Things I'm Into: August

1.

Peace and quiet is my top favourite thing in August. If you are living in Toronto, you know just how much construction is going on in the city right now. If you aren't familiar, see this article. It can be actually exhausting for me. I won't complain about it, however, I will say that the quiet moments are spectacular in comparison. Tranquility is my passion right now, just like this chilled out frog.

2.

I recently craved more purple options for my eyes, then caved and bought some Body Shop Shimmer Cube Palette in purple. I love it. I personally find it very subtle, yet very shimmery. As a hazel eyed gal, it does a nice job of bringing out the green in my eyes. I really want to try their green and brown versions now!

3.

The other day I went to Dollarama to pick up some writing supplies and bought rainbow pens. Now, I couldn't see the ink like you can in the picture above, so I assumed that all the ink would be blue or black. To my delight, that was not the case, and in fact all the ink matched the outer shell of the pen. I've felt nothing but pure joy about it since. For some reason, that sort of spunk is really going to encourage me to write, you know, because the ink is fun.

4.

I tried a white chocolate cream cake this week. Oh man, it was heaven!  White chocolate is my favourite kind of chocolate so this was perfect for me, but it was more delicious than I imagined was possible. If you are a lover of cake, and white chocolate, go to Fresh Co and grab yourself a slice of your own heaven.

5.

This is an exciting little treat I had recently (*drink responsibly and when of age* Am I dork yet?). I love Somersby Apple Cider, so I was pretty interested in trying other flavours, and this did not disappoint. It was very light, and very tasty. I have to say, for some reason it tasted like strawberries to me, but that's not a bad thing in my books.

6.

I grabbed a can of Jaw Drop's Squeezing Melons one day when I went into the LCBO and tried to get the Somersby Blackberry Cider (*responsibility with the things going into your facial crevices at specific times in life*). It was delicious! I definitely plan on grabbing another sometime and trying other flavours. I mean, their can alone is so freaking rad that I'd likely try the other flavours even if it sort of sucked.

7.

I realized recently that I've paid a lot of attention to the side careers of Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe and Tom Felton, but not so much Rupert Grint. Weird, right? I don't know why either. I like Grint. Anyway, recently I decided to fix that an I've been watching a lot of his films. I like him more as an actor for doing so! I thought he was especially brilliant in Driving Lessons. If you haven't already seen that movie, go and watch it. I really think you'll be surprised at how much you love that film. I know I was. I thought he was so subtle with his acting and I have to say, I really plan on continuing to follow his career because of this movie.

8.

I am obsessed with Wonderly's Youtube channel. They have so many wonderful women who create content for their channel, as well as a web series called Edge of Normal where six young women face the odds and learn how to control their super powers. Their website is also crazy wonderful, so check it out. Oh, yeah, and check out the blog I wrote for them while you're at it.

9.

 

Monster Life is too adorable. I think I used that word a lot here today, but I guess I'm having an adorable month. That doesn't sound too bad, eh? This is a game where you take tiny cute animals, train them, feed them and fight them. It's sort of like a free Pokemon with little creatures that look like they've been origami projects.

10.

I honestly think this background spams my phone, so I'll likely remove it soon, but it's totally cute, and you can interact with it. Everything that floats by in the background can be popped if you tap on it. How lovely is that? I would suggest getting it for a brief period of time, but keep the spam thing in mind in case you want to delete it. Don't get committed to this if you choose to install it!

Movie Review: Wild Target

    Tonight I specifically watched a movie to review it for you! How fun! Since I've been having a bit of a Rupert Grint (of Harry Potter fame) kick lately, I decided to check out his 2009 flick, Wild Target. This film also stars Bill Nighy (Pirates of The Caribbean Love Actually), Emily Bunt (Looper, The Devil Wears Prada), and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office).

     Despite getting a rating of 32% on Rotten Tomatoes, I thought this movie was wonderfully quirky and thoroughly enjoyable! I would highly recommend it on a night you want to kick back, relax, and get taken away on a fun adventure. In this interview/trailer, the cast talks about having fun on set, which totally shows when you're watching the movie (not in a bad way, in a "ohhhh, I love their chemistry" kind of way).

     I loved how each character, in a very human way, have these quirks. Freeman's character has this half menacing, half cheesy smile that perfectly accents the intensity of the situation. Nighy plays up the stiff, uptightness for his character, while Grint and Blunt have these delightfully chill personas amongst it all. In comedy, it can be easy to overdo the wacky, and underplay the story. I felt that with Wild Target, you had the best of both worlds. You recognize traits you've seen in people you know, and you accept that they're a little over the top because the story plays out so realistically.




     I give this film four mustachioed pugs (out of five).



     Got a film you want me to review next? Leave a comment below and maybe I'll do this again!

Beauty Confidence and Changes

     This is just a blog on my personal beauty journey, and not social commentary on beauty standards for women because I could just go on and on about that, but I won't today. I wrote two other pieces on my fashion journey and my hair journey, so this is my little way of "rounding out the series."

     When I started making notes for this piece, I considered my journey starting around 13 or 14 years old when I started wearing make up and plucking my eyebrows. Truth be told, I consider applying nail polish to be a part of my beauty regimen, and I likely started playing around with nail colour when I was 8 or 9. That's so young, isn't it!? I surprised myself when I realized I've been playing around with beauty and possibly feeling self conscious about baring natural flesh since before I was a decade old.

     Now, I wouldn't necessarily say I was self conscious at that point, or at least aware of it, and that's because I hardly remember what my opinions on make up and fashion were back then. I'm sure if I did, they wouldn't be opinions that really bring something to the table anyway.

     Instead I want to start this story from the 13 or 14 year old perspective. I remember feeling a lot of pressure, mostly put on by myself, but encouraged by my peers, magazines, and media in general. I remember feeling this impossible task of plucking my eyebrows, shaving my legs and applying just enough make up, without going overboard. I needed to perfect everything on the first go, otherwise everyone will think I'm an idiot, or a slut or worst of all, ugly. Needless to say, I over plucked, I constantly cut my legs while shaving, and my make up application was not very skilled. I still felt that pressure though, and felt like my worth resided in my beauty, or lack thereof.
   
     When I got into the later years of high school, I really started liking back eye shadow and heavy eyeliner (on the bottom only as I didn't know how to apply it on my top lash line at the time). There was something pretty freeing about putting too much make up on and not giving a damn. That was the point where I started gaining confidence in my personal beauty style, and not caring about what everyone else might think. That's really a quality I try to hold true today.

     When I got to college, I sort of tuned down my make up. I wouldn't say I was experimenting with my techniques in anyway and I can't say I remember thinking about beauty a lot at that point. I just remember starting to find colour fun, and enjoying the process of changing things up a lot. Since I don't have much to say, I will tell you that my favourite nail polish colour at the time was chocolate brown. I still love the colour as I think it's just really unique.

     After I graduated, and got an office job, I knew I needed to tone down the intensity, and keep things professional. I still wore bold colours on my nails, and decided to try to learn how to apply eye liner. This is a process that I'm still working on, but am really glad I took a leap and made it work. I was at a stage where I was really keen on learning new application techniques, and YouTube definitely helped me on my way.

     Now I am at a really fun and experimental point. I play around with my eye liner thicknesses, and I play around with colour - not only on my eyes, but even lipsticks now! I'm a really big fan of playing up the eyes with smokiness or with vibrancy, but now I am also a fan of playing down the eyes, and playing up the lips. I think subtle colour, with voluminous eye lashes and with bright lips. This makes for such a cute, feminine look.

     I think, like every woman, I still feel some pressure to constantly look my best. I need to always go out with make up, I always feel insecure when a zit pops up onto my face, and I always feel I could look better. These days, that's just a tiny voice that's easy to dismiss, but it's fairly sad all the same. These days, I mostly focus on beauty because it's fun, because I can play around with colours I love, and because it's something fun I for myself.

Winter Has Come - Casting Call

     I have been working on my winter collection all summer, and not only have I finally completed it, but the fashion film is starting to come together! Basically, it's about ordinary people who put on these fandom inspired pieces, then realize they've become their favourite characters.
    
    The collection will be coming out in November, but if you're in the Toronto area and would be interested in being a part of this magic, please see the link below! If you aren't, stay tuned. Things are about to get fun in here.


http://www.mandy.com/1/cast3.cfm?v=55828163&terr=caon