Preaches n' Cream

I have a beauty pick that I need to tell you about.

You may have already guessed by the title: it’s Origins GinZing Eye Cream. Origins calls it a de-puffer and brightener for your eyes and I agree. I also call it an amazing-fix-all-miracle-in-a-tube-addition-to-my-top-10-favorite-beauty-picks.

It has a pearlescent shine to it, which gives a dewy youthful look. Use it around your eyes, and a few dabs on your cheek bones and you’re looking pretty healthy, dewy and sexy and you don’t look over done because it’s just a subtle cream, not a highlighter.

Some key points:

• Allergies are killing me; GinZing seems to work in de-puffing my eyes when they’re at their worst. 
• It works as an under eye concealer and it doesn’t cake up. 
• It looks nice under foundation, giving that glowy healthy look.
• It’s fragrance free (a must for my eye cream). 

You don’t need to use a tonne of this stuff, and it’s $37 for a jar: I think that’s pretty reasonable considering it works and it lasts. I got my sample at Sephora about a week ago and I still have a good amount left. 

Here’s the product shot:

And here it is on my hand. See the pearlescent texture/Ignore my weird hands:

So, I love this stuff and I seriously recommend that you try it out, you will love it.

Let me know what you think!

“Shoe Dating from Malaysian retailer Shoes Shoes Shoes connects women purchasing footwear with men offering to pay a portion of the price in return for a date.”

Men are encouraged to select from a list of 20 shoe makes they would like their potential partner to wear. They also pick a percentage of the sale price they are willing to pay in return for a date, from 10 percent or more. When women purchase footwear from Shoes Shoes Shoes, they are matched with the men who selected their chosen pair and receive the promised discount after the first date.

The shoe retailer has apparently already received success stories from the promotion, and has certainly added extra excitement to the shopping process. One to emulate in your part of the world?

Website: www.facebook.com/shoedating

…

I would never try this service just to get a discount for shoes…Well, I have a boyfriend for starters and then there’s the whole “prostitution lite” feeling that this concept has.

But, if you’re single, love shoes, like discounts and looking for a new way to meet a man this may work.

So far it’s only and official business in Malaysia…sorry my Toronto ladies :p

This week in Toronto is hot as hell.  We’ve been trying to keep the condo cool by keeping the blinds closed during sunny hours and by definitely not turning on the oven to cook.

Feeling inspired by this post on one of my favorite food blogs, Cupcakes and Kale, I made an amazing raw dinner that was extremely easy and delicious.

I chopped up an avocado, mango, cucumber, cilantro, used some brown rice vermicelli noodles (soak for 5 minutes and they’re ready, which is awesome). Substituted rice paper for lettuce leaves (because my local grocery store sold out of rice paper) and made this peanut sauce.

Voila! Easy Peasy Yummy Dinner…and leftovers for lunch :)

I finally got my butt over to Banana to check out their collaboration with Trina Turk. I’m really loving Trina Turk’s style, and let me just say, if you’ve got a wedding coming up and are thinking of what to wear as a guest or if you’re looking for bridesmaids dresses, you should check her out: www.trinaturk.com. The Bay Queen Street has a respectable collection of her dresses available if you want to check it out in person. 

Banana Republic’s colabo is more affordable than Trina’s regular line and it’s pretty damn close to the original and pretty damn cute. View the whole collection here.

Here’s me in the change-room, I’m wearing my favorite piece from the collection, although I think I’ve got some more trying on to do. 

I Love LCD Soundsystem.

Unfortunately, last year they played their last concert ever at Madison Square Gardens.

I was there. Here’s proof:

Far from the stage, but tickets were friggin impossible to get and we flew to NY to see the show, so, I’m hardcore.

Anyways, I just learned about this:

Shut Up and Play The Hits

A documentary about their last concert and it’s being released for one night only AND in Ontario it’s only playing at the Bloor Street cinema in Toronto…AND my Man just gots us some tickets. <3 Eeee!

I turned vegan about 9 months ago and part of my vegan lifestyle has included becoming more aware of the cosmetics I use. I have been trying to buy products that are cruelty free and vegan; unfortunately my search has not been easy. While there are many vegan cosmetics options, they often do not have the quality that the big cosmetic companies have. 

When I first learned about Urban Decay I was stoked, they are a “real” cosmetics company with fancy packaging, quality products and sold in Sephora (my mothership) and they are cruelty free and carry many vegan options. 

The animal testing policy from the Urban Decay website:

“Urban Decay is committed to ending animal testing, has never tested its finished products on animals, and has no plans to do so in the future. We do not intend to change our policy, nor will we allow others to test on our behalf, except when required by law. Additionally, we require our suppliers to certify that the raw materials used in the manufacture of our products are not tested on animals”

The f’d up news is that they are expanding into China where animal testing is mandatory for cosmetics and they are going to start testing their Chinese products on animals.

I hate this. 

While other companies are going to be doing the same thing, I’m mostly pissed at Urban Decay because it’s the company who said it was cruelty free from the start. I know that they would be opening themselves up to a significantly huge new market, which of course would equal $$$. But it’s at the cost of trading in what the company was built on and it’s not worth it. 

The search for TRUELY vegan cosmetics continues, and Urban Decay is now off my list.

Here’s a link from PETA if you wish to learn more.

Also, from the Urban Decay website, here is where you can find out more directly from them.