Body Shop Lipstick

  This week I tried out lipstick from a brand I have never used before for cosmetics- The Body Shop. I have heard really great things about their makeup brushes, but I was not too sure of their cosmetics. As the store was having a 50% sale on all cosmetics, I decided to pop in and check out what they offer. Immediately I saw the lipstick section and decided to spend my attention there, as lipstick is usually really expensive when it comes to cosmetics, so 50% off would be a great deal. 

  After going through a few swatches, I fell upon a beautiful red lipstick, which also happens to be my colour of weakness. Really, I have so many red lipsticks I am beginning to lose count. But keep in mind, I don't just buy any red lipstick I see, I make sure that I purchase the best shade that compliments my complexion.  Plus, I feel like red is such a great colour that compliments everyone. 

  The lipstick colour I picked up from The Body Shop is from their Color Crush line and is called Enraptured Red (code 115). The  color is very bright and vibrant and leaves a nice sheen on the lips, as shown in the picture below.

 The lipstick has a skin conditioning agent, which keeps lips feeling very soft and moisturized. I also liked that the lipstick has a long staying power which is a quality I love in lipstick, especially because I am a big coffee drinker. Tip: If you apply lip liner before the lipstick, it will prevent the lipstick from bleeding outside of your lip. As well, if you pencil in your lip with lip liner before you apply lipstick, it will help the lipstick to last longer. 

  Also, this lipstick is very affordable at $13.00 (before the discount), which is a good price for a quality lipstick that is not sold at a drugstore. If you are on a budget, I would recommend checking out the lipsticks offered at The Body Shop as you may find some great dupes of some of the expensive brands offered. 

  Overall, I really like this lipstick as it provides a nice pop of colour to my lips, while leaving them feeling hydrated which will come in handy as the weather gets colder in the next couple of months.

Feel free to leave a comment below and don't forget to subscribe or  Follow my blog with Bloglovin!

Highlights Of My Week: Beauty, Food, Bloggers & Drinks

This was such a fun week. The highlights of my week are discussed below: 

Top row:

Left: I wanted to do a different colour on my nails that I haven't done forever. As a huge fan of the 'all white' dress attire for the summer, I thought it would be fitting to take this fashion trend one step higher by applying white to my nails. The polish I used is by OPI called Alpine Snow and it is such a nice bright colour. This colour actually reminds me of a neon colour since it stands out so much on my nails, especially with my skin complexion. This is definitely a colour I would recommend and if you like nail art, this would be a good base to use before you begin to add more colours.

Center: One of my really good friends is getting married, so before the wedding I decided to take her out to her favourite restaurant Defina. It's a pizzeria and she claims it has some of the best pizza in Toronto. Well she definitely wasn't lying the pizza was delicious and so was the dish of grilled vegetables that we ordered. Honestly, I had no idea how good a dish of vegetables on their own could taste.

Right: Drinks after work is always so much fun! Even though I am not a big beer drinker, I decided to have a Stella Artois with a side order of sweet potato fries. Although, I drank it incredibly slow, it was nice to sit with friends and enjoy the rest of the night.

Second row:

Left: This week I had the opportunity to hang out with my friend Melina, who just happens to be a fashion blogger. I always love hanging out with her because she is so much fun and we can relate with one another since we both blog and always have so much to talk about.

Center: Every year Toronto holds the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), which is basically an exhibition that takes place towards the end of the summer. When the CNE starts, it is a sign that summer is over and it's time for reality to kick back in. Although, it is a sign of work and school many people love the CNE for the fun rides and fun food combinations that they provide. This year, I tried one of their new food concoctions called The Thanksgiving Waffle. The waffle is made with stuffing in the batter, cranberries, slices of turkey in it and gravy. I personally was not a huge fan of this waffle, but I think its because I am not a big fan of turkey. I just decided to try this meal out because I heard great reviews and I figured it would turn me into a turkey feign, but unfortunately it didn't. Overall, I did think it tasted good, but it not something that I would want try again.

Right: This week I wrote a review about the Burt's Bees tinted lip balm that I tried in the shade Wild Violet.  I found the lip balm to be highly moisturizing, however, I did not feel that it provided me with the tint I would like to see on my lips.  Overall, I thought it was a good product, but it was a bit too natural for me to be a tinted lip balm. In the future when I use it, I will most likely apply it over my matte lipsticks to give it a bit of a shine and keep my lips from getting to dry.

These were the highlights of my week. I hope you enjoyed reading about them!

Feel free to leave a comment below and don't forget to subscribe or  Follow my blog with Bloglovin!

Natural Beauty Product: Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm

I have always been such a huge fan of natural beauty and skincare products as they are non-toxic and help towards maintaining a vibrant and youthful look that is healthy for ones skin.

One of the more natural beauty products that I recently tried was from the line Burt’s Bees that is known for their products that are largely made from bee’s wax or plants. The Burt’s Bees tinted lip balm in particular is comprised of Shea butter and botanical wax and comes in 9 different shades that cost $7.99 CDN and are suppose to give your lips a tint of color. The shade I tried on was the shade called Sweet Violet.  

   The lip balm comes in this really neat packaging that I have never seen any skincare or beauty line come up with. The tinted lip balm is encased in a tube that has the philosphy of Burt’s Bees written on it- Nature Becomes You.

Once the packaging is open, the tinted lip balm is revealed.

   Although the color is called blush, I thought it would add some color to my lips. However, I didn’t notice any color or red hue appear on my lips after I applied the product on. In fact, I found this lip balm to be very natural and more similar to a highly moisturizing lip balm, than a tinted lip balm.

   Even though the lip balm didn’t add the tint I was looking for, I really found that it applied nicely both over and under lipstick, especially when the color is more matte.

The left side is with the tinted lip balm applied. The right side is with the tinted lip balm applied over my M.A.C. lipstick rebel.

   Even though the lip balm didn’t add the tint I was looking for, I really found that it applied nicely both over and under lipstick, especially when the color is more matte.

   As it is highly moisturizing and feels great on my lips, I think I will definitely be using this tinted lip balm over my lipstick when the weather begins to get cold, rather than using it as a tinted lip balm as the color is far too light for what I am looking for.

Below is an overview of the pro's and cons of this product:

Pros:

The lip balm is 100% natural so you won’t need to worry about chemicals or toxins in the product you are applying onto your lips

Affordable lip product that is sold in nice packaging

Highly moisturizing and long lasting on your lips

Cons:

Appears to be more a of lip balm than tinted lip balm, as the tint is very natural that it does not show much color or hue on the lips

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Don't forget to subscribe or Follow my blog with Bloglovin!

Have you tried any Burt's Bees products? If so, what's your favourite product for their line?

Highlights Of My Week: Beauty, Events & Food!

 This week has been quite eventful. Filled with delicious food, makeup and fond memories of   

events I recently attended. Here are some of my highlights!

Top left: Here is a look of some of the makeup goodies I received from an event I recently attended. As you can see the company that gave away these gift bags was extremely generous as they gave away great quality beauty products. Some which include brands like: Burt's bees lip balm tinter, OPI nail polish, Cover Girl eyeshadow and much more!

Top Right: I recently decided to get a manicure as I usually do my nails myself, and decided to treat myself this time. The colour I am wearing is an OPI colour called Koala Berry. I chose this colour because it is such a beautiful colour for the summer and I like adding a pop of colour to my nails.

Center: I recently participated in a pageant and wanted to share a picture that was taken at the event. As well, my previous post discusses why I decided to participate in a pageant and my experience of the overall event. 

Bottom left: One of my favourite hot beverages is the chai latte that is available at a cafe in Toronto that I often go to called Aroma. It's a great drink with the perfect balance of cinnamon and spice. I highly recommend this drink if you ever get the opportunity to try it.

Bottom right: Another fantastic beverage I enjoyed was this homemade ice tea that I bought while attending a street festival in Toronto. Notice the big slice of lemon that is placed in my drink. It's such a refreshing drink for the summer. I could honestly drink it every day- it is just that good! Maybe I can learn a good recipe and share it in a future post with everyone. 

I hope you enjoyed the highlights of my week!  Please feel free to leave a comment below and don't forget to Follow my blog with Bloglovin! 

From Blogger To Pageant Girl: Why I Decided to Be In A Pageant

  I truly apologize for not writing a post for a while. For the last couple of months I have been incredibly busy preparing to participate in a pageant. I must admit I never thought that I would be participating in a pageant. It was never some goal on my bucket list, or some burning desire that I had to fulfill.  In reality it was presented to me as an offer from someone that was organizing the pageant and wanted to know if I would participate. I decided to accept. I figured it was a good opportunity. Sure, I will admit I used to view it as objectifying towards woman, but after watching several pageants on television, I began to realize it was way more than the stereotypes people usually imagine.

  The more I watched pageants on television, I began to notice that the girls that were participating were educated and many were continuing to advance their education; such as Nina Davuluri – the first Indian American to become Miss America.  It’s important to note that I am not stating that all girls that participate in pageants are studious, but rather that many of the girls that are participating in pageants are not just pretty faces and also have their intelligence to stand behind.

   I also like that pageants allow contestants to participate in community service and raise funds towards a good cause/charity. In fact, I used this pageant as a platform to organize and host my own charity event. It was such a great experience and a wonderful networking opportunity that allowed me to connect with people that I may not have had the chance to work with. I am so happy that I was able to give back to my community and I hope to organize many more charity events in the future. 

  And lastly pageant prizes can be really appealing. For instance, pageants can offer great monetary prizes for winning or qualifying as top three; however, there are also other rewards that are offered besides money. For instance, the prize for the winner in this competition is a free trip to Grenada! I personally found this prize to be incredibly appealing, as my family is from this island and I have developed quite the travel bug over years. Yay free vacation!

  Although there are definitely fun and glamorous aspects of participating in a pageant, I must admit it was very different from what I expected it to be like. I didn’t realize the amount of time and effort that goes into participating in a pageant. Of course I didn’t think it would be easy, but I figured it would be pretty straightforward without fully comprehending how much work is involved to get to the actual pageant night.

 For instance, I imagined participating in a pageant would be something like this:  

 Stand in dress. Walk around. Smile. Walk around. Smile. Walk around. Smile. Never Stop Smiling.   Walk off the stage.

 Here is what is really involved:

  Two months of rehearsals. Rehearsals can start from 6pm and end as late as 9 pm or later. Find sponsors to alleviate costs of the pageant. Spend hours attending fittings and purchasing other items needed for the other categories of the pageant (e.g. talent, costume etc). Learn opening dance choreography (which in my case is incredibly difficult to learn as I have no dance ability), prepare for talent section, practice walking and practice rehearsing the opening speech to the audience. Most importantly do NOT FALL!

  Even though there was so much involved which was at times overwhelming and even stressful, I am happy that I took a chance and did something that was out of my comfort zone. Sometimes you need to take risks and do something different in life. Mix it up a bit. Learn a little and live a little. I learned a lot about my self from doing this pageant and I am proud that I was able to take on something that was so foreign to me. Overall, it was a very interesting experience that I will remember forever. 

  I will end this post by thanking all of the individuals and businesses that sponsored me for the pageant, as I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish everything I did without all of their help and generosity.

A BIG Thank You To:

Crimson and Clover - Earrings

Beauty World- Hair extensions

Sugaring by Saba- Manicure and Pedicure

Hair styled by- Sharon Panchoo

Solid Construction

Grenidge Home Services

Amorphous Salon

Universal Air

  If you are wondering if I will participate in a pageant again in the near future, at the moment I will probably say no. But then again, you never know what life has in store. Now that the pageant is over and things have settled down I can go back to blogging! Stay tuned for regular posts! 

  If you have any questions about my experience or want to share your pageant experience, please free to leave a comment below! Don't forget to Follow my blog with Bloglovin!