Beauty

The first of many Holiday Gift Guides | Beauty Lovers

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Ah, the first of many Holiday Gift Guides comin’ atcha from all those blogs you read.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m on top of the Christmas shopping this year and I probably have one or two things left to pick up, and then I’m DONE. Donezo! No stressing! To be honest, I don’t really care for much of anything (for myself) this year for Christmas. It’s definitely going to be different without my Dad around, and then celebrating Christmas in a brand new home. But that doesn’t mean Christmas traditions won’t carry on. My Mom and I still plan on driving over to our neighbours house on Christmas morning in our PJs hangin’ with the Wade-o’sss. That’s one of the things I definitely look forward to when I’m home in Newfoundland. Not only that, my Mom’s new place will be closer to my in-law’s place — not that St. John’s is big by any means, but… hey, it’ll be closer none-the-less.

Jumping into a Holiday Gift Guide now for the beauty lovers. So many sets are available at Sephora and other stores, it’s a great time to pick them up and gift-away. Here are some goodies I’ve been picking up for people, PR brands have sent over (will be marked so you’ll know) and products that I’ve purchased from the Sephora 20% VIB sale.

Philosophy

Philosophy Pure GracePure Grace Foaming Bath and Shower Gel| $44CDN/$38USD I took advantage of the Sephora VIB sale and picked up a huge bottle with a pump, of the Pure Grace Foaming Bath and Shower Gel for in-shower. The ‘regular’ 160z philosophy bottles tend to last me for a few months so I would say that this huge 32oz will last me ages. Plus not to mention the scent is amazing — and looks nice in the shower, ha!

philosophy hope in a jar
Hope in a Jar moisturizer| $79CDN/$69USD Hope In A Jar: My go-to daily facial moisturizer for over four years. I haven’t found anything else that I love as much as this moisturizer. They now have 2 different variations of the hope in a jar, I prefer the original as opposed to the renewed hope in a jar which is a bit different in consistency and I feel like it doesn’t give me as much dew/glow to the skin as the original. OG if you will, ha!

Fresh
Fresh Beauty sets will be available in December at Sephora! 

FreshZodiac Oval Soap Collection| $18CDN/$15USD Although these soaps are expensive perhaps you can pick it up for one of those friends or family members that enjoy the thought of receiving a product they can use that is astrology related. There are 12 zodiac themed soaps with four iconic scents in classy and sleek packaging. I’m a Taurus, and kinda dig reading about what my sign says about me on the Fresh website. The zodiac oval soap collection is for a limited time only, so make sure you pick up those products before it’s too late!

Mini Mask SpaMini mask spa| $115CDN/$93USD It’s time to indulge your skin this Christmas, as gorgeous as it looks, it’s just as effective too. Don’t let the travel-friendly sizes of these masks fool you into thinking it won’t last long, you get FOUR masks, and a little truly does go a long way. Inside the box you’ll receive travel-sized items of 5 of the bestselling masks: Sugar Face Polish, Rose Face Mask, Black Tea Firming Overnight Mask, Black Tea Instant Perfecting Mask, and the Umbrian Clay Purifying Mask. Each product obviously does different things for your skin. Separate them and gift them individually, keep them for yourself so you can multi-mask for your specific needs, or give this gift-set to one! (Very generous of you! lol). It’s up to you.

Fresh Rose skincare ritualsRose skincare rituals: daily essentials| $78CDN/$67USD Pamper your skin, have a girls-night-in, or gift these to one of your besties. I guarantee they’ll thank you for months on end! This is a collection of Fresh skin care favourites that cleanse, mask, and moisturize.

Burt’s Bees
Burt’s Bee’s Holiday Gift Collection has everything for under $25.00 — which are now available as of November in leading drug stores, grocery stores and mass retailers.

Bit-Of-Burts-BeesA bit of Burt’s Bees| $5.49CDN/$4.99USD This is a classic lip balm and hand salve duo. Perfect for anyone who loves Burt’s Bees products and wants to keep their hands and lips moisturized. I know just the perfect person for this gift set!

Hive-FavouritesHive Favourites| $5.49CDN/$4.99USD A great little gift for a stocking-stuffer, or to a co-worker. The gift pack contains a tube of classic Beeswax Lip Balm and a tube of Milk and Honey Body Lotion. The lotion has blends of milk, honey, coconut and grape seed oils, giving it a gorgeous scent that isn’t greasy once applied — in fact it absorbs really quickly into the skin.

Face-EssentialsFace Essentials| $22.99CDN/$14.99USD This kit contains 4 of Burt’s Bees popular products with white tea cleansing facial towelettes, soap bark and chamomile deep cleansing cream, a peach and willow bark deep pore scrub, and the coconut and pear moisturizing lip balm. And it’s already gift-able in the limited edition packaging!

ColourPop x Hello Kitty
The new limited edition and cruelty free collection of cosmetics launched exclusively at ColourPop just in time for Hello Kitty’s birthday which was on November 1!

ColourPop-x-Hello-KittyLippie Stix| $5USD Why did I wait so long to try out ColourPop?! They collaborated with Hello Kitty to launch this adorable limited edition collection. I tried my first lippie stix and I need to do a full-review on these. It seriously felt like nothing on my lips, but the colour intensity was unreal and it lasted hours without smuding or budging. Whoa. I also have a few extras of these (plus some extra gloss) so I’ll be doing another giveaway coming soon!

ColourPop Ultra Glossy Lip, Metallic Lip + Satin Lip| $6USD These are so inexpensive, and with a gorgeous formula. Stay tuned for a giveaway and a video about these soon!

Dior

Dior jelly sleeping maskHydra Life Jelly Sleeping Mask| $85CDN/$69USD Come winter your skin is bound to get drier, I know mine is. I’ve gone through the travel-sized pods of something similar from Dior (the Hydra Life Beauty Awakening Rehydrating Mask Capsules), and found my oily/dehydrated skin felt instantly more hydrated and moisturized in the morning. I went into Bloomingdales in San Francisco last week and the lady at the Dior counter suggested I pick up the sleeping mask since it would suit my skin needs better. And so, I did. Boy it’s fantastic.

Dior HydraHydra Life Beauty Awakening Rehydrating Mask Capsules| $55CDN/$42USD Okay, because I mentioned it above I wanted to include it in this gift guide. A little indulgent, yes, but well worth the money! Each pod is individually sealed, and can last up to three ‘masks’. I used it as an overnight mask to reap all the benefits but it can also be washed off as a regular mask if you wanted. I brought it along with me on so many trips this past summer (Oregon for instance!). I LOVE how it made my skin feel in the a.m.

M·A·C

MAC-Nutcracker-collectionNutcracker Sweet Eye Compacts| $39.50USD. I purchased my first holiday eyeshadow kit from M·A·C back in 2009. I honestly still have the palette for keepsake purposes, but M·A·C eyeshadows are undoubtedly one of the best out there. These easy to wear neutrals from the nutcracker collection are simply gorgeous. It also comes with a dual-ended travel sized brush for easy application. Pair this on top of my favourite eyeshadow primer, the M·A·C paints (I have the one in bare canvas).

Nutcracker Sweet Nude Mineralized Kit| $39.50USD. The products aren’t shown in the photo above (only the makeup bag) because I wanted to do another individual post about the M·A·C Nutcracker collection! Get excited, I love how this one is designed!

Shop the products I talked about, below!

Disclaimer: These products were sent for review: Hello Kitty + ColourPop, MAC, Bit Of Burt’s Bees, and the Fresh Beauty items.

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Beauty, Daily, Photos, Reviews

Keep your skin happy

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It’s crucial to keep your body hydrated whether you’re drinking water, or applying moisturizing creams on your skin to keep that hydration locked in.

Here are some steps I do to keep my skin happy on a regular basis.

Night-time-routine1. Moisturize twice a day with a day and a night cream. I use Philosophy Hope in a Jar for normal skin (it’s a whipped consistency. The dry skin formula was way too rich for me) for the day, and the same Philosophy Hope In a Jar night, right before bed.

philosophy-purity2. Purity by Philosophy is one of the only face washes that doesn’t strip my skin of moisturize nor does it feel tight or dry after I use it. Plus, it’s gentle enough to use on your eyes – it doesn’t sting!

3. Soft Soap Body Butter Coconut Scrub. I love this because it has exfoliating beads in it, so I’m sloshing off any dead skin cells plus it smells fantastic.

4. Purity by Philosophy makeup cleansing cloths for when you’re lazy. If you’re feeling too tired at night and don’t want to wash your make up face off before bed, keep a set of make up wipes on your bedside and use one or two wipes to remove any make up. It’s so refreshing too they feel cool on your face. You want to always remove your makeup, not only will it clog your pores but removing makeup allows your skin to breathe. I keep a set of Purity by Philosophy wipes by the bedside and I use them about once or twice a week. Sometimes I use them to remove the dust accumulated on my bedside table. Should I have admitted that?

The Righteous Butter by Soap & Glory5. Soap & Glory The Righteous Butter body moisturizer. I don’t have a favorite moisturizer that I use on my body at the moment. But I’ve been using this one, and it smells so very strongly of sweet candies. It’s not a scent I want to have on my body the entire day so I usually try to apply this only during the night time after an evening shower which usually happens after I go to CrossFit. The reason I’m still using it, is that the consistency of it is so thick and really moisturizes my body.

Ah jeepers. With no intentions to do so I realized  lot of the stuff I’ve listed that keeps my skin happy is actually by Philosophy. I’m not sponsored or asked to review their products here, it’s just something that works well for my skin.

I want to elaborate a bit more on the Hope In a Jar Night by Philosophy. When I first received this in my goodie box from BlissDom, I was shocked when I opened it because I really didn’t know that Philosophy made a night cream. Shocker on my part since I’m a huge fan and know quite a bit about their products. Goes to show that even though they are my go-to skin care brand, I don’t know everything about them, nor do I claim to.

Without skipping a beat I’ve been applying this on a nightly basis since mid-October. Ok ok all lies. Sometimes I’m lazy and I only use the makeup wipes and hit the hay immediately. But for the most part this gets applied on a regular basis around 10:00pm ;)Hope-in-a-jar

I really dislike raving, hooting and hollering about a product being so amazing, because it can come off as too fake. But you have to realize that everyone’s skin acts differently with products. As much as this works on me, it may not work the same for you. Another BlissDom attendee tried this out and unfortunately it didn’t work with her skin and she had to stop using it. See what I mean? Philosophy-night-cream

I wake up with moisturized skin in the morning, it’s unreal what a difference a night cream will do to your skin… IN THE NIGHT. I used to only apply the day cream twice a day. I’m a convert now, guys.

Another thing I wanted to note. I was once told by a Sephora rep last year that, one should start applying cream to not only their faces but to their neck and collarbone area. I’d use that fancy french word that begins with a D, but I can’t even remember how to pronounce it let alone spell it out. So that’s what I’ve been doing with my day and night creams. Slathering it all over, letting it all soak in. You don’t want a nice flawless face and a wrinkly turky neck when you’re older. 

This buddy right here is definitely a repurchase for me. Hope-In-a-Jar-Night

Do you use a night cream?

How often do you moisturize?

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