Vichy Aqualia Thermal Rehydrating Gel Cream Review

Well, well, well, look who's back from the dead. I mean, from a long, unexpected hiatus. It's been about half a year since my last blog post, the longest hiatus I've had from the blog. Let's just say, it's been a very uneventful 6 months. I just made a few changes in my life, and had a lot of other things going on, and blogging was just in the background for me at the time. I'm happy to say though, that I am back, and hopefully I won't be gone for such a long time again! 

I'm always happy when I get the opportunity to review products through Influenster Voxboxes, especially skin care stuff! As I get older, I understand the importance of properly taking care of your skin, because you know, I plan to look like I'm 18 forever :) 

If you're new here, or maybe just haven't read any of my other Influenster posts, let me fill you in. Influenster is an amazing community where you can read reviews from people just like you, about products you like. Not only that, they send out free products to members to try and test out. Free products in exchange for your honest opinions? Sign me up! Or, sign you up maybe? Check out my previous Influenster posts, where I got things like Bite Beauty Lip Pencils, L'oreal Skincare, and even a Keurig!! Yeah you heard that right, a FREE Keurig. I also go into more detail of what Influenster is in that post, so be sure to check it out! 

Now, more about the product. The Vichy Aqualia Thermal Rehydrating Water Gel Cream is suppose to provide 48 hours of hydration to combination/oily skin. Straight from the website; it recharges dry and dehydrated skin using natural derived ingredients such as Hyaluronic Acid, fortifying Vichy mineralizing water, and plant sugar mannose. These ingredients work together to provide you with fresh, dewy looking skin. It's also paraben-free, silicone free and oil free! 

The cream itself was like a gel consistency, and absorbed very quickly into the skin. It does have a scent, but it wasn't overpowering and didn't linger once it dried. 

I've been using this as my daily moisturizer for many a little over 2 weeks now? I've got to say, it's a good cream, but not the best. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, but it's not so amazing that I would repurchase it. It did its job and it did keep my skin hydrated, but I mean, that was about it. I have very oily skin, with occasional dry patches. Using this product daily has vastly decreased the dry patches, and my skin was hydrated, but the oil produced on my face wasn't minimized. Of course the product itself doesn't say it minimizes an oily complexion, but I would've hoped it would help with the overproduction of oil. 

It definitely provides dewy looking skin when worn on its own, but as a person with super oily skin, I don't really need/want that dewy look at all! I'll still continue to use the product because it does keep my face well moisturized, but I probably won't be repurchasing it, as it doesn't meet my personal skincare needs!

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I received this product for free, complimentary from Influenster.

All opinions are my own.

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Milk Makeup Blur Stick Primer Review

Ahhhh! I'm always so super excited to try new make-up brands, and Milk Makeup is one of them! I was happy to see Milk Makeup being offered through Influenster and that I was chosen to review it! If you don't know what Influenster is yet; 

Influenster is a community of over 1.5 million social savvy shoppers that:

• stay on top of the latest product news and expert tips
• review products, and share honest opinions with brands and the community
• test products for free based on social media influence

Basically, you sign up with Influenster, connect all your social networks, review products, complete questionnaires, get badges, and you get sent products to review. Absolutely free. Of course, the higher your social impact score, the higher chance you get chosen to get products sent to you. There are times where they will choose you based on how many badges you earn, and how you answer the pre-survey questionnaire, but that may also vary on the type of consumer they are looking for, for the specific product in question.
I've received many awesome products ranging from make-up, skincare, and lifestyle! Don't miss out on your chance to review free stuff too! 

So what exactly is the Blur Stick? It's a colourless mattifying solid primer stick that helps blur your pores and primes your face. It's paraben-free, and silicone free, and blurs the appearance of pores and fine lines, providing a matte and smooth finish. It also doesn't clog your pores! 

I love primers and I'm always excited to try ones that could really help the longevity of my make-up. I work long 12+ hour days, and I need my make-up to look good from morning til night. The product does a wondeful job making my pores non-existent, so it definitely does the job in that department! I have really large pores and that helped with making them disappear, so I was happy about that. Longevity though? My oily face was shining like a disco ball by the 6 hour mark. I did though, find a concoction of primers along with this blur stick, that truly helped my make-up last for 8+ hours though!! 

First, I used the blur stick mainly on my t-zone area, focusing to the areas around my nose. Then I use the Smashbox Hydrating Primer (which looks like isn't carried at Sephora anymore, so I hope isn't discontinued) around the rest of my face where it normally gets dry. Next, I use the Smashbox Photofinish Primer to apply on my nose, and a little on my cheeks on top of the Milk Makeup Blur Stick. Then I apply my foundation, concealer, etc. I know, it sounds like a lot of stuff on my face, but it truly holds my make-up for 10+ hours. On their own, each individual product is good, but not the best. Working together, I've never seen my face look so good after a long work day. There is some oil peeking through by the end of the night, but I literally do not have to blot my face at all during the day. My face looks pretty good and I could go out if I really wanted to after work, with no touch ups! Realistically I wouldn't, because I'm pretty much dead after my 12 hour shifts. 

Do you have any interesting concoctions to make your make-up last? Let me know! 

Check out Milk Makeup at Sephora, and also get cash back on your purchases from Ebates as well. The amount of money I got back from Black Friday shopping was pretty awesome. All the stores I wanted to shop for were offered on Ebates so it's always good to check!! 

I received this product for free, complimentary from Influenster.

All opinions are my own.

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Revlon Mega Multiplier Mascara Review

Well look who's back and blogging again. Hey friends, it's been a while! I recently caught the blogging bug and decided to start reviewing products I've been receiving, and today, I'm back with another one.  I got the chance from Influenster to review the Revlon Mega Multiplier Mascara, and I have to say, this might be the first Influenster product I wasn't too impressed by! If you don't know what Influenster is; where have you been these past few years?! Free products in exchange for your honest opinions? Sign me up! Or, sign you up maybe? Check out my previous Influenster posts, where I got things like Bite Beauty Lip Pencils, L'oreal Skincare, and even a Keurig!! Yeah you heard that right, a FREE Keurig. I also go into more detail of what Influenster is, so be sure to check it out!  Now on to this review. I've tried my fair share of mascaras, so I would say I definitely know what to look for, for my own lashes. Now, just because I don't like this mascara, doesn't mean it won't suit the needs of someone else. 

So the mascara is suppose to provide length with the fibers inside, and it's also not suppose to smudge. 

You can see a few little fibers there. 

  Here is my lashes curled. If I don't curl them, they pretty much angle downwards. 

Their was very minimal to no smudging, and it didn't smear anywhere! It provided lots of length to my lashes, but within minutes, my lashes drooped downwards. The formula itself may just be too heavy for my thin, sparse lashes. Too many layers and it looked a wee bit clumpy. Personally, I didn't like this mascara much, but maybe paired with a volumizing mascara, and it would look great.

I received this product complimentary from Influenster. 

All opinions are my own.

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Bite Beauty The Lip Pencil Review + Swatches

It's a new year, and you know what that means? New opportunities with Influenster! I was so happy to see that I made the short list for another beauty voxbox right at the beginning of the year. If you don't know what Influenster is and would love for the chance to review FREE products, then here is a little info for you! If you're not interested in learning about Influenster and are just here for the review, scroll down until you see the first picture! Taken directly from the site, Influenster is a community of over 1.5 million social savvy shoppers that:

• stay on top of the latest product news and expert tips
• review products, and share honest opinions with brands and the community
• test products for free based on social media influence

Basically, you sign up with Influenster, connect all your social networks, review products, complete questionnaires, get badges, and you get sent products to review. Absolutely free. Of course, the higher your social impact score, the higher chance you get chosen to get products sent to you. There are times where they will choose you based on how many badges you earn, and how you answer the pre-survey questionnaire, but that may also vary on the type of consumer they are looking for, for the specific product in question. I've received things such as the L'oreal Paris Hydra Total 5 Ultra Even Skincare line, L'oreal Fibralogy Hair Care line, Impress Press On Manicure and even a Keurig 2.0 K500. Yes, I got a whole Keurig for free!! I was super lucky when I was chosen for that, and it made me love and appreciate Influenster that much more. Being in such a large community, there are times you will be lucky, but don't set your hopes up too high when you don't get anything! I was a member with Influenster for two years before I received anything. The key is to be an active member, and always remember to connect your social networks, as they tend to disconnect sometimes. This is actually my first make-up product from Influenster, and I am SO EXCITED. They always hit it out of the ball park with the beauty related boxes, so I'm so happy I finally got one!

Excuse the weird lighting and amateur photography skills. I'm still learning what angles work best with my new ring light and my new DSLR. I was happy to be given the opportunity to not only be one of the first people to try out the new Bite Beauty lip pencils, but also to try out their popular Amuse Bouche lipsticks. I may or may not have tried a few samples in the past, but I have yet to try these two shades.

Yasssss, look at me, working those camera angles. 

A little about the lip pencils, before I get carried away with my photos. The Bite Beauty Lip Pencils have a very creamy coverage. The weightless formula comes in 22 neutral shades that are inspired by natural lip tones. They have shades that also pair perfectly with their Amuse Bouche lipsticks. Also given in the voxbox was the Sephora Collection Eco Biodegradable Sharpener, which will help keep my lip pencils looking extra sharp.

This is one of my favourite shots. If you can't tell, I love to take pictures of make-up. I can't ever choose one favourite, so I always like posting multiple shots and many different angles.

Look at that blurry lip pencil in the background. I don't even know how I did that. My amateur photography skills at work.

Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Lipstick in "Whiskey"

Whiskey is described as a rich mahogany with red undertones. 

Bite Beauty Lip Pencil in shade "044"

DAMN. A point sharp enough to pierce the skin. Haha I'm kidding, but holy crap I was surprised to see such a sharp tip. I actually haven't used a lip liner that needed to be sharpened in a long time. I mostly use the twist up ones, so this was a nice surprise.

I actually LOVE how the lip pencil looks on its own. You definitely get the gorgeous red undertone while wearing this on its own. I want a nice matte lipstick in this colour please. The lip pencil glided onto my dry lips effortlessly. The sharp tip was very precise, and it didn't even break, considering how thin and pointy it was. The colour payoff was great, and I didn't feel like I had to drag the pencil hard to get a nice pigmented swatch.

The lipstick itself was amazingly creamy, but the shade wasn't for me. It's such a gorgeous hot chocolate brown, but I personally wouldn't wear the lipstick colour out. I love the lip pencil on its own though, so maybe I'll pair it with another dark lipstick I own!

Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Lipstick in "Honeycomb"

Honeycomb is described as a beige nude. 

Bite Beauty Lip Pencil in shade "020"

This shade of lip pencil was definitely very pretty, but a bit too light for my liking. With the shade being so light, I found that the colour accentuated my dry lips. The colour pay off for this shade wasn't as great as the deeper shade, but still worked well.

Again, the Amuse Bouche lipstick was super creamy and moisturizing. Pairing this with the lip pencil was the perfect match.

Here's a look I created using Bite Beauty Lip Pencil in 020 and the Amuse Bouche Lipstick in Honeycomb.

Overall, I enjoyed using the Bite Beauty lip pencils. Normally, I always skip the lip pencil step, but it really improved the longevity of the lipsticks I was using. Especially with such a moisturizing lipstick such as the Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche lipsticks, they are definitely prone to feathering. These lip pencils will for sure pair well with any lipstick, considering they came out with gorgeous neutral shades.

Thanks to Influenster for the opportunity to review these products for free. If you want to join Influenster, so you can review products for free as well, feel free to click the link below!

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These products were sent to me for reviewing and testing purposes. All opinions are my own.

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L'oreal Paris Preference Infinia Hair Dye Review (Deep Black)

I normally would never dye my hair on my own (because I suck at doing anything hair related), but since I received this Voxbox from influenster.com, I decided to give it a go. If you don't know what Influenster is, but are interested in receiving free products to review yourself, I'll link my previous Influenster post below, where I explain what Influenster is. 

I actually wanted to lighten my hair for the summer, but since my hair was relatively black already, I decided to just dye my hair again anyways. My hair was starting to fade into brown in some spots, and I thought this would be a great way to cover up the fading. 

The difference with this hair dye and others, is the colour refresher. In two weeks you can use your colour refresher to make your hair look like you just dyed it again. 

My hair was dyed black quite a while ago, and it's been showing some brown spots as of lately. 

My set up. I watched the office as I was getting ready haha. 

I made a huge mess. I am not good at dying my own hair clearly.

After. Not bad! Besides the fact that the chemicals smelled awful, the product worked. My hair is now a very gorgeous deep black shade. 

The verdict? The product worked and my hair turned out nice. I do kind of feel like a lot of my hair fell out, but it still maintained its soft feeling texture.

Learn about Influenster here.

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L'oreal Paris Hair Expertise Total Repair 5 Haircare Line Review

We are back at it again with yet another L'oreal related blog post! This time, I will be reviewing the L'oreal Paris Hair Expertise Total Repair 5 Haircare line. I received the products free from Influenster to review. If you want to know how you can receive free products like this, or even things as awesome as a Keurig 2.0 K500, sign up for Influenster, or check out my detailed post about Influenster here.

I got another great opportunity to try some new L'oreal haircare products, and I must say, it was a pretty mediocre experience.

My hair is quite cooperative when using any shampoo, and this one was no different. Personally, I felt like it didn't change my hair drastically, but it worked great as a regular shampoo. I really enjoyed the scent of the products in the line, because it smelt like the products they use in a hair salon. I don't know, but hair salon shampoos/conditioners smell amazing to me. Yes, there's a difference between scents from drugstore ones and professional grade hair products haha (at least to me there is!).

The product that stuck out the most to me was the conditioner. It did a wonderful job at making my hair feel silky smooth instantly. A little goes a long way with this product, and it definitely made things slippery up in the shower. I never had a conditioner make my bathtub so insanely slippery, that I did slip and fall. Yes, it hurt a lot haha. Other than that, it was a great product to use, and I would probably suggest buying myself a grip pad for my shower as I continue to use this conditioner. It's weird, I never used a conditioner that made my tub that slippery. 

This leave in cream conditioner was pretty average to me. I felt it didn't do much for my hair. It didn't leave my hair feeling greasy at all though, and the smell was nice. I could probably skip this step after showering. 

Overall, the products in this haircare line didn't really stand out to me that much that I would repurchase again. It could be that the products weren't meant for my type of hair. I would say that my hair is very thick, and surprisingly has minimal damage despite dying my hair multiple times over the course of 13 years. I never really had "damaged" hair, so this product could work great for someone with damaged hair. 

The verdict? It's a pass for me. It had no wow factor, and I didn't notice any big changes in my hair. 

These products were sent to me for reviewing and testing purposes.

All opinions are my own.

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L'oreal Paris Hydra Total 5 Ultra-Even Skincare Review

Well I sure feel like I've been gone a while. As much as I love to blog and review products, I've been quite busy in my personal life, and my focus has been primarily on improving those aspects of my life. Regardless, even though I've been busy and super tired all the time, I will not give up my passion of blogging and continue on with posting at least once a week! Hopefully. 

I was given the great opportunity to review the new L'oreal Paris Hydra Total 5 Ultra-Even Skincare line. It is one of the new skincare lines that L'oreal has come out with, and I was chosen through Influenster to review the whole line! 

If you're a new reader, or if you missed any of my previous Influenster posts, I'll give you a little gist of what Influenster is. Taken directly from the site, Influenster is a community of over 1.5 million social savvy shoppers that:

• stay on top of the latest product news and expert tips
• review products, and share honest opinions with brands and the community
• test products for free based on social media influence

Basically, you sign up with Influenster, connect all your social networks, review products, complete questionnaires, get badges, and you get sent products to review. Absolutely free. Of course, the higher your social impact score, the higher chance you get chosen to get products sent to you. There are times where they will choose you based on how many badges you earn, and how you answer the pre-survey questionnaire, but that may also vary on the type of consumer they are looking for, for the specific product in question.

I've received things such as the L'oreal Fibralogy Hair Care line, Impress Press On Manicure and even a Keurig 2.0 K500. Yes, I got a whole Keurig for free!! I was super lucky when I was chosen for that, and it made me love and appreciate Influenster that much more. Being in such a large community, there are times you will be lucky, but don't set your hopes up too high when you don't get anything! I was a member with Influenster for two years before I received anything. The key is to be an active member, and always remember to connect your social networks, as they tend to disconnect sometimes.

I dragged on for long enough, now on to the products!

I received the whole "Ultra-Even" skincare line to review, and have used the products over the span of 2 weeks now. The Ultra-Even line is suppose to illuminate and even out your skin tone for a more radiant look.

The L'oreal Ultra-Even Scrub claims to remove impurities and dead skin cells, leaving your skin clean and smooth. Personally, I haven't done much face washing with any skincare products for the past few months, so this was a treat for me. After removing my make-up, I would squeeze out a small amount into my wet palm, lather and then scrub it onto my face. 

The product itself smelt divine, and I felt it did a really good job scrubbing my face. I did feel like my face look noticeably brighter and lighter, and I didn't feel like the product dried out my skin, as most cleansers tend to do. It left my face feeling clean and refreshed. 

I had high hopes for the L'oreal Paris Ultra-Even Toner, since toners seem to work best with my skin with any skincare line. I have pretty sensitive skin, so I was more worried with my reaction to the cleanser. The toner helps take off any excess make-up and leaves your skin feeling clean and fresh. I used the toner after washing my face. 

The toner dried fairly quick once I dabbed it onto my face, and it kind of felt cooling. I felt like their wasn't much of a wow factor with this product, so I would probably skip out on this once I run out. It was pretty much a generic toner. It did remove the excess make-up I did have that the cleanser might have missed though.

The L'oreal Paris Ultra-Even Lotion claims to moisturize your skin and fight dryness, even out and brighten your skin tone, product your skin from the sun with SPF 20, illuminate your skin and instantly make your skin feel softer and smoother. I wasn't a fan of the SPF in the lotion because I felt it made my face have a fairly noticeable white cast. It was very moisturizing, but definitely too moisturizing for someone with oily skin. This lotion works in the morning or night, but I stuck to using it in the morning before applying my make-up. 

Last, we have the L'oreal Paris Ultra-Even Moisturizer that helps nourish your skin and fight dryness, similar with the lotion. This product is to be used at night. This was probably my favourite product of the skincare line. I loved how luxurious the moisturizer felt. It was thick and non-greasy, and I thoroughly enjoyed using this at the end of the day. This moisturizer also made my face look glowy and bright, which wasn't bad considering I was wearing it to bed. 

Register for Influenster so you can receive and review free products too!

These products were sent to me by Influenster for reviewing and testing purposes.

All opinions are my own.

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