Thursday Favourites: June 25th

Hey y’all!

This week, I wanted to share a review on another product that I initially posted about when I first started up my blog, that I believe could use another post to really do it justice. As I mentioned last week, I’ve been wanting to re-write out some of my old Thursday Favourite posts from when I first started my blog, where I covered a lot of my all-time favourite products in my very first posts. However, not only do I believe my writing has come a long way since then — but my audience has grown a lot, too. Since so many of these original products are some of the best I’ve ever tried, I feel like it’s worthwhile sharing them again now that there’s so many more of you to potentially benefit from learning about them!

This week’s product I’ll be sharing is Fresh’s Rose Deep Hydration Toner. Toner is one of those aspects of skincare that’s a little confusing to most people; while being considered a bit of a staple in terms of skincare products, most people don’t really know what it is or what it’s purpose is meant to be. To put it simply — toner is essentially just the final step in removing any excess grime and dirt from your skin. When used daily, it helps to refine the look of pores, too — and some even describe it as a primer for all your other skincare products, to help them work more effectively.

The main reason people who tend to avoid toners do what they do, is that not so long ago, the main component of toners was usually just alcohol. I’m sure many of you may remember, as I definitely do, using toners 10+ years ago that stung your face, smelt super harsh, and dried out your skin to no end. Toners, not so long ago, essentially just used alcohol to essentially sterilize your skin. However, not only is that super unnecessary and can throw your skin totally off balance, alcohol is incredibly drying — and generally should be avoided in skincare products.

Luckily, toners have come a looooong way since then. Nowadays, toners can provide that last gentle cleansing step while balancing your skin and even adding moisture and a wide array of other beneficial ingredients. However, not all toners are created equal — or even alcohol-free — so it’s a good idea to find a gentle one that’s suited to your skin.

This is, essentially, exactly what I love about Fresh’s Rose Deep Hydration toner. Not only is it non-stripping and alcohol free, it’s formulated with hyaluronic acid to really help pack a lot of hydration into one single step of your skincare routine. Using this product always leaves my skin feeling refreshed yet deeply nourished — it can even be a good way to help it feel cleansed if my skin is feeling a little worse-for-wear before it’s time to wash my face at night. It’s hard to describe a product that you can feel just wiping dirt away with a single step that manages to not only not leave your skin feeling stripped or unbalanced, but rather actively hydrated and refreshed. It really is the perfect primer for all your other skincare products, and best of all — it’s pretty much perfect for all skin types.

If this sounds like the toner you’ve been needing in your life, be sure to check it out at Sephora here!

I hope you guys are all having a great week! And if not, keep in mind that it is the last week of June after all, and we’re about to hit the halfway point of 2020 (which, considering what a crazy time this year has been, I personally count as good news). I’ve actually been feeling pretty meh this week, so I’m really hoping to just ride out the rest of the month and use these next few days to prepare myself to have a better month in July. I know I’ve really been feeling thrown off from all of my goals and plans that I set at the beginning of the year for 2020, so I’m going to be taking this time to reevaluate and get back on track for the second half of the year so I can hopefully finish this year strong. What are your goals for the second half of this year? Share them below, and hopefully we can all motivate each other to stay on track through the second half of 2020!

Have a great week everyone, and happy end of June!

Much love,

Meredith

Tuesday Favourites: August 27th

CosRX Acne Pimple Master Patch

Hey y’all! Happy Tuesday!

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).

Xo,

Meredith