I’ve been thinking about ways to reduce waste in my life, and one area that could be improved is my beauty products. I came across the Spring & Vine Oatmeal 2-in-1 Moisturizing Shampoo Bar and purchased it as an alternative to traditional shampoo. It is mostly plastic-free, aside from the plastic sleeve containing the bar within the cardboard box. This is my first experience using a shampoo bar, so thought I would try it out and let you know my thoughts.
To start off this bar looks like an ordinary bar of soap, but if you look closely, there is an embossed leaf pattern down its horizontal middle. I did use this before taking photos (whoops! I just couldn’t wait to try it). This product is pretty straightforward to use, I like to wet the shampoo bar under the water and apply it in a sweeping motion on my scalp and between sections of my hair. As I did this, the shampoo started to lather somewhat, and the experience was like using traditional shampoo. Rinse clean and you’re done!
As the packaging notes, this is a shampoo plus conditioner. Of course, this didn’t feel like any traditional conditioner I’ve used in the past, but this has moisturizing shea butter and jojoba seed oil so I never felt the need to use a traditional conditioner after using this product.
I’ve used this a few times now, and I can safely say my hair has always come out feeling clean and balanced. It’s not dried out, not overly hydrated, and I didn’t feel any build-up or residue on my scalp. It felt strange to run a solid object through my hair with the expectation of cleaning it. But this solid shampoo really met my expectations!
This shampoo bar is PETA Certified Cruelty-Free and Vegan, in addition to being free of synthetic fragrance. The packaging states the formula is supposed to be as concentrated as a traditional 12.6 oz bottle of shampoo. In terms of my personal usage, I don’t find that I’m going through it quickly. As for the price, this can be purchased at Target for $9.99.
Overall, I would recommend checking out this shampoo bar from Spring & Vine! Along with reducing your environmental impact from the packaging and formulation of more traditional shampoo, you’re also getting two products in one. This saves you time and cuts out extra products, all while reducing your water consumption. Spring & Vine also have Volumizing, Scalp Soothing, and Balanced Clean in their line of shampoo bars to cater to different needs. Have you tried a solid shampoo bar before? Thank you for reading! Stay well!
For this week’s post, I thought I would do a good old fashioned beauty review! The review in question is the L’Oreal Colour Riche Shine Lipstick in Luminous Coral. I picked this up intending to add a sheer but bright colored lipstick to my mix of lip products. Let’s see if this lipstick made the cut.
First, the texture of this surprised me as it has a lip balmy like quality but with more pigment than some Fresh Sugar Lip Treatments. This can be quite pigmented depending on how many layers you apply. As the name would suggest, this lipstick really adds shines to your lips, the high-shine finish and the warm-toned coral shade makes me think of summer. This did leave a coral tint behind as it wore off. The wear time isn’t too long, around three to four hours at the most. But I don’t expect a shine lip product to have the same wear time as a matte product. This will wear off quickly if you have something to eat or drink. But it’s not a messy lip product so reapplication is easy. I’ve happily reapplied this throughout the day! In a way, this product does remind me of the Revlon Lip Butters from what feels like forever ago, so if you liked those you would really like this range from L’Oreal.
To me, this lipstick smells slightly of SweeTarts Candy. But it’s not too overpowering if a strongly scented lip product is not your thing. I also like the clear packaging that encases these lipsticks because you can easily spot the color you’re choosing. Also, the etched design and gold detailing on the packaging give off a fancier vibe from a more expensive brand.
Left: Multiple swipes of L’Oreal Colour Riche Shine Lipstick in Luminous Coral, Right: One swipe
All-in-all I would highly recommend the L’Oreal Colour Riche Shine Lipstick in Luminous Coral if you’re looking to try a lipstick-lip balm hybrid. Have you tried the L’Oreal Colour Riche Shine Lipsticks? Thanks for reading!
I recently picked up some new beauty products and while I try not to go too crazy with buying new products these days these products have caught interest plus some of these products have been very hyped up on the internet. Here are my thoughts!
First, let’s start with the makeup. I picked out two cream products because I really enjoy using cream formulas in the warmer months. Both of these products have been very hyped up in the beauty community. The Fenty Beauty Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Bronzer is a new launch for the Fenty Beauty brand (as well as the cream blushes). I picked up the shade 03 Macchiato which is a light-medium shade. This has a very light feeling on the skin, there’s no heavy or greasy feeling when using this product. From the swatches below, this product will give a very glowy finish to your skin. I surprisingly found this product to be quite sheer and needed to be built in order to achieve some opacity. I had to swipe several times to build up the product for the swatch below. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing because it makes it easier to control and it’s very hard to go overboard with this bronzer. Also, I much prefer using this product with a brush over my fingers because I found it easier to get the desired bronzing effect. That is also a surprise because I’ve always preferred using my fingers for cream products!
Another very hyped product is the Tower 28 Beauty BeachPlease Luminous Tinted Balm. This new and talked about brand has been recognized for being vegan, cruelty-free, and more affordable compared to other “green” and “clean” beauty brands. I purchased the shade Magic Hour with the intention of using it as a cream blush. Magic Hour is described as a “sun-kissed rosy nude” but I think it’s a brighter pink than described. Unlike the Fenty cream product, I found this to be very pigmented and a little goes a long way. It has an almost “blurred” effect on the skin and the formula isn’t sticky and I found it to last about 6 or 7 hours before it started to fade. I also tried it on my lips where it was comfortable to wear, however, I didn’t love the color on me personally. Overall, I liked this one, and someday I would really like to try the shade Golden Hour from this range because it’s a nice looking shade of orange! 😀
I wanted to add a new toner into my skincare routine because I was not using one at the time. I didn’t have an exact product in mind, so I kept an open mind while browsing around. I’ve heard a lot about Glow Recipe as a brand but have never tried anything from them before. I picked up the Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow PHA+BHA Pore-Tight Toner because this had good reviews and an ingredients list that could agree with (alcohol-free). I’ve been using this since the beginning of the month and I’m enjoying it so far. I like the smoothing skin benefits of PHA added with BHA, which unclogs your skin’s pores. And during the course of my time using this I do feel that my skin has become smoother and looks more even and toned. It’s not a miracle-working product but I do like during my morning and nightly skincare routine.
I was also curious about trying another new and hyped up skincare product called Summer Fridays Jet Lag Mask. This brand has a few other masks in their range but this one has the most hype, I believe. It is cruelty-free, paraben-free, free of perfumes, and sulfate-free. This is marketed to be used as an overnight facial mask but also could be used as a hydrating facial primer. It does have hydrating ingredients such as shea butter and ceramides for retaining moisture. I did find this to be very hydrating, the most hydrating mask I own in fact, I don’t many face masks but still! Personally, I found the fragrance in this mask to be very potent and while it doesn’t have artificial fragrance, it does have peppermint and orange peel oils in it. I would definitely consider using this to re-hydrate my skin from traveling on an airplane. Otherwise, I will save this for the winter months ahead but I don’t want to think about that…
Lastly, I purchased a hair product, I was looking for a scalp exfoliant to remove product buildup and generally help with the health of my scalp. The Drunk Elephant & Chris McMillan T.L.C. Happi Scalp Scrub interested me because I have a dry scalp and because it’s composed of AHA/BHA acids in addition to plant cellulose exfoliating beads (the beads are biodegradable which is awesome!) to exfoliate. I thought the combination of the two products would make for the most efficient exfoliating process. I followed the instructions as directed and it was easy enough, however, if you have thicker hair like I do I find the best way to use this is to apply the product in sections on your head. That way you’ll cover your actual scalp and the beads won’t just sit in your hair but some of the beads will inevitably do so and make it look like you have beach sand in your hair. My scalp had a slight tingly feeling due to the AHA/BHA but it wasn’t very intense but be aware of your scalp is sensitive. After my hair had dried my scalp definitely felt “fresh” and similar to how your skin would feel after exfoliating and I did notice some volumizing of my hair. I’m happy with the results from this scrub and will happily use it when my scalp needs some T.L.C.
Have you tried any of these products yet and if so what did you think of them?
Bite Beauty, a brand whose lip products I enjoy have recently expanded their makeup range into complexion products as well as revamp their lip product range. Being the fan that I am of Bite Beauty, I decided that would like to try something from their newest launch. I decided to pick up the Bite Beauty Changemaker Supercharged Micellar Foundation since it was the product that piqued my interest.
This foundation is vegan with antioxidants from the maqui berry and micellar water keeps the foundation looking cakey. This foundation also claims to be long-wearing with buildable light to medium coverage.
I purchased the shade M70 which may be a little dark for me in the dead of winter but will be perfect when I spend more time outside. I’ve been wearing this foundation for about a week, give or take some days that I’m not wearing makeup. This foundation applies very smoothly, evenly, and feels weightless on the skin. Even more so than my old favorite It Cosmetics CC cream.
The Bite foundation also held up very well with no separating or fading, or oxidization on my skin for the 8 or 9 hour days I was wearing it (when used with the Becca Velvet Blurring Primer to be exact). My skin also felt comfortable at the end of the night and not “I can feel my foundation and I NEED to wash my face” so that’s a plus. My skin didn’t appear overly shiny, too, at the end of the day. I do use powder, but there’s always some shine at the end of the day as my skin is oily. When used without a primer, the foundation did not hold up as long, maybe 7 hours before I noticed early signs of it breaking down and a little more shine to my skin. In my opinion that is to be expected, and I would personally wear a primer if I want to get the most out of my foundation.
I really enjoy this foundation from Bite Beauty. I know there are people who have oily skin who are not fans of this product but I personally disagree. I think it’s still an option to consider if you have oily skin. Overall, I think this a great foundation if you’re looking for a very light to medium coverage foundation that feels comfortable to wear on the skin.
I’m impressed and excited that Bite has expanded their makeup line, it will be interesting to see if they roll out new makeup in other areas! Have you tried Bite Beauty’s newest launches?
The ingredients include Reishi, Penapeptide, Shea Butter, Ashwagandha, and Hylauronic Acid.
The benefits are described as follows, (taken from the Youth to the People Website):
“Reishi: Helps to address visible redness and combat dehydration.
Pentapeptide: Calms sensitive and reactive skin with continued use.
Shea Butter:Ultra-hydrating to deliver maximum moisture and prevent transepidermal water loss. Noncomedogenic, so it won’t clog pores.
Ashwagandha: A powerful healing herb full of antioxidants, iron, and amino acids to address stress and exhaustion.
Hyaluronic Acid: Helps skin absorb and retain moisture.”
This facial mist is packaged in a glass spray bottle that dispenses a fine mist (hooray! A fine mist can be hard to come by). I’ve been using this product since last October. Using three to four spritzes twice a day after I cleanse but before moisturizing and serums. I think it adds some moisture to my skin as well as preps my skin nicely for any serums and moisturizers. But that’s it. I haven’t noticed any other benefits to my skin in the time I’ve been using it.
As I said earlier, I think this mist could be used as a nice pick me up to refresh your skin throughout the day. This mist is especially good if you have dry skin. Plus the antioxidants and moisturizing ingredients are good for your skin. I will happily use it up but I don’t see myself repurchasing it after that.
I recently picked up The Original MakeUp Eraser Mini PLUS, a product that claims to take off your makeup when warm water is added. I thought the idea behind it was interesting, not to mention that it is a low waste alternative to makeup removing wipes or even my favorite Clinique Take the Day Off cleansing balm. Side note: I later found out there is a package-free option. I decided to try it and here’s what I found.
On one side, the eraser has a very soft, short length fiber that claims to only take off the makeup. On the label side, the fibers are longer in length and more coarse. This side has makeup removing and exfoliating benefits. Personally, I haven’t noticed any exfoliating effects on my skin (smooth texture, brighter skin, etc.) from using this side.
It’s pretty easy to use, just add water and wipe it on your face as you would with a cotton round and added liquid makeup remover.
When it comes to removing makeup…the MakeUp Eraser took it all off! I’ve tested it to gently remove foundation, other face makeup, eyeshadow, pencil eyeliner, and mascara at the end of the night and it removed all of it surprisingly well. Some nights, I did have to go back over my eye area to make sure all my mascara was gone. Also, I don’t use waterproof mascaras so I can’t comment on how effective it is with that. On the first night after using the Eraser, I used a small amount of micellar water to do a residue check on my skin and the cotton round came back clean.
I will say to use the Eraser effectively you have to get it soaking wet, otherwise, you will have to retrieve more water from your sink and wipe your face with the eraser repeatedly. I’m not sure how sanitary it would be to use the same Eraser more than once between washings so it might not be a bad idea to have a few on rotation. The Makeup Eraser is machine washable and dryer friendly.
Overall I like the product and the concept and would recommend it. It eliminates the need for more products and tools in your skincare routine, plus the mini size is great for travel. The Original MakeUp Eraser comes in mini, mini PLUS, and their full size. If pink is not your color, there are many colors and prints to choose from.
Have you tried The Original MakeUp Eraser Mini PLUS or its other sizes?
I might be a little late to the game since Ingrid Nilsen first announced her collaborative launch with Fresh. However, it was well worth my wait, this blackberry tinted lip balm leaves a sheer wash of color on the lips but can’t be built up too much. At least from my experience. It’s an easy, carefree shade that is perfect for people like me who are curious about wearing a darker lip but don’t want to commit to something more opaque. It will not last through eating and drinking. Without eating or drinking it will last about 5-6 hours before it starts to fade. The wear time doesn’t bother me since it’s easy to reapply.
Left: one swipe, Right: built up
Can I just say how much I love this packaging! Normally I try not to get too hyped up by packaging but I love that the illustration carries in to the actual tube. The illustrator did an amazing job.
The Fresh x Ingrid Nilsen “Sugar in the City” Lip Treatment retails for $24.00 and is available at Sephora
geneva ann 