Beauty

Bioderma for sensitive skin

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bioderma-headerI’m all about the Bioderma products for the past couple of years. Their incredibly popular micellar water is still hard to purchase here in the USA, but it’s readily available at stores in Canada. In fact, the micellar waters were included in part of my SpiffyClaus event back in late December.

While I was home from December to mid-February, I received a parcel in the mail from them and only had a chance to try the items out a handful of times (because there wasn’t enough room in my luggage to cart a couple of litres of bath products back to California with me), so I left it with my Mom and she’s been using it ever since. But I can review what I’ve tried, since I had written a few notes down, before leaving Newfoundland! Here we go :)

Bioderma-shower-gel

Bioderma-gelBioderma Atoderm Shower Gel (dry sensitive skin) $19.95 CDN: You can see from the sample I have in my hand, it’s a clear liquid consistency, and has a creamy foam texture when latered onto the skin with your loofa. I loved that it came in a pump bottle, since a lot of shower gels have a squeezey tube you have to fumble with in the shower. It’s a huge 1L container too, so it’s going to last you ages.

lotionBioderma Atoderm PP balm $29.95 CDN: More like a lotion than a thick balm, it was pleasant to apply all over the body after getting a warm shower on a bitter cold Canadian winters day. My skin was still acting up with the whole hive-situation back in Canada, so this was nice and soothing to apply, since it didn’t have a scent and it wasn’t too thick or irritating on my skin.

bioderma-wipesBioderma Sensibo H2o makeup wipes: I’m a huge fan of makeup wipes, and actually went through 2 packages of them while I was home in Newfoundland. They were a bit more dry than I was expecting. And as most of you know I don’t wear a ton of eye makeup or heavy foundation, so this did the job — but I wish they could add a bit more moisture to the wipes.

bioderma-trioBioderma moisturizing stick (damaged and dehydrated lips) $6.95 CDN: I have been buying this lip balm for a couple of years (the bioderma one shown here, and the one from Avene are my two favourite lip balms, ever). I didn’t open this one because I have a few in rotation at the moment, so this one stayed home with my Mom.

If you have sensitive skin, try out Bioderma products since they are hypoallergenic and paraben-free.

Products were sent from Bioderma for review. Opinions are my own. I have been using Bioderma for years prior to working them!

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Coffee shop, Daily

Exploring Coffee Shops: Social Policy

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SoPoAt just about two weeks old, I randomly came across the new Bellano coffee shop called Social Policy in downtown San Jose this morning. It’s a gorgeous clean lined and beautiful design inside with the most perfect lighting for capturing photos of the place. I couldn’t stop getting up from my seat to snap photos.

Social-PolicyNot many people sitting around drinking their morning fix since it’s so new. I can only assume it’s due to people not knowing it’s open yet. I had a chat with the guy working there, and he said that this location was previously a spot called Black Bird Tavern. Having not been too familiar with downtown San Jose, I was never in that tavern before it closed down to become Social Policy.

Inside-Social-PolicyBellano has always focused on coffee but Social Policy has branched out and is serving up pastries and snacks, and I’ve been told they’re working on opening up a kitchen to serve more food than baked goods.

Social-Policy-coffee

SoPo-OutI often like to take some me-time for an hour or so a few times a week, to turn off my phone (putting it in airplane mode) and enjoy my quiet time at coffee shops. I people watch, mainly — and it’s especially interesting to do so, here in the Bay Area. I can only imagine what sort of new deals are going down with the big wigs, or ideas people are coming up with.

VTAIt was a cool experience drinking my morning latte there today, the staff were neighbourly and chatty with me. I’ll definitely be back, especially that time of morning watching the commuters on the VTA train right outside the front door.

Social Policy latteDefinitely give their vanilla latte, and a piece of banana bread a shot. :)

SoPo-FooterSocial Policy
200 South 1th St, San Jose CA
facebook / twitter / instagram
(explore more Coffee Shops)

 

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Beauty

Update on H&M Beauty Haul

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Great news for my Canadian buddies, H&M online store is launching in Canada soon! That means you can shop their beauty section too!!

In February I blogged about my huge H&M Beauty Haul that I purchased all online.

Now, I’m here to report back and show you what’s worth the money, what’s not, and how a lot of the makeup applies (with a video at the end!). Whewf, mouthful.

HM-Beauty-hand-creamH&M Conscious hand creams: white tea and peppermint, and sweet lemon. Verdict: It’s worth the money, if you like the scents you’re getting. It’s a non-greasy formula of handcream. It sinks into the skin quickly because it’s so lightweight.  The white tea & peppermint smells a lot like Christmas to me, and is difficult to get through.

HM-goodiesH&M way to glow bronzing powder (limited edition, no longer online), eye makeup remover pads, brush cleanser spray and detangling comb. Verdict: I bought the detangling comb as a gift for my friend, so I can’t say for sure how that works. The bronzing powder is AMAZING and is a staple in my everyday makeup bag. The eyemake up remover pads are terrible and I already threw them in the garbage. The brush cleanser spray is only “ok”, wouldn’t re-buy.

HM-MascaraH&M high and mighty mascara (limited edition, buy it now if you want it!) Verdit: Haven’t opened it yet (I bought a few H&M mascaras).

HM-Haul-beauty

Micellar water: LOVE this. A must buy! I bought two more as a backup. Already half way through the first bottle.

Pure definition mascara: Really loving this mascara, the wand is a bit flimsy and weird, but it creates a nice lengthened look to the lashes.

Best curlfriend mascara: Nothing really to write home about. It’s okay, won’t repurchase. Kind of reminds me a lot of the Joe Fresh curling mascara (orange tube).

Nail colour remover pads: A little pricey, but still works. I’ll stick to my Daiso remover pads.

Cream blush: It’s really pigmented, dries from a cream to powder finish. I use it sparingly, but it’s also been in my daily makeup bag ever since — guess it’s a win?

Revelation body lotion: I think I’m all about the packaging on this. It’s gorgeous, it’s unisex and smells amazing. Plus, it looks cool.

Intuition shower cream: As I stated in my haul about this, my neighbour back home wanted this so I gave it to him. I re-bought because it’s SO NICE. YOU MUST BUY. THAT IS ALL.

HM-BB-creamH&M BB cream beauty balm. Verdict: It’s great for only a couple of hours, provides a dewy-like finish to the skin (see it in action in the video below).

HM-Body-scrub-and-creamH&M intuition body scrub and intuition body cream. Verdict: I’ve been using the scrub a lot lately. It’s decent, I’d totally rebuy. However the body cream you have to be careful as to when you apply it, especially if you’re a fan of self-tanner like I am. Do not apply when you have the tanner on, I felt it wiped it all off for some reason! So strange. I love the consistency of it, and wish I could apply it every day, but I can’t! haha.

Any of the items I picked up interest you? Have you tried anything by H&M beauty? 

Watch the H&M beauty line in action:

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