August Favourites

Here we are again 

Another month has flown by in what seems like record time and I've once again compiled a list of things I found myself using more often than not. 

So without further ado...

Little Chicken Charlie's August Favourites

Can I just say that dry shampoo has been my life saver the last few months. Remember the time before kids when you had time to take care of yourself? You showered every day, shaved your legs, did your hair and took 20 minutes to half an hour to precisely apply your makeup. Well, with an energetic toddler on my hands right now, I'm lucky if I can find time to use the bathroom (and even when I do, guess who's right behind me banging on the door). I'm not going to sugar coat it, I've gone through 2 of these bad boys this month.  I mean it's not like I never shower - I do have some standards - but I have always had extremely oily hair. I'm not exaggerating when I say this, I can shower on a thursday night and by friday morning my hair is starting to get that wonderful oily film. Usually I'll just leave it until I find time to shower next, but If I have to venture out the door and be seen in public, you better believe I'm using dry shampoo. Another useful tidbit I've recently discovered about this stuff, if you have freshly washed hair and need to heat style it, spray some dry shampoo on the areas you're styling and it will help hold the curl longer. 

A bit of a funny story behind this bottle of vegan worcestershire sauce. So I've been wanting to make the Oh She Glows Maple Baked Beans on Toast for a while now, but the only place I could find vegan worcestershire sauce was on amazon. The guy selling it must have had a few loose screws because he was charging $80 for it. Is there something spectacular about this sauce that I don't know about? Fast forward a week to when we took a family trip up north to visit Andrew's Oma. Myself, my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law took a drive in to town and stopped in the health food store. I remembered the beans I've been wanting to try, but couldn't for the life of me think of the one ingredient I still needed to get. I kept telling them "Guys, It starts with a "T" and it's something you usually have in your pantry." First of all it's never been in my pantry so I don't know where I got that from...and "T"?? Come on Christina. Anyways, I finally got to try the beans (which of course were great - I did tweak a few things at the end to suit my taste) and this is something that will get a lot of use in the future. 

You guys may remember a week or two ago when I posted my recipe for a blueberry matcha smoothie. I've been using this stuff up like crazy this month, either in the smoothie or just as a straight green tea. If you don't know what matcha is, it's a powdered Japanese green tea that is made by drying and then stone grinding whole tea leaves. It has a slew of health benefits and I always feel energized and awake after a cup. Unfortunately, it is not the cheapest tea I've ever had ($20 for 50g at David's Tea) but it is something I will continue to add in to my diet. If you want to try the Blueberry Matcha Smoothie you can find the recipe here along with a bit more information on the benefits of this green tea

I have a love-hate relationship with this mascara. I LOVE the mascara...I hate the price. This is a sample size that was in my august Ipsy bag and from the moment I put it on, I was in love. Hello baby doll lashes!! I have never had a mascara give me the length that this one did - and all with no clumps (a huge plus). This is the second Urban Decay product I've gotten in an Ipsy bag and I have to say, I'm kind of loving this brand. Being a girl that usually frequents drug stores to purchase her makeup, the $22 price tag on this mascara kind of sent me in to cardiac arrest. But, alas, I bit the bullet and bought the full sized version online from Sephora. It does come with a a separate last primer as well (as if that makes what I spent hurt any less). If you are looking for a new awesome mascara and you don't mind spending a small fortune on it, you can find it here.

So I'm just going to say it, I have no talent for diy nail art. Never have and I recon I never will. I just don't have a steady enough hand I guess. So, I'm a girl that relies on nail stickers if I want something a little different. I saw these at Shoppers Drug Mart a few weeks ago and I'm a sucker for bright colours and packaging, so I was pretty much sold before I even really knew what they were. They're exactly what they sound like. Remember those water transfer tattoos you used to cover yourself in as a kid? Yea, exactly like that but for your nails. I loved the design of these and for $4 with two applications worth (plus a few extra because we all know there's that one nail that just will not co-operate no matter what you do) I didn't feel so bad about picking up three packs. My first attempt was on clear nails, but you can use a coloured nail polish as the base before putting on the tattoo. I will mention that I had to apply a clear coat on top every few days because I did start to notice some peeling. But for what I put my nails through every day they did pretty a pretty good job staying on. 

Last but certainly not least, Mary's Organic Crackers. I bought these on a whim at Target one day. I had a craving for cheese and crackers, but I wanted something a bit healthier than a Triscuit. I'm so glad I picked these up. At first, it was a bit strange biting in to a cracker where I could see almost every ingredient and it took a while for me to get used to the taste (it's not bad but different from the usual salty crackers), but man oh man the crunch. These crackers have an awesome crunch factor. They are wheat free, gluten free, non-gmo, vegan, dairy free, organic, whole grain, etc, etc, etc. These crackers are now a must in my pantry. The only problem with these crackers is how fragile they are. Although most of the crackers in the box were whole, there were a lot of broken pieces at the bottom of the bag. Still won't stop me from buying another box...or two.

That's it folks! All of my favourite things from the month of August. I hope you enjoyed.

Until next time