I’m finally getting some “me” time today! The kids are back in school and hubby is back to work this morning. I love them, but I need my space LOL.

So today I want to talk about doing reviews for products you have tried. How many of you have a hard time writing negative reviews? I do for sure! It’s exciting when you get to try your product out for the first time, and your looking forward to talking about it, but then it turns out to be disappointing and not what you had expected. So what then?

Many of the products I’ve tried have been really good and I’ve always have positive reviews. However, every so often we run into one or two products that just aren’t that great for us. Do you choose to write a negative but honest review about it or do you just brush it off and not talk about?

I hate writing negative reviews, but I think that as a blogger and reviewer, we need to be honest with our readers. No product is perfect and we just need to deliver our reviews in a respectable way. I do always try to put a positive spin on my experiences while still being honest with what I don’t like.

Today I want to talk about Summer Friday’s Overtime mask. First I want to say how much I love their Jet Lag mask. It is my favourite and I just stocked up on it with the Sephora sale. I was really excited to finally try the Overtime mask last night. When I first opened it, I was in love with the smell. It reminded me of Chai or pumpkin spice pie. It’s packed with many vitamins to make your skin glow. Unfortunately it didn’t work out too well for me. The grittiness was just too much for my sensitive skin. It did make my skin soft, but it also did leave my skin feeling itchy and irritated even till the next morning. I had a few small bumps around my nose. Again, I do have sensitive skin so it’s just something that isn’t made for my skin type. Maybe I’ll keep it aside for now and give it another try sometime later.

Anyone tried this mask before? How did you like it?

I’ve been trying out products from Youth to the People for awhile now and I really like their brand. I was very interested in YTTP because their products are made with 100% vegan ingredients, cold-pressed extracts no with paragons, no phthalates and no sulphates. I love that they make products that are “Superfood for the Skin,” and each product is bottled in clear glass bottles or jars making them look simple, clean and lustrous.

The first product I tried was their Superfood Cleanser.  This cleanser is formulated with cold-pressed antioxidants – kale, spinach, and green tea . I really like the light and refreshing herby smell! I originally got it as a sample but it wasn’t enough for me to test out how I really felt about it so when I had the chance, I bought the mini bottle at Sephora. I tried the cleanser for about a week using it every night and here are my thoughts.

I like that it’s a very gentle cleanser and it smells really clean, herby and refreshing. However, I didn’t find that it did a really good cleansing job and I don’t wear a lot of make up. (I used my hada crie after cleansing and still had a lot of stuff cleansed off onto the cotton pad). I think maybe using it with an oil based cleanser for double cleansing may work better. It also doesn’t foam much at all. Because it is such a gentle cleanser, for me, it would work better as a morning cleanser because as a night time cleanser it just isn’t enough.

I was very excited to try this out for a longer period of time and I really wanted to like this cleanser, however, by the third night, I found that it left my skin feeling tight and itchy. I was quite surprised until I read closely that one of the ingredients was retinyl palmitate. I don’t respond well to retinols and that was probably why it didn’t work well for me. So if you also don’t respond well to retinols and have slightly drier skin, then I would suggest trying a sample (if you can) before buying it.

Have you tried this cleanser? What are your thoughts? What did you like or didn’t like? Would love to hear about your experience!

Let’s talk a bit about the technique of gua sha (since I’m needing a bit of it tonight). Gua sha is one of the safest and most effective ways of eliminating toxins in our body and helps with reducing tension and stress. It helps to detoxify and stimulate circulation in the body. I was lucky to have had the opportunity to study and learn about it a few years back when I started to develop health issues.

Gua sha is a practice rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine and translates to “scrape toxin or scrape wind”. Back then, before these tools were made, they use to use soup spoons to scrape. Gua sha can be used on the body and face but both are done differently as the one for body uses more pressure and scraping motions to relieve aches and stiffness, stimulate new blood flow and get the toxins out. You’ll notice that your skin will have red spots (which represent the toxins in your body blocking your circulation).

For facial gua sha you need to be more gentle.  The tool used for facial is usually made of jade or rose quartz. The tool, together with your facial oil, can help tone skin, reduce fine lines and wrinkles, increase circulation, calm the nervous system, depuff and brighten dark spots. It can also enhance absorption of your skin care products.

For facial gua sha you won’t be scraping back and forth like you would with the body. You would gently move and push  the lymph fluids which carries toxins, in one direction towards the lymphs.

I had really severe facial pains in the past, but after doing acupuncture, I was advised to do gua sha on my face and neck to help stimulate circulation and improve the loss of muscle tone to my face. I admit I don’t use it often on my face because I’m always worried about triggering my facial pain, but I do make the effort to try and have seen great results. I mainly use gua sha on my neck and scalp which has helped a lot with tension and stress (like today).

Gua Sha can be used to treat many different types of daily ailments and chronic diseases. I love using it for my headaches and sinus congestions. What makes it work even better is using it with essential oils, and for me, it will most definitely be Saje’s oils. They are my go-to wellness fix. Gua sha, together with Saje’s peppermint halo is amazing for headaches and their immune oil is great for sinus congestion. You will always find my jade tool along with all these essential oils in my bag wherever I go.

Gua sha jade and rose quartz scrapers are becoming more and more readily available. I got my jade one (for my face) off Amazon. For my body, I use a different type of tool (which was purchased in Asia). It is a bit harsher to use but it really gets the “sha” out.

Have you done gua sha? What do you use it for?

So excited to be opening this Jeju Heritage Kit which was a promo item from Innisfree’s grand opening. This travel set includes nice sample – sized products of some of the bestsellers from their brand. So excited to see that the green tea serum was included in this kit as well, can’t get enough of it! I really like the kit as they included some of their bestsellers and many of the products I had wanted to try!

The kit includes:

1) Cica balm with Bija seed oil – This is great for troubled skin. Cica (a.k.a Centella Asiatica Extract) and Bija fruit essence work together to help improve the skin’s tone, texture and protective barrier.
2) Time science spot treatment – This product firms up and skin and improves the elasticity of your skin. It contains Jeju omega oil with antioxidant omega-3 and Jeju sea mustard ferment extract to firm up the skin .
3) Dewy glow jelly cream with Jeju cherry blossom – This cream is formulated with Jeju cherry blossom leaf extract to brighten the complexion and betaine from sugar beet to replenish moisture.
4) Pore clearing clay mask 2x with super volcanic clusters – This mask targets pore tightening, sebum control, dead skin cell exfoliating, deep cleansing, and improves skin complexion through its cooling effect. It contains Jeju’s natural volcanic cluster called ‘volcanic scoria’, which is formed from the island’s volcano lava flow and contains many beneficial nutrients.
5) Youth-enriched cream with orchid – An anti-aging cream which includes Jeju Orchid to reduce wrinkles and visible pores, firm skin, improve skin tone and nourish skin.
6) 9 solutions cream – A rich balm-like cream formulated with Jeju Yeongjucho Mushroom to help address common signs of aging.
7) Brightening and Pore-caring sleeping mask – This overnight mask helps even skin’s tone and texture, reduce the look of dark spots, and control excess dead skin cells and is enriched with Jeju-grown tangerine peels.
8) Green Tea serum – A moisturizing serum with organic Jeju green tea and green tea seeds that helps to hydrate your skin.
9) Firming energy essence with fermented soybean – This essence is formulated with high concentrations of antioxidant-rich Fermented Jeju Soybean Extract and Oil that helps improve skin’s firmness, brightness, tone, smoothness and moisture barrier. 

Have you tried any of these and what are your favourites? So far I’ve tried the Green Tea serum and I absolutely love it! Can’t wait to try the other products out. Stay tuned for a detailed review!

So I’m super excited to be sharing this! This has been a brand that I’ve been waiting to try.

Innisfree is a natural brand that uses pure ingredients sourced from the island of Jeju. “Jeju is a South Korean volcanic island blessed with clean air, warm sunlight, fertile soil and pollution-free pure water.”  They are Korea’s first natural skincare brand.

I’ve never been the type to wake up early to line up for any store openings, sales or promos. However, I got an email from @innisfreecanada yesterday about their new store opening today and I was really excited, but couldn’t decide whether I should go or not. My hubby had the day off. I really felt bad asking him to wake up early just to wait in line and shop with me, but he knew I wanted to go and really wanted to support my blog so he said, “Let’s go,” and so we did! Best hubby in the world! 😍 (But I think I was kinda pushing it when I asked him to take a selfie with me). 😂

We got there pretty early and there were quite a bit of people waiting in line already. (I thought we were early already 😳). First 200 customers gets a Hydrating Trio with Jeju Green Tea (when they purchase any dollar amount in store). We were 22nd in line, not bad lol. By the time we left the line up was huge!

What a fun morning! I was like a little kid in a candy shop! I was so excited and overwhelmed at the same time. It wasn’t crowded so we got to shop quite comfortably as they only allowed so many ppl in at a time. There were just so many products to look at, I couldn’t decide where to start. The reps were all super helpful and very friendly.

I love that this brand is a more natural line with eco-friendly packaging and most importantly, it is affordable. They have an insane collection of sheet masks! I walked out with so many stuff, it was like Christmas in August! Would have loved to take more pics but it was hard with customers and reps walking around. Couldn’t get a nice picture without a hand or a leg crashing in hahaha.

This is their new Jeju Cherry Blossom line which I was drawn to right away. So pretty and smells amazing. I got the Dewy Glow Jelly Cream to try! The two products I’m most excited to try out is their Pore Clearing Clay Mousse Mask and the ever so popular Green Tea Seed Hydrating Serum.

The promos they had were amazing. The first 200 customers get a Hydrating Trio with Jeju Green Tea (when they purchase any dollar amount in store), the Jeju Heritage kit (if you spend $50 and over) and a limited edition Canadian-themed, eco-friendly tote bag (when you purchase over $80) . Yup, I got all of them LOL! (I’ll talk about these kits in later posts). I also got the exclusive Toronto set which includes their best – selling items. It’s a Green Tea Seed discovery set for just $35 ( actual value of $60). In it, you’ll get the Intensive Hydrating Serum, the Intensive Hydrating Cream, the Hydrating Cleansing Foam and Intensive Hydrating Eye Cream. Can’t wait to try them out and share with you all!

So as you know, I picked this up from Costco two weeks ago. It was too pretty to pass up and I heard many good things from a friend who has tried it. There were some products that I liked more than others and some that I didn’t really like as much, but overall I was quite impressed with the kit. I really like how it came with an instruction book to explain each product and how to use it. I also liked that inside the box they show you what products to use in each routine. So let me go over some of the products and my thoughts on them.

1 – Rice Foaming Cleanser – When I first opened this product, I noticed the nice light, refreshing scent.  I applied a small amount to my damp faced and gently massaged.  It was really nice and gentle and you can feel the little ground rice exfoliating the skin (not abrasive at all).  I loved how my face felt after cleaning.  I was happy to find that yesstyle.com has it for sale individually so I will be repurchasing in the future!  I honestly wasn’t expecting to like it especially since I love using the AmorePacific one, but I was pretty impressed with this one too.  I would recommend.  It is perfect for all skin types especially sensitive ones.  

2- Maycoop raw sauce mini – Raw Sauce is a gentle toner, emulsion and essence in one that hydrates and nourishes the skin. It is made with 93% maple tree sap, skin-nourishing fructan powder (eco-cert certified), and Asian herbal and fruit extracts to revitalize dull and dormant skin.  At first I didn’t like the thickness of it (felt like syrup in my hands) but after applying it on my face, it absorbed easily and didn’t feel tacky at all.  My skin felt more hydrated and plumped.  I loved it and I love the thick frosted glass bottle it comes in with a plastic wood-effect cap!  

3 – True Rose Repair Essesnce – This was one of the thicker essences I’ve tried.  It has a gel-like consistency which I didn’t mind (though it did throw me off a bit in the beginning).  It consists to organic Bulgarian rose water and rose essential oil which calms the skin with its anti-inflammatory and anti-acne properties.  It is a true rose petal scent however, it was a bit too much for me.  I like rose scent, but for some reason, this was very potent for me. It feels a bit tacky in the beginning, but once you apply it on your skin, it is really hydrating and absorbs easily.  It leaves your skin feeling really soft.  

4 – This product consists of Camellia Japonica flower extract, shea butter and macadamia nut oil.  When I first applied this, I thought it was pretty thick and tacky.  I didn’t like it at all.  But after applying under the eyes, the tackiness eventually went away and my skin under the eyes felt really soft and hydrated.  I started to like it.

5 – Maycoop Raw Moisturizer – The silky texture and the lovely scent (which I really like) is formulated from maple tree sap which absorbs right into the skin.  I have to say it is one of the best moisturizers I have used.  It doesn’t feel heavy at all and it is so hydrating. I’m so in love with it.  Just like the Raw Sauce, it comes in a frosted glass jar with a plastic wood-effect cap.  Beautiful!  I don’t know where to find more after I’m done with this!

6 – Touch In Sol No Problem Primer – I think out of the whole box I was the most disappointed with this product.  I read the ingredients and it has about 4-5 different silicone ingredients contained in it. That was a turn off for me already, but since I’m trying everything and doing reviews, I gave it a try one day.  It did make my skin look smooth and nice and felt nice and light, but by the end of the day I felt oily and I had small bumps appearing on my chin area.  Not a product for me unfortunately.

7 – Vitamin Oil Serum – Rich in vitamins, antioxidants, and essential fatty acids, Urang Vitamin Oil Serum is a lightweight yet powerful blend of oils that target signs of aging. When I first opened it, the scent was really potent (just like the rose repair essence). I still tried it and the smell went away after awhile.  Took me a few days to get use to the smell and kinda be okay with it.  I love that is is packed with mostly organic ingredients.  It is super moisturizing and makes the skin really soft.  I love that it didn’t make me break out.  

8 – Sheet Masks – The sheet masks were very nice and hydrating. It really gave my skin a boost of moisture. I wish there was more. I love sheet masks. It was so nice and refreshing using it straight out from the fridge.

Overall I was really impressed with most of the products.  The rice cleanser, the raw moisturizer and the sheet masks were my favourites for sure.  I like the rose repair essence and the vitamin oil, but I just have to try and get over the potent smell.  I can see the changes it had made to my skin. During the two weeks, my skin always felt hydrated, soft and looked glossy. I think anyone who is interested in trying a Beauty routine should give this box a try.  

If you’ve ever tried LaNeige’s Lip Sleeping Mask, you’ll love this Lip Glowy Balm too! I got the berry one because it smells so good. Actually they all smell good. The berry and pear are my favourites.

This balm is really light and moisturizing. It is easy to apply with the slanted applicator. I’m usually not a gloss type of girl because I don’t like when it gets sticky and gross, but this is so not sticky and very moisturizing. It has a very natural tint to it.

It’s great for days when you don’t feel like wearing too much make up but want a bit of colour. It’s become my favourite and a must have in my purse.

Have you tried these balms? Which one is your favourite?

This summer I was trying out a new sunscreen called Fre C by Skin & Lab. After two months, I can say this is my new favourite sun screen!

Honestly, I loved the sunscreen as soon as I put it on.  It is light and goes on the skin so nicely like a light milky lotion.  It doesn’t leave the skin greasy or tacky and absorbs effortlessly.  It feels like you have nothing on.  This sunscreen has vitamin C (antioxidation) & vitamin E (protection and blockage from damaging skin) as well as centella asiatica extract ( which calms the skin and prevents skin dryness).  It has a slight scent but nothing too strong and doesn’t irritate my skin.  I love that it is moisturizing without leaving a white cast and makes my skin look glossy. It’s SPF is also very high. Wearing it through the day it does not make my skin greasy or break out. I think this would be great for winter time as well.

“It is formulated with unique hydro-trapping technology to maximize the amount of hydration delivered to the skin while protecting from UV rays with a refreshing and light finish.”

I love the packaging as it has a summery feel to it. It is also very travel-friendly. It’s definitely a keeper for me and I need to stock up! This can be purchased on YesStyle.com and you can use my code for extra discount! C5L5KB