Beauty - sparkleshinylove

Roxymandy September 29, 2015

Review of Laneige Water Bank Gel Cream

I was so excited when my first Influencer Laneige VoxBox arrived a couple weeks ago! I was totally new to the Laneige beauty line, and with the cooler fall weather my skin has been in need of some serious hydration. I was lucky enough to receive the Laneige Water Bank Gel Cream to test and review, and I was excited to see the results of the product!

Sephora carries Laneige products online, and soon you will be able to find them in-store as well in Canada.

What was this product supposed to do?

It’s a gel cream that immerses skin in moisture for 24 hours. My skin has completely dried out since the weather has been a bit chillier, so I was excited to see how this cream would work.

The cream is formulated without parabens and phthalates, it’s dermatologist tested, and Laneige does not test ingredients or products on animals.

Laneige Laboratories harness a skin-perfecting mineral water clinically proven to hydrate, protect and revitalize individual skin types in their products.

At first glance the container itself is a soothing blue that pretty much screams hydration based on looks alone. The cream is very lightweight, and is scented. It smells really good to me – I suppose it would depend on who was using it if they liked that it was scented or not, but I thought it had a great scent!

A little goes a long way with this product, and I feel like it will last quite a long time. It’s very lightweight, and since it’s a gel cream it does feel a little wet when you apply it, but I found it dried nicely. I was worried about wearing it under makeup, but it didn’t make my skin oily at all. My makeup stayed in place, and the cream did a great job of keeping my skin hydrated.

I have noticed my chin and around my eyebrows getting a little dry lately, but from the first day I applied this gel cream that problem seemed solved! The dry skin was gone, and I was very happy with the moisture this cream provided.

Personally I like to apply it first thing in the morning, and at night after I washed my face, so it’s hard to determine if it moisturized for 24 hours, but I can attest that it kept my skin moisturized as long as I wore it.

With the weather only getting colder, I am looking forward to trying out more of the Laneige group of products in the future.

For more information visit the Laneige website here, and shop the brand on Sephora’s website here.

Roxymandy September 23, 2015

My Visit to the Benefit Boutique + My First Ever Eyebrow Wax!

Can you believe I had never had my eyebrows done before my visit to the Benefit Boutique in Toronto?

I can’t believe it myself! My eyebrows have ways been an afterthought for me, so I just never bothered having them shaped by a beautician.

I had heard about the opening of the Benefit Boutique in Toronto, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to check out the boutique, and have my eyebrows shaped and waxed for the first time.

Making an appointment was easy – I could have called but they also had an online booking system which was great!

The boutique is located on Yonge Street in Toronto, and it was recomended on the site that I arrive 10 minutes before my appointment to hang out and try out their makeup.

The boutique was exactly as cute as I expected! Everything was pretty, pink, and there was makeup everywhere!

The girls working there were so lovely – it felt like I was just hanging out and chatting with my girlfriends.

As for my eyebrows, the expert who worked on mine did a “mapping” on my face for me to show me where my brows should be. Unsurprisingly I have been over plucking. She easily waxed my brows (it hurt, but we were chatting so I was distracted!), and I was left with a great new brow shape, and a plan to grow my brows to where they should be over the next 5 months.

Once I was finished with the waxing, she touched up my makeup, and I was all done!

Once I got home I took a photo of my eyebrows – what do you think? I think they look great! They finally have a great shape to them. I’m excited to keep going back to make sure they say on-point.

The boutique was a great spot to test out all of the Benefit Cosmetics products, and the boutique offers a full range of beauty services.

They also allow you to book the whole boutique for a party! Champagne, friends, and pampering? Sign me up!

For more information on the Benefit Boutique in Toronto, visit them here.

The Benefit Boutique is located at 2614 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M4P 2J4, (416) 440-2769.

Roxymandy August 6, 2015

Vichy Idealia Skin Sleep Recovery Night Gel-Balm

I’ve tried quite a few Vichy products over the last year, and all of them have done exactly what they said they would do.

None of these products have felt as soothing, or had such a beautiful fragrance as the Vichy Idealia Skin Sleep Recovery Night Gel-Balm!

The best time to repair and replenish skin has to be at night because you can let your skincare regimen do the work for you, right?

Vichy Idealia Skin Sleep Recovery Night Gel-Balm does not need to be applied every night – instead it’s to be applied 1-3 times per week generously to the face and neck. It’s a pretty cotton candy pink, and smells yummy as well. Bonus!

It is suitable for all skin types, and is paraben-free and hypoallergenic.

It contains Hyaluronic acid to hydrate and re-plump the skin, Vitamin B3 to soothe the skin and act as an anti-inflammatory, and caffeine (amoung other ingredients) to stimulate micro-circulation, drainage and cellular energy.

In the morning my skin felt a moisturized, and looked a bit more radiant. I can use all the help I can get in the morning, so this was a great benefit. My skin seemed a little more, well, plumper! Normally I would hate to wake up looking plumper, but skincare wise it was a good thing! As I get older I have noticed my face has a bit of more of a hollow look to it, so having a plumper look to my skin make my face look more youthful.

I had no breakouts at all from the product, and it was so soothing to apply! It has a rich gel-like texture. It’s extremely lightweight! It almost feels a little sticky when you apply it (this seems common in other balms I have used), but in a few minutes that feeling was gone because it absorbed into the skin and the moisturized feeling set in.

For a girl with a lack of sleep problem, this product worked for me. It gave my skin an extra hydrating boost, and I just looked like a better version of myself in the morning when I looked in the mirror.

Another Vichy product I was really impressed with! If you are looking to do some skincare recovery while you sleep, check out Vichy Idealia Skin Sleep Recovery Night Gel-Balm. I loved it!

For more details on this product, visit the Vichy website here.

Disclosure: This product was sent to me for review, but all opinions are fabulously my own.

Roxymandy July 29, 2015

RapidLash Results

I can’t think of a product I’ve been more impressed with that I’ve reviewed on the blog.

RapidLash is a game changer. The results were so noticeable I couldn’t believe it!

A couple months ago I blogged about being a part of a new campaign where I would try out RapidLash, and then later share my results.

It’s time to share, and I really can’t say enough good things about this product. This stuff really works!

Every night before bed I would remove my mascara (now that is dedication – some of you know that I am not very consistant with makeup removal!) and I applied RapidLash to my lashes.

It’s ophthalmologist and dermatologist tested, safe for contact lens wearers, free of fragrance and paraben’s, and is not tested on animals.

It’s only to be applied once a day and results for lashes can occur in just 4-6 weeks. It contains something called Hextein 1 Complex which works to strengthen, lengthen, hydrate, nourish and simulate lash and brow hair.

I found my own RapidLash at Shoppers Drug Mart, front and centre at the Beauty Boutique, and it retails for approximately $59.99 CDN.

I really didn’t expect to see the results that I did. At first I noticed my lashes felt much more conditioned. They were very soft, and I was happy with that.

The more I used RapidLash, I started to see some serious results. Baby lashes I had in the corner of my eye grew longer. More and more lashes started either popping up, or grew longer. Slowly my lashes started to grow longer, fuller and stronger.

I was so impressed with this product I don’t see how I’m going to live without it. If you could sign me up for an ongoing supply mailed to my door I would be on board.

After using RapidLash for a couple months I don’t even need a refill yet which is great.

Overall I would absolutely purchase this product again, and I will! I really loved the results, and the look of my lashes.

Here is my before and after. It really doesn’t do it justice – my lashes are so much better than they were before RapidLash.

For more information on RapidLash, visit their website here.

Disclosure: I am part of the RapidLash campaign with Influence Central and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Roxymandy July 15, 2015

Review of Yves Saint Laurent LE TEINT TOUCHE ÉCLAT Illuminating Foundation

Oh how I hate it when products I love are discontinued! It seems to happen to me all the time. It’s really frustrating when I love something, and suddenly there is a new formula, or the product is gone all together.

A couple weeks ago I went to pick up my favourite Make Up For Ever foundation only to find the shelves bare, and a new formula “coming soon”. There was no official launch date for the new formula I am not even sure I want, so I was forced to walk the make-up isles looking for a replacement.

I decided to replace my foundation with Yves Saint Laurent LE TEINT TOUCHE ÉCLAT Illuminating Foundation. Do not ask me to pronounce it – I am pretty sure I would butcher the pretty French name for my new makeup.

I have a couple other YSL items like my Creme de Blush and lip gloss and I was happy with both, so I gave it a try.

There is definitely a scent to this foundation, so I would recommend smelling it before you buy it to make sure you like it. I am scent girl, and I do think it smells pretty so the scent didn’t bother me at all.

It is so weightless to apply it’s pretty shocking! It felt so different then my previous foundation it almost felt like I had nothing on my face. With a primer it felt like it wouldn’t set properly, so I preferred it just on my bare skin. I also gave it time to dry and set before applying powder to my face so it would last longer.

This is the perfect foundation if you want a little cover before heading out the door. I feel like it looks much better on me when I am wearing light makeup – it really seems to enhance the look of your skin.

The foundation illuminates your skin, so I did have a great glow when I wore it. My only concern was that even with my oily skin under control right now, the illumination can sometimes look a little dewy or oily. I found that I only had that problem if I had quite a bit of the foundation on.

It is long lasting, but it seems to last longer with some powder to set it.

It is formulated without parabens, sulfates, petrochemicals, phthalates, GMOs and triclosan, which all sound like things you don’t want on your skin or in your makeup!

I was normally spending about $40 on my foundation, so moving up to $62 for a foundation hurt a little but I do see why it is priced a bit higher. It does illuminate your skin, which is something I haven’t experienced in a foundation before.

Would I buy it again? I would. At first I wasn’t a fan because I felt like it was making my skin look oily, but now that I have mastered the application I do like it! I think my skin does look better with this foundation rather than the one I loved from Make Up For Ever.

For more details on the product, visit the YSL website here!