My Favourite Restaurants in Toronto ♡

In alphabetical order!

I can't rank them, because they each have their own charm :)
I left a hyperlink to each restaurant, so click away~

$$ moderate     $$$ expensive

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♡ Cafe Belong ♡
This cafe/restaurant is located at the beautiful Evergreen Brickworks market/park.
The best time to go is during the weekends in the spring/summer, when they have the
farmer's market. You can also hike up the hills and get a great view of the CN Tower and
the city. Many people walk their dogs in this area. You will also find many families here.
This is also a great place for dates, hanging out with friends, or just having a stroll by yourself.

$$$ 💐 550 Bayview Ave, Toronto, ON. M4W 3X8
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♡ Hibiscus Cafe ♡
This small cafe uses organic ingredients, while using sustainable materials.
Their salad is colourful, flavourful and nutritious! This is also a vegan cafe
and yes, they serve vegan cheese with their crepes :) It's located at the Kensington
Market, so there is a lot to see in the area. There is also an organic grocery store nearby.
There's usually a 15 minute wait time, just because the place is kind of small.

$$ 🌺 238 Augusta Ave, Toronto, ON. M5T 2L7
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♡ One Love Vegetarian ♡
This small take-out/dine-in restaurant offers delicious vegan/vegetarian, Caribbean
food. They have a fairly small menu, but everything is delicious and very flavourful!
It's a very small place. There is a communal table and a couple of seats on the side.

$$ 🍌 854 Bathurst St., Toronto, ON. M5R 3G2

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♡ Woodlot ♡
This restaurant is known for their sourdough, as well as cooking with local ingredients.
Their menu changes by the season and most importantly, the food is delicious!
It's also more expensive, so it's nice to eat here on special occasions. I also love the
ambience of this place. They have an open kitchen and the lighting is dim, but during
the summer time, the natural light coming in through the large window is beautiful!
You will always find something new on the menu, but once it's gone... it's gone.

$$$ 🌿 293 Palmerston Ave., Toronto, ON. M6J 2J3

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DESSERT!

♡ Bar Ape ♡

Okay, this is not a restaurant but my favourite vegan-friendly gelato shop!

They have the best flavours in the city. No doubt. Peach bourbon? calamansi?

Yes, those are some of their flavours. The best part is... they have a new flavour

pretty much every week. You can follow them on Instagram to find out more.

Sometimes, they have vegan soft serve or gelato bars! :p

$$ 🍧 283 Rushton Rd., Toronto, ON. M6C 2X6

♡ Zimt Vegan Chocolate ♡

I found this vegan chocolate over a few months ago and I love the packaging!

Not only is it vegan, it's also organic, raw, and ethically sourced!

Introducing Zimt! The founder is from Vancouver, Canada :)

Her name is Emma Smith. Thank you for producing these amazing treats!

I will always love my mint chocolate combo, but they also have a maple

and rosemary combo, which I enjoy. The ingredients list is super simple and

you can understand every ingredient that you are reading.

This bar includes:

cacao nibs, coconut sugar, cacao butter, peppermint essential oil
Yep, that's it.

Raw: meaning it is not processed with heat. Raw chocolate is Cacao.

Cocoa is processed cacao with heat.

Find a location near you here!

Thank you for reading.

I just wanted to share this random favourite :)

♡

Resolutions Ambassador for Well.ca ♡

Guess what!?

I've been selected to be one of the New Year's Challenge participants for Well.ca!

I received $100 to spend on the website, so here are the items that I picked out!

Thank you Well.ca! I shop on the website frequently!

#wellnewyear #wellnesshaul #wellnessdelivered

♡

So what were my resolutions for this year?

I want to support companies who care about the environment, on a social or ecological level.

To start off, I will always look for organic products, but that's just a starting point.

There is so much more involved in the products that we buy and how they are made.

Looking for labels that are also non-GMO is also important to me.

I like supporting Canadian companies as well. Products being fair trade

and biodegradable/easily recyclable is also important! Check the number in

that rotating triangular symbol. It should be a #1 or #2, for it to be easily recyclable.

I know plastic packaging is an issue and I will work on reducing!
Unfortunately 3 of the items I chose cannot be recycled :(

I've chosen very practical items! There will be some items that I didn't

really need, but have been wanting to try out *ahem, skincare*.

🍁 Canadian Product

♡ Skincare ♡

1. Andalou Naturals Soothing Face Mask
I've been wanting to try something from their '1000 roses' skincare line.
But this will be a gift for someone instead :) I don't like the packaging though.

2. Divine Essence Organic Sweet Almond Oil 🍁
I thought this would come in a spray bottle, but it came with a pipette.
I wanted to try using this as a body moisturizer, only on specific areas... specifically my legs.
They have been very dry, due to my lack of moisturizing. It's been so dry that tiny spots
have been cracking and bleeding... :( Nothing major, but you can definitely see it.

3. LaVigne Organics Mayan Magic Balm 🍁
Apparently this balm is great for people with eczema, so it must be a fairly
good healing/moisturizing balm. It also has a nice natural scent, even though
they say it's unscented... I mean, any natural product will have a scent :p

♡ Personal Hygiene ♡

4. Green Beaver Frosty Mint Toothpaste 🍁
A more affordable natural toothpaste on the market, while also being biodegradable.
It has a light texture, which others may not like, but I'm happy with this toothpaste :)

5. Dr. Brite Whitening Mineral Toothpaste
I love this toothpaste! It's expensive, so I normally would not buy this.
It has a mousse-like texture and the flavour reminds me of spearmint gum.
The consistency is not too thin or thick. It feels great in the mouth :p

6. Organ(y)c Sanitary Pads
This is a brand from Italy! They make biodegradable and organic cotton pads :)
Why organic cotton!? We come in contact with cotton everyday and it's one of the
most chemically treated plant in the world. Some of the chemicals are extremely toxic,
therefore not only affecting the water, environment, but also the people who work on a cotton farm.

7. Organ(y)c Organic Cotton Pads
For the same reasons above :) and I have a habit of using cotton pads for my face,
when applying facial toner. This is not a necessity.

♡ Food ♡

8. Bob's Red Mill Organic Quick Cooking Steel Cut Oats
I need to eat too! This will be my breakfast for the next month :p
I like my oatmeal with 1 tbsp of any nut butter, little bit of honey, banana slices
and a dash of cocoa/coconut hemp seeds! yum.

9. Central Roast Organic Raw Cashews 🍁
I love raw cashews! It's one of my favourite nuts.
I also like almonds and pistachios :)
Unfortunately, I do not like the plastic packaging :(

10. Yellow Superfood Organic Nutritional Yeast 🍁
If you've never tried nutritional yeast, then you are missing out!
It honestly reminds me of fish food flakes though.
If you are a vegan, this is a great source of vitamin B12 :)
It has a super mild nutty taste, but becomes creamy and subtly cheesy when cooked.
I love adding this to my pasta and on top of my omelette.

♡
Thank you for reading! and Thank you Well.ca for choosing me!

New Skincare Picks ♡

I went to the One of a Kind Show in Toronto recently and picked up a couple

of new items for my skincare routine! It's pretty cold where I live and it's been

snowing all week. I was at work yesterday and there was one point where I just

turned to look out the window, and it was literally all white with some tree branches.

It was beautiful! :)

Watershed Naturals | Lavender & Aloe Seaweed Moisture Mask

I haven't tried this out yet, but it was very moisturizing on the back of my hand.

I intend to use this as an intensely hydrating overnight mask. My room gets very

dry during the winter and this will be very helpful. I'm currently using an oil-based

serum at night, but even that isn't strong enough :p

Thayer's | Rose Petal Witch Hazel

I normally use the Lavender Witch Hazel, but they were sold out in the store and I couldn't

be bothered to order it online, since I was running very low. I've tried this before and I

personally prefer the lavender, but I'll give this another chance... and the bottle is adorable.

Watershed Naturals | Herbal Facial Peel

This is actually the first time I've seen a liquid peel! It's common to find them in Asian

beauty products, in the form of a gel. I love the light consistency of this peel! and it

really works, to get rid of the dead skin off the surface of your face/hands. This one also

contains much less and natural ingredients, compared to most Asian peeling gels.

Sukin | Super Greens Nutrient Rich Facial Moisturizer

I love the original Sukin Facial Moisturizer and have been using it for many years.

They recently came out with a new version, containing spirulina and kale! I was intrigued.

My friend picked this up for me, as a Christmas/Holiday gift :) Thank you Brenda! :)

I'll let you guys know if it's just as great or even better than the original! I'm still trying to

finish up my current daytime moisturizer :)

Stay warm and I hope to blog more during the holidays!!! ♡

routine. Deodorant♡

I think I have a new favourite natural deodorant :)

Introducing routine. deodorant cream!

Honestly, I bought this because of the name :p

The unscented version (which I prefer), is called "bonnie n' clyde"♡

How cute is that!? If you haven't seen the movie from the 60's, I recommend it!

♡Ingredients♡

cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), zea mays (corn, non-gmo) starch,
cera alba (canadian ethical beeswax), theobroma cacao (cocoa) seed butter, butyrospermum (shea) butter,
tocopherol (vitamin e), calendula officinalis (marigold) infused olea europaea (olive) oil

This retails for about $28-30 (eek)

But do not freak just yet, because I found this on sale for $25 at Well.ca

Okay, not a huge price difference but I still love this deodorant.

This tub will last me all year, really.

Why I love it.

♡ It's an actual cream formula!

Most natural deodorants you find are more solid, meaning it would only

melt in contact with your skin. But this deodorant is emollient at first touch!

It's a true cream formula, which I love (a mini swatch above, in the circle)

♡ It's made in beautiful Calgary, Alberta! (in Canada)

♡ The girls behind this brand named, Neige and Pippa (what freaking awesome names!?)

♡ It works for me and I tend to sweat quite a bit in the summer = some odour.

I mean, I don't have bad odour... but you know, this keeps everything from going crazy under there.

It lasts a good 6-8 hours for me :) which is beyond what I expected.

I'm on a roll with blogging! There will be another post coming up next week.

But, no promises, because we all know that I'm a liar when it comes to blogging on time :(

Natural Beauty Boxes (Canadian Edition)

Natural Beauty boxes worth giving a try, that also ship to/within' Canada!

Let's start from the least to most expensive boxes :)
These will make great gifts/holiday gifts! or perhaps something for yourself :p

VEGAN CUTS
$19.95/month + $8 shipping


SAFFRON ROUGE INNER CIRCLE
$24.99/month + FREE shipping

TRUE BEAUTY BOX
$30-40 every other month + $8 shipping


Let me know if there are any other natural beauty boxes that ship to Canada! :)

Sorry for the lack of posts! I really want to blog more, but I am busy with work/school.
Once all that is out of the way, you will definitely be seeing me again :p I shouldn't even
be blogging right now haha >> I am definitely procrastinating ><

Online Shopping (Canada)

I know there are a lot of Online Stores that provide free shipping to the United States.
I wanted to create a list of the Online Stores where shipping is free within' Canada or
provides a very reasonable and low shipping rate!

I've always had trouble looking for Canadian Online stores, but here is a list of where
I go to purchase items, while getting free shipping or shipping at a very reasonable rate!

These are all specified for Canada or worldwide.

B E A U T Y
....................................................................
www.eBeauty.ca
free shipping when you spend over $25

www.beautyeshop.co.uk
free shipping worlwide when you spend over £40

www.ecoglominerals.com
free shipping when you spend over $59
(shipping ranges from $3-7 when you spend under $59)

www.imomoko.com
free shipping when you spend over $75

www.kissandmakeupny.com
free shipping to US and Canada!

www.lilou-organics.com
free shipping when you spend over $79
(shipping ranges from $5-13 depending on province/territory)

www.well.ca
free shipping anywhere in Canada

F A S H I O N

....................................................................

www.asos.com
free shipping worldwide!

www.romwe.com
free shipping worldwide!

I'll be adding more to the list, but let me know if I am missing any you think are great! :)

Mangoes and more =]

does anyone know what the fruit beside the mangoes are called in English!? lol I know it's called "po-to" in Cantonese >>

and Happy Canada Day!!! <3