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.

DIY Matcha Green Tea Lattes

For Christmas I asked for matcha green tea. I've always wanted to get some, but it's more expensive than usual tea, so it wasn't in the budget. Nic's parents bought me Grand Cru Matcha from DavidsTea, They also got me a bamboo spoon, whisk, and a bowl from Teavana to prepare it in. 

Grand Cru Matcha, bamboo scoop, whisk, and bowl

In my year before university, I worked full-time at Starbucks. I got very frustrated cleaning the container for the matcha powder, so I decided I needed to test out my nemesis (it poofs powder everywhere if you're not careful). It turned out to be delicious!

Matcha is essentially the espresso of green tea: it's super highly concentrated, so with just hot water it can be pretty overwhelming if you're not a plain green tea drinker. Some people sweeten it with agave or honey, but I like it the way it is.

There are lots of health benefits to matcha, so check them out!

To make the green tea latte, start with a couple scoops of matcha, and mix it with a tablespoon or so of hot water.

Whisk the matcha and hot water well, to remove any chunks, and get that beaaaautiful froth going. You can use a regular whisk, of course, but since I got this adorable bamboo one, I had to use it.

I heat up the amount of milk that I want on the stove or in the microwave, and gently pour it into the frothed tea.

YUM!
Obviously you can pour it into a real mug and drink it from there, but I love how beautiful this bowl is, so I just drink it straight from there.
Let me know if you've tried them before or make them at home!