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, 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).
Today I wanted to share my absolute favourite foundation with you: The NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer! Now, obviously, a lot of foundation preference is totally personal. I love this stuff because it does everything I need it to: it looks natural, blends easily, and isn’t heavy on my skin. Oh, plus it moisturizes my skin all while I wear it!
I, personally, tend to avoid heavier, full-coverage foundations. I find they often look cakey on me, rather than natural. As someone who has relatively clear skin, I don’t really need to cover up as much as just even out my skin tone, as well as cover redness. If this sounds like what you’re looking for, give this product a try. I had previously been using a super-lightweight foundation, which was a lot harder to blend evenly and cover up blemishes — this stuff FEELS super lightweight, while still having a thicker consistency when you apply it to help give you the coverage you need.
On top of all this, it has a very natural finish — it’s dewey rather than matte, which works well for me as I tend to stick to a more natural look. If you blend it out with a sponge, it looks like you simply have naturally perfect skin. You can still use a brush, or even your fingers, but I don’t find them as personally effective.
If this sounds like the foundation you’ve been looking for, be sure to check it out at Sephora here!
If you’re reading this, I hope you have a fantastic day!
Sincerely, Meredith 