Preaches n' Cream

First off, it’s hard to take a cool photo of toothpaste. So, I funkafied my photo (the actual product dosent have sunbursts).

Green Beaver is an all natural company from right here in Ontario. Since I’ve been on this natural product movement I have purchased a bunch of their products. They’re readily available, well priced, and so far I really love everything I’ve tried.

I was very skeptical about natural toothpaste, but I gave it a try because my Colgate comes with huge warning labels telling me not to swallow the product: a product that is foaming in my mouth numerous times a day. Also because my new bible, There’s Lead In Your Lipstick, recommended natural toothpaste, Green Beaver to be specific. 

This toothpaste is great. My teeth feel super clean. They even feel clean and fresh in the morning. It tastes good. I’m supporting a great company, who has a large suite of great natural products. 

I tried the Frosty Mint flavour, they also have: Green Apple, Zesty Orange and Star Anise. Now that I know I like the product, I’m feeling adventurous and I’m going to try Zesty Orange next.

There are lots of different opinions on natural toothpaste, I have a dentist appointment coming up and Ill see what he has to say and take it into consideration. But so far I love this stuff and think you should try it if you’re looking for something less toxic that your current big brand toothpaste. 

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!

I recently tried Bliss Poetic Wax. An at home hair removal wax kit from Sephora (Okay, seriously Sephora, you need to start sponsoring my blog). I’m really sick of having to schedule waxes at the spa and my last wax experience was horrible, the esthetician was such a beotch and was taking her bad day out on my body. I hate her. I bought the Bliss wax because I wanted to wax at my own convenience and I was feeling a bit cheap, thought I’d try saving money for the first time ever. It cost me about $50 vs about $100 at the esthetician/spa. 

I did an eyebrow, leg and bikini wax using Bliss Poetic Wax and here’s what I think:

Good:

• It smells really nice
• It works really well: takes out short and long hairs
• Pretty painless
• Didn’t cause irritation
• It’s the best at home wax product I’ve ever used (case closed)

Bad:

• OMG I made the hugest mess
• There are still little wax balls appearing around my place
• REALLY, it was just so damn messy
• I ruined a $25 towel

Ugly:

• I mistakenly spilled some wax on my lady no-no and had a real dilemma moral/ethical debate on how to get it off (nuff said).

I am typically good at all things girl; beauty DIYs are a snap for me, but I just had the hardest time waxing my own legs, the time it took (90 minutes) and the clean up afterwards made the whole process not worth the $$ I saved.

However, if you’re good at at home waxing I totally recommend Bliss Poetic Wax, the product is great, but the user has to be great as well. 

My previous post is a pic of my houndstooth manicure. It was done using Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips. 

I LOVE THEM!!!

I’ve had so many compliments on my nails in the last few days, people are obsessed with houndstooth nails FYI.

They went on easily, I didn’t use a top coat (I wish I had of) and they stayed on for three days without chipping and only started to chip slightly on the fourth day. I bet if I had of used a top-coat they would have gone longer without chipping.

I’m working in retail right now, so all I do is fold, lift, open, count coins and wash my hands a million times a day. Nail polish doesn’t last half a day on my monkey paws; these lasting for a full three days is a miracle.

They’re a bit pricey ($10 for one set) so I’d probably save them for special occasions. But they’re very cool and I 100% recommend them.

Sometimes hair gets in a rut. I colour and cut my hair at the salon on a regular basis, use great hair products and pretty much obsess over my hair at all times.

All that attention and my hair still manages to turn out a bad hair day once in a while. Typically the reason for my bad hair days is that I’m due for a colour. The annoying thing about this is that my hair colour usually looks fine, towards the 5 week point it has lightened and has a bit of that ombre effect.

It’s the texture that’s off. Colouring hair gives hair great texture and shine. I’m in hair heaven during that first week of a fresh colour. So when I saw L’oreal Shine Gloss which basically boasts salon colour results without changing your hair colour I was very intrigued. 

I bought it for about $14 at Shoppers Drug Mart and gave it a try. It was easy to use: put on hair, wait 10 minutes, wash out. 

Afterwards I gave myself a blow out and set my hair in velcro rollers.  

My hair felt a bit softer and a bit shinier, not the most impressive results, but I was thinking that if I saw this stuff on sale for like $6 I might buy it again. 

From there things turned to worse, my hair became too soft and therefore impossible to style. The more I tried the more staticky it got. My hair has not been staticky since grade 3 and turtlenecks. 

So now, even if I saw it for sale I would not buy it or recommend it. The results were minimal, and $14 for a one time use is expensive…Just double that price and buy a good deep conditioner that’ll last 6 months (if used once a week).

• One idea to keep your hair looking salon fresh is to stagger your cuts and colours. Instead of getting your hair coloured and cut at the same time, try to get your hair cut and schedule your colours in-between your next cut. This way your hair is always changing and getting freshened up; when you do it all at once it all wilts (the colour and cut) at the same time.

I guess the title says it all but I shall expand even more anyways.

I bought Lancome’s Doll Lashes mascara about two weeks ago. The purchase was against my better judgement, because I truly love Armani’s Eyes To Kill, I’ve even reviewed it on preaches n’ cream before, (see the review here ). But I was in the mall and felt too lazy to haul my butt to Yorkville and visit Holt’s, so I bought Doll Lashes.

At first it’s nice, for a good week I thought it was amazing. Then everything went wrong, so wrong. It started clumping and then flaking. The last three times I’ve worn it, it’s completely flaked off and given me major raccoon eyes. So gross, I hate it, raccoon eyes are the WORST.

I will be returning my tube tomorrow sans receipt, sans original packaging, and taking my $$ to Holt’s for my beloved Armani “Eyes To Kill”.

Shoppers Drug Mart is one place that I can get lost in for a very long time. Over the years I’m sure I’ve spent thousands there, at one point I should have been given a platinum Optimum card (if it existed). 

I’ve learned that Shoppers (and any other drug store, or store for that matter) has its star products and it’s products to waste your money on.

Today I’m featuring my Drug Store Favorites, these are the products that cannot be rivalled by fancy cosmetic counters or specialty shops. If you want the best of the best you pick these up at your drug store.

1. Goody Bobby Pins

I am a bobby pin connoisseur and I love these ones the most. They’re strong, affordable, come in different colours and shades (Lately I love blingy silver) and they have a coating that prevents them from snagging your hair.

2.  Spectro Jel

It’s a straightforward facial cleanser. Dermatologists recommend it to remove dirt and oil. It’s gentle, also affordable and from what I’ve noticed, it does the same job as the fancy cleansers that I’ve bought from spas, sephora and department stores.

3. Essie Top Coat

Shoppers had always been a pretty good spot for nail care, but you could always find better products at spas and beauty specialty stores. I love that Shoppers now carries Essie products, and I believe that Essie’s Top Coat is the best Top Coat ever. It dries super quickly and is so shiny. Bonus: if you keep your eye on it, it’ll go on sale quite often.

4. Burt’s Bees Lip Balm

I love this product line, most of all I love their lipbalm. It doesn’t have any nasty drying ingredients. It has a nice smell, no taste and enough sheen to make your lips look yummy and not greasy. It’s also a great product for guys.

5. Burt’s Bees “Fabulously Fresh” Body Wash

The Peppermint & Rosemary scent is refreshing and invigorating. It tingles your skin in a nice way and makes you feel super fresh, clean and awake after a shower. 

Of course I also love the candy aisle at the drug store, but I try not to go down it.

The other drugstore pointer I have is to avoid the hair product aisle. It’s very alluring with it’s neat packaging and sale prices; but I truly believe that only salon products should be touching your tresses, don’t make the mistake of thinking that hair products are all the same (unless you like dull flyaway hair). :p 

Thanks for reading & have a great day!

I had it all planned out; I bought Bumble and bumble’s Shampoo & Conditioner on Wednesday, would wash my hair on Thursday and give you the review on Friday. Well, that’s exactly what’s going to happen, but today there’s more!

Last night I watched Vidal Sassoon The Movie (Finally!) and as it turns out, the movie was produced by Michael Gordon, the founder of Bumble and bumble.

I feel this is either coincidence or heavenly intervention which has tied B&b, Vidal and I together specifically for this post so that I may tell you about my product review and my review of Vidal Sassoon (both the movie and the Toronto salon).

Let’s start with the Shampoo & Conditioner:

Bumble and bumble Quenching Shampoo and Conditioner.

First of all, it’s fricking expensive. I was on the Sephora website checking it out before I purchased it: the Canadian website said the the 8.5 oz Shampoo was $29 in reality it was $38. The conditioner was $32 on the website…$42 in reality. I rarely get product sticker shock, but that extra $20 bothered me. 

It laters nicely and smells nice, in fact the smell has stayed with me all day, which I like. Overall it’s really good, my hair is very shiny and the texture is good: not too soft where it can’t be styled, however feels nice and looks healthy.

I may need to give it more time, but I don’t think I’d buy it again. I’m pleased with the results, but for the price it’s not magical enough. 

Previously I was using Aveda, Kerastase, Fekkai, they’re all expensive too, but they’re not AS pricey (well, except Kerastase) and the results are equal (plus Aveda smells better).  

Here’s a product pic:

Vidal Sassoon The Movie:

Yep, I liked it. If you’re obsessed with hair, beauty or fashion you should watch it. He basically revolutionized hair. Before him, ladies were sitting in the salon once or twice a week getting their hair set, teased and sprayed into a mile high bouffant which would last a week. Think of all the time and money that would have cost.

So Vidal came along and was like, “no, I want to do something new” and that he sure did; he took ladies from these impossible, untouchable, round, curled updos to brilliant geometric cuts that were touchable and moveable.

We could now wash our hair at home and these cuts were so well done that they’d dry into a style. If you think about it, that’s a big deal.

There were lots of other interesting tidbits in this movie and I found it to be very inspirational. I don’t know if the average person would feel the same about this movie but as a superior beauty human being I totally enjoyed it.

Vidal Sassoon the Toronto Salon: 

I’ve had my hair cut here plenty o’times. I love their cuts, best haircuts I’ve ever had in-fact. I recommend senior stylist Gina, she’s fierce, this girl can cut, she’s brilliant, seriously. I can feel the intelligence in my hair, what went into my haircut and the history and brilliance behind it when I run my fingers through it. Pretty subtle stuff eh?

But I don’t go there regularly, mainly because the haircuts are severe and sometimes I just want to be pretty, not catwalk man-repeller ferocious.  

The other reason I don’t go there is because of the receptionists that work there: they’re HORRIBLE.

Every time I’ve had to deal with them I’ve been left with a bad taste in my mouth and I swear I’ll never go back. Their idea of customer service is seriously lacking. I wish they’d just leave and go work at some dirty women’s penitentiary where their attitudes would actually have some context.

That said, after the movie, I am craving a 5 point cut and may just suck it up and go see Gina.

The only other thing I would like to mention is that Vidal Sassoon salons were bought by Proctor & Gamble and then acquired by Regis Corp…Regis Corp also owns Super Cuts, home of the $15 suburban haircut. Sorry, but, that takes away the Vidal Sassoon cache in a big way. Vidal actually has disassociated himself from the brand that bears his own name because of bad management and marketing…and probably because of the receptionists at the Toronto location. 

This may not be “New” for you, you may have been using this for the last three years and want to know what’s taken me so long to find this stuff.

Two reasons for taking me so long to find HD Microfinish Blush:

1. I banned myself from Sephora a while back and only went in yesterday for the first time.
2. I refuse to let myself buy new makeup until I need it, actually need it. Meaning: what I’ve been using is all used up. 

But now I’m almost done my NARS “Desire” powder blush and am ready for something new. By the way, I love NARS blush, Desire is a really hot pink in the case but looks really pretty on, it has served me well and there’s a good chance I’ll buy it again, however I’m in the market for blush and need to check my options. 

Here’s what Sephora says about HD Microfinish Blush:

What it is:A cream blush that naturally sculpts and highlights the cheeks for a healthy glow.

What it does:HD Microfinish Blush combines mattifying and reflecting powders to create a soft-focus effect for a radiant complexion. Its ultra-fine, second-skin texture blends seamlessly, imparting a healthy glow that’s hard not to notice.

I tried in on in a colour called “Truth or Dare”, another hot pink (hot pink seems to give me natural glowy results for everyday use).             

You need the worlds smallest amount for this stuff, like I’m talking a bit more than a pin drop for each cheek.

I rubbed it in with a make-up sponge (provided by Sephora) and I couldn’t believe how pretty it was. It was creamy in texture but didn’t look creamy or cakey on my skin. It really glowed prettiness. 

It also stayed on for the day giving me a healthy complexion and I want to say dewiness, but not shine.

I could see this working everyday for every occasion. With a full face of makeup or just on it’s own, HD Microfinish Blush is up for the job.

If you’re anywhere near a Sephora or a MAKE UP FOREVER counter and you’re in any form interested in being good looking, you have to stop and try this stuff for yourself.

More product info and reviews here.