live clean – Makeup Most Wanted

Tag: live clean

09
Jul
2018

Makeup Most Wanted June 2018

categories: Bath And Body, Body Care, Cruelty Free Makeup, Hair Reviews, Makeup Most Wanted, Makeup Reviews, PR Sample, Uncategorized

It seems like the weather in Toronto went from winter to middle of summer in two days. As a result June was hot and sticky and the products I loved the most definitely reflected that.

Live Clean Mineral Clay Rebalancing Shampoo

Like my skin, my hair goes a little crazy in the summer. My roots get incredibly oily and itchy and my hair just dries out. Live Clean’s Rebalancing Shampoo has done a really good job of keeping my scalp itch free while moisturizing my ends. The combination of three mineral clays (Kaolin, Montmorillonite and Bentonite) along with apple cider, witch hazel and tea tree have really succeeded in balancing out my head where other products have failed. There’s a matching conditioner that I use along with it but the shampoo is really the star.

L’Occitane Citrus Verbena Moisturizing Body Foam

I really look forward to the new verbena products that L’Occitane releases every summer and this Moisturizing Body Foam might be my favourite yet. I’ve used a few body foams in the past but nothing that’s ever blown me away or seemed like more than a gimmick. L’Occitane’s version however is both cooling and extremely hydrating. It’s like a hair mousse in texture and a little goes a long way. The iconic L’Occitane verbena scent is perfect for summer (and keeps the bugs away) and it’s really easy to throw in a bag if you’re going to the beach or on a road trip.

Beautycounter Color Intense Lipstick in Brunch

I’m generally a matte liquid lipstick person but in the summer I like things a little lighter. This lipstick has insane colour payoff, I got full coverage in one swipe and even when I blotted it down a bit, I still have a ton of colour. There are eight Color Intense shades but my favourite is Brunch, a tawny pink with a hint of coral that comes out when it blots down. Beautycounter calls this long wearing and while it’s a lot better than some creamy lipsticks, you’ll definitely have to reapply. That said, this lipstick is incredibly creamy and comfortable and there’s peppermint oil in it that keep your lips feeling cool. And I love that Beautycounter doesn’t have a whole lot of crap in their products.

Invisibobble Magic Mermaid in Ocean Tango

Onto another one of my all time favourite products. I love Invisibobble so much that I haven’t used another kind of hair tie in about a year. These keep my hair secure and I don’t get headaches from them like I do with other hair elastics. For the summer they’ve released the Magic Mermaid collection that changes colour in UV light. There are two shades; Ocean Tango (light blue to dark blue) and Coral Cha-Cha (pale pink to hot pink). I love the Ocean Tango colours and even though I can’t see it changing colour, it’s fun to know that it does.

Body Fantasies Hearts & Daisies

When the weather is hot, I tend to like a body spray over a perfume since they’re generally lighter. And just in time for summer, Body Fantasies have released Hearts & Daisies, a light, fruity and floral scent. With notes of green apple, pink peony, daisy and creamy woods, this is a great summer body spray.

20
Mar
2017

At-Home Spa Day Most Wanted

categories: Bath And Body, Makeup Most Wanted, Skin Care

Sometimes a girl just needs an at-home spa day for a little pampering with all of your favourite new bath, body and beauty products, candles and a glass of wine. Here are a few products to add to your supple for the perfect spa day at home:

Live Clean Dead Sea Salts – Soothe tired muscles on your at-home spa day with a long bath with these Live Clean Dead Sea Salts. They have Epsom salts, green tea extracts, aloe vera, Eucalyptus essential oils and Ginger. All of this combines for soothed muscles. The scent is strong, but really relaxing at the same time. It’s perfect for helping you forget that busy week.

Avon Foot Works Clay Mask – A spa day wouldn’t be complete without a little foot pampering. Short of having someone to give you a pedicure in your living room, this foot clay mask is the best thing to do. I’ve tried lots of clay masks for my face, but never for my feet. The feeling is pretty similar. Be sure that you are sitting somewhere good, because you won’t be able to walk around. You will need to clean your feet off wherever you are. The lavender smell is nice and relaxing while you wait. I didn’t expect much in the way of results, but my feet were very soft after just 10 minutes or so with this on.

Arbonne Tahitian Coconut Lip Therapy Set – You don’t usually get to pamper your lips, but it feels so good when you do. The Lip Smoother is a coconut exfoliator that will help clean up all of that dead skin from winter. The Lip Salve is an oil based balm that softens and moisturizes. It’s a nice treat for your lips to feel soften and fresh.

Claus Porto Soap Gift Box – This is the MOST beautiful soap that I’ve ever owned. The white box with the art deco logo is the first signal that you are in for a treat. No matter how many times I opened it to see the three soaps inside, I was never not in awe. The packaging for each of these German soaps is a work of art in itself. Almost too beautiful to use. When you have had your time with the box, be ready for a nice treat with this soft smelling soap in the tub. Spoil yourself, or someone that you love a lot, with these soaps for every occasion.

Skyn Iceland All Eyes On You Treatments – Skyn Iceland has some of my favourite eye products. They always make them nice and cooling and soothing so that my eyes feel relaxed. This set includes an Icelandic Relief Eye Pen, Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels and Glacial Cleansing Cloths. This means you can pamper yourself with the gels now and have the cloths and pen for your regular everyday use.

02
Feb
2017

Body Lotion Head-To-Head

categories: Skin Care, Skin Care Reviews

In case you haven’t noticed, we are serious about winter skin care. On that note, we wanted to give you a deeper look at all of the body lotions, moisturizers and skin balms that have been making the rotation this winter to give you all the information that you need to make smart skin care decisions. From the packaging to the feel to the price, here is a look at some great body lotions for everyone any time of year!

Aveeno Skin Relief Moisturizing Lotion

Description: This lightly scented lotion (which also comes in unscented) is ideal for the most sensitive of skin. It helps not only dry skin, but the driest, itchy skin. It’s made with their special oat formula that is meant especially for sensitive skin.

Look: It’s classically Aveeno. No surprises here. From the look of the bottle to the look of the cream.

Scent: I am surprised that this can be considered as gentle as a sensitive skin product, because the coconut smell is rich. If you love coconut, like me, then you will like it. But it’s not subtle.

Feel: This moisturizer is surprisingly thick when you spread it over your skin, because it doesn’t look any thicker than your regular moisturizer. It’s thick to spread and absorbs into the skin very slowly. It leaves my skin feeling still damp and a bit dewy for quite a long time after, which could be thought of as a curse or a blessing.

Cost: You can get a 354 mL bottle for about $10, which is a great deal when you think about how well this cream works. I used it on an itchy new tattoo and keep one on my desk at work, so it’s clearly a favourite!

Nivea Cocoa Butter Body Lotion

Description: This moisturizer has pretty standard description of soothing rough skin and restoring your glow. It’s a mixture of cocoa butter and Vitamin E that will restore your skin back to good health.

Look: The bottle that I have is huge. It’s actually a bit overwhelming. This could be a lifetime supply of moisturizer, which is a little unnecessary. The lotion itself looks a bit thin, but fairly standard.

Scent: The smell of cocoa butter is so soothing and nice, isn’t it? If you agree, then you will love it too.

Feel: This moisturizer doesn’t apply as thin as it looks at first. It could have been a fluke, but on my skin it was really cooling. It applies thin and moisturizing and doesn’t leave my skin feeling tacky at all. I like that I can’t really feel it at all. I am just left with nice skin.

Cost: This big 21.1 oz bottle is under $10 in stores, so you can’t find a place to get more for your money. Overall, it’s a pretty standard and straight forward moisturizer, so you can’t go wrong at that price.

Live Clean Moisturizing Body Lotion

Description: Who doesn’t want to help the earth while helping their skin? Live Clean’s lotion is packed full of natural ingredients and organics and doesn’t have any of the additives most products have. They also come in great scents with little added benefits from different ingredients.

Look: The packaging is clean and simple. The lotion looks simple. No tricks here.

Scent: The scents of the Live Clean collection can be hit or miss. They seriously depend on your tastes. Choose your scent carefully based on what you are in the mood for.

Feel: Live Clean’s moisturizer feels nice and smooth. They are fairly standard as far as moisturizer go. It works great on dry skin, but doesn’t last for hours. I find myself reapplying often when I use Live Clean lotion only.

Cost: Live Clean is amazing value for the money. It’s one of my favourite brands. You can’t go wrong with it. This moisturizer is a steal at just $6.

Korres Body Butter

Description: Korres uses beautiful natural ingredients to help soften the skin and moisturize. They also use special oils that help improve elasticity and give better long term effects on your skin.

Look: The bottles of these body butters are beautifully designed with different colours and styles for each scent. The cream itself looks thinner than some intense body butters.

Scent: My Korres Body Butter is a beautiful jasmine scent. It’s fairly strong, but it’s more like perfume than just a moisturizer. It’s an advanced and complex scent. This isn’t a cheap throwaway smell that will hurt your senses.

Feel: Sometimes body butter can be too thick. It can leave a film or texture on your skin. Korres has created a body butter that is surprisingly light. It’s soft and leaves my skin feeling pampered.

Cost: At about $30, this is a more luxury cream, but you will get a more luxurious result. Be sure to find the scent that is right for you first, because it’s a bigger commitment.

30
Sep
2016

Makeup Most Wanted September 2016: Alyssa’s Picks

categories: Makeup Most Wanted

Where did September go? No really, I swear yesterday was August and I couldn’t wait for fall. At least it’s mostly here now and I can cool off a bit. While we work on our fall posts, here’s what I used the most last month.

Estée Lauder Advanced Night Micro Cleansing Balm
estee-lauder-advanced-night-micro-cleansing-balm
I’ve been using this solid cleanser non-stop since I got it. It starts off as a solid balm that you rub into dry skin and as you add water it turns into a cleansing milk. It’s so gentle and seriously effective that I’ve been using it on my eyes without a problem and it’s great for when I’m swatching, especially tough lipsticks and waterproof eyeliners. Also, it smells really good.

GROOM Hair Pomade
groom-hair-pomade
We have a lot of stuff coming up about Montreal based Les Industries GROOM but we’re starting off with the Hair Pomade. This is a men’s grooming line, so I didn’t try it personally but I had a friend test it out and he was super impressed. These are his thoughts (made a little more readable by me). ‘The pomade has a little bit of grit to it which makes it easy to work with and it wasn’t greasy. You only have to use a little bit of it and it’ll last a long time and it has really good hold, almost too good. Your hair isn’t going anywhere.’ He loves the smell of it, I love the smell of it and I can see girls with short hair using this one along with the guys it’s aimed at.

Algenist REVEAL Concentrated Color Correcting Drops in Green
algenist-reveal-concentrated-color-correcting-drops-green
I can’t count how many green products I’ve used to neutralize the redness in my skin and most things just do an ok job. I had a Sephora makeup artist use this on me when she was doing my makeup for a wedding and I bought it instantly. It literally gets rid of every tiny bit of redness that I want to hide. I use a drop (just one!) in my moisturizer before I put my makeup on or whenever I want to look less red. You can also add it to foundation, primer or even on it’s own. The drops also come in blue, pink and apricot for different issues. This is the first time I’ve used anything by Algenist and if all their products work as well as these drops, I need to get my hands on more.

Live Clean Vanilla Oatmeal Soothing Liquid Hand Soap
lc_van_oatmeal_handsoap1
I’ve been using Live Clean’s Liquid Hand Soap almost exclusively for over a year. It’s a little creamy, very moisturizing and doesn’t make my skin crack when I wash my hands a million times a day. They’re vegan and free from silicone, dyes, sulfates and roughly a million other bad things. The newest scent Vanilla Oatmeal wasn’t quite as oatmeal smelling as I expected (I get an almost coconut scent from it) but it smells delicious and works really well. There’s a matching body wash but that’s a post for another day.

Make Up For Ever Artist Rouge Matte Lipstick in M401
mufe-artist-rouge-icona-pop-m401
Make Up For Ever has a ton of new lipsticks out in their Artist Rouge line both in matte and satin finishes. I love this bright, classic red in the matte formula. MUFE teamed up with Icona Pop for this shade and it’s definitely a new classic. The formula itself is great. It’s extremely smooth and pigmented and stays where you put it, so you don’t have to worry about lipstick travelling places it shouldn’t. Although the lipstick is matte, it never fully dries down, so it won’t suck the life out of your lips. There are quite a few other shades I want to try but I’m really loving this one for fall and winter.

02
Jun
2016

Makeup Most Wanted May 2016 : Alyssa’s Picks

categories: Makeup Most Wanted

I can’t believe this year is flying by and it’s already June (but it feels like July in Toronto). Here’s what I used the most in May.
Clarins Multi-Active Day and Night creams
Clarins Multi-Active Day-Night
I’ll be honest and say I don’t always follow the moisturizer day and night cream rules. I find them interchangeable for the most part and just go by what my skin feels like it needs. But the Clarins Multi-Active Jour (day) is just light enough for daytime while keeping my skin feeling really hydrated while the Multi-Active Nuit (night) is a little heavier for night but not as heavy as a lot of night creams are. Using both of them has really helped keep my combination skin moisturized while not letting it get greasy. These smell so amazing but if you have issues with scent, keep away.
Live Clean Multi Boost Shampoo and Conditioner
Live Clean Vitamin Multi Boost Shampoo
Spring is a weird time for my hair. It’s not as dried out, the humidity makes my frizz pop and my roots get a little oily. Live Clean’s Multi Boost line kept it looking healthy and it stayed pretty manageable. I would recommend this to someone whose hair falls into the normal category. It’s not quite enough for really dry hair and those with oily scalps might have some greasiness. I love that I can add vitamins to my hair though and that it’s sulfate and paraben free.
Clinique Pop Glaze Sheer Lip Colour + Primer in Sprinkle Pop
Clinique Pop Glaze Sprinkle Pop
I’ve been wearing most matte liquid lipsticks lately but on days when I don’t want to bother but still want a pop of colour on my lips, I reach for Sprinkle Pop. It’s a really pretty, medium bright pink that goes on super sheer but still leaves some colour. It’s not a traditional lipstick, more like a tinted lip balm that you apply like a lipstick. Even after the colour wears off, it leaves a slight hint of colour but tons of moisture. I can leave my lip balm at home when I put this one on. My lips are moisturized for hours.
Rimmel Clear Complexion Clarifying Powder
Rimmel Clear Complexio Clarifying Powder
With spring and summer come humidity and my skin ends up on the oilier end of the spectrum and I get seriously shiny. Rimmel’s Clear Complexion Clarifying Powder is one of the few powders I’ve tried that actually leaves me looking matte for a long period of time without getting cakey. I wish it came with some kind of applicator so I could throw it in my purse but even when I put it on before I leave the house I know I won’t look shiny for most of the day. It’s also supposed to minimize breakouts thanks to it’s Pureskin complex.
Maybelline Colour Tattoo Concentrated Crayon in Bronze Truffle

I love the original Colour Tattoo shadows but I hate applying them for my fingers. From the first time I tried the Concentrated Crayon, I was hooked. You get the same colour payoff and staying power as the pots but it’s so much less messy and you can throw it in your purse for touch ups. Bronze Truffle is a great shade that takes me from day to night. I use a little in the morning and layer on more at night for more intensity. I have a couple shades of the crayons and this one is by far my favourite.

19
Jan
2016

Live Clean Apple Cider Clarifying Shampoo & Conditioner

categories: Hair Reviews

Apple-Cider-Clarifying

Nothing warms you up in the winter like Apple Cider, so why not add it to your beauty routine too. If you’ve been following us for a while, you will know that we are huge fans of Live Clean. If I could recommend anything to beauty fans, it would be their hair care products.

Clarifying Shampoo is perfect this time of year. In the New Year everyone wants to detox their body, so why not detox your scalp as well. This Clarifying Shampoo helps to get rid of all of that residue leftover on your hair. It will leave your skin squeaky clean.

Make sure that you follow up with the conditioner though too. Clarifying shampoos in general strip your hair of all of the residue, so it’s important to put some of that moisture back into your hair. Live Clean’s Apple Cider condition is light, so it doesn’t add anything back into your hair that you don’t want.

29
Jan
2015

Makeup Most Wanted January 2015 – Alyssa’s Picks

categories: Makeup Most Wanted

January has been all about skin care for me, so it’s not surprising that my Most Wanted products this month have almost nothing to do with makeup. These are my Most Wanted this month.
Lancôme Visionnaire Advanced Multi Correcting Cream

The first time I used this balm-like cream I was convinced it wasn’t right for my skin type because it didn’t feel like it was doing anything at all. But the next morning my skin looked better than normal so I kept using it. Literally every time I use it at night, I’m glowing the next morning. My skin tone looks more even, clearer and I’ve been getting a ton of compliments. I don’t know how it works but I’m loving the results.
Eve Lom Radiance Perfected Brilliant Cover Concealer in Ivory 02

This might be called a concealer but I’ve been using it as a cream foundation. I typically don’t wear a ton of face makeup but I have a lot of redness and this concealer completely covers it up and leaves my skin looking flawless. It doesn’t crack and leaves a silky finish that doesn’t feel cakey.
mark. Naked Love Hand Cream

This apricot scented hand cream smells delicious. It’s not too thick but not runny and absorbs really well. I love that this works as well as it smells.
Live Clean Fresh Face Refreshing Facial Wipes

A lot of makeup remover wipes don’t have any texture to them which makes my skin feel not so clean sometimes. Luckily these wipes have an open weave to them and get every last bit of makeup off. They don’t irritate my skin, especially around the eyes, at all. The fact that there’s a snap lid to keep them fresh is a bonus.
Malin+Goetz Mojito Lip Balm

I received this balm in my Ipsy bag last month and I haven’t stopped using it since. It has a really nice slip to it and keeps my lips hydrated for hours. I can even feel it on my lips after eating but it isn’t sticky at all. I just wish there was more in the tube so I wouldn’t run out as fast.

14
Jan
2015

Live Clean Hair Care Review

categories: Hair Reviews

If you are anything like me, you probably haven’t ever considered the Live Clean line of hair care products. It’s nothing against the brand, but they aren’t a line that I think of when I consider high quality hair care. They’re an affordable, eco-friendly line. I had their hair care products lingering around for a while before I gave them a try.

Finally one day, I pulled them out of the bag and decided to give them a shot. First, I applied the Live Clean Professional Age Resist Miracle Nutrition Oil. I applied the Live Clean pre-shampoo treatment to my hair about 5 minutes before my shower. This light oil felt like it was getting instantly absorbed into my hair. I was worried that I used too much, but I have thick hair so it can handle it.

I hopped in the shower and rinsed it out. I then washed my hair like normal using the Age Resist Shampoo and Conditioner. These hair care products are supposed to nourish, strengthen and hydrate hair with natural ingredients like rosehip oil and berries. Honestly, I didn’t notice a difference from my normal shampoo and conditioner.

After the shower, I applied the Keratin Oil Leave-In Treatment and threw my hair up in a bun. I fell asleep with my wet hair still up in a bun a little while later. At some point during the night, I woke up and pulled the bun out of my hair because it was annoying me.

When I woke up I stumbled around getting dressed without looking in the mirror. I eventually dragged myself into the bathroom to deal with my mane. I looked in the mirror and my hair looked amazing. I didn’t even have to brush it. I ran my fingers through it a bit, but it was perfect.

My hair is big, wavy and has crazy volume. Usually all of the products in my arsenal can’t tame my hair. If I fall asleep with my hair still wet… forget about it. This had to be a fluke. But it wasn’t, it happened again and again. This wasn’t a fluke. Live Clean is the real deal! I don’t even know how to express my joy after using Live Clean. My hair has never looked so good all on its own.