Reviews

I started getting massages since I was 13 years old and I have experienced a wide variety of massages: relaxation, deep tissue, hot stone, reflexology, Thai, Swedish, pre-natal, even an internal mouth massage, the list goes on. Because my muscles are naturally tense and knotted. 

When my brothers and I were young, my mom hired a Chinese "see fu," a reflexology master for weekly visits. When the door bell rang, my brothers and I would cringe and rock paper scissors to see who would go first. "See fu" had a tool set that he would roll out onto the carpet. He used a stick, much like a pestle, a blunt, club shaped object. Man, did it hurt when he started digging into my feet. I am surprised that experience didn't turn me off to reflexology in my adulthood. I can look back now and laugh. Today, my ultimate favourite style of massage is Japanese Shiatsu. 

In the Japanese language, shiatsu means "finger pressure." Shiatsu uses hands and fingers, and is mainly applied with a perpendicular pressure toward the muscles, which minimizes hurting muscle fibres and internal tissues. 

My most recent massage was on Saturday, January 29th was one of the best I have ever had.  Kashia at the Coquitlam Centre was phenomenal. I couldn't recommend her enough. She was friendly, attentive and made sure I was comfortable.  Her soft demeanour gave me a calming vibe that helped me relax. Once she started the massage, all her energy flowed through her fingers onto my body. FANTASTIC. Another incredibly strong therapist is Mia from the clinic. If you are in need of a massage I give this clinic 8 fingers and 2 thumbs up!

There are 7 Japanese Shiatsu Clinics in the lower mainland from Vancouver to Surrey and on their website, you can book online  with ease.  

https://www.shiatsupractor.com/

Thank you for dropping into A Path Well Written, A Blog about Life, Travel and Lizisms. Be well. Avec amour - Liz

*Disclaimer - The views, information, or opinion expressed in my review are solely my own. The primary purpose of the review is to educate, share and inform. This review does not constitute medical or other professional advice or service.*

My partner René's family were long time dairy farmers, he was raised on a dairy farm; so it was a little ironic when he discovered he was lactose intolerant. We have tried numerous amounts of non-diary ice creams, some better than others but none that would satisfy our palates and worth writing about until now.

When we found Nora’s at our local IGA neighnourhood grocer, we were intrigued. The packaging was simple, unassuming and welcoming. Those who know me, know I LOVE ice cream so it was necessary for me to try them all. Within the classics of this delicious  frozen treat, I have 2 favourites: mint chocolate chip and chocolate peanut butter. You can imagine my excitement when I saw that Nora’s had both flavours in their line-up. Unlike other non-diary ice cream that we’ve tried, Nora’s texture is smooth and consistent, batch after batch. The creaminess of their ice cream comes from their cashew nut base. Unless you have a cashew allergy, you'll have put it on your freezer staples list.

Flavours (in order of my favourites)

Peanut Butter & Chocolate

A rich and creamy chocolate base with lush ribbons of peanut butter throughout. It’s a perfect balance. The peanut butter provides a creamy yet crunchy texture with the oh so smooth chocolate. Kiki doesn't usually eat peanut butter, but she never passes up a serving from this tub. This is the favouite flavour of Kash and I. 

Ingredients: Cashew Base (Water, Cashews), Organic Cane Sugar, Coconut Cream, Peanuts, Coconut Oil, Cocoa Powder. Less than 1% of the following: Sea Salt, Guar gum, Xanthan gum and Locust bean gum.

Mint Chip

I’m always weary of screaming bright green mint chip ice creams. Nora’s doesn’t add artificial food colouring to theirs’. The flecks of rich dark chocolate against the colour of the coconut cream mixed with pure peppermint is never overpowering and always refreshing. According to Nora’s, there’s a reason why this is their all-time favourite. Mint Chip takes the lead in our household and is Rene, Jack, Kiki, and Lia's top pick.

Ingredients: Cashew Base (Water, Cashews), Organic Cane Sugar, Coconut Cream, Coconut Oil, Semi-Sweet Chocolate (Sugar, Chocolate, Cocoa Butter), Vanilla Extract. Less than 1% of the following: Sea Salt, Guar gum, Xanthan gum, Locust bean gum and Peppermint Oil.

Strawberries & Créme

I’m going with the kids’ vote on this one. It really is a tie for me between Strawberries & Créme and Vanilla but majority wins. The rich strawberry purée is blended into their classic Vanilla Bean base. Nora’s gives props to Mother Nature on this tasty flavour. Natural beet juice is used to add colouring to this base. Beets are pretty amazing; nature’s red dye, I have use it in some of my baking as well. 

The perfect blend of vanilla and strawberries reminds me of sundaes from my childhood. Strawberry ice cream was my mom’s favourite, I have a feeling she would have loved this.

Ingredients: Cashew Base (Water, Cashews), Organic Cane Sugar, Coconut Cream, Coconut Oil, Vanilla Extract and Vanilla Specks. Less than 1% of the following: Sea Salt, Guar gum, Xanthan gum, Locust bean gum.

Vanilla Bean

It’s the perfect backdrop to be creative with this one. The creaminess of this Vanilla ice cream is the perfect base for that milkshake or ice cream Sunday you’re craving. It’s simple and flavourful, the creamy cashew milk and real vanilla comes together in every blissful bite. Kiki would be in heaven with a bowl of Vanilla Bean a large drizzle of hot fudge or homemade caramel. I can see her eyes smiling now.

Ingredients: Cashew Base (Water, Cashews), Organic Cane Sugar, Coconut Cream, Coconut Oil, Strawberry Puree (Strawberries, Organic Cane Sugar, Natural Flavour, Beet Juice Concentrate), Vanilla Extract. Less than 1% of the following: Sea Salt, Guar gum, Xanthan gum, Locust bean gum.  

So, whether you have lactose intolerance or sensitivities in your household or simply want to try something new, grab all 4 tubs of Nora’s and find your favourites. Let yourselves be pleasantly surprised that this non-diary ice cream treat can be so darn delicious. You might never go back to dairy based ice cream again.

Kat and Tyler, René is patiently waiting for Maple Walnut, he is Quebeçois after all and is very passionate about maple syrup, according to him, there is nothing more Canadian than that.

Find more information about the history of Nora’s Non-Dairy and where their name came from, check out their website and blog at https://www.norasnondairy.com

Thank you for dropping into A Path Well Written, A Blog about Life, Travel and Lizisms. Be well. Avec amour - Liz

*The picture shown - a scoop of Mint chip and Peanut Butter & Chocolate is served with a Honolulu Cookie brought back from our last Maui trip.*

Over the years, I have seen many ads on teeth whitening. I've had laser whitening, which didn't seem to do much, I've used messy whitening strips, but none were satisfactory. I've been afraid to bleach my teeth at the dentist because of teeth sensitivity. When I first saw an ad about SNOW Teeth Whitening on Facebook, I was intrigued. 

I am a weird creature. Sometimes I have no issues dropping money on major purchases, but when it comes to the smaller purchases I can spend years pondering over it. Mel (bestie) and I have a running joke, She says if the item is $20, I will over think for a couple of years. If the item is over $1000, I'll have bought it by the end of our conversation. 

So I guess SNOW is in between, it took awhile but I am very happy with finally making it happen. I paid $181.83 USD = $237.06 CAD for the kit, I chose 2 free items; whitening toothpaste and 1 Extra Strength whitening wand.

Genetically, my teeth aren't in the best shape. I had tons of cavities as a kid, I HATED to go to the dentist, I used to hide under the waiting room chairs. I have these big bones in the bottom of my mouth. called mandibular tori, don't google it, it's not nice. It would hurt so bad when I had to get x-rays done, I would cry, hence my fear of going to the dentist. I didn't want the pain. My teeth have never been white, they're kind of a yellow translucent shade.

I'm neither a coffee or wine drinker so I know my teeth aren't stained from that, however, growing up Chinese, we were huge tea drinkers. I still am, but more decaf now that anything. The staining could be from that, but mostly genetics. 

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

1 - Accelerating LED Mouthpiece (it's like a mouth guard)

1 - Extra Strength Whitening Wand (I haven't used)

1 - 3 Whitening Wands (twist the serum out and brush on the teeth)

1 - User manual and shade guide

The instructions are simple and easy to use:

1 - Brush your teeth 

2 - Apply Whitening serum 

3 - Plus LED light into your device & Whitening for 9-30 minutes (I used my phone)

4 - Remove LED light & rinse your mouth and LED light with water 

The wired LED mouth piece is connected to 6 different attachments for different devices.

HOW SOON DID I SEE RESULTS?

I started seeing results by the 2nd day of using the kit. I was pleasantly surprised. It was as if a film was removed from the top layer and gave my teeth a lighter and brighter colour. I maximized my time and whitened 30 minutes everyday, I really wanted to see the difference. I think if your teeth aren't super yellow to start off with 15 minutes would be a good time frame. 

March 3rd 2022 concludes my 21 day challenge and I am really happy with my results. I started off as a #4 on the shade guide and now I'm on #2. You don't have to do the 21 day challenge, I would do a touch up once a week, its minimal effort. I spend a lot of time on my phone anyways, this way I can multitask or watch Netflix.

I recommend this whitening kit for the following reasons:

1 - Easy to use

2 - Reasonably priced, you can get up to 75 treatments (6 month supply) - averages to  

     $2.42 USD or $3.16 CAD per treatment

3 - Convenient to use anywhere and anytime of day (I even did it on the beach!)

4 - Only 9 - 30 minutes of your day

5 - Quick results

If you've been curious about the SNOW whitening kit, go for it! Show off that beautiful smile of your's.

Thank you for dropping into A Path Well Written, A Blog about Life, Travel and Lizisms. Be well. Avec amour - Liz