BEAUTY ALIXIRS

I'm almost out of my Allie UV Mineral Moist SPF50+ PA+++ sunscreen by Kanebo, and while I'm waiting for a new one to come in the mail, I dug around my stash and found this baby - Lancome's UV Expert GN Shield High Potency Active Protection.

This is actually my second tube of the Lancome UV Expert as I purchased this in a two-pack in duty free about a year back. I used up the previous tube and kept this one as I switched to more affordable options. The Lancome UV Expert retailed for roughly $45 USD when I purchased it a few years back, versus Allie's price tag of $35 CAD. (Note: CAD and USD were at parity a few years back, but the Canadian dollar recently depreciated a lot due to low commodity prices. We're now at about $1CAD=$0.75USD)

Both products come in very sleek and sanitary packaging. The Lancome comes with 50 grams of product while the Allie has 90 grams.

The squeeze tube is very convenient and easy to control.

Both products have a very smooth texture and are easily spread out without feeling greasy at all. Here we have the Lancome on the left and Allie on the right. I will say that Allie's sunscreen has a more gel-like watery feel while Lancome feel's more like a cream.

As you can see, after blending into the skin both products disappear and are fantastic to use under makeup.

Other than a fantastic texture, both products offer great UVA and UVB protection. I regularly use Allie's really only because It's cheaper per gram of product. Why not save a buck where you can?

xoxo,

alixirs

My Beauty Diary's range of sheet masks keeps getting bigger and bigger! (And it makes me happier and happier!)

These two new ones are from the black mask series. The first shown below is the My Beauty Diary Black Obsidian Moisturizing Black Mask. 

The package comes with 5 pieces and is intended to brighten and moisturize your skin. The packaging keeps referring to a 3D hyaluronic acid component, but to be perfectly honest I'm not quite sure how it is different from good old run-of-the-mill hyaluronic acid.

The next is the my Beauty Diary Black Rose Brightening Black Mask, meant for brightening and clarifying. Again with 5 pieces per box.

I'm excited to give these a try and see how they measure up to my favorite My Beauty Diary mask, the black pearl version shown in this post.

These special series masks typically are priced higher than their main lineup. So is it worth it? Stay tuned to find out!

xoxo,

alixirs

The first things I had in my cart were these oil blotting sheets. each one was under US$3.00 which is much cheaper than what I could find on Sephora or in my local drugstore. I had never tried any of these and couldn't decide so I got them all. (A dangerous method.)

I had completely run out of the wrinkle-preventing version of this face wash by Sana and saw that Sasa had a buy 1 get a mini version free deal going on, so went ahead and got it. This is the Sana Soy Milk Rich Cleansing foam. It foams up beautifully and leaves the skin feeling clean but not at all stripped. This is definitely my favorite face cleanser I've used that's gentle enough for my dry skin. It's also super affordable, at US$7.5 and comes with 150g of product. (The mini version has 30g and would be fantastic for travel)

One of the reasons for my order were these My Beauty Diary face masks. This version is the black pearl mask, and in my experience, the most effective in hydrating AND giving the skin a healthy glow. I once used this sheet mask every day for a week and saw a noticeable improvement in my skin. 

This pack comes with 10 sheets, and was US$13.5 but on sale for US$10.1.

Still on my face mask kick, I also got this My Beauty Diary Hydra & Brightening Glamourous Gift Set, which contains 19 individual face masks for only US$21.9, and was on sale for US$16.4 -- that makes less than a dollar per mask!

The set contains :

Gold & Marine Collagen Firming Mask x 4

Diamond & Caviar Moisturizing Mask x 4

Platinum Hyaluronic Acid Moisturizing Mask x 4

Platinum Mandelic Acid Brightening Mask x 4

2-Step Snail Repair mask x 3

These Suzuran Attirer Puff cotton pads were US$3.9 per pack and contained 240 rounds each. These are my cheap alternative to the cult favorite Shiseido Cotton Pads. They are great fore makeup removal or to soak in essence/toner to make a face mask. Jut like the Shiseido ones, these ones don't break apart or leave little cotton whispies.

I came across these weight loss supplements and was kind of curious. Both are by a brand called Saya. The one on the left named "Slim In Motionless" claims to help boost your metabolism while you sleep and helps your body burn through more energy. Reading the reviews on this product it seems to also help you sleep soundly, which is always a plus when you're all nerves during exam season.

The one on the right, called "Clean Up", is meant to be taken before each meal and claims to help you feel more full quickly, and also reduce fat absorption in your stomach. The pack of two came up to a total of US$58.5.

Lastly are some freebies that came with my order. There's this Saya "Massage-up Fairy". I don't intend to use this, but it did come free with the Saya supplements.  The Method Swiss samples I'll have to dig around to see if I can find the ingredients to make sure there isn't any salicylic acid as my skin is very allergic to it.

Pretty excited to use the new goodies!

xoxo,

alixirs

I placed an order on klenspop.com about 3 weeks ago and was so excited to see a package arrive in the mail today! The package was sent straight from Korea.

I ordered 3 pairs of circle lenses in total:

1. Neo Dali Sweet Chocolate Brown

2. Neo Monet Brown

3. EXY 3 color gray

The package came in a tiny compact box and each pair of lenses comes with a lens case and a set of plastic tweezers which you can use to pick up the individual lenses.

The lenses were packed into small boxes, where the lens vials were stacked on top of each other and very secure. The lenses in the boxes were then wrapped with two layers of bubble wrap.

I purchased the Neo Dali brown because I was looking for something natural looking that could provide a little bit of enlargement. These seemed to fit the bill as my natural eye color is very very dark brown, practically black unless you're seeing them in direct sunlight. But really, how often am I staring straight into the sun, anyways? (Never. It's a horrible idea.)

The next pair is the Neo Monet brown, which look to be the most natural looking lenses you can get. They don't claim to have any enlargement effect, So this would be more work appropriate if you're working in a conservative work environment like I do. I expect these to make my eyes only look slightly lighter on the outer edges.

Last, just for funsies I ordered the EXY 3 color gray, which kind of remind me of the GEO world gray lenses which are very popular. I've never tried grey lenses before but I thought they'd be fun. If I like these I might go back and get the green ones as well. These ones don't have a solid limbal ring on the outside so they're relatively natural as well. (Get the theme here?)

I took the lenses out of the vials and will try them on/ do a review once I've soaked them in some contact lens solution over night. 

Do you have a favorite pair of circle lenses? Have you tried them before? Do share!

xoxo,

alixirs

Winter is coming! That means it's time to pull out those dark, vampy nail colours! My current favourite is the shade Red Red Wine from Pacifica. 

This shade is a deep red that is opaque in 1 coat and goes on very smoothly. The range is also 100% vegan and cruelty free, which is always a bonus.

The applicator is a flat brush which makes it really easy to spread on the product.

I actually received this product in a beauty subscription box, but it retails for $9 and there are a ton of colours to choose from.

What's your go-to fall nail colour? Do share!

xoxo,

alixirs

I'm a huge advocate of wearing sunscreen every day, all year round. Skin damage and premature skin aging is largely due to UV damage. In particular, UVA rays have a longer wavelength, which penetrate the skin at a deeper level and cause skin aging. 

The SPF commonly shown in North American sunscreens is an indicator of protection against UVB rays. Typically, the higher the better. In Asia and Europe, UVA ray protection is displayed as a "PA" rating, from PA+ to PA++++. Needless to say, PA++++ provides the most protection.

 I've tried a few sunscreens available in North America, including some from Neutrogena and Shiseido. Quite frankly, the best facial sunscreens are from Japan.  My favourite is the Allie UV mineral moist neo with SPF50 and PA++++.

Ingredients: Zinc Oxide 9.2%, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate 7.5%, Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate 2.5%, Octocrylene 0.2% Water (Aqua), Alcohol, Octyldodecyl Myristate, Butylene Glycol, Dimethicone, Sodium Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Glycerin, Isohexadecane, Triethoxycaprylilsilane, Methicone, Polysorbate 80, Nylon – 1 2, Xanthan Gum, Polyglyceryl-10, Diisostearate, Sorbitan Oleate, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Hyaluronate, Ectoin, Algae Extract, BHT, Soluble Collagen, Averrhoa Carambola Leaf Extract, Phenoxyethanol, Royal Jelly Extract

The product comes in a 90g squeeze tube. It also comes in smaller sizes if you just wanted to try out the product. 

The texture is very light and has a mild alcohol smell. It spreads very easily and is quickly obsorbed into the skin.

This sunscreen wears very well under makeup and doesn't feel greasy at all! It leaves your skin dry to the touch and would work well with all skin types. 

I've gone through 2 tubes of this stuff and will definitely continue to repurchase once I run out. 

Do you wear sunscreen daily? Have a favourite sunscreen? Do share!

xoxo,

alixirs