weekly medley

Weekly Medley #32

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If you remember last week’s post, I’m sure you can recall that I was feeling “under the weather” and unfortunately I wasn’t feeling any better this week; that feeling transformed into a cold with the runny nose, dry skin and heavy fatigue but fortunately it’s not too much of a serious one of the head variety. At the beginning of the week, there was this onslaught of scorching weather and I wanted nothing less, given how I was feeling, so I was as happy as a clam when the cooler weather came along. Along  With the perpetual exhaustion and runny, the sahara dry, flaking and generally red skin was problematic, both on my face and body and two products that helped immensely were the above moisturizing mask and facial oil. Although the Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask does tend to burn slightly upon contact with irritated skin, the thick and nourishing mask did work wonders on my reddened dry patches and general irritation, when I was applying it at night. I swear, my skin absorbed it instantly, it was that dehydrated.  On the soothing and redness-reducing front, the By Nature Organic Rosehip Oil worked wonders; whenever I didn’t have the mask on, this was slathered all over my face because I could quickly see the difference with this one. This was one that stopped the itching and took down to red irritated patches within hours. In short, this duo has restored the state of my skin tremendously and I adore both products — and slathering my face in both products.

At this time of the month, there’s an onslaught of favourites posts (and videos), which I know is redundant and irritating to some, but I salivate at the very appearance of them. I love favourites posts and videos like I love lattes in my sleep-deprived state. My absolute favourite of the ‘favourite’ themed posts/videos had to be Suzie’s and if you haven’t watched it already (and every other video that she has ever made), I would highly recommend giving it a go – here. She’s relaxed and amusing and can probably sell me just about anything… but honestly, she’s great.

I was also rather pleased with this weeks posts in general. It’s definitely rewarding to go through your archives and not even questioning whether you’ve uploaded a post or two. My three favourites would have to be my ‘August Favourites‘, ‘Beauty Bargain‘ and ‘The Pre-Fall Haul‘. Writing this down, I feel more than a little bit self-indulgent so I better stop myself. I’m back to classes on Thursday, as absurd as it feels and equally as absurd are my thoughts on my new Smashbox Cherry Smoke Photo-Op Eye Shadow Palette – I stand by what I said about the amazing pigmentation and general formula of these gorgeous shades but I don’t love it as a staple palette for putting together entire ‘eye looks’ and because of this, I might actually be returning this. However, the formula is so great. Angst.

How was your week?
Maggie, x.

Weekly Medley #31

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In a nutshell, last week was a week of feeling under the weather. I’m not saying that I began to not feel well last week but previously I chalked the feeling down to hormonal origin but now I know that I was most certainly fighting something off. There were also a few days of scorching weather and as nice as those days can be, I was not in the mood and continously found myself wishing for cooler autumnal weather. Don’t shoot me. Along with feeling more than a little bit run down, I experienced quite possibly the worse eczema breakout in my life with that painful itchiness and burning, along with the unsightly physical symptoms. I can’t chalk it down to one specific thing considering that I’m one of those people that are mildly sensitive to a myriad of things but I did go with my cousin to pick up her new kitten at the pet store (stupidly because I am quite allergic to dander) and suddenly felt awful; BAM, then the symptoms occurred. Allergies and skin sensitivities are no fun. At all. Ever.

I might not have been wearing makeup every day of the week and when I did I didn’t exactly go for the full deal but despite these two facts, there have been a good number of makeup related items that scored highly on my “things I loved” metaphorical checklist last week…

  1. Essie Sssssexy Snakeskin Magnetic Nail Colour- At the very end of the previous week, I had painted my nails in this opaque oxblood hue and despite my extremely questionable polish skills (pertaining to its magnetic effect), I found myself really enjoying them. Also, there were about five coats of polish on my nails (because it took that long for me to figure out how to create the design) and it still lasted nicely for 4-5 days. I will definitely be reaching for this colour in the very near future.
  2. A cup of tea in my favourite mug – Traditionally I’m much more of a latte kind of girl but since feeling so drab and generally questionable, I’ve found a cup of tea to be therapeutic and relaxing. There’s no type in particular but I have consistently been enjoying that whole relaxed tea-drinking experience.
  3. My new Nars Pro-Prime Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base & Contour Blush in Paloma – I have gone on and on about my intense love for the contouring blush on a few occasions since receiving my order in the mail and that still hold’s true as the product is pigmented and buttery, providing instant cheekbones but I’ve been really impressed with the primer as well; it might not always prevent creasing for me but it minimizes it the best out of any primer that I’ve tried.
  4. Kate’s “Forever Repurchased #8” post – Kate’s blog-posts are just the best in general, so life was extra good when I was reading her chronicle those products that are so amazing that she actually does that crazy thing and repurchases them rather than trying something new. These posts are really helpful as they show what products truly are so amazing that they beg to be repurchased but hers was also entertaining to read as well!
Apologies for the late post; regardless, how was your week?
Maggie, x.

Weekly Medley #30

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THE  CATCH UP
Monday August 11: Weekly Medley #29 | Tuesday August 12: Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Natural Beauty | Friday August 15: My MAC Eyeshadow Palette | Saturday August 16: Five of the Best Beauty Bargains | Sunday August 17: The Six-Step Sunday

Before I get onto the tragically boring details of my life, I thought I would touch on the more blog-y things that are usually reserved for later in the posts… There were five posts this week and while their times weren’t exactly as regular on my arbitrary undecided schedule of things as they could be, I was very pleased with each one and didn’t have any of those ‘meh’ moments of post-related self-doubt. If you take a close look above at the collage/mosaic, you might notice that I included two of my weekly posts and as you can likely imagine, those two posts were the ones that I was the most proud of. Ever since beginning to blog, I’ve wanted to do a MAC Palette Post (and do it well), but it actually proved to require some decision making and dedication as I looked into it and on Friday, I was pleased to publish the post that included swatches and some abridged shade thoughts. I was also quite pleased with my spur-of-the-moment “The Six-Step Sunday” post and seeing as it got a good number of views, I’ve made the assumption that you guys did too. Correct me if I’m wrong, though! I’m sure it was not the most unique post by any means but I felt it rang true to me and my blog as a low-key guide to my Sunday philosophy. I hope this makes some sort of sense but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more than a little ambiguity present but I’ll stop rambling and move on.

Amelia’s “Minimal Makeup Holiday Staples” had to be the standout post that I’ve scoured over this week; as per usual, it was written in her entertaining and chatty style and she’s awfully close to selling me on her staples. I do quite enjoy reading posts that detail the staple products that one uses on a low-key day that doesn’t involve looking all glammed up and primping for a good hour and I might write one in the near future. Any thoughts?

It was a better week because I was certainly kept busier and there was preparatory organization going on for the upcoming school year and all that, with all PMS-related crappiness aside. The highlight of my week had to be Tuesday when I had breakfast with some of my closest friends and relaxed, watching some Netflix before heading into town to do some retail therapy. I don’t have much to document it, but it was truly a fabulous day. There were also a few products that stood out to me in the last week or so as favourites, both old and new. The only new item of my loved trio is the MAC Feline Kohl Power Pencil, a purchase that happened on Tuesday that a don’t regret in the slightest; the rich black shade applies creamily and glides on like a dream while still smudging nicely. However, if you have smudging issues with liner, it might not be one to try. I’ve dug the muted-coral MAC Sweet & Sour Lipstick and have been digging the hue, going for it most days because it has enough colour to work with minimal makeup present but doesn’t make too much of a statement either. And last but not least, I’ve rediscovered my love for warm peachy-champagne liquid highlighter, the Benefit Cosmetics Girl Meets Pearl and have been loving the natural luminosity that it gives to the cheekbones.

How was your week?
Maggie, x.

Weekly Medley #29

Recently Updated26Want to catch up?
Sunday August 3: 10 Indulgent Sunday Staples | Tuesday August 5: The Review- Skin79 Snail Nutrition BB Cream | Thursday August 7: I USED UP PRODUCTS #3 | Friday August 8: The Daily Face #21 – Actual “No Makeup” Makeup | Sunday August 10: The Current Obsessions

 

Another week has passed and therefore it’s time for another Weekly Medley post. Standard. This week has been a weirdly low-key one especially after the stress and generic hectic-ness of previous weeks and although the weather was a wee bit bipolar, it wasn’t too much of a terrible one, which was a rather nice change of pace, I must say. Now that its August, I had decided that it was time to go and buy a thing (or five) so some shopping happened but I was more restrained than one might expect. The first trip was actually a good ol’ day of in-person mall shopping and I came out with the fabulous sleepwear set shown above (I’m in love), a nice structured red satchel and a printed top from Forever 21, a few things from Shopper’s that were on sale (and one that I redeemed points on) and a candle or three as my first Bath and Body Works purchase.

I’m a huge comfy clothes slash sleepwear person and I’m passionate about caffeine so the $17.80 sleepwear set was right up my alley and I’ve been loving the comfortable summer set, just as expected. I talked about it in yesterday’s post already, but I must reiterate my love for the Bath & Body Works Beach Day Candle that was on for a good price as well as being absolutely amazing. Considering that I’m not particularly sad that the season is coming to a close and that Fall is coming, it’s no surprise that I was on board with the autumn scents in store and I’m excited for when I get to burn the Spiced Pumpkin Cider Candle and the weirdly scrumptious Cayenne Caramel Candle. If you’re familiar with the store, I would love to have some other scent recommendations — hint hint nudge nudge. However, my purchases did not end there; yesterday I made an online order at Sephora for the extra points offered as a promotion but was actually rather practical which both excites and horrifies me equally. I know Sunday is technically the start of the new week but since moving these posts to Monday, I’m taking creative liberty and pretending that they existed in the previous week.

It might be a while until I have my new items (courtesy of Sephora) in my possession but I’m excited nevertheless and feel the need to chronicle them here. Frustrated by my creasing issues, despite not having oily eyelids, I’ve bit the bullet and gone for the NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base ($29), along with the NARS Contour Blush in Paloma ($46) that I’ve heard nothing but fabulous things about and have been lusting after. It pleases me to be actually making progress using up products but at the same time it’s not fun having to buy new products because you ran out of the previous; I have maybe a day or two left out of my REN moisturizer and rather than repurchasing it, I’m trying the more moisturizing version of the Vinosource Moisturizing Sorbet that I loved so much in the past, the Caudalie Vinosource Intense Moisture Rescue Cream ($40). I’m excited to try that one out, for sure. I’ve been really interest in trying out the rather expensive liner so I had to snap up the sample of the Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Gel Crayon when it was offered as a 100-point-perk. Clearly.

My low-key week was also pleasant because I was pleased with the blog posts that I wrote — it can make such a difference, truly. How was your week?
Maggie, x.

P.S. The bright lip that I’m sporting in the above collage is the Rimmel Colour Rush Balm in Lady Marmalade that I raved about yesterday here!

Weekly Medley #26

Recently Updated20(1) Soaking up the sun as it reemerged (2) Continuing with the ‘Daily Highlights’ posts (3) Good thing I didn’t say I was on a ‘No Buy’? (4) I kind of Netflix binge-watched both seasons of this – (no regrets)  (5) A somewhat adequate picture of the day above (6) A daily face featuring my MAC Palette (7) An amazing and hilarious video, of course courtesy of ChelseaWears (8) Yesterday’s therapeutic wishlist post (9) My most liked post of the week and quite possibly my favourite post too – linked here

Another week has passed and therefore I’m coming at you with a Weekly Medley post – to state the obvious. It was really not the greatest of weeks but it was not the worst of weeks as it wasn’t physically debilitating like that hellish week during exams for me; it’s been a serious family one, my grandfather whom I’m rather close to, has been sick for a while but things have escalated for the worse rather quickly, requiring lots of care, and it’s difficult to stomach the whole situation. Being someone who struggles with anxiety (putting it mildly), it’s no surprise that I’ve been affected in an unusual way — I’m constantly on edge and unable to focus on any sort of task at hand and be productive. I’m not someone who cries easily over these things and exhibits typical emotional displays but I’m supposing that I’m experiencing it in a different way. The funny thing is that I never intended for this blog to become so personal but writing this down was so therapeutic that I’m letting it slide. I’m not usually one to go on and on about weather actually, but until yesterday, the weather was warm and muggy but constantly overcast and raining on and off so it wasn’t a great one on that front either, until now. Spoiler alert: the last couple of days have been gorgeous sunny ones of 30 degrees that have been spent down at the dock, swimming in the 25 degree water — woo! I’m sure there will be a bit more on this next week and scrambled through upcoming posts.

On a much more superficial note, this week lost points because my basement started to accumulate heat and lose it’s status as the most delightfully cool room to escape to – but I’m working on not leaving every single electronic device on to help matters so it might be more along the lines of a fault of mine. This wasn’t my most exciting makeup week or one where I was particularly into wearing makeup; I did wear makeup most days but on a few occasions I ended up wiping it off a few hours later because I was feeling rather ‘meh’ and on others I found myself merely wearing wearing some BB cream, brows and maybe mascara. However, when I was feeling makeup, I was consistently reaching for my (ALMOST FULL – :))) MAC Palette and loving it. I know I look either extremely sleep-deprived in the picture above or drugged-up but I promise that it was just my general non-photogenic nature coming through. I didn’t wear this combination again on the eyes but I did rather like it and it was somewhat different than what I’ve been reaching for on other days in a nice way. As I have been doing daily, I began with running Soft Brown loosely through the crease – blah blah blah, I’m sure you get it. All over the lid I went for the pale pearly unique Vexshade that I’ve hit pan on but have been neglecting for ages and then deepened up the crease, as per usual (as of late) with Swiss Chocolate. The star of the show might have been Sketch, as it was used to add the plummy smokiness, packed onto the outer corner of the lid and blended out with actual effort (and placed underneath the lower lashes), but I liked the overall look. The shades minus Vex, have been my staples this week along with the other 10 shades in my palette – with a few exceptions.

Two of my lovely confidants from High School (that I happily still am close to and see frequently) decided that they wanted to go beauty product shopping and obviously told me to come along and I agreed, faintly aware of the purchases that would occur as a result, despite being somewhat committed to my ‘Low Buy’. In my defense, I held onto my pennies (joking, we can no longer use pennies here) and watched them go somewhat to town at Sephora and MAC (*pats self on back*) but gave in at the drugstore for a few practical purchases that I was rational about and then we went into Lush and weirdly out of character, I couldn’t resist a purchase or two. On more occasions than I would like to admit, I can be found grumbling on about how ridiculously expensive drugstore makeup in Canada is in comparison to the US and how tragically unfair it is that we cannot return drugstore makeup but I felt both sentiments rather strongly (particularly the second) as I tried and tried the L’Oreal Voluminous Miss Manga Mascaraand wish I had never allowed myself to look inside the drugstore with my friends (kind of) – or at least, wished I had the willpower to say that I would just wait it out for another mascara as I do have enough at the moment. In my defense, it was on sale and I had been hoping that it would be a really easy throw-it-on mascara that removed with minimal effort – a la Maybelline The Falsies, that has recently dried out completely on me. In the last post linked above, I ramble on about this product and four others in more detail that doesn’t reach the realm of excess tangential descriptions, IMO. Sweet success.

Funnily enough, I’m not actually a huge TV person, despite the shows that I’ve included in these posts as of late as I tend to watch them whilst doing other things but while doing so, I’ve found some really interesting ones that capture my attention by their own merits and complicated intricacies and the top spot in recent months might just go to Hannibal,which is a NBC horror show that can also be found on Netflix. It’s placed in the horror genre but it has that thriller-esque complexity that grabs my attention but at the same time, you need somewhat of a strong stomach in order to watch it. It’s psychologically intense (my cup of tea) but it’s best feature is the acting; Hugh Dancy is fantastic at playing the psychologically-troubled Will Graham, who has been pulled out of the classroom to help solve these complex murders and Mads Mikkelsen is just about as believable as the psychiatrist, Dr. Lecter, who has been brought in to theoretically ensure Will’s safety. It keeps you on your toes, that’s for sure. On the beauty-related front, I absolutely loved Chelsea’s latest video, “NEW IN: Skincare + Beauty Part Two”; with actual life busy-ness getting in the way, the hilarious but helpful Chelsea had taken a break from making videos and this has been among the first few videos of her return and I suddenly remembered why I missed them so much. Plus she’s such a genuine human being and her shop ships to Canada so I might actually have to order online.

How was your week? This sounds rather bullshitty (if that’s a word?) but despite lacking general functional human emotional stability, I hope yours was at least a little bit better than mine. Aaaaand I think I love you if you actually got through this little novella of mine!
Maggie, x.

P.S. I’m the last person to get Twitter and I most likely will be the most boring person to follow but if you’re interested in the occasional update, you can follow me @beautyandlit – because beautylit etc. etc. was already taken not because I absolutely loved the name…

 

Weekly Medley #19

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(1) the weekly product highlight (2) yesterday I upgraded my blog and have begun to make a few changes (3) the pre-birthday-supper face (5) soaking up the sun in short-shorts (4) I speed-read another book in the guilty pleasure series of mine (5) there’s nothing that compares to lounging outdoors in the heat with a book in hand (6) another post in my skincare series (7) another gorgeous day

This week was marked by Saturday’s one year anniversary of the blog here – it feels so strange to write that as it seems like yesterday – and today was actually my twentieth birthday, as well. This week was nothing particularly noteworthy to be honest but the constant gorgeous sunny weather had me pleasantly surprised and frequently lounging outdoors, reading and planning posts in my little book of blogging. More than that it was actually hot which is not exactly standard here on the east coast before later June but I’ve been enjoying it

Although I have only used the product once since picking it up, the Herbal Essences Naked Moisture Cleansing Conditioner has impressed me enough to deserve mention as a weekly love. I picked it up on impulse on a rare trip to Target as it seems to be the only place where its stocked near me and it was economical, priced at six dollars for its 500 mL container that actually came with a pump. With a nice minty herbal scent, the cleansing conditioner was hydrating but lightweight, catering to those with finer easily-weighed-down hair than those that I had tried before. For me, the only real negative to the product is that it contains the silicone that builds up in the hair titled dimethicone but at the very least it’s nowhere near the top of the ingredient list. In a nutshell, this provided nice curl formation and gentle cleansing with no limpness occurring either.

In honour of having my blog for an entire year, I decided to take the plunge and upgrade my blog to “premium status” or whatever, getting my own domain (and consequently having to change my blog title because the ‘beautylit’ was actually taken but I’m not opposed to the new name), more customization options and all that jazz. There will be a few more changes going on in the next little while but I’m sure you can see that I also switched up the layout quite a bit here. I’ve had the itch to do this for months but I talked myself out of it time and time again so I’m glad that I finally went for it. I’m sure you know the drill in regards to my indecisive nature by now.

There are few things in life (beauty included) that I enjoy as much as lounging lazily and reading a good book so the fact that this week consisted of loads of this, I’m pretty satisfied. Although I actually read three or four books, I thought I would give you the highlights. I read the brand-new City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare and pretty much devoured it which is unsurprising considering that this series has been the fuss-free guilty pleasure series for years. I also am still enjoying Middlemarch and have made significant progress on the less than brief novel.

How was your week?

Maggie, x.

 

Weekly Medley #17

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(1) evidence of writing the skincare series this week (2) if you’re total order at Sephora was $40 it clearly doesn’t count… (3) the lovely Natalie who writes the blog thunderl0ve that has been added to my bookmarks this week – it’s that good… (5) Essie Bikini So Teeny (6) the weekly product picks (7) the weekly selfie featuring the blush in question on the cheeks

Yet another pretty monotonous and nondescript week has gone by; I’m pleased to report that nothing semi-catastrophic happened but nothing of the particularly exciting sort happened – other than a fun low-key night with friends. I feel like I can sum-up my week into two phases – the first half of the week was characterized by continuing on in attempting to get somewhat in shape without leaving my living room that I started at the beginning of last week and the accompanying aches and pains and then suddenly the second half of the week was full of gorgeous sunny weather outside that could only be classified as hot and required things like sunscreen and shaved legs.

Right at the beginning of the week directly after the Sephora incident shown above, I went into the drugstore and Essie was on sale for a few dollars of so it was kind of expected that a polish or two would be coming home with me and the pale cornflower blue Essie Bikini So Teeny went right onto my nails and remained there until the very end of the week with minimal chipping. I’m kind of in love with the shade as it is a pastel blue kind of hue with a kind of different spin to it and the formula actually lasted on my chipping-prone nails. Being a light shade, it’s not the most opaque polish in the world, definitely requiring two solid coats but at the very least it wasn’t streaky or anything of that sort. I might be in love.

There’s another product of the beauty variety that stood out this  last week was the L’Oreal True Match Blush in Innocent Flush and if you’ve been reading my posts as of late and have a good memory, you’re probably aware that I initially misjudged this one. At fifteen dollars for a drugstore product, this is certainly not a bargain but this peachy-coral shade with that golden sheen is well worth it. In fact, I think I only went for a different blush once last week – ohemgee groundbreaking. Pretty much, it’s just a smooth-textured coral blush with a creamy texture that adds that glow to the cheeks that instantly perks up my face but it does deliver at a slightly lower price point and has that peachiness that differentiates it from the other 284847 coral blushes I own. I might have a slight blush hoarding problem, if you catch my drift.

On The Blog…

1. Weekly Medley #16 2. Skincare Thoughts and Tidbits 3. My Skincare Saviors 4. The Daily Face #15 5. Lip Product Addict Tag

You could easily have a different take on this than me, but I thought that this was one of my better weeks, putting out five posts that I’m pleased with and actually committing to writing the little skincare series that I’ve been pondering over for ages and ages without any sort of action occurring. I plan on doing a few more posts in the next little while, if you’re curious, but I do plan on trying to write a few more skincare posts on a regular basis in the future — thoughts?

I can’t be one hundred percent certain that these plans will come to fruition but in the next week you can expect another installment in the skincare series (or perhaps even two…) and perhaps a roundup of my essential beauty products throughout the duration of spring. I’d love to hear any sort of post requests as always!

How was your week?

Maggie, x.