Every few weeks I do a coconut oil hair mask to keep my hair moisturized, smooth, and healthy. I have super dry hair so it’s really important for me to keep up this routine to keep my hair soft, and not feeling like a stack of hay haha. So, if you’re like me and have really dry or damaged hair this one-ingredient hair mask will keep your hair feeling silky and smooth! If you are one of the lucky ladies who has thick healthy hair, this is also a great shine booster every once and a while if you want some extra glisten in your beautiful long locks.

Let’s get down to it. This is literally the simplest hair mask ever haha, which is part of the reason I love it so much. We are all busy women, and definitely have more important things to do than fiddle about making a complicated hair mask. Know what I mean??

So, here’s the skinny:

1) Buy some virgin coconut oil. Make sureee it’s virgin. Virgin oil is a higher quality oil that is made of just the pressed fruit without any additives. Aka, it is more natural and all around better for you!

2) Before you go to bed put the lots of coconut oil on the TIPS of your hair. The worst (driest) part of your hair is the part where you should apply the most oil, then work your way up until you have covered all the most damaged parts of your hair. If you put it all over your head (up to the roots) it will take FOREVER to wash out. Trust me, I took one for the team and tried it… just, don’t do it haha.

3) Put your oiled up hair (lol) into a braid and sleep overnight on it. I usually don’t cover my hair with anything because if the oil gets on your pillow it’s actually really good for your skin anyways. 🙂

4) Wash your hair in the morning as usual and enjoy your refreshed silky hair!

This hair mask has worked wonders for me, and I love how simple it is! Doesn’t get much easier than one ingredient LOL! 😉 Give this a go and let me know what you think!!

x,

Okay everyone, time for a real serious topic today. GRANOLA. That’s right, I’m going there. 😛 But in all seriousness, pleaseeeee do not buy the store-bought granola that literally is worse than eating a bag of candy. Many granola brands that you buy in your local grocery store have the one of the first ingredients as refined sugar. Bad news all around.

I believe in balance. Each food item you eat throughout the day adds up to either be a healthy or unhealthy day. You should always try to have the majority of the foods you eat be as healthy as possible throughout the day, and keep that balance leaning more towards healthy. Granola IS a healthy food, but only when the proportions of ingredients are correct. Give this Skinny Belle Granola recipe a try, and see how delicious granola can be when it is filled with only wholesome natural ingredients! 

What’s in it:

• 1 cup raw, whole rolled oats
• ¼ cup sliced almonds
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• ¼ cup dried unsweetened coconut
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup (or more if you’re feeling rebellious lol)
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of fine sea salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees farenheight. Combine all the above into a bowl, and mix it all up! Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes.

I’m in love with this recipe because 1) it is SO quick and aint nobody got time to be spending hours making breakfast foods 2) the coconut and dried cranberry combo is just to die for.

Now one last thing… what should you eat your granola with?? Unsweetened (aka natural) greek yogurt is my favourite! This way you skip the gross refined sugars that are added to flavored yogurt and get 18 grams of protein per ¾ cup instead! Good stuff all around. If you want to sweeten up your plain greek yogurt, mix in some honey or maple syrup! Both are great natural sweeteners that are actually good for you!

x,

This weekend I spent some time up in Whistler, British Columbia. For those of you who don’t know what Whistler is, it is a world class ski resort that is about an hour and an half away from Vancouver! I grew up competitive downhill ski racing so Whistler has become like my second home. Soooo you will be seeing quite a few posts from there 😀

This casual outfit was perfect to wear while checking out the farmers market this weekend. I was super comfy and warm, even in the chilly mountain weather! My jacket is from Aritzia, and I’m in love with the camel color this season. I find it matches so well with everything! My poncho I wore underneath was a gift from a small shop in Switzerland. It is wooly, warm, and magical (yes, magical) and basically is a socially acceptable version of wearing a blanket. Sign. Me. Up. LOL!

My jeans are Citizens of Humanity “Rocket” high rise skinny jeans. This is the second pair I have bought of these, in the exact same colour (I know, go wild… right?!) They are just the perfect fit for my body and are so comfortable. I have no doubt that I will soon be purchasing another pair just like these lol. Anddddd finally, these killer knee-high leather boots are from a small shop in Milan. I got them a few years ago and have worn them out pretty good!

It is so nice that fall is finally here, and we can start layering again! Let me know what you think of this cozy weekend look in the comments below. 🙂

x,

Things can tend to get a little bit grey and boring during the fall, especially here in Vancouver (ehem… Raincouver.) Sooo, I made this pink hummus to brighten up your afternoon snack! Also everyone knows that pink is prettier, so why not… right?!

What’s in it:

• 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• 1 large lemon
• ¼ cup tahini
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 tbsp olive oil (always use extra virgin!)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 tbsp water
• ½ small cooked red beet

Combine tahini and lemon juice in your blender. Add in the olive oil, garlic, and salt. Process these ingredients until smooth. Now, take those chickpeas and add them into your blender slowly (half a can at a time.) Blend as you are adding in the chickpeas so your hummus becomes nice and smooth. Finally, add in the cooked red beet until your hummus becomes as light or dark pink as you like. And voila! All done. Serve with your favourite veggies or crackers.

Chickpeas are a great source of protein, so this pretty-in-pink snack will keep you full all afternoon long. Keep in mind chickpeas are pretty high in calories so try and not crush the entire batch in one go… haha (you will want to though, trust me!)

Hope you love the recipe! Try it out and let me know what you think in the comments below. <3

x,

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend everyone! This is one of my favorite times of the year. We get to spend time with our loved ones, and reflect on all the things we are thankful for in our lives. Traditionally, Thanksgiving in Canada was a time to give thanks for a bountiful harvest season. I have a sneaking suspicion that neither you nor I have ever actually “harvested” anything before, so how about we give thanks for all of the other great things we have in our lives. There is often much more than you think!

This outfit I wore the other day before I went for caesars at Score on Davie St. with some friends. The pants are from BCBG, and I am completely obsessed with them because 1) they are party pants YAY! 2) they have that kick ass flare/wide legged look to them that I cant get enough of right now. I paired them with a silk tank from Aritzia, and this sweet oversized blazer from Urban Outfitters. For accessories, I usually keep it really simple. I like the focus of my outfit to be the clothing and not all sorts of bits and bobbles lol. So, I always just stick to a few pieces of jewelry. Here I wore some rings I bought in a small shop in Milan.

Have a great Thanksgiving weekend! <3

x,

Replacing your running shoes isn’t something we talk about very often. But, we totally should! Running in used and worn out shoes is actually the most common cause of running injury. When your running shoes get old, the cushioning and shape of the shoe break down which makes you end up running on flat shoes. This increases the high pressure impact on your joints, which is no fun for anyone. Having high impact on your joints can cause long term problems, which can be solved in the short term by investing in a new pair of kicks! Also, working out is WAY more difficult when you are doing it in old worn out shoes. Whenever I buy a new pair I always feel like a rockstar haha… soooo new shoes = easier workouts? I’m down.

How often should you be replacing your shoes? About every 300 – 400 miles. How to track this? I like to use the Nike running app. It actually motivates me to go out because it shows you where you ran and how far. And okay, this might sound lame, but when you have a really good run there is this voice on the app that congratulates you… and its weirdly rewarding lol.

Another easy way to tell if you need new running shoes is to go and try on a brand new pair which are the same as your current pair. If they feel much more buoyant and the old ones feel flat, then that’s a sign that its time to get a new pair! Basically just use your judgement, but don’t be running around in old shoes that will hurt your joints.

I’m off to go break in these bad boys. Happy running everyone! 

x,

Canadian Thanksgiving is coming up this weekend, and I am STOKED. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, mostly just because the holiday festivities are fully centered around eating (guilty, lol.) Since we have a long weekend quickly approaching, I thought I would share one of my favourite breakfasts to make when I have a bit of extra time in the morning!

“Breakfast Cake” is what I call baked oatmeal. Why? Because it tastes way too good to be called something as lame as “baked oatmeal.” So, Breakfast Cake it is lol.

What’s in it:

• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp cloves
• ½ cup oats
• 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 1 Bosc pear
• 2 – 3 tbsp maple syrup
• Handful unsweetened coconut flakes

Preheat over to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Get out your blender and blend together the bosc pear, almond milk, and oats. Just blend it enough so that the oats break down a bit, it doesn’t need to be pureed. Mix in the remaining ingredients in a bowl, and pour into a small oven-safe baking dish. Bake for 20 – 25 mins. Let sit for a few minutes to cool, then serve with more warm almond milk on top! This recipe makes one serving, so if you are cooking for two I would double it!

There are majorrr benefits to eating oats in the morning. This skinny recipe is seriously low in calories, but is high in protein so it will power you up for your day ahead. Oatmeal is also very low in fat. Alllll great things. Breakfast cake for the win.

Give this way-too-yummy-to-actually-be-healthy recipe a try! You will be happy you did 🙂

x,

Let’s get down to it. There are literally millions of products you can buy to wash your face with, all claiming they will beautify, anti-wrinkle, tone, cleanse, remove redness, unclog pores, etc… the list goes on. I’m not going to lie, it took me a really long time to figure it out what worked for me. I spent stupid amounts of money on skin care products that have left my skin worse than before using them. I would buy products and that would make me break out, and (being me) I was too stubborn to actually stop using the product so I would keep using it until it was done anyways. Smart? No. Stubborn? Yes.

I decided that I needed to take all the unnecessary steps out of my face wash routine. All I really needed to do was remove my makeup and clean my skin so it could breathe at night. Simple. This took me back the basics of staying fresh and clean, a good old fashioned bar of soap. Yup, just a simple bar of soap.

Considering that I have THE most sensitive skin ever (its so annoying, trust me) there are a few key things I look for when buying a bar of soap to cleanse my face with.

What to look for:

1) No perfumes. They irritate your skin like there is no tomorrow, and if we are being real 99% of perfumed soap smells kinda sketchy anyways lol.

2) The soap needs to be hypoallergenic. This means the product causes fewer allergic reactions than other products (according to whoever makes it.) There are not really any standards to show how hypoallergenic a product is, but generally speaking it should be less likely to irritate your skin.

See?! Simple! All I do is wash my face with this once night and in the morning (and obvi moisturize after,) and my skin looks the best it ever has! This is what works best for me, what is your skin care routine? I would love to hear about it in the comments below! 🙂

x,

If you live in Vancouver and have not been to Café Medina yet, go. Right now. They have an unreal menu, and a beautiful new location at 780 Richards Street. The new location was wayyy nicer than the old one. The high ceilings and big windows let in tons of natural light, and make for a really cozy environment.

So obviously if you go to Café Medina you need to try their waffles, which come with unrealll sauces. Milk chocolate lavender, salted caramel, peach & bourbon butterscotch, and white chocolate pistachio rosewater (just to name a few.) Hungry yet? I’m hungry just writing this lol.

This time, I decided I would try something new instead of my usual waffles. I had the “La Sante” dish which was a small plate with a soft boiled egg, avocado, tomato salad, olive tapenade, and salami. Since I am a total snacker and this was the perfect dish for me. Super yummy with lots of different flavours and not overly-filling. Check out the rest of Café Medina’s menu, and go give it a try! It is well worth it 🙂

x,

This is the first time that I have ever been able to wear a jumper! Being the lanky person I am, it is near to impossible to find a jumper that will fit me. All of my friends looked the cutest this summer rocking their little jumpers and I was the MOST jealous haha.

Needless to say, I am absolutely in LOVE with this Zara piece. The long and wide legs have this awesome 70’s vibe, which needs to be brought back asap (like… right now lol.) I’ve been rocking the wide-legged pant look these past few weeks, and am super into it. Anything that is long and flowy, like this dress, is right up my alley. To match the gold detail on the jumper I wore my favourite Michael Kors timepiece, and my Ray-Ban sunnies.

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you’ve had a great week. 🙂

x,