How I Style… edition 11, moses!

Last week you saw how I styled my favorite brown cardigans. This week isn’t much different. It’s how I style beige cardigans! Ha.There’s a lot. Again. Don’t need a degree online to know I like my neutrals.

Check out previous How I Style posts below:

Week 1 // Week 2 // Week 3 // Week 4 // Week 5 // Week 6 // Week 7 // Week 8 // Week 9 // Week 10 //

ANOTHER surprise giveaway for you guys today! I didn’t realize that Tropicana wanted me to publish my blog post before the end of January so here I am trying to get this together for you guys. My coupons haven’t arrived in the mail yet—they’re getting sent in from the United States. But I wanted to post the giveaway up so you guys can be eligible to win a $50 Spa & Wellness Gift Cards by Spa Week.

I also wanted to mention the new juice that came out which is called Trop50. It has 50% less sugar and calories with no artificial sweeteners. You can even get a coupon code for $1.00 off Trop50 and enter a  sweepstakes  for a $1000 gift card (no purchase necessary). You just have to tell them what your New Years resolution was. It ends today though, so hurry on over and see Official Rules for details.

What is Trop50?

The reason I had no trouble posting the giveaway is that I remember trying the Trop50 juice out back in August when I was in San Diego for BlogHer, not that you guys would be getting it – the winner remember will get a $50 gift card to Spa Week. Back to Trop50: It was refreshing, and I remember drinking the pink flavored one which is appropriately called pink lemonade.

1 Winner will be chosen for the $50 gift card, and it’s only open to residents of the USA. Enter below:  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I don’t know whether it’s because I simplified my makeup routine in January or if it’s the new Marcelle BB cream, but in the mornings after I get out of the shower and moisturize my face, I feel like I’m not as red and splotchy looking on my cheeks.

Here are three photos of me getting ready for work this morning.

(Click image to enlarge)

Left-to-right:

1. No Makeup.
2. Moisturized then Marcelle BB Cream on top.
3. Eyelashes curled (taking a break from mascara) then bronzer, and blush added.

The Marcelle BB cream photographs a little light I’ve noticed which is kind of a pain. I honestly didn’t think I would like this product as much as I did, and I’m surprised that I’m using it every day. I do feel that I still require some bronzer and blush to make my face not look as flat, where as the Laura Mercier foundation, I don’t always need to do that.

The BB cream only comes in two shades, and I presume I was sent the lightest one but I can’t be sure. But I’m definitely pleased with this product, it even made it into my Skin Saviors post, and I’m definitely going to use the entire tube of it.

Just a quick blog post. If you haven’t seen already I’m on Topboxes Facebook page and am featured on their blog! Hee hee.

Read their blog.

See me on Facebook.

First of all, what is BB Cream?
It’s a moisturizer, primer and foundation all in one. BB Cream has been quite popular for a few years now in Asia. It was advertised that you can use just the BB cream on your bare face and skip any other steps in your routine. I received a Marcelle BB Cream lab sample from Marcelle to try out.

It comes in a pump/squeeze bottle format.The 45ml bottle retails for $22.95 and comes in two shades. It came out in a weird squirt the first time.But here it is rubbed into my skin a smidge. I took a photo with less product on my hand and rubbed it in. But since it blends well into my skin, you couldn’t tell I had any product on my hand when it was rubbed in. Which is ideally what you would like on your face. It had a bit of a dewy look to it as well.

Personally, I have dry skin and wouldn’t skip my moisturizer with sunscreen. The reason why I wanted to try out a BB cream was because it gives a dewy look to your face, and I’m one who likes that effect. A moisturized, healthy look to the skin like my Laura Mercier Moisturizing foundation does to my skin. I do not have oily, or acne prone skin so I’m not sure how well this will effect those skin types and how long it will last on the face.

I was first introduced to Marcelle products when my neighbor back home in Newfoundland mentioned that I should use it since it’s non irritating due to it being hypo-allergenic. It’s great to use on my skin since I’m prone to eczema in the winter time. My eczema moves around, and this year it’s in the most annoying place on earth my EYELIDS. I use Marcelle products on my face to cleanse off my makeup with either their cleansing milk, or the gel which I now have at home.

In a week or so I’ll do a followup post on how I liked the BB cream, how long it lasted, what the coverage was like and so forth. But for now if you’d like to read more about the BB Cream on Marcelle’s website, you can do so here.

Have any questions? Ask them in the comments section below.

Yet another subscription box to come to Canada. I know, we probably have the highest amount of sampler boxes around. There’s Glymm, Loose Button, Top Box and now Glossybox which originates from the UK. They guarantee five products in each box per month and sometimes throw in a sixth product. It’s also the most priciest of the bunch going for $15/month, with free shipping.

It’s starting to get a little out of control. Later on this evening if you check out my YouTube channel I’ll be unboxing my first 2012 box, which is the TopBox I received yesterday. Originally in January I had planned on doing a Glymm vs. Loose Button vs. Top Box, but I think I’ll be waiting until February to include GlossyBox as well! I’m definitely not going to stay subscribed to all four boxes because I think it’s a little much, especially looking at the cost add up at the end of the month.

I didn’t know Glossybox was available to Canadians until my friend on YouTube from Toronto, Aleeza wrote about it on her blog.

Not sure you want to sign up? I was hesitant as well. The only reason I ended up signing up for the February box, was that I was completely sold after seeing MissHanaG’s December box, again — thanks to Aleeza for pointing me towards that great box unveiling video, and to another great YouTube channel.

I like it when these subscription boxes give you deals for referring people. Click any of the Glossybox links I’ve been linking all in this blog post and you’re linked to my referral page. When you sign up, like Glymm for every friend that subscribe, Glossybox will credit you 200 GLOSSYDots as a thank you. Convert 1000 GLOSSYDots to a free box next month (you will not be charged for the month). So that’s kind of neat.

Aleeza made a great point stating that the sample box market is getting a little saturated, however it keeps those four companies fighting for our service and perhaps the products themselves will end up getting better.

I too am going to wait until February to give my review on my first Glossybox. Stay tuned!

It was pretty relaxing in our household this weekend in our household. On Saturday I got my hair cut and followed my awesome hair stylist to his brand new place (he just worked for a salon before).

I like that he doesn’t’ want to make a fortune off of me since he tells me not to color it, not to cut too much off and just trim, for now. Layers don’t work in my hair, it’s too fine and sparse on the ends. However, his prices did raise $10 more now that he’s moved out on his own. How does that work? I followed him to his new place. Gimmie yo discounts for being loyal!

Last week Alfie got a new jacket from Canada Pooch but it wasn’t chilly enough yet to wear it outdoors. It was such a mild week. I ended up taking photos the very day I got it.

He actually didn’t seem to mind it on, and I couldn’t stop laughing at him with it on. He was just so itty bitty and super adorable with it on!

Yesterday was a bitter cold day, yet the sun was shining, so we took Alfie for a walk to test out this warm jacket of his.

Most of the time when we were trying to take some decent shots of him he kept rubbing his face on the snow. He usually does that on hard and rough surfaces, but I think the hood was bothering him, even though it was buttoned back.

Like this one.And this one. He’s huffing in this photo, ready to bark!

Alfie is a fast little fella and loves out running me. Here we were racing back to Scott, our photographer extraordinaire for the day.

I totally tired him out, and not the other way around ;)

Whewf, see? Toldja!

Time to go inside poocharoo. I like picking him up to walk him home because the salt on some areas of parking lot is bad for his paws.

I think he looks like a little Santa with his jacket on, super cute. Well fitted and thick too.

Psst , if you’re interested you can buy your own Canada Pooch jacket here.

When I first started doing reviews and giveaways on my site I was contacted by Cover Your Hair and did a review/giveaway. That was back in January 2010. A few weeks ago they contacted me again. Instead of having the gift being a surprise, I decided to actually pick out something to review and have a chance for you all to win it as well.

In October you may remember me talking about the boar hair brushes and how amazing they are for your hair, to make it sleek, shiny and even fall straight without the straightening iron.

So I thought I would request to review the Goody Boar Ceramic Cusion Brush on Cover Your Hair so you, my friends and readers could also have a chance to win a nice boar hair brush.

Don’t you love it when you have a great hair day? Especially on a Monday morning? Honestly, it’s all the help of the boar bristle brush, whether it be this goody one or the Sephora one I mentioned a few months ago.  I don’t ever use my hair straightener anymore because of the boar bristle brushes. But I talk more in depth about that here. However, there is a difference between the two brushes I own. The sephora hair brush that I have right now is all boar. Where as the Goody one that I’m reviewing and giving away today is boar blend. Which means it has some of the regular hard plastic in with the boar. You can see what I mean in the photo shown below. 

Now that holiday season is in full bloom, http://www.CoverYourHair.com is offering 20% off to you lucky followers. Use promo code “blog1231″.  Promo code expires 12/31/11. You can get all sorts of stuff on Cover Your Hair’s website like hair accessories, baby headbands, baby hats, and of course head accessories.

Alright, I know everyone here just wants to get right to it and enter away at this giveaway. So I’ll tell you how you can enter and who is eligible to win a boar bristle hair brush too!

Good luck, and enter away!

This is my first time working in conjunction with Well.ca, and they have graciously allowed me to host a giveaway for you guys! Just to give you a little run down, Well.ca is Canada’s largest online health, beauty, and baby products store. So basically an online place to shop for basic necessities, or … chocolate! You know I found that right away.  The site is designed to access things easily. For instance, you can navigate by brand, or even by medicine cabinet!

Well.ca would be optimal for people such as my Brother. He has a family of six, so his life is always incredibly busy with four children. Forgetting to purchasing things like q-tips, and hygiene products are often forgotten if they’re not on the grocery list. Well.ca is always available to shop online!

The best part about Well.ca is that it’s a Canadian company that has free shipping with no minimum orders to almost all locations in Canada. But we don’t forget about our American neighbors, there’s free shipping in the United States for orders over $99 Canadian. Well.ca also accept returns of unopened products up to 60 days after the date of purchase. Pretty exceptional service if you ask me!

As I stated above, I’m hosting a giveaway for you guys! It’ll be a $50 gift card to Well.ca. As I’m sure everyone knows, tomorrow is Black Friday. Well.ca has some very exciting promotions starting then and ending on Monday the 28th (Cyber Monday). During this time period, they’re giving  customers the option to choose 1 of 5 “free gifts” when they place an order of $100+. The gift options include chocolate, a very popular board game, natural cleaning products, teeth whitening products, and a beauty gift set. The gifts are valued between $25-40 each so this is a fantastic promotion for shopping for Christmas presents.

Once the promotion goes live tomorrow, all of the information will be available here: http://well.ca/blackfriday. If you make a purchase on Well.ca while the $50 giveaway is live,  you will still be entered to win the $50 as a credit-back on your order. So don’t hesitate to take advantage of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals!

How to enter?

Contest ends December 2, 2011

Good luck, and enter away!

It’s going to take a bit of practice for me to figure out how to use the 3 barrel waving iron I got from Flat Iron Experts. I first saw this interesting mechanism that resembled an old school crimping iron, on a YouTube video a year or so ago. But waves! Waves are so much better than eighties crimped hair, right? Though, I’m pretty gimpy when it comes to my hair and styling it. The only way I can make it look nice, is if I blow dry it straight with a boar bristle brush.

I’ve been growing out my hair since what seems like 2005. I don’t go into get my hair trimmed every 8-10 weeks, but now 10-12 weeks. I’m seeing a lot of growth happening. Finally. Once my hair gets down to mid-upper-arm (does that make sense?) it’ll be so fun to play around with hair styles. Like using the waving iron, a curling iron or even do some curls with the regular straightener.

But for now, I give you my best effort and this is how the 3 barrel wave iron looks like when I style it on myself.

This is NOT finished. I took a photo half way through. I just had the top layer to yet style. But so far, so good? The right hand side is complete.

A sneak peak of the side view.

I’ve seen girls with long hair, whether they have extensions in — I’m not sure. But people have made this gorgeous hair style with the waving iron.Almost like loose beachy waves have been achieved. Check out this image I’ve found on Pinterest, where the girl said she used a 3 barrel waving iron.

{Pinterest}

Pretty, right? Hers definitely looks better than mine did when I finished. I think it’s because of the length of my hair. It makes it shorten up, obviously. Which makes it more poofy. 

If you’re interested in purchasing it, cconveniently enough it’s on sale for $99.00 here.