A review and DIY fail - or maybe not?

A few weeks ago, I went to my local London Drugs and saw they had Vichy Aqualia Antiox fresh serum on sale. I was looking to do a bit of a end of summer treatment for my face as it took quite a beating from all the sun and travel. I have used vitamin C treatments before with much success and bought this serum without another thought. I loved that it was a preservative free product and that you had to mix it up yourself. I think it reminded me of a science project. lol Anyway, I started using it around the beginning of August and 3 days later, my neck started itching. I had red bumps all over and had to take some benadryl to calm my skin down. After searching online, I realized that it would take a few days for the vitamin C to dissipate from my skin. So I had a very drugged up few days! I assume that the concentration of vitamin C is greater than other treatments I had tried. I was really disappointed to have wasted my money but in the end, it had to be tossed.

The same time I started the serum, I decided to make a little DIY body scrub. Well, to be honest, this was an attempt to correct a mistake I made a while back at the grocery store. I bought two bottles of a moisturizing body wash because it was on sale for so cheap. Long story short, got it home and tried it out - figured out that it was on sale because it was non foaming wash. It felt like putting lotion on as soap - yeah, not that pleasant. lol So, I had this great idea to mix the body wash with salt to make a nice moisturizing scrub. I used an old (clean) body butter container to store the scrub. I used kosher salt because it was the only coarse salt I had in the house. I used 3 to 4 parts salt to 1 part body wash and mixed it all together with the end of a clean comb I had with a long skinny handle. The next day I went to use it and realized kosher salt is not quite coarse enough for the body! It also dissolves quite easily too! I was really not having good luck to say the least. But I used it on my face and WOOHOO, it worked! I actually really like how it is gentle and moisturizing. My face feels smooth and I was happy to not have another useless product in my bathroom. lol I have plans to make a different scrub soon, but for now, I will quit while I am ahead.

To Do Lists

As my day is winding down today, I realize that I usually follow a To Do list. If for some reason I forget to make a list, I waste a good part of my day floundering about trying to figure out what to do. I end up overwhelmed with all the things that need to get done. I even forget what to pick up at the grocery store if I don't have a list. Sounds like a good thing to make a list, right? Well, in my case, I seem to think of it as a time to put EVERY task that needs to get done ever on my list. Of course, I am not superwoman, so I end up feeling like I didn't accomplish much at the end of each day. So, my new challenge for the month is to make a sensible To Do list that will allow me to be productive, but still have energy enough to put dinner on the table at night. lol Today's list was as follows:
-get dressed
-breakfast ( i previously would forget to schedule a time to eat!)
-wash bedding / air out bed/pillows
-clean sofas and sofa blankets
-wash shower curtain
-clean bathtub/tile
-wash towels
-wash clothes
-cook beans (i had soaked some black beans and chickpeas the night before)
-put beans in containers and put in refrigerator and freezer.
-put away clean dishes from the dishwasher
-put dirty dishes in the dishwasher
-clean pots/pans from last night (only needed to clean the pot used to cook the black beans so I could cook the chickpeas. lol)
-straighten living room/dining room
-recycle newspapers/junk mail
-sweep/mop floors
-pre-condition my hair
-manicure
-wash/dry hair
-dinner ( i actually forgot to put lunch on this list, but I did have pizza for lunch :P )
-blog/ translate blog

Yeah, and that is the small revised list. lol I know a lot of people wonder what I do on a typical day...there it is! I have yet to make dinner or wash and dry my hair, but I wanted to make this blog as a time to take a much deserved break. The time goes much faster for me because I usually have my ipod on me and the tunes blasting in my ears. Not good for the hearing, but good for motivation. :) Now to remember to put all three meals on my list...

July Favorites

It is the beginning of August, so I want to let you know what I have been loving during July. I stumbled on the first item when I was at the drug store around June. They had a sale on Jordan's morning crisp cereal for $3.99. The box showed whole pecans, Brazil, and hazelnuts which totally sold me. What surprised me was that it actually had huge whole pieces of all those nuts! It was full of of them the whole box through! I was really impressed and it was very tasty as well. Even though we usually eat different cereal, my husband ended up mysteriously finishing the box...so I guess it was to his liking as well. lol
The second thing is an eye makeup brush. I should probably let most of you know that I am now an avid makeup lover. I will probably do a whole blog post on that so I won't go into it now. As I was saying, I found a eye makeup brush from Annebelle that has made me VERY happy. Funny enough, I found it on sale at the same drug store as the cereal. This brush works so well, even with my most difficult, powdery, chunky, glittery eyeshadows. It makes it look so nice and smooth and also blends well. I love it so much, I bought 2 other ones. lol I know it seems a bit crazy, but I do not want to be without this brush!
Because of the brush, I have revisited my Almay pure blend eyeshadows I have had for a while now. I am very into natural makeup without harsh chemicals so these were right up my alley. But I couldn't get them to work well as some of my other eyeshadows, so they when to the back of the drawer. But I wanted to see how good the new Annebelle brush was so I tried them out. It worked so well, that I have used them EVERY day of July and still going strong into August! I don't think I would repurchase them, as I have found success with other brands, but I am glad not to have them go to waste.
I received the next one from my husband for Valentine's Day. This Clean perfume called Sweet Layer was the perfect light lemon/lime citrus smell for the summer. Unfortunately, I have just finished it as of Aug 1st! I really enjoyed it and have to thank my husband for buying it. :)
Lastly, I can not forget my Japanese course I took in July. It was quite a trial for me and it took quite a toll on me. It challenges me in so many ways that I get frustrated easily. But I had a great instructor and study partner- both giving me a great deal of encouragement. I don't think I would have even lasted the first week without that support and I am incredibility lucky to have been in the class. I learned more than I ever thought possible in one month. Thank you to all of you who were in the class. I will probably be emailing my sensei as I make my way through making my blog bilingual! Now if I could only stop procrastinating... lol

Update

So, its been 6 months and a lot has happened. Unfortunately, I didn't put any of it on my blog. haha I might do a "retro" post of things that I have done, but for now, let us focus on the here and now. I just finished an intensive Japanese course at UBC and I now want to start using what I know to the best of my ability. So, both my blogs will now be in both English and Japanese. I am going to challenge myself to start speaking Japanese too, so watch out for videos. Oh and please don't laugh too much at me. :) It is now the end of summer and almost back to school time for some, so I will be doing a bit about packable lunches. Oh, and maybe talk about bento boxes a bit as well. Anywho, gotta run and make dinner (BBQ salmon). Hope all is well with you. :)