Drugstore Beauty Haul - Part 1 - TRESEMME - NEW AFFORDABLE SKINCARE!!

I love the drugstore! I love Walmart! lol... that's besides the point. Recently I have purchased several new items that I'd like to share with all of you. I will be dividing every shopping trip into a separate haul so as not to make this blog post too long.

So lets start off with why I actually went to Walmart, I was running out of my Tresemme Split Remedy shampoo and conditioner, although I still have an Aussie Shampoo and Conditioner that I need to finish. Since I do a lot of hot oil treatments I find that Aussie is not really able to get all of the oil out, whereas with Tresemme if you massage the shampoo onto your scalp and leave it in your hair for around 2 minutes or so really cuts through the oil and leaves clean hair with just one wash, although I always wonder how many harsh ingredients are involved to make this kind of 'cleaning happen'. On the other hand I secretly had been wanting to try the new Keratin line so that gave me two reasons to go out and pick them up! Although I have not used this shampoo and conditioner too long, I am enjoying the smoothness of my hair after using these.

Also, I think Olay makes the BEST drugstore skincare products, I am a religious user of the Olay 7 in 1 Blemish Control Cream Cleanser, is it amazing and does not dry my skin out (for reference I have dry -combination skin). I saw the Equate version of the Regenerist Cream Cleanser and Regenerist Night Cream on sale so I picked up both. Having tried both of these products, I like the cleanser, however I don't LOVE it, I would stick to the Olay branded one, however I have never tried the Olay version of the regernist cleanser so I am NOT judging this by how similar it is to the Olay version, however I am judging this based on what it does for my skin. I particularly LOVE the night cream though, it melts into the skin so beautifully, gives the skin a luminous glow but not shiny looking. I have never tried any of Olay's night creams but this Equate stuff is fantastic. The only thing I would consider a downfall of this cream is the smell, it is a very strong Lavender scent in my opinion, so if you're someone who has extremely sensitive skin I would stick to something like Cetaphil.

I have been slathering this night cream on my face and it really feels luxurious, when I first put it on it really felt irritating but that feeling went away after 1 minute or so. I am putting this on during the day under my makeup to really get rid of my dry cheeks because of the winter time and it looks good. 

Peanut Butter - Banana - Coconut Pinwheel DESSERT

For those of us who have been on the healthy lifestyle quest, we know we sometimes fall off the wagon. Now I admit to having 1-2 cheat days a week where I am a little more free to eat what I please, during my 'healthy' part of the week there are times when I feel like indulging in something that is not going to entirely ruin my eating habits.

Here is a snack I make for when I want to eat something GOOD

What you'll need:
- a banana
- peanut butter (light)
- flaked coconut

***chocolate chips are OPTIONAL)

Method:
A lot of people start off with freezing a banana, I do put my banana in the freezer but I do not totally FREEZE IT! I keep it in the freezer just before it freezes (hopefully that makes sense). I then slice the bananas (may be as thick or thin as you please, I find a medium thickness works best). I then take some peanut butter and top off with another slice of banana. Then pour some flaked coconut into a plate/bowl and roll the pinwheel into the coconut until its coated nicely, If you can resist the urge in indulging into one of these than place in the freezer for about 15 minutes just to avoid the peanut butter from melting, but if you cant than DIG IN!!!

***Optional: if using chocolate chips, mix 1-2 tablespoons of chocolate chips with the peanut butter and slather between two slices of banana.

Note: The amount of peanut butter you choose to put between the bananas is completely up to you.

I am usually tend to use half of a banana when making this treat for 1-2 people :)

BON APETIT!

The BEST DRUGSTORE RAZOR!! BETTER THAN VENUS!!!

I have been on the hunt for the most comfortable razor that gives me the closest shave. I have probably tried most drugstore razors out there. I think one of the worst I have tried would have to be the Noxema Spa Shave 4 Blade razors, my philosophy was that if the Noxema Cleansing cream is so amazing, their razors would have to be too. WRONG!!! One of the best I have tried are the SCHICK HYDRO (5 blades with skin guards) I feel like the beauty of this razor lies in the 'skin guards' which almost act as a protection for the skin, they almost adhere to the skin without irritating it. The best part is, SCHICK always has coupons!, its amazing how affordable this brand of razors can be!.

I know, I know some of you will disagree with me and tell me that Venus makes the Best Razors but I would have to disagree, most razors if used every week on my legs especially will just lead to bloody legs (sorry for this, I am just trying to be concise with this review lol) Although this razor is targeted towards men, I think its amazing for what it is.

***Note I have also tried the SCHICK Extreme Green razors and I feel that they are nothing compared to the beauty of this razor!!***

Try it out and tell me what you think!!

Everyday Makeup Storage + Ideas

I think one of the challenges almost every girl who wears makeup undergoes is how to store makeup that is used on a daily basis. I have found a system that is both functional and looks decent and that is what I will be sharing with you today. One tip I can give is not to limit your ideas as to which containers can be used or what stores specific storage containers need to be bought! Allow yourself to open up the creativity centre in your mind to explore different options to cater to your storage. In my case, I do not wear makeup on a daily basis but when I do, I am not a big eye shadow person hence you will not see many eye shadows in my makeup arena. I keep my eye shadows/eye shadow palettes, blush palettes and any other makeup I do not use often in the first drawer of my dresser, which I may make a blog post on in the future.

My purpose here is not to brag about anything (as most of the items I use on a daily basis are from the DRUGSTORE), rather its to show you that its just takes a little imagination to make your space reflect you, no matter how small or large your living space may be.

The Black and White organizational container is from Winners, the material is not too easy to clean but I mainly purchased it for the pretty design. It mostly holds my foundations (Neutrogena Healthy Skin Foundation + Makeup Forever Mat Velvet Plus) + my everyday Jordana Blush, some lip liners

This jar holds most of my face brushes

The jars with the white and purple beads are from Dollarama, as well as the beads. 
TIP - Use your pretty earings as forms of decoration!

This jar holds all of my eye brushes. Again I display my earings this way and it adds some 'glamour' to the jar!

This container is a recycled Ferroro Rocher Box, I store my MAC Skin Finish, MAC Studio Fix Power, Rimmel Stay Matte, some Wet n' Wild Palettes, and an ELF blush and bronzer duo

This gem I found at the local thrift store for $4.00 (what a STEAL). I store the brushed I don't really use in here. The exact same jar I saw at Winners just the other day or $19.99!!! 

Some of my Bath n Body Works perfumes are here, namely Warm Vanilla Sugar, Twilight Woods and Secret Wonderland

This pretty container/jar is also a find from the local Thrift store, I beleive it was  $1-2  not too sure, I mostly keep some lipsticks in here, but I usually swap them out for whatever I am liking for the time being. There are the Mac Viva Glam II, a Yves Rocher, Rimmel Airy Fairy, some NYC red lipsticks that Im trying and a the Revlon Lip Butter in Creme Brule.

Easy Moisturizing Makeup Remover Using Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream

Everyone knows my love for my Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream, the more I use it, the more uses I find for it. Now, just to get it out there, sometimes I DESPISE wearing make-up just because of the aches and pains to remove it after a long day. I am one of those people who absolutely cannot go to bed knowing that I have makeup on my face. For the longest time, I had been using Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Vaseline or even baby oil to remove my makeup, and don't get me wrong, they did the trick but recently I have discovered the easiest way to remove all traces of makeup, both eye make-up, as well as face make-up.

The answer is CETAPHIL MOISTURIZING CREAM

Things you will need:
- Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream
- 3 Cotton Rounds
- Warm Water

There are two methods to removing your makeup using the cetaphil moisturizing cream

METHOD 1: this is best suited for the days when you do not have THAT much makeup on
- apply warm water to your warm and GENTLY patting your eyes to break down all the foundation, mascara etc.
- take a small amount of the cetaphil moisturizing cream in the palm of your hands and apply all over your face, apply a little bit more on your eyes and let it sit for about 30-60 seconds
- start massaging the cream into your face. If you feel that your face is not so 'slippery' anymore, apply more warm water to your palms and continue massaging.
- massage your face for at least 1 minute and than pat try with a towel.

***repeat if necessary

METHOD 2: this method WORKS BEST in my opinion.
- splash your face with warm water (the purpose here is to break down the makeup a tad bit.
- take two cotton rounds and run them under warm water, the point here is to make them wet. Make sure the cotton rounds do not start to break apart (they will only start to break apart if too much water is used).
- take a dime size of cetaphil moisturizing cream and apply to each cotton round

- use the two cotton rounds, place them on your eyes for around 30-60 seconds.
- gently wipe your eyes, flip the cotton rounds over and wipe the rest of your face
- the beauty of using COTTON ROUNDS, is that you can use BOTH SIDES!

This is gross, but just goes to show that this method WORKS AMAZING!1

- use the third cotton round, wet it, apply cream and use this as a last step to ensure your face is completely make-up free

Follow up with your usual face cleansing process, or wash your face with water. pat dry and moisturize (again with the cetaphil moisturizing cream, if you're obsessed, like I am :P lol)

Now I am sure there are more ways to use cetaphil to remove your makeup but I feel the above are the simplest. I usually use method #2 most often just because I feel it is more efficient for me as I wear a lot of mascara.

***You can also mix cetaphil moisturizing cream with an oil (such as Olive Oil, Jojoba Oil, Coconut Oil, Almond oil) to achieve similar results. I just find the oil method to messy.

Hope this helps someone!!

Have you ever tried using cetaphil as a makeup remover? If so, what is your technique?

Skin Clearing + Brightening 2 in 1 Scrub + Mask

I feel that nowadays, there is more awareness of having 'clear skin'. Commercials and advertisements for skin care products all claim to have some sort of 'skin enhancing' benefit.
Having great skin should not cost an arm and a leg to achieve, that is why I am sharing one of my favorite skin clearing and brightening scrubs that can also double as a mask!

Ingredients
- 1 generous tsp of organic honey
- 1 tsp of olive oil
- 1 tsp of lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
- 1 - 1/2 tsp brown sugar

Method

Combine all ingredients together in a bowl until you reach a nice pastey consistency.


 Next, Massage all over face and neck for around a minute or so. Leave on for 20 minutes, wash off with luke warm water. Pat your face dry and follow up with your favorite moisturizer.

Say hello to smooth, soft and bright skin!

***TIPS***
- with consistent use (2-3 time a week) this concoction will not only slough away dead skin cells, the combination of lemon, honey and turmeric will help to brighten the skin and even out skin tone.
- if you have dry skin, try to decrease the amount of lemon juice and increase the amount of honey.
- this scrub/mask is good for all skin types
- I do not recommend substituting white sugar, I feel that brown sugar is not so harsh and it feels great on the skin.
- I recommend doing this mask only AT NIGHT TIME, the reason for this is because turmeric leaves a yellow tint on the skin which goes away by the morning.
- Olive oil can also be substituted by avocado oil, almond oil, coconut oil etc.

Oatmeal Coconut Healthy 3 Ingredient Cookies

I hope everyone has had a wonderful beginning to the new year. I truly hope that this new year brings all of us success, happiness and joy. Many people during this time of the year make new years resolutions such as loosing weight etc. The recipe I will be show here will help to satisfy a sweet tooth without packing on the extra calories and fat.

Ingredients
2 bananas
1.5 cups of rolled oats
2-3 tablespoons of coconut flakes (unsweetened or sweetened, its up to you)

Method
Combine all ingredients with a fork/spoon or clean hands and form a soft dough. (if you feel that the cookie dough is too runny, feel free to add more rolled oats :)

Next, you can either use an ice cream scoop to make your cookies, or you can do what I did, I used two spoons to make my cookies. Place on a greased baking tray.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes

Carefully remove baking tray from the oven, wait till they are slightly cooled to serve!

TIME TO INDULGE!!!


TIPS!
***The banana and rolled oats is the basic part of this recipe. I chose to add coconut flakes this time but some other recommendations are peanut butter, walnuts, almonds, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds etc!! The possibilities here are ENDLESS, that's one can never get bored of the same old "healthy cookie"

***Adding 2-4 tablespoons of chocolate chips is also a great healthy alternative to chocolate chip cookies!!!***

***This is a great activity for kids and makes a great afternoon snack***

***This recipe can also be altered to be a "protein cookie", add a 1-2 tablespoons of protein powder and you are set!***

Quote of the Day


“Tell me what you eat and I will tell you who you are.”
–Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, (1755-1826).

I would love to hear of any additions any of you may have