Author Archives: Mary S.

True Blue Spa Super Rich Hand Cream Lay It On Thick Fragrance Free Review & Pictures

True Blue Spa Super Rich Hand Cream Lay It On Thick Fragrance Free Review & Pictures smaller I’ve always heard good things about the True Blue Spa products from Bath & Body Works, but it was only until very recently that I tried my first one.

Since my hands have been pretty dry with extra-frequent washing, I decided to put this cream to the test: True Blue Spa Super Rich Hand Cream Lay It On Thick Fragrance Free! (Wowzers, that was long!)

So, I’m not usually diligent about applying hand cream after every single instance I wash my hands. More often than not, I find myself applying cream when I notice that my hands are dry. (Yeah, not the best strategy.)

It also doesn’t help that sadly, I’m still feeling under the weather. (When I’m sick, I tend to wash my hands and use sanitizer a lot more because I don’t want to spread my misfortune.) I made some improvement and thought I was getting better, but then the really cold weather made it harder to recuperate. This is officially the worst illness I’ve had in a long time, and I’m so ready for it to leave me alone!

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Butter London Two Fingered Salute Swatches & Review

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Today I’m really excited to bring you a review on Butter London Two Fingered Salute!

This amazingly unique nail polish was a sweet surprise gift from my friend Mary, the blogger of My Numerous Diversions.

I think the world of her because life has dealt her many challenging hands, but she handles situations with a strength and grace that I find very admirable. (Plus the fact that she’s a psychologist and a university professor only adds to her coolness.)

She found me through my other blog, which was actually my first blog. (It’s completely different from Swatch And Learn, and I won’t be linking to it here because I want them to be completely separate for now. My other blog is more private, and I’d like to keep it that way.)

Over a year ago, I was going through a tough situation, and although a ‘stranger’ at the time, Mary reached out to me and did a random act of kindness that she probably thought was small, but it meant a lot to me.

Since then, we’ve gotten to know each other better. We’ve went for coffee, shopped for yarn, and most recently, enjoyed a delicious Indian dinner.

We both appreciate humour. Case in point: She gave me a Rubella plush toy. I wasted no time in bringing it to work and putting it on my computer. Many jokes about ‘the virus she gave me’ were tossed around. And, no, it didn’t get old. 😉

I get a lot of happiness from blogging, but finding an amazing friend was something I never expected. I am very grateful!

But now…back to the polish! 😉

P.S. In case you didn’t know, ‘two fingered salute’ is a hand gesture that’s similar to ‘giving the bird’…

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OPI I Theodora You Swatches & Review

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OPI I Theodora You Swatches & Review It’s very uncharacteristic of me to wear soft manicures like OPI I Theodora You.

While I admire them on others, when I sport them myself, it’s intimidating because my nails feel naked.

And since I’m used to seeing bold colours on myself, when I see this, it’s like looking at someone else’s hands. Surreal!

I Theodora You is one of the Soft Shades from the OPI Disney’s Oz the Great and Powerful Collection that comes out in March.

I gave it a shot, and while it looks very clean and indeed ‘soft’, I can’t say that it screams Mary. Maybe it whispers Mary. 😉

P.S. I never noticed how dry my hands have become lately until I looked at the photos for this post! It’s probably because the weather’s been pretty dry, and I’ve been washing my hands a lot since I’ve been feeling ill. Don’t want to spread the germs!

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Smorgasbord Sundays: Health Is Wealth

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Flu My dad used to say, “Health is wealth.” And how true that simple statement is. If you don’t have good health, everything else seems secondary.

As some of you already know, I’ve been feeling under the weather with a cough, sore throat, fever, and head fuzziness.

The onset of the flu began on Thursday and then intensified on Friday. On Saturday (when I was writing this), my symptoms seemed to be plateauing, so I’m hoping that’s a sign that recovery is close. However, my voice still sounds like what the Grumpy Cat probably sounds like. And my energy level is still low.

My immune system is usually a beast, and I find that I rarely get sick, even when I’m surrounded by people who are coughing and sneezing around me. But this time, it looks like it got me. In the game of Tag, I was apparently “It”.

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OPI Lights of Emerald City Swatches & Review (Layered Over Zoya Wednesday)

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OPI Lights of Emerald City Swatches & Review OPI Lights of Emerald City is one of the most highly anticipated glitters from the Oz the Great and Powerful Collection because it contains square glitter, which isn’t commonly seen in mainstream lacquer.

What Wizardry Is This?, the taupe Liquid Sand from this collection, was the first shade I wore. Lights of Emerald City was the second!

Lights of Emerald City is best suited for layering, and I thought long and hard about what to pair it with. I wanted to create a dreamy/sleepy effect, so I ended up reaching for the lovely Zoya Wednesday.

What would you pair with Lights of Emerald City?

** This post is rudely interrupted by a sicko. **

So…I’m sick. 🙁

As I’m typing this on a Friday evening, I’m coughing up a storm, and my throat is extremely sore. If you thought that the Liquid Sands look like sandpaper, maybe you should look at my throat, because it feels like it’s coated with sandpaper.

I was knocked out by this crazy cold, and I had to take a sick day from work! (My immune system is usually a beast, so I was surprised to fall under the weather. Then again, a lot of people I know have been coughing like crazy.) It sucks to have to stay in on a Friday night, but getting better is my top priority.

I’ve been sleeping for most of the day and drinking plenty of water and soup, but I still very much feel ill with that fuzzy-head feeling.

Thankfully, I had all the photos for this post already saved and cropped on my computer, so I didn’t have to spend as much time on this post as usual.

So, please bear with me as I’ll be replying to all your sweet comments and tweets much slower than usual. Also, I do still plan on picking the winner for the OPI Liquid Sands giveaway as promised, so stay tuned. (Hehe, and before I ship the winner’s prize, I promise to sanitize my hands before touching it!)

You should really hear my voice – it sounds insane. I imagine this is what the Grumpy Cat’s voice would sound like – very deep, swerving different octaves randomly, and dying out after a few words. When I called in sick, I’m pretty sure the only way they knew it was me was because of caller ID!

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