Fitness Inspiration: You're an adult.

When you think you can't run another kilometer.  When your body says it can't finish those last 5 reps.  When all you want to do is give up and walk away...remind yourself of this:


You can do ANYTHING you put your mind to. Yes, that little girl has a father who disciplines her and pushes her past her limits (some of us pay thousands of dollars for motivation like that)...but we are adults.  We know exactly what we've got to do and each and everyone one of us are capable of doing it.  
Train your mind to train your body. 

I will if you will.

- Anjali oxoxo

Naughty & FUN: WIN 2 Tickets to #VAINvalentine, Feb 7th, Toronto

This giveaway is now closed.

Looking for some Valentine's Day inspiration?  I've got your fix.  The kick-ass ladies at The Vanity Events are putting on another fabulous event in Toronto.  On Tuesday, February 7th, check out  

The VAINvalentine

This will be an evening of 'naughty shopping', networking and socializing at Brassaii on King Street West. 

A truly unique and ‘naughty’, shopping and social event – THE VAINvalentine will cater to those looking to spice up their Valentine’s day – for both singles and couples. A mix of select ‘naughty and fun’ experts, speakers, vendors and sponsors – THE VAINvalentine will bring a unique, glam and interactive social experience for everyone.

Indulge in a few cocktails and a few yummy hor d’oeuvres and get some great ideas for a sexy valentine’s gift for yourself or your special significant other. And no VANITY EVENT is complete without beauty – learn how to get that ‘bedroom-look’ and get the tips on how to sexify yourself with the help of our beauty experts. And of course, no one leaves empty-handed from a VANITY EVENT – there will be some amazingly naughty and fun giveaways and gift bags!

Bring your girlfriends for a fun girls night, or bring your man for a sneak peek of the big day ;)

It's an event for everyone - I'm more than single and I'll definitely be there!

Regular admission is $10/person but I've got my hands on two tickets that I want to give to YOU!

How to win: 

Let's not complicate things.  Just leave a comment below telling me your Valentine's Day plans (just the basics, no naughty details please!).  Please also leave an email address where I can reach you if you win. 

Gain yourself an additional entry everytime you tweet: 

This contest has been changed to a Twitter contest:

Hey @anjali_handa & @ImSoVainTO, I want to be naughty & fun with #VAINvalentine tickets!

 

A winner will be selected by random on Sunday, January 29th, 2012.  

Please enter only once on the blog.  You may tweet as much as you like :)

Good luck chicas!

See you on the 7th ;) 

- Anjali 

xoxoxo

Marcelle brings BB Cream to Canada!

Even if you haven't heard the hype around this yet, you should be excited.  One of my favourite Canadian skincare brands, Marcelle launched a new BB Cream to be availaible in stores starting February 6th!

*E-X-C-I-T-E-D*

For those who don't know:  What the heck is a BB Cream?

BB means Beauty Balm but may also be referred to as "Blemish Balm", "Blemish Base" or "Beauty Base". They are said to have originated in Germany where dermatologists use it as a healing agent for post-laser-surgery patients.  BB Creams have been all the rage in Asia and are making their way across Europe and the Americas.

The Marcelle BB Cream is the first Canadian-made BB Cream to hit the market - way to go Marcelle! 

What you need to know about Marcelle BB Cream:
- This is a tinted formula that comes in two shades: Light to Medium and Medium to Dark
- Triple Action: moisturizer, tinted corrector, and make-up base all in one
- Helps to unify the complexion with SELF-ADJUSTING pigments!

The good people at Marcelle were kind enough to send me sample of the product to try out.  For reference, I'm using the Medium to Dark shade. Lately I've been moving away from using foundation and experimenting with tinted moisturizers, so when I first tried the BB Cream on Monday, I wore it on top of my regular moisturizer and finished it off with a light sweep of my regular face powder, just in the oily areas (nose, forehead & chin).   The result:

These photos were taken with my iPhone, but I think you get the picture (har har).  For someone with a few blemishes but not too much to hide, this is a perfect cream to use for coverage on its own.  Throughout the day, my skin remained matte (which is typically a challenge around mid-day for me), moisturized and had an even tone.  Given how well it stayed on my face, I see how it would be a great makeup base under a foundation, so if you have a little more to hide, use this first!

I decided to give it a try again today and found the same results:

I find that these days, any foundation or tinted moisturizer can give you excellent coverage.  What particularly interests me about Marcelle's BB Cream is the matifying power.  My skin is normal with a slight bit if oily.  Usually when I put my makeup on in the morning I need a powder touch up in the late afternoon.  With this cream (so far) no touch up is necessary.  It's genius! 

This product is oil-free and contains the following ingredients (among others):
- Vitamin E - antioxidant to protect skin
- Aloe Vera - soothes & hydrates
- Green Tea & Camomile - stimulates, reinvigorates & soothes
- Soft Focus Powders - light-reflecting, enhance complexion

So now here's the BEST NEWS YET.  The BB Cream will be available in stores starting Februrary 6th, but you can get your hands on it now! For a limited time only, you can purchase Marcelle BB Cream at regular price ($22.95) at Shop.Marcelle.com - shipping is FREE with any purchase of $25 or more.  

If you want to be a beauty trend-setter, I suggest you go order your BB Cream now :)

Let me know if you have tried it out - I'd love to compare notes!  This is definitely going to be a regular product in my "everyday tray"!

And here's a little more me from today:

Can't wait to hear from you!

- Anjali

xoxoxo

The weekend - According to my iPhone

A super cold Friday morning in Toronto:

Hey I found a new iPhone app called Pose.  Are you on it???

 Non-housewarming party at my place on Friday night:

Know these gals?  @jasbanwait @amindhillon

Photoshoot

no idea...

She's laughing at me.

 Hangover food the next day.  It used to do the trick when I was younger, but this just made me feel icky.  Could I be turning (don't say it) healthy?

Clean up after the party was a bitch.  But I love a clean apartment:

 

Dinner with my brother, sister and cousins on Saturday night.  All you can eat sushi.  Amaze.

Started this morning with something a little healthier...and it felt damn good. 

Are you on Instagram?  I'm anjali_handa - let's follow!
Hope you had a great weekend.

- Anjali
xoxoxo

Makeup Storage and Organization

Hiiiiiiii!!!!!!

The title of this post might be misleading.  I don't have a makeup storage or organization solution, I just want to talk about my lack of one.  As you might imagine, I have lots and lots and lots of makeup.  I mean LOTS.  As a result, I have three stashes: Personal Use (things I buy and use for myself), To Be Reviewed (a ridiculous amount of makeup that has been piling up and waiting for me to try it out share with you), and lastly Makeup Kit (this is everything I use in my professional kit - strictly for clients). 
When it comes to personal items, if it's not in front of me I won't use it.  This applies to many areas of my life - my work desk, my closet, my shoes...if I can't see something, I'll forget about and won't use it.  Or even worse, I'll remember it's there, but won't put the effort into retrieving it.  I like everything where I can see it, within arms reach.  Bad habit, I know.
Ironically, the makeup storage solution I use is not conducive to this trait of mine.  It basically hides everything and requires me to go digging when I need or want a product.  Not a good idea.

The dresser I have is not a dresser.  It's a bookcase that uses storage boxes (pictured below) as drawers.  So my first problem is that the majority of my personal-use makeup is in a big opaque box:

When I take the box out, this is what I see.  The contents are organized into smaller boxes and trays, but piled on top of each other:

I have separate boxes for eye makeup, lip products, blushes and bronzers and mascaras and liners.  Beacause my eyeshadow tray is the biggest (you can't see it here), in order for me to get to it, I have to take everything else out.  Not very practical.

Because I don't want to go through this process everyday, I have created an "everyday tray" on my dresser.  Actually, it sits on top of a plastic drawer set in which I keep my To Be Reviewed stash:

My Everyday Tray contains everything I use on a daily basis, including these regulars: 

I have made these my basics because 1) I adore each of these products, and 2) I don't want to go through the big box on a daily basis so I picked these out as a default.

The problem is, this solution is making my beauty routine rather boring.  I've stopped using shadows outside of the Naked Palette and have worn the same blush everyday for almost a month simply because I can't see everything else that I have.  Out of sight, out of mind.  For some people it's normal to just use one product until it runs out, but for a beauty blogger like myself (and probably you as well), this is a complete inefficiency.  I have TONS of products sitting in my big box going unused and wasting shelf life. 

I figure I need to make some kind of change.  What that change will be still needs to be determined.  I can promise myself to switch up the products in my Everyday Tray a few times a month to encourage myself to utilize the various products that I have.  I could find a new storage solution.  OR I could get over it and just take out the big box and then put it away everyday.  So far I think the first option is winning.  I could find a new solution, but I'm lacking space in this new room, so I'm not quick to jump on that wagon.

I'm interested though - how to do store your makeup?  If you're a blogger and have excessive amounts of makeup, and have written a post, leave the link the comments below - I'm always looking for ideas and inspiration!  If you're not a blogger with excessive amounts, leave a comment anyway, I'm interested to see what you've got :)

On another note, I started reading The Law of Attraction by Esther and Jerry Hicks yesterday.  Have you read it?  I have to admit, you must keep an open mind as it's a little out there.  But the message is amazing (so far.  Kobo tells me I'm 70% through it).  I want to write a full review of it when I'm done, so I'll save the details...but I can tell you that I made the conscious decision to apply positive thinking into my life and woke up feeling incredibly amazing today.

So amazing that I actually pulled out my big makeup box and dug up one of my favourite eyeshadow palettes, Cargo Essentials Palette in Bronze:

I adore this palette.  The colours are rich and always leave me feeling pretty and polished.  I thought it was appropriate to pair this with my exceptionally good mood this morning. 

It's funny how much prettier you feel when you are in a good mood.  Not that I'm usually in a bad mood, but I can't say that I wake up happy on a regular basis.  I think I am just neutral.  Today I was happy :)  I'm telling you - there's something to this power of positive thinking...let me get past the first few days (or maybe weeks) and I'll share more of that with you.

My outfit today was as pictured above.  To the right is the full view but you can't really see any colour so it's almost pointless.  Anyway, this was my look.  This was my emotion.  And this is my storage solution issue. 

I look forward to hearing your feedback.  Be amazing in the meantime :)

Love,

Anjali
xoxoxo

Checking your phone at dinner? You're paying my bill.

How often do you check your phone when you are out with people?  Over the past few months, I've found myself in many situations where most, if not all, of the people I am with are on their phones at the same time.  At first I thought it was funny, like Ah ha, look at how silly we look!, but I'm now noticing that what used to be a quick Foursquare check-in, or a fast Facebook update is taking much longer.  We're not just writing status updates anymore, our social inetiquette has evolved into checking and responding to tweets, looking at pictures, sending BBM messages and maintaining whole conversations all in the presence of real people who are meeting with us for the purpose of doing these exact things, but in person.

I took this photo in Chicago, we all sat down for a drink and look what happened!

I won't go into a rant about this, although could go on and on about all the concerns I have with it.  Instead I will propose a solution.  I was very intrigued to hear about a little game called the Phone Stack while having coffee with a few friends on Sunday...we decided to try it out. 

The Concept: Everyone stacks their phones in the middle of the table.  The goal is to keep all phones in the middle of the table, without being touched for the duration of the meeting (in our case, coffee).  The first person to reach for their phone foots the entire bill. 

I think it's brilliant.  We lasted just over an hour with our phones stacked up, staring us in the faces, alarms and notifications going off, and not touching any of them.  This little exercise made me realize just how many times I actually do reach for my phone when I'm in social situations.  There were at least two times that I felt the urge to quickly check my Twitter or my email, but with the price tag of the entire bill, I was able to hold back.  I have to congratulate our group - we managed to get through the entire date without succumbing to the temptation.  At the end we mutually decided when to "break" and ended up paying our own bills. 

I realize that some situations will warrant this kind of activity more than others, but I challenge you to try it yourself!  Just for fun, see if you can go an entire meal with a friend without checking your phone. If you are not a regular Tweeter, Blogger or FourSquare-er, you might not see this as a challenge...but if you are anything like me, you'll realize just how attached to your phone you really are.

Let me know how it goes!!!

- Anjali
xoxoxo

Bring on 2012.

I've been procrastinating writing this post for over a week now.  I feel like I must do some kind of "Reflections of 2011" or "Recap of the Year".  It's not mandatory for bloggers, nor is anyone forcing me to do it...but I know I should do one for my own sake - I strongly believe in the learning opportunities that arise out of conscious reflection and in this case, I had a lot to learn.

Lucky for you, most of my reflection is done.  I spent the last few days contemplating my feelings over the course of the year and diagnosing why exactly I am left with the thought that I was completely lost and unproductive for the majority of 2011.  I came up with one glaring issue that needs to be corrected.

Usually I have a plan - a vision for the year.  I have set goals, lists, agendas and diaries to keep me on track.  I went into 2011 lacking many of these things.  I'm not sure why.  2010 was a life-changing year (see "Reflections on 2010") and I was feeling very inspired entering 2011.  Perhaps I got too inspired and thought I had everything under control...that I'd outgrown the sacred acts of planning and reflection.  For whatever reason, I winged it - and now I have learned my lesson.

My biggest take-away from 2011 is knowing that I need to always have a clear plan.  I am not talking about constantly living my life according to a set of rules or expectations, I'm talking about setting a vision and being aware of it at all times.  My vision is allowed to change however and whenever I want it to, but the important part is to always know what it is and keep it at the core of my daily intentions.  Without a vision, I stray quickly.  I am one of those who have extremely diverse interests.  It's easy for me to start 1million-plus-one projects without finishing any of them.  I need my vision to keep me on track and remind me of what's important.  In 2011, I was not on track.

The holidays has proven to be a beneficial time for soul searching.  I decided that I know who I am today and I have a clear(er) vision of who I want to be tomorrow.  This exercise of setting a vision has made me realize where the gaps are, and what I need to do to fill them.  This relates to:

• Blogging (where I want to focus attention, how often I want to write)
• Work (what I want to be an expert it and how I can get there)
• Personal Relationships (who deserves my time, who brings me down, and what types of personalities I need more/less of)
• ...and everything else in between.

Now that I've taken some time to think about these things, I feel good.  I feel ready.  I created a vision board to remind me of what I want to achieve and who I really want to be, inside and out.  This board is hung on my wall, right beside my closet door so I will see it everyday.  I will remind myself everyday of what I want to accomplish.  I wont' share the contents of my board with you yet (while I do believe in announcing intentions and putting positive thoughts out to the universe, I also believe that talking too much about something is a surefire way of making sure it doesn't happen), but when I get to where I want to be, you'll be first to know.

I procrastinated this post for so long because I didn't want to write about all the things I didn't do in 2011.  But now I am glad I wrote it.  It's  taken a positive spin as I look forward onto 2012 instead of dwelling on the year past.

I will end this post with a glimpse of what my holidays looked like...

Healthy lifestyle reading.

Drank my problems away...with tea ;)

Snuggles, contemplation, snuggles.

Registered for the Sporting Life 10km run on May 13th, received a free $50 gift card :)

It was a good holiday season for me.  I am so glad to be back on track and am looking forward to making things happen in 2012!  Hope you'll join me for the ride :)

All the best for a wonderful, productive, inspiring year!

- Anjali
xoxoxo