SKINCARE | BKIND Makeup Removing Cleansing Balm #CanadianJuly

Press sample

I have been raving about Quebec-based brand BKIND and their nail polishes for the last few weeks of CBBxManiMondays and now we are moving into their skincare! I know that single product reviews are sooo 10 years ago, but you know what? I find that doing a mixture of both round-ups and single product posts keeps me more organized and helps me remember better what I have talked about with all of you here! Sometimes certain products deserve a conversation of their own and since we are featuring Canadian brands this month, BKIND is gettin' their own post!

SHEET MASK | When Beauty Vegan "Simply When" Collection

Purchased by me

Recently, I was doing a little bit of shopping while waiting for a prescription at London Drugs and came across this collection of vegan When Beauty sheet masks. When Beauty makes a number of different sheet masks and this collection in particular is all Vegan Certified by the Korea Agency of Vegan Certification and Services Inc. I picked up all five masks in this collection and because the masks differed only very slightly from each other, I will just do some quick little summaries of the masks for you!  

SKINCARE | #OOTD Beauty Skincare Routine

This is a sponsored post.

I am always excited to try a new skincare routine and as I have gotten older, I am naturally a bit more selective about what I put on my face. While I enjoy my luxury skincare items, efficiency, ingredients and results are still the priority and when it comes to all three of these, Korean skincare always seems to knock it out of the park in addition to being affordable! I was recently introduced to #OOTD Beauty, a vegan Korean skincare brand, with products catering to all skin types and ingredients that are both kind to the skin and planet. Whether you are dealing with dry skin, oily skin, or looking for anti-aging solutions, #OOTD Beauty offers a range of products that deliver visible improvements.

SHEET MASK | Pacifica Disobey Time, Pollution Fight, Stress Rehab and Mattify Prep Facial Masks

Purchased by me

We are massively going back in time today with these very colourful and attractively packaged Pacifica sheet masks as I have been avoiding sheet masks for the last 3 weeks due to a small rash that popped up on my face (and by small, I mean a 4mm circle on my chin). I am currently treating it with steroid cream as the previous cream I was using was not working, so fingers crossed this one works! In the meantime, this means you are going to see archival photos of Jayne with dark hair because yes, I STILL have sheet masks that I haven't talked about from four years ago!

MAKEUP | Oceanly by Attitude Silky Pink Makeup Set Review and Look

Press samples

Years ago, the Montreal-founded brand Attitude made its way into my beauty life via their Superleaves collection and household cleaning products. The products are made Canada, EWG verified, vegan, cruelty-free and strive to reduce waste in their packaging. Last May, Attitude launched their makeup line Oceanly, a line of plastic-free makeup made with 99% ingredients of natural origin including skin-loving ingredients like phytoglycogen and collagen. This collection of products includes everything you will need for a full face of glowy, natural-looking makeup from foundation and concealer to blush and highlighter. All the makeup products are also free of fragrance, carmine, titanium oxide and beeswax. While this isn't something I prioritize too highly in my makeup products, I do value mindful packaging and having no plastic whatsoever is something I find pretty incredible considering how many products there are in this launch!

SHEET MASK | Acure Seriously Soothing, Incredibly Clear and Brilliantly Brightening Sheet Masks

Purchased by me

I used to do Earth Month on the blog and feature "natural and organic" beauty brands, but I think over the years, we have all come to realize natural doesn't necessarily mean better and that many brands that aren't necessarily marketed as organic do try their best to uphold pillars of sustainability and caring for the environment. Acure has long been one of those brands that has made plant-based ingredients an affordable option and though I have not tried much from the brand, it tends to catch my eye whenever I am shopping with their attractive and Instagrammable packaging and of course the products themselves! I think back in 2018 or 2019, I picked up a bunch of sheet masks from Well.ca to use in a #CBBGetsSheetFaced challenge and these Acure sheet masks were among my spoils so yes, these masks are a couple of years old, but when it comes to sheet masks, I never worry about actives since it's really more about hydration and moisture.

SHEET MASKS | Andalou Naturals Hydro Serum Facial Masks

Purchased by me

I feel like it has been a long time since I have been in my digital beauty space and really it has only been a week, but this week has felt like a long one! I don't normally work 5 days in a row so when I do, it just feels like by Day 5, I have nothing left. I don't know how people can work a regular M-F and have energy by the end of the week. I've only worked a few jobs in my life where this was my schedule and lemme tell ya, by Wednesday I was wondering how I was going to make it until Friday. Granted, it was a job for a local skincare company that had me so unhappy and overworked that it could have been more the environment than the actual schedule! Thanks to how challenging the last week has felt, I haven't had a chance to try any new sheet masks so we are delving into my Vault of Unblogged Sheet Masks with the Andalou Hydro Serum Facial Masks!

MAKEUP | Sprout Plantable Eye and Browliner

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That's right. PLANTABLE makeup - it actually exists! While I had heard of plantable writing pencils before, plantable makeup liners were something that had not crossed my inbox until this summer! Founded in 2013 by Michael Stausholm, Sprout was the first plantable writing pencil which was a sustainable way of giving a second life to otherwise a very short and unusable pencil!

SHEET MASK | PibuWang 17VDerma Vegan Cat Mask

Purchased by me

Early on in my sheet mask "career", the PibuWang #17VDerma sheet mask was one of the few out there that were vegan and had EWG certified Grade 1 ingredients (I never liked the EWG, but to some this is important). This brand also pledged to donate a portion of their revenue to animal rescue efforts in Korea as their "beauty muse" is their adopted street cat Mormi. The cynic in me wants to say this is all just a convenient way of putting a cat on their packaging, but I am going to be positive and believe that all of this is indeed true! 

SKINCARE | Hot and Icy with the Boscia Thermal Black Charcoal and Cryosea Firming Icy-Cold Cleansers

Products provided by PR

I have been in a very involved relationship with my cleansers the last couple of months. I don't often review cleansers mainly because there isn't much variety in terms of what I can say about them, but that doesn't stop me from shopping through my stash and hand-selecting what kind of texture or scent I feel like experiencing! Recently, I started taking my double cleansing REAL serious and have been joyfully testing out various duos of oil cleanser + second cleanser! An interesting cleanser duo that has entered my rotation are the Boscia Thermal Black Charcoal and Cryosea Firming Icy-Cold Cleansers!

NAILS | JINsoon Red and Pink Dotticure #CBBxManiMonday

For the month of February, our CBBxManiMonday theme will be red and pink, BUT I will also try my hardest to incorporate my month-long theme of #LunarFebruary! This is the third year I have done this and I quite enjoy it! I've never been a huge Valentine's Day person, though bath bombs are my weakness for this occasion so I make an exception with my annual Lush posts, but for those of you who don't know, #LunarFebruary is in celebration of the Lunar New Year. This is where I focus on Asian brands and products and I have a great time with it because Asian products can be quite different from North American ones! Usually my posts end up being very skincare focused because Asians LOVE their skincare, but the technology and skintertainment value is WAY UP from what you can find in the North American market.  For today's post, I wanted to find an Asian nail polish brand and I actually don't have very many until I started going through my drawers and found some untrieds from Korean, vegan, 10-free nail polish brand JINsoon! 

JINSoon polish purchased by me. Sally Hansen polishes are press samples.

SHEET MASK | Food Story Collection: Pomegranate, Blueberry, Banana, Kiwi, Pineapple Masks

Focusing on trying as many sheet masks as possible from Korean beauty brand Soo'Ae this past September was a truly fun experience with one of the more fun collections being the Food Story Collection! 

Purchased by me

NAILS | Summer Fruit Slices with Ella + Mila #CBBxManiMonday

It's officially summertime once I get fruit on my nails! It's also an exciting day because I get to try a new nail polish brand that I have only gotten a chance to admire through swatch videos on YouTube or on Instagram. Say hello to 7-free, vegan and cruelty-free ella+mila, named after the twin daughters of founder, Narineh Bedrossian. These polishes are geared towards all, but especially for young kids who want to spend some quality time with their moms and paint their nails! 

Polish provided by PR

SKINCARE | Derma E Vitamin C Instant Radiance Citrus Facial Peel

I thought that my first run-in with Derma E was when London Drugs started carrying it, but as it turns out, it was actually in an Ipsy Glam Bag six years ago with their Microderm Abrasion Scrub, which is one of their bestsellers! While Derma E is in the "realm of clean beauty", I have grown to like them for their plant-based approach to skincare while still focusing on efficacy. I have mentioned before that while most natural products seem nice and simple, as we hit our 20s and beyond, our skin needs actives and ingredients that peel, stimulate and target real skin issues beyond just hydration. In addition to ingredients, Derma E also has a number of environmental initiatives including making sure the ingredients used in sunscreens are coral reef safe and being aware of their carbon footprint as a company. I use so much skincare that sometimes it's hard for me to talk about it all, but for the last two weeks my skin has been craving clarity, but I didn't want to be too aggressive so I turned to a couple of products from Derma E and fell for the Vitamin C Instant Radiance Facial Peel! 

 PR gifted

SKINCARE | LASPA Intensive Anti-Aging Glycolic Peel from Day 1 to Day 7

A couple of weeks ago, I embarked on a journey that when it comes to skincare, required great discipline. I like having a fairly intensive routine at night and for seven days last month, my routine went from eight steps to just two. TWO! It was all for a good reason though and that was to try the brand new LASPA Anti-Aging Glycolic Peel! We've all seen and tried a lot of AHAs, peels and treatments emerge, but what caught my attention with this particular product was the very brief and succinct list of just eight ingredients, the 10% glycolic acid strength and most importantly that the source of the glycolic acid comes from a patent pending two-step fermentation process using sugarcane. I've read a lot of information where people just say "use sugarcane juice for similar effects", but there is a difference in acid strength if you extract the acid which is what has been done here! This post is probably going to be pretty intense and wordy, but I found this peel quite unique so I feel like it needs its own narrative for anyone who would like to know why this particular peel is so special!

PR gifted

NAILS | Peelable Polish (?!) with Suncoat Lovely Lapis #CBBxManiMonday

With this being our last Monday, us gals decided to use vegan, water-based and Earth-friendly Canadian brand Suncoat! I used a Suncoat polish years ago as well as a nail polish remover that didn't work out too well, but more than 5 years later, the formulas have changed and I was ready to give this brand another go because there is nothing I love doing more than supporting a Canadian brand, created by a female organic chemist and wants to make the beauty space a healthier place. I won't lie that I had a few challenges with the colour I am wearing today, but I am hopeful with the other shades that I will work out the kinks and have more designs to share with you!

PR sample

GIVEAWAY | Live Clean Foaming Body Washes (Yayyyy!)

When it comes to shower time, nothing delights me more in my bath products than ease of use and the least amount of fidgeting to get bottles open. I'm sure I'm not the only one who adores ANY bath product with a pump whether it be shampoo or shower gels, but now Live Clean has seemingly come out with what we have all been wanting - a Foaming Body Wash! Talk about ease of use, now I don't even need a bath puff! These new body washes come in three delicious scents: Shea and Murumuru Butter, Moringa and Matcha Butter and Mango and Aloe Butter all made with the same Live Clean promise of 98% plant-derived ingredients and being SLS and sulfate-free, silicone and phthalate-free, DEA and paraben-free and of course Leaping Bunny Certified! 

PR samples

MAKEUP | Green and Vegan Beauty with Clove + Hallow

Back in June, I got a closer look at beauty brand Clove + Hallow and I was excited because not only was this brand a green beauty brand, but it had also taken home awards for performance and innovation rivaling their non-green counterparts! While I haven't sworn off non-green products in their entirety, I'm sure I'm not the only one who is always open to including cleaner products in their beauty routine. After seeing a few Toronto beauty blog reviews on Clove + Hallow, I knew that I would eventually have to try it while hoping and praying that it would eventually be sold by a store in Vancouver (it is currently sold at The Detox Market now). Hopefully that will be happening sometime soon?

PR samples

SKINCARE | Boo Bamboo Brightening Charcoal Sheet Mask #31DaysofSheetMasks

My first fully charcoal sheet mask! Everyone else looks so cool with these black masks on, but I held off for a long time because I was scared that the detoxifying aspect of these masks would be too drying for my skin. After so many hot and sticky evenings this past week, I felt like my skin needed a major cleanse! While 98% of my sheet masks are hydrating, brightening or anti-aging (the Asian skincare trifecta) I had on hand two charcoal sheet masks. Both will be reviewed this month starting with the Boo Bamboo Brightening Charcoal Sheet Mask!

SUNSCREEN | Stay Protected this Summer with Attitude Suncare! #SuncreenSunday

As I have gotten older, I have come to realize that looking youthful comes down to some very basic products and practices like staying hydrated, sleeping well, reducing the amount of stress in your life, a great skincare routine (my favourite part!) and staying out of the sun. Sure, a little bit of vitamin D is great, but ultimately wearing sunscreen has been my way of ensuring my skin looks its best! If I need some colour, bronzer and self tanner are my friends, but I will admit that I have come to embrace my natural skin tone and not bother most of the time.

In the midst of the green beauty movement, we now have some really amazing mineral sunscreens as options and after reviewing some bath and body products from vegan and EWG verified brand ATTITUDE last summer, I was excited to see a selection of suncare products from the brand at London Drugs back in June. I was most excited to see if this mineral sunscreen would be just as comfortable to wear as my "light as air" chemical suncreen favourites!

PR samples