About
My name is Mikayla! I'm a 22 year old University Graduate with a passion for all things beauty. I stumbled into the online beauty community a year ago and have been obsessed with youtube videos and blogs ever since. After watching hundreds of videos over the past year I figured it was about time I joined the community and posted my own thoughts in my own little space. I'm also recently graduated, unemployed and headed for college in September.
I really enjoy all things beauty, and I really like telling my friends what I think about products so writing them down just felt natural. To me, make up isn't something that you wear to make yourself look prettier, it's something you do on yourself for yourself. It has the power to give you strength to tackle a rough day, the courage to find your inner confidence and sparkle like every girl is meant too.
Other than beauty, I love fashion. Beauty and Fashion are the keys to my heart, along with a great deal. I'm all about a decent deal, and budget shopping is my favourite.
I can't wait to start this journey with the internet and all of you!
Disclaimer
Just a general disclaimer:
I am not a professional makeup artist, I am completely self taught, any posts on beauty products are purely personal opinion and should not be taken as fact.
Beauty items shown on this blog are purchased by myself, or as a gift from family members.
Any and all reviews on products are based on my opinions alone.
Tuesday, 21 April 2015
If you've read my blog before, I've mentioned how I have been focusing more on eating right and going to the gym. No specific reason, just because, health and stuff. While I was in school smoothies were my favourite replacement for a traditional breakfast, and because I take waaayy too much time getting ready in the morning an easy smoothie as I head out the door is best.
All I throw into my smoothies are:
- Frozen Fruit (Strawberry/Blueberry is my current one)
- 1 container of individual Vanilla Activia Yogurt
- 1 cup almond milk
I blend it all together and love it, I stopped using protein powder in my smoothies when I realized that skipping a day of smoothies with it resulted in migraines and no one likes those
Do you make smoothies? What do you put in them!?
Labels: health, lifestyle, smoothies
Saturday, 7 March 2015
For the month of March I know we are already a week in! I have taken to pinterest for some inspiration. Below are some of the things that are inspiring me this month!
What inspires you this month?
Labels: bblogger, fashion, inspiration, lifestyle, pinterest
Wednesday, 25 February 2015
I've discovered that the gym really is a great stress reliever. The workout playlist I have on my iPod, I have the classic- and really enjoy being tuned out from my cellphone for an hour has 52 songs, the equivalent to 3 hours- I usually only go for about 45 minutes or so, but I like the variety.
I've compiled a list of my 10 favourite songs to workout to currently
1. Lose My Breath- Destiny's Child
2. Ready to Run- One Direction
3. Misery Business- Paramore
4. Camillo- Said The Whale
5. Black Widow- Iggy Azalea ft. Rita Ora
6. Work B*tch- Britney Spears
7. Desperate Measures- Marianas Trench
8. Wanderlust- The Weeknd
9. Don't Stop- 5 Seconds of Summer
10. Good Girls- 5 Seconds of Summer
What songs are on your workout jams playlists? Let me know in the comments!
Labels: lifestyle, music, top 10, workout jams
Friday, 20 February 2015
I remember the first time I watched The Hills, I fell immediately for the charm and confidence that is Lauren Conrad, I was 16 at the time, at 6 years later I still love everything she does.
Whenever I'm at Khols in America I insist on buying something from her line, and my favourite pieces in my closet are from her collections.
Needless to say, it was pretty much assumed that I needed to get my hands on both her Beauty and Style books, I got Beauty for Christmas this past year because it was next to impossible to find, and I got Style 2 years ago. Beauty was worth the wait! These are also the perfect books to start my coffee table book collection.
Lauren Conrad Style
Style covers Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle. The largest section of the book is dedicated to Fashion, with chapters on how to shop, to how to build your wardrobe and the art of getting dressed. From the first time I read this book, she mentions in the building your wardrobe chapter about how she would rather invest in timeless pieces or staples and spend less on trends. Since reading this one line buried in the book I have kept it in mind when I shop, and I've truly started building a wardrobe with more expensive quality staple pieces and cheaping out a little bit when it comes to seasonal trends that you know won't be around forever. I have always preferred a more classic, basic wardrobe than following trends to a T (that's expensive!!) She also talks about washing your clothes and taking care of them, and how a couple of basic pieces and create endless looks, and dress up or down an outfit. Her tips on travelling are also really good, and I should really get into the habit of reading that chapter before I start packing for a trip!
Lauren Conrad Beauty
Beauty is split into 2 sections: Prep and Play. Prep covers the importance of finding your beauty (she even shares high school pictures- that I'm sure we all wish never existed!) and covers skin and hair care, the effects of stress on your skin and even fitness and food which as I work on bettering my eating habits and drinking more water I see how this actually works! Play focuses more on application tips, her guide to her signature winged eyeliner I seriously will never be able to figure out how to wing my eyeliner daily hair and makeup and dressing it up a little more for party hair and makeup. She even has a bit of nails in there!
Overall, I really like these books, and cannot wait until I have my own place where they can be stacked on a coffee table, or vanity.Labels: bblogger, beauty, Book Review, fashion, Lauren Conrad, lifestyle, Style
Wednesday, 11 February 2015
For one of my New Years Goals, I wanted to drink more water. In the past I have never been a drinker, like a frequent water consuming individual. I remember my mom and all my family members telling me that if I drank more water, I would feel better, my skin would be nicer and I would be less hungry.
I can honestly say that since January my water intake has probably tripled from my previous habits, and I do feel a lot better, and my skin has been nicer, softer and less grey looking. However, one of the reasons why I never really liked drinking a lot of water is because it's well, bland. There is no taste and that is annoying, but I also don't like Crystal Light because there isn't enough flavour, it's either juice or water for me, nothing in between. This is slowly changing
Here are my tips for drinking more water:
Make a competition out of it my sister and I have the same cups and we challenge each other call it sibling rivalry to see who can drink the most water, I usually have between 3 and 4 of these a day, and we tally it up at dinner every night. Tapping into our competitive natures has really helped, because I cannot lose to my sister.
Have a nice cup having a cup that I want to carry around with me, and is pretty helps because I'm more likely to remember it, I rotate between this one and one that actually shuts so it fits into my backpack (they fit the same amount of water so it follows the rules of the daily competition). On top of it being pretty, it's environmentally friendly which is a large bonus as well, and you can fill it up anywhere.
Add something to it in the summer nothing is better than some lemon in your water, but for some reason I don't ever feel like it in the winter. I have also discovered the Arbonne Essentials Energy Fizz Tabs that my friend sells, they are caffeine replacements, and are supposed to help you focus better, each tube comes with 10 tabs that you can break in half, and adding one to your water gives it a small amount of carbonation, a bit of flavour (the ones I have are pomegranate) and just spice up your water a little bit.Labels: arbonne, drink more water, lifestyle, starbucks
Sunday, 8 February 2015
As part of my blogging goals, I'm going to try and remember to do a monthly favourites!
For the month of January I have been loving:
Too Faced Cocoa Powder Foundation I have been loving this foundation for the entire month, and have used it every day, to set my concealer and I love that it doesn't overshadow my freckles, check out a post I did on this powder
here
Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette This month I have been using this palette almost exclusively, the taupes of the collection work perfectly with my skin tone, but it's also great for quick looks, Urban Decay is my favourite company for palettes just because of this one.
Starlooks Bare Lip liner and MAC Viva Glam V I have been wearing this a lot in January as well, the effect is very Kylie Jenner.
Amie Moisturizer I had a bad month for my skin, I used a product or two that left the skin around my eyes and down my t-zone very dry, almost burnt, and this moisturizer saved it. I stopped using the bad products and did nothing to my skin except use this moisturizer morning and night for days and it healed my skin right up, I love that it is so gentle and so moisturizing.
Nume 5 in 1 curling wand set I got this for christmas, and it has 5 different sizes and styles of curling barrels, I have used this frequently during the month, mostly the 32mm and the 25mm barrels. I plan on doing a whole post on this set in the coming months.
Netflix Show: Archer I was recommended this show by a friend at the end of the month and I love it. It is animated and the content is more adult, but the show is hilarious (very dry humour).
What have you been loving this month?
Labels: bblogger, beauty, favourites, lifestyle
Wednesday, 4 February 2015
I can't believe it's been a week since I have posted, school has been picking up with 3 midterms this week and 2 the following week. I have my favourites all picked out for the month of January, I just have to take the photos, so check back on friday for the things I have been loving for the month of January!
I have created an inspiration board on my pinterest profile for things that I find inspiring and pick my favourites every month! For me inspiration can come from an outfit, hairstyle or DIY, to a place quote or tip post.
What things are inspiring you this month?
Labels: bblogger, inspiration, inspire, lifestyle, pinspiration
Saturday, 31 January 2015
At the end of April I will have been in school 19 of my (soon to be) 23 years. That's a long time! And currently I'm seriously lacking in some motivation. As I am in my final semester (and then a placement) I'm both absolutely terrified of truly becoming a grown up, being responsible for bills and jobs etc. and very excited to be done school.
The past week or so has been bad for motivation, which is perfect for my first round of tests next week. I've been making excuses for myself, saying that tomorrow I will be productive, tomorrow I'll start this and so on, and watching a lot of Netflix. But I was having a talk with my grandpa about my lack of motivation which I feel I should point out is very unlike me, I've always been a very on the go type person and he compared it to running a race, you start out strong and then a couple kilometres down the way you get a stitch in your side and you have to pause for a couple minutes before you can keep going.
My grandpa who I believe is a secret genius told me to just take a couple days and reset myself.
Some of my tips for keeping up your motivation:
* Take a day or two to just focus on you, do a face mask, binge watch a season on Netflix, do whatever you like to clear your head
* Remind yourself why you're doing what you're doing.
* Spend a minute to reorganize yourself- get everything back on track I find this is when I lose my motivation- when things get off track I just continue to let them
* Break down your to-do list into small tasks that can be easily accomplished
* Get lots of sleep
* Reward yourself (the binge watching a season of something on Netflix applies here too)
What ways do you re-motivate yourself?
Labels: lifestyle
Wednesday, 28 January 2015
I feel like I've finally gotten my bedroom organized and the way I like it and thought I would share it with you guys!
I moved in with my grandparents in May, and they gave me freedom to paint the walls and decorate the room to my tastes (which after 4 years of moving annually- the freedom to paint walls was nice!) My room is a pale blue colour, and decorated with white furniture and red and grey splashes. Red and Grey are my favourite colour combination! Since I'm currently a student, my room doubles as my work space- which has its benefits and downfalls such as why do homework when you can watch netflix is bed- it's right there!
I have a really deep fascination and love of all things British, which is evident in my picture on my wall and telephone booth bank, and my appreciation for black and white photographs with red accents is also noticeable, overall I'm really happy with how my room is set up!
Labels: bedroom, british, inside my room, lifestyle
Thursday, 15 January 2015
For around 2 years I've suffered from Migraines. Migraines are a common NeuroVascular Disorder, and are a chronic condition which are essentially very strong headaches that can last hours to days. The worst Migraine I've had lasted well over a week, and the best way to describe it is like someone is trying to crush your brain- like you would a pop can.
Migraines are usually accompanied by an aura, a feeling of "I'm about to experience the worst pain in my head imaginable", mine usually come with trouble focusing, a feeling of being fuzzy, and seeing little white spots- the issue is that the aura only lasts for under an hour- mine range from 10-15 minutes, meaning if I don't get to a dark room and take my medicine now, we are in for a long night.
Last night I've had my worst migraine in months, I felt the aura around 6:20 and took my medicine (it's a dissolvable pill that I was prescribed by my doctor) at 6:30 when I got home, and I went to my dark bedroom at 7:20. By midnight it was back with a vengeance and the pressure was so bad in my head that I couldn't rest my head on the pillow.
Ever since I was a child I've gotten headaches thanks mom for those genes and they slowly have progressed to migraines. Migraines usually come about because you have come into contact with some kind of trigger this is a period of trial and error where you think of everything you ate or came into contact with or did out of the norm that could cause it.
My triggers are: aspartame, barometric pressure (i.e when it goes from 4 degrees to -10 over night), nitrates found in processed foods- when eaten in excess and not wearing my reading glasses while staring at my laptop/textbooks for too long.
Since my mom and I both deal with full blown migraines we've gotten some pretty good tips on how to deal with them when medicine won't cut it, like placing a cold damp facecloth over your eyes and nose the cold air helps placing a cold damp facecloth at the base of your neck, laying in a dark room, avoiding all stimulation from computers, televisions and cell phones, and sleep.
Once the migraine subsides you feel almost hung over- like you're in a fog for the next day or so, today I feel very hungover.
Do any of you deal with migraines? How do you deal with them?
Labels: bblogger, lifestyle, migraines
Saturday, 3 January 2015
First, Happy New Year (yes I'm aware this is a couple days late!)
2014 was a great year for me, I graduated University (yup, I have a degree) and started a post-grad program at a great college. I moved in with my grandparents, spent the summer in Vancouver BC, I started this blog.
Starting this blog was a big thing for me, I've always been a worrier, especially about what people thought of me (those dreams of showing up in your underwear are seriously a big fear for me), and starting northernjoli has helped me deal with the fact that I shouldn't be crippled with this fear. In the months that I've been working on this blog, I've told my parents, a few close friends, and my family, who have all been incredibly supportive of a small space of the internet I want to fill with things that I like, and things that I do.
For 2015 my goals (resolutions are too cliched, and I usually break them January 2nd) are to continue to grow and challenge my anxieties, to work harder on my blog and post more consistently but never sacrifice quality for quantity, to be more organized, and finally to be happier.
Starting 2015 with a brand new blog design doesn't hurt either! Thanks
EllaStreet!
What are some of your goals for 2015!?
<3
Labels: 2015, bblogger, beauty, fashion, lifestyle, new year
Wednesday, 17 December 2014
Today I am reunited with my parents. I go to school in Ontario while my parents are currently in British Columbia (4,500 kilometres away) because of my dads job. We haven't seen each other since my sister and I left in August and we are very excited to be together for Christmas!
Canada is a very large country, it's takes around 5 hours to travel from where we live in Ontario to BC by airplane (10 days by car fyi).
To survive a flight for 5 hours I like to have:
A book I'm currently reading Philippa Gregory's The King's Curse
iPad Mini
iPod Classic (This thing did not leave my hand)
Hand Sanitizer GERMS
Hand Cream airplanes are dry!
Lip Balm I had the Sugar Rose by Fresh
A granola bar, they give you snacks, but sometimes they aren't very good
My flight was really early in the morning and I wound up sleeping for the majority of the flight.
When you travel, what are some of your carry-on essentials? Let me know in the comments!
Labels: carry on, lifestyle, Travel
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