Life Update: Suddenly Single and Life After Separation

This week's Weekly Roundup is more of a Life Update.  It's unusual for me to lift the curtain on my private life as whatever gets published on the Internet tends to live on forever.  But for the sake of authenticity, I do want to allow a bit of a sneak peak at what has been going on behind the scenes at LBH just to provide a bit of context.  This year has been tumultuous and stressful, even more so than last year.  Without warning, I became a Singleton again.  I didn't have much choice really as I discovered that my long term partner had been having a long term affair.  One plans for retirement, for a holiday and for buying a new car or appliance but never for a separation.  I ended up picking up extra hours at work wherever I could and for long stretches of time I was working 12 hour days.  Unfortunately, I couldn't keep that up anymore.  Years of being in a toxic relationship had taken its toll on my heart (really and truly!!).  I am so thankful that I live in a country that has public health care.  But now a lot of time gets taken up with visits to the doctor and the cardiology clinic.  On top of all that, after 2 years of negotiating, my workplace finally unionized!  The down side to that is that we had to wait over a month to get even a partial payment of wages while management came to grips with such novel concepts as direct deposit and biweekly pay.  I'll leave my thoughts on that for another post. What this meant was a tightening of the belt.  In the spirit of WWII's philosophy of Make Do and Mend,  anything that needed repair was mended instead of rushing out and buying a replacement.  The strap had ripped off one of my favourite tote bags so I took it to a local tailor to have it sewn on again.

Tintin and Snowy get to live again!  You can make out the extra stitches on the upper left side.  I love that my tote bag gets an extra lease on life and I am supporting a local small business.
I have always liked strolling the aisles of Dollarama (Canada's version of The Dollar Store).  You just never know what sort of deals may be lurking on the shelves.  While I was waiting to get paid, trips to Dollarama  pretty much became the order of the day.  I was very pleased to find Canadian healthy pet treats there.

Any pet owner will tell you that healthy, natural pet treats and food normally come at a premium price.  This pack of freeze dried chicken was only $2.50.  Now if only I can break the furkids' addiction to the junky stuff...

I was thrilled to find a couple bottles of my favourite hypoallergenic shampoo (which I have written about here).

Live Clean hair products go for over $9.00 at the drug store but it was only $4.00 at Dollarama.

I have to take my hat off to anyone who is able to maintain a heart healthy diet and live on a tight budget at the same time.  Recipes and tips would be greatly appreciated!

In the future, I hope to keep you updated on everything I have learned in terms of financial recovery, adjusting to life as a Singleton and reconnecting with myself after living for years in negativity and chaos.

30 Days to Wellness Challenge Day 26: Haircare for Sensitive Skin Live Clean Hypoallergenic Shampoo and Conditioner

For Day 26, I wanted to talk a little bit about haircare.  For years, I washed my hair every day.  I just assumed that I had a schizophrenic scalp and hair where it was dry and itchy yet got greasy very quickly.  I tried expensive salon brands, drugstore brands and organic brands from the health food store, to no avail.  I didn't realize that by washing it every day, I was stripping it of body oil which caused my scalp to react by producing more oil.  As well, back then, hypoallergenic, perfume free body products were almost impossible to find.  Now they are so much more readily available.  The Live Clean Sensitive Hypoallergenic Shampoo and Conditioner featured in my September, 2016 Monthly Favourites but they deserve another mention as, months later, I am still using them.  I love the fact that they are perfume free.  Increasing numbers of people are being struck by severe environmental sensitivities such as reactions to perfume and more and more employers and public places such as hospitals are banning the use of fragrance.  Personally, I don't want a lot of clashing, competing fragrances on me.  Of course, I am just writing about what I use and what works for me.  I am sure that there are a lot of lovely haircare products out there that smell delicious.  Monsieur, for example, loves slathering himself with all sorts of smellies.  The more, the better!  I buy my Live Clean products at Shoppers.  I have noticed that the Hypoallergenic ones are more likely to be carried in the larger Shoppers.  It is really heartening to find quality hypoallergenic products at a reasonable price that are readily available in a national chain store.

For a deep conditioning mask, I have tried olive oil.  It leaves caramel brown highlights in my hair.  And for toning the scalp and treating dandruff, apple cider vinegar works a treat.  These items are commonly found in your kitchen and are inexpensive solutions.  Have you tried any natural remedies?  I haven't been brave enough to try baking soda as I have seen one too many photographs of oily dandruffy Gorgon-like heads of hair to be tempted.  Although if you have tried baking soda, please share your experience!

This is not a sponsored post.  Affiliate links may be added in the future.

September Favourites - Live Clean Shampoo and Conditioner, Simple Skincare and Too Faced Lipstick

Is it October already?  For most of this year, I have been thinking about living an intentional life.  At first, I was quite flummoxed by it.  I thought that I had to give up makeup, all the things that make me happy and walk around looking and feeling miserable and disheveled.  Gradually, I came to realize that I had to make the concept fit my life, instead of the other way around.  In my heart of hearts, I knew it was unrealistic to expect me to completely give up shopping, eschew anything that came in a package and start making everything from scratch a la Little House on the Prairie.   I thought about my priorities and values and I know that, when I do buy something, it is important to get good value for my money.  So I thought that I would do a roundup of things that I have been loving and which have been working for me.  Keep in mind that what works for me might not necessarily work for you as everyone's skin is different.  First up, is the Live Clean line of shampoos and conditioners.  The Sensitive and Hypoallergenic Shampoo and Conditioner and Apple Cider Clarifying Shampoo for a weekly deep clean are my favourites.  It isn't easy to find haircare that is free of the usual nasties and at an affordable price.  I get mine at Shoppers Drug Mart, which, thankfully, is a national chain pharmacy, so no more having to make a trek to a health food store and paying inflated prices.

Next up is the Simple line skincare.  I cringe when I think of the years when I didn't bother with sunscreen or moisturizer.  And then, one day, I woke up and found that wrinkles had decided to set up camp on my face, never to depart!  It is light weight, doesn't cause me to break out, and is widely available at an affordable price point.  It does the job, no muss or fuss, which is enough for me.  I do wish the Protecting Moisturizer had a higher SPF than the baseline 15 but that is my only quibble.  If you have any suggestions on a good moisturizer, please let me know!

And, last but not least, is my new love, Too Faced lipstick in Spice Spice Baby.  I have always felt a little self-conscious about wearing a lot or any makeup at all.  There was a time when there really wasn't a wide range of colours and a lot of what was out there just wasn't suitable for my skin tone.  I was that girl who would scurry past the makeup counters in a sort of embarrassed state.  When I finally screwed up the courage to really, really explore Sephora, I was astounded, not least because of the pounding music and manic crowd of 18 to 20 year olds.  Is that store every empty?  It really is amazing how the right colour(s) can wake up your entire face.  This lipstick is that perfect shade of coral that makes my lips look like my lips, only better.  I haven't been 18 in years but now you will find me determinedly jostling, elbow to elbow with the 18 year olds, happily swatching away. 

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This week I am linking up with Share Your Cup.  This is not a sponsored post.  All items mentioned I purchased myself.