Our Favourite Sunscreens and Sunblocks

Summer is here, well maybe not in Alberta, but the sun is out. Summer is not the only time to talk about sunscreen safety but with beach days, endless sports games and vacations I think it's important to talk SPF. First and foremost - it's extremely important to wear it regularly. Over the last few weeks we tested a lot of sunscreens and SPFs and consulted few people to find the best sun protectant to keep your skin protected, healthy, and youthful all year long.

We tried many (upwards of 35) products in all price ranges and here are the four that stood out. 

Ultra Sheer® Dry-Touch Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 45

This was probably one of my favourites – comes in 30 to 100 SPF (broadspectrum). I love that it's not greasy, leaves my skin feeling soft and most importantly, does NOT make my skin break out. I used the 45 on my face and body and absolutely loved it. I could wear it under my makeup without my skin feeling sticky or gross.

SHISEIDO Urban Environment Oil-Free UV Protector Broad Spectrum Face Sunscreen SPF 42 

I picked this up on a whim – at $40 a bottle it’s a lot but I needed something to wear on my face every day. The cream is silky smooth and blends fairly well. It does have a scent but nothing that bothered me too much. Only drawback would be that might not be the best fit for someone with super dry skin.  A little does go a long way so for someone with oily to normal skin.

Biotherm -   SUN MILK BODY SPF30 

I m obsessed with their after-sun line, so I decided to explore the sun care. I love the texture and it smells like summer. My mom is fair skinned and easily burn and this is the only product that keeps her safe from burning. I put it on every hour and when I have been in the water. It does not leave any sticky residue on the skin. In fact my skin feels softer and smoother after my holiday.

Hawaiian Tropic Sheer Touch Spf 30 Oil Free Sunscreen Lotion

If I had to pick one product of the ones, I tried that I love the most, this would be it. While I couldn’t use this on my face, this worked magic on my body. I think my skin felt softer and better after wearing this every day on the beach. My skin is super sensitive to like everything but this make my skin soft and glowy, plus it smells like summer.

We rounded up few of our favourites - let me know what you guys think? 

OOTD - Casually Pink

Top 5 Spring Cleaning Tips

I hate cleaning, I think that may be the understatement of the year. I love a clean and organized house I just hate doing it myself, so enter Pinterest and the internet for tips and tricks that will make this dreaded task easier. Here are the top 5 tips and tricks I found that really work. Happy Spring cleaning :)

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1. Cleaning the Range Hood Filter: no matter what I tried the filter still always had a slight yellow film to it, that I could not get rid of. For this all you need is boiling water and baking soda, here's link to the tutorial .

2. Remove Baked-On Grease from a Cookie Sheet- I could never get my cookie sheet clean no matter how many things I tried and not even after washing after every use. I had all but given up until I stumbled onto this hack. You will need Hydrogen Peroxide and Baking Soda for this, it's magical so try it out.

3. Clean Inside the Glass on an Oven Door: I had no idea when I was cleaning the glass door that the reason it never got clean looking was the grease and grim in between the glass. This hack finally got my oven looking new again.

4. Remove Grease and Built-up Grime From Kitchen Cabinets- I was looking for a way to clean the kitchen cabinets in my condo that I rent. Everything looks brand new in it except the real wood cabinets (that I paid extra for  btw). You will need coconut oil and baking soda check out the full instructions here. 

5. Clean Your Washer- My washer is only a year old but with my husband having greasy and grimy work clothes to wash every week the spinny part (yes that is the technical term) was starting to look black so I tried cleaning it with a magic eraser which did not work. I found this hack and it worked great, even if your washer isn't as dirty as mine you should still clean it every so often. Check out the full instructions here.

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What are your cleaning hacks for Spring? Do you do a deep clean yearly?

My Daily Beauty Routine

If you read Letters to LALA land, you know that my beauty routine is very minimal. I get ready in less than 15 minutes in the morning (this includes shower, make up, hair, getting dressed & most days having coffee). 
Over years I have found (and than refined) a simple make-up morning routine. It's simple and minimalist but makes a world of difference on how I look and feel. This is also what I stick to while traveling.

1) Moisturize and even out complexion
I usually prep my skin with eye cream, day time SPF moisturizer and tinted moisturizer for coverage.

2)Add color and contour
 Maybe, this is just me but contouring can go pretty scary in a quick minute. I am strong believer  if you do contour right it should enhance your beauty. Goal is to skin is defined, glowing, and bright. In order to get the look just right, you need the right tools and product. I use Vanity Planet  Make-up Brush Palette and Essential Contour Kit.

Finding a right shade can be a challenge but the VP countering essential kit has shades that are perfect for creating a natural look. It's easily blended, with good pigment and staying. Best part this set comes with an informative book and diagrams on how to use the palette to achieve best results.

The essential contouring kit does come with a brush, however I use the Angled Contour Brush and the Large Fan Brush from my VP Professional Makeup 15 Brush Collection. The brush collection is high quality and very soft. Since it comes in a convenient, sleek faux-leather  carry case, I take it on all my trips.

 

3)Mascara and lip gloss
I finish my routine with mascara and a tinted lip gloss. During the summer I try and add a lip gloss or tinted lip moisturizer with SPF.

Vanity Planet is an online boutique market place focusing on beauty, wellness, and grooming; I absolutely love the products I have been using. Best thing? You can score some major discounts on all the must have beauty essentials.

What does your morning routine looks like? Have you tried any VP products? I would love to hear from you.

 

OOTD - Pretty In Pink

Summer days mean wearing cure dresses and this with this button front dress is the perfect fit. I love the off the shoulders look and I think the length is perfect, especially for someone taller. A great thing about a dress like this is the fact you can wear it many ways. I would style this dress with a denim jacket and white sneakers for a cool summers night look or with pretty pumps for a more glam look. 

shoes: (old) from Town Shoe

dress: Marshalls

My Landmark Homes Experience - the good, the bad and the ugly

Many of you know that couple of months ago I purchased a condo. Buying a home, especially your first home, is a huge task and can be very stressful. Today I'm sharing my buying experience with Landmark Homes in a honest and open way. Don't get me wrong I love my home but I think there needs to be a real conversation around how complicated, troublesome and awesome it can all be.

After looking for a long time, and I mean like over a year, I found a Landmark Homes built condo. While there was ton of builders and ton of options I wanted to go with a company that has been around for a long time, but mostly a company that would build their condos like they build homes. Landmark homes is recognized for being a leader in the industry and building beautiful quality homes and that's what I wanted for my condo. 

The good:

The sales associate at the show suite, Pat, was great. Pat was very informative which I think would be an amazing fit for first time home buyers - she knew her stuff and was very fast to respond to emails and calls.  Since I work in banking and this was not my first home purchase I knew what to expect and the process I found the information to be a lot but better more info than not enough right?  

The process of purchasing the home was easy and simple. I  had ton of time and information to get things like my mortgage, down payment and lawyer in place. (even tho after some conversation with Pat it felt way more complicated than necessary but overall good.)

The design studio was great. The lady who I was set up with was very patient, listened to what I wanted and gave me ton of options to choose from. I felt confident that I picked the right colors and finishes.

My walk though, was explained in extensive detail by Pat, and then I met with the construction supervisor to do the actual walkthrough. I went and checked all the things, marked things that we thought would need to be fixed and left. This is where the things kind of went from good/great to bad. We never recieved the report but I was confident that things we have discussed would be fixed. 

The condo itself if beautiful, high ceilings, lots of light a sound barrier wall, concrete floors - everything I needed and wanted.

The bad:

Fast forward to possession day - Jake was there to meet us and in the 33 days or so from my walk through to possession new things have come up, one of them being few things that had to be repainted and my floor was kind of funny in two sports. Once again, Jake assured us that we would have someone come in and deal with both things, but I still didn't receive a report.

The paint guy showed up in matter of days and was extremely professional and good at his job. My floor, I never heard anything about. I sent two emails to Landmark to follow up but no one ever got back to me.

At two months, all new built homes have a walk through/check in. The gentleman from Landmark Homes that came in dealt with houses not condos so he couldn't answer some of the things I was asking about. My biggest concern being my floor which in the 2 months of me taking possession went really bad. (I m talking boards popping up in multiple places, sagging in some areas and separating). The guy doing the inspection heard my concerns and said that someone would be in touch shortly.

The ugly:

The floor guys did get in touch this time and set a time to come fix the floor. The gentlemen who came in was from the flooring company, not Landmark homes and went over all 4 areas that are now concerning. In that appointment I have learned that a) one area was fixed previously b) that it is a much bigger issue than just replacing few boards c) that Landmark knew about issues with the floor and ignored it d) that they won't be happy about this.

He took bunch of photos and videos and has advised that he needs to talk to Landmark and will get back to me. 

It's been over a week and I have heard nothing, I have emailed and called but no answer or response. I have also asked for the report from Landmark but my email got no response.

So in conclusion, just because you are paying about 15% more on average than with other builders in order to deal with Landmark you might not get better quality and their customer service and follow up is sub par at best. The finishes are nowhere near the quality they promise. Once the home/condo is built good luck trying to resolve anything. 

I would love to hear your home buying experiences. Thank you for reading. 

OOTD - Work Basics

More often than not, looks I post are weekend wear if you will. I think this is because working in the corporate would I wear the same black on black outfits and give more attention to my weekend wardrobes. I m always on a search for a perfect work dress or work outfit so when I came upon this dress, I knew I had to have it.I love the wait line and the pockets. I think this dress would work well on many body types.

dress: Marshalls

shoes: Nordstrom

purse: Chanel

Few Items We Are Loving On Nordstrom Half Year Sale!

I don’t know about you but I love the Nordstrom’s half yearly sales.  I went to Nordstrom to check out the sale and try on some stuff- all in time for summer!

The Nordstrom Half-Yearly Sale begins on Wednesday, May 22 and runs through Sunday, June 2 — perfectly aligning with all the other Memorial Day sales you'll surely be shopping.

I just wanted to show you some of my favorite pieces and items. There are a lot of cute Spring and Summer items on sale and even other season you might not be wearing now, but why not get the things you might need when they are on sale. Happy Shopping!

What are you getting this year?

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Summer TV/Movies

I love Summer for so many reasons, the heat, the sunshine, I could go on forever! But another reason I love summer is new TV shows and new Movies! Summer is when fun movies come out. Yes there are the big blockbusters but there are also fun comedies and trashy reality TV. Here are my picks that may have flown under your radar.

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Wine Country- The funniest women from SNL  days gone by got together and made a movie, they are hilarious and I can't wait to watch this on Netflix. No I haven't yet but I will,wine glass in hand!

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Paradise Hotel- I did mention trashy TV, you know I love me some reality TV. I watch the original Paradise Hotel and loved it I'm so excited it's back! I have been wanting this to get a reboot so bad. I hope the new cast is as good as the original. If you have time I highly recommend watching the first season too.

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The Hustle- I will give anything a shot that Rebel Wilson is she always makes me laugh. I know some people aren't an Anne Hathaway fan but I don't mind her and Rebel will definitely bring out the best in Anne, and all the previews look hilarious.

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Dead to Me- This show is the reason I didn't watch Wine Country. I binged watched the entire season, and I loved it. You have to check it out, it's not like any show I've seen in awhile. It's dark and I loved it, I cannot wait for season 2!! It better come soon, if I put it out there it will happen, right?

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Late Night- I will watch anything Mindy Kaling is in, I know I shouldn't base it just on one person but I feel I have to support another minority it's like a code or something. I did watch the trailer and it looks hilarious. I do have to say I think Mindy is playing the same character she always does which is a pushy, and eccentric but in this movie it still works.

What are you watching this Summer? What should I to the list?

OOTD - Style at Any Budget

I think style is possible at absolutely any budget. You don’t have to spend a fortune to get a cute look.  This outfit is less than 100 all in and I think its cute.  

pants: Reitmans

top: Walmart

purse: Winners

glasses: Marshalls

shoes: JustFab