March Favourites

My ferocactus and jade succulent

Kelsey and I enjoyed shopping at the Ottawa Vintage and Antique Show

This March was a pretty great month for me in general. It's under 3 months until the wedding (the invitations are going out), every once in a while it gets warm, I squatted 180lbs (and rarely have back pain!!), and have read lots of books.

The  wedding invitations going into the mailbox!

Returning from the gym in SHORTS!!

BEAUTY
My last beauty post mentioned my new foundation, Smashbox's Studio Skin 15 Hour Wear Hydrating Foundation. I have been loving it. It might be slightly too pink for me, so I hope that's not a bad sign for finding a summer shade (and I will need to, for the wedding). I don't have to re-powder during the day unless I accidentally got food on my face and wipe away makeup.

Last spring I bought Hourglass' Ambient Lighting Blush in "Diffused Heat." I've been using it pretty frequently in the past year, but during March I especially loved how much light it brings to my face because of the gold running through it. It has really great payoff, I don't need to touch the brush to the pan too much. I use the Sephora Pro Airbrush #55 for blush.

Essie "Cute as a Button"
from iheartpolish.wordpress.com

My favourite nailpolishes for March are a little odd in comparison. I love my Essie "Cute as a Button," OPI's "Uh oh, roll down the window," and "Here Today, Aragorn Tomorrow."

OPI "Here Today, Aragorn Tomorrow"

The bright pink is great for making me feel like it's actually warm outside. The OPI polishes aren't very opaque, but I'm okay with multiple layers because I found them at Dollarama for $3 each. Obviously because they're kinda hideous, so they didn't sell in store.

OPI "Uh Oh Roll Down the Window"

The Essie polish is really great for spring, and I get compliments when I wear it. I'm not normally a pink-lover, but I always get happier when I see that colour in my bin.

I've kept my makeup look pretty similar this year so far, just changing up if I want a strong contour, or a darker smokey eye. Since I'm trying to remind myself I have absolutely no money and need to use what I own, I've had fun finding different ways to use my eye shadow pallettes, like my Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette. I wish I could say I have a favourite lip product this month, but my lips were dry a lot of the time, and then I had a cold sore, so I didn't want to wreck that product with the herpes virus.

I have been hunting for a white rabbit cookie jar, and Mom found me one at an Apple Annie's in California.
It goes well with her chicken cookie jar.

SKINCARE
Since I'm allergic to everything, I almost never change skincare. However, since I've been using my Benefit They're Real Mascara, I've needed to use waterproof eye makeup remover far more frequently. I absolutely LOVE my Body Shop Chamomile Waterproof Makeup Remover. I have regular QUO round cotton pads, and a bit of the liquid on it removes all my eye makeup, one side per eye. It's very gentle, so even when I do have itchy eyes or a little rash on my eyelid, it doesn't affect that or make it worse.
Every once in a while, if I've gotten sick, haven't slept enough, or am stressed, I get... cold sores. I've always hated them, and used to try to hide them, or pick at the scabs, which made it take way longer to heal. Last year I found a natural antiseptic cream from Holista, which has Vitamin E (for healing) and Tea Tree Oil (to disinfect). One and a half days of applying this to my cold sore, and the sore was gone! I just needed to moisturize afterward to heal the scab. #ChefRecommends

One weekend, Ryan, Deanna, and Nic came home to Ottawa. I baked a strawberry rhubarb pie, and it was phe-no-me-nal.

ENTERTAINMENT
Mom and Dad were away in California for two weeks, so I needed TV on to keep me company. When there wasn't anything awesome on TV (like Bride shows on TLC) I put on Friends on Netflix. That was an awesome decision. I forgot how much that show actually makes me laugh out loud. I used a lot of our internet bandwidth watching it.

Some of my favourite books for March were the "Scene of the Climb" by Kate E. Dyer-Seeley, which is about a recent journalism grad who ends up working at an adventure magazine, and "Eco-holic Body: Your Ultimate Earth-Friendly Guide to Living Healthy and Looking Good" by Adria Vasil which introduced me to some awesome eco-friendly beauty brands I'd love to try out.