Shopping Therapy (Mini Haul)

Well hello there lovelies, we meet again! It’s been ages since I’ve posted here last and I sincerely apologize I have been crazy busy with work. I have been on an emotional roller coaster with life, I feel like my life is much disorganized and in turmoil at the moment! Is it just me, or is it getting harder to balance work and personal life? Anyway I am back! And since I’ve been getting downtime, I decided to catch up on some blogging.

 First off, for today’s post, let’s keep it light. We’ll save the long overdue deep, meaningful posts for later. I’m going to be talking about makeup – specifically products I’ve bought from the last month or so that I just never got around to posting (I have bought more since then but that’s for next time!).

Let’s start with the nail goodies:

One of my favourite nail brands is Ciate. You can find this brand at Sephora, Ciate, and The Bay (If you live in Canada). The reason why I love this brand is not just because of the colour payoff, but because of its uniqueness. If you haven’t noticed already, out of all the nail polish brands, Ciate produces many different nail polish designs and styles (i.e., foil, caviar, chalkboard manicure sets) more often than the competitors. Most of them come in packages like this

This one here is a Caviar Manicure Set in Rose Gold. Isn’t it pretty? =D

I have the same set but it’s in pearly whites. They are very pretty to look at but to tell you the truth, I found them to be a bit of a hassle during application. The “caviars” scattered all over the place and they were difficult to see. On the bright side, all that hard work is worthwhile. I cannot show you a picture of the result since I haven’t used this particular set yet but I will post one in a couple weeks or so, when I do a Nail Post.

This second one is one of Kiss’s Manicure Set in Ombre (left). This can be found at any drugstore locations.

Before you go off running to purchase one of this, I thought I’d let you know the pros and cons. Plusses: Easy Application, and end result looks like what it should look like; Minuses: Expensive ($11 CAD but understandable since there’s 3 polishes), and what really annoys me about this is that it easily chips off!! After 2 days, you’ll notice the upper half of the ombre chipping off in big chunks. Therefore, this is not intended for long-wear which is a con for me.

Last but def not the least for nails is this Nail Art pressable nails by Nazila (no glue required!). 

I bought this at London Drugs in Canada, I’m not sure what stores in the States sells this though but they do sell this online as well.

Now I only tried one nail just to see what it looks like since I couldn’t contain my excitement and I gotta say I was impressed! It was very easy to apply, fit my nail perfectly and even without glue, it was very difficult to remove! So yay!

 Here are the rest of the mini haul!

                  Too Faced "Boudoir Eyes"                                              Buxom's "Swinger"

 

That's all for now. Until next time Loves! Hope ya'll have a wonderful week =)

Starting Your Year Right..

Bonjour mon amours! This is a very very late greeting but Happy New Years to all of you. The past year may have been a roller coaster ride for some of us, but overall it was a great year because here we are, given the opportunity to celebrate another year and are provided another chance to get things right. Let’s hope that year 2014, will be even greater than the past and I wish you all more blessings, love & happiness. Let’s start the year with optimism about what this year holds for us, yeah?

"There is something beautiful about having the chance to rewrite your future." - Crystal Gentilello

The New Year is greatly anticipated by many for it gives us hope. Because we have the opportunity to start a new, it is important to try and let go of the negativity from the past and look forward to this year with optimism. For many, they take this time to renew themselves whether internally or on their outward appearance. If you don’t do both, I suggest placing a higher priority on working on yourself from inside first because the latter always reflects how you feel. January (or even earlier) is usually when New Years resolutions are created (the one that we planned to do last year but never got a chance to do right?), wardrobe changes are made and reflection on our relationships with friends, family and our significant other are done. So in the next paragraphs, I will be touching on some of the things we should think about for this New Year. First, I’ll be talking a little about fashion then moving on to deeper subjects such as working on you, then on to relationships. Later, I can go in depth about them but for this post, let’s keep it short & en pointe. Now, let’s get ready to glamify our new yr!

When it comes to this year’s Fashion trends, you’ll see past years’ trends making a comeback such as chiffon, and crochet – looking clothing; nautical-inspired clothing such as navy colours and blue and white stripes; and buttoned-up shirts. Pastels are going to be big this year & that, mi amigos, I am ecstatic about!! Keep in mind, just because something is “in” this season, it does not mean you have to follow the trend. Everyone’s style is different and that is perfectly fine. In fact, it is much more interesting to see unique styles that reflect the individual’s personality. Personally, I am not a slave to fashion. There is no point in jumping on the bandwagon if it doesn’t suit moi or I don’t find it comfortable – no way highway! My personal style is more, I guess you could say… casual? I live in leggings, cardigans & blazers (thanks to my work). Guilty Obsession: Leopard & Chevron printed clothing, or whatever the heck has these 2 in it, I will buy. My absolute favourite places to shop are Dynamite, Suzy Shier, Aritzia and Zara.

Pastels!!

In my opinion, it’s important to always work on yourself from within. Give yourself a reality check once in a while & refocus when you find yourself being off track. How do you know when to do so? It’s simple, you will feel it. You will notice yourself feeling blah, unmotivated, lost, depressed & just have an overall pessimistic outlook on life. So how can you get back on track? Everybody has different coping mechanisms. But what works for me is having a Vision Board. A Vision Board is a personalized motivational board that’s created by the fantabulous you. It serves as an inspiración for it reflects your goals and dreams, not to mention that it is very fun to make! It is also a very useful tool because it is something you can easily access especially when you’re feeling the grays. It helps prevent losing direction in life & aids you to become your best self, bringing the best out of you. On my next post, I will be showing you how to create one & things you can include in your board. I will also share some of my personal experiences as it pertains to this and show you lovies what mine looks like =)

The New Year is also a perfect time to re-evaluate your relationships with your circles because guess what? The people you surround yourself with influence your life & attitude. In Utopia, they will impact your life positively but that is not always the case here on Earth. So, choose the people you surround yourself with carefully. Keep close to you the people who lift you up & encourage you to be the best person you can be, whereas, the ones that always put constant pressure & negativity around you, you might want to keep your distance from. No drama, lies, betrayals. You don’t need that stress in your life. You can actually lose your sense of self when spent with the wrong people and you don’t want that, right? I hope not. Time is too precious to be spending it with people who don’t matter, am I right or am I right? ;).  It’s beneficial to make mistakes because that’s how you learn, but not all mistakes are to be made. Spare yourself the burden if you can. Key to re-evaluating your relationships: When the cons are outweighing the pros, leave it. If they don’t need you and/or are not placing importance on you, peace out! Easier said than done I know, but you have to put yourself first. Recognize what is happening and know what you deserve, which is uhm hello, THEE BEST! C’mon we are not cats. You are only given one life, treasure it.

In summary, keep in mind that our relationships are like symbiosis.  A healthy relationship is when both people benefit from each other or what you can call “give-and-take”.  A so-so relationship is when Person A benefits Person B while Person B neither benefit nor harm Person A. It’s neutral but note, Person A will eventually get drained out. A bad bad bad relationship is when Person A benefits Person B but Person B harms Person A. In other words, they are a parasite and you MUST get rid of them. Wake up and smell the coffee!

I’m sure there are more that we could add to the list, however due to time & space constraints, this is all for now. Feel free to comment below on what you could add more according to your individual needs. What you should take from this is to avoid getting stuck in the past, detox your life and don’t forget to live! (Mind you, living & existing are totally different notions. Most of the time, we are just existing.)

Words to live by

 Remember to keep those beautiful heads up, peeps! Don’t be afraid to embrace the future. Mwaaaah, big polar bear hugs to all! Adieu loves XOXO

Look out for my next arts & crafts special:  “Creating a Vision Board” post (It will do wonders) =) 

Prepare for the year ahead because time sure as hell won’t wait for nobody