trudiannracquel

Author: herlifenotyours

  • Ole Henriksen Banana Bright Eye Cream

    This is one of two eye creams I’ve ever used. I have been using it religiously since the beginning of October. As of writing this blog post on the last day of February I have just started to see the bottom of the container.

    The Ole Henriksen Banana Bright Eye Cream also has vitamin C, which, if you’ve read my previous blog post about the Sephora Vitamin C Serum, you know I credit Vitamin C to helping fade my dark acne marks. It also contains collagen, which according to this article is suitable for maintaining elasticity. At 0.5 ounces, it’s probably the most expensive part of my morning skincare. It costs $56, but I guess it’s worth it if you only purchase it two or three times per year.

    It doesn’t have a smell. And the texture is like Jergens Lotion (which is a weird comparison). It’s not thick and it spreads super easily. Immediately after applying, it leaves my under eyes illuminated and moisturized. And if I tap under my eyes after about 30 minutes, it feels very soft and smooth. I haven’t paid attention to its behaviour under concealer because I haven’t worn concealer in months.

    According to the Sephora website, it’s good for anti-aging (I’m 30, but I’m also Black, so…), dryness, dark circles and dullness/uneven texture.

    As you saw in the video, I applied it with my index finger and rubbed it with my ring finger. I heard that this was the most gentle pressure you can apply, and the skin under your eyes is very sensitive to pressure. I also bring it above my eyelids and to my brow bone. According to this random skincare post, I made a mistake by applying it to my eyelids.

    If you want to check out a post that’s supposed to be dermatologist-approved on how to correctly apply eye cream, check this out.

    Overall, I give this a 2.5/5. It’s expensive, and there are probably other ones that will give me the same results (or even) better for cheaper. I’ve seen countless ones on the Sephora website, at the drugstore and even in Walmart. I will probably try another one when this is done. If you have any recommendations, let me know in a comment!

  • SEPHORA Glow Serum: Glow + Strengthen Vitamin C Serum

    This serum has been a skincare staple since I discovered it last year. It has helped to lighten the dark marks on my cheeks, and I have been struggling with those for several years. I used to have acne all along my jawline and anything with Vitamin C has helped tremendously.

    The SEPHORA Vitamin C Serum costs $ 27 CAD for 1 ounce and as you can see in the demo below, you don’t need much to cover your entire face. A little goes a long way. I use about three drops each morning for my entire face and it’s an excellent base for any moisturizers you layer on top. It’s one of the more affordable options for skincare on the Sephora site.

    According to the website, it’s great for dryness, which I can confirm since the lower half of my face is dry. It also contains Vitamin E and claims to help increase radiance and even skin tone. Suitable for all skin types, it boasts a vegan and clean tag on Sephora, an added bonus if you have sensitive skin. It has no weird smells and leaves your skin slightly sticky (which I believe is what most serums do). I use it after face wash but before any moisturizers.

    Overall, I give it a 5/5. Affordable and efficient. If you have any other vitamin c serums that you use religiously that’s helped darkness, let me know in a comment below.

  • TULA – The Cult Classic Purifying Face Cleanser

    I got this as a sample from one of my many Sephora orders sometime last year. I decided to try it because I ran out of my regular face cleanser and didn’t feel like purchasing anything yet. I’m also trying to finish all my skincare samples before committing to new ones because…they expire, and I didn’t know!

    The TULA Cult Classic Face Cleanser has a very…clean smell. The first time I used it, I thought to myself, “this smells like a chemical.” It smells like regular bar soap, but eventually you get used to it.

    It’s lasted me about three weeks so far, and this tiny sample is one fluid ounce. The smallest size you can purchase is 1.67 fluid ounces, which is not too bad. I think it lasts such a short time because I use it morning and night. I’m guessing that the smallest size and only using it as your morning cleanser would stretch it to about 3 months worth of product. At $16CAD, that’s not too bad, in my opinion. That is like the price of something you get at Walmart.

    I have combination, acne-prone skin. Everything from my cheekbones up is super oily everything below is dry in the wonter and normal in the summer. It’s advertised as suitable for oily, dry, combo and normal skin, and I would agree. After about 30 minutes without moisturizer though, it does get a bit drying.

    Overall, I give it 3.75/5 stars. I think it’s great for those just starting to dip their toes in the skincare game. I think it kept my acne at bay, it didn’t dry me out too much and it worked well with the rest of my skincare routine.

    In a comment, let me know if you’ve tried this before and your experience! If you hated it, which simple face cleanser has been your saviour? I’m always looking for good recommendations.

  • Beginner Bullet Journaling Must-Haves

    Beginner Bullet Journaling Must-Haves

    Bullet journalling can be intimidating. It’s just a pen and paper and everything in it is up to your preference and skillset. But, when I see any set-up online, I instantly think, “yeah, that’s never happening. I’m not even going to bother to try.”

    This year, however, I decided to go for it and keep it as simple as possible. Check out my YouTube video here to see how I did it this year.

    Something else I fall into the trap of is thinking I need a million tools and pieces of stationery to start. And this year, I also see that’s not true. So here is a beginner, essential list of things I think you’ll need to start and complete your bullet journal. Well, you may need these in addition to a Pinterest account because my creativity was not there when I decided to start, and it helped me by guiding me.

    A journal: Notebook Medium (A5), Hardcover, 251 Numbered Pages, Lilac, Dotted – Leuchtturm1917 : Amazon.ca: Office Products OR if you want to keep it really affordable and simple: Dot Grid Notebook Spiral A5 Size Dotted Paper WINSAFE 80 sheets/160 Pages, 8.27inX5.67in (2) : Amazon.ca: Office Products

    Coloured Pens: Colored Gel Pens, Lineon 24 Colors Retractable Gel Ink Pens with Grip, Medium Point(0.7mm) Smooth Writing Pens Perfect for Adults and Kids Journal Notebook Planner, Writing in Office and School : Amazon.ca: Office Products

    Basic Pens: BIC Round Stic Xtra Life Ballpoint Pen, Medium Point (1.0mm), Blue, For Smooth & Comfortable Writing, 12-Count : Amazon.ca: Office Products

    Markers/Paint Pens: Dual Tip Brush Marker Pens, 24 Color Brush and Fine Tip Art Marker for Journal, Coloring Book, Planner : Amazon.ca: Home

    Let me know in a comment if there’s anything else you think you’ll need to start a bullet journal. And drop a smiley face if you’ve seen the YouTube video!

  • 5 Steps to Change Your Life in 2022

    It’s not easy to admit, but it’s okay to wake up one morning and decide that you want to change your life completely.

    Typically, you’re incredibly quiet and reflective. Now, you have a desire to make every room you walk into notice you immediately. Or the reverse could be true: you constantly draw attention to yourself by being loud and the party’s life. Now you want to be a wallflower and observant. Whatever your reasons and wherever you fall on the spectrum of personalities, it’s okay to change yourself.

    Humans are superfluid, multi-faceted and interested in various things (speaking from an incredibly privileged point of view). Some ideas of human nature say the moon and birthdays influence our moods and decisions. The example I’m about to allude to is poor, but you can also see this when you look at the lives of some disciples of Jesus. Some went from being interested in persecuting people, to loving them and abiding by the rules they hated. If we look at it from a worldly point of view, people like Bill Gates probably never thought they would go from a college drop-out to creating one of the biggest and most successful tech companies in human history. We change.

    If you happen to relate to any emotions from this post, a desire to adjust things in your life and (for me) become the woman you’ve always dreamed of, here are a few tips that have helped me manage this thought process as well as slowly bring it to fruition.

    1. Find your reason why. You’ll regret it if it’s to satisfy someone else’s version of you. Humans come and go, but you’ll be stuck with the change forever (or however long hair dye lasts). Good reasons for changing will accomplish personal goals. Poor reasons will sound like, “maybe this will help them like me more or make them see me in a ‘better’ light.”
    2. Create a Pinterest board or mood board. Have a visual representation of what you want to look, act, and live like. Determine who you want to be. You could print it or create a collage as your cellphone background. The goal here is to have a physical sense of your dream. You could have a photo of how you wish to dress. You could create an ideal work schedule. You could even write down affirmations that clearly state what you want. Anything to remind you of what you’re working towards.
    3. Change your mindset surrounding the changes. It’s been well-documented that how you think affects everything you do. There are famous sayings like “thoughts become things” or “train your mind.” Even in the Bible in Mark 9:23, “All things are possible for one who believes.” How you think about your life greatly affects your effort and outcome. I recommend the Bible if you want guidance on this, but I’ve also heard that Atomic Habits, 12 Rules for Life and The Power of Habit are life-changing. I’ve just recently ordered these on Amazon, so I’ll be able to tell you for sure in a future post. But, zeroing in on how you perceive yourself and these changes will make a world of difference.
    4. Make little changes daily. I find that the easiest way to fail is to try to accomplish everything at once. I tend to over-extend myself and give myself too much credit for how much I could achieve in a short time. And while that might be true on a productive day, I don’t have many productive days, if I’m being honest. Many days, I wake up, go to work, come game, cook and go to bed. And that’s okay. The point here is that you should be giving yourself little goals regularly. For example, one of my personal goals is to have natural, healthy hair. I relaxed my hair earlier this year and have regretted it ever since. I miss my curls and my versatility. I miss how my face looked with shorter hair. I miss the texture. So now that I’ve identified what I want, my daily goal regarding hair is to keep her moisturized and protected. At least until she’s grown enough for me to feel comfortable doing a big chop again. To achieve this, I only need to take an extra 5 minutes at night to moisturize and wrap my hair instead of just going to bed with a bonnet. This small change will help me love my hair in its current state and encourage me to keep this habit when I do my big chop.
    5. Give yourself grace. Be gentle when you mess up or fall back into old habits. Please recognize that you’re changing routines and habits for your ideal and that it’s hard. My biggest pet peeve about myself is that I speak negatively when I think I’ve failed at something or know I could be doing better. Coincidentally, words of affirmation are also one of my top love languages. However, I’m learning to be kinder to myself. I have no problem giving others grace and making excuses for poor behaviour. But when it comes to myself? I’m terrible at it. To achieve change, this fits into a mindset where I must tell myself, “it’s okay to miss a day. You needed rest. Just pick back up tomorrow. You are not worthless because of this.”

    And those are my tips for changing your life! Please, leave me a comment if you have any to add. Or let me know what you’ve done in this area.

    Don’t forget to follow me to get more girl talk and tips. And heck out my Youtube channel as well.

  • 5 Tips to Start a new Month

    Hey. Welcome back. Thank you for reading this post!

    At the beginning of each month, I always feel like I need to start fresh. In my mind, it’s the time to spring clean and set new goals and (hopefully) set up a plan to achieve them. However, I always find myself scrambling to do the minimum and before I know it, it’s already the 7th of the month. At that point, I say to myself, “the month is already done, I’m not gonna bother to set up anymore.” And the cycle continues…

    So recently, I decided to just put together a little list of 5 things to do to start a new month. I made it fool-proof for myself and simple. If there’s too much to do, I simply won’t do it.

    Here are a few things I do to get started in a new month!

    1. I create/ research new affirmations for the month. A lot of them I find on Pinterest. A few I create according to my circumstances. If you check out my Instagram (@herlifenotyours), one of my most recent posts was my affirmations for the month of May. I try to include everything from relationships, to finances, to work and I keep any negative wording out of it. For example, instead of saying “I don’t want to spend any money unnecessarily”, I’ll say “I will spend my money wisely.” I kind of slacked in reciting them in the month of June, so I transferred the same ones to July.
    2. I do my basic beauty routine. This includes shaving my face, changing my toothbrush head and adding a new colour to my wardrobe. Shaving my face helps my skincare goes on better and my face smoother for days when I wear makeup. And my wardrobe is all neutrals (see what new neutrals I bought!), so every month, I try to rotate which pop of colour I enjoy the most. I also toss 3 panties and 3 pairs of socks because I recognized that a lot of my undergarments are old and I tend to hold on to them for some strange reason.
    3. I do a deep clean of my room. I dust my mirrors and my bed frame. I snake the drains in my washroom. I wipe down the window frames. If it’s needed, I’ll change my shower curtain. I just try to do the bigger tasks that take me longer to complete and that instantly lift the mood and cleanliness in my room.
    4.  Planning. I absolutely love to bullet journal. The creativity and freedom of expression and being able to customize it every month or week or daily. However, I’ve started to do most of my planning and creating my to-do lists digitally and use my bullet journal for just journalling in the morning. So every month, I decided to dedicate some pages to tracking healthy habits and writing down memories. I find that when I’ve looked back on previous months (and even years) of bullet journaling, I can remember the time and space I was in when I re-read something. I want to ensure that I’m keeping memories of all the good things that are happening. I also, occasioanlly, select a new Bible plan. However, I usually do the daily Bible readings on the YouVersion app.
    5. Finally, I fast. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to talk about fasting. I know it’s an agreement between myself and God for specific purposes. But, I do attempt this every month. For the first 3 days, I try not to listen to any music besides gospel, I try to avoid Youtube (which, if I’m being honest, I failed this month), and generally try to avoid anything that I know distracts me from recognizing God’s mercy in my life. It might vary from month to month. I’ve tried to avoid meat and have even done traditional fasting where I don’t eat until a certain time. The general goal is to reset my focus on what is most important and remove anything I know will distract me from it.

    That’s it! That’s what I (try to) do every month. I usually do this at the end of the month or the first 3 days. Let me know in a comment if there’s anything you do to start a new month. I’m always looking for suggestions!

    Have a beautiful day,

    HL