SKINCARE | TIRTIR 5 Actives Power Serums Kit

 Provided by YesStyle Glow Up Giveaway. Affiliate link.   

Twice per week, YesStyle offers an assortment of products that can be claimed on their website and added for free to your order of $29+. You can only choose one product and they sell out fairly quickly so when I wanted to place an order, I waited for a product I wanted to try on the Glow Up Giveaway and saw this set of TIRTIR Power Serums and had to try it! The product you choose needs to be reviewed within 2 months which is the perfect amount of time to see what these serums can do!

SKINCARE | Beauty of Joseon Glow Serum

Press sample courtesy of YesStyle. Affiliate links.

Happy 2026! We made it everyone! It only made sense for the first review of this year to be all about *GLOW* so here we go with the Beauty of Joseon Glow Serum! 

SKINCARE | Anua Brightening and Hyperpigmentation Routine

Press samples

I was SO EXCITED when I saw that I had been selected for a YesStyle x Anua campaign because I had just tried the Anua Peach 70% Niacin Sheet Mask, LOVED it and wanted to try more from this super trendy KBeauty brand! The products featured today are specifically for a routine targeting hyperpigmentation and brightening and while I haven't had the chance to use them long enough to see results, my experience so far has been promising! 

SKINCARE | Glow Recipe Fruit Babies

Purchased by me

In true Jayne fashion, I have been sitting on this Glow Recipe review for awhile partly because I find it incredibly difficult now to spend my nights blogging after working for 10 hours in retail AND because I kept having to take breaks from certain products because would start to look "off". Last summer, while I was on my birthday staycation, I started feeling the excitement of blogging again and wanting to do little mini reviews of certain products that I had been wanting to try. 

SKINCARE | Naturium Has Arrived in Canada!

Press samples except the Niacinamide Cleansing Gelee

It has been ages since I have done a full routine skincare review, but the time has come and it's a GOOD one! Naturium has finally landed in Canada at Shoppers Drug Mart and I am ALL OVER IT! I have almost a full routine here (I didn't receive the Vitamin C until recently) and I cannot get enough of it! I have been using Naturium for almost 2 months straight and I am ready to share my thoughts on a few of the products I was able to try!

SKINCARE | THEDA x NENA Natural Face Serum Set

This is a sponsored post.

Hold on to your hats everyone because NENA has a new serum out! In collaboration with Talaysay Campo, a Squamish and Sechelt nation Indigenous health and wellness advocate, Theda x NENA incorporates Campo's mother's Indigenous botanist teachings and Talaysay's love for health and wellness. Like all NENA products, this serum also uses Glacial Oceanic Mineral Water from Northern British Columbia!

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!

SKINCARE | Vegreen Vegan Skincare Routine

 

This is a sponsored post.

Even after all this time, I still LOVE discovering new skincare no matter the price point as we have all learned that results and efficacy are really what matter! I was recently introduced to the vegan Korean skincare brand Vegreen, which is a blend of the words "vegetable" and "green" with the idea being that the main ingredients used are renewable from nature and the products are made with minimal packaging. 

SKINCARE | Bella Aura Rapid Repair Clarifying Elixir and Multi-Repair Rescue Masque

 

Press samples

What I love about beauty blogging is discovering and having access to new and oftentimes relatively unheard of brands. Sometimes, I even fall in love with them and back in 2015, Bella Aura was one of them! It was the year of "clean and natural beauty", but there were not many luxury brands in this space at the time. Bella Aura was Canadian and the ingredients and formulations were (and still are!) elegant with all of it coming in some gorgeously chic, black bottles. As a skincare lover, even if I love a brand, I often have so much product to go through that it's hard to justify buying more which is why I have not written about Bella Aura for awhile. While I have kept my eye on the brand, I haven't had a chance to try any of their newer products, not for lack of wanting to, but more to keep my consumerism to a "buy only if needed" level! We are showcasing two new-to-me products today that feature a VERY cool antibacterial ingredient - microsilver powder!

SKINCARE | AXIS-Y Climate-Inspired Skincare

This is a sponsored post.

Korean skincare products have always been a major part of my skincare routine (hello, sheet masking every day!) as they tend to be very targeted and more progressive in their "skin tech" when it comes to ingredients. Korean skincare brand, AXIS-Y, is a "climate-inspired" vegan skincare line free of parabens, artificial fragrance, BHT, alcohol, SLS and mineral oil. The focus of their products is to combat environmental aggressors and skin stressors like pollution and UV damage. While they have a fairly extensive array of products, I have been using a couple of their bestsellers and I can DEFINITELY see why! 

SKINCARE | Let's Fight Hyperpigmentation with Holy Snails Shark Sauce!

Part of my nightly routine now always includes a niacinamide serum. What began as just a methodical way of using the many niacinamide serums I had in my collection has become an essential in my skincare routine! I have tried a few niacinamide products in serum or booster form and lemme tell ya, I did not think I would have become quite so picky! It's hard to know who to trust when it comes to a recommendation as now the "influencer" is no longer truly unbiased so I decided to go with kind of an OG "skinfluencer" - Jude Chao of Fifty Shades of Snail! I first came across her blog years ago for a VERY in-depth review of Sulwhasoo's First Care Activating Serum and enjoyed her research-driven approach to specifically Asian skincare. 

Purchased by me

SKINCARE | Neo Naturelle C-Major 23% Vitamin C Serum, Silky Skin Natural Sugar Scrub and Aqua Harmony Moisture Infusion Complex

Science and nature are my two most favourite combinations when it comes to skincare and when a brand introduces their products by saying that not everything "natural" or "organic" is safe just because it is plant-derived or that just because an ingredient is manufactured it is toxic, I pay attention! Vancouver-based, family-owned, Neo Naturelle harnesses the power of science and lab-made ingredients to deliver maximum results from botanically-derived ingredients. Each ingredient in every one of Neo Naturelle's products has a reason for being along with a user experience that smells and feels luxurious from beginning to end!

Press samples

SKINCARE | The New NENA Mineral Serum Made with Canadian Glacial Mineral Water

This post is sponsored by NENA.

I am all about supporting my local Canadians especially now as the pandemic continues to impact small businesses everywhere. I discovered NENA in 2019 and fell in love with their brand ethos, the fact that the products are made here in BC and feature Canadian glacial clay that is sourced in partnership with the Indigenous people of Northern BC. I have tried every single product they have made including their gel and spray hand sanitizer and everything has been impressive so you can imagine how much I squealed when I saw that a new member was joining the skincare family! There is now a brand spankin' new SERUM!

Press sample provided

SKINCARE | Kora Organics: The Brightening Routine

We have all been bombarded with the "natural" products craze the last five years and it shows no signs of slowing down. Honestly, I love the beauty of plant-based products interwoven with synthetic ingredients so I will always be a fan of combining the two, but I have grown wary of jumping on board too quickly when a new "organic" or plant-centric brand emerges let alone one created by a celebrity or influencer. I've just become a bit jaded with all of these fast-growing Instagram brands with people blindly buying into the "natural" marketing jargon. Initially, this is how I felt about KORA Organics. 

Press samples

SKINCARE | Purito Centella Unscented Toner and Serum

Last year, I fell head over heels for the Purito Green Level Sun Safe Sunscreen as it was every bit as fantastic as the reviews I had seen said it was. It had such a nice texture and if you had told me it was moisturizer, I would have believed you because the feel of this product on the skin is like no other. You can see that my first time with Purito had set the bar quite high! 

Press samples

SKINCARE | O&Young ACME Collection

Though I haven't been using O&Young for very long, I have been thoroughly enjoying the products and trying to learn more about the brand as it began as a plastic surgery hospital in Seoul (still running to this day!) and then formed a stem cell research center in 2008 involved in disease and cosmetic biochemical research. I always have an appreciation for a skincare brand with a more research-based background because of my own background, but it also means that I expect more from these types of brands in terms of ingredients and performance. O&Young did not disappoint and I found the products I was sent quite fascinating in composition and use.

PR gifted

SKINCARE | Soo'Ae Squeezed Lemon Collection

I've said it A LOT now, but I can't stop saying how unbelievably CUTE the Soo'Ae Squeezed Lemon Collection is! I was more familiar with their sheet masks as I went to Walmart last year and bought probably 30 masks (much to my husband's chagrin)? It was a bit of a splurge, but I had a feeling this kbeauty brand had decent and affordable skincare so I made a little note to make sure to give the rest of their products a try because there are some NICE ones (ahem the Refining Rose line)! 

PR gifted

SKINCARE | Ole Henriksen Banana Bright Vitamin C Serum

I didn't think I would do more than my Instagram review of the new Ole Henriksen Banana Bright Vitamin C Serum, but over the 7 weeks of use I came to really enjoy how versatile this serum was. In general, I don't give into the hype of "trendy" skincare brands and while I get excited just like any other skincare lover when a flashy brand releases a new product, I look beyond what other influencers say as I am finding that more and more people just say "OMG, thank you Brand X for this amazing product" and are "so grateful" without actually doing some critical thinking. Either they are afraid that they won't receive PR anymore or merely read the marketing jargon that's given to them or better yet, don't realize that they are already 90% sold on the product because it looks pretty on their Instagram feed. Taking all this into account, I was VERY excited when I was selected to review this for Influenster back in March because the ingredients list was a lot more impressive than I thought it would be! This was a REAL vitamin C serum that also had PHAs and I was READY.

 Product provided by Influenster

SKINCARE | My Summer Skincare Routine (Other than Sheet Masks!)

Gone are the days where I used to do single skincare product reviews! I personally have found round-ups a bit more helpful unless it's a single amazing product that can truly stand on its own because of the price, ingredients or mode of operation.  I also like seeing how people are using various types of products together and now that I am older and more proactive about my skin and health in general, I am hoping some of you might find my skincare routine interesting too! 

PR samples marked with *. All other products purchased by me. 

SKINCARE | Volition Snow Mushroom Water Serum

The first thing I noticed when I started looking at Volition products was how each product seemed extremely appealing. The Snow Mushroom Water Serum immediately caught my eye because I adore mushrooms (raw and cooked) and serums are my favourite part of my skincare routine other than sheet masking. If anything, I find that these two loves of mine go hand in hand.What makes Volition different from other skincare brands is the creation of their products because YOU get to create products "of your own volition". You get to be an inventor and submit your idea through the Volition website or vote on ideas that you would love to see become a reality. Instead of a brand telling you what the next big thing should be, Volition has decided to let you come up with the idea and they will then take it to the lab to test out. Oh, and Volition products also have the Clean Beauty stamp of approval at Sephora and after looking at the ingredients of this serum and most of their other products, I am liking the ingredient choices!

PR sample