Healthy treats to beat the heat!

One of my favourite things about summer is enjoying a tasty frozen treat to beat the heat. But when you’re trying to eat better it can be tough. It sure isn’t easy to find healthy options at the supermarket, especially without shelling out a pretty penny. These summer treats are fun, refreshing, and best of all – healthy.

Homemade Popsicles
For less than $2 you can grab a popsicle mould at your local dollar store. These moulds are perfect for creating all kinds of healthy popsicles! Simply fill up the mould with 100% fruit juice, homemade smoothie, frozen yogurt, or low calorie pudding, pop it in the freezer and enjoy! Be creative and have fun with the ingredients, the moulds are great to experiment with.

Hawaiian Smoothie
This tasty tropical drink is easy to make, and comes with a yummy bonus. Papayas are loaded with papain, a digestive enzyme, so this smoothie doubles as a dessert option to help your stuffed tummy after a big meal!

• 1 cup chopped fresh pineapple
• 1/2 cup chopped peeled papaya
• 1/4 cup guava nectar
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon grenadine
• 1/2 cup ice

Place ingredients in the order listed into a blender. Pulse a few times until the fruit is cut up, then blend until smooth. Serve immediately (If you’re making this for kids or a party I suggest adding fun coloured straws, some cut fruit slices, or one of those cute drink umbrellas for decoration!)

For more tasty and healthy treat options, check out www.eatingwell.com! Do you have some other great healthy treats up your sleeve? Leave us a comment!

Happy snacking!

Summer on the Green

With your spring cleaning (hopefully!) out of the way, now’s the perfect time to turn over a new leaf and bring some green to your summer! Get some inspiration for ways to be a little more green.

Clean Green
Everyone has to clean and it’s usually not on the top of your list of favourite summer activities but at least now you can do it and be environmentally friendly at the same time!

Screen Green
Screen yourself from both the sun and those bite-happy summer insects!

Travel Green
Summertime is the perfect time to go on vacation. Pack light and travel green with these handy items!

Groom Green
Your furry friends have needs too and now they can be met with green goods.

Glam Green
Swap some greener items into your makeup kit and stay pretty this summer.

Well.ca does the Waka Waka!

“Today, 72 million children in the world are denied the chance to go to school. These children could be our next generation’s leaders, sports stars, doctors and teachers. But they face a lifelong struggle against poverty.” – Join1Goal.org

We’re so lucky to have a great public education system in Canada – sometimes it’s hard to remember that it’s not like that everywhere.

When we heard about Shakira’s Waka Waka campaign, we couldn’t resist making our own video! The campaign works with 1Goal to strive towards making education for all a reality.

Check out our video: Well.ca does the Waka Waka and maybe make one yourself too!

Women’s Health Best Beauty Products

We all know how hard it is to find something new to try in our beauty routine.  I’m always asking friends for recommendations and reading reviews wherever I can find them.  I recently stumbled on the Women’s Health Magazine’s Best Beauty Products for 2010 and thought I’d share them with everyone here!

If you’re up for trying something new but you’re all out of ideas, check out some of the winning products you can pick up right from Well.ca!  Click here for the full list of winners.

Best Hair Products:

Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Shampoo
Pantene Classic Care Solutions Conditioner
L’Oréal Paris Féria Multi-Faceted Shimmering Haircolour

Best Beauty products:

CoverGirl Lash Blast Volume
Burt’s Bees Replenishing Lip Balm with Pomegranate Oil
L’Oréal Paris Infallible Never Fail Plumping Lipgloss

Best for Face:

Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer with SPF 30
Olay Regenerist Daily Regenerating Serum
Clean & Clear Persa-Gel 10 – We carry Clean & Clear Persa-Gel 5
Olay Professional Pro-X Starter Protocol
Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew The Brusher Gel Cleanser

Best for Body:

Dove Deep Moisture Nourishing Body Wash with Nutrium Moisture
Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunblock SPF 45
Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Body Mist Sunblock SPF 45 Continue reading

SPF = Summer. Party. Fun!

I have very fair skin, and the terrible sunburns of my past have taught me (the hard way) just how important it is to protect ones skin from the sun.  Now that I’m older, and a little bit wiser, I try to be diligent about applying sunscreen and prefer to buy products with a high Sun Protection Factor (SPF).

According to the United States Food & Drug Administration, “SPF is a measure of how much solar energy (UV radiation) is required to produce sunburn on protected skin (i.e., in the presence of sunscreen) relative to the amount of solar energy required to produce sunburn on unprotected skin.”  So if you wear an SPF 30 sunscreen your skin will be able to endure 30 times more solar energy before it starts to burn.  Since it’s pretty difficult to estimate how much UV radiation you’re exposed to, it’s always smart to play it safe.  When you can’t cover up with clothing, opt for a sunscreen that offers broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection.  UVB rays cause sunburn, while UVA rays cause invisible damage without pain or redness.

One of the best selling sun blocks here at Well.ca is Badger SPF 30 Sunscreen.  It contains zinc oxide, one of the best natural UVA and UVB barriers, it’s made from a minimum of 60% organic ingredients, and it has a tip-top rating from the Cosmetics Database.

Stay safe this summer and have fun!

Give Dad his favourites for Father’s Day!

When Father’s Day rolls around, we always rack our brains trying to find something that we think Dad will like.  It can be so hard to think of new ideas.  My dad never wears ties so I can’t even take the easy way out and pick up one of those!

We’ve put together a Well.ca Father’s Day Gift Guide to help you out with your shopping.  It doesn’t always have to be about picking out something extravagant and new, it can be about getting more of something he already loves.  We’ve picked out some of our popular men’s products to give you a reminder of what his favourites are and to give some inspiration for new gifts.

If you want to get a little crafty this year, Kaboose has some great handmade card ideas.  They’re children friendly too so you can make a fun afternoon out of it!

Check out our handy estimated delivery time calculator to make sure your order will make it in time for Father’s Day!  For an added surprise, have it shipped directly to Dad by setting his shipping address when you make your order.

Schedule some daily relaxation

For most hard-working Canadians, taking some time away from the pattern of “work, eat, play, sleep, repeat” is vital in maintaining good mental and physical health. It’s important to schedule time for this, and stick to it. Do something every day that makes you feel calm, centred, and relaxed.

My favourite method of re-centering myself is an hour-long yoga session, 2 to 3 times per week. In fact, as time goes on, I find myself becoming more and more reliant on yoga for its many benefits, including calming relaxation, self-awareness, improved muscle tone and strength, and an increased sense of well-being. After I finish a yoga class, I feel completely refreshed and renewed.

You don’t have to spend the big bucks to become a master yogi in no time! You can purchase a yoga DVD or video game to get you started on the basics. There are plenty of online resources for yoga instruction, music, and products, too. Several Well.ca employees use My Yoga Online a Vancouver-based online yoga and wellness centre, to gain access to hundreds of videos and articles about yoga, meditation, and wellness.

Before you get started, you’ll need a nice, comfortable yoga mat to stand on, and to increase your relaxation level, try using aromatherapy! I recommend a relaxing lavender essential oil to really help you feel calm and centered.

Good luck future yogis! Namaste.

Stay Naturally Fresh this Summer!


Naturally Fresh Deodorant Crystal and Well.ca has teamed up to bring you the Stay Naturally Fresh contest! Three draws will be held weekly for four Wednesdays starting June 9, 2010

Contest winners can choose from 3 different prize packs:

  1. 1 Stick, 1 Spray, 1 Roll On (Your choice of fragrance or fragrance-free)
  2. 3 Sprays (Your choice of fragrance or fragrance-free)
  3. 3 Roll Ons (Your choice of fragrance or fragrance-free)

Click here to see all Naturally Fresh Products.

All you have to do to enter is either Tweet “I just entered for a chance to win a @NatFreshDeoCrys prize from @Welldotca! RT to enter” or go to the Well.ca Facebook page and “Like this post for a chance to win a Naturally Fresh Deodorant Crystal prize pack from Well.ca!“.

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Rules:

These Rules (the “Rules”) govern the contest (the “Contest”) running on Well.ca (the “Site”). No purchase is necessary to enter the Contest. The act of entering a Contest constitutes acceptance of the Rules and decision(s) of the Contest judge (the “Judge”).

Contest:

The Contest commences on June 2, 2010 and closes at 11:59 p.m (EST) (the “Closing Time”) on July 5, 2010 (the “Contest Period”). There are two ways to enter the contest. On June 7 and 21, 2010, this message “Like this post for a chance to win a Naturally Fresh Deodorant Crystal prize pack from Well.ca!” will be posted on Facebook. “Liking” the posts defined above is the first way to enter. The second way to enter is to tweet this message on your Twitter account “I just entered for a chance to win a @NatFreshDeoCrys prize from @Welldotca! RT to enter”. Only one entry is allowed per person, multiple tweets on the same account will still only count as one entry. No contestant may win more than one of the twelve prizes.

Eligibility:
The contest is open to all Canadian and US residents of the age of majority in their province (or territory) of residence as of the first day of the Contest Period. The Contest is subject to all applicable federal, provincial and local laws and regulations and is void where prohibited by law. There is one entry per person. Employees, agents, and representatives of Well.ca and those with whom they are domiciled, are ineligible to enter.

The selected contestant(s) will be contacted by email by representatives of Well.ca. The selected contestant(s) must respond within 72 hours to maintain eligibility. In all matters relating to the promotion and awarding of the Prize, the Judges’ rulings are final and without appeal. All entries that are incomplete, irregular, have been submitted through illicit means, or do not conform to or satisfy the Rules, may be disqualified by Well.ca. Well.ca is not responsible for any errors or omissions in printing or advertising this Contest.

Well.ca assumes no responsibility for any lost, late, damaged, destroyed or misdirected entries or for any faulty electronic data transmission, equipment failure or other communication problems occurring in connection with participation with this contest. Well.ca reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel or suspend the Contest should a virus, bug or other cause beyond its reasonable control corrupt the security or proper administration of the Contest.

If the identity of a contestant is disputed, the authorized account holder of the email address submitted at the time of entry will be deemed to be the contestant. The individual assigned to the email address for the domain associated with the submitted email address is considered the authorized account holder. A selected contestant may be required to provide proof that he or she is the authorized account holder. All entries must be submitted from a valid email account.

The contest winner consents to the use of his or her first name and city of residence for contest-related advertising purposes with no compensation.

Prize:
In this Contest, there are a total of twelve (12) prizes to be won. A winner of the Contest will be eligible to receive a prize, with an estimated value of $15. Prizes must be accepted as awarded. Prizes may not be transferred and are not convertible to cash. Contest sponsor reserves the right to substitute the prizes in whole or in part in the event that all or any component of the prize is unavailable.

Draw:
Three(3) draws will be held weekly for four(4) Wednesdays starting June 9, 2010. The contest draw will be held in Guelph, Ontario and will be made from all eligible entries received during the Contest Period. The potential for any contestant to win the Prize will depend on the number of eligible entries received during the Contest Period.