Best & Worst of 2013

I am so behind in writing my blog entries so while I catch up, check out Cosmetics Cop Paula Begoun's 10 worst products of 2013 and 10 best products of 2013.

Most of the products in the best list don’t interest except for two: NARS Light Reflecting Pressed Setting Powder and IT Cosmetics Hello Lashes 5-in-1 Treatment Mascara. I’m in the market for a new pressed setting powder and while I hadn't been considering one from NARS, now I'm going to have to check it out. As for the mascara, well, I’m always interested in a great mascara.

The worst list contains a few items that I wanted to try out including Vichy Normaderm Daily Anti-Acne Hydrating Lotion, Aveeno Positively Ageless Correcting Tinted Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 30 and Avon Ultra Color Rich Brilliance Lip Gloss. But now I won’t be picking up those or any other items from that list. 

Okay, now off to write some product reviews.

The Body Shop Spa Wisdom Morocco Black Olive & Argan Oil Scrub

Of all of the products I received in my Body Shop Elle-Magazine-best-of-2011 gift basket, this scrub was the one I was the most looking forward to using. I love body scrubs and the idea of one made with Morocco black olive and Argan oil (the same stuff that’s in Moroccan Oil) sounded really decadent. Plus the scrub came packaged in a sleek plastic container with one of those metal snaps on the lid.

But because I received this scrub shortly after I had opened jumbo sized container of another scrub, I ended up putting this new item under the sink and then forgot about it until a couple of weeks when I happily rediscovered it.

The Cosmetic Cop's Absolute Worst Products of 2011

The end of the year means it’s time for top 10 lists. Paula Begoun, the Cosmetic Cop, recently posted her list of “The Absolute Worst Products of 2011”.

I’m very pleased to see that this list contains no products that I’ve tried and only one that I would consider checking out: Blistex Five Star Lip Protection SPF 30, which, despite the name, is “missing the active ingredients that research has shown will protect your skin across nearly the entire UVA range.”

Several items on this list are quite pricey, including a serum by Chanel and the entire Dr. Brandt Light Years Away line, something that makes me happy as it serves are a good reminder that a big price tag doesn’t mean big quality.
 I think I’m going to put together my own year-end product list though first I need to review my past entries to see if I can find 10 products that either really disappointed me or impressed me.

Cold Stone Creamery

The Founder's Favorite

I’ve been wanting to check out the Cold Stone Creamery up at Bloor and Dufferin since last year but for some reason never got around to it even though it’s about a 30 minute walk from my house.

Then last night, while at Dufferin Mall, Husband suggested that we go check it and so we did. Unfortunately, it was a disappointing experience.

And an expensive one; our two medium “Signature Creations” cost over $10 (and that was without the fancy waffle bowl that you see in the picture). Now, I would have been fine paying that if the ice cream was great. But not only was it not great, it wasn’t even good.

American Apparel’s Bamboo Jersey Tights

After a string of positive reviews, time for a negative one and it’s on American Apparel’s Bamboo Jersey Tights.

What really annoys me about this product is that it used to be great. I’ve worn these tights for the past four, maybe five, years and I liked them because besides being comfortable and versatile (they work just as well in an office as on the dance floor), they were also really durable.


For the first three, I went through a total of three pairs of these tights. That’s one pair a year and I think that’s pretty good, especially considering that I’m kind of klutzy and do walk into coffee tables, planters, chairs, etc.

Sorel’s Joan of Artic Boots Part II

I was originally going to post about where we ate in Moorea but something more important, and more annoying has come up: One of my Sorel Joan of Artic boots has a leak.

The leak is being caused by a crack located right in the middle of the left sole. And if you read my earlier review about these boots, you’ll know that this isn’t the first time that this style has busted on me.

I bought my first pair of these boots back in the fall of 2009. By February, both boots were leaking. However, since Sorel sent me a new pair for free, and since these boots have many other great qualities, I decided to chalk the first busted pair up to poor manufacturing on the first run and I recommended them, despite my initial issues.

5 Products to Never User

I’m signed up to receive newsletters from Paula Begoun, aka the Costmetics Cop, who’s a leading expert on what makes for a good beauty product.

In her latest newsletter, she highlights five products that you should never buy because they irritate skin. I figured I’d share them with you:

• Biore Deep Cleansing Pore Strips ($10.49 for 14 strips)
• L'Oreal Collagen Remodeler Contouring Moisturizer for Face & Neck SPF 15 ($19.99 for 1.7 ounces)
• Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash ($6.89 for 6 ounces)
• Noxzema Original Deep Cleansing Cream ($4.50 for 10.75 ounces)
• Sea Breeze Original Formula Astringent ($5.29 for 10 ounces)

Of these items, I’ve only ever used the Biore strips. While I do know that some people love these things, I’ve never had a positive experience with them (one time I left the strip on a bit too long and it ripped the top layer of skin off).

If you want to find out exactly why Paula frowns on these items, you need to head over to her site Beautypedia.com. Normally you need a subscription to fully use the site but for January and February, the site is free. I wish I’d found out about that offer earlier! I used to be a member and Paula really does put together some useful reviews.

J Brand Jeans

How long should a pair of jeans last?

The other weekend, I moved awkwardly and ended up with a rip in the crotch of my jeans. While the rip started alongside a seam, it quickly veered off into the actual jean material and left a nice two-inch gash for me to sew up.

If these had been, say, $40 jeans from Old Navy or if I had somehow caught them on something sharp and ripped them that way, I wouldn’t have been surprised. But these weren’t cheap jeans (more on that in a minute) and there was no “third-party” involvement in the rip.

Brown’s Artica Boots

*Check out my update on these boots*

Buying a product that turns out to suck always, well, sucks. But what’s worse is buying something, loving it and then discovering that it’s a lemon.

This recently happened to me with a pair of just-bought “light” winter boots (I like to have a big, heavy pair for walking the dog/lots of snow and a lighter, shorter pair for say, shopping in).

I bought these boots on Saturday from B2 (Browns Shoes’ “younger” store). Made out of brown, guaranteed-to-be-waterproof leather with low, sturdy heels, they are exactly the practical, go-with-multiple-outfits boots I was looking. They are lined with fake fur so not only are they dry, they’re also super-comfortable and cozy (seriously, they feel like you’re wearing slippers).

All of the above combined with the facts that they were on sale (on for $119.98, down from an original price of $158.00) and available in my size should have been a sign that these boots were too good to be true.

Like I said earlier, they are super-comfortable and warm and so I was quite happy to have them for yesterday, Toronto’s first real snow day. So I wore them to and from work, exposing them to the outside world for maybe a total of an hour.

Somehow, in that very brief period of time, a patch of leather on the left boot managed to become discoloured. I first I thought maybe I’d scrapped it against something but no, the “damaged” leather feels fine, it just looks weird. And considering it’s just in that one spot, I don’t feel that the leather’s discoloured because I walked through a puddle of whatever would discolour leather.

I know this discoloration wasn’t on them when I bought them because I looked them over carefully in the store and then on Sunday, I took a picture of them for this blog. They were fine then but now they are not and I’m not really sure what to do about it.

The boots are made by Artica, Browns’ n-house brand and, according to the internet are model number 6331608.. I’m thinking I might send Browns an email, asking what’s up with the leather that these boots are made out of it.

Maybe it’s a known defect and I’ll get a new pair of boots. Or, more likely, I’ll get ignored. Either way, I’ll let you know.