I’d like to start off by saying that I
hope that you all had as beautiful of an Easter as I did! ♥
Before my Easter break ends and I go
back to work tomorrow, I figured that I should stop procrastinating and get up
my Monthly Favorites post for last month before April is over! XD Since most of
March was in Lent, I don’t have as many entertainment entries this time around, but there
were indeed a few things worth mentioning.
Let’s get started ~
Book
Dark Night of
the Soul by St. John of the Cross
Before Ash Wednesday I had spent a
considerable amount of time deciding on my Lenten reading material this year,
and most of my choices were books that I had already read before but felt that
they merited a second time through. St.
John of the Cross is one of my favorite spiritual authors, probably because of
his simple yet elegant style and of course, his poetics.
Dark Night of the Soul is essentially
Christian mysticism in poetic form, and is composed of two parts: “The Dark
Night,” and “The Ascent of Mount Carmel.”
I had read these works, along with his The Living Flame of Love for Lent two years ago, and enjoyed it
immensely. I feel that after reading
through them again they have been even more beneficial than before.
If
you’re looking for an entirely different kind of spiritual reading, I strongly
recommend it!
Film
The Last Unicorn
“I would enter your sleep if I could, and guard you there,
and slay the thing that hounds you, as I would if it had the courage to face me
in fair daylight. But I cannot come in
unless you dream of me.” –Peter S. Beagle
Beautiful book, lovely film. A precious pearl from my childhood days,
recently revisited!
Food
International Delight York coffee creamer
Just imagine creamy, refreshing peppermint
chocolate swirled into your morning cup of coffee, and you’ll understand why
this dairy coffee creamer secured its spot on my list this month.
Makeup
CoverGirl Aqua CG Smoothers moisturizing liquid foundation
Now that my facial psoriasis has
cleared up and my skin is healing, I have been able to use a medium-coverage
foundation as opposed to the full-coverage one (Revlon ColorStay) that I had
been using before as the main element of my daily makeup routine. For the past few weeks I’ve been using this
one by Cover Girl and it’s quite nice!
It goes on smoothly, blends well, has no unpleasant scent or side
effects, and really does help to keep my face soft and moisturized. It’s a bit thicker than a BB cream, and is
buildable if more coverage is needed.
Product
Thayer’s Cucumber Witch Hazel w/Aloe Vera
Soon after I had successfully gotten
rid of the psoriasis patches on my face and neck, my skin became a bit oily and
I started seeing tiny pimples pop up here and there, particularly on my
forehead and along my jawline. To help
combat this and keep my skin clean, fresh, and toned, I picked up this
all-natural witch hazel toner at my local Walgreens after hearing many positive
comments on the Rose version of the same product. I chose the Cucumber version because of the
cooling, calming effects that I’ve known cucumber products to provide. Astringents are too harsh for my sensitive
skin, and my acne isn’t severe enough to use topical products such as Clean
& Clear’s Persa-Gel 10. For me,
applying a toner twice or day (three times if I’m not wearing makeup that day)
does the job just fine.
I
will note that this toner is very
mild, however, and must be used in cooperation with a good cleanser and
moisturizer. It’s all about finding the
specific skincare routine that works for you and your skin. If I didn’t use certain other products along
with this toner, I feel that it wouldn’t be anywhere near as effective. The next product under this category that I
plan on giving a try is Etude House’s Wonder Pore Freshner.
