CYBER MONDAY GIFT GUIDE

Black Friday may have just past by but that doesn’t mean the party is over. Who wants to really go to physical stores and have to fight over the best deals when you can buy everything at home? That’s right, at home! Which means there will be a ton of deals online right now. Here are some products I think that would make great gifts and usually, during Black Fridays, there will be sitewide and store sales or specific door/site crasher deals; it really varies by store but hopefully you can snag these for a good deal.

Colourpop Super Shock Shadows

These gems are so affordable as is but they can be even cheaper during their sales. Who doesn’t love a good bargain? I most certainly do. They come in a wide range of finishes from mattes to shimmers to glitters and even duo-chrome shades. I like how their products are extremely reasonable prices and sometimes even perform better than actual drugstore quality. If you’re interested in purchasing these or any colourpop, fourth ray or sol body product, definitely head over to their website right now because they have a 30% off sitewide deal. Click here!

 

 

Laneige Cream Skin Refiner (or the mist, or both)

This bad boy has an amazing reputation because it has to be one of the most revolutionary products in K-beauty history. It’s essentially a toner that transforms into a liquid moisturizer. If you’re interested in hearing my full thoughts on this, please check my review here to see why it’s worth the hype and why it’s so good.

Available here: eBay (best price) | Yesstyle

 

 

Nails INC Polishes

I think these would make amazing gifts for anyone who loves to paint their nails. I would honestly like to say that these are salon-quality kind of polishes because they don’t chip as easily and long-lasting. I’ve been using their nail polishes for many, many years and have really enjoyed them. They too, also come in different finishes where you can have glittery/shimmer, matte or duo-chrome finishes. The prices are pretty reasonable and I use the detachable silver cap allows my finger to rest as I apply the polish on for that finger. They often have duo sets for an amazing deal so you can always share a polish with a friend or keep it for yourself. I think these would be an amazing stock stuffer for anyone who loves high-quality nail polish. These are available at Sephora.

LANEIGE Kiss Me All Day Set

These LANEIGE glowy lip balms make incredible stocking stuffers for Christmas, birthday gifts and etc because who can’t live without lip products? They are essentials and a really nice unisex gift. This set comes in the berry, pear and peach scent so a good variety of different scents. You can pretty much find these at a lot of online shops.

I hope these picks have helped you a bit in finding a nice gift for your loved ones or yourself! Please feel free to comment below what sort of content you would like to see from me and if you haven’t already, follow me on Instagram and check out my daily uploads.

Available here: Sephora

Well, that’s it for now, friends! Til next time. I hope these suggestions allowed you to find some awesome gifts for this holiday season and share them with your loved ones.

 

[ANTI-HAUL] Vol. 3

It’s been a long while since I’ve done one of these and well, I can tell you guys one thing – all the things I’ve said in my previous anti-hauls are things I still stand by. I’ve purchased a ton of things in the past simply because I fell into the hype of things and they turned out to be products I don’t care for nor reach so I think it’s important to share these sorts of things to remind ourselves and others that we just might not want it as much as we thought we do.

Disclaimer: Some of the products I will be mentioning are owned by controversial people however, I’m only speaking about the products themselves, not the people behind them.

KYLIE SKIN (ENTIRE LINE)

I’m not even sure why I’m listing her on my anti-haul but I’ve tried her lip products in the past and quite like them. Would I repurchase them? Absolutely not, I prefer Colour Pop lippies and they’re super affordable compared to hers. There’s so much controversy over her walnut scrub when people forgot that Ole Henricksen has one out as well and there doesn’t seem to be any negative/backlash on that scrub; makes me question if consumers are just biased and use to bashing on celebrities. I also find it quite odd that she doesn’t have an oil cleanser/cleansing balm or even an SPF product. Anyway. I wish her the best for this skincare line.

HUDA BEAUTY NEON OBSESSION PALETTES

I would be lying to all if I didn’t admit that I was going to purchase the Neon Pink one. That was the very first one that attracted me from this line however I already own one of her mini obsession palettes in gemstone and also her desert dusk palette. They’re both nice products however I just don’t reach for them and I’ve tried better shadows. I would not recommend anyone to get her standard palettes. You’re better off getting the mini palettes because there’s quite a bit of product and usually really fun, neutral colours to work with.

BODY SHIMMER PRODUCTS

There is way too much buzz on body shimmer products from Patrick Ta to ABH and Huda Beauty. Guess who’s not buying those products? -points at self- I get the whole idea of wanting to look like a shimmering, glowing goddess for summer but if anyone who knows me, I am pretty much anti-tanning. Although I respect those who enjoy tanning, I’m not a fan of it. You will likely see me hide under shades, wearing pants/mostly long sleeves and holding a UV umbrella. I know, I’m quite extreme but this is coming from someone who is a hermit and also doesn’t want to tan.

ANY COLOUR SPRAY TEMPORARY HAIR DYES

I know this is a fun concept, I get it, however, I don’t think it’s worth damaging your hair. Remember when hair chalking was a thing? I don’t think this is any different from hair chalking. What it is basically depositing pigment into the hair and it washes right off. Sounds harmless right? Wrong. The U.S. FDA announced that “the products may contain ingredients such as dyes or colorants, chemicals, and preservatives, which are not allowed and may cause allergies and adverse reaction on the scalp, head, eyes, and skin.” I’ve had my fair share of moments dying my hair whacky, bold and fun colours but those days are over for me. I think if you want something temporary, just wear a wig. I personally would never put an aerosol can with hair dye in it anywhere near me. It most certainly wouldn’t be healthy to breathe in.

If you liked any of the products that I mentioned in today’s anti-haul, please continue to enjoy them. This is just my personal take in what products that simply don’t interest me.

Anyway, that’s it for today, folks! Until next time. 🙂 Please feel free to share what things you will be anti-hauling this month/year.

 

 

Anti-Haul – First Chapter

Good morning, darlings! I hope we all are having a fantastic start to our week. Only 2 more days and the weekend will be here. I noticed there are quite a few blog posts and even youtube videos on this subject. I always talk about what I want but never really what I don’t want.

*Disclaimer: These are all my personal thoughts and opinions on these products. In no way or form am I shaming these brands or products.

Tony Moly x Samyang collaboration collection

I’m sure many of you know, I’m all about buying new collaborations with cute packaging. I like and dislike this collaboration for various reasons; the first would probably be I feel like cushion could look more cute and I question if whether Tony Moly and all these other korean brands are running out of ideas. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of iconic brands and things that Korea has and Samyang is one of them because the internet literally blew up with a whole bunch of fire hot noodle challenges. I just think the collaboration is weak and nothing special. It will quickly be forgotten because there wasn’t much thought put in it. When I think of Tony Moly, I think of fruit packaging and cute pandas – never have I thought that they would collaborate with an instant noodle brand. I think they should have made something dessert themed instead. Unfortunately, I will be skipping out on this collab.

Too Faced Gingerbread Spice Eyeshadow Palette

I own quite a few things from Too Faced and a lot of their eye shadow palettes are repeated shades or similar to one another. I was hoping they would go out of the box and release an eyeshadow palette with more pops of colour. The lucky clover collection was so adorable and I was hoping they would make more palettes like that. This gingerbread spice palette will be available during the holiday seasons and I believe this will be a limited edition release. If anyone knows me, I love anything fall/winter themed, hot chocolate and pumpkin/cinnamon spice scented products but I just don’t think I would get much use out of this palette for it’s shades therefore I don’t see any reason why I would pick this up other than for flatlay or reviewing purposes. I personally would not grab this palette on my own. I own way too many warm/cool tone red and brown shades to get anymore. At this point, I am hoarding a lot of palettes I don’t even use.

Etude House Lip Products *in general*

This may shock many of you because I know there’s a huge volume of kbeauty addicts/lovers who love Etude House’s lip products but hear me out… I own a lot of etude house products and they are very affordable with cute packaging. I feel like everytime I get their products it’s super hit or miss. The soda tints for example, I only find myself using the peach one the most and grape from time to time. The milk one I anticipated for turned out to be a clear gloss with a tiiiny bit of pink tint to it. Their popsicle collection was just awful, they were not tints by any means and just disappeared within one meal/hand wipe. I feel like because they produce cute packaging, they kind of half ass their formulation. This is just my personal experience with their lip products. Their cute interchangeable lipsticks are alright, I don’t find myself reaching for them either but they are better in formulation than the tints.

 

Pretty Vulgar The Powder Room – Translucent Powder

I am so done with all these high end brands releasing translucent powder and asking for outrageous amount of money. Let’s be real here, ladies & gents… It’s a POWDER, I’m sure it’s not mind blowing and it’s also TRANSLUCENT. It’s not something multi functional and be used alone. I purchased the Laura Mercier translucent powder when I first started on makeup and I have not touched it for 2 years. The only time I would ever use an expensive high end powder is if I was gifted it. Overall, it’s not worth my hard earning money to buy something to mattify or “bake” my face. I also don’t bake my face, I gently apply some pressed powder (with spf) ontop of my foundation or cushion and I’m good.

Josie Maran Vibrancy Argan Oil Full Coverage Concealer Fluid

No way in heck, I will pay 36 canadian dollars for a concealer. Concealers are just as expensive as foundations, I don’t have any heavy dark circles of blemishes to conceal so this would be absolutely pointless for me to buy or use. Also, I have purchased the Josie Maran Vibrancy Argan Oil Foundation because of Jaclyn Hill raving so much about it. I actually really hate it. Never have I felt my face so weighed down, sticky and oily. Even setting it, it still was oily and my hair would cling on to it. You know that sticky lip gloss feeling and you hair gets caught on it? yeah, exactly like that but with a foundation. You can imagine how annoying that was for me.

 

Well that is all for chapter one, friends! Have yourself a wonderful day and stay tuned for the next chapter on Dorki’s Anti-Haul.

Tips&Tricks – How To Save Money

I’m pretty sure many of you find this amusing that I’m making a post like this but I figured it would be something helpful and hopefully gives some of you motivation to save money. I’m one of those girls who loves retail therapy and I will spend for the most stupidest reasons. Two examples I do at-least once a week is: 1) I don’t like what I’m having for lunch and I want fresh, hot food so I will order out. 2) I am sad/stressed/upset and I need to buy something to cheer myself up. Do these examples apply to you or you can relate? Let a girl know.

I think what is important is to not restrict ourselves because that will create more resistance and temptation later on. There should be a focus on an objective of some sort, whether it’s a handbag you wanted for so long, a property, vacation or etc. You should start off with an objective and it should be something you are passionate about, not something you want for temporary because we tend to lose track of the goal if it is.

Tip #1: Have a piggy bank

I always put my loose change, 5 dollar bills and lucky pocket money in my piggy bank. I got my piggy bank last year and he’s become very heavy now. I was tempted to open him up quite a handful of times but I quickly stopped myself because my objective is to fill him so full, that I can no longer put anything more in him then I will open him up and cash him at the bank. You will notice a significant difference how much a piggy bank can change your saving game. Cashing in hundreds, maybe even thousands of bucks?! How rewarding does that sound?

Tip #2: Skip out on buying coffee and make your own coffee at home

Wake up earlier in the morning and prepare yourself some coffee. Buying coffee every morning before work does add up. Think about it…

Let’s say you get 1 large cup of coffee every morning on a weekday…
$5 x 5 days = $25
For 1 month (30 days length) without weekends:
$5 x 22 days = $110
For 1 year (365 days length) without weekends:
$5 x 283 = $1415
That’s A LOT of money!

Currently minimum wage in Ontario is $14-$15
$14 x 80 work hours = $1120
$15 x 80 work hours = $1200
^ These are BEFORE deductions. Usually when you hit the 1k mark, you get deducted about 200 dollars per pay cheque.

We don’t realize the damage we are doing to our wallets when we buy little things here and there. I am an avid coffee drinker, I feel a significant difference in my overall behavior and awareness with and without it. I am gradually teaching myself to build tolerance to live without coffee. Some days I will give in and buy but I came from buying coffee every single day to drinking coffee maybe.. once or a twice a week?

Tip #3: Have a budget

Again, going back to what I said about restricting yourself. Never restrict yourself but make sure to budget your money out wisely.
Here is an example:
Say you make 3K a month and live away from your parents…
You spend (every month)…

$200 on groceries
$60 on phone bill
$80 for utilities
$50 internet bill
$150 for bus fare/gas
$200 on misc lunch/dinner occasions
$1200 for rent

What you have left…
$1060

Varying how big your objective is and how close you want to get to close to it. The remaining money you have left per month, you should at-least try to save 50%-60% of it. Have a Tax-Free Saving Account and just continuously save each month and you will start to notice the numbers growing bigger and bigger.

That is all for today, friends.
If you’re interested in more tips, please feel free to reach out to me and let me know you’re interested in these kinds of posts.