What I Get Up To...

It's been a little while since my last post and a lot of things have happened since then. For one, I reconnected with one of my old high-school best friends, Lisa and it's been really great catching up and hanging out. It's always nice to have those friends who have been with you since you were knee-high to a grasshopper (Lisa and I met in public school). We went for dinner at one of her favourite spots in Peterborough The Favourite Greek. I hadn't been there before but I absolutely loved it! Save for the grape leaf wrapped rice, the food was fantastic.

Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm Review

The last while I haven't been bothered to wear a lot of balms or lipstick but decided it was time to change that with the recent gorgeous spring weather. It's the perfect time to change up your look a little bit and add some colour.

I'll be honest, when it comes to lip colour I tend to air on the side of caution and stick to light pinks or red. Purples, oranges, fluorescent pinks and other psychedelic colours freak me out a little bit. This time though I was on a mission - to buy something peachy or orange. I watched one of Zoella's recent vlogs in which she is wearing this exact colour and I thought it was so pretty (although nothing really looks bad on her at all).

Lots of Lux | Essie Nail Lacquer

Glitter and/or textured nail polish can either be a dream come true or the bane of your existence...

Fall Beauty & Decor

There are countless things I enjoy about fall but from the Pumpkin Spice diet to boots upon boots, nothing beats rosy cheeks and fall decor. I have a decently sized 1 Bedroom apartment but its far from fabulous - it was built around the same time electriciy was created I am guessing and it makes it really hard to be OKAY with how it looks sometimes. That being said I am always looking for ways to spice it up and improve the atmosphere. You can never go wrong with candles (unless your prone to burning things down) so I took it upon myself to purchase yet another candle warmer and this time - floating candle holders.

I wanted to make this a DIY project so I also purchased some fake flowers and glass vases from Michaels. I used a hot glue gun to keep the flowers inlace and then used bottle water to fill it. If you don't use some distilled or filtered water the calcium and crap buildup on the glass will ruin the entire thing.

Theres a barn just outside of town "Craft Works" that sells all sorts of antiques and hand made workings which is where I found these Super Scented Hazelnut candle bits and warmer and it smells delicious. As you can see I also threw in my new purse (which I thought looked great with the rest of my Fall attire and made for a nice backdrop) and a glass of wine just for effect.

Every time I post something about beauty I realize more and more that the majority of my favourites are L'OREAL products and not by intent. I wanted to find a darker shade than the red I had been wearing since 'Plum' is really in for Fall, so I found L'OREAL's Colour Riche Serum in 'Radiant Plum' (S202). 

If I'm really going all-out on my makeup, above I've shown the products I would normally use minus my blush. I recently purchased the Quo Beauty Blender because I'd heard some rave reviews about it. I can't say it's the greatest invention ever since I still get a better spread just using my finger, but it does work really nicely in and around the eye area and it's very soft. Below I've posted a rather poor quality selfie I took with my iPhone just to give you some idea of what I have been going with.

 Don't forget to 'Like' and let me know what your Fall Favourites are.

-Lyssa

Beauty | The Coconut Craze

Lately Pinterest has been bombarding me with what I call a "battle of the oils". From Argan & Moroccan to Macadamia, Almond and Coconut - they all provide a wealth of promising uses for health and beauty. I've incorporated coconut oil into my life in a variety of ways over the last 6 months so here I am to spread the hype and share my own uses for the this Jack-of-all-trades.

1) It's a Wicked Hair Moisturizer

I have an abnormal obsession with anything coconut scented so when I found out that the Bulk Barn sells this in it's 'oil' state, I was all over it. I've been giving my hair a little extra TLC lately because of how often I dye and heat it, and it's been proving extremely useful to me. In addition to L'OREAL's Mythic Oil (which I use almost daily prior to drying/straightening my hair), once a week I use coconut oil and massage it into the lower half of my hair (using only a bit near the roots) and wrap it up in a Turbie-Twist - leaving it in for several hours or over night. Your hair will need a good washing afterwards because of how saturated it becomes, which will easily leave your hair looking greasy. I've been using Marc Anthony Macadamia Oil shampoo & conditioner which is a nice compliment scent to coconut.

2) Work it Into Your Diet 

Not just a great hair treatment though, coconut oil has a lot of health benefits that you might not be aware of.  It's said to improve thyroid and blood-sugar control in addition to helping maintain weight by consuming roughly 2 tablespoons a day. I haven't experienced this next one myself, but sources say when consumed daily it will help improve sleep and circulation for those of you who are always cold. If you're like me and prefer the smell of coconut over the actual taste of it, a great way to consume it is in coffee/tea or warmed up and then blended into a smoothie. 

3) Cure Hangnails & Canker Sores

Canker sore? No problem. Dab a bit of coconut oil on it and cut down on the healing time immensely. I'm also prone to hang nails so rubbing a bit into my cuticle area has been quite successful at preventing them and keeping my hands moisturized at the same time. 

4) Use in Homemade Body Butters & Scrubs

One of my side hobbies is mixing random kitchen ingredients together and making my own version of body scrubs and butters. Coconut oil not only has the scent and consistency for my mini projects but also the moisturizing properties. If you've never seen coconut oil before, it's rather fascinating, starting off chunky and gel-like, it quickly warms (even just with the little heat that your hand can produce) and turns into a liquid.

Leave a comment below with your own coconut oil uses :)

- Lyssa 
Sources: www.doctoroz.com, www.huffingtonpost.ca

Collection 2000 | Lasting Colour Gel Eyeliner

I bought this eyeliner pot when I was visiting in the U.K and I've been using it ever since I got back (sometime around May). That is pretty good when you factor in the small size of the pot, which I photographed on a magazine just for comparison. There are obviously going to be pro's and con's to every product but I'm still trying to decide if I like this one or not. Lately my eyes have been feeling dry, tired and sensitive (Insert Visine Commercial Here), but I feel like it might be a result of my eye makeup (coupled with my apparent lack of ambition to remove it before bed). However, this eyeliner has staying power to say the least and even with a good eye makeup remover - it took some elbow grease to get off.

I've always purchased black or grey eyeliners so going for the brown pot was a little out of my element at first. I didn't think that there would be a huge difference between black and brown in terms of makeup, but I definitely noticed it and the change was nice as it seemed to have a softer ambiance around my lids. 

Here are some of the Pros:

• Easy and seamless application (I did find adding a drop of water to the brush helped it spread)
• Long lasting
• Quick drying
• A lot of bang for your buck (I think I spend 4 pounds on this if my memory serves me correctly, which would be roughly $6-$7 CDN)

And now for the Cons:

• Well weighted, which made it feel heavy
• Difficult to remove
• Can end up looking chunky if you don't apply water to the brush

This isn't all that bad as far as gel eyeliners go, but I'm a pencil kind of gal and always have been, so my opinion is slightly biased. I could take or leave this product and I may speak for myself but considering the amount of money us woman spend on makeup - I want a product to have that WOW factor to get my buy-in. But for those of you who do enjoy gel eyeliners, give it a try because the application is one of the best I've experienced. 

-Lyss

Nude & Seafoam Nails

Maybelline Color Show - #320 Green With Envy

Sally Hansen Insta-DRi -  #07 Quick Sand

Sephora by O.P.I - Wild About Shimmer

Seafoam has been one of this seasons hottest trending colours and it just seems to be popping up all over Pinterest and Instagram. I've taken a huge liking to it purchasing nail polish, shoes, accessories and clothing in similar shades. It's bright, vibrant and can really add chicness to a look - and I love it combined with nude colours.

I'm constantly experimenting with different styles on my nails as much as I dread actually doing them. It's a tedious and daunting experiencing at times but completely worth it when you find a look that works for you. In this case I decided to combine a couple of colours I had lying around that would pull together really nicely with a pop of colour. 

Maybelline's Color Show seemed to last the longest and had the best viscosity for application. Not only that, but it didn't seem to accumulate tiny air bubbles that others seem to get so easily, no matter how old or new they are. I've had this Maybelline bottle for about three months now and it's still going strong.

Second to that I really love the Wild About Shimmer from O.P.I's Sephora line-up. It's a great top coat on a nude or light shade to give it a bit of glimmer. The sheer Champagne tint keeps it translucent enough to not taint the undercoat too much and, it too provided an easy application with minimal drying time.

Talk soon,

Lyssa

BB Cream Showdown: Olay vs. L'OREAL

Have you ever had those moments in your life where something keeps recurring or popping up in unexpected places? I've often wondered what all the fuss is about when it comes to BB creams but lately it's been that recurring object in my life and I figured I should finally just give them a try.

For those that aren't aware, BB Creams (aka beauty or blemish balms) have been making their way into North American beauty regimens since around 2011. Originally developed by a German dermatologist, it became a huge hit in Asia and has now made it’s way over to our homeland. 

Taking into consideration that a high quality and what appears to be a small container of BB cream can cost around the $40-$50 - it’s been a pretty huge success. But is the success all hype from thousands of woman loving the idea of the product rather than its actual performance, or does it actually work? BB cream is marketed as the miracle worker of all beauty products, it’s a foundation, sunscreen, moisturizer and supposed all-around time saver. Intended to replace many of your normal beauty regimen steps, like foundation, concealer, bronzer and moisturizer, one could really benefit from a product like this that actually holds true to its claims.

I tested out two different brands as to not leave a bad taste in my mouth if the first one didn't pull through. This gave me a solid foundation to base a review on these two products, and I'm glad I did because one turned out to be substantially better than the other.

Olay Fresh Effects BB Cream in Light to Medium

This was the first one I tried on and to be honest, I wasn't overly impressed since the last thing this product made my skin feel was fresh. After performing a bit of research on the active and inactive ingredients, I did find out that the majority of them are organic compounds that are insoluble in water which explains why it felt oily and left my face with a less than pleasant shine. The fragrance was a little overwhelming at the start, which I eventually got used to, but for anyone with sensitive skin or perfume allergies, this is probably a good way to steer clear of. Aside from the greasy feeling and scent, there is no way I could use this BB cream to replace a concealer or foundation, it simply didn't provide the coverage I was looking for. 

L'OREAL Youth Code BB Cream in Medium

After feeling less than satisfied with how my last BB cream experience went, I decided to try out L'OREAL's Youth Code BB Cream to see if price actually makes a difference. Coming in around $26 it's certainly not the most expensive but still more than the Olay's Fresh Effects. I also decided to try out just a Medium shade instead of light-to-medium just because I have so many freckles that I can usually get away with something a little darker than my actual skin tone. 

I preferred this one as it didn't leave my skin feeling oily, the scent was there but not over powering and it provided great coverage. Unlike it's contender, if I'm going for a more relaxed beauty routine I could totally replace my concealer and foundation with just this for the day if I felt the drive to do so. Not only that, but I didn't need to use anymore than a dime size to cover my face and neck. The colour adapted and blended into my skin tone nicely and I didn't need to worry about the makeup lines I get sometimes from my foundation. 

- Lyss

Beauty | Rimmel's Lasting Finish by Kate Moss

Good evening (or morning depending on where about you are in the world). I've mentioned in a previous post about my current love affair with lipstick and lip butters. Following suit, I thought I'd give you all my thoughts on Rimmel's Lasting Finish in shade 01 by none other than Kate Moss.

I graduated 4 years ago with a diploma in Advertising & Marketing Communications and as much as I should know to proceed with caution on what I will call "pretty little things", I have to admit, I am still a sucker for a really well packaged product. Albeit, this product is not elaborate whatsoever in it's packaging but it's simplicity and elegance makes it appear as something you'd want to classify as timeless. When we think about our purchases that extend beyond the necessities, we thrive on the thought of them defining us. A product with timeless and elegant features is not just targeted to those who see themselves as such, but also to those who aspire to be.

 

As far as this particular lipstick goes it's one of the better ones I've used. I try to avoid using red lipstick more than a couple times a month - if that. It's one of those things that the "less is more" rule applies to. Not only that, but it takes a lot of finessing to get red to stay on and not get it all over your face and teeth. 

Lasting Finish? This proves accurate. When you blot this, it looks like a scene from Dexter, but the colour doesn't actually fade that much. If you're anything like me then you've probably found yourself putting on red lipstick with great intentions, and then realized you don't actually feel that ballsy so you try to rub it all off and desperately back pedal your bad life choice for the day. You almost need paint thinner to get this stuff off. I mean, its not quite that bad, if you work at it, eventually you'll get it, but its hard to tell when the lipstick is off or your lips are just raw from scrubbing them.

Overall it's worth the money, and to make it that much better, it actually has a nice berry scent to it. I find a lot of lipstick can smell like the chemicals used in it, which never used to really affect my decision to use it or not, but after using this one it will moving forward, play a big role in my decision to purchase a product or not.


- Lyss

Beauty | L'OREAL Rouge Caresse

Lately I've been really into lipstick and lip butters and have started testing out a few different ones to see which ones I prefer. I've had this one for quite some time but I use it almost daily. The L'OREAL Rouge Caresse product line is available in about 13 different shades ranging from a beige to fuchsia. I much prefer a lighter or more neutral colour at this point so I had purchased it in 01 Fashionista Pink. 

The marketing imagery on the L'OREAL website makes it seem much more prominent on your lips but in reality, its very translucent when it goes on. Unlike wearing a bold red, I like this one because I can put it on without needing a mirror or worrying too much about it bleeding out. Although I'd prefer if it was more opaque, it certainly goes on light-weight and it's low maintenance. You could pretty much substitute this for lip balm because of how soft and moisturizing it is, which also keeps it from getting dried out and flaky on your lips. Overall, it's a good product but i'll probably opt for the 504 Nude & Cute shade next time around.

 

My Rating:    

- Lyss