Love, Life & Beauty After Fifty

Back at the beginning of May (May 9th to be exact), I embarked on a "Fit for Disney" journey.  Fast forward just over a month and here are my results: Did I lose any weight? Sadly, no - in fact I actually gained a couple pounds - granted I didn't change my eating at all while using the products. What do I think of the products? First the Women's Lifestyle Capsules This is your standard B-complex vitamin with added Minerals, Plant Extracts, Anti-oxidants, Enzymes, Pro-Biotics, and Amino Acids.  A box of 30 envelopes, each containing 2 capsules is $74 USD.   I had no adverse reactions from these vitamins but didn't feel they did anything special. Next is the Lifestyle DFT-DUO patches.  There are 30 patches in a package and each patch splits into 2 patches - one for your left side, one for your right.  Ingredients are listed below: I honestly didn't see any advantage using these patches, and often found my skin would itch after removing (you are...

Like all mental illnesses, social anxiety isn’t the easiest of conditions to understand. That goes for the people who live with it every day so it’s little wonder that those with no experience of its struggle to get their heads around it. I am not sure why I suffer from social anxiety and can’t even pinpoint when it started. I certainly don’t fully know what the triggers are and why on some days I feel confident as hell and on others, I can’t even leave the house. But there are some things that I do know and, with the knowledge that I am not alone, here are 15 things people who experience social anxiety need you to understand. 1. We’re not rude We can certainly be construed as such – and I have found myself on many occasions kicking myself for accidentally coming across this way. Incidentally, the fear that we are offending people can exacerbate the anxiety that has caused us to go into our shells in the first place but being quiet, not responding to calls or declining invites isn...

It's been a few years since I've traveled to Disney (Disney World in particular) but this July I will be visiting Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure Parks for the first time while I am attending a conference in Anaheim. I have been a little lax in my exercise routine over the past little while (OK, I admit I haven't been exercising all that much) and as such, I have put on a bit of weight.  Ultimately I would like to lose about 20-25 pounds before I leave for Anaheim, however, I have a problem with food. Over the past few months I have been trying to follow the Keto diet, but unfortunately, my love for carbs is something I am finding very hard to give up.  I love my bread, pasta and rice just too much. The other day I got on the scale and was shocked that I gained almost 10 pounds since I jumped on the Keto bandwagon in December 2017.  I admit I haven't followed the Keto diet as closely as I should have (yes those darn carbs get me every time) but I ...

Yes, I admit it ... I snore ... quite loudly for a little person.  I'm not proud of it, but there, I said it. As I'm getting older, it seems my snoring is sadly getting worse.  A lot probably has to do with my overbite, and of course, we snore more as we get older because our muscles become increasingly slack with age. In an effort to combat my snoring and get a better nights sleep (and give my husband a better night sleep) I decided to look into a mandibular advancement device.  I did some research and decided on the VitalSleep Anti-Snoring Mouthguard because of its ability to be adjusted using two screws, plus the option to choose one specifically made for women.  I should also mention that along with my overbite, my teeth are not exactly straight which influenced my choice in deciding what to purchase. The cost of this MAD wasn't cheap - $59.95 US plus shipping - but if it worked, I was willing to shell out the money, so I ordered one directly from their w...

I was one of the lucky ladies chosen to review the new Nude by Nature line here in Canada through Chick Advisor Included in my package were: 1) Nude by Nature Radiant Loose Powder Foundation 2) Nude by Nature Perfecting Primer 3) Nude by Nature Mineral Brush #11 Let's get down to the review: 1) Nude by Nature Radiant Loose Powder Foundation I have previously used powder mineral foundations and was excited to try the Nude by Nature one. The powder comes in a nice clear tub with an interesting mesh sifter. It was hard to pick a color without actually seeing the powders in person but the color I chose matched my skin tone closely enough. That's where the good ends. My main priorities for a mineral powder makeup is that gives my skin a healthy look and they do not look cakey. Unfortunately this one failed. Nude by Nature made my mature skin look really bad, it seemed to accentuate lines and wrinkles I did not know that I had. I looked like I aged a few years i...

I love my Beauty Blender ... I really do ... It is my preferred method of applying foundation or BB Creams. Enter the L'Oreal Blend Artist Infallible Foundation Blender - which I saw in the beauty section at WalMart.  It was half the price 😮 I was intrigued so I decided to buy it and give it a whirl. The next morning, I excitedly opened the package.  The sponge was, dare I say, even softer than my beloved Beauty Blender.   I ran the sponge under the faucet.  First thing I noticed is that it soaked up a lot more water (and I do mean a lot more) than the Beauty Blender.   After squeezing out as much water as I could, I went to work applying my BB Cream.  I must say, it applied the BB Cream wonderfully - and the sponge felt oh so soft on my skin. For the next week, I put aside my Beauty Blender and used the L'Oreal sponge exclusively.   Pros: - about 1/2 the price of the Beauty Blender - incredibly soft on the...

I admit, am a sucker for a good sale and even more of a sucker for Sephora's bi-annual VIB sale. So what did I purchase from the most recent Sephora VIB sale? This Caudalie Anti-aging trio was one I've had my eye on for some time.  I had been wanting to try these products but couldn't justify paying the expensive prices for each individual product.  This set is perfect.  This set contains: - 0.5 oz/ 15 mL Premier Cru The Eye Cream - 0.33 oz/ 10 mL Premier Cru The Elixir - 0.5 oz/ 15 mL Premier Cru The Cream My second purchase was another gift set I had my eye on - the Josie Maran Whipped Argan Oil Body Butter set. Winter has arrived early here in Western Canada, so am looking forward to trying these. This set contains: - 8 fl. oz/ 240 mL Whipped Argan Oil Body Butter in Vanilla Apricot - 2 fl. oz/ 59 mL Whipped Argan Oil Body Butter in Lavender Citrus - 2 fl. oz/ 59 mL Whipped Argan Oil Body Butter in Vanilla Pine The third set I purchased was t...

This past Halloween, I was asked a question by an astute little trick or treater who appeared at my door.  "Why does your dog have two different colored eyes?" she asked. I explained to the little girl, who was dressed as a bunny, that I thought it was all that God had in his parts bin the day he created him.  The little bunny looked at me and smiled, commenting with a pleased "Oh that's cool" - and off she went down the driveway. The official definition of heterochromia iridis is that it is a condition characterized by abnormalities of the iris (the colored part of the eye). In those affected by complete heterochromia, the iris of one eye is a different color than the iris of the other eye. Seen more often in dogs, cats and horses, it is a condition that may be present in humans as well, though not as often. There are a few legends floating around about dogs with two different color eyes. One myth says that dogs with two different color eyes can view...

I need to take a minute to apologize for being absent and not posting over the last couple of months.  Sadly life got in the way of my blog, which happens to us as adults occasionally 😐 But now that everything has been taken care of and things are back to normal - somewhat - you will see regular posts from me again. My apologies

I ordered this online from Sephora and when the package arrived, I was a bit shocked at the small size of the packaging. For $10 CDN I was expecting something larger - the package was smaller than my hand 😕 Saying that, I do like how the mask is packaged. It was very easy to open and squeeze out, and because of the screw on cap, it seals back up nicely. I love masks, but hate having to dig into a jar to get out the mask.  The resealable packaging is really smart and the nozzle makes it perfect to get out the right amount As for the mask itself, it had a nice, pleasant scent, was non-irritating and didn't dry my skin out. The one I chose was the detoxifying and oxygenating as my skin had been a bit congested over the last couple of weeks. I applied the mask by squeezing a bit onto a flat foundation brush which worked well to spread the mask on my face. I let it sit for 15 minutes, then removed it with warm water. It removed quite easily and my skin felt great after. It doesn...

If you've been following my blog, you'll remember that back at the beginning of May, I decided I wanted to do a couple DNA tests to see if I could determine where my ancestors immigrated from on my Mom's side of the family (you can check out that blog here ) I ordered two tests - one from Ancestry DNA and one from MyHeritage DNA - and you'll also remember that I had some issues with the MyHeritage DNA test, so chose to do a third test through 23andMe (you can check out that blog here ) Now onto my 23andMe DNA results (I will be doing a comparison of ethnicity percentages from both Ancestry and 23andMe in a future blog) The 99% European can be further broken down: The other 1% is a mishmash of ethnicities - which according to 23andMe goes back 8+ generations: With the 23andMe test, you can trace your Ancestry Timeline which outlines how many generations ago your most recent ancestor for each population was from: 23andMe delves furt...

Save your money ... I purchased the new Veet Sensitive Precision Styler in hopes of taming my unruly brows.  I first tried trimming my brows and while it did do a good job of trimming them, when it came time to shape the brows, it really was useless as the blade (even as small as it is) doesn't work well on curved areas.  Major fail ... Sadly I ended up just plucking as I usually do. I did try the larger blade side on my baby fine facial hairs, as well as my upper lip and it did work well for those areas, but you can easily shave your face with a plain razor, so save your money. Would I recommend the Veet Sensitive Precision Styler? If all you are looking for is something to shave your face - minus shaping your brows - then it does well for that task, but as I said earlier, save your money and just use a regular razor.  It definitely does not work for shaping your brows, but does work for trimming - something else you can do with an eyebrow comb and a pair of s...

A few months ago, I looked in the mirror and saw some grandmotherly-looking woman looking back at me. Yikes! Where did she come from? I realized that it was probably too late, but I decided I wouldn't go down without a fight. I wanted a good Retinol Serum for my sensitive, post-menopausal skin that is also prone to breakouts and after doing much research online, I came across Paula's Choice Resist Intensive Wrinkle Repair Retinol Serum and thought I'd give it a try. The serum feels greasy going on, but when combined with a good moisturizer, it does eventually soak into the skin.  Because I have sensitive skin, I have only been using this once a week at night.   And because I've only been using it once a week, I haven't really noticed my dark spots or wrinkles disappearing, but my skin does seem to feel and look better a few days after using the serum.   I will be increasing my use of this serum to every other evening to see if more frequent use will help...

I have been using the Arbonne RE9 line for a while now and absolutely love this cleanser. It is on the pricey side, but you only use a pea size amount to clean your entire face. I should mention that I rarely wear a full face of make-up so a bottle lasts me a couple months using just at night. According to the Arbonne website, youthful-looking skin starts with clean skin. This pearlescent crème formula creates a light foam to gently wash away makeup and impurities. With an added plant-derived moisturizer, you can bet on starting your day with a refreshed, hydrated canvas. The formula contains a few interesting ingredients, such as plant extracts and vitamins that can be beneficial as anti-irritants for the skin. The scent of this cleanser is a lovely citrus and it cleanses my skin nicely and leaves my skin feeling so soft and hydrated after use. Would I recommend Arbonne's RE9 Advanced Regenerating Toner? I really like this cleanser.  Yes it is a bit on...

I was never one to use toners in my daily skincare routine, however, when I started using the Arbonne RE9 line, I thought I'd give it a try. According to the Arbonne website, a quick misting of this antioxidant-rich, pH-balanced toner refreshes skin and prepares it for the next step — firming and lifting skin’s appearance. Arbonne's instructions say to spray directly on the face, but to me, this seems a bit odd as with most toners you are to pour them onto a cotton pad and wipe your face. After trying the spray thing (which didn't work for me), I started spraying it onto a cotton pad and wiping my face which seemed to go much better. The toner has a fruity, but also slightly chemical scent, but it is still quite pleasant and does disappear almost instantly once absorbed into the skin. It removes any leftover make-up that the Arbonne cleanser didn't. Would I recommend Arbonne's RE9 Advanced Regenerating Toner? Overall I think it isn't hurting my skin....

I have been eyeing the Urban Decay Naked Ultimate Basics palette for some time and finally decided to bite the bullet and pick one up. The palette contains 12 matte eyeshadows in a variety of cool and warm neutral shades. I've always liked Urban Decay eyeshadows and I did like the color range provided in this palette. Upon application, they are well pigmented, however I found the lighter shades to be a bit chalky while the other shades didn’t give me that problem.  As for longevity,I found the shadows lasted all day and didn't seem to fade or turn muddy (yay).   Would I recommend the UD Naked Ultimate Basics Palette? Overall I think this is a pretty good matte palette for those of us who either don't want to, or can't wear shimmery eyeshadow shades.  While the majority of the shades have great pigment, my only wish is for the lighter shades to be a bit less chalky. My rating :  3.5 out of 5 * This is not a sponsored blog. All opinions are genuine...

What is it? FabFitFun is a seasonal lifestyle, wellness, fitness and fashion subscription box. 4x a year you will be sent a seasonal box. Each box is limited edition and contains $200+ (US) in retail value. Boxes are shipped in March, June, September, and December. What is included? All of the boxes contain 7-10 full sized items worth $200+, Members are able to choose add-ons from some of the most-loved products from past boxes and some new things that can be included with your box order (discounted up to 70% off!). You have to be a FabFitFun member in order to select add-ons, and they are only available for a limited time prior to billing. As an annual subscriber, you will have the opportunity to customize your FabFitFun box before it ships. You will be able to personalize certain items in the box such as what color of a certain item you'd like to receive based on the options that season. Annual Members also enjoy early shipping. This means boxes are shipped within 7-10 bu...