Rediscovering My Love: Old Tunes

Hey guys! So here's just a quick post to yet again fill the blogging void that's been going on here. Again, apologies for being so MIA. 

Anyway, I was going through my drawers a few days ago in an attempt to clean my room up a bit and what did I find? My old iPod Nano (6th generation, I believe) that housed all my songs from like, 6 or so years ago. Yep, that long ago. Curiousity got the best of me, and well, I ended up listening to it all night and got almost nothing done. 

If you're confused as to why I have been cherishing this iPod so much, well, the laptop that this iPod was connected to crashed and I basically lost all the music files. So all that's left is this iPod, and I couldn't be bothered to download them all over again. And besides, Limewire ceased to exist by that time (hah! Remember the good ol' Limewire days?) so there really was no point. That really bummd me out. No lie. Since then I've learned my lesson of backing up all my files onto an external hard drive and refusing to give up my little baby. 

There's nothing better than taking a little trip down memory lane by listening to the tunes I loved from my pre-teen days up until I turned 14 (I think that was when the whole laptop crashing fiasco happened). Oh, I can totally remember rocking out and singing at the top of my lungs in my room, pretending I was a famous singer. My gosh. And to think I still do that now, just you know, a little quieter since I've got roommates and all that. 

I just wanted to share a few of the songs I've been listening to that I seriously do not have on my current iPod (well, iPhone really, but what the heck). I'll be honest, some tunes I did end up re-downloading. So think of this as a little nostalgic, sentimental playlist of mine from my 14-year-old self, if you will:

- When You Look Me In the Eyes by The Jonas Brothers (oh my, I swear, this is still one of my favourite love songs of all time. True blue JoBros fan right here, and always will be)

- Apologize by OneRepublic ft. Timbaland

- Memory by Sugarcult

- With Me by Sum 41

- Rainy Day by Janel Parrish (before she became crazy Mona from Pretty Little Liars, haha!)

- Put Your Records On by Corinne Bailey Rae

fun fact - this apparently is my top, most played song on this iPod!

- When It Rains by Paramore

- Shake It by Metro Station
- Happy Birthday by The Click Five (admittedly I listened to this on my birthday a few days ago!)
- Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne
- You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift (naturally, the anthem of every single girl out there when this came out!!)
- Feels Like Tonight by Chris Daughtry
- Gotta Be Somebody by Nickelback

- The whole Camp Rock Soundtrack (the first movie of course, where we first met Demi Lovato. My gosh, I loved this movie back then, and now I need to watch it again!)

- Get Back by Demi Lovato (let's be honest, anything from her first album Don't Forget is awesome)

- Why Not, Metamorphosis and So Yesterday by Hilary Duff 

- Rainbow by South Border (perhaps, in my opinion, the best Filipino band there ever was. Uber bummed they disbanded though, they were pretty kickass)

- anything by The Beatles (no joke, they are amazing!)

And my two, hands down, favourites right now: 

Let Me Fall by Alexz Johnson and...

 Pick Up the Pieces, also by Alexz Johnson!

Haha! Do you recognize any of these songs - well, I'm sure you've heard most of them. What are your favourite tunes from the last 10 years or so?

Happy discovering!

Ottawa Uni Life: The Uni Life Update #3

Greetings!!! Oh my, I seriously cannot believe it is already February. And that summer is so close!!! Haha, I swear, all this snow and freeeeezzzinnngg cold is getting to me, and I don't know how I can survive four or so more supposed weeks of winter. GIVE ME THE HEAT!!!

Anywho, sincere apologies for being MIA here on the blog, but the last three weeks have seriously been a pain for me. My journalism has been giving my butt a good kicking these days. Deadlines, midterms and my apprenticeship had me swamped, and honest to God, I don't know how I managed to meet every single one of my deadlines without having a nervous break down. But thank the heavens that it is now reading week and I can breathe. A little that is. I still have so much to catch up on - especially with this blog!

Check it out! If you don't remember from my last uni life update, I mentioned how this semester has me trying my hand out at radio journalism! And man, it's thrown me in a bit of a loop. Going from TV reporting to radio has me definitely missing being behind the camera. But that's not to say I don't get to have fun. It's pretty cool being able to record all sorts of sound, especially if you're doing phone interviews in the booths. That's probably my favourite part. Editing is still a pain, but hey, that's what you got to do to have great sound qualities no? So much respect for those who do this for a living.

If I'll be going down this route in the future, we'll have to see...

And because I have been venturing out around Ottawa chasing down stories for my radio class, you can definitely expect to see a few posts here on all the places I've gone to! Be sure to check back here if you're interested!

This month also had me going on my week long apprenticeship (or internship, whatever you want to call it) over at MUSE Magazine, the Canadian Museum Association's bi-monthly publication. For any student looking to go to Carleton for journalism, well, heads up - you need to do at least a week's worth of interning to graduate. Yep. Not sure if they've told you that already, but you do.

Damn, that was quite the experience - and in a good way. It totally threw me off how slower the pace was there since I didn't need to have story after story ready to go with a deadline in three hours. No joke. I could take my time in researching and finding the motivation to write a pretty cool piece on the arts and culture field. That was pretty neat. I could write at my own pace and not stress out massively (though let's be real, I had so many things going on at the same time school-wise with midterms coming up that I was indeed, stressing out internally).

 Now, probably the biggest highlight of February for me? MY BIRTHDAY!!! Woop woop! Yes, I am another year older, but not necessarily wiser. Granted, I was pretty bummed I had to celebrate yet again another birthday without my family, but nonetheless, it was pretty great. After all, I did get pretty excited when I saw my birthday mail - as in, physical mail and not messages over Facebook or email. Gosh, birthdays are the best! I'm still quite in denial about being a year older, but hey, it's all good.

Just as an aside, if you're part of the Sephora Beauty Insider program - how awesome is their birthday set this year?!?! Two minis of their lip crayons??? THE BEST!

 I totally needed to put this in - my birthday ice cream courtesy of my dear roommate. She had actually placed a whole bunch of orange post-its on my door the morning of my birthday that had me literally laughing out loud. I have such sweet and thoughtful friends haha!

And oh yes, Valentine's day. Yeah well, when you're single and not even the least bit interested given the crazy schedule you've got, it was just a normal Saturday for me. So while couples were enjoying their dates and all that jazz, I stayed home with my chocolates and a Mean Girls-Clueless back to back feature. Where are my fellow single ladies? HAHA! I'm in no way complaining too by the way. I love the single life <3

How've you been for the last two months?

Arianna x

TLP Beauty: MUFE 50 Shades of Grey Sets

Alright, so with all the hype that 50 Shades of Grey is getting (I mean, it's coming out tomorrow, or today or whatever depending on where you are), I thought it'd be apt I write a post about it - makeup wise that is. 

Now just before I go in to this, I have to admit, I have never read any of the books. Truth be told, I own the first book, but only got to reading the first 50 pages or so before I gave up and moved on to something else. I definitely remember all the raves (and well, disses) people were giving the trilogy all over social media and well, it's a classic case of you either love it or hate it. I for one, am totally neutral. Not a fangirl, but not a hater either. To each their own, people. 

But, I totally caved once I found out there was going to be a makeup line coming out just before the movie was due to be released. Make Up For Ever released four exclusive limited edition movie tie-in sets in December, and man, they are pretty awesome. And really great deals too! Apparently the movie's makeup artist used a whole bunch of MUFE products to create Ana's looks for the movies, and that's what these sets are inspired by. I was only really interested in three of the sets, so check them out:

Tease Me Innocent Nude Lip Trio Set ($32US/$38CAD) - comes with a Aqua Lip waterproof lipliner in 3C, Aqua Rouge waterproof liquid lip colour in 3 and Lab Shine shimmering lip gloss in D16. This has got to be hands down my favourite of the three sets I got my hands on.

The lipliner I think is the perfect nude liner that matches any skin tone, and you could honestly pair it with any other nude lipstick you've got (or just wear it all over as a lipstick). It's that awesome. I also really love the berry lipliner from the Passionate lip trio, and again, that's something that can be used with any berry lipstick you've got. The colours they picked out for the lipliners in each set just work with things you've got in your collection! 

I was really impressed with the Aqua Rouge liquid lipsticks! I'd never been a fan of wearing liquid stuff on my lips, but I am a total convert. They are crazy pigmented (after swatching them on my hand, it took me a while to scrub them off with my Bioderma makeup remover, no joke!), dry down quickly and no fuss products. It stays put and you don't have to worry about touching up for like 4-5 hours. You can wear it as is if you want a more matte look, but you could apply the gloss (on the other end of the products) for a more shiny sheen. These babies are so great! You can check out swatches below!

As for the lipgloss? Well, I like them. Like I said, never been a fan of putting liquid products on my lips (and putting gloss as a matter of fact), but I really like these. The nude gloss from the Innocent set is quite sheer, with flecks of gold shimmer that really take the mauve/nude lip look to a whole new level that is still quite subtle. The berry one? Well damn, that's shiny stuff so if you like your gloss, you're going to like this one. It's very pink and quite opaque, with fleck of silver that definitely catch the light. 

Did I mention how all the three products from the lip sets are full size? How amazing of a deal is that? 

Tease Me Passionate Berry Lip Trio Set - comes with a Aqua Lip waterproof lipliner in 10C, Aqua Rouge waterproof liquid lip colour in 50 and Lab Shine shimmering lip gloss in D4.

Swatches

Above - Passionate Berry Lip Trio (Aqua Rouge lip colour in 50, Aqua Lip liner in 10C and Lab Shine gloss in D4)

Below - Innocent Nude Lip Trio (Aqua Rouge lip colour in 3, Aqua Lip liner in 3C and Lab Shine gloss in D16)

Desire Me Cheeky Blush Trio Set ($56CAD) - comes up with a trio of S-748, I-808 and I-526) a mini 150 precision blush brush and exclusive keepsake pouch. Valued at $128CAD, how could I not grab this set? A trio costs about $50, and this deal has that plus a mini brush and keepsake pouch. HOW COULD YOU NOT?

I'd been eyeing a few MUFE shadows for quite some time now, so when I came across this set, I saw it as a sign and the perfect opportunity to try them out. Blush wise, they are definitely the sorts of colours I gravitate to. You've got your highlighter and a choice between pink or coral/orange for the cheeks. That's awesome. I also love the fact that they can double as eyeshadows (given that you know, two of the products are actually marketed as eyeshadows - the pink and orange), so you've got your bases covered with this set. Again, they are pretty pigmented and stay on for quite some time (I got mine to last a good 5-6 hours for a full day). 

Now the brush? Well, I wouldn't really recommend using the brush to apply the blushes. Granted, it's super soft and nice on the skin, but it barely picks up the product. You can use your own brushes to apply these blushes. That's not to say the 150 blush brush is no good, but you can use it for applying your face powder instead. That's just my personal opinion of course. 

And the pouch? Pretty damn good quality! It's super soft and roomy so you can fit quite a lot of products in it. And I love the little touch of 50 Shades of Grey on it with the key. It feels quite luxe and sturdy. What I would put in it, I personally have no idea as I've got enough makeup bags lying around, but we'll see. 

How gorgeous do the colours look in the pan? *drool*

Swatches!

Desire Me Cheeky Blush Trio - S-748, I-808 and I-526 (on my MAC NC40/Clinique Honey skin for reference). 

If I were to judge the book/movie based on the makeup line alone, well, I would give it an A+ because damn, these colours are great! Overall, I give these sets two thumbs up - both for quality and price. So, even if you aren't a fan of the books, I'd definitely suggest you try these babies out. And if you haven't tried Make Up For Ever, these sets are a great way of testing them out. All the sets come with 'How to Achieve the Look' guides, so that's a bonus if you aren't quite sure what to do - especially with the blush set. All in all, they are worth every single penny - you won't regret it. 

The sets are available both in stores and online over at Sephora. Get them while you can! 

Happy discovering!

PS, if you do end up getting the other mahoosive set from the line (and by that I mean the one that's got the quad, mascara, eyeliner and all that jazz), what do you think? Is that worth it too?

And of course, who's going to see the movie?