Tag: lifestyle

My Ultimate Spring Cleaning Guide!

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Hey friends!

Soooo, it’s officially April and spring is finally upon us. After this last year, it really feels like it’s time to shed the weight of 2020 and get ready for a fresh new start — and what better way to do that than a good, old-fashioned spring cleaning? I kind of love clearing out my home each spring — it really helps me feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

Every year when I end up spring cleaning, I kind of end up making a whole event out of it — I’ll spend one or two days fully dedicated to just cleaning up my space. It can be daunting to take on such a big task if you don’t really know where to start — but don’t fret, because that’s exactly what this guide is for! There’s four main ways I freshen up my space each spring — deep cleaning, de-cluttering, reorganizing, and “cleansing the vibe”, so to speak. In this guide, I’ve broken down my usual game plan into twelve simple steps (don’t worry if that sounds crazy to you — a lot of the steps are super short, so it’s not as insurmountable as it sounds). This way, you can follow along, find new advice, or rework my plan into your own personalized cleaning schedule and get spring clean-ready!

Air Out Your Home

To start, open up all the windows in your house that you can and get some good fresh air circulating in your space. Now that it’s warm enough to keep the windows open for a while, try to leave them open while your cleaning up to allow you to get rid of all the musty, stagnant air that’s been sitting around your home. Even if you don’t feel much of a difference, I promise the fresh air will make you feel better.

Finish Up Little Tasks You’ve Been Putting Off

What little fixes around your home have you been avoiding? Things such as changing that burnt out lightbulb, tightening up the screws on a sticky door, or tossing and replacing old and useless appliances? Whatever it is, make a list between now and when you start cleaning of everything you’ve been putting off, so you can ensure you don’t miss anything. It’s so easy, once you’ve started putting off a task, to continue procrastinating on it until the end of time — you’ve already decided you can live with the problem, after all. However, that ends now! Before you can forget again, write down and finish up all the tasks you’ve been putting off — it’ll honestly be a weight off your shoulders.

Clear Out Your Closet

The most obvious step to a good, thorough spring cleaning is clearing out old clothes from your closet. While you can do this any way that suits you best, I’d recommend checking out Marie Kondo’s method — her Netflix show really inspired me back when it came out, and helped me declutter my life more effectively than I ever had before. When cleaning out my closet, I usually take the time to pull everything out, section my section, and go through all of it — making both a donation pile, and a pile of winter clothes that can be put away over the summer months to reduce clutter in my closet.

Throw Out Old Makeup and Bathroom Items

This is an important one — it’s really easy to hold onto hold onto old cosmetics and skincare items and not realize how bad they are for your skin if you continue to use them after their expiry date. Here’s a quick little guide I found that summarizes how long you should be keeping all of your items before replacing them — its worth double checking, even if you’re pretty certain you know how long items last. While it won’t kill you to keep items a little past their due, using items that are too far gone can lead to all kinds of problems — from issues with your complexion to infection. It’s worth taking the time once a year to evaluate what’s still good, and what needs to go.

Rethink Your Accessories

If you’re a big accessorizer, you’ll know how accessories can pile up over the years. Certain trends can come and go over a single season, and certain pieces can become very outdated over a short period of time. This spring, it’s time to rethink the accessories you have — is it necessary to keep them all? Sentimental items aside, go through the accessories you’ve collected over the years and decide if you still use them and if they’re still worth keeping. If not, you can always donate them (or even sell them) — that way, you’ll be able to reduce clutter and make room for new accessories in the future!

Kitchen Clean Out

Now it’s time to go through your kitchen. During this step, you’ll want to go through both kitchen items as well as good, and find ways to get rid of what you don’t need. Old, broken appliances or items you no longer use that are taking up space should be disposed of appropriately. Any expired food should be tossed, and non-perishable items you haven’t eaten and won’t end up using should be donated. The details of this step are really up to you — but the gist is to declutter and reorganize your kitchen the same way you did the other ares of your home in the previous steps.

Downsize Your Storage

Possibly the most daunting step — it’s a good idea to go through your storage and clear out everything you don’t need. It’s so easy to neglect storage items, with them being hidden away and infrequently used. While it’s easy to just ignore the problem, with time you’ll end up adding more and more items until you’re out of storage, or your storage is simply impossible to navigate. By going through once a year, clearing out items you no longer need and reorganizing what’s left, you’ll never get to the point where clearing out your storage seems like some insurmountable task, and going through it every so often reminds you of what you already own — before you accidentally end up purchasing doubles.

Clear Out Miscellaneous Items

The final step of cleaning everything out is to go around the remaining areas of your home and clearing out items you no longer need — which really changes from person to person. For instance, this year I’ll be specifically tidying up my bedside drawers, linens closet, and desk drawers — but what this step means for you will really depend on your own home. Similar to the other steps, clear out items you no longer need from cluttered spaces and tidy up what remains. After this, you’ll finally be done clearing everything out — so I know you’re tired, but power through and you’ll be able to get a really good, fresh start this spring.

Reorganize What Isn’t Working

What areas of your household just don’t work? Between now and when you get to cleaning, take some time to think about which areas of your space you are constantly irritated by, but never think to fix. For me, it’s always my bathroom drawers and bedroom closet. If the way your space is organized isn’t the most functional, perhaps it’s time to switch things up. Try purchasing some new organizers, or maybe try rearranging where in your home you store things. If you’re really up to it, you can even try building in new storage areas to get a good, custom fit.

Clean Every Nook and Cranny

Once you’ve cleared everything out and reorganized what remains, it’s time to deep clean. If you have the time, it’s worth making a day of it — set up a playlist, get into some comfy cleaning clothes and get down to it. If you can, try to do all the little tasks you end up forgetting — such as wiping down the windows, dusting the ceiling corners, vacuuming in the crevices, or whatever it is you find yourself putting off on cleaning days. It can be exhausting, but it’ll be really rewarding when you’ve completed your clean after going all out, with your space looking better than it has in a while.

Freshen Up With Candles

You’re finally almost done! Something that always makes me feel like the final steps of my clean out are coming together are lighting some candles, or turning on my diffuser, and freshening up. Odds are, after such a deep clean-out that your home may smell a bit like cleaning products, but hopefully between your open windows and scented candles, it shouldn’t be too overpowering. By the next day, your home should be smelling fresh, looking clean, and put you in a good mindset for a fresh start this spring. My personal suggestion, if you’re needing some new candles or diffuser oils to add to your collection, are always Indigo and Saje — they’re honestly two of my fave stores of all time, I’m totally obsessed with them. Indigo has more scented candles than anyone ever needs, so there’s totally a candle for everyone — and Saje is more a less the gold standard for diffusers and oils, so there’s nowhere better to shop.

Add In Something New

You’ve finally made it to the end! As a final step, I always love adding in something new — it really helps to make your place feel fresh and new. This can be anything from big decor items — such as a new wall art piece, to a carpet, to new lights or a tapestry — to something smaller, such as a new plant, vase, decor piece, or even some fresh flowers from the supermarket. It’s up to you, really, whatever it is your place feels like it’s missing to tie your spring clean up all together.

Happy April, everyone! It’s finally starting to get warm here in Vancouver — it’s kind of weird honestly, even though the last year has passed by so quickly, it still feels like another lifetime since the last time it was warm here. I’m personally super excited for summer this year — hopefully it’ll mean the end of a lot of lockdowns (since we’re right back in it here in Vancouver), as well as shaking off the seasonal depression and hopefully finding a new normal.

Are you all looking forward to the month ahead? Let me know what some of your plans and goals are — what are you most excited about this April? I’m looking forward to applying to new school programs, personally — as well, as March was the best month I’ve had on my blog in the last year, I’m hoping to smash my records again and have April be even better! Fingers crossed, we’ll see how it goes. Wish me luck!

Much love,

Meredith

My April Bullet Journal!

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Hello friends!

It’s the final few days of March, and April is finally just around the corner. The weather is warming up, the trees are blooming, the days are getting longer — and my life is getting busier. As Vancouver starts to, slowly, open back up, it’s beginning to seem like life may, actually, return to normal at some point — which is something that I’m, frankly, rather unprepared for. I’m so used to lockdown life at this point that I honestly can’t even imagine what “normal” life was like anymore — or how I’m going to return to it. It’ll be an adjustment, for sure, but as returning to a more regular life is on the inevitable horizon, I definitely think it’s worth trying to adjust slowly now, while I have the time, rather than forcing it all at once when I no longer have the option.

One way that I’m hoping to keep myself organized and on track is with my bullet journal. I’ve been having a bit of an on-again, off-again relationship with it since the start of 2021 — however, I can certainly say that I’m more on top of things when I keep up with using it regularly. I already keep an agenda for explicitly planning out what I’ll be doing each day, but my bullet journal goes above and beyond with keeping my life on track — especially since it can be tailored so specifically in any way I choose. While I use my agenda to schedule each of my days, my bullet journal helps me keep track of my mood, reminds me to stay on top of daily tasks such as working out and taking pills, plan my blog posts and keep all kinds of lists for all kinds of reasons.

This month, I’m expanding my journal even further and adding new segments, such as a page for brainstorming blog topic ideas — where I’ll write down every idea that comes to mind, whether I end up using it or not — and lists specifically for items I need to buy and what I need to do each week in terms of my job hunt. As well, I’m re-writing my daily schedule, with some slight changes, in hoping that writing it down will help me stick to it better. This way, by breaking down everything further, I’m hoping to make everything easier to track to ensure I’m staying on top of everything.

Mood Tracker

My mood tracker is one of my favourite parts of bullet journaling — not only does it help me to reflect on my day without expecting too much of myself (such as a full journal), but it allows me review how my mood has been cumulatively over time, so I am able to check in with myself and see trends that I may have otherwise missed. Rewriting the past is easy — we often dismiss things as being “not as bad as they seemed” or “better than they were”, but this way I can objectively reflect on how I’ve been doing, and not be swayed by how I’m currently feeling. I keep a list of nine colour-coded options for each days mood, ranging from “absolutely amazing” to “completely terrible”, as well as an option for days when I’m not exactly sure how I’m feeling, and days that are totally crazy where it kind of feels like a bomb has been dropped on your life (which, to be fair, I’ve only used once).

Habit Tracker

This is perhaps the most important aspect of my bullet journal — which I’m also going to be expanding on this month. Each night, as I fill out my tracker, I’m not only able to hold myself accountable for habits I wish to form (ie. exercising regularly), I’m able to cumulatively reflect on how often I’m being productive (ie. working on my blog) and remind myself to complete tasks before bed (such as taking my medications and vitamins). In the past, I only kept six trackers per each month, and sometimes I would switch it up depending on what was important to me that month. However, this time I’ll be tracking ten different habits to ensure I stay on top of everything that I need to.

April Daily Schedule

As I mentioned above, I’ll be reworking & rewriting my daily schedule at the start of this month to hopefully serve as a reminder to stick with it. I really don’t expect myself to follow it perfectly every day (or even any day), but rather I use it for a guideline to make sure I’m getting everything I need to done, sticking to habits I’m hoping to form and keeping a regular sleep and eating schedule.

April Goals

I keep a goal list, separate from my to-do list, to help inspire me to reach above and beyond each month. Rather than forcing myself to achieve all of these goals, they serve as a motivator to push myself to not just do what I have to, but go the extra bit further.

Blog Planner

This is where I keep track of what I’ll be posting on my blog each week. I’ve been trying to get ahead on my blog posts so I can have posts ready in advance and have at least a rough idea of what I’ll be posting each week — so when a post gets written down here, it’s all but final. I don’t write everything down too far in advance — you never know when random inspiration may strike — but for certain posts that I’m absolutely certain will be posted that on specific days, I keep track of them here so I know what’s done and what still needs doing.

Blog Brainstorm

This is something new I’m adding this month, that’ll allow me to keep track of rough ideas and deadlines without convoluting my official planner. This page is both for keeping track of all of my ideas — good and bad, since you never know what bad ideas may inspire your next good one — as well as a rough posting schedule for weeks that I haven’t set in stone yet. I’m hoping, by doing this, I’ll be able to feel more inspired, come up with more ideas (and actually remember them), as well as be able to utilize my planner in a more official way to keep track of finalized blog ideas.

To Do List

Each month, I keep a standard to-do list of everything I need to get done. I add to it as the month goes along, and when I have the opportunity to get something crossed off the list I transfer it over to my agenda to help me remember to complete it. This way, I have everything I need to get done written down in one place — rather than in random iPhone notes or on random paper lists — and as long as I write things down, I don’t have to worry about forgetting them (since I’m the queen of “I don’t need to write that down, I’ll remember it”. Spoiler alert: I never remember it. Figures.).

To Do List – Job Hunt and School Application Edition

Over the last month, I’ve been working with a career consultant (more on that later) to help me work out exactly what it is I want to do in life, and how to get there. Being a post-grad in a locked-down COVID world, I was having a lot of trouble finding any sort of job in my career path of choice, and honestly starting to question if it was really the right one for me. While I’m working with this consultant, I’m keeping a separate to-do list of things I need to get done specifically pertaining to job and school applications, even if they’re already in my agenda, just to ensure everything runs smoothly and nothing falls by the wayside).

Shopping List

As I mentioned above, I am absolutely the WORST about believing I’ll remember everything I need to get done in my head, not writing it down, and inevitably forgetting. In the past, I’ve written stuff down on all kinds of random lists with absolutely NO structure of any kind — which makes it easy to lose track of things. In the past, I’ve kind of mixed my “shopping list” in with my “to-do list”, but I feel it’ll be way more organized to keep them separate. This way, I can keep everything I need to go out and purchase in one place, and know exactly what it is I still need to buy.

TV Shows To Watch

Okay, so maybe TV shows I’m looking to binge isn’t the most important thing to keep track of, but whatever — I’m doing it anyways. Honestly, I already had a list (and multiple, in fact, in the past, that I re-wrote before completing) but I’m hoping that I’ll keep this list in order so I can go through and watch each show one-by-one until I make it to the end, before adding new shows to watch. (Shows that I keep up with week-to-week aren’t included, so this is purely a binge-watching list — hopefully keeping it more organized).

And that’s this month’s bullet journal! I’ve added a lot of changes this month, but I’m hoping they’ll have a positive impact and help me stay consistently motivated and organized for the upcoming month — especially since it’s going to be my busiest yet in 2021. Do you guys keep bullet journals of your own? What kinds of pages do you find work best for you? I’m always in search of new ideas and inspo, or ways to make my current pages more effective! Let me know in the comments what your bullet journal looks like, I’d love to hear it!

Happy Sunday, everyone, and happy last weekend of March! Spring is finally, officially here and the weather is only going to get better from here on out. Here’s to April, may it be a good month to all of us! 2021 may have started off a little rocky for some of us, but it’s never too late to turn it around. With a little effort and a little luck, hopefully April will be 2021’s best month yet.

Cheers,

Meredith

Three Easy Steps To Mastering Any Skill

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Hi friends!

Happy Sunday!

This week, I wanted to discuss something that’s been at the forefront of most of our minds since about one year ago, when lockdowns began. (Crazy how it’s been pretty much exactly one year to the day now, right?). As soon as we all became locked inside with nothing to do, a sudden craze broke out across social media — and it urged us all to use our newfound free time to master new skills. Be it baking, cooking, exercising, writing, or art — suddenly everyone seemed like they were trying something new.

The whole concept, as I’ve discussed before, was a bit of a double-edged sword — on one hand, it’s always great to try new things, learn something new or push yourself like you haven’t before. On the other hand, however, there was immense pressure on social media to be using our spare time during one of the most stressful and unpredictable times of our lives to be productive. That being said — there is always benefit to learning new things. A year later on, I’m sure we’ve all seen skills that our family and friends have learned that we would love to learn to do ourselves. But how, exactly? Starting a new skill from scratch isn’t just challenging — it’s daunting as well. However, it isn’t impossible — in fact, it’s far from it. At the end of the day, you really only need three simple things to master any skill your heart desires: practice, passion, and patience. By the end of this post, I’m going to share with you exactly how you can master whichever skill it is you’ve been tempted to try — no matter your level of experience. (And of course, the most important step of all at the end of the day, no matter what skill you want to master, is just to START! Start now! There’s nothing stopping you. If you start today, you’ll just have that much more experience in a week than if you started tomorrow. Don’t worry about having it all be perfect from the get-go. You’ll get there, so just go for it.)

Practice

The first, and most obvious step, to mastering a skill is practice. Or perhaps it isn’t to most obvious — it seems so many people believe that “natural talent” is somehow key excelling at things, but that isn’t the case. Let me be clear — you do not need to be naturally talented and something to become great at it. Think of your skill as you would exercise (which works especially well if exercise is somehow related to the skill you wish to master): anyone who works out will become more fit with time. Sure, it takes a while, and perhaps we all move at different paces. Maybe some people have a bit of a head start, and maybe others don’t. However, with practice, anyone and everyone can become fit. However, no matter who you are — it takes a LOT of both time and effort to become incredibly strong and muscular. But really, the only thing stopping you from being the person who becomes super strong is how much you practice. This doesn’t mean that you should push yourself beyond healthy limits, though — what I’m trying to say is that anyone can build up a skill to the level of a master. It takes time, but there’s no need to rush — you’ll get there.

A little extra note that I’ve found really works for me as well — I find, personally, that I benefit significantly from practicing skills for, say, half an hour putting in my best effort and I do putting in four times as much time at only 50% effort. The quality of my effort, for me, matters. If I’m feeling distracted, or lazy, or trying to rush through practicing simply to finish, it doesn’t really get me anywhere — and it doesn’t show me results that I’m proud of.

Passion

The second thing you’ll need to be able to master a skill is passion. Let’s not get too deep here — I don’t mean that whatever it is you intend to learn has to be your life’s sole and absolute devotion. In fact, you’ll be able to cultivate more passion as you go. But as you start out, you simply need to be passionate enough about whatever skill you wish to learn to feel excited about it, and look forward to practicing it. Let’s say, for example, that your passion is drawing (just like me!). Ideally, if you’re looking get started as an artist, you should be excited to practice drawing and look forward to practicing it when you can. This will reflect in your life in any number of ways — looking forward to purchasing your artistic tools, getting excited about looking for reference images or drawing subjects, or feeling inspired by other’s art that you come across online. All of this passion should, hopefully, not only inspire you to practice — but to practice often. The best part of this step, at least for me personally, is that your passion and excitement grows as you see your hard work pay off. Every time I complete a drawing that I consider to be my personal best, it ignites a newfound wave of excitement to keep going and create something new.

Patience

The final step to mastering any skill is the hardest — patience. Do not feel discouraged if you don’t see results as fast as you think you’re supposed to. Learning takes time, and the path to mastering a new skill is seldom linear. Sometimes you’ll feel like you’re making huge amounts of progress, and others you’ll feel stuck in a rut. Whether you feel it or not, though, every time you dedicate yourself to practicing, you’re making progress. Slow progress is still progress. It may take months, or even years, to truly master your chosen skill — and even then, you’ll still always have more to learn. Even if you feel you had a good momentum the first few months and then stopped seeing progress, I’d encourage you not to give up — I’m sure you’re still making progress that even you can’t see. The smallest increments, with time, will get you to where you want to be. And what’s more, you never know when you may have that moment where you can feel everything fall into place; where you feel like you finally get it. If you’ve started and feel lost, that moment will come. Just keep working towards it.

Be sure not to compare yourself to others — some people may experience quick learning in the beginning, some people may take a while to get the hang of things — but the point is, is that ANYONE can master ANYTHING with proper dedication. You do not need to be naturally gifted to become great at something — in fact, most people that are started off just where you are now. The only reason, I believe, that people who are “naturally gifted” tend to excel in particular skills is that they’re motivated by their results early on that drive their passion to continue practicing — just as you will with time. Keep at it, and one day you’ll realize how far you’ve come since you started — and it’ll only drive your passion to keep going and learning more.

Now, I know what some of you may be thinking. To some extent, art has always been my thing. How do you, or even I, know whether I’m good at it because I followed these steps, or if it’s just because I’m inherently an artistic person? My evidence to show you otherwise is twofold — firstly, while I was pretty active in practicing art back in high school, after first year I pretty much gave up on art all together until after graduation (save for a couple of doodles in the margins of my notebooks). When I first started drawing again, I was no where near the level I was in high school. After just a few years of non-practice, while I didn’t have to start entirely from scratch, I had lost any so-called natural talent and had absolutely no ability to even draw a simple proportionate face. (I’d share a photo with you all of how my first few drawings looked when I was starting out, but I’m honestly too embarrassed. When I say they’re bad, I mean — they’re REALLY bad). There’s no shame in that, though — I had to start somewhere. On top of that, once my line work started to improve in quality, I still had another obstacle to beat — I wanted to learn how to use alcohol-based markers, and draw in colour (which was NOT something I had any previous experience in). Back in high school, I almost entirely drew my art in pencils, or in greyscale — I almost never used colour. I didn’t paint often, and even though I used colour pencils on occasion, it was pretty rare. Learning how to shade in colour is an entirely different skill from pencil and grayscale shading — as well, I had never tried alcohol markers before and I had no idea how to blend and use them. Honestly, it took a lot of time. While I hit a couple ruts along the way, I’ve had not one, but multiple moments where I felt things beginning to click — and those moments really revolutionized my own abilities and revived my passion to practice.

My second example, however, is much more recent; I’ve been trying my hand at digital art. Digital art is something I actually tried once (although briefly) in the past, but gave up on. This time, however, I’m going in with a little more dedication, and I’m following my own advice. When it comes to digital art, I know absolutely next to nothing. Drawing on a tablet does not come easily to me in any way, shape or form — I don’t find it intuitive, or at all similar to drawing with pencils and paper. It was really discouraging at first, honestly. I kind of ended up avoiding practicing for a month and a half, opting to continue with my marker-based art because I was so daunted by having to learn something from scratch. Even though I’ve had a slow start to it, however, I finally had a moment last week — I felt something click. It’s not like I’ve suddenly become an overnight expert (far from it in fact, I still have a long way to go), but for the first time I felt like I kind of knew what I was doing. I really lacked patience with my first few digital drawings, to be fair — I rushed through them and had quit on every single one so far partway through when I started to feel that each piece was beyond help. With a little time and effort, however, I finally created an outline that may not be perfect, but that I am proud of. I still have a long way to go — how to colour in digital art is still something I have next to no idea how to do — but I don’t have to get there right away. I’m sure one day, I’ll be able to figure it out.

I wanted to share a little bit of my own personal progress with you all, to give you a little idea of what I’m talking about (or perhaps some inspiration to get started on a skill of your own!). I, personally, love drawing cartoon style — most of my drawings are characters from my favourite TV shows and movies. These two pictures were taken six months apart: the drawing on the left (Aang from Avatar: the Last Airbender) was one of my very first that I used alcohol markers on, and the one on the right (Armin Arlert from Attack on Titan), was from a few weeks back. Neither of them are perfect, sure, and I still have a long way to go. But look at how much I’ve improved! Six months may sound like a long time to take to improve now, but it won’t feel that way if you’re constantly putting in effort and enjoying yourself, rather than counting the days. Who knows just how good I may be in another six month’s time.

As for my progress in my digital artistic endeavours, this is the outline in question (Eren Jaeger from last week’s episode of Attack on Titan). I’m still in the process of colouring it in, but as I said, I have a lot to learn and it’s taking me a while to get the hang of. However, this line work is by far the best I’ve done so far in my digital art journey, and it was the first time EVER that I felt like I kind of knew what I was doing. Once again, it’s far from perfect — but who cares! I’ll get better eventually, and frankly (especially when you compare it to absolutely any of my other attempts), I’m pretty proud of it.

I hope you’re all having a great week, and have another great week ahead of you! I won’t lie, you guys — I had no idea it was daylight savings today, and I spent a good half of my day being awfully confused. I’m not complaining, though — the days are getting longer, and we’ve had a few days here in Vancouver that have finally started to feel like spring. The last few weeks of winter are always the longest — more so this year than others — but it seems we’re finally at the end of winter, and possibly through the worst of COVID (fingers crossed). It really is starting to feel like things are finally returning to normal, and that there are better days ahead.

Until next Sunday,

Meredith

My Spring 2021 FabFitFun Unboxing!

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Hey friends!

It’s officially that time of the season! Spring is beginning (finally), and that means warmer weather, fresh flowers — and the start of each new season means a new FabFitFun box!

If you’ve been following me for a while now, you already know how much I love FabFitFun — they’ve introduced me to SO many of my favourite products and brands (many of which I wouldn’t have even heard of in the first place otherwise). This season’s box has been no exception — I receiving all kinds of products that I’m already loving, or can’t wait to be able to try. I could go on and on about how great it is, but I think it would be better to just break it down for you guys!

Tech Candy Clean Slate™ UV Sanitizing Bed

Since COVID began, I’ve become increasingly paranoid about germs on my phone — so when I saw this device being offered in this season’s box, I knew I had to have it. Thus far, I’ve been really cautious about germs, hand washing, mask wearing, and social distancing since lockdowns began last year, but it’s kind of impossible to leave the house and not end up touching your phone once, and I just can’t shake the feeling that I’m contaminating everything I own and undoing all my hard work whoever I use my phone after I leave the house. (Maybe that’s just me being paranoid, but still). Either way, I’m looking forward to being able to simply pop my phone in this little device every time I come home from now on and being able to rest easy knowing that my phone is 100% clean and safe. (Crazy to think that a year ago, a product like this would have seemed like a silly little luxury, but now it’s something so incredibly useful!).

Alice + Olivia Reversible Bucket Hat

This bucket hat is SO cute and absolutely perfect for spring. I’m always on the hunt for new accessories — especially ones that are low-maintenance and work with a variety of outfits — since it really is the easiest and best way to elevate an outfit. Since this hat is reversible (the inside is plain white) I’m sure I’ll be able to get use out of it in a whole variety of ways. But, to be honest, I don’t even think I’ll need to reverse it — the black daisies are just so cute, and bucket hats are the perfect casual vibe for spring.

PUR Cosmetics Iconic Glow Illuminating Face & Body Dry Oil

Okay, I won’t lie, the packaging on this product had me MAJORLY confused at first. This oil comes in a glass dropper, as many oils do — but it has a metal pump on top to fill up the dropper, unlike the normal rubber tops. So, yes, as you’re probably already imagining — I did, in fact, sit around for 5+ minutes trying to pump it and figure out where the oil was supposed to come out of. Packaging aside, I’m sort of just lukewarm about this product. It’s VERY glittery, and definitely takes a while to absorb — although it does leave my skin feeling soft once it does. Maybe it’s just that I’m not crazy about body oils, but I’m just so-so on this one. I don’t hate it, I’ll totally use it — but I’m not in love with it.

SfGlow Sun’s Out, Pouts Out Lip Mask

These little lip masks are SO fun, you guys. Lip masks aren’t something I use often, and the ones I have used in the past have all been just alright — but these masks may have just sold me on the concept. I really didn’t expect much before trying them out, but they really left my (and the time) sort of dehydrated lips feeling good as new. I was a little hesitant at first, because the mask comes coated in a somewhat heavy product that has a bit of a weird consistency, but once it’s on it doesn’t feel that weird at all. You do have to have the time to sit around for 10-15 minutes with the mask on (and you obviously can’t eat, drink or sleep when you’re using it) but its the perfect time to slap on some eye masks as well and really pamper yourself before whatever you’re planning on doing that day.

M·A·C COSMETICS Powder Kiss Lipstick Duo

Receiving this product in my spring box immediately made me remember how much I miss MAC. Growing up, MAC was like, the holy grail of makeup stores for me — Sephora too, but something about MAC just felt so cool. As Sephora started getting bigger, though, MAC kind of fell behind, since obviously as Sephora carries multiple brands, they have a much wider variety of products. There’s a MAC store in downtown Vancouver that I still visit on occasion (or did, rather, pre-COVID — in fact, I actually went to MAC of the last day before lockdowns began) but overall, I don’t own as many products from their brand as I once did. These lipsticks have really reminded me of how great of a brand they are, though — they’re really amazing. They’re matte, but not TOO matte — I personally am not a huge fan of the ultra-matte liquid-lip sort of look (and if you are, this lipstick probably isn’t what you’re looking for). This lipstick, however, is matte (but more in a non-shiny way than a pure, ultra-matte way) but at the same time, is super hydrating. I’ve only tried out the pink shade so far, but it’s SO cute and honestly looks pretty natural, which I’m digging. For me, this matte lipstick is kind of the perfect matte for me — it’s super cute, and reminded me of why I loved MAC so much.

Grown Alchemist Body Cream – Mandarin, Rosemary Leaf

Something I’ve learned about FabFitFun is that the body moisturizers they gift will absolutely never do you wrong — and this moisturizer is no exception. I was already pretty excited about receiving this item, since my current moisturizer is running low and I was hoping to switch stuff up. Basically, I would have used this moisturizer even if it wasn’t totally amazing — but it absolutely is. It’s super hydrating, but it manages to avoid being to heavy, slow-absorbing or sticky — my absolute biggest pet peeves with body lotion. As well, this stuff smells FANTASTIC — mandarin and rosemary is one of my favourite fragrances, so perhaps I’m biased — but I’m obsessed with how this lotion smells. Overall, a 10/10 lotion, and FabFitFun has impressed me again.

Earth Harbor Marina Biome Brightening Ampoule

I won’t lie, I was a little nervous when I saw this product in my box — skincare is really important to me, and while I enjoy testing out new products sometimes, I don’t really like to mess around with my routine too much. However, when I tested this product out I immediately realized there was really nothing to worry about. First of all, this product has some similar ingredients to Herbivore’s Lapis Balancing Facial Oil, which I already use and love. However, this product is more directed at brightening and evening out the skin, versus Herbivore’s oil which is aimed at combatting redness and excess oil. I tried applying it in the mornings, and it’s a light enough oil that it seems it would totally work to wear under makeup, PLUS it had an immediate smoothing effect that made applying the rest of my skincare feel better than usual. On top of all of that, Earth Harbour seems like a really great brand, and one that I’d absolutely consider supporting and purchasing from in the future. All of their products are, as stated on their website, “purely natural + nontoxic + certified cruelty-free + vegan + ethical trade & sustainable ingredients (all certified organic, non-GMO and/or wildcrafted), ocean nutrients, food-grade plant-based therapeutic-grade oils, scientifically-proven botanicals, zero-waste + plastic-negative packaging with upcycled ocean waste, artisan small batches, love and island vibes”. Furthermore, they donate a portion of their profits to helping care for our oceans. I’m already kind of loving this product, so depending how it works out in the long run I may just end up purchasing other products from this brand in the future.

Saie Beauty Makeup Rounds 3 Pack

Somewhat ironically, I was about to repurchase my usual makeup cloths they other day as mine were getting a bit old, but something stopped me. Was it fate? Forgetfulness? Who knows, but either way it worked out really well. While these rounds are a little different from the types of reusable cotton rounds and makeup remover clothes I normally buy, they seem pretty neat and I’m excited to give them a try. The website states that these rounds can be used as “a light exfoliator with cleanser, as a toner pad, or as a makeup and face mask remover,” which is a lot more than my old makeup remover cloths did. I haven’t had the chance to try them out yet, however, whether it be as makeup remover rounds, toner pads or as a means of washing away face masks, I know I’ll get good use out of these.

ADD ON: Anastasia Beverly Hills Moonchild Glow Kit

This highlighter palette was honestly something I had always wanted back when it came out, but never got around to buying. After all, it was SO beautiful, but the colours didn’t really seem like anything I’d get the chance to wear that often. I knew they’d be high quality and all, since at the time Anastasia Beverly Hills was my fave go-to for highlighter — but the colours were a little “out there” so I was worried I would just buy it and never end up using it. However, seeing it being offered at a discount during the Add-On sale, paired with the fact that I’ve really been trying to branch out and get creative with my makeup lately, basically made it seem like the perfect time to finally add it to my collection. I’m so happy I did — I just love all of the colours included in this palette. They’re so dreamy and unique, and I know I’ll be able to get good use out of them both as a classic highlighter as well as an eyeshadow.

ADD ON: Stila Little White Lies Liquid Eye Shadow

These little liquid shadows are SO PRETTY! For those of you who haven’t tried out Stila’s Liquid eyeshadows before, I’d totally recommend it. Since I’ve already tried this product before and know that I love it, I felt safe grabbing this shadow in two colours knowing that I’ll get good use out of them. Stila liquid eyeshadows are always stunning and super pigmented, and unlike many other liquid shadows I’ve tried in the past — they don’t flake off and actually last. I’m absolutely obsessed with the colour of these shadows, as well — they both look like a similar white-silver shade, until the light hits them — and then they turn blue and pink, respectively. These shadow colours are right up my alley, so I knew I had to grab them when I saw them offered as add-ons.

ADD ON: Knesko Nanogold Repair Face Mask 

I was really on the fence about adding these face masks to my box — I’ve never heard of the brand before, but honestly, my curiosity got the better of me. After all, these masks are originally four for $150 — although they were only $49 with the Add-On sale. Maybe it was a silly reason to get them, but I’ve never purchased sheet masks that were this expensive and I was excited to see what made them worth that price (or, rather, if they were even worth the price). The most expensive single use masks I’d ever used prior to now were Dr. Jart’s Cryo Rubber Masks (which are, to be fair, a favourite of mine) but even then, purchasing four would end up costing about as much as these four did DISCOUNTED. (To put it all in perspective, without the sale price, these face masks would end up costing nearly $50CAD EACH!!!). At the end of the day, though, they did sound like great masks that I’d get some good use out of, so I decided to give them a try. I’ve used one so far, and I am pretty impressed — the mask really did leave my skin feeling soft and VISIBLY lifted immediately after. I’m excited to give the rest of them a try to see how I feel about them a little better than simply a first impression, but they definitely seem to have a visible effect on your skin’s firmness. As for whether I’d cough up $50 to buy these masks regularly, though…well, perhaps not. It’s hard to say after one use, but while these masks are pretty spectacular, $50 is a LOT. I think they’re probably worth the money, however, as they do work so well. If you’re looking for a nice firming mask that actually gets the job done and have $50 to spend on a single use mask — then by all means, go for it!

So, I guess it’s official — happy spring, everyone! To be honest, I’m actually looking forward to spring a little more than normal this year. I’m kind of hoping that eliminating seasonal depression from the list of things making my life difficult right now will help get me back on top of my life (at least, compared to how February had me feeling). As well, with any luck, between the end of flu season, warmer weather and more people being vaccinated, things may finally start to return to normal. I’m kind of worried that after all this time, going back to normal is going to be a challenge, but I guess we have to start somewhere! (Plus, I’m sure I’m far from the only person feeling this way ……right? Maybe? Let me know if you’ve also got mixed feelings about returning to normal life in the comments, please! Help me feel a little less alone here!).

If you’re looking a way to celebrate the start of spring for yourself, or if the products in this post really spoke to you, be sure to check out FabFitFun for yourself — it’s not to late to grab a spring box of your very own! Personally, I couldn’t recommend it more — the value you get for your money is insane, the products are always amazing, and I’ve managed to get use out of everything I’ve received thus far. It really is the perfect little way to branch out and try new brands, get all of your lifestyle item needs at a discount, or just treat yourself!

Stay tuned for next week, when I’ll be sharing my personal 3-step plan to mastering any skill (yes, you heard that right!). I’ve been planning on writing this post out for a looooong time now, so it feels really exciting to finally share it with you all! I hope you all love it and find ways to apply it to any and all skills you’ve been hoping to perfect (especially those you’ve been inspired to try over the last year!).

Much love,

Meredith

My ColourPop x Animal Crossing Collection Unboxing!

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Hey friends!!!

Soooo, it’s finally happening! From the moment I saw ColourPop announce their collab with Animal Crossing, I knew this post had to happen. For those of you who live under a rock or something, Animal Crossing: New Horizons quickly became all the rage just about this time last year when lockdowns began. With our lives and busy schedules pulled seemingly out from under our feet, immersing ourselves in an adorable virtual world with all kinds of stress-free tasks to take up all of our newfound free time was the perfect way to spend lockdowns. However, my history with Animal Crossing goes back even further — back to Animal Crossing: Wild World, which was my absolute favourite video game growing up. Seriously, I was obsessed with it (and frankly, still am. The only difference now, 10+ years later is that, for better or for worse, my mom can’t limit how long I play each day).

Basically, the point is when I saw ColourPop announce they were releasing this collection, I knew it was going to be absolutely perfect for me. I decided pretty quickly that I was going to buy the whole collection when it dropped, which is something I’ve never done before (both buying a whole collection AND buying it right as it’s released). And, of course, I couldn’t just test out the whole collection without sharing it with you all! So, without further ado, here’s my first impressions of the ColourPop x Animal Crossing collab!

What a Hoot Eyeshadow Palette

Ironically, I wasn’t the only one who knew I needed this collection in my life — my sister actually ended up buying this palette for me as well. (Which is fine, as it allowed me to give away the one I originally purchased for myself to my other makeup and Animal Crossing friend Erin as a gift!). This palette is definitely the most everyday-appropriate in the set of four shadow palettes (each of which, in turn, contains four different shadows). The orangey-brown and bronzes make it a great mix of colours that can be used to create an everyday OR bold night-out look. They’re all highly pigmented and blendable, as ColourPop shadows usually are, and in particular I love the shade Meteor Shower (top-left), which looks like a normal gold shade on the surface level, but has a stunning chunky-glitter look to it when you swatch it.

5 Star Island Eyeshadow Palette

This palette is a super-cute, pink and yellow themed quad that not only has some colours that, to me and my personal makeup collection, are super unique — but I also feel that will be perfect for spring. I personally adore pink eyeshadow — it can be a tricky one because the wrong shade can end up making you look really tired — but it makes a really cute and simple every-day look when you find the right shades for you. For this palette, I’m particularly excited for the shades Isabelle and Island Designer (both on the left), as I’ve never tried out yellow eyeshadow before and the chunky pink glitter look is just so stunning.

Labelle of the Ball Eyeshadow Palette

I was particularly excited about this shadow quad, as pastel purple is one of my absolute most favourite colours — both as a colour and as an eyeshadow shade. I was a little worried, since I already own the Huda Beauty Pastel Obsessions palette in both lilac and mint green that I was going to end up with shades that were similar to shadows I already own, but the shadows in both this palette AND the Nook, Inc. mint green palette are so unique that they’re different from any other shadows I’ve seen around. I really love all the shades in this palette, but particularly the chunky iridescent purple glitter and the darker duo-chrome shades Able Sisters and Custom Design (on the left of the palette) are incredibly stunning shades unlike anything I own that I can’t wait to test out.

Nook, Inc. Eyeshadow Palette

The fourth and final shadow quad in this collection is the mint green Nook, Inc. shadow palette. While the overall look this palette gives off is a minty-green tone, each shade is really different and overall this palette looks like it’ll help me create some really cool new looks this spring. In particular, I love the shade “Made in the Shade” (top right) which took me by surprise as it didn’t look the most interesting of the bunch in the pan. As well, the glitter shade CEO (bottom left) is such a pretty colour IRL — the photos don’t really capture what a complex glitter it is.

Balloon Pop Super Shock Shadow

This collection, as well as offering the four shadow quads, also has one single super-shock shadow in a somewhat bronzey shade. The glitter in this shadow, however, is incredibly dimensional — it comes in a huge range of colours that add up to create the shadow’s overall bronze-hue. The effect of having such dimensional glitter shades in one colour gives off one of my fave effects in a shadow shade — the look that the shadow is so glittery and reflective, it’s almost like it’s wet. It just looks so beautiful and vibrant, and really creates a stunningly deep colour IRL that I can’t wait to try out and use more.

Bellionaire Glitter Gel

As you all already know, I’m kind of obsessed with ColourPop’s Gliterally Obsessed Glitter Gels. They make applying and wearing chunky glitter so EASY in a way that loose glitter just cannot ever compare to. This shade is pretty different than the Sailor Moon glitter gel I have — it isn’t as sheer, so it definitely appears a little darker on the skin. It gives off a beautiful golden colour, but it has a lot of depth, as well. Rather than just being plain gold, the glitter has a bit of a rainbow cast when the light hits it, which I think is absolutely stunning. I’m totally obsessed with ColourPop’s Glitter Gels, honestly, and I can’t wait to add even more shades to my collection.

Flower Power Pressed Powder Blush

This blush is a super cute, dusty pink shade that could honestly be flattering on just about anyone. Blush is a tough one to create a universally flattering shade in, but I feel as though no matter what your skin’s undertones are that this blush would end up looking pretty damn good. It’s very neutral and delicate — it’s pigmented, but a very light shade making it easy to work with — and it has some darker pink glitter lightly sprinkled in to give it some extra depth that I absolutely adore. Overall, I’m really happy with this shade and I can’t wait to be able to experiment with it more.

Flower Tender Pressed Powder Blush

I’m particularly excited to give this blush a proper test run, as it’s completely unlike anything I currently have in my collection. I absolutely LOVE blush — after all, contour/bronzer/blush/highlighter really is my favourite part of doing my makeup — and lately, I’ve really become enamoured with super blushy makeup looks. All the blushes I have in my collection, however, are different varieties of the same pink hue — so while switching up which shade I use definitely has an effect on the overall look, it’s nothing as dramatic as going for a different colour all together. This shade, however, is completely different from anything I own — it’s a true coral, and way more warm and orangey than anything I’ve owned in a while. Experimenting with blushes can definitely be a challenge, as they really change so much of your overall look — but I’ve been looking to branch out more in my use and repertoire of blushes lately, and this is the perfect colour to add to my collection.

Fruit Basket Lip Tint Mini Kit

Okay, these lip tints are SO. CUTE. I really didn’t know what to expect when I purchased them, as I haven’t tried anything similar from ColourPop (or any other brand, really) to give me an idea of what this product was like. After all, I’m pretty dedicated to my lipgloss collection. While I was kind of expecting these products to essentially be a lipstick, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that ColourPop’s “lip tints” are essentially VERY pigmented lip balms. Basically, they end up being a very light wash of colour on your lips, making it look like they’re almost just the colour of the lip tint naturally. The shades from the “Fruit Basket” duo are both pink-ish shades, based on Animal Crossing’s cherry and apple trees, and both colours essentially make your lips just look naturally pinker, even, and soft. I’m kind of in love with all of the lip tints I received, but I’d definitely say that this duo is the most universal of the three, and the safest bet if you were looking to try these lip tints out for yourself. However, since these kits are more of a “tint” than a lipstick, they’re really versatile and I think it would be hard to go wrong with any of the duos, honestly.

Fruit Roots Lip Tint Mini Kit

The second dup in the bunch is based off of the peach and orange trees in the Animal Crossing game universe. These are super fun, more peach and coral-based tones, that I also think would pair with the “Flower Tender” blush in a beautiful way. After being really obsessed with coral shades back in high school, I kind of avoided anything even vaguely orange-looking in makeup for years, but it really is a fun and summer colour and I’m really happy to be able to experiment with it more and add it back into my collection. These lip tints, again, aren’t crazy dark — so it’s a good way to experiment with colours I wouldn’t normally use without it being too intense. (As well, all of the lip tints smell like the fruit they represent in the game — which only makes them that much more fun and adorable!).

Pick of the Bunch Lip Tint Mini Kit

Honestly, I was a little nervous before trying these shades out — they were the one item in the collection that made me consider not buying it as a whole. Brown and neutral shade lipsticks aren’t really my thing, not only in terms of my personal style but also in terms of how well they suit me. The dark brown and neutral shades seemed like something that probably wouldn’t end up looking so great on me — in particular, the darker shade was the one that caused me the most concern. However, since it was cheaper to buy the entire collection as a package deal, I just went for it — and I’m honestly pretty happy I did. As I’ve mentioned, these lip products are more like very tinted lip moisturizers — they help make my lips feel super soft while adding a nice, sheer colour to them. There are two shades — a darker colour, based on Animal Crossing’s coconut palm trees, and a lighter shade, based on the pear trees in the game. The dark brown shade, as it turns out, didn’t end up looking like I was wearing dark brown lipstick — as well, the colour isn’t purely brown, but has some dark cherry red hues to it. As a result, it ends up looking more like a nice, dark red tint — the colour specifically reminds me of how your lips look after you eat too many cherries. I’ve actually ended up loving these shades, and I’m really glad I ended up purchasing them as they really took me by surprise and ended up being super cute and completely unlike any other shade or lip product I already have in my collection.

If you, like me, are a big enough fan of Animal Crossing to purchase this collection for that reason alone (or, you know, you saw something in this review that caught your eye), you can check out the entire collection on ColourPop’s website here! They just restocked the collab pretty recently, so most of the products are available right now. If you haven’t tried ColourPop out for yourself, I couldn’t recommend it more! Not only is their makeup pretty consistently good quality, but it’s affordable — whereas a large palette may cost anywhere from $12 to $24 — a palette of the same size would end up costing you about $50 – $100 from the average brand carried at Sephora. So if you’re looking to expand your collection and stick within your budget — ColourPop is a great place to check out.

Happy Sunday, everyone, and a very happy last day of February! Can you believe it’s actually going to be March tomorrow? I really can’t wrap my head around it, but after all — time really has no meaning anymore since COVID lockdowns began in March of last year. (I still laugh to myself when I think about how different it all seemed back then — I really thought that lockdowns would last for two weeks, or maybe three at most — and look at us now! What a weird year it’s been.). However, I’m hoping to really make the most of spring this year and set some good goals to keep me motivated, active and moving forward in order to put the last year behind me. As well, I already have some exciting posts planned for you all next month — including my Spring 2021 FabFitFun unboxing — so stay tuned!

Much love,

Meredith