L'Oreal Paris hydra-total 5 ultra- even ritual review

I received my first influenster box a few weeks back. I was so excited to receive the box and was even more thrilled when it was a skin care line to even skin tone. Because of my health issues my skin scares really bad form of flaw. I received the L'Oreal Paris hydra-total 5 ultra- even ritual.
When I started  using it it was fine the first day but then my skin started to react by braking out. I don't normally break out and I ended up with 4+ blemishes. This was very frustrating because my skin scares from everything. I stopped using the spf 20 lotion and even moisturizer and that seemed to stop the issue. I do usually break out from sun screen. The toner and scrub have been great I haven't had an issue with them. I don't find them evening my skin tins noticeably yet but it hasn't made my skin break out or react horribly. I would recommend this product range if you don't have overly sensitive skin. I am sure I would be seeing more results if I could use the whole line. But even still I am happy with the products I can use.
If you don't know influenster is linked to your social media. You take surveys on their site to see if you qualify for free boxes of product. In return if and when you get a box (it's never guaranteed you get a box) you try them and give honest reviews.

Essential oils I'm loving

I started using essential oils regularly last year. I mostly use young living essential oils. I like the fact that they have their own farms so you know where the product is coming from. Also the product is top quality so you can ingest them.

Lavender - I put it on our pillows and defuse it to help us sleep better. Also I use it to help with my skin. And if I feel anxiety coming on you can feel it melt away as you smell it.

Thieves - if I feel a cold or flu coming on or like I'm coming down with something I use this by defusing and putting on my chest and feet. I also just love the smell of it.

Peppermint - I use it mostly when I'm not feeling well and have an upset stomach the smell will help calm it down.

Lemon - I like to add to my water for some added flavour.

Grapefruit - same as lemon it's great in water.

These are just a few of the oils I use regularly. I have also started making my own bath items with my essential oils. With trying to go chemical free so making my own body scrubs and face masks with essential oils it's cost effective and I feel better about using them on my body and in my house. I am so happy I found out about young living and started using their oils. They are better quality then the oils I was previously using. They have helped me so much with my health issues and improved my emotional stability and mental clarity.
Do you use essential oils? Do you find they make a difference in your life?

West side story

In dec I had a chance to see Westwood's production of west side story. It was amazing! And I'm not just saying that. With seeing it this past summer at rainbowstage I can say that these high school kids did a way better job. They knocked it out of the park. With it being such a hard production with so much dancing they were amazing. Every note was hit and every step on point. The students all but in so much work and it truly showed. The had professional head shots in the lobby and the program was just as professional as rainbow stage. I love doing to theatre productions and it's even more special when you know someone who is in or working on the production. 

Do you like theatre? Are you more into plays or musical? I honestly love both so much 

Struggle to stay positive

It can be a struggle to stay positive. It can be even harder for people who grew up with a negative inner monologue which was reinforced by others. I struggle every day to think positive. When I am around others who are negative I tend to fight to not take it on or revert to my old way of thinking. It's  hard to stop something you have done for so long. I am working really hard to fight this. But some days when I'm in a lot of pain or just struggling it can be hard to be positive. I know I have hurt people because of it over the years and this honestly has never been my intention and it hurts me to think someone might think I would intentionally hurt someone. Everyone makes mistakes. No one is perfect. All you can do is learn from your mistakes and misunderstandings and try to do better next time. I am trying to avoid negativity where I can and be around more caring positive people. It can be hard when there is so much negativity going on in the world. Every where you turn there are people hurting people. How do you not feel sad and jaded reading the news and what's going on in the world.  I try to meditate and do daily affirmations. Life has been overwhelming recently with many things going on so I haven't had time to do them as much and I have noticed a difference. It also doesn't help I suffer from SAD and it's the middle of winter. I am thinking of starting a gratitude journal and regular journal again. And well as making sure I get in my meditation and affirmations. I also am going to disconnect and just kinda do my own thing. I need to get my self on track. I can't control how people view me or what they think of me. But I can control how I feel about my self and right now I don't feel very good or like I'm in a good place. It's the first time in a while I have felt like things would be better off with out me. And I don't like feeling that way.

Random things that make me happy

My dogs

My muffin

Halloween

Chemical free living

as i have said before I am working my way towards having a chemical free house. By getting as many chemical free cleaners and beauty products as possible. Saying that it's a long process and won't happen over night. 

To make my way to my goal. I started by getting some more norwex products. I got a kitchen scrubbing cloth and makeup removing cloths. I already have the dusting mitt, bathroom mitt and window cloth to name just a few. And they are all amazing. I also have started using young livings thieves cleaner. Which I can't say enough good things about! I love young livings essential oils and the thieves oil is one of my favourites. This cleaner combined with the norwex kitchen scrubbing cloth it's never been so easy to clean my kitchen. And it's never been so clean. I love the not having the chemical smell and I feel better about having safe products around the house I don't feel so worried about the dogs coming in contact. As well as my skin has been slowly improving. I was out at an appointment and they were washing the floors I have always been sensitive to chemicals but I definitely noticed that the smell of what they were using was super strong it was making my eyes water and burn it seemed so strong. Limiting my chemical use and exposure clearly made,e more sensitive or at least notice it. 

I still have a long way to go to making my house chemical free. But every small step is a step in the right direction. There are 2 apps that can help with process skin deep  and think dirty. Both of them you can scan items and it tells you how good it is and how healthy it is. I was definitely shocked that some items I thought were good were actually rated the worst. They are newer apps so they don't have  all products yet but they will start to have more the more people use it. 

Bookish art and things

I love reading. I love everything books. I am in the process of making my spare room/ library more finished looking. In doing so I have been looking at bookish art, pillows and other decor. I think I can create some of my own bookish art if I just sit down and actually set my mind to it. With Christmas coming if you have anyone to buy for who loves books and reading. I'm sure they would also enjoy some book is decor or clothing. So far I have some itty bitty beanie babies from the wizard of oz. I am only missing the lion. I have them pinned on the wall around a canvas I plan on doing a quote and picture from the movie. I think this will help tie the room together. I'm still looking for ideas of pillows I can make and I have 2 other canvases  I need to decide what books I want to represent with them. I sometimes wish I had more hours in the day to read. I'm hoping with a library sanctuary that is cozy it will make me spend more time reading. I have read almost 60 books this year with is really low for me. I have sometimes read up to 140 books a year. This year I have had a lot of struggles and have been focusing my energy on other things like my health. Do you read? If so what type of books and how often? Do you have a cozy reading nook?