Skincare, skincare, skincare. With the transition to fall and the cooler weather, and combined with the stress of school, there have been huge changes to my skin - mainly dryness, so if you know me well, I always look to find new skincare products to combat my issues.

I've had the Benefit Cosmetics Total Moisture Facial Cream in my arsenal of products for some time now, but never got around to trying it out. I've been pretty happy with the other products I've tried from their B. Right skincare range, and figured this one should probably perform pretty well.

Like all the other packing in the line, the container is composed of glass making it heavy, but definitely durable. However, I would be wary of knocking it off the counter, as I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be able to withstand that type of a fall without shattering. The jar of cream features a faux-cork look, and removing the lid reveals a covering to keep the cream clean and from drying out.

The product itself isn't light or watery, but it isn't thick enough for me to consider it as a cream. I would probably classify it as a lightweight cream, which is nice for use throughout the day because I'm not looking for anything too heavy. The only real downfall for me is that like the other products in the line, this carries that fresh fragrance that is a little bit too strong for my liking.

Application of the cream is a breeze and it absorbs so well into the skin. It is very hydrating, and can even double up as a nice night cream if you utilize a heavier amount. My skin in the morning is brighter as well, which is an added bonus! I would recommend this for normal to dry skin, as it is quite hydrating. If you're on the oilier side, I'd stay away just because the intense moisture plus oiliness might translate to the skin being oilier after use.

I'll be adding this one into my winter regimen this year. Anyone else tried this cream before? Let me know your thoughts!

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.. I spent mine studying, so I hope you were out and about doing something more interesting than that.

One of the most frequently asked questions I get is how I maintain my nails. It's not like I have some secret regimen or anything, but since the holiday season is around the corner and we all want to look our best, here's a rundown of the products, tips, and tricks that I use on my nails each week prior to painting my tips!

Clockwise from top left:

Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover - I apply this to my cuticles once a week after a shower or after soaking for 5 minutes according to the directions on the bottle.

Tweezerman Pushy Stick - I use this to push back my cuticles to give them a nice rounded shape

Nubar Cuticle Oil - I apply this to my cuticles before bedtime 2 to 3 times per week. You could totally use something similar like Bio Oil too!

The Body Shop Body Butter - Body butter is my 'lotion' of choice for my hands before I go to sleep. It's so moisturizing, keeping my hands soft & nails healthy.

Nail Buffing Block - I use this prior to painting my nails, to smooth them out and restore their natural shine

OPI Crystal Nail File - I like using crystal nail files because they are better for your nails. In the long run, your nails are less likely to split or chip, and the surface is smoother, imparting less damage to your nails while you file. Not to mention, it lasts way longer than your typical emery board!

So that's about it - all my secrets are now out there! If you want me to discuss how I actually apply nail polish, let me know down below!

F21 Blouse (similar) | OASAP Lace Shorts (c/o) | Coach Kristin Crossbody
REPORT sandals via Nordstrom | Coach Boyfriend Watch & Sunglasses
Helloberry Bracelet | Cheeky Thought Double Wrap (c/o)
I love transitioning from Summer into Fall, and this is one of those ideal outfits for me when the weather is still warm, but the wind is breezy and you feel a little cold here and there. I've been lusting after silky, drapey fabrics, and this blouse from F21 was perfect! Not to mention, wearing flowy tops means I can eat more without my little food baby showing ;)

Hey Edmonton Foodies!
The Edmonton Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival is back for two days of indulgence, offering a little something for everyone. The Grand Tasting Hall will be bustling with more food and beverage exhibitors than ever before, leaving taste buds seduced and craving more. The Festival offers the opportunity to sample an extensive variety of world-class wine, scotch, premium spirits, import and micro-brewed beer along with gourmet culinary creations from local restaurants, hotels and food purveyors.

Liquor Depot will once again feature an on-site liquor store, where attendees can purchase their favourite finds from the night. Liquor Connect will also be available to demonstrate how liquorconnect.com can help find sensational sips after the Festival. Additionally, Sunshine Village will be sponsoring the Grand Prize All-Inclusive Weekend Getaway includingtwo nights accommodation at Sunshine Mountain Lodge, VIP parking, $100 gift certificate for food and beverages, a couple’s spa treatment and next day lift tickets.

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It's probably an understatement to say that I'm SO excited to attend and get my eat on. I'm drooling while I read the festival menu, and there's so many drinks available.. it will be a night of tipsy fun for me.

Sounds like fun, no? Well guess what, I have been given two pairs of tickets to give away to two lucky readers for the event which runs on Saturday, November 3rd, from 3-10PM at the Shaw Conference Centre! The tickets will gain you entrance to the event *valued at $56*, but tasting for the food and wine will cost coupons, priced at 50 cents each. The tickets are for Saturday only.

Mandatory Entry
- Leave your name and contact email address for me in the widget below!

Optional Additional Entries
- Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect (+1)
- Follow me on Twitter @littlmissandrea (+1)
- Tweet "Enter to win tickets to the @RockyWineFood Fest in #yeg on November 3rd from @littlmissandrea! #yegfood" (+2)

For additional information, please visit the festival website here.

Contest opened to individuals 18 years of age and older. Please note that this event will NOT allow minors - not even if you are bringing an infant along with you. Winners will be chosen by random and announced on November 1st. Good luck!

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Banh mi, anyone? Who doesn't love a good Viet sub? I feel like Vietnamese subs are just a great food to have anytime, anywhere - I've never turned one down and don't think I ever will.

V Sandwiches - 10460 82 Avenue NW - Edmonton AB

V Sandwiches is located in the middle of the busier part of Whyte Avenue, easily accessible by foot or car. The interior of the establishment is a little dim, but warm, comfortable, and big enough to accommodate a rush during lunch or dinner hours. I don't know about you, but usually when I buy my subs, its pick up and go.. I never eat inside the place itself! Perhaps I'm just weird in that way? So it was a little different of a feeling having my meal inside V's.

The style of service at V Sandwiches is a self serve concept, where you go up to place your order and wait to pick it up. From what I understand, there are 12 different types of subs you can order, all served with cilantro, onions, house sauce, cucumbers, lettuce, and pickled carrots. In addition to their sandwich offerings, they also make salad rolls and soups for those colder days when you need to warm up.

For lunch I went with the Vietnamese cold cut sub, which is my usual order at my go-to sub place. At $5.75 for the sub, it was definitely more expensive than what you find in Chinatown (usually $3.50 - $4.00), but the price was compensated for by the amount of ingredients inside the sub. Look at it, it's bursting full of meat and veggies! My subs typically don't have onions or lettuce in them, but they were welcome additions, and how funny looking is that long strip of cucumber? Love it. The baguette was crisp and warm, and my lunch tasted great. Although more expensive than your typical Vietnamese Sub establishment, I would return if I was hungry and in the area.

IT'S MONDAY! And today we're doing something different.. Makeup Monday! Because I am really excited about this product and have lots of makeup reviews to go through, so nails will have to wait til next week :)

The Revlon Colorstay Whipped Creme Makeup has been available in the US for quite some time now, and I had picked it up when I made my trip down to Seattle back in August. I believe it is slowly making its way onto shelves right now in Canada, so what better a time for this review?

I'm not usually a foundation person.. as I wear BB Cream or even forego the makeup and just use concealer on a daily basis, because I don't like to have too much product on my face. That being said, I was curious about this product as there were so many rave reviews about it - and this one definitely has been living up to my expectations

First off, I'd have to say the packaging is very sturdy - heavier than what I think it needs to be, as it can probably serve as a paperweight with all the product inside. I wish it was a little more economically friendly, but the packaging is simple and clean, making it feel like a luxe product. When you open up the jar, there is an extra plastic piece to keep the contents clean, but it can be a little bit annoying to have to remove everytime. I would really prefer a pump dispenser for my products, as having to dip something into the jar for every application is not very hygienic.

Packaging aside, I've been wearing this foundation product on and off for the past month (about 3x per week) just to test it out through the different temperatures and different day to day activities, and I'm really loving it. I picked up Nude 220 as my shade, and it's perfect for me right now. My skin is slowly losing it's tan and I'm getting pale - for reference I'm usually an NC35 in the summer and NC30 in the winter.. so this shade is leaning more towards NC30. My favourite thing about this product is the mousse consistency - it feels very smooth and silky upon application on the skin, spreads flawlessly and sets with a matte finish. I use my fingertips for application, and have no issues at all - a brush would likely work just as well, but I like to warm up the product with my fingertips.

Although it is marketed to last 24 hours - I never would wear any product on my face for that duration of time. The longest I've gone is 14 hours with this foundation, and it still looks great after that amount of time, with minimal shininess - the oil control is fantastic. The application allows the product to sink into the skin, and is quite moisturizing for my face, and looks more natural after it sets. This product is medium coverage, but definitely buildable to give a completely flawless canvas on your face! It is so light once applied on skin and I can't even feel it there.

The whipped makeup is definitely best for normal or combination skin, as it will accentuate any patches of dry skin on the face. It definitely wouldn't be moisturizing enough for dry skin, unless you apply moisturizer beneath it first. This is almost the perfect product - the only thing missing is SPF protection, but I'm thinking that would likely change the light mousse consistency of the product. Luckily, I wear sunscreen under all my makeup.

I purchased this product at Target in the US for $11 - it will likely be a little bit more expensive here in Canada at any drugsstore. Have you tried this product out? Let me know what you think!

Soprano tank via Nordstrom | OASAP lace shorts (c/o) | Coach Crossbody
REPORT Sandals via Nordstrom | Coach boyfriend watch & sunglasses
Cheeky Thought Double Wrap Bracelet (c/o) | Helloberry Wishing Heart Bracelet
It's supposed to snow next week. A lot. The forecast originally said 45 cm of snow, then it went down to 15 cm, then to 2 cm, and now its back up to 10cm. Sigh, Summer is so far away and Fall was way too short this year. I think I'm going to need to take a tropical vacation soon.. :) Pictures taken at Stanley Park's Second Beach, Vancouver.

Do you know of Diana Vreeland? Do you read Vogue or Harpers Bazaar? Watch the trailer below.

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Synopsis: During Diana Vreeland’s fifty year reign as the “Empress of Fashion,” she launched Twiggy, advised Jackie Onassis, and established countless trends that have withstood the test of time. She was the fashion editor of Harper’s Bazaar where she worked for twenty-five years before becoming editor-in-chief of Vogue, followed by a remarkable stint at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, where she helped popularize its historical collections. DIANA VREELAND: THE EYE HAS TO TRAVEL is an intimate portrait and a vibrant celebration of one of the most influential women of the 20th century, an enduring icon whose influence changed the face of fashion, beauty, art, publishing and culture forever.

Now you might be wondering why exactly I'm bringing this film up, and it is because the movie is coming to the Princess Theatre in Edmonton a week from today on October 26! eOne Films has given me a double guest pass to give away to one of my readers to use anytime while the film is showing in the city.

To Enter: this step is mandatory
- Leave your name and email for me in the giveaway widget!

Optional Additional Entries:
- Follow me via GFC on this blog or Twitter(+1 entry each)
- Tweet about the Giveaway with the following message: "I want to win a double guest pass to see @dvDianaVreeland in #yeg from @littlmissandrea!"

Entries will be accepted until October 25, 2012, and winners will be announced and contacted to receive their prize. For more information on the movie, visit the official website here. Good luck everyone!

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Tutti Frutti is popping up everywhere! Not only all over the city of Edmonton, but also in cities across Canada. Not that I'm complaining.. truthfully, I'm thankful that there's many locations nearby and one will be opening up very close to my home within the next year... dangerous.

Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt - #1787 West Edmonton Mall (8882 170 Street) - Edmonton AB

The West Edmonton Mall location marks the opening of the third location here in Edmonton, and to celebrate, Tutti Frutti was giving out free yogurt from 12-3 PM, in addition to a plethora of amazing prizes. I had arrived shortly after 11 AM to attend their media event, and a huge line had already started forming for the event starting at noon. That's dedication right there.

I'm sure it's no surprise that Tutti Frutti is my preferred frozen yogurt available in this city. The freedom to control portion sizes and toppings, and the wide range of appetizing flavours always has me coming back to this brand, regardless of whether it is hot & sunny or cold and snowy outside.

The franchise's dedication to supporting local groups is inspiring as well. At this grand opening, Tutti Frutti donated $25000 to Project Extreme - a non-profit organization with programs targetted for teens-at-risk and their families. The Whyte Avenue location has supported the Stollery Children's Hospital, and the Southgate location has cooperated with the Edmonton Food Bank. Thank you so much for giving back to the community!

Despite residing in the largest mall in North America, this location is the smallest of the Tutti Frutti locations in Edmonton. The store itself has 3 yogurt dispensing machines, meaning that only six flavours are available at any given time. The toppings area is smaller, which compromises the variety, but there are still multiple choices that can be used to top off the yogurt. Fresh fruit, candy, dry toppings.. you name it, they will have some form of it.

With the small space, there is no seating available, but there are plenty of seats nearby in the mall. Or multitask like me, and eat and shop at the same time ;) With that.. I will leave you with some fun pictures from the event! Thanks for having me, Tutti Frutti!


Michelle's little one excited for toppings

Michelle's beautiful yogurt



Now that Tutti Frutti is in the mall, they will be competing with Pinkberry. Have you tried both? Which one do you prefer?

And here we are at the start of another week! Well technically the end of the start.. since it's 10PM where I am and probably already Tuesday everywhere else. School is crazy busy, forgive me :)

Today I wanted to share my favourite manicure I've done for the Fall season, and almost feel like it's my favourite of all time now. First up, as a base I used Essie's shade Carry On from the Fall 2011 Collection.

Carry on is a very dark eggplant creme shade, and can come across as black under darker indoor lighting. However, in the sunlight outside, it definitely comes across as a dark vampy purple shade.

The colour does apply darker than it appears in the bottle, but I don't mind sporting the darker shades for the fall season. Carry on has awesome staying power, lasting 5 days chip free, and the smooth formula applies beautifully.

Because the shade is so dark, I knew a flakie topcoat polish would do just the trick to amp it up for fall. I applied one coat of Essie's Shine of the Times - one of my all time favourite topcoats.

The gorgeous flakes flash from deep orange, to yellow, and to green depending on the angle - tell me that doesn't remind you of fall! I honestly could not stop staring at my nails for a couple days and can't wait to wear a combo like this one again. The shades in Shine of the Times really pops over any dark shade!

What do you think of when I mention the Caribbean? Jamaica? Most people will think of the warm weather and probably the beach.. but I think of jerk chicken. HAHA, yes, I'm rather unusual :)

Irie Foods - 10152 82 Avenue - Edmonton AB

Irie Foods is located on Whyte Avenue, to the East of the railway tracks - an area I don't typically find myself in when I'm on Whyte. But if I'm venturing out for food.. I'll basically go anywhere!

The restaurant itself is not too big, but with enough tables and chairs to seat around 20 people at any given time. When I arrived around dinner time on a weekday, there were patrons, but not enough to consider it a dinner rush. And it was probably better that it wasn't too busy considering they only had one server working.

To start off, we wanted to try out some of the specialty sodas they had, and settled with grapefruit and cream soda Island Soda. I love trying drinks from different places, and while it was just a regular flavoured soda, I definitely needed a drink to pair with the entree I had ordered.

At Irie Foods, every entree comes with your choice of soup or tossed salad. Seeing as it was a colder day, I opted for their offering of soup: chicken and dumpling. The chicken soup had a nice mild flavour, but was quite starchy due to the dumpling and potato in it. Different from what I was expecting, but a nice way to warm up nonetheless.

Another choice you get to make with an order or an entree is the side it is served with. You can have rice & peas, white rice, or roti for $1 extra. My friend ordered the Oxtail Stew served with roti ($17) - delicious. The meat was fall off the bone tender and seasoned perfectly. We weren't a big fan of the roti though, it was cold and quite tough.. not the typical roti we're used to.

For myself I ordered the jerk chicken with rice & beans ($16). Super delicious and oh-so-spicy. This is where my drink came in handy, minus the fizziness which intensified the spiciness. The rice and beans were bland, and with the tender chicken seasoned so well, it made the rice even more tasteless. But I'm wondering if it is served that way so that it can balance and tone down the flavours in the chicken. That is exactly what I ended up doing with the rice and things worked out in the end.

Irie Foods is definitely a great place to check out if you've never tried Caribbean cuisine before. The flavours are unique, the food is great, and the prices are reasonable for a meal. Thinking back, I can almost feel my tongue burning still from that jerk chicken, but it's a good burning. Mmm.

Dress: Talula (Aritzia) | Belt: Chain from Coach Bag | Hat: Bluenotes
Sandals: Report via Nordstrom | Accessories: Coach Boyfriend watch,
Cheeky Thought (c/o), Helloberry
It's definitely cooled down a lot here in Edmonton - I wake up to frost on my car in the mornings! It's got me thinking of summer and my trip down to Vancouver back in August.. where everyday I was able to walk down by the ocean. It's supposedly going to snow this week here, but I'm crossing my fingers and hoping my local meteorologist is terribly incorrect. Summer, come back!

Happy Thanksgiving to the Canadians & Columbus Day to the Americans! I'm having Thanksgiving dinner with my family tonight - can't wait to gorge on turkey and pass out in a massive food coma. So much win. But on a more serious note, I'm very thankful not only for my amazing friends and family, but for everyone that reads my blog! The blogging community is so amazing and supportive, I've made many friendships, and I'm blessed to have crossed paths with all of you!

With Fall in full force here in Edmonton, it was only fitting for me to don a darker shade on my nails this week: Power Clutch from the 2011 Essie Fall collection.

So is this darker shade supposed to signify a person having a position of power? Haha, wearing darker shades makes me a feel more confident, while lighter shades are softer and more feminine.. is that where it comes from?

Power Clutch is a green-grey smoky creme shade, living up to the amazing creamy formulas that Essie consistently produces. The colour itself did apply darker on the nail that in the bottle, but I like the dirty colour quality that it has. Dirty grey, yeah.

The polish itself was very pigmented, and shown opaque here in two coats. I probably could've gone with one thicker shade, but the two thin coats allowed for a smoother application. The shade wore for up to 4 days chip free, and looked great paired with my darker fall outfits :)

Have a great week everyone!