Sunday Survey: August 28th, 2011

01 Mood: Not bad. Considering the fact that I was wallowing under my blankets yesterday with a headache so bad I couldn't look at natural light.

02 Last movie I saw: The Prestige. An excellent rewatch. Still a Christopher Nolan fangirl circa Memento, will forever appreciate his style and his ability to hand his cast a classy wardrobe.

03 What I’m watching: Making my way through the Mentalist. I've managed to kill my parents' bandwidth by more than 30GB so I'm forbidden from downloading new shows. Father got over it surprisingly fast after I gave him a fruit enzyme facial scrub.

04 Best thing about this weekend:

Seeing the Boy, always lovely, generous and willing to go on see saws with me.

Oh and running through downtown Hamilton at full speed while I flap behind clutching a stuffed animal.

05 What makeup am I wearing today: My make-up is terribly boring and always the same. Benefit's Boi-ing concealer mixed light/medium, Mac Blushcreme in Ladyblush, Dior lip glow.

I did usea bit of Benefit's Girl Meets Pearl as a highlighter today :) It's a really pretty goldeny shine that I swipe on the inner corner of my eyes, my brow bone and a bit on my cupid's bow. I feel like a light bulb today ^_^

A $30 lightbulb....

06 What skincare am I using today:

Morning: Wet cotton pad with Bioderma cleanser, swipe all over face. Cleanse with cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser

Night: Bioderma Crealine cleanser, Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser, Badescu buffering lotion

07 What am I wearing today: Blue bow dress from H&M. I wish they came in more colors, I have it in both navy blue and white.

Freshwater pink should be utilized more.

08 What I’m reading: Nothing. My brain is an unstimulated web of useless neurons.

09 Makeup lust: Quite possibly every cream blush Mac has ever made. ONE DAY YOU WILL ALL BE MINE.

I plan to have the world's largest blush collection by 35.

10 Listening to: My customized playlist of old school 90's pop music. I never realized how suggestive these songs actually were.

When I was 10, I thought "Get down, get down and move it all around" meant they wanted me to do the squats.

11 Clothing Lust: H&M! Shopping thursday, hoping not to break the bank. I'm looking for a thicker coat and a flowy top.

12 Haircare Lust: Nada, just shampoo and let it dry naturally. The most investment I've done on my hair is Moroccan oil and a very expensive boar brush.

Asian hair is very very low maintenance.

13 Skincare Lust: I'm running a bit low on my Philosophy scrub but $90 is completely unreasonable right now.

I got it last Christmas with a gift card.

It is terribly good, though.

14 Current obsessions:

1) To stay happy

2) Going out to get fresh air everyday

3) Completing Chopin's Fantasie improptu before the end of summer

This seems a bit redundant at this point. I'm only half way through because I'm very picky and refuse to move on until the first part is flawless.

13 Aim for this week: Begin the packing that I neglected to do last week.

Ikea owns my soul

The Ikea Catalog has some kind of a Holy Grail status in my life. I look forward to it every year. It's not as close as a second Christmas but it's right up there with the end of school exams and when Canadian weather decides to stop being a PMS-y bitch.

I've noticed since I was a kid that the Ikea Catalog has this magical ability to make you want everything in it whether you need it or not. When I began hoarding them like my secret chocolate stash (my parents were/are health nuts and never bought me junk food) and telling my parents that I needed a set of RATTVIK wine glasses, I knew something was up.

A decade or so later, I've pinpointed that my fascination with Ikea was based on a trifecta of pretty color, shiny packaging and the occasional stuffed animal. I know this because I still buy things based on pretty colors and shiny packaging (I have a vast selection of cosmetics I purchased because of the box). The sole difference is that my love of stuffed animals has been transferred to Hello Kitty and the occasional Chococat pencil set.

Yes, I am 22 and yes, I do spend too much money.

Since I'm going back to school next month, I have devised a list of items that I would like from Ikea. I'm going to go check them out and pick through them. My budget for this is about $150-$170. I know it's my last year so it's not worth buying a lot of furniture but I need knick knacks for next summer as well.

The EKNE mirror - $14.99

I've broken quite possibly every mirror I've used since first year (I have about 42 years of bad luck ahead of me). I still need to check this out in the store (it better not be paper thin) but I love the simple yet girly curvatures on the outside edges.

The Signum Cable organizer - $5.99

Isn't it just a piece of cloth with some dead bolts on it?

I think I'll look through cheaper alternatives but note to self, I do need something to prevent my room from looking like an electrical cabinet.

EIVOR quilt cover - $69.99 for Queen Size

I've been looking for something like this for ages! I was thinking of using the white sheets I have from home but the eyelet style is a tad bit too princessy for my liking. Considering the ones I want from The Bay are in the $150 range, this is a pretty good deal!

Leberg Shelf - $24. 99

I'm absolutely furniture-less this year. For the first time, the landlord hasn't given me a shelf nor has anyone left me one. This is a pretty decent price for once and I can still use it when/if (fingers crossed ) I move downtown next year.

Solviden Lights - $3.99 for a pack of 3

Aren't these adorable? They look like little gum drops. I like a minimalist canvas but I enjoy little splashes of color so I don't look like I live in a lab. These are technically for outdoors but I'm sure I can drop them indoors too.

Oh and, these are the things I want but don't really need. If I have room in my budget, I'll pick one of them.

Eivor Kvist throw pillows, Kvarnvik boxes, , Malla organization boxes

Even if I'm completely loaded one day, I think I would still do all my shopping from Ikea.

Actually, that's as lie. I see myself paying a ridiculous amount for a customized pillow one day.

Everyday skincare routine

I'm approaching the last dregs of my skincare routine series. I've split the last portion into Everyday Routine and the Occasional Routine. After this epic post frenzy, I won't be doing another one of these until I'm requested for it again :)

Everyday routine:

Cleansing

When it comes to cleansers, I think the gentler your cleanser is, the kinder you will be on your skin. I haven't switched my cleanser since I was 13. It's the one thing I've stuck to for almost 10 years and my mother buys jugs of it from Costco (good ol' costco) for me.

Because I do a lot of exfoliation (every 2 days) and I sometimes like play around with masks, serums and creams, my base has to be as gentle as possible. Cetaphil's gentle skin cleanser is basically like water. It doesn't have any abrasive content, it just cleans your skin very gently without stripping it or making it overly oily. Cetaphil will not remove your make-up properly so you will need to do a cleanse before this (if you do wear make-up, that is).

It's about $13 at Walmart for a small bottle but at Costco, you can buy an astronomical amount for $20! (exclamation mark for extra excitement!)

Make-up Removal

This obviously comes before the cleansing but if you don't wear make-up, you can skip right to the cleanser. When I was younger (around my mid teens), I was far more adventurous with make-up. I used to mix different colored foundations with stuff like costume glitter (-_-) and then I would accidentally fall asleep in it like a fat glittery panda bear after dinner.

I always had trouble removing make-up and thought I needed a heavy duty cleanser to do so. It took me a very long time to realize that all I needed for a gentle make-up remover and THEN, cleanse my skin with Cetaphil after.

The one I use now (and absolutely love) is Bioderma's Crealine H20 cleanser

This stuff is magical. I saw it on Lisa Eldridge and recognized the bottle from products frequently used during runway shows (Oh, all those magazines I read). This feels and looks exactly like water. It doesn't smell like anything (thank god. I had a Lancome kick and everything smelt like roses), it's not oily and it's extremely effective but very gentle.

I don't wear foundation every day nor do I ever wear eye make-up. However, I do use a bit of concealer and cream blush so I only need one cotton pad to take everything off. After the first one gets all gunky and multi-colored, I throw it away, pour a bit more Bioderma onto a second cotton pad and swipe it over my face to make sure everything is off.

Usually, the second one comes away clean. However, if I do feel like wearing foundation that day, I need two cotton pads to take everything off and a third one just to make sure there's nothing left on my face.

After all my make-up is off, I would finish my cleansing with Cetaphil. The bioderma is unfortunately expensive and doesn't last for very long. A 250ml costs me almost $25 at Shoppers and lasts about a month and a half. In France, they sell the 500 ml for 12 euros. In Canada, the 500 ml is an urban legend.

I will always be bitter that Europe has far nicer things than us.

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On most days, this is my entire skincare routine. If I do have a pink patch, I will use a spot treatment (I will list the ones I like below) and it'll usually disappear the next day but generally, I don't moisturize/tone/use serums on a daily basis (it's too much).

However, I do have things I like in that category so if you're interested, read on :)

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Spot Treatments

Like I stated in my 1st entry, I do not use acne prevention creams but I do invest in good spot treatments. Spot treatments are good for people who don't have acne but do get blemishes occasionally. If you "spot" (a-ha-ha-ha) them fast enough and you nip them in the bud, your skin should be clear most of the time. My skin is exactly like this, except sometimes my hormones go all weird every few months and I get one over night (usually in combination with over exfoliation) that I can't control.

They're always on my chin, which is very annoying. When I do get a pimple, I almost never conceal it. I tend to leave it alone.

These are the three that I rotate through. The first two I have always repurchased, the last one is a new product I've been favoring lately:

The two that I have used for years are Mario Badescu's Buffering Lotion and Drying lotion. The buffering lotion I use sometimes as toner if I want my skin to be really poreless and fresh the next day. It's usually a one-time deal because if you do it every night, it really dries your skin out. I do this once every 2 weeks or when I think "Oh hey, I haven't done that in a while. Let's do that tonight"

The drying lotion is something I use like vaseline. Any areas I suspect might be the slightest bit pink, I use the drying lotion. It dries a very pale pink on your skin so I go to bed looking rather diseased every night. When I wash it off the next day, the suspected area is completely clear and I'm a happy rabbit again.

However, it can really dry your skin out so be careful and don't put a lot on.

If I do get a giant zit (which hasn't happened in a long time. knockonwoodknockonwood), I rub the buffering lotion in that area and then the drying lotion on it after. This combination gets rid of it very very fast.

Now the last one (the bright blue tube) has a terrible name. It's Clean and Clear's popped pimple paste (*shudders*), which was made by dermatologists for pimples that have been popped (NEVER DO THIS) and need immediate assistance. I bought it on a whim because I read good things about it on Makeupalley and I'm always in the market for a good spot treatment.

I actually like this better than the Drying lotion. For friends who have known me for ages, this is a huge shocker since I've used the Drying Lotion since I was 17. The Drying Lotion is still amazing for any pink areas but the PPP (far better than the actual name) never makes your skin flakey like the drying lotion does.

Altogether, an ace product that I really like. It's going on my repurchase list (a rare and small list for a product junkie like me).

I usually purchase the Badescu products from a store called Jacob & Sabastian, it's located in downtown Toronto on Queen Street. During the summer, I worked about 15 minutes away from it so I would pick stuff up during lunch. Now that I going back to school, I'll have to rely on online shipping. They both retail for about $20/each and the PPP is about $16.

So that's pretty much it for my everyday routine. It appears long but it's really just:

1) Removing makeup with Bioderma (if I'm not wearing make-up, this is not used)

2) Cleanse with cetaphil

3) Use spot treatments if necessary

However, I also exfoliate every couple of days and use serums/masks occasionally so I'll finish the last entry off soon.

Night!