Search Results for: essence

Recap: Top Products of 2016

January 10, 2017

I know that it is already 2017, but I still wanted to share my top favourite products that I discovered in 2016!

I chose to only include products discovered in 2016 to keep the list short- this post would be wayyy too long if I included products that I’ve repurchased over the years! Here they are, in no particular order!

essence Brow Definer: Well, 2016 was the year I finally tried essence cosmetics, and I wish I had tried it sooner. So far, I’ve tried their liquid lipsticks, lipsticks, lip liner and eyebrow pencil. The brow definer pencil undoubtedly was one of my 2016 favourites and I use it pretty much everyday! For $2, it does a great job and lasts the whole day, as long as you don’t rub it or sleep or something. My pencil is nearing the end and almost getting to the point where it is too short to sharpen. I will definitely be repurchasing this product again!
Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation: My Holy Grail high-end foundation is the Urban Decay Naked foundation, which I still really love. At the Estee Lauder media event, I was introduced to their Double Wear Foundation line, which I was told was a classic favourite. I was really impressed with this foundation, and love it just as much as the Urban Decay Naked!

Kylie Lip Kit: I never gave much thought to the Kardashian/Jenner clan or Kylie’s products, but one of my best friends tried her lip kit and raved about it. Since then, I have become a huge fan of Kylie’s products for their beautiful pigmentation and long wear! I’ve only reviewed the matte liquid lipstick on the blog, but in the past month, I also tried one of her lip glosses and the eyeshadow palette (by accident, funny story LOL). I will probably be reviewing those when I get around to taking the photos! So many new products to review, so little time!
KORRES Wild Rose Brightening Oil: This was earlier on in the year, but for a good three weeks, I solely used the KORRES Wild Rose Brightening Oil. In those three weeks, I noticed a dramatic difference in the quality of my skin. It also mixed beautifully into foundations for a nice, dewy finish. I don’t use this as often as I want because I’m reluctant to finish the product, which is a bit sill of me (otherwise known as not “seh duk” in Cantonese).
Seche Vite top coat: I started off the year with this wonderful purchase, which has ruined me for the better. I do not use any other top coats, nor do I trust any of them to perform at the same quality and price that Seche Vite does. Seriously, this stuff is amazing. It makes your cheap nail polish look like a million bucks, and does not chip AT ALL.

Well, there you have it! The top beauty products that I discovered in 2016 🙂 It’s been yet another great year of beauty blogging and I’m looking forward to the new products that I have yet to discover in 2017!

Seven Deadly Sins of Makeup Tag

October 25, 2016

So I didn’t feel like writing another review today, and decided I would do a tag! I came across this tag from Robyn of Lipstick on the Lake. This is the Seven Deadly Sins of Makeup Tag!

GREED: What’s your most inexpensive beauty item? What’s your most expensive beauty item?
Hmmm, the most inexpensive beauty item would be the essence eyebrow designer. I bought it in August for only $2, and have been using it everyday! I don’t have a picture of it separately, but I did include it in my Introduction to Essence Cosmetics post.

The most expensive beauty item would have to be a toss up between the Naked 1,2,3, palettes or the Kat Von D shade & light palette. The Naked palettes were gifted to me for my birthday/Christmas over the past three years from two people. So, the most expensive beauty item that I have personally bought would have to be the Kat Von D shade & light palette.
WRATH: What item do you have a love/hate relationship with?

I am going to just make this an overall product instead of an item. It would have to be blush! Out of all makeup, I am the least skilled in blush. It seems like I can never apply it evenly on both sides, one side always has too much/little and then it’s just a slippery slope from there.

Here is one of the only times I liked how my blush turned out! I am wearing the Estee Edit Barest Blush in Coy Coral.

GLUTTONY: What brand takes up most of your collection?

Ooooh… it would definitely have to be Urban Decay. Urban Decay Naked Foundation, Naked 1/2/3 palettes, pencil eyeliner, gel liner, eyeshadow pot, primer potion, setting spray, mascara, erm yea the list goes on! Urban Decay has amazing products if you are looking for something extremely long lasting.

I spy… three Urban Decay products from this Night Out Makeup Look post from a year ago!
SLOTH: What product do you neglect the most due to laziness?

This is probably going to be surprising since I know this product is a favourite for lots of people, but it is mascara. Yup. I rarely use mascara, for many reasons. The main reason I guess since I always wear glasses, you can’t really see my lashes so there isn’t a point.

As well, I just don’t really like using it because it’s either clumpy or it doesn’t hold the whole day.

The picture below is with the Benefit They’re Real! mascara and Naked 3 palette. Even though I don’t like mascaras, one of the best ones I’ve tried (and believe me, I’ve tried a lot in attempt to finally like mascara), is this one! Sorry the picture is so small, it is from 2.5 years ago when I was a blogging noob.

PRIDE: What product gives you the most confidence?

If you asked me this two years ago, or even last year, I would have said eyeliner. Ever since I started wearing makeup almost ten years ago, I would never leave the house without eyeliner!

But, these past few months, it would have to be doing my eyebrows. Doing my eyebrows give me more confidence and makes my face look more defined. I’ve actually stopped wearing eyeliner everyday, never would I have thought that would happen. Instead, I just fill in and shape my eyebrows everyday with my essence brow designer, as mentioned in the first question!
LUST: Which item is at the top of your beauty wishlist?

Oh giiiirl, there are too many!!! Hmm, I was really wanting the Kat Von D palette but I finally took the plunge and splurged on it two months ago. SO, it would probably have to be the Kylie Jenner lipkits. I know right?!

You’re probably going to judge me for supporting the Kardashians or whatever, but Kylie’s matte lipsticks are AMAZING. They seriously stay on for over 10 hours, don’t transfer, AND are comfortable to wear.

But yeah, I would love to get more of her lip products and maybe even the Kyshadows! I just want more of her products. The hard part is that you can only order it online, and it is calculated with USD and pricey international shipping. So boo.
ENVY: Which makeup product looks great on other but not on you?

It would probably have to be mascara! As mentioned previously, you can’t really see it on when I wear glasses (which is all the time) and I never really have good luck with curling my lashes.

However, in an effort to be more body positive and confident, I will say that I think I have nice lower lashes, and lining them with mascara really make my eyes pop!

SONY DSC — Hm, my mascara here doesn’t look bad either!

TAG: Boyfriend describes my makeup products

August 8, 2016

I am very happy that I have a boyfriend who willingly goes to, and suggests, that we go to Sephora together! When we first started dating a few years ago, he had absolutely NO clue what type of makeup products there were. In fact, I remember him asking me, ‘What is a Sephora?’ – how far he has gotten!

Even though he now knows what ‘a Sephora’ is now and has a decent amount of makeup knowledge, I thought this would be a fun tag to do! I got this idea from Celina over at The Celution, you can see her post here.
For this tag, I chose ten products that he is supposed to describe what the purpose is! Let’s get this post started!
Josie Maran coconut watercolour cheek gelee: “Cheek geleeeeeeh…..? Gelleeeeeeeh? I’m going to say blush for your cheeks.”

Estee Lauder BB creme: “BB… I don’t remember what BB stands for… it’s like a… smooths out lines or something.”
Urban Decay makeup setting spray: “Setting spray… is this like primer? It helps the makeup settle and not come off.”

Estee Lauder cheek/lip ball: “Some kind of lip colouring? Lip liner? I dunno.”
Dolly Wink liquid eyeliner: “Eyeliner. It’s used to line your eyes to make your eyes look bigger.”

Beauty blender: “It’s used to blend your foundation. I don’t know how you use it. Just rub it. Rub it all over your face.”
Stila stay all day 10-1 illuminating beauty balm: “Uhh… bronzer? It gives you that dewy effect. Dewy means shiny looking.”

Estee Edit pore vanishing stick: “Pore vanishing stick? It’s the uh.. pore minimizer. It fills in your pores so that your foundation will not look like it’s full of holes.”
Maybelline mineral powder: “Isn’t this foundation? This is the dry powder, I don’t know. What’s the difference between wet and dry again… uh… the dry foundation sits on the surface more and is for oily skin.”

essence lip liner: “Lip liner. It’s used to define your lips.”

That’s it! Some of his responses really had me cracking up, like the Beauty Blender and Stila illuminating balm! Special thanks to the boyfriend for being a good sport and making this post possible! Perhaps I should do a part two because it was a lot of fun, and I do have a lot more makeup that he could attempt to describe =P

I encourage others to try this post out as well! Be sure to link me if you end up doing it 🙂

KORRES Wild Rose Brightening Oil

July 7, 2016

Once in awhile, I fall irrevocably in love with products that I just can’t get enough of. I have been using the KORRES Wild Rose Brightening Oil for about two months now, and I absolutely LOVE it. I’ve heard of KORRES before, but this was my first time trying their product.

KORRES was founded by a Greek pharmacist and chemical engineer, who wanted to capture the essence of Greek’s ancient herbs and culture into their products. The Wild Rose Brightening Oil is a special, limited edition release for KORRES’ 20th Anniversary. The packaging on this bottle is different from their typical packaging, to commemorate their twenty years.
This product is jam packed with amazing ingredients to brighten your complexion. It contains Super C, which is a ~~stabilized~~ superwoman version of vitamin C. Super C increases your skin’s absorption of vitamin C by 1000% percent! No, that is not a typo with an extra 0 – it really is 1000%! In addition, the oil also contains wild rose oil which is packed with vitamin A, and essential fatty acids to repair fine lines and discolouration.

The oil also contains real wild rose petals, as you can see in this closeup. There is a very strong rose fragrant, which makes me feel very elegant when I put this on.

The oil is dispensed in a dropper. I use this product as my moisturizer in the morning and night, and I find that 4-5 drops is sufficient enough for my skin to feel plump and supple. Since using this product, I’ve noticed a tremendous difference in my skin. My skin feels more plump, and supple. It looks really radiant as well!

To step it up a notch, I’ve even been incorporating this into my liquid foundation and OH MY GOODNESS. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. I put my liquid foundation on the top of my hand, and drop two drops, mixing it into the foundation. It feels very oily and slippery, but it doesn’t add any heaviness to my foundation. The oil makes my skin look very dewy, smooth, and bright. Meanwhile, the lasting power of my foundation is not compromised! So great!

This oil has worked so well for my skin, that I can’t think of anything I didn’t like about it. It is definitely an investment at a suggested retail price of $75 CAD, but I am gladly willing to purchase this product once I run out because it works really well with my skin. I am trying not to use it so much now so that I can ‘save’ it – is that weird? LOL.

This product is available at Shopper’s Drug Mart!

Yay!

Thanks for reading,
Carmen

Degrease Shampoo by Maple Holistics

May 27, 2015

Hey everyone!

This month, I was approached by a US based company, Maple Holistics, to review their hair care products. After reading up on the company and browsing through the products, I chose to order one of their best seller shampoos, the Degrease!

Ever since puberty, my hair type has been oily. I wash my hair each day because it becomes greasy, and feels unbearably gross if I don’t wash it. I know that some people are able to ignore that feeling, and I’ve tried to but I can’t! =(

Yes, I know that everyone says you shouldn’t wash your hair every single day as it will damage/dry/thin your hair… but when you have zero tolerance for an itchy and greasy scalp, plus oily hair to begin with – it has to be taken care of!

Plus, I have such an excess of oil in my hair so I don’t think that by washing it everyday, I am ‘drying’ my scalp out as there is SO MUCH oil =P I’m really jealous of those people who can go for days, even a WEEK without washing their hair, or simply using dry shampoo/baby powder to clean their hair – I could never do that.

With all that said, I was honestly a bit hesitant at how well this shampoo would work. I’ve tried so many different shampoos catered towards ‘oily hair’, yet I don’t really think have made a difference! =(

The ingredients in this shampoo consist of lemon, cypress, rosemary and basil, which help relieve oily, greasy hair and itchy scalp. Degrease works to remove excess perspiration without absorbing hair moisture, all while contributing natural compounds known to assist in re-balancing sebum secretion levels.

I was very impressed with their shipping times, my shampoo arrived within three days of me placing my order! Funny story, I woke up that morning with extra oily hair (bleh) and really wanted to give my hair a good wash. I decided to check on my bunny very quickly first, and noticed that I had a package delivered! Talk about perfect timing!
I was very excited to try this product because I have yet to find something that has worked for my oily hair. The instructions told me to use a quarter sized amount, then work it in your hair and wait a few minutes for the product to settle in before rinsing.

This shampoo has a very herbal and earthy scent – do not expect a perfume-y scent like the ones from Pantene or Herbal Essences (sigh, those smell so good haha!) as this product does not include any fragrance. The scent of this product reminded me a lot of the aromatherapy stores, which I personally love!

Immediately after rinsing, my hair felt very clean. I definitely felt that all the excess oils had been stripped away. I decided to test this product out and see how long it would take before my hair felt oily and gross. (Usually, that is under 24 hours – the oils in my hair work too fast!)
…..Which is why I was so shocked when I woke up the next morning, with my hair still feeling as clean and fresh as it did yesterday! That has never happened to me before and I seriously couldn’t believe it!

I went through the whole next day without my hair feeling oily or greasy – and that was seriously a miracle.

This was the first time that I purposely chose not to wash my hair the next day. I usually don’t have a choice as my hair gets so oily – and that was an absolutely liberating feeling. You may think I’m being dramatic, but when you have been dealing with oily, greasy hair your whole life, you will know what I mean.

Those with non-oily hair, appreciate little moments in life like this and don’t take it for granted! With this shampoo, I am able to wash my hair every other day without it feeling heavy or greasy – a possibility I never knew would exist knowing how much I hate that oily hair feeling.
Here is a picture of my hair in the sun! I brought the shampoo with me on vacation, as I knew that Kelowna would be hot (which equals to more sweat & oil production). I like how my hair looked in this picture, it has a nice healthy shine without looking too thick and greasy =)

I also raved to this product to the boyfriend and told him to try it since he suffers from oily hair as well. He was also equally impressed with the product and doesn’t his hair look nice and clean as well in the picture? =)

The Degrease shampoo is seriously great. I have never tried any other shampoo that has worked this well for my oily hair. If you suffer from excessively oily hair, I highly recommend trying this product. It has made my days so much easier now that I don’t have to worry about having my hair bother me the entire day.

You can buy this product on Amazon.

If you have oily hair, what are some tips/tricks that you use to keep your hair as clean as possible?

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Product provided by Maple Holistics for review. Opinions are my own =)