Another Glossy Box, Another Mixed Review.

Last week, I finally received my April Glossy Box. It was incredibly late, again, which is the main reason I was underwhelmed upon opening it. Customer service was courteous but ended up deleting a bunch of the surveys I had that would have lead to points and then a free box. Two of the items really not working for me ended up being a good thing because my sister really loves her new lip gloss and it made me happy to pack perfume in my grandmother's next care package.

The pop art-inspired box was appreciated by my daughter who wasted no time in claiming it as her own.

The bag, way too loud for me, went to my sister.

From what I've read, I was one of the lucky ones, as half of subscribers received a lip tar that was the exact same orange as that of construction cones. 

This smells really good and is a great product to add to the Proganix oil I received last month. 

This smells good on my skin for all of four minutes before it takes on a scent that makes me wrinkle my nose in disdain. It's simply a question of chemistry, though, as it smells wonderful in the bottle and I'm sure my grandmother, who loves waterlilies, will enjoy it.

I have never had anything negative to say about Estée Lauder products and I'm not about to start. For me, this is what made the difference between me hanging on for another month and cancelling.

I forgot to photograph it so here is a photo I took from amazon.com of the Julep Smoky Taupe Shimmer Gel Eye Glider that was also in this box. It goes on well and I had been looking for an opportunity to try Julep make-up and so I'm also happy with this product. 

I'll see what Glossy Box has in store for me when May's box arrives, sometime in June, and then I'll decide if I'll keep this up or try one of the other subscriptions I've had my eye on. Either way, I do prefer this rather passive way of shopping for cosmetics, as long as everything I have is going into feeding my kids and starting my business. It prevents me from overspending and I do love discovering products I may have otherwise overlooked!

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Ogilvy's Spring Fashion Event. April 29th, 2015.

After taking a few months off from fashion writing in order to focus on my new business, I realized that I'd been spending too much time and energy running around from one fashion event to the next, as I had been taught to do, when writing for someone else's blog. When it comes to anything, I'm usually one to opt for quality over quantity and I'd somehow forsaken this when it came to blogging and it took stepping away from it all for me to realize what's important. If the idea of the event doesn't intrigue and/or excite me, I'm out. 

Last month, when Ogilvy sent me an invitation to their exclusive spring sale event, to be held on April 29th, that familiar feeling washed over me and I immediately RSVPed. Boy, was I ever glad that I did!

In line at the media lounge, I met two lovely bloggers, Cath and Perry, from Ton Petit Look. They were fantastic company throughout the evening and I daresay I've made two new friends. 

Ogilvy went all out for this event, treating their guests to incredible sales but also to a variety of delicious, miniature foods and tasty drinks. 

The absolute highlight for us, with regards to libation, was the Bloody Caesar bar l'Gros Luxe had set up on the men's floor. They were, hands down, the best drink I've ever had and I say this to you weeks later and completely sober. 

Everywhere we went, women asked us where we'd gotten such beautiful drinks and those who already held one shared knowing looks with us.

From a fashion standpoint, what I really appreciated about this event was how they managed to maintain elegance within a very casual atmosphere. Rather than having to stand in line and then rush for great seats so that we could get the right angle for shots, we got to interact with and photograph models as they strolled around from floor to floor.

The vibe was such a pleasant, upbeat one and everyone seemed to be having a fantastic time. Ogilvy knows how to treat its clientele and, as usual, they did a phenomenal job at creating what was, essentially, a fashion experience, rather than a mere shopping event. Everything was at a minimum of 15% off and, as usual, the staff was welcoming and helpful.

As someone who has done her share of chasing, waiting, commuting, standing, crouching and so on just to get to the right events and to be able to write about them, I was so very grateful for how Ogilvy welcomed the media for this event. We were invited to use a lovely lounge, whenever we wanted to, to get off our feet, have a glass of champagne and to plug in our phones. In addition to the sturdy and fashionable Judith & Charles tote we were given, on our way out, we were also given a gift certificate for a bottle of wine at Restaurant il FIGO, who had been serving up delectable snacks on site. Thank you, Ogilvy, for such a pleasant evening!! 

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Glossy Box. A First Impression.

A while back, I subscribed to Wantable. For $57 CAD I received a monthly box containing four to six beauty products that were said to be hand-picked for me, based on a survey I'd filled out. The first few boxes were great. I got to try products from up-and-coming cosmetics companies and the colours worked for me. It didn't, however, take very long for the novelty to wear off.

The first issue is that I'm a bit of a brand name snob. I'm not twenty anymore and I'm picky about what goes onto my face and nails. I've had time to figure out what works for me and I've come to trust certain names. Secondly, the "hand-picked" factor flew out the window, at one point, and I started receiving shimmery products I wouldn't be caught dead wearing (unless I was cast in a terrible vampire series in which the sun doesn't cause the undead to internally combust and/or melt into a pile of goo). I cancelled the subscription and, for a while, forget about the idea altogether. In fact, the kids and I moved onto ordering Nerd Block. Everyone wins and they offer way more bang for our buck.

Lately, as my last, preferred Wantable items have begun to dry out or are used up, I've been craving the convenience that comes along with subscribing to a beauty service but, having lost my job, last October, and having become rather disillusioned with Wantable, I decided to hunt around for an alternative.

I was thrilled to discover that Glossy Box has started shipping to Canada again and, after looking up images of past boxes and doing a double-take on the monthly price, I signed up. That was mid-March.

I was a little disappointed that I got charged for April's box while March's box had yet to be shipped out and I reached out to customer service. They told me that my address was incomplete so the warehouse had been unable to ship. I logged into my account and, sure enough, there was my door number but my street name had vanished. Trying to change it myself was to no avail so I asked customer service to do it for me and they gladly did so. Almost a week later, I checked in to see if My March box had been shipped and they assured me that it had, as of the day before. They use a third party tracker that takes 48 hours to update and so, if you're the type to watch the pot boil, this is a pain in the ass.

As I waited for a box to arrive, I started looking up Glossy Box reviews (I know, I should have done this before but I didn't) and panicked a little bit. There are hundreds of unhappy subscribers out there. Some people are complaining about products that leaked or about receiving too many black eyeliners and whatever else, to which I paid no mind but, what did catch my attention is that Glossy Box seems to ship their items out late on a regular basis. You will get charged for the current month, even though you have yet to receive last month's item and that's just the way they conduct business.

A lot of people claimed that customer service never answered them and that, once they cancelled, they could no longer view the tracking information for the boxes they were expecting. Their facebook page is riddled with comments from angry people. Concerned, I emailed customer service again and asked them to suspend payment for May, as I was really not comfortable paying for a third box before I'd even received the first one. I really want to be given the chance to decide if I like this at all. Customer service responded right away and were very courteous about it all. I can still log into my account and see what's up with April's box which has, unfortunately, not been shipped yet, despite the fact that there are nine days left in the month.

Today I received March's box and, I have to say, I can feel the scales tipping, here.

 I thought I knew what I'd be getting, thanks to the products now available for review, in my account, and was feeling more or less nonchalant about them. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that that was an error on their part and I actually love what I received.

Addendum: In the bottom of the box, I also found  an Emite micronized eyeshadow in DAMS and it feels like velvet.

My March box contained:

Proganix Anti-Fade Weightless Argan Oil. 3.3 fl oz ($12)

Nuxe Masque Crème Fraîche. 1.7 fl oz ($29)

Vince Camuto amore .25 fl oz (approx $25)

OPI "Pink Outside the Glossybox" ($10)

Emite micronized eyeshadow in DAMS ($20)

Total: $96

I'll take the time to review each product over the course of the next couple of days but I did dab a little bit of the Vince Camuto amore on my wrists and, I must say, it smells absolutely delightful and falls right in line with the Miss Dior: Blooming Bouquet that I received for my birthday, last month. 

The best thing about this box? It cost me $26 CAD. For just a few dollars more than I was paying for one Wantable box, I can now receive Glossy Box and Nerd Block, satisfying two very important aspects of my personality. 

Bang for buck: 5/5

It's $21 USD plus $5 shipping, for Canadians

Presentation: 5/5

I'm a sucker for black tissue paper and the box is pretty and sturdy and therefore reusable.

Products: 5/5

Even though I have yet to try them all, I know love OPI and I'm quite thrilled with the other items.

Customer Service: 3.5/5

I wish they'd alerted me about the address issue without me having to chase the problem down and I did have to touch base again to see if my box had finally been shipped out but they were courteous and dealt with the matter efficiently once I did get in touch with them. 

Time Delay: 1/5

This is the one part of the experience that is the absolute pits. Nobody wants to be charged for item number two when the first has yet to arrive and there's no real reason that I should be getting a box up to five weeks after ordering it when they're in the Eastern States and I'm in Eastern Canada.

Knowing that I'm about to receive an amazing, Lichtenstein-inspired box containing an Estee Lauder product, for April's box, makes me want to click on resubscribe, despite the fact that I'll probably receive that box mid-May and May's in June. Really, I think these guys may have reeled me in for the long haul, but I'll wait to receive April's box, to be sure. 

Oh and, if you're looking for something to buy Mum, for Mother's Day, Gloss Box is currently offering a fantastic box, valued at over $430, thanks to the Orogold mask, for only $40.

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Exit 29. A Carefully Curated Designer Consignment Experience. (Or: What I've Been Living and Breathing for the Last Few Months)

I haven't been to one fashion show, this year, and I'm beyond okay with that. I do miss it from time to time but my pieces on those aren't what seem to interest to you and that's probably because, after attending more than twenty shows last year, I lost interest in it, too. A few have stood out and I will be returning to those this year but, aside from the shows that are part of a philanthropic endeavor, most of the memories they have created now blend into one big, redundant recollection. We're always at least two seasons behind and, keeping abreast on what's happening outside of the Montreal bubble tends to leave me hungry for more, here. The 2014 shows that now stand out in my my mind are Astri Prugger, Melissa Nepton, Ogilvy's fundraiser show for l'Hopital Sainte-Justine, the Montreal SPCA's benefit show and, of course, Le Défilé Logis Rose-Virginie which, in addition to having been executed perfectly, made my heart swell and my eyes tear up and triggered within me an idea on how I could give back.

In the fall of 2013, I decided that Canada needed an online designer consignment shop that accepts sellers from the around the world. Many brick-and-mortar shops have their own sites and a few local e-stores have popped up over the last few years but I felt it was time someone upped the ante, in Canada. Around this time, FASHION Magazine wrote an article about how you could turn your closet into cash and, in that piece, informed readers about a series of online designer consignment stores... None of whom accept Canadian sellers. I wrote to them and my letter was published but they helped fuel the fire.

My first steps were shaky ones and I ended up putting the project on the back burner ( from where it kept nagging at me) for several months. Life was happening, as it tends to. I moved out of my sub-standard apartment into one with a basement and a studio; I went to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, NYC and Cape Cod; and then, last October, the catalyst I had evidently required kicked me in the ass. After pushing to go from being a temporary employee to a full-time one so that I could enjoy the same benefits as my colleagues, the position was opened to the outside and my company hired somebody else. I was angry and hurt but it wasn't long before those morphed into motivation and I decided that I would never waste another year of my life minutes sitting behind a desk, in a glass tower downtown, working for a company who couldn't care less about me. Everybody has bills to pay but that's not a life. The fire was back.

I reached out to a darling friend of mine, Annie Stephens, who is an amazing photographer and knows her way around web graphics and we started talking about how we could approach the project. At point, remembering that I work better under pressure, I pulled dates out of my sleeve. "Annie, what would you say to us going live in March and launching in June?" We both, quite nervously, decided to plunge.

So, it's the end of March and we've been online since the 1st. We launch in a month. And here we are. 

The last few months have been a whirlwind but we're on schedule and very excited about our launch!

Behind the scenes, at our first editorial shoot, in Old Montreal, this month. Ava is modelling and that is Annie Stephens, behind the lens. Styling was done by me.

It's at the aforementioned Défilé Logis Rose Virginie that I decided that I could use my business to raise money and give back. We've now reached out to more than 25 charities and several have decided to partner up with us. You can see them here and you can donate to them simply by listing with us and letting us know how much you'd like to give and to whom. 

We've thrown in a bunch of really great bonuses for the first people who list with us and you can see it all on the site and on our social media pages: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

This endeavor has obviously been very time-consuming, but I am writing a little bit each day. Sometimes I journal, sometimes I work on short stories. I am feeling the pull to return to blogging but I need to figure out how I want to go about it. My opinion pieces and style guides have been the most enjoyable to write and have been the most well-received by you so maybe that's what I'll move forward with. In the meantime, I just had to share this with you!

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Ho'oponopono (Or: How I Finally Managed to Get to "That" Place).

As mentioned in my last post, I'm taking a few months off from writing about fashion and style. After a year of attending one fashion show after another, it all started to look and feel the same and, right now, I need substance.

To be fair, it's not like I've been sitting on my ass, either. In less than a month, a dear friend of mine and I will be launching a business we've been working on, on our spare time, for the last few months. Right before the holidays we decided to get serious about it and we're mere steps away from being able to share that with everyone but I digress...

I have the attention span of a gold fish. There are few things I can do without thinking of a million other things. Surprisingly, golf is one of these activities. Sadly, given the craft that chose me, sewing is not. If I can't even stay focused enough to get through assembling a pair of pants without wandering out of my studio, imagine how hard mindfulness meditation is for me. It's not for lack of wanting, at all, but I just can't stay focused for more than two full minutes. That's the primary reason I turned to yoga and then to Tai Chi. Focusing on my breathing, while moving, seems to help and both of these make me feel great. And, while practicing these keeps the hamster wheel still, something was missing.

Toward the end of last year, I came across the name of a book three different times, without actually looking through book titles. While spending the first few days of this year in a quiet environment, out of town, I decided to order it, despite my one misgiving being the author himself. Out of all the people who co-wrote The Secret and who were featured in the film, Joe Vitale is the one guy who came across as the used car salesman of manifestation. I don't know if it's because he reminds me a little bit of Danny DeVito or because of his general lack of eloquence but he was the one guy I wasn't all that interested in listening to or reading and, here he now was, co-author of a book I found myself suddenly drawn to.

I received Zero Limits a few weeks ago and, despite the fact that its cover flashed the phrase "system for wealth", causing me to roll my eyes, I chose to focus on the words "forgiveness" and "peace" and dove in. It's all about the Hawaiian meditation method called Ho'oponopono. I'll admit, I had a hard time getting into it, at first, due to its simplicity and redundancy but, as I started to extract what it was that I needed from it, it became easier.

Here's what resonated with me: Whenever we think and act, we do so from a place of either memory or inspiration. In order to be at a place where inspiration can flow (or strike!) you can't be constantly flooded by memory. This has always been my problem with meditation. It's always been a chore to keep memory at bay but this book finally taught me how to do so.

The idea is that, when you come across a problem in your life, a memory that haunts you, a fear, etc., you first need to acknowledge the fact that it is there, as a part of your reality, because of you. You don't take blame but you take responsibility. I know a lot of people who, when hearing about this theory, call bullshit and proceed to rant about a variety of things they think should actually be blamed and about go on about how this idea is all charlatanry. I understand that. I was angry for a long time, about a lot of things and at a ot of people but it was only when I shifted my way of thinking that I began to heal.

After acknowledging this, you need to direct the following mantra to the divine and, in the process, to yourself: "I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I love you. Thank you." I don't always like the "I'm sorry. Please forgive me," part, nor do I feel that it's always justified. That said, there are some things I really needed to direct those feelings toward. The best example? My body. I'm pretty sure it's stress that lead to the hyperthyroidism. Then I accepted to swallow 6.6 millicuries of radiation. I woke up six months later, 75 pounds heavier and really feeling ashamed of my body. It's been quite the struggle and I have taken it out on my body in a variety of ways, over the years, so, yes, I felt that an apology was required and that forgiveness, from myself, was needed. I had to look back at my love life and do the same.

The part that is easier and applies to pretty much everything in my life is the "I love you. Thank you!" part. If you say "I love you," enough to any situation, place, person or thing, you will eventually start to feel it. If you give thanks for what you have and the lessons you are learning, you eventually begin to feel grateful for all of it. There could be nothing wrong with walking around feeling love and gratitude most of the time but, even better than that, as you do this, you wipe away the negativity associated with virtually anything, be it tangible, alive or a mere memory.

It really didn't take me long to feel it, once I got started and, within two weeks, inspiration started to flow, unhindered. Whether or not this leads to wealth and success, I don't know and, to be honest, I don't care all that much. For the first time in my life, I am equipped with the tools I need to get to "that" place I couldn't reach through meditation and I'm walking around feeling good most of the time.

That's not to say I wasn't tested, pretty much right away. A phone call from a drunk, passive aggressive family member. I love you. Thank you. I love you. Ugh. I love you. Thank you... I love you. Thank you. Someone who has wronged my children and I on more than one occasion and who is a self-entitled fake finding true love and being happy. Goddamnit. I... Lurvyou. Fuck. Thank you, you cow. *sigh* I love you. Thank you. I love you. Thank you.

Some parts of the book lost me. The idea that is you fill a blue glass bottle with tap water, cap it off with a non-metal stopper and leave it in the sunshine for at least an hour means that you've great "solar water" and that this "solar water" can help you clean your heart and mind is too much for me. Have I, in the last few years, started collecting blue glass bottles and glasses? Yes. But I refuse to see synchronicity in this because that's where I draw the line.

I'm usually careful when choosing my audience. There are people in my life I know I can talk to about spirits and hypnosis and synchronicity and auras and crystals and whatnot and there are others I know I can't touch upon any of this with. In the case of Ho'oponopono, however, I don't really care who knows and, if it can help others, even better. There's nothing hocus pocus about this. It's about love, gratitude, forgiveness and having a clear heart and mind so that inspiration has room to flow. As an artist, mother and businesswoman, all of these are key to me. I've been practicing this for a little less than a month and not even every day and, so far, it has done me a world of good. How could replacing anger, disdain, hurt and fear with love not do so? If I've managed to peak curiosity in some of you, then good! And, if you've made it all the way down here by rolling your eyes from paragraph to paragraph, to you I say "I love you.".

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The Story Right Now

I have yet to write pieces on the last two fashion shows I attended, last year. To be honest, I don't know if I will take the time to do so or not.

Things are changing and they're changing quickly.

I know where I'm headed and what I must to do to get there. I'm cutting ties with the cumbersome, be it material or not. I'm hyper-focused and more motivated than ever.

I've learned to be still again and, in those moments, when I open my heart and silence my mind, everything becomes clear and the next few feet of my path light up.

I've started doing yoga again and, for the first time in my life, it doesn't make me angry. I think it used to do so because I still had so much healing to do. I started doing Tai Chi and I absolutely love it. I'm debating between Iaido and Kendo, now.

For years now, I've been taking photos people love. I took a photography course two years ago. I understand light and shadow and mood. I never dared call myself a photographer, though, as I have friends who are trying to make a living from it and I felt like I had no business being anything other than a writer and designer. Lately, though, I've let go of that notion. I launched an Etsy store where I sell stationery that features my photos and I've tentatively, in a whisper, even, answered " But I am," when people ask me why I'm not a photographer. I may not be as good as a lot of the shutterbugs I know and will surely call myself an amateur for the rest of my days but I take photos that don't suck and people have paid for them (or simply right clicked and saved my images to give to family members?!) so I am a photographer.

I've cut out red meat (again) and am back to taking care of myself, in general.

I feel sure-footed and lighthearted and I very much look forward to seeing what happens next.

News on the clothing line and on my other two business endeavors to come but, right now, I'm back from a few nights of sleeping by a woodstove, cuddled up with a small dog and days gazing upon a frozen creek and ice-covered branches and I just don't feel like connecting with anyone or anything online.

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