I had a rough March. Agreed that it was my birthday and I grew an year older, but that was not the reason. Some health issues cropped up and I had to spend a lot of time visiting doctor's office. We all know that is NOT a happy place. Also, I had to cancel my trip that was planned for the spring break due to sick me. Yeah! Bummer!!
Being home bound gave me enough opportunity to enjoy elaborate skincare routines and so, for this month, I don't have too many makeup products to talk about, but I do have some (a lot! actually) good skincare favorites. This is going to be a long one.
Somewhere around January I had picked two products from the brand Indie Lee, that is a clean beauty, toxin free brand. I started using it around mid February and have not stopped since. The cleanser is gentle on the skin and leaves the skin clean without drying or stripping of the skin's natural oils. I love the way it smells, very fruity. It does leave the skin bright and fresh.
The CoQ-10 toner is probably one of the best balancing toners I have tried. It has no actives or acids and hence can be liberally used. It smells wonderful and leaves the skin feeling fresh and hydrated. I intend to do a detailed blog post reviewing these two products and comparing them with few others.
The frosted glass packaging is very chic, though the dispenser is not my favorite.
YOUTH TO THE PEOPLE Age Prevention Superfood Cream
Skincare products are not cheap and with so many amazing brands floating in the market, it makes a lot of sense to try trial size, minis or deluxe samples before committing on to full size ones. I love a good oil, but for daytime, a light weight, hydrating cream is fine and especially in warmer weather. Of all the light weight ones I tried, I liked this one the most. It moisturized the skin and also made it look plump and hydrated. It was light in texture and smelt really pleasant. Really good stuff.
Skincare products are not cheap and with so many amazing brands floating in the market, it makes a lot of sense to try trial size, minis or deluxe samples before committing on to full size ones. I love a good oil, but for daytime, a light weight, hydrating cream is fine and especially in warmer weather. Of all the light weight ones I tried, I liked this one the most. It moisturized the skin and also made it look plump and hydrated. It was light in texture and smelt really pleasant. Really good stuff.
There are tons of lovely products in the market that contain good quality actives and acids. It took me a bunch of trial and error with multiple products to narrow down my list to few favorites. I try not to open too many bottles of these kind of products at one given time. Currently, I find this one from Kiehl's working really fine for me. It brightens the skin and improves the texture by making the skin look super smooth. It is not a very hydrating product on its own, but does not dries the skin either. I always top it with some extra hydration either in form of an oil or a sleeping mask. Also, it has no funky smell. The thing with acid based products is finding the one that works for you. So I strongly suggest trying a sample for few days before buying the whole bottle and once again, I promise to write a detailed review soon.
As a brand I love pretty much anything that Caudalie makes. I have yet to be disappointed by anything I have tried from them. This cream is really a very soft cream and it gets absorbed almost instantly. It makes the skin look plump and satiny smooth. It is moisturizing, but does not leaves any greasy shine behind. A very unique finish. The cream will Pill, if rubbed in too hard or if layered over a lot of products, something to keep in mind. As far as Lifting part is concerned, I am not sure what to look for. The only thing I am not a fan of is the scent of the cream. Not offensive, but not very pleasant either. This does not affects the performance of the product though.
I enjoy a mild physical scrub for my face. This particular exfoliating cleanser contains Echinacea GreenEnvy™, Natural Cranberry Seeds, that gives that scrubbing effect to remove the dead skin cells, while
White Willow Bark, Carrot, Green Tea, and Marshmallow helps protect and calm the skin. I have had this one for a while and earlier I was not a huge fan, but now I am a convert. It makes the skin super soft, smooth to touch, while not being overly abrasive. It is gentle enough to be used everyday.
If you have not tried this lip product, stop reading this post now, go buy it and then we will talk. There is nothing as fantastic as this one. I do love many of my lip balms and lip masks but this by far is the most amazing one of the lot! It is light weight, non sticky, non waxy lip balm that is insanely moisturizing on the lips. It also smooths the fine lines and never feel heavy. I think I should call it my Holy Grail, till something better than this graces my lips.
Fresh masks are a delight to use. This one looks like applying jam on the face. It brightens the face, does not dries the skin out and makes dull looking skin fresh and vibrant. The scent is citrusy and refreshing. I like to use this mask and then follow it with a hydrating sheet mask for extra plumpness and preparing the skin for an evening out and special gatherings and stuff. It just makes the skin look vibrant!
Eye masks or patches are not new, but it was my first time trying out something like this. Erno Laszlo sent this Hydro gel eye mask for consideration. These little luxurious patches are fun to use. They give all the benefits of a good eye cream almost instantly! Everything from dryness to dark circle and puffiness is taken care off by using this. It plumps and hydrates the under eye area taking away all the tired look, also making it easy to apply concealer. It is one of those special day, pamper session kind of product. Being expensive, I would not substitute my eye creams with this. It is like a miracle before any special occasion. Talking about eye creams, OLE HENRIKSEN Banana Bright Eye Crème has been highlight of the month. I have been using it religiously and I am enjoying it so far. It brightens, smooths and takes care of the fine lines. What's there to not like? I am rushing through few of these products because I plan to do a dedicated post on the eye creams and serums that I have used recently and talk all about them in a separate post.
For makeup, come spring and automatically the mind says to start using much lighter products both in terms of consistency and color. Something fresh, something glowy. I find myself gravitating towards lighter base and MAC Strobe cream does the job well. I mix it with my base cream or tinted moisturizer and it gives the most healthy glow. Top it with a cream blush and highlighter and within minutes I am out of the door, looking decent.
For the lips, when I don't know what to wear, I go back to my trusted YVES SAINT LAURENT Rouge Volupté Shine Oil-In-Stick Lipstick. These are hydrating and moisturizing on the lips, giving them that needed color and sheen. Ranging from total nude shade to the brightest orange, there is a color for everyone. Also, it smells like mango!
I have to talk about this one. My trusted Chanel Cream Blush in Revelation. Probably one of the best cream blush out there, but I think it is discontinued. Chanel will have something similar though. I find fingers the best to layer on cream products, but the MAC 130 brush is perfect for blending the edges, without moving the base makeup. This is a stubby, not too dense, duo fiber brush for cream products and it picks the right amount of product, because the flat top is not too dense or stiff. Good one for cream products.
RMS Beauty, a cruelty free, green beauty brand is fairy new to me and so far I have been enjoying the RMS Beauty Palette in Mod Collection (review coming soon). This one contains an assortment of some lovely products, including their cult classics like Living Luminizer and Magic Luminizer. The products have coconut base to them and they are makeup artist favorites (Lisa Eldridge, love her!) for natural looks. They blend easily and have that glossy look. I am really liking it, though summer will be a good time to check the longevity of these products.
A few Lifestyle bits and I promise you are free. Loving this candle from GYV, a new family owned brand. The name is actually the initials of the owner's kids, but it sounds like 'give' and the brand believes in GYV Love, GYV Hope, GYV Freedom. JUST GYV
These candles have a unique blend of Coconut, Corn, Pumpkin and natural waxes along with essential oils. They smell wonderful, burn clean and the packaging is gorgeous. Each candle has motifs of animals and birds and in general gives a very earthy, lovely vibes. You need to read about their history and what they believe on their about page here to actually understand everything in much depth. I got this as a PR and I personally believe in supporting small and new business. Hence the gushing!
Lastly, a few decor bits from Target and Anthropologie. As a blogger, I often enjoy buying products that can double up as decor/prop and something useful as well. Picked a hand held mirror from Target, that acts as a wonderful prop as well as a mirror. The marble makes it heavy yet chic at the same time. The Ballarat Vase designed by Ruby Pilven from Anthropologie is a wonderful one and it looks amazing anywhere in the house. I use it on table to hold pencils or on my vanity to hold makeup brushes and lastly, a Lip Balm called Lip Fetish by Pat Mcgrath Labs that is actually a skincare product, but till date I have just used it as a cute prop!!
If you made it till here, I am so Thankful and I promise to work on finding a way to shorten these long monthly favorites post. Maybe split them into two parts. What do you think?
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So many good items! I still need to try the Laniege Mask... it’s in my Sephora cart for the sale! Can’t wait for your review on the RMS palette.
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