Sunshine and Adventures

Since moving here, I've wanted to explore the area, but never really gotten the chance.

Since buying this bike for my birthday in March I've wanted to explore even more! There are a bunch of hiking and cycling trails around the area.

On Friday I loaded my bike into the car and drove down to the nearest park where I knew there were trails. I picked a direction and rode until I reached the end, then turned and did the same the other way... I took my camera with me and stopped occasionally to take pictures when I saw something I liked, so I thought I would share them with you.

My cheapo bike that I've grown to love, so much faster than walking anywhere!!

Quick shot on a bridge

There were a TON of these caterpillars all over these trees in huddled groups...

Always comforting to see these signs about... Not sure I will ever get used to them.

Off the beaten track (just a few paces, too scared of the snakes)

I had a lot of fun, got some sunshine, and got out into nature, which I don't get the chance to do very often these days. I ended up spending almost 2 hours going back and forwards exploring the trails. I think I'll have to make this a regular thing! :)

Show your hands some love!

Ever since I was a kid I've suffered from eczema on the back of my hands. They get so dry that they crack & itch/hurt like crazy. Dry weather, soap, wool, all these make it worse. I once worked on my Aunt and Uncles farm, handling lambs, and after two days my hands had swollen up and were bright red, it was pretty awful...

On a normal day, however, the worst I deal with is dryness, especially if I've been doing chores and using a bunch of cleaning products.

Over the years I've tried a TON of different products. Some of them work okay, some don't work at all, and some just make it worse.

I wanted to share some of my recent discoveries that I have grown quite fond of. The first is probably a brand you're familiar with. So many beauty bloggers have raved about Burt's Bees lip balm, so when I saw this hand repair kit in store I thought I'd give it a try.

The kit comes with four things: 

A pair of cotton gloves,

Almond Milk - Beeswax hand creme ~ This stuff smells AMAZING. I don't think everyone is overly fond of the almond scent but I love it. I use this at night, before going to sleep. I cover the back of my hands in a thick layer, concentrating on the areas that get the worst, like the knuckles. Then I pull on the cotton gloves over it and sleep in them. When I wake up in the morning the dryness is gone and it leaves my hands so smooth and smelling delish!

Lemon butter cuticle cream ~ This smells like lemon and honey, so good. Just rub it in around your nails and cuticles when they get dry or cracked. Instant relief.

Shea Butter Hand Repair Cream ~ Great for a quick fix. This little tube is so handy, I carry it around in my bag with me. I use this during the day instead of the almond milk creme, because it's not as sticky and gets absorbed quicker.

The final product that I LOVE, is this "Naked Bee" Hand and body lotion. I discovered this at the local trade day at a stall selling local organic honey and tried a sample. After walking around for an hour afterwards my hands felt amazing, the smoothest I can remember them feeling in a long time, so I bought the biggest tube they had. The Grapefruit Blossom Honey scent is amazing as well.

And the best part about all these products?? They're all free of parabens, petrochemicals, and all the other nasty stuff, and they're not tested on animals. So you can feel good about buying them! :)

Eeeeps!

Wow! So I'm not really great at this blogging stuff huh??

Life got away from me and I found myself too busy or too tired to do anything much on here.

I promise I have planned to get back to this! In the meantime, take a look at this adorable little guy:

Took this on a new lens I got today and I'm very excited to get back into photography. :)

Love any and all of you that read this <3

Mini Photo-shoot in the snow!

It snowed!

Whenever it gets cold enough to actually leave snow on the ground I know it will only stick around for a day or two. So I took the opportunity to get out to the park while it looked so pretty, to play around with my camera and take a few self-portrait shots.

Straightened my hair, threw on some makeup (which then smudged like crazy when my eyes watered from the cold, note to self - use waterproof eyeliner next time...), threw on layers upon layers and took off to find a nice little scenic spot.

I've been taking a small online photography course and have learned a whole lot. This was a fun, quick little shoot to practice. (It was WAY to cold to stay out for long). I'm really happy with the pictures. :) Now I just need to find someone else to take pictures of for more practice.

 

January Favorites!

Yes, yes, I know it's February... But I figured it's only been a few days and I could still get away with this.

This is one of my favorite type of posts on other peoples blogs so I wanted to do my own version and hopefully continue it as a regular feature.

I feel as though I may have gotten a little too excited and picked a few too many things. 

Let's start with beauty products.

I really couldn't choose which of these four items I loved the most. First is the "Vanilla Bean Noel" body wash from Bath & Body works. I absolutely love vanilla scented things and every time I use this I almost want to eat it, it just smells divine. The next bath product is also from Bath & Body Works. The "Stress Relief, eucalyptus & spearmint" body wash & foam bath. This is the perfect thing for days when I am feeling run down. I run a hot bath, pour this in and lie contently in the bubbles, reading or watching youtube videos.

The next two things are facial products. "Yes To Carrots Nourishing, Repairing Night Cream". I have really sensitive skin and some ingredients in your usual run-of-the-mill products make my skin react. So I tend to lean towards products that are paraben-free and have more natural ingredients. This cream is just so silky smooth and a pleasure to use. I put it on in the evenings before bed and wake up with my skin feeling great. The next product is something I've never used before. The Body Shop "Vitamin E Eye Cream". I don't have anything to compare it to, but I love it. I have noticed a slight improvement, but haven't used it religiously enough to say for sure whether it works or not.

Onto Makeup!

1. Smashbox "Wondervision Mega Palette".

This was a Christmas present to myself. I have wanted a palette to play with for awhile. I picked this one because of the wide range of colors. It has a bit of everything, perfect for the beginner like me. I've had a lot of fun sampling and playing around with them all. I might do a full review of this palette in future post.

2. My favorite lip colors for the month were: 

"Lasting Finish by Kate" in 01, which is a deep red and more of a matte finish than shiny, which I love.

&

Cover Girl Lip color in 310 "smitten". A slightly plum shade for those days I'm feeling a little more brave.

3. Nail Polish!

Sally Hansen Insta-dri Nail color in 350 "Wined Up" - A deep red shimmery shade. It reminds me of the deep red berries that grow in winter time.

Sally Hansen "Big Matte, Top Coat" - I love this, I really do. Awesome matte effect top coat on any polish. I talked about it more in this post here.

The final thing in my favorites list is a book: "Humans of New York" by Brandon Stanton.

If you haven't heard of Humans of New York I suggest you check it out immediately. What started as a blog is now a book full of hundreds of gorgeous portraits accompanied by quotes and stories that give you a glimpse into the lives of others. I could just browse the pages of this book for hours. 

 And that's it for this month! I hope you enjoyed it, and I didn't ramble on for too long. I tend to get long winded when talking about things that I love. What was your favorite thing over the last month? Let me know in the comments.

Sally Hansen ~ Fuzzy Coat

Just another quick post about some new polish I tried out. I've had this one for awhile but never used it, except to sample on one nail when trying to pick what to use. 

So I thought I would give it a proper go this time. 

 

I used Loreal Paris nail colour 220 - "I will!" As a base coat. I then used the Sally Hansen fuzzy coat 800 - "Tweedy", adding two coats and letting it dry completely between. Finally I added Sally Hansen no chip top coat to seal it all off. 

I love the finished look, but I almost wish I had gone for one of the colours instead of black and white. It's certainly different and a really cool texture. It's a little too much effort for me though. I probably won't be using this very often, but that works for this interesting manicure, so I'm happy with that. 

What do you think? Do you like the textured nails or do you prefer simpler styles? How much effort are you willing to put into your nails? 

(Please excuse the photos, they were taken on my cellphone in horrible yellow indoor lighting and my big girl camera was out of charge.)

 

New Sally Hansen Nail Products! ~ Review

 I had some extra care bucks to spend at CVS - reward cash for spending a certain amount at the store over the last quarter - so I thought I'd go and take a look.

At the front of the store there were a bunch of displays set up with new products, including a bunch of new nail polishes, nail art kits, glitter, nail beads, all sorts of exciting nail paraphernalia! I'm a sucker for fancy pretty nail thingies.

Two of the new products caught my eye:

Sally Hansen ~ Nail Art Tool Kit - $6.99

Sally Hansen ~ Big Matte Top Coat - $5.99

Included in the nail tool kit were two brushes - a super small precision detailer brush and a long striping brush, a marbling/dotting tool with two sizes on either side and a sheet of stencils.

I love little kits like this and I have wanted to own something similar for awhile now. I love nail art but I'm not particularly good at it just yet, and I had been using my paint brushes which just weren't cut out for the job.

I had a little play with the kit this evening and I am really quite pleased. The stencils work just as well as any stencil I've ever tried - which is to say, not particularly well... They never seem to stick quite right, but I was able to work around that. The detailer brush is awesome. Both it and the striping brush are stiff enough that they don't fold, flatten or separate too much and they keep the polish neat and tidy. The dotting tool is pretty neat too. I used the smaller of the two sizes, but I think it'll take me some more practice to get them looking perfect.

I then used the top coat over the art. The matte effect shows up once the top coat is dry. I used quite shiny pink and purple polish underneath and it worked perfectly. I suspect it might rub off a little easily, I found that I had a few patches after the first coat so I added another. I love it though, I'll definitely be using this a lot.

So, if you're into nail art like me, and you have access to these products I would recommend picking them up! They are easy to use and a lot of fun, definitely worth the money in my opinion.

What's your favourite nail product? I'd love some recommendations.

KD <3