June 2016 Topbox review!

Hi!
I hope that everyone is enjoying the summer and that it is not too humid in your area!
The weather here (Ottawa,Canada) has been quite hot and sunny-you can get a sunburn very easily.
If you wear sandals, remember to put sunscreen on the top of your feet,as they can burn quite easily too.

By now I have used to products in my June Topbox several times and thought the items sent are a good choice for summer.
One small annoyance is that I did not get a product info card and had to look up all the products-and some of the sites were making it hard to locate the correct product.

This month my Topbox came in a lovely metallic padded envelope.

Chic and festive envelope

Inside the envelope the contents of my bag were presented in a mesh bag.
I find these bags are quite useful- you can use them to wash small items in your clothes washer or just to organize your items.

My samples were packaged like this!

The contents of my June 2016 Topbox:

June 2016 Topbox!

Academie Beaute: moisturizing cream. Sample size 15ml, value $20/full size product 50ml, $60.
The Academie Beaute had a ton of products on their website and it was hard to locate this exact product.
The moisturizer is nice and light-like a gel and I think it would be good for summer as it is not a heavy-feeling product.
There is a light floral, kind of cosmetic scent to this cream. The brand is also made in France and seems to have very good quality skincare.
The only minus is that there is no sunscreen or SPF in this product,so you should use something with sunscreen if you are out during the day.

ORG SKINCARE: Mineral Peel Face: Sample size 5ml, value $5.00/full size 59ml, $44.I have never heard of this brand before and that it is a peel you use before doing your makeup in the morning.
Most other peels I have tried ,I use them at night-so this is quite a unique sounding product.
The instructions tell you to spray this on your face and leave it on for 3 seconds, use your fingertips in a circular motion to exfoliate, rinse with warm water, Repeat if desired.

I tried this and the peel, much to my surprise was not harsh at all.
My skin did feel and look much smoother and that was quite impressive.
What I did not like was that my cheeks felt a bit rough and had some kind of tiny bumps all over.

Each time I used the peel, it was the same thing-you could not really see the texture,but it was very noticeable to me.
Now that I used up the sample and am back to my usual peel (Exuviance 20%),the skin on my cheeks feels "normal" again.
The brand ORG SKINCARE is also based in Korea-the sample did not state this, but looking online.
Overall I did like this product,but undecided if I will purchase it.


Morgan Taylor: Professional Nail Laquer. Full size product 15ml, value $15
The shade I was sent is Postcards From Paris.
The laquer is made in the United States,so that is a plus.
The colour of the polish is a light turquoise with a bit of mint green. I think this would look really nice with a tan.
The bottle also feels expensive and not cheap looking. This would actually make a nice gift if you know someone who uses a lot of nail polish.

*I tried this polish on one finger with no base coat and no top coat and it chipped after one day.
If you use a topcoat,it should be more durable.

Second finger from left is Morgan Taylor lacquer

The second finger from the left is the Morgan Taylor lacquer,I only put on one coat and it chipped a bit the same day.
My other green polish-that is an Asian brand and that was on my nails 5 days with a topcoat.


Amika: Perk Up Dry Shampoo: travel size 21.3g, value $15 aprox.
It was hard to find this size for sale online in Canada.
I was pleased to try more products from this line-I did not know they had so many new products now.
Quite a while ago I tried their hair oil and really liked it.
The dry shampoo was easy to use and did refresh my hair. I would buy this product in the future.
Also the packaging looks very nice and colourful!

Final Thoughts:

The value of this box was quite good and was $60.
I like how there was some products for hair, skin and nails,but it would be nice to see some more face creams with sunscreen considering how sunny it is during the summer.
The only issue I have is that I seem to get quite a few nail polishes in the green family- light green, dark green, bluish green.

If you receive a Topbox, how were your selections this month?

Holiday shopping made easy online! Places with affordable shipping in Canada!

Happy shopping season everyone!
I happen to have a lot of gifts to send and do not like trekking to the post office, have to package and wrap the gifts carefully and then pay for postage.
Just seems like too much....work!
 In this modern time it seems much easier to buy gifts online.
The only issue is if you are not careful you can spend tons on shipping. Just thought I would post some of my favorite websites to buy gifts in Canada.
Most of these websites have free or very well priced shipping.

1) Well.ca free shipping for any item in Canada. There is a charge to send items to the US, so for  US based gifts something else is faster and better.
But for sending a gift in Canada, this is great! Well.ca also sells a lot of nice handmade soaps,candy,food!
Prices are usually better than a retail store for the most part.

2) Chocodirect.com
This is one of my favorite places to buy candy and gifts. Shipping is $5 for any order and I just noticed this week they made some gift baskets for the holidays!
The website is based in Quebec and usually an order takes at most 5 days to be received.
Chocodirect only ships in Canada, so not really good for US gifts.
The price of their baskets is quite good and compared to most of those "basket shops" shipping is very resonable. They do not seem to be charging a crazy ammount just to have items in a basket.
I calculated the cost of their $20 basket and the value of the items is $19 if you buy them without a basket!
Speaking to my mother who happens to order gift baskets for the holidays, she told me that she pays around $15-20 to send gift baskets from a local store (she is in Montreal).
I have been shopping at Chocodirect for a few years now and have not had any issues with shipping. One good thing they do for the environment is they seem to reuse or "repurpose" their mailing boxes. My last order, the outside packaging was a box used to hold a large  quantity of chocolate bars (it was a giant Valor chocolate box). The packaging inside to protect my items was mostly paper and my glass items had bubble wrap!

Hopefully this helps your online shopping. I will try and find more sites and add links later today!

Nisim F.A.S.T. Shampoo and Conditioner review.

I recently was able to try 2 samples of this shampoo and have liked them enough to write up a review on the F.A.S.T. line of products.
The shampoo and conditioner contain amino acids and vitamins that strengthen your hair and are supposed to help your hair grow longer.
I found the shampoo foamed up well and left my hair feeling very clean and refreshed.
The conditioner left my hair very soft and in good condition. It was nice that the conditioner did not weigh down my curly hair.
Overall I liked the F.A.S.T. shampoo and conditioner (and have not tried any of their other items yet).
I only had enough of the product to use for 2 days, so did not see a big difference in my hair. If it helps Nisim has a money back guarantee on everything they sell!

Deep Steep @ Skinbotanica! lovely soaps and all natural!

I recently saw this brand online and since I like natural products was hoping this would be nice!
Well, Ihave to say the products I tried were very gentle and extremely nice smelling!
I tried the DEEP STEEP line in HONEYDEW SPEARMINT.
The scent is very light and goes away after 30 second so it is not an "in your face" kind of artificial scent.

But I really like that. I bought the sampler set and the shower gel is very gentle too. The body lotion is quite thin and pretty light, but nice for summer and does not leave hands greassy.
The body butter stick is kind of like a giant lip balm and good for any dry spots.
I am definitely getting more of this line and have ordered the other scents to see if they are just as nice.

I have not seen this line in Canada yet, but even with shipping the price is very resonable.
There is also a special right now where if you spend $100 you get the free BEAUTY CACHE when you enter that code and add the cache to your shopping cart!
That is a $30 value!




Skinbotanica and Skincarerx use the same shopping cart,so the special offers will work when buying items on both sites.
I really like how this company they actually ship bonus items to Canadians and others when many companies do not do this!

Beauty Cache! get it, also ships to Canada!

I've been telling everyone I know about this Skincarerx.com Beauty Cache.
Thrilled that they actually ship the bonus items to Canada (unlike that other American beauty store).
Service at Skincarerx has been great too!
Customer service is always so friendly and helpful.
I especially like their return garantee and that all the ingredients for everything is listed online.
They are also very generous with adding extra samples to every order.


Spend $100 at SkinCareRx and add a Beauty Cache For Free. use Code BEAUTYCACHE at checkout.

I'm going to eventually review all the items I like from this store.
But will start by saying the Deep Steep body care line in Honeydew Spearmint smells sooo nice and is all natural.

My Pretty Pink Box! May 2010 review.

If you are not yet familiar with My Little Pink Box, it is a monthly surprize package of new and upcoming cosmetics companies.
This is a fun way to treat yourself to some brands you may not have heard of and also some items you have always wanted to try.
The companies that participate can be anything from handmade smaller companies to some very big brands.
You usually get around 6-8 items with at least two being full size products.

Here is what I received for the May 2010 version of www.myprettypinkbox.com

Nissim shampoo and conditioner sachet (10ml each)
Avon Moisture Therapy hand cream (45ml)
Lost River Rags & Candlelights small duck goats milk soap (melon ginseng scent, from a small Etsy store)
Moi Minerals eyeshadow sample (comes in a small ziptop packet, they are a small Canadian company!)
Nyx eyeshadow base in Pearl (always wanted to try out this item).
DermaPro Skincare- quite a few sachets of product (Gel Tox 3x 3ml sachet, Ion Mask 2x 5ml,Pineapple Cleansing Scrub 5ml x2).

Overall I am happy with this box and there are quite a few neat products to try.
Shipping to Canada seems to take exactly 4 weeks.
The boxes seem to sell for around $10, plus $5 shipping.
My Pretty Pink Box is run by a lady named Linda and it is a small company for now.
The boxes go on sale monthly and sell out quite quickly.
I think this would make a fun surprize gift for a friend or a nice treat for yourself.

Welcome to Pretty Tasty Reviews!

Welcome to Pretty Tasty Reviews!
My blog will focus on everything that is Pretty and things that are Tasty (like food reviews).
I am located in Canada, so most of the reviews will focus on items available here.

If there are any cosmetics or food items you want me to review. I'm always interested in getting suggestion...