Flowers and cup cakes

Look today

Today was a very laid-back day. After the stressful exam week we decided to finally get out of the basement apartment and go downtown. I really love all kinds of cakes, so we decided to visit one of Toronto's best cup cake bakeries, Prairie Girl Bakery. They had a huge variety of different flavours, so we decided to take 5 different tastes. All of them are absolutely delicious, so no wonder the place has has got so many good reviews!

We also took a few other pictures as it's such a sunny day out. Too bad it's so cold, about 5 celsius and windy,as always! 

Accessories and self tanning products

What a week. Today I finished my Final exams, the one today was just awful, Advanced Marketing research. I also had to say goodbye to one of my exchange friends and it was so sad. Now I can focus on travelling! Niagara falls during the weekend and Miami Beach on wednesday, I'm so excited! The problem is that I'm so pale at the moment! I have to get a bit of a "tan" before going there. I really like self tanning lotions that have a hint of color in them. In my opinion gels are easier to apply and are not as sticky as lotions, so I've usually been using L'Oreal Sublime Bronze tinted self tanning gel. It has small "gold" sparkles in it and gives your skin an instant hint of bronze color. It's perfect if you need a "healthy glow" fast. The only minus is that you need to apply quite a lot of the product, so the small bottle won't last that long. However, in my opinion the tan colour comes faster than with normal products so you don't need to apply it many times to get a proper "tan".

Because my skin has been so dry lately, I decided to try Jergen's natural glow daily moisturizer. It promises to give you a gradual tan and decrease the appearance of cellulite in 7 days. I still haven't used it for 7 days in a row because I'm a bit too lazy for that :D But the product has really tiny sparkly "glitter" in it, so this is what probably makes your skin look smoother.

Here's some other stuff I've bought recently:

Forever 21 + Ardene

Ardene

Ardene

Love at first sight at Forever 21. The color is more pink in daylight.

Essential for Miami!

I know it's pretty bold...

 But Beyonce and Lady Gaga look so awesome with dark lips, so I have to try it too! :)

Purple eyeshadow and a new trench

It's a beautiful spring day in Toronto, and I finally got my trench in the mail today! Wuhuu! It's by Laundry by Shelli segal, and it just what I wanted it to be.

The only mirror in the apartment :) Scarf from HM

As I was wearing a very bright scarf today, I felt that my make up has to "match". So I did a purple-bronze look:

Revlon Photoready primer is a good primer for combination skin, it's not too greasy and feels very soft and nice. Clinique anti-blemish foundation is one of my favourite foundations as it has a high coverage and it doesn't give me any break-outs!

Since I first tried Sleek make up eye shadows, I've been hooked! They have a lot of pigmentation, so you don't have to apply tons of it. The palettes are also very cheap, even if the quality is good, only about 8-9 euros if i remember correctly.

Au Nature I divine palette - For this look I used the white one on the lid,

Original I Divine palette- The bronze one for the crease, and the violet on the base of my lashes.

If you love "thick" looking lashes, you will like the L'Oreal's voluminous carbon black mascara. Maybelline's master precise is ideal for doing narrow lines. It's not my favourite, because I prefer thicker appliers,but it's ok.

The Body Shop bronzer is not the cheapest one, I think I paid about $19 but I like Bodu Shop products and the fact that it has a lot of colour, so you don't need to apply that much. The Joe blusher is very light, but gives a nice glow.

My eyebrows are very light and narrow, so a good eyebrow pencil is a must!

Killing that flu

Just last week I bragged to someone that after my swine flu episode two years back I haven't been that sick. Well, of course this was a mistake, cause since friday I've felt absolutely miserable! And after we had planned an evening with friends and going to a gig with my boyfriend, well, I got even more sick. So for 3 days I've been trying to get rid of this flu and this " I look as horrible as I feel" feeling :) Here's some of my ideas.

 First of all rest is the key. It's okay for me to sleep during the night(yes, I did sleep for over 12hours last night) but during the days I want to do something,e.g. go to the gym! But as it might harm especially the heart, I've just been hanging on the sofa or doing the dishes(which is weird for me!)

 Green tea is great for you if you're sick, and otherwise too. It's full of antioxidants and it also cleans your body, and actually fights bacteria. If you have a tummy ache, Green tea with mint is perfect. I found this delicious Blueberry tea (from Tetley) last week. I like almost all green teas, but this one is amazing! It smells and tastes like real blueberry.


Drinking a lot of water or low sugar drinks is crucial. Tetley's Infusions, Redtea liquid iced tea mix is my new favourite drink. I drink way too much coke,which is unheathy in every single way, so I've been drinking this instead. It's made of all natural ingredients, including Rooibos tea. Rooibos has a a lot of antioxidants, minerals. In my opinionthe Redtea doesn't taste much like tea, it's more like juice, but my boyfriend thinks that it really does taste like Rooibos. ( He hates Rooibos, so...) I mix whole bag into about 1 litre of water instead of half a litre, cause I don't want it to be too sweet. Just delicious. Anyone who likes Rooibos (and berries) or wants to drink a healthy juice drink should try this! I think I have to buy this before I move back to Finland, because we donät have it there.
 

from google

Veggies and ginger! When I'm sick I can't really eat that much meat, so I prepared a noodle-tofu-veggie wok with chili peppers, ginger and garlic. They all have been proven to kill the bacteria causing the flu faster.

Ginger has been used for centuries for colds, as it takes away nausea and boosts the body's immune system. I sometimes drink it as a tea, with a hint of honey.But remember that you need only a tiny amount of ginger, as it's quite strong!

Almost every time when you get sick, it starts affecting on your mood and appearance as well! I haven't been this pale and had such visible dark circles under my eyes in a long time. Just horrible! Fortunately I had the cure for these in my bathroom! Nivea's happy time shower cream smells so fresh, that after a shower I immediately felt better! It also leaves your skin very soft, as it has moisturizer in it. Scrubbing your skin when you're sick also makes you feel better and makes the skin appear less pale. I used  Freeman's pink grapefruit Exfoliating scrub. It smells so good! It makes you wake up.

Sometimes putting a bit of make-up might do wonders! I decided to cheer myself up by applying just a bit of make-up. Usually I put on a "decent" amount of it(meaning quite many products), but now I didn't feel a need for that. It may be hard to even notice the make-up and the bathroom lights seem to create dark shadows underneath my eyes! But before the make-up I looked like somebody who hasn't been sleeping for a week, so that will do :D


- Anne

Glee party

Here's some pics of a Glee themed birthday party that I threw for my boyfriend's sister's 14th birthday. I only had about a week and some carboard, posterboard scraps and a hot glue gun to throw it together. I guess that just shows that "necessity is the mother of invention"

In the right corner, a glass IKEA cake/treat stand. I love this thing, I use it for almost every party that i have. For the glee party i taped blue construction paper along the edge of each tier of the treat serving dish and i added a fake slush to top it off. To attach the paper I simple strategically placed some tape. After the party i peeled off the tape and washed the dish. In the center of the table you will notice a plastic IKEA frame, I bought it for 1euro. I have used it for parties when I have wanted to display the name and ingredients which are in certain foods or the punch bowl. For this party I simply wrote "happy birthday Jassu" on a piece of paper and put it in the frame. Its simple but you could use the frame for anything, it would probably look great if I had been able to print out a happy birthday sign. I also scattered some music notes and stars on the table. 

For the cake I was low on supplies and my budget was dwindling so I baked a simple chocolate cake and used half of the dough for cup cakes. For the cake decor I cut out a glee inspired logo, i used a photos i found online for inspiration and i cute out a "Cheerios" cheerleader megaphone. 

Chocolate Cupcakes with vanilla frosting. I colored it blue with a few drops of food coloring. I then put the cupcakes inside plastic cups. I then hand made lables to go around the plastic cups that say "big quench" the Glee charters' slushie of choice. I also cut red straws to size and stuck them in the cupcakes to make them look like an actual slushie. I made the letters rounded so they looked like they were splashing out of the slushie cup.  I also cut out a William Mckinley High School logo (the school that the glee kids go to) I simply copied the logo on the cheerleaders uniforms. 

Here is a glee centerpiece that i made. it is like a diorama. The glass part is a candle holder turned upside down. 

- Tina

Beauty products of the week

Last two weeks I've been shopping beauty products like crazy. I think it has something to do with Spring! I've been looking for a chic trench coat and leather ballerinas from Toronto like a maniac, but I think I just have to buy them online. Thank god there is shopstyle.com!

Here's some of the things I bought and absolutely love!

Becham signature perfume. Really nice fragrance with undertones like patchouli, amber,orchid and musk. Very good for a night out.

I still can't believe that I found one of my alltime favourite moisturizer, the L'Oreal Active Hydrafresh when I was doing my grocery shopping today. The smell is just so fresh and reminds me of the past(and summer!) It's really light, but still gives my combination-slightly dry-skin the hydration it needs. I was looking for this product in Finland for a few months, but it seemed like nobody was selling it anymore?

The very popular Revlon Lip Butter in 075 Lollipop.  

About the Revlon Lip Butters, they are simply genious! I already have a few other shades. They are just perfect! I hate it when sometimes even with the best lipstick my lips get really dry. That's why I love a lipstick with moisturizer and the lip Butter is just perfect for that. Even if it's moisturizing, the colour is just amazing and stays on pretty well. If you want to buy quality make-up, but don't want to spend all your money, Revlon in my opinion has some of the best lipsticks on the market.

- Anne