Sydney Hoffman
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Niagara Grape and Wine Festival
Morgan and I had the pleasure of attending the Niagara Grape & Wine Festival this past weekend. If you watched my stories last weekend you will be able to tell very quickly we had so much fun. If you missed my stories feel free to hop over to my Instagram @syd.hoff because I have saved them all for you under my 'wine' highlight.
BUT before I get into the wine festival I have to tell you about the most amazing way to travel from Toronto to Niagara. It only took us 12 minutes to get to Niagara from Toronto. We flew with FlyGTA on one of their private charters and it was the best experience ever. We didn't have to drive for hours, or get stuck in traffic. We flew for 12 minutes. It was unreal. Because it's not a regular airport you don't have to wait hours to get on the flight. Just arrive 30 minutes before your flight and walk right on. Whenever I head to Niagara next I will 100% be using FlyGTA!
Morgan and I got to attend the opening night of the Niagara Grape & Wine Festival. It is Canada's largest wine festival series and we had a blast.
I loved getting to experience so many vineyards and visit each booth to try some of their VQA wines. I'm always looking for new wines to try and buy at home so this was such a cool experience.
One of my favourite sections of the Niagara Grape & Wine Festival was the #MyWineLife section. Basically a section with the most Instagrammable spots to shoot.
A giant wine bottle, a tower of champagne and boomerangs on a swing were just a few of the many options.
If you have VIP passes ($15-$30 that's it!) which I highly suggest you purchase, you can have access to all three VIP lounges. Harvest Lounge, Sommelier Lounge and Wine Garden Lounge which all have access to premium bars, comfortable lounge seats with amazing views of the stage and the best washrooms!
There's always a DJ playing good tunes but in the evening, they have a live band perform. The night we attended, the band Dwayne Gretzky were performing. Morgan and I haven't danced like that in a very long time. We had an unbelievable time. We finished the night with a stop at one of the food trucks in the festival and devoured the best duck fries ever.
If you want an even more in-depth look into our night, head over to our YouTube page because we documented the whole night as well!
Click for Niagara Grape & Wine Festival YouTube video (here)
-Sydney Hoffman
*This post was sponsored by Niagara Grape & Wine Festival. However, the views and opinions expressed in this blogpost are purely my own.*
Thursday, July 4, 2019
LCBO Rosé
Cheers to Rosé!
A few weeks ago, I attended the Wine & Spirit Festival at Sugar Beach in Toronto and it was so much fun. I hung out at the LCBO Rosé Cabana Lounge with wonderful people and learned some amazing facts about rosé. I also found my new favourite bottle...it was a good day!
At the LCBO Rosé Cabana Lounge we got the chance to try four different rosés.
- Red Knot Rosé - Australia - Extra dry - Easy going & fruity
- JP Chenet Sparking Ice Edition Rosé - France - Medium sweet & flavourful - Fruity
- Bodacious Rosé - Ontario, Canada - Medium Sweetness - Plenty of red fruit flavours
- Fantini Rosé Cerasuolo D'Abruzzo - Italy - Medium-bodied dry - Red berry aromas
It was so nice to try so many different types of wines from all different countries. I also learned a lot while tasting rosé at the LCBO Rosé lounge.
Fun Facts about Rosé
- Rosé is the easiest thing to pair with foods
- Some heat or spice in your food can bring out the fruit in your rosé
- Colour does not dictate how sweet or dry the rosé will be
- Shrimp is great with rosé
I was shocked when I learned that the colour of rosé has nothing to do with how sweet or dry it will be. I always assumed a darker rosé would be super sweet and the lighter rosé would be dry. Not the case! The colour just depends on how thick or thin the skin is and how long the winemaker lets the juice sit in their skins.
I found a new favourite rosé while I was taste testing at the LCBO lounge. Red Knot Rosé is absolutely delicious. This rosé blends together pinot noir, shiraz and grenache. It has such a gorgeous crisp, citrus and floral taste. This is so refreshing for summer. It would be perfect for a cottage weekend or a backyard dinner!
How cute is this LCBO Rosé Cabana lounge!? If you missed the opportunity to visit the Wine & Spirit festival last weekend you can still check out the LCBO Rosé Lounge at Sounds of Leslieville July 5-7 and Canadian Food Truck Festival in Burlington July 19-21.
I'm so excited to keep trying new rosés throughout the summer because LCBO released 17 new rosé brands!
I would love to know what your favourite rosé is!?
-Sydney Hoffman
*This post was sponsored by LCBO. However, the views and opinions expressed in this blogpost are purely my own.*
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
May Favourites
Here are some of my favourite products I've been using in the month of May!
This is the perfect light-weight tinted moisturizer that gives you a glow while protecting your skin with SPF 30. BareMinerals is cruelty-free and free of Parabens, Phthalates, Fragrance, Chemical sunscreens, Sodium lauryl sulfate, Mineral oil, Triclosan, Formaldehyde, Talc, Gluten and animal-derived ingredients. I've been using this everyday this month and will be perfect for the summer months.
1'Lux - Velvet Blonde Emollient Body Oil
This is such a luxurious, hydrating oil. I can feel my body super moisturized even the next day. If you have dry skin you should definitely try this out. I apply this after I get out of the shower while my skin is damp. 1'Lux is cruelty-free and they do not use any toxic ingredients in their products.
1'Lux Velvet Drops Daily Botanical Body Lotion
This lotion feels light-weight but still moisturizes my skin. I've been going back and forth using the 1'Lux oil and this lotion. The scent in both products is AMAZING.
Hubble Contacts
I wear contacts almost everyday. Last year I changed from monthly contacts to dailies and saw a huge improvement. However, I still noticed I would get tired quickly and my eyes would still feel pretty strained when I wore contacts. I decided to order from Hubble just because it was cheap. Possibly the best contacts I've ever tried. If I put them in early my eyes don't burn or feel strained. I can wear them for the majority of the day and feel completely fine. Truly like they are not even there.
I usually use a brow powder for better application and for a more natural look. However, when I started using this product it made my eyebrows look natural and the colour glided on so smoothly I could finish my brows in no time.
I love using this on my body in the shower. There is zero sulfates, gluten, dyes, propylene glycol, parabens, phthalates and not tested on animals. This is gentle on my skin and does a great job cleaning my body. I've even used this on my face before and it's great. You can buy Renpure products at Target, Walmart, Amazon, CVS and Walgreens.
I have been absolutely in love with this shampoo this month. It says it's meant for normal to dry hair but I have greasy hair and I love it. It really deep cleans my hair but still keeps it soft and smooth. I also think this brightens my hair in a way. Maybe because it's really deep cleaning my hair it allows the colour to pop because nothing is weighing it down.
I have been using this after I rinse out my shampoo and I only use this on the ends of my hair. I have no idea if this makes my hair blonder but it does moisturize my ends really well. I've been using this on my ends almost every single time I shower.
-Sydney Hoffman
*Some links in this blogpost are associated with RewardStyle affiliant link. Some products in this blogpost have been gifted to me*
Monday, May 27, 2019
Canadian Skincare Brands
I've been obsessing over a few skincare brands lately and soon realized they were all Canadian brands. I thought it would be perfect to put together a blogpost featuring some of these amazing Canadian brands.
1 Lux Beauty is one of the newest brands I've been introduced to. I legit fell in love with the entire collection. 1 Lux is a Canadian brand that prides itself on clean, zeo-toxic, botanical based body care products. They are also cruelty-free. I've never fallen in love with an entire collection before...instantly.
Some of my favourite products include:
- Velvet Blonde Emollient Body Oil
- SRSLY Buffed Dry Brush
- Velvet Drops Daily Botanical Body Lotion
- Velvet Mitts Hand & Nail Créme
- Cocoiste Soft Lip Scrub
1 Lux Beauty knows how much I'm in love with their brand, so they wanted to offer you guys 20% off all products using the code 'SYDNEY' until May 31st.
Cake Beauty is a brand I've known for a while now but had no idea was Canadian. Heather the founder & CEO started the brand in Kitchener, Ontario. She wanted the brand to have that girlie indulgence but with natural ingredients. Cake Beauty has created naturally luxe confections beyond bath & body into haircare and specialty items. Cake Beauty is cruelty free and vegan. When I first tried out the hand cream and foot cream below I was genuinely shocked. They were so thick, soft and luxurious.
Some of my favourite products include:
- Cake Walk Foot Cream
- Cake Heavy Cream Hand Cream
- The Take Out Dry Shampoo Sheets
- Cake The Wave Maker
Nuda is a fairly new Canadian brand that specializes in spray tanning products. They do sell a lot of their products to tanning salons but you can also purchase the Nuda skincare line. Nuda includes natural, handpicked ingredients that are vegan, cruelty-free, made without paraben or gluten. The last few months I've been using their tanning lotion and absolutely love the natural glow is gives me.
Some of my favourite products include:
Barefoot Venus is a brand I've talked a lot about. Barefoot Venus is a Canadian brand from out west. Three sisters created the company and they make straight-up natural products in seductive scents. Everything from the packaging to the scents are truly wonderful. My mom and I are both in love with the brand and our favourite scent is Maple Blondie.
Some of my favourite products include:
What are some of your favourite Canadian brands!?
-Sydney Hoffman
* Some of these products in this blogpost have been gifted*
Labels:
Best Canadian Skincare,
Canadian,
Canadian Skincare,
SkinCare
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