As we move from the winter months into spring and summer here in Canada, I always find myself switching over to a thinner moisturizer. I tend to stick to thick body creams throughout the winter, but come the warmer months, I want something that’s going to keep my skin happy, healthy and hydrated, but that also won’t feel heavy on my skin.
So when I was introduced to Karen Dermo CosmeticPhytoplankton Moisturizing Lotion (distributed by Canadian brand Blugenics Innovations in Sackville, New Brunswick) that promised me that phytoplankton was the new superfood that could nourish my skin, I was definitely interested.
Karen Dermo Cosmetic Moisturizing Lotion
The Karen brand of phytoplankton is approved by Health Canada and is clinically proven to infuse new life into skin and eliminate the toughest skin conditions. The phytoplankton (algae) is packed with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, and the lotion is hypoallergenic as well as paraben free. In case you’re curious, the Karen brand of phytoplankton is grown in a closed environment facility which is free of pollution and contaminants (so rest assured they’re not scraping it out of the actual ocean!).
Karen Dermo Cosmetic Moisturizing Lotion
I don’t have psoriasis, rosacea or eczema, which this lotion has been clinically tested to help (most people saw a 95% improvement in their skin quality over a four month dermatologist supervised study), but I do have oddly itchy skin on my shins. The Karen Dermo CosmeticPhytoplankton Moisturizing Lotion helped to relieve that itching sensation and after about two weeks of straight use I’d say that the desire to scratch at my shins is totally gone! I did try it out once on my face just to see how it would go and I wasn’t in love with it that way – this was definitely a body moisturizer for me!
So if you’re looking for a healing agent in your body lotion that is also not a super thick cream and absorbs easily, you may just want to take a look into this one!
Karen Dermo CosmeticPhytoplankton Moisturizing Lotion will set you back $39.99 CAD for a 100 ml tube. And if you don’t like it? Don’t worry – it comes with a 30 day money back guarantee! You can purchase it at Rexall, Guardian, London Drugs, PharmChoice, Pharmasave, Shoppers Drug Mart and online at karenphytoplankton.com.
A trio of us ( were in New York City last weekend for IMATS and my friends said they were more than happy if I pulled myself away from our group for a morning race on the Sunday we were in town! In looking around for a race on the Sunday, the one that popped up was the UAE Healthy Kidney 10K race that takes place in Central Park. I was elated – not only was I finally going to get the opportunity to run in Central Park (something I’d always wanted to do but had never gotten around to actually doing while on vacation), but the race start zone was walking distance from our hotel! I mean, how perfect is that??
The morning of the race was sunny and beautiful. The air was on the cool side of things and for me that makes for lovely running conditions. However, my stomach was a bit of a mess that morning and I had slept uncomfortably the night before because I kept waking up every few hours and STAYING awake for long stretches of time until I dozed off again. It was predominantly to do with race jitters which is something I can never seem to shake no matter how many races I’ve got under my belt at this point. It’s odd too – I hadn’t trained for this race in particular, so I knew I wasn’t going to put out a stellar time so I should not have been nervous at all.
Anyway, I ended up forgetting my Garmin tracker as I was headed out the door which ended up putting me a little bit off kilter when it came to the actual race. I thought my Nike+ app tracker would be sufficient (which is why I didn’t double back to get my Garmin) but it definitely wasn’t, and I certainly won’t be making that mistake again.
Despite my stomach feeling rotten and the weird race jitters being ever present, as soon as I got into the starting lineup for the race, all of my worries melted away. And as soon as I started the actual race, I felt entirely at home. Running has become such a part of my life that it’s actually incredibly soothing to me. I know that sounds a little bizarre to some people – that the idea of bouncing up and down while covering long distances could even be remotely soothing, but, to explain it a bit more, the movement of putting one foot in front of the other… it’s become such a practiced and comfortable movement for me that it instantly puts me at peace. I experienced this same feeling last year when I did that Half Marathon in Iceland (which had crappy weather conditions and I felt less than stellar due to lack of sleep). It’s like my body just knows what to do and I can just give in to that feeling.
Anyway, I was lacking my Garmin, so the only feedback I had about my pace was coming from my Nike+ app, and it was only telling me once I finished a kilometer. I actually thought I was going at a really good pace, but in the end the Nike+ app was overtracking my kilometers and thinks I finished the race about 600 meters before the end which made all of my pacing totally out of whack. Not much I could do about it – by the time I realized the mistake I was so close to the end and I couldn’t run double my pace to make up the difference. I never really realized how much I rely on my Garmin to keep me on pace. Having that information feedback on your wrist is so, SO freaking vital! In the end, I ended up going a touch faster than my half marathon pace (pace details are at the bottom of this post), so yeah, it was a pretty slow race for me! And I wasn’t really sore the next day so I definitely wasn’t pushing myself. Ugh.
2017 UAE Healthy Kidney 10K Race – All done!
One thing I was not prepared for was just how many dang hills there are in Central Park. HOLY CRAP YOU GUYS. It’s like a constant series of uphills! I couldn’t believe it! Especially the northern end of the park – it felt like kilometer after kilometer of ascent. I didn’t stop to walk any of them, but it definitely sucked some of the energy out of my system.
One of the things I need to mention about this run is that this was my first experience with seeing “threat level” flags in a race. I assume it’s because of what happened with the Boston Marathon bombings, but every checkpoint had a green flag with something that said “Race Status Alert Level: Safe”, which I anticipate they would change to yellow or red depending on what the conditions were ahead. I think it’s a necessary measure considering what has happened in the past, but when I finally clued in to what those flags meant (took me a few checkpoints to realize!) I was horrified – chills were running up and down my body. It was a moment of “what the hell country am I in where this is a necessary measure?”. It was a really bone-chilling moment for me.
All in all though, the UAE Healthy Kidney 10K was an extremely well organized event. I appreciated just how many hydration stations there were (which even included bathrooms), alongside the safety checkpoints. The volunteers all seemed happy to help and encourage and the overall atmosphere was really enjoyable. Overall, I didn’t LOVE the course design, but there is not much that can be done about that due to the structure of Central Park. So for me, I was just really happy to participate in this event!
Race Results
Finish Time: 59:25
Pace: 5:56 per kilometer
Overall placement: 5197/8615
Age group placement (Female 30-34 years): 430/887
Gender placement (F): 1764/4032
By the way, if you’re ever interested in the other races I’ve run, you can always visit my Race Results page for a breakdown by year and by race. Enjoy!
The liquid lipstick fad is never-ending and MAKE UP FOR EVER are dipping their toes into the fray with their Artist Liquid Matte Lipsticks!
MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Liquid Matte
And I do meaning “dipping their toes”! MUFE has released six shades of their Artist Liquid Matte formula and I hope it’s just a testing ground to see how consumers feel about the products because I would love to see some vibrant shades added into the mix. Currently, MUFE has six shades of neutrals – which, if you look at the tubes, you’d swear they were all near identical shades! (More on that later.)
MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Liquid Matte
The claims on the Artist Liquid Matte lipsticks are pretty lengthy (taken from Sephora):
Finally, a comfortable liquid lipstick with intense color in an ultra-matte finish. With concentrated pigments, Artist Liquid Matte provides truly matte, saturated color payoff with a lightweight feel. Its unique formula boasts beeswax for long-lasting wear and avocado oil for soft, nourished lips. It’s an ultra-matte, liquid lipstick with high color payoff and 20-hour, comfortable wear. Its precise applicator coats and defines every peak and valley of your lips to perfection.
As we’ve discussed before, I am not someone who is going to wear their lipstick for longer than 6 hours, so a 20 hour wear time is insane to me. (I have no idea how you people do it.) So while I can’t tell you how this will wear for practically a full day, I can tell you that I find this quite comfortable for 5-6 hours. Even me just saying that about a liquid lipstick is kind of wild – I struggle with liquid lipsticks and often want to rip them off my lips due to the dryness. That wasn’t the case with these!
MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Liquid Matte swatches – 101 Cream Beige, 105 Rosewood and 109 Praline
I mentioned earlier that a lot of the shades in the collection seem very, very similar in the tube – so much so that I thought swatch and face shots were going to be incredibly boring. That is not the case! The colours dry down a few shades darker than what they appear in the tube and there is definitely more variety amongst the shades than I had previously anticipated.
MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Liquid Matte Lip Swatches
Wearing MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Liquid Matte in 101 Cream BeigeWearing MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Liquid Matte in 105 RosewoodWearing MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Liquid Matte in 109 Praline
My Thoughts
When I put the very first shade on my lips, I was astonished. Not only was the colour completely solid, but I could also rub my lips together. I don’t know if you’ve experienced this with other liquid lipstick formulas, but generally, you can’t rub your lips together for fear of the liquid lipstick balling up and/or generally feeling like sandpaper. With the MAKE UP FOR EVERArtist Liquid Mattes I could do some light rubbing and it made wearing a matte liquid lipstick so much more relieving to me. Because of this, I felt like my lips were less dried out! However, with a little bit less of a dry factor, I did notice that I would lose a little bit of product on the inside rim of my mouth at a slightly faster rate than other liquid lipsticks. It wasn’t really bad though (just thought it was worth mentioning) and the product does layer well so I was able to re-apply on the center portion of my lip without issue.
In short, for me, as a non-liquid lipstick lover overall, the MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Liquid Mattes have been one of the most comfortable liquid lipstick formulas to wear. They are less drying than others which makes me feel less trapped in my makeup (please tell me I’m not the only one that can feel that at times!). I love the colours that I tried (Praline is especially gorgeous), but I really do hope they come out with more vibrant shades.
