Where to Shop - sparkleshinylove

Roxymandy July 9, 2015

Grand Opening of Never Grow Up Toronto

This past weekend I attended the grand opening of Never Grow Up – a hip children’s clothing store located at 1725 Bayview Avenue in Toronto. This is the second location for Never Grow Up – you can also find them in Oakville!

There were sweet treats, and lots of great clothing options for boys and girls aged newborn to 10 years old.

They carry designers like Andy and Evan, Blune, Chic Mammas, Electrik Kidz, Hucklebones, Lazy Pants, Knot, and one of my personal favourites, Ollie Jones!

There are too many to list – lots of different brands, and nothing like you would find at the mall. I love shopping in kids boutiques like this one because there are some really hip and fresh styles.

There was everything from sequins and tutu’s for girls, to rough and tumble alligator sweatshirts for boys.

It’s a kid-friendly space with lots of room to maneuver a stroller inside, and the space itself is playful and pretty.

I really loved these Ollie Jones leggings! I hate to always dress my son in jeans, so I often put him in boys leggings for comfort and style. How great are these patterns?

This new shop is going into my rotation when shopping for my friends children, and of course my own fashion forward toddler. I really loved how stylish some of the clothing was. It’s fun to get a few special pieces that not all of the other kids are going to be wearing on the playground.

For more information, visit Never Grow up on Facebook here!

Roxymandy July 6, 2015

Summer Maxi Dresses

I’m a short girl, so maxi dresses can be hard for me to wear, but I really do love them in the summer. Some are nice and flowy, and and can give you the airflow you need to stay nice and cool on a hot summer day.

For me, most of the time I need to wear heels or wedges because of my height, but every once in a while I get lucky and can wear flats with one of these dresses. I love this one I’m wearing the photos because the lines make me appear much taller than I am! I’m only 5’3 so this isn’t an easy illusion to create.

Here is the dress I am wearing in the photos here. As you can see, the model is wearing flats because she is a tall model-type gal, unlike myself!

Sometimes maxi dresses are a nice change from all of that summer skin we show off this time of year. Footwear and the bag you wear with it really change the vibe of the whole outfit. Flip flops dress everything down, but a great heel can totally change the look of a dress.

Here are a few more of my favourite maxi dresses in stores right now!

Free People New Romantics Dream Caravan Dress

Club Monaco Brynn Maxi Dress

Rip Curl Sundial Halter Dress

Banana Republic Tiered Patio Dress

Dynamite Halter Maxi Dress with Cut Out

Forever 21 Button Floral Maxi

Roxymandy June 26, 2015

New Summer Fragrances From Lampe Berger – Exotic Cocktail & Daring Pepper

Summer calls for lighter scents in my home, and the new Lampe Berger scents are a prefect way to freshen things up!

Lampe Berger launches new fragrances throughout the year which seem to fit perfectly with the changing seasons, and these latest scents are no different.

To be honest, the scent Daring Pepper doesn’t have the name of a scent I would normally chose. I had no idea what this one was going to smell like, but it was surprisingly good!

It has an undertone of leather and spices, but it also smells of raspberry and vanilla. Such a crazy combination, but it’s so good! It’s a little masculine and fruity all at the same time.

Exotic Cocktail is the definition of summer. Flavours of rum, coconut, roasted coffee and vanilla. It smells like a tropical vacation, or a fruity cocktail. This is my new favourite scent.

I’m loving both of these fresh new scents in my home, especially on rainy days when I just want to think of hot summer days when I’m stuck inside!

For more details on Lampe Berger, click here!

Disclaimer: This product was provided to me for review, but all opinions are fabulously my own.

Roxymandy June 24, 2015

My Birchbox Review

Have you heard of Birchbox before? I had heard enough about it to give it as a gift, but hadn’t experienced it myself until last week.

The feedback I got from the people I sent a Birchbox to was amazing! The products were great, and getting new beauty surprises every month was fun. It seemed like an awesome concept, so I kept sending them out as gifts to others, and I kept hearing great things.

One day I got really jealous and decided I needed my own Birchbox. I sound very mature, don’t I? Well it’s true, I wanted a cute gift every month with fun beauty surprises inside, so I went ahead and ordered myself one.

Birchbox itself has an online store which sells beauty products often exclusive to the store. They have what they call a monthly Birchbox which is delivered to your home, and includes 5 personalized beauty samples tailored to your profile.

When sending one as a gift the only information you need to provide is the receiver’s address. The receiver can then go online and complete a personal profile so their remaining boxes are tailored towards their preferences.

If you want to buy a full-size version of some of the products you loved in your Birchbox, then you can order them on the website.

Each month is $10.00 CDN plus $4.95 shipping and handling. You can subscribe yourself or a send someone a gift for a 3 months subscription for $44.85, 6 months for $79.70 or 12 months for $159.40.

Each Birchbox has either a theme, or is curated by a special guest. My own box was called “Say Yes!” and it was all about adventure. It included travel tips from Meghan Markle from The Tig as well.

My box included:

Naobay Oxygenating Cream Moisturizer

Number 4 Clarifying Shampoo

Parlor by Jeff Chastain Moisturizing Sea Salt Spray

Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels

Pure Vida Lave Headband with Charm

I actually hadn’t heard of any of these brands or products before, so it was fun to try them all out! I am in love with the shampoo and the moisturizer. They are both on repeat this week in my bathroom.

I loved getting all of these great surprises in the mail, and it’s nice to try out products I wouldn’t have normally tried. Overall I think it does serve as an amazing gift for someone else, but it’s also a great treat for yourself.

For more details on Birchbox, visit www.birchbox.ca!

Roxymandy June 23, 2015

Little Monkey Designs Growth Chart + Shop With Our Friends and Family Discount Code!

I love to think of myself as the “Pinterest” kind of mom, but I failed on one point completely. As my son was growing up, we kept forgetting to create or buy some sort of chart to track his growth! My husband was more than a little annoyed when I started using a pencil, pen or whatever writing utensil I could find to make notches in the freshly painted trim in my son’s room to track his growth. That time I used a Sharpie did not go over well.

Fast-forward to last week, and I am now the proud owner of quite a fancy little growth chart from Little Monkey Designs!

You may remember my blog post from last year that I wrote praising some of the fabulous products Diane from Little Monkey Designs has to offer.

I am happy to say I am now a Brand Ambassador for Little Monkey Designs, and this is my first product for review!

There were plenty of designs I could choose for when it came to their selection of Personalized Growth Charts, and I fell in love with this Oh The Place’s You’ll Go Growth Chart.

My husband and I love to travel, and one of the places we have been a few times on our travels is London. Our son’s room is London-themed, and we thought this growth chart would fit in to the theme.

Also, when my son turned one I wanted a keepsake of his first birthday party, so I bought the book Oh, the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss and had all of the guests sign the book so we would remember who was there to share that day with us. I thought the growth chart was very fitting both ascetically, and on a personal level.

We certainly have stepped it up a bit from using pens, pencils and Sharpies to mark our son’s growth on the wall! The growth chart is beautifually made, and our son loves to stand beside it just for fun to see if he has grown.

To hang the growth chart, you must measure 40cm from the floor, and then place the bottom of the growth chart at that point. This will give you an accurate record of height! It’s nice and light, so it’s easily hung with a push pin.

Little Monkey Designs also does color matching, and they can often do personalized work so be sure to contact them if there is something you are looking to have made.

Their personalized growth charts are designed and printed in Canada on your choice of either premium 13 oz. matte vinyl or artist grade canvas.

The products used to create these growth charts are high quality and non-toxic, and the chart can easily be rolled up if you want to store them away as a keepsake!

sparkleshinylove readers can exclusively save 15% off anything in the shop including sale items by using the code sparkleshinylove. How awesome is that? Get shopping! There are some amazing products locally made by this shop that are perfect for your own little one, as a gift, or for an upcoming event you might be planning.

To learn more about Little Monkey Designs, or to get shopping with that great coupon code, visit their website here!

Disclaimer: This product was provided to me for review, but all opinions are fabulously my own.