SHEAR GENIUS: VANCOUVER STYLE

Modern Mix Vancouver is having its first contest!!

First there was the Victoria Beckham bob. Then Rihanna was next. Katie Holmes didn’t lose out on that action either. So how does life – or should I say, HAIR, look after the infamous Hollywood bob?

Modern Mix Vancouver is challenging Vancouver’s top salons to create the next “it” haircut. One lucky MMV winner will have a chance to receive a complimentary hair cut & colour from one of Vancouver’s top salons.

Interested? Here’s what you have to do:

Send Modern Mix Vancouver a recent photo of yourself, your availability, and tell us why you have what it takes to set the next hairstyle trend.  We’re also rating the salons, so if you are the lucky winner, we will be asking you for a 150 word writeup on your experience. A photo of your before and after hairstyles will also be posted on Modern Mix Vancouver.

Deadline is Sunday, August 3rd 2008.
You must be available for the cut from August 5th to 15th.
Please send your applications to: modernmixvancouver@gmail.com

Participating Salons: Tao Salon, Suki’s, Ian Daburn

  

DANONE – coupon for free Silhouette 0+ yogurt

Yum yum yogurt!

STARBUCKS – registration and rewards

It seems like as of late, Starbucks has been really pushing for the online registration of their gift cards. Now here’s another incentive: if you register your Starbucks gift card by July 14th you will get a free beverage coupon. So what are the benefits of registering your Starbucks card? You can get unlimited free coffee refills, complementary shots of syrup, customized milk choices (ie. skim, soy, etc.) at no extra charge, and a free tall beverage with the purchase of 1lb of coffee beans.

Well now I’m sort of peeved because I had at least two to three unregistered Starbucks gift cards (leftover from Christmas, etc.) which I just finished using up!! I could have really done with a free drink – working 9 to 5 in downtown makes me a corporate slave to beverage companies like Starbucks and Blenz.

**Hint: Want to make the most of your reward card? Order a (tall) vanilla (soy) earl grey (easy water) tea misto. That way, you’re only paying the price of a tea misto, but you get the soymilk and vanilla shot for free! Thanks to Wesley, an ex-barista at Starbucks, for that tip.

SUGARLIME – Jewelry Show (June 11th)

The Sugarlime Summer Sparkles & Sangrias Jewerly Show is on Wednesday June 11th at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel (900 Canada Place Way, 2nd Floor Princess Louisa Suite). This is a FREE event, but by invitation only. However – by reading Modern Mix Vancouver, this is your invitation from me : ). All you need to do is RSVP at events@sugarlime.com and it wouldn’t hurt to mention Modern Mix Vancouver in your email too!  First 25 people in line will receive 15% off their purchases and all guests arriving before 6pm will be entered to win one of three $50 Sugarlime gift certificates!

I went to one of Sugarlime’s jewelry shows two weeks ago at the Metropolitan Hotel in Downtown Vancouver. It consisted of a hotel showroom with tables set up against the walls and each table had a different color theme of jewelry: turquoise, amethyst and quartz beads on gold or silver jewelry available to purchase. Guests were given trays to put their potential jewelry purchaces on. It was quite busy – not overly crowded, but comfortably busy enough to know that Sugarlime has found a niche in the Vancouver fashion scene. In fact, they are expanding to Toronto this year!

This is taken from the media brief I was sent from Sugarlime:

“Some of Sugarlime’s accomplishments include being voted as one of BC’s most successful businesses on a special CTV News segment, designing jewelry for the Presenters’ Gift Bags for the Emmy, Gemini and Leo Awards, and spotting Sugarlime on Sarah McLachlan on an episode of Oprah.”

Drop by anytime from 5pm to 8pm. Complimentary sangria upon arrival. Don’t forget to RSVP and check out their website: http://www.sugarlime.com.

5 Gum – still distributed by Vancouver street teams

HEY party people and night owls, when a black SUV pulls up to a club it’s either a high-rolling celebrity or a drive-by shooting.  Not this time.  It was just the Wrigley street team handing out free gum.  Even though 5 Gum was introduced to the Canadian market circa January 2008, samples are still being handed out – predominantly in the nightlife scene.  I was standing in line at Redroom in Vancouver on Saturday May 17th (coincidentally my birthday) at around 11pm for the Martijn Ten Velden concert when I was generously handed three packs of sugar-free gum in COBALT flavor.  Currently, there are three flavors of gum, RAIN (green), FLARE (red) and COBALT (blue).  All three flavors are packaged in a distinct black cardboard box, reminiscent of a cigarette carton (or a deck of cards), with 15 sticks of flat, rectangular gum wrapped in brightly colored foil.  I suppose it tastes good – it’s hard to criticize when you are being handed free gum.  I like how there are more pieces than in Dentyne and how the packaging is streamlined and sleek.  As for brand loyalty?  (Hey, I’m a marketing student – this is how I think) I wouldn’t see myself buying this brand over another or being overly attached to it.  Gum is gum, and often an impulse buy (or a Costco buy).  So good try, Wrigley, thanks for the free gum.