Posts tagged Pointers

Goodlife personal trainer and FPR team friend, Jen Kern, is back on The F Drive to help us fully enjoy our holiday season without overindulging in it:

With the holidays just around the corner, the majority of my clients all have the same question: how can I enjoy the holidays and still fit into my Louis Vuitton skirt or Ted Baker Borda jeans?

1) The first thing I always say is moderation is key. Whether it’s parties filled with treats or staying late at the office holiday party, make sure not to over do it. One cup of eggnog takes the average person 30 minutes on the treadmill or 20 minutes of weight training to burn off so keep that in mind before you reach for the ladle.

2) It’s also really important to make time for yourself. When planning out your week, even during hectic times like the holidays, make sure to schedule at least 3 hours of exercise. If doing one full hour is unrealistic, try and do 4 days at 40 minutes each with 30 minutes of weights and 10-15 minutes of cardio such as running, skipping or rowing.

3) The last thing I tell my clients is to relax and sleep. As busy as the holidays can be, inadequate sleep can cause your metabolism to slow drastically and those unwanted pounds will start to add on.

January shouldn’t be about starting your fitness journey; it should be about continuing it. Happy Holidays! 

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images: google.com

This week The F Drive brings you first hand tips from a Goodlife personal trainer and FPR team friend, Jen Kern, just in time for TIFF. 

With TIFF just around the corner, Toronto will be taken over by A listers like Halle Berry and Jennifer Connelly and while some may be calling “who are you wearing”, let’s take a look at what those stars do to look good in their Fidelity jeans, mini skirts and ciggy pants.

Shapely Legs:

Lunges and squats are the key to long, lean defined legs. Celebrities like Eva Mendes, Angelina Jolie, Cameron Diaz and Gwyneth Paltrow swear by these two simple primal movements. The deeper the squat and lunge, the more your glutes, hamstrings and quads will be used. Start by doing 4 sets of 15 squats and 20 alternating lunges. Once this becomes easy, grab some 10 pound dumbbells and hold them at your sides. The result will be celebrity worthy legs fit for the red carpet.

To kick it up a notch, add skipping rope for a minute between sets. Skipping is great cardio and will also help define calf muscles giving your legs a full sexy defined look in mini skirts or shorts.

Final kick, lower back extensions. Not only do they help strengthen a key part of your body, your lower back, they also work your hamstrings and glutes. The key to optimizing lower back extensions is always keeping your glutes tight by squeezing them. Do 3 sets of 15 and be sure to hold the final one for 10 seconds to really feel a burn. 

Contact Jen Kern

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images: vogue.com

As cold weather fast approaches Canada, we tend to start imagining where our winter breaks will take us. Mexico, Jamaica, Dominican Republic seem to be the most popular but what if you’re looking for culture, history and amazing restaurants, shops and wine…Buenos Aires, Argentina is calling you!

Eat: One of the best places for food to check out is by far La Cabrera. Known to all locals, this small gem, located in Palermo Viejo, is a must try!  They pride themselves on the side dish. Each steak comes with a variety of sides from the typical house salad to spinach with whipped cream cheese sauce. All with melt in your mouth and leave you full and satisfied.  Prices range from $24-$99. More importantly, if there is a waiting list… WAIT!  They bring out appetizers and champagne on the house. 

Stay: To sleep away those long days, the Four Seasons Hotel, also known as La Mansion, will fulfill your every wish. Located in Buenos Aires’s Recoleta neighborhood, La Mansión was a wedding present given by Félix de Álzaga Unzué to Elena Peña Unzué. The elegant entrance and décor throughout, the spotless pool and spa areas, the wonderful buffet breakfast and incredibly polite and professional staff will make you never want to leave! Stay the night alongside some guests like Madonna and the Rolling Stones.

Be careful, safe but most importantly drink lots of wine

Adios Amigo

With the turn of a new season, the FPR office knows this means new trends to play and experiment with.

Quickly taking over the voice of Canadian trend-setting, Dealuxe is one of our go-tos for styling ideas.

We decided to ask our good friend Susie Sheffman, fashion director at Dealuxe, to give us a fashion challenge to get us in the spirit of the current growing trends.

All of us are gearing up for the festival season and Coachella is known as the number one go-to festival in North America.

Our taskmaster Susie, dared us to go all out in festival gear for three days and judge what we came up with.

Penultimate Challenge Day: We brought in everything we could find, ransacking our wardrobes to bring in all things old and new that would work for the challenge.

We found a mix of high street trends mixed in with a few vintage gems.

We traded and planned our looks for the next three days.

Day 1: Throwing caution to the wind, the ladies and one FPR guy went all out in chic fest-wear; throwing on turbans and headwraps, wellies, layers and mix and match prints.

Day 2: The FPR office took a more refined approach, mixing hip street style in with heavy and stylized accessories, sheers and playing with texture.

Day 3: For the last day of our challenge, we were in floaty, girly dresses from short and sweet to long and dramatic. We were decked out in bold colours and layered accessories to top off our final day of festival fashion week.

Here’s what our challenger had to say about our looks:

“The Faulhaber PR team knocked it out of the park with the best of boho Coachella style. Check out our picks of Coachella fashion at Dealuxe.ca .” Susie Sheffman, Fashion Director, DEALUXE

 Holly Sherrard, Education Manager at the International Dermal Institute 

Spring is my favourite time of year – flowers are peeking through the ground, birds chirping become my morning alarm clock and best of all, the daylight hours are longer.  Along with all the wonderful changes outdoors, many people “spring clean” their homes and we should use this philosophy on our skin as well.

Throughout the winter our skin is more dehydrated and sensitized.  With warmer weather, we produce more oil and with more humidity our skin begins to normalize.  We can achieve an optimal skin condition and leave it looking like a healthy new sprout from the ground with these five simple steps.

1. Double Cleanse. Morning and night. The first cleanse removes the surface dirt and the second cleanse actually cleans the skin.  If you normally have an oily skin and use a gel-based cleanser in the winter, you may need to change to a clay cleanser for the spring and summer. If your skin lacks oil you may be using a creamy cleanser in the winter and may need to change to a gel cleanser for the new season. 

2. Exfoliate.  Dehydrated skin cells leave the skin looking dull and devitalized so remove them with a multi-functional exfoliant.  MultiVitamin Thermafoliant has fine mineral powders like silica and sodium bicarbonate to buff away dead skin cells.  The best part of this exfoliant is when water is added – it heats up to aid in penetration of active ingredients like White Tea, Lactic acid, Salicylic acid and Retinol.  The skin is left feeling soft and smooth and ready to accept the active ingredients in the next step.

3. Masque.  This is a highly under-utilized step and can make the difference between good skin and great skin.  The newly formulated Skin Hydrating Masque contains soothing botanicals and antioxidant vitamins that restore critical moisture to stressed skin and feels amazing while on the skin and after it’s been removed.  Multivitamin Power Recovery Masque, Faulhaber PR’s date night masque, has oat extracts which soothe stressed winter skin (think skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing in the cold elements) and Licorice, Panthenol, and Comfrey to further decrease sensitivity.

4. Moisturize.  Spritz on toners start the hydration process and when the skin is hydrated, it accepts more active ingredients. No matter how much oil skin produces, everyone must wear a moisturizer.  Oil-free mattifying moisturizers for oily skin, or creamier versions with Shea butter and Evening Primrose Oil for a dry skin.

5. Daylight protection.  Canadians are known for coming out of the woodwork when the weather gets warmer – off with the scarves and hats, we bare our arms and legs, we exposed our toes and soak up every last UV ray we can…unprotected!  We are so cold during the winter that we forget that the number one cause of premature aging is daylight.  The easiest way to protect your skin is to use a 3-in-1 product like Sheer Tint Moisture SPF15. It’s hydration, a sheer colour wash and daylight protection all in one easy to apply formula.

Always remember that seasonal changes lead to different skin conditions so remember to seek professional advice on alteration of products to suit the seasons and your skin or try this unique tool that will put you on the road towards your healthiest skin ever.

For more about Dermalogica visit www.dermalogica.ca @DermalogicaCDN

Guest post by Chantel Guertin, Author, Editor & Beauty Expert

The light-speed pace of a PR lifestyle can do a number on your coif. Luckily we have the lovely Chantel Guertin to explain how she keeps those tresses looking fresh. 

How to freshen up curls

To get those curls back in shape, you need to add moisture back into the hair (since moisture activates curls).

1. Use a water-based curl-activating spray (try Marc Anthony Curl Booster or Osis Pump Up My Curl) which will pump up curls and give them some structure. 
2. Use your fingers to scrunch hair. 
3. Touch up any pieces that refuse to curl with a small-barrel curling iron (I love KQC Swirl Professional Curling Iron because it spins as your curls, so you never get a dent in your hair). 

How to save your blowdry

I love starting the holiday season with a good blowdry — it will last for days and save you so much time each day, but to really make it last, you need these tricks.

1. First, don’t let the stylist spray your hair — clean hair will last longer than hairsprayed hair. 
2. Then, before bed, sweep hair loosely up to the top of your head. Twist hair into a loose bun and secure with a hair scrunchie from the 80s. Don’t have one? Tie a cotton sock around the bun. It must be cotton — no polyester allowed! 
3. In the morning, slip a shower bonnet over your high bun before hitting the shower to protect hair from any moisture. Make sure you are completely dry before you take hair out of the cap and scrunchie. 
4. Use a comb (not your fingers — they have too much oil) to smooth any frizzies or dishevelled pieces. Touch up any curls with a curling iron. 

How to rescue an up-do

If your updo is coming undone, the first step is to try to salvage the original style.

1. Swap out your regular bobby pins for Goody Spin Pins — just a few will do the work of a dozen bobby pins and keep those pieces in place for hours.
2. Then, spray your hair all over with a strong hold hairspray (L’Oreal Elnett hairspray is ideal because it brushes out easily — without white flakes — in case you really can’t save your chignon and need to start over). 
3. Use a wide-tooth comb or brush to gently smooth any unruly pieces. Even if you had a perfect updo to start, the key to the rescue is going for more of a mussed-up version of a chignon or bun. Don’t worry about every single hair being in place. 

Here are our top three must-see exhibits at the 2012 Interior Design Show. 

1. Design Icons
2. How Do You Live?
3. Studio North & Prototype

Design Icons is a larger-than-life exhibition where AZURE Magazine presents five iconic designs as enormous ice sculptures. Experience it on January 28 to 29 on Front Street, outside Metro Toronto Convention Centre. FREE ADMISSION. 

How Do You Live? a TAS DesignBuild feature, presented by National Bank, highlights Toronto’s condominium development trend with a two-storey building composed of six individual rooms. Demonstrating multi-dwelling living at its finest, each of the six rooms will be given an individual stamp by one of Toronto’s leading design firms: Jill Greaves Design, Mason, Mazen Studio, Quadrangle Architects, Theresa Casey + Robert Gray, and Youssef Hasbani/L’atelier.

Studio North & Prototype both celebrate their 10th anniversaries at IDS 12. Exclusive to IDS, Studio North was introduced to support Canada’s vibrant and independent design scene featuring ateliers and designer-makers from coast to coast. The showcase now features 60 Canadian and international designers exhibiting one-off and custom collections of furniture, lighting, glass, ceramics, textiles, and surface design in a gallery-like installation. Studio North has evolved into one of the most anticipated annual exhibits. 

The Prototype exhibit features works not currently in production by independent designers, who address the theme of innovative consumer products intended for mass production. 

Faulhaber PR is looking for a new Associate. 

We all know what they say about first impressions…

Here are some tips on how to impress during an interview and what you can do to stand out against the crowd.

The Don’ts

• Don’t… forget your resume.
• Chew gum.
• Lie – we can always tell.
• Ask them who their clients are. Or what they do. Go in knowing as much as you can about the company. 

The Do’s

• Do your homework.
• Research/look at prospective employer’s website.
• Follow their social media BEFORE you get there.
• Dress the part. Wear nice shoes, scuffed shoes show you don’t care about yourself and likely won’t about the clients either.
• Be able to drop relevant names. If you don’t know something – don’t pretend but DO spin into something you do know.

Always Follow Up

Send a hand written card, call or email a thank you for the opportunity. Send a relevant article or item of interest. Show them you are in tune with the industry. 

Guest Post by Anna Nenoiu, Makeup Artist, P1M

When it comes to makeup, New Years Eve is the perfect time for a daring dramatic look, whether you chose to accent your skin, eyes, lips or all of the above. Step out in sultry, sexy, glamorous makeup, puting your best face forward. It is very important to create a flawless face that has staying power especially for the ladies who “party like a rockstar.”

Eyes: Take your inspiration from the runway and also take advantage of this festive evening to be bold and dramatic. Experiment with metallics: Chose gold or silver eyeshadow to highlight the eyelids. Add a bit of shimmer and sparkle to the eyelid area to make your eyes pop. Next line your eyes with liquid eyeliner in black. The caviar-like shine of the liquid liner will frame the eyes perfectly giving them a smokey smoldering effect. For an extra punch, line the tear line (bottom inside of eyelids) with black pencil eyeliner. Nothing gives eyes more drama and sex appeal then long fluttery eyelashes. Therefore false eyelashes are a magnificent way to pull the focus to your eyes. My personal favorite is using individual eyelashes because I can control the intensity I want to achieve. However eyelash strips come in a variety of styles in terms of volume, length and thickness, and are easier to apply. 

Skin: A seamless complexion is a must and can be easily created with the right foundation for your skin type and color. For super staying power start with clean moisturized face, smooth foundation primer on to your eyelids, forehead, nose and chin (T-zone area that tends to get oilier and shinier then the rest of the face). Apply foundation with a foundation brush for smooth, even application and blend it well into the neck line. (There is nothing less attractive then seeing the separation of skin and foundation at the chin). To help your foundation last longer dust your face LIGHTLY with a setting powder. Cheeks get highlighted with blush first and then a touch of golden bronzer for flushed skin that appears radiant and luminescent from within. 

Lips: Accent your lips with a bold bright color such as red, orange, or hot pink. There are a variety of lipstick textures from creamy to shiny or matte. It’s really up to you. 

New Years Eve is a great opportunity to show off a dramatic, sexy makeup look, that is a bit more daring and extravagant then on any other night of the year!

Guest post by Julia McEwen, Senior Beauty & Fashion Editor, Canadian Living Magazine

When navigating the city from deskside to client meeting to launch event, a woman needs a ‘do that will stay put. At FPR we prefer a style that is sleek, sophisticated, professional and easy.  We recruited the unofficial Queen of the bun, Julia McEwen, to share her secrets on looking fabulous, without too much fuss.

Thanks to this amazing hair contraption called “the hair doughnut” I can give myself a quick style that takes my hair off my face and neck — and it still looks like I’ve spent some quality time finessing the ‘do. Truth be told, it only takes two minutes from start to finish. 

This mesh doughnut works for all hair types; fine, thick, coarse, curly or straight. It’s particularly great for thin haired gals because it gives the appearance of mega volume. Choose one that matches your hair colour and pick a size, they range from petite to xxx-large.

Here’s how to get the Oscar de la Renta, high chunky bun.

• Using a brush, pull hair back into a ponytail. You can wear it low, medium or at the crown of your head. The choice is up to you.
• Secure with an elastic.
• Thread your hair through the doughnut and bring it to the base on the ponytail.
• Cover the exposed mesh with your hair and use a bobby pin to secure the look.