Elf Haul and Review

So I ordered from ELF (eyeslipsface) online a few weeks ago and it is my third time ordering from there. If you are unfamiliar with Elf it is a make up company and they make super inexpensive products. Some of their products are what you would expect to get for under $5.00 but lots of the stuff I have ordered are great products and some of them I use every single day. I placed this order on April 1st and everything was 40% off but when I went to check out it was all actually 50% off. I spent $48 mad that includes $14 shipping because I am in Canada. Elf is amazing for deals. Not only are the products inexpensive to begin with but each week there is a different sale or deal. My favorite is when they send you a ton of free product if you spend over $35. I have received pallets, brushes, and a ton of other makeup free or on a huge discount. I think this week they are offering an 11 piece studio brush set for around $3 instead of $33.00.

This is what it looks like when you take it out of the box.

I have lots of elf products that I love but I think that this order is my favorite so far! Here's what I thought about the products!

Kabuki Face Brush: I have heard a lot of good things about this brush. It is a synthetic brush and it can be used with wet or dry products. This brush is so stinkin soft! I use this to put on my powder and when I use this I find I dont look cakey at all. I love this brush so much! This retails for $6.00 on the website.

Small Tapered Brush: This is from the studio line and honestly, all of the studio line brushes I have tried are amazing. I use this to set my under eye concealer and to highlight. This is a synthetic brush and it is amazing. It applies powder so beautifully and it washes great too. I havent noticed any of the hairs falling out either. $3.00.

Eyeshadow C Brush: This is another synthetic studio line brush. I use this one almost every day too. It applies eyeshadow really well. $3.00.

Small Angled Brush: To be honest I haven't used this yet because I love my eco tools angle brush and this one is too small for me. $3.00.

Blush Brush: This brush is very very similar to the small tapered brush and it is also amazing. I use this brush every day as well. $3.00.

Blending Eye Brush: This brush is meh. It was only $1.00 so I really didn't expect much but wanted another blending brush. This one does a good job of blending and I like the size but it isn't very soft and the hairs fall out and it doesnt wash very well. 

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Eyebrow Kit in Light and Medium: I've written about this before because it is my favorite eyebrow product ever! I was just going to order it in light because thats what I was using before but I decided to get it in medium too and I haven't touched the light since! The medium matches a lot better and I am just obsessed! The one side is a gel and the other is a powder but I only use the gel. $3.00.

Eyebrow Treat and Tame in Medium: The clear end is a vitamin infused gel that is supposed to help with regrowth but its got a paint brush style wand and it is hard to get back in the tube without fraying and its annoying and so I barely use it. I use the other "tame" end everytime I do my brows. First I put on the brow gel and shape them how I want them and then I use this tame mascara type wand gel over top. I find that it makes them look more natural and it almost gives them a reddish tint so I feel like they match my hair color better than my natural brows. $3.00.

Pressed Powder in Porcelain: I bought this powder because I heard that it is a great powder that feels super soft and I like it but it definitely doesnt seem porcelain to me. It is too dark and has a yellow tint to it but it is too dark for me for a powder so I don't use it but if I can find it in translucent I will definitely order one. $3.00.

Body Shimmer in Mystic Moonlight: This is a shimmer product in a stick form that you roll up. It has a pink tink to it which I really like. I don't use this very often but when I do use it I like it. I just wish it was a little smoother to apply. $3.00.

Mineral Booster in Shimmer: I'm honestly not sure why I ordered this. It is kind of a mineral foundation booster to help absorb oil and make your skin look better but I ordered the shimmer and I find that it doesnt have enough shimmer to be a good highlighter and is too dark for me to highlight but it is too shimmery to use as a powder foundation. $5.00.

High Definition Undereye Setting Powder: I bought this because I heard from a few beauty vloggers that its a great undereye powder used to set concealer. I find that this has a little bit of shimmer which I'm not a fan of but it does do a good job of setting my concealer. $3.00.

Mineral Infused Face Primer in Clear: This is a multipurpose primer that says it combats against excess oil, flaky dryness, enlarged pored and fine lines. I'm not sure if it does all of that but it does feel good on the skin and makes my makeup go on smoothly. $6.00.

Blush in candid coral: This has become my new favorite blush. I have natural redness so it wasn't very often that I would even wear blush, but I have wore this almost everytime that I've put on makeup. It is a gorgeous coral shade with a hint of shimmer. It is perfect for me because even the slightest amount of blush looks so intense on me but this is very subtle and so gorgeous.$3.00.

Contouring Blush and Bronzing powder in St. Lucia: this is another great product (they all are!) the blush is a very similar shade as the candid coral but a bit darker and the bronzer is great for me. It isn't too dark which really surprised me as it looks too dark for me in the package. They both feel very soft and go on smoothly and blend out wonderfully. The only thing I don't love is that they both have some shimmer and I prefer my bronzer without shimmer but I have still been using this often. $3.00.

    Candid Coral, St. Lucia blush and bronzer

Moisturizing Lipstick in Pink Minx: I am obsessed with this lipstick! It is the most b-e-a-utiful shade of pink and it really compliments my skin tone. It is moisturizing and goes on smoothly. It also smells amazing. It smells like brown sugar or something similar. The only downfall is that it isn't very long lasting so I do have to reapply it but it is a great every day color. $3.00.

Conditioning Lip Balm in Peaceful Pink: I bought this because I loved the one I have in Mellow Melon and this one is just as great. It is a great pink which is similar to pink minx, but softer. It is moisturizing and not sticky at all! One of my favs! $3.00.

Pink Minx, Peaceful Pink

Single eyeshadow in Sand Dollar: This is supposidely a dupe for NARS' Albatross. I have not tried the NARS product but I doubt this would live up to it. It is not very pigmented at all and seems a bit chalky to me. However I do use this to highlight or try and use it as eyeshadow but I need to apply multiple layers for it to show up on my pastey skin. $3.00.

Volume Pumping Mascara in Black: I have posted about this mascara previously and I still love it. I don't really think I needed to order another one yet since I have so many mascaras on the go and I am no where near finishing the first one but oh well. It has a big wand on it which I love and it makes my eyelashes look longer and fuller. $3.00.

Eyelid Primer in sheer: I have tried the glitter primer from elf and wasn't a huge fan. But I thought I would try this one. I don't mind this one. It goes on smoothly and seems to make my eyeshadow last a bit longer but I always forget to use it so I've only tried it a few times. $3.00.

So all in all this was a very successful haul. If you are interested in adding to your makeup collection but not wanting to spend a lot of money I would definitely check out their website. They also have a beauty bundle subscription where you sign up and they send you bundles of 10ish full sized products every 8 weeks. It is $19.99 a month I believe. I have not tried this but on the website it shows previous beauty bundles and it looks like they send out some great products. I am definitely tempted to sign up. 

I will talk to you guys soon!

xoxo

Anxiety

I know I haven't written in a very long time. I could sit here and give you excuses about being busy, going away or  my computer breaking, but the true underlying issue of why haven't been writing is because I have anxiety. I have  had anxiety for about 15 years. I remember being a preteen and having such bad anxiety that it was difficult for me to even pick out what socks I wanted to wear. I never felt normal. I never felt accepted and I never felt free. 

My anxiety has limited me in so many ways. I have anxiety about almost everything in my life. When I was in high school I had anxiety every single day about what people were going to think and what people were going to say. If someone said something to me in high school that bothered me I would think about it over and over and over and over again for years. There are things that people have said that I still think about today and if I think about it causes me anxiety.

It limited me because I didn't go to grad parties, and I only went to high school parties with my friends who were older than me so when they graduated it was very hard for me to fit in with my class because I had such anxiety about those people. 

I get really bad anxiety about new places. If I have to go somewhere I have never been it is a struggle. Going to a doctors office I've never been to is impossible, making phone calls somewhere new is tough. I have a real fear of new places and I hate that about myself. I wish that I could just run out and go anywhere I wanted and do anything I want but things such as going to a little store that I've never been to where I don't know where to park and I don't know where the entrance is, is a big deal to me. There are things I haven't done because of this.  For example, the other day I won lunch through the radio station. They had a trivia question and I answered correctly and I won lunch and I have to go to the radio station to pick up the voucher. But I probably won't,  simply because I don't exactly know where the radio station building is, I don't know where the door is, I don't know where to go once I am inside, etc., so I probably will not go pick that up it. 

I hate calling people. I hate it. If it's someone like my mom or a friend, I have no problem, but if I have to call the doctors office to make an appointment or if I have to call the CRA about taxes, those things terrify me. I don't why but they do. I even hate phoning for delivery. I hate phoning Boston pizza and having them deliver.  That's why I love online ordering or else Brendon orders because I can't do it.

Brendon is amazing at handling my anxiety.  He doesn't always know what to say or do most of the time but he gets that I can help, he gets that I can't make a phone call or I can't go somewhere scary. It might seem silly to him but he never tells me that he thinks it's silly. He accepts it which is very important in a partner when you have anxiety.

There are days where I do not get anything done even when I have 1 million things to do because I am so overwhelmed. Sometimes I feel anxious about nothing at all. I feel like I can't breathe, I get headaches, I feel so on edge. It is the worst feeling ever, I hate it so much. Sometimes it means I don't sleep, which is 90% of the time, Sometimes I don't eat and sometimes I am very irritable. 

So I guess what I'm saying is that it's hard for me to blog sometimes. It's hard for me to find the time and it's not that I need to find time in my day, it's that I need to find time within myself to focus on my blog instead of focusing on my anxiety. I don't have anxiety about writing a blog, but sometimes it is really hard to write when I feel so overwhelmed by everything else. 

I really want to keep blogging. I really want to put myself out there. I have zero anxieties about my blog, I just want to do it for myself and I don't want my anxiety to get in the way of that. My anxiety gets in the way of so many things I want to do in my life that I don't want my blog to be one of them.

 I am working on myself. I have been to the doctor and I have been offered medication but I will not take it unless I need to. I am not a pill pusher.  I would rather take a look at myself within and take a step back and realize who I am and try and fix myself piece by piece. I don't think that medication is the cure for me, it is for some people but I don't think it is for me. I've read books, I've tried meditation, and I have done a few other things but it's also hard for me to do those things because I get anxiety about doing them.  But just know that I'm working on myself  and making a conscious effort to be better. I don't want Owen to not be able to do things because his mom has such bad anxiety. He is more important than my anxiety and I don't want to limit him like I limited myself. 

So to anyone that might be reading this that has anxiety or feels overwhelmed or feels like they have so much going on that they can't make sense of anything, just know that it's okay.  It's normal and there are people out there like you and it's not something to be ashamed of. It's a mental illness which is just the same as someone having any other kind of medical condition. It is not curable but it is manageable and it is just as serious as someone who has a heart murmur or somebody who has a disease. It's a tough thing to live with and it can be life-threatening.

So just know that you're not alone if you feel so overwhelmed that you want to burst, talk to someone, find something to do that puts your anxious thoughts on hold for a minute.  I get very restless but I don't want to do anything so what I do is I put on trash TV and I will knit or crochet to keep my hands busy but it's relaxing enough that it keeps me from thinking about everything else in my life. 

I know that this is a long post and I know that some of you might not understand and that's fine. I'm not looking for sympathy and not looking for a hand to hold, I just wanted to explain why I have an issue with writing these days. 

I will do my best to post more. I want to blog more about family, about my life in general. I have a few different hauls and reviews to do and I am really determined to keep going. 

xoxo

Fabulous Friday

Hey kids! This week seems like it went by really fast. I honestly don't even remember this week but these are the things that made me smile!

- I did some online shopping again. I ordered 2 brushes from Sigma, a whack of makeup from Elf which I got 50% off, and made a small Sephora order. Stay tuned for a haul post!

- Brendon and I got preapproved for a mortgage on Tuesday 

- Owen is crawling like crazy and starting to pull himself up more

- Brendon and I went to look at 3 houses yesterday with a realtor and didn't find anything that we love but it is a step in the right direction 

- we are also going to look at two houses tomorrow which I am super excited about! 

- we are putting a new living room window in the place we are in now tomorrow which is exciting because ours sucks. I know it seems silly to put a new window in when we are planning on moving but Brendon's dad owns the duplex that we are renting so he's putting new windows in both sides

- we have been bbqing almost every night this week which is amazing because I love to eat BBQ and Brendon loves to BBQ so that means I don't have to cook!

-we went to Estevan and spent time with my family on Sunday which always makes me smile.

What made you smile this week? 

xoxo

Skin care routine

Hey gorgeous! I have been obsessed with skin care lately and decided to post my skin care routine and products for you! If you don't know, I have super dry skin and also have Keratosis Pilaris on my cheeks and arms. My cheeks are rough and bumpy and super red. I always have very dark circles under my eyes as well. 

Morning: 

Step 1: WASH YOUR FACE!

I was always one of those people that thought that it was only important to wash your face at night time. Actually I was one of those people who went to sleep with makeup on and then took most of it off with a face wipe in the morning and started all over again. Then I discovered how important it is to wash your face in the morning. When you sleep you sweat and all the toxins come out of your pores. If you don't wash your face you are just letting your pores reabsorb the gunk and sealing it in with makeup. Now if I don't wash my face in the morning I feel dirty all day.  To wash my face I use the Philosophy Purity one step facial cleanser. I used to use this with my fingers but I picked up a cheap $10 walmart clairisonic knock off to try out. I really want a clairisonic but haven't taken the plunge to buy one myself yet but I'm hoping to get one for Mother's Day this year. I decided to grab this cheap one from walmart mostly to see if I would use it every day or if it would be tossed aside. If I didn't like using it then I probably wouldn't like using the clairisonic. But I do like it. It came with a sponge end and a brush end. I use the brush end on low speed with a bit of cleanser and go over my face until it feels clean. Then I wipe the cleanser off with warm water and a face cloth and then rinse once with very warm water, once with cold water to close my pores and then pat my face dry with a towel. 

Step 2: TONER

 With the Purity cleanser you don't actually need toner but I like to use a toner as well. I either use the Clinique extra mild cleansing lotion or the Nivea Gentle Toner. I just put a bit on a cotton pad and wipe it all over my face to remove the rest of the gunk on my face and balance out my skin.

Step 3: MOISTURE BABY!

Moisurizing is very very important, even if you have oily skin. If you have dry skin obviously you don't have enough oil on your skin so you need to hydrate and add oil. But if you are oily your face is producing so much oil because it isn't getting enough moisture so your body thinks it needs to make more. So moisturize the heck out of your skin! I use whatever moisurizer I feel like using that day. If I'm going to put my makeup on right away I will use a lighter moisurizer like the Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+  but if I'm not wearing makeup I will almost always throw on my FAB Ultra Repair Cream all over my face and neck.

Nighttime: 

Step 1: REMOVE MAKEUP

I like to use face wipes to clean off my makeup. I use either the Equate Facial Cleansing Towelettes or the Pond's Cleansing and Exfoliating Towelettes. I just use these all over my face and eyes to get off as much makeup as I can. I like to rub my lashes between my fingers with the cloths to get off all my mascara. 

Step 2: CLEANSE

I do this the exact same way as in the morning! 

Step 3: EXFOLIATE

Next I exfoliate. Since I have KP my skin gets super bumpy with build up so I need to exfoliate often. My favorite exfoliator right now is the new St. Ives Even & Bright Pink Lemon and Mandarin Orange Scrub. It says that it is a moderate exfoliator so it is not too harsh and not too gentle. It smells AMAZING and it is a cream base. I love that it has natural exfoliants in it as well. I don't do this every night though. I use this 3-4 times a week and that it also what is recommended on the bottle. 

Step 4: MASK

Next I will use a mask. I only use a mask once or maybe twice a week. I have quite a few but my most used one is the Lush Mask of Magnaminty. It can be used on the face and body and is amazing. It smells like peppermint and looks like mint chocolate chip ice cream. If you don't like mint you won't like this because it is powerful and makes your face cool and tingle when it is on. I put this on and leave it for 10 minutes and then rinse it off. 

Step 3: TONER

Again this is the exact same as I do in the morning.

Step 5: EYE CREAM

Next I apply an eye cream beneath my eye and above on my brow bone. My favorite one is the Ole Henriksen Ultimate Lift Eye Gel. I got this one in a sample size and it will honestly last me forever! You just need a very small amount.

Step 6: OIL

My favorite step! I use the Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil. I just put about 4 drops onto my fingertips, rub them together and then apply it all over my face. You will be super greasy feeling afterwards but I promise you will love it. 

Step 7: MOISTURIZE! NIGHT CREAM!

I like to moisturize the crap out of my face at bedtime. I was just using the FAB Ultra Repair Cream but lately I have been so obsessed with the Hope In A Jar Night cream. I am just using the sample size from Sephora but just ordered the full sized one. It is a thick cream and sooo hydrating. It leaves my skin feeling so soft even in the morning. 

 So that's my morning and nighttime skin care routine! Skin care is very important and hopefully this helped you out a bit! 

xoxo