2015 ELLE Canada Beauty Grand Prix Intro

Hi, everyone!

I was selected to be a juror for the 2015 ELLE Canada Beauty Grand Prix and I cannot be more excited! I received 20 different products to test out, in several different categories. My categories are Face: Moisturizer, Hair: Shampoo & Conditioner, Makeup: Lipstick & Bronzer. The packaging is all covered in shiny "Elle Canada" wrapping paper, so I cannot tell exactly what they are (brand, product name, colour name, etc.) but there are certain packaging elements I recognize that might be a bit of a giveaway but I promise to test and review the products without bias.

I got:
 4 Face Moisturizers (Product #s, 18, 19, 20 & 21)
 4 sets of Shampoo & Conditioners (Product #'s 30.1, 30.2, 31.1, 31.2, 32.1, 32.2, 33.1, 33.2, )
 6 Lipsticks (Products #s, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
 2 Bronzers (Product #s 28, 29)


I have access to a logbook, where I will keep track of my reviews and comments - but I will also be posting them right here on my blog. I will supply the links to each section of reviews posted when I have them. Thanks again, ELLE Canada for allowing me to be part of this amazing review panel and I can't wait to share my experiences!

I received a large box in the mail, filled with full sized products all wrapped up in shiny silver paper... It totally felt like Christmas - in March! I've included a photo above to show what I mean (I know it sounds a little crazy). I cannot imagine the effort that went towards wrapping all those items up, Kudos to you ELLE Canada team!

I'm a little concerned about the EIGHT hair products I have to try out - I find it tends to take me about 3 or 4 weeks to really tell a difference in my hair when I switch hair products and I don't know if I'll be able to give a thorough review on all the products in the amount of time I have. But I will do my very best!

Why Target Failed: My Perspective

When I was younger I loved going to Target in Michigan, they had great products for really cheap prices ( I loved their clearance section and still own some of the clothes I bought back then). As I got older I started enjoying their makeup section along with their home decor. The stores were always clean, employees were friendly and the product selection was amazing. So when Target announced they would be opening a Canadian franchise I was overjoyed. I couldn't wait for my favorite American store to come to a city near me!

Upon my first trip to the Target store in Guelph (closest one to me at the time of opening), I noticed something was different... Yes, the red and white bullseye was there and the red and kahki uniforms were the same but something was off... My absolute favorite part of American Target stores was missing - the food court! If you've never been to a Target in the United States, the brief explanation is that Target USA stores have a mini food court inside them near the front doors. They serve hot dogs, french fries, soft pretzels and fountain drinks (along with other concession stand food - but it's so good!) . It is a tradition for my family to pick up a soft pretzel to start off our Target shopping trips. I was disappointed Target Canada decided to replace that food court type thing with a Starbucks. How very un-Canadian, if they wanted to go with a coffee chain there are plenty of CANADIAN options they could've chosen to help support our economy.  I think that if they'd decided to go the traditional route, a mini food court would've brought some additional income in straight to Target, not drawn out to Starbucks.

The store stock in Guelph was always mediocre. Sure, there were some cute clothes but they were priced much higher than the US counterparts - and clearance racks were nowhere to be seen. The home decor was nice, but there was a very limited selection and frequently empty shelves. The cosmetics section was nice, and I was very excited to see they had brought some of the "American" makeup brands over - such as Pixi, Sonia Kashuk and ELF. But then another problem arose. The ELF cosmetics were outrageously overpriced. I am a loyal ELF fan and frequently buy their products in the USA, so I was appalled when I saw a typically $1 brush selling for $4 in the store. Or a $3 lipstick selling for $8 in-store.  You know there's a major problem when you can shop online, pay the high shipping cost plus currency conversion and still get the products for cheaper than buying them in a Target Canada store.

Finally, a store in my home town opened up. The stock was much nicer, more organized and they had sizable inventory. Prices still were a little higher than Wal-Mart (where I typically shop), but there were usually some pretty good sales. The staff were friendly and always eager to help, something I don't find very common in Wal-Mart stores.

Eventually, I started noticing that Target would have advertised items in their flyer, but when you'd get to the store that weekend (two-three days after the flyer came out) that item was no longer in stock and employees had no clue when - or even if they would be getting any more in. This was a major frustration during Christmas of 2014 when I had my heart set on a beautiful fake Christmas tree at an amazing price, only to find out my local store received only a very few and they'd already been sold out - with no chance of a restock.

If you viewed Target Canada's Facebook page pre-closing, you'd see dozens upon dozens of complaints (lack of inventory, high prices, etc.) on their wall. But you'd also see quite a few suggestions on what to change in order to get better sales and draw more people in (making their website actually show store inventory, products carried, offer online shipping, etc. being the main issues commented on). As far as I can tell, Target Canada took absolutely no interest in what their consumers had to say - no changes were made.

The other issue being that Target essentially "took over" Zellers. Once Zellers had left, Target moved into several of the old Zellers locations. This immediately made people think that Target was going to have similar pricing to Zellers, or at the very least similar pricing to their American stores - which was definitely not the case.

I was a loyal Target customer, and there were plenty of things I absolutely loved about them. Mainly the fact that they had the absolute best price matching policy of any store. They would price-match Canada-wide, and even price matched online website prices - something Wal-Mart refuses to do. Target also had amazing clearances, I saved so much money during those sales, usually 75% off or more!

But after their horrendous liquidation sale (prices marked up the night before the sale, store stock being very iffy, prices not coming up correctly, etc.) I am not surprised they are leaving. I'm terribly disappointed in the utter failure Target was in Canada, and I think they could've done a much better job.  Hell, the war of 1812 lasted longer than they did here.

Finally, my best wishes to the employees who found out they were out of a job through social media (shame on you, Target.)

Update 03/13/2015: Target Canada announced the closing of 16 stores (including all the stores in my hometown). The areas I was interested in never even reached 50% off. Cosmetics have remained 30% off the entire sale, and that's as low as they're going to get. Target Canada can't even do liquidation right.

Final Update: As of the end of April 2015, all Target Canada stores have been closed - a month earlier than the predicted closing date. Guess they couldn't get out of Canada fast enough.

Secret Outlast 24h Clear Gel Review

I'd like to start by saying I got this product for free through the BzzAgent program. But I have not let this bias my review, everything written here is my honest and true opinion. Warning, this review may be TMI based on the sensitive nature of body odor! If you are uncomfortable reading about body odor, sweat or other bodily functions related to the armpit... This review is not for you.



While I'll admit I don't pay much attention to what deodorant I use (I just pick up whatever is on sale), I wasn't about to pass up the chance to try a new one for free from BzzAgent (courtesy of Secret) I typically use a regular "stick deodorant", but I've noticed white stains on the armpit sections of my darker clothing... They're easily removed by using a laundry sheet - but why add that extra step when you don't have to? That's the main glory of this new Secret Gel, no white stains!

Upon first impression I noticed the tube is less than half full, and it takes a lot of turning to get the product to come out initially. By the time you get the gel to dispense, there's very little product left. Not very cost effective, in my opinion. But I like the product itself, so I'd still buy it if a good sale came around.

The next con I noticed was that upon application, the product is very wet and occasionally sticky. So in order to keep your clothing from getting wet, you have to wait about five minutes between application and dressing. This isn't ideal for people who are in a rush, so it's a good thing to know beforehand.

On the plus side, the product smells amazing (I have it in the "oh la la lavender" fragrance, but it's also available in vanilla, clean and unscented). I think it smells more like a floral male cologne rather than lavender, personally. The scent is quite noticeable, so if you are sensitive to fragrance I'd steer clear of the scented versions. In just a week of use (one application a day), this product has almost eliminated my armpit odor (I'd say about 75%) and has severely reduced perspiration. For these reasons I'd say it's worth a shot. Thankfully it's relatively cheap, and frequently goes on sale or has coupons available!

Clarisonic Mia 2 ("Sensitive" Replacement Head) Review

Disclaimer: I got this product for free from Chick Advisor . Well, I got PART of the real product for free. I was sent a 'replacement head' for the Clarisonic Mia, and a 20% off coupon for when/if I decided to buy the full priced item online.

Photo from www.clarisonic.ca

I don't quite understand why they'd bother sending me part of a product I can't even use, but it was free so I can't really complain... Well I guess I can because this product is useless to me and they should've just saved themselves the postage. I was never asked if I wanted this product (or part of product, I should say)... I don't do many purchases online due to items being hard to return if defective, shipping charges and the possibility of my package getting lost. So that coupon is useless to me as well.

The Clarisonic Mia 2 is so expensive (they average $180 or more) as is, that 20% off wouldn't have been enough to make it affordable for me. I won't be purchasing it anytime soon. This isn't the type of item you can purchase, end up disliking and move on. $180 is a lot of money on a fancy electric toothbrush for your face.

I have however, started using the "replacement head" manually as a mini scrub for my face. I find it lathers up my face-wash much better than my fingers do. And it gets deeper into my pores to clean out all makeup and residue. I don't notice a significant difference (certainly not worth the $180 Price Tag), but I bet with the bonus features the actual tool supplies (such as 300 sonic pulses a minute) it might help a little bit more.

"Sensitive Brush Head"

I have however, started using the "replacement head" manually as a mini scrub for my face. I find it lathers up my face-wash much better than my fingers do. And it gets deeper into my pores to clean out all makeup and residue. I don't notice a significant difference (certainly not worth the $180 Price Tag), but I bet with the bonus features the actual tool supplies (such as 300 sonic pulses a minute) it might help a little bit more.

They recommend you change the brush head every 3 months (yes, just throw it away and buy a new one every 90 days) But for the price of $30.00CAD just for ONE replacement head, there's no way on Earth I'm ever going to buy one for myself at that price. They are offered in a range of textures, I received the "Sensitive" one. There is also "Delicate", "Deep Pore" "Normal" and "Body" brush heads. Each cost $30, or you can buy a dual pack for $46. While I'll admit it's nice to have options, this is one thing that just isn't worth the money to me.

Thanks for the free item, ChickAdvisor. I just wish you'd let me know in advance so I could've turned it down and saved you the postage.

Not convinced and you'd still like to try it out for yourself? Purchase it directly from Amazon by clicking on the image below. Multiple other colours available as well if you purchase directly from http://www.clarisonic.ca.

P&G BrandSaver Sample Program (October 2014)

If you don't have a P&G Brandsaver account, I suggest you sign up ASAP. Register Here !!

I've been a member for a few months and regularly print coupons from them. But just recently I was notified of a sampler box that was available. The photo showed some sample sized items, as well as a couple full sized products. All I had to do was put in my mailing address and click submit. No surveys, no hassle. I was unsure of exactly what would come in the box and I'd actually forgotten all about it until I received a pretty blue box in my mail this past week. I posted about it immediately on Instagram. I've opened a new Instagram account for posting about deals and freebies, so if you're interested please follow me HERE .

I'm not sure exactly when I ordered the box, but it came within a month of me ordering it. So for little to no effort, I got a box full of cool new products from P&G that otherwise I might not have bought (or tried) on my own. Recently, 3 more sample boxes were released but I didn't get any of those. I missed out on them, but I'm sure there will be more sample boxes from P&G in the future - so make sure you sign up at the above link to be eligible for a sampler box.

Note: P&G may or may not email you when a new sample box is available. I found out about this one from a favorite website of mine called CanadianDailyDeals . This website frequently posts about samples, coupons, sales, etc. I have them bookmarked and check back frequently. They also have a Facebook page if you want to be notified of new deals there instead.

Now, onto what was in the box I got.

To my surprise, the box not only came with a couple sample sized items (one or two uses) but a FULL SIZE Covergirl Bombshell Mascara, Mr.Clean Magic Eraser and a full sized Venus razor! Also included were a 1-use sample of the Tide Free&Gentle Pods, 2 Cascade Platinum Pods, 50mL samples of the Pantene Sheer Volume Shampoo & Conditioner. As well as an advertisement book (seen at the bottom) and a book of Target-Exclusive coupons.

There are several coupons in this booklet. Including: $1 off Mr.Clean Magic Eraser, $1 off any Tide detergent (1.36L - 1.47L), $2 off any Tide detergent (2.72L - 2.95L), $2 off any 43 - 60 pack of Cascade pods, $3 off any purchase of BOTH  Venus razor cartridges AND a Satin Care shave gel, $2 off any Covergirl Bombshell product and $1 off any Pantene hair care item. (All the coupons expire in 2015 - lots of time to find a good sale to use them on.)

The exciting thing about these Target-Exclusive coupons is that they can be "stacked" with a manufacturer coupon for the same item to add to your savings. So for example, right now there is a $2 off any Pantene product manufacturer coupon. I could go to Target and use BOTH the $1 off Target coupon and the $2 manufacturer coupon to get a total saving of $3. Wait for a good sale to come around and this means I can get a shampoo or conditioner from Pantene for $1 or less.

Very exciting! I saw some other people who ordered this box got different items, one person even got TWO mascaras in theirs! If you got this box, let me know what came in yours.

You can purchase most of these items from Amazon directly from the images below. Please note; Prices are handled by Amazon.ca and I have no control over them. Prices are subject to change at any time, items may go out of stock, or have other issues. I cannot control this, nor can I do anything about it. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Note: Target Canada has now closed and Target coupons are unusable.

Couponing 101

I thought it'd be a good idea to write a few of the basics of couponing. I'm still learning new things so there may be things missing from this list. I will update it with new information when I get it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Price Matching: Price matching (or PM) is when you show the cashier the advertised price of an item from a flyer, and they sell you the same item for that price. You can bring in the actual physical flyer or you can show the eflyer. This can be done with several phone apps, which I will cover later on. Each store will have it's own price matching policy. Some stores will PM such as No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, FreshCo, Wal-Mart and Target. While other stores won't, such as Zehrs.

Some stores will have a PMing limit, and others don't. It's best to ask the store manager for their PMing policy, or check online. It is ultimately up to each store manager for what they will/won't allow. Don't worry about this too much though, I've yet to run into a problem. I do most of my PMing at Wal-Mart, but I've also had good experiences with Target.

Rain Checks: Rain Checks are when a store doesn't have a product in store that they have advertised in their flyer. Normally when this happens, the manager will write you a "rain check" which is basically a note saying they will sell you that item at the sale price when it gets back in stock.

Scanning Code Of Practice: Also known as SCOP for short. This is a little-known about gem. This policy states that if an item rings up at the cash for more than the sale tag states, you are entitled to get the item for free (if it's under $10) or get $10 off the tag price. This only applies to the first item, then the rest will have to be manually priced in the system. Most stores won't tell you about this policy, but they usually have some sort of sign at the cash stating the policy. If you don't mention it, they will just manually override the system and you will pay the advertised price.

There are several short forms used in couponing, this is just to save time. I've included the most common, but there are others out there.

Store Short Forms:
WM - Wal-Mart
RCSS - Real Canadian Superstore
SDM - Shoppers Drug Mart

Coupon Short Forms:
BOGO: Buy 1 get 1 Free.
B2G1: Buy 2 get 1 Free
FPC: Free product coupon
MIR: Mail In Rebate
WUB: When you buy
MFC: Manufacturer coupon


Other types of coupons:
Peelie: Coupons typically attached to a product that can be peeled off.
Tear Pad: A pad of coupons that you can tear coupons off of. Typically found on coupon boards (near the front of the store), on product displays or on the shelves.
Mail In: Coupons that are mailed directly to your house from either a coupon website or the manufacturer directly.
Printable: Coupons printed from the internet.
Inserts: Coupons found in the weekly flyers. Typically in their own insert.

Types of Coupon Inserts:
There are multiple companies that offer coupon booklets in the weekly flyers. Typically there's 1 from each company a month. It's possible you won't receive these coupon booklets because they aren't always supplied to your local flyer carrier. The most common ones are from Redplum, Unilever P&G) and SmartSource. Sometimes other stores offer them too, like Wal-Mart or Target.

Websites that offer coupons:
There are several online sites you can go to for coupons. First you want to make sure it's a CANADIAN website. American coupons aren't accepted here. Once you've done that, some will offer to mail the coupons directly to your house, and others will be available for you to print them from home. Most commonly they are print at home, but there are some sites that will send you them. For these, you will typically have to register an account. This is free to do and only takes a few minutes - well worth it! You can commonly find coupons from the manufacturer's website as well (again, make sure it's the Canadian site).

Mailed Coupons:
Websaver     
Save.Ca
GoCoupons

Printable Coupons:
SmartSource
P&G Everyday
Healthy Essentials

Phone Applications:
Then finally, there are phone apps you can use to help you save money! There are several out there, but I've listed the ones I use and trust. For browsing flyers I use Rebee & Flipp. Rebee allows you to browse more flyers than Flipp, but Flipp allows you to search directly for whatever item you're looking for and it will show you all the advertised prices for that item. These are available on both Android & Iphone. Finally, there are phone apps that give you cash back on certain purchases. I use the Save.ca App, Checkout 51 (CO51) and SnapSaves (SS). You purchase the items on the offers list, take a photo of your receipt and then your account gets accredited with however much money you earned. You can cash out at different points for each app. This is an easy way to get money back for items you would typically already be buying.

Save.ca is a newer app, and doesn't have many offers yet but I suspect they will grow with time. With Save.ca you can cash out at as low as $5. The money will go straight to your paypal account. At this time they don't have any other options.

Checkout 51 is my favorite one out of the bunch. The offers change every Thursday morning at 12:01 AM. They range from food items, household items and even beauty care/makeup! You may only use each deal once. You can cash out as soon as you reach $20 and they will mail a cheque right to your house within 10 business days. I have done this in the past and the cheques have always cleared.

SnapSaves is a bit different, they offer new items every day but the cash back is quite low. Usually $0.25 or $0.50 per item, but you can usually do each deal multiple times. For example, let's say strawberries are offered at $0.25 cash back. You can buy 4 packages of strawberries and get $1 cash back. Be careful though, not all offers can be done multiple times. Like CO51, you can cash out as soon as you get to $20. But SS only sends cheques out once every quarter (3 months). So if you order a cheque, don't expect it to get to you quickly.

PC Points: This is an app offered by Presidents Choice. You can load offers each week, and earn points at Loblaw company stores (Zehrs, No Frills, Value Mart, RCSS, Etc.). Each 1000 points is equal to $1 and you can redeem your points as soon as you get to 20,000. Sometimes there will be special promotions for bonus points on certain items as well. You can get a PC Points card if you'd prefer that instead.

Optimum Points: Okay, this isn't really an app but it follows along the same lines as the PC Points. Each time you make a purchase at a SDM (Shoppers Drug Mart), you will earn points. Typically this is 10 points to every $1 you spend. There will be bonus points offers available each week on certain products as well. Typically these are "10x the points" or "500 bonus points". You can redeem your points at different levels, each level has it's own value. The lowest being 8,000 points which you can redeem for $10 off. The highest being 95,000 points which is worth $170. Obviously, the higher level of points the more they are worth in cash. There are frequently events where you can earn bonus points, such as spend $50 get 8,000 points. Or "Spend your Points" event, where you get bonus points for spending a certain amount of them.

That's all I've got right now, if there's anything I need to add please let me know!

Vitafusion MultiVites Gummies Review

Disclaimer: I received this product for free through the "Product Review Club" from ChickAdvisor. I have not let this effect or bias my review. You can purchase this item directly from Amazon.ca by clicking the photo below.



The 150CT bottle of VitaFusion MultiVites Adult Gummy Vitamins costs around $20 (I have seen them for both more and less, depending where you purchase them).  I think this is a good value for the amount you get, one bottle should easily last you about 2 months. This is the around average price for this type of chewable multi-vitamin, so they aren't anymore expensive than another comparable brand of equal quality.

The flavors were kind of bland, there were only three choices in the container (the three being Berry, Orange and Lemon.). They weren't very sweet and some of the gummies were more bitter than others. The texture was inconsistent between the gummies, some of them were really chewy and smooth like a gummy bear. Then others were rougher and they had a gritty texture, kind of like having sand in your gummy bear. Although not ideal, this was tolerable and not unpleasant.

They have lots of vitamins & nutrients inside, so they seem like a healthy addition to your regular diet. More vitamins can't hurt, right? Which is great because they are easy to take and even provide a little bit of fun in the morning, it's like eating a bit of candy. I much prefer taking my vitamins this way, compared to swallowing pill after pill. I would've preferred them to be a 1-a day style, rather than having to take one in the morning and one at night as I frequently forget to take them at night.

Overall, I feel like these are just kinda meh. They aren't bad, but they could be better. There are plenty of other options through VitaFusion for gummies covering a wide range of vitamins or supplements if this general catch-all doesn't fit your needs. They also offer different flavors depending on the type you purchase. With all these options you're bound to find something that'll fit your needs.

Note: They do get bad/stale after a few months, so make sure you use yours up before they get too stale and thus unedible.

I give them a 3/5