Springtime Adventures!

Last Thursday I took a little adventure with one of my dearest friends to take pictures and do a little exploring around the city! We really had no set plan, we just walked around to see if anything inspired us. At the end of the day, we walked for ages, my feet were killing me, we had breakfast for lunch and we had some awesome girl time! Here are some of the pictures that I snapped along the way. (Warning: if pretty flowers and coffee shops aren't your thing, well then this is awkward.....)
Funny story. So I had the idea to go take pictures in a cafe with one of those fancy lattes. We walked forever trying to find the right place but we ended up in the place we originally planned to go to. While in line to order, I asked the barista "Hi, do you have lattes with latte art in one of those cute bowls?" She tried to conceal her laugh because I actually sounded like such an idiot haha! In the end, the latte art was non existent and they served the latte in what actually seemed like a soup bowl. I really have to get the hang of this fancy coffee deal! 
It was such a fun experience and I think it's something I want to do more often. Call up your friend, go on a spontaneous walking adventure and snap some pictures. You'll have fun, I promise! (And if you get a fancy latte, I hope you can order with a bit more composure ;)

(Obviously staying serious is not one of my strong suits!)

Yay for an awesome girls day with plenty of laughs and memories to last us a long while! 

Bronzed and Blushing

While achieving a flawless base through foundation and concealer can do wonders, there's nothing worse than looking like you sucked the life out of your skin! Depending on the foundation you use, it may be so full coverage that you've painted on a new layer of skin. Though this might be appealing initially, glowing and natural skin doesn't look one dimensional. We naturally have a bit of redness here and there to make us look flushed, and if you're lucky enough to tan instead of burn, you'll occasionally have some colour "where the sun naturally hits you" (count how many times you've heard that phrase before....)
Spring and summer is the perfect time to transition from muted tones into bright pops of colour and an all over glow that'll have people wondering what you're doing differently lately. First things first, bronzer! I was never a huge bronzer girl. I always thought that since I had a year round tan it would look strange if I was making myself look muddy with a ton of bronzer. I'll also say that high school girls with orange faces didn't convince me on the wonders of bronzer either! This past year I decided to give the natural glow a go and I couldn't be happier that I did. Especially in the winter months when I'm at my palest, it's nice to have a subtle bronze that makes you look healthier. Lately, I've been loving using NARS Laguna Bronzer and sweeping it all over my face to add some warmth. This is the bronzer you hear about constantly and for good reason. It does have some subtly golden shimmer but I think it lends to it giving you a really undetectable highlighted effect. It's not orange or red, so the golden tones work really well for medium skin tones and lighter. They have a shade called Casino that would work really well for girls that are a bit darker. (Side note: If shimmer isn't your thing at all then go for Smashbox Bronze Lights in Suntan Matte - it's great for a good contour and if you dust it on lightly all over the face). 
So you have most of your redness covered up and you've added some glow, what's next? Blush! I seriously love blush. If I could leave the house with anything on it would be concealer, mascara and some blush. It livens up your face and gives you that "Oh, I'm just naturally this gorgeous and glowing" effect. Brighter pops of colour are great for this season and two that I've been using nonstop are Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Tipsy and Revlon Powder Blush in Haute Pink (can't find a link because the Revlon site is down but you can find it at most drugstores).  I'm usually a peachy pink kinda girl so Tarte Tipsy was right up my alley. It looks scary in the pan but when you put it on, it's seriously beautiful. I never knew I could have so much love for a blush. You need a light hand with this but this is perfect for bright coral cheeks. On the other hand, if pink is more your thing, the Revlon option is not only the brightest pink ever but it's fairly inexpensive. This is one of those blushes I'd say is really brightening. It lifts your whole complexion and all you need is a little on the apples of your cheeks and you're good. Really simple makeup and a bit of this, perfection!
I'm usually all about the lip products but I'm slowly becoming a bit of a blush and bronzer lover, and I'm not complaining. These are basically all I've been wearing and I don't see that changing any time soon. 
Any blushes and bronzers you've been loving?

New In: Spring Lip Colours

Oh lip products, how I love thee! I'm always interested when my favourite beauty bloggers give recommendations for new shades or product releases so these are my latest blogger inspired lip products purchases for Spring!
Maybelline Color Sensational Vivids in Vivid Rose// Bright lips are something I'm always down to experiment with, especially in warmer weather, and this lipstick is just gorgeous! Vivid is definitely the right word to describe this shade - it is incredibly bright and pigmented and the rose undertones of this pink make it a great transitional colour for Spring. Definitely one to swatch when you see it! 
Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balm in Unapologetic & Complex// I have two shades from the original Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain line but these matte balms were definitely intriguing. I find that I don't have many matte finish lipsticks in my drawer and these fit the bill for closing that gap. They are surprisingly, incredibly creamy and glide on like a dream (although you definitely want to have exfoliated lips beforehand). The shade Unapologetic, a bright true coral, is one of Alix from ICovetThee's favourites and looks so good on her, so naturally it was a colour I gravitated towards. Complex is a peachy nude which wouldn't be my first choice if I saw the range but ViviannaDoesMakeup included it her Spring Edit and suggested another way to wear it so I was convinced. I'm definitely loving these so far!
MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in Peach Blossom// This. Is. A. Beaut! Another Anna inspired purchase (do you see a trend here?) and one that is now basically my default when I need a peachy pink nude for everyday wear. I don't know how many different ways I can say that I love this but I seriously do. It's such a flattering shade, and one that would be foolproof for a lot of different skin tones. The formula is one of my favourites - Cremesheens are super creamy but still give more colour than my old favourite Hue which is a glaze. I'm so glad I heard about this shade because it's not one that you hear about very often. 
Have you tried any new lip products for Spring? What's your favourite formula or brand?

The Best of Spring: Essie Edition

As a previously loyal, die hard OPI fan, this post kind of makes me laugh. I was never interested in buying Essie polishes until maybe a year ago when I fell in love with them. As with every brand, you have the odd dud here and there, but I've loved many of the shades that I've had from Essie and I actually prefer their brushes because they are thinner and allow for a lot of precision. 
I noticed that my collection, as a whole, was lacking in the spring/summer shade category so I took myself to Target (when Essie was on sale whoop!) and did some damage. Keep in mind this was over a period of like 7 months - which in the end doesn't matter because it's still a lot haha! I'm so excited to be sporting these shades on my nails in the coming months! The colours I included are: (bottom row) Mademoiselle, Fiji, Sand Tropez, Absolutely Shore; (top row) Bikini So Teeny, Mod Square, Watermelon, Really Red.  (I'm wearing Mod Square in the picture). I love wearing Fiji with a tan and Watermelon looks like it'll be one of my preferred pinks during the warmer weather!
This line up has everything I could want for Spring/Summer nails - except I would probably add in an orange and a purple, but otherwise, these are some of my go to shade ranges. Aside from Essie though, I am so tempted to buy some shades from the Deborah Lippmann Spring Collection because they are seriously beautiful! Vivianna Does Makeup has made me want more beauty products once again! (more on her recommendations in an upcoming post!) To sum it up, I'm involved in a major love affair with Essie at the moment and I don't think it'll be a summer fling ;)

Beautiful Blooms

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It's no surprise that I'm starting to get tired of the cold. In all honesty, winter is only good while Christmas season is upon us but after the excitement of the New Year subsides, it's all downhill from there. I love moderate weather, so Fall and Spring and two of my favourite seasons. It's so beautiful to see nature transition through those few months! My secret to being happy when I'm cold and snow is falling is having beautiful, fresh blooms at my desk. I might be in a million layers trying to stay warm but glancing up and seeing flowers while I study/blog makes my day! As you can tell by my blog name, I love peonies. For a long time I really had no preference to any particular flower, probably because the only ones I knew by name were roses, sunflowers and tulips. I remember looking through Pinterest boards (as one normally does everyday) and seeing peonies and thinking "THAT's my favourite!" I love pink so pink peonies have a special place in my heart. Sadly, I don't have access to peonies year round like some people seem to have but I love having roses and hydrangeas around when I can find pretty ones.

hydrangeas at my desk

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I don't know what it is specifically about flowers that makes people happy but I just enjoy having a little piece of God's creation with me at all times. I remember always thinking I had to wait for someone to buy me flowers but I realized that they're just as special if I take the time out to treat myself! It's funny because I'll be extremely busy and not notice many things around me since I'm so stressed, but as soon as I see my flowers it makes me stop. They're so fragile, yet so incredibly beautiful in their own fragility. I encourage you to buy yourself some flowers - whichever ones they may be. Scroll through Pinterest if you have to.... I'm sure you'll find a flower that speaks to you! It's just a small thing you can do to bring some life back into the cold winter and get excited for Spring to finally hit!

Reminder of the day: bloom where you are planted! Be who God made you to be in the place where He has planted you! Don't wait to bloom someplace better. 

Spring Into Beauty With Spring 2014 Makeup Collections

The bow on this blush?! Seriously! *drool*

I know, it's only the end of January and there is currently more inches of snow outside than I would like but Spring is almost here (-ish). As a commuter, I spend an hour or so of my week browsing around the mall before class just to destress and to keep an eye out for new releases. Thankfully, the other day I caught a glimpse of some of the newest Spring 2014 makeup collections and let me tell ya, love! There's nothing better than spring makeup in my humble opinion because it's all about pastels, sheer textures and a barely there look - all of which make me pretty excited. I think I've made it pretty clear already that I have a love for all things French related so it's no surprise that my favourite collections are from French brands! The ads are perfection and the colour range is exquisite. Although a lot of the runway inspiration for spring trends can be a little out there (I will not be wearing a thick layer of bright blue eyeshadow any time soon!), there's always a way to bring those trends into your daily routine without looking like a complete psycho. That's why spring collections are so great, you get to play around with products that are inspired by trends but in a more everyday, wearable way. Come on Spring, I'm waiting for you!
Dior Trianon 2014 Spring Collection: This collection is filled with gorgeous pastel shades and an amazing attention to detail with the girly and flirty packaging. Bows are great but on makeup?! That's a whole notha level of gloriousness!

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Perle looks so pretty! But so do the rest (confessions of a nail polish lover) (source)

Lancome French Ballerine Spring 2014 Collection: It's no surprise the Lancome collection for this season would be beautiful but it honestly looks better than I imagined. I love the theme they chose, especially since Lily Collins looks amazing in these soft hues. Count me in for a little bit of Lancome loving this Spring! 

Ahhh Lily Collins and those bold brows are perfect for this campaign! (source)

 One of my favourite lipstick formulations in beautiful new shades! (source)

Excited to give these a swatch (source)

NARS New Edge of Pink Final Cut Collection:  I tried to find this collection on the NARS site but I'm not sure why it wasn't listed. In any case, I've seen pictures of these new colours and they are gorgeous! I've been tempted by their lip pencils so the fact that they have spring shades now excites me quite a bit! 

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Are you hearing your name being called when you look at any of these collections? (Say yes just so I don't feel alone ok?). Any other releases making your heart flutter? If so, let me know so I can take a peak! Have a great start to your week and hold onto Christ because I know He'll bless you in amazing ways. Thanks for stopping by!