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My Top 5 Products for Hydration

Now that the weather is getting colder, I've been finding myself using more products targeted to combat the dry weather.  

The Origins Drink Up Intensive mask is well, intense. It is so, so, so hydrating. It's an overnight mask, and it's very rich, so on days when I've used a clay mask for example, I like to wash it off, then skip all of my other skincare and just put a thin layer of this on. I'll hit my sheets and wake up the next morning with glowing skin. 

These days I like to use a combination of acne fighting toners as well as more neutral toners. I've talked about The Body Shop's Vitamin E Hydrating Toner before and to date, I am still using it. It's more of a gel-like consistency which creates a 'mask' on your skin, and locks in all the moisture which is why I think it is so effective for people with dry skin.

Another product I have talked about before is the C.O. Bigelow Rose Salve. I only use this on my lips, both in the morning and night and I honestly have never ever used anything else for my lips during those times since I have bought this. I cannot rave about this product enough. 

Now, I don't think my hair ever really gets affected by the cold weather but since we are on a hydration theme, I thought I would put this product in the list too. The Klorane Leave-in Cream is essentially a leave-in hair conditioner. I bleached my hair a few months ago to put some purple into it and well... it's been worse for wear. This has really helped with the brittleness and it smooths down my hair.

For my hands, I've been using the L'occitane Dry Skin Hand Cream. I can't remember what I was using before this but I really like this hand cream. Unlike body butters, it really soaks into your skin and doesn't leave a greasy feeling. It also smells amazing. 

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Bite Beauty High Pigment Lip Pencil (Holiday Remix Collection)

A friend of mine recommended the Bite Beauty lipsticks to me a few months ago but as far as I know, this line is only available at Sephora. And seeing as how I (used to) despise Sephora, I never really looked into it. Needless to say, I went into the store and spent forever in there but left with a few goodies. Some of which being these lip pencils. 

Bite Beauty is a Canadian brand, based in Toronto, which I find to be awesome. They have a huge collection of colours, and different ranges of lip products (gloss, pencil, lipstick, etc). Their website is bitebeauty.com

As for the four lip pencils that I picked up, I love them! After using them for two weeks or so now, I have to say that the $30 I spent on this set was well worth it. They are extremely high pigmented and glide on just like a lipstick. In fact, I would consider these like lipsticks even though Bite Beauty calls them lip pencils. They slightly stain your lips, which makes the colour last forever (slight exaggeration but you know what I mean). I wore Pomegranate on campus one day and it lasted me from 10am to 6pm. 

The colours in this set are perfect for me. The red and deep pink are colours that I tend to buy all the time and I can never have too much. Rhubarb is a lovely colour as well and Sable is the lightest colour but it's more pink than nude, so it suites me quite well. 

If you get the chance to I would definitely pick up some of these lip pencils, they are well worth the money! 

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Holika Holika Basic Nails Nail Polish 

Seriously one of the best nail polish lines ever. These polishes are super opaque, and really easy to apply. They also dry quickly too, which is a plus since I am always moving around and doing things after I paint my nails. 

For most of the colours that I have so far, it only takes one coat to two to fully cover my nails. For the yellow colour, it takes three coats (although I have yet to find a yellow polish that doesn't take less than three coats to fully cover the nail). I had the black nail polish on a few weeks ago and it literally didn't chip for two weeks, so these polishes are really long lasting too. In stores they are $4 a bottle, which is an amazing price for the quality. 

The colour range is awesome; there are so many colours to choose from. I particuarly like this range because all of the colours are really just "me". I think these will be the polishes that I collect, because a) the quality is superb and b) for $4 a bottle, how could I resist? 

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A Birthday Treat

To treat myself for my birthday, I popped into L'Occitane along uptown Yonge in Toronto. I wasn't really too sure what to expect when I walked into the store since to be perfectly honest, I was not even sure what they sold... 

When I say I 'treated" myself, I really did, since the hand cream I purchased was around $30, and the roll-on was around $24. Since it was my birthday, I actually got a little gift for free (worth $28) and a ton of samples (more than I'll ever need).

Overall, I like the products and every now and then when I need to treat myself, I will definitely be visiting L'Occitane again to splurge. :)

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The Face Shop Haul #3

I found myself in The Face Shop (yet again) a few days ago and decided to pick up a few goodies. I mean, they were doing a buy one get one 50% off sale so how could I not? 

I picked up some eyebrow stuff since I can't use brown or black on my eyebrows (purple hair) so I figured grey is the best option. I also picked up a little concealer brush to use with another haul (I went a bit insane with shopping that day), and the face masks, as per usual because you can never have too many.

So here's a story for you all. I bought all my stuff and the girl working at the store forgot to put my eyebrow kit in the bag! So i left the mall and went home and that's when I realized it wasn't in the bag. So thank goodness I didn't put the receipt in the garbage, I called the store right away and they said they would put it aside for me to pick it up the next day. So I went to go pick it up and not only did they give me more samples, they gave me two free face masks as well for their mistake. So that kind of made my day!

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Garnier Color Shield Products Review

About a week ago I received Garnier's new Color Shield products from Influenster to try out. How did they know I had just coloured my hair too? 

I've coloured my hair since I was very young, and I think I've only grown out my virgin hair once since I started dyeing it. These days I dye my hair every few weeks, usually a lighter brown and back to black, or at the moment, I've bleached a few sections and introduced purple into my hair. Whatever the case, my hair has never really been dried out or damaged from the amount of times I've dyed it.

Up-keeping the colour is usually something I usually don't struggle with since I've only ever dyed my hair brown or black and once it fades, I just dye it again. Now that I have purple hair, I really want to keep the colour lasting as long as possible so I've been using these products to keep the colour in place.

I love using the Heat Protect & Shine Spray in my wet hair before I blow dry it. I find that a lot of heat protectant sprays weigh down my hair but I haven't had that problem with this spray. It smells amazing, it adds shine and luster to my hair, and makes it look smooth and frizz-free.

As for the shampoo and conditioner from the new line, it's been working well and has kept the purple in my hair for a considerably longer time than a regular shampoo. 

I really recommend these products if you have coloured hair, especially the spray. They work fantastically and are super affordable as well!

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DIY How to Decorate Your Pens & Pencils #BACKTOSCHOOL + GIVEAWAY!!!

This week in my #BacktoSchool series, we are giving our writing utensils a makeover! This is super simple to do, takes no time at all, and all of your pencils and pens will look super fab!

Materials:

Pens and pencils that you would like to embellish

Washi tape

Steps:

Begin taping the pencil or pen from the top edge on a diagonal. Keep rolling the pencil while taping until you reach the end. Then sharpen your pencil and you’re good to go!

As for the giveaway this week, one of my subscribers will win a handful of these pencils and pens! Just click on the video to link to Youtube to find out how you can win :)

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DIY Personalized Notebooks #BacktoSchool + GIVEAWAY!!!

I’m sure I’m not the only one who finds back to school shopping exciting. I am also sure that I am not the only one who finds some school supplies to be just plain boring. So why not personalize them to fit your taste? 

You can use anything to decorate your notebooks, from scrapbook paper, to printed images, tape, paint, etc, anything! 

What You’ll Need:

Composition notebooks

Scrapbook paper, stick-on paper, washi tape, photographs, etc

Scissors

Glue

Cardstock

Steps:

Trace the cover of the notebook onto the scrapbook paper, or stick-on paper, and add a few extra inches all around so that you can fold the paper to the back of the notebook later. 

Glue down the paper then glue down the extra inches to the back of the cover.

Cut out a piece of cardstock smaller than the cover and glue it to the back of the cover.

You can do the same for the back cover as well as any other notebooks you have! For washi-tape, make sure you use cardstock on the front of the cover as well since it is see-through.

As for the giveaway, one person will win one of the big notebooks and a smaller notebook from the video! Visit the description box on Youtube of this video to find out how you can enter.

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DIY Fabric Flowers

As you may have guessed (especially if you know me personally), I am a massive fan of embellishing with fabric flowers. These flowers are particularly easy to make, and literally take no time at all. If you give these a try, let me know what you use them for! Instagram or tweet me a picture and I’ll make sure to see it :)

What You’ll Need:

Fabric

Scissors

Thread

Needle

Steps:

Cut out four petal-like shapes from your choice of fabric. 

With your needle and thread, make four small stitches in the bottom of the petal. 

Attach the other three in the same manner and once done, pull the thread tight on both sides.

Tie a few knots to secure the petals and re-adjust the petals so they all lay flat.

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Recent Haul + Where Have I Been?

I have been so busy these past two months (personal reasons, work, and traveling!) that I have not been able to be consistent with Youtube or this blog. However, I am determined to get back on track now since all of the work of the past two months has paid off and now I'm slowly starting to get organized.

I was recently back in my home town and let's just say all we get charged there is 5% GST, so, everything is a lot cheaper. I kind of went crazy and bought a ton of stuff, but when I came back to Toronto, my drug store was having a major sale so I splurged even more (goodbye wallet). A lot of the stuff in the picture I've used for about two weeks now, and the rest I'm just starting to try out. I will definitely let you know how they fair in the future. 

It would take ages to list every product but this haul generally consists of The Face Shop, The Body Shop, lots of Rimmel products, and just several other drug store items. 

If you want to ask me a question or just chat, feel free to send me a message here on tumblr! I would love to talk to you! :)

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DIY Wine Bottle Decor

This is a simple idea rather than a DIY tutorial but I think it looks extra chic, especially when paired with a gorgeous wooden wine bottle case. Wine bottles make excellent vases, especially for single stem flowers, or a small cluster as shown in the video. 

Simply wash off the label (wine bottle labels are generally easy to remove), fill with fresh water, and insert your flowers! 

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When and How did you learn to sew? BTW Love your DIY's!

Aww thank you so much! I've been sewing for six years now, I first learned how to sew when I was in grade nine (I am going into my third year of university now). I got one of those children's sewing machines for Christmas and I started out with making pillows and small stuff animals. When I got to high school, I took a fashion course my school offered and continued with it until I graduated. My first "real" sewing project was a simple skirt which I laugh at now because it was horribly done but then I did extra courses for fashion outside of the curriculum so I learned a lot more advanced stuff and now I'm at Ryerson University in Canada to get my Bachelor of Design :) 

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DIY Bow Belt

This is a super simple project that is great for beginner sewers. Or, if you are in need of jazzing up a dress, this belt is perfect!

Materials:

Fabric cut as:

Waist measurement + 4” x 3” (and interfacing)

12” x 3”

3” x 2.5”

Two hooks and eyes

Steps:

Iron the interfacing to the belt. Fold the belt in half lengthwise and press. 

With right sides together, sew on 1/2” seam allowance then turn the belt to the right side. Fold down the to raw edges and sew.

For the bow, fold both pieces in half lengthwise and sew at 1/2” seam allowance. Flip both to the right side. Fold the bow in half and sew at 1/4” seam allowance.

Bunch up the bow and use the smaller piece to make a tie in the middle. Sew the small piece and trim.

Hand stitch the bow to the belt, attach hooks and eyes, and you’re done!

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The Face Shop Haul #2

I'm not sure if having The Face Shop a few minutes away from me is a good or bad thing (amazing stuff vs. empty wallet) but nonetheless, I decided to have a mini-shopping trip for one the other day and popped into the store to see what they had on offer.

My skin has been quite red lately, so I picked up some products from the Rice Ceramide line to combat the redness (by brightening) and I love loading my skin up with moisture at the end of the day, and this line is supposed to help with that as well. To further combat the redness, added with the fact that I am completely out of primers, I also picked up the Lovely Meex Makeup Base in green so I am super excited to give that a try,

As always, they loaded me up with samples which I might end up bringing on my trip back home since I have enough mini-packets of CC Cream to last ten days now. I'll keep you all updated with these products once I've tried them out for a few weeks! 

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DIY Envelope Clutch

I watched Ari’s (Boat People Vintage) DIY on how to make an envelope clutch the other day and I thought it was genius! However, I noticed a lot of people wanted a finished edge as well as lining so I thought I would give her DIY a try but use fabric and include a lining and finished edges as well. If you like this project, definitely check out Ari’s too! :)

Materials:

40”x14” fabric for the outside

40”x14” fabric for the lining 

A hot glue gun

Steps:

Fold both pieces of fabric in half right sides together and sew down both longer sides at 1/2” seam allowance.

Flip the outside fabric to the right side and place the lining into the outside fabric.

Trim off 1” from the unfolded edge of the lining fabric.

Match both sides of the of the outside fabric to the lining and fold down the outside fabric by 1/4” and 1/4” again and pin.

Edge stitch all the way around. 

On the bottom of the bag, fold up the two corners, then the bottom. At the top, to close it, fold down the two corners to match and fold down the top.

Glue the corners on the bottom down with hot glue, and then the bottom to resemble an envelope shape.

Fill the clutch with your necessities and fold the top down, and tuck in the folds to the bottom like an envelope.

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D.I.Y. Quilted Pillow

As many of you know by now, I am a huge fan of homeware. Actually, I have more DIYs on home decor items than fashion-related DIYs. I like the mix of both, since when I first started sewing, most of my projects were things for the home (pillows, organizers, towels, etc). I thought I would re-visit my quilting skills and make some pillows for a commissioned project, but I also wanted to share with you all how to incorporate some quilting into your projects because a simple 9” x 9” quilt is the most basic and easy quilt to make.

Materials:

Squares of quilting fabric (mine were 4” x 4”)

One larger square of fabric for the back of the pillow

Optional - muslin (my fabric was very light, so I needed some backing)

Steps:

Lay out your squares to resemble how you would like the finished quilt to look. 

Sew together the first row, then the second, then the third. Press all the seams open. 

Pin together the first and second row, matching the seams and sew. Do the same for the third row and press all the seams open once again.

With right sides together, match the quilt with the back and pin all around. Sew all around, leaving a small hole to turn the pillow inside out.

Once it is turned inside out, stuff the pillow with stuffing and hand stitch the opening closed!

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DIY Pants into Shorts

It’s almost summer! I’ve been meaning to turn these pants into shorts for the longest time and wanted to share a quick DIY on how to do it. I finished the hem but you can make them distressed by following my last DIY here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVRoavaDbyQ

Materials:

Old pants

Optional: A sewing machine

Steps:

With your pants on, mark where you want the shorts to start. 

Draw a diagonal line below the first mark and cut! Do the same on the other leg.

If you want a distressed look, leave the edges raw however, if you want a clean edge, fold over the edge twice and edge stitch the fold down.