• sonia roselli skin prep water balm

    Review | Sonia Roselli Water Balm

    July 13, 2018

    Hi Everyone!

    I was asked to review the Sonia Roselli Water Balm by the hair stylist & makeup artist who did my sister’s and my makeup (for my sister’s Toronto Wedding Reception). Vicki from vlmakeup (check out her website and Instagram) wanted to know how the product worked on my skin type. I have acne prone skin that’s normal on my cheeks and forehead, but dry on and around my nose and chin (probably because of acne clearing products) and every now and then, I get dry patches around the mouth and under eye area. Even though my skin is dry, I get an oily t-zone and need to powder to prevent foundation from breaking up in that area.

    I had never heard of the brand before, so I looked into it and read some reviews before I took the plunge and purchased the product. Sonia Roselli has been a makeup artist for over 20 years. In 2015, she decided to start her own line of products. The brand sells mostly skincare products, but they also sell makeup brushes and individual lashes. Since I bought the Water Balm, they’re coming out with more products that you can pre-order. After trying this product out, I am definitely interested in trying other products.

    The question is, is this product worth it? ABSOLUTELY! Read on to see what I have to say about the Water Balm!

    Japanese “Water Bead” technology allows you to use as a toner, serum, day cream, night cream, eye cream and makeup primer all in one. Water Balm is an innovative skin care product that keeps your face hydrated for hours.

    It plumps fine lines and wrinkles, allowing your makeup to look fresh, radiant and youthful.

    Water Balm is not vegan- it contains a small amount of silk, egg, soy and citrus.

    Japanese Spring Water, Japanese Organic Rice, Silk, Soya Milk, Green Tea, Japanese Plum, Soybean

    Formulated without:
    Chemical color, fragrance, parabens and alcohol

    Made in Japan

    As a primer: Place a nickel size amount in the palm of your fingers. Tap together and lightly tap all over the face, then rub in evenly. Tapping breaks open the Water Beads and all the goodness is on your face. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before applying makeup. Apply makeup as usual.

    As a moisturizer: Apply Water Balm as your final step.

    I think it’s so cool because when you apply this, it feels like you’re applying silky water to your face. You can see the water beads once you’ve tapped it onto your skin. Depending on the weather, it can feel a bit tack after, but it mostly dries down after a few minutes. I’m not sure how well this would perform on someone with oily skin since mine tends to be dry. It keeps my face hydrated for hours after applying it. I don’t know about using this as an eye cream; yes, it’s hydrating, but it won’t help get rid of dark circles or puffiness, so maybe keep your eye cream in rotation.

    I tested this with the Dior Backstage Face & Body Foundation and it looked absolutely flawless (read my review)!

    RATING: 5/5

    This product gets top marks in my books! It’s not too expensive considering it’s multi-purpose. Right now, I have a few moisturizers and serums to go through, but once I’ve finished those, I think I will only be purchasing this product for moisturizer. I will keep it on rotation in my primers, but I will continue to buy other primers because other brands like Make Up For ever, Smashbox, etc. have primers that cater to different things- redness correcting, smoothing, etc. The Water Balm will be my new hydrating primer though. I have the MUFE Step 1 Skin Equalizer Primer- Hydrating, so once it’s finished, I won’t repurchase that particular one. I wrote a series of posts on my makeup inventory, if you want to see what primers I like, check out the post on primers and foundations (click here).

    Have you heard of Sonia Roselli products? 

    Love,

    jen

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  • My Sister’s Wedding Dress and My Maid of Honour Dresses

    December 10, 2016

    Hi Everyone!

    For those who have been waiting to find out what my maid of honour dress and my sister’s wedding dress looked like, here they are! I’ve provided a link to my sister’s wedding dress so you can see what it looks like: Allure Bridals in Style 9068 (Ivory). My maid of honour dress was After Six by Dessy Collection in Style 6704 (Sapphire). I took off the bow at the neckline because I didn’t like it.

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    Since I was the only bridesmaid, C let me choose whatever dress I wanted and I would definitely wear this again. I absolutely love the colour of the dress and the flowiness of the chiffon. I was always planning to have an updo for my hair because it’s so hot in Mauritius and didn’t want my hair to stick to the back of my neck. Also, in my opinion, having your hair in an updo is an absolute must with a mock halter neckline. The one thing I wasn’t crazy about is that there’s a seam at the bust where the inner satin material comes together and there’s a bit of pointiness in the boob area. There was nothing the seamstress could do to make it lie flatter across my chest. When I originally tried this dress on, it was about 5 sizes too big, so the pointiness wasn’t noticeable because there was a lot more material and also it was clipped in a way that pulled it tighter.

    My makeup looked flawless and I got a tiny breakout on my chin which the makeup artist was able to mask.

    I’m not really sure what happened with my updo, it wasn’t exactly what I asked for, but as long as the front view of my hair looked good, it didn’t matter as long as it stayed up the entire night. I hate hairspray, my hair felt like a helmet because there was so much of it. Also, I prefer when the top of my ears are covered with hair, it looks more relaxed/romantic.

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    For the reception in Toronto, I wore the blue dress for the first half of the reception. The right picture above is from the Toronto reception, I liked my hairstyle much better this time. I don’t know why I’m holding the microphone so awkwardly, my wrist is at a weird angle. I changed into my second dress for the shoe game and dancing. Unfortunately, that meant no professional shots in the purple dress because we took pictures before dinner. It also means that most of the pictures are a bit fuzzy in my second dress, so I don’t have any good ones of me wearing it. The second dress was by Alfred Angelo (which went out of business- the store I got both dresses from is also out of business). I got the style 7359S in Viola. Pictured below is the dress in a wine shade.

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    For accessories, I wore a pair of simple crystal earrings, a sparkly bracelet, a criss cross ring that my sister got for me on Etsy as my bridesmaid gift and Michael Kors T-Strap Berkley Sandals in Silver.

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    Love,

    jen

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