Your Freddy Bear

Self-confidence is a weird beast. Have too much of it and you can be seen as egotistical. Have too little confidence and you are insecure. Confidence is one of my favourite features about people. It makes them more compelling, interesting, attractive, and inspiring. Confidence isn't something that you can magically get out of thin air. It does take time.

However, I do believe that there are ways to encourage your self confidence to grow. Even without taking ten thousand selfies. Most are simple changes to your everyday routine but they can have life changing affects.

1) Try To Be More Positive

Positive people tend to be happy. Happy people exude confidence. Ergo, being more positive can be one great way to improve your self-confidence and also to improve your life. Positivity leads to productivity, achievements, and so much more. When you believe you can do something, you will. It's an easy thing to say, "be more positive" but not an easy thing to actually do. Go slow and try to be upbeat about the little things. Small accomplishments like checking something off a to-do list are a way to start. When something negative happens, try to find a silver lining. If you can't find one about that negative event, try to think of something else that happened that day that is a good thing and can put you back in the positive mindset. Not everyday will be a good, perfectly positive day, and that's okay. Just try your best to encourage yourself and remain optimistic about who you are and the possibilities that are just ahead of you.

2) Doll Yourself Up

When I say "doll yourself up", I don't mean that you should go to town and coat yourself in make-up and the most expensive clothes ever. But looking nice can always put a spring in one's step and it's exactly that spring that would help you feel more confident. So take the time, on days when you feel a little insecure, to put on that shirt you love that looks great on you. Or spend a little extra time on your hair, styling it in a fun or cool way. Maybe put on a bright lipstick that makes you feel powerful. Appearance isn't everything and it is not the most important thing when it comes to being confident. But walking out the door and starting your day with extra special something is like wearing invisible armor that makes you ready to face anything.


3) Get Organized

Confidence is a state of mind, and the easiest way I've found to be confident and stay confident is to be organized. If you know what you are doing and where you are going, there is no room for insecurities to creep in and ruin your day. If you are direction-ally challenged like myself, leave the house early and plot out your route in advance so you know you won't be late and don't have to stress. Make to-do lists on your phone or in a note pad of whatever you want to get done for the day. Check off every item you complete. It is the best feeling and the reward you will get is a renewed sense of accomplishment. This in turn will make you feel good about yourself and your confidence will grow.

4) Don't Be Afraid To Feel Bad

A lot of people feel they can't be truly confident until they feel perfectly together. That's wrong. It doesn't matter. You don't have to have everything together to be confident in yourself. To err is human, as wise men once said, and to be human is beautiful. Don't let past mistakes overwhelm you or drag you down. Just embrace them. Don't be afraid to make fun of yourself. The most confident people are the ones who are not afraid to be silly or to mess up. They are comfortable with themselves despite life's troubles or any blunders they may make. It's the fact that they are so okay with themselves despite of their faults that makes their self-confidence shine brighter.


5) Love Yourself

This is the hardest one on the list. It sounds so easy, to love yourself. It is preached to us in movies and music and books and sounds like the easiest thing in the world. But self-doubt, the enemy of self-confidence is hard to get away from. When you are having a down day or you are feeling insecure, reach out to a friend or loved one you know has your back and let them pep you up. We are all our own worst critic. It's hard to shut that off, judging yourself or comparing yourself to others. I'm not saying you have to completely destroy your inner critic in order to be self-assured. But embracing every part of yourself, the good and the bad, is a good place to start.


All photos by Jared Simpson

 Small towns and quiet places speak to me. They are where magic breathes, adventures are hiding around every corner, and where anything is possible. 

There isn’t a gas station every 2 miles selling newspapers that scream about harsh realities. They can be almost a world apart. Small towns, often surrounded by nature of some form, are the humble beginnings from which great characters stumble out of. They are the places in times of trouble, where people dream of coming home to. In Wales, I was 3440 miles away from home, but it had the feeling like I had just walk through my mother’s purple front door.

Recently went out to pick up and try out the "Turnaround Revitalizing Serum" by Clinique and it came with this surprise grab-bag of goodies. I've been using them for a couple weeks now so I thought I'd let you know what I like, don't like, would recommend and repurchase, any dupes I've found, and so forth. 

Let's start with the reason I received the grab bag. The Clinique "Turnaround Revitalizing Serum". I actually really love this product. It makes my skin feel great and there is a noticeable difference in how my skin looks. It is definitely not an inexpensive purchase, coming in at $51.00 Canadian (before tax). I am very careful where I put my money when it comes to beauty products but this is one that I will certainly be repurchasing.

To go with the serum, the grab bag had a tester of the "Turnaround Overnight Revitalizing Moisturizer". This I have unfortunately also fallen hard for. It works really well with the serum as well as on it's own. I use it morning and night. It soaks into the skin beautifully and doesn't leave your face feeling greasy or covered in product. It is very lightweight. It is $46.00 for a 1.7 oz jar.

The two work really well together and to be honest I don't know which one I would recommend most if you wanted to only buy one.

The next product I was most excited to try was the "Rinse off Foaming Cleanser". I have heard good things about this product and had very high hopes as I am always looking for a good cleanser. Sadly, I have developed a love-hate relationship with this product.

I love the way it makes my skin look. It looks radiant and glowing. How it feels however is a different story. My first problem is that for a "foaming" cleanser, it sure doesn't foam. At all. Then when you rinse it off, it leaves my face feeling like there is still residue on it. The soap-scum feeling is how I would describe it. When I use it, I often use one of my First Aid Beauty Exfoliating Pads afterwards to make my face feel completely clean. Since the point of a cleanser is to clean your face I'm going to label this product a dud for me. If you are interested in trying it, it is $25.00 a tube.  


The grab bag also had a tester size of the "Rinse off Eye Make-up Solvent". It works very well taking off all make-up, not just eye products. It comes off very quickly and with only a few wipes. My pet peeve with this is that it leaves my face feeling ridiculously greasy. Even if I wash my face after, I can still feel the oiliness of the product. This is most likely just a mental thing on my part but it also means I will not be adding this product to my collection. It works as well as any drugstore product does, but at $23, there are definitely more cost efficient alternatives.

The last three items are the perfume, lipgloss, and mascara. The perfume is a nice tester size. It's not an overwhelming scent, but I would categorize it as a more sophisticated smell (read, a scent for those age fifty plus). I am not a fan of lipgloss at all, mainly because I cannot stand the stickiness, so I knew right away I would not be repurchasing this product. It is a sweet pink-nude colour and I'm sure could add some nice shine to a nude lip if that is what you are looking for.

The mascara took a few days to grow on me. I am SUPER picky about my mascaras and this particular one didn't seem to do anything for me. After a few more tries I will now say, it is not the best on its own but it is great for adding volume and de-clumping lashes after you have put a coat of a different mascara on. I'm going to make use of it while it lasts but there are several other mascaras I would recommend first before suggesting this one.



So out of the seven products that were in my grab bag, the only two I would recommend or repurchase were the two I went out to purchase in the first place; the "Turnaround Revitalizing" Serum and Moisturizer. Despite this, it was still fun to test out some new products. Let me know in the comments if you have any favourite Clinique products or if you have tried any of the above with different results!

-OJ

By posting this, I will probably insight hours of laughter for some of my close friends but I thought it would be fun to share some of my tips for taking care of your hair, especially if it's damaged. It's the damaged part that I am an expert on. I've done SO much to my hair I'm surprised I still have any. For example, from last September to now (October 15th, 2015) the below array of pictures is what I did to my hair. In order....





Jumping back and forth with colours, bleach, heat styling, you name it, I did it. Now that I've calmed down (Let's hope. Life Goal = have the same hair colour 3 months from now*), I'm trying to get my hair as healthy as it can possibly be. Though it may not seem like it, I did work hard to take care of my hair while simultaneously destroying it. As a result, even though I had all those colour changes, my hair is not nearly as damaged as it could be and I have little to no split ends. Since some of these tips worked so well for me, I thought I'd share the knowledge.

#1) Coconut Oil!

I know this is a common one, but I cannot recommend it enough. It is super inexpensive and works wonders. It comes as a solid and all you have to do is rub it between your hands to get the oil. Rub it throughout your hair and let it sit. I leave it in overnight but if you are in a rush, 20 minutes should do. A few friends have told me they need to shampoo twice to get it out of their hair, but I personally only need to wash once. And as a bonus, if you deal with a dry scalp, Coconut oil fixes this better than any product I've ever encountered.

#2) Don't Wash Your Hair!

This one a lot of people have trouble with but ideally, you should only wash your hair every four to five days. I definitely cannot go that long but I wash my hair every three (working towards four!) days. This gives your hair time to naturally moisturize and keeps your shampoo/conditioner from drying it out. It doesn't matter if you have the most expensive moisturizing shampoo, excessive washing will dry out your hair, while at the same time making it more greasy! The worst kind of catch-22. Over-washing your hair gets rid of the natural oils your scalp creates. If your hair is really greasy after a day or two it may be because your scalp has been trained by daily washing to produce more oil than necessary. This excessive washing can leave you with greasy roots, and super parched ends. Yuck! A couple months of washing less regularly will cause the oil production to go down and your hair will be less greasy and a lot less dry.

#3) No Heat!

I am aware this one is impossible for those who love styling. For those of you who can't live without straightening or curling, here is a tip; pick your poison carefully and only use one hot tool. If you regularly blow-dry your hair then do only that and put away the rest of your hot tools. If you absolutely must straighten your hair with a straightener, then let your hair air dry. And so on. Try to go a week with no hot tools at all. You will notice a difference.

I've been lucky enough to have these tips work miracles with my hair but I do have others stored away. Let me know in the comments below if you'd like any more hair tips or to know of an products that worked wonders for me.

- OJ

Playsuits are all the rage this spring/summer season and since this is one trend that works with my figure, I made the absolute most of it. All three of the playsuits/jumpsuits here are from Forever21 and none of them broke the bank so far as cost goes.

This purple floral number is probably my favourite out of the three. It is super easy to wear casually but if you throw on a pair of heels, it is dressed up enough for a night out on the town. The arms are super billowy and stop around the elbow, giving you easy movement.


My favourite part about this playsuit is the colours. They are very soft and flattering. My one issue with the suit is the neckline. It can be very low, especially on those not so well endowed.

The next one is a green jumpsuit that I desperately need to hem as it is a little long in the leg. For a summer night out it is perfect. It looks classy and despite the long pants it is very cool. It also gave me a chance to try going without a bra. Woo! The jumpsuit is as comfortable as if you were wearing pajamas and it moves with you. It is not constricting whatsoever. Plus it definitely makes your legs look longer, especially with heels.


The third and last outfit is a nice blue floral (seeing a pattern?) playsuit. It is definitely the most casual of all three suits. It is super comfy, though not the easiest to get in and out of. It has cute little buttons down the front that are super adorable but also a b*tch to do up. It moves and breathes really well like the other two.

Hello all and welcome to the blog. I've been pondering starting one and a YouTube channel to go with it for a while now, and today I decided to dive right in. At least on the blog side; I'm still working my way up to Youtube.