A gorgeous heavy bottle, for a beautiful light scent for men. YSL Y Eau de Toilette is a fresh blend of citrus and woods. The opening has a pretty standard astringent bergamot that seems to happen with many men’s scents.
The dry down is sage and cedarwood that are pretty dry.
Because this is an eau de toilette, it’s light and fresh, and doesn’t smell heavy.
$125 for 100mL.
Clinique has a new product out that promises to reduce and take care of redness. They call it Clinique Redness Solutions Instant Relief Mineral Pressed Powder. It’s a great product if you don’t expect too much of it. The powder is a pale yellow, and yellow’s a colour minimizes redness on your skin. The powder makes claims of soothing skin and almost healing it, but it won’t do anything like that.
What it’s great for is anyone who has unwanted redness on their skin (rosacea) and it will cover that up slightly without covering too much. What that means is that you’ll be able to look like you’re wearing no makeup and the redness will still be gone.
It’s a great to have on hand for those days that your skin isn’t behaving the way you want. You can find this everywhere Clinique products are sold.
$46.
L’Oréal Double Extension Beauty Tubes Mascarahas been out for a while and it has really surprised me. I find most of these two-step mascaras to be generally the same, but not this one. It actually does what it claims to! This mascara does work just like any other two-step mascara except the results are much more dramatic. I don’t know about having the power of salon-caliber lash extensions though, but either way you get a great dramatic lash.
The “tubes” that it is supposed to produce are really just a thicker application of the product which does have the effect of extending the length of your lashes. However, as described at length (pardon the pun) they only need water to just slide off of the lashes to remove, and do not dissolve off like most mascaras which require a remover. Yet it still has the staying-power of a water-proof mascara. This was one of the most impressive aspects for me, because it meant that there really is a conditioning layer (the first step in application) that is coating the lash before putting on the black, which is actually forming tube-like coats around the hairs.
Every time I use this mascara I feel like I discover something new about it and I just get better at using it. It’s really awesome and different and worth a try.
$11.96 at Walmart and other mass merchandisers.
So, it’s pretty difficult to improve on something that does the job well enough. But I guess well enough is not good enough for Sephora, and they went and improved the foundation brush. You must try the Sephora Collection PRO Air Brush #55. It is perhaps the best foundation brush I’ve ever had and despite what you might think, it is super easy to use and applies foundation in a perfectly streak-free finish.
How to use a foundation brush so fluffy? Put some foundation on the center and dot all over your face. Then smooth it all out with the brush until all the foundation is blended in! The nylon fibers won’t absorb any of the foundation (so it won’t go waste) and the multitude of fibers won’t cling together meaning that you won’t get any streaking.
$45 at Sephora stores and online.
You may or may not have heard that peptides are good for your skin. If you’ve over the age of 30, then you definitely want to incorporate something with peptides into your skincare routine. After the age of 30, your skin can start to stop producing as much collagen which can make your face look not as bouncy as before. Peptides are ingredients that can send messages to your cells that they should start producing more collagen, so they can be an important part of any anti-aging routine.
That’s why I’m so excited about Strivectin Peptight serum. It’s a light moisturizing serum that has peptides in it to help your skin regain its brightness and elasticity. I have incorporated this serum into my night time routine and I use if after I apply my retinol on my skin. The Peptight is moisturizing but also adds ingredients that my incredibly basic retinol doesn’t have. It also smells beautiful – like roses – and is the most luxurious serum to use. You could also use this in the morning before your moisturizer or sunscreen.
I do find that it’s a little bit silicone-heavy so it has a soft and smooth finish, but it doesn’t feel good if you apply too much of it, but the right amount feels great under makeup.
You can find this online or at Shoppers Drug Mart. $109.
Went on to Sephora today and saw that they have Goop Glow 5% Glycolic Acid Peels – $175 for a package of 12. Goop says to use these once a week for a gentle peel. If you’re used to glycolic acid (and I am) I can use these daily, so $175 for 12 days supply seems like a lot.
Luckily, Pixi Glycolic pads – which are also 5% – are just $24 for 60 pads. A 2 month supply, if you use them daily, and the active ingredient is the same.
I like some of the Goop products, but a 5% Glycolic Acid Peel is pretty basic, and it’s so gentle that it’s not really even worth it to call it a peel. Save your money, try the drugstore stuff and see if it even works for your skin. I personally am using the Pixi pads right now and I love them. They actually do make my skin more glowy and fresh and even 5% glycolic acid is enough to even out my skintone.
Because glycolic acid helps exfoliate your skin, make sure that you’re wearing sunscreen daily if you use this.
You can get Pixi at Shoppers Drug Mart.
Honestly, I’m going to come out and say that my favourite Bumble and Bumble Finishing Spray is their Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil Dry Oil Finishing Spray ($45) which is all the way on the left. It’s got no hold, but it just seems to laminate your hair and make it shiny, and if you’ve straightened or curled your hair, this seems to make it last. But it’s not a hairspray. It’s not crunchy at all, and just makes your hair look better. 
The Dryspun Texture Spray ($41) is my next favourite and is great if you want to add some grit to your style. It adds airyness without hold, and is dry without being a dry shampoo. It’s a really cool spray, and when you put it into your hair, the effect of it lasts and lasts. which is great.
The Soft Texture Finishing Spray ($42) is kind of in between the first two. It adds a bit of texture but not much grit. It doesn’t mess up your style but just kinds of blows it apart gently. It doesn’t coat or laminate your hair like the Dry Oil Finishing Spray does, but it does have some oils in it and it has the same great Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil vanilla/amber scent. It also has a tiny bit of hold and soft powders that add the texture to your hair.
All of them are microfine, so you can use a little or a lot and they won’t weigh your hair down. Honestly, I thought I wasn’t using enough, and then I saw how much my stylist used on me, and she used a lot, and so that’s when I started spraying spraying spraying until I was really happy with the final look that I got. All of them are amazing texture sprays that don’t make your hair crunchy but can help you get a tousled beachy look.
Available at Sephora, salons, and Nordstrom.
These nails only last a day but they’re so pretty. I used the stickers because the glue that came with the nails was all dried out. It was 10pm when I was putting them on, so no time to run out for more glue. These lasted a full 24 hours, and after I washed my face at night they kinda came off so easily. The stickers don’t like water, or hand cream, so that makes them pretty easy to pull off. No damage to my nail either.
There are neutrals and then there are neutrals. Try your best to stay away from anything that washes you out too much, and definitely put away dark shadow for now. The look that I would go for this spring is pretty and light maybe brightened up with some black liner.
Dior has a fabulous new palette of neutrals that’s well-worth checking out. The quad this season is called Elegante and features light pink, golds, and beige tones along with a dark shimmery chocolate brown to accent your eyes. Don’t believe the commentors who say that this won’t work for darker skin tones. It most-definitely will and the colours look great used as sheer washes of colour as a day look.
This is the palette I’m reaching for most days.
Check out the new KVD Everlasting Blush in Peony which is a matte clean pink that’s neutral and easy to wear. I love a nicely formulated matte blush because it sticks to your skin and even seems to absorb oil as you wear it.
This is the perfect blush for almost every skin tone and definitely lasts the whole day on me. It’s a pretty pink, wearable colour.
Available at Sephora. $35.
