Long Distance Neighbours: Toronto

Showing posts with label Toronto. Show all posts

Let me start off by saying, my skin and I are not friends. Much like my relationship with my hair, my skin and I have had a long battle of who is in control, and I must say that my skin puts up a hell of a fight.

My skin is dry most of the time, and decides to break out whenever it feels like it - though mostly with hormonal changes and stress. I'm sorry to all the teens who thought zits would be a thing of the past; they sadly don't ever really stop being a thing.

A friend of mine recently read a few of the blog reviews and wondered if I would be interested in reviewing some products from Arbonne ( a company she's recently become a rep for). She let me sample a few of their products (thank you!) so I could get a good idea about what the company, and products are like.

The Brand

For those of you who are not familiar with Arbonne, they are based in California and first started in 1980, with offices in Canada, the UK and Australia. Unlike most cosmetic brands you can't buy them in stores. Similar to Avon, Arbonne uses consultants to sell directly to the consumer.

Also unlike most cosmetic brands, Arbonne prides itself in being naturally based, vegan & PETA certified, allergy tested, pH correct, compliant with Canadian, European, Australian and American standards, and good for your body and the environment (phew...that's a lot of stuff). I've started a naughty list for my makeup and beauty products and luckily Arbonne doesn't have any of the bad stuff I like to stay away from.

According to Arbonne all of their products are formulated without:

Animal products.by-products
Parabens
Formaldehyde
PABA
Synthetic dyes
Triclosan
Hydroquinone
Gluten
petroleum based products

They have a HUGE range of products in everything to do with health and beauty. Ok so, with all that information it's pretty clear that Arbonne has a huge leg up on most of their competitors for the all natural stuff, but how well do they work?

The Products

I tested out the RE9 series of skin care products which comes with:

Cleanser
Toner
Serum
Eye Cream
Day Moisturizer
Night Moisturizer

The Cleanser

You only need a tiny bit, but it sure does foam up! Now, I'm not normally a foamy cleanser kind of person. Foamy cleansers have historically always left my skin feeling dry,red, and tight; it's never a pretty sight. Not to mention extra foam almost always means extra chemicals. I was somewhat surprised to find that despite the incredible foam, my skin felt clean, but also nourished.

The Toner

The best thing about the toner in this set is that it is a spray. I hate fussing with cotton pads and all that and wiping stuff all over my face. The spray toner is a winner in my books!

The Serum

It gets a bit tingly which I'm not entirely sure I like, but it seems to do the trick so I think I can overlook it. There is very little scent ( there is a hint of citrus, but nothing crazy) and it actually seems to penetrate your skin rather than sit on top which is nice.

The Eye Cream

I can't really speak to how good this eye cream is. Not because it isn't as good as the other products, but because I've never actually been an eye cream person. To me a good moisturizer should be able to do it all as far as I've always been concerned. I didn't test this out as long as I would like, but I would be willing to give this whole eye cream thing a shot.

The Day/Night Moisturizer

With an SPF of 20 in the day moisturizer I was sold as soon as I saw it. I'm on the pale side and as most people know sun exposure is the number one cause of skin damage. With the higher, SPF the day moisturizer is a bit heavy, but I wore thinned out with a bit of liquid foundation for some light coverage. The night moisturizer isn't too heavy which is unusual for a night cream and sets you up for a lovely night to regenerate and rejuvenate your skin!

With that whole whack of skincare products it seems like quite the chore to apply them all twice a day, but I have to say it was actually a pleasure. I found myself getting a bit excited to wash my face in the morning, and couldn't wait to spray on my toner at night too. The whole kit and kaboodle will set you back $395 for all of these products which is a serious commitment to skin care. This is however much less expensive than buying all of these products separately from a similar or comparable brand like Clarins, Estee Lauder, or Clinique.

Conclusion

I have to say I am very impressed with the RE9 set of skincare products. I haven't felt this confident to go makeup free in a very long time and my skin really does feel firmer, and glowing. With all the good stuff in the products and knowing everything is botanically based it makes me feel good about putting this stuff all over my skin (and therefor in my body). I only have a single issue with Arbonne, and it certainly is not their amazing products.

When trying to live ethically, you try to buy natural products, and ensure that your environmental impact is low, sure. But there are other sides to this too. The human side is also important. Arbonne sadly refuses to work with fair-trade products, and will not release any of their ingredient sourcing information, or information on the working conditions on those who harvest their ingredients.

It's great to see a company that is so committed to great ingredients and what seems like a more natural approach to the beauty industry. But paying people fair wages and encouraging safe working conditions shouldn't be "proprietary" information, if it is in fact something they support. They should be yelling it from the rooftops and encouraging other companies to do the same.

Food & Drink Toronto

It's really hard to talk about ethical living, (or just living for that matter) without talking about food. Food is a serious part of my life. I mean that I LOVE cooking and fresh produce and meat and veg, and pretty much live for farmers markets and the best ingredients I can get my hands on.

With no shortage of produce available just across the street, I started to wonder about the environmental and social impact of that long journey most veggies make to our super markets. most fresh produce (fruit and veg) travels about 2000km (1242mi) from field to plate. This means that when most of your food is grown, it is actually picked before it is ripe, and travels in huge containers filled with ripening agents so it will continue to ripen on its journey. This results in food being..well...less than the delicious stuff it should be.

This is where Mama Earth Organics comes in.

MamaEarth connects you with amazing local Ontario farmers, bakeries, and food providers. The even better part is that they deliver it all right to your door. You can also check out which farmers MamaEarth works with and see how close your food really is.

The Baskets

When you sign up, you get to choose what type of basket you get.

Single - $27
Regular - $35
Family - $45
Large - $55

With two of us in the house we decided on the regular basket which they suggest is a good size for two people. When weighing the pros and cons of getting MamaEarth, the only con we could think of was that it at first seems a bit expensive; until we went over our regular grocery bill that is. We discovered that we regularly spend at least $35 a week on produce, and it normally isn't locally grown or organic so we decided it was well worth it.

How It Works

You can get a good understanding of how the actual process works by checking out the website, but the general idea is that you get a basket (reusable tupperware container) filled with your order. Every week you put the basket outside on your delivery day (which is different depending on where you live) and it will be magically replaced with a new basket filled with goodies!

You can also customize your basket for $2, and add extras to your basket like eggs, cheese, or baked goods (I highly recommend the St. Urbain bagels).

My Goodies This Week

This week was a great haul with lettuce from Norman Zehr in the Kawarthas, snap peas from Ted Eng in Zephyr and Japanese cucumbers from The New Farm. Knowing the names of the people who are producing your food is actually pretty cool. We also got Ontario beets, broccolette, kale, mango, bosc pears, tomatoes and zucchinis.

Since getting MamaEarth Organics delivered I have definitely noticed myself eating a ton more vegetables since we make sure everything is eaten up before the next delivery arrives.

Check our MamaEarth Organics and reinvigorate your diet with some amazing produce and support local farmers and food producers.

Local Farmers
About Mama Earth
How it Works

World Map image sourced from www.dnatraceback.com/

Beauty Toronto

The Brand

Be.Better is Rexall's house brand of more natural and "better-for-you" products ranging anywhere from snacks, to shampoo. Rexall's website states "[the] exclusive Be.better brand offers over 270 products designed to help Canadians live, feel and be better."

I'll be looking specifically at their Coconut Oil Body Wash (385 ml) and also the matching Coconut Oil Hand & Body Lotion. Each are about $6.00 CAD.

The Products

Let's start with the Coconut Oil Body Wash. Like with other "healthy" beauty products what you are looking for is what is NOT in the product as much as what is. This body wash is paraben and phthalate free, free of artificial colour and dye free, and also SLS and SLES free.

Since there is no SLS or SLES in this it does struggle a little bit with the foaming, but not enough to put me off at all.

This product smells wonderful and definitely has that sweet coconutty scent that you would expect. The down side is that this body wash is thick. Like really goopy thick. With the pump dispenser it makes getting the product out of the container a real battle, especially when you are in the shower and everything is rather slippery. I'd highly suggest transferring this into another container, or just not using the pump.

Next up is the Coconut Oil Hand & Body Lotion. After jumping out of the shower applying moisturizer is normally the first thing I do. Unlike the shower gel, the pump dispenser for this works wonderfully and doesn't cause any problems.

The consistency isn't that thick and very similar to some other large brand moisturizers like Vaseline or Aveeno. This goes on smoothly and rubs in nicely. The scent is somewhat coconutty, but a bit floral as well? I don't hate it, but it isn't what I want when I buy a coconut oil moisturizer.

All in all, these products are both just ok. They are pretty good for the price, however they fail to wow. They are worth a try if you are on a budget, but I likely wouldn't buy them again.

ethical fashion Toronto

As Adrienne mentioned, I've been dealing with some house issues recently. With all this rain Toronto has gotten, it appears my roof is leaking into my bedroom. On top of that, my best friend has recently gotten engaged and wedding planning has begun! However with all the life chaos there is still something that I think everyone should be very aware of this summer (shopping season) in Toronto, and that is an ethical option for some seriously awesome clothes!

The Kind Exchange

Used clothing is a great way to reduce your ecological foot print and get some extra mileage out of clothing that would otherwise be thrown away. When clothing often comes with such a high human cost, it only makes sense to use it for as long as possible.

In Toronto the most known (and biggest) options for used clothing are Value Village, Salvation Army and Goodwill. All of these have great potential and with much time and commitment you will inevitably find something you may like, or even love.

The Kind Exchange takes a bit of that endless searching out of your fashion adventure because nearly everything in the store is high-end and relatively new. They currently have 9 locations in the city and give a portion of their proceeds to The Canadian Cancer Society and The Partners MS Centre at Bringham & Women's Hospital.

Buy & Sell

The brands available at The Kind Exchange are not just whatever was left in whomever's back closet. Here you can find everything from Alexander Mcqueen to Versace and everything in between.

Along with buying up all these goodies, you can also sell some of your own stuff. After the long winter you can take a look in your closet and see what you can get rid of; bring your items down to the store and they will give you cash on the spot for anything they take a fancy to. Be sure that you are bringing in quality and gently used items, as non-brandname or damaged clothing will be much less appealing for sale.

Trade & Donate

Along with the normal options to buy and sell clothing, The Kind Exchange gives you the option to trade in your old clothes for new ones. By trading in older clothes you double the value of the cash you would have received instead!

Finally you can also just donate old clothing. As a gift in kind you will be making some extra space in that closet of yours, and also feel good knowing that part the sale of your clothing will be going to a good cause.

You can see all their locations HERE and also them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get a heads up about what is in the stores, and also about great deals.

All photos used are from http://instagram.com/thekindexchange and are property of The Kind Exchange.

Food & Drink Local Adventures Toronto

Sometimes you forget how amazing your own neighbourhood really is. You walk past the same things every day and forget to notice all the things and people right around you.

There are lots of ways you can strive to live a more ethically responsible consumer lifestyle. To me, a big part of that is about supporting your local economy. Toronto's East China Town is one of several China Towns in the city, and sort of the little brother of the much bigger China Town over at Spadina (definitely a future post). Located in the heart of Riverdale on the east end of Toronto, East China Town is filled with amazing markets, and restaurants stretching for a few short blocks.

The streets are always bustling with people, but Sundays are especially lively with people busily buying up flowers and veggies and delicious treats. This is by far, my favourite day to do my shopping.

Adrienne can confirm it really is the best!

There is no shortage of delicious places to grab a bite while in the area. Andrea's Gerrard Street Bakery is filled with cakes, pies, cookies and coffee to give you a good kick in the morning! All chocolate used in their baked goods is 100% organic and fair trade so you can feel good about indulging in some sugary treats!

The coffee used is Organic fair trade brewed coffee beans from Chocolol Chocolate Traders and it sure makes a mean cuppa' Joe! Along with being ethically minded in their coffee and chocolate, Andrea's Gerrard Street Bakery uses organic dry goods and focuses on 100km foods (sourcing most of their ingredients from local farms within 100km of Toronto).

Seriously delicious sugary treats!

The real winner here though is the cheddar and chive scones, and the iced lattes sweetened with agave. The scones are incredibly crunchy on the outside, and use a slightly salty sharp cheddar.

After you grab a scone and a latte (or the sugary treat of your choice), it's time for some Sunday shopping!

The grocery stores on Gerrard street are filled with fresh produce and really great deals. Now, those deals come at a cost. Most of the produce is imported in large quantities from far away. A definite downside to shopping this type of market is the cost to local farmers, food producers and the environment. Living in the city can be expensive and saving money on food is often difficult. Balancing cheaper groceries with other locally sourced goods (like meat, clothing or baked goods) can be a great way (and my preferred way) to find a balance that suites your wallet and your conscience.

Many days you can also find some local residents who sell home grown produce, herbs and spices from small sidewalk spaces. I highly recommend picking up some Holy Basil. It's not quite the same as your regular garden variety of basil, and you can tell by the longer skinnier leaves. I normally use it in Asian inspired dishes like fresh rolls, or my absolute favourite is a Thai style chicken stir-fry. Apparently there are also many medicinal properties to it as well!

East China Town may be a little quieter than it's big west side brother, but it offers no shortage of great food, great deals and a lively atmosphere. The best part about living here though is all the friendly people. Once you show your face a few times, most people remember you. There isn't anything quite like walking into your favourite restaurant, and they know exactly what you will order (Pho House, I'm talking about you!).

Sometimes taking the time to really look at the neighbourhood around you lets you see new ways you can support your local economy and small businesses. You don't always have to spend lots to have a great adventure in the city, sometimes a stroll through the markets with an iced latte and doing some groceries makes the perfect Sunday afternoon!

About Me Toronto

Kaila is coming on board as a writer!

Some of you maybe aware that this blog has not been an individual effort. Kaila (or @AliaK_) has been my partner in crime... the power behind the throne... the puppet master. She has been the orchestrator of blog design and creative planner of content. After a year of getting me organized, she is finally going to step into the limelight herself (well what little limelight we have thus far at LDNeighbours) and be a regular writer as well.

A little background on our friendship- Kaila is my sister-in-law (for all intents and purposes). When I moved back to Toronto in 2011 we became as thick as thieves. In Toronto we spent much of our free time hunting down great places to eat, obsessing over British television and you-tubers, and hatching many a scheme involving social media, blogs, Etsy stores, and ethical fashion companies. We've got the dreaming down pat, but we always seem to fall slightly short when it comes to start-up capital (if anyone wants to step-up in that regard, please let us know!). We were in the middle of one such scheme (involving a lot of t-shirts, bleach and foam letters as I recall), when I landed my placement in Tanzania.

So putting crafting aside, Kaila gave me a crash course in social media and blogging and LDNeighbours was born.
In the back of my mind, I always wanted this blog to go beyond my internship and transition into an ethical living blog. At first we both assumed this would happen when I returned to Toronto, but it quickly came apparent that I was most likely going to be based in London. Since I have moved, we have had many a skype conference and we've finally reached the oh, so logically conclusion that the joy of a blog is that we don't have to be in the same place to do one together.

If fact, we think it will actually be interesting that we are in two different places. We are both facing a similar challenge. We both would like to live ethically but we live in big metropolitan cities we struggle to live in our budgets. This is especially hard when surrounded by the temptation to eat out, go out and shop the latest trends. Can we live our values, not blow our budgets and still enjoy the wonderful, cities we live in?

So you will now get to read about two people doing this! Its like a really great two for one sale. We will give you at least two posts at a time on the same theme but from different city (and different continents for that matter). This is more ethical living content all in one place! (As I'm writing this I'm imagining it said in the salesman style voice... you should too)

I'm really glad that Kaila will be writing with me. Its been kind of lonely doing this all by myself. And I am also excited to get to read how she's managing and how things are working for her. Even though we aren't together to share adventures and photo shoots, it will be like getting to catch-up with one of my best friends every week. Her first post will be coming up on Wednesday so start getting excited!

holidays Toronto Travel

The original idea was to have this go like the 12 days of Christmas. However, I then realized that I am a) not that musically talented and b) it was hard enough thinking up 12 things without trying to make it all rhyme. So lets just say its in the spirit of the 12 days of Christmas.

1 debrief in London with all the interns