I’ve never really heard much about Glossier prior to this summer.

Okay, don’t get me wrong, I’ve heard of the brand, but aside from a few mentions on Instagram, I’ve never really seen much about it. Well, that would probably be because I mostly read Canadian blogs and they didn’t ship to Canada. Until earlier this summer.

The e-retailer began back in 2010 as blog Into the Gloss, a successful beauty blog with a huge readership. One of their successful series was called Top Shelf where they would look into celebrities and influential people’s medicine cabinets (hey, who doesn’t like poking around?!). Since they got so many recommendations on products people loved, they decided to come out with their own beauty line where skin is definitely in.

Glossier isn’t your typical beauty brand. Sure, there’s makeup, but it’s a skincare-focused line that really represents natural beauty. You aren’t going to see fake eyelashes, glitter eyeshadow, or matte liquid lipsticks here. Instead, you’re going to get face masks, moisturizing primers and lipsticks, and clear glosses. It’s all about embracing your natural features and making them look more fabulous.

Since there’s so much beauty buzz about the line, I was so excited to try some of the stuff out. I wanted to do a rounded review on everything they offer, so I tried out some skincare and makeup items. I started with the Milky Jelly Cleanser, which is majorly hyped-about item (they call it the perfect cleanser). This face wash is to be used on dry skin to dissolve away makeup and grime, or on wet skin to add some radiance. It’s a creamy gel formula that doesn’t foam up and is made with a blend of five skin conditioners, leaving your face feeling healthy and uber fresh. It also contains the same gentle cleaning agents found in contact lens solution, thus making it tough on impurities but still safe to use on your eyes (kinda cool if you ask me). I’m used to using foaming cleansers, and that’s what I prefer, but this one did the trick quite well. My face felt really nice and fresh after, and best of all, it didn’t feel tight, which is common after I use a cleanser. I think I would prefer this as a daytime moisturizer as opposed to night, since I usually like to use a cleansing face brush like a Clarisonic, so I prefer something that actually feels like it’s cleaning my face, as opposed to just a wet feeling.

After the cleanser I went in with the Priming Moisturizer, which is probably my favourite item from everything I tried. Since this is also a primer, I’ve been reserving this for the mornings, but I love the idea of the two in one and lately I’ve been seeing a lot of brands come out with something similar (cough.. Smashbox). This plumps skin with moisture to create a cushiony bounce and an even texture, which helps minimize the appearance of pores. It also contains an anti-redness complex, which soothes and evens skin tone, leaving you with a clean, dewy face. A little goes a long way, which is a good thing since you only get 50 ml of product.

Another item I’m totally digging is the Balm Dotcom Universal Skin Salve, which I got in the birthday formula. Although there are six colours or flavours to choose from, I specifically wanted the birthday one since it’s inspired by Milk bar’s famous Birthday Cake (it literally smells amazing… the cake is pretty good too!).  Since Rosebud Salve is my favourite beauty product of all time, I knew I would love Glossier’s version. This hydrating, long-lasting multipurpose skin salve and lip balm is designed to hydrate and nourish skin. It’s a waxy texture that is non-sticky and comfortable to wear. The Birthday cake one has a subtle shimmer to it so you may not want to put it on zits, burns or mosquito bites (which is where I usually apply Rosebud Salve in addition to my lips), but this is one of those products that everyone must have in their collection.

Moving onto the makeup, there were three products I was just dying to try out. When it was first released, Boy Brow had a 10,000 person waiting list. Crazy, right!? Available in four shades, this is pretty much exactly like Benefit’s Gimme Brow. It’s like a little mascara for your brows. The creamy wax formula (in blond, brown, black or clear) is inspired by traditional hair pomade to thicken, fill in, and groom brows into place. It’s a flexible formula that doesn’t stiffen or flake and all you have to do it just brush it on your brows.

Another hyped-about product is their Wowder, a loose powder designed to cut shine, set makeup and blur the appearance of pores. I got the set which comes with the Wowder Brush for a perfect application. There are three shades available in this, Light/Medium (which is the one I got), Dark/Deep, and Rich. I wouldn’t really recommend this as a stand-alone foundation, I really like it as a setting powder on top of my foundation already. I did just use that powder exclusively in the photos so you can see what it looks like on bare skin, but I did find my face looked flawless once I applied it. I find with a lot of powders, they have the tendency to make my face look cakey, like you can actually see the powder. I didn’t find that to be the case with this one. It made my face look flawless.

Lastly, since I’ve been seeing tons of Facebook ads for it, I got the Lip Gloss.  This little guy is a clear lip gloss that gives your lips a cushiony, ultra shine. You apply it via the doe-foot applicator and although it definitely feels like a gloss (kinda thick and sticky) it is extremely pretty and has a long wear (the gloss stays glossy after an hour). It’s also hydrating with Vitamin E.  To be honest, I don’t find the gloss really that special. If I had to pick between the Balm Dotcom and this, I would pick the balm, but I’m not really a big gloss girl, mostly because I don’t like the texture of glosses to begin with. Their Facebook advertising though definitely seems to help since I couldn’t wait to get my hands (er, lips) on it.

Although I didn’t really find any of the products to be that special (don’t get me wrong I really do love them!), Glossier does a really good job with branding. You get the products in a cute box, everything is wrapped in a pink bubble-wrap ziplock bag, and it comes with stickers. I’m not gonna lie, the stickers totally got me. I mean, who doesn’t love stickers?! If you want to try anything from the line, I would recommend the Moisturizing Primer, the Balm Dotcom, and the Wowder, I think these were the three best bang for your money kind of items.

They also have some sets available which give you a nice assortment of products to choose from at a discounted price. I highly recommend the Phase 1 set, which comes with the Milky Jelly Cleanser, the Priming Moisturizer, and the Balm Dotcom (in a shade of your choosing – go with Birthday cake though!!).  You can get all three products for $55 and it ships free (yay!). These three products were my favourites, so I can’t recommend this set enough.

I also want to note that although they just started shipping to Canada, I couldn’t help but notice that a few of the products I got were actually made in Canada. Funny how those things work…

On another note, another gal who would totally be into Glossier if she lived in this century is Christine from the Phantom of the Opera. Okay, I know this is a weird tie in, but since the leading lady of the musical is all about a natural look (I bet she would just love Boy Brow), the Tony Award-winning musical is playing in Winnipeg at the Centennial Concert Hall until September 3. I went to the musical this past Friday, and although I have seen it before, this version is a little different as it features new scenic design, new choreography, new staging, and lots of special effects.

I was really impressed with the show overall and although I’ve been to a few Broadway Across Canada productions this year, this one would have to be my favourite. I’ve always really been into musicals, especially when I was younger. My dad had this Andrew Lloyd Webber CD that he would always play and I forgot how many amazing songs Phantom has. The set was definitely different from what I remembered seeing the show the first time (the way the set transforms during the title track is pure magic before your eyes), and my friend, who saw on Broadway, agreed that this touring production definitely switched it up from the original version. I seriously cannot say enough good things about this production, I highly recommend you go see it (plus, the special effects and the talent are awesome!).

If you’re in town this long weekend, I would definitely look into picking up tickets to see the show. It’s one of those classic musicals that everyone should see in their lifetime.

Will you be picking up anything from Glossier? Have you tried anything out already?

Please note, I was sent these products from PR. All opinions are my own.

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