Win a gift certificate for asos.com! Survey time!

Hello ladies and gentleman,
 In appreciation for gaining over 10,000 viewers in less than a year and 250+ likes on facebook in 2 weeks, I would like to reward one of you my avid readers with a prize...a gift certificate to www.asos.com one of the world's leading fashion destinations. They sell very affordable men and women's clothing,accessoris etc. They are one of my favorite places to shop and I would love to share the opportunity to you! Even you my readers in Cameroon are eligible for the prize because asos ships to every country AND standard shipping is FREEE!! How about that??That means every penny of your gift would go towards shopping!! I would e-mail the gift certificate code to you so make sure you leave your e-mail address under the comments section after you've completed the survey!
   I just want to gather some info and how I'm doing and what you would like to see more of on the blog,that way, I can keep you coming for more! The winner will be announced on July 6th on the Facebook fan page!

To be eligible to win you MUST:
a) Have liked the fan page on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/canneverbeaskinnybish

b) Must either be following me or the blog on twitter: @yesbrendacan and @neverbeaskinnyb

and/or following the blog itself on gmail under gmail blogger.
If you are doing all 3, well you've almost practically won! LOL

Here is the link to the survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8WDY9VJ

Don't forget to include your e-mail address either as a message on the facebook page or as a comment under this post. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor!

**Note, asos.com is not endorsing this project in any way.**

A classic-LBD (little black dress) and more AfriCanada

I know it's been a while since my last post but there is good reason-I had a mini escape to Toronto!. I went with 4 other girls (yes, 5 girls in total) and we stayed together in 1 hotel room (Yes! 5 girls in 1 room!) but we ended up having a great time. We attended the Africulture Awards ceremony and fashion show where Africans in the Toronto area who have had a significant impact on their community were rewarded and there was also various displays of clothing going on throughout the night.
 As you know, I'm a contestant in the up-coming 2012 Miss Africanada pageant and some of us were there to represent! We also had interviews conducted that same night and they shall evetnually be broadcast on on RogersTV! I didn't find the interview hard at all-it was more like a conversation with a really cute interviwer,lol. (I digress!)

As you know this is more of a fashion blog so let's get down to business. I was originally supposed to have worn a really beautiful long red dress but due to a series of unfortunate events involving a make up stain I tried to remove but rather made the situation worse...I ended up wearing my back up dress-my LBD! I had never worn it publicly so this was our first outing. I paired it with bold,colorful accessories as it is quite simple,except for the cut at the front.

Necklace-H&M
Clutch-River Island
Earrings-Naori's Bijoux-a local designer here in Canada who hand makes her accessories!
LBD-Rare London

Here's a close up of the earrings (and also a bangle I wore)

Another exciting part of the night was the interviews as I mentioned earlier. Here's just a few shots of me during mine (My feet are pointed up because I was nervous, that's what my feet do when I'm nervous!lol

 

I think I pulled off the last minute change of outfit pretty well...to conclude, here's a few more shots of both me and some of the other contestants!
 Watch out for the next post-part 2 of my semi-geataway to Toronto!

We got to wear our sashes for the first time! Yay! Felt so cool walking around with my sash across me.

A few of the contestants

Shout out to Fatema and Helene! We were like the 3 Musketeers towards the end.

Wizkid In Toronto! Africans stand up again!

Soo I'm excited to be sharing this to you all but it's confirmed that the hugely well-known Nigerain artist-Wizkid will be performing in Toronto! I can GUARANTEE YOU the ladies will be looking on POINTTT and the crowd will grow crazy. This dude has a massive following of young women,he's like the Nigerian Justin Bieber or something,lol.
 He is going to be here on the 20th of July apparently. Can't wait! Especially as that would be my week off from work! Spread the news ladies and start buying your outfits! I smell a fashion competition going down.
 UPDATE** HE WILL BE PERFORMING AT LAGONDOLA BANQUET HALL 227 BOEWS RD,VAUGHAN ON, L4K 1H8.
Akon is really helping to put these artists on the world map! This is the short promo video that was released today:

 Apparently Skales and Banky W will be touring with him.

Here are a couple of Wizkid's biggest hits: Wiz Party

Pakurumo, which is a popular one played at weddings:

This one for the lovers:

and my new favorite from him featuring another group I <3, Bracket:

I personally think this is more exciting than Davido'stour here...just because Wizkid has way more material out there.
SOOOO  who's going??

Review of L'Oreal's Youth Code

So I've finally come around to posting my Review on L'Oreal's Youth Code!
First up, L'Oreal's advertising department need a raise-this product is being advertided EVERYWHERE! Whenever I open up a magazine, BAM,it's in my face,covering 2 pages in the magazine. I'll be honest,I'm not one to be easily impressed by an ad and I really only purchased this to see if it was worth the hype AND also because bad acne in the past left me with some unpleasant black scars I've been hiding with Foundation/concealer. Any product claiming to be able to relieve me of the stress of waking up 15 minutes before others in order to dust on some make up was worth a shot!
 I purchased only the Serum Corrector and not the entire kit-mostly because the entire kit was way over my budget and also because I notice that with beauty products, the serum is usually the most effective/important component of the package. This is what it looks like:

Just the box

Actual size of the Serum corrector

It cost me about $33 for this and I've been using it for about 2 months!

The box says after 1 use,you're supposed to notice more luminous skin, which was true, but sometimes it's the excitement of first usage that does that so I didn't get my hopes up!

After 2 weeks, I was honestly pleasantly surprised-I loved the way my skin felt! Note that I tend to get the occasional pimple so my face is not silky smooth, but I honestly saw a glow on my face after using this product day and night. I use a pretty generous amount and I also apply it to my neck and chest (as I also have some scarring from past acne there).
 My real moment of excitement came when my mom saw me last month (she doesn't get to see me very often) and said "wow, the black marks on your chest have decreased, have you been scrubbing Saint Ives?". And I thought, nope, it's my Serum Corrector. I had been using St Ives previously to try and get rid of the spots but it wasn't doing the trick very effectively. Note that I have been scrubbing with St Ives about once a week.
So all in all, I am really happy with the Serum Corrector and may go on to purchase the entire set (which I believe would cost about $80-$90).
  Verdict: I would recommend it to a friend but I would also inform them that they should be patient! My scars aren't completely gone but there is a huge difference and for the past 3 weeks, I have been going to work with absolutely no foundation nor concealer on! That's a record for me! My skin tone appears more even and I began to notice this after about a month of usage. Moreover It does give you a beautiful minor glow (not the awful oily type) and this little bottle goes a long way.

Photoshoot!! and Updates on Miss Africa Canada pageant

 Soooo we the contestants had a photoshoot yesterday in downtown Toronto and honestly it was so much fun. We were there for about 8 hours,shooting both the video and the pictures simultaneously. Last year's winner, Jessica Acquaye was around both to offer us some tips,advice and encouragement but also to part take in the photoshoot.
 I personally was amazed by how good my make up looked! I always get nervous whenever I get my make up done by a professional because usually they somehow manage to make me look worse than I do without any make up. My own personal make up routine for work includes just eye liner and lip gloss (occcasionally foundation) so I get nervous when the eyeliner,blush,mascara etc start coming out! I have to hand it to the lady who did it, I loved how I looked!! I feel like it gave me an exotic vibe as well and made my eyes larger. We had the well known jewlery line "Naori's Bijoux" at hand and it was a pleasure working with the designer! I have known and admired Naori's Bijoux for a while so it was quite exciting to finally get to model for her!

Please,please start buying your tickets right now by clicking on the link below. This show sold out last year guys, don't wait! Remember to choose "Brenda" as the contestant you are supporting!
http://missafricanada2012.eventbrite.ca/

Mixture of eyeshadows was great! Semi-smoky look

With my "gele" head tie for one of the scenes.

 Here I am with the regining Queen-Jessica! She's so tall! (She's like 5'10 without heels!)

Sneak peak to what the photoshoot looked like! We were fooling around on set while the photographer was busy,LOL

We wore hand made jewelry pieces by Naori's Bijoux

Another close up-you can see my bow earrings,also by Naori's bijoux

Here's what some of her necklaces look like. Beautiful colors! I just had to purchase 2 pairs of earrings from her!

All the beautiful contestants for the 2012 Miss AfriCanada pageant!!! (taken with my phone so don't mind quality)

 Become a fan of Naori's bijoux on Facebook!

Absoloutely stunning in your face color!!

Wow, I am so excited to be posting this because honestly I think this is one of my favorite looks everrr. It all came together in a jiffy but worked out to my liking (some of you may not like the pairing of the colors with the addition of the bright orange stilettos but I personally did and that's all that matters!) My favorite photographer who knows my angles the best was around and I had to cease the opportunity to work with her...she happens to be my little sister! (So shout out to Joyce!!) Here are some of my favorite shots:

Don't mind the dress strap sticking out! LOL
P.S. The huge flower ring is from a vendor on etsy.com!

Hair Flowers from H&M

 Dress from Rarelondon

Look of the day-Casually Formal

So this look came together so fast! I didn't even know if it would look right or not,but it did! and so well too.
 I paired my old blazer from lulus.com with my famous $10 H&M top that I wear almost everyday. Threw it on with my black and white stripe skirt from H&M as well and BAM! The look was readyyy. Of course I had to throw in my cute Oxfords. They made it look more chic and work-worthy!

 

YELLOW

Another piece from my girl local designer Andrea Iyamah. I love her stuff because they are always so bright and vibrant and I'm a color person all the way!! I'm pretty sure the skirt is currently sold out (that's how good she is) and I can't wait to purchase one of her retro swim wear pieces!

Blazer-H&M

I paired it with 1 of my favorite green tank tops from H&M and wore to work with my BEAUTIFUL BROOCH from TODUN DESIGNS!! I love how it just matched so perfectly to my tank.

Toilet clutch from H&M

Stilettos from Aldo

Black and white-Look of the day

Soo I'm off to bed in 5 minutes but just had to post up this look...It's a relaxed and fun one and I particularly loved my accessories-the arrow dangly earrings from lulus.com and the chain purse! I went for Frozen yogurt with my mom and sister in Westdale and we had so much fun strolling around!

I got my one phone call!

 Dress:Forever 21

Blazer:Urban planet