Burt’s Bees Sensitive Skin facial cleanser.

This facial cleanser left a light moisturizer feel to my face after I used it, I almost didn’t feel the need to put anything else on my face. But since I do have tight dry skin after cleansing, I did apply a face cream afterwards. I’ve been using it in rotation of my Marcelle, or Philosophy cleansers.

I also have never used a thicker cream like cleanser before.  One thing that I did not like, was that it took three tries to remove all of my mascara off. So that was definitely an issue for me.

Burt’s Bees Energizing Body Bar in Mango & Orange.

This is a big bar of soap! What can I say about a soap though? I’m not sure I would purchase this for myself for a second time, because I use a loofa in the shower and prefer liquid soap myself. But the bar lathered up nicely in my face cloth, and again left me feeling clean without making my skin feel tight.

Burt’s Bees Sensitive Skin daily moisturizing cream. This moisturizer has been in our bathroom since I first opened it. No rotation of products for my face for this gal! It’s quite light on the face, so I wouldn’t use this during the winter time. It also drys quickly into the skin without leaving any sort of greasy film. It lasts all day long and I don’t have any dry skin patches on my face when I apply this. This one’s a keeper!

Burt’s Bees Body Butter & Sugar Scrub

Oh my word you guys, the scrub looks so disgusting but I think it’s actually my favorite out of the entire lot that I received. I’ve been using the scrub in conjunction with the body butter shown below, before I get ready for my self-tanning routine (seen here).

Oh gosh, this body butter was super difficult to open. They need to put a little lip on it more than what they currently have. I ended up getting it off in a ton of tiny little pieces.

As for body butter goes, I can’t say this will rank as my top favorites. It’s more of a cream consistency, and not as thick as I thought it was going to be. None the less, it’s a great cream with a nice mango & orange scent to it. The scent doesn’t linger all day, which is nice since I don’t want to always smell like my lotion.

Have you ever used any Burt’s Bees products? I’ve used their lip balms many times in the past but I’ve never used anything else. I’m excited to try out the Radience Body Lotion, as it’s gotten a ton of hype on YouTube about it. Basically it gives your skin a super gorgeous glow to it. Most people use it on their legs when they’re going out, or on the collar bone area for a nice sexy look!

As per Leanne’s request I have posted a new recipe! About time I had a new one up on my recipe page, hey?

Good ol’ Lemon Pepper Chicken Stir Fry it may not photograph the best. But it’s darn tasty.

It only includes these simple ingredients!

Plus three packs of noodles, minus the powder sauce (because it’s bad for us, plus we can make it taste way better!)

Unfortunately for my clumsy hands, I dropped one of the smaller glass containers on the floor and thank the LORD it didn’t shatter, or even chip. I just washed it off and put the remaining leftovers in the rubbermaid glass for our lunches the next day.

I’m a GREAT cook haha, and I clean as I go. But when serving up supper — that’s probably when I’m the most messiest. Sorry for the splattery food in the photos. I could photoshop it out. But let’s get real here.

The value pack comes with three glass containers, and 3 lids (of course). I haven’t shown you guys the smaller container. The smaller one wouldn’t hold enough for a lunch, but something more like a sauce, or snacking type of foods between meals.

Apparently these are leak-proof. But I’ve yet to dare and test that out by tipping it upside down with my lunch in it, yet.

I’m liking the lids of the Rubbermaid glass though. They’re not difficult to remove at all thanks to the large “lips” for lids. See?

It’s a huge favorite of mine and I need to be careful to not make it 3 days out of the week for supper. I don’t want to get sick of it! I’ve always had this recipe on my website hidden in the archives, but finally decided to make it a staple in my recipe section of my website. It’s simple with some weird ingredients in it like vinegar. Would would have thought? That’s why I don’t experiment in the kitchen too much. I’m a recipe follower, and my Mom and Brother are recipe makers.

I made my lemon pepper chicken stir fry the other night and ended up sticking the leftovers in my Rubbermaid Glass containers. I’m not the hugest fan of left overs but the stir fry actually reheats well and doesn’t taste like leftovers. The only things I like to have the next day are that, and my homemade macaroni and cheese as leftovers.

The Rubbermaid Glass is everything safe. You can even use these babies in the oven to create some kind of fancy casserole if you have a recipe for something like that. If you do, please share. ;)

• Microwave safe
• Dishwasher safe
• Freezer safe
• Oven-safe up to 425ºF
• Flex & Seal™ leak-proof lids won’t tear or break
• Square-shaped to maximize space
• Superior stain and odour resistance

Rubbermaid Glass containers:

(Click to enlarge)

Leave a comment/recipe telling me your favorite dinner recipe. Mine is most definitely the lemon pepper chicken stir fry my brother taught me how to make.

I’m not sure I’ve ever shown a photo of my Brother and I together. Here he is in his kitchen in Ireland (he now lives in Newfoundland) when I went to visit him a few years ago. Off I go on an airplane tomorrow to see him!

Everyone and their Mom knows that the summer collections from all over include the Pantone Color of the year, tangerine tango. Trends for this summer also include bright neons, and pastels. While I’m a fan of wearing those bright colors as clothing, I’m not the biggest fan of them on my face.

Thankfully Yves Saint Laurent took a different road and branched out into neutrals with a pop of color this summer.

Not too long ago, my friends over at Yves Saint Laurent sent me over a few pieces from their Summer 2012 collection. Let me tell you one thing before I get started, holy moses. YSL definitely knows what they’re doing. Whenever I think of Yves Saint Laurent, I think luxurious. Everything about it. Look at all the gorgeous gold packaging.

Check out some of the items from their summer collection:

The YSL bronzer comes in a luxe velvet sleeve for the brown case. This is Terre Saharienne Collector in # 2 Sunkissed. ($60 CDN / $50 USD)

Terre Saharienne Collector in # 2 Sunkissed. Swatch all three separately or swirl them with a brush to give your skin a nice bronzed glow. It’s quite light but very natural. I’ve been wearing it to work the past few days. I also love the python print in the Bronzer.

Terre Saharienne Collector in # 2 Sunkissed up close.

Terre Saharienne Collector in # 2 Sunkissed watched on my finger. I was shocked to feel how silky smooth and what a buttery consistency that the bronzer had. I didn’t want to stop swatching it. It picks up great on my MAC brush and applies beautifully onto my skin for a warm glowy type of look. I personally think it looks great with my skin tone. I don’t know how it would look on fairer or darker skin tones.

As I stated above, it gives a nice natural golden bronze look to my cheeks. It’s nice and luminescent, as in a natural looking glow. You may notice the product itself does not have any shimmer in it at all.

The next item is such a stunnah!

Golden Gloss in # 54 Golden Sand ($34 CDN / $30 USD) The gloss has a really great shine on your lips without it being sticky. The Golden Glosses actually have sparkling 24K gold  flecks (0.2%) that create a mirror like effect and they’re slightly scented with a hint of mango. You can notice the mango scent in it for sure, it’s so different!

(click to enlarge)

This gloss was difficult to photograph on my lips. Here I am wearing the Golden Gloss in #54 Golden Sand. It’s a really great sparkling peach. But not overly sparkly. Just the right amount.

Next is the Mascara Volume Effects Faux Cils Waterproof in the color Majorelle Blue. I actually own the black version of this mascara, I picked it up at Holt Renfrew a few months ago, and really do love it. It’s in my rotation of Make Up For Ever smoky lash, and Buxom lash. Three mascaras running all at once, I’m a juggler! I’m not the biggest fan of colored mascaras, and this one is quite an intense blue. Perhaps this would be great for someone a little more bolder to play with color than I am. However, I will wear it this summer as it is a unique (and I keep going back to this term): pop of color on the eyes.Mascara Volume Effects Faux Cils Waterproof in the color Majorelle Blue. ($36 CDN / $28 USD)Mascara Volume Effects Faux Cils Waterproof in the color Majorelle Blue. This mascara is a bold blue color and it goes on quite intense directly onto the lashes.

Mascara Volume Effects Faux Cils Waterproof on my lashes.

Super up close of the Mascara Volume Effects Faux Cils Waterproof on my lashes.

Lastly are the Pure Chromatics Wet and Dry Eye Shadow palette ($74 CDN / $52 USD). There are six palettes to choose from and I received # 1.Pure Chromatics Wet and Dry Eye Shadow palette.Pure Chromatics Wet and Dry Eye Shadow.

The blue color may look a little intense, or scary if you’re not used to it. But not to fret, they don’t have to be used all over the lid. Put a dash of color right underneath the bottom of your lower lashes and it’ll transform your look from “meh” to ow ow lady!Closeup of Pure Chromatics Wet and Dry Eye Shadow palette.All four Pure Chromatics Wet and Dry Eye Shadow palette swatched on my inner arm in the day light.Great quality, as you would expect for a $74 eyeshadow quad from the wonderful Yves Saint Laurent.

Yves Saint Laurent, as I’ve stated above, you do not disappoint!

Love the color palette of the Summer 2012 collection. It’s a natural golden goddess type of look,  which is so very much my style.

Summary
Bronzer: Terre Saharienne Collector. $60 CDN / $50 USD
Gloss: Golden Gloss. $34 CDN / $30 USD
Mascara: Mascara Volume Effects Faux Cils Waterproof. $36 CDN / $28 USD
Eyeshadow: Pure Chromatics Wet and Dry Eye Shadow palette ($74 CDN / $52 USD)

The entire  Yves Saint Laurent Summer 2012 collection:

(Click to enlarge. Photo provided by  Yves Saint Laurent)

  Yves Saint Laurent Summer 2012 collection available at Holt Renfrew, selected Bay, Murales & Sephora boutiques.

So I (we?) have a co-op student for the summer. He’s super helpful during our busy time at work, implementing new things that I probably shouldn’t discuss on my blog. Meet Patrick! Today I walked into his office and he and I randomly decided to go on a drive during lunch. He forgot his at home so since he lives super close to my own apartment, I thought I’d just drive him to get his lunch.

When we were driving up on one of the main streets I noticed that we now have a Menchie’s frozen yogurt place!!!!! . . .  !!!!!! yes it deserves that many exclamation marks. I’ve seen so many bloggers write about these frozen yogurt places before, I’ve never been in one! So fun. Patrick and I had to make a pit stop in there and grab a snack. Neither of us had been inside before, and since it’s quite new the girl at the cashier explained to us how it worked.

There are a variety of flavors from plain ol’ vanilla and chocolate to coffee, watermelon tart, peanut butter and even cookies n’ cream. They allowed us to self-serve our own samples of any of the frozen yogurt and even toppings. Oh I was so excited.

You’ll notice that there are three levers per 2 flavors. The chocolate and vanilla are on either side, and in the middle is a mix of the two! Brilliant. I went for that.

Sugary/chocolate toppings.Fruity toppings.

My brain is confused! So many toppings, I could hardly choose what to get. I mean, cereal were even options as well!(left: Patrick‘s fro-yo // right: mine!)

Finally I decided on what to put with my fro-yo. I went with kiwi, strawberries, cherries, skor bar bits, rainbow sprinkles, caramel sauce and those pink balls on the bottom of my photo are called ‘popping bobbas’. They were great. But when I first tried them in the sampler, I couldn’t get my teeth to chomp down on them. They were sliding all around my mouth. Is that weird? Sorry.

The place was so colorful inside. It was a fun vibe for sure, with photos of celebrities who were inside previous Menchie’s around the world.

Well, time to dig in. Mmm. The kiwi was surprisingly good in my frozen yogurt.

Oh, and the spoons? The spoons are to die for. Soft but hard plastic, no hard edges around the spoon part to cut your mouth. I sound like a spoon-pro. Get your mind out of the gutter. I even kept mine to have at home, heh.

Super cute, right? I’ll definitely be back.

Are you more of an ice cream fan of frozen yogurt?

p.s. I feel like everyone and their BFF is pregnant lately. Which isn’t a complaint of mine. It’s probably my age bracket, right? Anyway, they’ve all been talking about listening to their babies at home with their very own fetal doppler. Neat hey? Man, technology has come a long way.

Wow,so many people entered my giveaway. I didn’t realize how many people would actually enter. There was 645 entries in total.

So let’s get to it. The winners of my birthday giveaway!

As I stated in my original giveaway post. The first person gets to pick the first prize, and so on. Unless the prizes are of course stated as Canada Only.

Send me your mailing address to spiffykerms@gmail.com within 24hours. Otherwise I will do a re-draw.

I will e-mail back the second winner, tell them what is left, and so on.

[[ View the winners here ]]

I’ve been playing around with a lot of lip products with actual color to them, for a couple of months now. I don’t know why I never used any lip products before. But I think it’s because I never really focused my makeup to my lips. Sure they’re not as gargantuan as I would like them to be. But I do like them, and would never want to be as mouthy as Angelina Jolie’s lippies.

I was always a lip balm kind of girl until I was first introduced by all of the lip stains and glosses found in my beauty sample boxes that I subscribe to each month. What a great marketing ploy on their part. So because of that, I’ve now gotten into putting a dash of color on my lips on a regular basis and quite liking it! I’m branching out of my makeup routine and even layering stuff on my lips to see what kind of effects I can get out of it. It’s fun! Why did I wait so long?

Rouge Artist Natural Lipsticks.Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Natural Lipstick in shade N5 and N10.

I’m so glad I got pinky nude colors to work with. Though, I’m sure with the formulation that these are made out of, that the bold colors wouldn’t be that hard to work with. They glide on so easily, almost like lip butters or lip balms do on the lips.On the left is N5 Nude Beige, on the right N10 is called Iridescent Copper Pink.

Here they are swatched in natural light outdoors, I was a little goose-bumpy. On the left is N5 Nude Beige, on the right N10 Iridescent Copper Pink.

I know this a bit weird to just show my lips but I didn’t’ want anything else distracting from it. So here are the colors on my lips: On the left is N5 Nude Beige, on the right N10 Iridescent Copper Pink.

I’ve been sportin’ these bad babies a number of days of the week and bringing them to work with me to re-apply. People have been comparing these Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Natural Lipsticks to Revlon’s Lip Butters but better. I haven’t purchased any of the Revlon lip products but what I can say for sure about these  Rouge Artist Natural Lipsticks, is that they’re not drying on my lips at all. It was something I was a little worried about at first, because I tend to think that all lipsticks dry out lips. Not these ones. You can either apply them sheer, or add more layers to give a deeper color.

N5 Nude Beige. So natural looking right? It’s a lighter, more peachier toned than my lips.

N10 Iridescent Copper Pink, is just like I had eaten a pink popsicle. That’s what kind of color I would describe it as. It’s a great color if you don’t want to wear nude.

They have a great shine but sometimes I also put a gloss over top to make my lips look extra shiny. The colors themselves aren’t super sheer, as they may seem when swatched on my arm.

Check them out on my lippies for yourselves! I think these lipsticks are great for newbie lipstick wearers such as myself. Not too out of the box, but right smack in my comfort zone. I have lip color on, but it’s a nice natural color. However, there are some pretty bold colors in the collection.

Check out the 50 shades available on Make Up For Ever‘s site.

The Rouge Artist Natural Lipstick retails for $22 CDN or $19 USD and are now available at your local Sephora. They are part of the Make Up For Ever Spring/Summer launch but they’re not limited edition so it will continue to be available in store after the summer!

Which color do you think you’d pick, out of the two that I’ve shown? Did you know, you can win 3 of them on my Birthday giveaway? :)

Quick post since my earlier one this morning was about climbing with Stephanie and that’s way more fun than Fashion Friday!

My fav outfit has definitely got to be Monday’s since it was my birthday!

Last week Stephanie, and I met up at the local climbing gym to have a fun night out!

Stephanie is always so fun to be around and constantly cracks me up. She’s so easy to talk to, too, and I learn so much when I’m around her. Mainly because I eat candy and she eats Gluten Free. But whatever it is we talk about, I’m always eager to listen and learn from her. I can’t wait til we hang out again buddy! :)

We got some random guy take our photo right before we did our first climb together. Lovely stylish harnesses on.

I’ve been climbing since the local gym back home in Newfoundland opened its doors back in 1994. I think it’s time I invest in my third harness though. But I really dislike the automatic double backing of the new harnesses. I’m old school. Or old.I’m also ready to fight anyone who comes across my path. Or route. Don’t be takin my route! Kidding. I was stretching. Or something.

By the time we were both warmed up, I decided to put my trust in Stephanie who has only belayed twice ever. She did a wonderful job and I felt totally confident in her belaying abilities! That’s saying a lot. I’m hard to trust people with my LIFE.

Stephanie also did a great job climbing some routes. She didn’t rent any climbing shoes and sported her Toms up the walls.

I don’t have many photos of her going up the routes. Stephanie provided me with all these photos that were taken with her iPhone.

Go Steph! Superstar!

Debating whether or not I actually wanted to attempt the 5.10. DON’T MAKE ME STEPHANIE!

Ok fine.Omg I’m on a sloper you guys. Unheard of.

Highstepping up to some crimpers. My fav.

Resting my forearms by hanging with my elbows straight out and switching my feet below. If you keep your body into the wall you’ll waste energy. Thus… the straight arms shown here. I’m not hang-dogging! lol

I chalk up a lot. Sweaty finger tips.

(click to enlarge)

Here’s the rest of the sequence of me climbing to the top. That last move in the far right photo, my forearms were so pumped I just gave up. Burnt right out.

The routes at the local gym are kinda wonky. I feel like they’re graded easier. Either that or the gym I’m used to back home grades really hard. I haven’t climbed in 3 months and I can pop on and get 3/4 the way up a 5.10. When I was climbing regularly back in the Fall I was practically on sighting (I know, sorry that’s climber’s talk) 5.11′s sometimes! That’s not possible after taking a 6 year break from climbing you guys. Whatever. I kinda like it.

I had the best time climbing with you Steph! Let’s go again soon :)

My Birthday giveaway ends in 2 days!

So my MaeMovement bracelets came in! Remember when I blogged about them a few weeks ago? They actually arrived on my Birthday three days ago.

The bracelets are all so hugely unique and every single one is different. I ordered three bracelets from this selection:

Deep red, solid aqua, and fusia (I’m not sure why it’s not called Fuchsia).

These are the bracelets on my wrists. I won’t be pairing them together because they just don’t go well together, and of course I knew that and just had other plans for them. Like my little combo below!

I’ve paired pink (fusia) one on my wrist with this stack:

MaeMovement bracelets are sold by a Mother-Daughter duo located in the United States. They sell these fair trade bracelets made from fine glass beads which are made in Nepal. All beading is done in the comfort of their homes or on rooftop decks when they have nice weather.  A portion of MaeMovement proceeds will also help to sponsor local charities and causes through their commitment to fundraising and creating awareness.

These bracelets are made from the finest glass and sterling silver beads in the world, the bracelets are carefully hand crocheted bead by bead and reflect a cultural craft of beauty and quality. The bracelets will fit many wrist sizes as they roll onto your wrists. They come in over 900 colors and a variety of beads, from flat matte finishes to high gloss metallic’s and iridescence.

The MaeMovement business is founded on practices and principals which supports and pays fair trade wages to our artisans. This improves the quality of their lives and creates opportunities to break cycles of poverty, neglect and abuse.

If you are interested in purchasing bracelets or would like information on retail, wholesale, home parties, fundraisers, custom and bulk orders, contact MaeMovement Mother Daughter duo: Haley or Dee via facebook at Mae-Movement. Or purchase directly from their site on maemovement.com.

I purchased these bracelets myself, and just wanted to support the great cause.

Don’t forget about my HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME Giveaway. Tons of prizes to be won:

Birthdays are like Christmas to me. I could barely sleep the night before my birthday. Seriously, just like a little kid. It was probably the cupcake I ate right before bed. Hey, I had to test it out to see if it was fit for my co-workers to eat. It’s not that I love getting gifts… because that’s always great. It’s just that I get phone calls from family and friends and, I just love that!

Whenever it is someone’s birthday at work — the birthday person has to bring in treats for the staff. I ended up making boxed cupcakes, along with some homemade shortbread cookies. Apparently it was the best shortbread everyone’s ever tasted. But I wouldn’t know because I personally hate shortbread. So maybe I’ll post the recipe that I have.

I set my alarm 10 minutes earlier than normal yesterday morning just so I could get the most out of my day. I usually wake up at 7am to get to work for 9. I don’t take that long to get ready, I’m ready in about twenty minutes and the rest of my morning is spent with Alfie our Pomeranian because he’s left alone for 8 hours of the day.

I got up at 6:45 and got my shower immediately. Then proceeded to make the Boyf and I a “big breakfast”. I made six eggs (lol I know), scrambled them and made hash browns for the both of us and had three sausages for the boyf. Those things are gross.

When I got into work I nearly teared up because L McMomsie (who I blogged about just hours ago) brought in a birthday card and some cake pops for me! I seriously “awwed” at the fact she did such a nice thing like that for my birthday!

(My desk is an organized mess)

As soon as I sat down at my desk my boss came in and sang happy birthday to me and brought me some McDonalds breakfast — my favorite one at that: BLT bagel with a chocolate milk shake. OMG you guys. Two breakfasts in one day. I normally skip this meal, so by 10am I was full to the brim.

On twitter the other night I won a free lunch from a local pub. They always tweet free lunches and I said it was my birthday coming up and asked if I could win – and they let me! Wahoo!

So, my besties from work, Julie and L McMomsie all went out for lunch! So fun!

L and I ordered the same thing. It was freaking delish and I want to go back for more. Or at least get the salad dressing recipe from them. Holy moly.

My boss bought a puppy over the weekend, and brought him into work after lunch. Isn’t he just the sweetest? You can’t see his eyes over his little mop head, but he’s 2lbs and he’s a Yorki-Poo mix. So so cute.

Of course a birthday wouldn’t be complete without a birthday cake and candles! Scott bought this delicious red velvet cake/cheesecake mixture and it tastes … AMAZING!

P.S. Happy Birthday (today!!!) to Jess and her twin sister Sarah!

Don’t forget about my Birthday Giveaway! You can enter daily:

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