The Body Shop Fuji Green Tea Collection Review

Hello, good people! Back in May, I was gifted a set from The Body Shop for my birthday. I've been meaning to write a review on it for ages and haven't had the time, but I'm finally getting around to it!

I'll try to keep it short and sweet, so enjoy!

These are a few of the products from the Fuji Green Tea collection at The Body Shop. Every product in the Fuji Green tea line has the same, gorgeous scent. It's described on The Body Shop's website as 'the perfect blend of green tea, bergamot, lemon and mandarin top notes with a floral heart of camellia, jasmine and violet'. Really, all I smell is citrus and something really fresh. It's the perfect summery scent! Anyway, let's talk about the products, shall we?

Fuji Green Tea Bath Tea and Infuser $20.00/$6.00

I love this stuff! It's literally like a tea bag for your bathtub. It's made of a mixture of green tea, salt and aloe vera. I'm not sure if it actually does much for you, but it's a great concept! It's super relaxing and it turns your bath water slightly green. And it smells delightful!

Fuji Green Tea Exfoliating Soap $6.00

This is just a nice bar of soap. It lathers up nicely, doesn't leave residue, and gives you a nice exfoliation. I'm personally not a big fan of bar soaps, but I wouldn't complain if I had to use this. I'd recommend using this more as a body soap rather than a hand soap, for exfoliation purposes. It doesn't exfoliate very well on tiny surfaces like hands.

Fuji Green Tea Body Butter (200ml) $21.00

This body butter is a toss up for me. It's a great consistency and very easy to work into the skin. It smells great and feels great for the first hour you have it on, but it doesn't last. It'd be perfect for someone who takes daily showers and doesn't need their body moisturizers to last multiple days. Although it's called a 'body butter' I don't think I'd use this in the wintertime. Definitely not worth $21.00. You can find less expensive, better working moisturizers for half of the price!

Overall, I'd give these products a 8 out of 10. I liked them, but I wouldn't buy them with my own money. However, I would buy a candle if it had the same scent as this product line!

I hope you enjoyed today's blog post! Whether you came for the pictures or the review, I'm glad you're here. See you next time!
Jordan x

Jatt Road Trip #2

Hello, friends! Are you ready for Jatt Road Trip 2.0? That's right, Matthew and I went on another day-long adventure to an unfamiliar city and I'm here to tell you all about it.

On Augst 3rd, Matt and I set out for Chicago. We were on the road by 8:45am. For breakfast, I had my leftover stir fry from the night before, and it was delicious.

We stopped at the gas station to fuel up and have a stretch, even though we had only been in the car for 10 minutes. Driving's exhausting! Also, Matt got a bacon and egg croissant sandwich.

After a faulty address was given to us to the train station in Kenosha, WI (thanks, Google), we ended up stranded in the middle of a rich neighborhood. We drove around aimlessly trying to find our way out of the neighborhood when Matt saw a great view in the distance that he wanted to look at.

When we got to the train station, we were greeted by a whole new set of problems. Long story short, I horribly mixed up the train schedules with those of another train system we were looking at, and it turned out that the next train wasn't coming for another 4 hours.

We couldn't possibly wait that long for another train, so we made the decision to drive into Chicago ourselves.

First stop, Starbucks. Matt got a mocha frappe and I got an iced cafe mocha!

#BathroomOOTD

We left Starbucks on a hunt to find the Willis Tower! It was the first (and only) item on Matt's list of stuff to see in Chicago.

With the help of a nice homeless man, we found it! Matt made me take a picture in front of the globe.

After a 2-hour wait and a 9-minute-long video about the building, we were welcomed to "Iconic Chicago".

I really need to brush my hair.

Not the best quality picture but LOOK! We're standing on GLASS!

To end our day in Chicago, we went out for dinner at an Italian restaurant called Trattoria Isabella. It was a very strange restaurant. We were the only people in the whole restaurant for the majority of our dinner. When we were trying to order, half of the items on the menu were discontinued as of 3 months ago; even the pizza! It's an Italian restaurant! Anyway, after multiple trials, I ordered the Risotto Primavera and Matt ordered Spaghetti Bolognese. We gave it a solid 7 out of 10.

That was the last stop we made before coming home!

Matt took this picture from the freeway on our drive back to Wisconsin. How gorgeous!

All in all, it was a good day. There were a few stressful moments and the heat didn't do us a lot of good, but we made some wonderful memories we can tell people about years down the road. It was quite the experience!

That's it for today's post. I hope you enjoyed it! Don't forget to explore, it makes life interesting.

See you soon,
Jordan x

Being Sad

Hey, folks. Recently, I've been experiencing a lot more human emotion than I'm used to. I don't know if it's the stress of having a high-intensity job, or maintaining perfect relationships, or just not having enough 'me' time, but lately I've been feeling kind of depressed. Not all of the time, but more often than usual.

Sometimes my sadness comes out of nowhere, and other times it's brought on by things like exhaustion, anxiety, and even anger. (All of those emotions are tied together for me.) Who knows, maybe it's just a 'teenager thing'. Maybe I'm spreading myself too thin, or maybe I rely too much on other people to make myself happy. Anyway, I know this is something that a lot of people struggle with, so I thought I'd make a list of all the things one could do to make themselves happy again. Enjoy!

Before I start, I think it should be noted that it is okay to be sad. Sadness isn't something you should feel like you have to repress in order to look 'strong' or to keep the people around you from feeling uncomfortable. Sadness is a normal, naturally-occurring emotion, and if something happened in your life to make you feel sad, you have all the right in the world to sulk around for a while.

Anyway, let's get started!

Step 1:

Get Angry. Or Cry.

You're never going to get over the issue unless you address the issue. Don't let it bubble up inside of you. If it's human-induced sadness, confront the person that's making you feel like crap and tell them how it makes you feel. Yell about it; preferably not to them. If you completely skipped the feeling of anger and went straight to being sad, let your tear ducts do the talking. Whether you're screaming into your pillow or crying a river, just let it all out.

Step 2:

Clean Something

I always find that a clear space makes for a clear head. Organize your room, clean out your desk drawers, rearrange your closet, your desk, your pantry, or whichever part of your house/workplace you are exposed to the most. Bring a little order back into your life!

Step 3:

Keep Busy

This one is 100% fail proof. Whenever I'm in a bad mood and I go to work, I become so consumed with my job that I completely forget what's going on in the outside world. I'm constantly running around and thinking about other, more productive things. If you don't have a job, go on a mission for something. Find a recipe online, go to the shops, get the ingredients, and make it. Find a crafty DIY on Pinterest and give it a go! And when it doubt, just binge on your favorite TV show. Anything to get your mind off of the current situation.

Step 4:

Take a Shower (or Bath)

This might just be a placebo, but a lot of the times when you're sad, all you need is a little refresher. Showers/baths are both refreshing and relaxing and give you a chance to clean your mind. They also make you look and smell a little better which will hopefully boost your self confidence.

Step 5:

Go Somewhere

Get out of the house! Go see a movie! Take a trip to the drugstore! Eat some ice cream!

Step 6:

Play With An Animal

Most likely when you're sad, you will try to avoid all human contact. That doesn't say anything about animals! I know whenever I snuggle with Moose (my dog), all is right in the world. He is so precious.'

Step 7:

Think About the Good Stuff

Yes, you may be having a bad day, but that doesn't mean there weren't a couple good things sprinkled in here and there. Take a minute to remind yourself of the little things that made you smile or laugh during the day. Maybe someone held open a door for you, or said something nice. Maybe you got tipped for doing a good job, or someone clumsily fell down and it made you laugh. 

Those are all of the tips I have on how to not be sad. I hope this has helped you out! If you have any other tips or suggestions, leave them in the comments section below!

Have a good day, and just be happy.

Jordan x

Cruelty Free NYX Beauty Haul

Hello, buddies! Up until a few weeks ago, I was in desperate need of some new makeup products. My mascara was getting dry and clumpy, my concealer was over a year old, and my angled brush was getting less and less angled every day. I decided it was time to go to Ulta and pick out some new products!

As you know, I am trying to keep my life as animal-friendly as possible, so I made sure I bought makeup that was 100% cruelty-free. Also, NYX was having a 40% off sale. It's like it was meant to be!

Here are a few bits and bobs I got on my hunt and what I think of them. Enjoy!

The first thing I purchased was a new concealer; the NYX Hi Definition Photo Concealer Wand, to be exact. The last concealer I had, I got in (approximately) January of 2014. It was also a NYX Concealer Wand, and although it was good at its job, it was way too light for me. And, it was over a year old.

I got it in the shade CW10. Even though I have yellow undertones to my skin, it is still quite yellow on me. That being said, it works wonders at covering dark undereyes by counteracting the purple. It dries to a dewy finish.

Oh, and it's cruelty free!

When in Ulta, I also picked up a new mascara. This is the Le Frou Frou, lengthening and voluminizing mascara. To be honest, I don't think it gives much volume to the lashes. It simply lengthens without any clumpage.

The mascara wand is designed for minimal wastage. In the picture, it looks like there is no product on the brush but there really is! It is extremely hard to get too much product on the brush. This makes for a very light application.

Also cruelty free.

Finally, I picked up the cutest little makeup brush you've ever seen! This is the NYX Angle Liner Brush. If you are viewing this on a computer, yes, this is its actual size.

The brush is extremely thin width-wise and has a much sharper edge than my ELF angled brush. This makes for a more precise line. I find that this brush is not the best for actually filling in the brows, because the brush is so dense that it ends up taking off the product in the places you apply it. My eyebrow routine now is to fill in my eyebrows with the slightly fluffier ELF brush and finish off the edges with the NYX brush. This makes for a more natural brow in the middle and a more precise brow around the edges.

This is what the products look like on my face! I probably should've taken a 'before' picture. I used the concealer under my eyes and on my T-zone. (You can probably figure out where I put everything else!) Overall, I am very impressed with these products and I'd buy them all again!

I hope you enjoyed this blog post, and I'll see you all next time for a post about Jatt Road Trip #2. Stay tuned!

Until then,

Jordan x