Category Archives: Skincare

Skincare Saturday: Live Clean’s Argan Oil Collection + Giveaway

Reviews, Skincare

I’ve tried a lot of Live Clean products in the last few years, and I think it’s safe to say that their Argan Oil range is the one that works the best for me all across the board!

Moroccan Argan Oil, which is famed for its high concentrations of natural Vitamin E and rich in essential fatty acids and antioxidants, is at the heart of the range, alongside organic botanicals of Grape Seed and Olive Oils that help protect the skin’s moisture barrier. Combine all of that with the wonderful scent – which isn’t too heavily argan oil scented, because I’m not actually a fan of the scent of pure argan oil! – and you’ve got yourself a killer product. The shampoo and conditioner in this range work the best on my hair out of all of Live Clean‘s shampoos and conditioners that I’ve tried. And although it’s not in this post, I use the leave in conditioner every day too!

And sometimes it’s nice just pairing all your scents together knowing that they all match, you know? Combining the body wash, with the lotion and using the hand soap in our guest bathroom means I end up smelling pretty consistently good throughout the day!

Not only are the products good, but the people at Live Clean are also incredible to work with, and offered to giveaway a set of these products to one of my Canadian readers as well! (And psst, the company was founded here in Canada 11 years ago and continues to be manufactured and developed here!)

One lucky person will win:

  • Live Clean Argan Oil Repenishing Body Wash
  • Live Clean Argan Oil Replenishing Body Lotion
  • Live Clean Exotic Nectar Argan Oil Replenishing Shampoo and Conditioner
  • Lie Clean Exotic Nectar Argan Oil Liquid Hand Soap

Giveaway Rules

  • This giveaway is open to Canadians only.
  • This giveaway starts on September 29, 2018 and runs for one week.
  • One winner will receive the prize pack pictured and described above.
  • Please be aware that all entries will be double checked to ensure fairness.
  • Once the winner has been contacted, they will have 48 hours to provide me with their mailing address. If the winner fails to respond within that time frame, I will pick another winner. (And so on.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Too Faced Peaches & Cream – Peach Lip Balm & Scrub Review

Reviews, Skincare

Too Faced Peaches & Cream - Peach Lip Balm & Scrub

Any addition to Too Faced‘s Peaches & Cream range gets me super excited.

Wait, let me rephrase…

ANY addition to Too Faced‘s range gets me super excited, but I’m always intrigued to see even more being added to the Peaches & Cream lineup!

Too Faced Peaches & Cream - Peach Lip Balm & Scrub
Too Faced Peaches & Cream – Peach Lip Balm & Scrub

Too Faced recently added seven new lipstick shades to their Peach Kiss lineup (see my video on them here), and with that launch they threw in some lip care saviours: a peach lip balm and a scrub!

Too Faced Peaches & Cream - Peach Lip Balm & Scrub
Too Faced Peaches & Cream – Peach Lip Balm & Scrub
Too Faced Peaches & Cream - Peach Lip Scrub
Too Faced Peaches & Cream – Peach Lip Scrub

The Peach Lip Scrub is as you would expect: a sugar scrub with a peach scent. What I didn’t expect was how much oil is in this base. There’s plenty of granules of sugar in the scrub, but it’s also jam packed with oil which means you need a lot less product than you may initially think. I made the mistake of grabbing one big heckin’ scoop with my finger the first time I used this, and quickly realized while spreading it over my lips that I had grabbed wayyyyy too much. This is quite a blessing with lip scrubs though – I don’t like to feel like I’m using glob after glob and potentially wasting the product (and your money). So use a little, because it goes a LONG way.

I was left with soft lips that had quite an oily feeling afterwards. Not oily in a bad way either – in the way where you kind of wonder if you even need to apply lip balm because there’s already so much moisture on your lips! Interestingly, I found the smell was not similar to their Peaches & Cream range, but more in line with the Sweet Peach scent (although not as strong).

Too Faced Peaches & Cream - Peach Lip Balm
Too Faced Peaches & Cream – Peach Lip Balm

If you’re not satisfied with the moisture from the Peach Lip Scrub, then you can follow it up with the equally deliciously scented Peach Mega Moisture Lip Balm. This has more of your traditional artificial peach lip balm scent – you know the one, we all had a lip balm like this at one point or another! The texture is quite smooth and glides on the lip easily without being a goopy mess, but you have to break the top layer seal first. There’s like a thicker coating on the top of the product, and once you break through that you’re left with soft, supple balm that’s easy to apply.

In practice, this is more of a daytime lip balm for me as I prefer something much, much heavier at night. The texture of this is thick enough to be grippy on the lips for a little bit of longevity, but fundamentally it’s too thin to be a lip mask used overnight. I have used it multiple times overnight however – and I was left with soft lips in the morning, but I found that it sank in completely every time. While some people may like that, I like a much thicker balm for overnight and prefer when there’s still a little bit lingering on my lips when I wake up the next morning. For me, this is a “keep at my desk” lip balm for easy application throughout the day.

The Too Faced Peaches & Cream Peach Lip Balm and Scrub can be purchased individually at sephora.ca for $21 CAD or on sephora.com for $17 USD.

The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration. Post contains affiliate links.

Skincare Saturday: Pai Rosehip BioRegenerate Oil

Reviews, Skincare

Pai Rosehip BioRegenerate Oil

Pai is one of those skincare brands that I’ve heard talked about in hushed, revered tones, but not one I’ve ever gotten the chance to use – until now! With autumn and winter on the way, I was curious to try out Pai‘s Rosehip BioRegenerate Oil – an oil that is branded as being usable by everyone – dry, oily, young or mature – this oil has you covered.

Pai Rosehip BioRegenerate Oil
Pai Rosehip BioRegenerate Oil

As it’s been spring and summer for quite some time now (I’m done, SOOOO done with the heat – bring on the cooler weather!), I haven’t been needing a facial oil. But with the colder months I love to slather one on before going to bed at night. Pai‘s Rosehip BioRenerate Oil is specifically formulated for all skin types, with an emphasis on sensitive skin. I’m not sensitive at all, but it’s nice to see when it being labelled as such anyway. This oil claims to help refine the appearance of fine lines, promotes skin elasticity and smooths out the tone and texture of your skin.

Pai Rosehip BioRegenerate Oil
Pai Rosehip BioRegenerate Oil

Pai encourages you to use this 2-3 times per week in the evening (which I thought was unusual – I tend to use a face oil every night when I need it). I have to point out that this is DEFINITELY a night time oil – the orange colour you see in the bottle transfers to your face. It’s mostly translucent so you don’t walk around looking like a sweet potato at all times, but it definitely leaves an orange cast on your face.

On me this is a great facial oil as it intensively hydrates my face overnight and leaves me with a supple face in the morning. I can’t attest to the claim regarding fine lines as I’ve never experienced a life changing event in regards to their appearance on my face, but I can say that I enjoy this oil as part of my nighttime routine and I’ll definitely be using the whole bottle up throughout the colder months!

The Pai Rosehip BioRegenerate Oil can be purchased at shoppersdrugmart.ca for $40 CAD.

The product featured in this post was sent to me for consideration. Post contains affiliate links.

Skincare Saturday: The Body Shop’s Hemp Collection Turns 20!

Reviews, Skincare

The Body Shop - High on Hemp since 1998!

With marijuana becoming legal in Canada this coming fall, it’s no surprise that the hemp jokes are coming out fast and furious at this point. For example, The Body Shop‘s Hemp range is using the tagline “It’s so good for dry skin, they should make it illegal”, which I’ll admit gave me a good chuckle when I read it. The Body Shop‘s Hemp range has been around since 1998, so they’re celebrating a whopping 20 years of promoting hemp’s restorative powers on the skin.

When The Body Shop launched their Hemp range back in 1998, one of their stores in France was actually raided by the police! 
When The Body Shop launched their Hemp range back in 1998, one of their stores in France was actually raided by the police!

For those unaware (and frankly, I’m one of them – I don’t know a lot about cannabis by-products or even smoking myself so I had to do some research), hemp and marijuana come from the same cannabis plant. However, those that are grown for their fibres and seeds (such as those used in creams) are low in THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) which is  the chemical compound that gets you high when you smoke or ingest it.

The Body Shop - High on Hemp since 1998!
The Body Shop – High on Hemp since 1998!

Hemp seed oil forms the basis for The Body Shop‘s Hemp range – a product that is exceptionally good for dry skin. The Body Shop indicates that: “Hemp seed oil is made up of 80% essential fatty acids including omega 3, 6, and 9. [snip] Plant oils work with your sebum (the skin’s own oil) and natural moisturizing factor to enhance the skin’s barrier function. This reduces trans-epidermal water loss, which means skin is better hydrated. Hemp acts like an armour that seals in moisture and defends your skin against the elements”.

Thankfully (for me) the moisturizers and creams don’t smell like weed, but instead have a more herbal/medicinal scent. I asked my husband what he thought it smelled like and the first words out of his mouth were “Florida”, which made me laugh (and honestly, I didn’t really understand). When asked to elaborate, he said it smells like arborvitae trees. The products are super moisturizing… to the point where I feel they’re actually a tad heavy for the summer and more suited towards colder weather. That being said, if you’re in the garden constantly, and need something to restore your hands you may be deeply interested in their Hemp Hand Protectors.

Let me know if you’ve tried out The Body Shop‘s Hemp range and what you’ve thought of the products you’ve tried!

The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration. Post contains affiliate links.

Skincare Saturday: New Sunscreens on the Market

Reviews, Skincare, , ,

New Suncreen

Sunscreen is one of those things that I’m pretty sure most people don’t find that interesting, and there certainly aren’t that many people that love reading about it on beauty blogs. BUT, it’s something we all need to be wearing, and finding the one that works the best for you is a necessity. We all have different needs in our products, and there’s a lot of sunscreen brands out there with a lot to offer. Here are four sunscreens that are new on the market/new to me, and my thoughts on them.

La Spa & Neutrogena
LaSpa & Neutrogena
  • LASPA SPF 30 Moisturizing Mineral Sunscreen for Sensitive Skin (not pictured) & SPF 20 Daily Sun Protection Mineral Sunscreen Lotion: LASPA is a Canadian-made brand that makes mineral sunscreen – a product I was a complete newbie to this year. In essence, mineral sunscreen is a physical protectant rather than a chemical one, and therefore nicer and healthier on you skin (huge thanks to Lindsey at Sustainably Savvy for helping me understand mineral sunscreen better!). It’s chemical, fragrance, paraben, gluten and nut free and has UVA/UVB broad spectrum protection. The downside to mineral sunscreens is that they don’t sink into your skin – leaving you with a somewhat sticky/moisturizing film on your skin. Out of the mineral sunscreen I’ve tried this summer, LASPA makes the best one I’ve tried as it creates the least amount of white reflect – there is still some, but it’s not as hugely apparent as some mineral ones I’ve tried. Unfortunately, I really need/want my sunscreens to fully sink in, and mineral sunscreens just don’t have that ability, so I’m afraid one with a mineral base just won’t be able to suit my needs. However, there is one huge benefit from this one- there’s no scent! No scent is a total rarity in sunscreen as far as I’m concerned! Please be sure to check out Lindsey’s review of this product on her blog – she does a much better job of explaining physical versus chemical and why physical sunscreens are better for the more green-conscious consumer.)
  • Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel Sunscreen SPF 50: I have raved on and on about how much I love the Neutrogena Hydro Boost range of skincare products, so it should come as no surprise that I was fairly excited to see them add an SPF into that range this year as well. I use this sunscreen predominantly on my face because I know that my face has always reacted well to the Hydro Boost gels in the past. I find this sunscreen to be quite moisturizing, and it leaves a bit of a dewy sheen on my face (not unexpected for sunscreen really) but it never felt greasy. I did find that this one had a bit more slip to the product, so you may not need to apply as much as you may be used to with other brands (while still remaining protected).
Aveeno & Coppertone
Aveeno & Coppertone
  • Aveeno Protect + Hydrate Sunscreen Lotion SPF 60: Much like Neutrogena, Aveeno is one of those brands that I come back to time and time again. They make some of my favourite skincare EVER (I’ve been using their daily moisturizer for about 16 years!). Sadly, this sunscreen didn’t work out as well as I had hoped. I found it didn’t sink in as much as I wanted it to, and it felt a bit greasy. I was honestly quite surprised – Aveeno’s never really let me down before, but I also don’t have a ton of experience with their sunscreens.
  • Coppertone Clearly Sheer Whipped Sunscreen SPF 50: Coppertone makes some of my FAVOURITE sunscreens on the market. I’ve been going back to their Sport Sunscreen for decades because it’s one of the few that won’t drip into my eyes when I’m out for a run or playing soccer. So, suffice to say,  I’m always up for trying out a new Coppertone sunscreen! And I have to say… this whipped formula may be the most fun I’ve ever had with my sunscreen before (yes… really!). It comes out of the can like shaving cream and feels totally luxurious on application. It’s actually a real pleasure to apply this sunscreen – which is not a sentence I ever thought I would say! Who knew sunscreen could be fun?

So those are the latest sunscreens I’ve been trying out lately. Do you have a favourite brand for sunscreen? Tell me!

The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration.