RaincoatesBeauty

March 2018 On Instagram

Here’s a recap of my March on Instagram:

Today I saw a post on Twitter stating that we’re already 25% into 2018, and it rattled me a little. I honestly feel like it was just New Years Eve, yet we’re already into the first week of April.

March was a busy month, full of birthdays, work, and trying to establish a YouTube schedule. I challenged myself to post a video every week – something I’ve always struggled to make time for with my busy work schedule.

I’m so proud of myself for sticking to it and being able to do it! It definitely helped to reignite my passion for making videos and helped improved my time-management skills.

Here’s a look at my march YouTube Uploads:

Current Makeup Favourites (Cruelty-Free)

The BEST Tofu Scramble & Oil-Free Roasted Potatoes

Easy Everyday Glam – Get Ready With Me Tutorial

Easy Mushroom Stroganoff – Vegan/Plant-Based

Are you addicted to Instagram too? Leave me your links in the comments!

You can find me here, or as “@raincoatesbeauty” on the app!

Current Makeup Favourites (Cruelty-Free)

I had initially planned to do a 2017 Beauty Favourites video, but time seemed to escape me. Before I knew it, it was the end of March and I don’t know about you, but that seems a tad too late. So instead I thought I’d do a post talking about some of my current favourite makeup products – most of which were from 2017, but some are new launches.

This video contained many bloopers, which I decided not to edit out. Specifically, my dog knocking over my Jaclyn Hill palette, and the heartbreak and turmoil that followed. I hope you enjoy!

Products mentioned:

Lise Watier CC Eye Primer
Jaclyn Hill x Morphe Palette
Stila Shimmer & Glow Liquid Eyeshadows – “Cloud” and “Starlight”
Eyenvy Lash Conditioner
Pur Fully Charged Lash Primer
Thrive Causemetics Liquid Lash Extensions
Smashbox Photofinish Primerizer
The Ordinary High Spreadability Fluid Primer
Lise Watier Teint Velours Foundation in “Porcelain”
Tarte Shape Tape concealer in “Light”
Lise Watier Teint Velours Loose Powder
Nude By Nature Radiant Loose Powder Foundation
Stila Stay all day liquid lipstick in “Sheer Patina”
Fenty Beauty Universal Gloss Bomb
NYX This Is Everything Lip Oil

The BEST Tofu Scramble & Oil-Free Roasted Potatoes

When I switched to a plant-based diet, I thought it meant I wouldn’t get to enjoy my favourite breakfast foods. I used to be obsessed with eggs and would eat them every day if I could. Now, of course, I no longer eat eggs for health, ethical, and environmental reasons.
So I wanted to find a way to recreate the taste and texture I loved, with a healthier and of course cruelty-free version!

However, every restaurant I’ve gone to that serves a tofu scramble always serves some crumbly, dry scramble with a seemingly random jumble of vegetables thrown in. Ya girl is not about that life. SO I set out to create the BEST tofu scramble I could! This is one of my absolute favourite breakfasts!

The key to this is using medium-firm tofu – it has more moisture and much more of an egg-like texture than the firm or extra firm tofu that most restaurants seem to use. Eggs have moisture and are squishy – not crumbly and dry. Adding some milk also helps a lot with this!

Also crucial to this (though you can omit it if you aren’t able to find it) is the Black Salt – otherwise known as Kala Namak. This is a pungent spice that comes from rock-salt. It smells and tastes like eggs because of its sulphur content – adding it to the scramble totally makes it taste more like eggs.

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As for the potatoes, one trick to make them crispy without adding oil is to use a small amount of tahini (sesame paste.) This also helps the spices stick to the potatoes!

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I hope you enjoy!

Morphe Me Brush Subscription – March 2018 Brushes

February passed by so quickly that I completely forgot to post a review for last month’s brushes!

I received March’s brushes a bit late, so sadly I wasn’t able to post a review as soon as I had hoped. I tested most of them out in my recent Get Ready With Me video, which you can watch here!

March’s brush package is a fun spin on St. Patrick’s Day and features 4 Rose Gold brushes:

The R3 Precision Pointed Contour – Morphe suggests using this brush to contour or apply cream products. While it definitely works for that, my favourite way to use it is to set my foundation with loose powder! It’s the perfect shape for setting under eye concealer!
The R4 Pro Angle Brush – this is marketed as a blush brush, but I personally find it a bit too small for my personal blush preference. I love this brush for applying a natural contour, as the slanted shape hugs the cheekbones really well.
The R3 Round Blender – this is my favourite brush of this month’s package, and one of my new favourite brushes of all time. It’s perfect for applying concealer into all those hard to reach areas, such as around the eyes and nose. I use this every day to apply my colour corrector on my under-eye area before my concealer!
The R42 Oval Shadow & Concealer – this is a strong contender for my favourite brush of the month. This small, pointed brush has the perfect amount of flatness and density, making it ideal for packing on eyeshadow to the lid. It’s not a blending brush, but really is perfect for depositing colour!

You can see these brushes in action here!

Strangely enough, I don’t use most of these brushes for their intended purpose. I love all of these brushes, don’t get me wrong. But I always recommend trying the brushes for different things to figure out the best way they work for you!

Interested in joining Morphe’s monthly brush subscription? You can join here, and you’ll receive bonus points/a free brush!

Previous month’s reviews:

Morphe Me Subscription – January 2018 Brush Review

Morphe Me Subscription – October Brush Review

This post is not sponsered, but I do also receive bonus points when you sign up through my link!

Easy Everyday Glam – Get Ready With Me Tutorial

This is my go-to makeup look for every day, when I don’t have a lot of time, or just don’t feel like doing anything particularly dramatic.

It’s easy, and really brightens the complexion (which is great if you’re like me, and have atrocious sleeping habits.)
I’m using a lot of my current favourite makeup products.

Don’t let the long list of products fool you – this really is an easy look to create!

Products used:

Lise Watier extreme hold cc eye primer
Urban Decay Naked Palette – “Naked” & “Buck”
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette
Marcelle Forever Sharp Waterproof Eyeliner “Blackest Black”
Pur Fully Charged Mascara Primer
Thrive Causemetics Liquid Lash Extensions Mascara
The Ordinary High Adherence Silicone Primer
Lise Watier Teint Velours Foundation “Porcelain”
Pixi Brightening Under Eye Concentrate – Peach
Tarte Shape Tape Concealer – Light
Lise Watier Teint Velours Powder
Hourglass Ambient Light Metallic Strobe Palette
Stila Stay All Day Bronzer
Essence Satin Touch Blush “Satin Love”
Marcelle Eye-Brightening Kohl Eyeliner “Beige”
Urban Decay Naked palette “Smog” & “Buck”
Lise Watier Waterproof Lip Crayon “Nude”
Lise Watier Rouge Intense Supreme Lipstick “Charlize”

Brushes used:

Morphe R3 brush
Morphe R40 brush
Morphe R42 brush
Morphe r3 brush
Quo Liner & brow brush
Morphe M510 brush
Morphe R7 Brush
Morphe E4 brush
Morphe M508

I hope you enjoy! Let me know what your current favourite products are!

Check out my previous posts:

Easy Mushroom Stroganoff – Vegan/Plant-Based

February 2018 On Instagram

Kardashian Inspired Glam – Chatty Tutorial

Easy Mushroom Stroganoff – Vegan/Plant-Based

mushroom stroganoff title

Pasta is synonymous with happiness. Well, not really, but it should be. I would eat pasta every day if it were healthy to do so. One of my favourite things to do is try to make pasta bit healthier – such as using a gluten-free or brown rice pasta, and making the sauces out of things like vegetables and beans.

Then again, sometimes you just need a good old-fashion comfort food pasta. I love Stroganoff and knew I wanted to veganize a recipe. I began searching for different ones online, and while there are lots of great ones – like this one from Caitlin of From My Bowl – I knew I wanted to play around and see what I could come up with.

This instantly became one of my favourite recipes. It’s a super easy, one-pot mushroom-stroganoff style pasta. It’s dairy free, vegan, and can be customized in a ton of different ways! !

Best of all it’s easy, quick, and can be made in just one pot!

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Notes:

When adding your pasta, the liquid should be just covering the pasta. Depending on the pasta you’re using, you may need to add an extra 1-2 cups water.
I decided to add extra pasta for leftovers, so I added an extra 1 & 1/2 cups water.
The beefless ground is optional but adds extra heartiness, protein, and that “traditional” stroganoff texture. You could substitute this with lentils!
Omit sprinkle of vegan cheese for a healthier option
You can use any type of pasta, but I prefer gluten-free. It’s healthier and easier on the stomach! My current favourite is the Catelli Gluten-Free pasta, or brown rice pasta.

February 2018 On Instagram

February was full of contradictions; an antithesis of sorts, if a month can be such a thing. It seemed to be full of both good and bad; both light and dark, both retrogress and progress.

It wasn’t quite what I’d hoped it would be in some ways, yet more than I’d hoped for in others. On the positive side, I had the pleasure of hosting a baby shower for 2 of my co-workers and celebrated my 23rd birthday with my friends and family. It was a month of social reinvigoration, and was much needed!

With this, I also found myself slowly rekindling that creative spark I’ve been missing. Despite frustrations and disappointment with Instagram’s Algorithm and the new YouTube Partnership update, I feel like I’m finally starting to find my creative “groove,” if you will. I feel more determined than ever to get back into the routine of creating content, but in a way that feels fresh and more like me. You can expect to see more frequent posts on here, my Instagram, and my YouTube channel!

Here’s a look at my month on Instagram:

feb 2018 — You can find me ***here,*** or as “raincoatesbeauty” on the app!

Make sure to leave me your Instagram links in the comments! Here’s hoping March is full of growth, light, progress, and energy!

Kardashian Inspired Glam – Chatty Tutorial

I recently got to glam up my friend Jess, so we went for a bronze, Kardashian inspired glam – a sultry, smokey bronzed look paired with a nude lip is very reminiscent of Kim Kardashian’s makeup looks around 2014/2015. This type of a look is what inspired the makeup I did for Jess:

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It’s glam but not overly dramatic, and the gold/bronze tones really accentuate Jess’s gorgeous blue eyes!

This is more of a chatty get ready with us style video as opposed to a tutorial, but I included each product used and a brief description of each step!
We hope you enjoy!

Jess’s channel is currently under construction, so I’ll share that with you as soon as it’s up! Stay tuned for our cooking video!

Giveaway #4 – Makeup Galore!

Make sure to read my previous post about Youtube’s changes and how they affect small content creators like myself!

While I sadly didn’t meet the threshold for Youtube’s new Partnership requirements, I wanted to do one last big giveaway as a thank you to everyone who has followed me and helped support me!

This is the giveaway I was most excited for – it’s a full face giveaway! There are products for eyes, lips, brows, cheeks, and even skin!

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To enter, all you have to do is:

Be subscribed to my YouTube channel
Be following me on Instagram
Comment on this post or on my Instagram post letting me know you’ve entered!

This giveaway is open worldwide! I will be contacting the winner personally.

If you’re a small blogger like me and will be affected by this change, leave your channel name in the comments so we can help each other out!

Disney Travel Diary – Disney World & Universal Studios

In October I got to travel to Florida with my best friend, to visit Disneyworld and Universal Studios during their Halloween season.

It was one of the best trips I’ve ever been on. We spent 10 days in Florida, doing the full Disney experience. We visit all 4 disney Parks and Universal Studios. We went in October as we both love Halloween, and Halloween in Disney was on both of our bucket lists! The Hollywood Horror Nights was so insanely fun – not to mention scary. One of us, and I’m not going to name names, ~~*cough*Claudia*cough*~~ may or may not have cried in the American Horror Story haunted house. Universal Studios transforms into a place of Halloween magic and scariness after dark, and it’s something every Halloween lover should experience.

If you’re not a fan of scariness, then Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is pure whimsical Halloween bliss. It’s full of pumpkins, trick or treating, and a show and was one of the best nights of my life.

I can’t wait to go back to Disney soon!

Make sure to watch Claudia’s video here!

Giveaway #3 – Thierry Mugler Angel

Make sure to read my previous post about the new Youtube updates, and how small bloggers like myself will be affected – and also how these giveaways are my way of thanking everyone for helping to support me! Thank you so much to everyone who entered my previous giveaway!

For my third giveaway, one winner will receive a brand new, full-size refillable Angel Eau De Parfum from Thierry Mugler.

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Angel launched in 1992, and revolutionised the fragrance industry. It’s truly one of the most unique fragrances on the market.

Classified as an oriental vanilla, it has notes of bergamot, vanilla, red berries, caraway, nutmeg, sandalwood, patchouli, tonka bean, praline, and more. It’s sweet and strong, lasting all day long due to the high concentration of perfume oil in every drop!

Here’s a tip for the Mugler fragrances: do not spray multiple sprays directly on the skin. It’s simply way too strong when applied this way as the perfumes are so concentrated. Instead, spray a little in the air before you get dressed, and walk through it!

I’m also including a mini sample – that way you can try it before opening to see if its the right fragrance for you!

To enter, all you have to do is:

Be subscribed to my YouTube channel
Be following me on Instagram
Comment on this post or on my Instagram post letting me know you’ve entered!

This giveaway is open worldwide! I will be contacting the winner personally.

If you’re a small blogger like me and will be affected by this change, leave your channel name in the comments so we can help each other out!

Stay tuned for my next giveaway!

January 2018 On Instagram

Welcome, February! January seemed like incredibly long, didn’t it? I don’t know about you, but it felt January was an 8 week month to me. I’ve been eagerly anticipating February, as it’s my birthday month and always full of fun!

Here’s a recap of my January on Instagram!

jan 2018 on insta — Let’s be Instagram friends!

I’m hosting giveaways until February 20th, make sure to stay tuned! You can read about about my previous giveaways and the upcoming changes to the Youtube Partnership Program (that affect small bloggers like myself) check out my previous post here!

Are you addicted to Instagram too? Let’s be friends!

You can find me here, or as “raincoatesbeauty” on the app!