I've made some fun beauty purchases lately and so I thought I would share them with you. I always get excited when buying makeup. It's like a new toy you can play around with and I love figuring out how I can create new looks with them.

I find this look super easy, you just need to get a hand on using liquid liner. And as any other beauty blogger would say... "It just takes practice". I actually used to do mine with a gel liner and brush but over time I realized that I could get a thinner more defined wing with a liquid one. Maybe a makeup artist will say otherwise but I find using a gel liner made it a lot easier to switch to liquid afterwards. I kept everything else very plain and just filled in my brows with my trusty Anastasia Brow Wiz and then layered on some mascara. I'm not very loyal to mascaras but I have been enjoying this Maybelline Lash Sensational one that I picked up maybe a month and a half ago.


My base is pretty basic. I'm using the L'Oreal Infalliable Pro-Matte and enjoying it so far. I'm still unsure if I would repurchase it, but the coverage is good and it hasn't broken me out. On top of that I'll use the Benefit Erase Paste to get rid of my under-eye dark circles and to cover any blemishes or acne scars I used the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer. I picked it up when I was in London (we don't have access to it in Canada) and it has gone to very good use, as you can see, the writing as completely worn off. To brighten up my under-eye area I go for the Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer. I've used this for years and while I've tried other brightening concealers, I always tend to go back to this one. Finally, I'll set my under eye and my T-zone areas with the Laura Mercier Translucent Setting Powder.


Like a lot of people this summer, I am loving my highlighter. I've kept with my favourites so far, but there are a few I want to get my hands on (*cough*Charlotte Tilbury*cough* Jaclyn Hill for Becca*). I love my Hourglass one (in the Ambient Lighting palette) and I use the middle shade to get the most luminous look. I find it one goes on perfectly over the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick (in Rose). It's a perfect pink that isn't too overpowering but because it has pieces of shimmer already in it, the highlight goes on beautifully on top.


I've also been mixing my bronzers a lot this summer. I've been using the Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess just to lightly bronze up my face and then I'll contour (very slightly) with my Lise Watier Rivages Bronzing Powder (this was part of a limited collection but here is a similar one). It has a mixture of gold, pink and bronze and just gives a gorgeous illuminated took. Can you tell I like the "illuminated" look? :)


Finally, the reason for this entire post; the lips. Whenever I want to wear I red lipstick I can put on my lips and then just forget about it and go on with my day, I reach for the Rimmel Lipstick in 107. Its from the Kate Moss collection and I think I've used this one since they launched a few years back. I've actually repurchased this tube a few times and plan on continuing to do so. I usually put a lip moisturizer on before applying a lipstick and today I grabbed my Yves Rocher Shea Butter Nourishing Balm which is the one I tend to reach for the most just because it works really well. I also don't wear a lip liner with this lipstick. I don't find it bleeds and I usually simply don't bother with a liner.


Et Voila! The finished look!:)


I hope you've enjoyed this little post! Let me know what you think of the look and if you want to see more makeup and beauty posts! Hope everyone is enjoying the end of the week, I know I'm looking forward to the weekend:)

Blouse- TopShop Jeans- H&M (similar) Purse- Mackage

Middle Left- Dubai Market Middle Right- H&M (old) Watch- Michael Kors (similar) All others are gifted

August has arrived and it really feels like July flew by. It's also funny to think that we're almost nearing the end of summer. I don't feel like we've had enough, or maybe I simply haven't taken advantage of the warm weather. August is now in full swing and soon, September will come with the arrival of both fall and a new school semester.

I'm not ready to let go of summer and I definitely haven't changed my wardrobe just yet. The people around me will know that fall is my favourite season, but I can still hang on to another month and a half of warm weather before I start dreaming of fall layers and darker lip colours.



Staying in the summer spirit, I thought I would go for a very simple, yet pretty outfit. One thing that all Montrealers can agree upon is that while the warm weather is greeted with open arms, the humidity can still be quite a pain. Essentially, when it comes to your outfits, the fewer layers the better. This day, some friends and I were going to see a movie, followed by drinks, so I wanted something that could fit both outings.

I paired this really cute lace black dress with a long white cardigan. The dress is a little more on the shorter side so the cardigan allowed me to walk around freely without worrying about the dress flying all over the place. I also kept it pretty bare when it came to the jewellery; just because I know that with the humidity, it just ends up feeling heavy as the day goes on. Of course, I couldn't leave the house without my favourite sandals and decided to pair the entire outfit with a cute pink Topshop bag. I really like the grey/pink combination and I find it really easy to pair with outfits because they're great complimentary colours. It also helps to add a little colour:)

Dress- Old (similar) Cardigan- Forever21 (similar) Bag- Topshop (similar) Sandals- Shelly's London (similar)

For someone who deals with anxiety, balancing an everyday schedule can be very daunting. At least, I know for myself, I've struggled with balancing my daily workout, work, down time and social life. I've never been one who's very good at juggling all those aspects of my everyday routine. The interesting part, is that I actually know, through doing it, that a balanced life is my key to waking up happy. So while I struggle with it, I know the positive outcomes that materializes from a balanced schedule.

Recently, I decided to test out the Origins GinZing Eye Cream. I had received a Sephora gift card and thought it would be a good product to test out. Just like face masks, eye creams have never been a product I've gravitated towards. I usually kept it basic with face wash and moisturizer. However, I've become more aware of the impact a good skincare regime provides, especially when you have acne prone skin (like I do). Because of this I decided to test out and see if adding an eye cream would be beneficial for me.

So after using the cream (every morning) for a good 2 months, I think I'm able to say what I truly like and dislike about the product. When I first used it, I wasn't all that impressed. I didn't see a change. Instant gratification was not in the cards. To be honest, I had my doubts I was even going to get through testing it out. However, after the first week and a half I eventually started noticing it's affects. I'm not going to say that my dark circles completely vanished, but I have seen a slight reduction. And that's the key word, "slight". I do find my eyes feel more awake when I use the cream and I have noticed myself using less concealer (which I think is a good thing).


In the past I used to layer two concealers (a thicker one to get rid of the darkness and a lighter one to brighten the under eye area). Now, simply using the brightening concealer is enough. The cream is very rich but is also very light on my skin. I'm not scared of getting a burning sensation when I use the cream and it doesn't feel heavy after I've applied it.
What I'll do is apply the eye cream before I've moisturized my face, and then apply my moisturizer a few minutes later (after it has had time to sink in). The cream allows the under-eye area to feel fresh and not heavy has if I'm weighting it down with products. So far I have to say that while I had my doubts in the beginning, I'm impressed with the product.

It may be a combination of naiveté and procrastination but often times, I find myself engulfed in these large, over the top ideas. I attempt to implement them but get so anxious over the process, that they just end of falling to the waste side.
I've noticed that I can come up with these great goals and ideas, and I can plan them out pretty well. But it's in the middle of the process, where, often times, I have a slight step back and then all of a sudden it's back to square one.
It's unfortunate because often times those ideas are actually pretty good and it's simply the process that's far too daunting.
Over the course of the last few months, I've been more aware of this "fault" of mine and so I'm trying to be more mindful of catching myself whenever I get carried away with the anxiety. Personally, the most effective and therapeutic way for me is to write things down.


Nutritionists and trainers talk about this all the time. If your grand idea is to loose weight and reacher a certain number on the scale, you need to celebrate the small victories throughout the process so that you can eventually succeed at reaching your goal.
I've also realized (finally) that the smaller achievements are just as rewarding as the larger ones. By that I mean the small achievements along the way to reaching your goal. Ideas are a wonderful thing to have, but in order for them to be successful they must be implemented into becoming so much more.

Blouse- Boohoo (similar) | Skirt- 1861 | Bag- Zara (similar) | Hat- Simon's | Sandals- Shelly's London (similar)