pixelbunny's picks

Only a few things this time

Shiseido Facial Cotton

Am still loving these facial cottons. They are so incredibly soft and not prone to breaking apart when wet and in use. They also don’t leave stringy pieces on your face like some other cotton pads out there. What will I do when I run out of my backups??

Shiseido White Lucent Intensive Spot Targeting Serum+

Found this at by luck at my local Marshall’s and decided to try it out. I know it’s discontinued recently but I doubt it’s expired that quickly. I didn’t notice any dramatic lightening of my dark spots but some of my lighter spots seemed

Shiseido White Lucent Brightening Balancing Softener Enriched W

Shiseido’s softeners are so fantastic that I had bought a couple from the last Shiseido sale. I’m hoping for another sale soon so I can stock up!

Jelly Pong Pong Cosmetics Lychee Gel Softening Shower & Bath Gel

Got this in a Luxebox a long time ago. Finally getting around to using it now as part of my “shop my stash” initiative. Definitely smells sweet like lychees, and lathers really well. However, I didn’t find anything overly amazing about it.

Lancôme Bi-Facil Double-Action Eye Makeup Remover

I keep saying a review of this is coming and I swear that it is! All you need to know is that this stuff is amazing and no wonder it’s one of Lancôme’s top-sellers.

Maybelline Baby Lips

Alas, my last Baby Lips and I’m so sad! I love the ones that go on clear because they’re perfect for tossing into my pocket at work. I only saw the Neon ones at the last L’Oreal sale so didn’t stock up on any.

Yes, blog posts are slow coming out. Hard to find time between work, baby, life, and me time. Some more posts are being cooked (slow-cooked?) up so stay tuned!

Delectable Ultra Nourishing Hand Cream

This stuff works well, but smells really really sweet. Think cotton candy. I like that it helps out my dry hands but the smell is really overbearing. Probably won’t buy this again.

DERMAdoctor KP duty lotion

Ah this stuff reminds me of Glysomed! It goes on thick and almost creates a super thin layer to keep moisture in. It doesn’t work all that well during the day when you need to wash your hands frequently, but it works really well just before bed.

The Face Shop Herb Day Cleansing Foam Mousse – lemon

I wanted to like this but I find it dries out my skin. Perhaps it’s because of the lemon (and the brightening properties it has or so the sales lady tells me) but it leaves me with that super squeaky feeling after rinsing it off. I think this would work on those with oily skin, but for normal/combination, be wary that it may dry you out more.

Pür-lisse Gentle Soy Milk Cleanser

This was my first time using a milk-type cleanser and I’m not a huge fan of it. I almost feel like my face is a little greasy afterwards.

NeoStrata Glycolic Renewal Smoothing Cream

The chemical smell is strong in this one!! Supposedly it helps cell renewal with its 5% glycolic acid content. With such a small sample, I can’t really speak for any of those claims. The smell is enough to keep me away though.

Soft lips Lip Hydration and Protection

I think they’ve revamped their look recently so they don’t look like this anymore. Still love this stuff for every day lip hydration. For severely cracked lips, it doesn’t help much, but for daily conditioning, it works.

Lancôme Advanced Genifique Youth Activating Concentrate

Full review here. Love this stuff!

The Body Shop Drops of Youth Youth Concentrate and Youth Cream

Full review here. A great alternative to the pricier option above!

Laneige Water Bank Gel Cream

Full review here. Really good stuff for the summer months!

I love… Raspberry & Blackberry nourishing body butter

Full review coming soon!

Iope Air Cushion XP

Full review coming soon!

Excuse the background – my kid’s taken over my house

Naisture Mask Pack – White Rose

I’m finding the Naisture mask packs to have a very strong smell to them. It could be that I’ve had them for a long time and that’s why it’s smelling so much. For some reason, this mask pack stung a little bit and I didn’t leave it on my face for the full 15 minutes.

Matrix Biolage Exquisite Oil Micro-Oil Shampoo and Oil Crème Conditioner

I bought a ton of these last year and have finally gotten through a pair of them. This is my current favourite shampoo and conditioner combination and I still have another backup in addition to the ones I have open now.

Garnier Body Intensive 7 Days Repairing Lotion

Full review here. Love this stuff but I get the feeling that it’s been discontinued. I’m having a hard time finding it for sale these days.

Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser – foaming formula

Full review here. Love love love this stuff. Still using it. Haven’t found anything else I like better.

Soft lips Lip Moisturizer SPF 20 – Watermelon

This is still my favourite lip balm that hydrates my lips and keeps the skin soft. I have one on my nightstand as well as one in my diaper bag/purse. It has to be with me!

Whoops! The pictures I originally took got erased by accident (Mr reformatted the memory card without making sure everything was offloaded) so this post will be text heavy. I will indicate what was full size and what was sample size.

[Edit: Jan 9th, 2016 – Pictures have been found!! Post updated to include pictures and remove sample count in text.]

Laneige Water Sleeping Pack EX

Full review here. I love this stuff. I use this mini jar for traveling hence why it took so long to get through. Still going through the regular size jar, plus I now have 2 more mini jars thanks to my good friend G!

Evolvh UltraShine Moisture Shampoo

I got this in a Luxebox and was immediately disappointed it didn’t come with the accompanying conditioner. The shampoo itself was pretty good – I felt it really washed all the grease and grime away leaving me with squeaky clean hair. I used it twice a week just to make sure my hair was super clean. Would I purchase a full size? Probably not as I don’t usually indulge in hair treatments. I’m a shampoo and conditioner only kind of gal.

Lancôme Tonique Radiance

Full review here. Still have two more backups (or was that three?).

CeraVe Moisturizing Cream for normal to dry skin

The best part of getting multiple samples is the chance to really use a product. This sample was only 0.18oz, which is barely enough to moisturize my arms. Since I had 5 of them, I had no problem moisturizing my entire body (arms, torso, legs). There is an ever so slightly sticky feeling immediately after applying, however it goes away fairly quickly. Skin is left smooth and soft. Very little scent, if any. Great for those who want a great budget moisturizer with sensitivities to fragrances.

Softlips Lip Moisturizer SPF 20 in Watermelon

This is my absolute favourite lip moisturizer. I don’t know why I never did a full review on the blog about this. Watermelon is one of my favourite scents for this. The small and thin size make it perfect to toss into any bag (or pocket!) and it works so well when my lips are dry and chapped. I’ve got 2 more backups.

Live Clean (Baby) moisturizing baby lotion

I know, it’s supposed to be for baby but I used it on myself instead. Although it moisturized well, the smell was atrocious. I can’t imagine using this on my baby. Never. Ever. Not until they get rid of that horrible smell.

Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Massage Lotion for Stretch Marks

Only one little sample so can’t say much about how it did for stretch marks. It did, however, smell too strongly of cocoa and the smell lingered too long for my liking. Will not be purchasing this.

Caudalie Premier Cru The Eye Cream

I’m trying to remember if I got this in a beauty box or a Sephora order. Regardless, it is the best damn sample I have ever received. This eye cream is amazingly and I love it. The fact that it’s a 7ml sample that lasted me over 2 months of use (usually at night) was already a winner.  Add in the fact that when looking at how much it costs in regular size, this little deluxe sample is actually worth $50!

Shiseido Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate

Full review here. Again, I love sample sizes specifically for travel.

Garnier Body Intensive 7 Days Soothing Lotion in honey

Full review here.

Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser foaming formula

I absolutely love this facial cleanser and have been using it for over a year. Look out for a full review coming soon!

The Body Shop Almond Conditioning Hand Wash

I originally used this a couple years ago when my eczema was really bad, and then stopped using it for unknown reasons. I’ve since rediscovered it and love it again. Look for a full review on this coming soon as well.

Lancôme Génefique Eye Youth Activating Eye Concentrate

I received this as part of a gift with purchase from The Bay. It lasted me quite a while (almost a month!) and definitely kept my eye area nicely hydrated, but I haven’t really noticed any anti-aging changes. I don’t have any eye wrinkles to begin with, so perhaps it’s more of a preventative measure. I like it, but I don’t think I can justify the price on this one when there are other hydrating eye creams out there that work for me.

Softlips Lip Moisturizer SPF20 in watermelon

Softlips s one of my favourite lip products so I’ll pick up a couple here and there. I like that there’s multiple scents to choose from, but they all go on clear so it’s perfect for night time use. I’ve got another 3 backups to go through.

Colab Dry Shampoo in London and Rio

I will save the rave review for an upcoming post but in short, I am loving this dry shampoo and can’t wait to get my hands on another canister!

Mr Pixelbunny was lucky enough this year to snag an early bird ticket to the L’Oréal Warehouse Sale this year so we made a date out of going. We went in with the intention of stocking up on body lotion as it’s the one thing we consistently go through on a regular basis. Everything else was we were going to leave up to fate.

First Visit

• Garnier Intensive 7 Days Repairing Lotion with shea butter for extra dry skin – $5 (orig. $7.97)
• Garnier Intensive 7 Days Nourishing Lotion with manga oil for dry skin – $2 (orig. $4.97)
• Garnier Hydra Express 24H Hydrating Gel-Cream with peach oil for dry skin – $2 (orig. $4.97)
• Lancôme Tonique Radiance – $23.25 (orig. $40)
• Lancôme Huile Douceur – $24 (orig. $40, but discontinued)
• Matrix Biolage ExquisiteOil Micro Oil shampoo – $17.50 (orig. $22)
• Matrix Biolage ExquisiteOil Oil Crème conditioner – $18 (orig. $22)

Body lotion is a must and was one of the main reasons for going to the sale. So into our bag went the Garnier lotions. Lancôme’s Tonique Radiance is a favourite toner in this household, and even though I had just bought two large format bottles from the Lancôme website literally a week ago, I had to pick up one more. Huile Douceur was more of an impulse buy as I like to try oil cleansers here and there, but it wasn’t until I got home and looked it up to find it’s already discontinued. I really liked the Biolage Full Lift Volumizing shampoo and conditioner I bought at the Fall 2014 sale, but it wasn’t here anymore. Instead, we picked up Biolage ExquisiteOil to try out.

• Essie Good to Go Rapid Dry Top Coat – $4.75 (orig. $10.75)
• Lancôme Lip Lover mini trio – $27.50 (orig. $46)
• Lancôme Vernis in Love in #137 Rouge Cabaret – $11.50 (orig. $19)
• Lancôme Vernis in Love in #545 Aqua Bleu – $8.75 (orig. $19)
• Lancôme Vernis in Love in #550 Illuminations – $8.75 (orig. $19)
• Maybelline Baby Lips in peppermint x2 – $2 each (orig. $3.56)

I love Lancôme’s vernis in love for the wide paddle brush and beautifully smooth formulation so I picked up a few of those. I’d also heard rave reviews for lip lover so seeing the mini trio in three very wearable colours seemed like a good chance to try it out. Of course, Maybelline’s baby lips are a no brainer. I love the clear ones because I can wear it during the day AND at night, so a double use.

That night we tried out the Biolage ExquisiteOil shampoo and conditioner to see if we liked it. We ended up loving it, and a second trip was planned for the next day to stock up.

Second Visit

• Matrix Biolage ExquisiteOil Micro Oil shampoo x3 – $17.50 each (orig. $22)
• Matrix Biolage ExquisiteOil Oil Crème conditioner x3 – $18 each (orig. $22)

I think this should last us until the next sale, right?

• Garnier Hydra Express 24H Hydrating Gel-Cream with grape oil x3 – $2 each (orig. $4.97)
• Vichy Pureté Thermale 3 in 1 Calming Cleansing Micellar Solution for sensitive skin and eyes – $16.50 (orig. $20)
• La Roche-Posay Lipikar Baume AP – $19.75 (orig. $33)
• Maybelline Baby Lips in peppermint x2 – $2 each (orig. $3.56)

More body lotions of course; the lighter lotions being specifically for the upcoming warmer months. I picked up Vichy’s Pureté Thermale to try out, and a larger pump bottle of La Roche-Posay’s Lipikar Baume AP, since that stuff is working wonders for my eczema. And then I picked up two more Maybelline Baby Lips because you can never have too many.

Total value = $469.81
Total paid = $309.75! (with taxes, it came to $350.01)

If you’re able to snag an early bird ticket, it’s best to go during that first weekend. Early bird tickets are fewer in number than regular tickets so there aren’t as many people there as the regular ticket weekends. We went around 11am and there weren’t too many people. We ran into one of Mr’s coworkers who had gone right at 9am and he told us he and his wife were with a huge crowd.

<rant> My only complaint was on the second day. Security wasn’t very good at checking tickets at the door and let in everyone with a 2015 ticket. This posed a problem when it came to cashiers as they weren’t consistent. While I was in line, I noticed one cashier had called a manager over to dispute the customer’s ticket. I could overhear the manager saying that the customer’s ticket was not an early bird ticket, and that she could not purchase items until the weekend after. The customer argued and I don’t know the outcome, but it makes sense that if you don’t have an early bird ticket, you shouldn’t be able to purchase anything until your allotted weekend. However, I looked at the people checking out around me and tons of people had later tickets, not the early bird ticket. I fumed as I watched the cashier take the ticket and rang in their items. What’s the point of having early bird tickets if no one is checking the tickets properly? The non early bird tickets clearly state that the sale starts on March 11, so people who showed up on March 7 and 8 have excuse for showing up early unless they knowingly knew there was an early bird weekend. </rant>

Anyways, if you’re able to snag a ticket to go to this event, it’s definitely worth going to! If you’re interested in seeing my posts on previous sale you can click below:

• Fall 2014
• Spring 2014
• Fall 2013
• Spring 2013
• Fall 2012

Lots of goodies this haul around!

The L’Oréal Fall warehouse sale is ongoing right now and thanks to the Mr, I snagged a ticket to go. Every time I go, the layout is a little different or there’s some different rules being applied. The most noticeable difference this sale in comparison to the past is that there were no shopping baskets you could carry around – you either carried it in your hands or you had to get a little shopping cart. The other noticeable change is that they no longer accept cash.

Here’s what I picked up from the sale:

• Maybelline Baby Lips – $2.75 each (orig. $5.49)
• Lancôme Bienfait gift set – $39.75 (orig. $60)
• Lancôme Liner Design in Uptown Brown – $6.75 (orig. $30)
• Vichy Homme Normactiv Cg – $17.50 (not made anymore but orig. $29)
• Kiehl’s Facial Fuel – $28.25 (orig. $47)
• Matrix Biolage Full-Kift Volumizing Shampoo – $7.50 (old formulation but orig. $30 I think)
• Matrix Biolage Full-Kift Volumizing Conditioner – $7.00 (old formulation but orig. $30 I think)
• Garnier Body Intensive 7 Days Soothing Lotion – $2.00 (orig. $7.79)
• La Roche-Posay Lipikar Baume AP – $15 (orig. $35)
• Lancôme Genifique – $93 (old formulation but orig. $155)

Total value = $440.26
Total paid = $225! (with taxes, it came to $254.25)

I love going to these sales because I can always stock up on skincare goodies that I know I’m guaranteed to use, whether it’s old goodies or new ones to try. And of course, the Mr gets to benefit from the sale too.

Other things I noticed that was not there last year was the presence of Shu Uemura cleansing oil hair products. They had shampoo, conditioner, hair masks, and hydrating oils. I was tempted to try but couldn’t justify $40 on a bottle, even if it was the sale price.

Did you go to the sale? If so, what did you get?

Another month of empties 

Shiseido White Lucent Brightening Balancing Softener Enriched W

Love this stuff and would definitely purchase it again. I have a full review of it here.

Garnier Body Intensive 7 Days Soothing Gel-Cream in Peach Oil

Review here. It’s definitely moisturizing, but I can’t get over the grainy-like texture.

Garnier Body Intensive 7 Days Soothing Lotion in Honey

Review here. I like this one quite a lot and have already bought the larger 400ml bottle.

Marcelle Nutrilux Supreme Repair Lip Balm

Full review here. I was surprised it lasted me so long but I really only use it before I go to bed. Hence, why it lasted for such a long time. It’s not made anymore, but if they brought it back, you can definitely bet I’ll be buying them again.

La Roche-Posay Lipikar Baume AP

I can’t get enough of this stuff! My hands feel amazing and are literally brought back to life after having all the moisture sucked out at work. I think I have one more little mini bottle left before I’ll need to go out and purchase one.

Lancôme Génifique Youth Activating Concentrate

This was from one of the gift with purchase deals Hudson’s Bay had going on a while ago. Note that this is the older formulation of Génifique, not the Advanced Génifique.

Laneige Water Bank Gel Cream

Full review here. I would definitely repurchase this again, especially for the times when my skin is particularly dry. I’m really glad that Laneige is finally being introduced to the North American market by way of the US Target. Now if only they would bring it to Canada too so it’s more easily accessible!

Went through quite a few products for the month of January, many of which I had started in Nov/Dec and finally finishing now. Enjoy!

Vidal Sassoon Volume Shampoo and Conditioner

I bought this on a whim because I had run out of shampoo and conditioner. I vaguely remember when Vidal Sassoon’s products were in tall, skinny pink bottles. I haven’t tried it since. Anyways, these were on sale at my local Shoppers so I figured why not give it a try? I was pleasantly surprised to find that it works quite well with my hair, giving me quite a bit of boost after showering and especially after blow drying. It kept the oil from my scalp at bay and I had nice hair for a longer period of time than my other shampoos and conditioners. My only complaint is that it might have worked too well. My scalp got really dry about two weeks into using this and left me with a dry, flaky scalp! Yikes! My fear is that if I keep using it, it might dry my scalp out to the point that hair might fall out. So because of that, I won’t be repurchasing this again. I don’t know if maybe using a hair treatment might help, but for the time being, this is it Vidal Sassoon.

Shiseido White Lucent Brightening Moisturizing Emulsion W

I have a review on this here. The price is a bit hefty and I have tried other products that moisturize just as well. However, the brightening effect is pretty good so it’ll depend on just how much you want that brightening effect.

Lancôme Genifique Youth Activating Concentrate

My holy grail serum. I’ve been using this for the last 3 years and love it. Luckily, I’ve done some travels to the US so I’m able to purchase the huge travel exclusive (if I remember correctly, I only paid $110 for the 100ml bottle). There’s a newer version out now (Advanced Genifique) and I’ve tried samples of it before, but I can’t remember how it compares. Anyways, would definitely repurchase again, and already have a bottle of Advanced Genifique in the backup box.

Vichy Purete Thermale Purifying Foaming Water 

Got this as a sample from Shoppers Drug Mart when they were having a Vichy event last year. One pump gives a rich foam that you can slowly massage into your skin. It cleans pretty well, but doesn’t give me that clean sort of feeling afterwards. It’s formulated for sensitive skin, so that could be why I don’t have the same feeling as some of my other cleansers. Personally, I’m not a fan so I won’t be purchasing this.

Shiseido Ibuki Starter Kit

You can read my full review here. Would definitely repurchase this again.

Lancôme Bi-Facil Double Action Eye Makeup Remover

And another bottle complete! I already have the next bottle opened and another on backup. Once you find something that works, you can never have too many of them. Does anyone else have this problem?

Maybelline Volum’ Express Mega Plush Mascara

This is a gel-mousse type mascara that I picked up from the L’Oreal Warehouse sale. I’ve used it a couple of times, and like the feathery effect it gives my lashes. There is no clumping, and some lengthening, but not too much in the volume department. I’d have liked to use it a little more often, but the tube has dried out and I can’t get any more out. Would consider trying this again but my backup stash of mascara is staggering.

Lancôme Ôscillation Power Foundation 

Whoa, I actually finished a powder foundation!! It only took me 2 years but still, this is a pretty big milestone. I used the colour Beige 40. I never really used this on its own, but more as a setting powder and colour corrector for my liquid foundations that are a touch too light for my skin. Initially, I used the oscillator but found that it was much faster just to swirl a powder brush and sweep it across my skin. It’s really too bad that it’s discontinued and no longer available to purchase.

Fresh Sugar Rosé Tinted Lip Treatment

This was part of Sephora’s birthday gift for Beauty Insiders that I finally got around to using. I quite liked this, as it was really moisturizing while giving just a hint of colour. The only I didn’t like was that it’s extremely soft, and prone to warping and breaking from the tube if you’re not careful. Although I like the formula, I find it doesn’t work well in a tube format. Likely won’t purchase this.

Benefit the POREfessional

I got this as a sample from a Sephora order. I like that it has a slight beige colour to it and has a very smooth, velvety texture to it. I only got one use out of the sample and liked it quite a bit, but would love to try it a few more times before judgement. Would definitely get a smaller tube to test out.

Some more goodies I received from my Influenster #MapleVoxBox were these two from NYC New York Color. I’d never tried anything from this line before so I was pretty excited to try it out. Let’s start with the Big Bold Plumping Lip Gloss.

Big Bold Plumping Lip Gloss – $4.99

The Big Bold Plumping Lip Gloss that received was in the colour 468 – Big City Blush. It’s a beautiful peachy pink with tiny rainbow shimmer in it. The first thing that caught my eye was how big the tube was. It’s fairly thick and has a good weight in your hand. In total, it holds 11ml of product inside.

Rounded slant applicator

It has a rounded slant applicator which allows for quick and easy application. I did find that I needed to scrape some against the edge of the tube when I pulled the applicator out. Otherwise, a big dollop of lip gloss would come out – too much for one application.

Swatch

The swatch is really pretty and is quite nice on the lips too. It does have that sticky lip gloss feel to it so be wary of your hair blowing onto your lips on windy days. I do like the colour and how it looks on my lips and after applying it, there’s a slight tingle to my lips. The adverts boasts a 50% fuller looking lips with a high gloss shine. I can’t comment on it’s lip plumping properties as my lips are quite full already. Something else to note: the smell. It has a very strong plastic, fake berry kind of smell to it. I can’t help but also smell a little bit of vaseline in there? It might not bother some people but for me, the smell is very off-putting, and I don’t think I can bring myself to use it. It’s too bad, since I do like the colour a lot.

Big Bold Curl Mascara – $4.99 

Next is the Big Bold Curl Mascara.

Tube

The tube is also a fairly large size, but a really small base. You can stand it upright but it will tip over pretty easily.

Wand applicator

You can see in the above picture how the wand applicator is like. It’s huge and it’s curved, almost like a smile (or a frown, depending on how you hold it). This is supposed to allow for a more even coat of your lashes in a single stroke. The adverts boast of one stroke giving 12x more volume and 99% more lift. On my lashes, one stroke certainly did no such thing. It did take many strokes to get the desired look. It definitely gave my lashes a more boosted and lifted look compared to without mascara. There was a tiny bit of clumping but overall, my lashes had a really nice fluttery, feathery look to them. I was hoping there would be a waterproof version but alas, they do not. So those with runny eyes, this may not work for you.

*I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. I was not compensated in any way. My opinions are entirely my own.