My Briar Rose

I received this product free to test from Social Nature. If you are someone like me that has made the switch to mostly natural products then you definitely need to head over to Social Nature and sign up! It's the only site that I know about that gives you the opportunity to try natural products and post reviews.  Now, back to the product in question. This serum so far has been great on my skin. It smells pleasant and goes on smooth with no greasy after feel. It soaks into my skin well and doesn't pill when I apply moisturizer over top. It comes in a large enough format that I feel like it should last me at least six months of regular day and night use. I use one to two pumps in my hand and then rub together and apply to my face and neck. A little product goes a long way. In terms of noticing a difference in my skin I haven't really noticed much of a difference but I don't feel like I've used it consistently enough yet to accurately tell if it's working better ...

I will preface this review by saying if I was writing this a year ago I would have raved about the Versa and how much I love it. Now that I've had it for around eight months I can honestly say that I'm switching to an Apple watch and never turning back. Fitbit used to be such a great company that stood behind their products, but I find since they have expanded their line of products the customer service has gone downhill and they are slow to release fixes and updates. They are also quite quick to replace current products with new ones and dropping support for older products which is another sore point for me. I don't want to own something for a year and all of a sudden have it not supported! I'll keep this review in point form as I feel like this will become a rant if I list all the downsides of the Versa in any other format. Pros: Relatively inexpensive when compared to other fitness watches on the market Battery life is amazing (I get 5+ days depending on my a...

I'm starting out my revival first blog post with some products that I am late to the bandwagon on. Background: I was one of the original testers of the Inhibitif product line back in 2013 when the brand was basically brand new. I think this was right before Shoppers Drug Mart started to carry the line. I would go to their office on Queen St. E in downtown Toronto once a week and they would take some progress photos and film some video Q&As. It was pretty cool and I met the founder of the company during that time. The product worked amazingly well and I was pretty blown away by their whole office space and lab that they had at the time. After that was over I'm not really sure why I never paid close attention to what they were doing because if I did I probably could have saved myself years of trial and error, breakouts, angry skin, and wasted money. Fast forward to last year with the media coverage of the founder and my sisters growing interest in the brand and I finally ma...

I'm back! I'm not sure if anyone actually stumbles upon here anymore as it's been nearly 3 years since I've logged in. A lot has happened in those three years. For starters, I lost access to the email that was associated with this account and I had no idea how to recover this blog with my email address so I kind of left it as it was and forgot about it. There were many times when I wanted to come back and make a post, but I was locked out. Fast forward to today being a slow snowy day at work and I had some time to do some Googling for a solution. I've obviously found one as I'm here and back in action!! I have so many updates and things to blog about so if anyone is still out there stay tuned for new content!

 I have been curious about these products since first hearing about them and so to get to try them was exciting. After giving them a thorough try out I am a bit disappointed. I do like the products and I do love Biore products in general, but for me these left my usually oily skin feeling very dry and dehydrated. I don't think these are something that can be used every day. The cleansing scrub activates with water which I find to be a messy pain. It comes dry in the bottle and you use it with some water to cleanse your face. I find myself wanting to use this less often because of the extra step and mess involved trying to get this product onto my face. The cleanser I do like as it really seems to clean my pores well enough, but again it is extremely drying to my skin so I have reduced it to a once a week type of product so that I get the cleaning benefits without overdrying my skin out. They are both effective products, but I would say to use them once or twice a week depending on...

This is a review follow up after having actually tried the machine a few times now. I set everything up Friday night so that Saturday morning I could have it ready to go for a fresh cup of coffee to take on my way to work. The machine preheated quickly and I was able to have a fresh hot cup of coffee in about three minutes without any mess of having to use my french press, boil a kettle, let everything sit for a bit to get stronger, etc. In that sense this machine is awesome! I also just made the hot chocolate cup tonight which was a bit less awesome since I'm not entirely a hot chocolate fan, but there is another reason for the two cups I have had so far to be less than awesome. I first have to say that I completed set up to the letter that was written in the manual and even gave everything that I could a quick wash out like I normally do with new things prior to setting everything up. My coffee that I made for work Saturday morning smelled funny and tasted heavily of plastic. T...

I received an email Thursday from Influenster saying that I had been selected for a Keurig Voxbox. I had assumed at the time that I had qualified to receive some k-cups to test out or some such thing. I was trying to think back to recent surveys as I do not own a Keurig at all and was wondering why I would qualify to test something that I didn't even have the means to use! We do have a machine at work though that I could have used to test had the package been what I thought it was. I did some internet searching when I got home from work, but all the information I was finding was from a campaign in September where they got to test the machine. That made me wonder...Were we going to get a machine too?! Today my question was answered when I was notified that I had a parcel to pick up at the front desk. Inside the massive outer box was this equally massive box: IT'S A KEURIG MACHINE! Yes, Influenster sent me the Keurig 2.0 machine to test and review! I am a self proclaimed coffe...

Where do I start with these nails? I guess I will start with what I received. I received a box in the mail from Influenster to test these ImPress Manicure nails out. My box contained the 'It Girl' design which appears close to 'shout' in the image and a Disney Villains in Evil Queen (grey/purple duo chrome). Now my first issue with these nails upon taking them out of the box was seeing that they are actual press on nails and not the polish appliques that I was expecting. I admittedly knew nothing about the brand before receiving them in the mail and hadn't had the time to research before hand what kinds of products they produced. Upon seeing the products for the first time I noticed how short and stumpy these nails appear. I normally keep fairly long natural nails that I polish myself and because the length of these press on nails were incredibly short I had to trim mine down to nothing so that they wouldn't show underneath the press on nails. I find th...

I am excited to say that my Garnier guess was correct! Of course I think the smell of the products gave it away for a lot of people as I know this brand typically has a distinct smell (which I love) compared to other brands. The products we received from Influenster for the big reveal are from the Garnier Fructis Damage Eraser line which includes: Shampoo, Conditioner, Reconstructing Butter, and a Split End Serum. Overall, I am really impressed with these products as my hair is softer and has a shine to it that it never had in the past. I've ruined my hair through the last few years of bleach and dye tortures and am now trying to grow it out to have long hair again. I feel like I may have an easier go of growing it out with these products. So far I have noticed the amount of hair that splits while combing/styling to be reducing which I hope that means good things! I would definitely purchase this line again when I run out since it is from an affordable line of products that act...

I received this mystery box of products to test out from Influenster. We have not been told what line of product this is from! Basically all we know is that it's by L'Oreal. My first impression of this product right away was how amazing it smelled! Just opening  the box alone was enough to release the scent of the product that was enclosed. I have very damaged hair currently from the last few years working as a hair model and sitting through bleaching/dying/cutting/styling etc. This product actually smooths out my damaged hair and makes it actually look nice and not at all damaged which is amazing considering the current state of my hair. I'm also attempting to grow my hair out after having it cut super short the past few years and I think this product may actually help me stick with the awkward grow out phase as long as I can keep my hair looking healthy in the process. We were told to take a guess at what the products may be and I currently think based on the smell ...

This is such a delayed posting since I received this box in the middle of April! I've been busy with school and work with little time left to even sleep! Tonight is a rainy night so I figured it was the best night to update and post about this great little box that showed up in my mailbox about a month ago. I signed up for the Revlon Selects program awhile ago and received the first box which was fantastic and I absolutely loved everything in (except for the nail polish), I jumped at the chance to be able to try another box. This time it was all focused on nails.   The kit contained two polish and some beautiful nail appliques! The appliques are 3D jewel and are jam packed with glitter and colour. I'm excited to try these, but have never used the nail appliques before so I am hoping they are easier to apply than some of the reviews I have read!  The first polish is an amazing duo chrome called Topaz. I've already used this colour and it is absolutely stunnin...

I just filed my nails down to nothing in preparation for boxing day madness. I work high end retail so we are anticipating a crazy day tomorrow! My nails were getting to that length where I would be too afraid of breaking one off and making them sore while rushing around in the craziness tomorrow. My nails grow super fast so I filed them down to little stubs and decided to paint them with one of the new colours I received in the Revlon package. In the bottle this colour is super stunning. The purple shines blue or purple depending on the light and it looks great on the nail as well! The bottle is super awkward to hold and will take me more than a few times of using to get used to how heavy it is. I did a super terrible messy job painting the base colour because it was just so hard to control while holding the heavy top part. The first coat went on well and seemed to dry quite well but I ran into problems after the second coat. I painted my nails around 4pm and when I went to get...

Awhile back I was chosen to be a part of the Revlon Selects program that is new to Revlon. I received the box a few weeks ago but it was during the midst of my stressful exam week so I really haven't had a chance to use the products yet since I went straight from exams to working seasonally and that has left me no days off so far because of how busy the holidays are for retail. For now I will leave you a teaser of what the package contained and I will post later and review each product individually once I have had a chance to try them out. This small package awaited me one night as I was coming home from writing an exam. Upon opening the box I was greeted by this: The first thing I found was this nail polish duo called Moon Candy in the shade combo Orbit. It was hard to find the products in all that wrapping! I didn't want to make a huge mess so it was like a treasure hunt trying to locate and pull out everything in the package while leaving the ...

Tis the season to start dreaming of all the things I wish I would receive for Christmas! My family is pretty practical and they don't share the same tastes in designer things that I do, so I know the majority of my wish list they would die if they knew the actual cost of some of the items. Most of the time they don't see these splurge items as practical but I can always dream! Anyway I wish to dream of all the things I would treat myself too if I won the lottery before Christmas! Tiffany Lock Ring $360 Cdn (tiffany.ca)   Urban Outfitters Holographic Polish $10-12 Cdn (Photo from polishalwaysfits.wordpress.com)   Tiffany Locks Heart Lock Bracelet $6,900 Cdn (tiffany.ca)   Tassimo Coffee Machine $229.99 Cdn at The Bay (tassimo.com)   Jeffrey Campbell Studded Loafer $200 (shopstyle.com)  Michael Kors Mid Size Silver Colour Golden Stainless Steel Camille Chronographic Watch $250 (michaelkors.com) Legacy Leather Molly Satchel $348 (coach....

I was lucky enough to be invited to the grand opening of the new Raindrops store in the concourse level of the Holt Renfrew Centre on Bloor St. I was in love with the poncho on the mannequin, and they had some beautiful frilly umbrellas that were not so practical but very cute! At the end of the night (or whenever you were leaving, whichever came first), they were handing out cute little media gift bags! Mine contained a pretty purple striped super compact umbrella. This will come in handy since mine literally had the metal parts snapped in the wind a few weeks back and I had yet to replace it!

 "Get ready for the latest beauty secrets from celebrity makeup artists, stylists, bloggers and personalized consultations." Came across this on another blog and had to sign up immediately! I have no idea what the site is going to offer, but it mentions if you refer people you get $$ credits so it kind of sounds like it's either going to be another beauty box type of site, or something where you are able to shop online. Either way I'm in! If you're curious and want to sign up too, do so at the link below: http://signup.sindulge.com/?lrRef=O2yvK

Coach is doing something neat to celebrate their new legacy collection. As a huge Coach lover I had to take part in the fun! 

I received these to test as part of the Chick Advisor program. I have been an Always brand user for awhile but I normally use the ultra thin slender pads that are supposed to be great for teens. I'm not a teen but I don't have much of a flow so they work really well and aren't overly bulky. I find that these pads for me were only useful at night when I slept because the back was wider so that I wouldn't leak out onto my sheets if I slept on my back. I found the wideness of them a bit uncomfortable to wear all day, as well as them being too long front and back to wear during the day and still feel comfortable. I felt like people could see my pad at the front and back through my shorts because of how long they were. I would definitely like to see a smaller version (maybe another great for teens type) for me to even consider purchasing them. I also find the scent of these products a little odd. I'm not quite sure what it is but there is something about ...

I received this product to review from Chick Advisor. These liners are designed to fit any type of underwear from boy shorts to thongs. This is a huge plus for some people, but for myself on the other hand this isn't a selling factor as I tend to always wear the same style of underwear and I don't need to adjust the liner size for the type of underwear that I tend to wear. This definitely makes them more versatile than other liners on the market currently. These liners are super thin and definitely feel like you aren't wearing anything at all. This is important for me because I tend to always wear a liner daily unless I am wearing pads during that time of the month. At first I was concerned because they were so thin, especially around the outer edges where you can wrap them around as wings. I was surprised with how well they absorbed even though they are extremely thin. They stay in place really well and don't shift or crinkle up like some liners. When it's ti...

I received a coupon for a free box of this hair colour from their Facebook promotions they were having a few months back. I can't remember how long ago it was exactly since it seems like it took forever to arrive in the mail. When checking out the various shades online it seemed like they had a great selection with 24 different colours to choose from. The reality though is that all the stores I went to maybe had 12 different shades on display. Only two of those being reds. I was a bit disappointed in this as I only had the option of doing Light Red Brown (too orange looking on the box), or Deep Cherry Brown (looked kind of purple on the box).  I hunted everywhere looking for Dark Red Brown but no stores around me carried it, so the other night I went and picked up the Deep Cherry Brown and hoped for the best. I knew if I went with the lighter colour it would end up turning orange on my hair since I have a lot of natural reddish orange tones in my hair to begin, and colour doesn...