Bliss and Bale | Serenity Box

Bliss-headerDon’t let gift giving stress you out people! In fact, I’m a huge fan of gifting presents. I LOVE it and often go all out. Shopping for unique/cool gifts that you know your friends/family would love? So fun.

TwitterI wanted to showcase another crate/box from Bliss and Bale (see the Valentine’s Day box here). Andrea Cwik is a small business owner located in the San Francisco Bay Area. She selects items for her boxes from other local businesses and partners with the best small batch artisans.

Bliss-and-Bale-SerenityThis one is called Serenity Box, filled with all sorts of nice goodies, like a really sweet mug, loose leaf tea, yummy mini waffles, candy and a candle. Andrea ships her products worldwide, so anyone can customize (email her for customization) or select a box from her website and send to a loved one. I’m sharing her products again, because hello? Support Local! And, Andrea is just the sweetest — we met up for coffee late last week and chatted for two hours!

See? E, from Apis Floral also joined us at yummy Chromatic Cafe. Good lattes there ;) Coffee

BlissAndBale-unopenedLove the details Andrea puts into her boxes, like sealing the boxes shut with her logo + social media information provided! It’s really well done, I have to say. Bliss and Bale caters to all sorts of people whether you’re one person, or a large corporation looking for multiple gifts and she is happy to customize the gifts working with any budget, which is so nice! You can read more about including your own promo-items in the gift boxes too.

Check out the boxes she has available for sale, and on Instagram the boxes she’s put together for other clients … see what I mean? So impressive, with gorgeous pieces, and equally gorgeous photos to go along with. I don’t want to ruin the surprise, but I want to work with Andrea and customize one of her new baby boxes for a pregnant friend of mine back in Canada (hopefully she isn’t reading)!

Bliss-Bale-contactYou can just tell, from the moment you meet Andrea, that she absolutely enjoys what she does over at Bliss and Bale. I wish her all the success — and I can’t wait to go for coffee with her again. Here’s to new friendships thanks to Instagram! :)

Give Bliss and Bale a follow on social media:
Instagram / Facebook / Pinterest

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G.M. Collin | Products for dehydrated skin

GM Collin reviewSo I’ve been trying out some products from G.M. Collin, since they reached out to me last month. They are apparently a higher end skincare brand, founded in France but also distributed across the USA and Canada. Before agreeing to them, I wanted to see what my friend Ashlee thought of them. She reviewed some of their products back in January (see Ashlee’s review here), and she mentioned that she loved the products she tried out. Yay!

Now it’s my turn! I’ve been using their products on-and-off for a couple of weeks, and now I’m here to report back on how well they perform. For reference, the products I’m talking about in this blog post are catering to those with dry/dehydrated skin.

It’s nice to change up the skincare products once in a while. Especially since I have been using my philosophy hope in a jar, and bobbi brown eye cream non-stop basically for the past 4+ years. I’ll probably continue to use those two products until one or the other stops working for me. Whenever I find something that works so well, makes my makeup last and my skin look dewy, it’s a no-brainer.

GM-Collin-Travel-KitLet’s start with the Hydrating Travel Kit, which contains 3 smaller sized products from their Hydramucine line. All of the items in this travel kit works well for all skin types, especially dehydrated skin.

Hydramucine cleansing milk: It was gentle on my skin, and didn’t sting the eye area when removing my makeup. Since I don’t wear much makeup, it removed everything fine. It didn’t leave my skin feeling parched or tight like some cleansers.

Hydramucine Treating Mist: If you’re a fan of the Caudalie beauty elixir, you’ll love this — the scent is identical! I didn’t use this much, because I don’t usually spray my skin before/after/during makeup application. Although, it smells nice. This product is for hydrating your skin and providing immediate comfort and refreshing sensation. Think about spraying it on your face on a hot summers day, it’ll kinda cool you down!

Hydramucine Optimal Cream:  A super nice hydrating yet velvety feeling face cream. I’m almost out of this already!

GMCollin-eyeserum2Last products from G.M. Collin was their Bota-Peptide line of products.

Bota-Peptide 5 Concentrate: Being straight with you here…I’m not a huge serum type of person. I just forget to apply it, or don’t want to go through the ‘hassle’ of applying multiple products when I’m getting ready in the morning. I’ll apply it a couple of days per week (I only use it once a day, although you can use it morning and night) during the night time. I didn’t notice a significant difference in how my skin looked in the morning. But perhaps I should start trying to use this twice a day and see how it goes.

Bota-Peptide Eye Contour: I loved this eye cream! Although more lightweight than my Bobbi Brown extra eye repair cream, it was still nice and didn’t make my concealer smear/wear off. Winning! Obviously after only using it a handful of weeks I cannot tell you that it reduces (existing) fine lines, because honestly the only way to get rid of those is surgery, or botox. AMIRIGHT? But the eye cream feels quite luxurious on the under eye area.

Final thoughts:
I’m pleased with G.M. Collin’s products for the most part. But to be honest, they are only sold in the finest and most luxurious spas by estheticians and skin care professionals. So unfortunately you can’t easily purchase their products. Nor do they list the ingredients in their products, anywhere online — which is a bit strange! However, my sensitive skin didn’t give me any issues when using the multiple products.

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Too Faced La Matte + La Crème lipsticks

Too Faced La Creme & La Matte lipsticksToo Faced recently launched a few new shades from their La Matte + La Crème lipstick collections at the end of February. And ooo boy, what a perfect time to try out their lipsticks for the first time!

TooFacedThe Too Faced La Crème lipsticks go on like a creamy lipbalm consistency. Although much more pigmented than a balm, the colour payoff is excellent with a nice semi-gloss finish to the lips. I might have to pick up a couple of lighter shades, as I don’t necessarily wear the dark shades on an everyday basis.

I’m equally pleased with the Too Faced La Matte colours I received to review, as I thought they would tug more on my lips, considering it’s a matte formulation. However, it went on the exact same way as La Crème, except drying to a matte finish. The matte shades are beautiful and have an intense colour payoff with one swipe from the bullet. Both the matte and creme lipsticks have a white lotus flower extract in it, which I assume gives off the most faintest of scents, but it’s a nice delicate smell that you really have to look for (it’s not an intense smell).

Although, I’ve only worn these for a few days, I can attest that both the La Matte, and the La Crème formulas, do not have the longest staying power on the lips. Consider bringing them along with you throughout the day to touch up after eating/drinking.

Alright, onto the swatches!

Too-Faced-La-CremeFirst up, La Crème lipsticks.

9012Ohhh9021Ohhh: described as a candy apple red.

Berry-NaughtyBerry Naughty: a berry wine shade. I would describe it to be more plum. This is my favourite one!

UrslaUrsla: Similar to Berry Naughty, with more of a deeper purple tone and a golden shimmer throughout.

Next up are the La Matte shades. Too-Faced-La-Matte

When-In-DoubtWhen In Doubt: A matte cool beige. LOVE this one!

BacheloretteBachelorette: A perfectly bright watermelon pink for summer!

The-New-BlackThe New Black: Get it? Orange is the new black? Ha! Love the name.

Rebel-HeartRebel Heart: A cool toned matte red.

I realized that La Creme’s 9021Ohhh, looked similar to the La Matte Rebel Heart colour, so I decided to swatch them side-by-side. Check them out! One is just a matte version of the other, basically. Do you see the similarities? Too-Faced-dupesLeft: La Creme 9021Ohhh
Right: La Matte Rebel Heart

All the colours swatched on my arm. Too-Faced-Lipsticks

The day after I received the PR package in the mail, I wanted to do a swatch video and first impressions, so if you’d like to see that, click the play button below!

Too Faced La Creme & La Matte lipsticksHave you tried the Too Faced lipsticks before? What formula is your favourite? They have a ton to choose from.

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