FLUX & XOULIS

11/14/2013

SPOOKTOBER FAVES: GELAINE

October Faves (FluxandXoulis) by geetrinidad featuring Kate Spade

Hi everyone! Happy Belated Halloween!

As you may all know, October is coming to an end --- which means, OCTOBER FAVES!

I have been really busy with school and work. My halloween consisted of staying at Ryerson with Ashley, working on my lab assignments, exciting aint it? yes, our lives are quite sad - however, I managed to think of a few materialistic things that I've been really loving this past few weeks.

∆∆∆ BEAUTY∆∆∆

1) NARS Sheer Glow Foundation

I recently went into Sephora just to go window shopping, I've came across this foundation before and have heard many good things about it. I finally decided to ask the sales associate if she could find the right shade for my skin. She was kind and patient enough to do so, and upon countless trials (she applied 3 different foundation shades on my skin - just to find the perfect one!), I finally know a foundation shade that perfectly suits my skin! (Stromboli was the one!). Also, she managed to give me a free sample of the foundation so that I could experiment with it and really know if it's worth the price! As was predicted, this foundation is amazing! I even compared it with my older foundation (Covergirl 3 in 1) and realized that the NARS SHEER GLOW FOUNDATION looked a lot more natural, and lasts a lot longer. It was easier to put on as well - I actually prefer using my hands instead of a stippling brush when applying this foundation because it's a lot easier and works better (stippling brush tends to create some dry patches on my face and does not blend as well as my hands!). YES, I highly recommend this foundation, you are definitely paying for its quality - it is quite expensive- but it also lasts longer compared to other drugstore foundations. The only thing I don't like about this foundation is its packaging - it doesn't have a pump therefore you have to think of an efficient way to get the foundation out of the bottle. Overall, I give it an 8/10!

∆∆∆ ACCESSORIES ∆∆∆

2) Kate Spade Iphone cases

They are classic products. They've been selling the same patterned Iphone cases for awhile now and it never gets old to me. I've been really loving polka dots recently, and I feel like they add a certain class to your accessories - and you cannot go wrong with black and white! First, I thought the pink on the sides were a bit too much, but I decided to go with it and own something people wouldn't normally see me have. These Iphone cases are also very durable and aren't too thin or too thick for my small, childish looking hands. They also come in different colours and designs as well - so go ahead and check their online website!

∆∆∆ FASHION ∆∆∆

3) seaVees

I only found out about these pair of shoes because of my workplace. Gap actually collaborated with this company. We had these type of shoes throughout the Spring and Summer season. I decided to buy the white coloured seavees because they reminded me of the white coloured Converse everyone seems to be wearing. I love these shoes! they go with anything, I've worn them with long maxi skirts, jeans and skater skirts. I find these pair of shoes unique because they aren't as known (suprisingly) and I haven't seen many people wear it, except for my coworkers. I loved them so much that I decided to buy another pair in a different colour (Olive coloured ones). They are also very comfortable and are my go-to shoes, especially for work.

4) Suede Booties
I know that I've talked about this before but a girl cannot go wrong with a pair of suede booties! They are perfect for the fall season and are also my go-to shoes when it's too cold to wear the seavees. They can make a simple outfit look 10x better. Fall and booties go hand it hand like Bonnie and Clyde.

5) Camel coloured Peacoat
I have never invested on a peacoat before and thank GOD I decided to now! Most of my jackets are very laid-back and casual looking. It was quite a change for me (very daring choice Gelaine). I like the look a peacoat offers on a person. This coat gives off the whole "old hollywood" feel ~

∆∆∆ MUSIC ∆∆∆

HAIM - DAYS ARE GONE ALBUM

I've started diggin' HAIM when I heard their song "Don't Save Me", They remind me of a more hip version of "Fleetwood Mac". Also, they bring out such an iconic image. It's hard to not be curious when you see three girls dressed as if they were from the 60s. Their songs are dark and very driving (I recommend listening to My Song 5). Everytime I listen to their songs, I feel stronger as a woman - you can say that they bring out the feminist in me. Also, some of their songs reminds me of old school female rock singers - (listen to The Wire). They have a great rocknroll beat that perfectly matches the lyrics:

Never thought that I would grow so old of seeing the gold
Still I never want it to go
I would hold it up to my cold heart
Feel the way it used to start up
Take me back, ta-ta-take me back to the way that I was before
Hungry for what was to come
Now I'm longing for the way I was - Don't Save Me: HAIM

Also, did I mention how awesome HAIM's fashion sense is?

love

LORDE - PURE HEROINE ALBUM

Ah, royals. I would say that this album has been on repeat for quite awhile now. I always listen to it whenever I do my work. It is such a "fall album" (not too sure if that made sense). This album = Lana Del Rey meets Grimes. A bit of electro, an amazing unique voice mixed with a very moody, gloomy, yet glamorous beat and tempo. I've been diggin female musicians recently, and she has a sort of feminist vibe going on as well - (woo, girl power!). She has a such a seductive voice - I hope to see her live someday! I can imagine her songs being played in the background of a movie scene in which some bada$$ chick wins a fight and becomes the last woman standing. Overall, I would recommend listening to Tennis Court, 400 Flux and Glory and Gore.

11/05/2013

SPOOKTOBER FAVES: ASHLEY

Happy BELATED Halloween everyone! We've finally reached the end of the month, which means Christmas is finally coming! Oh and of course our very own October faves. Now October was a roller coaster ride, but these faves helped me get through the month. Let's get started shall we?

∆∆∆BEAUTY∆∆∆

University will literally be the death of me; late nights, tests after tests, assignments after assignments—Therefore, I always have the tendency to wake up late and feel like constant crap every mornings...Which is why Garnier's BB Cream for Oily-Combination skin was my life saver throughout those days where I needed decent coverage, but at the same time an application that was less time consuming. I'm in the shade medium-deep and the packaging is a squeeze tube. The consistency of the cream is very fluid and so you would think it would provide light-medium coverage, but it is in fact build able. So this particular BB Cream was able to fulfill my needs in the morning. I applied it onto my hands and I dot it all over my face. Then I would spread and blend the product with my hands or I do have another alternative which is my elf powder brush—I use it to apply and I would buff it into my face for an airbrushed natural finish. Like I've said before the coverage is build able, so I'd usually apply two coats of this cream. Throughout the day not as much oil secretion occurs on my face and so I'm satisfied that it was able to cope with my skin. For the price, it is pricey (I think it's 21.99 at shoppers), so preferably you should get it when it's on sale. If you'd like me to do a demo on how I apply it and looks throughout the day, comment below so I could record an impression for you!

The next beauty item is the Macadamia Natural Oil "No Tangle Styler Brush"—it really works and if you want a detailed review on it click here. Smog from the Urban Decay's Naked Palette has been my go-to eyeshadow to apply on the crease. You can intensify it for a dramatic look or you can use a light hand to make it appropriate for an everyday look. It's a borderline coppery bronze-brownish shimmer eye shadow and it looks perfect when paired with any eye shadow. It's literally perfect for any season. Keeping it within the eye area, I've been looking for an affordable pen liquid liner with a proper felt tip that wasn't going to dry out easily or have a brush that is stiff or flimsy. Basically a liquid liner similar to my Physicians Formula, but for the price of less. After spending it on a bunch of useless liners (esp. the Revlon Colour Stay one ugh), Maybelline's Eyestudio Master Precise liquid pen liner did the trick. I can easily create a cat liner and have control of the thickness of the lines.

With the cold weather kicking in these two items played a role with skin care. Firstly, Clean and Clear's dual action moisturizer was purchased on a whim. My youngest sister needed a moisturizer and so I bought her this in order for her to use. However, her skin is really sensitive, so she reacted to it by becoming irritated. Therefore, she gave it back to me to use and it's just a moisturizer I love because it somehow gives a cooling effect after you've washed your face and applied it on (I really love that feeling). I have dry patches on my neck and near my chin area so this does the job on bringing back moisture. As well as it has salicylic acid to treat and prevent any breakouts which is really helpful for me since I do have acne prone skin. Unfortunately, the cold weather is kicking in and this leads to chapped lips season—which is why I resorted to Lush's bubblegum lip scrub. This helps remove dead skin allowing me to apply lip balm without having any patchy dead skin, thus exfoliating my lips.

∆∆∆FASHION∆∆∆

Two of my fashion faves for this month are moccasins and my faux leather sleeved anorak jacket. They're trendy, comfy, and fashionable for the fall season. Don't know about you, but these should be a must have to your wardrobe! Moccasins are honestly comfortable and they do keep your feet quite warm during the warm weather. My anorak jacket is a staple for fall, I've seen many girls wear it and you can pair it with anything. As well as, you can form many looks with it such from grunge to simply casual.

∆∆∆MISC∆∆∆

Photo courtesy of Ken Leanfore

For my miscellaneous/random faves, I've had ∆ or Alt+J's album An Awesome Wave on repeat. This English indie rock band have me going cray on their catchy use of synths and Joe Newman's vocals that can woo anyone's heart. If I were to choose my fave songs from the album it would have to be Taro or Bloodflood—seriously check 'em out, I highly recommend them. Lastly, I purchased a white iPad mini from Apple and this thing is handy, convenient and portable for this semester. I do have a 13 inch Macbook Pro, however I have classes this semester which prohibits laptops or I don't find it necessary to lug around a laptop and bunch of textbooks (which are needed during the lecture) to class or my class schedule—if I less classes on one day I would bring this to take notes.. So the iPad really helps when it comes to the weight of my bag and convenience.

11/05/2013

A&G's OCTOBER SNAPSHOTS

10/30/2013

Macadamia Natural Oil "No Tangle Styler Brush" Review

Tired of tangles? Is your hair feeling like a beast? Well, here's solution for you! Just recently I received the No Tangle Styler Brush by Macadamia Natural Oil! I was actually planning on purchasing a detangler brush, but never got around to it until now.

On their website the brush retailed around 15$ and its claims are:

"The No Tangle Brush utilizes a unique “flex bristle” design that gently diffuses tangles and knots, painlessly and safely detangling your hair. The remarkable bristles eliminate pulling, split-ends and breakage.

The No Tangle brush is so gentle that cuticle damage is minimized, helping protect the vibrancy, shine and longevity of colour treated hair."

In the package that was given to me, it came with the brush itself, along with a pamphlet of their products and a sample size of their deep repair oil. I haven't tried out their oil since I'm trying to finish my other treatment oils; one from Organix which is their moroccan argan oil and the other from Marc Anthony is the same as the Organix one. However, I am a huge fan of their deep repair masque because of the amazing treatment it gave to my hair. It moisturizes and leaves it less brittle and dry, as well as it rejuvenates the hair back to its natural state giving it a less damaged look. What I'm not a fan of is how it retails for around 32$ at the drug store, though I must say you get what you pay seeing as a little bit of the product does the job right.

First and foremost, the type of hair I have is thick, coarse, dry, and coloured (fun fact: dyed it since I was in the 6th grade) In addition to that, my insides of my hair tend to get tangled all the time. When I shower, the back portion of my hair and the insides give me the worse tangles. It then leads me to stress and I get so irritated when I have to brush my hair. I bolded the word 'brush' because technically you shouldn't be brushing your hair when it's wet because if you do, you'll just allow breakage and damage to your hair completely. However, when I use a comb, it literally takes me 10-20 mins just to get through my damp hair and I have no patience for that especially when I have places to go or tasks to do. So I end up brushing my hair and it’s not in a gentle manner. Trust me I'm aware that I'm just damaging it, but it was the only way to remove the knots and get on with my day! (Honest to goodness, if my hair cooperated–I'd totally comb it with ease)

Moving onto the brush itself, the structure of it is what I describe as a 'comma-looking' kind of paddle in the colour scheme of their brand. Their bristles are in fact flexible, just like they'd describe on its description and the handle of it is a bit short at the end—so the way I would grip the paddle is by its wholesome self for better grip and stability when brushing your hair. Now at first I was skeptical cause it seems the bristles would break since its flimsy, thin, and flexible and in comparison to my hair which is dry, thick and coarse—I thought it would be serve as a problem and that one prick would totally break off—but it was the exact opposite.

When I brushed through my damp hair, it felt similar to brushing my hair with a paddle brush, but the only difference is that this didn't hurt at all— wasn't even frustrated and it went smoothly nor did I have to apply too much force when I brushed through it. You will encounter knots that would have to get brushed a few times and with a bit more force (but like i said before not too much), but it didn't hurt at all compared to when you do it with a regular paddle brush. Plus the time consumption when I used both of the brushes shows a huge difference. It took me under ten minutes to untangle my hair, compared with the latter. Lastly, it picked up hair just like any brush would, BUT....it's easier to remove and mind you it seems to be less strands of hair than usual. When I tested it on dry hair, it was the easiest way to brush my hair less than minutes. You just focus on the knots and tangles that you have and then you’re good to go. It didn’t take long, it didn’t hurt and my hair turned out great.

Overall, I'd say this product hella works! If 15$ for a brush isn’t cutting for you, I did find dupes at Winners for around less than 10$ (around 8.99). You don’t have to get the exact same one, as long as it does the job like these detangler brushes are honestly a life saver. xo Ashley

10/24/2013

LOOKBOOK: FALL

10/24/2013

Meet Gelaine & Ashley

NAME: GELAINE

AGE: TWENTY

STUDYING: FOOD & NUTRITION (BACHELOR OF APPLIED SCIENCE)
SCHOOL: RYERSON UNIVERSITY

I wish I had the the ability to clone myself, so that I could accomplish everything I want to do, right away -- you can say I'm one heck of a busy girl and I enjoy it. So many ideas that have yet to be offered & so many things to do - this blog is a getaway of this dream of mine. If I were a film I'd be a coming of age film. I'm in constant transition, constant & continuous flux. I could imagine my brain being designed with mosaic tiles to create a weird, abstract yet structurally diverse piece of art. I don't think I can express myself as just "one type of person", not to sure if I fit into a certain category, what thing I'm sure of is that no one is sure who they are, it's normal not to feel normal (yes, I went a tad bit cliché, but who doesn't?). This blog is a refuge amidst all the chaos. Ashley and I found solace the moment we created this blog. Sure, it may be typical for two angsty teenagers to make a blog, but this is our way to conform to our own rules, standards and system.

Welcome to our planet. I hope you'll enjoy your visit here XO.

Comfortable being uncomfortable, Confident about being uncertain

NAME: ASHLEY

AGE: TWENTY-ONE (DOB: FEB 28)

STUDYING: SOCIOLOGY @ RYERSON UNIVERSITY (with an attempt at minoring in criminology, but that's totally a different story)

Living on this earth for almost two decades showed me that life doesn't stop for no one. We all go through many stages, obstacles, and life changing experiences that shape who we are. We're constantly busy balancing school, work, and our social life—it's a never ending cycle. Now I can go on about how we're all dreamers and we aspire to be who we want to be (or at least try to), but I'm not going to do that....Cause that's probably going to be a different blog post or as you can tell I'm just completely lazy. I'm basically a sloth, procrastinating queen ♔ (not to mention kawaii queen), mother hen, and a total sleepy head meshed together. I love food, I can uphold a chronic bitch face and one of my many useless talents is to rap majority of Nicki Minaj's verses.

For a pessimist, I can be pretty optimistic (brownie points for you if you get this reference).

But in all seriousness, I've been through all the social blog sites from good old Asian Avenue, to Xanga, to LJ—and now I've decided to settle down to two: blogger and tumblr. Commitment is key and in the wise words of Zoe Saldana:

"A woman can preach, a woman can work, a woman can fight, a woman can build, can rule, can conquer, can destroy, just as much as a man can...We just need to take our place, it's always been there."

As you can see Flux and Xoulis are two different words that coincide together to mean something that's much more. Flux is a constant change that we choose to accept and xoulis (aka solace) is where we find love in something to alleviate us from a negative state of mind. To me flux and xoulis is an escapism from reality. It is an outlet to put in one's creativity, heart, soul, and mind. It's a symbol to take our place and shows what we're capable of, all through the power of our trusty MacBooks and our stressful, yet innovative minds. So stick around and stay tuned, for future posts on beauty, fashion, lifestyle and DIYs! xoxo