This week I'm obsessed with... Ole Henriksen Banana Bright Instant Glow Moisturizer!

Looking for the perfect summer moisturizer that is thick enough to return moisture to sun and wind ravaged skin without being pore-clogging heavy? Look no further than...

 

Ole Henriksen Banana Bright Instant Glow Moisturizer - 50ml - $70.50 - One-step makeup prep and visible brightening in every jar. This lightweight, ultra-hydrating moisturizer quickly illuminates and visibly brightens over time. It visibly firms and reduces fine lines and wrinkles and preps skin for smoother makeup application while giving the complexion an effortlessly warm, golden glow. a daily moisturizer for all skin types, powered by Gold-Complexed Vitamin C - visibly enhances brightness and elasticity; Banana Powder-Inspired Pigments - to quickly illuminate, blur and visibly brighten; Niacinamide - visibly brightens and reduces dark spots; Hyaluronic and Polyglutamic acid - to bind moisture and visibly plump skin with hydration; and  Scandinavian Cloudberry Seed Oil - nurtures and conditions.

 

You can also appreciate everything it is free of  including: parabens, formaldehydes, formaldehyde-releasing agents, phthalates, mineral oil, retinyl palmitate, oxybenzone, coal tar, hydroquinone, sulfates SLS & SLES, triclocarban, triclosan and contains less than one percent synthetic fragrance. As well, it is vegan, gluten-free, cruelty-free and comes in recyclable packaging. 

 

I'm a fan for a few reasons: the scent - amazingly citrus-y without being overpowering; the look - it has a little bit of a glow to it so it looks great as a base under makeup or even without makeup which I tend not to wear in hot weather and this adds a little something-something to bare skin making it look more even and glowy; and the feel - a little thicken then a water cream but not thick-thick which my skin does not want during the summer - a good amount of moisture without the heft! 

Available now at Sephora stores across Canada and online at sephora.ca and olehenriksen.com.

- Lisamarie -

This week I'm obsessed with... Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Demi'Glow Light-Diffusing Highlighter!

Nothing hides a multitude of skin and lifestyle sins like a good highlighter - which these days is...

 

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Demi'Glow Light-Diffusing Highlighter - $54 - in 9 shades: 01 Pretty Purlz - soft pearlescent shimmer; 02 Prosecco - soft light gold shimmer; 03 Tutu Much - soft pink shimmer; 04 Loo$e Change - soft light copper shimmer; 05 Yum Rum - soft rose gold shimmer; 06 Rich Hunnie - soft golden honey shimmer; 07 Trophies In Truffle - soft deep gold shimmer; 08 That'$ Rich - soft warm bronze shimmer; 09 Java Jitt'rs - soft deep bronze shimmer

- a long-wearing, natural looking formula with a silky-soft feel that’s infused with superfine pearls, designed to flatter every tone for a low-key glow along with butterfly lavender extract to improve the appearance of fine lines. The smooth-glide, no-grit feel blends into skin without disturbing makeup and resists sweat and humidity.

 

I don't usually love powder highlighters because I always feel like they are just sitting on the top of my skin and look unnatural - but this one feels like it is soaking into my skin and just leaving a radiant finish behind - almost like a wet powder if that makes any sense! It has a skin-tone based shade range so that probably also helped with it giving a more natural look. My only complaint would be that the powder is super-delicate, I dropped the case a couple of feet into the sink and cracked it so I would recommend keeping and using the plastic cover that goes over the powder inside the case to help protect it.

Available at Sephora stores across Canada and online at sephora.ca - the Sephora website says they are limited edition, I hope that's not true but in case it is, don't wait to grab yours!

- Lisamarie -

Show your PRIDE with help from Shoppers Beauty, Quo Beauty and Jean Paul Gaultier!

You know I loves me a sample set so I was all over this special edition Pride one: Shoppers Beauty All You Need is Love Beauty Bundle - a carefully curated set, containing 6 minis and 2 full-size products valued at over $140. 

This gift set includes deluxe sample sizes of: Urban Decay Vice Lipstick, Too Faced Shadow Insurance Revamp Beautiseal Blue Light, Stila All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in Intense BlackL, It Cosmetics Superhero Voluminizing Mascara, Clarins Lash & Brow Double Fix' Mascara and Lancôme Blush Subtil in Rose Fresque - along with a full sized R.E.M. Beauty Midnight Shadows Lustrous Liquid Eye Shadow in Fembot and Vasanti Astro Highlighter in North Star. And comes in the most adorable heart-shaped, rainbow, paper pinata type box - too cute!

Quo Beauty is helping celebrate Pride with another cool limited-edition Pride Collection with bold and playful beauty products and accessories that inspire vibrant looks and celebrate the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and you can feel good with your purchase knowing that Shoppers Drug Mart will contribute 10% of sales of the Quo Beauty Pride Collection up to a maximum $30,000 to Pflag Canada, which helps provide peer support, education and advocacy of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community

 

There is lots to love in the collection but a few of my faves include: Love Is Love Eyeshadow Palette - $25 - featuring 9 high impact shades to create bold looks that show your Pride. Along with a cream base to intensify the colour and lock in your look.

Water-Activated Eyeliner - $16 - in Electric Sunset and Twilight Haze - with super high-pigment and vibrant colours to add a really fun look to your liner! 

Rainbow Maker - $10 - makes it super easy to draw a rainbow anyplace on your face or body!

Brow Stickers - $6 - peel and press gems that make it easy to add bling to your eye look!

Jean Paul Gaultier Classique & Le Male Pride Edition - 100ml EDP - $172/ 125ml EDT - $146 - Be free to be your true self! With these new PRIDE editions, Jean Paul Gaultier is campaigning for freedoms alongside The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in New York, a fervent defender of the right of every individual to assert their identity and be accepted as they are. This shared commitment honours the activist artist Keith Haring and his famous manifesto mural "Once Upon a Time," painted in 1989 on the walls of the Center. A powerful symbol of the liberation movement that began twenty years earlier with the Stonewall riots. Inspired by its black-and-white depictions of passionate scenes, PRIDE bottles reclaim the liberated beauty of our bodies and resolutely spread the same message of diversity and tolerance for all. 

 

Everything here available while they last at Shoppers Drug Mart stores across Canada and online at beauty.shoppersdrugmart.ca.

 

- Lisamarie -

This week I'm obsessed with... Tanologist Face & Body Self Tan Drops!

Getting rid of your pasty-white, sun-starved skin just got a lot easier with...

 

Tanologist Face & Body Self Tan Drops - 30ml - $27.99 - in Medium and Dark - concentrated tan drops designed to be mixed with your favourite  skincare, makeup or body care. They are super easy to use and best of all they are totally customizable - just mix 2 - 12 drops with your desired product in the palm of your hand - the more drops the deeper the shade will be - then just apply it like you would your regular skincare - shade not deep enough? Just reapply another layer for a deeper glow - and of course make sure you wash your hands after application or you will end up with tanned palms!

There didn't seem to be a Light shade so I tried the Medium and while I was a little concerned that it would turn out too dark and unnatural looking on my fair skin I was pleased to discover that it really is customizable - 2 drops with my usual serum gave me a nice healthy glow (even better if you use with with your night cream, then you wake up to a healthy glow), 3 1/2 drops had me looking like a had spent the day in the sun (minus the harmful UV rays) and 4 drops with my body lotion had my pasty white calves skirt ready for a special event - I am really pleased with how versatile this little bottle is! The colour also wore off very naturally with no weird patches, it just kind of faded away, you can also help it along by exfoliating if you do find it is not going away evenly or just keep applying to maintain your colour. Best of all there is no gross self-tanner scent - it's very light, fresh and it's vegan!

Available now at Shoppers Drug Mart stores across Canada and online at beauty.shoppersdrugmart.ca.

- Lisamarie -

Eye Love Wednesday - Trinny London Line2Define Eyeliner

Trinny London Line2Define Eyeliner - $40 - in 6 universally flattering shades: Levy - champagne shimmer; Chantelle - bronze shimmer; Bonzo - dark green; Samantha - deep indigo; Sabrina - rich brown; Shahroze - inky black - an

intensely pigmented, retractable eyeliner that is ultra-creamy on application but smudge-proof once set for instant and effortless definition. 

 

With a varied selection of neutrals and colours, there is something for everyone to love. I like the way they glide on smoothly - just keep in mind that if you want to smudge the colour you need to do it right away, when it sets, it really sets! I didn't have any issues with it lasting all day without moving or smearing but my friend who has an oily eye area tried it out and it would not stay put on her. She had to make sure to use an eye primer underneath in order to get the same lasting power so keep that in mind!

 

Available online now at trinnylondon.com/ca.

 

- Lisamarie -

This week I'm obsessed with... Contain Extreme Steam Power Steam!

Would it surprise you to know that I hate to iron? I've mostly solved that problem by just not doing it, I purposely buy clothes that don't require it or if there is no option, off to the dry cleaners it goes! I was aware of the joy of steaming but steamers I have tried in the past have been large and unwieldy and I quickly lost interest, that is until I tried:

Conair Extreme Steam Power Steam - $69.99 - a handheld garment steamer with a small size and 1200 watts to power away wrinkles with high heat and high-velocity steam. It heats up fast, just 35 seconds, has an easy-fill removable water tank and steams in multiple positions to easily reach wrinkles at any angle.

 

Travel near or far - with just a simple switch, the power adapts automatically for worldwide usage and it folds flat for easy packing.  

 

So quick and easy this is a must have for anyone who travels, wrinkles or likes things that hisssss at you!

 

Available at conaircanada.ca, amazon.ca and other online retailers.

- Lisamarie -

This week I'm obsessed with... Kerasal Nighttime Intensive Foot Repair!

I don't know what is wrong with my feet these days - I'll do a peel and they look great but within a week they are a mess again - and since weekly peels seem kind of excessive I was so happy to discover...

 

Kerasal Nighttime Intensive Foot Repair - 30g - $11.97 -

a skin healing ointment that works while you sleep to loosen hard, dry skin to exfoliate while deeply moisturizing and softening severely cracked heels and dry skin with a combination of ingredients including salicylic acid, urea, soft white petrolatum and relaxing lavender and chamomile promising results in just one night.

The tube is small but it's an ointment so you only need a tiny bit and my feet really did look and feel better after just one use but after a week, holy crap, they were perfectly smooth and soft - I'm a fan!

 

It also smells soooooo good - up until now I would have said that foot cream should smell like mint but I have revised that opinion now to all foot cream should smell like lavender! If for some crazy reason you prefer yours to be scent free then check out the non-night version which smells like nothing.

 

You can find all of their products at the Kerasal amazon.com store and a more limited selection at amazon.ca.

- Lisamarie -

This week I'm obsessed with... double cleansing with Sahajan Ayurvedic Blend Essential Cleansing Oil & Golden Milk Cleanser!

Heads up, double cleansing season is upon us again! Makeup + sunscreen + heat = a big gooey mess by the end of the day that one cleanser just doesn't completely remove. To combat this, I reach for an oil cleanser to break up the dirt, oil and products and then follow up with a milk cleanser to take care of the remnants. This year I will be reaching for a brand I already love, Sahajan, with new to me face products that are now easier then ever to get my hands on:

 

Essential Cleansing Oil - 120ml - $54 - a gentle cleanser for all skin types containing: moringa oil - a proven anti-pollution cleansing benefits and rich in antioxidants to visibly brighten; squalane oil - balances the skin's natural oils while visibly brightening and protecting; and rose oil - revered in Ayurveda for its calming and moisturizing capabilities - that melts through even the most stubborn makeup, SPF and daily grime, leaving skin visibly glowing. 

 

Golden Milk Cleanser - 120ml - $51 - a purifying and gentle cleanser for all skin types containing: turmeric - revered in Ayurveda for visibly brightening and improving skin texture; black cumin seed oil - unclogs pores and fades the appearance of hyperpigmentation; and oat milk - protects and replenishes the moisture barrier - to help unclog pores, deliver visible brightness and support the skin barrier. 

And for those days where there has just been too much sun/work/life - give your skin a treat with:

 

Brightening Mask - 50ml - $73 - a brightening and exfoliating mask that contains: non-staining turmeric - antioxidant-rich it, visibly improves redness and brightens; hemp seed oil - an amino acid rich oil that relieves dryness due to redness and imparts a visibly glow; and AHAs/Glycolic Acids - from orange, lemon and bilberry to exfoliate and resurface - to together promote a visibly smooth, glowing complexion and fight dark spots, dullness and uneven texture/

 

As a bonus, Sahajan is a friendly brand free of parabens, formaldehydes, formaldehyde-releasing agents, phthalates, mineral oil, retinyl palmitate, oxybenzone, coal tar, hydroquinone, sulfates SLS & SLES, triclocarban, triclosan, and contains less than one percent synthetic fragrance. It is also cruelty-free, and comes in recyclable packaging - hurray!

 

Available at stores and salons across Canada and online at ca.sahajan.com and now it's also available at sephora.ca.

 

- Lisamarie -