Hello, Beautiful... Here's a Giveaway For You!

I just got back from an amazing quick trip to Toronto. Thank you, Almay Canada, for flying me to Toronto and for putting me up in the ultra-cool Hotel Le Germain at Maple Leaf Square, so I could attend the beautiful breakfast event at Aria. It was a lovely treat, and a pleasure being there in person. Are you ready to talk makeup? (And win some great beauty products from Almay, too?)

Almay is a brand we all know and love, but did you know that Almay was the first hypoallergenic cosmetics brand? Almay uses hypoallergenic ingredients, and tests all products with dermatologists and ophthalmologists. This is really important to me, becuase what I put on my face as part of my beauty routine has to pass a few tests—and Almay passes, with flying colours. Almay is celebrating its hypoallergienic heritage with a fresh take on beauty—pure beauty.

Almay understands that women and moms are busy—we wear many hats, and accomplish more before 9 a.m. than is sometimes humanly possible! We juggle full-time jobs, meet deadlines, attend meetings, get the children ready for school, take our children to their after school activities, volunteer, run the household, and, somehow, we make time for ourselves.

Almay knows that mornings are busy, and they've helped simplify my beauty routine with a few beauty product must-haves, like:

Almay Smart Shade Skintone Matching Makeup: Almay Smart Shade Skintone Matching Makeup is a great foundation that is very lightweight, complete with SPF 15. The perfect start to your beauty routine.

Almay One Coat Get Up And Grow Mascara: Mascara can be tricky; many different brands promise amazing things for your lashes but few actually work as well as they say they do. I had my make-up applied by a make-up artists and was blown away by how great Almay's mascara worked on my lashes, especially because it's a completely affordable product. This mascara really lengthened the look of my lashes and the anti-breakage pro-vitamin formula helps protect my lashes too. (Also, mascara applied on lower lashes? A look I was scared to try before, but now, I love!)

Almay Smart Shade Butter Kiss Lipstick: You guys, I own hundreds of lipsticks. I know I'm not alone here; shopping for lipstick is fun. Of course, very few become personal favourites of mine, and even fewer can do two things at once: moisturize my lips, and give great colour. This lipstick by Almay does both these things! I am in love with Almay's new Butter Kiss Lipstick because of the great colours and also because it's a product that does what it is supposed to. It's a creamy lipstick that is hydrating, with ingredients like jojoba, coconut oil, and vitamin E. There are 12 shades to choose from, and each lipstick is under ten dollars. Amazing.

Almay Intense I-Colou Smoky-I Kits: These eye shadow kits are perfect for creating a mistake-proof (seriously!) eye look, from day to night. This pretty eye shadow trios are easy to apply, last a very long time, and come in four shades for Blues, Browns, Hazels, and Greens, although you can definitely mix and match them to get the desired colour you want.

The Almay Eyeliner is a great smudge-proof eyeliner that lasts all day. So even if you're in the office in front of a computer all day, your eyes will look as great at 5 p.m. as they did when you first applied your make-up in the morning.

I'm also a fan of the Almay Makeup Removers for eyes and face, because they are very gentle. They also do a great job of taking off my eye make-up at the end of the day with irritating my eyes.

Not only did I discover new makeup with Almay, but I also had the pleasure of meeting the authors of How To Feed A Family—these two busy moms (and bloggers) are the new faces of Almay Canada, and hearing them talk about how they find balance in their life (with great tips like packing lunches the night before, keeping everything by the front door, cooking dinners that become lunch the next day, and using the weekend to do some batch cooking or baking, so you'll have something for the kids to eat during the week) was helpful. Laura Keogh (former Beauty Director of FASHION Magazine) and Ceri Marsh (former editor-in-chief of FASHION Magazine) were lovely to speak to, and have motivated me to cook more. (Thanks, ladies!)

We even got to take home cookie mix, and pick our own toppings. A beautiful breakfast event in Toronto, in a room full of amazing, smart ladies, while testing out the latest beauty products by Almay? A perfect day.

I'm giving away something special from Almay, for one of my lovely readers, too! Enter to win a package that includes the book How To Feed A Family, and the latest beauty products from Almay Canada.

Just leave me a comment below sharing one tip that helps you get out the door in the morning! Please remember to leave your contact information, too.

Winner will be selected randomly on February 27th.

Good Luck, beautiful!