Review: Farmacy Green Clean Meltaway Cleansing Balm

Today I wanted to share a review of the Farmacy Green Clean Meltaway Cleansing Balm with Echinacea GreenEnvy (which will be shortened to “Green Clean” in this post), which I bought during the Sephora VIB sale last month. I thought about waiting a little longer to do a review of this, since I feel like it takes a few months to see the benefits of skincare, but I decided that cleansers are a little different than products such as serums and moisturizers, because you can usually see how well a makeup remover performs within a week or two of using it.

 

THE BASICS

The Farmacy Green Clean Meltaway Cleansing Balm is a solid cleanser that can be used for removing makeup. It retails at $44 CAD for 90 mL, and is made in Korea. This product is cruelty-free, and can be purchased at Sephora, Cult Beauty, QVC, Beautylish, and the official Farmacy website.

Fitness Fridays – Tips to Keep Your Fitness Goals on Track

Today I wanted to share a few of my thoughts on things I’ve found helpful when it comes to keeping my fitness goals on track. This post is a little ironic, considering I haven’t worked out consistently in the last three weeks! Honestly, when it comes to living a healthy life, it took a long time for me to realize the two things that matter the most is consistency and balance, so a lot of the tips below center around these two things. They are things I’ve discovered throughout my fitness journey, so I’ve given examples out of my own life. Regardless of where you are on your fitness journey, I think everyone could do with a reminder every once in a while!

1. Slow and steady wins the race.

Like anything else in life, balance is key. When you start off with an unbalanced diet or no workout regime, you can’t go straight to working out 7 days a week and cutting out all sugar from your diet. It’s just too extreme and for a lot of people, it can set them up for failure. In terms of my own experience, I’ve talked about trying to cut out all junk food from my diet and eating super clean. I can last for about a week or two on this restricted diet before I end up binging and eating half of a family-sized bag of chips in one go, which basically defeats all of the healthy eating. I’ve made this mistake, again and again. What I eventually learned is to pace myself, so I have a 90/10 rule: I eat healthy for 90% of the day, but I’ll let myself have a little treat at the end of every day (a few chips, a cookie, or a small piece of chocolate, etc.) to tide myself over so that I won’t fall off the deep end. The same goes for working out – if you go at it hard seven days a week for months on end, you’ll eventually burn yourself out.

2. Accept that it’s a lifestyle

In a way, this kind of goes with my first tip of slow and steady wins the race. Sure, you might be able to go a few weeks cutting 100% of your favourite “bad” foods out of your diet, or you might be have enough motivation to be able to work out 7 days a week for a few weeks. However, are you sure you’re able to not eat junk food for the rest of your life? Are you sure you can uphold a 7 day/week workout schedule for the rest of your life? I know I couldn’t do either of these things in the long term. Making sure your workout schedule and your diet will be able to fit into your lifestyle helps to ensure your goals are reachable. I’ve already talked about pacing my snacks using a 90/10 rule above. In terms of working out, I know that I only have time to work out 4-5 days a week, so I set the reasonable expectation that I will get 4 or 5 workouts done in a week. If I can do six, that’s great. If I can’t, I won’t beat myself up for it.

3. Do Something You Love

This one mainly applies to your workout regime. Do you dread lifting weights but love running? Then run! Do you hate the elliptical but love swimming? Then swim! I’ve realized that having a fitness regime you enjoy is critical to your success. If you force yourself to do something you hate, you’ll eventually stop doing it. For me, I absolutely hate running, so you’ll never find me on the treadmill or on a jog outdoors, because I know I’ll just quit after a while. I’ve discovered that I enjoy the challenge of lifting weights, and that I like doing HIIT (high-intensity interval training) for my cardio because it’s short and sweet, so I stick to these two things in my fitness regime because I’ll be able to continue doing them without hating my life.

4. Cut Yourself Some Slack

At one point or another, we all lose sight of our fitness goals, and start binge-eating the cheesecake in the fridge at midnight (or is that just me? Oops, okay). OR, we get too busy to cook for ourselves, or too busy with work/social life to go to the gym, and eventually we fall back into our old habits. I know that I’ve been there. Realize that in the long term, one day/week/month of falling off the wagon is only a blip in your lifelong journey to health – what matters is the big picture, not the small moments you went off-track. Pick yourself off your feet again and continue on working out and/or having a balanced diet to achieve that strong, healthy body. It might be easy to say, “I’ve eaten bad for six months and haven’t worked out at all, so I might as well just quit altogether”, but just remember that this isn’t just a phase in your life, it’s a long-term way of living. Like I said at the very beginning of this post, I haven’t really had a regular workout schedule these past few weeks, but I’m trying to continue eating healthy as best I can, and I know I’ll try to fit in time to work out when I’m able.

5. Celebrate the Victories

I know people can get discouraged when they don’t meet their goals, such as “I don’t look the way I want to yet”, or “I’m not losing as much weight as I want”. At this point, some people throw in the towel, because living a healthy lifestyle is taking more effort than it’s worth. I’ve definitely been there. However, think of the improvements you’ve seen in yourself since you started your journey, even if they aren’t a part of your goals. Are you stronger? Can you run for longer than you used to? Although these may not be your goals, they are all achievements and should be celebrated!

What do you do to keep yourself on track when it comes to fitness?

Most Expensive Makeup Products I Own (And Whether I Think They’re Worth It)

A while back, I had seen Joy of Mademoiselle O’Lantern do a blog post about the most expensive makeup product she owned, so I decided to use that idea for today’s blog post. I’m going to be talking about skincare in addition to makeup, since most of the makeup I own is more mid-range rather than high-end. The things included in this post are mostly items that are much pricier than other comparable products; I didn’t include items like eyeshadow palettes from brands such as Urban Decay, Too Faced or ABH, since I consider these mid-priced palettes that are all around the same $50-$60 mark; if I owned any palettes from brands like Viseart or Natasha Denona, then those would have made it on this list. I will also mention whether I think they’re worth the money, and whether I would purchase them again.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette – $70

Up until this product, I feel like the most expensive products I would buy from Sephora were eyeshadow palettes. Then Hourglass skyrocketed in popularity, and I decided to buy this face palette even though I cringed at the price. There are no regrets here – this palette is definitely worth the price! Each of the powders are supposed to do different things, but they all make my skin look beautiful and flawless in different ways. Would I repurchase it? I wouldn’t buy this palette again, but I would probably buy Dim Light (left shade) in the single, and would also love to try some of their other Ambient Lighting powders and blushes.

Review: Maybelline Total Temptation Washable Mascara

Today’s post is a review on the Maybelline Total Temptation Washable mascara. I first heard about this mascara on Nicole of PrettyRuffLife’s blog, who said she really enjoyed using this mascara. A few months ago, I saw this on sale at Shoppers Drug Mart, so I purchased it as a backup for when I ran out of the current tube I was using. I finally broke it out at the beginning of April, and after using it for a month and a half, I feel like I have a good enough idea of this mascara to make a verdict.

THE BASICS

I bought this mascara on sale for $8.99, and it can be found at retailers that sell drugstore brands. It is made in the USA.

For reference, I have sparse lashes that are naturally straight and are somewhat weak. They’re not particularly short, but I wouldn’t consider them long either. My ideal mascara is something that provides both lengthening and volume, holds a curl all day, and doesn’t clump my lashes together or make them look spidery.

My Makeup Routine for Work

Last week, I was chatting with my lovely friend Hoi Yin Li, who mentioned she was interested in seeing what I products I use on a daily basis when I get ready for work. I’m not sure how on earth I managed to get this post done so quickly considering it usually takes me a few weeks to prepare and edit a blog post, and on top of that I’ve basically been coming home only to sleep – but here it is.

I have to admit that I do a full face of makeup for work every morning – eyeshadow, brows, foundation, and even highlighting and a little contouring. It’s probably a bit much for a lot of people. However, even though I do the whole works, I feel like my makeup still looks quite natural and work-appropriate. I remember on two occasions male coworkers have told me that I don’t look like I wear too much makeup (I don’t remember how this topic came up as usually male coworkers avoid mentioning anything about the way their female cohorts look, haha). At the time, I took it as a compliment/good thing, but now that I’m thinking about it, it could also mean “you look rough, you should put some makeup on once in a while…”

Anyways, today I’m sharing with you the categories of products I use every day; I may not necessarily list specific products for some of the categories because I tend to switch those up a lot (eyeshadows, blushes, highlighters). For the makeup categories where I use the same product every day, I will mention what I’m currently using. In addition to listing the products/categories, I will also list my makeup in the order I apply them on my face.

Project Pan Update #2

Hi everyone! Before we start, I just want to apologize if I’m absent on social media in terms of reading/replying to your blog posts or liking/commenting on your Instagram. Work has imploded so we are in crisis control mode, and most days I don’t know what day it is, what time it is, or what my name is. I try to tell myself we’re not saving babies or anything actually important like that, but deadlines are still deadlines. Please be patient with me – I am trying to stay on top of everything and am not doing a very good job!

Today’s post is the second update on my first Project Pan of the year, which I started back in January. I feel like I made some significant progress in a few of the products since my last update at the end of February!

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Poured Crème Highlighter in Moonstone

I thought that this would be an easy product to finish up, but I suppose that was rather optimistic of me as highlighters are notoriously difficult to use up. I skipped a few weeks of using highlighter in March (or much face makeup in general) as my skin was healing from a bad reaction right around the cheekbone area, so I feel like I didn’t use this as much as I normally would have. The weight did go down ever so slightly, though!

NYX Blush in Taupe

The last time I did my Project Pan update, I had all of these broken bits of this contour powder from the edges breaking off. I actually finished using those bits up mid-March and it looked all cleaned up, but then part of the edges broke off into tiny bits again. I used those ones up too, and now the powder has broken again! I find that so annoying. I’m actually quite curious to see if I will be able to use this up entirely by the end of June.

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Paaaarty

Look guys, I hit pan! I was shocked when I saw a peek of the pan, as I had to re-press this blush in February after it shattered during an overnight trip, and it seemed like there was a lot of product in it. I was pretty messy at re-pressing it, so I might be cheating in how much product I need to use up because I lost some product when some of it went into the cracks between the outer packaging and the pan.

Bath and Body Works Waikiki Beach Coconut Perfume

I still use this perfume about three days a week, and I’m so close to finishing it up! I’ve owned this for more than two years, and I just realized that the liquid inside is green. I’m going to be a little sad when I finish this, because I really love this scent! I want to keep the bottle because it’s so pretty, but part of the prettiness is the green liquid inside that mixes with the blue packaging to make a pretty aqua, but once I use the perfume up, the green will be gone.

 

Jack Black Lip Balm

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m trying to finish off these Jack Black lip balms because I’ve used about a dozen of these and I’m ready to try something new. The one that sits on my bedside table has maybe a month of use left. The one I leave on my office as work has a ways to go – it probably won’t be finished by June.

 

Kiehl’s Lip Balm in Mango

I’m still pretty far from finishing this – I feel like I haven’t gotten anywhere with this since the last update, just because I don’t like using it! I feel like I should just throw this out at the end of June since I don’t love this.

Bite Beauty Luminous Crème lipstick in Shiraz

I’m officially done with this lipstick! I actually just finished it last week and wanted to get a new Bite lipstick during the VIB sale to replace this one, but I managed not to succumb to my makeup addiction by convincing myself that I had enough lipsticks to use up, haha.

 

 

Urban Decay Weightless Skin Liquid Makeup

So I should have/could have finished this foundation by the end of March, but I spent the last week of March and half of April testing out foundation samples from Sephora so that I could buy a new foundation during the VIB sale to replace this one. Since making my choice and purchasing the Too Faced Born This Way foundation, I’ve gone back to using this again so that I can finish it off. I probably have a month’s worth of foundation in this bottle.

AG Conditioning Mist

I’m steadily burning through this leave-in conditioner, but to be honest, I’m pretty excited to use this up because I much prefer the Bumble and Bumble Invisible Oil. This has gone down the most out of all the products in my Project Pan since hair products are a lot easier to use up!

 

Urban Decay 24/7 Dual-Ended Pencil Liner

I’m also getting through this eyeliner steadily, although I doubt I will finish this by the end of my Project Pan. I even cheated by sharpening this up before the weigh-in. It’s just so hard to finish pencil liner! Also, when a pencil liner core separates from the pencil itself, it means that it’s drying out, right? Because the black end of the pencil is totally doing that. But it still seems fairly pigmented, so I don’t know…

Urban Decay 24/7 Pencil Liner in Underground

Honestly, I keep forgetting about this product because I use it to line my lower lashline, which isn’t really a “necessary” step for me. The pencil itself is now shorter than the lid, so after my final update in June, I think I might just retire this pencil, haha.

 

Shiseido Ibuki Refining Moisturizer Enriched

Okay…I totally forgot about this moisturizer until last week when I was updating this post. Needless to say, it hasn’t been used up until the last few days! The texture is weird – super thick and greasy, but kind of hard to spread at the same time. I can’t remember if it’s always been like this or if it’s gone bad, but it still smells completely normal.

An honourable mention:

This item wasn’t in my Project Pan, but I’ve been trying to hit pan this item on the side, and I ended up achieving it! Just two weeks ago, I started seeing baby pan on the shade Naked from the original Naked palette. Last year, Nicole of Pretty Ruff Life was able to hit pan/finish a bunch of shades in this palette, and it kind of inspired me to do the same. The Naked palette was the very first high-end palette I’ve ever owned, way back in 2010. I know it’s kind of weird I still have a palette from so long ago, but I take good care of it, and it’s high time I try to hit pan on at least one of the shades! I think this palette might make a reappearance in the second half of my Project Pan!

Here’s my progress by weight! Not surprisingly, the ones with the biggest difference in weight since the end of February were the liquid products.

I feel pretty pleased with myself because I completely finished one product, hit pan on another, as well as hit pan on a product that wasn’t part of my Project Pan. I’m excited to see whether I can completely finish off some of these products in the third and final update!

April Collective Haul

Happy 1st day of May, everyone! In today’s post, Today’s post is a haul of everything I picked up during the month of April. Most of it is from the Sephora Spring sale, but I also ended up picking a few things from other places along the way. I’m pretty happy that I mainly stuck with replenishments during the Sephora sale, but I spent WAY more than anticipated, so I’m hoping to cut down my spending a little in June and July (May is my birthday month so I’ve gotta treat myself, obviously).

SEPHORA VIB SALE PURCHASES

Farmacy Green Clean Makeup Meltaway Cleansing Balm with Echinacea GreenEnvy

This was on my “definitely buy” list and I did end up picking it up as a replacement for my MAC Cleanse Off Oil, which I’m running low on. I’m really excited to start using this – it smells so fresh and clean with a light lime-y scent, and it’ll be my first cleansing balm!