Loving Lately – March & April 2017

It’s time for my bi-monthly favourites!  I feel like I have some really good ones to share with you today – and only one letdown!

Loves

twik travel message sweatshirt

This was my very first purchase at our new Simons store here in town and I’ve been loving it.  If you read my Sweatshirt Love post you’ll know that sweatshirts have become a bit of an obsession of mine – I just can’t get enough of them.  This is a very lightweight version so its very Spring/Summer friendly, as is it’s colour.  It has that lived-in look that I love too.  Can’t stop wearing this nor do I want to!

e.l.f. lip exfoliator

My lips are chronically dry, chapped, flaky, peeling – you name it.  The only other lip scrub I tried has been Lush’s and I liked it at first but it dried up and I kind of hated the fact that it was in a jar – that made it a pain to use and it was messy.  After hearing Emily Noel rave about this for so long I finally tracked one down at Old Navy (of all places) and I’ve been loving it.  The lipstick style design is just much easier and convenient to use.  It is quite an intense scrub but I like that – that’s exactly what I need!  I do take Emily’s advice and apply a balm prior to using it which definitely helps rehydrate it when it dries out a bit.  Such a good drugstore find!

Batiste Dry Shampoo Cherry

batiste dry shampoo (cherry)*

I received this dry shampoo from ChickAdvisor back in March and it’s become my new favourite scent.  I’ve loved Batiste for ages but they had a limited selection of scents available here so I was estatic when they expanded their line.  This works just like any of their other dry shampoos that I’ve tried (really, really well) but it has a sweet and fruity scent that I really enjoy.  I do find that the scent can linger on your hair throughout the day so it’s important to find one that you like!  Thankfully they now have lots of options so there’s a scent to cater to everyones preferences.

la roche-posay micellar water ultra reactive skin*

I received this from ChickAdvisor last month and I’ve been using it regularly since – I’m down to the last 1/3 of the bottle and I’ll definitely be repurchasing this once I run out.  You can read my full review here for more details on why I love it.

maybelline superstay better skin concealer + corrector

My favourite concealer of life is Tarte’s Shape Tape because it can pretty much cover anything and everything while still looking relatively natural.  However, I’m super annoyed that it’s so hard to get your hands on here in Canada so I’m trying to scale back my usage of it.  Thus, I set out on a mission to find a good drugstore alternative.  I decided to give this one a try and so far, I’ve been impressed.  It’s definitely more lightweight and more of a medium coverage but on a regular day, that’s pretty much all I need.  This claims to not only conceal, but correct dark circles, imperfections and blemishes after 3 weeks of use.  I haven’t seen any results related to those claims but I’ve been happy with its concealing properties!

lip smackers coca-cola cherry cup lip balm

lip smackers coca-cola cherry cup lip balm

You all know how much I love my Dr. Pepper LipSmackers and when I saw these at Shoppers Drug Mart a while back I scooped it up immediately.  I love this so much that I wish I had bought more of them!  The packaging is straight-up adorable and it performs pretty much the same as my beloved Dr. Pepper except it has a cherry cola scent (which is equally as delicious).  When you twist open the top of the can, inside you’ll find a dome-style lip balm.  It gives my lips a pretty pink tint and leaves them feeling moisturized and soft.

Urban Decay Naked Palette

This palette is part of my Project Pan for 2017 – my goal was to use up some of the makeup I already own instead of just constantly add items to my collection.  While I used this palette once in a while prior to this year and always enjoyed it, this project has really made me appreciate this palette more.  It’s so versatile and I’m always impressed with every look I create with it – whether it be a simple single shadow look or a something more complicated.  In addition the shadows literally last all day without any fading or creasing too. <3 this so much!

First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Oatmeal Mask

I have quite a few deluxe sized samples of this mask stored away but I just cracked one open back in March.  I don’t know why but I didn’t really expect to like it – turns out it’s great!  It does smell heavily of oatmeal so if you’re not into that I wouldn’t recommend it – I personally find it comforting.  It states it’s supposed to nourish, calm and rejuvenate distressed-looking skin – I definitely find it calming and nourishing and I find the redness that I experience on my cheeks is definitely less after using this.  A little of this goes a long way so thankfully those deluxe samples are going to last me a while!

Letdowns

NARS Tinted Moisturizer

After reading rave reviews of this on Sephora’s website, I decided to get a couple samples of it to test out and see if it would work for me.  Really glad I did that instead of just buying it outright because I wasn’t a fan.  It was just way too oily/greasy for my skin – it looked kind of glowy right after I applied it but within an hour or two my face looked like an oil slick.

Have you tried any of these products?  What did you think of them?

*Disclaimer: This post includes a product sent to me for review purposes but all opinions are my own.

Comments

  1. yanrula says

    I can see you’re using your Naked palette so much more from the look of it! I heard from Tati that the Lush’s Lip Scrub doesn’t smell very good, so I’ve not wanted to try it. Maybe I should try this e.l.f. one! My lips have the same problems as yours! First time seeing an Oatmeal mask, now I’m gonna get my hands on one! Thanks for the review!

    yanrula.blogspot.com

    • prettyrufflife says

      My UD palette is very well loved – I’ve had it for 5+ years but it’s sort of gotten lost amongst my other palettes which is why I decided to pull it out and start using it more. Plus it’s getting pretty old and probably needs to be replaced. So good though! 😉

      I actually enjoyed the scent of the Bubblegum lip scrub but you definitely need to like bubblegum as it’s pretty potent! Definitely recommend giving the elf one a try – cheap and effective!

      Let me know what you think of the Oatmeal mask if you end up trying it out! Thank you so much for stopping by! 🙂

  2. Polished and Inspired says

    The Naked Palette is always the one I turn to when I’m not feeling any of my other palettes. It’s like a trusty old friend. haha!
    Umm, the scent of that Batiste dry shampoo sounds amazing! I’ve realized that I need to buy the ones for dark hair though, so I wouldn’t be able to buy it 🙁
    The packaging of the Cherry Coke Lip Smackers is WAY too cute. Did they have other flavours of pop, too? Love the bit of colour, too!

    • prettyrufflife says

      Ah yes I’ve tried their coloured dry shampoos – the one for blonde hair actually smelled really good but it left a green tinge to my roots – not a good look! Hopefully they’ll extend the scents to the coloured dry shampoos too – it’s only right!

      I think they had Vanilla Coke and Sprite maybe? I haven’t seen any more of them in-store but they do sell them on their website – so tempted to place an order!

  3. stashy says

    We have a Simons store in the suburbs here but I haven’t been. Do they sell MAKEUP there? 😛

    Hmm I might have to look into the Elf lip exfoliator. I’m using up one right now that’s in a tub. While I love it, it’s quite messy.

    You got me curious about the Maybelline SuperStay concealer now! I love the corresponding foundation but was warned that the concealer sucks. I generally love Maybelline concealers so I should just give it a whirl.

    And oooh that Lip Smackers Cherry Coke is TOO adorable!

    Too bad about the Nars tinted moisturizer but good thing you got samples to test out first – smart!

    • prettyrufflife says

      Lol no makeup at Simons unfortunately – at least not at our location. A bit of a gap there but I’d recommend it for clothing and home stuff!

      I personally like the SuperStay concealer better than the FitMe and Age Rewind – it’s less dry than the Age Rewind and stays on longer than the FitMe, at least on me.

      Definitely recommend the elf lip exfoliator – I think it’s like $4 or something so definitely worth a try!

  4. Robyn says

    The Urban Decay Naked Palette has definitely been one of my re-occuring go-to’s lately and I’ve definitely rekindled my love for it as well. It really is a fantastic palette! That Cherry Cola Lip Smacker is so cute! I really need to pick up a couple lip smackers and get on the nostalgia train!

    • prettyrufflife says

      The Naked palette is definitely within my Top 3 eyeshadow palettes – I find it pretty much fool-proof.

      Yes you need to get on the LipSmackers train – they’re just as good as they were way back when! 🙂

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