i’ve been m.i.a., i know. don’t hate.

Wow, has it already been a month since I’ve blogged?

June has been crazy busy, with preparations for my church’s annual mission trip to White Dog, a Native reserve in Northern Ontario.  This year, I’ve been put into a leadership position, so things are uber hectic.  But we leave this coming Monday, so I am very excited!  Please pray for our team =)

This month has seen birthdays, weddings, funerals, convocations…the whole lot!  I also went to a leadership conference with Olivia Chow as the guest speaker.  What an inspiring woman!  Coincidentally, the day after the conference, I ran into her on Bloor St.  She was coming out of the ROM after visiting the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit.  Coolest part?  She remembered me.  A mark of a true politician!

I am going to try and post a convocation post very soon. All pics are on Father’s cam, so it’s been kinda difficult trying to get his cord and camera at the same time.

Good news, I just found out a few hours ago that I have been appointed as a T.A. for the upcoming school year!  That really does relieve a large chunk of my financial stress – but we’ll see how lofty the stipend is.  I’ll probably still need to persuade my rich Uncle O for some flow (who is Uncle O you ask? You clearly are not a student in Ontario).

Real posts to come soon!

skincare routine (warning: super long w/ pics)

Hello all!

So my good friend keeps asking me what I use on my skin, but I find it so tedious to answer that because I use SO MANY gosh darn products!  Yes, I’m a skincare junkie.  I think it’s because when I was younger, my mom didn’t believe that skin care products could help me – she would just say “Just wash your face more often!”, so I was only allowed to buy the cheapest kinds (ie. Clean & Clear – blechhh).  So now, I am always on the hunt for better & more economical products to use, since I go through skincare really quickly.

To be honest, the main reason my skin has improved dramatically is due to prescription products from my dermatologist.  But as my skin begins to age, it’s becoming a lot more sensitive, so it can’t take the harsh chemical-y creams daily.  Also, any oral medication he prescribes I try my best not to take, because I’m trying to void my organs of having to process any more chemicals than it already has to (from foods, air, cosmetics, etc.)

So this collection of products is a mix of trying to balance oily/acne prone skin, with super dry/sensitive skin, with pore/blackhead control products and anti-aging products.  Basically, my skin has tons of demands.

Cleansers

Left: Philosophy's Purity Made Simple | Right: The Body Shop's Tea Tree Oil Facial Wash (gel)

As you can clearly see, I prefer Purity over the Tea Tree Oil. I bought TBS’s facial wash because they were having a 2/$18 sale on all Tea Tree products, and this is a best-seller.  It’s good enough, but doesn’t REALLY help with oil/acne control, and I always have tons of makeup residue left if I only used my fingers to massage it onto my face.

I just bought Purity last week, and so far (using it day & night), it’s helped a lot in healing my dry skin and balancing it with my oily skin (that’s what it claims to do anyway).  Smells nice & does a better job at getting rid of makeup…but I did a test by following up with an Equate facial wipe after using Purity, and I still had traces of foundation on my face.  I still really like it though – it hasn’t made me break out like it did for Pursebuzz!  FYI: I asked the MUA at Sephora why Canada doesn’t have the foamy version, and she said it’s because there is an ingredient that hasn’t been approved by the CFDA in it.  So I guess Ebay it is for those who prefer it!

 

Olay's Daily Facials in Deep Cleansing

My mom bought me these from Costco (pack or 3 boxes) and they’re awesome!  I take a sheet with me every time I go to the gym or pool, because they’re easy to take with me and are disposable after use.  I don’t exfoliate at home, but using these sheets 2/3 times a week @ the gym count as my exfoliation.  Super convenient tip: After using it on your face, there is tons of leftover foam & soap left in the sheet.  Use it as an exfoliating body scrub!

Toners 

 

Left: Thayers Rose Petal Witch Hazel Toner | Right: The Body Shop's Tea Tree Oil Freshener

 I can’t stress how much I LOVEEEEE the Rose Petal witch hazel.  It smells fabulous & does a great job of getting rid of traces of makeup, and moisturizes while it tones.  The Thayer line has tons of different types of witch hazel toners (lemon, aloe vera, original, etc.), but I chose the Rose Petal one because it moisturizes and helps with maintaining youthful skin (plump skin = younger looking skin).  This bottle lasted me for about 6 months, and I just bought a new bottle.  Available at organic shops for $8.99 (at Kensington Market).  I also saw it at Whole Foods for $12.99 in the Beauty section.

The TBS toner is clearly the old school bottle, but the product is still available in the new packaging.  This was a gift from my sister.  I rarely use it anymore because it is too harsh for my skin now, but back when I was super acne prone, this felt like it was doing something good underneath the surface of my skin.  I still use it on my T-Zone in the mornings to control oil throughout the day (doesn’t really work, I just like the idea of it!)

Moisturizers 

Left: Clinique Superdefense Very Dry to Dry | Centre: TBS Tea Tree Oil Blemish Fade Night Lotion | Right: TBS Vitamin E Intense Moisture Cream

After reading about Superdefense on PB, I decided to try it out.  As I approach mid-20s, I’m constantly thinking about how to prevent further damage on my skin-in-transition (previously, I was using Chanel’s Beauté Initiale Energizing Multi-Protection Cream; but way too pricey to keep using – but it really was great!)  The Clinique counter I went to had run out of Combination/Dry formula, so I ended up getting Very Dry to Dry, which is great for the winter, kinda too oily for the summer (but my mineral makeup does a great job of hiding that).  It will probably be good for me when I move to Montreal, because I hear the winters there are KILLER! I like the built in SPF 25, but it comes with a mild SPF scent.  It was around $50 (but got it with a GWP deal) and is lasting me forever and a day since I use it with a spatula (which prevents contamination, and wastes less product because you can scoop the product more precisely).

The Blemish Fade Night Lotion is very pricey for the tiny tube ($19) but if you wait for the 2/$18 sale, it’s a steal! This is my second bottle because I love it very much.  Really does help with fading old scars, and works wonders as a spot treatment, day or night.  I currently use it on my T-Zone at night time.

The Vitamin E cream comes in different formulations, but I got the Intense version so that I could use it on my mildly eczemic cheeks at nighttime.  Very moisturizing and not heavy feeling at all.  Smells very pleasant.  I’m on my second jar of this stuff, but I recently bought Egyptian Magic cream after watching Tao rave about it.  I think that will replace this stuff (and I prefer that it’s a more natural alternative too!)

Biore Skin Preservation See the Future Eye Cream

This is from Biore’s new line of products aimed at 20-somethings who are between teen acne and wrinkles/aging skin.  So far I like it – doesn’t irritate, very good moisturization, and smoothes out nicely along my eyes without having to tug and rub it in.  Box says to use it during day, but it doesn’t have SPF, so I only use it at night.  For day eye cream, I just gently & carefully tap on my Clinique Superdefense around my eyes (because it has SPF 25)!

Oils

Left: Jojoba Oil (100% Pure Expeller Pressed) | Right: Bio-Oil

I bought the jojoba oil after reading about it on tons of natural makeup forums (good for OCM & any other moisturizing solutions).  This tiny bottle was kinda pricey, but I hardly use it.  When my skin got super crazy dry and flakey in the winter, I would drop some of this oil into my jar of TBS Vitamin E Intense cream and use it as a moisturizer.  Jojoba oil is the only oil that is the closest match to our body’s natural sebum, so it doesn’t clog pores.  My only complaint is that it’s a little hard to thin out – kinda viscous, but not like, syrup viscosity.

I bought Bio-Oil after seeing commercials that it is great for getting rid of scars.  I had tons of acne scars so I started using it on my face, but it made me break out!  So now I use it only when my jawline is getting rather dry (because I don’t break out there), and on scars on my body that I would like to fade away.  My mom uses it on her allergy rashes (around her eyes), and it does a great job of soothing them away.  I have friends who have used it for their stretch marks during pregnancy, and that has helped as well.

Masks/Treatments

Left: Neutrogena Pore Refining Cleanser | Right: Soap & Glory Scrub Your Nose In It

I bought the Pore Refining cleanser on a whim when it was on sale thinking that maybe I’d see some results using it as a cleanser.  NOPE!!  Just burned my eyes because of the AHA/BHA in it.  Also, cleansing your skin with it doesn’t allow the active ingredients to actually work on your skin during such a short time.  So I went online and found out that many people were using it as an at-home mask!  Because of the AHA/BHA, it acts like a mild chemical peel while helping tighten the look of pores.  I don’t know about the pore part, but it does make my skin smoother.  Even though I have sensitive skin, it doesn’t irritate it – leave it on for about 10-15 minutes and wipe off with facial cloth.

I bought the Scrub Your Nose in It mask just last week, and I’ve only used it twice.  I love the tingly feeling when I put it on my T-Zone, and how it scrubs as your massage it onto your face.  I don’t see dramatic results yet, but my pores do look less gunky right after I remove it.  $12.99 @ Shopper’s Drug Mart.

Left: The Body Shop Tea Tree Oil Face Mask | Right: Mario Badescu Silver Powder

I thought I’d round out my Tea Tree collection by getting the mask.  I like the idea of it “drawing out impurities”, so I’ll keep using it till it’s done.  I don’t think I’ll repurchase though.  It doesn’t dry on your face, which I love, and I do feel like my skin is smoother/squeaky clean after I wipe it off.  I don’t really need the Tea Tree effects any longer, so time to move on when the jar is finished.

I bought the Silver Powder from Blu3’s blog sale a while ago.  The white powder has silver in it to soak up oil and gunk from your skin, so I use it on my T-Zone.  This tiny little jar lasts forever, because you have to wet the product, which makes you use a lot less than you think you need to use.  When I wipe it off though, I get a lot of powdery fall out over my counter, and my pores have powdery residue in them (which I suppose means that it’s really getting in there and sucking out the oil).  So I just have to scrub a little more diligently in those areas.  I dunno – it’s hard to gauge how well it’s working when you don’t actually see little blackheads coming out (like pore strips).

Overall, I use masks at least one or two times a week, interchanging between all of them as my skin sees fit (if I’m breaking out, I’ll use the Tea Tree mask, if I’m feeling super oily, I’ll use Mario Badescu, if I’m flaky I’ll use Neutrogena, etc.).

Conclusion

I use ALL these products regularly.  My most basic routine is Purity to cleanse, Rose Petal Witch Hazel Toner, and  the appropriate moisturizer for the time of day (morning/night).  

My skin isn’t perfect, but because I am diligent with taking care of it, I believe that that is why my skin is as nice as it is!  I can’t help pollutants in the air, but I can try and prevent them from damaging my skin with the right products.  I also believe that what you put in your body shows up on your skin.  So I eat tons of fruit and veggies (which is great because I really enjoy them!)  I also highly recommend getting a dermatologist and consulting with them.

That’s that I suppose!  Thanks for sticking by and reading the whole post – this took half a day to compile  and write!  If you have any questions/concerns/suggestions, please leave a comment!  I will respond as a reply on this post.

spa, sting, & package!

Last weekend was my friend’s birthday, and he requested a spa day/package as a gift.  So his roommate researched and found an awesome deal at a spa in Yorkville called Summerhill Spa, but it was a couple’s package!  They didn’t want to go together cuz they’re dudes…ya know.  And all of my other girlfriends are way too shy or conservative to strip down in front of another guy (although you’re covered the entire time!!  I guess you see side boob…hehe), so I jumped at the chance and got to go on my first spa trip ever!

The package included a 60 minute hot stone massage, a 30 minute facial, a 20 minute foot massage, and a hot oil hand/foot treatment.

The hot stone massage was a first for me and it was a nice experience, but the facial and the foot massage were AMAZING! I wish I could have been watching the technicians as they gave me my facial, because I would have liked to see exactly what they were doing so that I could try and replicate it at home.  But seriously, it’s really nice to have someone else scrub your nose for you (hehe!) My skin was GLOWING after the treatment!  I didn’t have my camera with me, but my face was sooo happy ^^  I can’t wait to treat myself to another facial one day!

Enough gloating…

I also got an opportunity to go to a benefit concert last week, featuring the Canadian Tenors, Sheryl Crow, Sting, hosted by Chris Noth (Mr. Big from “Sex and the City”!) at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.  It’s an annual charity show called “One Night Live”, benefitting the Women & Babies program at Sunnybrook Hospital.  It’s one of the top neonatal programs in the world, and the concert benefits their efforts in building proper facilities to match its reputation.

I attended the show as media, so I was able to go to the top rafters in the Media Gondola, and then I was moved down to the floor, where I had pretty amazing seats!  Too bad Sting was not too keen on allowing media to stay for more than 3 of his songs…  Sheryl Crow was amazing though!  Read my report from the evening here.

The Canadian Tenors (the Canadian version of Il Divo)

Sheryl Crow rocking it out on the bass.

Sting in all his old-age glory.

Back to makeup…

Today I received my purchase from Tammy (aka Not a Rich Girl) in the mail =D I bought her MAC 165 brush – my first MAC face brush.  It’s an LE brush from the BBR collection, so I’m glad I found it on her blog sale. [If you follow me on Twitter, you might know that I recently got my first MAC brush...from my sister's old stash of stuff!  It's a MAC 213, and she said she vaguely remembers buying it when she was in high school, but she doesn't wear much makeup anymore, so she gave it to me.  Still in perfect condition!]  Anyway, Tammy was very sweet and also sent me a mineral eyeshadow sample and Japanese jellies.

MAC 165, Brush Guard, Glamour Doll Eyeshadow in "Pinky Swear", Kasugai Strawberry Gummies

Hopefully I’ll be pressing this shadow soon!

pressing minerals with ez prez

I had a day off today, so I decided to devote a part of it to pressing my mineral makeup, now that my order from Coastal Scents came! It’s my first time ever pressing pigments or minerals, so there was definitely a learning curve.

To learn how to press your own minerals, check out the Coastal Scents site, they have a very helpful video on what you need & how to do it.

The bottle that the EZ Prez came to me in totally sucks for making accurate droplets so I transferred a little bit of the solution into a dropper bottle I had lying around the house. Using an eyedropper would work just as fine.

EZ Prez Pressing Medium (image source: Coastal Scents)

And then I put some rubbing alcohol into an old body spray bottle that I had (the body spray was so old, I had no qualms in dumping it out) and used it as the alcohol spray. I didn’t have 91% alcohol like the video suggests, but 70% works just as well – you just need to wait a little more for it dry on the pan.

A picture of the final damage - this also shows all the tools I used.

Look at all those empty mineral sample jars!  It felt like a huge weight off of my chest just by getting rid of those jars.  If only EDM had a “Back-to-EDM” program like MAC did…I’d have so many freebies!  The comb was my “spatula”, and the Q-tip helped clean my mixing jar after I pressed each shade.  The piece of ribbon is for the hatch marks at the top, and the quarter is for even pressing.  Oh, and you DEFINITELY need to cover your desk with newspaper for this project.

The end product: 4 hours & a very sore thumb later.

FYI: One sample EDM jar nearly fills a full 26mm pan, but there is still room for a bit more.

Because I had some space to add more powder/minerals, for some of the shades, I mixed in my Makeup Masala mineral samples, as well as my Coastal Scents glitter powder in Crimson & Treasure Chest to differentiate between similar shades (ie. peach with gold flecks vs. peach with red flecks).  The bottom row are all sample blushes from EDM that I tried to make more “eyeshadow-y” by making them pop a little more with glitter.  The Coastal Scents glitter powder is extremely finely milled, and are cosmetic grade, so they don’t look tacky  - they’re hardly noticeable

You can see the differences in depth here.

One very important thing that I learned in this process is to not add too much EZ Prez pressing medium. If you do, not only will the pressing process be difficult because the powder is too tacky, but the shadow is too creamy (but not creamy enough to be a cream shadow) to give good colour payoff and be blendable. I find that the glittery shadows resisted becoming too tacky a lot better. The 2 matte colours that I did (first 2 pans in the middle row) ended up being very difficult to swatch & blend.

Row 1: Swatches correspond from Bottom to Top to L-R in palette

Row 2: Notice how the bottom 2 swatches (the mattes) have poor colour payoff.

Row 3: All fleshy, blush colours.

So that’s that – I will try and do a look with these colours very soon!  I finish off this post with some more photos that I proudly took of the finished palette =)

You can see the imprint that the design on the ribbon left in the front left pan, hehe.

You can faintly see it in the glittery purple one too!! I'm a very proud mama of this palette =D

first haul post – ever.

I recently got my Coastal Scents package that I ordered when they were having the site-wide 15%-off sale, and when I tweeted about it, Bev (aka. LOVESSpink) wrote back “do I see a haul post coming soon?”  And that’s when I realized that I’ve been buying things here and there and I’ve accumulated enough to constitute a haul post!  How exciting – it’s my first time (tee hee).

Coastal Scents: EZ Prez Pressing Medium, 12 Piece Magnetic Palette (26mm), Italian Badger Round Crease Brush

Super excited to start pressing my mineral shadows!

I was really impressed with the compact size of the palette; perfect for carrying around during trips!  I also love that it’s magnetized, because the size is perfect if I want to put in MAC shadows or even Annabelle shadows (for my Canadian ladies)!

Brushes: POSH, EcoTools, Coastal Scents

From T-B: POSH Smokey & Eye Shadow, POSH Small Crease, POSH Crease, EcoTools Eyeliner, CS Italian Badger Round Crease (from above haul)

 I don’t know why I bought so many crease brushes because I definitely need more blending ones, not crease ones – but the 2 POSH crease brushes were in a pack of 2 (for $4.99!)  The EcoTools brush is from WalMart.  It looks funky in the pic because I cleaned it with some BioOil so that it would pick up gel liners better.

Double ended POSH brush

The brush @ the top of the pic is actually double ended.  So the left side is the “smokey” side (smudge it out!) and the right side is the eyeshadow application side.  It was only $7.99 – and the best part is, all the POSH brushes were 25% off @ Pharma Plus last week, so the total (including tax) came to $11 on the dot =)

Miscellaneous: 

home made dispenser for facial wipes =P

Yeah, it’s a little ghetto, but the wipes were being sold in 2-packs (120 altogether) as refills for an Equate plastic dispenser, which I thought was very tricky of WalMart, so I decided to make my own dispenser!  I had just finished a pack of facial wipes that had this plastic lid in it, so I just cut it out and glued it onto a hole I made in the Equate refill pack.  Saved $6-7 that way!

Bikini from Reekbok. Inset: closeup of butterfly detail on the bum.

I found this at the Reebok store at Vaughan Mills for $14 + tax!  I have this thing where I buy a new bathing suit each summer (I don’t know why…I don’t even live near a beach), and so it’s nice when I find one that is inexpensive to add to the collection.

Urban Behaviour cotton/spandex skirt

It doesn’t look like anything much in the picture, but it’s one of those high-waisted mini skirts that look quite nice with a plain white tank.  Kinda skanky, but we all need to skank it up at times ;D  It was super cheap: $9.99 + tax!  I don’t like spending too much $$ on clothes that I know are one-season trends, or that I won’t be able to fit into soon, so it’s a perfect find.  I already have food stains on it from a late-night shabu shabu dinner, keke.  It’s possibly the worst skirt to wear when you’re pigging out, but oh well!

So that’s that!  Hopefully I will be blogging about my newly pressed minerals very soon!

tolerance & sarah jones

I subscribe to the TED youtube channel, and this video recently popped up.  Not only is Sarah Jones hilarious, but she’s incredibly talented and articulate.  I loved watching this video and I hope you will too.  (The Chinese character made me cry a little with her points on tolerance!!)

revlon skinlights eye/cheek stains & nyx discovery

I was wandering through Vaughan Mills yesterday, and I found this little hole-in-the-wall store called Designer Cosmetics Warehouse.  It’s not really “designer” per se, but they carry a bunch of discount cosmetics/accessories from pretty random brands.  They even sell NYX!  

It’s so hard to find NYX in Toronto (besides some Pharma Plus stores which have limited selection & are kinda pricey!) so I told the salesgirl I was really happy to find her store.  She told me that they only just started receiving NYX products, so they will soon be expanding the products they carry from that brand!  From what I recall, they had all the single shadows, powder blushes, glitter liners (the one with the tassel on the lid), loose glitter dust, glitter cream shadow palettes, concealers (jar & tube), and all the NYX brushes.  I hope they start carrying the Jumbo Pencils, the liquid pen liner, and their Doll Eye mascaras.

Anyway, I wasn’t interested in getting any more brushes (I recently just bought 5) or their blushes/single shadows (because Makeup Masala does sell them @ better prices, even with the exchange rate).  But I did dig through their dirt cheap discount makeup bins…you never know what you’ll find!

They mostly had stuff from discontinued products from drug store brands, or products from the States (some had Rite Aid stickers on them…?).  After some digging, I found the Revlon Skinlights Color Lighting for Eyes/Cheeks.  They had them in a bunch of colours, but I chose 3 in Mocha, Sunny, and Berry.

I’m pretty sure the SkinLights collection has been discontinued for a while now, but I’m so glad I found these!  They were a great deal too: all 3 for $5 (CDN)!  I think that they’re great for those “no-makeup days” when you still feel like having some type of sheen or sparkle.  It’s a 1-2 punch as well, since it functions as both a cream eyeshadow/base and a cream blush in one tiny compact.

Swatches from L-R: Mocha, Sunny, Berry

The mocha reminds me a lot of the NYX Jumbo Pencil in Iced Mocha (obviously…), but when swatched, the NYX Jumbo Pencil is a lot more on the brown/taupe-y side, whereas the Revlon Mocha is slightly more skin toned & subtle.  I bought the NYX Jumbo Pencil in Iced Mocha hoping that I could use it as a natural look on days where eyeshadow is just too much, but it is way too dark for me.  So I’m hoping that this Revlon shade can replace that!

The other 2 shades (Sunny & Berry) are verrrry pretty blush shades.  Especially Sunny – I looove peachy blushes.  I can’t wait to use them!

yoga

As you may remember, I was given a 3 month pass to Trish Stratus’ yoga studio in Toronto, Stratusphere.  I went for the first time today (it was also my first time trying yoga…ever).

It was the noon power hour session, so it definitely was not the intro version.  Also, it was held in the “hot room” of the studio, so there I was, sweating, panting and cringing for dear life as I contorted my body into unthinkable positions.

Yoga is really a crazy difficult work out.  I underestimated it after I had a bad experience with pilates, but I really enjoy the challenge yoga gives me.

Tomorrow, I’m going to go to the prep class & see how it goes!!

depotting hip duos & spring party look

So I was browsing the blogger network, and I came across Ms. Katelyn’s (aka Chomfifi) blog post on how to depot L’oreal Hip Duo shadows!  It was her first time depotting, and she made it look so easy!  So I decided to give it a go.

I hate that the Hip Duos are so bulky for such tiny pans!  I only have 4 of the Duos, but I thought that would be enough to make a quad…or something of that sort (an octo-..?).  Anyway, it was my first time depotting as well, and it went fairly well, if I may say so myself =D

Completed Depotted Quad

There is some damage on the brown side of the Roaring Duo (upper left), but I don’t know how that happened – it just chipped off by itself when I flipped it over to add glue.  The tiny indent on the top of the blue side of the Roaring Duo was a slip of my hand.  But I chose to do this colour first, because it’s my least favourite (worst colour pay-off of all the Duos!)  Depotting the rest was a breeze~~

Pink Case & Clear Lid. I glued the shadows on a piece of cardboard that was already lining the case.

Glued the labels on the back of the cardboard. Convenient & disposable!

I also successfully depotted all of the accompanying mirrors too – but I have no clue where to put them!  I don’t want to glue them onto the lid, or else I won’t be able to see the colours.  Anyway, I’m still very excited for all the extra space in my makeup drawer now =)

A height comparison of the new quad case with an original Hip Duo case. Nearly 1/2 the height (including domed top of the Hip Duo case)!

Oh, and I should add that I didn’t have double-sided tape like Katelyn did, so I simply Krazy Glued the shadows on, which isn’t really a problem, since the plastic case itself is not damaged (therefore, re-usable!)

On a different (yet related) note, here’s a look that I did this past weekend for a “celebrating spring & graduation”/shisha-balcony party.

I basically used the Hip Duos for this look.

• Gold side of Flamboyant
• Shimmery light blue side of Showy (from Karen O. look)
• NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Gold (bottom inner corner) with the same gold from Flamboyant on top
• MAC Graphology shadow to line eyes (mixed with UDPP for a lasting consistency)
• NYX Doll Eyes Mascara in Waterproof

I have one more exam left on Thursday, and then…I’M FINISHED MY UNDERGRAD!!

fobby parents

Here are some of my recent favourites from My Mom is a Fob & My Dad is a Fob.

1. Strawberries
2. Jolly Ranchers
3. Coke: Drug or Drink?

Hm…they all have to do with food.  Guess that’s on my mind these days!!