Rimmel London Sweet Lavender

I'm a bit of a nail polish devotee and tend to change my nails up 2-4 times a week. It is rare for my bare nails to be showing and thought I'd start reviewing the colours and brands I enjoy using.

For the last two weeks I've been embracing pastel colours. Something about the softness and femininity of the shades makes me relate it to summer and fresh air. So while out paroozing the isles of Shoppers as Adam was looking for a bum pillow (honestly, it's not as bad as it sounds!) I caught glance of this Sweet Lavender colour. It has been awhile since using this formula and I was presently surprised after the first swipe.

Rimmel does an excellent job describing the name, and was exactly the shade that shows in the bottle. The brush was thick, which I appreciate and the wand had a medium length, allowing for the most precise application. The formula was smooth, running along my nails nicely. As the first coat went on I was quiet satisfied, it was sheer enough that mistakes couldn't be noticed and I could have left it at that. I'm a two coat kinda girl and in no time my nails were dry enough for me to add my favourite top coat, seche vite.

I'll be looking for other shades in this range because like I mentioned the packaging and application is exactly what I want in a polish.

What do you think of this shade? Do you have any favourite colours by Rimmel London and suggest I try?

Enjoy,
Erin

Summer 2015 Bucket List Ideas

Need some ideas on sprucing up the remaining weeks of summer? We are half way through July, have you knocked any to do's off of your 2015 Summer bucket list? Have you even made a summer bucket list yet??? Don't fret ... I have you covered.  Read - take notes - plan - take action !!! Oh, and enjoy every damn minute. 

1. Be a tourist in your own city. We all know the hot spots that are note worthy for tourists, so why not check them out for yourself. You will be amazed at the history your city holds and exploring might bring you closer to the place you call home.
Charlottetown is an unbelievable picturesque town with a ton of entertainment. With it's postcard coastline, lush farmlands, Confederation Trail, Peake's Wharf's Historic Waterfront, parks, racetrack, world renowned golf courses, cutting edge culinary, performing arts musicals, Founders Hall attractions, it has spectacles and history charm for all.
And if you are in the Saint John, NB area I highly recommend catching up with David Goss' Walk n Talk tours. They are free and cover phenomenal facts about the history of Saint John and the surrounding area. Go alone or grab some friends, pick up a coffee/tea, and exercise your legs while celebrating the past. 

2. Try your hand at a new hobby. Being married to a creative animator really allows me to explore my imaginative side. I've always shied away from exploring my "wonders" as I didn't know how to implement them or I was scared of not being good at it. Bouncing those ideas off of Adam has allowed me to take the plunge. I have a number of things I want to try... pottery, photography, knitting, sewing and have taken a slight interest in painting. The last time I painted I was in Junior High (shows how long ago that was because they call it Middle school now) and it was in a mandatory art class. Adam broke it down like this ... paint something for 30 days straight, you will see improvement and you will try your hand at a new interest. So I started and by no means are my paintings good, but I see improvement and I like the fact that my technique is different. My wise friend April told me,  "Everyone is an artist, artistry is an application that needs practice so use that muscle". I guess that can be a reflection of a lot of things in our lives!

3. Put down your phone and ENJOY!!!  Yes, I said it. Step away from your mobile and practise "living in the moment". You can't accomplishment being in the moment if you are taking a picture, texting or checking Twitter. Let your soul and memory capture the beauty of your surroundings and embrace being "checked in". Make conversation with those around you and encourage others to go mobil free as well, oh and don't get upset when they don't text you back right away because they may be taking your advise. 
Live for now, live for today and express your gratitude in todays joys so you can appreciate the life you have.  You will thank yourself later! 

4. Go on a Grub crawl.  Gather your friends, make a list of all the place you have been meaning to try and hit the town with an appetite. Start by swapping appetizers, next stop entrees and finish with dessert at a few restaurants revelling in the fresh local produce. Converse with friends, make a day or evening out of it and plan to do it again!

5. Try your hand at a physical activity. Summer is the best time to get outside to laugh and play. I've been eyeing a number of activities that I'd love to take part in including paddle boarding, bubble soccer (look this up and tell me you don't want to try it), and frisbee in Victoria Park. We love to go swimming with our dog Oliver, so finding pet friendly beaches is always a bonus. And many evenings are spent watching the sunset while playing a competitive game of bocce ball or washer toss in our yard. Get outside and make the most of your surroundings!
Sidenote: although not physical (some might disagree) I will be trying my hand at Charlottetown's Escape Room. It will be scary but so worth the thrill. Post will follow after my attempt!

6. Hit up those yard sales. There is a unique pleasure in searching for the perfect find and this feeling always appears when thrift shopping, discovering a jackpot sale and scoring the best treasure at a yard sale. If you see something you like, but think it needs some added love, buy it and get creative. Sometimes you come across the perfect piece of pottery, a wool blanket or a teapot just like your nanny use to have. Whatever the valuable, bring it home and display it, who knows what type of conversation piece you might be holding. 
My husband has a fondness for guitars, loves to play music and dabbles in a band (with my father!!!). So we are on a mission to find older guitars that he can display in his music room one day. What is old, is always new again so have fun hunting.

Let's just face it, we are more than half way through 2015. So setting goals, bucket lists etc is a great way to experience life as it seems to fly past. Encourage yourself to explore something everyday, write down those wishes and make them goals. Who knows when you will "kick the bucket", so treat each day as a special occasion. Don't wait for the right moment to experience life, create the moment and share life's adventures". 


Now I would love to hear what you have on your bucket list.
Have you be able to check some goals off?
Please share any recommendations or experience you might have. I want my list to grow !!!

Enjoy and have fun kicking the bucket!

Erin 

Weekend Recap ~ Oliver edition

We are back home and settled after a splendid weekend away camping with friends. We started the weekend off by strolling along Kinlock Beach which is dog friendly, and boy was it a beauty of an evening.

Saturday we headed for Green Park Provincial Park to spend the evening in a darling little cabin right on the water. This park was also dog friendly and Oliver had the best time ever. He spent every minute exploring and swimming. He chased sticks, swam, dug for crabs, rolled around in the sand, sniffed around, ate lots of mosquito and crashed come bedtime. 

Supper was delish and was followed by a big game of bocce ball and horseshoes. Later in the evening we all enjoyed a campfire while listening to the waves and admiring the beauty around us.

We woke early the next morning, had campfire breakfast, laid out and enjoyed the sun and water then headed home. It was mighty warm outside so we decided to stop in Summerside, grabbed some yummy grub from a food truck then ventured over to the Queen Elizabeth Ball field that was constructed for the Canada Games. It was a stunner of a facility, where three games were taking place. We were in no rush to get home so we took in the action. "Play ball".

Kinlock Beach, PEI  (Friday night stroll and dip)

Green Park Provincial Park  (entrance)

Red dog, red beach

"my happy place" 

View from our cabin

Admiring the beauty

"This place makes me Happy!"

Nature

Exploring before dinner

Our cabin "Breaker"

Bunk beds (bottom turns into a double)

Evening campfire

Early morning view

"Can I PLEASE go for another swim?"

At the ball game. 

Thanks for stopping by. We are trying to make the most of our summer and will be heading back to Green Park soon, I'm sure.

Erin

June 2015 Favourites

Sunshine is surely on it's way and with this hope I say farewell to June and Hello to July. This past month was a busy one and I found myself venturing into the Youtube world and debuted my very first video.

I enjoy watching "favourite" videos, so I figured I'd give it a try myself. It's a little mix of beauty, lifestyle and skincare. I haven't been wearing a lot of makeup lately so my favourites are surrounded by my basic necessities.

I hope you enjoy, and I want to wish my fellow Canadians a Happy Canada Day. 

Let me know what you favoured this past month and leave some suggestions for further videos.

Erin.

Summer Solstice weekend ~ 2015

It's known that June doesn't always bring about the nicest weather and 2015 is no exception here in the Maritimes. I feel like we are stuck in April/May with the cooler temperatures and rainy skies, but this past weekend the sun decided to make a nice warm appearance and Adam, Oliver and I, took advantage of the vitamin D.

We had planned on walking to the Farmers market, but ended up sitting on our deck and enjoying the rays while sipping on some fresh brew (coffee in Adam's case, and tea in mine). By the time we ventured out it was roughly 10am and decided to grab some grub and take a little hike along a trail in Stratford.

We did our "walk around" of the market, picked up some bacon/sausages for Adam and I decided on a veggie burrito (which was yummy). We stood outside and listened to some acoustic music before heading over to the trail. The atmosphere at a farmers market always brings a smile to my face. Although there are not a lot of fruits and vegetables being sold at the moment, I love witnessing the artisans and their crafts. There is such a wide range of creativity, from food, drink, art, music etc ... and each has its own unique appeal. *Below is a snidbit of the relaxed ambience.

Our venture to the trail was short lived! Oliver turned 4 earlier this month, and Adam and I continuously say that ever since he was about 3 1/2 he has really become obedient. We've never really had any issue with him in the past, but these last 6 months he can be walked without a leash and listens so well when outside. This behaviour has caused us to spend a lot more time outside jogging, playing fetch and putting around the yard. So needless to say he roamed freely on the trail. As soon as we arrived we were greeted by another dog and Oliver was off playing chase. No more than 3 minutes goes by and I can see Oliver 25 feet away, wading in a HUGE mud puddle. No amount of calling his name was bring him out of the black hole. While Adam and I tried our damnedest to lure Oliver out of the puddle, we were caught swearing and slapping the abundance of mosquitos itching to suck all our blood. Right then and there Adam and I knew this wasn't a good idea (all this rain causes mud puddles and insects prowling for fresh blood). We wanted to turn around but had one filthy dog on our hands, so we ran down the trial to a small river and with no hesitation Oliver went for a dip. 

(The water was clear before our boy entered!!!)

Oliver LOVES the water.

Our friends the Condon's live near the trail and we couldn't drive by without stopping in to see their new puppy, Coco. She is a Shorkie (Shih tzu/ Yorkie mix) and might weight 1.5 lbs. She was adorable and Adam and I fought on who was going to hold her. 

 Cuteness overload



After spending some quality time outside with Coco ... oh and our friends, Oliver had dried off some and it was time to head to the beach. We dropped Oliver off at home, picked up our buddy Ian and took off to Brackley Beach. It was a quick visit but fun none the less. We dipped our toes in the water, relaxed, played some Frisbee and Ian did a water colour painting.

On our way back to town we stopped at Jewell's Country Market and grabbed some ice-cream. We viewed their garden centre then enjoyed our treat outside while feeding the goats. 

Look at that fudge 

Later in the evening we decided we would go out for an early father's day supper (Adam is Ollie's daddy, right?!?) I'd heard some great things about Famous Peppers and it did not disappoint. We opted to eat in because the smell of the pizza was too tempting and we couldn't wait to take it home. It was so delicious, we pretty much ate in silence! 

My roasted red pepper pizza.

First bite .... actually it was my 4th. Couldn't wait to take the picture. 

Fun menu. Adam had the barbecue chicken pizza. 

It was a fun filled weekend shared with my boys. We were all pretty tired come bedtime but Adam and I managed to watch an episode of OITNB (Orange Is The New Black). 

Me fighting to stay awake...

Ollie just couldn't last!

I hope you all enjoyed the past weekend and are gearing up for Canada/ Independence Day celebrations.
Do you have anything planned?
We have friends visiting the city and will be camping with our "crew" later in the week.
 ** Crossing fingers for sun in July!!!


Cheers,
Erin 

Empties- Products I've used up

One of my goals for 2015 was to use up the products I had and really evaluate whether or not I'd repurchase them again. Besides house hold items I'm not sure I've EVER actually finished a product!!! How ridiculous is that?  I mean I know I'm not alone when I say I own more then one of a lot of things (candles, creams, mascaras, lip glosses, face cleansers etc). But I'm serious, I don't remember ever finishing beauty related products before they either expire or dry up. Sometimes I get so caught up in loving the product so much that I don't want to use it and end up having to get rid of it for the following reasons. Does this happen to anyone else ??? Please tell me I'm not alone with this irrational thinking. 
Well ... this is the beginning, I've vowed to start using what I have weather I love it or not. So here is a review of my "empties" bin.

1. 3D Crest Whitestrips Adam gave me these in my stocking for Christmas about a year ago. I enjoyed them as they tend to whiten my teeth pretty fast. If I use them two days in a row I achieve the whiteness I'm looking for so they lasted me quite some time. However, I probably wouldn't buy them again because of the price. They are roughly $35.00, and honestly I can receive the same effects by flossing and brushing my teeth 3 times a day. 

2. 3D Crest toothpaste. This one is a goodie, I've used it time and time again and usually pay less than the $3.99 price tag. I'm a fan on the flavour and the product polishes my smile. 

3. Colgate total toothpaste. Take it or leave it. I didn't mind this toothpaste, but my husband hated it. He is big on flavour and said this left his mouth feeling numb. Probably not going to repurchase as it is pricy.

4. Clear Care contact solution. I strayed from this contact solution, and I payed for it. Although it is expensive it certainly does the trick. When I wasn't using it my contacts were not getting cleaned, they always seemed foggy. When I went back my eyes and sight really improved. It is a pain that it takes 7+ hours for the solution to do the job, but it has encouraged me to wear my glasses more, which in turn saves my eyes from all the contact wearing. It is a must have and I've converted some family and friends too. 

5. Bath and Body Works foam soap. This was a nice fragrance and for the price it was worth the buy, but I think I need a break from B&BW. They retail for approx $5.50 but you can always find coupons for much cheaper. They are a great deal when you purchase more than one and at the time it sounds great, but then you are stuck with a ton of soaps and I'm so over these fragrances. I know I will eventually go back to them, but the novelty of Bath and Body Works has worn off for me. I think in the near future I'll be looking for something a bit more natural and simple smelling. 

6. Methond Dish soap. I'm not going to lie, I HATED this. The smell was totally different when I added it to the water and it didn't foam or bubble at all. I was beyond disappointed because I like other products from Method and thought this was a fun concept, but the results were painful. I ended up adding it with other dish soap, just so I didn't waste it. I'm glad it is out of my kitchen!

7. Up and Up makeup remover cleansing towelettes. This is a holy grail product for me. I love these makeup wipes. I find them highly efficient (mind you I don't wear a lot of makeup). The price point is perfect, roughly $3.00 for 30 wipes. The saddest thing is that they are from Target and well we all know where that story ends! I stocked up when they were closing and got them for $2.00. I don't always rely on them to clean my face but lets be honest, some nights I'm to lazy to wash my face and these do the trick of cleaning off my makeup, while adding in a little exfoliation. 

8. Montagne Jeunesse face mask. Funny store about this face mask, I used it while in the bath one night and after application, waiting/relaxing, then removing I was presently surprised with how moisturized my face felt. I thought "well damn, that was $2.00 well spent". I woke up the next morning and my skin still felt amazing, so much so that I did nothing with it, no moisturizer was needed. Well, since these packets usually last me 3 uses, a few days later I went to use it again and to my surprise it was a "two parter". The top portion was a moisturizer, and the bottom part the actually mask. Opps, so here I was relaxing with a thick goopy moisturizer on my face, no wonder my face felt so wonderful! Needless to say I got different results when I actually used the mask. They are a little inexpensive treat that works. The smell, with any of these masks, are wonderful. They are true to the descriptions on the packets, and in this case I had raspberry and blueberry. You can't beat the price and again I get multiple uses out of each mask, so that is a win-win. 

9. Konjac Cleansing Sponge with deep hydrating clay. I've spoken about my fondness for the Boscia konjac sponges here and here. I will repurchase and will probably buy to give as birthday presents... will it be you? 

Comment if you think this is a good present to give as part of a b-day gift.

10. Proactive cleanser. I don't really have any issues with my skin, but I wanted something that exfoliated by face while I washed it and came across a vending machine in the mall that carried Proactive (odd I know). I have had this product for probably close to two years and when I'm in the need for a good scrub I would turn to this. I will probably repurchase in the future, in the meantime I have a good 12 facial cleaners to finish first!!!!!!!! 

Embarrassing I know!

10. Hope in a jar. This has been my moisturizer of choice for a number of years now. I still have a 4 oz on the go and use this product all year around. I find I get enough moisture from it in the Atlantic Canadian winters and in the summer, it doesn't make my face sweat which I appreciate. However, as much as I enjoy this, I'm starting to venture out in "sample sizes" (because I still have a lot left) of moisturizes that provide me with some SPF coverage. 

11. Sephora super nourishing lip balm. Big fan, I own a few of these and this is the first one I ever finished. It must run in the family because my aunt and cousin enjoy them too. Shout out to Leyland and Kelli!!! It provides me some great moisture which my lips are always in need of. I'll repurchase again and again. 

12. Laura Ashley candle. This was a three wick candle and I was happy with the scent payoff. I found this at Winners for approximately $8.00. I had it light in our washroom and enjoyed it while relaxing in the bath (while applying heaps of moisturizer to my face, haha). 

13. Balea exfoliating face wipes. These are a good alternative to the Up and Up ones that I like. I appreciate the exfoliating factor but they don't remove my makeup like the others do. I only purchase these when they are on sale as they run a bit steep for the quality. In a crunch I would repurchase. 

14. The little black bottle is actually a sample size of Aveda's Rosemary Mint body wash. I got a number of these as well as their shampoo and conditioner this past summer while vacationing at the Algonquin Resort in St. Andrews, NB. Anything by Aveda makes me drool. I LOVE the freshness of their products. 

15. Philosophy bath and shower gel in ginger berry frost. I got this in  kit of 3 about two Christmas' ago. I like the bath and shower gels by Philosophy. I would repurchase these again, just not this scent. There was nothing wrong with it, I just prefer others . One thing Philosophy does right, is that they "nail" their scent right on the head. I'm a big fan of their products and every so often I splurge on their fragrances and bath and shower gels. 

Well there is the first round of products I've finished up this year. Am I the only one who has a hard time finishing things? What about not wanting to use a product because you love it to much? Ha ha it sounds so silly but it happens all the time!

Do you have any recommendations besides Bath and Body Works for a good hand soap? I prefer the dispensing kind oppose to a bar. And what about makeup removing towelettes?

I will continue to use up the copious amounts of "products" I own and share them on here.

Thanks for stopping by!

xo ATEL (all things erin leigh)