditioner out. It washes out very easily and my hair feels much cleaner and lighter, without the product remnants from what I used in the past week. 

My hair air dries as usual, but the bleached and dyed part of my hair feels much softer as if I've placed oil into my hair, it's very soft and silky. I'm really happy with this shampoo and conditioner and hope to try more products by Clear.

Gym | Day Two

I didn't sleep until 2 am last night, but a few of my other friends and I agreed to go to the gym this morning and meet at 8 am, so I woke up at 7 am and rushed to eat breakfast, hoping to digest before I started exercising.

Finally I got there, and man it was cold outside. About -8 degrees Celsius, Winter surely is coming! Anyways, got there and started off with stretching, but my whole body was sore from yesterday! So, I did what I could and then jumped onto the elliptical! Ran/exercised on the elliptical for a good 20 minutes before heading up to the weight room and worked on our shoulders and back, the shoulders one was a killer! Definitely was able to feel that hurting afterwards, we then headed back downstairs to bike but the seats were really weird and our butts hurt so bad afterwards! They kept sliding forward and we'd have to slide back, and it was really difficult because we set the level of difficulty pretty high.

When we finally finished, we all had trouble going down the stairs because our legs hurt so much. My hips, shoulders and arms hurt the most, but no pain no gain! It's a good thing, it's my day off from the gym tomorrow! Back at it again on Friday morning!

Gym | Day One

Last year, for the second term of school, I got really into working out, most likely because my mom had signed me up for a marathon (20 km) and I really needed to train. I never really went to the gym, as a kid I took swimming/lifeguarding lessons, ice skating, skiing, dance, karate and tai chi, but as I got older, I had less time for all these things, I eventually ended up only doing tai chi, which was fun but not as full of exercise as it had once been when training for competitions and such, which built my endurance.

For the past few years, I didn't have any time to go to dance nor tai chi, which ended up with me only getting my exercise through walking and the occasional speed walking. It wasn't until my mom had signed me up for the marathon that I figured I should get back in shape. So I started going to the gym, and built my endurance, I was able to run 10 km, no problem; but every time, I ended up getting shin splints which held me back from running in the 20 km marathon. I feel bad for wasting my mom's money and faith in me to run the marathon, but shin splints are serious injuries and it could've ruined my life.

But during my second term at the gym, I slowed down on the intense training for the marathon, and worked on my endurance and strength, everyday I'd be at the gym, even if it was light biking while doing my course readings or what not, I'd always be at the gym. Not only did I eat healthier, but I realized that my acne was starting to go away from all the water I was consuming. (I've had an acne problem since 8th grade) 

Summer came and the only exercise I ever did was walk or lift plants and groceries during work. It wasn't until I got back to school that I realized how out of shape I was and how bad my acne was getting. So today marked the first day I returned back to the gym, it's a further distance than it was last year, but it definitely felt good to be back to exercising and getting into shape.

My friend and I ran for 20 minutes on the treadmill and realized that I was still able to do it, a bit tired but not too bad. We then followed by heading to the weight room, to work on our shoulders, back and chest, I was only able to do a few reps at 15 lb, but don't worry, I'll be able to do 30 lb soon! (My arms will be jelly tomorrow) Abs of course followed with me only being able to do 5 crunches, we then did the bicycle crunch. Stretching came after which was nice, I'm definitely further than I was before when stretching and touching my legs and what not, but eventually I'll get back to how well I was able to stretch before. 

For dinner, I rewarded myself with a big bowl of salad and a steak, very satisfying. Oranges will come in a bit after I finish doing some homework!

It's definitely feeling good to be back at the gym.

Review: Organix | Anti-Breakage Keratin Oil 3 Minute Miraculous Recovery

So I finally finished using my Organix Anti-Breakage Keratin Oil 3 Minute Miraculous Recovery and figured that I should make a review on it, seeing as I am done using it and have actually used it for quite a while. I originally purchased this because I was a huge lover of Organix hair products and they often go on sale for $4.99 - $6.99 at Shoppers Drug Mart. And, Shoppers Drug Mart had recently expanded their collection of Organix hair products so I figured that I'd try it.

Upon first trying it, I was skeptical as to whether it actually did anything to my hair or not. But after a few more uses of it, I realized that it definitely hydrated my hair and kept it from drying out too much because it has its bleached areas which made it super dry and damaged because I also apply heat products to it. This masque is good because it only takes 3 minutes, whereas other hair masques may take 10-15 minutes and frankly, I cannot stand in the shower for that long while the masque does something to my hair. I usually put this in my hair after shampooing, put my hair up in a bun and shower the rest of my body and what not and then take my hair out of its bun and wash this product out.

It washes out easily and definitely hydrates my hair. As for the anti-breakage part, I'm not too sure how well it does in regards to that. The packaging is cute, it looks like a tube of paint, but when you get to the near bottom, it's harder to get the rest of the product out of the tube, eventually I had to take the lid off and squeeze it out. For it's price, I wouldn't say it's worth it to get at regular price because I believe I can find better, or just do what I usually do and leave my conditioner in my hair up in a bun while I shower the rest of myself and then wash my conditioner out.

So there you have it, the Organix Anti-Breakage Keratin Oil 3 Minute Miraculous Recovery! (who makes the names of these?! They're ridiculously long) You can also purchase these items at Target, Loblaws/Superstore, Wal-Mart and ULTA.

Image from: beautyandlifestylehunter.blogspot.ca

November 8 - 10

So, this past weekend, my friend Taryn and I headed down to Toronto to check out the 1st ever Buffer Festival! It's basically a YouTube convention/event that goes on and many YouTubers come out and meet their fans and hold events and talks. It was totally exciting and tickets were categorized by which event you wanted to go to ($15 each) or you could buy a pack of 8 tickets and choose whichever event you wanted to go to! If you had a ticket for that person's event, you were eligible to skip their meet-up line. Taryn and I were only really interested in meeting DailyGrace (Grace Helbig) and seeing her event that was hosted by Mamrie Hart (YouDeserveADrink) so that was the only ticket we purchased.

The weekend started off with a 10 pm bus ride down to Toronto, in which it was a Toronto express bus so it only stopped at the downtown bus terminal, meaning my sister and mom had to drive down to pick us up because the subway doesn't work at that time. While standing at the corner, many taxis drove by expecting business (Toronto taxi's are ridiculously expensive, so take the subway) and some tourists asked for directions, some girl asked me how to get to the subway so I told her, she in turn said her thanks to Taryn (who's not from Toronto). This also occurred the day after, which is weird because I was the only person talking. Anyways, that was pretty much Friday.

Saturday, came around and it was no sleeping in for the two of us, actually make that four since my sister and mom were joining us for the fun event of the day; Les Miserables! Prior to the musical, we hadn't eaten so we headed to one of my favourite restaurants for brunch, Oliver & Bonacini's Canteen! It's a totally chill but great food restaurant, the waiters and waitresses are the sweetest. I got the Calamari Tacos and Taryn got the Eggs Benedict because she's in love with them and has been craving them for a while, we both got Hot Chocolates.

After brunch was time for the musical! Les Mis was made into a movie last December and I had watched it in theatres with my boyfriend on New Year's Eve (no idea why that day) Anyways, he had no clue it was a musical (success on my part) so HAH. Anyways, when I was studying abroad, it was playing, so a few friends and I went to see the musical and it was good, but I preferred the movie instead. But, when I heard that it was coming to Toronto, I wanted to see it, along with my mother (who loves musicals) and my sister, who had not read the book nor seen the movie adaptation. So there we were, all fancy and what not, it was good! In my opinion, not as good as the movie but it was good. Would've been a whole lot better if Eddie Redmayne was Marius in the musical as well, but of course I'm sure he's got movies to film.

After the musical, Taryn and I split apart from my mother and sister as they had plans, so we met up with one of Taryn's friends from drama school. Her name's Cayla and she's so sweet! It was really nice for them to catch up and I heard a lot of interesting stories about what happened to them when they were in drama school together from crazy teachers to generally catching up on where some of their other friends are and how they're doing. We did this all over dinner, which was at Spring Sushi! It's a bit pricy for dinner ($26 on weekends!) but it was all you can eat, it's also really fun because you order your food on iPads! (Yay, technology!) After we stuffed our faces with that, we walked through Eaton Centre on the search for Taryn's iPhone 5S but it was still out of stock (boo you!) so we just hung around before leaving to the Hyatt Regency Hotel for the Buffer Festival after party. When getting there, there was barely anyone present and of course, because all these people are in some way part of YouTube, they're not social. It was also an all ages event, so HELLO PARENTS. Taryn and I just sat against a wall and watched people dance. There was this one group of girls with a few boys and this one girl kept trying to dance slutty and grind up on this guy who was just not having it while her friend directly next to her was just dancing crazily and having a good time. Eventually this girl started making her way into the centre of the group and grinding on the guy (who was still not having it) Watching this was probably the most amusing thing to happen at that party, the group seemed to enjoy themselves way more after she left. So we decided to ditch this party that was a joke and ended up heading to the movies! Caught the last showing of Thor: The Dark World, IT WAS SO GOOD. EVERYONE NEEDS TO WATCH IT, definitely highly recommended. It was very comedic and a lot of action which was really good. Loki has definitely become my favourite from this movie.

Sunday marks the day that the DailyGrace event was happening! Up early and ready to go, Taryn and I had to carry our bags with us for the whole day since we were not going to return to my house before leaving for the bus terminal. We lined up in the DailyGrace meet-up line which was ridiculous, it was even the "priority" line. Still took about 1.5-2 hours to get in, and she was even over her meet and greet time! Finally got to the front and Taryn and I decided to take the picture together because they wanted to get the line moving and for everyone to have a chance to meet her! She was so nice and friendly! Very tall as well, her statement necklace was a gold chain with pineapples hanging off of it, definitely something Grace could pull off! After this, we met up with my boyfriend because he was home for the weekend and headed to O&B's Canteen for lunch! On the way there, we passed by Michael Aranda! I screamed out his name and he looked at me but didn't say hi or anything, which is fine because I don't know his videos very well. This time, Taryn and I both opted for the Mac and Cheese! It was definitely the best mac and cheese ever! It had so much cheese and was perfect and so filling.

This pretty much led to the end of our day with lining up to meet Louis Cole and Steve Booker (FunForLouis & SteveBooker) Louis is really really tall, but him and Steve are both so nice! It was totally awesome to meet them! Right after that meet-up, was Grace's event hosted by Mamrie Hart! Hannah was present as well and while lining up outside she was walking down the line up saying hi to everywhere and I screamed "HANNAH!" and she looked at me and said "HIII!" it was very awesome. Anyways, the event itself was hilarious, Mamrie did a great job hosting it and Grace, well, Grace was Grace. The videos they showed had Taryn and I in tears and I am so happy we were able to attend something like that. Thus, lead to us going to Tim Horton's for a cheap dinner and heading over early to the bus terminal to wait for our bus back.

The bus ride back, was fairly short, because we watched The Internship (we love Dylan O'Brien) and made a few friends. We sat at the back of the bus (5 seats) and ended up having to sit with 3 other people, two of which were coming from Chicago and one who was at Buffer Fest as well! The vents on the bus were blowing cold air and we were all freezing so we figured to tape the garbage/barf bags to the vents, and one of the guys happened to have tape, so the YouTuber filmed this occurrence, so that was pretty fun. Finally arrived and there were no more taxis so I called up our friend who came and picked us up. It was such a good weekend, too bad I won't be home again until mid-December.

Happy Monday!

Review: Nars X Guy Bourdin | One Night Stand Cheek Palette

The holidays are coming up and the presents and gift sets start rolling out! I find that this year, Sephora has outdone itself in the amount of gift sets that have come out and are now in-store. Specifically the hype this year is surrounding this Nars X Guy Bourdin One Night Stand Cheek Palette. It consists of 4 blushes, 1 highlighter and 1 bronzer: Orgasm, Deep Throat, Goulue, Mistinguette, the highlighter, Devotee and the bronzer, Laguna. Three of these are already cult favourites by Nars (Orgasm, Deep Throat & Laguna) and are just added in whereas two of the blushes are special edition blushes created by Guy Bourdin.

Nars Holiday 2013 Collection
Guy Bourdin One Night Stand Cheek Palette

Guy Bourdin is a renowned French fashion photographer in the 1950's to the 1980's. And this holiday, Nars has been inspired by them to create a cheek palette. The palette includes, from top to bottom, left to right:

• Devotee Highlighter (0.14oz) - highlighter glow
• Mistinguette Blush (0.14oz) - bubblegum/bright pink
• Deep Throat Blush (0.14oz) - sheer peach
• Laguna Bronzer (0.14oz) - light brown with gold shimmer
• Orgasm Blush (0.14oz) - peachy pink with shimmer
• Goulue Blush (0.14oz) - medium pink

I have never owned anything from Nars, and have always wondered what the hype around the Orgasm blush was, so when this palette came out, I knew I had to get my hands on it and try out the other cult favourites that everyone has been talking about. This palette is definitely not cheap ($72 at Sephora) but, I purchased it when Sephora had its 20% off sale for VIB members, and the first day the sale began, it was already sold out online and claims to be sold out in-stores. I didn't order it online because I wanted to see what the size of each blush was in person, but I wanted to slap myself when it was sold out online because I worried that I would never be able to get it. But when I got to the store, they had about 10 in stock, so I quickly got my hands on one! Thankfully, the cashier told me that they only received it a few weeks ago, so praise small town malls!

This palette is definitely worth it if you only own one or two of the cult favourites because it provides one more cult favourite and 3 more different shades, two of which are limited edition. The colours in this palette compliment any skin tone and the coverage is definitely buildable. The colours come up nicely and the shimmer gives a nice look as if you've just walked inside from the cold, rosy cheeks all round! Each blush/highlighter/bronzer consists of 0.14oz of each colour, which is almost the same size as one blush (0.16oz) which usually costs $32 at Sephora stores, so it's definitely worth it to give this a try if you haven't already yet and if you haven't tried any Nars products before! 

Because, it is a palette, and I don't own that many cheek products (UD Bronzer & Tarte 24-hour Blush), this was definitely something I could use for a while and change up my make up routine. I'm excited to see what else will come from Nars in the new year!

*I have read about the controversy over the Nars X Guy Bourdin collaboration and I agree that Guy Bourdin has done some terrible things in the way he treated models, his wife and colleagues but François Nars looked up to him and used the inspiration he received from Guy Bourdin to create this palette. You may not agree with me, but I feel that we should respect his decision to create such a wonderful palette as this. 

Image from: InStyle.com