Merry Christmas!

Smashbox Full Exposure Palette

I just recently purchased the Smash box Full Exposure Palette from sephora for around $58 CAD. I've been eyeing the Lorac Pro Palette forever, but its always sold out and they took the brand out of stores.

The smashbox palette reminded me much of the Lorac Pro. Neutral colors with matte and shimmery shades.

I don't mind the shades, all neutral which I can't go wrong with. But honestly, the palette doesn't really stand out from all my others. I don't find the shadows too pigmented and the shimmery ones do have some fall out.

Overall it's an okay palette, not amazing doesn't make me reach for it everyday. Could have gone without it to be honest.

Meet Fresh!

Ahh, Meet Fresh. One of my favorite places that i went to in Australia. Wish we had one in Alberta. Meet Fresh is a Taiwanese desert chain that offers reasonable prices for their deserts. The name threw me off at first, i thought it was Meat Fresh - some weird butcher deli shop. But now that I look back, I laugh, Its a cute name.

Deserts with taro balls, yam balls, nuts, red beans, ice cream and grass jelly among the many. They provide you with the little packets of cream if you wanted to add it to your already yummy desert. Most people mix it all up but I personally, like to just keep it like it is.

You are able to order most of the deserts hot or cold, suiting the weather. I usually went to the one in Haymarket and it was always packed. Even though there is always a huge line, the staff is efficient and the line goes by quite fast.

My favorite part is the shaved ice with herbal syrup, its quite refreshing and tasty. Reminds me of my childhood.

They have a great menu, many items that you must try! One of those places I miss most from Australia.

Vaseline Spray On Lotion

Wanted to love it. It does what it says, is convenient - you spray and go! Its fast, the spray nozzle hasn't clogged on me yet which i am surprised.. it sprays an adequate amount and has a very fine mist. Only thing that i dislike about the sprayer is that when my hands are wet, its hard to get/keep a good grip on it while spraying therefore hard to get my back.

Its a very very light moisturizer with a wet formula (expected since it is coming from an aerosol can) so it does sink into the skin very easily without leaving any greasy residue. I bought the aloe version for around $6.00/cad at most places. Steep ass price. This is a pretty expensive lotion for the amount of product you get. I can see why the would hike up the price because of the spray but for the amount of product... not worth the price. It does go on sale every once in a while for around $4 at shoppers and walmart.
The aloe version has a nice aloe fresh scent that is not overpowering and does not linger for too long.


Sadly it did not perform for my skin. Felt like i didn't put any moisturizer on and that can't be happening for this canadian weather! And honestly, I don't find pumping lotion from a squeeze bottle time consuming, since after you spray it you still do have to rub in the lotion.. maybe not as much since its such a wet formula but you still have to rub it in. So for me the convenient part doesn't really apply. Honestly most likely will not buy it again.

If you are looking for something light weight, easy to rub in and you do not like pumping lotion from a bottle then this is for you.

Spray just a few inches from skin

Haul Time!

Haul from Sephora VIB sale and from ELF!

Blink Restaurant and Bar, Calgary Alberta

Stopped by here with a few friends a few weeks ago. First walked in and noticed the well decorated interior and was welcomed instantly by the friendly staff there.

My one friend tried the Twice Baked Cheese Souffle to start and loved it, they thought it was well balanced while for myself it was just a little too much cheese for my liking.  We also decided to start with a beef carpaccio dish which had a great balance of flavor.

For the mains, I decided to go with the salmon for the main, cooked perfectly to my liking (then again, its hard to screw up salmon) but I didn't like the sauce it came with but again personally I prefer my salmon by itself. My other companions tried their rabbit dish. Cooked perfectly, well balanced dish. It was a very comforting dish but not too heavy like most would be.

For desert we did try a strawberry shortcake with basil ice cream. The basil ice cream was a nice refreshing palette cleanser. Was extremely satisfied with this dessert.

Overall, I had no complaints. Well balanced dishes that change with the season, nice atmosphere in a very open spaced venue.

http://blink-calgary.com/

The Body Shop - Hemp Products

Back with a review on a couple products from the Hemp line by The Body Shop.
This line is popular for people with eczema or psoriasis, or just super dry skin! First off, i've had pretty bad eczema throughout my life. I'm slowly growing out of it as I get older but my skin is still dry and sensitive. For me, a good moisturizer is one where i only have to apply once or twice and I'll feel comfortable in my own skin. Most moisturizers I have to layer it up a couple times and then top it off with other products in order for that to happen :(
I finally tried this line out since there has been some buzz for it.
I dislike the smell of all the hemp products, smells like... plastic mixed with random incense.

Hemp Body Butter:
$20/cad per body butter.
Repurchase: No
I've used a bunch of body butters' from The Body Shop before. None are really moisturizing but i was suggest to try the hemp and that it will be more soothing and comforting.
Sadly, it was a no go for me. It wasn't any more moisturizing then the other body butters nor was it any help to my rashes or irritated skin. Didn't like the scent. Didn't like the price. Didn't like the moisturizer it provided (which is bare minimum by itself)

Hemp Moisture High Balm
$15/cad (not sure since it is not for sale anymore?)
Repurchase: No
This item is kinda like vaseline petroleum jelly except not as bad. Sadly I did not like this product, its very greasy - does not absorb into the skin easily. I thought it would help and dry flakey areas but it didn't do much. Preferably i would use an actual body oil for the dry patches since it would be more effective then this product. Another weird thing is that, I didn't touch the product for a few weeks and then when i went to try it again it developed a weird .. skin like film on top. Equivalent to if you left pudding out, you'd have to break through the skin to actually get to the pudding.

Hemp Hand Protector
$20/cad for regular size, $10/small
Repurchase: Most Likely Not
One of the Body Shops Best sellers! Its actually a pretty good hand moisturizer, doesn't take too long to soak in. But the smell puts me off, its different for body products since I usually can't smell whats on my arm. But i do smell my hands often (leaning my face against them, rubbing my nose etc) and the smell of this hemp line just isn't worth it. There are other good hand moisturizers for a lesser value that smell better.

Overall I've tried enough of the Hemp products in that line, to know I will not like any of the others....
None of the products really worked for me even if they did, the smell of the products would turn me off from using it.

http://www.thebodyshop.ca/en/shop-by-line/hemp.aspx#/hemp.aspx