2014/04/14

Sephora Haul & Mini Reviews Part 1

Final exam season is in full swing, so I must apologize for my recent lack of updates. Of course, my best remedy for stress is to do excessive amounts of beauty shopping. And maybe a little bit too excessive, but hey, life's short, who can blame you? After a particularly long Sunday of last minute essay writing, I trekked on over to my local Sephora and picked up a few things. Maybe a little more than a few things. By now, I've already had a few weeks to test these products out, so I figured I would do sort of mini reviews on all of the products.

Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask - I have a mini version of this mask in my skincare drawer that is on its last legs, so I knew it was time to get the full size. This mask is probably my favourite Sunday mask/detoxifying mask (as mentioned in this post) at the moment. It's the best clay type mask I've used for clearing breakouts and clogged pores. However, it dries very fast and feels like a really intense cleanse, so make sure to spray water over your face to keep your skin from drying out. I tend to reserve this for the bad skin days and use a gentler mask when my skin isn't as congested. My face looks quite red immediately after using this mask, but the next morning everything just looks ten times better. Highly recommend.

First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Pads - I was looking for a new chemical exfoliator, and this fit the bill perfectly. They're basically cotton pads soaked in solution, which makes them very convenient to use. It's a AHA exfoliator composed of lactic and glycolic acid, but unlike other AHA exfoliators which tend to be quite harsh on the skin, these pads are not irritating even on my incredibly sensitive skin. These pads also contain soothing aloe vera juice, licorice root extract to brighten pigmentation, and antioxidant ingredients like white tea extract. $30 will give you 60 pads, but I've seen some reviews saying you can cut the pads in half and get twice the value for your money.

AmorePacific Moisture Bound Sleeping Recovery Masque - I watched an interview with a Korean actress with gorgeous, baby smooth skin reveal that her best kept skin secret was overnight masks. I'm sure some of it must have been attributed to her team of makeup artists, but I thought hey, why not give it a shot. This mask is meant to hydrate and increase antioxidant protection overnight. It feels like a gel-cream moisturizer and absorbs easily so nothing gets on my pillow cases. I would not say that it necessarily moisturizes any better than my regular night moisturizer, but maybe I have to give it a few more uses. It also is pretty heavily fragranced, so steer clear if that is not your thing.

Fresh Peony Brightening Night Treatment Mask - Another overnight mask, this one more targeted towards discolouration and dark spots. Fresh is my absolute favourite skincare brand, so when this came out, I absolutely had to have it. It has a light refreshing scent like their Lotus Youth Preserve Face Cream, which is my current night moisturizer, and feels very similar as well. Although the product is packaged in a tube, it actually has a pump. It's always difficult with brightening products because you need to use them consistently for a long time to see actual results, and this product is pretty expensive at $76. If you are not a Fresh fanatic like I am, I would not put this at the top of your wishlist.

I don't want this post to be pages and pages long, so I'm going to review the other half of the products in my next post, which will unsurprisingly be Sephora Haul & Mini Reviews Part 2 and will be up later this week. Until then, take care everyone.

2014/04/02

An Unexpected Disappointment from Marc Jacobs















The first (and only other product) I bought from Marc Jacobs Beauty was the Marc Jacobs Genius Gel Super-Charged Foundation and I was completely head over heels for it. It felt lightweight on the skin and gave me that fresh-faced bright-eyed glow, so when Marc Jacobs came out with the Re(Marc)able Full Cover Concealer, I had to have it. My skin is quite pale and very prone to scarring - terrible combination - so those red/purple acne scars are extremely obvious on my complexion, and I am always looking for the perfect heavy-duty concealer to add to my makeup bag. I expected this product to have similar qualities as the Genius Gel foundation, lightweight on the skin and extremely easy to blend, and I was definitely not prepared for the disappointment. This product was thick and just sort of sat on the skin. I felt like I could always see it on the skin, even after many attempts at blending it out. I've tried both using a brush and warming it up with my fingers, neither of which were particularly satisfactory. Moreover, the coverage is not great, and I can still see my acne scars showing through. I suspect that building up in thin layers would help take away the cakey look and give more coverage, but that is just too much work for everyday makeup. Really, the last straw was that this concealer broke me out. After wearing it for one day, I had two big, angry red spots glaring back at me in the mirror when I took my makeup off at the end of the night. They looked almost like boils (to be fair I've never really had boils so my opinion is based off Google images) and never really came to a head like normal acne spots do. I still have these red bumps that I'm hoping will go away very soon, but in the mean time, this concealer is going right back to Sephora.

It's a bit pretentious of me to assume that there would be any followers of the blog, but I still have to apologize for my lack of updates. The end of the school term is fast approaching and I am groaning at the thought of finals. I've been trying to post twice every week, but I don't always have new beauty revelations to share. However, I recently did a LOT of beauty shopping, so stay tuned for my posts on the best and worst of the bunch.