Posted @withregram • @theplantedarrow We’re getting ready for our first annual Christmas Market. Over 70+ vendors Outdoors - downtown Winchester Corner of St Lawrence & Main Nov 13th, 10am to 3pm Mask required There will be an entrance and and exit, with a directional flow so please be aware. Sign in will be required for contact tracing. No vaccine passports necessary We look forward to seeing everyone!! FOLLOW OUR FB EVENT PAGE FOR VENDOR DETAILS!! #shoplocal #christmasmarket #winchesteron #theplantedarrow #shopcrawl #loadsofgoodies https://www.instagram.com/p/CVRSEr4lzrC/?utm_medium=tumblr
Posted @withregram • @the.heritage.house.health.spa We will certainly miss seeing so many wonderful faces this weekend. We look forward to seeing you throughout the season. Thank you for supporting our local businesses. ❤️ #shopcrawl #heritagehousehealthspaevents #covid_19 #thankyyouforyoursupport #localbusiness https://www.instagram.com/p/CHSlYbph-ie/?igshid=1wdlya0ek1mjv
ChickAdvisor, a blog that brings you beauty, fashion, reviews and deals updates. Fashion Magazine, a magazine that brings you updates on beauty, fashion and the happenings in Canada. It only makes sense for these two to collaborate on a shop crawl to promote Ford's 2014 Fiesta. During the main event, you get deals from Calvin Klein Underwear, Jacob, Banana Republic, Gap, Pandora, William Ashley, Nine West, H&M, and Guess. The part that grabbed my attention the most was the swag bag, which was initially worth $200 but then became worth $300.
When I arrived at the Bata Shoe Museum, they had a red carpet layed out to take pictures on, which photographers with iPads took so they could email it right away to you. They also had a little beauty chair for makeovers and touch ups. When I registered, they gave me a complimentary coconut water, which is super healthy and hydrating. Shopping in each one of the participating stores made me feel like a VIP. I thought it was pretty well organized. Few of the locations had DJ's that were mixing up really fun music to get you into the mood for shopping, socializing and having a lot fun with your friends. They also had tags with picks from Fashion Magazine and ChickAdvisor to help people pick out the hottest pieces from collections.
At a lot of the participating stores, there were complimentary freebies. Mostly a lot cute little water bottles with their logos on it, but they also provided snacks since running around shopping can work up an appetite. Most of the snacks were little sweets like candy and cupcakes. There were a lot of draws to win extra free stuff in most of the stores.
There was also an overall Shop Crawl draw. Everyone received a passport to shop, where one side had all 9 retailers, where you had to gain stamps for going to each store. Once you have all 9 stamps, you are entered into a draw to win a gift. The passport is also the ticket to the swag bag, which was up for pick up at the end of the event (before the after party). The after party was a time for socializing inside the Bata Shoe Museum with drinks (including alcoholic) and food.
Now the moment of truth. What was in my swag bag? Initially they advertised the swag bag to be worth $200, and then they upped it to $300. I decided to take pictures, putting the products in groups, because you probably can't see everything too well in my overall picture. It was a lot and I was impressed with the amount given.
I'm going to start with food, just because I'm aiming to save best for last. I was impressed that all of these products were full sized and not sample sized. First up was the Quaker Harvest Crunch Granola Bar, which is a brand new product that just went up on the market. It comes with 5 bars in the box. It's made out of quinoa, which is a type of healthy whole grain filled with nutrients and fibre. What I'm most excited for is the chocolate and nuts, which is one of my favourite sweet granola bar combinations. Also, I really like eating chocolate so I was so excited when I saw these Hershey's whole almond milk chocolate bars. I initially thought I only got one when I looked inside the bag, but once I took out everything and organized it for pictures, I noticed I had two. They also have this Newsfruta water flavouring, which is a good product for people who don't like the taste of water and are health conscious.
Next are hair products all from John Frieda, which is a pretty good and established brand. They're most known for their hair oils and anti-frizz products. They gave sample sizes of:
Brilliant Brunette colour protecting shampoo;
Brilliant Brunette colour protecting conditioner;
Luxurious Volume fine to full blow-out spray;
Frizz-Ease curl perfecting spray;
And Frizz-Ease 3-day straight for curly hair semi-permanent styling spray.
I don't have coloured hair or curly hair, so 4 of the products are kind of useless to me. I have extremely straight hair that's naturally dark brown/black (hints of brown is mainly from being sun bleached) and fine that goes flat easily. I think the blow-out spray would be super useful when I have the time to blow-out my hair in the mornings.
Considering that Shop Crawl is mainly a fashion shopping event, it only makes sense for there to be fashion related items in the swag bag. I really like how they gave us all a complimentary copy of the latest Fashion magazine, which is great to give inspiration for the styles and trends for the FW13 season. When I saw the H&M bangles, I was really concerned with the sizing. All one size fits all bangles/cuffs never fit my smaller wrists, unless I get them from Asia. What I was really happy about was that it's actually sized and I received it in a xs/s, which is perfect for my smaller wrists. If wear them, I don't have to worry about bangles falling off my hands or getting into the way of my everyday activities. It also came with a "gift card", which is actually more of a coupon, to Guess. The gift card gives $20 off a purchase of $75+, which expires December 31st. I suppose I can use this during boxing week, since it doesn't state that it exclude sale items.
These are the products that I consider as everyday products. They gave us a full sized honey body butter from The Body Shop, which smells amazing and delicious. I love their body butters already, because they're so thick and hydrating. After 2 days of using it in the winter, my body feels so hydrated. They provided a coupon for 50% off any item, whcih I know I'm going to save for a holiday gift pack or their BB cream to try out since I've heard only good things about it so far. There was also a full sized Burt's Bees Toner and Clean & Clear morning burst facial cleansers. I was actually disappointed that the cleanser and toner weren't from the same brand, because I don't know how I feel about mixing products from different facial cleansing systems. I've tried it before and it never worked as well as staying with the same brand and line of products, but these two could work together? Who knows. I used morning burst when it first came out and I thought it was okay during the time, but it wasn't my favourite cleanser. My hope is that this one is an updated version, which will work better. There was also a pack of 3 tampons (2 different kinds), which would be useful to just keep in my bag for when girls approach me and ask if I have one. I got a full size product of Elizabeth Grant's Biocollasis Complex, which is an aging day serum, which I think I could actually use on an everyday basis. Although I'm pretty young at 23, it's never too early to care or your skin and pumping nutrients in so your skin ages well. They also gave a sample of Anew Clinical deep recovery cream, which I'll give a try even though it's not enough to actually determine its effectiveness.
Lastly, I have full sized products of all these cosmetics. Oh yes! I was excited when I saw the Vera Wang Be Jeweled, which I knew retails at $50+. I generally like light and sweet scents from vanilla to fruits to florals, so this perfume would be interesting to try out. My favourite thing from this swag bag was the Benefit "They're Real" mascara, which is currently my favourite mascara. I got a small sample size for my birthday from Sephora and I did a review on it 2 weeks ago. Holding onto that one and not ever letting it go! I got a Nicole by OPI in collaboration with Selena Gomez nail polish, which is pretty good but the colour isn't something I would gravitate towards. It's very young and youthful, but it may be a bit too juvenile for my taste and it doesn't match my skin tone. I got a red lip crayon from Avon, which would be great for those bold lip and bombshell makeup looks. My friend got one in nude, which I actually was considering swapping with just because I gravitate towards more natural looking makeup or focus on the eyes. Lastly, I received a chocolate brown lipstick from Revlon, which isn't a colour I would use. I think it's too dark for my preference and skin tone, but I've heard nothing but good things about Revlon lipsticks.
Overall, the Shop Crawl was a really fun shopping experience that made me feel like a VIP and I enjoyed the swag bag since there were full sized items that I would actually use. Slowly, I'll be doing reviews on the products I actually try out. I'll keep you posted.
