• the body shop tea tree anti-imperfection daily solution

    Review | The Body Shop Tea Tree Oil Anti-Imperfection Daily Solution

    March 24, 2018

    Hi Everyone!

    I’ve previously reviewed the Tea Tree Oil Targeted Gel Blemish Stick from The Body Shop. Since the stick comes in such a small tube, I wanted to try something that I could use in my everyday skincare routine and I chose the daily solution. I decided to go with the daily solution instead of the cleansers because then the solution can soak into my skin throughout the day. It has the same smell as the blemish stick; kind of medicinal and a bit strong, but I’ve gotten used to it. I’ve been using it every night and in the mornings when I’m not leaving the house. I think the scent is quite strong and I don’t want my face smelling like medicine when I go out. After it has time to soak in, my face feels incredibly soft and not at all tacky like some facial products I use.

    It comes in a glass bottle with a dropper. I usually drop the solution onto my fingers and then pat onto my face. The consistency is like a toner.

    The Body Shop Tea Tree Oil Anti-Imperfection Daily Solution

    A lightweight, pre-serum concentrate that combats blemishes and improves the overall condition of your skin. After 4 weeks, skin looks and feels: purified, clearer, smoother, healthier, clarified, mattified and soothed, with reduced redness and imperfections.

    Can be used as a serum for oily skin types

    Gentle enough for daily use

    Pairs perfectly with our Tea Tree 3-IN-1 Wash Scrub Mask & Tea Tree Oil

    Enriched with Community Trade Organic Tea Tree Oil from Kenya

    RATING: 5/5

    The smell is a bit medicinal, but it has been working wonders for my acne-prone skin. It gets two thumbs up from me!

    UPDATE: I was using it everyday until it ran out and my face was relatively clear, although it was a bit dry because I wasn’t mixing it with anything else.

    Love,

    jen

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  • the body shop all-in-one bb cream colour adapting cream

    Review | The Body Shop Colour Adapting BB Cream

    January 27, 2018

    Hi Everyone!

    In my search for BB and CC Creams, I came across the Erborian CC Creme High Definition Radiance Face Cream. I thought it was so cool because then you don’t have to get a horrible colour match from a store (where you always get one that’s too light because you’re under all these bright lights instead of natural sunlight). Of course, it’s popular and it’s hard to get in Canada. They have the Erborian Pink Perfect Creme at Sephora for $51. It has a floral scent which I’m not a fan of and I’m sure the CC Creme also has a similar scent. So I looked to see if any other brands had a colour-adapting CC Cream and I found The Body Shop’s All-In-One BB Cream- Colour Adapting Tinted Cream. It comes in 5 shades and it’s half the price of the Erborian one. I chose the shade 01 Lighter Skin Tones. It has the typical BB/CC Cream scent. When I got it, it was $23 CAD. Right now they’re having a sitewide 40% deal, so it’s $13.80 at the moment.

    media-20180131gbrf.jpg

    When you’ve got no time to spare, our award-winning All-in-One BB Cream is a must-have beauty product for super-speedy results. Enriched with 24hr hydration, our hardworking, multi-tasking BB cream does it all, leaving your skin gloriously glowing and (almost) picture perfect. Pigment-filled capsules burst when applied to the skin, releasing the colour inside. Just blend for a perfect match and an even, undetectable finish.

    • Non-clogging
    • Offers light to medium coverage
    • Illuminates and evens appearance of skin tone
    • Enriched with Community Trade organic aloe vera

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    As you can see in the pic on the right, the bb cream is white with little specks (the pigment-capsules that burst when you apply it).

    I don’t know about the 24 hour hydration because no one would be wearing it that long. It’s definitely light-medium coverage, but it gives your skin a nice, dewy finish. I add a bit of powder on my t-zone so that I don’t look shiny (keep in mind that I have normal/dry skin). I don’t know how well this would perform on oily skin.

    RATING: 5/5

    I really like it for days where I don’t want to put on a full face of makeup, but I want to even out my skin. I love how it has a natural finish and it doesn’t FEEL overly oily, but it can make you LOOK shiny if you don’t powder.

    What are your fave BB/CC Creams?

    Love,

    jen

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  • Review | The Body Shop Tea Tree Oil Targeted Gel Blemish Stick

    January 16, 2018

    Hi Everyone!

    I read that tea tree products are good for acne-prone skin, so I thought I’d try the products from The Body Shop since they always have those specials (buy 2 or 3 and get 1 or 2 free). I decided to try something small just in case my skin reacted to the tea tree oil, so I got the Tea Tree Oil Targeted Gel Blemish Stick.

    Jennifer Catherine (C) titles(5)

    I use the stick when I feel a pimple coming or after it’s already popped up. The spot treatment works the same way as the Kate Somerville EradiKate. It dries out the blemish without drying out the surrounding skin. I think I like it better than the EradiKate because it can’t be too good for your face to always put sulfur on it whenever you have a breakout.

    media-20180116dOur Tea Tree Targeted Gel is designed for on-the-go targeted care. Enriched with organic Community Trade tea tree oil, our blemish stick is ideal for blemished skin. With a handbag-friendly wand-applicator, this quick drying gel can be applied directly onto skin, to see you through any skin emergency, mess-free.

    • A handbag essential
    • Ideal for blemished skin
    • Soothes and instantly cools targeted area without over-drying skin
    • Gives clearer-looking skin

    I’ve been using it whenever I get hormonal acne…you know, the kind that hurts, but it doesn’t have a whitehead. I used it on three pimples (two on my chin and one under my nose) that I got recently and it reduced the size of all of them, and dried two of the pimples out and brought the whitehead to the surface. All three of the pimples were quite painful, and after using the blemish stick, the pain went away. The one under my nose hurts if I accidentally touch it, but now at least it doesn’t hurt when I move my face.

    Even though it says “handbag essential,” I don’t think I’d ever use it on the go because it has a very strong smell. It’s a bit medicinal (not sure what tea tree oil actually smells like) and reminds me of Chinese herbal medicine, although it does beat the sulfur smell from the EradiKate.

    After seeing how well the blemish stick performed, I’m definitely interested in trying out the other tea tree oil products that The Body Shop sells: toner, cleansers, etc. I know that the blemish stick is probably more potent since it’s a spot treatment, but maybe the toners and cleansers can help to prevent breakouts.

    RATING: 4/5

    It’s a bit expensive for a small tube, but it works really well for me. Also, I wish it came packaged differently. Maybe a squeeze bottle or something similar to the EradiKate bottle so that I can use a clean q-tip each time I use it. It can’t be too hygienic to use the sponge tip applicator on a pimple and then put it back into the container.

    Check out my review for The Body Shop’s Tea Tree Oil Anti-Imperfection Daily Solution

    What products do you use for acne?

    Love,

    jen

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  • Finding the Right Foundation Shade

    August 16, 2017

    Hi Everyone!

    I am on the hunt for a new foundation and it’s taking me a while to find a shade that matches me (most of the ones I’ve been colour matched with are too light). I researched a few foundations beforehand to see which ones suit my skin type and which are highly recommended and rated. I usually walk around the store and swatch the foundations on my hand to see if I like the consistency and scent before I ask an associate to colour match me and get a sample. I’ve learned my lesson from previous times where I got colour matched on the spot and purchased that shade right away. The shades looked fine in the store, but once I went in natural lighting or dimmer lighting, it looked too pale.

    I decided to put Sephora and Mac associates to the test- I wanted to see if the different associates would colour match me with the same shades. I went to multiple MACs and Sephoras. The lighting in Sephora is so bright that even a shade that’s actually too light looks like it matches you. In store, it looks like you’ve found a perfect match, but then you go somewhere with dimmer lighting and you look like a ghost. I know I can always warm up my foundation with some bronzer or a darker powder, but if I’m going to spend about $50-70 on a foundation, I want it to be a good match where I don’t have to darken it with powder.

    Click here to see other foundation/concealer matches

    Here are my findings:

    MAC- I went to 3 MAC stores

    • Studio Waterweight SPF 30 Foundation ($41 CAD)
      • Colour Match: NC20
      • All 3 ladies matched me with NC20. At 2 of the stores, they matched the foundation on my hand and at the 3rd store, the lady matched the foundation on my jawline and neck.

    Sephora- I went to several Sephoras (one store I went twice, but on a different day)

    Listed below are products that I like and plan to purchase in the future, so I got multiple samples of each:

    • Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream ($37 CAD)
      • Colour Matches: Vanilla 02 (for light skin with neutral tones) and Bamboo 5.5 (light to medium skin golden tone)
      • 2 ladies matched me with Vanilla and 1 matched me with the Bamboo. Since this is a tinted cream, the shades weren’t completely off even though there are 4 shades between Vanilla and Bamboo. I think Vanilla matches better though because the Bamboo made my skin look a bit more yellow.
    • Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Water Foundation ($51 CAD)
      • Colour Matches: Fair Neutral (fair skin with yellow and pink undertones) and  Fair-Light Neutral (fair to light skin with yellow and pink undertones)
      • I got 2 samples of this foundation and one lady matched me with Fair Neutral and the other with Fair-Light Neutral. I think Fair-Light Neutral looks slightly better, the Fair neutral is a bit light.

    The following foundations are colour matches by associates from Sephora, Nordstrom and Hudson’s Bay:

    • Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat Radiance Awakening Foundation ($65 CAD)
      • Colour Match: BD10 Warm Porcelain
    • Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Foundation ($65 CAD)
      • Colour Match: No. 22 Rose
    • Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation ($68 CAD)
      • Colour Match: 4
    • Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream SPF 35 ($50 CAD)
      • Colour Match: Light

    The following shades are ones I tried at the store and looked like a pretty close match:

    • Burberry Fresh Glow Fluid Foundation ($62 CAD) OR Burberry Cashmere Foundation Fluid ($62 CAD)
      • Shade: Porcelain No. 11 or Ochre Nude No. 12
    • Nars Sheer Glow Foundation ($59 CAD)
      • Shade: Fiji

    I just bought a foundation and BB cream from Shoppers and The Body Shop:

    • Maybelline Fit Me Foundation- Hydrate + Smooth ($5.99 CAD on sale at Shoppers)
      • 130 Buff Beige (I love how natural this foundation looks, but the undertone is a bit too pink for me)
    • The Body Shop All-in-One BB Cream- Colour Adapting Tinted Cream ($23 CAD)
      • 01 (Lighter Skin Tones)

    Foundations I currently own:

    • Nars Sheer Glow Foundation ($59 CAD)
      • Deauville (way too light)
    • Lancome Miracle Cushion Foundation ($50 CAD)
      • 025 Beige Naturel (a pretty good match)
    • Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Invisible Cover Foundation ($52 CAD)
      • 120 = Y245 Soft Sand (a bit too light, but the next shade up, Y255, is too dark)

    Thoughts: Before you spend $50-70 on a foundation, get 3 samples from Sephora from different people to see if different people match you with the same shade. Even one shade lighter or darker can make a huge difference.

    Tip: For those of you looking for higher end makeup or skincare products. Go to Nordstrom!! They have sample containers and you can pump out or spoon out your own samples without asking an associate to help you! Make sure you close the lid tightly and properly. I recommend bringing a ziploc sandwich bag to put the samples in your purse. Mine exploded and by bringing a sandwich bag, I saved my Longchamp tote and all my things in my purse from getting ruined! You can even get your own samples of fragrances too!

    See my other foundation matches and concealer shades.

    What are your foundation recommendations (drugstore or designer)? I have normal/dry skin (dry nose area), I’d love to hear any suggestions if you have the same skin type!

    Love,

    jen

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