Loves & Letdowns Lately – February 2017

It’s been a hot minute since I did a Loves & Letdowns post and it’s something I want get into the habit of doing again.  I prefer not to do them every month but every couple of months seems about right.  Here’s what I’ve been loving lately:

Saje Peppermint Halo

Living in Calgary means that Chinooks are a part of life.  For me, it also means that frequent headaches are also a part of life.  Prior using this, my default reaction was to always pop Advil whenever a headache appeared – and sometimes I still have to do that. However, I just felt I was taking them way too often.  So I asked for this for Christmas and was pretty excited to try it out – not that I was hoping for a headache or anything.

This is basically an essential oil concoction in rollerball form, with the first ingredient being peppermint oil.  I rub it along my hairline and along the back of my neck (or wherever I’m feeling pressure/pain) and it leaves behind a cooling/tingling effect that eases and dulls the pain enough that I’ve been able to significantly reduce the number of Advil I’ve been taking.  Now that I have this and I’ve seen results with it, I can’t ever be without it.

NARS Velvet Lip Glide (Bound)

I’m not going to chat too much about this because I’ve got a full-on review of it coming up but this is my new favourite lip products.  It’s such a great shade and it’s so comfortable to wear!  Stay tuned for a more detailed review.

Essie Sugar Daddy

I used to love doing my nails – I’d do them every week and paint them a different shade every week.  I haven’t been able to get back into painting my nails regularly anymore, let alone vibrant colours – I just seem to gravitate towards more neutral, natural shades and admire the brighter fun shades from afar.  This shade in particular is one that I dusted off and pulled out of my collection recently and I forgot how much I love it.  It’s a sheer polish but it leaves this beautiful shiny pink tint to my nails that is just so pretty.  It’s kind of like a your nails but better shade.  The formula is fantastic too!

Exact 5 Blade Razor System

Yah I’m throwing a razor in here.  For years I just used those disposable Schick razors in the Club Pack from Costco.  They do a decent job but one day I noticed just how often I was cutting and nicking myself and experiencing more razor burn so I decided I’d treat myself to a nice lady-friendly razor.  First off all – when did razor blade refills become same price as a restaurant meal?  Do people actually pay $25-30 for them?  Once I got over my sticker shock, I came across this Exact brand razor system at Superstore.  It looked very similar to the Schick and Gillette versions but it was only $5.  I was a little suspicious but I figured I had nothing to lose.  I’m so excited to report that this works just as well as those expensive ones – and the best part is the refills (for 4 blades) are only six dollars!  Adios Schick Disposables!

The Walking Dead

I think I’ve mentioned this show a few times over the last month or so but I can’t help it – I’m completely obsessed with it.  We still have a love/hate relationship going on because it’s scary, I have to close my eyes and cover my ears through quite a few parts of any given episode and sometimes I want to cry when a walker just appears out of nowhere in search of a bite BUT I also just want to sit there and binge watch all.the.episodes to find out what’s going to happen next.  Even if it gives me nightmares….

Letdowns

Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue

I had heard such good things about this bb cream/tinted moisturizer/whatever it is so it’s been on my list to try for a while.  I wanted something that was just easy to slap on my face on weekends or lazy days that would even out my skintone and make me look a little more alive.  Unfortunately this is not what I was looking for.   First of all, no matter what moisturizer I used underneath it, it balled up and flaked off my skin.  It didn’t matter if I used a brush, beauty blender or my hands to blend it in – I had the same results.  It clumped up and I looked like I was shedding.   I also found it sunk into my pores and was difficult to blend; no matter how many times I went over it, I still ended up with sections of my face that were patchy and unevenly covered.  On top of that it completely emphasized any dry patches on my skin and it wasn’t on my skin for more than a few hours before it disappeared and it looked like I had nothing on my skin at all.  It was just a really bad product for me overall and I’m really sad about it – I had such high hopes!  Thank goodness for Sephora’s return policy!

L’Oreal Infalliable Paints Liquid Eyeliner (Black Party)

This is a felt tip eyeliner pen which I really should know well enough now to stay away from.  I used this once before the tip made it unusable.  It doesn’t look damaged but when I try to apply it to my eye it’s like the product can’t make it’s way to the tip so I have to press really hard which bends the tip, which leaves me with a really thick line – not the look I’m going for.   I’m not sure if I have a defective one or this is just how these are but either way I don’t have the patience for it.

Have you tried any of these products?  Let me know below!