Random Beautiful Thoughts

Music: This time of year makes me a bit melancholy. I need sunshine and daylight and the deep winter doesn't cut it. It is just too cold and there isn't enough light. I can wallow away with Goldfrapp for hours while I drive with my sunroof open to get every bit of UV light I can find. Wonderfully weird.

Book: My daughter Emilie is very good at finding wonderful books. She plucked The Girl With Glass Feet by Ali Shaw out of nowhere and while we were on holiday she rhapsodized over every word. So after her sister read it I grabbed it. I could not put it down, found the writing so beautiful and poetic, and there was a part ( I won't say when) that made me weep copiously. In my Top 10 favourite books of all time for sure. He has another book that we can't wait to get our hot little hands on. The New York Times Book Review says "Fantastically imagined....only a heart of glass would be unmoved". Wonderful.

Food: It's winter so bring on the comfort food. Homemade chicken soup with noodles and of course, bread. And more bread. Crusty delicious bread + soft creamy cheeses and a hot bowl of soup = happiness. Plus, for Christmas presents, Emilie mixed fresh local honey with walnuts, thyme, olive oil and ancho chiles which is pretty much the yummiest thing EVER to meet cheese and bread. 

Mmm...Art Is In Bread from OttawaFoodies.com

I read this to both of my girls....& my dad read it to me!

Emilie's Special Walnut-Thyme-Ancho Chile Honey YUM

Fashion: Here is where I may lose a few of you...Uggs. Haters- to the left please. Let me be clear- I don't wear them outside my house. But when the weather drops below -20 C and the wind and snow are gusting, there is nothing that keeps me cozier. No socks required, feet stay dry and perfectly cozy. Before I had my foot surgery they were one of the only things that didn't bug my foot, now I just love them for their coziness. I put them on upon crawling out of bed in the morning to make my coffee, and when I come home at the end of the day I kick off the winter boots & snuggle into their wooly cozy goodness. Cooking dinner, curled up with my daughters watching movies in leggings, Uggs, a long cashmere sweater and maybe a pashmina too- it is all about The Cozy.

Aritza Eliza Duster Cashmere Cardigan...so cozy

Skincare: L'Occitane Shea Butter EVERYTHING. My daughters gave me a box filled to the brim with all my fave L'Occitane Shea Butter prodz for Christmas. Read my post aka love letter to shea butter on The Kit....

Make Up: Dermaglow Tinted Moisturizer. I wrote about it here, and truly can't imagine being without it now. It is summer glow and even complexion in a tube. The stuff of miracles.

Perfume: Well it's always hard for me to pin down just one perfume...lately I have really been enjoying my bottle of vintage Chanel No22 eau de toilette (thanks Dane!!!). It is a powdery soapy incense bomb but applied sparingly it is feminine and stunning. There is nothing like. My mother wore this in the 70s, and I wore it when my girls were little, so I do have lovely scent memories attached which makes it all the more enjoyable. I feel just like Catherine Deneuve looks in the ad- rawr! Look out. Its so gorgeous I've taken to adding a spritz to my sheets after I spray my wrists. At bedtime there is just a whisper left as I snuggle in, but it's wonderful and comforting, as perfume should be.

A Healthy Glow with Dermaglow Tinted Moisturizer

I hate foundation- don't wear it, never have. I like tinted moisturizers- in theory- but find most too heavy and foundation-like for my tastes. Evening out skintone is different than coating skin in a layer of spackle. I have oily skin, so avoid silicones and any oil based products, and I've been let down by oil-free products. Laura Mercier Oil Free Tinted Moisturizer was as thick and oily as anything I'd ever tried. So I stuck to my favourite, if not obscenely priced Dermalogica Sheer Moisture Tint with SPF15. Mattefying and thin, it lasts all day on my skin and does not irritate. Or, I use my HG primers, Shu Uemura Under Base Mousse, or Exuberance Silicone Free Primer. 

I recently decided to try Dermaglow Tinted Moisturizer on the basis of my utter love for their skincare and was not disappointed- it is now in my arsenal of amazing skin secrets and even when I'm sick as a dog with a winter cold, I can fake a healthy glow without looking made up or oily. It was hard to photograph a true colour, but you will note it goes from pink toned to yellow, leading me to think it could work on many skin tones. Trust me when I say it actually disappears into the skin when fully blended but I thought a shot of fully blended aka invisible product wouldn't be helpful.

Applied then slightly blended....

...the blending progression... a little more blending would render it invisible.

Dermaglow Tinted Moisturizer is one of those cool self-adjusting formulas in that it comes out of the tube white then transforms when applied to the skin. It seems a little dark but I find applying very little and spreading it evenly gives my skin an even glowing appearance that looks like it comes from within, not from make up. It lasts, and even though it is moisturizing and anti-aging, manages to stay satiny and almost matte. It is chock full of anti aging peptides to smooth lines and hyarulonic acid to replenish and attract moisture which helps gently plump the skin. I dust a bit of my MAC Blot powder on top and use a concealer on any trouble spots and my face it done for hours. I have tested it driving in a convertible in Florida sun and heat, and while walking around in Canada's brutal cold and it holds up well in either climate. 

This.

Not this.

I am so happy to have discovered Dermaglow. Stay tuned for my review of Dermaglow Lip Plumper- my new fave that may indeed have pushed my beloved Lip Fusion out of the line up....my love affair with Dermaglow continues...I buy my Dermaglow at Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada but here is a link to their Where To Buy page.