Natalie Ho

Dental care has always been very important in our famil. Growing up, my parents wanted to take  full advantage of our dental benefits as I believe in Hong Kong, dental care was very expensive and certainly not a part of their health care benefits. My parents were adamant about sticking to our scheduled teeth cleanings and visiting the dentist became a bi-annual habit (I even ended up working at my dentist for years when I was in school!).

Though visiting the dentist for routine cleanings is a good start to great dental hygiene, there are certainly additional dental care steps you can take at home, in between visits.

For everyday teeth cleaning, I highly recommend an electric toothbrush. Can you believe, I was only introduced to an electric toothbrush this year in May, when my sister purchased a Philips Sonicare DiamondClean electric toothbrush for me. I absolutely LOVE it and Kyle has since swapped out his old one for this super innovative and sophisticated option.

I am a big fan of subscription services. I like the idea of surprises showing up at my doorstep and being able to try new things on a frequent basis. I’ve tried many subscription services in the past, primarily beauty subscription services. However, I’ve really enjoyed the food and drink subscription services I’ve been introduced to lately. They’ve made our diet more interesting and fun!

Here is a round up of a few food and drink subscriptions services that I’d recommend, all of these are available for delivery in Toronto and some across Canada.

Since March, I’ve been working with Neutrogena Canada on the “A Tale of Transitions” campaign. I shared a few transitional tales through a series of short video clips, and I couldn’t tell you how impeccable the timing of this project is.

As I gear up for my upcoming wedding in a couple of weeks (YIKES!), I, too, have been reminiscing on memories with all the special people in my life. Throughout the years, they have shared in countless memories, good, bad, and the funnies, and they have been such a huge support system. Each one has helped shape who I have become. I am so excited to celebrate a new chapter of life with them.

Happy Friday friends! I’ve been meaning to load up the photos from my beautiful Bridal Shower for days now but was constantly distracted. No need to say too much here, but wanted to give a special shoutout to my bridal party, my sister, and all the wonderful people that came to celebrate with me. Thank you to all the laughs and gifts and I am so excited to see you all again in a few weeks!

My bridal shower was everything that I had hoped for, from this GORGEOUS handmade paper flower backdrop by Confetti and Bows to the DIY Flower Bouquet station, and lastly, all the tasty baked treats (my sister is quite the baker!) – what a way to make a bride-to-be feel loved and super special!

Hello! Last week I shared a super fun project – DIY Gold Leaf Birkenstock, and also mentioned that I’ll share how I style my Birkenstock sandals. As much as they are made for the outdoors and adventures, I love pairing my Birkenstock sandals for a casual weekend look.

Last weekend, with many errands to run, I styled my shiney metallic sandals with denim shorts (see my previous tutorial on how to create your own cut-off shorts), a cotton white top and a cross body bag, like my sandals, speaks both function and fashion. If Birkenstock’s are a little bit above your budget for a pair of summer sandals, I’d recommend checking out SoftMoc’s version. Their version is extremely similar in style, quality, comfort and the best part? They are roughly half the price of Birkenstock’s.

Guess what? Because I adore you all, coupled with the fact that I really want every single person to own a pair of these, I’ve partnered with SoftMoc to give ONE lucky winner ONE pair of Birkenstock sandals and ONE pair of SoftMoc sandals!

Read further on giveaway details and best of luck!

Happy Friday, sharing with you today my recent summer skincare secrets article originally published on WINNERS, enjoy! 

As you expose more skin, we already know that sun protection is very important during the summer months! However, applying sun protection is only one of many steps when it comes to a good summer skin care regimen.

During the summer, my T-zone gets extremly oily but due to sun exposure, other areas of my face tend to get dry and from time to time my skin may also flake and peel. I visited WINNERS to stock up on a variety of skin care products to fight my summer skin care challenges.

I’ve been totally dying to add a new pair of Birkenstock’s to my collection of Summer sandals, and was uber excited when SoftMoc approached me on a DIY and style challenge. You often relate a pair of Birkenstock’s to camping, cottaging, or an outdoor activity. But honestly… have you seen the metallic Birkenstock sandals on the market?! They’re super fashionable and for those of you who own a pair (I know many of you do!) they are incredibly comfortable and long lasting.

Inspired by the metallic versions and a recent gold leaf starter kit I purchased for a home DIY project, I decided test out this gold leaf kit on my newly acquired Birkenstock sandals. I am so happy with the end result and can’t WAIT to show you how I style them. For those who have been curious about gold leafing … yes, you can and should gold leaf your footwear!

Keep reading to see the full DIY step by step!

Hi! I managed to snap a few pictures just before sunset of my bridal shower outfit. My bridal party and sister threw me the perfect shower, I can’t wait to share more photos with you! Believe it or not, I purchased this lavender eyelash dress (sold out) back in February for my shower when I was visiting one of my favourite stores in New York, Necessary Clothing. Let’s just say, the moment I saw it on the rack, it was love at first sight. I love the delicacy of eyelash lace and have since acquired several other pieces (also wore this two piece crop top and scalloped lace skirt number for my Bachelorette party).

With the perfect dress, I was on the hunt for the perfect shoe and so glad I ended up with these Le Chateau leather lace up sandals. If you’ve been following along on Instagram, I mentioned that these were on my feet for nine hours long and I was still walking with no pain! Since becoming a Le Chateau Shoe Ambassador, it’s been my go-to place to find the perfect leather shoes. Many of you have asked me about the quality and make of their shoes, trust me when I say their LUXE collection is totally worth it. With the arrival of wedding season, Le Chateau has also curated an awesome Wedding Boutique for guests and bridal party.

Happy Monday! I hope all of you had a great weekend! To my American friends, Happy Memorial Day, wishing you all a great holiday! I’m SO excited to finally share the images from our engagement shoot by Afterglow Images. A couple of weeks back, I shared a sneak peek of our photoshoot from the photos taken with my phone. The finished photos were finally completed by the amazing Angela and Kirk of Afterglow Images and we absolutely ADORE them!

Everything about this beach/sailing themed Spark Session is exactly what we hoped for. Most of you know that Kyle is a avid sailing and this shoot was certainly inspired for his love for sailing and the water. They captured the essence of our personalities and relationship perfectly, triple thumbs up. We can’t wait to get these images printed and I can also think of a million spots to place them in our home.

Read further to see a quick glimpse, to see our full gallery of photos, please visit the Afterglow Images blog.

I am a huge fan of getting pampered at the nail salon. An occasional manicure and pedicure is such a nice treat, especially near the start of the warm season. At the salon, I generally opt for a classic French manicure or something that is subtle and timeless. However, when I opt to do my nails in the privacy of my own home, I let the creative cat take over and love to experiment with fun nail art designs.

My inner artist had me inspired to create a nail look resembling an abstract painting. This nail look is extremely easy to re-create and trust me, you can’t make a mistake!

Read further to see how to DIY this “Painted Love” nail look suggested by my friends at Shopper’s Drug Mart (psst, special promotions included!).