Saturday, April 28, 2018

How to Avoid 'Tech Neck'


If you're reading this post from your phone or tablet right now, well, I think you're going to want to keep on reading....

I don't always love feeling like I'm attached to my smartphone, but with so much work being done that way now, and the need to be engaging regularly on social media as part of this blog (while I do love it most of the time), it definitely isn't the best for our health, in more ways than one. Especially our posture. All it takes is one look around while on a street corner or on a bus to realize that everyone is face down, neck craned, looking at their phone. It's not hard to imagine what that could do to your neck in the long term. In fact, apparently dermatologists are saying that the constant neck bending to look at our screens is leading to sagging skin, dropping jowls, and a distinct crease above the clavicle. And they're calling it: 'tech neck'.

Time to start thinking about a long term solution (that doesn't involve 'no cell phone'...because let's be honest, that's not going to happen).

Jouviance recently sent over a bottle of their Contour+ Neck Sculpting Gel Concentrate, and I think it might just be the answer to the long term smartphone-wielding problem. The paraben-free gel concentrate is meant to sculpt, rejuvenate, and regenerate the jawline, neck and décolleté. The Liftonin-Xpert infused in the formula aims to improve skin firmness and elasticity, and visibly reduce the appearance of deep wrinkles. Basically, this gel was formulated to tighten and contour your V-shape.


Now, up until this point, I've never been worried about wrinkles and aging. Partially because I'm still in my 20's, but also because aging is just something that's never really bothered me (yet). But, as I edge towards my 30's, I do start to think about at least incorporating a few anti-aging products into my routine. After all, I might as well be proactive about it. So while I don't expect to see miraculous and immediate results now, I'm adding Jouviance Contour+ to my nightly routine...so that hopefully years from now, it'll help keep that 'tech neck' at bay!

How do you feel about aging? Are you terrified, or couldn't care less? Does the fact that your smartphone habits might be prematurely aging your skin worry you enough to put away your smartphone? I'm curious to know what you think!





How to apply Jouviance Contour+:
  1. Cleanse skin
  2. Warm the gel concentrate between your fingers
  3. Apply to the base of your décolleté and massage in an upward motion towards the neck and jawline, finishing behind the ears. Apply lightly with your fingers - the first time, I was pressing too hard on my neck and choked a bit! Oops.
  4. Repeat upward motion until the gel is full absorbed







Happy Styling! xo

~ Britta





Monday, April 23, 2018

Earth Month Beauty: Eco-Friendly Makeup To Add To Your Routine


Happy Earth Month! There are lots of ways to 'green' your routine. If you saw my last post, you'd know that thrifting can be one of those ways. Another way, is choosing more eco-friendly beauty products for your makeup bag.


Today, I've done a full makeup look with my all-time favourite eco-friendly makeup brand: Emani Cosmetics. I first discovered Emani years ago at London Drugs, when I had the opportunity to interview the founder of Emani herself, Michelle Doan. I loved her vision for Emani: a brand that is not only vegan and made without all the "bad" stuff you don't want in your makeup (no parabens, talc, petrochemicals), but is made to actually be good for your skin. All their products are made with natural and organic ingredients. Kind of makes you wonder why all makeup brands don't have that mentality.

The 'greeness' of Emani doesn't end there. The packaging is even made of recycled and biodegradable paper!


Everything you see above I used to create this Earth Month makeup look!

Left column, top to bottom:

Middle, top to bottom:


Keep on scrolling below to see more about two of my favourite products from this eco-friendly makeup look.




One of the newest products in the Emani family is their Deluxe Cream Foundation. I was pretty surprised that the shade 'Fair' is actually a pretty good match - even for me (you know that's not easy!). The cream formula is infused with peptides, gold and peat. Peat helps improve cell turnover as well as your skin's elasticity and tightens pores. It's also highly antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. Hyaluronic acid also helps with the reduction of the appearance of fine lines! Not bad, considering it also has great coverage in addition to that whole list of benefits.






The other item I wanted to share with you today, is Clean's line of eco-friendly eau de toilettes. I was introduced to this brand for the first time at the LDBeauty Preview Event, and thought it was just the coolest thing!

Clean are actually one of the first 'green' fragrance brands! You might be wondering..how would you make a fragrance eco-friendly? Well, for starters, the alcohol used in the juice is non-toxic and is derived from corn. Beyond that, the packaging is also made from recycled materials and is itself recyclable. They're also cognisant of the environment during manufacturing, using solar power for their manufacturing facility to lessen their environmental impact.

Here, I have the scent 'Fresh Laundry'...and it really does smell so fresh and clean! I use it as a fragrance, or just to even refresh my clothes if they've been sitting in a drawer too long. Pro tip: you can also mix and match fragrances within this line of eau de toilettes to create unique scents!







Happy Earth Month!

~ Britta

Earth Day Thrift Shopping with Women Who Workshop & Value Village



As a thrifter, Earth Day has become a pretty fun day on April 22nd every year. After all, thrifting is not just about getting a great deal, it's also eco-friendly! This year was even more special, as I had the pleasure of hosting a thrifting workshop with Women Who Workshop at Value Village. We talked about reducing our textile waste, why thrifting is eco-friendly, and I shared some of my top strategy tips for thrift shopping. I don't want all of you to miss out on what everyone learned, so keep scrolling below to see my full list of thrifting tips (and see what everyone found, once I set them loose in the store!). Big thanks to Value Village for graciously providing our workshop attendees with gift cards to get them started with their thrifting hunt.

If you're scratching your head thinking: "how is thrifting eco-friendly?" Then here's quick recap on what we discussed in the workshop:

When you shop from a retail store, you're putting demand on the textiles industry, because that shirt needs to be made from scratch, in order for you to buy it. In fact, it can take up to 700 gallons of water to make 1 new cotton t-shirt. And 1800 gallons to make a new pair of jeans. Unlike regular shopping, thrift shopping doesn't put that kind of burden on the textiles industry. Instead, you're simply buying something that has already been used by someone else (meaning no demand for new textiles). And rather than throwing your old clothes into the trash, increasing your textiles waste, by donating them to a thrift store, someone else could have the chance to love those items of clothing too!




My top thrifting tips:
  1. Be patient. Give yourself time to hunt. There's lots to sift through, so giving yourself ample time to go through the racks one-by-one will reduce that overwhelming feeling you might have when you walk through the door.
  2. Not sure? Try it on! If you pick out an item off the rack, something must have caught your eye, so why not just try it on! You might second guess yourself, thinking it may not fit, or your not sure of the cut, but you won't really know until you try it on. Also, that's why it's best to use one of the shop's baskets or carts, so you can toss things in there as you go.
  3. Don't get stuck on the 'size'. It's best not to rely on what it says on the tag, in terms of sizing. Sometimes tags are mislabelled, or an item might have been misplaced and put in the wrong size section. So it's a good idea to search beyond the size section you'd normally look it. If you're usually a small, check the x-smalls and mediums too (if you have time!). Particularly if you've found a vintage item, they tend to be smaller, so you'll likely need to size up.
  4. Use your fingers to feel for quality. Rather than checking every label to see if it's a quality item, use your fingers! Especially in the sweater section, you'll be able to feel the softness of cashmere and merino wool. For other items, the heaviness/thickness might also indicate quality. I like to touch each piece as I move the hanger on the rack, and then if I feel some that seems quality, I'll check the tag. Sometimes, it'll confirm your guess!
  5. Look for brand names. This relates to #4. I usually come across brand names based on touch, but sometimes just taking a peek at the labels as you flip through the hangers will also just do the trick. If you know the names of more obscure labels, even better. As those may not have been marked up, and you'll get an even better deal! Or...if an item seems like it might be an expensive brand name, but your not sure, just pull out your phone and do a quick Google search to see what they usually retail for.
  6. Be open-minded. Thrifting is best when you go in open-minded. It can be a bit difficult if you have something very specific in mind, because of the layout and contents of thrift stores. It's not like a shopping mall where you can go to a specific store for a specific type of clothing item. Instead, be ready to find all kinds of amazing items! If anything, keep your goals wider, like "I'm looking for spring dresses".
  7. Give your items a twice-over. Just like you would in a normal store, you'll want to give your items a once-over, or even better a twice-over, before you buy. Sometimes, items are donated with small rips, stains, broken zippers, etc. which you'll want to be aware of before purchasing. If it's something that would be easily fixed, then you may choose to buy it anyway. If it's a more expensive fix, like a broken zipper, then you may want to think about how much the item will cost you with that fix included in the price.
  8. Go often! Stores are restocked daily, so your best bet is to go often. This way, you might be lucky enough to snag some great finds before someone else finds it!



Helpful tips for thrifting at Value Village:
  1. Join their Super Savers Club. By signing up online, you'll get an alert of when their sales are coming up, and even get access to shopping their 50% off sales the day before the rest of the public!
  2. Save more by donating. Donating is great because you'll clean out your home, give your clothes new life, and Value Village will pay local non-profits when you donate. The best part though: you'll also get a stamp card when you donate, and based on how many bags you drop off, you can earn up to 30% off your next thrifting purchase!


Once we were all done chatting about textiles waste and thrifting strategy, I set them loose in Value Village to shop! I was so proud seeing my little thrifting protégés combing the racks. And they all did such a great job. Not everyone found something, but they now all have a few more tricks in their arsenal for thrift shopping another day. Others walked away with some awesome thrifted finds!



This dress was picked out for me by Sara, a member of the workshop, and it turned out being my favourite find of the day! Luckily, it was a pretty good fit (I'm planning to do a bit of adjustments to make the top a bit roomier), and it's just super cute for spring. It's made in Italy, and was only $24.99!



How cute is Julie's laser cut top? She found a ton of awesome items, including a bunch of tops and an adorable red romper. And I ended up taking home the royal blue dress on the right, along with a few other items.



Debra did really well too! She found a great Joe Fresh sweater (with tags still on!) and a couple other items.


I'm most proud of Chantale. Even the idea of thrifting stresses her out, as does shopping at stores like Winners, so I knew it would be a challenge for her to shop with us, let alone find something she liked. But she did! She found a great 100% merino wool sweater from Ellen Tracy, in perfect condition. How great is that?




Here's just a few of our workshop attendees, with their bags of goodies!


If you haven't tried thrifting before, I hope you're feeling a bit more inspired to give it a try. It's a great way to reduce your environmental footprint, while also refreshing your wardrobe on a budget.

Happy Earth Day!

~ Britta







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