NeoStrata's Skin Resurfacing Duo

Exfoliating your skin is an important part of any skincare routine.  In order for your skin to glow you need to slough off those dead skin cells.  If done right you'll be left with radiant skin,  if done wrong you can be doing your skin more harm than good (breakouts,  skin tears and more).

There are many different forms of exfoliating (masks,  peels, physical exfoliants, etc) and finding what works for you is key.  Today I'm going to share with you one of my personal favourite exfoliating systems,  NeoStrata's Skin Resurfacing Duo. Here's a brief description as found on NeoStrata's website

"Ideal for a quick fix for dull skin concentrating on more resistent dry skin areas. This duo will give you quick results with no downtime."

This product is marketed for all ages and skin types.  It's a two step process where you use both crystals and an activator. These are the instructions provided both on the website and directly on the packaging.

Apply Crystals. Massage gently for 1 minute. Apply Activator over Crystals. For sensitive skin, mix both products in the palm of hand before applying. Massage gently for 2 minutes. Rinse. Can be used 1-3 times weekly on face, neck, décolleté and hands.

I don't have particularly sensitive skin so I use it following the two step directions.  I also like to use the extra product on my hands to exfolitate them as well ;)

The crystals are very small and have a nice light scent to them.  A little goes a long way and I find them to be quite gentle.  The activator is a clear gel that's fairly runny. When applied on top of the crystals they react and turn white in appearance.  Its actually pretty neat to watch!  After the allotteded time is up, you rinse the duo off with warm water.  It's very easy to wash off unlike some exfoliants that just don't want to budge.

As soon as the product is rinsed my face feels instantly smoother and looks radiant. The first few times I used it my face was a bit 'pink' from the friction but it quickly dissipated after I applied my serum and cream.  Since using this regularly (3x a week) I have noticed that my skin is much healthier.

You can purchase it at most mass drugstores (I buy it at Shoppers) and it retails for around $75.  This duo will last quite a while so although the price may seem steep at first,  it will give you many uses.

Have you tried the Skin Resurfacing Duo? Would you like to?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Dave Lackie and Givenchy's #ArtofPerfumery Event

As some of you may already know,  I recently won a seat at one of Dave Lackie's coveted VIP follower dinners.  This dinner was for Givenchy and was aptly named #ArtofPerfumery.  I've been in love with Givenchy's fragrance house ever since my Mom bought me my first bottle of Very Irresistible when I was a teenager.  Having the opportunity to attend this event was not only exciting but very special to me!

The event was held at the Arcadian Lofts in beautiful downtown Toronto.  I ran into a few of my lovely Twitter friends in the lobby and seeing as we were all early,  we decided to wait for some of the other guests to arrive.  With a small group in tow, we headed for the elevator and made our way upstairs.

Connie,  Grieta and myself

Connie and I

At the entrance to the event we were met by a woman with a beaming smile and a tray full of delicious looking cocktails.  There were three to choose from,  all spins on Givenchy fragrances. Drinks in hand, we stepped into the room and what I saw was almost too beautiful for words!

The first thing that hit me was the scent!  The air was ripe with the aroma of roses and the subtle scent of fragrance.  It was as if I had walked into a garden!  Alongside the flowers were carefully placed bottles of Givenchy parfums, colognes and scented candles.  Live Irresistible,  Very Irresistible,  Ange ou Demon,  Dahlia Divin and Gentleman Only to name a few!  There were even a few tables with candies and chocolates!!!

Our gracious host Dave came over to welcome us and chat. I'm sure most of you are familiar with his generous giveaways,  Cityline appearances and infamous #protips,  but there's a lot more to him than that.  Always smiling and upbeat,  he makes you feel special and welcome.  There's no beauty question he won't answer and if he doesn't have the answer,  he'll search for it.  Whether asking his pal Nina Westbury or contacting a brand, he's sure to help you out.  There's a reason #DavesBabes has become a hash tag!

 
But back to the event...

I mingled with the guests a bit before securing a seat up front.  I wanted to be as close to the action as possible!  We were soon asked to take our seats and the wait staff came by to check for any dietary restrictions (you really get the VIP treatment at these events!) I was lucky enough to be seated next to the lovely Maria aka Best Day Blogger and we chatted while eagerly awaiting our dinner.

I could go on for days describing the meal but I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!  And yes,  it all tasted as good as it looks! Especially that pecan pie!  Yumm!

As we finished our desserts Dave and David spoke to us about both the art and history of perfumery. I never realized just how competitive the fragrance world is and how seriously perfumers take their jobs.  Stories about Givenchy's history,  Hubert de Givenchy and Audrey Hepburn's relationship and the famed L'interdit were told and we all sat listening in awe.

I was lucky enough to speak with David Titheridge both before dinner and after the presentation.  I was blown away by how charming,  friendly and down to earth he is.  We spoke about the brand, social media and the role bloggers play nowadays.  It was a pleasure speaking with him and I have to admit he motivated me to take my blog to the next level!

At the end of the night we got to take home a fabulous gift bag with a gorgeous rose.  Inside the bag we received a bottle of the recently launched Live Irresistible EDT,  a mini bottle of Dahlia Divin and a beautiful makeup case.  I will be posting about these wonderful fragrances very soon so stay tuned for that!

I had an amazing time that I won't soon forget and I am forever grateful <3

May Topbox

Let me start off by saying that Topbox has been on fire lately!  I haven't been pleased with Topbox this year until last month. They have really stepped up their game and I couldn't be happier.  So without further ado let's get into it!

This month I received a novex hair care keratin treatment,  pur~lisse tinted bb cream,  face shop collagen mask and makeup for ever aqua lip pencil.  Sounds good right?!

Typically hair masks don't do it for me. I have very fine hair and they just weigh my hair down.  This one did not.  It left my hair feeling soft,  looking shiny and not weighed down at all.

The pur~lisse bb cream is tinted and thankfully I've started faux tanning otherwise it would be too dark for me.  It is on the heavier side and a bit too much for summer (I have combo skin).  I applied a bit of bronzer and that helped prevent a mid afternoon slide.  The coverage is light and leaves skin looking dewy.  I like it but I doubt I will purchase it as I prefer more coverage.

The mufe pencil is fantastic!  It is easy to work with,  pigmented and in my favourite shade,  red! 

I haven't gotten around to using the face shop mask yet but I haven't really come across a face shop product I didn't like ;)

I am very happy with this months topbox and I'm excited to see what next month has in store.

If you're interested in joining topbox and would like to bypass the waitlist I can help you with that ;)

Stayfree Challenge

I was recently invited to take the Stayfree Challenge and I am very excited to share my results with you!  I know periods aren't the most exciting thing to talk about,  but as women we all get them,  used to get them or will get them and it's something we can all relate to.

Remember those commercials where an all too happy woman pours a blue liquid onto a pad to show you just how absorbent they are?  The commercials that always seem to play around dinnertime?  Well I got to do just that and believe me it was actually really fun!  I took a ton of photos of the process and in this case they speak louder than words.

I was provided with a placemat that had two spots to hold the pads,  three Stayfree pads,  two blotting papers,  two acetate sheets and two 5ml bottles of blue dye.  I had to provide a pad from the brand I currently use and a large book.  I decided to be ironic and use my "What To Expect:  The First Year" book ;)

So let's dive right in!  I removed both pads from the wrapper and stuck them to the placemat.  As you can see they are very similar,  almost identical in appearance.  I set my phone timer to 30 seconds as per the instructions and removed the blotting sheets, acetate sheets and opened the blue liquid.

First up,  Stayfree!

I poured the blue liquid onto the pad and waited 30 seconds.  As you can tell the liquid pretty much stayed in the center of the pad.

I placed a blotting sheet over the pad and an acetate sheet on top of it.  Then I put the book on top and pressed down gently for 5 seconds.

Are you ready for the big reveal?!

No transfer at all.  Nothing.  Not a single mark on the paper.  Pretty impressive!

Now moving onto the competitor.  Right off the bat I noticed the blue liquid did not stay in the center of the pad.  In fact it immediately spread and splashed out onto the placemat.  Not a good sign!

30 seconds later I place the blotting sheet, acetate sheet and book on top and pressed down gently for 5 seconds.

Big reveal number 2!

As you can see there was a fair amount of transfer onto the blotting sheet,  which didn't surprise me after seeing what happened immediately after I poured the liquid onto the pad.

Obviously we had a clear winner,  and that winner was Stayfree!  I have been using the competitor (Playtex) for the past year and although I found them to be good,  I feel like Stayfree will be even better!

I received two spare Stayfree pads and I will be testing those out within the next few days (TMI I know).  I am excited to see how well they hold up in real life.

Have you taken the Stayfree Challenge? Have you used or plan on using Stayfree? Let me know in the comment section below!

*I won the opportunity to take part in the Stayfree Challenge through beauty infinitums  blog.  Although I wasn't compensated for this post, my post does enter me into another contest to win a gift card.  The results of the challenge are truthful and do not effect my chance of potentially winning the prize.

John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Visibly Deeper Collection

I love being a brunette.  Like a lot of people I do get bored and like to switch up my hair colour from time to time but I always return to brown.  It was the colour I was born with and it suits me the best.  I have naturally medium to dark brown hair and love the richness of it.  I prefer it on the darker side so I usually use semi-permanent dyes to go a shade or two deeper.  Up until now that was the only way to get a deeper,  richer colour.  Thanks to John Frieda,  I can *possibly* skip the dye and achieve darker, deeper tones with shampoo, conditioner and a darkening treatment!

John Frieda has introduced two new collections in the Brilliant Brunette line, Visibly Deeper and Visibly Brighter.  A line for those who want to lighten their brown and those who want to deepen it. Influenster recently sent me the Visibly Deeper collection (shampoo,  conditioner and treatment) to test and I couldn't be more pleased!

First up,  the shampoo.  It's tinted brown and smells really nice.  It doesn't lather up very much (it does have sulfates) and I found I needed to use a little bit more than I'm used to.  When I rinsed my hair it felt good and was easy to comb through. Typically I always condition after but as per the instructions for the deepening treatment,  I didn't.

The second step in achieving deeper tones is to apply the deepening treatment and leave it in for 5 minutes to a maximum of 10 minutes.  The box shows a before picture of warm, medium brown hair (very similar to my hair colour currently) and a very promising after photo of cool, dark brown hair.  I wanted to achieve this so I decided to wash my hair in the sink and leave the treatment in for as long as possible.  The instructions say to apply a generous amount and then to comb through.  I did just that and waited 10 minutes before hopping in the shower.  So did I get the results I was hoping for?  Not really.

When I stepped out of the shower the only thing that was dyed dark brown were my hands.  The dye clung to dry patches on my hands and took a fair amount of scrubbing to remove.  My hair however looked no different aside from being shiny (sigh).  I didn't give up hope and continued using it. After the third use I noticed a slight richness to my hair.  Nowhere near the before and after pictures on the box though.

Finally,  the conditioner.  It is also tinted brown and smells great.  Since I had to increase the amount of shampoo I used I expected the same for the conditioner but I was wrong.  A little went a long way.  The conditioner left my hair feeling hydrated, soft and shiny.

All in all this line is good although I must admit that I was expecting more from the deepening treatment.  I was hoping to get a much deeper brown and so far have only experienced a slight difference. Perhaps with continued use I will see better results.

Have you tried any of the new Brilliant Brunette products?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

*Products were sent to me complimentary of Influenster and the brand.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Xtava Ionic Hair Dryer #xtcanada

This blow dryer is game changing!  It literally cut the time it takes to dry my hair in half,  which makes it great for busy mornings.  I have medium length,  fine, straight hair and it dried it in a matter of minutes.  I used it on the highest setting to remove most of the moisture and then turned it down to low to style it with a round brush.  Thanks to the ceramic technology my hair not only dried quickly but practically frizz free.

The dryer itself is surprisingly heavy.  It's built very well and seems super sturdy,  which is good because I'm prone to dropping hair dryers,  brushes and styling products (I often do my hair before finishing my coffee).  It is also very sleek and sexy.  Yup,  this blow dryer looks good ;)

Speaking of good looks,  the box it came in is very pretty.  Unfortunately it was really dusty and a bit scratched up.  Total shame too because it's so nice and I would've loved to keep it.

The only downside to this dryer (and it's not major) is that the attachment that comes with it is tricky to put on.  Initially it took me a few minutes to get it on but I've since been able to get it on quicker.

I am very happy with this dryer.  Not only does it look good but it outperforms many other dryers on the market and is certainly comparable to the salon brands.

For more information or to purchase your own,  click here

*Product sent to me for free for testing purposes.  All opinions expressed are my own.

DorMauri Tea Tree Mineral Clay Facial Cleanser

To be honest I was a bit skeptical of this soap at first.  Bar Soap is usually drying and never in a million years would I use it on my face.  But in the spirit of trying something new I took the plunge and applied to test it!

This is the type of product I wouldn't go out of my way to buy without trying first so I'm thankful that Social Nature chose me to try it for free!  Spoiler alert!  I love it!

It has a mild tea tree oil scent that isn't at all overpowering and little pieces of clay in it that work wonders at exfoliating.  It fits comfortably in the palm of my hand which makes it super easy to use.

I like to run one side under water (this avoids it from slipping all over the place) and then run it across my face.  It lathers nicely and really cleans!  It also rinses off easily unlike most bar soaps.  I was worried it would be too drying but it's not at all.  My face is left feeling smooth and supple.  No tightness and no residue.

Have you tried any DorMauri cleansers? Is it a product you would like to try?  Would you like to get a 30% off discount? Click here or here to shop DorMauri's Mineral Clay Cleansers and enter code CLNSR30 

*Product sent to me for free via Social Nature.  All opinions expressed are my own