Make Up For Ever Matte Velvet Skin Liquid and Powder Foundations

Make Up For Ever Matte Velvet Skin Liquid and Powder Foundations

Hello friends!!!

I can’t remember the last time I did a product review, which likely means it was quite awhile ago at a time when grad school didn’t feel quite so demanding. I definitely felt he pressure this term, balancing classes and a clinical externship, but they were good reminders of why I wanted to get into speech-language pathology. Another area of interest of mine is makeup, and today I wanted to review two Make Up For Ever foundation products.

Matte Velvet Skin Blurring Powder Foundation

I fell in love with the MUFE Pro Finish Multi-Use Powder Foundation shortly after its release (which I believe was in 2013), and it was my holy grail powder foundation until it vanished off the market earlier this year. I was devastated, and then stumbled upon the Matte Velvet Skin Blurring Powder Foundation. Hopeful that it was the replacement for the multi-use powder I was mourning, I gave it a go.

MUFE Matte Velvet Skin Blurring Powder FoundationThe packaging is nice, with the powder and applicator sponge housed in a sleek, rectangular, matte, black tin. My main concern at first glance was that only half of the tin contains product, unlike the multi-use powder, which filled an entire circular pan and had the applicator sponge beneath it in a separate compartment of the compact. However, a weight comparison indicated that the circular compact was 10g, with a net product amount of 0.35oz, while the rectangular tin was 11g, and housed 0.38oz of product. In short, the new blurring powder foundation actually contains 0.03oz more product, but the packaging is deceiving as to how much product is actually included. Product amounts aside, what I especially love about this product is that a mirror fills the entire lid of the tin. Another fun packaging feature is that the tin is lever-activated. In other words, there’s no way for it to pop open in a makeup bag if it gets jostled around in a purse or during travel; it will only open if the lever is pressed and the lid is lifted. The only downside of the packaging  I can foresee is that, because the exterior is a matte surface, fingerprints and makeup substances may cling to it, but should easily come off with makeup remover, or even simply warm water.

Phew, after that long preamble about the packaging, here are some features of the product itself:

  1. Full coverage
  2. Buildable coverage
  3. Mate finish
  4. Blurring effect (smoothes and mattifies, reducing pores and absorbing oil)
  5. Amino acid- coated pigments offer water-resistant 12-hour wear
  6. No fading, caking, or flaking
  7. Suitable for all skin types, but especially good for use with combination to oily skin
  8. Formulated with MUFE’s unique Flexi-fit puzzle complex that allows for flexible coverage and lightweight feel
  9. Double-sided applicator sponge for sheer to full coverage
  10. Available in 30 shades

Now, not that availability, or lack thereof, is indicative of a product’s quality, but I had a devil of a time getting my hands on my shade in this powder. It had been sold out on the Sephora website for months, but I lucked out and found it at the Pacific Centre Sephora in downtown Vancouver while shopping with my boyfriend. I settled on the shade R210 Pink Alabaster. While it is always better to see a product in person to confirm that the shade is right for you, I especially recommend doing that with this product. Online, R210 looked much darker than what I would imagine ‘Pink Alabaster’ to look like, but it was listed as the lightest shade, and it wasn’t until I saw it in Sephora that I realized it was indeed my perfect shade.

Now, I am not usually one for using applicators that come with products, but the sponge that comes with this product was actually specially designed to offer application flexibility. The black sponge side picks up more product, and is intended to provide a more full coverage look. In comparison, the white velvet side picks up less product, allowing for a more sheer coverage. Something to note is that the applicator sponge retains a lot of product, and it can be hard to get even product distribution on the sponge. If sponges really aren’t your thing, the powder can also be applied with a brush. Of course, MUFE recommends their branded 124 powder kabuki brush, but I’m sure any powder foundation brush would offer the same precise buildable coverage. (Side note, I do own the 124 kabuki brush and it is really great, but also really pricy at $42).

Matte Velvet Skin Full Coverage Foundation

Now this product I did not actually pick out myself. My mother has been on the hunt for a new foundation for several months now (R.I.P Almay TruBlend), and every time she buys a new foundation to try, I sneak in and try it too, and I wanted to share my thoughts.

Features of this foundation include:

  1. Breathable and full-coverage
  2. Matte finish
  3. Up to 24 hours of wear
  4. Suitable for normal, dry, oily, and combination skin
  5. Reduces shine
  6. No fading, caking, or flaking
  7. Formulated with MUFE’s unique Flexi-fit puzzle complex that allows for flexible coverage and lightweight feel
  8. Available in 40 shades

I purchased (or rather, my mother did) the shade R210 Pink Alabaster, which just so happened to be the same shade as the powder foundation I had been on the hunt for for months. The formula is on the watery side, and feels thin, but it applies and blends really well, either with a brush or a beauty blender. It does have a bit of a chemical-like smell to it, and I’m not sure what ingredient or ingredient combination creates that smell, but it’s a little off-putting. It’s nothing major though, and you might not even notice it if you aren’t super sensitive to smells like I am.

I did a wear test across a few days, and noticed that, while the foundation held up well for the most part, there was some drying around my nose, and my skin started to show through. This was easily fixable though with a quick touch up with the blurring powder, but I don’t like to pack makeup around in my purse to fix my makeup during the day. Who has time for that???

So those are my thoughts on the Make Up For Ever Make Velvet Skin Foundation collection. Let me know in the comments below if you have tried either of these products, and your thoughts on them!!!

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SkinnyMint 28-Day Teatox Review

SkinnyMint 28-Day Teatox Review

**Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored, and all opinions shared are my own.**

Hello everyone!!!

It’s been a minute since I lasted published a post, but honestly I don’t know how I can keep this blogging thing up in grad school. It might just be my program, but the workload is triple what it was in my undergraduate degree and there are group projects coming out the yin yang. I still want to keep posting but I can’t promise any sort of schedule or regularity so make sure you’re following this blog if you want to be notified every time a new post is up.

I had initially intended to share my thoughts on this product much sooner,  but they were very mixed, and and I didn’t want to put them out there only to have to renege on them later, as it would be a disservice to both my readers and the brand itself.

So, back in February, I was feeling really bloated and sluggish, and started looking for a way to cleanse my system and perk back up. This product is one that I have seen as a sponsored ad on Facebook countless times, and was really interested in because it was advertised to be gluten-free, keto-approved, vegan, and cruelty-free. Then one day I saw an advertisement for a promotion where I could buy one product and get the second for free, so I took a trip over to the SkinnyMint website and had a look around. I ended up purchasing the Super Fat Burning Gummies Limited Edition and received the 28 Day Ultimate Teatox  for free (regular retail at time of purchase: $54.99 USD). Free worldwide shipping was available, so my grand total came to $49.90 USD.

SkinnyMint Detox Bundle(Note: While this deal is no longer available, a similar one is currently being offered, which includes the 28-Day Teatox morning and night teas, as well as a set of the Super Fat Burning Gummies for $66.90 USD.)

I found the website really easy to navigate, and liked that there was an option to set automatic monthly orders for a discounted price on products. The one drawback is that there is only four currency options: US/CAN, Asia/Middle East, AU/NZ, and Europe. For a Canadian such as myself, this meant I was paying in US dollars, which isn’t the end of the world, but it is the difference between saying my final total was $49.90 USD versus $$65.14 CAN, and I like the sound of a lower price point.

I ordered my products on February 4th, receiving an email confirmation shortly afterwards. I then received another email on February 5th letting me know my order had shipped. I received my products in the mail on February 15th, 8 business days from when I ordered, which is right in the ballpark of 7-10 days shipping to Canada listed on the SkinnyMint website. Everything came in one small box, with bubble wrap to keep it safe in transit. I then saved the products for the first of March so that I could do a comparison of how I felt in March with the teatox compared to in February without it.

The first thing I was really impressed with was how delicious the teas and gummies tasted. I was prepared for something not great that I would have to gulp down quickly to keep it in, but both the Morning Boost and Night Cleanse were so yummy and I looked forward to drinking them everyday. The gummies also tasted amazing. My favourite was the garcinia cambogia strawberry flavour hunger buster afternoon gummies, and I was so tempted to eat them like candy a few times. The green coffee bean apple flavour power up morning gummies were also really good though, and the apple was refreshing in the morning. I took two of each daily for the duration of the teatox. What I especially loved about the gummies was that they were sugar-free, gluten-free, and vegetarian, making the product consumable for so many people.

The first three weeks of the Teatox went really well, and I was super happy with the products. Combined with a healthy diet and regular exercise, I felt I had more energy, and didn’t feel bloated anymore. Incorporating the tea into my morning and nighttime routines helped me establish and keep to meal routines that, I believe, also contributed to how I perceived the tea to be working.

My main concern came about at the end of week three. I realized that I was three days late for my period. As someone whose cycle is very regular, I was confused but not overly concerned, so I continued with the teatox. My period still hadn’t started after another four days, in total being late seven days. By that point I was actively concerned, and began researching SkinnyMint and other detox teas to see if other people had similar side effects. Lo and behold, the internet had a host of articles about women who had tried detox teas and had their period extremely late. I made the decision to end my teatox five days early, on March 26th. and in three days my period had come. I was ecstatic, which sounds ridiculous even to me as I type I because periods are bloomin’ annoying and inconvenient.

Based on my experience with this product, my feelings overall are still mixed. A part of me wants to give it another try because I believe it worked and I felt better, but I have to wonder what the teas are doing to me on the inside and what they are made of if they can impact my menstrual cycle. I would definitely be open to trying again sometime, or even trying another brand of detox tea, but I’ll see how things go. I have since maintained a balanced die and regular exercise in the hopes that I will feel less bloated and have more energy.

So, those are all of my thoughts, but let me know in the comments below if you have ever tried a detox tea. What did you think? Did you see results? Have any side effects? I want to hear about it all!

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Kate Spade Surprise Sale 2018

Kate Spade Surprise Sale 2018 BannerOkay, this is a bit of a rushed post, but I hope you’ll forgive me given the news that I bear.

About two weeks ago, my mother phoned me up to tell me of a Kate Spade New York surprise sale, where bags, apparel, shoes, and accessories were up to 75% off. You read that right: 75% off. Needless to say, I stocked up on a few things, which actually just came in the mail the past weekend, and are so perfect that I can’t wait to take pictures of them and share them here.

But then my mother phoned this morning to tell me that the surprise sale is back. I repeat, the surprise up to 75% off Kate Spade New York sale is back. This is the perfect place to pick up that bag that you’ve been ogling for months and waiting for it to go on sale, or to get some Christmas presents for the fashion lovers in your life.

Now, I know that price ranges are relative and some of the reduced prices on some of the items might still be out of range, but when I saw the purse I had fallen for on the website for $149 instead of $359 with the matching wallet, I was beyond excited. Merry Christmas to me.

The sale is on for another two days and can be found here. For most items, you don’t need to enter a promo code; the price will automatically change to the sale price in your shopping bag. There is, however, a bundle shop that you can nose through and see bags and their matching wallets for seriously reduced prices.

I am in exams for the rest of this week, but when I get home, stay tuned for a post all about what I picked up at this sale. And please share with me in the comments below if you get anything Kate Spade. It is one of my favourite brands, and I love seeing what other people like from her.

Happy shopping!!!

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Clinique Autumn 2018 Bonus Time

Hello all!!!

After a long wait, Clinique has released their autumn bonus, and I rushed out to pick one up after I saw it advertised in the Hudson’s Bay flyer. I have no idea what happened this spring, but I seemed to completely miss the bonus release, so my list of products to shop for has been growing since last autumn.

To qualify for this bonus, I picked up two shades of the newly released Matte Pop Lip Shadow that I wanted to try. Stay tuned for a full review of the lip shadows on the blog soon.

The two choices for this bonus were Eyes, or Lips and Cheeks. Because I am terrible at making decisions, I got the Eyes bonus first and have since sent away for the Lips and Cheeks one as well, along with a few of my holy-grail products I have run out of.

The Eyes bonus includes:

  • Kapitza makeup bag
  • Quickliner for Eyes Intense
  • All About Shadow Duo Slider in Strawberry Fudge
  • Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm in Super Strawberry
  • High Impact Black Chubby Stick Mascara
  • Rinse-Off Foaming Cleanser
  • Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion +

Sometimes I use these bonuses as a chance to try out new products before investing in a full size, but this bonus is filled with trial sizes of a bunch of my tried and true favourites. I was especially excited that the eyeshadow in this bonus was the Strawberry Fudge duo since it was one of the first Clinique duos I ever owned, and it feels so nostalgic to own it again. Plus, the brown shade is a near-perfect match to my eyebrows and makes for a great brow filler in a pinch.

Also, this Kapitza bag is gorgeous, and it’s the perfect antidote to the dreary rainy weather Vancouver has been getting lately. I have so many of these bags but this one struck me as extra pretty, so right after I took the photo for this post, I moved all my makeup into it.

All in all, I am very happy with this bonus, and I can’t wait for the Lips and Cheeks bonus to arrive in the next few days.

What Clinique products have you been loving lately???

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Life Update August 2018

Good morning all.

Aside from my Montréal Travel Diary that I posted back in March, my blog and social media have been all but abandoned for the past couple of months, and I wanted to dedicate a post to updating you all about my life.

I applied to graduate school back in February, and at the end of March I received my acceptance letter to the University of British Columbia’s Masters of Science in Speech-Language Pathology program. I am really excited for this new chapter of my life, but it means I’ll be moving to Vancouver and leaving my hometown behind, which scares me when I think about it too much.

At the same time I received this news, my grandmother’s health was rapidly declining and she was admitted to the hospital on Easter Monday. My mother and I visited her everyday and held her hands as she died six days later. My grandmother was, and still is, one of the strongest and kindest women I know and I can only hope that I become half the woman she was.

A week later, I flew out to Calgary, needing to get away from everything for a little while. And who do you think I saw there? If you guessed Scavenger Hunt Boy who I met in Montréal, you’d be right. His name is Mike, by the way. I spent eight days with him in his hometown of Calgary, exploring all the tourist spots and even venturing to Banff and Lake Louise. Mike is the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel to me, and makes me happier than I thought I deserved to be. I met him when I was at my lowest following a devastating heartbreak, and he has shown me only kindness and patience as I process it and move on. If heartbreak was the price of meeting him, I would pay it ten times over.

Once I got back, I started full-time work at my summer job, and that has taken up the vast majority of my time.

At the end of June, I graduated university with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a Minor in Linguistics, and immediately started planning out grad school in Vancouver. Real-estate is brutal as it is, and finding somewhere to live in Vancouver is near-impossible. I ended up finding an apartment and moved in at the end of July (stay tuned for an apartment tour post).

Then in August, I attended the North American Parkour Championships with Mike, and even learned a little bit of Parkour myself. The biggest takeaways from that weekend were that 1) I have a lot more muscles in my body than I ever felt before, 2) everyone who practices Parkour (called traceurs) has insanely sculpted abs, and 3) there really needs to be an online resource for people whose significant others do Parkour, something like “So, Your Boyfriend Does Parkour – Now What?” This is still a work-in-progress title though, because there are so many amazingly talented female traceurs and the resource would also be for male partners looking to understand the practice a little better. While I don’t think I’ll ever be NAPC-level, I think it could be fun to try out some Parkour sometime. After all, I have the perfect teacher.

In recent months, I have also gotten much more into bullet journaling, and instead of crowding up my instagram feed with journal spreads, I decided to create a new account @literaryandlovelydoodles for all of my bullet journaling and art, so you can follow me over there if you’d like 🙂 🙂

Finally, In 7 days and counting, I will start grad school and I am simultaneously excited and nervous. This is an incredible new chapter of my life, but it means leaving the old ones behind, and I have never been very good at letting go. With this new chapter beginning, I want to keep up with blogging. I’ve never been very good at sticking to one topic though, so bear with me as my content goes from beauty product hauls and reviews, to book hauls and reviews, to fashion lookbooks, to bullet journal spreads, to university life, to wherever else I decide to take it. When life gives you choices, I like to select e) all of the above (I am aware I already have 5 options listed above but the phrase doesn’t work with selecting f – just go with me on this one).

So here’s to a (hopefully) great academic year and a fresh start on this blog. Whether you have been with me since yesterday or since the very beginning, thank you for your love and support. It means the world to me. Sorry again for my absence, but I promise I am back for good this time.

Montréal, Canada | Travel Diary

Hello all!!!

At the end of February, I was lucky enough to attend the Golden Key International Honours Society Leadership Summit in Montréal, the largest city in the Canadian province of Québec. While the summit itself went from the 23rd to the 25th, I arrived on the 21st and stayed until the 26th so I would have time to adventure around the city.

This trip was extra special in that it was the first time I had travelled completely by myself and arrived in a place where I didn’t know anyone. I arrived in Montréal late on the 21st, got checked into the Marriott Château Champlain where the conference was to be held, and then headed to the hotel restaurant for some dinner. I decided on poutine, a classic French-Canadian dish of french fries, cheese curds, and gravy.

I don’t know whether it was the time difference, exhaustion from travelling, or mental fatigue from recent life stress, but I slept for most of the 22nd before venturing outside with a peppermint mocha from Starbucks in hand to wander the city.

What I wasn’t smart enough to clue into was that -4 degrees is really cold, especially for a West Coaster like me who is always cold. After wandering for about two hours without a hat or a scarf, I returned to the hotel and indulged in some ravioli and wine to warm me up.

Friday morning I set my alarm, got up early, and embarked on a mission to find the Notre-Dame Basilica in the heart of Vieux-Montréal. It was absolutely gorgeous inside and I arrived just in time for the hourly English tour of the Gothic Revival structure.

By the time I got back to the hotel, I had just enough time to freshen up before heading down to the lobby to check in for the summit.

At check-in, we received swag bags and then were randomly grouped with student representatives from other universities to embark on a city-wide scavenger hunt. I ended up in a group with two people from Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, and they were both so nice. That night was a scheduled networking night so all the people registered for the summit went out to Thursday’s Pub for drinks and appetizers.

Now, this is where things got interesting. One of the two people from Mount Royal University with whom I did the scavenger hunt was a boy, and not just any boy, but a really nice one. He walked back to the hotel with me so I wouldn’t be walking alone in the dark in a strange city, and we ended up talking basically all night about anything and everything.

Saturday was filled with interesting keynote speakers and workshops delivered by professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds. That night, everyone went out for dinner at Weinstein & Gavino’s, where I had one of the best chicken dishes I have ever eaten.

Sunday morning I headed out to wander Vieux-Montréal and the Old Port, but about 8 minutes in, freezing rain started pelting down. Most people probably would have turned back, but not me; I just kept walking, letting the rain hit me in the face, determined to see Vieux-Montréal and the Old Port. There definitely wasn’t much to see in the pouring rain, but the city was still beautiful to be in. When I arrived back at the hotel, I got changed, hung my drenched clothes to dry, and met up with Scavenger Hunt Boy to visit the Musée Des Beaux-Arts. The museum has these really neat red heart statues out front, which were one of the scavenger hunt items that our group didn’t find but I wanted to see. Plus I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could.

For dinner, he and I found an Italian restaurant called Monza, which offers family-size portions at the individual portion prices on Sundays, so we feasted on a massive bowl of mushroom pasta.

After dinner, we found the hotel pool and went for a nice swim to work off some of the pasta. And then at around midnight I got hungry again so we heated up the leftover pasta and realized too late that we didn’t have any forks so we ate it with coffee stir sticks from the coffee set-up in my hotel room.

Monday was bittersweet as I packed up all my things. I was looking forward to being back at home, but it meant I had to leave Scavenger Hunt Boy behind. It may sound silly that in three days I grew so attached to someone, but I did. He and I have talked every day since we met, and I am planning to head out to Calgary to visit him soon.

I know this travel diary is extremely late, but I still wanted to share this trip on my blog and to showcase some of the amazing sights in Montreal, as well as share how I met the most incredible person.

The only upsetting part of the trip was that it didn’t snow once!!! I was all excited to play in the snow and all I got was freezing rain. Not only that, but apparently it snowed back home the day I flew out. Clearly me and the snow just weren’t meant to be.

Clinique Fall 2017 Bonus Time

Good morning everyone!!!

I have missed blogging SO MUCH these past few months, and now that university has started up again and I was a complete fool and enrolled in 6 courses, my time has been monopolized by studying and work. But Clinique released their Fall 2017 bonus recently, and I have been dying to gush about it.

To qualify for this bonus, I picked up a Take The Day Off Makeup Remover for Lids, Lashes & Lips, along with a Clinique Happy Gelato Cream in Berry Blush.

This bonus includes:

  • Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief
  • Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+
  • High Impact Mascara
  • All About Shadow/Blush Palette in Sunrise or Sunset
  • Chubby Lip Balm
  • Clinique Happy Perfume
  • Clinique x Jonathan Adler cosmetics bag

This bonus offered two colour collection choices, Sunrise (left) and Sunset (right), featuring different chubby sticks and eyeshadow and blush shades. Sunrise included an All About Shadow/Blush Palette in Foxier + Mink, and Cupid, and a Chubby Lip Colour Balm in Mega Melon. Sunset included an All About Shadow/Blush Palette in Like Like Mink, and Sunset Glow, and a Chubby Lip Colour Balm in Super Strawberry.

Despite the amazing shades of this bonus, my favourite part if definitely the three-dimensional geometric tiled cosmetic bag, designed by Jonathan Adler, the American potter, designer, and author. All of his designs are modern yet chic, and I would love to have them in my home.

What Clinique products are you bringing out this autumn???

Chocolate Soufflé

Good morning all!!!

It has been WAY too long since I published a post on this blog, so to begin, a little life update:

First off, I am enrolled in two summer classes. The first, neuroanatomy, is online and is wickedly difficult, spanning the entire four months of summer. I just did my second online midterm last Wednesday and my self-esteem still has not fully recovered. The second class is cultural psychology, which is condensed into one month with lectures three times each week. I love the content and the professor is such a lovely person. I had the first midterm for that class last Friday and I feel pretty good about it.

I am also working full-time at the same job I have had for the last four summers. While it varies across countries, full-time employment is defined in Canada as working 30 hours or more per week at one's main or only job. Well, from July 1-15, I worked just over 97 hours.

Balancing school and work has been a real challenge for me, and while it means I will only have one more university term to go before I graduate and I can start saving up for graduate school, I have not had much time for anything else.

That being said, a few weeks back, my friend Travis and I got together to celebrate his 29th birthday and tried our hand at making chocolate soufflés. I think they actually turned out pretty well.

Ingredients

  • Unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 3 large egg yolks, 4 large egg whites
  • 1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Step One
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Lightly coat with sugar, tapping out excess. Set dish on a rimmed baking sheet.

Step Two
In a large heatproof bowl set over a pot of boiling water, combine chocolate, vanilla, and water. Stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Takes about 10 minutes. Then remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

Step Three
Separate egg whites from egg yolks. Then stir egg yolks into cooled chocolate mixture until well combined. This is your soufflé base. Set aside.

Step Four
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and cream of tartar on high until soft peaks form, about two minutes. Then gradually add sugar and beat until stiff, white peaks form, about five minutes. Do not overbeat.

Step Five
In two halves, fold egg-white mixture into soufflé base. To do this, use a silicone spatula to gently cut through the centre of the base and lift up some from the bottom of the bowl. Turning bowl, continue to cut down and lift up base until just combined.

Step Six
Transfer mixture to baking dish, ensuring none gets on the top edge of the dish. Smooth top.

Step Seven
Bake soufflé until puffed and set, around 30-35 minutes. DO NOT OPEN OVEN during first 25 minutes of baking. Then SERVE IMMEDIATELY.

Baking Notes

  • Travis and I actually made two smaller soufflés in baking dishes I gave him as part of his birthday present, thinking they would be about the right size for individual soufflés. They were bigger than I thought, but any size or number of baking dish(es) would work for this recipe as long as the mixture reaches just below the top edge.
  • Do not be fooled by all the talk about how difficult they are to make. It was actually really easy and we had so much fun.
  • We only ended up eating one soufflé right away, and by the time we finished, the second soufflé was a perfect example of why recipes say to serve them immediately: they really do collapse.

Have you ever made soufflé before??? Let me know in the comments below!!!

San Francisco, California | Travel Diary

Hello lovely readers!!!

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably noticed a lot of San Francisco pictures, since I was there a few weeks back. I started up at work again so my days have been pretty packed, but I had an incredible time and I wanted to share some of the highlights of my trip here on the blog. 

My mother and I landed in San Francisco in the late afternoon, so we spent the evening exploring the hotel and I got some amazing pictures of the lobby. We were also upgraded to a suite, compliments of the hotel, so we had way more space to move in and there was a makeup table. I cannot express how excited I was that I could do my makeup at an actual vanity. 

San Francisco 2017 Fairmont Hotel Plaque
San Francisco 2017 Fairmont Hotel Lobby 1
San Francisco 2017 Fairmont Hotel Lobby 2
San Francisco 2017 Fairmont Hotel Rivoli Suite 1
San Francisco 2017 Fairmont Hotel Rivoli Suite 2
San Francisco 2017 Fairmont Hotel Rivoli Suite 3
Sunday was almost entirely dominated by a baseball game at AT&T Park between the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres (Obviously I am a Giants fan). The game went a whopping 12 INNINGS and in the blistering hot sun I was so grateful the elderly woman a few seats over shared her sunscreen with me. Otherwise I would have been a radish for the rest of the trip. The Giants lost 5:2, but it was still an incredible game. As an added bonus, the first 20000 fans into the park received a plush window cling of Hunter Pence, the San Francisco Giants’ right fielder. For dinner, we headed to the hotel’s famed Tonga Lounge and Hurricane Bar, which actually has a floating barge in the centre of it upon which live music is played. There are even sheets of rain” coming down around the barge sporadically. 

San Francisco 2017 AT&T Park
San Francisco 2017 AT&T Park Pence Plush
San Francisco 2017 Fairmont Hotel Tonga Lounge
Monday was the über busy sightseeing day of the trip. We started out by getting a little lost in Chinatown thanks to me turning the wrong way down Mason Street when we left the hotel. Luckily we corrected our path soon enough and still got to see some of the neat features of Chinatown. We then hopped on a cable car to Union Square, home to a massive Macy’s store. After exploring the square, we boarded another cable car and got off at Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world with 8 hairpin turns!!! From there, we walked to Fisherman’s Wharf and wandered through all the shops and eateries. Despite all the fresh seafood we could have had for lunch, I convinced my mother to try an American institution with me: In-N-Out Burger. The burgers are actually so good!!! After refuelling, we headed over to Pier 39, and finished off the day with ice cream in the famous Ghirardelli Square. By the time we got back to the hotel, we were exhausted so we didn’t go into Grace Cathedral, but it was so beautiful that I had to snap a photo of it. 

San Francisco 2017 Powell and Hyde Cable Car
San Francisco 2017 Fisherman's Wharf
San Francisco 2017 In-N-Out Burger
San Francisco 2017 Pier 39
San Francisco 2017 Ghirardelli Square
San Francisco 2017 Ghirardelli Square Ice Cream
San Francisco 2017 Ghirardelli Square Landscape
San Francisco 2017 Grace Cathedral
On Tuesday, my mother and I went over to Alcatraz Island, which served as a Federal prison from 1934 to 1969. This prison was home to some of the most infamous criminals like Al Capone, Alvin “Creepy” Kari’s, Robert Franklin “Birdman” Stroud, and George “Machine Gun” Kelly. Interestingly, because the prison staff lived and worked on the island, many children called Alcatraz Island home and seldom ever knew prisoners were nearby. While several escape attempts were made, it is believed that no prisoner successfully escaped. 

San Francisco 2017 Alcatraz Island
San Francisco 2017 Alcatraz Island B Block
San Francisco 2017 Alcatraz Island D Block
San Francisco 2017 Alcatraz Island Standard Cell
San Francisco 2017 Alcatraz Island Seagull

San Francisco 2017 Alcatraz Island William Baker Book Signing
Wednesday and Thursday were dominated by shopping around Union Square and Westfield Centre, and I scored some incredible deals on dresses and shoes (even with the terrible exchange rate of the Canadian dollar). We also had some delicious Ghirardelli chocolate sundaes for lunch (healthy, I know). 

San Francisco 2017 Union Square Macy's Store
San Francisco 2017 Westfield Center
San Francisco 2017 Westfield Center Ghirardelli Sundaes

I was sad to say goodbye to San Francisco and it’s beautiful weather on Friday morning, but I was looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again and, of course, seeing my fur baby. 

I know this travel diary is extremely late, but I still wanted to share this trip on my blog and to showcase some of the incredible sights in San Franscico.

Have you ever been to San Francisco??? What were your favourite things to see and do???

Warby Parker Summer 2017 Sunglasses Collection

Warby Parker Summer 2017 Collection LaunchGood morning lovely readers!!! 

Today Warby Parker releases its Summer 2017 collection of sunglasses, and I am helping announce it!!!

I consider sunglasses to be a staple summer accessory, wearing them religiously to protect my retinas, and I literally leapt with excitement when I saw the designs and colours in this collection. 

Before I delve into praises, a little bit about Warby Parker the brand. This company was started by college students who recognized the limited availability of eyewear that was both stylish and affordable. Having worn glasses since the young age of 5, I have experienced this same problem, often having to choose between frames that fit my budget and frames that fit my personal sense of style. Warby Parker frames combine these two elements of eyewear in numerous designs for both prescription glasses and sunglasses. Not only that, but for every pair of glasses sold, Warby Parker donates a pair to someone in need. Currently, Warby Parker stores are located in 22 states and in Ontario, Canada, but of course they can be shopped for online and tried on at home. 

Now onto the collection. This collection features 12 new frame styles inspired by 1960s fashion. Drawing inspiration from this decade during which pricy couture was replaced by cheap casual wear seems quite apropos given Warby Parker’s mission to design mod yet reasonably priced eyewear. The vibrant yet sun-soaked hues of this collection’s palette are absolutely gorgeous, including weathered wood, beach grass, taupe and rose crystals, and, of course, ever-classic black. 
These Summer-of-Love-esque frames inspired me to put together a few outfits I think would look perfect with them, and helped curb my excitement to get my hands on a pair or two (or four . . . ) 

Clementine


Raglan

Warby Parker Raglan Outfit SpreadPiper Pink

Warby Parker Piper Pink Outfit Spread

Piper Black

Warby Parker Piper Black Outfit Spread

While I focused on only a few frames, below is a collage of all of the new frame styles and colours included in this collection. 

Let me know in the comments below which are your favourites!!!