Do you remember your days as a teen using acne pad to clear your skin? When I started using The Magic Pads, I felt like I was having a flashback of those days. Back then those pads used to severely dry out my skin and even give me a rash, so there was definitely some concern in my head. Luckily this was a much better experience. The Magic Pads are SO easy to use. You can literally use them any time that you need a quick cleanse. I loved using them in the morning to refresh my skin before my routine. They don’t have an overpowering smell. They don’t dry out my skin. They help with pesky blemishes and tighten up your pores. They aren’t just for your face either. You can use them anywhere. I love them for my neck and chest. I even read reviews about people using them on their feet. I feel like Magic Pads are one of those little secrets that beauty editors and makeup artists keep to themselves, but it’s time for these to be in everyone’s arsenal.
Category: Beauty Tools
Weekend Getaway Makeup Most Wanted
categories: Bath And Body, Beauty Tools, Hair Reviews, Makeup Collection, Makeup Most Wanted, Makeup Reviews
When you are heading out of town with friends or maybe for a romantic weekend away, you don’t want to have to pack your whole arsenal of makeup. Here’s a little glimpse at some of the things I packed to hit the road for a weekend in Boston!
The Face Shop Mango Seed Cleansing Wipes – Everything about these wipes is moisturizing. I have been addicted to these wipes this summer because they are perfect no matter where the day takes you. The moisturizing wipes are perfect after a long day in the sun to dry out your face. They do leave a little bit of a residue, but it didn’t bother me most of the time. Everything feels nice and dewy.
Leonor Greyl Luxury Travel Kit – I hate going away and not being able to take my favourite shampoo and conditioner with me. This travel kit is really the next best thing. It comes with a shampoo, conditioning mask and oil. My first thought was, why do I want a hair mask while I’m on vacation? It’s nice because you can cheat and use it like a regular conditioner as well. When I was away recently I became hooked on the oil, which is perfect on wet or dry hair. You can find this luxe set for volume, dry hair or curly hair (or even just pick up the travel size oil solo), so you can get exactly what you need.
Juara Candlenut Obsession Trio – Since you are in the shower, you also have to take care of that body. I don’t know what a candlenut is, but I can tell you I really am obsessed. This trio box has a Body Polish, Hydrating Shower Gel and Body Crème with this new scent. It’s got a mix of shea butter, coconut, and something musky underneath. It smells a bit like men’s soap. I can’t even describe it properly. All I know is it made this weekend away even better!
Sephora Collection Look Color In The Eye Brush Capsule – I hate travelling with my regular brushes. I always get worried I will lose them, break them or otherwise ruin them while on the road. This little brush capsule is perfect to take instead. It has all of the eye brushes I could ever want. The pretty capsule keeps them clean and protected in my luggage.
Mac Cosmetics She’s A Model Eyeshadow Palette – Lately MAC has released some crazy, bold and beautiful colours, but that doesn’t always work for my real life. Enter this palette. While the eye shadows can be worn together in more daring ways, it’s also work appropriate. You can use the nice neutral tones for the office once you get back to reality. Then glam up your look with the sparkly silvers or better yet, the daring teal eye shadow. This collection also comes with some bright pink lipsticks and nail polishes, so there will be no shortage of colour when you enter the room.
Essence Pure Nude Highlighter – Get a little shimmer and shine with the new highlighter powder from essence. I’ve gotten really into powders this summer. The idea of wearing heavy foundation in the heat is just too much for my skin. This highlighter has been good to add back a little shine where I want. I think that highlighters are seriously under-used makeup, at least by me. I have been applying this highlighter on my cheeks above my cheek bones and nose for a little natural shine. Paired with my blush and bronzer, it gives me the natural glow you want, not the one you get on a humid summer day.
Schick Intuition Sensitive Care Razor Quickie Review
categories: Bath And Body, Beauty Tools
If you’re like me and have really sensitive skin, you’re basically stuck with shaving your legs all the time. Waxing is out so I’m always trying different razors to see what works best. Schick’s Intuition razors aren’t new to me but the Sensitive Care was. It has a really nice, light scent and the built in solid is a really convenient way to shave without dealing with a cream as well or a moisturizer afterwards. It’s also great for travelling. My only issue is that the shave bar disappears really quickly and it’s hard to properly clean out the blades because the bar is in the way. This means you have to get refills more often than you would a traditional razor. If you need something to take with you on a trip or camping, this is definitely a great idea. Even if you’re just touching up stubble. But this is not the razor for a big after winter shave. If you need something that won’t irritate sensitive skin though, this is definitely a way to get super smooth skin.
Most Wanted Travel Essentials For Hair
My least favourite part about packing for a trip is trying to figure out what I’ll need for my hair. Is it going to be humid? Dry? Windy? But I’ve found some products that make it really easy to have a good hair day, every day of you’re away.
Tangle Teezer Compact Styler in Gold Rush
There’s nothing better than a brush you can throw in your purse, especially when it comes with a cover that keeps it safe from whatever’s lurking in there. And the Tangle Teezer’s mini Compact Styler is the perfect brush for travelling. It’s gentle, effective and comes in a bunch of super cute designs and colours.
Sephora Mini Blast Travel Ionic Blow Dryer
A lot of hotels have blow dryers in their bathrooms but this Sephora brand mini dryer is better than what you’ll find in most. Because it’s ionic, you can blow dry your hair in half the time and get rid of a lot of your frizz for smooth hair. In theory you can use this anywhere in the world but I have heard of some European outlets making it short out, so you might want to keep this one in North America.
Moroccanoil Jetsetter Set
There’s never a question that if I’m travelling, I’m taking my Moroccanoil treatment with me. This time the shampoo, conditioner and Intense Hydrating Mask are coming along. With all my basic hair needs covered in one set, it’ll make my life a lot easier.
Drybar I Heart Road Trips Travel Kit
Sometimes you want to go for different styles while you’re away and this travel kit from Drybar will make it really simple. With The Chaser Shine Cream, Mai Tai Spritzer Sea Salt Spray and Triple Sec 3-in-1 all included, you can really get any look you want. And the name is so great.
FOREO LUNA For Sensitive/Normal Skin
We’ve already posted about how much we love Swedish brand FOREO’s silicone toothbrush ISSA and now we’re onto their face cleansing device LUNA. While most of us are used to washing our faces with our hands, washcloths, or facial brushes, all of those can trap bacteria and cause bigger issues later on. Especially if you have sensitive skin. The LUNA is made of silicone, so it’s anti-bacterial and doesn’t build up anything that can cause breakouts and skin irritation. I have combination/sensitive skin, so I could’ve used any of the full size LUNA’s but I chose the sensitive because I figured that was my biggest issue.
The front of the LUNA has both thin and thick silicone points and they’re really soft. It’s so easy to use, you just apply whatever cleanser you want to your face and run the LUNA over your face for two minutes. There are adjustable speeds, so you can get a softer or harder scrub depending on what you want.
The back of the LUNA is really interesting because it’s for anti-aging. You apply your serum and rub it in with the soft lines.
I love a lot of things about the LUNA ie: rechargable, long battery life, easy to travel with. There is a downside though. Because it’s so gentle, I don’t get a good scrub that I want sometimes and you can’t use any kind of exfoliating face wash, clay cleanser or scrub with it. But it’s changed the way I wash my face and I’m definitely noticing a difference in my skin.
Gillette Venus Swirl Flexiball Razor
categories: Beauty Tools
With summer’s heat comes a lot more bare skin and if you have really sensitive skin like I do and can’t wax, it also means a lot more shaving. I figure at 33 I’ve become somewhat of an expert at shaving and have pretty much tried every razor possible. Gillette’s Venus Swirl is the first razor marketed with a Flexiball that’s supposed to make your razor go over difficult curvy spots like knees, easily.
At first glance the Swirl looks a lot like other Venus razors with the five blades and serum bars with the exception of the big silver ball connecting the handle to the blade. At first I didn’t notice much of a difference while I was shaving until I realized it took me half the time to do my legs than it normally would and there wasn’t a nick in sight.
To be honest the only drawback I found at all was how slippery the handle got when my hands were wet. I had to keep drying it off so it wouldn’t slide. That aside, the Venus Swirl has consistently given me what I think are my closest shaves ever. Is that because of the Flexiball? I have no idea. I didn’t notice a significant difference with movement, although my knees got done a little quicker. Do I care why it works so well? Nope, I’ll just keep using it to get legs this smooth however it happens.
FOREO ISSA Toothbrush
categories: Beauty Tools
I’m not really a fan of electric toothbrushes so I generally stick to a manual but I’m a little bit of a germophobe so when I was introduced to the idea of Foreo’s Issa silicone toothbrush I had to try it. I’ve honestly never seen a toothbrush even remotely like this one. Since it’s silicone, it’s a lot more anti-bacterial than any other toothbrush I’ve used.
The Issa has eight speeds to choose from and it reminds you to change areas every thirty seconds while you’re brushing and to stop brushing at two minutes. My gums almost always bleed when I brush my teeth but the Issa is so gentle that I haven’t had that happen a single time in the few months I’ve been using it. My teeth feel like they’ve just been cleaned at the dentist when I’m done using it. I haven’t noticed a difference in whiteness but my teeth just feel so much cleaner overall.
You charge it through a USB post and one charge is supposed to last six months. Unfortunately my Issa must have some kind of defect because it’s never held a charge for more than a week. At first I thought it was because I was leaving it in a metal toothbrush holder but when I leave it on the counter the same thing happens. That said, it’s worth it to me to charge it more often because of the results I get. Brushing also seems a little more fun with the Issa.
While it’s quite a bit pricier than a regular toothbrush (around $200) the benefits outweigh the negatives. If you have sensitive teeth and gums, are a little bit of a germaphobe or just want a toothbrush that’s effective but you don’t have to throw out every three months (you change the brush head once a year), you need to give Foreo’s Issa a try. It’ll completely change how you think about brushing your teeth.
Tweezerman Brush iQ Review and Giveaway
categories: Beauty Tools
Tweezerman has had a cult following for their tweezers for years and now they’ve added makeup brushes to their arsenal. With 16 brushes to choose from, they’ve pretty much got you covered for anything you could possibly need a brush for. We received the Pointed Foundation Brush and the Blender Eyeshadow brush and Tweezerman has generously given us a pair of the same brushes to give to our readers!
These brushes are definitely the quality I would expect from a company like Tweezerman. They’re sturdy, they’re flexible and I didn’t have any fallout whatsoever while testing them. The foundation brush gets into every nook and cranny you want to get foundation into and kept it’s shape amazingly well while cleaning. The Blender Brush is a little bigger than I expected but did a great job as well.
I can’t wait to try more brushes from Tweezerman’s Brush iQ line. Let us know what brush you’d like to try the most!
Bliss Fabulips Pout-O-Matic
categories: Beauty Tools
I’m a huge fan of lip scrubs, but I find them a little messy. Luckily the Pout-O-Matic from Bliss takes all the messiness out of smoothing your lips and does it in a super gentle way. At first glance the Pout-O-Matic seems a little complicated and more like an electric toothbrush than a lip scrubber but once you put it together it all makes sense. The kit comes with the exfoliating tool, a replacement polishing head, a Fabulips sugar lip scrub and a battery (make sure you get everything in your kit, we saw one that was missing the scrub).
You really only need to use the tiniest amount of scrub on the polishing head and I mean tiny. Whatever you’re planning on using, use less. You can always add more later. You use the Pout-O-Matic much like you would use a Clarisonic or any kind of electric face cleanser. You put the scrub on the polishing head, turn it on and go over your lips in a circular motion for 30 seconds.
I happened to use it as I was getting over a cold and my lips were completely chapped. The Pout-O-Matic didn’t completely fix my lips on the first try but it got rid of the worst of the problems. Subsequent uses totally smoothed out my lips and left them really soft. I also found I was using less lip balm after the fact. Using a machine like this to get smooth lips might seem a little extreme but it’s a really easy, non messy way to get your lips ready for all your matte lipstick.