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

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