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

Forgotten Camera.

So I went home to Toronto this past weekend and upon leaving, I forgot my DSLR at home. Seeing as I was already late to get to the subway station, I don't have a camera with me here at school, except for my laptop one and my phone, that being said; I won't have any access to better quality pictures until mid-December when I return home after final exams. My pictures from now until then will consist of internet found images or pictures I have taken on my phone, please bear with me!

New post coming out soon!

Review: Drugstore Mascaras

Just like all of you, myself included, we can't all afford expensive and fancy mascaras. (I am a University student to add to that) So, we all go for the next best thing, drugstore brand mascaras. Now, I'm not saying that drugstore mascaras aren't good, to be honest they could be just as good (or dupes). So as a person who is more likely to wear mascara than any other make up product because it's that much easier, here are my reviews on the ones that I've used.

Just to put that out there, here are the mascara's I've tried throughout the past few years, suggestions are welcome! I'm not a big spender ($10+) when it comes to mascara/make up so all of these were most likely purchased when they were on sale, (usually go for $3.99 - $5.99 at Shoppers Drug Mart, Wal-Mart & Target are both cheap when it comes to regular price)

• Benefit They're Real, sample size (Sephora birthday gift pack!)
• Covergirl Lash Blast Volume
• Covergirl Lash Blast Fusion
• L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes
• Maybelline Mega Plush Volum' Express
• Maybelline Rocket Volum' Express
• Maybelline Rocket Volum' Express Waterproof
• Maybelline Falsies Big Eyes
• Maybelline Falsies Waterproof
• Maybelline One by One Volum' Express
• Maybelline Great Lash Lots of Lashes 
• Maybelline Define-a-Lash

To be honest, I'm sure I've tried way more than this but these are the ones that come to the top of my head when I think of the ones I've tried out so far. 

Maybelline Mega Plush Volum' Express
My current favourite is the Maybelline Mega Plush Volum' Express. I feel that it adds a lot of volume to my lashes and they also hold them up after I've curled them (which not many mascaras can do!) 
Score: 8.5/10

Maybelline Rocket Volum' Express, Washable/Waterproof
Another that I really enjoy is the Maybelline Rocket Volum' Express, the waterproof and the washable one are both good :) The waterproof one holds up very well when drenched in water, so that's always a plus. They're similar to the Covergirl Lash Blast Volume & Fusion, they both separate lashes with very little clumping and add volume, as for holding up curl, they don't do that good a job as the Mega Plush does. 
Score: 8/10

Benefit They're Real!
The Benefit They're Real! works very well in holding up my curls and separating clumping, but it retails for about $28 at Sephora, so that's a downside, but besides that it's amazing and definitely lives up to it's hype! 
Score: 8.5/10

Maybelline Falsies, Waterproof
I'm not a big fan of Falsies Waterproof because when I tried it, it clumped like mad! It might've been the method I used but I'm not too sure, so I'll have to test that one out again. 
Score: 5/10

Upper Lashes

Lower Lashes

Maybelline Falsies Big Eyes, Washable
I only just purchased the Falsies Big Eyes, so I've only tested out the lower lash brush because I have Mega Plush on my upper lashes. The Falsies Big Eyes lower lash brush is much smaller so less product is on it. Less product ends up on your lower lashes which is good and it doesn't clump as much and it's a subtle notice that makes your eyes pop much more than if you were to use a regular lash brush on your lower lashes. So far, I'm liking this lower lash brush on the Falsies Big Eyes. So I used the upper lash today and it's a bit clumpy but it's not too bad and it's manageable. You can build on the volume, so that's a good sign. 
Score: 8/10

Covergirl Lash Blast Volume/Fusion, Washable
I don't feel a big difference between the two of these, they're definitely good at keeping your lashes from clumping, but do they actually add volume? Fusion is supposed to be the one that adds length and volume whereas Volume is the one that just adds volume. I feel that the two of these are pretty much the same, there is the different colour of packaging but besides the colour, the two of these are pretty difficult to tell apart if they make a different a difference or not.
Score: 8/10

L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes, Washable
The only thing I recall from this mascara was that it smelled like roses, and I'm not really accustomed to mascara smelling like anything unless it was expired, so this was kind of irritating because I constantly thought my mascara had gone bad. All in all, this did add a lot of volume and was nice but when it came to holding up curls, it didn't do a good job. I think it did a better job at weighing down my curled lashes than actually keeping them up. There was slight clumping but hey, no mascara is perfect!
Score: 7/10

Maybelline One by One Volum' Express, Washable
This mascara does a good job at individually separating lashes and keeping them from clumping, as for adding volume, it didn't do that well a job. For sure, it added product to my lashes individually (yay for the brush!) but I don't believe it made a big difference to how my eyes were perceived after I had finished applying it onto my eyes.
Score: 7.5/10

Maybelline Great Lash Lots of Lashes, Washable
I absolutely HATED this mascara, there is a lot of hype over how well the Great Lash does, but the Lots of Lashes, I disliked very much. It clumped my lashes and added a lot of unnecessary product onto my lashes. It is a cheap mascara (price-wise) but other than that I'm not a fan. The packaging although, is pretty cute with the heart shaped brush and what not. But I don't feel that the wand did much to my eyelashes except clump them together.
Score: 4/10

Maybelline Define-a-Lash
This mascara was actually not that bad, the brush was a big flimsy and there was slight clumping but it wasn't too bad. It was manageable, but it didn't add much product onto your eyelashes which is pretty much the idea of mascara. I liked that the tube was a bright green and it looked pretty cool, but it's definitely not the best mascara that there is out there.
Score: 7.5/10

Healthy Eating 101

I'm definitely no professional when it comes to healthy eating but this week, I decided to cut down on my junk food and processed foods and have realized that my skin is actually getting better and I'm feeling a lot healthier than usual these days. No, I still have yet to attend the gym, but I'll get there eventually (trying for next week sometime). Anyways, I cut down on my usual junk food purchases and opted for dried apricots. I did purchase a bag of those Cadbury Crunchie Clusters though, after hearing so many people raving about them, they are quite tasty but a bit pricy.

Anyways, I'm not saying that I'm the healthiest person in the world but I certainly am trying. I purchased mostly fruits and vegetables this week and although it is a lot of more time consuming to cook and cut up, it definitely has its benefits. My hair's shinier and my skin's clearing up from the break outs I got a few weeks ago.

When studying it's not difficult to open a bag of chips and stop eating away but it does have it's bad results with more acne break outs, probably getting more because you're studying and it's a stressful time. So why not wash some fruits and eat those instead? Celery or carrot sticks aren't bad ideas either! All you would need is to cut them up unless you've got a bag of baby carrots, and get a bottle of ranch dressing! It can be either used as dip or salad dressing (win-win, right?) Or just get dried fruits! Dried cranberries are good for bladder infections while dried apricots are good for high blood pressure. You can definitely eat these even if you don't have these problems but just a little tip on how they can help!

I know that as university students, we're all on budget and that grocery shopping is a necessity (unless you're on a meal plan, then lucky you) but, buying fruits and vegetables adds up and then you start wondering if it's worth it. And, it definitely is, eating healthy is really important and it adds to your energy and doing better in school.

Definitely try mixing up your salads and adding stuff to it that you wouldn't usually do. Like for me, my salads consist if iceberg lettuce, almond slices and cut up bacon and Asian Sesame vinaigrette. It's simple but filling. It also consists of almonds which lower chances of heart attacks, help build strong bones, nourish the nervous system and provides good brain function.

This is possibly the most random post ever, oh well. I tried!
Until next time! Stay healthy!

Me.

I'm still not too sure where I want to go with this blog, as much as I enjoy reviewing products that I've used, I feel like it could be a space for me to post anything going on in my day, whatever I find interesting and any ideas I'd like to work on in the future.

So I guess, from here on out, I'll work on my reviews, whatever interests me and life.

Starting from step one, here's a little bit about myself.

My name's Hillary, I'm 19 and I'm born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. I currently reside in a smaller city, a 2.5 hour drive away from Toronto and attend Queen's University. Theres not much else about me except that I'm a big mix and match type of person, my version of 'thrifting' comprises of searching for old vinyls, cds and movies. I'm a big make up junkie, who buys make up and rarely ever wears it. I'm an avid reader and a hopeless romantic. I enjoy finding new playlists and bands to check out as well as killing most of my day on Buzzfeed. I'm not a girl who likes diamonds, so no, diamonds are not a girl's best friend (at least, not mine!) I'm also not big on shiny and glittery things, most of the clothing I wear, is very basic. You'll start to realize that I dress like I'm going to the beach, ALL THE TIME. I'm not very fashionable, or fashion-forward but I know what I like. I'm a Starbucks addict, so don't get me started on whether I've got a gold card or not. (Because, I do.) I'm a Toronto Blue Jays fan, Chipotle and sushi lover, and avid concert goer.

I have a weird taste in movies, my favourite era would be the 80's. No, my favourite movie is not The Breakfast Club, although it is an all-time favourite of mine. I'm an avid traveller and did my first year of university abroad, allowing me to travel from places like Iceland to Greece to Spain and France. I'm a big foodie and love eating, not much to care about weight gain as I've got high metabolism and no matter how much you tell me that I look anorexic, that'll never change my appearance or metabolism towards food. 

I started this blog because I'm awkward in front of camera and have a very monotone voice. I'm used to being behind the camera and don't have much emotion. I guess it's safe to say that this blog is more so, a journal of mine than anything else it could be. I'm way better at typing than writing and I can express myself here.

This probably doesn't explain much about myself (or probably more than it should) but I want to live on a beach, or in California; it's my favourite place. I'm not big on the Spring and Fall season, (even though, I'm born in the Spring) but I'm in love with getting tanned and Summer as well as the Winter seasons in which skiing and snowboarding commence. 

So there we have it, welcome to my blog and I hope you stay a while!

Review: Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment

So I said, I'd make it up to you guys and here I am again with my second review of the night! The Macadamia Natural Oil: Healing Oil Treatment! I purchased this maybe a month or so ago, and have been using it pretty frequently as I have bleached hair and it tends to get super dry and damaged the easiest! I purchased this at Shoppers Drug Mart (I know, I buy a lot of things from there, it's literally 30 seconds from my house!), I bought it for $36 (pricy, these never go on sale!) and it's a super small bottle, not as small as other ones but it only contains 125 ml of oil. Yet a little goes a long way as they all say! I've barely made a dent in the bottle!

 The label on the bottle says that the oil "instantly absorbs into the hair, weightlessly infusing moisture, health, softness, protection, control and shine." I usually put this in my hair when it's still a bit damp from being washed and have realized that my hair dries way faster after I put this in. The only problem with this oil for me is that because I sometimes get the oil about mid-length of my hair, it touches my neck when I sleep which causes me to break out. So after this realization, I only put the oil on the tips of my hair which is basically the only part that's bleached. There is a definite feel of softness and difference in my hair after using this. If it's even possible, I feel that after I started using this, my hair has grown much longer and faster than it usually does (my hair usually grows maybe 2 inches in 4 months). The label also tells you to use a small amount and I cannot stress this enough but as said earlier, a little goes a long way. I use maybe a dime size and it's already enough for my hair (my hair's thick and long). Definitely no need to use a lot, no matter how thick your hair is! Since it's hair oil, it'll cover a lot of area just by you combing/brushing through your hair.

I absolutely love the packaging, I think the design is creative and it's definitely easy to find when looking for the product because there's no other packaging like this. I've had no problem with the pump so far, it definitely does not drip oil after pumping the needed amount into your palm. One thing I'm also not a big fan of (besides the acne on my neck) is that the bottle is made of glass. I understand that the glass makes it seem so much more high-class (I mean, it's $36 for Christ's sake) but it is way easier to break if dropped. I feel that a plastic bottle would do the same job if not better because it wouldn't break as easily. I do look forward to testing out more of these products, as said in my Bumble & Bumble review, I look forward on testing out the hair masque as I've heard good reviews on it.

Review: Covergirl Smoochies Lipslicks

So as I said yesterday, I'd make a review on the Covergirl Smoochies. But sadly, I was sidetracked and was busy throughout the day which leads me to writing my review on them today (sorry!) but don't fret! I'll be making double the reviews tonight! (It's 8:30 pm right now, I woke up at 1:30 pm, heh heh.) So let's get started!

I've never been a fan of lipstick, well I am, but I never have the courage to wear it out because I feel like it captures so much attention and I frankly, am not one that likes to be stared at, I'm more of a spectator or observer myself. Anyways, the Covergirl Smoochies came out and at first, I was skeptical because I wasn't sure how much pigmentation would come out of them but they ARE also a lip balm, so I figured what the heck, and gave them a try.

From Left to Right: #sweet tweet, #smooch, #tweet me, #text me

I bought them at Shoppers Drug Mart when they were on sale for $3.99 each (they usually retail for about $6.50). I have '255 #sweet tweet' (yellow), '265 #smooch' (lime green), '225 #tweet me' (light blue), and '220 #text me' (teal). Out of these four, '#sweet tweet' and '#tweet me' are my favourite. I've actually never worn '#smooch' (the lime green one) out yet because I feel like it looks weird on my lips and it's way too sparkly for me. Don't ask me about the hashtagging because that's just their names and I have no idea about the history behind the names of these.

Anyways, '#sweet tweet' is absolutely amazing, not only is it a lip balm that moisturizes your lips, it's also barely tinted (well for me) so it just looks like I've got lip balm on (because that's what it is!) All of these are very moisturizing and I adore them! 'tweet me' is the more red tinted one and it adds a subtle redness to your lips but not as bright as any red lipstick would give. 

As lip balm goes, it does wear out throughout the day but when it does, it still maintains to keep your lips moisturized for the rest of the day, just without the tint or colour on your lips. This may be really minor of a detail but as you continually wear these, the actual lip balm part will change it's position in relation to the casing. (You can see this happening in '#sweet tweet,' above) As long as this doesn't bother you then it'll be okay!

All in all, I really like this lip balm/stick, it's moisturizing and is more subtle in comparison to lipsticks. '#sweet tweet' barely shows up on my skin though because it's more a neutral colour and I've got a yellow tinge in my skin. It's evidently shown in the picture below, which is why I've added the colour swatches on a piece of paper.

Haven't been able to make a review in a few days because I've been busy and out of town. But don't fret, I'm coming up with one right now as I'm on my way home. Today I'll be reviewing the Covergirl Smoochies lipbalm/stick :)