March Favorites!

March has been a skincare month for me. I changed a lot of products in my skincare routine because my skin just went crazy.

For face cleanser, I've been loving the CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser. It's just a simple cleanser that is unscented. It's very gentle on the skin. After I use it my skin always feels soft and I don't get dry patches.

For taking off my makeup, I've recently started using the Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm. It took quite a while to track down this product because it was sold out everywhere. I ended up ordering it from the Clinique Counter in Hudson's Bay and they shipped it to my house. It's unscented, doesn't irritate my eyes or my skin and takes off all my makeup including waterproof mascara and eyeliner, and red lipstick.

For my blemishes, I've been using the Clinique Acne Solutions Clinical Clearing Gel. It's just a clear gel that contains salicylic acid, clears acne and helps prevent future breakouts. It's small but powerful. You just need a tiny bit and it gets rid of acne in a matter of days. It absorbs quickly but it can feel a little drying when you first apply it.

For soothing and clearing my eczema, I've been using the Lush Dream Cream. The scent is not the most pleasant but it works really well. I have eczema on my hands and it's really annoying. It takes a long time to absorb but it feels very soothing and calms my skin. This works amazing on any irritated skin because it takes the itchiness away and feels calming.

Instead of foundation I've been using the NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer. It does a great job at evening out my skintone. It doesn't even feel like there's anything on my face when I wear it.

For lip balm my favorite has been the NUX Rêve de Miel lip balm. It's extremely hydrating and dries to a matte finish. 

Since Winter has been sticking around and overlapping into Spring I've been wearing pastel/bright nail polish to cheer myself up. I've been loving Essie's Mint Candy Apple, a blue-green mint color, and Rimmel Sweet Lavender, a lavender with pink undertones. These colors just make me happy and remind me of Spring. 

Music

Lord, I Need You - Matt Maher (I cry every single time that I listen to it.)

The Only Name (Yours Will Be) - Big Daddy Weave 

Oceans Acoustic - Hillsong UNITED 

K-Love Fan Awards: Songs of the Year 2014 Mash-Up - Anthem Lights 

Diana (One Direction Cover) - The George Twins 

Books

Huckleberry Hill by Jennifer Beckstrand 

Love and Misadventures by Lang Leav 

TV

Once Upon a Time 

Movies

Veronica Mars (Team Logan FTW) 

Recipes 

Donna Hay's Easy Vegetable Soup (The recipe calls for parsnips but I replaced it with potato.) 

Cauliflower Tortillas 

Banana-Zucchini Mini Crumb Muffins 

Youtube

ViviannaDoesMakeup's Ghana Blog 

emilynoel83's Easy Eyeshadow: The Sandwich Method 

Kissing in the Rain

Sincerely, JoJo.♥

The Beauty Scenario TAG!

This tag was created by Lily Pebbles on youtube. Since I watched her video of the tag I've been wanting to do this. They're just fun questions that you normally don't even think about.

1. You have to get rid of all your foundations and you can only keep one high end and one drugstore, which do you keep?

High end: NARS Tinted Moisturizer

Drugstore: Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum

2. You go for an interview and the lady interviewing you has lipstick on her teeth. Do you approach the subject or ignore it completely?

I wouldn't say anything because I wouldn't want to offend her.

3. You're not feeling yourself and need a pick me up. Which lipstick do you put on to make yourself feel beautiful?

MAC Syrup or Dior Addict Lip Glow

4. You go back in time for a day to your teenage years, how would you do your hair and makeup differently?

For starters I would have worn waterproof mascara because my mascara ALWAYS smudged and second of all I wouldn't wear so much black eyeliner. I would have set my foundation in my t-zone with powder. For hair, I would have tied it in a bun more often and stopped worrying about the need for it to be straight.

5. You ask your hairdresser for a shoulder length Pixie Lott hair cut, but they hear wrong and give you a pixi cut. Do you a) Smile, say thank you, leave and call your mum hysterical b) Cry in the chair and things get awkward or c) Complain to the manager and demand a refund.

I don't think that would ever happen to me because I've been going to the same hairdresser for years so she knows what I like. In the case that it would ever happen I would probably go with A. I wouldn't want to cause a scene or compromise the hairdresser's job just because I don't like a haircut. I would absolutely hate having a pixi cut because short hair doesn't suit me at all. My hair would eventually grow back, plus I could get hair extentions.

6. Your friend surprises you with a 4 day city break and you have 1 hour to pack. Which 'do it all' palette do you pack in your makeup bag?

The LORAC pro palette because I can create many different looks from matte to shimmer and day to night.

7. Your house has been robbed, don't worry everyone is safe, but your beauty stash has been raided. What's the product you really hope is safe?

My eyeshadow palettes and my NARS blushes.

8. Your friend borrows your makeup and returns it in awful condition. Do you a) Just pretend you haven't noticed b) Ask them to repurchase it or c) Secretly do the same to something of theirs.

I would choose A. As much as I love makeup I wouldn't want to get into a fight with a friend over a product that I could just repurchase. I would probably be upset if it's something expensive or hard to find but makeup doesn't last forever. I would expect that someone would return a product to me in the same condition that it was when I lent it to them but it's not the end of the world if I have to get a new one.

If you're reading this I tag you to do this tag.

Sincerely, JoJo.♥

Nuxe Rêve de Miel Lip Balm Review

The Nuxe Rêve de Miel lip balm has become my favorite lip balm ever. I first hear about it from essiebutton who raved about it and then Amelia Liana raved about it. I trust their recommendations for products because they always work for me. 

This lip balm claims to be ultra-nourishing for dry or chapped lips. It contains honey, plant oils, shea butter and grapefruit essence. The packaging also says that it contains precious oils. Looking at the ingredients makes me think that these precious oils are olus oil (vegetable oil) sweet almond oil, grapefruit peel oil, soybean oil, rosa moschata oil (rosehip oil) and lemon peel oil. The first ingredient is beeswax which makes me think that it's the primary ingredient in this lip balm. It's made with 79.5% natural ingredients, it's paraben free and non-comedogenic. The packaging also says that it has been tested for efficiency in extreme Canadian cold. 

This lip balm has a gritty texture when you first apply it but it blends well on the lips and dries to a matte finish. The fact that it comes in a glass jar makes it look luxurious and it feels so nice on the lips. I get really dry lips and this is the most moisturizing lip balm I've ever tried. I drank water while wearing this lip balm and it was still moisturizing afterwards. The matte finish makes it good for applying a lipstick on top of it. It's so moisturizing and makes your lips look so nice that you could wear it on its own. It lats about 5 hours before you need to reapply. I've been wearing it at night and when I wake up in the morning my lips feel nice. I would recommend this to anyone, especially someone who has really dry lips. At $16.99 CAD it's pricier than your regular drugstore lip balm but it works. I've only had it for a few weeks and I've used it every single day. Since I choose it over all my other lip balms I'd say it has reached HG status. 

Sincerely JoJo.♥

NOTD: Essie Mint Candy Apple

I've been eyeing this nail polish for the past year. Every time I went to the drugstore I would pick it up and look at it intently but at the last minute I would hesitate and not buy it.In the past month I've been drawn to it so last week I finally bought it. Essie's Mint Candy Apple is described as "a creme de menthe mint". I would call it a mint with blue undertones. It's in between a pale mint green colour and blue. I guess it could be categorized as a pale aqua colour. It's a happy colour that reminds me of Spring and Summer. I think I finally bought it because I'm so tired of Winter and I wanted my nails to remind me of the upcoming seasons. Mint Candy Apple is such a cute name and the colour is gorgeous. I love this colour so much that I want to paint the walls of my room this colour. I think that this is probably one shade that doesn't have a dupe.

The formula is the typical Essie formula for pastel polishes. It's a little sheer and the first coat always ends up looking streaky. You need three coats for an opaque colour. You always need to apply at least three coats when using their lighter shades. Darker Essie polishes might require only two coats. You'll be luck if you can find a one coater Essie polish (If you do let me know). Essie polishes typically last 3-4 days with minimal chipping on my nails. The price of an Essie polish varies from $7.99-$9.99 depending on where you buy it and sometimes you can find it on sale.

Essie is one of my favorite nail polish brands. They have a wide variety of shades and you're bound to find a favorite... or five.

Sincerely, JoJo.♥

Benefits of Oregano Oil

Ever since I started using coconut oil last year for its skincare benefits I've been looking into more natural products that have good skincare properties. Oregano oil has many benefits for your skin and your well-being. Originally I thought it was taken internally and used for fighting off colds and flu because that's why my mother takes it; but I soon found out that it can be used for so much more than that.

Oregano is part of the mint family. It grows wild all around the world specifically in Greece and Turkey where the highest medicinal quality oregano is found. Medicinal oregano contains many minerals such as: vitamin C, vitamin A, and niacin.

I was glad to know that it can be used on problem skin. I read that it can help with eczema. I tried it on my eczema and it took the itchy feeling away and is actually helping it go away as well.

Oregano oil can also be used to get rid of breakouts/blemishes. I had a breakout on my forehead and instead of using my regular acne spot treatment I decided to try oregano oil to see if it would help. Within two-three days my zit was gone. Already from the first day the redness was going down and it was smaller the next morning. One the second day it was tiny and had no redness. By the third day you couldn't even tell that it had been there.

Besides acne and eczema you can use this for many other skin concerns such as psoriasis, dandruff and rosacea.

When taken internally it can be used for coughs, asthma, bronchitis, headaches, fever, allergies, sinuses, arthritis, toothaches, varicose veins, cramps and muscle pain. It can even help digestion. If you want to take it internally you should take one drop and either leaving it on your tongue for about 15 seconds or swallowing it as fast as you can. It has an extremely powerful scent that one drop is all you need. You can also dilute one or two drops in water, milk or juice which takes away the strong flavor of it. It's recommended to take it up to 5 times a day. I personally think once or twice a day is all you need if you're not sick or being exposed to anyone sick.

It's also used to soothe bug bites, poison ivy, and as an insect repellent.

I wouldn't recommend using it in food (I added some to my tomato sauce one day and it was not a good idea.) because it has such a strong scent that it will overpower everything else.

The cost of oregano oil varies depending on where you go. It can be expensive because 1000 pounds of oregano are needed to make one pound of oil. A 10ml bottle of it is $12.99 at the store that I buy it from but it lasts a good 3 months. A little goes a long way so I think the cost is fair.

Oregano oil is a miracle worker on for your skin and your health. It has endless uses, probably more than what I've mentioned. It would be a good idea to keep it on hand at all times.

Sincerely, JoJo.♥