New favourite product: Smith Farms lip tint
It seems like common sense. You put crappy stuff into your body, you feel crappy. You put natural stuff into your body, you don’t feel crappy. I’ve discovered that the same is true of skincare. My array of all-natural products usually do the best job. Including my new favourite lip balm, Smith Farms Lip Tint.
It’s full of naturally moisturizing goodies like shea butter, coconut oil and cocoa butter. It smells orange-y, stays on a long time and leaves just a smidge of a rosy tint on your lips. It’s not made by my Smith family ancestors or anything, but it is made by a sister team from my hometown here in Quebec, so that is pretty damn close.
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New favourite product: Almond nail & cuticle oil
I’m a bit obsessed with neat and tidy cuticles. It’s something I’m very conscious of when I take hundreds of photos of my nails to share with you fine people. I just don’t think it’s very ladylike to have nail photos with raggedy cuticles. There’s nothing fancy about that.
I douse my cuticles with cuticle oil each and every time I do my nails and pile on Lemony Flutter from Lush every night, but for the in between times, I’ve started carrying around this Almond nail and cuticle oil stick from The Body Shop in my purse. And I kind of love it. And it means I’m always ready for my close-up.
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New favourite product: Coconut oil
Good morrow fancy readers. I’ve been a bit caught up in the big move of 2012. I was at the manfriend’s the past two weekends for birthday parties and job interviews and car shopping and new floor buying and other activities related to packing up and moving to Ontario. Oh, and plus I work full-time.
Today I have a beauty secret for you. As you may be aware, I do my nails quite often. For argument’s sake, let’s just say I do them everyday. Let’s just say. All that polish remover is pretty drying. As a result, I have hand lotion at an arms reach at all times. Some of them are okay. Some of them aren’t.
Coconut oil, however, is a miraculous product. I bought it recently at a health food store with plans to cook with it. A pal had invited me over for dinner a few days before, and roasted some veggies in coconut oil and it was so tasty I had to copy her. Instead, I took a spoonful of the stuff when I got it home, rubbed it into my hands and put on some cotton gloves for 40 minutes. Ta dah! Softest hands ever.
Scrub a dub dub: I got Body Blitz’d
If you live in Toronto and you’ve never been to Body Blitz, you should call them right now and go. That’s all there is to it.
Start in the sea salt pool, spend a few minutes in the steam room (my favourite), then brave the cold plunge. I go right in up to my neck. Others are a bit wimpier. Then you hit the sauna, another cold plunge, the hot green tea pool, yet another cold plunge and then you can start all over. But just one round will leave you feeling like jell-o. Which is totally okay because there are these squooshy red loungers to close your eyes on.
When the manfriend is in town, we frequent Scandinave here in Montreal, but if I’m visiting my sister in Toronto Body Blitz is my go-to spa. It’s only for ladies.
As if any dudes read this blog anyway. Hah. That’s a bit funny.
I visited two weeks ago with my sister and my mom, and instead of getting a massage after (did I mention all the services they offer?) we each got a body glow. I really didn’t know what to expect when I followed I-forget-her-name into a little room with a concrete floor with a drain in it and what appeared to be a vinyl massage table in the middle of the little room. I lied down on the table on my stomach (um, nudie) and I-forget-her-name scrubbed me from head to toe with an exfoliating mitt and mint lime body wash. I smelled delicious.
Then she took a dollop of sweet ginger scrub, and I got another, more scrubby scrub down from head to toe. Even between my toes. Who scrubs there? Not me. Then she poured warm milk all over me (which apparently helps soothe skin) and after I was rinsed down a third time with a water gun apparatus, she rubbed me with moisturizing grape seed oil.
Result? The softest skin I’ve ever had. Ever. Did I mention ever?
All the products are for sale, so I took home a scrubby mitt for the manfriend so he wouldn’t feel left out of the scrub experience.
Read MoreGetting inked: now you see it, now you don’t
There comes a time in every woman’s life, to finally cover up the unfortunate tattoo she got when she was 17 and not that smart.
For me, that time was two weeks ago.
I’ve had a tattoo for 15 years, and I’ve hated it for about 10 of those years. Because that was when I found out what it really meant. For the full story, check out my post on ihaveanidea. Needless to say, there was a very small window in the 90s for the coolness of Chinese tattoos. Then the window closed. Abruptly.
The unfortunate before.
I had been talking about covering up my tattoo with three orchids for probably 4 or 5 years. The idea sort of came to me in the middle of the night. Cliché, but true. And once I thought of it, I couldn’t get it out of my head. My dad worked in the flower business his whole life, so my mom had tons of pretty orchids in the bay window in the kitchen of the house I grew up in. She still does, she just lives in a different house. We are three girls, in the Smith family, and my sisters are very important to me. My whole family is. Those are my people. Them, my nieces and the BF are the most important people ever.
Things with my family are a bit tough right now, as my parents are going through a divorce. My parents splitting up has effected my sisters and I differently. And that has made things even more difficult. So, it seemed like the right time to finally get this tattoo. If you haven’t figure it out yet, that’s my family right there. On my back. In pink and green and black and stuff.
The very fortunate after.
I didn’t explain any of this to the very patient Nick Oaks at Slick Styled Steel Tattoo Shop, but he still did an awesome job of drawing up something girly in his own old school tattoo style. I feel like my tattoo is 3/4 girly and 1/4 badass. Which obviously makes me much more badass than I was pre-tattoo. And while Nick drew, I paced back and forth nervously at the shop and wanted to throw up before he told me “relax, I’ll take care of you” which calmed me right down. I spent the next two hours chatting with him through minor groans of pain and pseudo yoga breathing.
I had to fly out to Amsterdam for a last-minute work trip two days later, which really wasn’t that comfortable for a girl with a new tattoo on her back, but with a douse of the delicious Vaseline Cocoa Radiant lotion every couple hours, I was golden in no time. Best drugstore lotion for winter. And new tattoos, apparently.
Check out Nick’s work here and then call him. And get a tattoo already. Geez.
Read MoreThe Beauty Trade: 20% off at The Bay
When you go on vacation, it’s practically mandatory to shop at the duty free store on the way home. I’m fairly certain the only reason you are required to be at the airport three hours prior to departure, is because you’ll likely spend all that time in the stores.
When I went to Panama in April, I picked up the Dior Lip Experts Duo on the way home, which has become my favourite lip colour/balm to date. Love it. I’m going to be sad when it runs out.
The manfriend and I went to Mexico over the holidays, and we bought absolutely nothing on the whole trip. I had big plans of a silver jewelry shopping spree and not even that happened. We were too busy doing nothing everyday. So, when we arrived at the airport on our way home with three hours to waste, naturally we flocked to the shops.
What I didn’t buy was Miss Dior Chérie perfume. Because I bought Ray Bans instead. Far more practical. I’ve been a Chanel Coco Mademoiselle girl for sometime, but I just love the fresh smell of Miss Dior. And the cute packaging. Obviously. And a girl just shouldn’t have to choose between Chanel and Dior.
But don’t worry. If you didn’t buy a new perfume at the duty free either, there is still hope for a deal. From January 13 to the 26 you can get 20% off at The Bay when you bring in any skincare product you don’t want. Old or new. One product = $10 off a $50 purchase (before taxes). Two products = $20 of a $100 (before taxes) purchase. Check out the website for more details. I don’t know about you, but this seems like a pretty good opportunity to get rid of some crap I don’t use AND get a new scent.
And since I’m moving in with the manfriend in a few months, er, weeks, I’m going to use that as an excuse to get a new perfume. And probably a new purse. And maybe a pair of boots. What? A new life requires a new wardrobe. Geez.