The Body Shop's Sweet Lemon Shower Gel Review

This shower gel is absolutely amazing! I can't rave about it enough! The Body Shop makes some amazing products and their shower gels are definitely one of the top things I recommend from the store! The Sweet Lemon shower gel smells so deliciously yummy and cleans very well, it also lasts a long time and the price is fair for the amount you get! I believe I spent 10 CAD on a 750ml bottle when The Body Shop was having their mother of all sales event (it happens after Christmas every year). It's been 8 or 9 months since I began using it and it's still very full! I don' use it everyday but pretty regularly anyway.

To get the best effect from the shower gel, you should probably pump it once or twice into a pouf and scrub yourself with it. The pouf helps the shower gel foam much much more than if you just pumped it into your hand and lathered the gel by itself. The pump dispenses only a little product at a time but let me tell you a little goes a long way when you use a loofah! The scent isn't too strong but is very citrus but at the same time sweet like a piece of lemon candy! It wakes you up in the morning and also refreshes the body for the day ahead!

Something you can feel good about after using it is that the honey in the the shower gel is community fair trade honey meaning the Ethiopian beekeepers that sell the honey to The Body Shop get paid a fair amount for the honey they produce so that they have sufficient funds to keep doing sustainable bee keeping. Many areas in the world use sweat shops to produce products for cheap labor. It makes me cringe to think my sweater was made by an 8 year old boy in China that gets paid 50 cents for a 12 hour day. I can feel less guilty about loving this shower gel because of that!

Just a short little review for you guys for now...I'm blogging to break from studying for midterms!

Thanks for reading and ciao for now~! <3

Jason Mraz Concert! Tour is a Four Letter Word!

My favorite singer of all time came to my city and performed on his Tour is a Four Letter Word World Tour! Who could it be? None other than Jason Mraz!!!! I'd never been to a concert before that and thus, this amazing man has taken away my concert virginity! Hell yeah and no one better to to it than him! 

I was so excited to see Mr.A-Z! I bought the tickets in April or some time around that and I had been telling everybody since April that I was going to see him. My family started to get fed up with me always reminding them about it but HEY! I WAS SO EXCITED! A couple hours before the concert I was bouncing up and down everywhere! I couldn't stop smiling and I do believe my face is frozen in a smile even now! My awesome friend Jimmie came along with me. He had wanted to see Jason when he was still in Busan, Korea but luckily he didn't so we got to see the concert in Vancouver together!

I had brought my camera planning to take a million bajillion pictures but I had forgotten the SD card for the camera at home! NOOOO!!!!! I was lucky again though because Jimmie brought two cameras so I was able to be snap happy all throughout the show! I painted my face and legs with the LOVE shapes from Mraz's newest album, Love is a Four Letter Word.

Yes that's a poo on my shirt...it's supposed to be a joke! Since Mraz loves to scat, scat is another word for poo...you see where I'm going with this...

Jimmie and I had dinner before getting into the concert hall, sushi and sashimi on rice! It was just some stuff we bought from the local asian supermarket but it was delicious none the less (I guess I thought i t was extra yummy since I was hungry!) I stuffed my face lightning fast because I really wanted to get into the stadium! I didn't really need to though since there was a little over half an hour before the show would start anyway. We got it and surprise surprise! My friends Joao and Jackie were there too to see the show! Joao kept asking me to come to the floor seats with him but obviously I couldn't do that or I'd get kicked out! Jimmie and I had bought tickets for seats in the middle of the arena.

Christina Perri opened for Jason Mraz...I had never really cared for her music (well the one I song I knew from her: Jar of Hearts) but after seeing her live I must say I'm a changed woman! I'm definitely going to check out her other songs, she's very pretty too! Jason didn't even get on the stage until 8:30ish but WOW he was amazing! I knew almost every song! There were only two I didn't recognize but I sang along with them anyway!

Serious eargasm man...what I would give to see another of his concerts <3 <3 <3

The one song I REALLY wanted to hear him sing live was Geek in the Pink (my blog is aptly named after that song!) He wasn't able to but that's alright, I was spellbound anyway...it was marvelous...just breath taking! His band was amazing too! They all seemed to have so much fun together when performing, what I would give to live my life singing my heart out for other people! Even if the audience is small!

I was sad it had to end so quickly...it was actually a pretty length concert but I just love Jason Mraz so much and it was a bittersweet goodbye. I bought a poster and a t-shirt (the one in the middle is the one i got) to remember it by...I swear I'll never wash that shirt O_O...I'll wear it everyday and never ever take it off...even to shower...

...just kidding!

The poster is on my wall now and when I get grumpy from studying now I just look up at it and smile, remembering that amazing concert I went to.

 

I'm even more in love with Jason Mraz than before and I really doubt anyone will ever trump him at first place in my favorite artists of all time list! Jason will always be my hero and I'll never lose that fan girl in me because of him~

Thanks for reading and ciao for now~! 

The Body Shop's Tea Tree Skin Clearing Facial Wash Review

I have very oily skin. I mean I'm stilling getting pimples now and I had hoped to be rid of them by the time I grew out of puberty!...*sigh*....but that's not the case...The natural oiliness of my skin tends to give me spots and I have had enough! The solution: Tea Tree Facial Wash from the Body Shop to save me from my blemish ridden face! 

With organic community trade tea tree oil, this face wash feels cooling and tingly on the skin. It doesn't lather much so when I use it I squeeze a small amount onto a cleansing cloth to get it foaming a bit more. Apparently less foam is good because foam and bubbles in soap usually come from something called sodium laureth sulfate which can be carcinogenic for humans! Don't worry I'm pretty sure this face wash will not give you cancer since it doesn't have very much of it at all. It smells a little like mint candy and is quite a good wake up call in the morning when you use it to wash your face, ahhh stimulating!

As for my pimples, it hasn't done wonders for it, I still get them on my chin but that could be from hormonal issues. It is very clarifying though and leaves your face feeling squeaky clean after a good scrub! It's not going to break the bank either at 11 CAD. I got it a bit cheaper even because of a friend working at The Body Shop kekeke~

Overall I do recommend this product, it makes my face feel clean at the end of the day and wakes me up in the morning too! The price for it is fair and it does its job relatively well. If you're trying to fight oily skin this will help but if you need a zit zapping product it doesn't work as well as I had hoped.

Thanks for reading and ciao for now~!

Life Update: What I've Been Up To

My blogs are being published less and less frequently these days because of gosh darn school! Look at all the scary books I have to read for my classes! I'm in my fourth semester at university and I've also decided to change my major! I'm doing biology right now and I really do love the natural world and all the organisms that inhabit it. Learning about them is invigorating! Sciences can be scary but I have to admit, beyond all the homework and calculations I have to do, it's pretty darn fun and extremely interesting! I don't think my eyes have ever been more tired than now but there's still 12 weeks of the semester left! Hopefully my sanity can survive that long and my eyes don't fall out!  

So school's all fine and dandy but quite a few events have popped up since my last life update, I've been commissioned for art and a logo! As some of you might know, I am a member of deviantART and I post some stuff I draw or paint up regularly...a girl commissioned me to draw this little angel for her! She still has to pay me for it but she seemed to really like it so that makes me happy too. I've also been hired to design a logo for the SVABC (Specialty Vehicles Association of British Columbia) but there's still a lot of work to do! Once the tweaking and polishing is all done I'll write a blog documenting the process of logo design! Here's how far I am along right now, perhaps the "v" should be more centered in the speed dial image...*brainstorming*

Speaking of art, I've also been working on this piece of art for the past few days (when I'm positively sick of doing chemistry problems!)

Yes she is nude...but her private bits are covered! To be honest I sketched out this girl when I was in high school art class but I finished the line art and started to color it just this last week. At least I'm finishing what I started right?

Progress so far...pretty good! The hair, water and grass could use a little more dimension, so I'm going to work with different tones of color and when it's finished, I'll post it on deviantART along with the art that's already up there (Here's my deviantART account if you'\re curious: http://melody-in-the-air.deviantart.com/)

Anyway I have an online chemistry assignment due tonight that's insanely hard to do! Good thing I've enlisted a friend to help me with the work, hopefully things don't go awry and I can finish that beast of homework before the deadline! Then after...I don't care I'm treating myself to an Indian buffet, my waistline can just shush! 

Some goals for the next week or so...I MUST VACUUM...my room looks like a bomb hit it and then a tornado came by too! Must clean clean clean! I also want to be caught up with all my schoolwork, there's so much stuff to do I fear that soon I'll fall behind! Wish me luck!

I'm not happy about all the work but it'll be worth it in the end, I'll try my hardest! Back to work!

Thanks for reading and ciao for now!

Ten Reasons Why I Love to Clean!

Many people treat cleaning as a chore. It's a time consuming task that never seems to be finished because a week after you clean, entropy takes over and things get dusty or disorganized again. I can definitely see why many people would dislike it but there are so many good things that can come from a good sanitizing of the home! Here are ten reasons why:

1) You discover things you have forgotten about long ago
Often times when I am cleaning I happen upon old paraphernalia that has escaped my mind. Memories are evoked when I see that Christmas card from years ago, flipping through school work projects I had kept because I was proud of them, little nick knacks from past vacations, pictures of younger days and more. It creates a warm feeling of nostalgia and it makes me happy to relive those memories.

2) It's a good break from studying!
If you are or have ever been a student, you've probably decided to tidy your room in the middle of a study session! It's a great way to be productive even if you're procrastinating on the academic side of things. It makes me feel a little less guilty about starting a paper last minute because I did put my time to good use in some way.

3) A clear room reflects a clear mind
When I try to do anything in my room, be it studying, reading, gaming, drawing or something else, if the place is a mess, I find it terribly hard to concentrate! In the middle of reading I may notice out of the corner of my eye the pile of clothes on the floor or the mountain of paper and books on my desk. This takes my concentration away from the task at hand and makes it extremely hard to focus! A messy room makes me feel like I can't think clearly. Writing an essay in a disorganized space makes me feel a little claustrophobic and my mind is a whirl of thoughts like: "urghhh I can't concentrate in such a messy place!", I am clearly not thinking of my essay! Once the space is clean, I have a sharp mind that can focus on anything that I need to!

4) You get a good work out!
Believe it or not, vacuuming, wiping floors, and lifting heavy objects in the process of cleaning can make you break out in a sweat! At the end of a cleaning session I am sometimes panting and sweating because I had to work vigorously to unclutter the place! Hitting the gym can cost money, why not kill two birds with one stone and get your exercise while you make your living space spotless at the same time.

4) Learning to be selective, becoming a better decision maker
This sounds weird right? But it's not as weird as you may think! In many first-world countries people have more than we need. We tend to accumulate things that clutter up homes. When faced with the decision of what to throw out or give away, it can be tough to part with something we've had for many years but never use. I personally found it difficult to give away my old baby clothes just because I've had them for so long and it made me think about my childhood. In the end I did give them away to the needy and it didn't hurt to donate them as much as I thought it would. Learning to keep what you need and discard what you don't is an important skill that also applies to many other areas in your life.

5) Being able to help the less fortunate
I swear I'm not making this one up! After a good cleaning session (this relates to point 4) you may find things that you have no use for anymore...but other people may need that item! Many of the things I no longer need I donate to charities because after all, one man's trash is another's treasure! It makes you feel warm and fuzzy knowing that what you have will help someone else.

6) It's calming for the mind and soul, you can be creative!
Cleaning is not a mindless task but it's not a brain busting exercise like studying. I treat it like a ritual where you do not need to concentrate on any one thing and you can let your mind wander as you clean. Who knows, you may suddenly think up an amazing poem while dusting the mantle of your fireplace and win a literary prize! Even if that doesn't happen cleaning is a great stress reliever, a calm mind is always nice to have.

7) You save money when cleaning!
Oh no! Looks like we don't have anymore lined paper and need to buy some more! A week after you buy some you decide to clean the house and bam! There's a whole stack of lined paper tucked into the nook of your closet! When we find that we've run out of something it's good to give the house a good clean, you may think you need to buy more of something but it could turn out you have a lot of that item hidden somewhere! It could also happen that you find other purposes for old items you thought were useless and in such a way, we save a lot of money. There's no need to buy news things when we already have them or have discovered new uses for them!

8) Sudden visitors don't embarrass you anymore
You're in your room that hasn't been vacuumed in months, there are giant dust bunnies watching you from under your unmade bed and suddenly, you hear the doorbell ring and it's that insanely cute guy you've kinda been getting to know better! You let him in and he sees your room...and yikes! His face turns grey and he makes a face at the smelly half eaten pizza from two nights ago. Now that situation is one none of us want to be in I'm sure so that's why it's so great to have a clean room! Even if it's not the man of your dreams, if it's just the delivery man or your best friend, be kind and greet them with a clean home that's welcoming to both you and them.

9) It's good for your health!
You will be getting a work out from cleaning but it's also very good for you to live in a dust free, mold free and germ free environment. Those nasties could get you sick, if you spend a little time each day making sure that the table tops are wiped after each meal and wipe the condensation off the windows when it forms, you can prevent mold and germs from building up on those surfaces. They are potential illnesses waiting to attack! Living in a hygienic and clean environment means less sick days!

10) You have a clean living space now and won't trip over things anymore!
Apart from removing the fire hazard in your home, apart from getting rid of that huge duffle bag in the doorway that you always trip over at night you now have a clean living space you can dance and jump around in without knocking anything over! You've accomplished something and you've beat entropy in the battle for a clean home! It feels good to accomplish something, it feels even better to have a clear path to your bed, the home is no longer a field of toe-stubbing landmines! Enjoy the feeling of that accomplishment! Perhaps you'll be able to keep the second law of thermodynamics from messing up your room again by keeping organized every day~

Thanks for reading and ciao for now~!

A Review: Harajuku Lovers Perfume in Love

I'm not much of a perfume wearer but I do have a couple of them that were gifts from friends and family. This particular perfume, Love from Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Girls Perfume collection, is probably the one I wear the most out of the handful I have.

Something I love about these little babies is that the bottles are so darn cute! There are only 5 different fragrances in the collection but each of the girl toppers on the bottle look different, have different outfits and different hair styles too! I have this girl with bathing suit attire, sunglasses and adorable bun-like hair but other bottles of Love may have girls with long hair, short hair, winter clothes, lolita clothes, different shoes, different colors etc etc! It's incredibly adorable and the scent of Love is very sweet. To me it smells fruity with a hint of floral goodness. The official description of the scent is: 

"It opens with notes of bergamot, pink pomelo, peach, and bamboo leaf. The heart reveals water peony, silky notes of rose, jasmine sambac, nectarine blossom, white narcissus, and Egyptian jasmine, while the base follows with ylang-ylang petals, creamy vanilla orchid, sensual musk and light woods accords"

A very elaborate description for a tiny little perfume like this! The lasting power of the perfume is pretty good, it'll stay on the skin for maybe a couple hours and eventually become just a light aroma of sweetness wherever sprayed. I do not like however, the size of the perfume! It's tiny! Even though I have a mini size (10ml) the full size ones are also quite sparing. The majority of the bottle is just the girl shaped topper. It's not too expensive a perfume, mine was 20 CAD or so but there are other cheaper and more generous options out there. 

In summary I would recommend this perfume, it's girly, sweet and a great scent to wear in the Spring or Summer seasons! The little bottle is also a great decorating piece, I'm going to find it hard to recycle it when it's finished!

Thanks for reading and ciao for now~! <3

Shop till You Drop!

Today is Labor Day and it also happens to be the last day of freedom I have before I have to get back to school! I'm thinking of changing majors to biology or even go into nursing so I have to take a butt-load of  science and math courses next semester. It's going to fry my brain and push me to the limit but it must be done! As one of the nice nurses at my grandmother's care home likes to say: " Everything that's worth while requires effort".

I had breakfast with my family at a Chinese restaurant this morning and grandma came along too! We're always worried that the solid foods they serve there may upset her stomach but thankfully she didn't feel sick after and the food was quite delicious, a welcome change to the food they serve at the care home. The planning for the day's events were a bit messy though, we had to have breakfast, go drop off my granny back at the care home and meet my friend all before 11:30am and we definitely could not do it! When I brought it up to my dad he seemed angry, I think he thought I was blaming him but that is not the case! In any case, he still seems mad and it's 5 in the afternoon now...maybe he'll cool off soon. 

I met up with my buddy Hanna an hour later than originally planned (I told her I'd be late, not to fret!) and we took transit to Value Village. There are so many cool things there! It's a thrift shop that carries everything from board games to Halloween costumes, from used clothes to old VHS movies. We weren't really looking for anything in particular, perhaps to do some early costume shopping for Halloween but I was unable to find anything. I did find a hat shaped like a turkey and as tempting as it was, I did not purchase it.

The two things I did get were a gingham print top and the first book in the Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan. 

The top was a real bargain! 4.99 CAD for this cutie pie! It's a little tight around the top but I'm treating that as incentive to lose weight. Must go to the gym more often...must!

Hanna is a huge fan of this series and so I thought I'd get it to see what the fuss was about! I'm pretty excited to read it! My schooling may interfere with reading novels often but it's nice to read a bit before bed.

Hanna got a green tunic dress that could be used for a Link costume (he's the hero in the Legend of Zelda series); there were also fairy wings on sale there, perhaps I could have bought them and dressed up as his fairy, Navi!

We were quite hungry afterwards and walked to the mall to grab lunch. Mmmm New York Fries poutine! I think I've only had poutine once before and today's was delicious! Maybe I ordered a size too big though, I felt like a human watermelon afterwards!

We went to Sephora to take advantage of more cheap TokiDoki makeup products. Hanna got a black mascara and a perfume while I caved in and bought one more Roulette Lip gloss Trio.

The colors included are Bruttino, Lion Pappa, and Adieu. I tried the Prisma glosses they sell and they're pigmentation is nearly undetectable but the roulette trios are different. I have a roulette with the color Mozzarella and the pigmentation is phenomenal! Finally! A red lip I can wear with pink hair and not look like a clown! I'm looking forward to wearing colors from this new roulette too, the shades are quite dark and I hope the pigmentation matches the level of Mozzarella's!

I also purchased a dry shampoo because I only plan to bleach and dye my hair once more before I go back to black. Perhaps after that I'll stick with dip dye to save my scalp the torture of bleaching or just let my natural hair grow out again. Until then I want to preserve the pink for as long as possible! That means not washing my hair everyday and being careful with heating tools like straighteners. 

I got theTresemme volumizing dry shampoo for fine/ oily hair. Hopefully it works! It wasn't too pricey, about 6 CAD a can! Going to use it tonight and I may review on my blog too.

We went to a couple more stores and when we were all shopped out (because we were hurting inside from overspending) we went home. Super fun day! My wallet is aching from its losses but I am happy with the lovely things I got~! I'm a tad more relaxed for school now as well. Hopefully I'll have enough time to update my blog every once in a while with impending exams and studying on the horizon!

Thanks for reading and ciao for now~! <3

Becoming an Orientation Leader!

Hello all! If you guys did not know, I am one of Simon Fraser University's Orientation Leaders (OL) this year and orientation of 2012 was just downright awesome! It was a long winded process starting from applying and getting interviewed to be an OL and then going to multiple training sessions to get ready for the big event. It's so strange to think that through such a long process that it's finally over and I'm actually kind of sad that it is...oh but not to fret! There will be more clan meetings for the Jedi Ninjas! (as our clan likes to call themselves!)

Unfortunately because I don't have everyone's permission to post pictures of fellow orientation goers, there won't be any photos from the two days here but I'll try to liven things up with my somewhat-okay writing skills. There also seem to be a lot of copyright laws surrounding my school's logos as well so let's make do with what we can!

Some of the most memorable moments during these two days includes the Drum Cafe! They're a group that performs on different kinds of drums and percussion instruments at different events and locations. They're incredibly entertaining and the master drummer in the group is hilarious! The best part about it is that we get to drum along with the group! Everyone in the audience is given a drum (I believe it is a djembe?) and taught how to play. We went through the base and tall notes on the drum then incorporated clapping, finger snapping as well as shouting to the music. My hands felt incredibly smooth afterwards but they were sore. When I was a new student at orientation Drum Cafe was one of my favorite events! I enjoyed it a lot this year as well in the position of OL. I'm sure our clan had fun and that this will be a part of their good memories for a long time to come.

Another awesome part of orientation was the Mother of All Icebreakers! Every clan (all 30 of them...that's about 400 people!) is taken down to the main foyer of the campus and we play icebreakers like conga rock paper scissors, the human machine, silent sorting (into birthday months), and dance across the line! When I was a new student at orientation I never expected to be playing so many games! I loved it though (once I came out of my shell of shyness) and I truly do believe that through these little games people are able to connect and form long lasting friendships.

Through it all tours were given, pizza was eaten, laughs were shared and university lost a bit of its scariness and started to look brighter for many new students. Seeing that shy and confused face turn into happy and enthusiastic one really made the effort of being an OL worth it. For the new students at SFU, I wish only for the best and hope that they will learn to love the school as much as I do in this new chapter of their lives.

Thanks for reading as always and ciao for now~!