Today, I’ll be reviewing products I received from BeautySense.ca! This post was sponsored by BeautySense.ca and the products above were sent to me for review, but all opinions are my own. The links below are NOT affiliate links.
Beautysense.ca is a Canadian-owned website that sells beauty and cosmetics products.
We have deep roots within the beauty industry operating successful spas and salons in Canada.
BeautySense.ca was launched in 2013 with a vision of providing Canadians with a trusted and reliable source of beauty products while contributing the same customer service and education found in our spas and salons.
BeautySense.ca currently offers well over 4000 quality products from top Canadian and International brands and we continue to add new brands every month. We cater to each of you, our customer, to reach a goal of 100% satisfaction.
They sell a wide variety of skincare, home, bath & body, makeup and wellbeing products.
Free shipping on all orders within Canada, no minimum!!
They have promotions every now and then. A free gift with purchase, discounts on certain brands, etc.
I don’t know if they have sales throughout the year, but I have signed up for the newsletter to email me. So I will update this post if I am notified of any sales throughout the year.
They have a loyalty program. Receive 1 point for every $1 you spend
BeautySense let me choose the products to try out so I went with a 3 products from brands I’ve never tried before and 2 products from amika (love the scent of their dry shampoo and soulfood nourishing hair mask).
Colorescience: Sunforgettable® Total Protection™ Face Shield Flex SPF 50 | $63
A lightweight mineral sunscreen with tinted color coverage immediately evens skin tone for a flawless look. Available in four uniquely flexible shades for a range of skin tones, it features innovative, tone-adapting pigments that offer medium, buildable colour coverage with a natural finish.
This is drier than I thought it would be. I think I could’ve tried the medium shade instead of fair because it’s very white on me. For sunscreen, I usually just squeeze it out onto my hand and then apply to my face, but I think maybe it’s better to do a little at a time for this one. Instead of trying the medium tinted shade, I think I would just try the original (non-tinted) one next time.
Amika: The Wizard Detangling Primer | $34.50
A weightless, multi-benefit priming spray that detangles, cuts blow dry time and protects against thermal and environmental damage. Leaves hair smooth, soft and radiant.
This detangled my hair so quickly and my hair felt smooth and sleek. It looked shiny and smelled really nice. It has the same scent as the normcore conditioner and dry shampoo.
Amika: Normcore Signature Conditioner | $26
Boost hydration, softness and shine daily with this everyday conditioner, loaded with vitamins and antioxidants.
I used to love the Perk Up Dry Shampoo, but I stopped buying products with aerosol cans. Since this has the same scent description, I figured this would be the same and it is. At the time, the shampoo was out of stock, but I would definitely get the shampoo. My hair is healthy because I don’t dye it and I don’t use styling tools all the time. So I usually stick to buying shampoos and conditioners from the drugstore. I have bought a few expensive shampoos and conditioners and I use them every couple weeks when I feel like a pick-me-up.
Jane Iredale: PurePressed Blush in Barely Rose | $41
A silky, easy-glide pressed blush that builds like a powder and blends like a cream for seamless, long-lasting color and a fresh, healthy glow.
The blush is a pretty pink shade that looks like a natural blush to my cheeks. I did notice that the blush had faded by the 6 hour mark though. I purposely applied more blush than usual just to see how it wore throughout the day. So, by the 6 hour mark, it was no longer noticeable and by the 9 hour mark, it was definitely gone. I used a cotton pad to wipe the makeup and no blush came off.
Blinc: Ultravolume Tubing Mascara – Black | $32
Whether your daily activities take you from the office, to your sweaty workout then out to dinner, Blinc Tubing Mascara Ultra Volume will make your lashes look as good in the evening as they did when you first applied it in the morning.
I have typical Asian lashes that don’t keep a curl for very long so I was surprised at how well this mascara kept the curl. I was wearing the mascara for about 9 hours and my lashes were still curled. They might’ve gone down a little bit, but they definitely had a curve to them still (not sticking straight down). I did notice a few flakes on my eyelid and under eye by the 9 hour mark. I think I may have touched my eye at some point. The mascara removes easily with warm water. I would say to remove the mascara with warm water before removing the rest of your makeup. So the tubes don’t get all over your face.
They have a number of brands that I’ve never tried, so I’d be interested in buying those in the future and reviewing them on my blog.
For me, they all performed about the same. I don’t wear waterproof mascara or eyeliner, so I can’t say how well these cleansing balms work for those. I cleanse with a regular cleanser after using the cleansing balms, so I don’t mind if there’s a film from the cleansing balm.
Texture
Youth to the People (YTTP)’s cleanser is the most crumbly and it’s not as emollient as the others. Due to the texture being more crumbly, it didn’t remove my makeup as well. I had to work it in longer than the others. The Inkey List one comes in a tube, so it’s a more runny texture. I have to make sure to massage the tube first before squeezing any out. I was sent the Juno & Co cleansing balm and it came melted . They sent me a new one, but I’m worried about how easily it melted.
Comparing the textures to food: The YTTP one is like mashed potatoes (with nothing added in). The melted Juno & Co one was like melted butter that had cooled down a bit (still runny, but not completely liquid). The new tub I was sent still wasn’t as solid as the other ones.
Packaging
The K-beauty cleansing balms come with spatulas, while most of the others don’t come with one. Glow Recipe wins for best packaging since it comes in a glass jar that closes nicely. I wish the spatula could fit inside the jar, but I understand why they have a larger one since the jar is quite deep. I keep all of my spatulas in a little glass container, but it’d be nice to have it in the jar if you travel. The Youth to the People one also comes in a glass jar, but when I unscrew the lid, it doesn’t feel as smooth as the Glow Recipe. The Clinique, Heimish and Banila Co. cleansing balms come in sturdy, plastic containers. When you open the lids of the Heimish and Banila Co balms, there is a spatula inside. The Juno & Co one is a cheaper container that I sometimes have trouble closing if the inner lid isn’t perfectly aligned. The Inkey List one comes in a tube. This is my least favourite packaging since the cleansing balm is already more emollient than the others. I would not travel with the Inkey List or Juno & Co ones. A few times, I’ve had to wash off both of them because the products got onto the packaging.
Cost
In the table below, I’ve calculated the cost per mL for the cleansing balms I’ve tried. I also added others that are available on Sephora and K-beauty ones I want to try.
Price (CAD)
Size
Cost per mL
Packaging
Banila Co. Clean It Zero Cleansing Balm (Original) - 100mL
25
100mL
0.25
plastic with spatula
Banila Co. Clean It Zero Cleansing Balm (Original) - 180mL
Youth to the People Superberry Dream Cleansing Balm
45
100mL
0.45
glass jar, no spatula
Looking at the cost per mL, I was surprised which ones were more expensive. The Drunk Elephant one actually isn’t the most expensive one on the list.
The Clinique one was the first one I tried. I finished it before trying other ones, so I wasn’t able to compare them side by side. I liked it a lot because it doesn’t have a scent and I don’t remember it having a filmy feeling after using it. I will buy it again once I’ve finished my current ones and update this post with a final verdict. For now, I will exclude it from the ranking. My favourite is the Glow Recipe Papaya Sorbet Smoothing Enzyme Cleansing Balm. It is on the more expensive end, so for the lower range, I would pick the Heimish All Clean Balm. It doesn’t have any added fragrances and you get more in the tub (120mL vs 100mL for most of the other brands).
Have you tried these cleansing balms? Which is your fave?
Love,
Products marked with * were sent to me for review.
Her skin type is oily and she uses powder foundations. She tried a cushion, but ended up giving it to me because she doesn’t like liquid foundation. She dislikes eye makeup (especially mascara), so she only ever curls her lashes.
Morning Skincare – Update
Shiseido Benefiance WrinkleResist24 Day Emulsion – Mom loves the Shiseido Benefiance WrinkleResist24 collection. Originally, I bought her the Day Cream, but she didn’t like that it came in a pot (for her day cream…for some reason, she’s fine with using the potted creams for nighttime). So, we got the Day Emulsion which comes in a bottle with a pump. She must like it because she bought two more bottles at the Shiseido Warehouse Sale.
She also has a few different SPF products floating around. I don’t know which one she’s currently using on her face, but we have the Shiseido Ultra Sun Protection Lotion and the Neutrogena Ultra Sheer one.
Primer & Colour Corrector – Update
Make Up For Ever Step 1 Equalizer Primer (Smoothing)
L’Oreal Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream- Anti-Redness (read my review) – My mom said the smell is starting to affect her too, so if anyone knows of a product that’s similar, please let me know!
Foundation – Update
After the Sephora MicroSmooth Baked Foundation, she used the Shiseido Sheer and Perfect Compact Foundation in I20 Natural Light Ivory. This was a nice foundation, but the shade wasn’t quite right and she finished it fairly quickly compared to the Sephora foundation because the pan isn’t very deep.
Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Powder Foundation in 5.5 – The shade 5.5 is a bit dark, so if she were to repurchase, she’d go down a shade or two. She’s enjoying the foundation – it’s very smooth and looks beautiful. One thing she doesn’t like about the compact is that it comes with a sponge and the middle part with the powder flops back and forth (like the Physician’s Formula Butter Bronzer), powder collects in the sponge section which is wasteful.
Concealer – No Update
Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-In-Place Flawless Wear Concealer in Warm Light Medium
She still uses this concealer and she likes the consistency.
Eyes – No Update
Tweezerman Lash Curler
She doesn’t wear eyeshadow or mascara.
Blush – Update
Lancôme Blush Subtil in Aplum – Plum-mauve blushes are her favourite! The compact for this blush isn’t the best though. My mom accidentally dropped it and it chipped off the edge because it’s just plastic. Also, why do high end blushes have to come with those useless brushes?
Lips – Update
MAC Patentpolish Lip Pencil in Spontaneous – I bought this at the MAC Warehouse Sale and my mom is just using it to finish.
MAC Cremesheen Glass in It’s A Strike – Same as the patentpolish pencil, this is not the right shade for her and she’s just using it to finish it.
Makeup she has in her purse to touch-up throughout the day:
Clinique Superpowder Double Face Makeup in Matte Neutral – to get rid of the shine.
MAC Lustre Lipstick in Midimauve – I gave her this one since it’s a more sheer lipstick than the satin lipsticks. It has a bit of pigment and shine – looks more like a tinted balm.
Vaseline – glossy and easy to apply without a mirror.
Today, I will be doing a first impressions review on some Bali Body products that I received from the brand. It’s an Australian brand…I think I’m getting contacted by Australian brands because I follow quite a few Australian beauty accounts on IG lol.
I love the pastel matte bottle for the bronzing lotion and the rose gold and champagne-y gold tubes of the BB Cream and Lip Balm are so pretty.
If you live in Canada like I do, it took exactly two weeks to arrive from their distribution centre in London.
Before I start the reviews, I’d like to mention that just because certain products don’t work for me, it doesn’t mean that they’re bad. I’m just very sensitive to certain scents (especially coconut) and these products all have a scent.
Coconut Lip Balm with SPF15
A Coconut Lip Balm with SPF15 to hydrate and plump the lips while providing long lasting protection.
This natural lip balm is packed with nourishing oils to smooth & repair dry & cracked lips day or night.
RATING: 3/5
I like that it comes in a squeezy tube with a plastic tip. As far as lip balms go, this is quite expensive when I’m used to buying Vaseline. This does feel very hydrating and makes your lips look very glossy, but not sticky. I would definitely throw this into my makeup bag to apply during the day. The coconut scent is a bit too strong for me to use at night time, but it’s okay during the day. I also don’t like the taste of it (not that I’m purposely eating it lol, but you know when you accidentally lick your lips or maybe you’re eating something and taste your lip balm).
BB Cream with SPF15
A multitasking beauty cream that combines hydrating skincare benefits to protect, correct and perfect the skin.
Treat your skin in one easy step with this light-weight ultra-hydrating BB cream that provides perfect natural coverage instantly, while giving a healthy dewy glow.
They have 4 shades: Fair, Natural, Tan and Dark
I received the shade Natural and after reading reviews, I was excited to try this BB Cream.
RATING: 2/5
I don’t have a lot of luck with BB Creams on their own. I need more coverage than what BB Creams offer because I have dark spots from acne. So, this isn’t the type of base product I’m looking for, but if you want a very light coverage with SPF, you’ll love this BB Cream.
Bronzing Lotion
This antioxidant-rich moisturiser will provide a hint of tint while smoothing the skin with Vitamin E and natural oils.
Enriched with organic caramel extract to provide an instant bronzed glow.
This product isn’t a self tanner. It’s a lotion that’s tinted to give you a temporary bronzed look. It will wash off in the shower, so I wouldn’t go to sleep with this lotion on.
Before using, make sure you exfoliated the night before because you want it to go on nice and smooth. It’s also better if you aren’t too hairy wherever you apply it. I applied it on my arms and the bronzing lotion was kind of collecting around my hairs. It dries pretty fast, so make sure to blend it in evenly. If you are wearing this, do NOT get it wet. A drop of water got on my arm and it obviously left a water drop in the ‘tan’.
RATING: 3/5
My skin felt moisturized with this lotion. But I have a very sensitive nose and I wasn’t a huge fan of the scent which smells like coconut and almond. It looks very intimidating when you squeeze it out of the bottle, but once you blend it out, it gives you a nice, bronzed glow. If you are pale like me, you will definitely see a difference. Personally, I think I would prefer to use a self-tanner that will stay on for a while instead of just a few hours.
Final Thoughts
I always love trying out new brands and I’m always grateful when I am sent products for review. While these products didn’t work for me, there are a lot of positive reviews on the site and other blogs that rave about Bali Body’s products.
