I am excited to share a new and affordable brand with you! Being by Sanctuary is a new brand that launched last summer in the UK, and now is in Canada exclusively at Shoppers Drug Mart. I attended the press event, where we got to learn about their products and smell their four unique fragrances.
Being by Sanctuary is also sister companies with St. Tropez, the company known for their tanning products!
I would describe Beauty by Sanctuary as an edgy, fun and young brand with its target consumers being Generation Z. After interviewing many Generation Z-ers (I just made that word up LOL), they came up with a line that would match their needs and desires. These desires are to have a low and affordable price, but also to be well aware of 1) all the ingredients inside the products and 2) morally conscious – no animal testing.
They also found out that Generation Z would prefer to have a variety of different fun scents, rather than to splurge on a single expensive fragrance like some past generations.
I will now introduce the four scents! There are a variety of different products with each scent.
Salted caramel and macadamia burst: This one smelled very rich and desserty. It reminded me of the delicious salted caramel ice cream from Earnest.
Hibiscus and coconut water: This one was very fruity and berry-like, with a hint of coconut. It smelled very happy and upbeat. Yes, scents can induce feelings and actions.
Cloudberry and lychee: This scent reminded me of an Asian chewy candy that I would eat. Not hi-chew, but it comes in tubes similar to the Gummy Choco tues. If you know, please tell me because it’s bothering me a bit that I can’t remember it LOL!
Chili mango and tonka bean: The last scent we were introduced to! It had a bit of a fruity scent with a spicy kick to it.
Shower burst: This product was pretty cool and I haven’t seen it before! So you spray it onto your skin and then it quickly foams up while cleaning your skin.
Each of the scents mentioned above have all of these products: shower burst, bubble bath, body scrub, and body mist. For now, these are the only scents and products they have but I can definitely see more products being rolled out in the future (this is a new brand after all!)
Stay tuned for more detailed product reviews! This post is just an intro to the brand 🙂
Tumeric Teas: I noticed that many tea companies at the festival were featuring tumeric in their teas. Tumeric is a spice that has recently gained lots of attention for its health benefits, although it’s been used for centuries.
Tea Sparrow: Tea Sparrow was our favourite booth! They had many types of herbal, green, and black tea samples that we enjoyed. My favourite was the herbal strawberry mint, which I ended up purchasing.
Justea: This booth specialized in purple leaf tea. Why is it called purple tea? Because purple tea leaves grow naturally in the tea bush due to the Anthocyanins antioxidant.
The picture above is still from Justea. They had the coolest steepers in the festival and I thought it was worthy of a photo! Once the tea is done steeping, visitors pour themselves a sample in the environmentally-friendly glass cup provided (and are able to keep after the festival!).
Oollo Tea: Oollo tea focused on oolong tea, which Smores was a big fan of! They had many different types of oolong tea on sample.
Young Mountain Tea Company: Young Mountain Tea Company had a few samples featured as well!
Shaktea: I remember going to Shaktea’s cafe on Main Street three years ago, and enjoying their tea. I quite liked the colourful assortment of tea tins and herbal tea sample. They have since moved from their Main Street location to Cambie Street, which will be opening later this month.
Tsuru no Maru: We were intrigued by this table because of the pretty pink flowers and simple layout (hey, marketing works okay!). Unfortunately, we didn’t get to sample their tea because the person was busy talking to other guests.
Xiaguan Tuocha: This booth really brought me back to childhood, because my dad is a huge traditional Chinese tea lover. This booth had all of the Chinese tea ceremony supplies and the tea that my dad loved to drink!
Amoda Tea: Amoda Tea had quite a lot of samples and we both enjoyed their teas.
Whisk Premium Matcha: This booth specialized in matcha tea. I love matcha but I don’t drink/eat matcha as often as I like because of my caffeine sensitivity. The lady was quite busy with other customers so we decided to skip out on the samples here.
Some new skincare launches!
This is pretty cool – coloured mascara! It seems that Estee Lauder is really branching out into more unique colours, with the launch of their new lipstick colours as well!
The classic Advanced Night Repair, one of Estee Lauder’s best sellers! The formula was modified, and it now contains 50% more hyaluronic acid for even more intense hydration and wrinkle prevention.
These are the rollerball version of their perfumes. They are a great addition to a makeup purse or bag!
As mentioned, the products above are from their core collection. However, this Warm Cashmere is one of their limited edition products and new for the fall.
This was the first time that Sekkisei was introduced at an ACI event! I had written a review previously on their White Powder Wash, which you can read 
Last but not least, Paul & Joe! Happy to see their cat shaped lipsticks once again 🙂
The Stila Stay All Day foundation has undergone a few changes in the past year! Last year, the packaging of the bottle was changed. This year, they have added many new shades to the line! As well, the cap contains a hidden concealer now too!
Holiday/Christmas lip sets from Stila!
The new Stila one step primer! The crystal clear base in the new primer has 50% water. This gives the product a lighter, more refreshing feel than most silicone-based primers.
Moving on to Korres – two new products pictured above! The first one on the left with the smoothie is the Greek Yogurt Undereye Priming Moisturizer. The coolest part to me was how cold the applicator tip is, which helps to minimize puffy and swollen eyes in the morning.
Holiday/Christmas gift sets from Korres!