The last week (or so) has been a rather unproductive one, especially after I naively proclaimed that I was going to be uber-productive and focused, enjoying the week and a bit that I had without continous deadlines. There have been numerous storms — it’s nowhere near spring-like here in anything except the increased hours of sunlight and the appearance of sun in general — and I even had a few snow days off school but I’ve spent time thinking and stressing about all the essays that I have to write rather than making acceptable headway on them. I have six left. I’m just about ready to vomit, cry or pass out. This has just been one of those periods of time when I seem incapable of getting anything done and find myself grunting and growling at inanimate objects, along with the usual engaging in delusions.

Although I’ve certainly not had the time or even the energy to really go shopping as of late, I’ve picked up a couple of things. After the top coat travesty happened, (when I realized that the only top coats I owned were either questionable in general or had gone too gloopy) I picked out a replacement topcoat, the CND Vinylux Weekly Top Coat and while I was at it, I threw in the Quo by Orly Strong Bond Rubberized Base Coat for good measure – even though I’ve been enjoying the Formula X offering. I’m certainly enjoying the duo together – they are holding polish up on my nails and the top coat has added that kind of gel look and didn’t take long to dry. The second purchase that I’ve made was of Bath & Body Works candles. I’ve documented the discovery of my love for their candles on my blog since last summer and I’ve found myself obsessed with burning them during stressful times – so I’m pretty into the candle burning process at the moment and picked up three because of their $3/25 Single Wick Sale that they had on, although I certainly was not all that low on candles. I picked up three spring scents perhaps subconsciously in hope of bringing the change in weather, BBW Brazillian Blue Waters Medium Candle (which smells like the actual ocean with a light floral bit kicked in), BBW Amazon Falls Medium Candle (which smells very fresh and very greeny with a hint of that ocean smell and maybe a touch of floral) and the BBW Sparkling Limeade Mason Jar Candle (which smells possibly the most interesting of the bunch, as a mixture of greens and herbs along with the promised lime, but with a bitter rather than sweet edge and maybe a hint of gin?). I also note that they have a nice sale on the 3-Wick Candles that’s actually better than the 2/35 promotion than they put on in Canada and they do have all of their spring scents I believe…

This week I’ve both been enjoying the Paula’s Choice products (and samples) that I received in my order along with a recent rediscovery in the stash. First off, I’ve been loving the Paula’s Choice Resist 5% AHA Daily Smoothing Treatment – it’s gentle, moisturizing, soothing but definitely has that instant effectiveness that acids are known for providing along with a few samples. The most notable samples have to be the Skin Recovery SPF 30 Lotion, the Resist Moisture Renewal Oil Booster and the Skin Perfecting BHA Lotion. The rediscovery was the cheap and cheerful Rimmel Natural Bronzer in 021 Sun Light that I have pretty much forgotten about the existence of in the last year, likely because of the other more interesting offerings that I’ve had with far better packaging. I’ve enjoyed going for this paler bronzer because it’s lighter in tone with some nice warmth, applies smoothly to the skin with a semi-matte finish and seems to add some natural depth to my skin even in its pale state. The formula is impressive and I would do well to remember that.

Although for the large part I’ve been pretty dissatisfied with my productivity, I was pleased that I kept up with three posts per week and I intend to stick to this kind of timeline. I also think I’m going to survive so there’s that…

How was your week?

Maggie, x.