Collective Summer Haul

Over the last little while I've bought quite a few things (to my bank accounts displeasure), but I thought you might enjoy seeing what I got.

Image from Swatch and Learn Blog

Though I haven't received it yet, I recently ordered a bottle of Nubar Reclaim over amazon. I can't wait to paint my nails in this shade! Holographic green!

Also in the mail hopefully to make its way to me soon (Stupid Canadian Postal Strike!!!!) is a huge order of pigment pressing pans and pressing medium from the Body Needs website. 

I also needed a new bottle of my cleanser from Murad (Clarifying Cleanser- my full review here) as I accidently left my half full bottle at my cottage. So I bought a new one at Sephora and also received a free sample of DDF's Advanced Eye Firming Concentrate which I gave to my mom.

I also bought 2 tubes of Jack Black's Lemon and Chamomile (SPF 25) lip balm- which is amazing! I have one and the other I gave to my grandmother who has a difficult time with her skin. She really likes it too! You can see my full review on this product here!

Also from Jack Black (and for my Dad for father's day) was the Pure Clean Daily Facial Cleanser, a cleanser designed to help with shaving and sensitive clog prone skin- which my dad has. He seems to like it, I keep trying to get more details out of him than that so I can write a review, but that doesn't seem to be happening all that easily. Oh well it's natural and he likes it so that is good at least!

I also bought an empty Mac palette to hold pressed eyeshadows and received my 500 point Sephora gift which was the best I've ever received a Too Faced 8 eyeshadow palette and mini Too Faced Shadow Insurance. It has a magnetic closure and has super pigmented shadows inside! I'm so pleased with it that I got excited and did swatches for you all. (Plus I've got a shot of the inside of the Mac palette for anyone interested).

Two shadows from each of the palettes from Too Faced

Two shadows from the Natural Eye kit- Heaven and Push-Up

Two Shadows from the Smoky Eye Kit- Silver Spoon and Smolder

Two shadows from the Naked Eye kit- Satin Sheets and Like a Virgin

Two shadows from the Romantic Eye kit- Honeymoon and Ever After

First Column T-B: Honeymoon, Satin Sheets, Silver Spoon, Heaven (looks invisible but is actually there just skin coloured)
Second Column T-B: Ever After, Like a Virgin, Smolder, Push-Up

Same order as above

I also got a Fruits and Passion Argan Body Butter as it was on sale for $10 CND. Their hand cream with Argan oil is really good so I'm hoping for results from this too! (Argan Hand cream review is scheduled to show up soonish).

The last time we were at the cottage it was raining as we were trying to get home and my poor little dog got quite wet and cold. Despite trying to keep him warm and drying him off as soon as possible he was shivering for about half an hour and so we ordered him this rain coat. It has a warm fleece lining that wicks water away from his skin and a nylon water repellent outside. It velcros on and even has a little collar to keep his neck warm. On top of that it's really well made and has a reflective strip that reflects light so we can see him better at night. I purchased it online at Gear 4 Dogs, a great easy to order from West Coast Canadian company. They have lots of colours and sizes available too!

I also bought some clothes though only the new shirt is pictured here. I love the colour of this shirt and the ruffles are really pretty on. I also recently bought a black sundress with little red and white flowers on it and a brown flowy tank-top but my photos have gone missing for these items and due to major packing we've been doing the clothing has disappeared so I can't conveniently take another photo for you. Sorry!

Last but not least I bought two little figurines. They're both hand-made in Uruguay and I just adore them! A chubby little Zebra and a sweet little Elephant! They'll fit perfectly with all the stuff I brought back with me from Tanzania when I went last year.

Phew! Sorry this post was so long, but I hoped you enjoyed it. Have any of you hauled lately?

Skunk Smell

I don't know about anyone else, but to me an attractive trait is to smell nice, or at the very least not smell bad. The other night, my little dog Peppermint, fondly nicknamed Pepi, decided he would play with the visiting skunk at 4:00 in the morning and so promptly pestered my mom into letting him outside. I'm sure you understand the wonderful connotations of this as he returned quickly with a large yellow patch and squinty eyes. So, in case you love animals and also want to smell good even if they decide to become Pepe Le Pew, here's the best formula I've come across to getting rid of the stink.

From Google Images

For the Dog you'll need (all available at any drug store)
- 1 quart Hydrogen Peroxide 3%
- 1/4 cup baking soda
- Liquid Dish Soap (the gentler the better)
- Rubber or Latex Gloves
- An Open air tub

Directions:
1. Mix all the ingredients together in the open air tub, it will fizz this is the desired effect because the bubbles are oxygen being released to powerfully remove the smell molecules.
2. Immediately place dog in the tub and soak/massage the mixture into their coat for at least 5 minutes. Keep out of their eyes, nose, mouth, and ears or it will cause them pain. For the head you can carefully apply or multiple websites online suggest gentle douche solution as an alternative. (I've not used this, so I can't vouch for the effectiveness).
3. Wash them off with clean water (like with a spray hose as I did). And Presto clean little white dog again :D.

NOTE: Do NOT mix the solution together in a closed container, the release of oxygen will cause it to explode (not like fire explode, but like shaken pop can explode)! Also, it won't work if you store it, the solution will either explode from the storage container, or not work at all- it's the fizzyness that makes it work!

Room/Deck:
My recommendation is to hose down as much as you can with water and soap, however the new Febreeze works fairly well for furniture or rugs (though I do suggest airing them outside if you can). Any remaining smell can be captured with the remaining baking soda set out in open dishes around, mixed up every once in a while. The larger the dish and the more spread out the baking soda the more effective it will be (It's a Surface Area thing, I won't bore you with the details).

So, even though this isn't really a cosmetic post for you, it can be for your dog. (Unless of course you decided to go out and visit Mr. Black & White I suppose, lol.) Useful? Not useful? Comments are always welcome!

Peppermint, up close and adorable!