Wednesday 15 May 2013

Beauty: Would You Rather. . .

I haven't been up to too much today so I've decided that instead of not posting (boooring), I'm going to hijack this tag from Steph over on Bonjour Belle. Feel free to do it yourself if you're interested!

Would you rather lose all of your mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks, and lipglosses or lose all of your palettes and eyeshadows?
Mascara and eyeliner are really the only thing I use consistently, though I could care less about lipstick and gloss. I'm more of an eye makeup girl.

Would you rather chop off your hair or never be able to cut it again?
Easy, chop off my hair. . . since I basically already did! I just really hate the feeling of long hair. Something about it seriously weirds me out, and as much as I love my hair, it's not a love dependent on quantity.

Would you rather have a coral cheek or a pink cheek?
I prefer coral as a colour, but I'm not sure it would flatter me as well as pink does. Plus, I love the blush that I have right now (Sonia Kashuk beautifying blush in "Flamingo").

If you had $1000 (I'm not converting from pounds haha) to spend, would you rather buy clothes or makeup?
Definitely clothes. I don't tend to deviate an awful lot from the few specific makeup products I like, but I really love buying clothes!

Would you rather apply lipstick as eyeliner or eyeliner as lipstick?
Definitely eyeliner as lipstick, even if it had to be traditional liner colour like black or brown. I just couldn't stand the texture of lipstick on my eyelids. That would feel too awful.

Would you rather shop at MAC or Sephora?
Sephora. As much as I love certain products from MAC, Sephora would have (obviously) way more variety. . . and less expensive options.

Would you rather use only one eyeshadow colour or one lip colour for the rest of your life?
One lip colour. Like I said, I'm an eyeshadow girl.

Would you rather wear winter clothes in summer or summer clothes in winter?
This question is insane! I'd rather wear summer clothes in winter because I cannot stand being overheated.

Would you rather dark nails or bright nails all year round?
Dark nails! I usually gravitate towards the darkest colours (except for black) in any collection. Lighter colours are much more unusual for me.

Would you rather give up your favourite lip product or your favourite eye product?
Lip product. Eye makeup girl!

Would you rather only be able to wear your hair in a ponytail or messy bun?
I can't do either of these with my hair haha but I'd pick ponytail.

Would you rather never being able to paint your nails again, or never using lipgloss?
I'm actually not a particularly huge fan of either of these. . . but I guess I'd go with no more nail painting. As problematic as many glosses are, my short hair pretty much makes them a non-issue.

Would you rather shave your eyebrows and have none at all, or Sharpie them in every day?
In the interest of NOT applying a toxic marker to my face daily, I'd go with no eyebrows.

Would you rather live without makeup or without nail polish?
I'd way rather live without nail polish. Even when you take great pride in your nails, there's way less of a chance of people noticing them. That sounds like I'm going for vanity on this one, but I'm just speaking in a practical sense. Most people would likely rather use makeup in a way that makes them feel good about their appearance, and I don't see nails as a big contributor to that.

It's supposed to be fantastic weather here tomorrow, so I'll try to get an OOTD up!

-C
  

Tuesday 14 May 2013

Leibster Blog Award

No quotation today, just right down to business! Carrieanne from I'mjustalittlepixie nominated me for the Leibster Blog Award which recognizes blogs with 200 followers or less. So here we go.
Requirements:
1. Share eleven things about myself.
2. Answer eleven questions provided by the nominator.
3. Nominate eleven blogs (under 200 followers) that deserve the title and let them know.
4. Think of eleven questions to ask these nominees.
5. Thank the person that nominated you and link back to their blog.

11 Things About Myself:
1. I'm an only child.
2. I'm studying Italian because I fell in love with the language after visiting Italy on a high school trip.
3. I will not eat hot dogs or sausages. For the sake of those of you who enjoy them, I'm not going to talk too much about this.
4. I think pearls are the classiest accessory.
5. I love lemon yogurt.
6. "10 Things I Hate About You" is my favourite movie of all time, not because of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Heath Ledger, or Julia Stiles, but because of Larry Miller.
7. The longest essay I've ever written was about 4400 words for a class on the Brontes (Anne, Charlotte, Patrick, Branwell, Emily, Maria, and Elizabeth).
8. My favourite flowers are poppies. Also, it's a great name in the singular.
9. The item of clothing I would most like to own is a Jurassic Park raincoat because that movie is awesome and I have no shame.
10. When I was a little girl, I really wanted red hair.
11. My favourite Shakespearean play is Richard III.

11 Questions from the Nominator:
1. What made you choose your blog's name?
Pretty simple answer for this one: coral has been my favourite colour for years and C is my first initial.
2. What's your favourite colour?
See answer #1 haha
3. Who inspires you the most?
Hopefully this doesn't come across as really self-absorbed, but I think I inspire myself the most. I'm a pretty stubborn person, so when people try to push me in a certain direction, I'm often pretty resistant. I've learnt to trust my own judgement above anything else.
4. What's your favourite biscuit?
My favourite cookie (sorry, Canadian here) is one my mom makes with chocolate chips and espresso powder. Delicious AND addictive.
5. Jumper or Cardigan?
Jumper for sure. Why fuss with buttons?
6. Favourite sandwich filling?
First of all, this is probably the greatest question I've seen on one of these, so great work Carrieanne! Why is this so hard to answer? Umm I guess either raspberry jam or Havarti cheese.
7. Tell me your favourite joke.
WARNING: this joke is extremely childish because it was told to me in second grade by my best friend. There are three brothers named Shutup, Manners, and Poo who are also avid motorcyclists. One day while travelling down the road, Poo loses control of his bike and rolls into the ditch. Manners goes to help him, but Shutup continues on, speeding. Soon enough, Shutup is pulled over by a cop and the following conversation ensues. Cop: "Sir, you were speeding. I'm going to need to collect some information, starting with your name." Shutup: "Shutup." Cop: "Excuse me?" Shutup: "Shutup." Cop: "Sir, that is no way to speak to a police officer. If you don't tell me your name right now, I'm going to have to arrest you." Shutup: "Shutup!" Cop: "I can't believe this! Where are your manners?!" Shutup: "In the ditch, picking up Poo."
8. Other than the blog what is your favourite pastime?
Reading! Yay!
9. What came first the chicken or the egg?
Going for scientific accuracy on this one: the egg.
10. Favourite beauty item?
Probably blush because it doesn't take a lot of time, but really brings life into your face. I also really like my freckles, so if I'm planning to apply something to my skin, I'd pick blush over powder or liquid foundation any day because it's flattering without covering up the freckles.
11. Your fashion icon.
Easy. Julia Roberts' character Vivian Ward in "Pretty Woman." To be clear, post-prostitute wardrobe. I did a post on it here which explains the full reasoning behind this decision. In a way more fun way than how I just said it!

My 11 Nominations in no particular order:
1. A NEW Fashion View
2. Betsy Boat
3. Charlotte Jane 
4. Floral Chaos 
5. L. loves to share 
6. Simple Charm Beauty 
7. Stephanie's Look 
8. The Nautical Owl
9. The New Pink 
10. The Perks of Being a Hipster 
11. Young Love

My 11 Questions:
1. When you were a child, what was your dream job?
2. If you could swap yourself into a role in the movie of your choice, which would it be?
3. Which do you prefer getting done: a manicure or a pedicure?
4. If you could only wear only one pair of your shoes for a year, which would they be? (weather permitting, of course)
5. Describe something you did that made you proud of yourself.
6. If you had a theme song, what would it be?
7. Tell me one random fact (about you or not) that never really comes in handy, yet you can't seem to forget it. (E.g. I know all of the main events of the French Revolution. . . not particularly useful in most social situations)
8. Who is your favourite of the seven dwarfs?
9. According to you, what is the best smell in the world? Convince me of why in one sentence. (E.g. Vinegar because it reminds you of french fries and who doesn't like those?)
10. In your favourite multiple-main-character-series (TV or book), which character is most like yourself? (E.g. are you a Tibby, Lena, Carmen, or Bridget? A Blair or a Serena?)
11. What is YOUR colour? (The one you think suits you best)

-C

Monday 13 May 2013

Girl Trophy for Excellence in Female Stuff

Tonight's quotation comes from the show "Parks and Recreation" (still watching and loving) and is just as vague and hopefully funny as much of my life. My weekend ended up being pretty great. A friend came from out of town to visit and the highlight was watching "Jumanji" together. I think that might actually be the greatest movie ever, just don't tell "10 Things I Hate About You" I said that. Somehow "Jumanji" is just equally great every single time I watch it, plus Robin Williams is probably one of my favourite actors ever. Between this film and "Hook," the movie-watching aspect of my childhood was pretty great.
You know, 'cause no posts the last two days.
This week I'll be seeing something a little more serious. Or, as serious as a cult film/TV series can get in the eyes of a society who has basically left it to the nerds. That's right, I'm talking about Star Trek. No matter how you feel about the following surrounding this series, the most recent film (2009) had a lot of amazing aspects that I think almost anyone who enjoys actions/adventure movies would appreciate. Anyone planning to see it?

-C
P.S. New OOTD up tomorrow!

Friday 10 May 2013

Writing in the language of hurry

Today's title is 100% accurate for me right now. I've had a busy couple of days which is why there wasn't a post yesterday. The quotation I've used comes from Forster's Howards End; funny when literature is exactly applicable to real life situations, eh? Aaanyway, tomorrow should be much more relaxing, I only wish the weather were supposed to be nicer! We've had such a great run of mid-20s temperatures for the last couple of weeks, but now we're in for several days of rain and only 10 degrees on Sunday. Yuck! I would protest in the name of Mother's Day if that would have any impact whatsoever.
China Glaze "Coconut Kiss"

On a nicer note, here's the next shade I'll be painting my nails! Odd like the weather, this colour is called "Coconut Kiss." Why do I feel like the nail-polish-colour-namer-people were sleeping on the job when they came up with THAT? Oh well, still a gorgeous purple and great colour for summer. Maybe a few coats of this will coax the warm weather back!


Any special plans for Mother's Day? I'd love to hear about them!

-C

P.S. The name of this polish reminds me that my best friend is on vacation in Haiwaii right now. Lucky, lucky girl!

Wednesday 8 May 2013

That's kind of a weird way to describe me

Today's title is from the TV show "Parks and Recreation," but we'll get back to that in a minute.

Do you know what I thought when coloured jeans started becoming a thing? Nope. Not "nope" as in "No, you don't know," but rather "nope" as in "I am not ever going to wear those." Based on my last two posts (pink and lavender jeans) I'm guessing you can already tell that I've changed my mind about that. I'm afraid that I've now actually gone in the complete opposite direction and become obsessed. No. Yes. Maybe, with one pair in particular. I want these pants from American Eagle so badly. Partly because they aren't jeans (HA! They're khakis!), so I can fool myself into thinking I need them, and partly because they are the colour of a creamsicle.
Anyway, my feelings about these pants sort of mirror my relationship with TV shows generally. When a show starts to become popular, I'm likely far from interested. But after my friends wear me down over months (or years) by constantly talking about how great the program is, I typically give in and try it out. Sometimes this doesn't end well and I am simply destined to never like the show, EVEN when I stick it out and watch the full first season ("Modern Family," I'm looking at you). Today I started watching "Parks and Recreation" and I'm not loving it so far, but I'm going to try to push through once again. Luckily, this show only has six episodes in its first season so I'm actually already halfway through! I'm also supposed to watch "Community," which I'll be attempting after "Parks and Recreation."

Have you watched either of these two shows? Are there any programs that, while popular, didn't seem to live up to their hype for you?

-C

Tuesday 7 May 2013

Iron Violet

The title looks a little like a variation on "Steel Magnolias," doesn't it? Just me? Ok. I just got back from seeing "Iron Man 3" and I'm actually not disappointed, although you know I went in with pretty low expectations. In my opinion, it was the best in the triology, although a couple of the highlights for me were just Rebecca Hall and Pepper's white suit. I'm half joking. I might also have enjoyed it more simply because I haven't seen a superhero movie in quite a while and sometimes it's nice to just watch a really, genuinely cool action flick.

I almost titled this post "Lobsta Killa" which probably won't make sense to anyone here. One of my favourite films is "Julie and Julia" (starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams) and there's a scene in which Amy's character has to cook a live lobster. She imagines a voice calling "lobster killer" to her, which her husband chooses to haunt her with as he lurks around the kitchen watching her cook. How did I just make the story of two foodies into a movie that sounds like it was directed by Hitchcock? It's actually great and so hilarious, and what inspired me to buy the sweater I'm wearing in these pictures.
MAC zoom lash mascara in "Black"
Eyes: lighest grey in E.L.F everyday palette, MAC pigment in "Violet"



Jeans: American Eagle

Sweater: F21
Any big movie plans on the horizon? I'm really looking forward to the next couple of weeks because of "Star Trek" and "The Great Gatsby" coming out back to back!

-C

Monday 6 May 2013

Vended Bubblegum

Today's title is not a quotation (gasp!) but rather a reference to both the colour of my pants in these pictures and a humourous weekend occurrence. I mentioned to you already that I was spending some time with family on Saturday, and during this time, I went to a mall with my cousin. She is one key element of this story. The other is the almost-staple feature of malls everywhere: the kiosk of gumball machines. I don't know how long they've been there, and I have my doubts as to the nutritional quality of the gum inside them (because it's pure sugar, but mostly because I cannot determine its age), but mostly I ignore them. This is something the aforementioned cousin was not able to do. She caved to the novelty of shopping mall gum and bought a pomegranate-flavoured ball for 25 cents. The best part was the crunch of the gum's outer layer as she bit into it. Deee-sgusting!
Pants: Joe Fresh; Shoes: Naturalizer
Blazer: F21; Cami: Old Navy
Hope you've all been having a good Monday!

-C


Sunday 5 May 2013

Collecting new ideas as a squirrel collects nuts

I've been taking my time with Howards End, and today's title quotation comes from this novel. This weekend has been pretty busy and scattered so I'm just squeezing this post in before dinner. I'm sorry that there isn't a haircut picture here for you today. I did get it all chopped off (gosh, there was a lot of hair on the floor!) but after coming home and showering (and subsequently re-straightening my hair) I realized that it might need a night to be slept on before it looks quite presentable. Right now, because it's sooo short and straight, it looks kind of. . . stiff? Do you know what I mean? Like me, it obviously needs a night to relax.

So for tomorrow I'm thinking a full OOTD combined with haircut pictures. Tuesday will be another OOTD so you should feel sufficiently spoiled that I'm giving you two in a row. I'll be going to see Iron Man 3 on Tuesday with a friend of mine and it kind of makes me wish that I had a really dorky (not actually) superhero t-shirt to wear. Even though that piece of clothing wouldn't get worn much. Plus, I don't actually like the Iron Man series (more about my mixed feelings on comic book series here). This still feels like a blasphemous thing to say, but they are my friend's absolute favourite movies, so I might be taking one for the team here, but I'm not ruling out the possibility that it will be great and I'll love it.

This makes me think fondly of an amazing (to me) t-shirt that I used to have. It said "I love Italian boys" on it and was accompanied by a picture of Mario and Luigi. I've regained my affection for it, but now have no idea where it is! It might be a fortunate thing that I haven't found it sooner though, because I might have been tempted to wear it to Italian class (I'm studying for a minor in Italian Language Studies at my university) thereby making prof and students alike either laugh or feel uncomfortable.

Do you have a favourite graphic t-shirt (that others find dorky)? Are you planning to see the latest Iron Man installment? Are you a superhero film fan generally?

-C

Friday 3 May 2013

Butter AND Jam

Every once in a while, we seem to get just about everything we want. Today's title comes from the fourth Pants novel, Forever in Blue, and actually wasn't at all planned until I was inspired while having breakfast this morning. Literally, I had butter and jam on my toast. Cutting edge stuff here, people. Anyway, the combination doesn't have be butter and jam, but any two things that make you feel good and happen to occur together. I feel like I'm getting the jackpot this weekend. Family and books (thank you, public library). Shopping and haircut. Technically that's four things, but I feel like the first two are simpler pleasures.

I'm getting into E.M. Forster's Howards End at the moment, and really enjoying it so far (for more Forster, see my mentions of A Passage to India from last summer here, here, and here). After having taken a class in Modernism last term at my university, I feel pretty good about myself when I'm able to identify an allusion without having to turn to the novel's endnotes. I won't be posting tomorrow because I'll be pretty busy with family, but expect a new post (and haircut, SO excited!) on Sunday.

Happy weekend, all!

-C

Thursday 2 May 2013

It's like having a perfect haircut every single day

Today's quotation not only expresses what I'm sure is many people's aesthetic utopia, but also comes from the show "Gilmore Girls." I know I quoted this series a lot last year so I'm going to try to avoid it this time around, but I couldn't resist today since I am personally really looking forward to my next haircut (see previous post). Because this won't be taking place until Sunday, I didn't want you to feel starved for photographs until then, so today, let's jump into nail polish. (Not literally, because, you know, the thick sticky texture, not to mention the smell.)
So tiny!
My mom purchased this teeny bottle for me from Sally in the States (we do also have these stores in Canada, however). So teeny is it (5.3ml), apparently the company felt that it did not qualify for a name. This irritates me more than it probably should because I feel like the name is really what sells nail polish to me--after liking the actual polish colour, of course. Anyway, it's an amazingly pretty periwinkle blue and I loved it right away. Most of the affection I felt was probably linked to the fact that it was the same colour as my favourite crayon as a child. Please tell me this is not a weird thing to have a favourite of?

To the product itself. As you can see, I don't have it on my nails in the picture. This is because I applied it during exam season before I had time to work on the blog, but the product ended up being such a stand-out that I felt like it still deserved a mention after it was off my nails. As in, I lazily put on just two coats (normally I do three, plus top coat) and it somehow looked incredible for almost a week and a half. I can hardly believe it myself, but I definitely want to try another colour of Sally's home brand nail polish to see if the suberb quality is consistent, or my bottle is just magic.

I'm heading off to the library soon, absolutely starving for reading material! Which colour or colours are you looking forward to wearing on your nails this spring/summer?

-C

Wednesday 1 May 2013

And then there was one

The title of today's post hints not only at the the next book I'll be reading (well, rereading, but it has been eight years since the last time) but also another realization that I am feeling back in the swing of things when it comes to this blog. The "one" I've mentioned in the title is simply the post that I did yesterday. . . one after a break of about seven months! Anyway, if you've read past posts of mine, you might know that I am utterly devoted to mystery fiction, particularly Agatha Christie. University lit classes can train me up all they want, but they'll never separate me from my original love of the small-town-murder novel. Oddly, the only thing I actually remember about Christie's And Then There Were None is who the killer is. What I've forgotten is the entire plot. Weird, but workable.

In other news, I'm puzzling more over the fate of my hair. Yes, it is THAT easy for me to swing from literary accomplishments to utter vanity. I digress. I told you yesterday that I'm almost/kind of/definitely sure that I want to cut all (most) of my hair off again, so I'm in the process of browsing through styles. I have fairly small features, a face that's slightly more round than oval, and a forehead in proportion to the rest of my face (i.e. do not necessarily need bangs to compensate for large forehead). Oh, also my hair is quite thick, but not naturally curly, though it does occasionally decide to have a bit of a wave. Keeping these things in mind, feel free to give me suggestions! Otherwise, take a look at the inspiration pictures I'm posting and let me know what stands out! Ok?
This is generally the cut I went for the first time around and it worked out pretty well.
Obviously not a picture of short hair, but I so love these bangs! Something I could still have if I kept my hair at a medium-ish length.
 
More bangs, I know, but I love how sleek this one is.

And one of an old short haircut of mine for good measure. Although I look rather like a solemn Peter Pan.
-C