Today I read an article about the "best Canadian shops". I was surprised shoppers was in top10. But it's other people's opinions and I respect them. I like shoppers' customer services online and onphone, but I dislike the service they provide in the stores. Anyway, it's just a thought.
My best shops in Canada, means that shops can be found in Canada. Not necessarily with Canadian businessmen owner or sell Canadian made products.
I list the store names randomly, not according to how much I love them. I love them all, and just want to share with you guys how great they are.
Loblaws
It sells grocery, clothes, cosmetics, and kitchenwares. I like that fact that I can basically find anything I want in the shop. The place inside is always clean, bright, and well-organized in any loblaw stores. The original prices can be higher than others, but we can find the best bargain there when things on sale. People there are very nice and provide the best customer services they can. It has wider selection of groceries than other stores. We can either scan n go or wait in line for cashiers to help. Also it opens very late until 11:00 p.m. while other stores tend to close at 10:00.
One thing that I would like to complain about is that sometimes some store play too loud music that I cannot stand at all. But it does not happen all the time and not in all locations.
T&T Supermarket
Asian supermarket that sells most of things Asian. It has the widest selections of Asian food among Chinese supermarkets. It's also very clean, bright and well organized. Some of the stores open until 12:00.
The customer service is great there as well. What I like the most is that cashiers hand in the receipts to you with both hands with smile, that is a real Asian way of showing how much they respect customers like you.
Sometimes the music can be too loud. But again it does not happen all the time.
The Bay
TheBay seems to have almost all kinds of brands from very high end to lower ones. It may not have everything in all locations, but it has online shop there. We can always shop online 24/7, though sometimes the web seems to be out of control....
The sales people are always very nice and provide the best customer service. If you go to a cosmetic counter where the lady who belongs to there are not there, sales lady from other counters will come immediately to help.
As HBC card holders, we can always get extra discounts with its credit cars, which is really good. We can collect points and redeem for anything we like.
Walmart Canada
Walmart may not be a Canadian shop, but it's great! It offers everything the best prices with nice quality. The super centre close to where I live is very clean and well-organized. Some discount stores may not look as clean as other stores to have an impression that they do not spend extra money on cleaning but on offering great prices to customers. People there are very nice and helpful as well.
Thursday, 2 May 2013
Review: CLINIQUE Moisture Surge Intense Skin Fortifying Hydrator
( Photo credit to thebay.com)This is a gel-cream texture with a light scent which does not bother me. It hydrates me instantly once I put it on. I am not sure if it hydrates me 24 hours after I put it on but what I can be sure about is that it can work as good as night mask when I feel extremely dry some day in the winter.
Review: Diorskin Forever Compact Flawless Perfection Fusion Wear Makeup
I love powder foundations more than liquid or cream foundations. To me it's essential that a powder foundation has spf in it though I never put makeup on without sunscreen as base. I prefer powder foundation with high coverage since I normally do not use concealer.
The diorskin's compact caught my attention when it was released in 2011. As a powder foundation junkie, I do not hesitate to try any powder foundation with spf & high coverage. I got shades in 010, 021 and 023 since I had some rewards to redeem at the bay. The compact foundation retails at$49 plus tax in Canada.
My thoughts on diorskin flawless compact:
1. It has a wide range of color selection for powder foundations. 020 claims to be neutural undertone; 021 is for golden undertone ; 023 leans towards to peachy while 022 is more pink undertone.
2. Though shade 023 claims to be peachy beige, it does not look super peachy on my skin. Actually it looks as natural as shade 021 on my Asian olive undertone skin. I have never tried shade 020 though many people use this shade. I use 010 to put on my undereye area to create a three-dimentional face.
3. Texture: The texture is extremely fine. When you touch the pan with your finger, you feel it's very buttery and creamy-- almost like a cream to powder foundation feel. When you apply it to your face, you do not feel it dry or powdery at all.
4. The finish: The finish is very beautiful after one hour of applying. It looks a little bit heavy when I first apply it on. However as the time passed, it looks as you naturally have flawless skin. Not super glowy or matte at all. I've gotten many compliments on my skin with this powder.
5. The lasting power is good in winter time with my normal to dry skin. When I did it in summer time, it did not looks as impressive as in winter time. I guess it's because I get oily t-zone in the summer. I also use it as under eye concealor. It conceals very well. However, as time goes by, it tend to slightly accentuate fine line under my right eye area.
Overall, it's a good powder foundation for people with normal to dry skin. It has flawless coverage as it claims. It covers dark circle and menstrual acnes. It does not look heavy. It's a good powder foundation to wear for some special occasions. Personally I do not touch up my makeup and the powder stays well around 6 hours. It has spf 25 and pa++ to build up the protection from sun damage. I feel I am protected when I put sun screen with powder foundation at the same time. All in all, it's a greate powder foundation with high coverage and decent hydration. It performs the best on dry skin in dry climates.
The diorskin's compact caught my attention when it was released in 2011. As a powder foundation junkie, I do not hesitate to try any powder foundation with spf & high coverage. I got shades in 010, 021 and 023 since I had some rewards to redeem at the bay. The compact foundation retails at$49 plus tax in Canada.
My thoughts on diorskin flawless compact:
1. It has a wide range of color selection for powder foundations. 020 claims to be neutural undertone; 021 is for golden undertone ; 023 leans towards to peachy while 022 is more pink undertone.
2. Though shade 023 claims to be peachy beige, it does not look super peachy on my skin. Actually it looks as natural as shade 021 on my Asian olive undertone skin. I have never tried shade 020 though many people use this shade. I use 010 to put on my undereye area to create a three-dimentional face.
3. Texture: The texture is extremely fine. When you touch the pan with your finger, you feel it's very buttery and creamy-- almost like a cream to powder foundation feel. When you apply it to your face, you do not feel it dry or powdery at all.
4. The finish: The finish is very beautiful after one hour of applying. It looks a little bit heavy when I first apply it on. However as the time passed, it looks as you naturally have flawless skin. Not super glowy or matte at all. I've gotten many compliments on my skin with this powder.
5. The lasting power is good in winter time with my normal to dry skin. When I did it in summer time, it did not looks as impressive as in winter time. I guess it's because I get oily t-zone in the summer. I also use it as under eye concealor. It conceals very well. However, as time goes by, it tend to slightly accentuate fine line under my right eye area.
Overall, it's a good powder foundation for people with normal to dry skin. It has flawless coverage as it claims. It covers dark circle and menstrual acnes. It does not look heavy. It's a good powder foundation to wear for some special occasions. Personally I do not touch up my makeup and the powder stays well around 6 hours. It has spf 25 and pa++ to build up the protection from sun damage. I feel I am protected when I put sun screen with powder foundation at the same time. All in all, it's a greate powder foundation with high coverage and decent hydration. It performs the best on dry skin in dry climates.
Review: Origins Brighter by nature Spf 30 powder
Origins brighter by nature powder foundation has spf 30.
The active ingredients are octinoxate 7.50%; titanium dioxide 3.00% and Octocrylene 1:00%, which means it has UVA&UVB protection.
My thoughts on Origins Brighter by nature Spf 30:
1. It has quite high spf protection for a powder foundation.
2. COVERAGE: It has medium to full coverage. It can conceal my dark
circles, minor imperfections & menstrual acne.
3. TEXTURE: To me it's quite powdery. It has no buttery texture like some other high end products (though it's quite expensive here in Canada-$37 CAD plus tax).
The texture feels like Japanese drug store powder foundations--if you've tried any Japanese products you know what I mean. BTW, this product is
made in Japan.
4. FINISH: Matte finish. I think those who have oily to combination skin could have more beautiful finish with it.
5. SHADE: I have both very light warm and light warm. Light warm is
slightly darker than my Asian olive NC 20 skin, but I use it very often as
(natural/everyday)concour.
IN CONCLUSION:This is an ok product to me.
I like it's coverage. However because of it's dry&powdery texure, it makes
me feeling dry.
I like it has spf.As a everyday powder foundation to protect you from uv
damage, this is a good product. But if you are looking for beautiful finish for a special occasion, it might not be the best choice for normal to dry skin.
I recommend it to those to are looking for full coverage with high spf powder foundation. For those who have oily to combination skin & tend
to use powder as foundation, this could be your best choice.
Review: CLARINS Perfect Shine Sheer Lipstick
The color I got was #16 pink coral. It is one of the best lipstick I have ever had.
The lipstick is as hydrating as lipbalms. It has a sweet fruity scent.
What I like the most is the color. It's just like my lip color, but better. The shimmer in it makes my lip looks as healthy and glossy as a baby's lips.
The price is average department store price, around $27 plus tax.
Review: Guerlain Parure Compact Foundation with Crystal Pearls SPF 20
(photo credit to nordstrom.com)
As you can see from the picture above, the powder refill is stored in a very elegant gold case.
This powder foundation is probably one of the best powder foundation I have ever used.
Like its name 'foundation with crystal pearls', the pressed powder foundation is with subtle light-reflecting particles. The powder is very fine--as finely milled as chanel's powder; the particles are very subtle that you cannot see it on the pan with a certain distance.
Because the powder is very finely milled, it does not sink into the fine line on my undereye area. It covers up my dark circles and light acne scars, hides my menstrual acnes, and of course, it evens out my skin tone beautifully.
When you touch the pan, you can feel how silky and fine the powder is.
After hours of applying this powder foundation, there's a glow showing on my face. I believe it's the help of the 'crystal pearls'.
What is good about this powder foundation, is that I can buy a refill here in Canada. There are very few brands have refill available. So I really appreciate it.
However, there are some cons with this powder.
It's very expensive. It's not as expensive as Chanel or Dior. But the refill is the price of Diorskin flawless pact, and 1.5 times more expensive than shiseido &clinique powder foundations.
The contents are so small, it has only 9 gram!! Comparing to other brands with 10 grams at least in the pan, and Chanel 's powder foundation comes in 13 grams, this is a incredibly expensive powder foundation.
There's a very suble scent that I do not enjoy. Though it's suble, it's there.
I must say, Gurlain's products are great. But they all contain the scents I dislike. I do not understand why French brands like to parfume their products so much......
Also, the shade selections are very limit. It has only neutral and pink undertoned available, but not yellow or olive undertoned. There's shade #32 available in Asia for yellow undertoned fair light skin. I wish they bring it here someday.
All in all, the powder foundation works everything as it claims and it has spf 20, pa++, which is also a big plus. However the price is high, and the powder has only 9 g available, which makes it more expensive. I will keep buying it by redeeming my hbc reward points because it gives me the most beautiful skin.
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