Procrastinating Pretty

NEW YEAR'S EVE CLUTCH ESSENTIALS

New Year's is different every year -- in the past five years I've done the following:

- gone to a stranger's house party
- held my own party
- clubbed (the worst)
- gone to a friend's house party
- one I can't remember (but not because I went out and got smashed, I'm pretty sure I slept through it)

I'm leaving for New York tomorrow to spend new year's there, but I can't lie -- I'm most excited for the FOOD. I'll fo sho be vlogging it, so look out next week for a new travel vlog.

Be warned: It will be 99.99999999% food shots (apologies in advance to all those who plan to dine with me).

The video above is a little snippet of how I think most people's nights will go (at least for those who are cooler than me and have awesome parties to go to), and everything you'll need to bring with you. I've got you covered from getting ready to combatting that NYE hangover.

I'm supposed to go to a party, but knowing me I'll get tired around 9:30 and have to sit down.

Friends, I leave you and 2014 with a little Zooey + Joseph Gordon Levitt goodness.

What are you doing New Year's Eve?

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Just a few essentials while I'm hanging with the family for a few days.

SKIN

MAKEUP

BASE | Cle de Peau Concealer in Ochre

May your non-denominational midwinter solstice festival be happy and bright.

3 EASY DIY GIFT WRAP IDEAS

Let's talk about the very real struggle around this time -- not only do I occasionally forget about Christmas presents entirely, I often come across absolutely perfect presents around May, buy them, forget about them, then descend into a pre-Christmas panic about purchasing another present. Such is the life of a non-Virgo.

While I would love to be one of those people who wraps incredible presents, complete with custom hangtags, spray painted pinecones and wire ribbon -- I'm just not. I love the look of kraft paper with simple adornments (black ribbon obvs), but I'm presented with another progblem. I lack the ability to wrap anything that's not a rectangular prism of sorts, so I've come up with a few ways to accommodate those gifts that find equally as appealing as brown paper and ribbon.

Click on the video above to watch on YouTube -- I've found a delicious replacement for tissue paper, an alternative to wrapping paper, and a subtle upgrade to my usual kraft and ribbon song and dance.

Cold/Flu Skincare Routine

The day before my birthday last week, I was struck down by the worst combination of sore throat, runny nose and all-over body ache. It came on so quickly, I didn't even clue in to the fact that napping twice a day (or ever) was abnormal for me. For five days straight I've been battling the worst of throat and sinus issues -- I won't get into more detail than that!

The worst side effect of blowing your nose in a dry apartment is the wreckage your skin becomes. Literally the entire centre of my face has started flaking off, and it only gets more irritated every time I sneeze. With that, I've temporarily adopted a new skin care routine, at least until my face gets back to normal. Dry-skinned ladies: heads up!

Instead of a foaming cleanser, I start and end my day with Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel -- the most gentle yet thorough cleanse you can find in a non-foaming formula. It pumps as an orange gel and melts into an oil as you work it into your face. Once it comes into contact with water, the product gets milky and rinses off clean. Genius. I use it alone in the mornings and with a muslin cloth at night to make sure all of the dead skin comes off.

To manage the skin around my nose, I've been religiously applying Neostrata Moisture Infusion Oil-Free Hydrating Lotion at least four times a day. I don't normally bother with moisturizers because oil do the trick, but this has been a godsend -- I reapply pretty much every other time I blow my nose, because my skin is so raw around there.

At night, instead of a serum, I've been piling on Josie Maran Argan Oil overtop of the NeoStrata lotion, covering my entire face from lips to eyeballs. I've paraded on about this oil several times before on the blog, but it really is the easiest fix for most skin care issues.

To help keep you from getting sick, check out this post. If it's too late for you (like me), keep downing water, eat as much garlic and ginger as you can (you'll smell so conflicted), and sleeeeeeeeeeep.

OOTD: 25th Birthday

I almost wish I could do a dramatic reading of this, my voice is the absolute smexiest right now.

Seriously though, I've spent most of my 25th birthday week(end) a hoarse, coughing, infectious mess, so huge props to anyone who willingly entered into a closed space with me, and apologies to those who don't realize the ridiculous flu that's about to come upon them.

And for all of you who've wished me a happy birthday and have come back to this completely rando page on the internet and keep me consistent, I love you SO MUCH I can't even begin to describe.

A friend asked me what my goal for 25 was, and honestly, I want to make this space better. I want to drop that stupid ".blogspot.com" off my address, I want to make the page more navigable, and I want to make my content so frickin beautiful, people will post it instead of those stupid Kinfolk magazines.

Kidding, I adore Kinfolk.

Seriously though, I feel I've been hovering around my blogging style for a while now, and hopefully I can fully carve out a distinct aesthetic before my 26th birthday.

Wish me luck!

And there's a little OOTD up there for you, watch on YouTube for where everything's from!

25 Things as I approach 25

1. I never thought this would happen, but I suppose it's appropriate as I approach my 25th birthday tomorrow: I think I like wine. Is this the age that happens?

2. I did this tag in my first year of university eight years ago, and I thought it'd be interesting to see how many things I would change.

3. I am such a grammar nazi. Every time I end a sentence with a preposition, I wince inwardly. I once tried to create a Facebook account with the first name Grammar and the last name Nazi and they rejected my profile.

4. I am unsure as to whether or not I have 25 things to talk about. Fingers crossed.

5. I undergo random, serious bouts of journal writing. As in, I will write everyday/relatively frequently for some time, and then go for months without even opening my journal. I've found the same with blogging, but hopefully this streak continues for someone.

6. I am a carb whore. I have been known to eat around the chips of chocolate chip cookies. And around the ice cream of cookie dough ice cream.

7. I so didn't choose the right university or program. But so far, aside from this realization, it hasn't completely ruined my life.

8. If there is such a thing as a clinical addiction to MSN, I was once an addict (#90skid). I've since switched to YouTube.

9. I love love love languages. The best compliment I've ever received was my first year Spanish prof telling me my accent was "casi nativa", and I hate being complimented.

10. I am the least comforting person I know in any language.

11. I was hoping to go through this without mentioning my height.

12. Because this is the 12th question, and the number 12 means something special to me, I will take this opportunity to address my height issues. If I only knew 10 years ago that I'd be the height I am now, I would never have missed out on five precious years of wearing pretty heels. And also, despite how much I bitch and moan about being the tallest girl in almost any group, whenever I see a girl taller than me, my head immediately goes: "What are you doing up here?"

13. Sometimes I'm not sure if I like things because I actually like them, or just because I should/have for a long time.

14. I ADORE Christmas carols - I will listen to them outside of the appropriate season (in the privacy of my own house when no one's home). I hate them during the holidays though, especially when sung by creepy child choirs.

15. My brother once told me (in my 18th birthday card, I might add) that babies who are breastfed have two ridges on the end of their noses. I still find this insanely fascinating. I was not breastfed.

16. I hate drama. It's occasionally fun when it's far enough away (i.e. on a Hills rerun), but I ain't got time for that.

17. I am very cynical. And highly consumeristic. I like to think that as a child of two immigrant businesspeople, it comes with the territory.

18. I'm running out of things to say.

19. Ironically, when I first saw these random note things come up, I was desperately hoping for someone to tag me =P

20. I am not vegetarian, but I could easily live without meat. Despite this, I really like most meats.

21. I undergo phases of my life where I overuse certain words. I think currently (although it's not reflected in this note) my word is 'actually'. And I will never stop interspersing my words with 'like', even though it makes me hate myself.

22. I find the question "Where are you from?" to be very confusing. Does it mean "Where were you born?" or "Where is your family from?" or "Where did you grow up?" or "Where do you live?" Does anyone else overthink it to this degree?

23. I don't believe that anything is ever clear-cut. I don't think anything is always or completely wrong/right/perfect/simple.

24. I'm currently drinking wine. Also, all of these have started with I except #12 and 13.

25. And #25. Leave it in the comments!

Tutorial: Holiday Party Look

We're just getting into the swing of holiday parties, and I can't tell you how much I love holidays, parties, and glitter. We've got all three wrapped up in this makeup tutorial with my friend Laura -- can we take a second to talk about that hair? If the ginger population ever needed someone to be their spokesperson, it should be her.

I've limited the glitter to the eyes only -- mainly because I want this tutorial to be applicable to people other than me (glitter ERR'WHERE). I've paired it with photo-ready skin and a holiday classic -- the red lip. In the spirit of the holidays, I've chosen a limited edition MAC Holiday release from 2012, but your favourite red lip will do just fine.

Now that your makeup's covered, share your outfit in the comments!

makeup for pale skin, redhead, makeup for red hair, foundation for pale skin

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