XOJENBEAUTY: Skincare

2/24/2016

Review: L'Oreal Hydra-Total 5 Ultra Fresh Ritual

Looking for the right skincare is important mostly when you're in your early twenties. Why? Because that's when aging starts where wrinkles and all the icky stuff that comes in the process follow. My skin is somewhat complicated because I basically been through most skin problems. Acne? Dry skin? Oily skin? Scarring? Been there, done that! Now, since my face is clear and healed, I need products that could maintain my face and keep it hydrated at the same time. L'Oreal Canada recently came out with new skin care products for 3 different skin types that keeps your skin fresh and hydrated.

Although these products were sent to me to try out and review, I wanted to give my honest and personal opinion.* I used this roughly about 25-30 days. I was already happy with my normal skincare routine so I was nervous to try new products. Anyways, before I begin I would firstly introduce to you what I'm talking about!

Like I said earlier, L'Oreal Canada has created a 3-step skincare line for the different skin types: combination, uneven and sensitive. This is basically products that give you 5 benefits to achieve refreshed skin. I received the combination skin line because I have mostly oily-acne prone skin. If you are not sure which skin line is perfect for you, there is a diagnostic test that you could take.

Let's get on to the review!

Ultra-Fresh Gel Cleanser

"The Gel Cleanser makes skin feel clean and refreshed. It removes skin’s impurities and leaves a fresh feeling. Skin is perfectly clean, feels fresh and revitalized." - L'Oreal Canada

Approx. C$8.47

This cleanser makes me feel clean after I wash my face. It doesn't create a lot of suds which is fine but some people want that bubbly cleanser to feel more clean. Anyhow, each of these products has a scent and this one literally reminds me of detergent. I don't have anything else to say other than I do feel clean and fresh after using this.

Ultra-Fresh Toner

"The Ultra-Fresh Toner removes impurities and tightens pores in oily-prone areas for fresh-feeling skin that is toned. Skin stays clean and complexion looks fresh. Skin remains visibly soft, smooth and even." - L'Oreal Canada

Approx. C$8.47

Out of all the products, the toner actually made a difference on my skin. I didn't notice it at first because my sister was the one who pointed it out. She said that my pores look smaller and tighter. I didn't believe her but I started to notice the pores around my nose and cheeks area were more toned down. Pun intended, well, not really. Anyways, I also like the scent of this toner because it smells fresh and flowery.

Ultra-Fresh Moisturizer

"Ultra-Fresh Moisturizer, enriched with vitamins (CG, E, B5) and essential minerals (magnesium and calcium) to meet the five essentials needs of normal to combination skin types.

5 ACTIONS + RESULTS:

1. ALL DAY MOISTURE: glycerin-enriched formula with apricot oil and shea butter provides intense hydration.

2. REVITALIZES: gives skin a less tired appearance.

3. REFRESHES: gel texture provides immediate freshness and comfort to the skin.

4. SOFTENS: emollient-enriched formula works to reveal silky soft skin every day.

5. TONES: vitamin and mineral enriched formula leaves skin toned." - L'Oreal Canada

Approx. C$12.97

This is my favourite out of all three! I love putting this on my face because its cold all the time which is so refreshing. It definitely cools down my face. Also, I love the cream-gel texture because it moisturizes my face without feeling sticky. I would definitely purchase this after I used up mine.

L'Oreal has done good with this skin care line! I did break out which is normal because I have deviated from the usual products that I have used for months. But after a few days it was gone and my skin stayed relatively good.

I would definitely recommend this to those with the same skin as me. Just a reminder that I only reviewed their Ultra-Fresh Ritual line which means they have two more for uneven skin and sensitive skin. Hope this review helped! If you have any more questions, comment down below! Or if you have a different experience from mine, I am interested to hear about it in the comment section.

#BEYONDHYDRATION #5WORKS

Have a blessed day!

*DISCLAIMER: The products were sent to me by Influenster and L'Oreal Canada to try and review. I was not paid to post this.

10/15/2015

The Best Toner Ever!

Finding a good toner is essential for a skincare routine. It shrinks the pores, balances the pH of your face, refreshes and moisturizes, it protects the skin and prevents ingrown hairs. These are great benefits for those who have oily/acne-prone skin or those who want an extra cleanse to ensure all dirt is removed. Before I begin, I just want to let you know that I am not a professional but someone who did their research about skin care. (Read my disclaimer.) And this is my 3rd bottle purchase, so I'm safe to say that this toner works on me.

If you have been reading my blog for awhile or following me on any of my social media accounts, you know that my face is clear, free from acne. However, before all that, I used to have severe acne where I had to go to the dermatologist. Now, all I'm doing is preventing anymore of those nasties from appearing on my face. So when I found The Body Shop Tea Tree Skin Clearing Toner, I know that this would become my holy grail.

This toner truly helps in preventing any of my pimples or spots from coming back! Whenever I see a pimple that's beginning to appear, I would just use it during my skincare routine and usually the next day it would either be gone or it would start to get smaller. Oh and by the way, I have oily-combo, acne-prone (I'm putting that in there because I do get small spots from time to time) skin. So this might work for you if we have similar skin types.

Here are the product claims from the brand website:

"Our Tea Tree Toner is a refreshing toner with tea tree oil that removes traces of cleanser, makeup, and impurities. The 'shake to activate' mattifying powder in the formulation helps to give the skin a matte, shine-free finish. It effectively tones the skin, helping to prevent blemishes with regular use. [...]

Enriched with Community Fair Trade Tea Tree Oil from Kenya
Perfect for blemished acne skin
Clinically proven to give clearer-looking skin"

Since the toner contains mattifying powder, make sure to shake it before using. And, yes, the colour will be green when you put some on a cotton pad. For those who are worried about the scent, it smells like tea tree oil which is a fresh, minty, herbal scent. I was bothered by the scent during my first few weeks but I got used to it.

The cool thing about the product is that it now comes in two bottle sizes.

250 ml/8.4 fl oz for C$12
400ml/13.5 fl oz for C$20

I haven't tried anything else in the tea tree line other than the toner but since my face has been clear ever since using this, I am excited to try more. I think the next products I'm going to try are the Tea Tree Pore Minimiser and the Tea Tree Blemish Fade Night Lotion.

Have you tried any of the products? What do you think about it? Comment down below!

Have a blessed day!

xoxo,

DISCLAIMER

9/01/2015

August 2015 Favourites + Announcement!

Hey there lovelies!

Wow! Can you guys believe it? It's already September! Summer is almost over and Fall is starting to show in the leaves! I still can't get over how I am starting school exactly next week and I don't even have my books yet. Honestly, I'm too lazy to buy them so I am basically waiting for my first day of class before buying any school items. Anyhow, since August is over, I figured that I would share to you what my favourites were from makeup to skincare to even music. I've broken them down into categories so that none of you would get confuse or whatever.

Makeup:

Firstly, let me talk about the most wonderful bronzer that I FINALLY found at my local Walmart that took me years to find. And its, of course, the most coveted and talked about bronzer, the NYC Sunny Bronzer.

I honestly have never used a product like this one where it even replaces my high end bronzers. Its very versatile where it could be used not only to bronze but also as an eyeshadow and a contour powder. For some reason, it fits every skin tone out there! I mean, I wouldn't personally know but based on many Beauty Youtubers of different colour who raves about this, I would definitely believe them all.

I should probably wrap this up because I might start reviewing it! Haha. But if you do want a review, comment down below so I would know! Anyhow, I just love this product. It gives me the most wonderful bronze and contour at the same time! YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY BUY THIS!

Aside from the bronzer, I have been loving the Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara. It really retains the curl of my lashes and it stays curled throughout the whole day while its volumized! Its actually amazing because no other mascara could do something like that to my lashes. So its a must have to your collection!

And lastly, I found a lip gloss that gives a medium coverage of colour to my lips while stays glossy the whole time and its the bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie in the shade Maverick. Its about 2 to 3 shades darker than my own lip colour and I love it for days when I don't feel like wearing lipstick and just want that "natural" lip look. I really love it because its not sticky a few seconds after applying which I love in a lipgloss. (note: a deluxe sample size is shown on the photo so don't be surprise when the actual size is different)

Skincare:

For the month of May, June and July, I have been loving the Lush Pink Dragonfruit lotion from Bath & Body Works. I am only featuring it in my August favourites because I still love it and its worthy of my rave! This lotion really smells so good that a few hours after application, my friends could smell it and compliment me of the scent. LITERALLY, even when I don't spray on cologne or perfume, people still think I wore some because of this lotion! Unfortunately, this is no longer available which kinda sucks because I should've bought more during the annual sale. But, I did find some being sold on amazon so click on the name to buy it! So go and buy it cause you need it in your life!!

My last favourite for skincare is the Sephora Mud Mask. Girl, it has freakin' 5 stars on the Sephora website which means you should go get it because it replaces every single mud mask you have! Even before finding out about this, I've been wanting to try the Glam Glow mud mask but its so expensive like it retails for C$76. So I've never joined that bandwagon because I ain't got no time for that! But then, Amy Macedo, a Canadian Youtuber from Toronto, was raving about the Sephora one in her snapchat so that prompted me into buying and trying. I'm so glad I did because its the best one I have ever tried. It leaves my skin so fresh and clean. And its only C$24 so I jumped in that bandwagon instead.

Scents and Fragrances:

Okay this was also one of my favourites from May, June and July and its the Elizabeth and James Nirvana White. I really love this scent! I couldn't stop wearing it when there was still some in the bottle. I would definitely repurchase it again! I mean even if its expensive, its worth the investment but I might purchase the full bottle next time. I'm not going to attempt to describe the scent because I'm bad at it. So yeah go and try it!

And the last scent favourite goes to Bath & Body Wallflower Refill in Sparkling Pear Riesling. It just smells darn good and it spreads all throughout my room. So yeah..

Music:

It may seem random but the reason why this is in my favourites because I can't stop listening to Kelsea Ballerini! She is like Taylor Swift when she was still doing country music and I love it because I miss that era of Taylor. Go and listen to her! She is so good! My favourite songs from the album, First Time, would be "Dibs", "Peter Pan" and "Love Me Like You Mean It".

And there you go! I know the post seem to be long but really I want to describe how I felt with each of the favourites. This is actually my first favourites post and I might continue doing this cause its fun!

Anyhow, also I am announcing that I finally have a mailing list where you can subscribe to! I will just be sending you an email once a week on a Saturday to update you what I posted on that week. I will be putting some announcements and news in that email as well. You can sign up at the side bar or there would be a pop up whenever you visit my website where you could sign up as well. So please sign up if you want to! Thank you for your support!

Have a blessed day!

xoxo,

*Disclaimer: All opinions are my own. The same goes for the photos unless stated otherwise. Also, I am in no way persuading you to buy each of the item. I just got excited so it only seemed that way.