batiste

battle of the dry shampoo's (in my opinion)

16:40

Happy monday everyone! I am not at home today, and I am not able to take photos ... so all credit goes to google.

I wanted to do a blog post on the 2 current dry shampoo's I've been using. If I was home, I would show you the results, but we will have to make do today.
The 2 dry shampoo's are the collab tropical volume dry shampoo, and the batiste XXL Volume dry shampoo.
As you can tell, I like to try to achieve volume into my lifeless hair.


                                                                           

I've been using Batiste for a while now, and I used to find the volume one was brilliant in my hair, but lately it hasn't been up to parr. The Collab brand is with Ruth Crilly, and when I saw it in my London Drugs, I ran to it. Had to get it!

SMELL: The batiste one I find to just smell like .. dry shampoo? I have a terrible sense of smell, so it's really hard for me to explain how things smell. It just smells chalky to me.
The Collab one is in the scent RIO, so it has a really great tropical smell to it. I love this smell. 

VOLUME: I find they both give me the same amount of volume to my roots. The batiste one has failed me lately, so the Collab one is almost out. 

EFFECTIVENESS: They both do the same thing for me: suck out my grease! I find I would have to pick the Collab one for most of the reasons, BUT I do prefer the Original formula of the Batiste.

For longevity, the Batiste one lasts longer in my now short, hair. I like them both, but I feel the Collab one has won my heart for now.


That's all I've got for you guys today! I will be back home soon and able to post more with some photos. I'm thinking maybe a nail polish overview of my favorite ones currently!

Have a great week!

Toodle-doo! 

babysitting

lifestyle update: nannying life. "i'm not just a babysitter"

12:30

Hello everyone! I am doing a bit of a different post today. I've always thought of this blog as having a bit of real life thrown into it, instead of just beauty and other things.
I wanted to touch up on what I do for a living, and that is nannying. If you are looking for a blog post on beauty, I'm sorry but you may as well just click the X, unless you are interested in what I do for work.

I am a nanny. I am a fully licensed Early Childhood Educator, and no, this doesn't mean I'm just a fancier babysitter. This means I can legally work in a daycare or preschool if I wanted to. I did, and for my own personal preference, I did not like it at all. The position I was placed in, was not something I enjoyed and I was thrown around. That's all negative and now in the past. Now I am working as a nanny for some families, and I am loving it 100x more than I did at the daycare.

So, a little fact about nannying. Yes, you can go abroad, but no you don't have to. Some of the things I do during the day are usually preparing the snacks and meals for the kids, taking them outside and finding fun activities to do with them so they are able to grow their mind. Most of the families I help, they have their kids in preschool (those that are preschool age), and so I basically continue their learning throughout the day. I don't sit with them and do math, but I do challenge them by seeing how far they can count, and getting them to count out the cars when they are playing. Little things like this helps with their continued learning.
Some nannies, like my friend, pick up the kids after school and drop them off as well. I will be doing that in September with a little preschooler. We care for the kids, make sure that we have their safety first, but just playing and being with the kids is the best part of my day.

There are so many different types of nannies; some that house clean and some that don't. Some that are from other countries, and some that are from down the street.

I get asked all the time if all I do is babysit for a living, but no I don't. I think that a babysitter is someone who throws on a movie because they are babysitting at 6 or 7 pm when the kids are usually already in bed. I was one of those babysitters, but now as a nanny, I hardly ever turn on the tv, unless we are all having a tv rainy day, which maybe happens once a month, but I do play a lot of music.

All in all, my point was that I am not a babysitter, but a nanny, and I am loving it. I may be trying to fill in some gaps for hours, but it's only until September. I just think that people should really understand what nannies do for kids, and if anyone wants some of the ideas/activities I do with the kids, leave me a comment or shoot me an email.  I'm thinking every couple of weeks, I want to add a blog post in with some of the things I've done with the kids that were either a hit or a miss, and compare what went wrong, etc. Let me know if any of you would be interested in seeing that!

Have a great day!

Toodle-doo!

bc

long time no see: a catchup!

15:00

Hello everyone. It's been a long while! I got super busy with life and work, and I figured I would throw in an update for you. I went away with my family to a cabin/camp ground over Easter break, and I loved it. I took a couple photos I wanted to share!















It was a beautiful weekend! It is in Comox, BC. 

Otherwise, I've been looking for extra work and trying to make as much money as I can while trying not to spend any of it unless on necessities such as tampons, which are always so pricey. 

I don't have any new makeup products to do a review on, but if anyone wants a tutorial or anything, let me know.

I've been in a rut lately with blog posts, but I may do one on my organizational tips on what I plan to start using to help myself with budgeting. 

I hope you enjoyed the short but sweet blog post for the day. Happy Wednesday!

Toodle-doo!



35w palette

review: morphe brushes 35w eyeshadow palette

16:44

Hello lovelies! Today I wanted to do a post on the Morphe Brushes 35w palette. It is currently not available on their website, but they should stock soon. I bought this last year in the fall, and I will admit, it's not fabulous, but there are many colors that give off great pigmentation. I have been told that their single eyeshadows perform better, but honestly, for someone who just enjoys makeup, it's not a bad palette to have! I have some photos to show you, but the eyeshadows don't have names, so I will do it by rows!



This palette is a mix of shimmery, satin and matte finishes. Some of the mattes are more chalky than the others, and some are creamy and very pigmented. 

First Row: 
As you can see, these are very light shades. (I changed up the way i took the photos next photo ha) Most of those are mattes, but some of them are very chalky. I use the first one as a browbone highlight. I don't often find myself reaching for this first row. 

Second Row: 
As you can see, the second row is still light with a random pink that i have never used, thrown in there. The third and forth I've used in a previous blog post, and I promise the orange doesn't look that chalky! I think it was because my finger was damp from that kleenex you can see in the photo to remove the shadows ;) 

Third Row: 

The first 4 I don't reach for. I used one as a blush once when I forgot my blush and it was fine, but obviously it's not a blush. The last three have really amazing pigmentation. The second from the top is more of a burgundy when on my eyelid, and the one below is very cooper-y! The top is a gunmetal gray and i have yet to use it!

Fourth Row: 


This row is my favorite. Most of the colors are similar at the beginning, but they are so buttery and soft, I love them all. This row is me in a palette.  I have the second color all over my lid today and it blended beautifully. The last two are so beautiful smoked out!

Fifth Row: 


THIS FIRST COLOR IS HOLY GRAIL STATUS. Morphe, if you could tell me what color this is in your single eyeshadows, please do because I want to buy 10 of these. 
This row has a few mattes which are great for deepening up the outer corner and crease! The second to last color, is a black with silver specks in it. The last one is a straight up black that I like to use along my lash line!  I used the third from the end color on my upper lash line today instead of eyeliner.
(Please excuse the laptop and the spotify playlist in the background hehe and yes that's a little bilbo cup topper peaking out behind my makeup brush holders)

Overall, I give this palette 8/10. I use it basically everyday, and I love using 2 colors on the second row as transition shades. 

I hope this was helpful for those of you who were looking into this! Happy Monday!

Toodle-doo!


bronzer

review: kat von d shade & light palette

16:46

Happy Friday! I am so ready for the weekend, even though I work Sat, it's all okay! I had the afternoon off today, so I figured I would bust out a blog post that I've been meaning to do since I got this product.

I was given gift cards for Christmas and as a goodbye gift from my old coworkers to Sephora, so off I went to go lust after this palette. I had looked at it for a while, but I was originally going to get the Smashbox one, but the pricing was like 2$ off, so I didn't care.






For reference, my skintone is neutral and pale (nw15/20). I swatched all of the shades on the arm here for you to see. 

I love the pigmentation of this whole palette! I don't often use the far right two shades as I'm not that dark, but the "banana" shade in the middle, lyric, is one I place under my eyes to brighten that area so it doesn't look so dark. Sometimes I will use the first one instead, but usually the middle one. 

For contour/bronzer, I will always use subconscious into the hollows of my cheeks. If anyone needs help on contouring, just shoot me an email, but youtube is your friend in these situations. The basics is that you want to use a cool toned shade as it mocks the shadows your face would make, if you had prominent cheekbones, I use that along my forehead as well, and I also dust it under my jaw and my neck to balance things out, very lightly! Then I'll use a larger brush and use the shadowplay shade, which is much more of a warmer tone, to bronze. I like using this over my contour as it just blends things out nicely. 

It's one of the easiest steps in my routine, and the product blends so lovely on my skin. I love that the majority of this palette works with my paler skin. It makes me have hope that there are more pale friends out there ;)

QUICK TIP: If pressed for time, I will often run the first shade through the crease of my eye, and then use a bit of the darkest shade on my eye as well. Quick eyeshadow look done for running late days!

I hope you guys have a great weekend and I'll talk to you next week hopefully!

Toodle-doo!

eyebrow routine [requested!]

14:43

Hello everyone! Today I am trying something new, and I was asked to do an eyebrow routine. I took the best photos I could (with gross Vancouver natural lighting) to show you the basics of what I do.

I did only fill in one brow, because I did film a corresponding video that I may or may not upload, depending on the focus. I'll add a photo at the end to show you what they look like all together with full face of makeup.

Okay, so to start off, you do want to pluck any little hairs that may be closer to your eyelid. I did that, but I do have baby wispy hairs above my eyebrow, but I gave up trying to pluck that hah. The general idea of this is that you want to follow the natural shape of your brow, especially when starting off with filling in your brows.  Here I mapped out a general guideline.

This is my natural brows with nothing on it. I did use MAC Pro Long wear concealer to prime my eyelids, so that's all I've done so far.   

Here are the general guidelines. You want to have the brow start parallel with your nose. 

Apologizes for the blurry eye as I was blinking. Then the arch of your brow should be diagonal from the edge of your nose, like seen here. 

This photo is hopefully self explanatory. 

I am using Anastasia Brow Wiz in Brunette. It has a waxy pencil on one end, and a spooly on the other end. I brush out my brows with this before apply anything. The drugstore has GREAT selection for brow products. Maybelline and Loreal are good for beginners.
Here I have done a small amount of SHORT strokes under my brow. I have mapped out a very light line of where I want my brow to shape. I always brush through whenever I use a harsher line. Doing this makes it more blurred. 
 
Okay, so here I am just filling them in by following my natural hairs. In the bottom photo, you can see I am creating a line on my natural arch. This is going to then go down into the tail of your brow. I also lightly do more short strokes on the top line to the front of the brow. 
Here you can see I've outlined my brows and filled them in. The key is to keep using those short strokes until you are content with the color and the result. Please excuse the tail end of my brows. I am trying to re-grow hairs there so I haven't been plucking.

Here is where it can get tricky. I do not like the look of a sharp, squared front of my brow, personally on myself. I try to keep it natural and I often like it a little faded at the front, but nothing crazy. Here I am doing light strokes from the front of my brow back into the already filled in part. 
Hopefully you can see here and the difference. 

Now this one was hard to get a photo of haha, but at the front of my brow, i am doing light strokes UPWARD following my natural brow hairs. On the right eyebrow, you can see how my little front hairs go up, I am trying to follow that for the most 'natural' shape. Take a drink every time I say natural.
I brush out my brows around now, and add any touchups if needed. I continue to bring the color closer to the front of my brows, with lighter strokes.
The front of my brow looks more rounded than usual, it was a bad brow day if i'm honest. Now after brushing through with the spooly, I go over it with the Maybelline Brow Drama in light I think. This adds a little extra color to the spots you may have missed and it sets your brows so they don't go flying everywhere. 




Here they are finished! I tend to go back over and brush them out. I will use the spooly and brush it UPWARDS on the front of my brow so it's so not strong.  For some reason, they don't look the same, but I promise you they are!

Hopefully some of this made sense! It's always important to fill in your brows because they really frame your face. if you have thicker brows, you won't have to go into so much detail. Sometimes a tinted brow gel is all you need and Benefit has one which is really good. It takes A LOT of practice. Just take your time and breathe. If you mess up, it's okay! Not everyone has the same brows as you, and remember, brows are sisters, not twins. 

Happy friday! Toodle-doo!




ABH

beginners makeup "kit", brushes and tips!

16:38

Good afternoon everyone! So in light of recent events, in which I had posted my second most recent blog post for family and friends to see, a lot of people have been asking me to give them tips on how to start into makeup. I need to do a disclaimer before I continue however. I am by no means a makeup artist. I learnt how to apply makeup through watching Youtube videos, and gaining my information and tips from there. It's been a good 3 years of learning and collecting. I also have the very basics of a makeup collection. Some people think it's a lot, and others think it's a healthy amount for someone to have! I just wanted to start this off by saying that. 


So to start, I laid out some of the best starter products I think are a great investment, and most are drugstore. 



^^
In the first photo, you can see everything laid out. I will do a little break down. I put out my favourite drugstore lightweight foundation and good coverage concealer as they are both drugstore, and the foundation is quite a light coverage, meaning you can add a small layer and you won't feel you have too much on. (I'll list the best way to apply this foundation further down the post.) This foundation is ideal for normal to dry skin as it gives a dewy affect, meaning your skin is left looking very glowy and with a natural "shine". If you are more oily, Maybelline just released a very similar foundation but it is called the "Fit me: Matte and Poreless". This one is better for those with oily skin. 

Blush and Bronzer: These are very, VERY simple products that are very easy to apply. The bronzer is the matte light one from the Sephora collection, and it's more of a grey tone, which means when applying it with a light hand, you won't have a "orange" face. The blush is something that I just had from NYX, but that brand also has AMAZING picks for blush that would work with your skin tone. Just apply this to the apples of your cheeks and sweeping backwards with a brush that I'll show below. 
Also a translucent powder just sets your foundation from sliding, but that is optional as some people don't want to powder their face, but it doesn't make you look 'cakey'.

These three products are a few of the easiest things to ever use and will make one of the biggest differences in your everyday routine. 

Brows: If you don't know by now, filling in your brows is a huge thing on trend. I use the brow Wiz from Anastasia in dark brown (i think it's brunette now?) It is a very waxy pencil with a very fine tip and a brow brush on the other end. Using this with very light strokes is the best way to get a natural but fuller looking brow. Follow the natural curve of your brow when filling it in. 
Eyeliner: if you want to try a little flick with your eyeliner, this Loreal one is THE BEST ONE. It takes some time to get the little flick, but it gets easier. 
Mascara: Any mascara that will give you either volume or length. This one is just one of my favourites right now.

If you want to invest in anything, I recommend an eyeshadow palette. You can get this Naked by Urban Decay palette at Sephora. It is pricey, but the looks you can do with any 2 of their Naked palettes are endless. This one i find is great for people starting out and just need the basic neutrals for their eyeshadow. I often like running Naked through my crease and on my lid, and then Buck through the crease again to darken it up and then half baked on the lid. I blend half baked out by using the brush I used with Buck on it to blend it out. Then I'm done! I do run the colors lightly under my lower lash line, but that's up to you!


For lips, I just gave you 3 drugstore options and one MAC lipstick as these are some of my go-to colors.

In order: Touch of Spice, Kate Moss 107, Relvon Matte Balm in Elusive, and MAC's Coral Bliss (which is very sheer so good for everyday)

I just chose these to show you that there are so many options when it comes to lips and to not feel the need to branch out and try a dark lipstick, but that you can even just wear a sheer lipstick. 

Now onto the beginners brushes that I recommend everyone should eventually have.

Foundation brushes: These are very important if you want a good even coverage. Yes, your fingers work just as well! But if you don't want to get your fingers dirty, these brushes are very affordable. The gold handle is Real Techniques Buffing Brush, which you can find at London Drugs if you're in Canada or most drugstores I think. The whole Real Techniques brushes are FAB. 
The flat top kabuki brush beside the buffing brush is part of a BH Cosmetics set. (please excuse the random cat hair coming out of my brush .. thanks cats.)

I HAD to include this for people who don't understand how to get a foundation brush to work for them. This is also from Real Techniques and it's called something like their Miracle Completion Sponge. I know what you're thinking; SPONGE? REALLY? Yes, really. This is one of the only things I use to blend out my under eye concealer because if you just bounce it off the skin, it gives you amazing coverage and a great flawless finish. I use this sponge with the Fit Me foundation I mentioned earlier. This just helps make that foundation apply beautifully.  If you want to see this in action, just youtube it and a lot of people use it. 

These are two great bronzer and blush brush options. The one on the left is a Duo-Fibre brush meaning it doesn't take too much product. I often will use this for all over bronzer. Both of these brushes are again, Real Techniques. The second one is a multitask brush which is one of my favourites because it really is a multitasked brush. Not sure why BOTH brushes have a strand of hair sticking out, but my apologizes! I do use these daily so they are well loved.

Two powder brush options here. Both are Morphe brushes, which is a brand I am in love with. I did a review on them previous, so feel free to check that out. The smaller brush I use to set my undereyes, and the larger one I just dust the powder all over with it. Very simple! Some people just use the smaller one depending on the size of their face ;)

Hello eyeshadow brushes! These are my favourite brushes to collect! Both of these are again Real Techniques, and I love them. They are both great for all over colour as they are able to blend out the colour very well all over your eyelid. One is just a little bigger and fatter than the other one. 

This one is a Morphe brush, and this one I used today, which apologizes for the dirty brush but you know. I often take a nice soft brown and run this brush with the product through the crease of my eye and just blend it so it doesn't look very harsh. Go in sweeping motions and at the outer corner of each eye, do little circular motions. I highly recommend you watch Rachel Whitehurst's video on "Blending 101". She does swear, so warning! But her technique is very simple.


THE LAST SET. These are going to be your best friend if you want to get into eyeshadow. The pink handled brush is from Sedona Lace, and it was my first blending brush and I would be so lying if I said I didn't use this everyday. I use it to buff out any eyeshadow to make it look seamless. The other brush is a very similar blending brush from Morphe Brushes. One of their gun metal eyeshadow blending brushes. (The name rubbed off .. whoops)
If you get any of these brushes, these are a great option. 

ALRIGHT. Well then. That's my long but hopefully very helpful post on some basics when starting off with makeup. 

If you have any questions and/or wanting links to who I watched and learnt a lot from, let me know and I'll link you up! Thank you so much and I hope this was very helpful to some of you!

Toodle-doo! 

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