Category Archives: Reviews

Skincare Saturday: Aveeno Fresh Essentials

April 2, 2016Reviews, SkincareAveenoChelle

Aveeno Fresh Essentials

Falling in love with Aveeno products comes very naturally to me. I’ve been using them since I was 19 years old and there really hasn’t been much in the line that I haven’t loved. That a damn good track record for a brand I’ve been using for 14 years!

Aveeno‘s Fresh Essentials (Smart Essentials in the US!) line breathed some life into the brand that’s had fairly standard oatmeal and green packaging for several years now. The Fresh Essentials line has beautiful orange and yellow packaging on their usual oatmeal coloured bottles. But, the difference between this line and their staple line is that the Fresh Essentials boasts southernwood as a natural antioxidant which is used in products to help fortify your skin’s moisture barrier (in Googling it, I also found that southernwood is related to wormwood and has been used to ward off insects long ago!).

Aveeno Fresh Essentials - Daily Exfoliating Scrub — Aveeno Fresh Essentials – Daily Exfoliating Scrub

I’m always a little nervous about products labelled as a “daily exfoliator” because I really don’t want to be rubbing off the top layer of my skin every single day (or at least that’s how it feels to me!). However, the Daily Exfoliating Scrub is very, VERY gentle. The little scrubby parts are incredibly small. Not to the point where you can’t feel them doing their job, because you definitely can, but small enough so that it doesn’t feel like you’re using a harsh abrasive on your skin. It also contains natural luffa and coconut pulp to help remove dirt and makeup from your pores. I love using this in the morning because the scent perks me up in the shower!

Aveeno Fresh Essentials - Daily Nourishing Moisturizer — Aveeno Fresh Essentials – Daily Nourishing Moisturizer

The Daily Nourishing Moisturizer is your average oil-free daily moisturizer (shocking! lol). As with all of my other Aveeno moisturizers, I love the texture, feel and scent of the product. I also especially love the pump that this bottle comes with, although be aware that it does pump out an awful lot of product. I really only need about half a pump to cover my entire face and neck. My only gripe with this, and I don’t know how it’ll actually be since it’s not the summer yet, but I struggle a little bit with moisturizers that have sunscreen in them getting into my eyes on days when I’m playing soccer outside in the heat. I’ve had this issue with other Aveeno moisturizers in the past, so I’m curious to see how this will work for me throughout the summer. That’s a fairly small gripe though because I really do love how gentle and hydrating this feels on my skin!

Aveeno Fresh Essentials - Hydrating Night Cream — Aveeno Fresh Essentials – Hydrating Night Cream

The Hydrating Night Cream is, as expected, the thickest formula out of the two moisturizers. It’s an oil-free cream that’s intended to be used at night so that your skin can replenish the natural moisture barrier while you sleep. (I’ve had this kind of use pointed at me before at skincare seminars… that your skin’s resistance goes down at night while you’re sleeping, so it’s easier for the product to sink in and do its job.) Although I’m not a consistent night time moisturizer, on days when I’ve felt especially dry, I’ve applied this before bed and let it sink in while I watch Netflix. It doesn’t sink in immediately because it’s quite rich, but it’s also not going to be gumming up your face several hours either.

Final Thoughts

As a newbie to the Fresh Essentials line by Aveeno, I’m sold. I may actually start using this line instead of my usual product from their regular range because I prefer the scent on these a little bit more. (For those concerned about scent, I don’t find it intrusive just kind of… peacefully there.) I’m really happy that a brand I’ve loved for so long continues to make amazing products I inevitably end up loving. It’s comforting, you know? 🙂

The Aveeno Fresh/Smart Essentials line can be purchased on ulta.com ranging from $7.99 to 16.99 USD.

The products featured in this post were send to me for review.

Skincare Saturday: Bioderma Hydrabio Serum

March 26, 2016Reviews, SkincareBiodermaChelle

Bioderma Hydrabio Serum

Although I’ve been a big fan of Bioderma‘s micelle solution for quite a long time, it’s only recently that I’ve started to delve into more of their products. I was first introduced to the Hydrabio line by Bioderma via their micelle solution from the same line and so far this Hydrabio Serum is a frontrunner in that lineup for me!

This isn’t a picture heavy post because it really is just a singular product, but man, is it ever a good one. The Hydrabio Serum is designed to retrain the skin to moisturize itself. It has a frothy gel-like consistency that smells AMAZING to me – in fact, the whole Hydrabio line, it has a fresh, aquatic scent that is especially pleasing to me. (Please note the product does indicate that it contains allergen-free fragrance.)

Bioderma Hydrabio Serum with handy pump top!

“Developed in the BIODERMA Research laboratories, the Aquagenium biological patent found in Hydrabio retrains the skin to activate its natural moisturising capacities by stimulating the production of aquaporins, water channels in the skin, and retain the water it needs to be balanced.”

Bioderma suggests you can use this in conjunction with your moisturizer, but I’ve found that it’s not really necessary – the Hydrabio Serum is more than enough to plump up my skin and renew moisture to it. I even love the pump bottle – one pump delivers enough product to cover my entire face.

If you’ve got dry skin and need to bump up your moisture level, I’d definitely give the Bioderma Hydrabio Serum a shot – it’s worked out so well for me!

The product featured in this review was sent to me for consideration.

Skincare Saturday: LOVEFRESH Pear Scrub

March 19, 2016Reviews, SkincareLOVEFRESHChelle

LOVEFRESH Pear Scrub

LOVEFRESH is a brand I’m completely unfamiliar with but it’s one I want to get to know better. I was gifted their Pear Scrub when I went for my waxing at Smooth Wax Bar because they recommended it as a great scrub for keeping my legs exfoliated in the coming weeks.

I was intrigued by this brand because they’re local to Toronto and it feels important to support the local guy. (They do ship across Canada and the US though!) They describe themselves as “Toronto-based luxury line of fun and natural beauty products that will keep your skin glowing. Lovefresh was founded by Stacey Davis on the premise that you could have beautiful, glowing skin using all-natural products, that would be as luxurious as they would be healthy for the body. What began as a “kitchen chemistry” experiment in Davis’ Toronto home soon evolved into the creation of a complete line of all natural, non-toxic and highly effective body care products – offering an “easy luxury” experience. Every Lovefresh recipe is formulated with the best ingredients from local and global sources, including layered notes of beautiful, fresh-smelling scents.”

LOVEFRESH has an enormous collection of wonderful sounding smells, but I received the Pear Scrub option. While the scent is not necessarily to my tastes (I’m currently eyeballing the Pink Grapefruit & Tangerine one!), I can definitely vouch for the product itself. The scrub is full of sugar particles enveloped in oil to keep your skin hydrated. It’s gentle enough for daily use and it definitely left me with very soft feeling skin. It’s quite a sticky/solid paste when I first applied to my skin, so I was pleasantly surprised at just how much of the oil ended up adhering to my skin. The oil does linger for a while, but I liked that because it meant I didn’t need to apply moisturizer once I got out of the shower.

I’m also pretty pleased with how enormous the tub of scrub is. It may set you back $30 CAD, but you’re getting 16 ounces of product which is far larger than any other scrub in my household!

Let me know if you’ve tried anything by LOVEFRESH. I’d love to hear about your experiences and favourite products!

All LOVEFRESH products can be purchased on their web site at lovefresh.com.

Skincare Saturday: SABON Body Scrub in Lemon Mint

March 5, 2016Reviews, SkincareSabonChelle

SABON Body Scrub in Lemon Mint

SABON is not a company I see spoken about often. Heck, I didn’t even know they existed myself until I stumbled upon them one fateful day in New York City many years ago…

That sounds dramatic, but I really just want to tell you a story about how I discovered this brand. I was visiting my university roommate in New York City a long time ago and I was left to my own devices one afternoon. I made my way over to Magnolia Bakery (of Sex and the City fame) for my first ever taste of their much loved cupcakes. I got myself a cupcake and started wandering around the area.

After devouring my cupcake, my hands were covered in icing and I was feeling sticky and kind of gross. I couldn’t touch anything without leaving a sticky smear on my clothing! Suddenly, some woman came out of nowhere as I was wandering down a street and asked me if I wanted to come into her shop and have my hands washed. I looked around slightly confused… I hadn’t been complaining about having dirty hands and I wasn’t wiping my hands off on myself in disgust, so why on earth would she ask me that question? Hell if I cared, I needed to clean my hands!

So this woman invited me in to SABON and did a whole ritual on my hands. She first scrubbed them with a hand polisher, then lathered them up with hand soap, rinsed them and followed it up with a butter hand cream. I was smitten. Not only had this lady helped me in my time of need (seriously, my hands felt so gross) but the products were not only nice smelling, but the packaging was gorgeous. My hands were left feeling clean and silky soft!

And like… just look at this hand washing station:

Gorgeous! The whole place just has this old world apothecary type feel that I just love. So that’s the story of how I discovered SABON! Their luxurious bath products are all excellent (I’ve tried a lot of them) although a bit on the pricier side (I don’t care, I’ll gladly pay it!). Sadly, their locations are pretty scarce. There used to be one in Toronto (which I found out when I was in New York) but it’s long since shut down. 🙁

My absolute favourite product by SABON is this Body Scrub in Lemon Mint ($35 USD). The product itself is a wonderfully abrasive scrub that has fine particles in it that help to slough off dead skin. But the scent… the scent is what gets me every time. It smells refreshingly aquatic and clean. It’s so delightful that this is probably my fifth tub of this scrub.

I kind of love how I discovered this brand by accident in such a wonderful way. It was such a random incident and one I’ve thought about a lot over the years. If you ever spot a SABON, go in and get your hands washed. 🙂

Skincare Saturday: Mary Kay Into The Garden Foot Scrub

February 27, 2016Reviews, SkincareMary KayChelle

Mary Kay Into The Garden Foot Scrub

So, as I was sitting down to write this post and make sure I had the details right for it, I realized I was actually reviewing a foot scrub that’s part of a whole pedicure set (see that whole she-bang here). But it was the foot scrub that really wowed me, so I’m talking about that aspect of the set!

This is Mary Kay‘s limited edition spring 2016 Into The Garden Foot Scrub. And it’s truly like any other foot scrub – it has a thick creamy texture with some medium sized particles in it that help to slough off dead skin. Realistically, this isn’t going to do much on my severely callused and roughed up feet (thank you soccer and long-distance running!), but it does FEEL really, really nice. Anyone with less roughed up feet than mine would find this is a scrub that works well because the beads are abrasive enough without being harmful. I found my feet felt weirdly polished. Not something I’ve ever felt before!

The part that really got me about the Into The Garden Foot Scrub is the scent of it. It’s not overpoweringly “I AM OLD WOMAN, HEAR ME ROAR” (aka smells like potpourri and cloying flowers) – instead, it smells like a fresh garden grove that leans more towards the scent of grass than it does flowers. And I LOVE that. I personally smell hints of mint and lime, but I can’t find a scent list for it, so that’s just a guess.

The Into The Garden Foot Scrub is actually part of Mary Kay‘s Pedicure Set which also contains foot fizzies, an emery board and toe separators and retails for $35 CAD.

The product featured in this post was sent to me for consideration.