What I Tried This Week – Schwarzkopf Professional Smooth Perfect Smoothing Cream

Schwarzkopf Professional Smooth Perfect

This past week was the perfect one to try out a new product on my hair. The weather was hot, cold, windy, rainy and even humid – the full gauntlet of hair challenges.

My hair has a natural curl which I try to hide every day with a blow-out and the use of my hair straightener. Humidity and rain are my hair’s worst enemies, but really anything can ruin it! Sound frustrating? Welcome to my world.

This week I tested out part of the Schwarzkopf Professional BC Hair Therapy line. There are six options for all hair types, and the one I chose to try was the Smooth Perfect Smoothing Cream.

Schwarzkopf Professional Smooth Perfect

It says right on the front of the bottle that it’s for unmanageable hair, which sounds sounds like it accurately describes my hair!

I washed my hair as usual, and once I was ready to blow dry I applied the Smooth Perfect Smoothing Cream to my hair. It smells nice and fresh which was a bonus, but it was also very light weight. My hair didn’t feel greasy at all, which tends to happen with products I apply to my hair.

Right after my blow-dry my hair was actually very smooth. I normally have a lot if fly-away strands until I use my straightener, but before I straightened it my hair already seemed done.

The next morning it rained, so here was a true test! As a prepared girl I was obviously armed with an umbrella and a cute hooded jacket, but sometimes that’s not enough. The Smooth Perfect actually kept my hair in line! I was very impressed. My hair stayed styled all day!

The humidity later in the week was pretty surprising with it being spring! Humidity is the worst because the only way you can hide from it is to stay inside. Since that’s not always possible, products like this are required. The Smooth Perfect Smoothing Cream did not disappoint. It was weird because the cream didn’t feel like it weighed my hair down, but somehow it didn’t get frizzy in the humidity.

The Smooth Perfect Smoothing Cream also claims to restore structure and tame frizz for up to four days. I wash my hair every other day, so I didn’t test if it would last that long, but I didn’t have any build-up in my hair when using it that often throughout the week. The Smoothing Cream claims to nourish and discipline coarse or unruly hair with Cell Perfector Technology, and I can confirm it definitely handled my unruly hair.

The other options in this new Schwarzkopf Professional line include Moisture Kick, Repair Rescue, Color Freeze, Volume Boost and Time Restore.

Schwarzkopf Professional Smooth Perfect

If you have unruly hair like mine then maybe you should give it a try! It’s definitely a part my hair ritual after this week.

Why Aren’t You Shopping with Ebates?

ebates

Do you use Ebates? If the answer is yes, I’m ok with you not reading any further. If you have no idea what Ebates is, then you have no choice but to read on and thank me later!

Ebates is an online shopping site which pays you commission for shopping through them. It sounds way too simple, but I’ve tested it myself and it works!

Ebates is paid a commission by retail stores for having you enter their site through their website, and you earn a cut of that commission. I was very skeptical about this at first. I decided to try it out on a small purchase last year to see how it worked, and I’ve been using it ever since.

To use the service you must create a user name and password on the website (www.ebates.com in the US, and www.ebates.ca in Canada). Once you have that you are ready to go!

You would then use the search tab or drop down menu on the website to find the store you want to shop at. Once you enter or click on the store you want, Ebates also lists for you all of the online coupon codes and promotions the retail store is offering right now. This is my favourite part! If you select one of the coupon codes or deals, you are taken to the store’s website, and upon check out that code is already entered for you as you are making your payment!

ebates steps

Each store offers you a different commission. Sometimes there is a promotion for a retail store which has a larger commission than usual, which is listed on the Ebates website.

Ebates issues payments 4 times per year, and your total is always visible in your account, and the date of being paid is listed as well. You can choose to receive a cheque in the mail (this is what I do) or to receive it via Paypal.

Like I said before, I was skeptical my first time so I didn’t expect anything from the process, but I was very excited to see my cheque in the mail! I told myself I would use it to pay back some of my purchases, but I think I just used it to buy more stuff. Don’t judge – you will probably do the same.

To give you an example of what sort of money you would receive back from Ebates, my purchase of $50.55 at Old Navy last week gave me a commission of $2.02. That may not seem like a lot, but let me remind you that if you shopped Old Navy in store, or not through Ebates you would not get anything back! I was also able to use an online coupon code they provided me as well.

ebates summary

The hardest part about Ebates is remembering to go though their website. Sometimes I am just browsing online and accidentally make a purchase without thinking about Ebates. You have to remember to log onto their website first to gain any commission.

If you do any online shopping at all, Ebates is the way to go to earn back money on your purchases. It’s almost like getting paid to shop! At least that is what I tell my husband.

You can check out Ebates here!

What to do this weekend

Here are a couple events worth mentioning that are happening in Toronto this weekend!

 

 

Movie Wardrobe Sale

 

 

Movie Wardrobe Sale

On Saturday, May 31st the Canadian Alliance of Film & Television Costume & Arts Design (CAFTCAD) will be hosting their 13th season of their bi-annual Movie Wardrobe Sale! This means that you can shop through Toronto’s wardrobe departments with thousands of items, many of which are deeply discounted up to 95% off retail. There will be a range of items from contemporary and vintage clothing and accessories used in film and television productions as well as designer samples, wardrobe supplies, handcrafted goods, and props.

The location is Pinewood Toronto Studios (225 Commissioners Street), and it runs from 9-5. Cash only! Admission is $5 per person at the door, with partial proceeds from the admission fees benefitting the Actor’s Fund of Canada and CAFTCAD.

http://www.caftcad.com

 

 

 

 

Gluten Freedom Week Toronto

 

 


Gluten Freedom Week

Until May 31st, participating Toronto restaurants will offer patrons a delicious selection of a 3-course gluten-free meal for a fixed price.

You can see all of the participating restaurants here

Summer Reading Material!

Gone Girl
 

 

Do you remember getting ready to leave on a vacation and making sure to pack some carefully selected books and magazines to lazily read while tanning? I remember those days. If you still have those days, cherish them. I followed the same tradition while packing for our first vacation to the Bahamas when our son was 7 months old. I found some great books at Chapters that I couldn’t wait to read on the beach since life at home seemed too hectic to get any reading done.

By the end of the vacation the most use those books had was to act as a weight in my beach bag. Reading with a small child around? I don’t know what I was thinking. It was almost as silly as when my husband packed himself a bunch of magazines for our hospital stay for our son’s birth. Didn’t he know he would be busy running around doing everything I asked? I did just give birth to his first born child, so it didn’t take me long to cash in on the you-owe-me-for-life-for-having-your-baby angle.

Now that things are a bit more manageable (I didn’t say less hectic, it’s just easier to manage the chaos), I’ve had an easier time keeping up on my reading. I always have a novel on the go, and sometimes two. Yesterday I picked up Gone Girl, which I am excited to read before the movie comes out.

Here are a few of my recommended summer reads for when you actually have five minutes to yourself this summer!

 

 

The Night Circus

The Night Circus By Erin Morgenstern
I avoided reading this one for a long time, but I kept seeing it over and over again on people’s lists of must-reads. The idea of reading about the circus didn’t interest me, but once I started this book I couldn’t put it down. Highly addictive, and dare I say, a must-read!

 

 

The Paris Wife

The Paris Wife By Paula McLain
I really knew very little about Ernest Hemmingway until I read this book centered around his first wife, Hadley Richardson. The book focuses on their lives in the 1920’s while living in Paris, and the story of their marriage is pretty unbelievable. And frustrating. Very frustrating. You may do some yelling at Hadley. Oh, and it will make you want to go to Paris.

 

 

Before I go to Sleep

Before I go to Sleep By S.J. Watson
This one was a bit frustrating, but I found myself racing to the end to figure out what was going on. Every morning Christine wakes up not knowing who she is, who her husband is, and why she cannot remember anything. It’s one of those books where you are screaming at the character to figure it out!

 

 

FURIOUS LOVE

Furious Love By Sam Kashner & Nancy Schoenberger
Love love love this book! It’s about the love life of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and I think I’ve read it at least three times. Their life together was so unbelievable.

 

 

Never Let Me Go


Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

This story jumps from present to past, and is a little on the sad side, but it’s a very good read. It sort of haunts you when you are done, which means it’s a great story!

 

 

Life

Life by Keith Richards
I love biographies. I read some pretty obscure one’s too, but this one was pretty appealing because wouldn’t you think Keith Richards had an interesting life? He did, I can confirm it. It’s a great read, and his life was as crazy as you would imagine.

River Island Mini Me Line

River Island Mini Me

It’s such a total pain when there is a store you like, but they aren’t in Canada. Online shopping is great, but wouldn’t it be awesome if you could just walk into the store and browse? Luckily we are getting a Nordstrom soon, and even a Saks, but next on my list would be River Island. They do ship online, but why why why isn’t there one here yet? Especially since they have launched a cute new Mini Me Babywear Line for children aged newborn to 3 years. Shipping on the website is not all that outrageous either at around $15 (10 euros).

The 100-piece line for boys and girls is well priced and is very on trend, mimicking the styles River Island carries for adults. They already had a line for children aged 3-12, but I didn’t take a look at it previously since my son is only two.

The line launched in stores this month, and to check out the full line visit www.riverisland.com. I’ve added some of the highlights below!

River Island Mini Me

River Island Mini Me

River Island Mini Me

River Island Mini Me

River Island Mini Me

River Island Mini Me

River Island Mini Me

River Island Mini Me

River Island Mini Me

River Island Mini Me