BEAUTY ALIXIRS

YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat Foundation in B40 and BR20

(B40 on the left and BR20 on the right)

I first bought this foundation in a Beijing airport in the shade BR20. Unfortunately, it was too light and pink for my skin (NC20 in MAC). For some reason the packaging on that bottle had a black band of color on the bottom glass portion, as shown. The bottle on the left was bought at Sephora recently in the shade B40. Ideally, my colour would be somewhere in between, like B30. I usually take 1 full pump of B40 and mix in half a pump of BR20.

The packaging is definitely one of its selling points, the glass bottle with gold cap looks timeless and luxurious. The pump makes it very easy to control the amount of product you dispense.

Swatched here are BR20 on the bottom and B40 on the top. They don't look too different here but you can definitely see the differences in the pictures below.

The coverage is about light-medium, more towards the medium size. It's definitely not matte. On my dry skin it gives a dewey, skin-like finish. It lasts a decent amount of time, about 6-8 hours on me.

This is a great everyday foundation for me. It has good coverage and decent lasting power. The price tag is pretty high at $62CAD, so i'd only repurchase when there's a sale at Sephora.

7:31 AM
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Empties: Sana, Balea, Loreal, Allie, Tarte

Allie

First empties! ( For the blog)

L'oreal Gentle Makeup Remover Eyes & Lips is my go-to eye makeup remover. I find that nothing but waterproof mascara holds a curl on my lashes, so an oil-based eye makeup remover is a must. I've probably purchased 5-6 of these over the years. I switched from the Neutrogena makeup remover to this as I found the Neutrogena had a very large spout/opening which meant any time I accidentally knocked it over a lot of product would spill out. This L'oreal one has a very small opening which is much more user-friendly.

The Sana Nameraka Foaming Face Wash Anti-aging version is also a must-have! Foams up beautifully and cleans the face without drying the skin.

My daily SPF : Allie UV Mineral Moist NEO. This 90g baby lasted me well over 6 months with daily use on the face and neck.

A spur of the moment purchase of Balea Body Wash in Pomegranate & Mango purchased purely because of the smell. Very fruity and great scent for a waking up in the morning.

I've purchased the original Sana Nameraka Foaming Facial Cleanser to compare. I don't see a huge difference so far, and both do a great job.

Last is the Tarte Maracuja Oil. I use 3 drops of this added to my moisturizer everyday at night, and it really helps with dry areas. This is a small bottle which came with a holiday set, but I've already repurchased a larger bottle during the VIB sale.

xoxo,

alixirs

7:31 AM
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Malin + Goetz Mojito Lip Balm

*Review

I got this Malin + Goetz Mojito lip balm in an ipsy bag a while back. This is a full sized lip balm at 7g and retails for $12 USD.

The product is not the most moisturizing lip balm, but the squeeze tube makes it very easy to apply on the go without having to dip your fingers into a jar.

By far the best selling point for me personally is the scent: it's slightly minty and mildly lime-like. It's very subtle and not at all overwhelming. Love it!

xoxo,

alixirs

7:30 AM
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Sephora December $25 off Haul

*Haul

Here's what I hauled from the December $25 off $50 sale at Sephora!

YvesSaintLaurent Le Teint Touche Eclat in B40

I actually already own this foundation, but in BR20, which is too pink and too light. Ideally I would've gone for B30, but B40 is very close, perhaps just a smidge dark and more beige. B30 is more yellow and would probably be a better match. I thought at least with B40 I could mix in a little of my BR20 to lighten it up.

Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick in Canvas (left) and Icon (right). These are the small travel sizes. I didn't realize just HOW small these would be, though. They're teeny tiny!

I love how they have the color swatched on the side of the box!

Of course, reaching VIB rouge for another year, Sephora reminds you how you've spent way too much money with this VIB Rouge gift.

It's tiny and adorable. A lovely shade of red. Marc Jacobs Le Marc Lip Creme in So Rouge.

Then there are the free samples! Atelier Cologn in mandarin Glaciale.

And Drybar Sake Bomb Nourshing Shampoo and Conidtioner.

Did you folks haul anything from their sale? Do share!

xoxo,

alixirs

7:30 AM
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December 2015 Ipsy Subscription - Unboxing

*Subscription

It's unboxing time!

December's Ipsy bag comes in a nifty ( albeit slightly poorly constructed) red quilted bag which I can't decide if I love or hate. In any case, on to the goodies!

This bag came with 5 products:

Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing powder 2.2g

Be a Bombshell eye liner in wild child ( black) .25g

Pacifica Natural Minerals Power of Love Powerful Color Natural Lipstick 2g

Lather Honey Moisture Mask with Propolis extract 14g

Skinn Dimitri James Sugar Lips Polishing scrub 20ml or 0.7oz

The Lather honey moisture mask is intended to relieve "environmentally-stressed skin". If that's the case then I'm just the person to try this out! The weather in Toronto is usually very cold. Despite an unusually mild winter this year, my skin is still rather dry and chapped.

Opening up the jar there's a plastic stopper which keeps the product from leaking out.

The product itself is a thick cream and smells like real honey!

Next is the Skinn Sugar Lips. The last lip scrub I tried was from Lush and was their Mint Julep which I adored. This scrub smells like an artificial strawberry scent, which isn't bad, but I definitely prefer the mint-chocolate scent of the Mint Julep by Lush.