Category Archives for Product Reviews
Rare Beauty: What to Get and What to Skip
So: Rare Beauty launched at the beginning of September, and despite the initial assumption that this would be just another cash grab by a celebrity slapping their name on some mediocre makeup products (catered to preteens), it turned out to be pretty awesome and very fairly priced. I’ve gotta hand it to Selena Gomez and her team – I didn’t think I’d be purchasing anything from this launch, but after watching a bunch of Youtuber reviews, well, here we are. I’ve taken just over a week to test everything out myself, including wearing the products for a whole day to see how they last.
Some of these items I’m keeping, and some are getting returned. So let’s break down the good, the bad, and the…meh of Rare Beauty. (more…)
Sephora Sale Haul: My 5 Must-Haves
Sephora recently had their VIB sale, meaning 15% off everything for all VIBs and 20% off for VIB Rouge members. High-end beauty products are an expensive habit, so I try not to buy anything full price if I can help it. Especially when I know I’ll need to repurchase certain products again and again anyway. (more…)
Does Charcoal Powder Whiten Teeth?
In today’s instalment of “Sara tests things from the internet”, I went to the dark side…literally. I had to know if charcoal powder toothpaste really worked for teeth whitening. In short, the answer is kind of – but it’s really annoying. Here’s the good, the bad, and the messy. (more…)
Does Tati’s Halo Beauty Really Work?
If you spend any time on Youtube, you’ll know that the beauty community went very Game of Thrones these last ten days. The betrayals! The alliances! The takedowns! The plotting! I have whiplash.
I had planned to wait to review Tati’s Halo Beauty Kiwi Seed Booster skin supplements once my full two month trial elapsed, but given all the current interest in her Halo Beauty supplements, I thought I’d better do it now, and save all you millennials and Gen Z-ers your hard-earned money. Money that would be better spent on, you know, avocado toast or something. (more…)
Sephora Haul: Skincare Hits & Misses
Have I been online shopping too much lately? Yes. But Flint still doesn’t have clean water, fascism is on the rise again, an orange sock puppet is the head of the most powerful nation in the world, and we’ve caused irreparable damage to the only habitable planet we have. So you gotta get your kicks where you can, ya know?
While I don’t have much control over any of those horrible things, I do have total control over my skincare. Anything to ward off the creeping existential dread, right?
So anyway, here’s my review of some overpriced skincare products I’ve put to the test recently. (I am the “This is fine” meme.) (more…)
An Honest Glossier Review + Swatches
This Glossier review would have been called “I Spent All My Money on Glossier So You Don’t Have To“, but SEO doesn’t want me to be cute. When I shared on my insta stories that I bought some goodies from Glossier (yes, your girl fell for yet another Instagram ad), many of you reached out to ask for my review. I’ve thoroughly tested out all these Glossier products for about a month, so that I could give each a really fair chance. And I have a lot to say.
Some of the products I loved, some I found massively overhyped. So if you’ve been considering making a purchase at Glossier, you’ll want to read this first. And use my link to get 10% off your order! (more…)
Summer Scalloped Style Haul
lilac tote bag | scalloped flats | studded pumps
Happy first day of summer! This is the happiest I’ve been on a Monday for a while, because I’ve taken a vacation day, and thus have my own, private long weekend. (So #blessed.) I’m happily still lazing about in bed, snacking on grapes and watching a few Youtube videos on my iPad while I put together this blog post. (more…)
My 10 Holy Grail Beauty Products
While I like trying out new makeup brands and products as much as the next femme, when it comes to my daily beauty routine, I have a few staple makeup products that I refuse to go without. In fact, I’m so attached to these 10 beauty products that as soon as one starts running low, I run and buy a back-up!
I’ve re-purchased most of these products over and over, and they’ve all reigned supreme over any competition, achieving “holy grail” status. (more…)
House of Lashes Haul + Review
I’d heard about House of Lashes from the lovely Alexandra on Youtube, and they looked so stunning on her I had to give them a try for myself. After browsing the many options on their site, I ended up choosing three different eyelash styles to try. But before I go into those, let’s take a moment to appreciate the beautiful packaging these come in! (Who doesn’t love great packaging?) (more…)
Bioderma Skin Care Review
The kind folks at Bioderma Canada were lovely enough to send me a little care package full of goodies to try. I had heard so many great things about Bioderma skin care products, so was eager to find out how they’d work for me and my skin. When the big package arrived in the mail, I thought Christmas had come early! (more…)
Scarlet & Julia – Stila and Lavanila Haul
A little while ago, Scarlet & Julia reached out to me to ask if I’d be interested in trying out their online beauty boutique. Eagerly, I said ‘yes please!’ (to quote Amy Poehler), and a few days later, a very special black box arrived in the mail for me. (more…)
My Acne-Fighting Skincare Routine
I’ve struggled with my skin for years. I have sensitive skin that is acne prone – leaning more towards the dry side but that can also get oily in my T-zone. Harsh acne fighting regimens like Proactive did nothing but burn like hell and turn my skin into the Sahara desert – a state which happened after only a couple of uses and took a long time to recover from.
This means I have to be really careful about the skincare products I use. (more…)
YourTea Haul and Review
I’ve talked about YourTea briefly in my September/October favourites post. I discovered them last month, and the first time I ordered from them, I tried Tiny Tea (their original product and bestseller) plus Skin Magic Tea and Sleep Tea. This time around, I ordered more Tiny Tea (my absolute favourite – more on that later) and also ventured into one of their café teas: Apple Nut Crumble. (more…)
Loving Lately: September/October 2015
I confess, I’m a bit nosey. I absolutely love watching or reading other peoples’ monthly favourites, and discovering great new products and things. It seems only fair that I should share some of my own in return. When I get excited about something – whether it’s a new beauty product, a favourite food, or a show I’ve been obsessing over – I like to share it with everyone I know. If you follow me on instagram, you’ve already had a peek at some of these!
So without any further ado: here’s an extensive list of things I’ve been loving lately. It’s quite long, so feel free to grab a snack or something, and then settle in to scroll. Don’t worry, I’ve sorted it into categories. (more…)
Loving Lately: Beauty Edition
Oh, how I’ve missed you all! To those of you who have been begging me to re-enter the blogging world, thank you. It meant so much to me that you missed my posts. I’ve had a beautiful few months away from the interwebs (though I was still active on twitter and instagram) but I’m back now! I can’t promise that I’ll be posting super frequently, as I don’t want to go back to where I was before – feeling like blogging was a chore I had to do that ate up much of my free time. I want to blog because it brings me joy, simple as that.
With all of that said, here are a few beauty products I’ve been thoroughly enjoying these last few months, from face products to lip products to beauty tools! (more…)
