weekly medley

Weekly Medley #64/65

In the last few weeks, the two most interesting things that have happened are my constant, steady blogging schedule that I’ve been pleased with and the gorgeous hot, summer weather that we have begun to experience. I accidentally managed to get a tan with only a few hours of hanging out outdoors (reading books and the like), injure myself simply by going out on my first sail of the year, watch ten entire seasons of Grey’s Anatomy and make even more progress on the scented candle burning front…

Recently Updated77While it’s not like I can say that I’ve been pumping out blog posts on a daily basis, I’ve been keeping with a consistent 3-4 posts per week – and that’s without feeling rather blah about the posts. Considering that I’ve actually been having more of a social life than per usual, I’m rather impressed about my consistency. Two posts that I’ve been proud of are my recent candles-only empties post, “Craziness; May Candle Empties”, and the long-in-progress “My Five Favourite Coral Blushes”.

Thankfully, I’ve managed to avoid spending money for the most part, however, I did succumb to the allure of spending money on two skincare products from my local natural store. First things first, I picked up the Aura Cacia Organic Rosehip Oil ($13), as I’m running out of my Caudalie facial oil. I was also intrigued by their selection of Andalou Naturals, a brand that I’ve wanted to try on account of being an affordable natural brand that does not rely on irritating extracts and ‘natural’ alcohol and could not resist picking up the Andalou Naturals Pumpkin Honey Glycolic Mask ($15). I’ve been trialing and enjoying these two products, along with testing my trio of products from Peter Thomas Roth that I will be ready to report on soon. I will say that although I do like the Anti-Aging Cleansing Gel, it is too irritating slash drying for my sensitive dehydrated skin – I’m currently suffering the consequences of overuse of the foaming cleanser.

I’ve gotten into that summer reading thing along with continuing my candle burning thing. There’s nothing like soaking up the sun with a nice book in your hand and as I’ve mentioned before, my candle burning addiction has continued. I’ve burned a good number of candles as of late and I’m now moving onto burning my remaining Bath & Body Works Flannel Mini Candle even though it’s definitely a cooler weather scent; I love it that much.

Any recent thoughts?
Maggie, x.

Weekly Medley #62/63

So, I’ve been kind of dreading writing this post because quite frankly there has been nothing going on other than beginning to enjoy some nice sunshine and generally warm weather, along with the stress about  attempting to get a job over the summer and that whole application process – but here goes:

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1. Two products I have been enjoying… I’ve rediscovered my love for a highlighter and have fallen for a new frankly rather pricy drugstore eyeshadow palette. Unfortunately, the highlighter is limited edition and by no means available but regardless I’ve been loving the MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Semi-Precious Pearl, mainly for the pale champagne sheeny shade. I’ve been feeling going for a full on highlighter and so I’ve been whacking on a generous heaping of this one. I finally spotted the raved-about L’Oreal La Palette Nude offerings (I have the second) and I’ve fallen in love with it, even though I did pay the retail price of $29.99 CDN for it. Thankfully, the rosy-plum hued palette has a  variety of matte shades that are to die for and a nice variety of sheeny shades too, featuring a nice champagne.

2. Netflix binge watching… For three or four years, I had been watching and enjoying Grey’s Anatomy on and off but now that ten seasons have appeared on Netflix I’ve fallen in love with the show, starting from the beginning, watching the good portion of a season per day and enjoying every minute of it.

3. Yet another dash into MAC… When I was strolling around MAC, as one does, I managed to resist buying anything on a couple of occasions until I finally cracked and picked up another blush to use as a contour, the MAC Matte Powder Blush in Blunt. It’s a much darker contour colour than I typically go for but I like that it has no rosy undertone and is a neutral brown shade that neither reads as too warm or too ashy, adding that depth in a natural way with minimal product.

4. Because I needed more candles?… Bath & Body Works had their best promotion on Mother’s Day weekend so I couldn’t resist picking up two of their candles at the nice 2/25.50 or 3/32.50 deal. I promise I didn’t actually do as much shopping as this post is making appear – sidenote. I’m not even letting myself burn either the Bow Ties & Bourbon or Island Margarita candles until I burn up what I already have.

5. A regular posting schedule… I’m finally beginning to admit that I’m the kind of person who is never really satisfied with their work so while I definitely think my blogging schedule could be better, I’m rather pleased with my consistent posting schedule over the last two weeks while keeping up with the quality (in my opinion) of posts that I put up. One of my favourites was Friday’s Navigating MAC Collections because it was a bit different and therefore a bit of a risk but it turned out nicely and actually could be informative. It was also therapeutic to write and helpful to stop myself from wanting to go out and buy everything shiny and sparkly from their latest release.

Any musings to share?
Maggie, x.

Weekly Medley #59/60/61

This has got to be a record for me, being the most belated weekly medley post as of yet, but in my defense I was exam writing and essaying, and quite honestly I was not going to put one of my rare moments of spare time to write quite possibly the dullest post ever – given the content. I’ve said it before: now that I’m done with my third year of university I kind of don’t know how to deal. This seemed like the best start somehow…

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  1. One rare moment of celebration (featuring alcohol) should be saying enough in itself, however I’ll elaborate: I actually socialized in a functional way and actually had fun plus there was actual documented photo evidence. I must say that the gin and tonic was divine.
  2. There’s something a wee bit off in this picture – perhaps the extreme amount of snow that we have in the middle of April? Although the infestation of snow is still present, I’m pleased to report that Spring is appearing to rear its head and we haven’t had any storms in ten days. Shocking.
  3. This image might strike you as familiar, however, I couldn’t help but repeat it. How else was I to depict the craziness over the last few weeks precisely?
  4. I might have bought The Sims 4 as a post-exam celebratory present and I also might have enjoyed binge-playing it throughout the last few days of spare time. It’s gooooood, especially if it’s also a nostalgic pastime.
  5. Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Natural Healthy Glow Powder Duo in 01 Clair-Brunettes, one of the substantial purchases from my relatively contained Sephora order, and let me tell you that it might just be worth the splurge! It’s subtle but adds the nicest warmth and kind of indescribable glow to the face. More on this and other items to come soon – heads up.
  6. Although I have not been particularly thrilled with my less than frequent posting schedule as of late, I have been satisfied with the posts that have gone up. This one titled “Some Recent Acquisitions” was among my favourites.
So any updates from the last three weeks?
Maggie, x.

Weekly Medley #58

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.

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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.

Weekly Medley #56/57

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After a relatively busy week of essay writing, exam preparation stress and minimal sleep, I had somehow convinced myself that during last weekend and the early days of this week I didn’t have to run around like a chicken with its head chopped off and make serious headway on the assignments with steady and continuous deadlines that were looming. It was a mistake, it was only by the grace of the finest caffeine, my disturbing ability to work under the worse conditions optimally and my ability to perform while being very sleep deprived. I survived, which is the important thing – and I didn’t screw anything up royally. Oh, the joys of university student life. Things haven’t slowed down that much but it has gotten to the point that I’m ecstatic that I don’t have any assignments due in the next week and that I have some time to breathe as I conquer my mountain of readings and get on that essay writing train…

  1. Oh, Coffee, how I love thee… We may or may not have plans to elope, but more seriously I don’t know how I would survive without the potent kind of the divine beverage.
  2. Essie Cashmere Matte Collection’s Comfy in Cashmere … My nail polish obsession has continued and this has been my latest object of fixation. It’s one of those gorgeous greige colours with a matte finish – as the name would suggest – and the most gorgeous blue iridescent lean running throughout. I can understand why people are so divided on the polishes in this collection though, – while they are interesting neutrals that have nice pigmentation and interesting hues, they don’t last long on the nails especially without being top coated and they can kind of dry ridiculously fast – but I love this one regardless.
  3. Keeping up with the daily sunscreen … Even though I don’t love wearing sunscreen every day because of the hassle and how finicky my skin is with the stuff, I’ve been keeping up with going for it on the daily and since switching to Differin and going a little heavy on it, using any sort of chemical product (i.e. the Clinique Superdefense) has been out of the question, I’ve gone back to the Avene High Protection Mineral Cream as a moisturizing step in my routine and its been working like a charm, even though it takes some time to blend it and to set to neutralize the pinky white-ish cast.
  4. A New Top-Coat Lemming… I’m one of those people with nail chipping issues so a good top coat is a requirement and at the moment I own zero that can be described as good and have a still functional and usable texture. Over the last few days (somewhat out of frustration), I’ve put some research in and I’ve come to the conclusion that the CND Vinylux Weekly Top Coat needs to come into my life. I don’t even care that it’s not the fastest drying top coat if it keeps polish on as long as people say it does!
  5. Another Drugstore Dash … I’m not going to even apologize for my foray into the local drugstore after class last week, fueled by my desire to buy things and forget about the 2737 things that I was stressed about and joined by my partner in crime – at least I kept it at three items and two of them I’m really pleased with and the other is just fine. First up the OPI ’50 Shades of Grey’ Nail Polish in Cement The Deal has the most amazing formula ever and is far more interesting than it appears as a dullish grey cream, second, I was more than pleased to pick up the Garnier Curl Construct Creation Mousse for a mere few dollars on sale and I’m equally pleased to say that it has been a much more impressive one than the last few that I’ve tried – actually working and neither drying out my hair or leaving that weird residue. On the final note, I like the Maybelline ‘Rebel Nudes’ Lipstick in 700 Barely Bloomed just fine but I made an error with my shade choice, as it’s just another peachy nude that seems to look very similar to a number of lipsticks that I own and love – in the bullet, it appears much more peachy and pastel-y and because of this, I wished I had gone for one of the more corally shades!
  6. My first Paula’s Choice order… Just a tad over a week ago, I bit the bullet and ordered a few things from Paula’s Choice for the first time and this product (the Paula’s Choice Resist Daily Smoothing Treatment) was one of those things and I would have it now if there wasn’t this stupid mix-up that happened with shipping with our bad weather conditions. Regardless, I’m pretty excited to receive my products (and plethora of samples) and should have it early in the week.
Any thoughts on the last few weeks?
Maggie, x.

Weekly Medley #55

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On the positive side, last week I managed to conquer that dreadful cold and I had the week off from university to rest, recharge and complete three rather large assignments. The Reading Break wasn’t exactly a break for me in the slightest but I was productive and I caught up a good bit on blogging, getting four posts out there that I felt really good about. In particular, I had such a nice and productive Saturday morning that I took it on myself to apply each and every of the eight MAC Lipsticks that I own and it turned into a full-on lengthy collection post complete with thoughts and lip swatches and I can’t even tell you how pleased I was with it – so that was a nice thing.

1. The Daily Face #24 | Smokey Eyes and Rosy Lips & Cheeks
2. I Used Up Things #5
3. The Disappointment: Essie No Chips Ahead
4. MAC Lipstick Collection + Lip Swatches, Musings & Favourites

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this but in the last maybe three weeks, we’ve had more storms around here that I can count and it’s been absolutely freezing. Now, I’m well used to dealing with winter (being a Canadian and all) but my skin in particular has taken a hit from these subzero temperatures. I’ve been continuously reaching for the Caudalie Vinosource Overnight Recovery Oil to combat the drier and more sensitive skin, not just nearly every night but also in the morning when things are a little dry and foundation application would be a little frightening with just the standard moisturizing routine. Also on the dealing with drier skin theme, I’ve dug out my Quo Foundation Sponge that’s long overdue for a replacement – with the tearing starting to happen – and even longer overdue for a thorough clean and as one would imagine, I wet it and wring out the excess water and then use it to apply foundation seamlessly and more forgivingly – most likely because the sponge is wet and it sheers things out a bit. And finally on the most interesting beauty note, I sucked it up and finally admitted to myself that I had somehow lost my beloved NARS Golshan Satin Lip Pencil, had quite the freak out slash hissy fit and then obsessively searched my bags and finally found the treasure missing from my life. Let me tell you, the comfortable and long-wearing deepened red-berry hue was just as great as I had originally remembered and our romance has been rekindled.

Er, how was your week etc.?
Maggie, x.

Weekly Medley #52

20150126-185056In the last week I’ve experienced the cold in both the worst and the best way; I both came to the realization that I had quite a cold and enjoyed the cold weather brought on by the blizzard. I really should have figured out that I was coming down with a cold earlier than this, with the extreme fatigue and the beginnings of congestion that developed into quite the sore throat and cough but the last few days have left me aware with complete certainty that my current state and general sense of grogginess has been brought on by that lovely thing that is known as a cold. On the more exciting front, it’s been a winter wonderland outside – aside from the freezing rain and general iciness – with snow falling and that authentic cozy feeling all around and I have to say I rather enjoyed Tuesday’s snow day where I enjoyed being a generally unproductive human being without shame. Now, let’s get onto the other points of interest this week…

(1) Hello October’s “Going Out-Out” post

I really really love Suzie’s blog in general and more specifically I adore these kinds of chatty/wordy posts that describe a makeup routine with some general product thoughts and ramblings included. Once upon a time, I used to write these posts frequently but as of late I seem to have stopped, but it should be noted that mine tend to involve much more aimless rambling. I have got to get back into writing my ‘The Daily Face’ posts; note to self.

(2) Live Chat With The Paula’s Choice Research Team – “How to Treat Your Most Frustrating Facial Concerns”

In the last month or so more generally, I’ve discovered and loved these hour long informative skincare videos with the research team at Paula’s Choice and Friday’s was a particularly enjoyable one. I love that their information is unbiased, despite having their own range to promote and clear and I also get a kick out of the sense of humor of the staff hosting the show. I highly recommend giving these a watch if you want to learn more about skincare – even if you feel you are already somewhat educated – or specific skincare products/ingredients and you enjoy some sense of humor thrown in more often than not.

(3) This Week’s  Posts

I’m well aware that I am my worst critic, but as a whole I have been happy with the four posts I’ve done in the last week, especially when you take how busy classes have left me and that lovely cold that I’m currently experiencing. I didn’t feel like any of my posts were rushed and I was pleased with my mediocre photography, despite the general lighting issues. However, if you’re someone who works full-time or juggles classes with an actual job, I have some serious respect for you – I have no idea how you do it and I’m in awe. Finally this week, I managed to post the long-promised review of the DiorSkin Star Foundation.

(4) Two Costco Acquisitions

I’ve been impressing myself recently with my shopping restraint; I haven’t been casually strolling into the drugstore and coming out with four or five things every week or so at all, or doing any sort of indulgent splurging on anything resembling the regular. This aside, I ventured into Costco on Friday with the mother and picked up two things: the Eucerin Calming Daily Moisturizing Cream and a book titled The Back of the Turtle by Thomas King. I’m running low on moisturizer for my eczema-laden skin and the Eucerin offering seemed to fit the bill with a suitable ingredient list and a large affordable tube amount plus there’s something wonderful about reading a book for fun that can make life seem a little less frightening and repulsive. I might have read a fair amount of the book and I might have enjoyed it tremendously.

(5) The Nail Obsession

I go through the strangest phases of enjoying nail polish and then being annoyed by the maintenance of the stuff but this week in particular I have been obsessed, painting my nails multiple times and actually writing a polish-centric blog post. Also I’ve enjoyed obsessing over nail polish with my friend instead of doing anything productive, ideally the piling mountain of schoolwork.

How was your week?
Maggie, x.

 

Weekly Medley #49

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My, my, has time flown by … since I started writing these posts last January, in the most unbelievable way – but I digress. Back on Monday, I headed back into classes and began the winter semester, emerging myself back into that whole life completely. I’m exhausted and it’s sort of ridiculous that I’ve only been back a full week but in some ways it feels like I did not actually have a holiday break in the first place. It has been one of those week that manages to both feel like the longest and shortest ones ever. When you’re exhausted in the mornings (and afternoons too to be completely honest), time feels like its frozen and its hard to believe that only an hour has passed when it feels like an eternity that you have to endure three more times that day, but in terms of being a productive human being and accomplish your designated tasks, time seemed to slip between my fingers. Another common feature of my week was just how cold and how typically Canadian it has been this week, with temperatures going between freezing and -20 plus a generous windchill. We might have had a mild December around these parts, but now winter has definitely hit us full force. I should have taken notice of this when I referred to a -2 degree day as nice weather in conversation without even a hint of sarcasm.

I’m actually quite a fan of the cold weather, as I tend to get perpetually overheated, can tolerate low temperatures surprisingly well and kind of adore that whole cozy feeling, but the unpleasant side effects are certainly there – the perpetual skin dryness, having to leave extra-early in the morning, the need for gloves etc. and generally questionable road conditions. Going with that whole cozy theme, I have been enjoying lazing around in my room underneath my covers, or under a blanket when I’m not just casually hanging out in bed with the gloriously relaxing Target Be Peaceful Jar Candle($12.49) burning in the background. The soy candle is not overwhelming in the slightest in the way that some other candles can be and has been a much appreciated Christmas gift from the mother as the lavender and eucalyptus scent is just so relaxing, calming and mellowing.

On Thursday, I finally managed to post my Top Fourteen Products of 2014 and it was kind of ridiculously laborious, even by my standards. As I’ve mentioned before, I spent eons debating which products deserved to be included in the post but even outside of that, I had this sort of block against writing it in full so I wrote it bit by bit in chunks, beginning on Monday. Long ramble aside, I’m very pleased with how it turned out and have not questioned any of my choices – as of yet. The weekend brought a nice dose of rest and pure relaxation and also spending money on two things. The first happened on Friday, when I was strolling around town and suddenly found myself surrounded by Chanel makeup and at the cash with my second Chanel product ever, the Chanel Rouge Double Intensite Ultra Wear Lip Colour in 57 Darling Pink ($39)  In my defense, I had received Christmas money and I could not resist the good feeling that comes from retail therapy-ing your sorrows away even in the smallest of doses. I’m pleased yet mildly terrified to report that the stain gloss duo somehow is the most ridiculously long-wearing lip product ever while being pleasantly silky to apply and not particularly drying or irritating on the lips whatsoever. I’m stopping myself before I dedicate a couple of paragraphs to my newfound lip product love even before I’ve had it for three days. The second thing I spent money on was movie tickets – something I rarely do – and on Saturday, I dragged my migraine-afflicted but out of bed to attend Exodus: Gods and Kings with two of my long-time close friends. Believe it or not, it was worth the money and I actually found myself enjoying the length biblical biopic even outside the amazingly beautiful ancient scenery. I’ll give you a warning about the movie, though: don’t expect it to be anything faith-affirming.

How was your week?

Maggie, x.

Weekly Medley #48

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It was by no means intentional, but regardless, I seem to have ended up saying most of what I had to say for this weeks roundup post in my introductory ramble for Thursday’s Daily Highlights post – so I’ll allude to it again and add some other general thoughts. I wrote about the weird feelings and attitude that I had towards blogging over the Holiday break, namely that I was beyond excited to finally have time to type my beauty-related musings and publish them over here, but at the same time was burnt out and needed time to just lay in bed, read actual books for fun and all that jazz. As I said before, I’m ready to get back at it again with fresh ideas that will hopefully pave the way for interesting content that will appear with a bit more frequency but I know myself well enough not to make any promises about the number of weekly posts and the like with school on the go – I head back Monday (yikes). I kind of can’t handle how fast my Winter semester is approaching.

I had a rather enjoyable Christmas, filled with family visiting – there were 27 of us at our house on Christmas day – and whatnot and devoid of the usual sense of catastrophic stress. The gifts were also really great and I’m not one to ramble on and on about how glorious gifts are without cause and I’m not going to lie, the mellow relaxation time afterwards was divine and much needed. Strangely enough around Christmas time, we had ridiculously warm weather, reaching about 15 degrees Celsius, and for a brief period I was sweating in my own home from the heat of the oven and like things, but I’m pleased to report that as It headed towards New Years, we got a taste of our authentic Holiday weather, dipping to zero and then almost twenty degrees lower of NYE. My New Years Eve was a lovely night as well, true to my low key preferences, spent with a few friends, hanging out, having drinks and playing Cards Against Humanity.

I’m in heaven blogging-wise right about now with all of the yearly favourites posts scattered through my Bloglovin’ feed and one of my favourites of these posts would have to be Christine of Temptalia’s “Top 10 of 2014: Best High-End Blushes” for obvious reasons, basically because Christine’s blog is amazing and I’m a blush hoarder/obsessor/lover and all that jazz. I’m not going to lie, I’ve both gotten ideas of what blushes to try in the future and have found comfort that she rated two of my latest and most loved blushes highly in the list, the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Diffused Heat and the Becca Beach Tint Shimmer Souffle in Raspberry/Opal, if you’re curious.

There were a variety of beauty things that I’ve been enjoying within the last week or so, especially because of the small influx of products in the rotation since opening some Christmas morning, but one standout has certainly been the Caudalie Vinosource Overnight Recovery Oil ($55) that I’ve either been applying as a moisturizer or before moisturizer nightly and on a good number of mornings too. I think this might just beat out my love of the single oil treatment products because I find that the soothing and hydrating action even more intense. I’ve been loving this with the cooler weather as it has helped my skin from freaking out and getting all flaky with its grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, rose essential oil and palmarosa essential oil blend. I will note, however, that it does contain some potentially irritating fragrance in the essential oils – I love it, though.

How was your week?
Maggie, x.

Weekly Medley #47

Recently Updated47Until maybe the last day or two, I’ve been in this odd sort of post-exam funk where I haven’t known what to do with myself now that I don’t have classes, required readings or essays and exams to study for. I’m not complaining but its been an interesting adjustment – it’s felt weird not to be constantly on the go and such. I’m also in absolute disbelief that Christmas is just so soon.

Speaking of Christmas, I’m pleased to report that my personal shopping is now done and when I finished, I also picked up a bit of a treat for myself, a book to read for fun. I enjoyed it and I’m not afraid to admit that I demolished it in one evening.I was feeling something different so I picked up ‘The Queen of the Tearling’ by Erika Johansen after hearing that it was a recommended new novel and mistakenly believing that it was historical fiction. Although I was wrong about the time the novel was set — it’s actually dystopian future where there is a return to a feudal system –, I swallowed the novel whole finding it to have that guilty pleasure vibe that young adult novels can have with an added maturity and complexity to it. I have my eyes out for news on the next book in the series.

The last few days have been a bit more fun, festive and fast-paced. On Sunday night, I got together with two of my closest school friends to exchange gifts, have drinks and enjoy a nice meal together, along with our usual craziness. It was great. It also gave me the excuse and motivation to stop being lazy and actually get all into the full-on makeup thing with winged eyeliner (courtesy of the brush-tip version of L’Oreal Lineur Intense), vampy lips with my also newly acquired NYX Butter Lipstick in Licorice, along with the usual glowy skin situation. On Monday, I joined my cousins for an adventure, braving the mall so close to Christmas and although I was pretty much done shopping for Christmas, I enjoyed hanging out, looking around and goofing off. I may or may not have been motivated to go in for a chance to visit Sephora but before you judge me, it was to make an exchange. I know I included the Dior 5-Colour Eyeshadow in 456 Jardin in last week’s post and have raved about the quality and uniqueness of the quint, however, after much deliberation I had decided to exchange the quint for a more versatile everyday option that included both matte shades and shimmers that worked well as a solo source of shades. Although I wasn’t expecting to go for the hyped Cuir Cannage palette, I have to say that I’m pleased that I did on account of its wearability and versatility – expect more on this soon. Another exciting find came in the form of a 500-point-perk – this really interesting Formula X Kit. I haven’t tried out any of the four products as of yet (the nail cleanser, base coat, neutral rosy polish and top coat) – I plan on remedying this today – but I thought it deserved sharing because of its great value as a reward.

How was your week?
Maggie, x.