February Favourites

February has been a pretty good month for me. My family came to visit, I went to #emptyROM, Nic and I tried out some new coffeeshops (Black Cat Espresso, Box Car Social, and Settlement Co), and I achieved some fitness goals!

I love to read, and I'm currently working on my "What I Read in February" post. I also like to use the hashtag #whatjanessareads on Instagram, so you can always see some of the books I'm reading, or check me out on GoodReads. 

I'm currently trying to follow through on my goal of reading all the Canada Reads 2016 books, and "Birdie" by Tracey Lindberg is the second one I'm on.  

Check out my January books post.

In yesterday's post I talked about getting selected to go to #emptyROM, which was a super awesome event where about 10 of us got to go into the dinosaur room before the museum opened and photograph everything without having people in our shots. It was a lot of fun! 

For my product favourites, I don't have many, but I do love these!
Joe Fresh Matte Sheer Tint in "bisque" - I was so excited to see that this BB cream lasts through a workout! And by workout I mean everything from yoga to legs day to stairmaster! I'm so happy with the results! It also doesn't get too matte, so I don't get dry patches.
NYX HD Concealer in CW01 - I haven't found a concealer I like in a long time, so I was delighted to find this on sale at my Shoppers (so glad NYX is now here at Shoppers!). The colour is a great match for my under-eyes, and also lasts pretty well on any imperfections.
MAC "Kinda Sexy" matte finish - My favourite nude
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in "Diffused Heat" - This will probably always be my favourite blush. It's so perfect to give you a great flush and glow with the gold streaked through it.
Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm with Vitamin E - just love.

Nic's been growing this adorable sweet potato vine! I can't wait until we have tons of vine to drape around everything. 

When we were in Dollarama a couple of weeks ago, Nic decided he would buy this trellis for his golden pothus. It really adds a lot of character to our white bathroom!

I have gotten really into Crosswords this month. Yes, I sometimes cheat, but it's really cool to notice how now I'm getting the hang of the secret language of crossword clues.

January Favourites - Beauty, Skincare, Music, Decor, & Activities

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My favourite playlist on Spotify (other than my own!) is the Relax & Unwind one. It's exactly how it sounds- super chill and folksy. I love listening to it in the evening, or while I'm practicing yoga at home, because it encourages me to be more fluid with my movements, and make it more dance-like.

In January I didn't try many new products. My face has been peeling a little with eczema, so my friend recommended I try shea butter. If we're being honest, I made my own shea body butter a few years ago, but forgot about it. Also, everyone always suggests that I put coconut oil on, but I'm pretty allergic to that. 

I went to my local health food store and bought this Shea Butter by Alive: Approved by Nature. It was $8 for 8 oz/227 g, which was a much better deal than a lot of the other ones they had. It helps to warm it up a little bit in your hand and then melt it onto the affected area. After one night of application above my eyes, the eczema was gone! Unfortunately the same can't be said for the eczema in my left elbow or right knee. 

The second skincare favourite is Burt's Bees honey lip balm with vitamin  E. I've normally used their regular balm, so this one helps heal the cracks and peeling on my lips. 

One of my favourites for the month is going through all my 2015 photos and putting together a photo book. Check out this blog post to read my thoughts about the process. 

My cousin Conrad visited us from Manitoba for an interview, and brought us these lovely tea light holders from his trip to Egypt. They're gorgeous and we love to light them in the evening!

People who don't get makeup won't get that this can be my full face of makeup on a regular day. It's true, it's a little excessive, but in the winter I look dead (past vampire dead) so I need all the help I can get to look more alive.
The only new product is my NYX stay matte not flat powder foundation. I like the coverage, it's a lot better than the Body Shop one I've been using for years.
As always, my palette obsession is the Too Faced Chocolate Bar. I couldn't even tell you which colours are my favourites, because they're all being used at a pretty similar rate. That's how you know it was a good investment in your pallette.

Matcha green tea lattes!!! So good! Check out my tips on this blog post.

Lip Product Addict Tag!!!

This is one of the tags that I love to watch on YouTube, so I figured I should write up one of my own. I won't even bother counting how many lip products I own. (I've cut some out? Does that make it okay?)

1) Favourite Lip Balm/Treatment

 

A) Lush's Mint Julips -  Normally I have made my own brown sugar lip scrub, but I bought this sometime last year and have loved it. I love that the instructions say to lick it up once you're done scrubbing. It's delicious.

B) The Body Shop's Cocoa Butter Lip Care Stick - (I can't find it on their site). For when I don't want the stinging beeswax balm, I use this balm. It's good. 

C) Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm - All-time favourite. So good. 

2) Best Eye-Catching Red

1) Rimmel London 107 - Best drugstore red for me, it stays put all day.
2) MAC's Russian Red - What a stunner.

3) Best Luxury and Best Drugstore Products

Luxury: NARS Funny Face - A beautiful fuchsia, fantastic formula, and brightens every day that I wear it.
Drugstore A) Rimmel London Apocalips in Apocalyptic - good stain, matches the Funny Face lipstick
Drugstore B) Rimmel London 110

4) Best MAC Lipstick

I have two MAC lipsticks, "Kinda Sexy" and "Russian Red." I love them both.

5) Most Disappointing Product

 

A) The Body Shop's Lip and Cheek Stain - it dries out your lips, feels horrible.
B) Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Elusive - The colour is terrible for me, but even worse, it creases into your lips in seconds. Looks terrible.

6) Liner?

 

If I'm doing a red lip, I'll use liner. I do use that Essence liner on it's own, but otherwise I don't bother.

7) Best Gloss

I don't use gloss. This one is from Burt's Bees, and I'm sure it's expired by now. 

8) Something Extra

Clinique's High Impact Lip Colour in Very Currant - my absolute favourite lipstic, the one I also wore on my wedding day.

September Favourites

Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray - for my long days at GoodLife

Smashbox Hydrating Primer - my skin has gotten pretty dry with fall coming so this primer is perfect

Smashbox Studio Finish Foundation - My skin is pale again on my face, so this foundation works for me again. 

My current eye look

Maybelline's 24 Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze
Crave from the Naked Basics pallette as the crease colour
Maybelline Collossal Volume

I've had a backup of Bad to the Bronze for months

Creatures Great and Small

"Adult" colouring books are such a big thing right now, and I got this one to celebrate my new job as a Fitness Advisor for a GoodLife in downtown Toronto.

Each page of this book has different types of creatures, and I've really enjoyed the relaxation the colouring provides. They even suggest pulling the pages out and framing them afterward, and give information about each animal on the page, so you get to learn at the same time!

This month I started taking an adult ballet class at City Dance Corps. It is a beginner class, which is great for me since I haven't danced since I was 14. I'm loving it so far, it's a great way for me to increase some strength, and I've loved moving that way again. 

I absolutely wanted to have a wreath on our door to make the place more homey. Nic and I went into the ravine by our apartment to gather grapevines, which take over the rest of the plants. I twisted them up together, and with the help of some twine, held it together. It's getting an update for fall.

July Favourites!

A tray of favourites!

 I love my IKEA Idelisk tray. It currently sits on our coffee table to hold the coasters and stuff. Last year I kept it on my vanity with jewelry.

I saw Kraft's chocolate-peanut butter spread, and it's phenomenal. In two weeks the jar is almost gone. Oops.

The jar on the left is "Beeswax Skincream" from Little Rock Honey. My mom found it for me at a Christmas market last year, and it's been really helpful for eczema. I've been getting heat rash in my elbows since there's been so hot in Toronto.

Sweaty face makeup (plus my favourite summer lipstick)

I don't wear makeup every day, since I'm still job-hunting. Yoga and meditation at home doesn't require makeup. When I do decide I want a little coverage, I always wear my Garnier Ombrelle face sunscreen, which feels mattefying like a primer. Then I use the Body Shop's Vitamin E Cool BB cream. If I'm not being active, I can use this Clinique Line Smoothing Concealer, which I don't have specific thoughts about, but the colour only matches me in summer. Eyebrows are Annabelle 020 Blonde. Lashes are Maybelline's waterproof "Pumped Up Collassal". The best part? Revlon's Lasting FInish by Kate Lipstick #110.

This month I decided to try meditation. I figured that since I'm not working yet, and I've been lying around doing yoga and reading, I must have time to try meditation. I searched online to find Android apps that are good guides, since previokusly I've never liked the apps  found. I found Calm, which has some guided "courses" for learning how to meditate, timers for once you're comfortable, and sleep guides. The guides I've done so far have been very calming and encouraging.  They even have a calendar that tells you if you're on a streak (I'm 6/6 so far!). I can't tell if it's relaxed me that much, since I'm not stressed right now, but I look forward to continue doing it.

Our amazing clock

This tree trunk clock was a wedding gift from my Oma. It was made by a man named Henry Neufeld. He is pretty "famous" in the Mennonite world for his carpentry. So obsessed.

Glass box of honeymoon souveniers

Today I found a beautiful glass box from Urban Outfitters to put the little things we found on our honeymoon. Yeah, maybe they tell you to not take anything "except pictures" but we grabbed some shells, rocks, seaweed, driftwood, and a claw. 

Top 5 Books

I'm an English Literature and have a voracious appetite for reading, so choosing my top 5 was definitely a challenge. 

1) “Island of the Blue Dolphins” by Scott O’Dell

This was my favourite novel as a child, one of the few that I re-read (other than the Chronicles of Narnia-I cheated by mentioning that) over and over. I was inspired by the young girl who was abandoned on her island and learned to survive. There were so few books that featured girls who did not have to follow gender norms, not to mention girls who had pet wolves. Many of my fantasy/imagination games were inspired by Karana’s adventures. She was a more interesting role model for me than the books with girls who were defined by their crushes on boys.

2) “The Collector” by John Fowles

I like to say that this book is a cross between “Lolita” and “Catcher in the Rye.” I hated “Catcher,” but this book is a very frightening description of a man who kidnaps a woman so she will fall in love with him. I like it so much because I often found myself thinking like him. It is scary to think like someone who is probably insane, but that shows the strength of Fowles’ writing.

3) “Not Wanted on the Voyage” by Timothy Findley

This book was assigned in my Contemporary Canadian Literature class in third year. It has the grittiness in the characters and descriptions that I appreciate, and it has a very interesting retelling of Noah’s ark. The novel is also part of a fantasy sub-genre I have not read before, usually I read fantasy more along the lines of Tolkien and George R. R. Martin. I had expected to dislike it because it might challenge my beliefs in the Bible, but I was able to read it with humour and appreciate the critique it gives of many things including patriarchy.

4) “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood

Atwood has been one of my favourite authors for a long time, and this was the first novel of hers I read. I am a fan of dystopian books so this fit the bill. Images in the novel still haunt me: every time I do not have hand lotion, I think of the protagonist softening her hands with butter from her meals and I have to shudder.

5) “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury

I am disappointed that I had not read this book until February 2014 for the English Society Book Club. Other English classes in high school were assigned it, but I was not. I would describe my reading as “voracious” because I like to keep going and going until the story is all used up, and I found it frustrating to have to go to class the day I read this novel. It has the same “gritty” feeling that I love in other novels. My copy is the 60th Anniversary Edition, so there was a lot of interesting information about the story’s process from several short stories into the novella. I enjoy learning about the writing process and would like to write my own books someday, like any good English Literature student does.