So as I mentioned last week, this week I’ll be covering another quick and easy 5-minute face mask I love. While last week I covered the Fresh Rose Face Mask, this week’s product is also from Fresh: The Black Tea Instant Perfecting Mask!
To be honest, between the Rose Face Mask and The Black Tea Mask, if I had to choose only one to use for the rest of my life, it would certainly be this one. While the Rose mask gives a lovely balanced hydration across the skin, this mask does this and more. Plus, no matter how my skin’s being feeling lately, this always manages to help — it works with all skin types!
This face mask delivers on its promise to correct dryness, dullness, texture, as well as aid in skin elasticity and firmness. It has an immediate effect on your face (as implied in the name — it really does instantly perfect!). It has a tingly feeling which I know some people may hate, but I love it — you can actually feel it taking effect in just minutes.
On top of all this, the texture of this product is, in a word, delightful — it is so light, smooth and “cloud-like”, as Fresh describes it. Combining ingredients such as Kombucha and Black Tea, which “inhibits damaging free radicals and improves skin elasticity”. (I feel the need to use Fresh’s descriptions because not only are they so accurate, but this mask actually seems SO magical to me that it’s effects are beyond my ability to describe. It’s all very scientific, but trust me — it works!).
I know from what I’ve heard a lot of people were deterred by the price of this mask — as was I when I first bought it. However, you receive so much product that it’ll last you ages. Even if it didn’t, however, I’d still say it’s worth it; this face mask is for sure, hands down, my favourite face mask of all time. If you manage to get your hands on even a sample size, you’ll see what I mean. Once you have it, you can’t live without it!
And that’s all for this Tuesday! If this sounds like the perfect mask for you, be sure to check it out here! Otherwise, be sure to stay tuned for next week to read more on my favourite products!
This Tuesday is going to have a little sequel next week! I wanted to share with you all two of my all-time favourite face masks that I absolutely swear by. My skin tends to air on the drier side, so I always ensure to add a little extra moisture through serums and face masks.
I love spending time on self care, as you all know. However, life gets busy with work, school and other obligations, especially in the fall. Sometimes, you just have to take care of your skin as quickly as possible. Which brings me to this Tuesday’s product: the Fresh Rose Face Mask!
One of the reasons I love both this week and next weeks products is that not only are they fantastic, but they only take about 5 minutes to show an impact. Both can be worn for up to 10 minutes, so if you have the time to spare you can spend a little more time to sit back and relax — but if you’re tired and just don’t have the time, 5 minutes will do.
This mask feels SO natural and lightweight — while still packing a lot of hydration. I’ve tried a whole range of hydration masks in my skincare journey; from heavy creams to lightweight gels that can take anywhere from three to thirty minutes to take effect. This mask incorporates the best of both. It may not be the quickest face mask I’ve ever tried, but a lot of fast hydration masks are usually heavy creams that just leave my face feeling heavy and coated afterwards, instead of hydrated.
This lightweight formula includes rose water to soothe the skin and cucumber and aloe to calm your pores. What really makes this mask special, however, is the ingredient Porphyridium Creuntum, a “smart algae” that helps your skin reach optimal moisture. As a result, your skin never feels greasy or heavy afterwards, but perfectly balanced and hydrated. In just five minutes it can completely reawaken your skin after a long day and help you go to bed feeling fresh. As well, this lightweight and fast-acting formula means you could even incorporate it into your morning skincare routine!
If this sounds like the face mask you’ve been waiting for, be sure to check it out at Sephora here! And what’s next week’s product, you may be wondering? Well, you’re just going to have to stay tuned to find out!
So, to start off, I’d figured I’d give a little life update — after a couple of the most hectic weeks of my life, I’m finally moved into my new apartment! I’m far from being done and probably have a few more crazy weeks ahead, but after that things should hopefully settle down. However, I’ve survived it all so far so cheers to that!
Now, onto today’s blog (which I am so excited to share) — unboxing my fall FabFitFun box! These boxes are absolutely my favourite thing in the world, I look forward to the start of each new season just to see what’s inside. Not only is every product I’ve received so far amazing; I swear FabFitFun knows what I need in my life before I do.
In this particular box, I received so many items I had just run out of/was looking to go purchase, so needless to say especially with the move this makes my life A LOT easier right now. Keep reading to see what I received in this season’s box!
Amika Strand Perfect Ceramic Straighter
Ceramic Straightener by Amika
This is the PERFECT example of FabFitFun seemingly knowing my needs before I do. For years, I’ve only had a cheap old drugstore straightener which did a terrible job of straightening my hair. It felt damaging, caught and tore my strands as I used it and took forever to use even on the highest setting — and my hair is naturally pretty straight. I am SO excited to give this fancy new straightener a go — maybe I’ll even be able to master flat iron curls!
Twine Cheese Board And Plate
Twine Cheese Board
This plate is so cute and perfect for if you ever have guests over! It’s incredibly high-quality and looks super classy for wine nights with your girls. It is 100% what I was looking for in terms of kitchen gear and I cannot WAIT to get some use out of it!
Cosmedix Pure C
Cosmedix Pure C
I cannot wait to give this stuff a try! It seems like such a simple way to add some extra Vitamin C to your skincare regimen. Simply add the powder to your serum or moisturizer, and it adds a boost of Vitamin C to your skin! Cosmedix is a fantastic brand as well — we carried it at the spa I used to work at and the whole line is incredibly high-quality. So while I haven’t tested this one out yet, I know I’ll be in for a treat when I do.
AfterSpa Hair Towel Wrap
AfterSpa Hair Towel Wrap
Yet another great example of FabFitFun having my back — this hair towel is SO cute and just what I needed! I’ve had the same cheap towels since I first moved to Vancouver, and over the years they’ve began to fall apart. Moving seemed like the perfect time to replace them, but now I’ve been saved a trip. I’ve had a towel in this style before; it’s designed to fit over the back of your head, wrap up your hair and then fastens with a button to keep it all together. While I haven’t had one of these since high school, these towels are amazing for your hair — they’re comfortable and convenient. Onto of that, the towel fabric is clearly high quality AND it’s pink! So cute!
Wander Beauty Baggage Claim Gold Eye Masks
Wander Beauty Eye Masks
FabFitFun has introduced me to a whole bunch of amazing eye masks since I started receiving their boxes — but these are my favourites so far. They’re packed with all sorts of amazing ingredients, including hyaluronic acid. Within one use, I already noticed a significant change in my dark circles and eye area. You guys already know how much I struggle with my under-eye area, but these actually seemed to fix up all sorts of issues in just minutes. Plus, they’re super cute so when I had a surprise guest it wasn’t even embarrassing to be seen wearing them!
Aveda Damage Remedy Daily Hair Repair
Aveda Damage Ready Daily Hair Repair
Again, an example of FabFitFun knowing my needs. I had just ran out of my beloved Ryo hair mask, but this one arrived just in time for me to have to go mask-less. After one use alone I have to say, I’m pretty sold on this stuff. At first, the idea of leave-in treatment had me a little stressed — it sounded like something that would just leave my hair oily and gross. However, this stuff is non-coating and light, and I couldn’t believe how fantastic my hair felt after use.
Human + Kind Body Soufflé
Human + Kind Body Soufflé
While I haven’t had a chance to give this product a try, I’m beyond excited to! The ingredients in this moisturizer sound lovely, and I love a nice, light body cream — I’m really not a fan of heavier stuff as it often lingers and leaves a residue on my skin. I just used up the last cream I received in a FabFitFun box and it was one of the best products I’d ever tried, so I can’t wait to give this one a shot!
Harper + Ari Exfoliating Sugar Cubes in Juice Cleanse
Harper + Ari Exfoliating Sugar Cubes
The last item in my box — these exfoliating sugar cubes — are just another example of FabFitFun knowing exactly what I need. (See what I mean now? Out of seven products, four of them filled a direct need I’ve been having lately. I don’t know how they do it, but I’m impressed!). As many of you know, I’m a huge fan of exfoliating, however I just ran out of my Herbivore exfoliator and haven’t had the time to purchase a new one. These cubes are pretty cool — while I’ll admit I probably wouldn’t repurchase them myself, they’re small and make it easy to ensure you don’t overuse and waste product. They smell amazing and are packed full of ingredients to leave your skin moisturized. While I’m still pretty married to the Herbivore Amethyst exfoliator, this is certainly better than many other products I’ve tried and would definitely recommend it!
And that’s it for this season’s box! I love these boxes so much, not only do they introduce me to so many amazing products and brands, but they’re like a little gift to myself every three months. On top of all the amazing products they sent me, they come packed with all sorts of other little goodies such as gift cards, free boxes to send to your friends, and a magazine detailing all the products in your box! All in all, you get your money’s worth so many times over with these boxes as so many of these products are full-sized and quite expensive to purchase. I’m already beyond excited for next seasons box — my only complaint is that I have to wait three whole months to see it!
So, as many of you know, I adore skin care and really pride myself on my clear skin. However, as I’m sure everyone knows, it’s impossible to keep your skin 100% clear 24/7, 365 days of the year. Even those of us blessed with the best genetics, the most high-end skin care products, and the best luck, will develop zits and break outs. No one’s immune to bad skin.
I’m a huge fan of scrolling through BuzzFeed in my spare time, in particular, I’m often drawn to lists of skincare products recommended by BuzzFeed users (obviously). Time and time again, I saw these pimple patches pop up in every single post. I rarely buy anything I see in these types of posts, otherwise, I’d be buying new products weekly and wouldn’t be able to keep up with my purchases. However, after seeing this product constantly, and all the glowing reviews users had, I was sold. Plus, at just under $15 for three packs, it sounded like a great deal.
So, I invested in a pack and waited for a break-out. I kept seeing them online used on massive pimples, so I assumed that was their intended purpose. Finally I got a chance — I am fairly prone to zits and clogged pores around the edges of my nose. So, I stuck on one of the smallest patches and fell asleep, excited to see how my pimple would be miraculously erased come morning.
I now realize I didn’t quite use the patch correctly, as when I peeled it off the next morning I was a little disappointed. While my pimple HAD improved overnight, it was still there.
I kept using all the tiny patches up, to no avail. They worked at getting my zits about halfway gone, but it certainly didn’t seem to have the same effect on me that it had on others. So, eventually, I gave up — sort of.
Sometime along my trip in South East Asia, my bug spray exploded all over my cosmetic bag and soaked half my products. For the most part, it was nothing a simple rinse couldn’t fix — but for these patches, the packet was pretty gross and I decided I didn’t really want to have to put it back in the bag when we relocated to our next stop. So, instead of throwing them out, I stuck a bunch over the sides of my nose. At this point, I really only had the larger patches left, so I just went for it — I didn’t really think my pimples were large enough to warrant them, so I hadn’t used any until this point.
The next morning, I woke up, peeled off the patches, and suddenly was in shock. While I hadn’t really had any pimples around my nose at the time, I had PLENTY of clogged, gross pores that had never seemed to be swayed by any product. But suddenly, I peeled off these patches and found that my clogged pores were no more — it was, as the reviews had raved — magical.
Suddenly, I was struck by two very different epiphanies: one, that I may have simply been using patches too small for my pimples, and two, that these patches had potential use outside of outright zits.
Something that has plagued me, literally, for years is dozens of whiteheads in my under-eye area. For those of you who’ve been following my posts for a while, you’ll know that my under-eyes are already a sensitive topic for me. However, on top of my bags and dark circles, it seemed like every single pore in my under-eye area was clogged beyond the point of solution. I had seen facialists, tried spot-masking with charcoal, and basically everything else you could thing of, but NOTHING would unclog my pores. Unfortunately, as my aesthetician had noted, there was not much that could be done — the area was too sensitive to complete extractions from, and there was far too many for her to even try.
Up until now, I just accepted these whiteheads as a part of life — my under-eye area was constantly patterned with their strange texture, which only became more apparent when I applied makeup. But there was nothing that could be done. At least, until I found these patches. The following night, I took the remaining patches and covered my under-eyes with them, using up the remainder of the pack. The next day, I peeled them off — and where each of them had been, my whiteheads had magically disappeared. I was blown away. I’d managed to find a solution to an unfixable problem.
Nowadays, my skin is the clearest it’s been possibly ever. My whiteheads? Gone. Clogged pores? Disappeared. Zits? Unheard of. It took me a while to figure them out, but I swear to God, these patches are absolute witchcraft. I’ve never been so amazed at how effective (and cheap) any singular skincare product was in my life.
So, if you’re acne-prone, have stubborn whiteheads, clogged-up problem areas, or just have the occasional zit, check this product out! Especially at its price, I promise you won’t be disappointed. Find them on Amazon here!
And that’s it for this Tuesday! If you try this product out, or have used it before and absolutely loved it, drop a comment below! (Or if you hated it, too, I love to hear any and all opinions).
As promised last week, here’s my Sephora wishlist. Currently, all the products I’ve had my eye on are either clean skin care (since you all know skin care is about 75% of my beauty routine) and eyeshadows.
I’m not always one to branch out in terms of new products — if I love something I tend to repurchase it until the end of time. Honestly, If I had endless money to justify having like, 15 different bronzers, blushes, highlighters and foundations God knows I would — but I’d probably end up sticking to the same products for daily use anyways.
However, there’s some products that I find having a range has more of an impact — you know, things where colour comes a lot more into play such as lip products and eyeshadow. While I buy new lip products a lot more spontaneously, eyeshadow is a much bigger commitment for me — it’s so expensive and I don’t do crazy eyeshadow looks all that often, so it has to be worthwhile.
Anyways, enough with my rambling — here’s all the clean beauty and eyeshadow at Sephora I’m dying to try!
Neon Obsessions Palette in Pink
Credit: Sephora.com
Okay, I’m really not one for crazy eye shadow looks — as much as I adore them, I find they often are challenging to execute (especially if I’m running late) and often look not so great on me. Even when I do experiment with eyeshadow, I usually stick to smoky or gold tones. That being said — this palette is GORGEOUS. If I ever was going to go totally crazy with colours, I’d definitely go for neon — and I love the shades in this palette. Even the two other colours in green and orange I’d be down to give a try. Plus I’ve owned some of the Huda Obsessions Palettes before (in Smoky, Topaz and Sapphire) and the pigment and quality of these shadows are amazing, don’t let their small size deter you. Find it at Sephora here!
Pat McGrath Labs Eyeshadow Palettes
Credit: Sephora.com
Okay, I’ve been dying to try out some of Pat McGrath Labs products since, like, forever. I’ve swatched a couple of their products at Sephora every so often and they are absolutely to die for. Seriously, everything from this line is just about the most high-quality product I’ve ever seen. However, at $170 per eyeshadow palette, it’s definitely a bit of a commitment. Fingers crossed I’ll get the chance to test some of these out soon, though. Find them at Sephora here!
Anastasia Beverly Hills Eyeshadow Palette in Soft Glam
Credit: @loveofburgundy Instagram
If you’ve been following me for a while you’ll already know I absolutely love ABH. I’ve tried out so many of their products and honestly? I’ve yet to find one I didn’t like. I’ve already tried out a number of their eyeshadow products in the past, but I’m dying to get my hands on the soft glam palette. I think the colours are just gorgeous, and have been super inspired by my long-time friend Erin to try out more of their eyeshadow collections. (BTW, you should go check her out! Her instagram is @loveofburgundy and it’s absolutely fabulous). Also, be sure to check out the product at Sephora here!
Like, Everything By Herbivore
Credit: @herbivorebotanicals IG
Herbivore is a brand that I’ve only recently been introduced to but absolutely ADORE. I haven’t yet gotten the chance to test out any of their facial products, but I have countless on my list for when I finally get the chance. In particular, I’m hoping to test out their facial oils — I love their whole “mix and match” concept. The Bakuchiol Retinol Alternative definitely has my eye as I haven’t tested out Retinol-based products in my skincare routine yet. As well, I’m certainly looking to give the Lapis Balancing Facial Oil, Phoenix Cell Regeneration Oil, and Orchid Youth-Preserving Oil a try! You can certainly count on me testing these out soon and I’ll absolutely update when I do.
Biossance Squalene + Marine Algae Eye Cream
Credit: Sephora.com
I really didn’t want to name an entire brand I’ve been hoping to try but let’s face it, I’d love to test out everything at Biossance as well. You guys already know I’m crazy about this brand and have seen amazing results from their products, particularly their Squalene + Vitamin C Rose Oil. However, as I’ve totally mentioned before, my under-eye bags have always been a huge concern of mine. While I’m currently loving the Dr. Brandt No More Baggage gel, I’d love to test this product out as well. Plus, Biossance has their own Phyto-Retinol Serum that I’d love to try as well — also featuring Bakuchiol which is supposed to reduce irritation. Check out the eye cream at Sephora here!
Have you tried out any of these products? If so, drop a comment below and let me know what you thought! If you guys have any products you love or are dying to try drop me a message since I’m always looking for new suggestions (as if my list of products to try wasn’t already long enough!).
Sincerely, Meredith 