For the Man in Your Life

Proraso Beard Care:
Does you man have facial hair? Well mine has a beard. He often complains that is dry and doesn't feel to nice. I have been wanting to get him a little something in the facial hair care department but didn't know where to start. I was incredibly happy to learn about Proraso and their line of beard care products. Not only to they make a beard oil, a moustache wax but they also make a beard wash, something I would have never thought of. I am so excited to give him these product for Christmas that I can't contain myself (honestly), I am also really excited to see how soft his beard can be with some proper products. You can buy all their bead care separately, or you can get a tin set that has the wash, wax and oil, plus a comb, moustache comb and a beard brush for $39,99.

NIVEA Men Winter Collection:
What man doesn't need basic toiletries during the holidays? It's like socks or undies, men need them and this time of year a great time to get set for them. NIVEA has a great men's set that hast their Men Creme, Sensitive Skin Shaving Gel, Cool Kicks Shower Gel, Sensitive Skin After Shave Balm and Sensitive Skin Face Wash all in a nice toiletry bag for $14.99. I think this is a great set, when the hubby used to shave, the NIVEA Men Sensitive skin Shaving Gel and After Shave Balm were the only products he could use, they are great for sensitive guys skin.

Stocking Stuffers / Break Apart Gifts

I love stocking! I also love creating stockings for others. One of my favourite things to do it buy a few sets and break them apart so people get more of a mix in their stockings.

Burt's Bees Beeswax Bounty Set Assorted:
This set comes in both a mix (mango, pomegranate, vanilla bean and classic beeswax) as well as just a 4 pack of just the classic beeswax. I personally love Burt's Bees lip balms and cannot live without them, so giving them as a gift is always a good idea. At $13.99 ( I got mine at Longo's for $10.99) these babies make a great stocking stuffer or break apart gift that wont break the bank.

Quo Luxury Lipstick Wardrobe:
With four moisturizing matte shades of lipstick in a classy gold tube these are a great lipstick that I have fallen head over heals in love with. The range of shades in this set make it a great gift for one person, but can also easily be broken into 4 gifts. At $30 it also is cheaper then buying 4 lipsticks in less classy tubes at the drug store.

ELF Mad For Matte Lip Colour Set:
Superstore, Walmart and Rexall all have started to stock ELF in the last few months and with it are some great holiday sets. I picked up the Matte Lip Pencil Set which has 4 of their matte lip pencils.
The shades in the set are Dash of Pink, Berry Sorbet, Cranberry and Rich Red. I personally have 4 of these already and love them, so to give them seems natural for me. I got mine for $11.00 at my Superstore.

The Body Shop Body Butters:
The Body Shop always has great sets and deals during the holiday season. This one features 5 50 ml body butters in a great package (Coconut, Shea, Fuji Green Tea, British Rose and Strawberry). I plan on breaking it apart and keeping one for myself this holiday season. I was lucky to grab this $20 set for $10 during a 50% off sale.

Marvis 7 Days of Flavour Gift Set:
Marvis is the it brand for high end toothpaste. This set features 7 flavours of their iconic toothpaste to give. For $35 you get 7 small tubes that cost $7 regularly making a great value and a great way to let someone (or someones) try a bunch of flavours without being stuck with a big tube of just one flavour.
The set contains Aquatic Mint, Cinnamon Mint, Classic Mint, Ginger Mint, Jasmine Mint, Amarelli Licorice and Whitening Mint toothpastes.  All of which sound great. I am going to break this one up and keep 4 of them (Ginger Mint, Jasmine Mint, Cinnamon Mint and Amarelli Licorice).

Mary Kay Satin Lips White Tea and Citrus:
This isn't a break apart set, but a super fantastic idea for the colder months. It is a lip scrub and balm set in the fantastic White Tea and Citrus flavour from Mary Kay. I am a huge fan of the Satin Hands, so Satin Lips is just as fantastic. And who doesn't want softer lips for under the mistletoe toe?

Gift Sets

Gift sets are always a great thing, you get more value for your money and people get a sampling of a bunch of neat stuff.

Mary Kay White Tea and Citrus Satin Hands:
I know for a fact I am not the only one who's hands get destroyed in the winter time. Mine may be worse then yours though. This set is the best thing to happen to winter hands that I have ever discovered! So that is why I think it makes a great gift for any hard working folk on your list.
You get a cute little gift bag, a hand softener, Shea hand scrub and Shea hand lotion. The new formal makes the products work even better and this new scent is fantastic as well (although you can always get it in fragrance free).

Burt's Bees Mani Pedi Set:
I may have dry hands and feet, but I know others do too, which is why this is such a great set. You get Burt's Ultimate Care Hand Cream, which is thick and wonderful, their Lemon Bitter Cuticle Cream and their Peppermint Foot Lotion which is great too. You also get an Eco Tools foot tool with a brush and a pumice stone on it.
 I may have been reprimanded by the hubby this year about how dry and flaky my feet have been already, so year this is a very good winter gift for just $20.

Fresh Oval Zodiac Soap:
I love this soap! It is a fantastic heavy triple milled soap that lasts a long time, wrapped in fancy paper and decorated for all the different zodiac signs in 4 great scents. I can't say enough good things about this soap (just go check out my review above) so I think it makes a great gift at $18.

Fresh Rose Skincare Ritual Daily Essentials:
This is a set that I think is just a fantastic gift. Fresh is a brand I have fallen in love with and think their Rose line is perfect for just about everyone out there. It has their Soy Face Cleanser, Rose Hydrating Eye Gel Cream, Rose Face Mask ad Rose Floral Toner.
 I have been in love with Fresh's Rose mask for about a year and a half now. Its formula is fantastic for dry skin and can be used everyday if wanted. I also have been using the Rose Toner for the last 4 months and love how my skin has been feeling the whole time. This set is great for dry skin, sensitive skin, oily skin, dull skin, pretty much all skin types. At $78 it is a steal since it has a $106 value to it.

Fresh's Oval Soaps have been pretty famous since they first launched in 1993. Wrapped in artisan paper and wire with a little gem stone, they are luxurious and feel quite decadent to just even hold. Well this year Fresh has launched a Limited Edition Zodiac Oval Soap Collection just in time for the holidays.
Just like Fresh's other Oval Soaps, these are wrapped in artisan paper and wire for a very high end look. The big difference is each sign gets its own decorative paper, has a drawing of the sign and a element related stone. Making it a really glamorous and large bar of soap. At 8.8 oz or 250 g it is absolutely huge compared to other bars that are out there. They are triple milled so they last a long time and are nice an heavy too. They are made without parabens, sulfates and phthalates.
The signs are divided into four scents based on their elements and each get their own colour scheme and little stone to represent them.
Air Signs: Gemini, Libra and Aquarius get Verbena as their scent. Bright and fresh with green citrus as its scent, while the soaps packaging is blue and grey with an aventurine stone.

Earth Signs: Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn get Sugar scented soap. Blended with sweet caramel and citrus it smells fantastic. Wrapped in olive and brown packaging with a quartz stone.
Water Signs: Cancer, Pisces, and Scorpio get Waterlily. With a sheer aquatic and floral blend it smells incredibly clean. All wrapped up in Turquoise and aqua packaging with a fluorite stone.

Fire Signs: Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius soap have Mangosteen. With Mangosteen and Nectarines it smells fruity and light. This soap comes wrapped in orange and red with a Tiger's Eye stone.
I happen to be a Virgo, so that means my soap is Sugar. I love the wrapping, it is so pretty and just feels decadent. Once I finally opened it (I really didn't want to, I wanted to keep it there forever) I could just smell how great it was and marvelled in its size. This is quite the soap and it will make a great gift for anyone. The back side (like all their oval soaps) says the name of its' scent, in this case Sugar.
I think these make such a great gift, I already ordered two for friends up coming holiday gifts. Not only is it a very pretty and luxurious bar of soap that I think makes a great gift, it is personalized just for that person. They know you really thought about buying it just for them. They also make for great stocking stuffer type gifts, making each person feel nice and special.
You can pick up Fresh's Zodiac Oval Soap Collection at Sephora.ca for a limited time only for $18.00 Cad.

*Product was sent for review, all opinions are my own. And yes, I did go buy two for gifts for my friends who love astrology with my own money.

Since I have been all about lips and holiday lip sets these last few post, I thought I would do just one more on a more nourishing and caring holiday set for your lips, you know, because the weather is getting awful out there.

If your anything like me, your lips get really dry, really fast in the fall and winter months. Wearing deeper coloured lipsticks and stains certainly hasn't helped them either, in fact my lips are down right soar this time of year. That is part of the reason a set like this is so great. Not only can take care and repair your messed up winter lips, but you can also add a pop of colour so you don't feel like your just wearing lip balm.
This set contains:
- 2.2g Sugar Rosé Shine Lip Treatment (a full sized is 4.3g and costs $26cad)
- 3ml Sugar Rosé Tinted Lip Treatment (a full sized is 6ml and costs $22cad)
It costs $23 and has a value of $27

The Fresh Sugar Rose Ritual Set comes with a Rose Shine Lip Treatment and a Sugar Rose Tinted lip Treatment in miniature sizes. Pretty much a tinted lip balm and a nourishing lipgloss treatment, both in a nice rosy shade. They both come in at half the size of their full sized versions, but for the cost of just one. So it is a good value for you money.

Since I have fallen hard for Fresh products this last year, to find out I also love the Fresh Sugar lip care is no shock to me at all. Part of what makes this set great is how fantastic Fresh Sugar lip products are, they almost have a cult following. Ans why wouldn't they? With ingredients like Avocado Oil, Jojoba Oil, and Mango seed oil there are some great lip products that contain no parabens, sulfates or phthalates.
If you are a fan of Fresh and their fantastic lip line, this is a great mini set for you. It also is great if you wanted to try a few items from the line and not commit to buying just one big Sugar Lip Treatment or Sugar Shine Lip Treatment and for a bit of a discount.

Have you tried any of the Fresh Sugar lip care line yet? What do you think of it? Do you ever treat yourself to tinted lip treatments?


*This product was sent to me for review. All views and opinions are my own.

For the last little while I've been in love with Fresh face products, today I'm going to talk about my favourite item in that I've tried so far, a product my skin just loves:

Fresh Black Tea Instant Perfecting Mask

A nourishing exfoliant made with pure brown sugar and strawberry seeds that refines and hydrates for a more radiant complexion. 

PRODUCT DETAILS: Sugar Face Polish with nourishing brown sugar and real strawberry seeds is an innovative formula for all skin types that exfoliates and hydrates the skin, instantly revealing a softer, smoother, more radiant complexion. 

THE PROOF:

• 97% reported improved skin texture and softer, more supple skin

• 94% felt it had an exfoliating effect and decreased rough patches

• 88% noticed soothed skin that felt silky and velvety

• 85% said their skin was radiant     -fresh.com

Sucrose, Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate, Peg-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Stearalkonium Hectorite, Fragaria Vesca (Strawberry) Fruit, Propylene Carbonate, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candellila) Wax, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Limonene, Fragrance (Parfum), Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Fragaria Ananassa (Strawberry) Seed Oil, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Prunus Domestica Seed Oil, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Water (Aqua), Tocopheryl Acetate, Potassium Sorbate, Citral, Geraniol, Linalool, Citronellol, Bht. 

• Smells really good
• Uses natural ingredients to exfoliate your skin gently but effectively
• It has hydrating factors to it so it won't dry out your skin
• It can be worn like a mask 
• Gentle enough for 3-4 times a week usage
• You don't need a lot to get a good scrub