SKINCARE | 5 Lightweight Moisturizers That Hydrate and Don't Mess With Your Makeup!

I rarely seek out lightweight moisturizers as my skin is generally normal/dry, but this summer my skin was craving a lighter moisturizer with high spreadability and absorbed quickly. We didn't get too much of a heat wave, but with the layers of setting spray and longwear foundation I have been wearing during the day, I have been hyper aware of my skin and aiming to keep my layers thin and making sure things feel as breathable as possible! All of these moisturizers I am about to share with you are also perfect for underneath makeup and don't mess with your foundation!

Some PR gifted and indicated with "*"

SHEET MASK | Lancome Advanced Genifique Hydrogel Melting Mask

When it comes to classic prestige skincare brands like Lancome, I honestly don't put a lot of stock into their skincare formulations because they generally focus their dollars on celebrity endorsements, advertising and packaging. Key ingredients are always in the bottom half of the list and there is almost always a high amount of silicone-derived ingredients to give you "smoother skin" in an instant and of course a bougie fragrance. I'm not a crazy clean beauty person and don't believe we should ban silicones or the latter, but there is a time and place for both and in the case of the Genifique Hydrogel Melting Mask, I was immediately thrown off by the fragrance, but we will get to that later since the mask itself was not too shabby!

Purchased by me

SHEET MASK | Lancome Rénergie Lift Multi-Action Ultra Hydrating Double Wrapping Cream Face Mask

*gleeful laughter* Lancome has a new sheet mask and I am freakin' excited! This is a double wrap cream-based mask with 20g of moisturizer that promises to firm, hydrate and add long-lasting radiance to the skin. While this type of mask is fairly new in the North American market, as always the Asian market has done it before but I will say that it isn't done very often and is actually one of the most luxurious ways to sheet mask! 

 PR gifted

MAKEUP | Lancome Monsieur Big Heart-Shaped Eyeshadow Palette

I realize as I am writing this that the last makeup look I did on here was also pink. I guess I'm just feeling girly this month, granted the Huda Neon Obsessions Palette is a bit more of an adventurous pink compared to today's romantically feminine palette! The Lancome Monsieur Big Heart-Shaped Eyeshadow Palette is a limited edition palette filled with 12 rosy and neutral shades encased in a metallic pink heart. Totally collectable, right?

PR sample

MAKEUP LOOK | Looking Sweet with Spring Pinks from Paul & Joe and Lancome

For the month of March I was fortunate enough to be selected for a Shoppers Drug Mart Instagram campaign focusing on complexion. I wanted to create a pink-themed makeup look that I felt comfortable wearing on a daily basis so I picked up a few products that would help me achieve a soft, glowy and girly Spring look. I also just happened to get my hair redone at Aveda so it was the perfect opportunity to make use of the salon-worthy hair that I will never be able to replicate on my own!

Lancome | Grandiose Mascara Review with Before and After and Application Video (Yes, I Actually Speak!)

Surprise, surprise I am yet ANOTHER beauty blogger who is going to talk about the new Lancome Grandiose Mascara ($35 CDN) that has been the latest topic of conversation when it comes mascara innovation. With a revolutionary “swan-neck” that grants us access to uncharted eyelash territory, I am getting ready to be introduced to my inner corner lashes…

November/December 2013 Favourites

When it comes to favourites, I’m going to have to cheat a little bit and combine November and December because moving last month didn’t really give me a chance to truly enjoy any new products nor the brain power to remember what they were. I’m very sure I have forgotten some things, but those can always make their way into January’s favourites!

September 2013 Favourites

I am so sorry I have waited so long to post my September favourites! I think I may have forgotten as my brain as been elsewhere the last couple of weeks. I have been literally SICK with wedding jitters and have been throwing up which really bites…when I get excited or anxious my stomach is the first thing to react along with most recently my lips and I have often said that I might need to be hospitalized on my wedding day! I really hope that doesn’t happen, but even as I write this I am feeling so nauseated…anyway, I hope this stops and I can feel somewhat normal again. On that note, time for favourites?

Shoppers Drug Mart Redemption and Fall Beauty Bonus Bag (Pt. 2)

As promised, here is the second half of my Shoppers Drug Mart Redemption haul! It was a bit of a whirlwind as this was the first time I had EVER seen nail polishes in the clearance section. For whatever glorious reason, the Shoppers that I go to has now decided to have a continuously awesome clearance section, so I’d better make some room in my nail polish toolbox for more $1.99 polishes!

Shoppers Drug Mart | Birthday Goodies

I don’t know if I’m just crazy, but I chose to get a bulk of birthday goodies from none other than Shoppers Drug Mart. There was a redemption and bonus points event the weekend of my birthday so I definitely used it as an excuse to say “Happy Birthday to Me”! I hope that the points system doesn’t change with the new Loblaws ownership…points are the main reason I shop at Shoppers because their prices aren’t exactly the lowest for many of the products they carry. Fingers crossed things don’t change too much!

May | 2013 Favourites

May was a bit funny for me with favourites because I was under so much stress that my lips started to completely freak out and became itchy, red and numb which meant living off Vaseline as I couldn’t wear anything else! So, while my lips were undergoing some much needed TLC, I focused on products for everywhere else instead!

Come Shopping with Me!

I recently went shopping on Robson Street in Downtown Vancouver which I don’t get to do too often because I work just outside the city. I managed to catch the end of Sephora’s Chic Week (I know, I’m so late to post this!) and after much deliberation decided on the Living Proof Prime Style Extender after reading some very positive reviews. It seems like such an interesting product in that it is supposed to extend your hairstyle lifespan in addition to detangling and “perfecting hair”. It sounds fascinating!

The second products I picked up were the famous Korres Lip Butters in Quince and Jasmine. I was waiting for them to show up at my Winners, but alas they never showed up so here I was getting them during Chic Week. As a free sample, I received Lancome La Base Perfecting Makeup Primer. I really enjoy shopping online so much more because the number of samples online totally trumps how many you receive in-store!

April Empties

Not a bad month for empties and again it has taken me awhile to post!

1. Shu Uemura Full Shimmer Illuminating Shampoo (75mL)

Acquired November 2012

I didn’t really notice too much of a difference in my hair and for a shampoo that is pretty pricey, I don’t see myself buying the full size version of this. This is for color-treated hair so maybe I would have seen more of a difference if I’d had color-treated hair.

Spring 2013 Loose Button Luxe Box

 At long last, the Spring Luxe Box is here! Again, I have seen quite the variety in products given which always used to irritate me in the original monthly format of the Luxe Boxes as I feel that since everyone pays the same price that there shouldn’t be huge price discrepancies between boxes. This season’s was a celebrity-sponsored box by CBC television personalities Steve and Chris. I hadn’t watched their show before so I had no idea what to expect!

March Luvs

Not much makeup this month, but I have picked up a couple of things in the last week that will DEFINITELY be making it into April’s Luvs post! To tell you the truth, I feel like I’ve been surviving each day by the skin of my teeth with the fiscal year wrapping up. There are always so many little things to do that I am breathing a sigh of relief as I type this as I can finally have this week be a fresh start. Here are the things that have contributed to my sanity this past month!

January 2013 Empties

I will be so glad to get rid of these! Some of the things I’ve managed to finish in January have been haunting me for years!  

Bath and Body

December 2012 Luvs

I have thought about doing an all-time favourites post for 2012, but it was just too difficult to narrow it down to just a few products! Generally, I think it’s safe to say that if a product showed up in a Luvs post, it’ll be a favourite for awhile!

December 2012 Empties!

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year’s celebration! I am very full from yet another big family dinner and I feel like I’m all “celebrated out”! I sort of just want to get 2013 started and get those resolutions going! Empties seemed like an appropriate post to end the year with as I’m saying goodbye to both 2012 and product!

Body

It’s Time for Sample Sundays!

I am procrastinating making an insurance claim for my car until Monday morning  by sharing with you a routine that I have been doing since May of this year. Every other Sunday, I take the time to go through my samples and pick out a few that I want to try out for the next two weeks. It’s actually such a fun process because it feels so much like shopping! Seeing all of those lovely beauty samples together gets me so giddy! This little ritual is also how I produce a lot of my empties. It’s almost like Project 10 Pan, but for samples and with a higher product turnover which makes it MUCH more interesting. So, what’s on the Sample Sunday menu today?

1. MaskerAide Hydrating Sheet Mask (1 mask)

2. Befine Single Serve Warming Clay Mask (14g)

3. Nesura Pore Deep Charcoal Strip for Nose Care (1 strip)

4. Etude House Black Charcoal Chin Pack (1 strip)

5. Biore Nose Strip (1 strip)

6. Nume Hydro Punch Shampoo (20mL)

7. Nume Hydro Punch Conditioner (20mL)

8. Aveda Invati Exfoliating Shampoo (10mL)

9. Aveda Invati Thickening Conditioner (10mL)

10. Vitamine & Sea Perfect Skin Solution

12. Lancome High Resolution Triple Action Anti-Wrinkly Cream (15g)

13. Dior Capture Totale Multi-Perfection Concentrated Serum (1.5mL)

14. B. Kamins Maple Body Lotion (12mL)

15. B.Kamins Lip Balm (4mL)

16. Lift & Firm Rejeuvenating Day Cream (5mL)

17. Lift &Firm Deep Remodeling Night Cream (5mL)

18. Vasanti BrightenUp! Enzyme Face Rejeuvenator (12g)

19. CK Shock Eau de Toilette Spray (1.2mL)

Wish me luck!

Shoppers Drug Mart Fall Beauty Bonus!

I actually didn’t plan on getting the Fall Beauty Bonus, but then I got involved in beauty box swaps and realized that this bonus plus the 20x events happening this week was the perfect time to get items for my international swaps! If any of you get involved with swapping, it reminds me of having pen pals as a kid, but much more awesome! I won’t show what I got for my swaps, just what I purchased for myself, but to qualify for the Fall Beauty Bonus, I needed to spend $125 on cosmetics and I did it with $128 worth of product. I cut it pretty close! Let’s see what I got!

I love pampering myself with face masks at least two or three times a week so I had to try a couple of yummy-sounding ones from the Balea line. These Balea sachets are 3 for $5 and I can usually I can get around three uses out of each one.