Painting Festivities

Hello my lovelies,

I’ve been thinking of creative hobbies to pursue recently and wondered what would be a fun activity to engage in, something that helps the creative juices flowing and would be therapeutic.

The trend of adult drawing is a great idea, however, I thought painting would be more fun just because you have the abilities of mixing and experimenting with colours.

I am fortunate to have found a good friend who had the same interest and we finally made time in our hectic schedule to go painting!! 

Although I am nowhere near good at art and drawing, it was very calming to just paint without any restrictions and guidelines. Chatting with my friend and relaxing was just the perfect combination.

We started with acrylic paint as water and oil painting would be more difficult to work with for novices like ourselves. 🙂

It’s important to have some hobbies to destress yourself and take your mind off of any troubles and daily stresses.

What are some of your pass time activities? I would love to hear your idea of relaxation time and what you do to destress.

Thank you for dropping by and reading this short post, I wanted to share with you ( my extended support family)  my activity that I think you would enjoy too 🙂

Lots of love and gratitude

Susan @GlamRituals

All in One’s Perspective

Hello my lovelies,

Welcome back to another post. I woke up today and was compelled to write a post on perspective!

Today we are expecting 10 cm of snow ( #Canadianlife)  and we just had 10 cm of snow 2 days ago and evidence is still lingering on the sidewalks. It’s my day off from work and waking up to snow falling. Instead of my usual negative self, I just sat there and watched the beautiful cotton ball like puffs falling and the whole sky looks like a single sheet of whiteness.

How beautiful this sight was to me and I watched in gratitude for this moment….

grateful for eyes to see….

grateful for my health to enjoy this moment without any pain….

grateful for a day off to relax and enjoy myself…

What a blessing.

On my journey to self development and being present and in the moment, I have improved in catching myself when I’m not being present. It’s becoming easier as time progresses with effort and practice.

I find days where I’m at work are particularly challenging.  Being caught up in my daily work has me struggling to be positive. Sometimes I self reflect and wonder, do I have to change jobs? Or is the uneasiness feeling an internal concern that needs to be dealt with? I am still trying to find this answer for myself.

Nonetheless, I believe being positive requires you to maintain this attitude at all times and more so important are the difficult times ( at work for me )  as well as the good times ( my days off)

One particular tool I use to remind myself to have a positive perspective is through signing up for daily emails with The Simple reminders and when you subscribe to their emails, they will send a daily email to your inbox with inspiring quotes of the day and also an article pertaining to the quote! These articles are very well written and will speak to many topics of concern such as love, relationships, and daily struggles etc.

Today’s daily reminder quote especially resonated with me:

Change your thinking.

Change your life!

Your thoughts create your reality.

Practice positive thinking.

Act the way you want to be, and soon you will be the way you act.

-Les Brown

I am be no means perfect or even good at being positive. However, I know that being positive is an attitude and waking up today with snow covering the ground has sparked an urge to write this post to share my perspective with you, my extended support system 🙂

I can view this snow day as an inconvenience or just smile and enjoy all it’s beauty.

My choice!!!

Today, I choose to be happy and enjoy every moment.

I hope this post has inspired you to enjoy this moment that you’re in and if you are not having a great day, I hope this post has inspired you to change your perspective!

As always, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your continued support in reading my post!

With lots of love and gratitude,

Susan @ GlamRituals

Tarte Review

Hello lovelies,

Today’s post I wanted to write about Tarte Cosmetics and skincare. I was first introduced to it when I stumbled upon the brand in Sephora. I didn’t know anything about this brand at first, but I loved the packaging and the quality of pigments it had to offer.

Aside from being cruelty free, there are plenty of vegan options, and formulated without parabens, mineral oil, phthalates, triclosan, sodium lauryl sulfate, and gluten.

There are lots of options for natural products today, however, some of these brands sacrifice on the effectiveness or quality aspect.

Some products I love from this brand:

Amazonian 12 hour Clay blush ( 12 colours) $35.00

This is my all time favourite blush as it truly last for 12 hrs!!! Tested every time, applied in the morning and by end of day it’s still looking freshly applied. You will not regret purchasing this product! All the colours are beautiful and there’s a colour for everyone. It’s made of clay so it’s great for both oily and dry skin alike.

Sunscreen Lotion Broad Spectrum SPF 30 $32.00

100 %  pure mineral sunscreen and without any thick texture film like most conventional sunscreens that give you that white cast affect. It’s infused with Maracuja oil and vitamin C which gives moisture and radiance for skincare benefits too. A bonus as a hydrator and protector in one!

CC under eye corrector $24.00

When you suffer from under eye dark circles and you find it difficult to cover up with a regular concealer then look no further. This CC corrector has a salmon / peachy undertone helping to counteract with the bluish tone in dark circles. Brightening up the area, a little product goes a long way. It’s also infused with caffeine which helps to improve microcirculation while reducing the appearance of puffiness and licorice extract helps brighten skin tone.

Lipsurgence tints: ( 6 colour ) $24.00

These lip tint has great staying power as it slightly stains but without the drying effects. 3-in-1 lip tint offers all the benefits of a lipstick, lip gloss and a creamy balm. Infused with ingredients of vitamin E and jojoba oil to moisturizes and smooths lips with a bonus of a peppermint scent for freshness.

As you can see, Tarte has amazing quality makeup that has skin care benefits too and this is why I love this brand so much.

Have you tried any Tarte products? Which ones do you like? Comment and let me know!

Thank you for taking the time to read my post and I hoped you have found it informative in some way.

With lots of love and gratitude.

Susan @ GlamRituals

Meditation

Hello My lovelies,

Today I want to write about meditation and it’s benefits.

I was seeking meditation once I came to the realization of my stress and anxiety issues when I faced Alopecia Areata in 2016. I wrote about this in my blog post so check it out if you haven’t already done so : Reducing Stress  and  Boosting Immunity

For those of you who don’t know how to meditate. It’s simply sitting in an upright awakened posture and focusing on nothing but the breath. Simple it seems right? It’s actually very challenging as our minds are always very active and will derail us from our focus frequently and this is very normal. Whenever this happens, you simply return your focus on the breath without any judgement or frustration.

Meditation helps you understand yourself more and your thought process. Sometimes when I meditate, I notice my thoughts rushing to past and/ or future scenarios I wouldn’t have even realized until I actually quiet my mind and just focus.

You see, doing this practice on a daily bases, you may not see the benefits right away, but by sticking to it, you will gain more control of your mind and your thoughts in situations of distress. As a result, you will be more equipped to not react in situations which demand your focus and calmness. A very great quality to have.

A great app I’m using is called CALM. It offers guided meditation and timed meditation, (where you meditate on your own) you can choose your meditation preference once you have tried both. I’d suggest if you are new to the practice, it’s a good idea to do the guided version first.

I enjoy the timed meditation sessions and I’ll usually do 10 minutes at a time as I’m still new at this and any longer it begins to be very difficult to focus. When I’m feeling really disciplined I’ll do another 10 minute session in the evening time.

I recently added crystals to my meditation practice and I feel it has helped with my focus. Between feeling the energy of the crystal to the relaxing sounds of the meditation app, I feel it keeps me grounded in my focus of the breath.

Healing crystals have so many benefits which I’ll save this  subject for a future post.

Have you tried meditation? I hope by reading this post, it has intrigued you to try it.

Meditation will work for everyone! There’s no such thing as having “too short of a attention span” some people have told me LOL.

You just need to stick to the practice no matter how strong the urge is to rise from the practice and I promise it will be easier with every session. The benefits are incredible.

Let me know your thoughts on meditation and your tips you may have for your practice.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

With lots of love and gratitude,

Susan @ GlamRituals

Reading interest

Hello lovelies!

Today’s post I wanted to write about reading styles and interests. Something slightly different on this blog. 🙂

My goals for 2017 is to read more. Reading is not only beneficial to enhancing your knowledge but it’s also a great way to relax and destress allowing you to escape the daily life and transporting  you to another world depending on your book of choice.

In recent years, I’ve gravitated to self help books because it’s aligned with my self improvement journey and these books are packed with incredible information from the wisdom of the authors.You can learn and absorb the knowledge all within a single book.     I feel this is so beneficial especially when it’s on a topic of interest to you.

I also enjoy romance and mystery books. Romance because on a cold and rainy evening there isn’t much that satisfies me more than curling up to a warm and fuzzy love story and sipping on my favourite tea. Mystery because I love crime and playing detective work, bonus if they are based on true events LOL there is something intriguing to me when I know the story REALLY happened… who feels me??

Lots of people I know will only complete a book before they move onto the next one. As for me, I’ll only pick up a book if it’s contents intrigue me at that specific time. Example: afternoons or mornings I’d prefer to educate myself on nonfiction books but as night falls, I prefer to read fiction ones. Therefore I would have several types of books on hand to read at once.

The main reason for this post is my dilemma on my reading method! I’m faced with the decision of actual books ( think: beauty and the beast style of library),  kindle reader , or audiobook?! ( sigh)

Physical books:

There is something special about holding a physical book in your hand and feeling the pages, it’s very satisfying. However, call me weird, but I’m one of those people who like to care for my books and will do anything to maintain the  qualities of it (ex: no creases) which means I never EVER break the spine of the book, and for this reason I don’t like to carry my books around in my bag with me daily. So this is a bummer, but I envision myself with a growing bookshelf in my home with a reading nook 🙂

Kindle reader:

At first when I heard about this reading method I was thinking, no way, would I want to purchase a book that’s not a tangible object to hold ( call me old school) but recently my boyfriend and I were on vacation, and I read one of his books on kindle and immediately fell in love! The ease of reading because of the layout of the text was enjoyable and what really sold me on this idea was the dictionary function to lookup words you don’t understand. This is great as I had mentioned I wanted to read to enhance my knowledge and this is a function allowing me to choose more challenging books to read to grow my vocabulary.

Audiobooks:

I have friends who swear by this method of “reading” because with our busy hectic schedules, audiobooks allows you to listen and get through more books as opposed to reading them. You can conveniently be on the go and still absorb all the wisdom a book provides and/or transport you to another world at anytime regardless of what you are doing.

Oh how first world problems are plaguing my thoughts LOL

Please let me know if you have any best practices or preference and why you prefer them. It would really help me decide on which method I choose to read and how I can read more amidst my busy lifestyle.

With lots of love and gratitude,

Susan @GlamRituals

Province Apothecary Review

Hello readers!

I’m back with a post to review a brand from Canada called Province Apothecary.

I love supporting locals as these brands are usually biodynamic, carefully selecting their ingredients from ethically sourced farms and blend their ingredients in small batches as opposed to mass productions like other reputable brands on the market today.

Province Apothecary is certified organic and and using wildcrafted ingredients from all the different provinces in Canada, what a great concept this is! This ensures the best ingredients are selected from the optimal sources which the province is known for.

They are also experts in holistic facials and will tend to your specific needs monthly which is an added bonus and perk to any skincare brand. 🙂

They are vegan, cruelty free and the main point of difference is at Province Apothecary they love sensitive skin. The founder of PA, Julie Clark was inspired in creating concoctions from natural ingredients found in her kitchen for her eczema and allergies to many traditional products and this was how the company came to life.

Some ingredients they like to use are organic seaweed from Nova Scotia, maple syrup from Quebec, organic sunflower oil from Ontario, organic beeswax from Alberta, organic lentil flour from Manitoba, and organic raspberry oil + glacial clay from British Columbia.

Love, love love!!!

One of my favourite products from them is the Eczema Balm. I occasionally get eczema on my arms and eyelids and nothing seemed to calm it down and obviously I didn’t want to use cortisone creams to treat. I stumbled upon this cream and fell in love.

Eczema Balm $19 CAD

Gentle enough for babies, sensitive skin, and to use around your eyes used to treat excessively dry skin and irritated skin. A little goes a long way.

Ingredients:

calendula and zinc which are ingredients great for dry skin.

Rose hip oil is great for reducing scarring and cell turnover to renew the skin.

Hemp oils is softening

Turmeric treats itching and swelling.

West Coast sea salt soap $14 CAD

This is an exfoliating and hydrating bar soap at the same time for the entire family (especially men) It nourishes the body and gently cleanses with moisturizing benefits of pure unscented plant oils and Canadian sea salt.

Ingredients:

Coconut Oil is super moisturizing and has antibacterial properties.

Sea Salt  is full of nutrients and minerals infusing the skin to draws out toxins out of the body and improves circulation

Clear skin advanced spot treatment $28 CAD

That time of the month has many people with break outs beyond control. This is a spot treatment that has proven to be great and to aid in healing breakouts quickly, especially for cystic blemish and most importantly not over drying.

Ingredients:

Turmeric is effective due to its antiseptic and antibacterial properties that fight pimples and breakouts to provide a youthful glow to your skin.

Neem Seed Oil has natural antibacterial properties too

Sea Buckthorn Oil is phenomenal for brightening and healing scars

Vitamin E is nourishing and repairing

These are a few items tried and tested and I highly recommend you checking them out. This is truly a clean and natural line I feel I can trust. And because everything is sourced locally, you can be sure they are quality products.

Ps: this company gives back to the community and are proud partners of Canadian Organic Growers, Canadian Honey Council, and 1 % for the Planet. Always good to know you are supporting a company who gives back as well 🙂

Let me know if you try out any of these products and give me your feedback.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

With lots of love and gratitude.

Susan @ GlamRituals

 

What is your life purpose?

Hello my lovelies,

What is your life’s purpose? This is a question worth asking yourself from time to time to reanalyze your objectives in life. Some people go a lifetime without knowing unfortunately.

Being a 31 year old women in this day and age, I would like to think I have it all figured out but I don’t!

I am working towards an answer and I think I’m getting close to knowing why I’m on this earth…..

This is my story.

It all started back in 2014, I once loved the job I had so dearly, I would describe coming to work as fun and exciting and that went on for numerous years. Until I came to a point where I lost that drive and passion for my work because I felt unappreciated.

Being the ambitious person that I am I decided to go back to school to pursue another career to take charge of my life.

Long story short I worked in my “new” field of work and still felt unhappy and empty, in spite of continuously changing jobs. Deep down inside me, I wanted to find that excitement and passion I once had.  

After starting this blog in September 2016 and writing countless blog post about various topics I came to realize, I am yearning for purpose!

I want to wake up each day and feel driven and passionate to do work that allows me to  express my creativity and bring value to people’s life. I believe writing these blogs are a starting point in that process.

The purpose is for me to share my difficulties to my readers with hope that it will help someone in the same situation as me where they feel  “stuck” in their lives.

At the time, the resistance in my mind was loud and strong, I felt it was more comfortable to take the easier path in life and and continue a job that didn’t serve me well. But I’ve decided I wanted more out of life and do something I’m passionate about, which is to help others in need.

Disclaimer: I should mention that life is not all about what you do for a living. However, you spend so much time at work, you must enjoy what you do otherwise you would be living a very miserable life.

What is it that I want to do you ask? Well, writing and sharing these post is a starting point in adding value to my reader’s life! Even though this blog doesn’t pay my bills, it gives me an outlet to express my thoughts and experience and hopefully along the way I am able to inspire someone to live a fulfilling and happy existence.

I am satisfied at this point with the direction my life is taking me. What the future holds are endless possibilities I know I’m capable of obtaining.

With that, I’d like to leave you with a thought. What is your purpose in life? What are your hopes and dreams for the future YOU?

Comment and let me know, I’d truly appreciate it.

I hope this has stimulated some ideas in your mind and if you don’t have an answer, I hope you will begin seeking that purpose 🙂

With lots of love and gratitude,

Susan @GlamRituals

 

How to deal with negativity

Hello lovelies,

The best way I deal with negativity is to centre my mind and stay grounded in my thoughts. When there are negative people speaking I choose not to participate and remove myself from the situation if possible.

I’d like to share a personal story of mine’s. I deal with negativity on a daily bases and have actually became quite good at isolating myself from negativity as my own mother is such a negative person. I love her more than anything in the entire world, however, because of her life experiences, it has made her bitter.

The fact that she’s my mother has made it extremely difficult to ignore her or isolate her from my life. When I’m actively trying to lead a life of positivity and my mother being a typical Asian parent, is preaching me about life through her eyes and her life struggles. It’s very difficult to maintain a positive outlook.

I believe this is a partial reason why I’m continuously seeking ways of keeping the good vibes flowing otherwise I would fall into depression if I viewed life her way.  I try to sympathize with her views on life and look at her with eyes of compassion to help ease the situation. I know she is trying to look out for my best interest and is coming from a good place.

If any of you are reading this and in the same situation as myself, just know there is always a way to turn our negative family and the situation into a positive one. As you were raised based upon certain beliefs and it may have been influenced by culture or society. We are individual beings and will decide what we want to believe in.

It all comes down to your own choices and beliefs and you will take charge of how you will live your life. Do not allow anyone, family or not, to waiver your beliefs and decide for yourself.

As for your circle of friends, if there are any negative people, I would suggest to try and help them by finding out the root problem of their negativity and why they are being negative. This is the best solution to being a good friend. You can also talk about positive techniques that has helped you in lifting yourself up after a setback in your life. Sharing your experiences and how you felt at the time will help that friend who is enduring a setback in their lives. Being truly authentic and transparent with your friend will encourage them to share their struggles.

Remember though, there are people who just don’t want to help, so be wise to understand when there is hope, and when it’s best to let go of negative people in your life who has no interest in helping themselves.

Negative colleagues at the workplace are also difficult as you spend so much time with them and they can have a huge influence on your day to day life. The best way I have dealt with these types of situations are to try to explain the positive side of everything they mention that’s negative. When all else fails, just focus on your individual projects or responsibilities and worry about your own work and don’t include yourself in their negative tendencies.

If this is a team project then continue to focus on your assigned task and provide your colleague with constructive feedback on how they too can be successful with their work based on what has helped you accomplish your task. Most of the time, a colleague would appreciate your kind gesture, and if they don’t then it’s a wise idea to escalate the situation to your superior.

Getting your manager involved in the situation is not about speaking poorly of a colleague but more about bringing recognition to the situation so that your credibility wouldn’t be affected. You wouldn’t want a negative person to have an impact on your otherwise great work you do.

There you have it, I have touched on the few major areas that I had dealt with. Do you have negative people currently in your life and how do you deal with it? I’d really appreciate your comments and feedback.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and I will see you back here shortly with another post!

With love and gratitude,

Susan @glamrituals

Vacation Experience

Hello readers!

I’ve been away for the last week because I was on vacation to Cayo Coco Cuba. This was a much needed trip as 2016 has been especially challenging and I wasn’t able to go away.

On this trip I had some amazing reflection on my life and a renewed perspective on various topics which I’d like to share with you.

#1 ) Once you travel to different countries do you truly understand how lucky we are in developed countries. People in Cuba work on such minimal salary of just  20.00 $ a month!! I understand that life there is less demanding financially in terms of monthly bills, but another observation I had was how many hours these people worked. From the time I’d wake up for breakfast until dinner time, I’d see the same people! Looking back on my life and all the complaints I had when I was summon to work additional hours occasionally. ( so ashamed of myself LOL ) Yet these people happily  worked endless hours to serve the guests with genuine care and a big smile.

#2) I firmly believe everyone of us deserve the right to 1 vacation every year to recharge and renew our perspective. And I’m not talking about the ones where you stay and rest at home LOL. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing….  but, it’s nice to learn about new cultures and enriching our knowledge whist taking a break, of course under the condition your financial situation allows it. All I’m suggesting for you is to consider to save up, even if it meant it took 1,2,3 years for that ultimate destination of your dreams, do it! Do whatever it takes to explore the world.

There was a quote that I came across one time  ( can you tell I love quotes? LOL ) that resonated with me and it went something like this :

“Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer”

#3) The ultimate experience I took away from my trip was the moment upon descending to Toronto, Canada airport ( It’s winter here right now : January 17 2017)

I was looking out at the window and saw beautiful crystal clear blue skies like back in Cuba. When the flight attendant announced our arrival to Toronto the plane was descending through what I saw vividly were very puffy clouds thick and dense like cotton balls. No exaggeration when I say, it took about 7-10 mins of pure blurriness to fly through those thick clouds. 

I finally saw all the skyscrapers and our famous CN tower, and all I see are gloominess and drizzling rain around the city skies. 

It was an ah-ha moment for me!! Life’s obstacles are just like those clouds and our potentials are like the beautiful blue skies above those clouds I had just witnessed.

You have to surpass all those obstacles to experience what’s always there for you and available for those with the courage to pass through those obstruction.

Wow what an incredible experience I had and I wish for all of you to experience the same! Back to reality and now I feel very energized and ready for action.

Hard work and dedication amongst every aspect of your life is needed, may it be financially, love life , family life, and most importantly  self love all take effort to nurture and be healthy.

I hope you will enjoy your vacation soon , whatever or wherever  that may mean to each of you.

Lots of love and gratitude,

Susan @ GlamRituals

Failures

Hello readers!

Today I wanted to talk about a topic on failures. As I’ve gotten older I have realized we must be comfortable with failures. This is inevitable in life and especially if you want to achieve your incredible life goals, there are bound to be risks and as a result, possibilities of failing.

Honestly, I have been very fearful of failing in my life and since I have reached my 30’s ( I’m 31 now) I had a self reflection time and realized I’ve lived a mediocre life thus far. It has been a combination of fear of failing and just being comfortable. Since reaching my 30th year, I vowed to make all my dreams come true and if I wanted to succeed then I have to make friends with failure.

Failing means you have tried and if you never try you will never excel to your greatest potential. There was a quote that went something like this :

“ Failures are your teachers, only when you fail do you learn and grow”

This was the final realization that I must overcome my fears and be besties with failure.

I would like to share with you a failure in my life. I was with this cosmetic company for many years and had worked tirelessly for my promotion. But because of company politics, people that managers favoured would excel regardless of their performance. Feelings of disappointment and unappreciation crept through me daily at work and I realized I must take fate in my own hands and go back to school and find another career path.

This experience to me was first a failure because I didn’t receive the promotion I had yearn for so deeply, it has led me to become a stronger person and work towards a greater path I’m destined to take, which is a successful result!  

The key is to reflect on the failure and learn from them, and as a result, has served as a lesson which is positive as opposed to a negative situation.

Failing in your life is the best lesson and in my opinion more valuable than anything anyone could ever teach you. It’s learning through experience.

Let’s think of failure here and realize if there are fears in you then this means that you’ve stepped out of your comfort zone and growing as an individual, again… a positive experience.

It comes down to your perception of failure and you will view it through those perspective, it’s always your choice and you always have control over your views and thoughts.

I hope this post has inspired you to look at the failures in your life in a different light and you will shift your perspective on failures as a positive experience.

Let me know of your experience of failure and how you have succeeded through it in the comments. Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

With love and gratitude,

Susan @glamrituals