Ah, another month gone by. January was somehow a blur and yet felt oddly slow at the same time. I think after the excitement and chaotic pace of December, January always seems to lag. Everyone's especially broke, nothing exciting is being released, and the winter blues is setting in. January is definitely one of my slower shopping months for those reasons, though I did manage to snag a few goodies on my random outings.
Holika Holika Lazy & Joy Sweet Dessert Hand Cream Set
Holika Holika Lazy & Joy Fresh Egg Cleansing Foam
Holika Holika DoDo Cat Dust Out 3-in-1 Trans-foam Cleanser and Soda Pore Cleansing Deep Cleansing Foam
Holika Holika One Solution Soothing Super Energy Ampoule
One Korean beauty brand that I've never tried but have always been curious about is Holika Holika. They're a huge brand over in Asia, but no one really talks about them here because they aren't widely distributed like some other K-Beauty brands (e.g. Laneige and Tony Moly are both carried at other retailers like Sephora and Hudson's Bay). I've browsed their store on numerous occasions while walking through Pacific Mall, but never came out with anything because I didn't know where to start. Everything is so cute and colourful in there that it's a little overwhelming to take the time to look, so I decided to finally just spend a good 15 minutes in there to go through their offerings. What really caught my eye this time around was their collaboration with a Sanrio character named Gudetama, who is a lazy, depressed egg. I thought this was hilarious and oddly adorable, so I picked up the Fresh Egg Cleansing Foam (I currently use Tony Moly's version of this and love it) and the hand cream set because it was just too cute to resist. (Food themed products get me every time.) I also picked up their Soda Pore Cleansing Foam for deep-cleansing and another cleanser from their Audrey Jeanne collaboration that doubles up as an exfoliator, plus one of their new serums for soothing and hydrating the skin. We'll see how it goes with these. At the very least, I should have the cleanest skin, ever.
Urban Decay B6 Vitamin-Infused Complexion Prep Priming Spray and Pixi by Petra Flawless & Poreless Primer
I was looking at Urban Decay's newly re-designed skin sprays and after reading descriptions and reviews, I decided to grab a bottle of their B6 Vitamin-Infused Complexion Prep Priming Spray, which is meant to help balance skin, even skintone, and absorb oil. I've seen this for years at Sephora but never bothered trying it because no one ever talked about it. Rather than spraying it after makeup like their setting sprays, you're meant to spray this on before makeup or moisturizer. I've been using it for a couple weeks now and I gotta say, I see way more of a reduction in surface shine over the course of a day than when I've used any of their setting sprays (in fact, De-slick made me look oilier). So while the B6 spray can be used by all skin types, I especially recommend it for those with oily skin. On that note, I noticed that they started carrying Pixi Beauty at Shoppers Drug Mart now. The brand was exclusive to Target before they were pulled out of Canada so we didn't have access to the brand again until now. On a whim, I picked up the tester of their Flawless & Poreless Primer to try on my hand, because it's meant to "minimize shine and pores immediately and long-term." I'm fussy with my primers because I want them to help with skin texture and shine reduction but I also don't like the feeling of heavy silicone-based primers. So imagine my surprise when I tried this primer and felt that it was mattifying and smoothing but also lightweight. It doesn't feel tacky or thick or slippery, and my powder foundation wears really well on top of it. I've only been using it for a week, but so far, so good.
Too Faced Sweet Peach Creamy Peach Oil Lip Gloss in Peach Fuzz, Peach-sicle, and Papa Don't Peach
I also picked up the three Too Faced Sweet Peach Creamy Peach Oil Lip Gloss shades that I asked my friend Chelsea to grab for me at Sephora. They don't last very long on the lips (maybe a couple hours at most), which I'm not that particular about (because in the gloss world, long wear means sticky as fuck), but they do feel amazing on the lips. Truly creamy and moisturizing but also lightweight and completely stick-free, plus they make your lips look really plump and smooth. It does have a strong peach candy smell so if you're sensitive to scents, I'd definitely skip these, but I've been loving layering these on top of lipsticks to keep my lips hydrated. They feel especially nice if you've been wearing liquid lipstick for an entire day and your lips feel like a burning desert.
MAC Pro Palette Blush x 6 Palette with Trace Gold, Sincere, Peachtwist, Prism, Blushbaby, and Sweet as Cocoa
MAC Mineralize Charged Water Skin Hydrating Mist, Mineralize Volcanic Ash Exfoliator, Lightful C Marine-Bright Formula Softening Lotion, and Lightful C Marine-Bright Formula Essence
MAC Prep + Prime Essential Oils Stick and Lip Scrubtious in Sweet Vanilla and Candied Nectar
Of course, I picked up a bunch of stuff from MAC over the course of the month. Aside from the Caitlyn Jenner collection (reviews: Mineralize Skinfinish Natural, Blush Duo, Eyeshadows, Lipsticks, and Cremesheen Glasses), I also built a new neutral six-pan blush palette with some of their permanent shades (I think we focus so much on their new launches that we forget about their awesome basic business products), some of my skincare essentials (I recently re-discovered my love for the Volcanic Ash Exfoliator, which I hadn't used in well over five years), plus some new skincare items that intrigued me, including their new Essential Oils Stick (I get dry patches and eczema on my elbows, hands, upper arms, etc., and this is really nice for calming and smoothing itchy or flaky skin) and two of their new lip scrubs in Sweet Vanilla and Candied Nectar (which is mango). While effective for removing flakes and dead skin cells, I've found that these scrubs are particularly great for removing hardcore stains from wearing ultra-bright or long-wearing liquid lipsticks.
INSP Holographic Nail Polish in Mon Amour, Lulu, Interstellar, Industrial Park, and Ski Lodge
INSP Ultra Chrome Flakies Nail Polish in The Road to Awe, Glory, Kaleidoscope, Mayfield, and Ferris Wheel
And finally, after being in a nail polish rut for the past few months where absolutely nothing from any brand was intriguing me, I discovered a gorgeous boutique nail polish brand named ILNP (which stands for I Love Nail Polish). Nail Polish Canada started carrying their colours, and I swear to you, if they didn't cost like, $15 a pop, I'd have bought at least ten more. They make the most gorgeous holographic effect shades, but my favourite finish from them is their Ultra Chrome Flakies, which are iridescent chrome-effect flake glitter polishes. They are stunning on their own and especially layered on top of other shades, but they're also some of the more unique glitter shades I've seen. If you're a nail polish junkie and glitter addict, you will be obsessed with ILNP's offerings.
One Korean beauty brand that I've never tried but have always been curious about is Holika Holika. They're a huge brand over in Asia, but no one really talks about them here because they aren't widely distributed like some other K-Beauty brands (e.g. Laneige and Tony Moly are both carried at other retailers like Sephora and Hudson's Bay). I've browsed their store on numerous occasions while walking through Pacific Mall, but never came out with anything because I didn't know where to start. Everything is so cute and colourful in there that it's a little overwhelming to take the time to look, so I decided to finally just spend a good 15 minutes in there to go through their offerings. What really caught my eye this time around was their collaboration with a Sanrio character named Gudetama, who is a lazy, depressed egg. I thought this was hilarious and oddly adorable, so I picked up the Fresh Egg Cleansing Foam (I currently use Tony Moly's version of this and love it) and the hand cream set because it was just too cute to resist. (Food themed products get me every time.) I also picked up their Soda Pore Cleansing Foam for deep-cleansing and another cleanser from their Audrey Jeanne collaboration that doubles up as an exfoliator, plus one of their new serums for soothing and hydrating the skin. We'll see how it goes with these. At the very least, I should have the cleanest skin, ever.
I was looking at Urban Decay's newly re-designed skin sprays and after reading descriptions and reviews, I decided to grab a bottle of their B6 Vitamin-Infused Complexion Prep Priming Spray, which is meant to help balance skin, even skintone, and absorb oil. I've seen this for years at Sephora but never bothered trying it because no one ever talked about it. Rather than spraying it after makeup like their setting sprays, you're meant to spray this on before makeup or moisturizer. I've been using it for a couple weeks now and I gotta say, I see way more of a reduction in surface shine over the course of a day than when I've used any of their setting sprays (in fact, De-slick made me look oilier). So while the B6 spray can be used by all skin types, I especially recommend it for those with oily skin. On that note, I noticed that they started carrying Pixi Beauty at Shoppers Drug Mart now. The brand was exclusive to Target before they were pulled out of Canada so we didn't have access to the brand again until now. On a whim, I picked up the tester of their Flawless & Poreless Primer to try on my hand, because it's meant to "minimize shine and pores immediately and long-term." I'm fussy with my primers because I want them to help with skin texture and shine reduction but I also don't like the feeling of heavy silicone-based primers. So imagine my surprise when I tried this primer and felt that it was mattifying and smoothing but also lightweight. It doesn't feel tacky or thick or slippery, and my powder foundation wears really well on top of it. I've only been using it for a week, but so far, so good.
I also picked up the three Too Faced Sweet Peach Creamy Peach Oil Lip Gloss shades that I asked my friend Chelsea to grab for me at Sephora. They don't last very long on the lips (maybe a couple hours at most), which I'm not that particular about (because in the gloss world, long wear means sticky as fuck), but they do feel amazing on the lips. Truly creamy and moisturizing but also lightweight and completely stick-free, plus they make your lips look really plump and smooth. It does have a strong peach candy smell so if you're sensitive to scents, I'd definitely skip these, but I've been loving layering these on top of lipsticks to keep my lips hydrated. They feel especially nice if you've been wearing liquid lipstick for an entire day and your lips feel like a burning desert.
Of course, I picked up a bunch of stuff from MAC over the course of the month. Aside from the Caitlyn Jenner collection (reviews: Mineralize Skinfinish Natural, Blush Duo, Eyeshadows, Lipsticks, and Cremesheen Glasses), I also built a new neutral six-pan blush palette with some of their permanent shades (I think we focus so much on their new launches that we forget about their awesome basic business products), some of my skincare essentials (I recently re-discovered my love for the Volcanic Ash Exfoliator, which I hadn't used in well over five years), plus some new skincare items that intrigued me, including their new Essential Oils Stick (I get dry patches and eczema on my elbows, hands, upper arms, etc., and this is really nice for calming and smoothing itchy or flaky skin) and two of their new lip scrubs in Sweet Vanilla and Candied Nectar (which is mango). While effective for removing flakes and dead skin cells, I've found that these scrubs are particularly great for removing hardcore stains from wearing ultra-bright or long-wearing liquid lipsticks.
OMG sexy new blog design! HIIIIIIIIIII DENISE
ReplyDeleteMy unsentimental lawyer sister is so in love with that dumb egg. I'll drop by Holika Holika at some point and get her an eggy gift.
And I saw that Pixi setup at Shoppers recently and remembered how much I like their tinted balms. I think the clear one I want is missing though.
LOL, Hi Liz! I've missed you! And thanksssss, it was really about time to change up the layout here. I was getting so sick of looking this blog, lol. But the new design has made me want to post more. :)
DeleteHaha, I find this egg character to be hilarious. I don't know how much longer the collab is going on for, or if stores are still carrying it 'cause it's not on the website anymore but I hope you get your hands on something 'cause it's freakin' adorable. Just looking at the packaging makes me smile!
I wanna try a bunch of things from Pixi. Never really bothered with them before because I didn't live near a Target, but I've heard a lot of good things about a lot of their products. I think I'm gonna pick up the Glow Tonic next, and maybe one of their mists. :)