A Blurb About The Body Shop Canada

The Body Shop was founded in 1976 by Anita Roddick, a British businesswoman and human rights activist, who was known for her charitable contributions, as well as campaigns for environmental and social issues. She was promoting ethical consumerism long before it was trendy to do so.

I admire Anita Roddick's business sense, as well as her success as an entrepreneur in general. She started a great company with the right attitude, and the company will continue to thrive.

Between 1976 and now, The Body Shophas grown into a wonderful international company offering hundreds of products including various body butters, make-up, skin care ranges, as well as men's skin care.

I have tried some of the products from The Body Shop and I love many of their body butters because they smell great and have moisturizing qualities that are great for the skin, not to mention that they only use natural ingredients in production.

Between now and April 24th, 2011 receive a Free Gift with Any $30 Purchase at The Body Shop. Valid 4.13.2011–4.24.2011

Cheers,
Aviva

5 Tips on How to Stay Within Your Calorie Budget

Just 100 extra calories per day for 1 year can add up to 10 extra pounds. After my track & field injury back in 2008, when I continued eating as much as I did before having quit intense training, I noticed that I gained about 10 lbs. Living in a small town, with volleyball being the only sport offered at school, no wonder why the extra calories somehow found their way to the waist, butt and thighs in the form of a few unneeded inches.

Are you having difficulty with a few extra inches and those 10 pounds that seem to have appeared out of nowhere?
The secret to losing those few pounds could lie in your eating habits during food preparation and after dinner. Sure, a spoonful of what you're making here, and an extra piece of bread after supper, and some more spoonfuls after dinner don't seem like much. However, considering that you are eating all your meals, snacks, AND a few extra spoonfuls, you may very well be blowing your calorie budget.

Here are a few tips that will help you avoid unnecessary caloric intake:

1. Don't cook on a completely empty stomach. If you are very hungry while making your dinner, you will start reaching for the chips, bread, cookies, and other high-calorie foods. You will also be more likely to eat what you are cooking, while you are cooking it, before you actually sit down for dinner.

2. Avoid grocery shopping when you are hungry. It is not unusual for a hungry shopper to come back with about 3 bags of different flavours of potato chips, 2 packages of cookies, and a chocolate cake. When junk food is in front of you, you are more likely to eat it.

3. Don't wait until you are hungry to eat. If you are trying to lose weight, you should be eating smaller meals more often so that you don't overeat later in the day.

4. If you are still feeling hungry after dinner, instead of reaching for the bread, make some green tea or water to fill the gap. Green tea is wonderful, and has no calories.

5. If you need to, write down everything you eat, including any calories that you take in before and after your meals. Writing things down helps you see what you are eating, and allows you to make adjustments to your diet if you feel you need to.


I hope you found the above post helpful.
If you have anything to add, feel free to do so in the "comments" section.

Aviva :)

Source: My nutrition notes from my university class.

50 Mother's Day Gift Ideas Under $50

Mother's Day is just around the corner and if you are looking for gift ideas, you have come to the right place. :)

Gifts don't have to be expensive for them to be appreciated by the person that you are giving to. Therefore, I hope that you check out the following 50 gift ideas that I think your mother or wife would like (all under $50).

Fragrances, beauty products, gift cards, and jewelry are definitely great for Mother's Day.

Fragrances: Women like to receive fragrances as gifts. Whenever I am looking for a present for my mom, I always try to get her perfume that I think she will like.



Jewelry: Jewelry that looks nice does not have to be expensive and is great for accessorizing. See below what I found for under $50 (and that I believe looks beautiful).



Beauty Products: Girls and women enjoy nice smelling hair products, good quality skin care products, body butters, bath salts, etc. The possibilities are endless.



I hope you found this helpful :)
Click here for more gift ideas for Mother's Day


Aviva

A few updates & what's coming up

Hey guys!

You may have noticed that I have not updated this blog for a couple of weeks now. Now that I have some time, I am thrilled to be back at it.

There were a few reasons for my lack of blog posts:

1. The first reason was that I was finishing up my 3rd year final exams, and if you have been to university, you can probably remember how busy the final exam period is. I am very relieved and happy to be done 3rd year. :)

2. Second, I have done a few shoots, and have not yet picked which photos to use in upcoming posts.

3. Third, I was busy interviewing some people for upcoming features and working through guest post submissions. Also, if you would like to submit, take a look at the "submit yours/contribute" tab for the specs.

4. I am always thinking of ways to improve what I am doing (whether it's modeling, blogging, or studying) in every way possible, and sometimes taking a break is the best way to do it.

5. I wanted the Frilly Lilly review to stay up at the front a little bit longer because I am very honoured to have been invited to the store and experience the services. I had a great experience there, and I know you will too.




What is coming up?

1. Fitness posts

2. Interviews with pretty awesome people

3. Updates on some previous interviewees

4. Reviews of products, services, etc.

5. Features of stores that I like

6. Photos from shoots

7. And much more!! :)

Cheers,
Aviva

Frilly Lilly Victoria, BC: Review

Above: Frilly Lilly Storefront

A few days ago, I was invited by Karen, the owner of the Victoria Frilly Lilly franchise, to try out the services and products at the store. More specifically, I would receive a bikini or Brazilian wax. Frilly Lilly is well-known for its waxing services, but in addition to waxing, they offer manicures, pedicures and tinting. They also carry a wide variety of nail polishes, beautiful jewelry, shower gels, foot care, as well as lotions and much more!

Above:Pedicure bench at Frilly Lilly

When I first walked into the store, I was greeted by a couple of smiling estheticians and Karen. Everyone was very friendly, which was great! As soon as I walked in, I felt very comfortable. The store was clean, organized, smelled nice and looked beautiful. It had a very feminine atmosphere, which I liked and which added to my comfort.

Having been a shaver, I was at first a little bit skeptical about waxing the bikini area. Mostly, I was worried about how much it would hurt. The esthetician at Frilly Lilly, Jess, who did my Brazilian wax was amazing and very experienced. She made me feel very comfortable and relaxed, in addition to the fact that it did not hurt nearly as much as I would expect. I don't consider myself to be particularly tolerant of pain so I was very happy with the way the esthetician performed the service. As for results, one word-excellent!

While I was at the store, I also tried out some lotions. Because I liked the Sugar Lilly, Karen let me keep a bottle. I also checked out the jewelry and I ended up getting a very nice-looking beaded bracelet which will make a great addition to my accessory collection.




Overall, I would rate Frilly Lilly 10/10 for quality of service, products, atmosphere, and friendliness of staff. If you are considering getting waxing services (just in time for the bikini season), I would definitely recommend you visit Frilly Lilly.
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The Victoria, BC location is at 811 Fort Street, in case you wanted to check it out.

I hope that you found this review helpful :)
Aviva

***Images on this post were submitted by Michael Macdonald of TonicMedia

Featured Business: Marissa Collections

Marissa Collections is a store featuring beautiful designer clothes. Some of the dsigners sold at Marissa Collections include Lanvin, Alexander McQueen, Oscar de la Renta, Versace, Marc Jacobs, Dolce & Gabbana, Givenchy, and many many more.

The reason I chose to write about Marissa Collections is because when I look at their website and the items they sell, I honestly believe that they deserve to be one of the top high-end fashion stores. The store has been around for 30 years, according to their website, and will most likely be around for that long in the future.

If I had an extra $3000 (but being a student I do not at the moment), I would definitely go on a big shopping spree at Marissa Collections. I have always been fascinated by some of their high end wardrobe & shoes (well, which girl isn't?).

Here are some of my favorites from the store aka the items that I would buy:

Alexander McQueen






Lanvin Shoes. I love them. They are gorgeous!
1.

2.

3.

Oscar de la Renta



cuff bracelet







***Note: Images are from Marissa Collections website***