SKINCARE | Double Cleansing with Stoic Beauty Gemini Cleanser Alpha and Beta

 

Press samples

I am back with more from Toronto-based Stoic Beauty! I fell in love with the brand at the beginning of the year when I got a chance to try their serums and then again with their body oil and butter. This year, I have really been into trying out different cleansers and as an advocate of the double cleanse, Stoic Beauty's Gemini Cleansers immediately jumped out at me!

SKINCARE | FirstBase Skincare Double Dose Vitamin C Serum

Press sample

I know that single product reviews are kind of old school, but what if something was so fantastic that it deserved to be placed on a pedestal all by itself? Founded in the midst of the craziness of 2020 by friends April Ferguson and Beth Hunt, Canadian brand FirstBase Skincare launched its first and only product last year and it is incredible. The world of skincare is a saturated one and the fact that the only product FirstBase has is a vitamin C serum MUST mean it is REALLY something and I am here to tell you that it is and WHY!

BODY | Stoic Beauty LoveTO Valentine's Bundle

 

Press samples

I have only ever celebrated one Valentine's Day on the day itself and that was when my husband and I first started dating back in 2006. I baked some heart-shaped sugar cookies and iced them with an Argyle sweater pattern (he was really into Argyle sweaters back then). We then went to IKEA to get some cheap furniture and ended the "date" with a Swedish meatball dinner at the IKEA cafeteria because you can't go to IKEA without having these delicious pieces of heaven! After 2006, if we did happen to celebrate Valentine's Day, it was on February 15th and after because I think it's so ridiculous how much more expensive flowers are and how much busier restaurants are. So, here we are two days after the infamous day of love talking about Stoic Beauty's LoveTO Valentine's Bundle!

LIFESTYLE | Woodsmoke and Willow Plant and Animal Cell Polymer Clay Earrings

I was just going to post these fantastically nerdy earrings on Instagram and nowhere else because I thought it would look pretty on my feed, but then I realized that I wanted people to really KNOW about these earrings and this wonderful Etsy shop which means I needed to create some solidly "Googleable" content! 

Purchased by me

SKINCARE | True and You Customizable Glacial Clay Mask (Made in Canada!)

Here we are at New Year's Eve 2021 and I am sure we are all wondering how we got here in one piece with the "super fun" year we have had. I mean, it was a better year than 2020 where we got to see some semblance of outdoor life, but what I found the hardest was what was happening globally and politically. I will reflect more on 2021 in my "Resolutions" post tomorrow, but for now I wanted to end the year on a Canadian brand that I have been enjoying - True and You which stands for "true" ingredients that are customized for "you"!

Press samples

SKINCARE | Lip Care with Three Ships Beauty

Last year, I made it a point to purchase skincare more wisely and purchase Canadian if I could. I made a list of brands I wanted to try and instead of buying everything at once I wanted to pace myself and use up what I had so that products wouldn't be sitting around unused (and unloved). One Toronto-based brand that caught my eye was thanks to an episode of Dragon's Den for Three Ships Beauty. Founded by two women, Laura and Connie sought to create 100% natural skincare that was results-driven, effective and at an affordable price point. Now, over the years the word "natural" has meant less and less to me, but "results" still perk my interest. Three Ships also has a fairly comprehensive glossary of the ingredients they use and why which I very much appreciate! Though today's review is just for their newest lip products, I did purchase a couple of cleansers and toners so I will review those later on!   

Press samples

MAKEUP | Cheekbone Beauty Lipgloss in Agave and Sundance

I am totally smitten with Cheekbone Beauty in more ways than one! If it weren't for Jenn Harper and her Cheekbone Beauty Team, I would never have known about Coursera's Indigenous Canada course which, as slow as I have been in getting through it, has been an eye opener! If you do end up taking it, you will never look at your Social Studies education or the land you live on the same again. You are going to wonder why it is taking so long for Indigenous people to have the same access to basic rights like education, health services and even clean water! This course has been just the tip of the iceberg as I will Google something that leads me down a rabbit hole of battles the First Nations have been fighting for years. It may sound dramatic, but everytime I use a Cheekbone product, not only do I "ooh and aah" at the pretty shades and performance, but I am continually reminded of how this brand is trying to be different in a "shades of Glossier" beauty space and that I need to do and learn more as my world is still so small when it comes to BIPOC issues. The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society has been really useful to me as this is where I went to learn more about Shannen Koostachin and donate to the Shannen's Dream Foundation.

 Purchased by me

MAKEUP | Creme de la Creme Bespoke Beauty Made in Alberta

I remember thinking how awesome it was when the Bite Beauty lab let people create their own customized lip colour and how you could watch and be a part of that process from beginning to end. Until recently, I had no idea that Creme de la Creme existed and that they are a brick and mortar store right in Sherwood Park, Alberta where you can go in, sit down and make not just a lipstick, but eyeshadows too! In times like these where we are all trying to support local Canadian and local businesses, I loved this concept and thought only "cool cities" like NYC would have stores like Creme de la Creme, but there you go! In addition to the bespoke part of their business, Creme de la Creme also has products available for purchase online (also made in Alberta), and I am assuming in-store, which I was fortunate enough to get a chance to try and review for you. I even managed to put together a little makeup look that I thought turned out fairly well!

PR gifted

MAKEUP | Indigenous-Owned and Made in Canada Cheekbone Beauty Liquid Lipsticks

I am so SO happy to be featuring Cheekbone Beauty on Cosmetic Proof today as ever since I saw it on Jennifer's Instagram (@jennifer_q85) last year AND Dragon's Den, I have been wanting to support this company and try their lipsticks! I kept putting it off as I know I have FAR too many lipsticks as is, but when I went into Quarantine a couple of months ago, I said to myself that I would spend on beauty more wisely and with the state of the economy now, it makes the most sense to buy Canadian. Then came the Black Lives Matter movement and the spotlight has been rightfully directed at the systemic issues that have plagued the BIPOC community for decades and/or centuries. I wrote what amounted to a journal entry a few weeks ago which sums up what I want to do for myself and for these communities of colour.

 Purchased happily by me