A must-have for me every week? Throwing on a face mask.
I usually reserve Sunday nights for my mask time, but sometimes I’ll throw in an additional day throughout the week depending on how my skin is looking and feeling. I have a lot of face masks in my collection (the skincare kind FYI… although I do have a lot of masks now too for when I’m out and about); everything ranging from gels, sheets, clays…. you name it. With that, I’m always down to trying out new brands and formulas as well.
Alya Skincare has been on my radar for a while now, mostly due to it’s super cute pink packaging. The brand is quite small in their offering, but I like how the products all work together so you get a nice and through routine.
In case you aren’t familiar with Alya Skincare, they hail from Australia and their star product, the Pink Clay Mask, is made with Australian clay, which detoxifies and brightens your skin. This clay is also safe for sensitive skin types and all their products are vegan and animal cruelty free as well.
The brand launched in Canada in 2019 online and you can find their products in store at select drugstores as of February 2021. Like I said, they are known for their Pink Clay Mask (C$49.95) which is made with kaolin clay, witch hazel, aloe vera, and Vitamins C and E. This mask detoxifies and brightens your skin, as well as tightens pore. It helps to extract pollutants and junk from your skin and will also assist in the removal of acne and pimples. Just apply the pink clay to your face, chill out for 10 minutes, then rinse.
Speaking of rinsing, use their Foaming Micellar Cleanser (C$19.99), which is infused with watermelon seed oil, essential rose oil, and witch hazel. This foaming cleaner will help to hydrate, rejuvenate, and cleanse skin, while the micelles draw out dirt and oil without drying out your skin.
Now that your skin is cleansed, use their Australian Native Berries Moisturizer (C$24.95), which hydrates and moisturizes skin thanks to the added pepperberry, macadamia oil shea butter, and riberry.
The brand also has a scrub, the Pomegranate Facial Exfoliator (C$24.95), which they recommend using prior to the Pink Clay Mask (I actually like to use it after to help remove the mask).
This scrub is safe for sensitive skin and will deeply exfoliate and cleanse your skin. It helps to extract pollutants and dirt and will also help with acne and pimples
As mentioned, all of Alya Skin’s products are vegan, cruelty free, and come in the cutest pink packaging. Alya does recommend using their products together for the best outcome and overall, I have used the regimen as a complete set. They have also recently released a serum as well, so I like how they are building up their collection (they just need an eye cream and toner now!).
I like this brand, however, I would recommend it more for those who are under 30 since I prefer more anti-aging benefits personally, but for the Gen Z crowd I think this would be really beneficial for their skin and the cost is at a good price point as well. You can find them via the Alya Skin site or on freshglow.ca.
Have you tried Alya Skin before?
Products provided by PR. All opinions are my own.
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You know what I really miss? Having an excuse to put on self tanner.
Over the past year I have really built up my self tanners and typically I would only apply them when I had an excuse, like a vacation, a girl’s night out, or just if I wanted a mood booster.
This past summer I spent a ton of time outside and it was actually the first time ever where I got a natural tan (thanks to an excessive amount of time outside.. with sunscreen on of course!).
Now that my tan is all gone, I’m back to my pale self and since everything is locked down there is just no excuse to apply self tanner… unless I want a little pick me up that is.
About a month or so back I got in a new tanner and it came just in time since I was feeling like a little mood booster, the kind that a nice and tanned body gives me.
Self Made Tanning is a Canadian company from Toronto and is a line of premium-quality self tanning mousses. Their tanners are different from others out there in that they are paraben-free, cruelty-free, vegan, sustainable, and the packaging is made with recycled materials. Also, unlike other tanning mousses and lotions, their products are made with 100 per cent natural DHA.
Some of the ingredients you can find in their formula include caffeine, jojoba oil, almond oil, avocado oil, Vitamin C, and coconut oil. With these added ingredients, not only are you left with a beautiful tan, but you’ll get tons of skincare benefits as well.
Their line includes three shades, as well as an applicator mitt and an eraser mousse. They have a Gradual Tanner (C$39), a Medium Self Tanner (C$49), and a Dark Self Tanner (C$49).
I obviously got the darkest shade they have since I believe that if you are going to self tan, you might as well go full out with the colour. I’m Extra Dark Tan is their darkest shade and is suitable for the face and body. It works similar to other mousses where you can apply it with a mitt, gloves, or by your hands (although I don’t recommend this method as much since you’ll end up with dark palms and possibly a streaky tan).
Self Made says that the colour will develop in as little as one hour and then get deeper the longer you have it on. The formula of the natural DHA and bronzers will leave you with a long-lasting, natural-looking tan that lasts for days and which will hydrate your skin as well.
I applied this during the day and left it on for over 12 hours. Truthfully it didn’t get me as dark as I thought it would, but I was left with a beautiful natural-looking tan, which is more than I could have hoped for. In the swatches photo below, I had actually showered twice (in the evening to wash off the colour guard and then in the morning after my workout), and as you can see I’m not super dark but I have a beautiful glow on my skin, which you know, if all we can really ask for when applying a tanner. Obviously this was just one application, the more I layer it on, the deeper I will obviously get.
I did apply it with their glove, which to be honest, I did swap it out for a different one since I find that it slid around too much. I find self tanning mitts in general to be kind of finicky since unless your hand has some sort of texture or grip, it will just slip and slide. I like the gloves that have some grip inside them as it’s way easier to use with the tanner.
Finally, for those days where your tanner is a little streaky or patchy (we’ve all been there), they offer a Self Tan Eraser (C$39). This product erases self tan build up in minutes, as well as preps skin for your next tan. It is also enriched with jojoba oil, vitamin E, and cucumber and is suitable for the face and body.
The Reset eraser is a great product to prime and prep skin before your next tan as it removes any dirt or self-tanning unwanted build up. It contains a pH-balancing two-in-one formula to cleanse and prime skin, leaving you with hydrated and conditioned skin.
I haven’t seen too many products like this one, so I love how they offer this. We have all been there and self-tanning mistakes are bound to happen, so this would be something great to have in your collection.
Overall, I really like these products and find that the formula is really impressive. I love how it’s vegan, cruelty-free, and filled with skin-nourishing ingredients, so not only are you getting an amazing tan, but it will also nourish and hydrate your skin as well.
Please note, all products provided by PR. All opinions are my own.
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I’ve always really enjoyed CoverGirl’s mascaras.
When it comes to drugstore-brand mascaras, CoverGirl definitely ranks high on my list, so anytime they release a new one, I’m always itching to try it.
Brand new from the beauty brand as of late last year is the Lash Blast Clean Volume Mascara (C$10.99). This mascara is the brand’s first clean, vegan formula and promises volumized lashes with up to 10-times the volume of bare lashes. The formula is also free of parabens, sulphates, talc, and mineral oil and it’s infused with argan and marula oils to leave leashes feeling conditioned and soft.
The brush on this one is similar to other Lash Blast formulas and is on the thicker side, so although the brand says that it is designed to separate and define lashes, I do find that I prefer a thinner brush to get to the root of my lashes for this effect. Because of that, I didn’t really find this mascara to be anything out of this world. I would say it gave me noticeable lashes but if I was looking for something more dramatic, I would reach for a different formula instead.
This mascara comes in three shades (Very Black, Black, and Black Brown) and I found that overall it did an okay job. This would be the kind of mascara I would put on for everyday wear or a minimal makeup day. Just enough oomph, but nothing too dramatic. I really do enjoy the formula and appreciate how CoverGirl came out with a clean mascara in their line. I also want to note that the packaging of this is also made with 80 per cent recycled paper, so it’s not just the mascara which is sustainable.
If you are on the hunt for a new clean mascara or an everyday formula to add to your collection, I would give this one a try. If you are on the hunt for something a little more noticeable, then I would try out one of their other mascaras instead.
Have you tried out the new CoverGirl Lash Blast Clean Volume Mascara?
Please note, products provided by PR. All opinions are my own.
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