Oh so Pretty

For years I’ve had a vendetta against red. After all red, as we so often joke, is the opposite of pastel, and so we’ve vowed the two never shall meet.

Until now.

Maybe it’s the Christmas spirit in the air, or my new neutral, more natural hair colour (more on that later I promise), but something is making me rethink red, especially when it comes to my beauty routine. Who doesn’t love a strong red lip?! The only problem is avoiding red lips my whole life has made me a little bit useless in the bold lipstick department.

With the help of a few handy youtube tutorials, tips from our favourite local makeup artists and some really great vegan, cruelty-free products (thanks Annabelle), I’ve managed to master the red lip, just in time for the holidays. It may be the opposite of all things pastel, but gosh does it look good with sequins and sparkle!

Scroll down to find out how we get red-lipped and mistletoe ready!

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Here are a few super quick and simple bold-lip lessons, and I promise they’re doable no matter how low maintenance your routine may be.

Prep // use a lip scrub for a smooth smooch, then add a thin layer of moisturizing lip chap and just a touch of makeup primer.

Line // I don’t do a full outline because I’m a little too impatient/messy, so I just stick to the bow and fill in uneven spots on my natural line, then colour everything in for ultimate stay power. I used Annabelle “Glam Red” for this step.

Fill // With lips fully lined as a base, apply your lipstick. I went with Annabelle’s “Red Carpet”, then topped it with their Big Show Lacquer in “Love Fiercely” to get that candy apple shine.

Blot // I’m a big fan of blotting, but the jury is still out in the beauty world, so this step is totally your call.

Finish // dust your lips with pressed powder to seal in the colour and head to your nearest mistletoe!

Get Creative

The holiday season can get kind of hectic, and DIY projects are a great way to put aside time to simply slow down and take a deep breath. We’ll be sharing all sorts of fun recipes and projects leading up to Christmas, but we decided to kick off this busy time with something extra calming. We all need a bit more calm in this wild world, right?

For this week’s installment of the #pastelcraftclub we teamed up with Julie from Province Apothecary. I had the pleasure of attending an outdoor essential oil blending workshop with Julie this past summer, and I was so enchanted by the magic of her knowledge that I immediately know we needed to share some of it here. Paige quickly agreed, a long-time fan of Province Apothecary as well, and here we are.

Part natural medicine, part olfactory, and in my opinion a little bit like witchcraft, the power of blending pure essential oils is pretty amazing, and we’re thrilled to have Julie here today sharing one of her secret formulas – Keep Calm!

Scroll down for Julie’s DIY

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As an aromatherapist I love reaching for essential oils to help calm my body and mind during times of stress. My favourite way to apply them is in a therapeutic roll on.

By using essential oils in your daily life you can help diminish stress, relieve depression, ease physical pain, promote alternateness, heal skin issues like acne and much more. The properties of essential oils, when used properly, can promote general well-being and self-connection. Essential oils are so easy to use and can be incorporated into your daily routine: they can be used in a bath, during a massage, or in your daily skincare regime. The beautiful thing about essential oils is that they work on a subtle level- sometimes one drop is enough.

Terms to know:
Essential oils are natural aromatic compounds found in the seeds, bark, stems, roots, flowers, and other parts of plants.

Aromatherapy: The therapeutic use of plant-derived, aromatic essential oils to promote physical and psychological well-being. Your skin is the largest organ of the body and absorbs essential oils easily.

| ESSENTIAL OILS FOR calming the body + mind |

BERGAMOT naturally relaxes and uplifts. It’s invigorating scent invites joy and laughter in one’s space, working as a natural antidepressant. It relieves tension to unfold a natural harmony.

CEDAR WOOD naturally strengthens + clarifies. Its light, woodsy scent has a calming and soothing effect on the mind and is of great help in conditions associated with anxiety. It also acts a general tonic, easing conditions of a respiratory nature.
CLARY SAGE naturally calming to the nervous system. An effective sleep aid. Great for reducing anxiety/asthma, reduces muscle tension, PMS. Aphrodisiac.

FRANKINCENSE naturally settles and composes. Its scent eases worry and rejuvenates the mind. Antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, calming/relaxing, anti-fungal/antibacterial/antiseptic, decongests open airway. Relieves tension (in all systems), stress, anxiety. Has been used for meditation..

ROMAN CHAMOMILE naturally calms. It’s a powerfully peaceful oil, bring inner harmony and reducing irritability, anxiety and worry.


LAVENDER calms nervousness and relieves depression. Its antispasmodic, antibacterial, antiseptic properties make it nature’s #1 First Aid oil. Use lavender oil to naturally relieve dryness, cracked skin, eczema, and wounds. It stimulates the growth of healthy new cells, making it effective in healing the skin and reducing scars.

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| EQUIPMENT YOU WILL NEED |
•1 ml vials or beakers to blend your scent
• Essential oils of choice
• Coffee beans to help with olfactory fatigue
• Roll on container (10 ml roll on), 10 ml base oil + beaker
• Labels for blending and for finished product

| BLENDING YOUR SCENT |
BLEND DILUTIONS 10 ml : 1% – 2 drops, 3%- 6 drops, 5% – 10 drops, 10% – 20 drops

1. Choose the essential oils and % of blend you would like to make, 1-5 oils is best for therapeutic roll ons

2.. Add one drop of each oil to the 1 ml vial or beaker and smell your blend after each drop, record the # of drops and slowly add more of the oils you would like more of.

3. Shake or stir your blend. Smell your blend and add more oils or keep as it is. Count out the number of drops your have used. This will be your final recipe.

4.. Once you have discussed your final blend with Julie, slowly count out the final number of drops into your 10 ml vial. Add your carrier oil of choice to the eos, put the cap on and shake.

ALWAYS: Document every single drop. Add drops one at a time and check scent. When formulating is complete, add EO blend to carrier base. Store your blend in a bottle out of the light. Label your formula clearly with the date.

DIRECTIONS: Apply oil to your wrists, temples, and back of neck (into your hairline) and let the essential oils absorb into the skin. For immediate results, place scent directly under your nose and breath deeply. Can be used as many times as needed throughout the day.

Oh so Pretty

Though we blog about everything here at RAOP, our team isn’t exactly what you’d call a group of beauty experts. If we’re being totally honest with you guys we’re just as lost as you when it comes to cuticle maintenance and “strobing”. That said we know a good product when we see one, and nothing beats good + cruelty free in our books.

The year isn’t quite over yet, but we’ve made so many amazing beauty discoveries over the course of 2016, and we couldn’t wait to share some of our favourites! The best part? Every brand on this list is cruelty free and vegan friendly, which makes them beautiful inside and out!

1. Annabelle //

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By far the most affordable brand on our list, Annabelle is a super accessible way to shop cruelty-free beauty if you’re scooping up some new products at the drug store. Our current picks are their mascaras and lip liner pencils.

2. Tata Harper //

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We recently went to a Tata Harper breakfast where we had the pleasure of meeting Tata herself, and honestly if you’ve seen that woman’s amazing skin you’ve probably already rushed out to buy her entire all-natural skincare collection!

3. Love Fresh //

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Handmade right here in Toronto, Lovefresh has incredible scents like Key Lime Coconut, and we can’t get enough of their awesome pink pomegranate sugar scrub!

4. Too Faced //

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Sometimes it’s impossible not to judge a book by its cover, especially when the cover looks *this* good! Too Faced always has us melting over their adorable pink sparkly products, and their new holiday-scented palettes basically have us in little puddles on the floor!

5. Charlotte Tilbury //

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Rose gold and delicate details? Yes please! Charlotte Tilbury is one of the only luxury cosmetic brands that guarantees 100% cruelty free ingredients… and it’s all just so pretttyyyy!

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Dear DiaryI'll Follow You Anywhere

When Mary Kay first approached us about driving their pink Cadillac around for a day, we couldn’t decide where to head first. Should we go apple picking in a neighbouring town? Spend an evening at the drive in movies with buckets of popcorn? Visit one of our favourite local sweet spots to load up on treats?

And then it struck us like a bolt of sugary lightning: let’s spend a day visiting ALL of our favourite Toronto sweet spots!

If you’re ever stuck for sugar in the big smoke, or visiting from out of town in search of new desserts, you now need look no further than the #RAOPtreattour. True, we weren’t able to cover everything (the pink Cadillac was super speedy, but you know, speed limits…), however we did capture all of our absolute top pastel picks. We even made up a little map of all the places our Mary Kay Caddy took us so you can retrace our route yourselves!

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Okay, let’s backpedal for a second. Why a pink Cadillac in the first place?! Well, in case you hadn’t heard, Mary Kay has a long tradition of providing their top achieving Independent Sales Directors with a pink ride to peddle their lipsticks, blush, mascara and more out of. Legend has is Mary Kay herself walked into Cadillac and asked them to match her custom car to a lip and eye palette in her purse, and when she realized how eye catching it was to be out and about in a rose-tinted ride, she decided to add it to her Career Car fleet! Cute right?

We didn’t sell any Mary Kay during our #randomactsofcaddy day, but we DID fall in love with a whole bunch of lipgloss, listen to nonstop Ariana Grande and ingest a mountain of sugary goodness! It was a pretty crazy experience to see how people around us reacted, and honestly we had a hard time giving our dream ride back when the day was done – we’re still getting Instagram comments and messages from people who spotted us on our sweet adventure!

Scroll down for the #RAOPtreattour map, and more details about our picks!

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Kitten and the Bear //

We can’t express our love for this place enough – there’s honestly nowhere sweeter in the whole city. Sit in for an exquisite tea service, or take a scone milk latte and loaded scone sammie to-go!

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Peace Treats Co. //

New to the Toronto sweets scene, Peace Treats Co. is taking the city’s frozen dessert scene by storm with their “more is more” style milkshakes. Every single flavour is a work of art, but we highly recommend the “Amusement Park” if you’re craving some ultimate pink cotton candy magic for your Instagram feed.

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Glory Hole Donuts //

Do-nut even get us started on how great these donuts are! Glory Hole is home to the famous “toast and butter” flavour (just trust us and try it), plus they offer ice cream donut creations, incredible seasonal flavours like cherry pie, and a few daily vegan options if that’s what you fancy.

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Bake Shoppe TO //

If you ask a Torontonian to direct you to the city’s most popular bakery, they’d probably send you in the direction of Bake Shoppe. With a menu of epic goodies including ruffles chip marshmallow squares, homemade pop tarts, and the best chocolate brownies you’ve ever tasted, this place is an absolute must-taste on the treat tour.

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Petit Nuage //

There are plenty of big fancy macaron shops in Toronto, but Petit Nuage makes the best of the bunch out of her tiny shipping container storefront. You haven’t lived if you haven’t tried the cloud-like “Nimbus” macaron (it’s filled with soft marshmallow and it’s truly divine.)

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Through Being Cool //

If you’re on the hunt for vegan baked goods that taste like they came hot out of your grandmother’s oven, this is the stop for you. We’re especially addicted to their sprinkle donuts, the massive slices of cake, and the gooey cookies!

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Who did we miss? Share your favourite Toronto treat spots in the comments!

This post was sponsored, but all opinions are my own. To inquire about sponsored posts, please email jess@shineinfluencers.com

Dear DiaryOh so Pretty

Just in the knick of time- our June edit is here! I know May was in the beginning of the month, but I figure end of month works too if it means I get more time to test and review products properly. Better for both of us, right?

This month’s roundup of RAOP Picks (aka my favourite finds of the month) is almost all within the exact same colour scheme, and primarily beauty-based. Perhaps it was the fun YSL events I attended over the past 30 days, or our #RAOPpowderroom project that spurred the beauty cabinet upgrade, but I’m definitely really feeling these beautiful products for the summer:

1. YSL Beauty

I don’t know what happened, but YSL really swept me off my feet over the past few weeks. I had the pleasure of attending a special breakfast to celebrate their Mon Paris fragrance launch, and the love affair really grew from there. My top picks? Touche Eclat Blur Primer and Vinyl Couture Mascara in gold.

2. Lovefresh

Locally made with Love, this brand is all natural, cruelty-free, and they have the best natural deodorants in the game! Also, How cute is this pink body scrub?

3. Sonix Sunglasses

Hello new fave sunglasses brand!The packaging from Sonix is unreal cute, and I love their fun use of colour in the frames.

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4. Cherry Pick Statement Jewellery

Who doesn’t need a good statement necklace? Cherry Pick is my go-to place to shop for sparkles of all sorts.

5. Tocca

I’ve always been a huge fan of the TOCCA candles and the unique way they name them and give them little “stories” to tell, but their line has really hit it out of the park recently! I can’t even wrap my head around how much I love the idea of a hair fragrance (coming soon!)

6. Repetto Ballet Flats

I picked up these flats on my trip to Nice, and they immediately became a new must have. Their comfortable, classy, and go with everything- plus they’re made by a legit ballet shoe company in Paris!

7. Davines Your Hair Assistant

We already know how much I adore Davines (they’re generally the online haircare brand I use), and this new collection’s pretty blush and black packaging really won me over. If you get a chance to sniff this line, prepare to swoon!

8. Eternally in Amber Hair accessories

The perfect addition to my pristine haircare routine, these tortoiseshell combs are as useful as they are beautiful.