Saturday, November 29, 2014

November Favorites 2014

Another month gone and that means 2014 is almost over. I'm definitely excited for 2015, but right now I'm more excited to share my November faves :)

The cold weather has finally arrived in Canada, and we even had some snowfall in the middle of the month. It's no longer time for oil control and extra mattifying products. My skin has needed hydration , so the products shown here are mostly about keeping my skin winter happy.


Here are the products that made the cut this month...

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Exchange Student's Survival Guide no3: Applying for the Exchange

Now that you have decided where you want to go, it's time to submit your application to your school. Every university will function differently and submission dates and such will vary, but essentially what I will be suggesting and the advice in the post is general and can be applied to most exchange programs in my opinion.




Saturday, November 22, 2014

Bite Beauty Lip Love Kit Review

I bought this almost two months ago. I've been testing the products out almost everyday to see if they work well and if this set is worth purchasing. I have been on a Bite Beauty love fest for a little while now and I keep buying their products, especially value sets like this one because you get to try out several products for a very good price.





This Bite Beauty sets contains four products for the care of healthy and gorgeous lips.

Here are the products and my thoughts after using them for several weeks...


Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Cactus Skincare Review/First Impressions

About a month or so ago I ordered the sample pack of Cactus Skincare products. They offer a sample pack of four of their products catered to your specific skin type. Mine was for combination to oily skin. The pack costs 5 Australian dollars plus 3 dollars for international shipping. The samples are meant to last a week. I had heard many good reviews from Australian Youtubers and bloggers about this all natural skincare brand that I decided to try it out for myself.

Cactus Skincare is an Australian owned and made brand of all natural skincare products aimed at creating a moisture barrier for the skin to heal and thrive. The company was created by a woman wanting to heal her own very dry skin. Her name is Deborah and she created Cactus Skincare in the early nineties. Now her son Ryan is helping manage the company.

Their products are entirely made of natural organic ingredients which is wonderful because some brands claim to be 'natural' or 'organic' but often contain many chemicals and aren't at all good for the skin. Cactus Skincare is made with care and the people behind it truly care about their business, products and customers. I've never experienced customer service so prompt and helpful. A great company and I will definitely be ordering a bundle of their full size products in the near future.


Here's a look at the products I sampled...

Lemon Myrtle Cleanser 
A creamy yet not too thick cleanser that smells yummy and feels wonderful on the skin. It's a light cleanser, so one shouldn't expect it to remove makeup as well. It cleans the skin nicely without stripping it. I don't feel the squeaky clean and tight feeling on my face after using this and that's great.  You don't need much of this stuff either. It works with the tiniest amount, so a full size of this will last quite some time.

Light Balancing Creme
Once again, this stuff smells very good. A thick cream that contains ingredients for natural sun protection, which is just wonderful in my opinion. It goes on the skin very nicely and leaves the skin feeling ready for the day ahead.

Nature's Anti-Oxidant Creme
I absolutely enjoyed using this cream at night. The scent is very pleasant and it really feels as though it's good for the skin. I always woke up the next morning feeling as though my skin was doing well.

White Clay Mask
This I believe is their most popular product and it does not disappoint. It's definitely deep cleaning and leaves the skin feeling like a million bucks. It does need to be followed with a good moisturizer, but all in all a great product.

Final thoughts...
I LOVE this brand as a whole and these specific products were total gems! None of these caused me any problems with my often sensitive and acne-prone skin.  All the products are white, which means there is no colouring added to make the product somehow more appealing. All the fragrances are natural and come from the active ingredients used in them, there is no extra scent added.

I recommend these products 100% and I hope they keep their business growing for a long time!

Let me know if you have ever tried any Cactus Skincare products.

xx

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Ipsy November 2014: Girl Meets Glitter!

Ipsy bags can sometimes be a total joy or a disappointment. This month I was very excited about receiving my bag because Ipsy's Instagram account had been showing sneak peeks of many products I had been dying to try out for a long time.  Unfortunately, none of the products I wanted arrived in my Ipsy bag, instead I got some products I've seldom heard of and aren't all that exciting in my opinion.




Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Exchange Student's Survival Guide no2: Deciding Where to Go.

As a young and ambitious high school student many years ago, I was already planning my eventual trip abroad to study while in university.  I knew for certain that I wanted to go to Europe. It's such an amazing place filled with history and culture, I knew that living there for several months at a time would be the absolute best opportunity in the world.

When I finally got to university, one of the very first things I did was get in touch with the person in charge of student exchanges. I was told to apply the following February (it was September), so I had several months to look at the partner schools and make my choice.

Seeing as I had chosen a major in Modern Languages studying French Literature and German, it was pretty much decided which countries I'd be going to.


Saturday, November 8, 2014

Nature Box October 2014: First Impression and Review

Being an avid Youtube watcher, there are certain products and companies that you hear a lot about. One of these is Naturebox. After hearing about them over and over and getting serious snack cravings from watching these videos I really wanted to get my hands on this yum-filled box.


It's a California-based company that provides a monthly box of delicious and healthy snacks.  The US site offers its members the chance to hand pick the snacks they want to receive and how many.  There is a wide selection on the American site and pretty much all of the options sound delicious. There are savoury and sweet snacks as well to satisfy both kinds of cravings.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Truth Serum Collagen Booster vs Vitamin C Skin Boost

Last winter I tried out a very small sample of the Ole Henriksen Truth Serum. It lasted just over a couple weeks by using it once a day. My skin absolutely drank it up and improved dramatically after such a short amount of time. When it was all used up I knew I had to find something with Vitamin C to use in my morning skincare routine. Being in France at the time, I did not have access to Ole Henriksen products very easily, or affordably for that matter.



Saturday, November 1, 2014

October Favorites 2014

October is already over ! What? This cannot be accurate. That means Christmas is just around the corner and I am not ready. But for now let's talk about what I've loved over the past month.