14 Day TeaTox Review

So I've been given the opportunity to do a 14 day weight loss detox with Skinny Tea Tox!
www.skinny-teatox.com

It can be purchased straight on their website here which is kind of a nice change! I find a lot of products I've reviewed have only been available on Amazon, then there's shipping reimbursement and promo codes yadda yadda, much smoother transaction here I must say! Since it was done straight off their website it was so much more personal as well! The confirmation email was very personal and even allowed me to change shipping information if need be even after I'd pressed shipped! (I assume after they ship it y'know... You're done but still! That was a very nice option to have!)

The products were ordered on a Tuesday evening and I got the shipping confirmation on the Friday. Arrival was the next Tuesday. 5 business days for it to arrive- not bad!

Here is everything that came in the package!
The morning tea- loose leaf
A strawberry tea infuser (adorable)
The night tea- tea bags and an instruction pamphlet!

The daytime tea is a combination of lovely healthy herbs to boost your metabolism while the nighttime tea is where the cleansing and detox comes into effect.. Thanks to it being a colon cleanser... When I first read that I was terrified! All I could imagine was waking up in the middle of the night and my insides falling out!

I am happy to report that insides are intact! The nighttime tea has instructions to only drink it every other night as opposed to the daytime tea which is a daily routine for the next 2 weeks. Along with this tea routine it's strongly recommended to keep a healthy diet of lots of fruits and veggies, beans and lentils, good carbs, fish and protein and too avoid bad foods such as fatty meats, cheese and creams, butter, bad carbs and high sugar sodas.

One other warning that this company has put out is your water consumption, and I must say if you ignore every other instruction on this product don't ignore this one!! I am an avid water consumer already and I definitely notice a difference, I felt thirsty all the time on consuming this tea, they recommended coconut water or a sports drink to help your hydration.

So after a full 2 weeks of detox here is my report.....

I can be picky when it comes to tea sometimes. I have many many teas however a lot of them I'm not a big fan of the taste so they sit on the shelf collecting dust until tea loving guests come for a visit. This tea had a nice enjoyable taste, it wasn't too powerful so it was not a hassle to consume everyday.

I am very happy to report that my insides didn't fall out with the consumption of the evening tea however I did notice an increase in pee breaks which I know was the reason I was always so friggin thirsty! This was hard because my job requires me to talk all day and I'm already in a dry environment.

All the instructions encouraged to live a healthy lifestyle and with the energy boost with the daytime tea this was more then easy!! I was very motivated to exercise everyday (I'm hoping I can keep that up) and I kept the healthy foods flowing (I'll admit that there was a few days I wasn't a good girl and may have woofed down a burger HOWEVER I still did pretty good)

All in all I have nothing but positive things to say about Skinny tea tox, I didn't really lose any weight but my stomach is definitely noticeably flatter and I feel overall better.

I HIGHLY recommend if you want your insides to feel a little bit better to go on the 14 teatox, as long as you can dedicate yourself to the routine and schedule you will definitely feel a difference! This is not for the lazy and easily bored individual though! There is a lot of dedication involved with the teatox!

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May Ipsy Bag Review

So this is my last Ipsy bag for at least a little while! With the Canadian dollar so weak it's costing me almost double the price to get these buggers every month, and even though I do enjoy my ipsy bag every month I really can't afford it anymore.

I was ready to cancel a couple of months ago however I couldn't let my Ipsy points go to waste! So I redeemed them for some Velvet Eye Liner by Urban Decay.

The last time I redeemed my Ipsy points I was a bit disappointed with the products I got.. The eye liner and mascara duo was incredibly smudgy and ran all around my eyes so I tredded with caution redeeming for another free eye liner.
Urban Decay's 24/7 Black Velvet Eye pencil is actually nice! I find I have to press down a little hard on my eye to get the shade as dark as I want it however it doesn't smudge and it lasts all day! I really can't ask for much more!

Now for the regular bag....
The bag itself is a fabric bag with "VIP Very important products" stamped on it. It's pretty cute but I don't like the material it's made out of.. It wouldn't be the first bag I go to if I needed an old ipsy bag for something.

My first sample was 24/7 Glide on Lip Pencil by Urban Decay

This also came with some small samples of their ultra lip gloss.

The lip pencil is nice, it glides on smooth and helps with keeping my lips moisturized. I was however a little disappointed in the lip gloss samples...

These were it.. Difficult to open, no applicator and definitely 1 time use. It just seemed like such a waste. If you're going to send me this much at least make it so I can utilize it past the first day of delivery! Geesh! This is by far the most disappointing sample I ever received from Ipsy... It was just such a waste.

Second sample was an Eyebrow colour pencil from Chella

It's a mechanical pencil which is always very convenient however the lead part of this pencil so so flippin TINY. It hardly has any strength, I've broken off quite a few chunks out of it while using it plus it takes forever to complete my eyebrows in the morning with it.
Ipsy matched up the shade fairly well though, once it's on it goes on very natural on my brow.

Third Sample was Face Natural SPF 40 by CoTZ

 This stuff looks like poop.... Literally it comes out as a thick brown matte cream... It's hard to smear something that looks like poop on your face. I've only worn this once so far. I am looking forward to testing the SPF 40 part of it because the hot afternoons at my boyfriend's soccer field... My cheeks were a little pink after Sunday afternoon....

Forth sample was a tapered blending eye brush by Luxie Beauty

This brush is very long... Both on the handle and the brissles... I tried to use it to blend my eye shadow and it just pushed it around... I ended up looking like a prostitute when it was all said and done... I don't think I will be using this brush often...

And the last sample this month is... Detoxifying Citrus C Facial Cleanser by Peter Lamas

I... LOVE this product! This is the first sample I got this month that I actually really like! The soap works really well and leaves my skin feeling wonderful. This is by far my favorite product in this bag! It has a pretty orange tint to it and smells wonderful. Definitely going to look into getting the full version of this, especially now that different samples won't be coming to my door every month anymore.

This bag made it super easy to take a break from Ipsy for awhile... I have to say except for the face wash I was really disappointed this month. When the time comes that I can get a monthly subscription box again I think I will try another brand just to see how it compares to Ipsy....

Homemade Chicken Strips

So I have a hate on for frozen products... I have to be pretty burnt out (or lazy) to be seen purchasing something from a box. I dare anyone to come over and take a look in my freezer, you won't find a box anywhere!

Here is my recipe for homemade chicken strips. This allows me to quickly pop something into the oven when I get home without being subdued to the preservative filled alternative. All it takes is a bit of organization and planning and you'll never find yourself tempted at the grocery store ever again! (Well... at least not right away anyway! We all slip every once in awhile! Don't be embarrassed!)

For my homemade chicken strips I cut up 2 fresh boneless skinless chicken breasts into strips.

Placing some olive oil into a shallow plate, I lightly coated each strip in oil. Then coated lightly in bread crumbs mixed with Italian seasoning in a second shallow plate.

 In a preheated 400 degrees oven I baked these bad boys for 20 minutes or until they were no longer pink in the centre.

I also accented some of the pieces with provolone cheese and parsley for a little bit of extra flavor. Now they are ready to be enjoyed with your favorite dips or ready to be cut up for a delicious Chicken Cesar Salad!

Extraordinary Cheese Dip!!!

Sometimes you just don't feel like cooking a real meal... Sometimes sitting down with a hot dip for supper is just what the doctor ordered!!

Epicure's extraordinary cheese dip is definitely the staple in the epicure community. It consists of 3 of their staple dip mixes. Lemon Dilly, Cheese Chive and Bacon, and the 3 Onion Dip Mix.

Anyone who has ever been to an epicure party should have tried this delectable delight and it's one of the big reasons I started selling Epicure! (Second only to the healthy benefits of Epicure itself)

Their latest catalogue can be found Here on Facebook or Here. If there's anything you'd like to order, or if you are in the Halifax area and want to host a party with me, OR want to know more about being a consultant yourself, please don't hesitate to to message me or comment below!

Anyways! Without further ado. Here is the recipe for Epicure's Extraordinary Cheese Dip!!

1 (8oz, 250g) package of Spreadable Cream Cheese
1 cup grated mixed cheese (I like using marble cheese or an old cheddar)
1 cup Light Mayonnaise 
1 tbsp Cheese Chive and Bacon Dip Mix
1 tbsp Lemon Dilly Dip mix
1 tbsp 3 Onion Dip Mix

(You can alter the quantity of spice to cater to your tastes)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. F

Combine all the ingredients until well blended (save a bit of cheese to sprinkle on top). Spoon mixture into Epicure Baker.

Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly.

Let stand for 1 minute before serving.. Then enjoy!!

Egg Salad Sandwiches Using a Food Processor

I don't know how I lived before my food processor!! It just makes my life so much easier!

This recipe makes me 3 sandwiches.

4 eggs
1/4 mayonnaise 
1 stock green onion
1 2" slice of green pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring a pot of cold water and a little bit of salt with eggs inside to a boil. Immediately move from heat, cover and let stand for 10-12 minutes.

Remove from hot water, cool by immersing eggs in cold water for a minute. Let eggs fully cool.

Peel eggs and put in food chopper along with the green onion and green pepper. Pulse 2-3 times until desired texture is obtained.

Transfer mixture to a new bowl and stir in mayonnaise and salt and pepper.

Spread onto your favorite bread or crackers. Enjoy!

My coworker told me that I would love my food processor! She said I may not use it everyday but when I do I am going to love it! Well... I could easily use this thing everyday! It's just wonderful!

Chicken Rockefeller

So I'm pretty excited! I finally bought a food processor! I can't believe how many recipes I've stumbled onto that needed one, and trust me... You can't use a blender in it's place... It's just a disaster.
I bought a beautiful yellow KitchenAid food chopper/ processor on sale during Bay days at The Bay! $30 off that just makes me happy. Normally KitchenAid products are way out of my price point (and frankly Cuisinart has not made me happy in the past) so I was super excited to get this bad boy on sale!!

So naturally in my excitement and bliss of my new appliance I made another lovely purchase from TheShoppingChannel.com....

 This book has got to be one of the biggest recipe books I own now... It's huuuuuuge. There is everything you could ever imagine in here ! All categorized into different categories depending on what you might be craving that day. I intend to do as many of these recipes as humanly possible! The only thing I don't like about this book is each section's table of contents is just before the section begins, instead of at the front of the book all together so it's a bit of a search to find the section you want at first but when you do find what you're looking for you're set!

Tonight I was craving something with chicken... I decided on the Chicken Rockefeller!

2 Skinless boneless chicken breasts
2 tsp Olive Oil
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Coat both sides of the chicken breasts with olive oil and coat in bread crumbs. Place in a prepared baking dish and set aside. Discard any excess bread crumbs and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

1 handful of fresh Spinach, trimmed
1/2 an onion, quartered
1 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp anise extract

In your food processor equipped with a metal blade, pulse the spinach and onion until finely chopped (approx. 20 pulses) Transfer to another bowl and add butter and anise extract.

2 slices of provolone cheese
fresh parsley for garnish

The recipe calls to spread 1/4 of this mixture over the chicken and to add the rest after it's baked... I completely forgot to do this and wasted a bit of my mixture :( next time I intend to put all of the mixture on before baking to ensure no waste

Spoon 1/4 of the mixture over each chicken breast. Top with cheese and parsley.

Bake in preheated oven until chicken is fully cooked (about 20 minutes). Transfer chicken onto serving plate and spread the rest of the mixture on top.

Enjoy!

This combination of flavors was something I had never tried before and I must say I really enjoyed this one. Gives me even more excitement to try more things in this book!

OZ Naturals Hyaluronic Acid + Vitamin C Professional Moisturizing Serum Review

So OZ Naturals has nice again given me the opportunity to test one of their products!! This time it was a Hyaluronic Acid + Vitamin C Serum which is supposed to professionally moisturize skin.

 It has the same applicator as the last bottle of OZ Naturals I got! Tiny turkey basters for everyone!! Ahem.. Anyway bad jokes aside it does allow even distribution of the serum. The serum itself is very very thick this time with the intention of only gently rubbing into skin.

The directions go...
"Apply a thin layer of serum over desired area. Allow the serum to dry and apply your favorite moisturizer."
It's intention is to drive your moisturizer deeper into the skin. I will be blatantly honest I had high expectations since I just absolutely loved the first OZ Naturals product I tried. But I didn't really find this solution to live up to it's cousin.. There wasn't as much of a noticeable difference in my face, in fact things started to deteriorate back to where they were before I used anything on my face.

After looking more into this product and what exactly hyaluronic acid is I dicsovered something rather interesting... Hyaluronic Acid is something we produce naturally, especially in our joints and our eyes. It's use has been approved as medication for joint disorders and in use after certain eye surgeries. It is predominantly ingested or injected into the patient so I'm curious if it is even able to be absorbed through my skin... There are myths that it is this magical serum that will prevent aging... However there is no scientific proof at this time and I am less then convinced.

OZ Naturals has impressed me in the past and I still trust them as a consumer, however this product really wasn't for me (Maybe my skin is just too thick- who knows!) I plan to continue to use the serum until it's gone just in case it takes a few weeks to really notice skin improvement!

If anyone else gets the chance to try this product I really want to know how it works for them!! It can be bought here on Amazon!!

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