December Beauty Haul

I made two trips to Shoppers recently, one day was spend your points day where I got $88 worth of stuff for $18!  And a BOGO lip product 3 hours sale.  Here is just some of the stuff I picked up.

Back row: Covergirl 3in1 Foundation, Aveeno fresh essentials nourishing moisturizer, and 2 Revlon Just Bitten lip stains.

Middle row: Essie nail polish, Maybelline Elixir, Sally Hansen complete salon manicure, another Elixir.

Front: L'oreal Magic Lumi Highlighter.

I also bought Benefit They're Real mascara, and some makeup removal wipes that aren't pictured here.

Face Products:

Covergirl 3 in 1 Foundation: I have been watching a lot of beauty videos and this foundation is used a lot by a few people I watch regularly.  EleventhGorgeous mentioned it in their monthly favourites so I decided to give it a try.  In Shoppers, they didn't have testers open of the two lightest shades so I didn't know which one to go with.  I ended up with the second lightest, shade #910 - classic ivory and I think it may be a bit dark.  It looks fine once I put powder over, but if I put too much on (over blemishes) I can see the colour difference.  Might work better for me in the summer months and I may need to go get the lighter shade for the winter.

Aveeno fresh essentials nourishing moisturizer:  This is another recommendation from a Youtuber, this time from Ingrid at missglamorazzi.  Now, I have never used a moisturizer specific for my face before (I know. shame.) but she suggested this under her foundation in her November Favourites so I decided to pick it up.  It has SPF 30 which is perfect for my pale skin.  I have already noticed my face being much softer.  I love this.

L'Oreal Magic Lumi Highlighter: Another recommendation... this one from essiebutton.  She says she uses it under her eyes to brighten up the area.  Since I have the darkest bags under my eyes (almost always) I am willing to try anything.  So I picked this up (actually grocery shopping), again... no open testers so I went for shade #860 - Fair because it looked slightly more pink in the tube than the Light shade did (leaned more yellow) and I think I made the right choice.  I have only used this a few times as I am in the middle of exams and haven't felt the need to put on a lot of makeup.. but so far I like it.  It doesn't cover up my dark circles but it definitely brightens it a bit.

Nail Products:

Sally Hansen in Wedding Glitters: I really wanted a shimmery gold colour for the holidays, and when I went to pick up lip products, almost all of their nail polish was on sale ... so I picked up this and the Essie colour.

Essie in Sable Collar:  Yet another YouTube shade, both Ingrid and Ashley from makeupTIA talked about this shade, so I had to pick it up.  It's a brown-gray with a rose gold shimmer in it that makes it look almost purple in some lights.  It's on my nails now and I love it.

Lip Products:

As I already mentioned, Shoppers had a BOGO on lip products between the hours of 5-8 one night.  I went and picked up two different shades of two different lip products.  It was quite a struggle getting the coupon to work, and eventually then manually changed the prices because they weren't able to get the coupon to work.  Anyway! Here are the products (my lip product obsession is in full force).

Maybelline The Elixir: I picked up the shades #025 - Mystic Mauve and shade #005 - Breathtaking Apricot.  I love the mauve colour and am not a fan of the apricot.  It is a pretty colour, but I think it might be better in the spring/summer and it smells SO AWFUL.  It literally smells so bad and the mauve only smells slightly bad.. so I don't know whats up with that.  These colours don't last very long but they do give nice moisture and shine.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Stains:  I bought the shades 020 - Lovesick and 025 - Sweetheart.  I do like both of these shades, how they feel and the stain they provide.  I just wish I had picked up two less similar colours, like a berry shade or something.  Since these are the first two shades I have of these lip products, it would be nice to have two more different shades, but I did put a few on my Christmas list so I didn't want to end up with doubles.

Have you guys picked up any beauty products lately?  Have you tried the new Elixirs?
Let me know below in the comments.

What I Got For Christmas 2013

It took me a while to decide if I was going to write this post or not, but after seeing a lot of people post one and really enjoying them I decided why not?!

I was even very tempted to film a video about it instead but still haven't gotten around to it.

I'll start with some of the makeup stuff I got.

My mom got me this mascara sampler form Sephora which I am so excited to try.  Some of the brushes are so wacky, and I can't wait to see if they actually work.

From left to right: Benefit They're Real, Make Up For Ever Smoky Extravagant, Too Faced Better Than Sex, Buxom, Tarte Lights, Camera, Flashes, and Lorac Pro

Next up is Benefit's Hoola Bronzer

My Dad got me this mousse conditioner from Macadamia called Flawless.  I tried it this morning and am in love.  Gives my flat hair some volume when it just air dries, gets rid of my fly aways and leaves my hair so shiny and soft.

I also got the Naked 2 Palette which I am BEYOND excited about.

I asked for this one instead of the Naked 1 because I thought it was a bit warmer and more the colours I like to wear.  Also, I asked for it before the Naked 3 was out which I also am really interested in trying (maybe next Shopper's spend your points event).

I can feel my obsession growing every time I look at it.

Next, Graham's family did a big Secret Santa instead of buying individual gifts because there are so many of them.  One of the things my secret Santa gave me was Too Faced's All I Want For Christmas.

It comes in this really pretty makeup bag (turquoise is my favourite) with a bunch of their most popular cosmetics.  It has a lip product (La Crème), Shadow Insurance eyeshadow primer, Perfect Eyes waterproof eyeliner, a Blush/Eyeshadow compact, and Lash Injection mascara.

I was super excited about the shadow primer and the eyeliner applies very easily.

Moving on from the makeup I received,
Also from my Secret Santa, I got some stuff from David's Tea!

She got me this personal teapot in my favourite colour again!  As well as the holiday collection of teas.

I got a bunch of baking supplies (I think my family was dropping some hints).  I got a cupcake carrier shaped as a giant cupcake from my brother and his girlfriend as well as a gift card.  Also a silicon baking sheet which I am going to use for my macaroon attempt.

I got this donut pan which Graham and I put to use this morning, so look for my first donut attempt blog post coming up soon!

I got this Master Tip set so I will never have to buy a icing tip again!  It has over 55 tips, plus couplers and flower nails.  My mom also got me 100 disposable piping bags and 4 other couplers.

It's so beautiful I know.

My mom and I got Yoga Blocks (from me) and my mom knit me these gorgeous yoga socks.

My Dad got me this little wireless bluetooth speaker, it fits in my hand.

And finally, my amazing boyfriend got me HUNTERS.  I was way too excited, he got the right colour and finish!  I was so proud and absolutely love them.

I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas!
What was the best gift you received?

Gingerbread Trees

If you're like me and never really liked gingerbread growing up you need to give these cookies a try.  I know I used to associated gingerbread with the rock hard store bought houses you would build as a kid, but these are soft and chewy and delicious.

My roommate shared this recipe with us in second year and it's a tradition to make them every year now.  Seriously, everyone who says they do not like gingerbread ends up like these.

Here's what you'll need:
Wet Ingredients

• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup molases 
• 1 egg

Dry Ingredients

• 4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg

Basically you want to mix up the dry ingredients in one bowl, and cream the wet ingredients together in another.  Then stir the two together to make a really stiff dough and let it chill in the fridge for at least an hour.

You want to roll out the dough to be pretty thick (like 1/2 inch)  and cut out your shapes.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes.  Just until they turn a bit darker around the edges, just until they are set so that they will stay soft.

Then I wanted to make some buttercream icing to ice the cookies in that pretty design.  I followed a recipe on YouTube.
Buttercream:

• 1 cup butter
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• optional: green food dye

I used a Wilton star tip #18 to pipe shells to look like needles on the tree.

Be warned, this recipe makes a TON of gingerbread (this picture probably shows less than half of the trees I made) so I have been taking a plate everywhere I go.

Do you guys like gingerbread?

Candy Cane Bark

When it comes to christmas baking, there is one recipe that always makes the list and is the easiest to do.

All you need is white chocolate to melt and candy canes to crush up.  I melt my chocolate in a bowl in the microwave at 30 second intervals but you can do it however you like.

Pour it out on a sheet of parchment paper, and sprinkle your crushed candy canes on top while it is still wet.

You can get fancy with this but I like to keep it simple.  I've done a layer of milk or dark chocolate on the bottom with white on top, or coloured candy melts drizzled on top.

I don't know why, but I am super inspired to mix around with some bark recipes.  So keep your eyes out for those in the future!

David's Tea Advent Calendar - Day 24

This it the last day, and I predicted from the beginning that the 24th would be Santa's Secret.

I've wanted to try this tea for such a long time and never got around to it.

It's a black tea with peppermint leaves and little candy cane peppermint sprinkles.  Let me tell you I LOVE this tea.  Peppermint tea is my favourite and this is a perfect one... hopefully its acceptable to drink it year round because I will.

I also couldn't resist Dad's cinnamon buns being in the background of this photo.
This morning I also had the gingerbread tea from yesterday.  Also pretty tasty, but I still don't think it is very gingerbready.

Check out some of the other days of tea!

Day 21 - Chocolate Orange
Day 22 - Sleigh Ride
Day 23 - Gingerbread

Merry Christmas Everyone!

David's Tea Advent Calendar - Day 23

It's the second last day of teas and I didn't even get a chance to try this one!  I was barely in the house today so busy running around and getting everything done for Christmas.

Now maybe this is just me, but this didn't smell like gingerbread baking in the oven.  It does smell good, but not like my gingerbread cookies.

It's a rooibos tea with honey bush, cinnamon, currants, crystallized ginger, pineapple, and safflower petals.

I'm pretty bummed I didn't have the chance to try this, so I will brew it first thing in the morning.  For right now, Netflix and my bed are calling my name.  Goodnight!

Check out some of the other days of tea!

Day 20 - Vanilla Orchid 
Day 21 - Chocolate Orange
Day 22 - Sleigh Ride

Chocolate Candy Cane Kiss Blossoms

Okay so a picture of these cookies last year on Instagram is one of my most popular pins on Pinterest and I've seen a lot of comments on those repins about how angry people are that there is no recipe... so here we go!

I adapted this recipe from Two Peas & Their Pod.

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• icing sugar (to roll the cookie dough balls in)
• Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses (you could substitute any kisses you wanted though, mint, cookies and cream, caramel would be delicious too)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa together and set aside.

In mixer bowl, cream butter and sugars together.

Add one egg at a time and the vanilla extract and beat until smooth.

Mix in the dry ingredients little by little.

Form balls with the cookie dough and roll then in icing sugar.

Bake them from 7-10 minutes and remove them from the oven, they will look like this:

Take your unwrapped Hershey kiss and press it into the center while they are still hot.

You can leave them like this to cool, and the kisses should keep their shape and harden back up.

Or to make packing them up a bit easier, this year I flattened the kisses out when they were hot.

This way they will stack in cookie tins or bags when I give them out.  I think it just makes my life easier, and they still look like cute little peppermints.

I hope all you lovely pinners found your way over to this recipe!

Happy Holidays everyone!