The diamond is  the hardest, most abrasive stone known to man.  So Diamancel has created a unique line of genuine diamond files using this property. I’ve been singing their praises and using a Diamancel nail file for a long time. It works amazingly well and you never have to buy another one. So it’s the perfect time now, at their Warehouse Sale to stock up for yourself and for gifts for friends (they’ll always think of you!).

Each flexible diamond nail file in the Diamancel family has been designed for specific nail types to beautifully shape and enhance both natural and sculptured nails. The Diamancel Diamond Hand and Foot Callus Files are ideal for removing and softening rough, dry skin.

These lines are so useful and popular that the brand was was featured in Martha Stuart Living, Bride’s Magazine and New York Magazine.

Discover Diamancel’s  Sacha™ Diamond Nail File for pets. A great alternative,  Sacha™ Diamond File replaces the often-unpleasant cutting process with an easy and effective filing method. No cutting required.

The newest line is the DiamColor mini-size files (perhaps for your purse) in a dozen colors.

Diamancel files provide effective fast, easy and effortless filing. They are durable and will outlast all your files, which make them a money saver.

• The files are washable/sanitizable as they all can be washed with soap and water
• They are hygienic too as they can be soaked and disinfected in medical grade solution.
• The fiberglass base is both resistant and flexible making filing easier

These are  effortless to use as you can use a light hand and the diamonds will do the work for you. All files have been salon tested for maximum performance. You can order your files now on their website or you can come in and score deals at their warehouse sale.

If you head there, you will also discover the Arbonne wellness health and nutrition botanical products for the whole family.

Location: 2477 Rue Guenette, V.S.L. H4R 2E9
Hours: Thurs 10-5, Fri 10-8, Sat 10-3
Tel: 514-856-9711
Sale dates June 6-8
http://www.diamancel.com/
www.christelecaron.arbonne.com

Why not shop at the shop that salons shop at, and skip the mark-up of the middleman? At TifClip, professional hair care products and tools  that the salons (Argan Oil, Babyliss Pro, Biosilk, Dikson, Lakmé, Pravana, Marrakesh Oil…) use can be bought right here.

Just in time for your New Year’s date, they are featuring the New Babyliss Pro Luminoso blowdryer,  popular with the professionals. It sports an Italian motor, a  2-year warranty and the hair-preserving ion technology. Their prices are competitive and taxes are included too.

You’ll find boar’s hair and ceramic brushes, straighteners along with your everyday styling products like gels and waxes. This is the place to buy your professional hair dyes (Dikson, Fantasy colors).

Hair salon quality electrical appliances by Andis, Avanti, Babyliss Pro, Chi, Dannyco, Elchim, Gama, Miracurl, Parlux, Oster, Whal and Zazen are available, such as:

– blowdryers
– flat irons
– curling iron
– hot rollers
– clippers, trimmers

plus a repair service for all these electrical appliances

FREE consultation is offered along with the great prices. Looking beautiful can be less costly if you shop here.

Location: 3901 rue St-Denis, Montreal QC H2W 2M4
corner: rue Roy est
Tel: 514-288-4411
Hours Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat 11-5
www.tifclip.com

• In Montreal, the most anticipated Quebec arts and crafts show of the year is the Salon des Metiers d’Art which has been around for more than 6 decades. More than  325 exhibitors from all over the province and some from outside Canada head here every December and make this a  “must-visit” cultural event in Montreal.

  All works exhibited at this show are recognized as “fine crafts” by peers in accordance with the norms and standards of Conseil des métiers d’art du Québec. This makes sure that every piece has been designed and made by artists and artisans in full command of their craft.

  Let Québec craftsmanship inspire and captivate you. Admission is FREE, so why not peruse the aisles, enjoy the artworks and perhaps get inspired to purchase some gifts or something for yourself.

  Location: Place Bonaventure, 800, De La Gauchetière ouest, Montreal, Québec H5A 1K6
  corner: Boul. Robert Bourassa
  Dates: Dec 8-18
  Hours: Mon-Sat 11-9, Sun 11-6

  

At  TifClip, you can buy professional hair care products and tools like Argan Oil, Babyliss Pro, Biosilk, Dikson, Lakmé,  Pravana, Marrakesh Oil…which the salons use and you can too,  if you shop here at their new location on St-Denis. Styling products such as boar’s hair and ceramic brushes, clippers and trimmers, gels, waxes can be found.

Hair salon quality electrical appliances are available such as blowdryers, flat irons, curling iron, hot rollers, clippers ( Andis, Avanti, Babyliss Pro, Chi, Dannyco, Elchim, Gama, Miracurl, Parlux, Oster, Whal, Zazen )

Professionnal hair dye (Dikson, Fantasy colors) and free consultation is offer and a repair service for your electricals is also available!

Take note that all the taxes are included in the prices

Location: 3901 rue Saint-Denis, Montreal QC H2W 2M4
corner: rue Roy est
Tel: 514-288-4411
Hours Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat 11-5
www.tifclip.com

Q: Do you know where I can purchase Density Pravana Mousse here in Montreal?

A:  TifClip is a store which sells products to beauty salons, so maybe they might have it or can find something similar for you http://www.smartshoppingmontreal.com/store.php?s=88

Q: I viewed your website regarding certain subjects you offer guidance on.  I was hoping to find a hairstylist salon in Montreal area that has quality service at a reasonable price, a quality cut, nothing more (like spa or facials….). Would you be able to direct me in the correct direction?

A: My website only has a teeny bit of the 1500 stores in the Smart Shopping Montreal book. In the book, there’s a section on Beauty Salons with about 10 options. Most are beauty schools.

If you live on the West Island, You get fabulous service at fair prices at Coiffure Normand DesRoches on boul. des Sources.  Tel: 514-684-4050. http://www.coiffurenormanddesroches.com/  A basic cut is only $15.  Especially wonderful  here is that you never wait, they’re always on time. Tell them I sent you.

Archambault has a piano sale each August/September  After you have stepped through the Art Nouveau portals of Montreal’s oldest (1896) and largest music emporium, head to the second floor, where you’ll discover the grand salon piano department which is Quebec’s largest piano store. This year the sale will also be held at their store in the Mega Centre Ste-Dorothee.

Some pianos from their regular stock gets sold: perhaps Hallet and Davis (Baldwin), George Steck or Perzina from Germany and then they clear the Yamaha pianos from camps at Orford, Pere Lindsay and Domaine Forget.  They have only been used for about 6 weeks.

There are about 50 used and new pianos both in uprights and grands. All come with a 10 year parts and labor guarantee and delivery is included.

Location: 500 Ste. Catherine St. East
corner: Berri St
Phone: 514-380-1833
-or- Ste-Dorothee Megacenter, 520 Authoroute Chomedey, Ste-Dorothee
exit: boul. Samson on hwy 13
Phone: 514-380-1833
Dates:  til Sept 15
www.archambault.ca

Tea is the new coffee. With its centuries of known healing properties and enjoyment, it’s about time that we North Americans figured it out.

Tea, which is over 5,000 years old, was possibly born in the Yunnan province of China. Legends mention Shen Nung, an early emperor and scientist, who ruled that all drinking water be boiled as a hygienic precaution. One day while traveling, his servants boiled water for him, and just then dried leaves from a nearby bush fell into the boiling water. The emperor drank the brown liquid and enjoyed it.

In 800, Lu Yu wrote “Ch’a Ching”, the first definitive book on tea. He diligently recorded the various methods of tea cultivation and preparation. Zen Buddhist missionaries later introduced his meticulous methods to imperial Japan. One missionary in particular, Yesei, had observed its use in religious ceremonies in China and appreciated its value, and there are records of his findings.

Tea was so highly thought of in Japan that the serving of it was elevated to an art form, resulting in  the Japanese Tea Ceremony. While visiting Japan I was privy thrice to this exacting two hour ceremony while sitting on bended knees – once by a Buddhist Monk in a temple, once by a Canadian Tea Master and once in a private home while dressed in a kimono.

Besides me, perhaps one of the first Europeans to encounter tea and write about it was the Portuguese Jesuit Father Jasper de Cruz (in 1560), and around that time a Dutchman named Jan Huygen van Linshoten visited Java. He wrote about his voyage to the East Indies in 1598 and mentioned “cha”, as it was called in Mandarin.

Around 1650 the Dutch under Peter Stuyvesant brought the first tea to America in the settlement Nieuw Amsterdam, later re-named New York by the English. So now that it is here you can enjoy it at one of the places below:

At Camellia Sinensis, crisp stainless steel boxes line the entire wall filled with white, yellow, black, oolong and green artisanal teas. Each of the four owners is a specialist in one kind, and they travel the world themselves to keep prices down (and quality up) by importing directly from China, Japan, India, Taiwan, etc.

To brew tea, there are  hand-crafted teapots from China, Japan, Quebec, Germany  Vietnam, Taiwan and Russia. They import “tea cakes” called Pu Er, from the jungles of China and Vietnam.These are aged and like wine can be aged for 100 years. Here they only carry cakes from as far back as the 1970’s.

You can go to tea school, which covers all aspects of tea – introduction to tastes and countries or you can imbibe in their tea salon. They have an extensive web site where you can learn and order the teas online wherever you are in the world.

Location:  351 rue Emery
corner: St. Denis
Phone: 514-286-4002
Other location: Marche Jean-Talon, 7010 Casgrain (514-271-4002)
Hours: Mon-Wed 11-6, Thurs & Fri 11-9, Sat 11-6, Sun 12-6
www.camellia-sinensis.com

Un Amour des Thes is run by a family who will gladly teach you about the 200 varieties of tea in the shop, individually or in a group or at tea tastings. They scour the world (India, China, Japan, Kenya, Tanzania) to stock the black, green and white teas and come up with some interesting ones: how about “chocolate” tea, a Ceylonese black one with dark cocoa highlights, the red rooibos (full of antioxidants) or formed teas which “bloom”.

Locations: 1224 Bernard ouest  Outremont  514-279-2999)
Hours: Tues-Fri 11-6, Sat 9-5, Sun 11-5
Other locations (longer hours): 5612 Monkland Ave. (514-482-2999); 781 Mont-Royal e. (514-369-2999); Laval, 2888 Du Cosmodome (450-687-4999).
www.amourdesthes.com

David’s Tea is re-introducing tea to a whole younger audience. The teas here are creative mixes served iced, in martinis and blended with fruit petals, flowers, dehydrated fruits and lots of sweet flavors (vanilla, orange peel, dulche de leche, apple, caramel, mango, lemon zest, almonds, and even chocolate). They offer seasonal menus and special teas: blooming ones, herbal ayurvedic, mate, pu’erh, rooibos, the emperor’s white teas and  limited edition ones.

Locations: 1207 Mont-Royal est at de la Roche  (514-527-1117 ); 5625 Pare (514-739-0006); Fairveiw Pointe Claire (514-697-3331); Carrefour Laval (450-681-0776); 4859 Sherbrooke o.
Hours: Mon-Wed 10-10, Thurs-Sat 10-11(summer Mon-Wed 10-9:30, Thurs & Fri 10-10, Sat 10-8, Sun 10-7
www.davidstea.com