My New Obsession

Beauty products and make-up have never played a big part in my life.  I am sure that the main reason for that is that my mum never wears make-up (I think she has only worn make-up twice in her life and one of those days was my wedding day).  However I have been following this really amazing blog called Insightful Athlete which I starting reading because of a shared interested in Lululemon clothing.  This woman posts about lots of other athletic brands and also posts about other athletic, fashion and beauty related topics including her shopping experiences at Sephora.  This is what started my new obesssion.

My interest started with Dry Shampoo because I have heard a lot about them being great if you don't want to wash your hair every day or after every work out.  Upon recommendation of Insightful Athlete I ordered Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Shampoo from Sephora in a small travel size that only cost $13 (keep in mind this is from the Canadian Sephora site).

Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Shampoo

 If you spend $75 the shipping is free so I of course had to spend more so I got Fresh Sugar Advance Therapy Lip Treatment also recommended by Insightful Athlete and because I love lip balm and I splurged and took a chance on Tarte Maracuja C-Brighter Eye Treatment because I am getting older, my under eyes are getting darker and I just love the packaging! I can be a really sucker for packaging which is a marketers dream.

Fresh Sugar Advance Therapy Lip Treatment

Tarte Maracuja C-Brighter Eye Treatment

Now that these items have all arrived and I have tried them all I am totally hooked because all three are such great products.  It is too hard for me to pick which one is my favorite.  The dry shampoo did just what I hoped it would as well as adding more body and texture to my hair on a day when I don't shampoo and it also smells SO good.  It is pretty easy to use, you just have to be careful not to squeeze out too much at once and you have to rub it in well or it leaves your hair looking a little white. I only just use it at the front hairline of my scalp because that is where the oiliness starts to show for me.  

The lip therapy is the best I have ever used and again smells SO good and goes on smoothly.  It is expensive but for me it was totally worth it because I use lip balm everyday and I don't wear lipstick or lip gloss.  The eye treatment packaging was just as alluring for me as it was on screen and I like the product but don't think it has done anything mind blowing for my eyes but I do like putting it on and will happily use the whole pot.  I am not 100% sure I could justify buying it again but we will see when I have finished all of this pot.

I have since this order been to Sephora stores twice and placed another online order which I will posted about soon.

Do you have any favorite, must try or must have products from Sephora?

 

 

It has been a very very long time since I last posted and I am going to do my best to start writing again at least once a week and topics will vary from new jewelry designs and other topics related to my business as well as anything else that is interesting me at the moment.  As I write this a whole bunch of topics are coming to my mind.  I know this is going to make for a very miss mash of a blog but hopefully it will still interest some of you out there or maybe it will just turn into a catalogue of my interests and what is going on in my life!

I had my first jewelry show of the season, Portobello West March Market,  a couple of weeks ago and it was good to get into the swing of things.  I had a wonderful spot by a window so it was still bright and cheerful even thought it pour with rain for most of the first day. I wish I had taken a photo of my outfit because I was feeling pretty good in a short jean jacket, new long flowy top from Urban Outfitters,  skinny cargo pants from Anthropologie, black hi-tops from Ecco Shoes and Vinyasa Scarf from Lululemon. 

Portobello West March Market

 When preparing for the show I realized that summer is not all that far away and I want to start making some more chunky pieces that will be great with all the colorful pieces everyone wears in summer. I am so tempted to keep the turquoise one for myself but I will have to resist.  I only have enough of the end cones to make these three so once they are gone this will be it.

Chunky Gemstone Necklaces

I am planning on making a lot more wood, gemstone and shell pieces as it gets closer to summer. Keep an eye on my shop for more new listings.

Wood Love Affair

My love for using wood in my designs comes and goes and at the moment I am having a real love affair with working with wood beads and pendants.  Summer weather is often the start of the love affair because for some reason wood and gemstones to me just seem to go so well with warm summer weather.  Maybe it is because we all seem to spend so much more time outside connected with nature when the weather is nice either going for a walk or going to the beach or just sitting outside surrounded by sun and warmth.

In my great collection of supplies I have had two sets of wood pendants in my stock for a while and didn't know what to do with them to really make true justice of the beauty of the wood and the shape of them.  Recently I started playing around with them and finally came up with an idea that I think turned out just perfectly.

Tiger Ebony Wood and Sterling Silver Necklace

Now my only problem is that I love the necklace so much that I really want to keep one of them for myself.  This is always such a dilemma when you make jewelry!

Summer Inspiration - Khatsahlano! Music + Art Festival

On Saturday July 13th West 4th Avenue in Kitsilano Vancouver will be closed from Burrard to MacDonald and the streets are expected to be filled with 80,000 people for the Khatsahlano! Music + Art Festival.  This exciting street festival will have 12 stages, food vendors and a street marketplace.  Luli Designs will be part of the Portobello West section of the street marketplace so I have been using this summer festival as inspiration to get designing and making.

Here is a sneak peak at some of the stretch bracelets with semi-precious stone, wood and sterling silver I have been working on:

Smoky Quartz and Moss Agate Stretch Bracelets

Why Bottle When There is Tap?

Four years ago I made a pact with myself to stop drinking bottled water.  This was brought on because of seeing such an increase in plastic water bottle waste around and it was further brought home by the documentary Blue Gold- World Water Wars.  The trailer for the movie is below.

Since making this pact I have easily made the transition to relying on my Sigg water bottles (I love all the different designs, options and sizes) and the tap other than a few rare occasions when tap water was just not available.  These situations were: an outdoor wedding ceremony on the hottest day of the year and traveling on a plane for long distances when I have run out of the water that I brought with me in my own bottle.  Other than that it is has been all tap for me.  

Our Family's Water Bottle Collection: My husband's sports bottle (check out the dents), my husband's other bottle, my babies bottle, my short trip bottle, my favorite and most used bottle and my long trip bottle.

It has been such a simple change in my life but I hope that it has some how made a difference and I hope my story can help others to stop and think about the amount of bottled water they consume.   If you are wondering how to travel on a plane with your own bottle but worried about security, they will let you bring an empty water bottle through security (we usually put ours in the tray out of our bags) and then fill it up either at a drinking tap or a restaurant after you have gone through security. Remember to open the bottle before take off and then before landing because of the pressure change.

Here is a very well put together graphic from a website called Beyond the Bottle that shows, in a simplified format, the many reasons to stop drinking bottled water.

 

All Looped Up In BoHo Style

Chain Loop Necklaces: Lapis Blue, Jade and Coral

Here is look at another necklace style that is part of my Spring/Summer 2013 collection.  Three loops of delicate sterling silver chain are attached to a bar of Swarovski Pearls in Lapis Blue, Jade and Coral.  This bohemian look goes well with the tribal patterns that are trending right now in clothing and accessories.

These necklaces can be found at Lut Boutique 4219 Main St, Vancouver

SeaWheeze 2013 Special Edition Shorts

SeaWheeze likes to do things differently so instead of getting a t-shirt for signing up for the half marathon (I never wear those shirts) you get a pair of special edition Lululemon shorts that are only given to people who are signed up for the Seawheeze.  Women got to chose between two styles, Speed Shorts or Track Attack Shorts (I chose the Speed Shorts) and Men got Pace Breaker Shorts.  I think it is a really neat idea and certainly something that I will happily wear.  My husband's pair arrived about a week ago and I have been patiently waiting for mine and they finally arrived today!

SeaWheeze 2013 Special Edition Men's Pace Breaker and Women's Speed Shorts

The shorts arrived in a special pouch and have a special edition hang tag which are different for women and men. The inner liner in both the women's and the men's shorts is a crazy pattern and the women's interior waistband is striped. Hopefully these will help to keep me motivated as the "Get Ready, Get Sweaty" training program starts on June 3rd.  You can find the SeaWheeze training app here.

Women's Speed Shorts with SeaWheeze Pouch

 

Men's Pace Breaker Shorts with SeaWheeze Pouch

 

Women's and Men's Special Edition SeaWheeze hang tag

Men's shorts with the liner pulled out to show the pattern which is also the same on the Women's liner.