Review: Belif - Pore Cleaner Skincare Collection*


Did you hear the news? Belif is now sold at Sephora! This is so exciting ~ and with that, Sephora is carrying exclusive items from Belif that you can't find elsewhere. I was recently lucky enough to be sent the Pore Cleaner collection (above) and if you're interested in learning more about it, then keep on reading below!

From left to right, we have: 
Pore Cleaner Foam Cleanser ($25cad) ~ as the name suggests, this is a foaming cleanser that has a very light whipped consistency. It is said to help balance the skin's pH levels while helping you remove dirt and makeup. Ingredients consist of dandelion root extract, known for its soothing properties, and rosehip, apple mint and eucalyptus to help control sebum production on the skin without irritating it during the cleansing process.

Pore Cleaner Bubble Foam ($45cad) ~ this is my favorite product of the three, it comes in a push top bottle that dispenses gel initially and it slowly bubbles to a foam and you feel it subtly bubbling on your face (nothing too crazy) but it feels like it's actually lifting the dirt from your face. It contains the same rosehip, apple mint and eucalyptus ingredients from the Foam Cleanser above. In addition, it contains moringa oil extract known for its detox properties. 

Pore Cleaner Moisturizer ($40cad) - this is a light weight watery gel moisturizer that is an all in one product. It combines toner and essence with the moisturizer and helps to reduce pores and sebum production. It contains dandelion root extract, rosehip, apple mint and eucalyptus (like the Foam Cleanser). This sinks into the skin really quickly and can be used both day and night without feeling heavy or affecting your makeup application. 


Belif is a brand of skincare that I have been using for quite a while now, if you're interested in reading past posts, you can find them here. I highly suggest that you try their products out because I'd love to know what you think!

Until next time, XO - M.

*products were sent to me for consideration, all opinions are my own.

Review, Swatch and Tutorial: Wet n Wild - Rebel Rose Collection*


Wet n Wild brings to you the limited edition Rebel Rose Collection, which can either be bought in its entirety in a makeup or skincare set, or in individual pieces. 


Rebel Rose Photo Focus Rose Toner - this toner which contains Rose Water, is alcohol-free and helps with hydrating your skin, it has a very subtle rose scent and can be used either as part of your skincare routine, or even to be used before makeup application, to set your face or to refresh it during the day whenever you want a pick me up. 

Rebel Rose Photo Focus Rose Primer Serum - This serum is water based, and contains botanical extracts of cucumber and goji berry to help pack on the moisture to the skin. This would be a great all season product as it will not add to the grease factor of the skin and would just provide some hydration and plump up your skin (which is something you would need all year long!).


Left: Wet n Wild Perfect Pout Lip Scrub / Right: Tint of Corruption Lip Balm and Rose in Peace Creme Blush - these two products adjust to your own customized shade of Berry Pink according to your pH levels.

The Lip Balm honestly surprised me and I would have to say is my favorite lip product (after that are the glosses from this collection). It is almost jelly like and watery in texture and is so moisturizing and just glides on effortlessly on the lips. It leaves behind a pink-ish tint after it adjusts to your custom shade of pink that looks very natural on your complexion, It contains a blend of Vitamin E, Sunflower Seed Oil, Virgin Passion Fruit Seed Oil and Argan Oil to moisturize and nourish the lips. 

The Creme Blush is beautiful, you can use a finger to dab and blend on the cheek or you can use a stippling brush to apply it on the cheeks. It is creamy, feels comfortable on the cheeks and also contains a blend of Murumuru Seed Butter, Shea Butter, Vitamin E, Sunflower Seed Oil, Virgin Passion Fruit and Argan Oil to keep your cheeks hydrated. It stays put on the cheeks and does not run or fade through the day.

Lipsticks - From top to bottom we have: Bad Romance and Petal Poison which are glosses. They call them the hi-shine lipstick, it is the first time I've tried this formulation and I love it! It's shiny, it doesn't bleed out of the lip and has a beautiful color payoff. It is creamy and feels like cushion on the lips and contains a blend of vitamins, plant-based oils and butters like Vitamin E and Murumuru Seed Butter for moisture. I have actually been seeing the ingredient murumuru more recently, in skincare as well!


Kiss of Death and Deviant Damsel (which are liquid lipsticks). The liquid lipsticks are honestly probably one of my favorite drugstore formulations, it has great staying power, doesn't feel dry on the lips and has great opacity - one swipe! It contains Vitamin E and Macadamia Derivatives to help moisturize the lips. 

Everything in this collection is rose themed - from their Rose Multi-Use Oil with real rose petals suspended within, to their ever so soft and fluffy brushes.

The Multi-Use Oil, is really as what the name suggests - you can use it for the face, body, hair and nails and is not greasy and thick. It feels almost like water in texture but has a very subtle rose scent to it that does not smell overly perfumed or artificial (something I really appreciate).  It contains Vitamin E, Sunflower Seed Oil and Argan Oil for hydration and absorbs very quickly on the skin.

As for the eyshadow quads below, their shimmers are beautiful, pigmented - as are their mattes. Initially, the mattes felt a bit dry when I was finger swatching the,, but when applied to the lids it blended out effortlessly and had great color payoff. For being a drugstore product and with such an affordable pricepoint, there really are zero complaints. I took each quad and created a different look with it - a smokey look with the Bed of Roses Quad, an edgey more modern one with House of Thorns Quad and an everyday natural look with the Secret Garden Rendezvous. Quad. Which one is your favorite?




Out of the whole collection, I would suggest that your must haves are the Lip Balm, Cheek Brush, Multi-Use Oil, the Glosses and at least one of the shadow palettes. I know it seems like alot that I'm selecting but really, the prices and the product itself speaks volumes! 

Which product are you most interested in? I'd love to hear from you!

Until next time, XO - M.

*products were sent to me for consideration, all opinions are my own.

Review, Swatch & Tutorial: Mary Kay - Spring 2019 Collection*


This Spring, Mary Kay brings to you a whole variety of brand new make-up items to help with complexion and also to highlight the lips with either some nudes or bolder options like the lip tints! I have these items swatched for you below as well as using some items from the Spring 2019 collection to create an effortless and easy glam look for you all to see!

The Lip Tints ($21 each) come in 3 bold colors that apply like a dream with the fine marker tip. They last all day which is great so make sure you use precision when applying it. Even though it fades through the day, it leaves behind a tint (as you can see in the below arm swatch). They feel weightless on the lips, like water when you first apply it. You can always put a balm on first if you want a subtle sheen.

Moving onto complexion, we have the highlighting drops that retail for $25 each and come in a glass container and drop applicator. Make sure you shake the bottle very well before pushing down on the dropper to get the product to ensure that you get product (it does collect on the bottom of the bottle). This product is super pigmented and is blendable to either a sheer finish (as you can see below) or can be builded to give a blinding highlight. You can mix this in with your foundation which is one of my favorite ways or wearing it for the summer, mix it with your body lotion and applied to the shoulders, arms and legs/chest area, use it as an eyeshadow or obviously blotting it on the cheek/brow bones and wherever else you want to add some glow and highlight to. This product is so multipurpose so think outside the box when you use it. Being a liquid product too, you don't have to worry about it looking cakey or too powdery, so it actually works well on mature skin as well.

Next on the complexion product list, we have contour, highlight and colour correcting sticks (each retailing $17). These sticks are very impressive in my opinion as they glide onto the skin like butter, you barely have to put any pressure on it, and it delivers an even distribution of color onto the skin, as you can see in my video. The below arm swatches are also done with only one swipe. I would recommend that you do work fast after applying this onto the skin so that they buff out and not leave behind any harsh lines, it just makes things alot easier for yourself. I prefer using a synthetic brush to do so and I have no problems with it at all. 

Below you will find a tutorial of my effortless glam look using all items from Mary Kay Cosmetics. I have also labelled them within the video and included still images of the look close up! 

Overall, I do have to say that I am thoroughly impressed with this collection from Mary Kay. I have always been a fan about them and have written about them countless times before on the blog. It's hard to put my finger on what exactly is my favorite but I do think that you definitely cannot go wrong picking up one of the lip tints, highlighting drops and a contour stick! The contour stick really honestly impressed me with how effortlessly it blended out to look like second skin on my face.

Until next time, XO - M.

*SPONSORED POST & VIDEO (all products were sent to me for review, all opinions are my own.) 

Review: My Current Favorite Hand-Creams*


While we are getting glimpses of warmer weather here in Toronto, Winter isn't quite over yet! I know because well, it's still cold plus my hands are still suffering the effects of the weather with the occasional eczema flare-up. It takes me a while to find some hand creams that do not irritate me, so I had to share my findings with you now that I have narrowed it down to my top 5. 

Why 5 you say? well, each one is different - in terms of scent and availability. Honorable mention does go to the Fresh - Seaberry Nourishing Hand Cream that I have been using every winter for the last 2-3 years, that stuff is amazing! But hey, I need to try something new right?

I will review the products from left to right in the above image, so if you're interested in learning more, then keep on reading below!

Review & Giveaway - Live Clean: Foaming Body Washes*


Live Clean is a brand that I've been using and reviewing here on the blog for a while, for my previous posts, click here to read all about it. They have recently launched a brand new line of body care products, following their past launch of foaming hand washes, they now have foaming body washes in three different varieties - Moringa and Matcha Butter, Shea and Muru Muru Butter and Mango and Aloe Butter. 

My favorite of the three is Moringa and Matcha Butter, if you're a fan of their Mineral Clay hair products and the scent, you will love this one. It's light, refreshing and honestly if they could do it in a room spray I would be so happy! Shea and Muru Muru smells very warm and exactly as you would think of how Shea would smell like. Mango and Aloe Butter is actually unscented, so if you are expecting some juicy mango deliciousness like I was, then you might need to choose another one (sorry!). It is however filled with other goodness like calming Oat Kernal Oil and is also aimed at those with sensitive skin.

The foam is gentle, like a cloud and works well to cleanse the skin while leaving it hydrated - it does not feel stripped at all. I usually use 2-3 pumps and it is enough to lather my whole body.

As always their products are plant derived with certified organic botanicals, is never tested on animals, vegan, and is free of SLS, Paraben, Petrolatum, Silicone, Phthalate, Phosphate and Dye. They are also Hopoallergenic and Dermatologist Tested. 

Now for the fun part - the giveaway! You have a chance to win a bottle of each of the three foaming body washes, and to enter you just have to follow the rules below! 



To ENTER:
1. Please do not follow just to unfollow, it's unkind and dishonest! I will be checking if you have followed the account(s) when the winner is selected. 
2. Giveaway is open to Canadian Residents Only! 
3. Winners have 48 hours to respond to my notification e-mail, failure to do so will result in me selecting a new winner (this is to just keep the ball rolling and not hold-up the process)
4. Prize pack is not mailed out by me, but I will be facilitating with the process with the winner.

GOODLUCK EVERYONE!

Until Next Time, XO - M

*Products and Giveaway are provided by LiveClean - all opinions are my own.

Review & Swatch: AVON - Crave Lip Gloss*


 AVON recently launched CRAVE, a collection of delectable lipglosses. They are infused with moisturizing Vitamin E and leaves behind a sheer, lightweight, not sticky yet shiny finish to the lips. Each tube is 9ml, and retail for $8 each (though I see on their website it is currently $4.99 - of course, the prices are subject to change).

I was graciously sent 8 of the glosses on the site, I see that there is another 4 shades on their site totalling their collection to 12 shades total. The other scents/flavors are: Chocolate Brownie, Minted Apple, Pumpkin Latte and Salted Caramel. I must say the one I'm most excited about is Minted Apple so if I have the chance, I will definitely have to pick that up! 

Out of the ones I was sent me below, my favorites are Honey Tea, Cucumber Spritzer and Birthday Cake - all of these really smell like their names which is pretty incredible! I really appreciate that these are not sticky and feel light on the lips - these are sheer but with the darker colors you can see that they do offer a nice wash of color to the lips, especially when layered.


Which one speaks to you most! I'd love to hear from you.

Until next time, XO - M.

*products were sent to me for review/consideration, all opinions are my own.

Review, Swatch & Tutorial: Lancome - Le Monochromatique*


Lancome has launched Le Monochromatique, a unique cream to powder product that is multi-purpose. It can be used on the eyes, cheeks and lips and feels like a soft cushiony mousse like texture that blends beautifully onto the skin and dries to a powder finish. These products are also buildable and looks so beautiful on the skin - no matter how you layer it, it never looks thick and powdery or cakey. 

These products are said to be: Fragrance-Free, Oil-Free, Lightweight feel on the skin (as confirmed above), Contains Vitamin E,  has a soft matte finish and is suitable for all skin types. There are10 shades total and retails for $30 cad.

I like to use Magique on the inner corner or the middle of the lips to give it a subtle highlight and volume to the lips. Eclat is beautiful as an eyeshadow or highlight. Mademoiselle and A La Mode are so buttery smooth and leaves a beautiful wash of color to the lids. Petit Bisou and Si'l Vous Plait work as great blushes or patted on the lip and also can be used on the eyes, which I did as a crease color in one of the looks I created.

The swatches pictured here are all done with one swipe and no primer - you can see how truly beautiful they are!
Look #1: Day-Time Subtle Glam
Inner Half of Lid: Eclat
Outer V: Mademoiselle
Crease: A La Mode
Inner Corner: Magique
Lower Lash Line: Mademoiselle and A La Mode

Look #2: Smokey Pink and Brown Eye
Crease: S'il Vous Plait
All over the Lid: A La Mode
Lower Lash Line: A La Mode and buffed out with Petit Bisou
Lip: Petit Bisou