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Roxymandy October 7, 2015

Fab Fashion Finds from Mayberrys.ca!

I was excited when Mayberrys reached out to me and asked me to shop their website for a few blog posts because I was already familiar with the brand, but hadn’t taken the shopping plunge yet. I wish I hadn’t of waited – they have so many great finds for fall!

They have a huge selection of leggings, along with dresses, sweaters, shirts, and all kinds of accessories to choose from. They have a plus size selection, and even children’s clothing as well. They are also a Canadian owned and operated company which is a total bonus for a Canadian girl like myself!

I fell in love with a few items from the Mayberrys website, and one of the items I chose to style were these fun AZTEC print leggings!

Because the print is so bold I decided a cozy white sweater would be best, and a pair of simple black boots to finish the look. I searched and searched for a great teal coloured sweater or sweatshirt to wear with them because I thought they would also look great with these leggings as well, but I couldn’t find anything.

Have you seen any great teal-coloured tops I could wear with these leggings? Let me know in the comments!

A simple white or grey t-shirt would have also looked great, again trying to keep the top half of the outfit as minimal as possible so the whole outfit doesn’t look too busy.

I’m such a Pinterest nut, so as soon as I saw these great leggings on Mayberrys.ca I wanted them because of the similar styles I had seen floating around Pinterest.

Next week I will be blogging about another item I picked up from Mayberrys that I love – a great fall sweater with a fun pattern and bright colours, perfect for this time of year.

To shop Mayberrys yourself visit Mayberrys.ca.

Visit them on Facebook here, and on Instagram here!

Roxymandy October 5, 2015

Shopping All Things Beauty With Look Fantastic

Most of my disposable budget suprisingly isn’t dominated by clothing purchases, but instead by beauty products. Hair, makeup, skincare – something is always running out, not working for me anymore, or suddenly there is a new product I have to try and can’t believe I ever lived without it.

Look Fantastic is an online beauty boutique with everything from hair and beauty products, fragrance, nails, health, home and organic, and even blow driers and straighteners. It’s a British-based boutique, and they have over 400 brands available so there is an incredible amount of choice when shopping.

Look Fantastic offers free gifts with purchase and member rewards, so shopping with them can be, well, rewarding!

Every day that I log onto their website I seem to find a new offer or gift with purchase option available!

They have a curated section from the beauty team at Elle Magazine on the website as well so you can check out tested and highly-rated products, and they even offer free world-wide delivery.

I recently tried out a few hair care products from Look Fantastic, and they were all from brands that I hadn’t tried before.

The first was Macadamia Rejuvenating Shampoo.

It’s excellent for dry, damaged hair which is unfortunately the category mine falls into (I’m a little obsessed with my hair straightener), and it’s designed to add moisture and protection using both macadamia oil and argan oil.

It was the kind of shampoo that makes you think for a second that maybe you don’t even need to condition! It made my hair super soft and smooth, and it felt clean and light.

I followed my new shampoo up with TIGI S-Factor Health Factor Conditioner which specialized in protecting hair from damage, and repairing what damage was already done.

The conditioner’s formula included Shea butter for added shine and a healthy look, and vitamin E plus other rejuvenating oils to help protect hair by locking in moisture.

It conditioner not only had a great fresh scent, but it left my hair nice and soft as soon as I rinsed it out. I left it on my head for two minutes in the shower before rinsing for best results.

Finally I tested out an amazing treatment called Louise Galvin Treatment Masque for Fine Hair. This stuff was magic in a bottle!

It’s meant to be used twice a week, but if your hair was extremely dry it could be used as a daily conditioner. I felt twice a week was perfect for me, and this stuff made my hair feel totally amazing!

I would towel dry my hair and leave it in for 10-20 minutes, then comb it through, and later rinse. This is when I would have the best results – my hair would look and feel amazing for a couple days! It wasn’t greasy or oily at all – it just provided mega conditioning and completely hydrated every hair on my head.

When I was pressed for time I would leave it in for as long as I could while showering, and it still provided great results. I highly recommend this product if you have dry hair – it will absolutely hydrate you!

Being introduced to some great new products that really worked was very interesting, and I would love to shop the site again. So many products are not offered on Canadian shelves, so seeing and being able to shop such a huge selection was great.

It’s nice to see what else is out there on the beauty market compared to my corner of the world, and the world-wide shipping option from Look Fantastic makes it easy to get your hands on some great products.

To shop the the website yourself, visit them at www.LookFantastic.com. Be prepared to blow your beauty budget for the month!

Disclaimer: These products were provided to me for review, but my opinions are fabulously my own.

Roxymandy September 28, 2015

Fall Layering with a Light Jacket

Jacket: Winners, similar here and here | Faux Leather Trainers: H&M | Black Skinny Jeans: H&M

Transitioning into fall for me means lots of sweaters and light jackets. The mornings are cold, but the afternoons warm up and I’m usually sweating to death, so layering is key. One of my favourite trends from last year was leather accents, and I’ve added another jacket to my wardrobe with this in mind.

This jacket is great for cool mornings in the fall, or chilly evenings with light clothing underneath. In the winter I find I go to a lot of events where I sometimes end up keeping my jacket on, so one like this made of light-weight materials is perfect. I can wear this jacket as my outfit itself (I could totally wear pyjamas underneath), and because it so light I won’t be suffering from heat stroke underneath it.

For only $49.99 at Winners, this jacket was a no-brainer. It’s stylish, trendy for fall, and the perfect price point! How often do you find a great jacket like this that is the same price of a sweater?

I’ll be looking for more lightweight jackets to add to my wardrobe as the season goes on, especially ones with a leather embellishment.

Roxymandy September 25, 2015

Creating a Fall Centrepiece with DIY Painted Pumpkins

Fall is absolutely my favourite time of year! I love decorating my home for the season, and this year I decided to get crafty.

I wanted to get started early on my table decor for Thangsgiving, and I thought it would be an easy project to paint my own pumpkins.

I have seen lots of painted pumpkins in stores, and I thought it would be fun to do it myself!

I could have used real pumpkins, but I decided I may want to use these pumpkins again next year so I bought some fake ones.

I picked up some paint from the dollar store, and also paint brushes, and a couple fake pumpkins which were only a dollar. I also stopped at Michael’s craft store to grab a couple mason jars to paint, and a couple more fake pumpkins. Michael’s happened to have their pumpkins for 50% off which was great.

Even though the Michael’s pumpkins were already black and white, I painted them anyway to match the others.

The mason jars were easy to paint, and with a few coats of gold they looked great! They are perfect candle holders for my centrepiece.

I didn’t use a pattern for any of the pumpkins, and did everything free-hand. It was fun to just paint for a while – it was actually kind of relaxing!

Once my pumpkins had dried I added some fall-coloured candles and a couple of my favourite acorn decor items I previously owned, and I had the burlap table runner I made for my Thanksgiving dinner last year to finish it off.

I completed the whole project for under $30, and I think it looks pretty great! Hopefully this project inspires you to create your own fall decor items.

Roxymandy September 17, 2015

Review of Indeed Laboratories Skin Care

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be introduced to a skincare line called Indeed Laboratories. I had heard of the brand before, but never tried it. I attended a fun event at Cabana Pool bar at the tail end of summer where I learned all about what this line had to offer.

Sold exclusively at Shoppers Drug Mart and select Loblaws locations, all Indeed Labs products are free of parabens, fragrances, colourants, sulfates, and are not tested on animals.

All of the products are extremely affordable as well!

I brought home a few items with me to try for myself, amd I really like them so far!

The first is the most impressive to me – the facial powdered exfoliator. This dry powder just needs a little water, and voila – it’s transformed it into an exfoliator!

It gently removed my dead skin cells and left a smoother surface below. I experienced no irritation at all, and loved the look of my skin after. It’s actually kind of fun to create the exfoliator too!

I also tried out the hydraluron mega moisture jelly which was to be used after cleansing. It has a great dispenser where you don’t need to guess how much product you need – just press down and the perfect amount is dispersed. I hate having to wonder how much product I should apply to my face! It’s a really soothing gel to apply first thing in the morning or before bed. Not having a fragrance is nice as well, and it added lots of moisture to my skin. It’s an instant feeling of being moisturized, and the product absorbs quickly.

I also tried out the hydraluron moisture mask which was so soothing. It covered my whole face with a bit of breathing room, and it was like having a deep moisurizing tent covering my face! It felt great on my tired, dry skin and it was a great way to relax at the end of the day. It’s meant to be worn for 15 minutes, and it forces you to just stop and relax.

The nanoblur instant skin perfector basically gives your skin an Instagram-worthy filter in real-life. It gives your skin the illusion of airbrushing when applying to skin prior to powdered makeup or after liquid foundation.

Nanoblur changes the way light reflects off of your skin – in a flattering way!

I opted to apply it after my foundation, and it was extremely lightweight and seemed to blur my fine lines. To get a great idea of what it can do you can try a little on one of your hands and compare it to the other – the results are pretty amazing. This stuff really works!

Indeed Labs is affordable, it does what it says it will, and it is easy to get a hold of at Shoppers Drug Mart (and select Loblaws sores). Overall the line is very impressive!

Learn more about Indeed Labs at www.IndeedLabs.com.