Sisley Soir de Lune

Beautiful bottle, right? Well what’s inside is beautiful too!

This whole week, I’ve been a bit tired of warm winter scents and needed something more fresh, so I’ve been wearing Sisley’s Soir de Lune eau de parfum.

I know, I know, when you walk by the Sisley counter, you don’t really think about their fragrances or even realize that they have them. It’s the skincare that distracts you! But you should check out this perfume. It’s one that makes me keep sniffing myself and I have to make a conscious effort to stop myself at two sprays of this one.

The perfume is so well blended that it took me a while to figure out what exactly I was smelling. Though the official top notes include bergamot, mandarin, lemon, coriander, nutmeg and capsicum pepper oils, I find myself smelling the pepper mixed with the middle floral notes. I can especially smell the rose as the fragrance dries down but the spices are still there and add a little something extra to the fragrance.

This is a fragrance that you just have to smell for yourself to know what it’s like so check it out at Holt Renfrew.

Posted in Perfumes | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Fresh Sugar Face Polish

First off: this really is a polish rather than a scrub. The sugar granules in this are so fine that I found they had all melted away about 30 seconds into scrubbing.

Fresh says that you can use this as a mask and leave it on your face for a little while and then scrub it off, and because it’s in a moisturizing base, it feels so good on the skin as a mask.  It’s got a sweet lemon scent and I kind of love that the ingredients look and feel so natural.

I would only recommend that users with dry skin leave this on, as this scrub is sort of oily (but it does not separate) and that means that it might be nourishing for those with dryer skin. Otherwise, simply wet your face, rub it on, and then rinse thoroughly.

I found that there was a slight layer of oil that was left on my face, but I kind of leave it there when I have dry skin and just use a toner when I have oily skin. You could use this to wash off makeup, but you will have to use a regular soap after using the polish because the oil won’t rinse away with the water.

$30 at Sephora.

Posted in Skin Care | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

What I’m Using Right Now

Skincare update!

These are my favs right now and they’re making my skin more clear and more glowy than it was before.

I’ve had a few breakouts so I’ve been using the @neutrogenacanada anti-acne mask everyday and it’s been working. The mask can be a bit drying, so I only use it at nighttime, and put a moisturizer on top.  That seems to keep the intense dryness at bay but it still lets the mask work on the breakouts. I also feel as if my skin’s gotten used to it so it’s not too drying either.

The @drlancerrx products are newish and I’m loving the Polish.  It really gets everything off, but also is kind of stripping so it makes your skin dry and actually more prone to breakouts if you use it too much.  I use it every other day at the most, and actually just a couple of times a week is good.   I really like using it in the morning because my skin is already clean and then my moisturizer and treatment products will sink in a bit better.

The @ernolaszlonyc cleansing oil is great and more of a gel rather than an oil.  It washes away makeup and dirt but it’s also gentle enough to use in the morning when your skin might not be as dirty.  At night time,  I use it with the bar of black soap and my skin feels really clean but not too dry so I’m sticking with that.  Also, this was a travel-sized duo and it’s gotten over two months of use!

The @obagimedical vitamin c serum is blended with 4% HQ is for morning and it’s helping fade dark spots.  I noticed a difference after a week of using it,  or the @reversa_canada Serum if I need something more hydrating.

I use the @paulaschoice retinol at night with a moisturizer on top if I’m not using the Neutrogena mask.  I love retinol because it seriously exfoliates the skin and quickly, but I find that I can’t use this every day either.

Aside from the new @drlancerrx stuff, I’ve been using this combo for about a month and I’m seeing a difference.

What do you think?  I love products with a high percentage of active ingredients and I’ll always use and buy those over anything else that seems fancy and trendy.

Posted in Skin Care | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Lise Watier Velvet Matte Foundation Review

I love foundation and wear it daily, but the challenge is always to find something that feels light but covers well and then looks like your own skin.

Lise Watier’s Velvet Matte foundation comes in a beautiful glass bottle with a dropper, and gives the most coverage that I’ve ever seen in a liquidy foundation.  Literally one drop can cover even freckles, and you can smooth it out and blend it to get lighter coverage.  This truly is a full coverage foundation, but I love that it’s so liquidy because you can mix it into serum to sheer it out, and layer it alone where you need more coverage. Fingers are the best to apply this foundation because it’s so liquidy, and a tapping motion ensures that you’re not blending it out toomuch and you’re getting the full coverage that you want.

The finish is more of a satin matte than a true drying matte, and like any matte or full coverage foundation, this will accentuate dry spots so you have to moisturize well to actually have it not sink into lines or dryness.

The lasting power of this foundation is great: I think because it’s so pigmented and because you need so little, it seems to really stick to skin.  I powder when I use it and really love a matte finish, but my skin does get glowy after a while.  Truly, I think that’s unavoidable for me.

The foundation comes in 10 colours and they seem to be skin-true, neither too pink or peach, so it’s possible to find a shade for your skin colour.

$44 at LiseWatier.com, Shoppers Drug Mart Beauty Boutiques, London Drugs, and The Bay.

Posted in Fall 2017 | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Maybelline x Gigi Hadid Collection

The Maybelline x Gigi Collection is here, and it is all kinds of awesome. If you have a chance to check it out in stores, then go and have a look in person because the packaging is beautiful. It actually reminds me of the packaging for the KKW products, because everything is in a matte pink tone with holographic lettering on it. The products are pretty standard for Maybelline, with some of them even being the same as what’s offered normally, but just in better packaging. You are paying more for the look of this collection, but the products are actually really good too, so it might be worth it.

 

I have to say, it sounds basic, but my favourite products from the collection are the fiber mascara and the liquid eyeliner. The mascara is a nice rich black, and the fibers actually make your lashes look thicker. The mascara layers so well but also stays put without any smudging or flaking because it’s the “tubing” kind. That means that you have to just apply water and gentle rub it off with your fingers, instead of washing it off with soap or cleanser. I also love the liquid liner pen that’s in this collection. It’s so smooth, pigmented, and again a nice rich black, and I’ve pretty much mastered doing a cat eye with this. It’s a 0.4mm tip which is pretty much genius and not to stiff or soft, so the line is easy to control. No smudging with this even when I don’t wear a primer.

The other products that are winners in this collection are the lipsticks. In Canada, they’re available in 4 colours: Erin, McCall, Khair, and Lani. They’re matte, so their lasting power is good but they’re not that that pigmented so you can wear even the brighter colors as kind of a stain.  Erin is a deep purplish colour, and Lani is the lightest colour.

I actually love Khair and Lani because they just really go with all skin tones and are bright enough to rev up your look.

The Strobing Liquids that are part of this collection come in gold and pearl tones and they’re easy to dab on your skin to highlight.

The one product that I didn’t have a use for was the tinted primer. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t a tinted primer essentially like a foundation? I get tinted color correctors, that I would put foundation on top of, but why would I use a beige or brown primer and then a foundation? Maybelline suggests we use the primers as contour creams, but the problem is that they’re not really tinted enough to do this. A cream contour works really well when it’s pigmented enough to apply in a small area and blend out like a real shadow. These are too creamy and sheer to really work in that way. They come in 2 colours: light/medium and deep. The light/medium is almost my skin tone so I couldn’t use that to contour, and the deep didn’t really work for me.

The eyeshadow palettes for this collection are so pretty. There’s one with cool tones and one with more warm tones and I reach for whichever colours I’m feeling on a particular day. What I love about these palettes is that they’re a combination of matte and shimmer shades, which adds to the versatility of the palettes. The eyeshadows are pigmented and super soft, finely milled, so there’s no fall out and they’re easy to blend.

Check out the entire collection in drugstores.

Posted in Holiday 2017 | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Fake Nails: Kiss Gel Fantasy Press On Nails

Guess what?  Not a fan of fake nails or long nails.  I guess it’s because I type on the computer a lot, or because I’ve just never liked the look of fake nails.  They kind of make you seem frivolous?  And … yeah, I’m writing that on a beauty blog, so I recognize the irony there, but that’s ok.

But then I saw these Gel Fantasy nails by Kiss, and they were just the perfect shape for my hands, and I heard that the Gel Fantasy nails are actually thinner than the regular Kiss nails, so I thought I would try them, because I do have quite thin nails.

So check out my nails.  I think they looked pretty great, and I wore them to a dinner party and got tons of compliments!

But, they did not last. I ended up doing tons of dishes that day, and at the party, and by the end of the day, I had lost a couple of nails which was not a cute look.  I did apply the nails with the glue that came with it, and I think that water ended up getting under the nails again and again and again and cause the glue to loosen and the nails came off. I think the glue that comes with the nails is pretty much like crazy glue which is meant to come off with hot water, and lots of doing dishes = nails coming off.

I did like that they gave me 24 nails and there were lots of size options for my nails.  In some cases, i could use more than one size for my nails, because the options were that close together in size.  I also had the option of doing a feature nail (the gold glitter one that you see) or just keeping them all the same colour.  I was impressed with the sizes and the options so I think that there are options for everyone.  Even though there were 24 nails in the package, there weren’t enough to do my nails twice.

Would I use these again?  For sure.  But only for special occasions, and I wouldn’t expect them to last more than a day. Think of them for the holidays.

Check them out at the drugstore.

Posted in More Than Beauty | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Super Mario Bros. x shu uemura Art of Hair Collection

Anyone who grew up with Super Nintendo wayback when will love the whimsical packaging for Shu Uemura’s holiday collection. It features Super Mario and characters from the game as a throwback to the times when I just used whatever shampoo my mom bought for me.

The Super Mario Bros. x shu uemura Art of Hair collection is limited edition for the holidays and the packaging is good, but what’s inside the bottles is even better.

The collection includes:

shu uemura x Super Mario Bros. cleansing oil shampoo, 400ml, $56.00
shu uemura x Super Mario Bros. cleansing oil conditioner, 250ml, $56.00
shu uemura x Super Mario Bros. essence absolue oil, 150ml, $69.00
shu uemura x Super Mario Bros. master wax, 75gr, $42.00

I’ve been bouncing around from shampoo to shampoo for the last little bit, trying to find something that’s not too heavy for my fine hair but still not too drying, and I have to say that the Cleansing Oil Shampoo is it. This is a gorgeous formula and I wish I had tried it earlier. Formulated with no silicones, but castor oil and glycerin, this shampoo foams but also leaves your hair super shiny and smooth. I used the Cleansing Oil Conditioner aftewards, and that made my hair super smooth and easy to comb through but still washes clean and leaves hair feeling light.

Finally, the Essence Absolue Oil is so good that I’ve added it to my limited counter space, because I’m going to continue using it until it’s done. It’s formulated with camellia oil (and silicone) to smooth your hair, but it’s super light, so it adds tons of shine and moisture, but doesn’t weigh hair down.

All in all, this is a collection to gift to someone who loves their hair care products, but probably hasn’t tried this line because they fly a little under the radar.

Pick it up onlineor in salons.

Posted in Hair | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Dior Skinflash: My Favourite Highlighter

Ok so meet the least hyped highlighter ever.  This is not brand new, but I’ve had it for a long time and have bought many refills of it but because it’s not so hyped or talked about, I haven’t really mentioned it either.

It’s Dior’s Skinflash Radiance Booster Pen which comes in just one colour which is a peachy glow.  Check out the packaging: sleek and slim, this fits into most makeup bags, and I house it in my cup with brushes on my vanity so that it’s easy to reach for.

Check out my swatch.

Yes, they call this a peachy glow, but it’s not really too peach.  It’s almost like a light golden, which makes it look like a candlelight glow on almost any skin tone.  I tap it directly from the dispenser, which is a little brush, on to my cheekbones, and then I press it in with my fingertips to blend.  I also use a bit on my chin and on my brow bone.  It has a cream-to-powder formula which makes it look nice and natural on your skin.  It’s glowy but also kind of subtle and I think that’s one of the reasons that I keep reaching for it, because I can wear it without it looking too obvious.

Pick it up at Dior counters for $48.

Posted in Make-Up | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Live Clean Festive Holiday Soaps Are Here

If you like all things holiday to change up the flavour of your home, then @LiveCleanCan Festive Hand Soaps are for you, and I know I look for them every year because I love how they smell and the packaging is so pretty.

The two scents this year are Vanilla Peppermint, and Holly Berry.  The Vanilla Peppermint is my favourite because it definitely reminds me of a peppermint cookie.  They are also less drying than regular soaps and feel nice on your hands.

The packaging is so pretty and when my kids see that there’s a new soap they’re so into washing their hands which is definitely a good thing.

Also!  They’re in a huge 500 mL bottle which lasts forever!

$5.99 available at Walmart, Amazon.ca and Well.ca

Posted in More Than Beauty | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Fragrant Friday: Aerin Tuberose le Jour and Tuberose Le Soir

Tuberose is what many consider to be a classic perfumery note.  It’s a white flower that some people really do associate with that “perfumy” smell and it’s absolutely beautiful.

The new Tuberose collection by Aerin also features a body cream and a body wash, and 2 tuberose fragrances, one for day (jour) and one for night (soir). 

Aerin Tuberose le Jour is bright and fresh with the tuberose note bring front and center.  It’s a brighter thanks to the citrusy notes that open with it, but the drydown stays bright and floral.  These scents really are all about the Tuberose.

Aerin Tuberose le Soir is a bit deeper than le Jour, but it still features the fresh tuberose note front and centre. Even though this scent is meant for the night time, it’s fresh enough to still work during the day.  Ylang ylang is blended with the white flours, and this has a drydown with vanilla and sandalwood.  It’s definitely a bit more sophisticated than Tuberose le Jour.  It’s like a funky older sister of the other, while le Jour smells more fresh and innocent.  Both are so pretty and floral.

Available at Aerin counters or online.  $275 for 1.7 oz/50 ml.

Posted in Perfumes | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment