Beauty & Lifestyle: September 2012 Favourites

Although the month of September has not yet commenced. I would still like to post my favourites that I've been using day in and day out. The leaves are slowly changing colour and I see the days have become shorter. The mornings have become colder and the leaves are beginning to fall upon the ground. What better than to bring out the jewel tones of beauty and enjoy the more intense scents of spice and cinnamon.

If you have ever smelt this body souffle (same thing as a body butter), you will seriously want to eat it. It smells sweet and creamy like a custard dessert. It moisturizes my dry elbows, hands and feet for the colder weather days.

These are a STEAL. They go for about $3.99 in Canada and $2.99 in the U.S. They are moisturizing and they smell somewhat fruity. They do have a waxy lip balm taste and scent to them as well. This lip product comes in tinted and non tinted formulas. For what they are worth, they are a great affordable product. They also contain SPF which will protect the skin on your lips from UV rays.

These candles smell devine, they smell as good as caramel and fudge. It has a strong sweet caramel aroma. The fragrance is potent and can fill a room with the scent just with the lid off. Add a stronger scent by lighting the candle wick. I found this candle at Walmart and feel in love with it as soon as I smelt it. I went back wanting to buy a backup. But the large size was all sold out. I got mine on sale at $5, regular is about $8.

As Autumn approaches I find my way to cinnamon. It's comforting scent and delicious taste. I even add a little pinch of cinnamon into my unscented shampoos or even my handwash at home. It's a great antiseptic as well. I make homemade face masks with it. Here is my recipe: 1 egg white whisked till frothy, add 1 tbsp of raw honey and a 1/4 tsp of cinnamon. Mix all the ingredients together and apply to a clean face with clean hands. Avoid eye and mouth area. Allow the solution to dry and rinse off with lukewarm water.

As the weather gets cooler, I like to colour my hair to a warmer shade. I have natural dark brown hair, but I like lighten it just a tad. My all time favourite colouring is Nice n Easy 118 Natural Medium Brown.

Beauty: How to Hydrate Your Dry Ends

Now that we are transitioning into the cooler weather Autumn days. We need to prep our hair for the colder weather. Protect and treat your dry ends. Keeping your ends hydrated gives you a more polished look. 

A simple way to make your hair softer and more hydrated. By placing generous amounts of your favourite conditioner on your dry hair concentrating on the ends. Massage the ends of your hair with the warmth from your palms and fingers. When you have successfully covered all of your ends. Loosely braid your hair or swoop it up into a loose bun. I leave it in for an hour or more.

It's easy to do when you are watch TV too. In this tutorial blog I used Patene Pro-V Flat to Volume conditioner. It doesn't have to be a deep conditioning conditioner at all. We want quick and easy, light weight conditioners. I will do a separate blog post about deep conditioning. Three TV shows later you take a shower and rinse it all out. You've got luscious and soft locks. Voila :)

Beauty: August Empties

I received this NARS eye makeup remover as a Christmas present. It lasted for a long while when I opened it in the spring of 2012. Only a little bit on a cotton pad will take off eyeliner and waterproof mascara. I will definitely repurchase this eye makeup remover.

I tried this version of the naturals line because it had makeup remover written on the bottle. This is a great mild cleanser for sensitive skin, but this cleanser definitely does not live up to what the bottle says. My makeup was still there, it smudged my makeup a little, but did not remove it at all. I will not be repurchasing this cleanser again. I think I will be going back to the purifying cleanser instead.

Love this body wash, it smells delicious and it moisturizes my skin very well. It also doesn't cause breakouts. I will definitely repurchase this body wash for it smells so refreshing and fruity.

This is a STEAL. At $1 I can't really complain too much. It works for keeping my eye makeup put for about 6 hours. Which is pretty good for a drugstore primer. It has a thin light weight texture. I also put a thin layer on my eyelashes to help my mascara stay put. I have oily lids and my mascara tends to smudge on my lower lid area. This helps prevent that from happening. I have repurchased this product many times and will continue to repurchase it.

This multi-use product may seem pricy at first, but for the fact that we can use it for cooking and beauty was worth the mention. I use this as a hair mask to hydrate my dry ends. I use it as makeup remover for my face when I wear long lasting full coverage foundations. I mix 2 drops of this with my body lotion for my dry skin. I will let you know what I use this for on my other blog for cooking related ideas. Check out yourinnergreek.blogspot.ca

Fashion & Lifestyle: August 2012 Favourites

Paris Blues Stone Washed Skinny Jeans were a steal for the month. I believe they were under $30, extra stretchy and comfy. They hold their shape and they don't stretch out. The denim washes well. Love these jeans. As much as I do love my brand name jeans, ultra expensive no longer work for my lifestyle and work. I work in an industrial area where most nice clothes would get dirty quickly, hence I have converted to quality budget friendly pieces.

This gorgeous Gold satchel was a gift with purchase for a Donna Karan perfume. I absolutely love this bag and have been wearing it for most of August. Gold is a neutral that goes with just about everything.

This Ash Grey Pashmina was a Christmas present from my great friend Mel. I have been in love with this super soft neutral scarf. It is a great transitioning piece to keep me warm on the way to work and also will wear well in the Fall and Winter.

Teavana & Chai Teas are a new obsession of mine. I randomly walked by this shop with Beau and the sales lady kept giving us all these amazingly delicious samples to try. I fell in love with this Chai blend I had tasted. Although this tea shop was quite expensive, we still bought from them as we really liked the tea. We even got a To-Go cup of Chai too. I'm trying not to butcher the names of these two teas so I am typing the spelling directly from the cans; White Ayurvedic Chai & Samurai Chai Mate. Now that the mornings are getting colder I am really enjoying these spicy teas.

Best Eco-Friendly Cup ever! This one is from OGGI and has a flexible retractable straw cover. Keeps the drinking end clean when this cup is not being used. The cup is easy to clean and is certified to be BPA free.

Last but not least is the band Lifehouse. I rediscovered this old favourite at the PNE outdoor concerts. I forgot how much I loved them. It was great to see them Live. They were so good the audience wouldn't leave, they played 1.5hrs straight and they also did an Encore for us too. 😍❤❤❤❤

Well that concludes my August Fashion & Lifestyle favourites. Please leave me a comment below and let me know what your Fashion & Lifestyle favourites are.

Happy Reading & Blogging :)

Beauty & The Budget Beast: August 2012 Favourites

Here are my favourite Budget-Friendly Beauty Products for the month of August that you may find to be great for Back to School.

I understand how sleep deprived college students on a tight budget feel, trust me I have been there and I also worked a minimum wage job at that time just to pay for gas & parking, coffee and textbooks.

Aside from the transportation, energy fueling fix and reading material. This blog post will offer you my honest opinion about the following products.

Aussie Hair Insurance Leave In Conditioner Spray has helped revive my overly chemical processed, heat processed, and hair sprayed hair. The smell of this product smells like coconut and deliciousness. Love, love, love. When I feel that my ends are dry or I have very tangly hair, I will spritz this on my ends and massage it into the hair with my palms. I then comb through my hair with a paddle brush. I usually do this before bed. I wake up to delicious smelling hair that is soft and voluminous.

NYC Plumping Lipgloss in Plum Tart gives the most wonderful sheen of mauve, looks very much like my natural lip colour. Love the non sticky texture, it moisturizes, it's minty and tingly feeling. I don't find it plumping, but it does look and feel nice.

NYC 246 Park Ave Nail Polish

This taupe grey nail polish with an purple undertone is a great neutral colour that will pair with just about everything.

NYX Blush in PB 25 Pinched this soft peach colour gives my cheeks a soft glow and slight definition. Great for a natural daytime makeup look for school or work. I picked this blush up at IMATS Vancouver in late July and I have been using it everyday ever since.

These are my beauty favourites of the month. Hope you enjoyed reading this blog post. Leave me comments below and let me know what your beauty favourite(s) is/are.

Happy Labour Day :)