Trialling SPF's

Wearing an SPF product daily is one of the best things you can do for your skin. Exposure to UV rays causes the breakdown of collagen and signs of aging such as wrinkles and sun spots follow suit. However, SPF products are also one of the hardest skincare products to shop for, as many of them have thick, oily textures, unpleasant scents, or leave the infamous white cast on your face. Gross, I know, but with lots of trial and error I have managed to find some SPF products that work for me.

The SPF that I've been reaching for everyday is the L'occitane Immortelle Brightening Shield SPF 40. This is probably the best SPF product I've ever used. It has an incredibly light, liquid texture, so I pump it into the palm of my hand before dotting all over my face. On the skin, it feels no more heavy than a light moisturizer. It's important to use enough product when using SPF or you will not be getting the full SPF 40 protection, so I use about 8 pumps every morning to cover my entire face and neck. It is rather pricey at $60 for 30mL, but SPF is absolutely not something you can use sparingly or that can be "less is more", so I would suggest looking into other options if you are turned off by the price.

This is a physical sunscreen formulated with titanium dioxide, so you are getting broad spectrum protection (which means it will block out both UVA and UVB rays). However, as with all physical sunscreens, it does leave a slight white cast over my face when first applied, but that goes away in a few minutes. Just be sure to wait for it to absorb before applying makeup on top. The scent is similar to the rest of the Immortelle line, a sort of fresh floral scent that isn't too strong. This sunscreen also includes a number of plants oils and extracts to help brighten the skin, including daisy extract. While this could be beneficial, those with sensitive skin may want to do a patch test first, as plant ingredients can often be irritating to the skin. Overall, I think this is a great SPF option, and is the most un-sunscreen-like SPF out of the products I am talking about today.

While we're on the subject of SPF's, I figure I would talk about some other SPF products I've tried. The Amore Pacific Natural Protector SPF 30/PA+++ is a blend of physical and chemical sunscreens. It seems to be only available in the US, but can be found quite easily online through Sephora. While it claims to be oil-free, I still think it feels rather heavy. It is also extremely heavily fragranced, so those with sensitive skin may want to steer clear. The product comes out with a slight pink tint, which helps slightly to even out skin tone but doesn't have any major effects, though it definitely helps cancel out the white cast. Not really a product I would recommend.

The Avene High Protection Mineral Cream SPF 50 was my daily SPF before I discovered the L'occitane offering. This is a physical sunscreen containing both titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, and provides broad spectrum protection. As with all Avene products, this sunscreen does not contain any fragrance and is a great option for sensitive skin. The product is tinted, so it does not have any white cast and actually really helps to even out the skin. I'm able to skip foundation and use only concealer for my base makeup when wearing this sunscreen. While it blends into my fair skin very well, those with darker skin may want to test it out first. The only complaint I have with this sunscreen is that it is a little bit heavy and oily. While it doesn't cause me to break out at all, I find that my t-zone can get quite oily throughout the day.

The Ole Henriksen Protect the Truth SPF 50+ was a product I really wanted to love, but just didn't work out. This product contains marine algae, fruit cell extracts, and vitamins A, C, and E, to firm and brighten the skin while protecting it, which sounded like an absolutely fantastic idea to me. It is a chemical sunscreen, so no white cast here, and has a pleasant citrus scent. The weird thing about this sunscreen is that it absolutely has to be applied underneath moisturizer. I did not read the directions at first and applied it like a normal sunscreen, and wow, was that a disaster. The sunscreen started to ball up in little white shreds as I tried to massage it into my face, and let me just tell you, that is not a good look. When applied under moisturizer as directed, it's incredibly light and almost undetectable. While it does not ball up as badly, over the course of the day, I still find little white flakes on my face whenever I touched it, so unfortunately, this is a love that could never be. Those who don't wear serums in the morning might have much better luck with this though.

The Shiseido Urban Environment Tinted UV Protector Broad Spectrum SPF 43 is one of my favourite SPF products, but it is definitely more of a makeup product than it is skincare. It's oil free and actually works very well as a tinted moisturizer. However, my concern with using makeup products as my source of SPF is that I cannot apply as much product without it starting to look heavy. That being said, I do still reach for this product when I'm having a lazy day and can't really be bothered to do my makeup.

What are your SPF favourites?

Sephora Haul & Mini Reviews Part 1

Final exam season is in full swing, so I must apologize for my recent lack of updates. Of course, my best remedy for stress is to do excessive amounts of beauty shopping. And maybe a little bit too excessive, but hey, life's short, who can blame you? After a particularly long Sunday of last minute essay writing, I trekked on over to my local Sephora and picked up a few things. Maybe a little more than a few things. By now, I've already had a few weeks to test these products out, so I figured I would do sort of mini reviews on all of the products.

Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask - I have a mini version of this mask in my skincare drawer that is on its last legs, so I knew it was time to get the full size. This mask is probably my favourite Sunday mask/detoxifying mask (as mentioned in this post) at the moment. It's the best clay type mask I've used for clearing breakouts and clogged pores. However, it dries very fast and feels like a really intense cleanse, so make sure to spray water over your face to keep your skin from drying out. I tend to reserve this for the bad skin days and use a gentler mask when my skin isn't as congested. My face looks quite red immediately after using this mask, but the next morning everything just looks ten times better. Highly recommend.

First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Pads - I was looking for a new chemical exfoliator, and this fit the bill perfectly. They're basically cotton pads soaked in solution, which makes them very convenient to use. It's a AHA exfoliator composed of lactic and glycolic acid, but unlike other AHA exfoliators which tend to be quite harsh on the skin, these pads are not irritating even on my incredibly sensitive skin. These pads also contain soothing aloe vera juice, licorice root extract to brighten pigmentation, and antioxidant ingredients like white tea extract. $30 will give you 60 pads, but I've seen some reviews saying you can cut the pads in half and get twice the value for your money.

AmorePacific Moisture Bound Sleeping Recovery Masque - I watched an interview with a Korean actress with gorgeous, baby smooth skin reveal that her best kept skin secret was overnight masks. I'm sure some of it must have been attributed to her team of makeup artists, but I thought hey, why not give it a shot. This mask is meant to hydrate and increase antioxidant protection overnight. It feels like a gel-cream moisturizer and absorbs easily so nothing gets on my pillow cases. I would not say that it necessarily moisturizes any better than my regular night moisturizer, but maybe I have to give it a few more uses. It also is pretty heavily fragranced, so steer clear if that is not your thing.

Fresh Peony Brightening Night Treatment Mask - Another overnight mask, this one more targeted towards discolouration and dark spots. Fresh is my absolute favourite skincare brand, so when this came out, I absolutely had to have it. It has a light refreshing scent like their Lotus Youth Preserve Face Cream, which is my current night moisturizer, and feels very similar as well. Although the product is packaged in a tube, it actually has a pump. It's always difficult with brightening products because you need to use them consistently for a long time to see actual results, and this product is pretty expensive at $76. If you are not a Fresh fanatic like I am, I would not put this at the top of your wishlist.

I don't want this post to be pages and pages long, so I'm going to review the other half of the products in my next post, which will unsurprisingly be Sephora Haul & Mini Reviews Part 2 and will be up later this week. Until then, take care everyone.

Morning Skincare Routine

Recently, I have actually been keeping to a routine when it comes to skincare, which is pretty rare for me as I'm always switching between products, so I figured I would share it on the blog. I like to keep things simple in the morning because during the day, my main concern is to protect my skin from environmental damage such as sun damage and the dry Vancouver air. Here is my 5 product (I left one out in the photo; my apologies) morning skincare routine.

I start my routine with the Fresh Soy Face Cleanser, which I mentioned previously in my February Empties post, and yes, I have already repurchased it. This is quite possibly my favourite cleanser of all time. I've tried using home-made soy milk on my face before, and it always leaves my skin so soft and supple, so I am a firm believer of soy as a skincare ingredient. This cleanser has a light gel texture and is so refreshing to use in the morning. It cleanses the skin of any oils that might have accumulated throughout the night, but also leaves the skin very soothed and hydrated.

After that, I mist my face with a spray toner, which is what I forgot to include in the photo. Currently, I've been reaching for either the Lush Breath of Fresh Air or Lush Tea Tree Water. Breath of Fresh Air is great at calming redness and giving the skin a punch of hydration, while Tea Tree Water is reserved for particularly spotty days.

While my skin is still wet from the spray toner, I go in immediately with a lightweight eye cream. I have a deluxe sample size of the Caudalie Vinosource SOS Morning Eye Rescue that I received when buying my beloved Caudalie SOS Thirst Quenching Serum. This sample is only 7mL of product but has lasted me such a long time, because you only need a tiny amount. It has a light souffle type texture that is incredibly hydrating, and also contains antioxidants to help with aging around the eye area. It does seem to help with de-puffing the eye area as well, but I don't really suffer from puffy eyes, so it's hard for me to really tell. For my face, I've been loving the Fresh Lotus Youth Preserve Radiance Lotion. This is the newest addition to the Fresh product line. I am going to do a separate post on this moisturizer because I just love it that much, so I'm not going to go into detail here, but I will say that this moisturizer leaves the skin so hydrated and plump, and have this beautiful illuminating effect on the skin. I don't understand how it happens, but I can't stop looking at myself in the mirror.

Finally, I finish off with an SPF, and my current pick is the AmorePacific Natural Protector SPF 30. This is a physical-chemical sunscreen hybrid (which means it contains both physical and chemical sunscreen ingredients) that offers full spectrum UVA/UVB defence. The product has a slight pink tint to it which sort of helps to even out skin tone, but the effects are minimal. The product does not leave any white cast on the skin. It is fairly lightweight in comparison to other SPF products and absorbs quickly. I wouldn't say that this is my holy grail SPF because it does contain a lot of fragrance and is still just a little bit heavy for my liking. It also tends to flake off in little white bits when certain makeup products are layered on top, so there is a lot of trial and error involved. I have already ordered a new SPF to play around with, so I will report back on how we get along. Until then, I am content with my current routine.