About Me

Hi! My name is Marika and two of my favourite things are beauty and cooking-hence the name mascara and macarons. I also read quite a bit and am studying English and writing. I will be posting about beauty, my kitchen adventures and recipes, and occasional book reviews. I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading :)

Thursday 26 July 2012

Handbag Essentials

Hey :). I've recently downsized to a smaller bag for my Europe trip and I have had to cut out the insane amount of lip products I usually carry around with me.

Wednesday 25 July 2012

iPhone Face of the Day

I thought I would snap a few pictures of what I'm wearing on my face today since it is a little new and exciting. These were taken with my phone so if the quality is not amazing sorry! Is it really annoying or okay?

Anyways, on to the face...

Tuesday 17 July 2012

New Nail Polish

Hey :).
Yesterday I got my order in from nailpolishcanada.com. I paid for everything and have no affiliation-I am just so happy to find a Canada-based website with some great nail polish brands like China Glaze, Essie, OPI, A England, Zoya, Butter London, and so on. I got free shipping and received my order in a week (it will be faster if you live closer to Vancouver). The prices were reasonable and the collections were really new and finding all of these brands under one site in Canada is so convenient.


(without flash)

Sunday 15 July 2012

Laura Mercier Mineral Powder

Hey guys, hope you all had a great weekend! As promised, here are some before and after shots of the LM Mineral Powder, which I absolutely love. My main concern with face makeup is concealing the redness on my cheeks while keeping a natural, glowy finish that doesn't accentuate my dry skin and this foundation does an amazing job. Alone, it doesn't give me an absolutely flawless face but it provides a nice amount of coverage (you can still see my freckles).

Thursday 5 July 2012

Adventures in Bakeland...


Hey guys, today I baked something without a recipe. Aren't you proud? I've always been one to improv when cooking and I've even played with spices and flavouring with baking recipes before but until today I was one to stick to the letter of the law when baking. I had some old bananas and an avocado sitting on my counter and I thought...why don't I make avocado banana muffins? I googled away and came up with nada, so I decided to make my own and they turned out fantastically :). I find myself running out the door each morning and love having muffins that are decently nutritious to take on the go. I used white whole wheat flour, a little brown sugar, and canola oil to make these and they definitely can hold up to some substitutions. I added dark chocolate chips and cut back on the sugar, and I would be interested to try substituting honey and adding some nuts. I also used just one bowl and the prep time was only about 5 minutes. The avocados have monounsaturated fat and allow you to cut down on the oil, which is great and they make the muffins really moist.