Feb
2018

What I Wore: Feb 1-10

categories: style

The Difficult Skirt

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I love clothing that has personality; this skirt has a lot of personality, which is (a) great, but also (b) difficult to work with. Its dimensions and style are very normcore-ish, but the print is quite ethereal. Since I struggle with disparate style influences, I get this skirt – sometimes, you just can’t decide what you want to be. But … well, the struggle to make it all work somehow. It’s real. So, in practice, I never like outfits featuring this skirt as much as I want to like them, because I always feel like the execution could be better. Like, I am convinced there is some other garment out there that will make this skirt’s idiosyncrasies make sense, know what I mean? Maybe there isn’t, though … ahem, I digress. I feel like this outfit was a solid effort. The cropped, chunky sweater certainly has the right silhouette to balance the skirt. I also think this looked better in person than it photographs so … yeah, solid effort.

[Note: I realized that I actually wore this on Jan 31 as there was a bit of a last-minute switcheroo. Still counting it here.]

Blackout

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I wasn’t initially going to keep this velvet striped, semi-sheer Eileen Fisher top, but then I came to my senses. I’m becoming a huge EF fan, and this top can be dressed up or, as in this case, down. I love playing with texture in a monochromatic outfit, and there’s a whole lot of that going on here: velvet, wool, leather. A little bit rock ‘n roll, a whole lot of comfort.

Heart on My Sleeve

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… or, rather, my chest?! That doesn’t really make sense. Moving on. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t keep this Love Moschino sweater, so of course I’m having second thoughts and wondering if I should keep it. Do I need it? Almost certainly not, but there is always room in my closet for an extra cute sweater, ok? Given how many now reside in said closet, I really should try this formula of blazer+sweater+jeans more often – it’s menswear inspired, which is very hip* right now, but in a vague enough way that I feel I can pull it off without looking like I’m trying too hard, and perfect for winter days at the office. Speaking of which, I need to try this type of combo with trousers as well; why limit a successful formula to Fridays only?

* Is “hip” the word we’re using these days? Asking for an old.

The Glorious Potato Sack, Part MMXIIXVQYZzfqpkqisbbdx

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I mean, there will never be a potato sack dress that I won’t, even just briefly, consider buying. This one I bought without the slightest hesitation because it’s a fancy brand I’ve never seen before at the thrift store: Pringle of Scotland. Better known for their knits, but whatever – thrifters can’t be choosers, my friends. Especially when a potato sack is involved. Hashtag: Achilles heel. You all know my other weakness – psst, chunky knits – so this outfit will not come as a surprise. I doubled down on the volume at the top, and balanced it out with OTK boots. The result may be no one’s idea of outfit inspiration, but I loved every bit and minute of it, in the most liberating, DGAF way ever.


Feb
2018

What I Read: Winter Blues Edition

categories: Books

Tell me I’m not the only person whose least favourite months are January and February. My BFF hates November, and I kinda get it, but at the same time, November at least has the anticipation-of-Christmas (and Thanksgiving, for the American contingent) going for it. January and February are basically one extra long, extra cold, and extra dreary month. Jabruary, if you will. Jabruary is the worst.

All of this is to say that it takes a lot of extra effort to keep me out of the doldrums during the first 59 days of the year. I do what I can, in terms of self-care, but it’s honestly a struggle. Reading is one of my go-to modes of escape, but I get particularly picky when I’m in a funk. This, by the way, explains why I haven’t bothered with any new shows; I tend to just re-watch old favourites and sulk about their untimely cancellation (cough * Hannibal * cough). Anyway, I did manage to find a couple of books I enjoyed so let’s talk about that.

For fans of The Crown, I recommend Snowdon by Anne De Courcy – a biography of Tony Armstrong-Jones, Princess Margaret’s first (ex? former? what’s the correct terminology here, someone plz halp!) husband. Armstrong-Jones was an interesting character but, although clearly charismatic and dedicated to various charitable causes, was also kind of an asshole to people in his personal life. This does not necessarily make for a bad biographical subject, in my opinion, unless the biographer is a little too in love with said subject; De Courcy mostly skirts that line, and is actually very sympathetic to Princess Margaret, who was also (though not exclusively) kind of an asshole. The marriage of the princess and the commoner yielded a ton of juicy press in its day, and makes for a fun read for gossip-loving, nosy people like me. With that said, I found the book a bit slow-going in parts; good chunks of it read like “lather, rinse, repeat”, particularly the descriptions of the Snowdons’ daily lives. But, as I said above, I was probably being unreasonably picky.

On a lighter, but not unrelated note, I also read The Royal We. The authors are the bloggers behind Go Fug Yourself, a site I used to read religiously before the weird formatting drove me to distraction. The premise of the book is a fictionalized version of Prince William & Princess Kate’s story. You know the broad strokes: spunky commoner meets handsome prince at university, they fall in love, he proposes, plot twist, plot twist, plot twist, the (happy) end. It was pretty good for the genre; I’d put it in the same category as the Crazy, Rich Asians series, though I prefer the latter (especially the first book).

Of course, as I was reading the book, I couldn’t help but think about the newest iteration of this story – Megan Markle and Prince Harry. She is an American divorcee, which would have (and did) cause a scandal not all that long ago. I think I’ve aged out of the “marrying a prince” fantasy, because I can’t help thinking that, in her shoes, I might have just stuck to the acting career. Being a modern day princess seems less like a fairytale and more like a not-all-that-fun job (any job that requires a lot of polite smiling is not much fun in my books). But that’s just me. And I did tell you I was grumpy.

That’s it – tell me what you’ve been reading lately.

Next time, I’ll tell you about some of my current favourite Internet places to visit.


Feb
2018

The Beauty Aisle: New Things I Tried

categories: Beauty products

By now, you guys know I’m something of a beauty product junkie. Every so often, I like to update my list of products because if there is one thing I love almost as much as finding a great bargain is telling other people about all the stuff I’ve tried. So here are some recent products I recently tested.

The Ordinary Buffet

I have been using The Ordinary products for the past year, and like most of the ones I’ve tried. The Buffet was a more recent purchase, but it has become my go-to all-in-one serum. You guys, it’s $15 a bottle! I use it every other night, alternating with my prescription retinoid. I am very happy with my skin and my line-up of products from The Ordinary is one of the biggest reasons. Apart from the Buffet, my other current go-tos are the Lactic Acid (5%) (reputedly a dupe for Sunday Riley’s Good Genes), Resveratrol+Ferulic Acid, and the Vitamin C Suspension. and I prefer ordering directly, but you can also get them through Sephora now.

[Note: there has been some drama going down in the Deciem IG, which I have mostly ignored thanks to the stupid algorithm which decides I want to see a bunch of sponsored posts and nothing from people I actually follow, ahem. But it’s been dissected on Reddit, if you want to read about it.]

Hylamide HA Blur Primer

Because my skin looks pretty good on its own, I rarely bother with primer. I do sometimes find myself annoyed with the pores on my nose – which, for the record, appeared less visible since I started my skincare regime last year – so I decided to try this Hylamide version. It’s pricier than The Ordinary products I usually buy, at about $20 a bottle, but a small amount goes a long way. In fact, I think it works better to use a small amount and work it into the skin well. I have no point of comparison, since I’ve never used other primers, but I think it does makes my liquid foundation go on more smoothly. I wouldn’t say this product equates to an Instagram filter blur – nothing does, let’s be honest – but it does make me look a little more poreless. Maybe? To be honest, it’s not so noticeable that I can swear it’s not just a placebo effect. I should also note that, while I have tried this under my Jane Iredale mineral foundation (powder) and it’s fine, I prefer to use it with liquid foundation.

Speaking of liquid foundation, I decided to give The Ordinary Serum Foundation a try on a whim. Buying foundation without the benefit of a swatch is risky business, but at under $7 a bottle … well, it was a risk I could handle. I got the 1.0N shade (the lightest offered), and I am pretty happy with it. I’m not sure how it compares to high end foundations, because (a) I haven’t experimented enough to be able to tell differences, and (b) my coverage needs are pretty minimal. I will say that this formulation is very watery, so a teeny tiny bit is enough for the whole face, but it offers more coverage than, say, a BB cream.

All in all, these two products were just ok for me, though not bad value overall.

Essence Lash Princess Mascara

Hat-tip to Sherry for introducing me to this sub-$6 mascara. It has replaced my beloved L’Oreal Butterfly as my HG mascara. I have tried a couple of versions but I prefer the the False Lash Effect mascara (black & green tube) over the Sculpted Volume version (black & purple tube) – it’s less thick/goopy than the black/purple tube version (sorry, blanking on the name), and still achieves great colour intensity and lash definition. I’ve linked to Amazon, but buy it at your local drugstore, it will be cheaper.

Essence makes a bunch of really good, ridiculously inexpensive products, so it’s worth experimenting with; I love their eyebrow pencil, as well as their under-eye concealer stick.

Sidenote: I still use my EyEnvy serum, and love the ridiculously long lashes it gives me. I just got rid of my first tube (it was not fully empty) because I realized that I’d had it since May 2017 and that’s, um, probably gross.

Joe Fresh Lipstick

Since my Rimmel Colour Rush lip crayons were discontinued last year, I have been on desultory hunt for a new favourite lip product. Nothing has really struck me as HG material, but I have become partial to this Joe Fresh tinted lip balm (link to Canadian website). The colour is called Bumbleberry. It goes on smooth and slightly shiny, almost like a lip butter. Similar to the Rimmel crayons, it doesn’t have strong staying power but it also doesn’t dry out my lips. The only downside is that it is $10 a pop, which is high given the brand but … oh well.

Davines Texturizer Spray

Full disclosure: I have not actually bought this. Yet. But I have been “borrowing” it from my BFF every chance I get, and I love it. It works both as a texturizer and as a dry shampoo in a pinch. Compared to the Batiste dry shampoo I usually buy, it’s … well, there is no comparison. It smells divine, and it does a great job of drying up oiliness, while adding texture/volume to my hair. It’s about $40 a bottle which is about $20 more than I’ve spent on hair products in recent years, but I am almost ready to take the plunge.

There are also a few other products I would love to try, but have not yet pulled the trigger on. If any of you have comments/reviews, please share!

Dr. Jart Cicapair Cream – I keep hearing good things about this, but it’s also $50 on Amazon and I don’t know, you guys. Is it really that amazing? Is it going to get me any closer to my dream of looking like a dewy 20-something? I don’t have a lot of redness in my skin, but I do have pinkish undertones on my face so … maybe I need it? Talk me out of this slash enable me, please.

Jo Malone Earl Grey and Cucumber Spray – I tried this on at Holt’s last year and loved it. My current perfume is Hanae Mori Butterfly, which does not seem to be carried locally by anybody anymore. I am ready to switch to a new scent when the bottle runs out, but I am not sure I want to commit to a $175 perfume. Also, Butterfly is an eau de parfum, while the Jo Malone is not, so I am worried about its staying power. I am also intrigued and want to try Le Labo perfumes, though I am not sure where they are available (locally or online, shipped to Canada).

If there are beauty products you’ve tried lately and loved (or hated), tell me all about it!