The Going Green Tag

Dear Diary,

Thank you again Eco Chic Beauty Diva for tagging me! Here is my video response for The Going Green Tag.

 

Hope you will all enjoy!

 

Love, Jen

Natural and Eco-friendly Hair Care Routine

Dear Diary,

It has been way to long since I last updated on this blog and on YouTube! School was pretty hectic and I finally finished all my exams on May 23rd. But on May 23rd, that was also when I got food poisoning which was not fun.

On the bright side, I'm all better now! I also went to Portland with my cousins, siblings, and my niece for 4 days and 3 nights on the first weekend of June. We had a blast there! I'm still debating whether to post a haul video or a blog post. But first, my priority it to post The Going Green Tag video/blog post because I have been delaying this tag for way too long! So stay tuned for that!

Okay now, back to the hair care subject, this was requested by one of my lovely subscribers on YouTube in one of my previous videos. Hope you all will enjoy this video and leave a comment down below of your favourite hair care product or tip[s] to share! Thank you!

Love, Jen

Trust Fund Beauty: 5-Free Nail Polish*

Dear Diary,

Earlier this year, I was invited by a lovely local blogger, Stephanie of She's So Eco, to her beauty blogger event. It was my first time attending to these events and it was so exciting to get a chance to meet with local beauty bloggers!

At the event, we got the chance to choose two nail polishes from the brand Trust Fund Beauty . Trust Fund Beauty is a cruelty-free Canadian brand that offers 5-free nail polishes. The nail polishes retail for $15 CAD and are free from

• formaldehyde
• camphor
• dibutyl phthalate
• toluene
• and formaldehyde resin.

Left: I'm Kind of a Big Deal
Right: Classy and Trashy

I love the sleek packaging, the cute company name, and their nail polish colour. I also love how the nail polishes does not contain those nasty chemicals and I also really appreciate that the colour is true to the bottle. "I'm Kind of a Big Deal" is a peachy nude colour and "Classy and Trashy" is a mid-tone rosy pink colour. I think out of the two, my favourite one would be "Classy and Trashy" because to me it is the most unique.

I would highly suggest applying two coats of the nail polish in order to have an opaque colour. Although it takes a while for it to dry, once it does, even with 2-3 layers it still looks thin. As for the brush, to be honest, I am indifferent. It is thin and long which can be helpful when you want to be precise, but it may inefficient if you want to paint your nails quickly or with less strokes. Also since it is not water-based, it does have the mainstream nail polish scent to them. In addition, depending on your day-to-day activity, I experienced chipping on the third day but that doesn't really bother me.

Colour: Classy and Trashy

 

I think the three colours that I would like to try next are "Money Buys Happiness", "Lavish Life", and "Sex Tape". Scandalous, I know haha.  

 

Have you tried them? Which one is your favourite colour?

 

Love Jen

 

*This product was gifted to me at the beauty blogger event

First Impressions - Sappho Liquid Foundation in Rachel

Dear Diary,

I recently purchase the Sappho Liquid Foundation in the colour Rachel. I have been eyeing on this for quite some time now. Except I wasn't ready to fork out so much money on a foundation, despite hearing positive reviews on this. Anyways let me just cut this short, my local pharmacy had a sale on Black Friday, so I decided to give this a try!

PACKAGING:

As you can see, the foundation bottle is pretty small. But don't let it fool you because it does holds 30 ml of product. (Good things can come in small packages!) I personally like how the packaging is small because it won't take up much space in my makeup bag and I honestly don't like it when packaging can be deceiving. (It's like the packaging of a bag of chips, ugh) The only complaint I have is, I wish it was made out of glass rather than plastic. The box itself is made of paper and is wrapped with a tape that has been printed on.

PRODUCT:

This product has a pretty strong flower and a hint of herbal scent though the scent doesn't linger for long. The consistency of the product is perfect, it isn't runny nor too thick.

 

APPLICATION:

In terms of application, I used my Everyday Minerals flat top kabuki brush. I personally think this foundation works best with this type of brush. The Joe Fresh concealer brush doesn't really do much; all it did was just spreading the foundation on my skin without adding coverage. So what I did was apply the foundation on areas where I needed more coverage and then I pressed the foundation onto the skin with the flat top kabuki brush. 

PERFORMANCE:

Within 5 hours the foundation held up pretty well. In terms of oiliness, there isn't much difference with or without a primer. I also didn't feel the need to blot the oil because it wasn't unbearable. But by the end of the day I did lose some coverage and my face did get more oily.

VERDICT:

I will need more time to test this product out and experiment with different applications. But as of right now, I like it! The feature of this product that really stood out to me was how lightweight it felt. The reason why I don't really use liquid foundation was because I hated the heaviness of liquid foundation. It's quite a splurge and in the end it depends on what type of foundation you are looking for. I don't mind that it is a light to medium coverage foundation because it wasn't like I got zero coverage from this foundation plus I can always use a concealer.

Have you tried this foundation? What are your thoughts?

Love, Jen

Little Update

Dear diary,

I'm still alive! Sorry for not posting much on YouTube or here lately. Life as a student has been super hectic even thought it is only September. Almost all I do now is studying. Pretty sad, haha! Sigh.

But, I will try my best to post videos or blog post whenever I can! Thank you for sticking by me! It honestly means a lot to me! Hope you are having a great time at school/ work/ life  and I will talk to you very soon!

Thank you for your continuous support!

Love,
Jen

Healthier Food Alternatives

Dear Diary,

I will be introducing some healthier food alternatives.

Let's skip all the gibber gabber and get straight to the point.

 First will be the Hardbite potato chips. (They have a good selection of flavours. The ones you see in the pictures are Smokin' BBQ (red bag) and Jalapheno (green bag).

These kettle chips are gluten free, vegan, free of msg, made with Himalayan crystallized salt, etc. They are a lot less fatty than for example Lays chips. If you like salted chips, they also offer the low in sodium, which in my opinion is really low in sodium to the point that I could barely taste any. Which is good because I had Lays Classics and holy moly it felt like I was putting spoonful of salt in my mouth. Also, These are hand cooked (on the ones that I have munched on are made by Christina, I just want to give a big thanks to Christina for making irresistible chips)

But, I want to be clear. Chips are chips so they are never healthy for you, but if you are craving some it is always better to choose the less fatty ones and doesn't use artificial flavours or colours. Give them a try, the price is similar to other chips out there in the market. You should be able to find them in your local grocer.

Okay, next would be Sunny Boy Pancake & Waffle Mix. I really love this as a healthier alternative when making pancakes (I've also tried making crepes too and it works!) This has whole grains, which is really great, because of the nutrients in it. It does have a bit of a grainy texture, but once you eat it, it's really not that noticeable. Also, the cooking time is really fast 2 minutes on each side. I don't really have much to say but, yum yum yum!

Okay, now moving on to jam. This is by Crofter's Premium Spread. This is an organic jam that uses ethically produced organic cane sugar. It is gluten free and certified organic. It doesn't have much protein content but no jam has a lot of protein in them anyway. I like the raspberry flavour cause it sweet yet a bit tangy. Yum!

Okay, so now we are moving on to something healthier. I love these bread and being totally irrelevant, but the pictures are so darn cute! I always have them in the morning! These are by Silver Hills, they also offer a lot of selections that will surely meet your needs.

The one on the left is called Steady Eddie, it contains no refined sugar and Ali's Alpine Grain are one of the many other selections. These bread are high in protein and fibre, low in fat, sugar, and calories (if you count calories), certified organic, doesn't contain any GMO ingredients, vegan, no artificial preservatives, made with whole grains, and the bread are stored in a biodegradable bag. All in all, I really have nothing bad to say about these breads, but they are so yummy I'm going to die!

Okay, so that is everything! I hope you enjoy reading this. If you have any healthier food alternatives, please leave them down below! It would be great to try out new things! :D Thank you for your time and take care! 

Love Jen

Ecō Logical Skin Care All Natural Sunscreen Lotion SPF 30

Dear Diary,

Eco Logical Skin Care is a natural and cruelty-free Australian Company. I've never tried anything from them and was eyeing on them for awhile. Once I saw that this was on sale, I thought I would give it a try since there is no such thing as too many sunscreen products. Right? *cough* in denial *cough*

I will start off with the claims:
1) Non Greasy
2) Moisturizing
3) UVA/UVB Protection
4) Non-Whitening
5) Zinc Oxide
6) Non-Nano
7) Hypoallergenic
8) No Chemical UV absorbers
9) Make-up Friendly
10) Biodegradable

Since there is such a long list, does it actually live up to it's claims?

Yes, it does. I really like this sunscreen! Plus, this is the only natural sunscreen that hasn't broken me out and doesn't feel like my skin is being suffocated.

1. mousse-like texture

2. light creamy texture

3. light cream/ water-like texture, spreads easily

4. non-whitening and non-greasy finish

It has a light mousse-like texture, when you apply it onto your skin it doesn't feel any different than a moisturizer. It spreads easily and doesn't take long for it to be absorbed into the skin. Once applied, your skin will feel smoother. Although it is not a matte finish, it also isn't greasy, so your skin won't have the stickiness feel to it. I would say that the finish is pretty much equivalent to your daily moisturizer. I also really appreciate that it is non-whitening, goes well under make-up, and doesn't make my face look like a grease ball by the end of the day. I also haven't had any issues with flash photography. What more can a girl ask for?

The only bad thing I can say about this product, is the smell. It smells like chlorine that is used  in public swimming pool. The smell does go away after awhile though.

Although I think the price is a bit more on the expensive side, I think it is well worth it.

For those who are interested, here is the  ingredients list.
Active Ingredients: Zinc Oxide 20%
In-active Ingredients: Purified Water (Aqua), Isoamyl Lurate, Capric/Caprylic Triglyceride, Sorbitan Stearate, Surcose Cocoate, Caprylyl Glycol, Ceterayl Alcohol, Cetearyl Glucoside, Hydroxpropyl Startch Phosphate, Polyhydroxysteraric Acid, Santhan Gum, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Seed Extract*, Rosa Canina (Rosehip) Seed Oil*, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Extract*

* Certified Organic

Have you tried this sunscreen? What are your thoughts?

Love Jen