Blog Break

Hello my friends!

I will be taking a short break from the blog for a few weeks. I have a lot of marking and several clients to work with before I leave for Paris is one week! I can't believe it is that soon. I hope you have a great couple of weeks, and I look forward to sharing pictures and stories with you when I return. In the meantime, I will leave you with pictures of the fur babies to enjoy!

All the best!

One of Toronto's Many Charms

Happy Saturday everyone!

Last night, while out at dinner, who happened by but some mounted police. Not the RCMP - or Mounties as they used to be called - but the Toronto Metropolitan Police who have a stable of horses as part of their "vehicles". Although most beat cops travel by foot or bicycle, we have several horses housed in a downtown stable which are used as street patrols, and occasionally at events for crowd control. I thought I would take a video to share with those of you who live in places without mounted police:

The horses are very well treated by the police, and as far as I can remember, there have been so few incidents involving the animals getting hurt that I can only think of one case where a rock was thrown at a horse years ago and it needed stitches. 

They are part of the charm of living in a city which owes a lot of its history to its British colonial roots. That hasn't always been a great thing (we have been a pretty uptight city until recently...more stuffy than most UK cities), but the mounted police are one thing that make Toronto unique amongst North American cities.

Enjoy your weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Pathetic Exit Message from Glymm

Hi Everyone,

I know I said I would not post anything from Glymm, but I had to show you the email they sent me just now.  No explanation, they don't say they are bankrupt, and they took people's money without sending anything for the past two to three months. Shame on everyone who worked at this company!

Goodbye from Glymm

We have had an amazing time with you all along our journey to living a life more beautiful. After sending you so many beautiful boxes, from jelly beans to lollipops, from lipstick to nail polish, we are sad to say that our journey with you has come to an end. We have been unable to continue serving you as the company simply could not sustain itself. After lots of effort to continue to send you outstanding products and services, we have been left with no other choice but to close our beautiful company. We thank our dedicated and talented team and our valued members who have given us nothing but love along the way. The whole Glymm team worked around the clock to continuously introduce you to the newest and latest in Beauty from all over the world. Thank you for being part of a life more beautiful and we hope that you continue to find beauty in all that you see. With love and sincerity, The Glymm Team

Demeter Grass

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Okay, not sure why that won't uncentre, but anyway....I wanted to share with you the one fragrance I have to keep buying from the Demeter Fragrance Library. This is Demeter Grass, and is for me a holy grail of scent.

One of my favourite scents in the late spring is the smell of cut grass. It permeates my neighbourhood, and when my windows are open, it makes my office smell like it is outdoors. I was so happy when our (Loblaws) Superstores began to carry this line of fragrance. There are a lot of winners in the list - Lilac, New Zealand (a green fragrance), Hyacinth, just to name a few. There are also some interesting ones like Tomato - it smells exactly like a ripe one - and Dirt - you guessed it, it smells like soil. I have tried a couple of others, but this is the one that I really adore. It is like wearing a wreath of grass clippings all day. I know, not the best visual, but it is the scent experience I am trying to evoke. :P

One of the - slight - issues I have with Demeter fragrances is, if I spray them on my cleavage, after about an hour the scent turns into  a rancid butter odour. This happens with every one of their fragrances. I have no problem if I spray it on my neck, shoulders, or wrists, but I think the heat of my cleavage turns an ingredient into something it should not be. Checking the list on the bottle, there are capric triglycerides listed. This is a type of fat, in this case an oil derivative of coconut or palm oils. I am guessing this is what is reacting with my body oils to create that scent. I have learned that if I want to wear Demeter fragrances, I need to keep them away from my breasts. :P

I give this a 4.5 out of 5 whiffs. I would rate this a 5 if I didn't  have that unfortunate reaction with my boobage. I never have this issue with other perfumes so I am guessing it is just Demeter which causes this reaction for me.

If you are curious to try this line of perfumes, they are 2 for $15 at select Superstores. 

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Loose Button Spring Box

Hello my friends! I told you most of my posts would be happy from here on in, so here is some good news - I received my Loose Button Spring Box last week! I have always had excellent service from this service, and if you don't mind receiving boxes once every few months, rather than once a month, then I highly recommend signing up for the Luxe Box. It costs more - I paid yearly, $92 for 4 boxes ($23/box). You have the option of signing up per box as well, and they are excellent about cancellations. I cancelled their service once, because I was trying to save some money, and signed up again. 

On to the contents of this season's Steven and Chris box. These are the Designer Guys on TV here, and they helped to select some on-trend items for the box:

I love how the contents are wrapped in a satin bag! 

In this months box I received the following:

• Mai Couture blush papers - you wipe them on your cheeks for a quick glow. There are 4 papers total.
• A trial size of Lancome Genifique serum for the face. Love the sample I received in my advent calendar, so it is good to have this again.
• Colorsmash Hair Shadow in purple. This looks like lots of fun! You apply it to your hair, use hair spray to keep it in place, then wash it out when you are ready to move on.
• No Bleeding Lips lip pencil. This is a clear pencil that helps to keep your lipstick from feathering at the edges. I don't have this problem, but I am happy to give this a try to see if it makes any difference. I know a lot of people swear by this product, and this is a full size.
• A blue applicator sponge - looks to be multi-use.
• L'Occitane en Provence hand cream in Cherry Blossom. I love this scent, so this went straight into my purse.
• And Coach Love Eau de Parfum. Nice, but to me it smells like a lot of floral gourmand fragrances that are popular now. Most celebrity scents include some florals, like jasmine, roses, etc., with a sweet scent, like sugar or chocolate. This one has about twenty different notes, including caramel. I found it a bit boring on my skin, so it is going to scent my bathwater. 

I thought this was a very good selection of items. I like receiving things I am not likely to buy for myself - like the hair shadow - because it gives me a chance to play with new products.

What do you think of this box? Have you signed up for Loose Button? 

Have a great day!

Update on (No) Refund

Hello everyone! It has been a busy couple of weeks, so I have not been posting. I called my VISA card about the whole Glymm debacle, and this is what I was told:

• Because I paid in September for a year, I cannot get the full refund. I received 5 boxes.
• If it becomes clear that Glymm is bankrupt, I can call VISA back to refund 7 months worth of boxes. I have to show proof that this is the case - an email, public web page, etc.

I have not received a March or an April box, and neither has anyone else, as far as I can tell. There is still no communication from Glymm. If you were charged by the month, and have proof that nothing came - the posts on Facebook would count, I believe - then dispute each month as it comes. It is fair to contact your credit card about prior months you have not received a box.

I hope this helps. I am not an expert on what to do when a company screws you out of money - this is my first experience with such an occurrence. I will let you know if I learn anything new along the way.

Best of luck to all of us trying to get some resolution!

No News on Glymm - Last Post on Their Horrible Service

Hello lovely people!

Yes, I am still cheery...I try not to let too much upset me, even the ridiculous goings-on with Glymm. I posted on their Facebook wall yesterday, asking for their address. Many lovely people commented back with addresses, concerns, etc. One obviously fake account basically told us not to get our panties in a knot - I am paraphrasing here. At some points, people's comments were deleted and we were not allowed to post. That was reversed. Some Glymm administrator responded to my comment about their bad service with something like "Our Accounts Manager will be contacting you shortly." Nice and vague, no???

At any rate, I am done with Glymm. I am going to contact my credit card company to try to get a refund for the next six months...I don't know if that will happen, given I signed up for a year. 

If I receive any boxes - which I highly doubt - I am not posting them. I don't get paid to advertise products, nor do I want to, and I am certainly not going to post the sample boxes from a company that treats its customers so badly. It wouldn't matter if I got Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, or any high end products in future bags...sorry, I am peeing myself laughing at the thought that Glymm would send very high end samples....gotta pause for a sec....ahhhhhhh....Okay, that giggle is done! Shady business practices mean you won't see me post about anything they would send in the future. I highly doubt they will. I think they have gone under or are scamming customers, as they are still charging people's credit cards and not sending boxes. 

I feel badly for people on fixed incomes who were hoping this would be a fun way to try good quality products. I hope that you all get some money back. And for those of you who think this is just a blip, and Glymm will come back strong, please rethink a subscription - there are other sample boxes out there with far better customer service.

That is the end of my Glymm rants. My blog has usually been a happy place, and I am going to return to blogging about things that make me happy, or perplex me, or simply are amusing and bad - check out my post on the Enchanted Forest. I hope you will keep visiting regardless. 

Hugs as always!