NOTD: Bluey Hues

I absolutely love blue nail polish for summer. It is like blue jeans that goes with everything. For today's manicure I have picked up two different shades of blue. I like these kind of manicures because they add a little extra to one colored nail looks but are very simple.

Left Hand

Right Hand

I just changed the sequence of colors on both hands to make it more fun and casual. I used both drugstore nail polishes. First one is Sally Hansen Pacific Blue, which is a cult favorite of the beauty community and is talked about a lot. It retails around $2.99 depending upon the store.

The second color is called Bikini by Pure Ice. Walmart Canada has recently started carrying this new brand of nail polish and it is retails for $1.99. I like the consistency, it is quite opaque but I used 3 coats for this manicure. I want to try more colors, but I didn't find any unique one as I already own most of the shades that they carry. 

As usual, I used the Revlon colorstay base and top coat. It gives a decent shine and makes my nail polish last a while, which actually is not a priority for me as I change my nail polish every other day. 

Thank you for taking time to read this post, I hope you enjoyed it. Have a great day!

Reviva Labs Makeup Primer: For Acne Prone, Allergic and Sensitive Skin

Primers are way more talked about now than they ever were, and have almost become a necessity for makeup lovers. There are tons of primers in the market today addressing all different skin issues. However, finding a good, affordable primer with skin benefits is the real challenge. I have tried a lot of primers from high end to drugstore including Hourglass mineral veil primer, Benefit porefessional, Smashbox photo finish, Too faced primed and poreless skin, Tarte clean slate and many more. Obviously, I didn't like all the ones that I tried, but now the problem is that I am allergic to stearate so I am not left with a lot of options. Therefore, it is kind of difficult to find the one that I really like and does not contain stearate. Fortunately, I have found one, which is really affordable and has some skin benefits and it is Reviva Labs Makeup Primer.

I bought this primer from www.vitacost.com for around $12. It has very few ingredients which is always good (Ingredients: Cyclopentasiloxane, dimethicone, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), olive oil, coenzyme Q10, squalane) and is cruelty free.

It claims to:

• Fills in lines, conceals pores, controls excess oil.
• Helps skin instantly look and feel smooth and silky.
• Helps makeup foundation last longer, (safe under eye shadow, too).
• And COQ10 adds protective antioxidant action.

As you can see from the ingredient list, there is dimethicone in it so  it is a silicone bases primer and goes on very smoothly like Smashbox photofinish primer. However, it has skin benefits unlike some other primers that are just meant to keep the makeup on for longer. Also, since eyelids are very sensitive and it is usually not recommended to put face products there due to the risk of them sliding into the eyes. But this primer can be used on the eyes suggesting how mild it is. 

PROS:

• Very few and recognizable ingredients (less is more for skin)
• Affordable
• Skin benefits
• Keeps makeup on all day
• Can also act as an eye primer
• Has a pump
• Paraben free
• Cruelty free

CONS:

• Can only be found online unless stores near you carry Reviva Labs

RESULT: I absolutely love this primer and would recommend it to everyone, especially people who have sensitive skin and are looking for products with lesser ingredients.

Thank you for taking time to read this page. I hope you have a great day!

                  

Spadina House

Spadina House is a historic house museum in Toronto, Ontario. It was built in parts from 1866-1913 and is located next door to Casa Loma. For some reason, it is not as famous or talked about as Casa Loma is even though it is equally magnificent. One major difference between the two is that the Casa Loma is more of a big castle while Spadina house feels more cozy and regular house like with Victorian touch.  Also, at Spadina House there are timed tours that are provided in groups by a staff member.

Spadina House - Front View

Formal Sitting Area

A major part of the house is restored back to the era it belonged to, for example the wallpapers have been re installed because of the wear and tear. Also, most furniture supposedly belongs to the family who owned the house.

Indoor Garden

Indoor Garden 

This beautiful indoor garden was not a part of the original plan but was added later on by the house owner. Outside garden is also just as pretty as this indoor one. Apart from a large recreational area, there is an orchard with apple trees and decent sized vegetable garden. The little door at the floor of the indoor garden was specially built for the gardener as during those times gardeners, chauffeurs etc., were not allowed to enter the house from the front entrance.

Apple Orchard

The apartment that is visible right across the orchard in the above picture was specially made for the chauffeur. A tiny house was also built for the gardener but that is not exactly on the property. 

I highly recommend visiting Spadina House, it is very different from Casa Loma. The tour guide that lead the group was a very nice and patient lady. She explained everything with great detail and answered all the questions. It is open Tuesday - Sunday from 12 pm - 5 pm and have different timings for holidays, so please check there website for more information. 

Thank you for taking time to read this post, I hope you enjoyed it. Have a great day!

Allergies and Acne

Acne is one of the most prominent issues that youngsters and individuals in mid-twenties have to deal with. I always had some acne since the beginning of my teenage years, however, it was never to the point that I needed a dermatologist. Now that I am done with my teens, I got the worst acne of my life. I tried everything to get rid of them but nothing helped. I even took prescription medicine and my skin got better for a while but as soon as I stopped, my skin went back to where it started. I even tried essential oils and everything was fine in the beginning but then my skin reacted very badly.

So when everything failed, it just struck me that maybe its the products that I am using and I was right. I started making a list of all the products that I felt may be the reason of my acne and then compared the ingredients. It took me a while to narrow down to a particular category but I found the culprit at the end, which is Stearate. I noticed that all the products that had any form of stearate whether it is glyceryl stearate, zinc stearate, magnesium stearate, PEG-100-stearate or even stearic acid resulted in acne.

After I was sure that it is the stearate i.e. causing all the problems I got rid of all the products that had those ingredients. It was sad because some of the products were quite expensive but clear skin is priceless. As soon as I started paying attention to the ingredients, I noticed a huge difference in my skin. Yes, it could be quite difficult to find products free of stearates, but they are definitely out there. I can do a whole blog post about that if anyone wants. However, a great source to check the ingredients while online shopping is http://cosdna.com/. It has a wide range of products and different columns displaying the levels of acne causing ingredients.

At the end, I would recommend going through this process if nothing else is helping your acne. All you need  is a rough idea if a product is causing allergic reaction and then just notice if you can see a pattern. I am not a dermatologist or a doctor, I am just sharing what worked for me. I just hope it does for you too.

Thank you and have a great day!