Five on Saturday - February 24, 2024 - Maude Horton's Glorious Revenge Book Review, Activate Calgary, Polar Plunge Calgary, Calgary Zoo YYC Hot Chocolate Fest and Monthly Declutter

Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you all had a good week! It was crazy busy for me, but good! 

ONE 

The book was received as a review copy - this post contains affiliate links

Maude Horton's Glorious Revenge by Lizzie Pook is a little different than what I typically pick up - it's a historical fiction with a little murder mystery twist! We follow Maude who is trying to find out how her sister died while posing as a ship boy out at sea on an arctic expedition. We follow Maude in the current trying to track down the murderer and eventually plotting her revenge on the murderer. We also follow her sister's journal that she wrote while out at sea and it helps solve the mystery. I thought the story started out a tad slow, but really picked up and I couldn't wait to see how her revenge worked out! It was a little dark too and I enjoyed this! 4 star read for me! 

Best of 2023 ~ Top 10 Makeup Products I Tried This Year

I'm always excited to round up my MOST favourite products of the year - I always pull from any makeup that I've tried within the year whether it was released in 2023 or not, if I've tried it this year and loved it, it's in here! 

I purchased everything in this post - this post contains affiliate links

With that being said, everything I talked about on my Monthly Favourites, I still love; but, when I think of the best products of the year, I think of the ones that have been total standouts or game-changers in my routine! So, that is what I'm going to focus on for this year's Top 10 Favourites! 

Monthly Beauty and Book Haul ~ November 2023

Last year I set a monthly beauty and books budget at $200 per month and I really stuck to it! I am trying to be thoughtful in my purchases, so this has been holding me accountable for being reasonable with my spending. Since it worked so well last year, I'm really trying to do the same thing this year! 

I do always love my Monthly Haul posts - it's a good way to keep track of everything that I picked up each month. I don't always blog about everything I pick up (I try to), but if you ever spot anything in here that you really want me to talk about, let me know! 

(Also, how it turned in to December 20 and I'm just posting my November haul, but oh well!)

I purchased everything in this post

Sephora Birthday Order ~ $31.19 CAN. I ordered this lovely Makeup by Mario mini set and I picked up the Glow Recipe birthday set with a couple of free samples along with it! Perfect little order! 

November 2023 Ipsy Icon Box Unboxing

I just unboxed my October Ipsy Glambag and in that post I mentioned in that post that I re-signed up just to try out this new version of Ipsy - the Icon Box! 

I purchased everything in this post - this post contains affiliate links

The Ipsy Icon Box is a new version is a special curated box that you can upgrade to each quarter (Nov, Feb, May and Aug) and you get 8 full sized products curated by a makeup professional or celebrity worth up to $350! Each time, Ipsy will select 5 of the products for you and you get to select the other 3 products. 

Monthly Beauty Favourites - July 2023

Here's a look at what I've been loving this past month:

I purchased everything in this post - this post contains affiliate links

Pat McGrath Labs Divine Blush Legendary Glow Colour Balm Blush in Paradise Peony ~ $40.00 CAN. A multifunctional marvel that imparts a nourishing burst of radiance to lips and cheeks. This versatile formula suits a variety of skin tones, ensuring the perfect touch of color every time. Infused with hydrating actives, this must-have balm creates a glass-skin effect.

I looove this blush - you can see it in a try-on on me here! This is described as a "gel-like texture" with a buildable formula - it's a non-sticky, non-greasy, glow-boosting formula that gives a natural flush with a dewy finish of color on the cheeks! This is a super creamy soft formula and it goes on super smooth - just swipe on and blend out. It's great because it can be blended out for a really light flush or built up for a bright amount of colour - I've used this with a tiny powder blush over top as well and it's great every where!