New Year, New Resolutions

I cannot believe how quickly 2014 came to a close. It was a truly amazing year for me; but I have a feeling 2015 will be even better. It is amazing to look at the progress that you can make in just one year. It is this progress that is motivating me to make 2015 the best yet! 

I was lucky enough to spend New Years in Niagara Falls with some of my closest friends. A small, low-key celebration that included dinner at the Copacabana and some gambling at the casino. 

                                       

Like so many other people out there, I am a sucker for New Years resolutions. Every year I am sure to make a small list of things that I want to accomplish by years end. Some resolutions will be kept and obviously some will be forgotten. So, I wanted to share some of my New Years resolutions with you all and maybe you can share some of yours with me!

Healthy Hair: Over the years I have treated my hair pretty badly. Everything from neglected split ends to accidental chemical haircuts. So this year, I want to give my hair a break. I've invested in some good quality hair care products to help me reach my goal of long, shiny, healthy hair. 

(Products that I will be sure to share with all of you soon.)

Healthy Lifestyle: I made some huge changes in 2014. At the forefront of all these changes was losing 60 pounds. I can honestly say that I have never felt better about myself. My second New Years resolution is to continue to live an active, healthy lifestyle. 

Keep A Journal: This resolution has probably been on my list for the last four years. As a student it is hard to make time to unwind and write. But I personally think there are so many benefits to keeping a journal. And besides, how fun would it be to read your journal years from now and reflect on how much you've grown and what you've accomplished. (Well, hopefully)

These are just a few of the changes I want to make in my life heading into 2015. So tell me, what are some of yours? 

REVIEW: Flower Beauty

Flower Beauty is a make-up line that highlights affordability and quality. Flower's philosophy is that you should not have to spend a lot of money for good quality products. That's a philosophy I like! I love beauty products but I am often discouraged by prices.

When I first discovered Flower I was really excited to try out some of their stuff. With an A-list actress behind the brand like Drew Barrymore, I figured the products would have to be half-ways decent.

When it comes to face products (foundation, powders, concealers etc.) I am more willing to spend money on higher-end products. Due to how affordable the Flower brand is I decided to try both a foundation and powder. As well, I picked up an eye brow pencil, lip chubby, and mascara.

Check out my review of these products below!

My camera has kind of been acting up lately, so these pictures are not of the greatest quality. (Sorry!!) 

I actually love this eyebrow pencil. I have thick eyebrows naturally so I only use brow pencils for minor enhancements. I find the application smooth and you do not have to be heavy handed with this pencil. It is definitely a great pencil for someone looking for only minor eyebrow tweaking. 

I decided to try out the Flower beauty foundation because their prices are really decent. When it comes to skin products I usually vouch for higher end products. Although I think that this product has great coverage, I find it hard to work with. I have relatively dry skin and I found this foundation difficult to apply and blend. 

I am a huge, huge fan of lip products. I am generally pretty loyal to any and all Rimmel lipsticks. But I adore this lip chubby by Flower. This is by far my favourite product of theirs. I find this lip chubby smooth in application and the result to be matte. I do wish they had more of a selection of colours, maybe in time. 

When it comes to mascaras I generally go with whatever is cheapest. But, that hasn't always worked out for me. I think this mascara adds great volume and doesn't clump. This mascara claims to be a 3-1, with a brush that you can manually twist. By twisting the brush you are supposed to achieve three different looks; volumizing, curling, and lengthening. Honestly, I do not see much of a difference between the three setting. But I do think it's worth a try, especially considering the pricing. 

As I previously stated I do not generally cheap out on skin products. But I did want to try out this Flower powder. I do not have much to say about this particular product because it's not very good. It provides very minimal coverage and the application is not very good at all. 

Overall, I find these products to be generally pretty good. Flower beauty offers a lot more products that I am definitely going to give a try. Once I do, I will be sure to create another review on this brand. I will most likely be re-purchasing both the lip chubby and the eyebrow pencil. (Highly recommend!)

Thanks for reading! If you have tried out any of Flower beauty's products let me know what you think in the comments below! 

My 2014 Journey..

At the beginning of this year I knew I wanted to make great changes in my life. I had been living life the same way day-to-day for the last three years and was unhappy. I took the time to evaluate everything that was happening in my life. I am a college student with good grades, I have

an amazing family and true friends. So why wasn't I happy? The truth; I was happy with everything happening around me but not with myself. 

For years I have struggled with my weight. I've never thought you had to be thin to be happy or beautiful. But my self-confidence was suffering and I didn't like the choices I was making in my life. The first thing I learned in wanting to lose weight, is probably the most important.. You cannot do it for anyone but YOURSELF. I have tried a million different diets; that maybe should have worked. But when it came down to it, I was always doing it for someone else. For my family, for a boy, etc, etc, etc. 

I kicked off my weight loss with this amazing program called the P.I.N.K. Method. This program aided in my weight loss because it simply taught me how to eat again. It eliminated all those foods I had been relying on for years and focused on nourishing my body. After following this method for a month, I found I no longer needed it. I was now able to make more conscious decisions and follow my own guidelines. This is when I started to introduce exercise into my weight loss journey. I was not a girl who liked to exercise. I never got off on running marathons, lifting weights or doing any other high intensity workout. In fact, if I am completely honest.. I didn't even like to sweat. What I discovered is that I couldn't kick my own butt at the gym, so I had to get someone else to do it for me. First, it was my sister who would force me to the gym. She's always been a touch terrifying and in the beginning that's what I needed. Then I got braver, I signed up for boot camp. My first session I thought I might throw up and had visions of pushing the instructor onto a busy highway. If you know what I mean... But as time went on, the sessions got easier and easier. 

After struggling with my hatred of exercise for so long. I have actually learned to love it and enjoy my time "sweating" it out. I have learned so much over this last year and I am excited to share my experiences with all of you! 

Check out some snapshots of my journey over the past year.  

-Fruity Water Drink-

-P.I.N.K. Method Meal-

 -Fifty-Five Down//Twenty-Five To Go-

Time Managment?

Time; the one thing I have never been able to get a handle on. I cannot believe it has been three long months since my last blog post. I say "long" but in actuality these three months have gone by incredibly fast! I have not been avoiding my blog in anyway; I have just been busy. Busy, putting myself through school, working on myself and discovering new opportunities. Ideally, I wish I would have been able to manage my time more effectively and made time for the things I love. Things I love like this blog. This blog has been a great outlet for me over the years and it will continue to be. As previously mentioned in this post I've been working on myself. It is this work that has made me  the happiest I have ever been. Since the beginning of this year, I have been on a journey. And it is a journey, I am excited to share with you all here. Stay tuned... 

 

WARNING: This picture is irrelevant to this post. But, it's just so darn cute!!

DENIM HEAVEN

Lately I have been obsessed with trying to make my own "destroyed" denim shorts. I have been seeing them everywhere and everyone is wearing them. As a student on a budget, I don't have the time nor money to look for those perfect pair of jean shorts. I am very particular of what I am looking for and I don't have a lot of money to waste... So I thought, why not make my own? I never seem to throw out jeans and over the years have acquired quite a collection.After spending hours looking through YouTube videos on DIY demin shorts. I finally found two perfect videos that helped me in my quest. I thought I would share these videos with all of you. If I have one piece of advice; measure a billion times and cut once!! Check out the videos and my DIY "destroyed" denim shorts below! 

How to cut high waisted jean shorts: 

http://youtu.be/_V2ALny3jV4

How to destroy your denim: 

http://youtu.be/dvI-0o6IF54

My destroyed denim shorts: