The Importance of the Pampering and Olay's Silk Whimsy Body Lotion

We all know the holidays can be hectic. Between work, holiday parties, Christmas shopping, baking, traveling and whatever else needs to be done before the holidays, it can be hard to make room for a bit of down time. For me, it's important to be able to catch a bit of R&R in order to stay sane. One of my favorite ways to do so is to spend a couple hours pampering myself. This past weekend, I took a delicious Lush bath, had a face mask, and made a point to moisturize my dry skin.

I'm not much of a body moisturizer, partially because of lack of time, but also because of pure laziness. I had also convinced myself for a long time that I didn't really need it - this winter is proving me I'm wrong. My skin has been really dry and itchy and moisturizing is a now a must.

I've been really loving the new Olay Silk Whimsy Body Lotion with Rose Extract and Almond Oil. The scent of this is divine - it's fresh yet calming. It reminds me a lot of the scent of a shampoo, although I can't put my finger on which one. I love how soothing it is.

The consistency of the lotion is quite thin, and spreads quickly. It sinks into my skin in no time. While I'm mostly one to only moisturize my legs, I've used this lotion all over my body since it's so weightless and my skin has been loving it. It is marketed as a daily moisturizer and I totally see why since it's so easy to apply and light on the skin.

This holiday season, take time for yourself. You're not helping anyone around you by being stressed a stress ball! So take a bath, paint your nails, read a book - whatever it is that makes you unwind, and take the time to do it. Trust me, you'll feel must better after a bit of down time.

*Disclosure: I am a #BeautyUnited blogger. As part of my affiliation with this group I receive products and special access to P&G events. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Loving Right Now? Facewipes! Quick Review of Olay Fresh Effect S'Wipe Out!

I absolutely love the convenience of face wipes. When I've had a long day, there's nothing I want to do less than remove my makeup. My longer process includes a cleansing cream (I use a Nuxe one), an eye makeup remover, and a face cleanser. My shorter version as of late has been using the Olay Fresh Effect S'Wipe Out.

The Olay Fresh S'Wipe Out, first off, smell amazing. Their description says they are "refreshing" and I tend to agree - the smell is lovely and a bit strong, but it disappears after you're done using the wipe. I tend to use the wipe all over my face, and gently on my eyes. I say gently because the wipes are actually a bit exfoliating. I really like this on my face as gives it a deep clean, but I try to be gentle on my eyes.

The wipes remove makeup very well - better, in fact, than the Simple Cleansing Wipes and the Say Yes to Cucumbers wipes I've used in the past. Perhaps it's due to its exfoliating properties? I don't know, but I love that my lighter foundations are easily removed by one wipe.

Best thing about these wipes? I'm on my last wipe of the pack and it is still moist! Most of the face wipes I've used have dried up before I got to the last one since I tend not to use them every day. And that's so frustrating! But I can safely say that these wipes are not going to do that since I'm almost done my pack and I'm still happy with the level of moisture in those last few ones.

While some face wipes have also given my minor break outs (specifically, the Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes), my skin seems to be dealing with these Olay wipes quite well. Granted, I do always follow up with a facial cleanser, just to make sure any wipe residue is washed off.

If you generally like face wipes as a method of makeup removal, I strongly suggest these wipes. They remove makeup very well, and even exfoliate the skin in the process! If you're worried about residue, just rinse your face off after using a wipe, or cleanse your face like I do. These wipes really beat my three part cleansing routine when I've had one of those days and the only thing I can think of is cleaning my face and getting in my sweats asap. Thank goodness for face wipes!

*Disclosure: I am a #BeautyUnited blogger. As part of my affiliation with this group I receive products and special access to P&G events. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Toronto and the Proctor & Gamble Beauty United Launch

Last week, on Monday, one of the most exciting things ever happened. I was invited to Toronto by Proctor & Gamble to attend the Beauty United launch featuring Olay, Cover Girl and Pantene. It was a whirlwind trip, but I tried to photograph everything as best I could and will walk you through my VIP experience!

Monday started by getting picked up by a swanky car to drive me to the Fredericton airport. I took a direct flight to Toronto where another swanky car drove me to the Trump Hotel where I was staying. The Trump Hotel guys! Needless to say, that was definitely the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in, and by far.


Above, the luxurious bed, an over-excited selfie, a touch light control panel, and the swanky bathroom with a TV in the mirror. I need to repeat this: a TV in the mirror! The. room. was. ridiculous.

After a self pep-talk and half a mind to take a little shot of alcohol (I was a little nervous!) I headed down to the Beauty United event which was on the 10th floor of the Trump Hotel.

 How cute are the little BU aka Beauty United chocolate covered Oreos?! They were delicious too!

Some faces at the launch:

Above, the gorgeous Michelle from A Lovely Allure and I met one of my favorite bloggers ever Christine from Little Red Bow. She was so sweet and just like I imagined her - I felt like I knew her already! Bottom left bloggers are Christa from Periously Pale (which I was a little starstruck to meet), new friend Dee from Liner Glitter Gloss and the ever lovely (and hilarious!) Jenn from Procrastinating Pretty. And finally Alexandra from AlexFashionBeauty vlogging at the event!

After some very interesting presentations on the science behind Proctor & Gamble, we were introduced to the Fall/Winter trends from brand ambassadors.

We learned about the new trends for fall: big, unstructured & messy hair, bordeaux lips, sleek, side parted ponytails and burgundy smokey eyes. I'm really excited to try the burgundy smokey eyes on myself! And since I already have big hair, I'm apparently set for fall!

After the presentations, we were off to interactive booths to learn about new Proctor & Gamble products. Highlights included being instructed that I should color my hair a dark brown for fall (which I definitely will!) and the most surprising fact of the night: did you know that all Venus Razor handles fit ALL Venus Razor heads? I was blown away by this and have since told many friends who didn't know! How cool! I'm also really keen to use the new Herbal Essences with Moroccan Oil! Some of these products were in a very generous swag bag I received at end of the night so expect some reviews soon!

I had such a blast at the Beauty United Launch and would like to thank Proctor & Gamble for their generosity in sending me to this event. I'm so grateful I got to travel to Toronto, meet some beautiful Canadian beauty bloggers and talk to experts from the industry. It was such an amazing experience. Thank you thank you thank you!

Disclosure: I am a #BeautyUnited blogger. As part of my affiliation with this group I receive products and special access to P&G events. The opinions on this blog are my own.