Yearly Archives: 2016

Skincare Saturday: Korres Wild Rose Brightening Oil & Targeted Tone Corrector

Korres Wild Rose Vitamin C Active Brightening Oil

Korres is one of those skincare brands that has been around for what feels like ages (turns out they were established in 1996)… and yet I’ve never gotten around to trying them – until now!

I was sent two items from their Wild Rose collection: the Vitamin C Active Brightening Oil and the Brightening Targeted Tone Corrector. This was one of those times where I was sent something out of the blue that I hadn’t requested nor would I ever think to request simply because of the scent of it. Rose (and most floral scents in general) send me running for the hills! Generally the smell is too cloying or thick and I just want nothing to do with it because it smells like grandmas. THANKFULLY, this particular wild rose infused scent by Korres is nothing at all like that. The scent in both of these products was subtle and light and felt *real*. None of that artificial thickness that seems to be inherent in so many “old fashioned” skincare products. Yay!

Korres Wild Rose Vitamin C Active Brightening Oil
Korres Wild Rose Vitamin C Active Brightening Oil

The Wild Rose Vitamin C Active Brightening Oil  is an “innovative brightening oil infused with real wild rose petals pays homage to the legendary wild rose oil ingredient that started it all. This ultra-concentrated vitamin C oil is rich in omega 3, 6, 9, fatty acids, and vitamins A and C. It provides significant antioxidant action while repairing the look of fine lines and wrinkles and improving skin’s overall tone and texture.

The formula is boosted with super C which increases skin’s vitamin C absorption by 1,000 percent to support natural collagen synthesis, powerful skin brightening, tone repair, and antioxidant protection against free radical and UV damage. Camapu, a plant derived extract delivers anti-thermal aging activity and anti-inflammatory benefits while improving skin’s luminosity. ” And there’s even actual wild rose petals floating in the oil!

Now, that’s a heck of a lot of things that this oil is doing and not all of it is necessarily readily apparent in your skin since cell turnover takes a long, LONG time. What I will say is that this absorbed incredibly quickly into my skin. It’s thick enough to be a good oil moisturizer, but it’s light enough that I can use it throughout the summer and not feeling weighted down (for example, I love my skynICELAND Arctic Face Oil, but that stuff is WAY too thick for the summer). I can even wear this under makeup if my skin needs a lot of hydration that morning! When my normal moisturizer just isn’t doing enough for my skin, this is what I’ve been reaching for.

Korres Wild Rose Brightening Targeted Tone Corrector
Korres Wild Rose Brightening Targeted Tone Corrector

The Wild Rose Brightening Targeted Tone Corrector is a daily facial serum intended to visibly correct discoloration and even out overall skin tone. Sadly, I do not think I’m the intended audience for this tone corrector because even though it applies nicely, sinks in quickly and smell good, I didn’t really notice it doing anything to my face. (As I’ve said before though, I don’t really have any skin issues which means I haven’t got any discolouration to correct.) However, I have found that this tone corrector is decently moisturizing. I’ve been using it as the step before I apply the brightening oil and I like how the two of them combined makes my face feel.

Let me know if you’ve tried Korres products before and what your thoughts are. Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend! 🙂

The products featured in this review were sent to me for consideration.

Random Beauty Giveaway!

giveaway

So I came home from work today and decided “what the hell, let’s do a giveaway!”. I keep a bag of goodies by my desk of brand new products I’ve received duplicates of and/or just don’t need that I’ve somehow accrued (like via GenBeauty, swaps, etc.). I rifled through it and pull out the following for a beauty prize pack:

  • Aveeno Fresh Essentials Daily Nourishing Moisturizer
  • NYX Pro Lip Cream Palette in The Pinks
  • Luxie Beauty Tapered  Highlighter brush
  • Luxie Beauty Concealer brush
  • Tarte Powder Player Bamboo Pressed powder brush
  • QUO Back to Basics Eyeshadow in Flesh
  • Make Up For Ever Aqua XL Eye Pencil in M-10 (Black)
  • Make Up For Ever Sens’Eyes waterproof sensitive eye cleanser (sample size)
  • Pur Volume Vixen mascara (sample size)
  • Make Up For Ever Smoky Extravagant mascara (sample size)
  • Make Up For Ever Charli XCX makeup bag

Giveaway Rules

  • This giveaway is open internationally!
  • This giveaway starts on July 8, 2016 and runs for two weeks.
  • Please be aware that all entries will be double checked to ensure fairness.
  • One winner will win the Beauty Prize Pack pictured and described above
  • The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my e-mail. If they fail to respond within that time frame, I will pick another prize winner. (And so on.)
  • “Giveaway accounts” will not be considered for this prize. (If you want to know what I mean by that, please click here.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Clinique Chubby in the Nude Foundation Stick (Review & Swatch)

Clinique - Chubby in the Nude Foundation Stick

Before I get started on this post, I have to address the elephant in the room that is the name of this product. I cannot, for the life of me, believe that Clinique decided to name their foundation STICK “Chubby in the Nude”. Call me immature, call me whatever you want, but I cannot stop giggling at the name and shape of this product. Was it an intentional penis joke? Cuz if so, well played. But if it wasn’t, then it’s even funnier.

MOVING ON!

Clinique - Chubby in the Nude Foundation Stick
Clinique – Chubby in the Nude Foundation Stick (this is rolled all the way up by the way)

Much, much earlier this year, Clinique launched their Chubby in the Nude foundation stick. I received this item in Intense Ivory and held off testing it out for several months because it was not the right shade for me (I’m somewhere around a MAC NC/NW 20).

201607_clinique_chubbyinthenuClinique - Chubby in the Nude Foundation Stick in Intense Ivory - swatchdefoundationstick_intenseivoryswatch
Clinique – Chubby in the Nude Foundation Stick in Intense Ivory – swatch

As you can see from the swatch above, Intense Ivory looks a heck of a lot darker than the inside of my forearm and yet this shade is labelled as a “neutral pink beige shade for very fair skin tones with neutral undertones”. Very fair skin tones?? I’m fair, but I’m nowhere near alabaster. This shade looks far more suited towards someone with a light-medium skin tone.

Face comparison
Face comparison

Since it’s now July and my face has a bit more colour to it, I decided to leap back into testing Clinique‘s foundation stick. Despite the arm swatch, you’ll notice that it didn’t darken my face too much. Maybe a touch, but not much more. You’ll also notice that it didn’t really do much in the way of covering anything on my skin. My freckles are shaded down a touch, but that’s really about it. Any darker moles are still showing through loud and proud.

When I apply it to my face it is definitely not a colour match, however, the product itself provides sheer coverage so it blends in enough with my skin. The product did not layer well – when I added a second layer to build up the consistency, I ended up with patchy bits and “clumping” in areas where my face has curves (like my nose).

Wearing Clinique Chubby in the Nude in Intense Ivory
Wearing Clinique Chubby in the Nude in Intense Ivory

This product retails for $29 CAD/$24 USD and contains 0.21 ounces of product. Since I’ve only ever used one other stick foundation before, the Make Up For Ever Ultra HD, I decided to pull that out for comparison. The MUFE Ultra HD stick retails for $52 CAD/$43 USD and contains 0.44 ounces of product.

If we break that down, per ounce, the Clinique is $138 CAD/114 USD, whereas the Make  Up For Ever is $118 CAD/98 USD. That’s really pricey for a brand that isn’t billed as high end as MUFE.

My Thoughts

I don’t like giving bad reviews (who does??), but I really do not like the Clinique Chubby in the Nude foundation stick. The texture was dry and bizarre to work with – blending it on was fine during the first layer, but as soon as I tried to add another layer it kind of balled up/got patchy. Although you may be someone that likes a sheer coverage (I sure do!), this one was uncomfortable since the stick was so dry and it really didn’t seem to do enough to warrant even wearing it.

I also found that it lifted off my skin so easily that I was left wondering what on earth would actually get it to stick to my skin. I tried multiple different primers and none of them worked. Just to give you an example of how easy this was to accidentally remove: I touched a tissue to face (not heavily pressing) while at work and I managed to coat the tissue with my foundation colour. I wouldn’t trust this thing near any pale shirts whatsoever since I’d be sure to end up with foundation transfer. Sadly, this item is a total pass for me. 🙁

The Clinique Chubby in the Nude foundation sticks can be purchased on sephora.ca for $29 CAD or on sephora.com for $24 USD.

The product featured in this review was sent to me for consideration.

Stila Sunset Serenade Convertible Color Palette (Review & Swatches)

Stila Convertible Color Dual Lip & Cheek Palette in Sunset Serenade

I’ve seen people swoon over the Stila Convertible Colors for yearrrrs. And yet, I could never commit to owning a huge pan of cream blush at that price tag just because I never really wear cream blush that much.

Stila Convertible Color Dual Lip & Cheek Palette in Sunset Serenade
Stila Convertible Color Dual Lip & Cheek Palette in Sunset Serenade

But now that I’ve got the option to try out five shades in one palette? I’m all over that! The Stila Convertible Colors are primarily marketed as a lipstick that you can also wear as a blush. However, I’d have to say that I notice far more people wearing these as cream blushes, and that was my intent for this palette.

Stila Convertible Color Dual Lip & Cheek Palette in Sunset Serenade
Stila Convertible Color Dual Lip & Cheek Palette in Sunset Serenade

The Dual Lip & Cheek palettes come in a warm version (Sunset Serenade, the one I have in this post) and a cool-toned version (Sunrise Splendor).

Stila Convertible Color Dual Lip & Cheek Palette in Sunset Serenade
Stila Convertible Color Dual Lip & Cheek Palette in Sunset Serenade

The five shades featured are Petunia, Peach Blossom, Gerbera, Camellia and Twilight Rose. Only Petunia and Camellia can be found in Stila‘s permanent range (or at least, that’s what I see on Sephora’s site!).

Stila Convertible Color Dual Lip & Cheek Palette in Sunset Serenade - swatches
Stila Convertible Color Dual Lip & Cheek Palette in Sunset Serenade (Petunia, Peach Blossom, Gerbera, Camellia & Twilight Rose) – swatches

Swatched out, the colours look immensely shiny. Honestly, they look quite a bit like a thick milkshake-type lipgloss.

Wearing Gerbera and Camellia mixed together on cheeks
Wearing Gerbera and Camellia mixed together on cheeks
Wearing Peach Blossom on cheeks
Wearing Peach Blossom on cheeks
Wearing Twilight Rose on cheeks
Wearing Twilight Rose on cheeks

My Thoughts

I’ve used enough cream blushes over the years to figure out that in general they usually aren’t for me. In fact, I’d pretty much decluttered all of the cream blushes out of my collection because I just didn’t reach for them. This Stila palette is going to turn out to be exception to that rule because these are PHENOMENAL! I have zero interest in wearing these as a lipstick because I just don’t like potted lipstick, so for me these are only cream blushes. I apply them to my face with a small stippling brush that fits perfectly into the pan. You barely need anything on your brush because these are so, SO pigmented. They melted into my skin really easily which made blending a dream. I found myself so impressed with the finish on my skin. They keep a slight bit of their sheen which makes for a really healthy glow, however, they’re not tacky, so you don’t have to worry about your hair sticking to your cheeks. I also had no problem applying a powder highlighter on top of the cream.

I finished trying these blushes out about a week ago for the blog… but I found myself continuously coming back to them over the following week even though I’ve got tons of other blushes I could be playing with. If that’s not a sign of an amazing product, then I don’t know what is! Two enormous thumbs up for this palette!

The Stila Convertible Color Dual Lip & Cheek Palettes can be purchased on sephora.ca for $51 CAD or on sephora.com for $39 USD.

The product featured in this review was sent to me for consideration.