laneige cream skin

2020 Favourites | Skincare

Well, 2020 has been a year. It has definitely been a year of skincare for me. All of the mask-wearing and hand-washing played a definite toll of my skin barrier and my eczema. Also, the ritual of doing my skincare routine likely helped to keep me sane in this quite frankly weird time. Here are my absolute picks for skincare products I used to keep myself sane and/or to keep my face and body from flaking off:

Purlisse Blue Lotus 4-in-1 Cleansing Milk ($36 US | 150 mL)

This non-foaming cleansing milk both works as a gentle morning cleanser, second cleanse in the evening or to remove a lighter face of makeup and sunscreen. It contains some essential oils low on the ingredient list but actually remains gentle enough to remove makeup from my sensitive eyes without stinging. It contains gentle surfactants and soothing ingredients including oat, green tea and liquorice root. It goes on as a light milk that rinses completely clean when water is added, but leaves moisture in the skin after removal. This is both a gentle cleanser that never stings and a nice treat. I will acknowledge that this cleanser is rather expensive, especially for a brand that I haven’t heard much about, but it is so concentrated I’ve had it on the go for maybe nine months… And when my face was raw and sore this was one of the only cleansers that didn’t burn or sting. Did I mention it doesn’t burn or sting?

Kate Somerville Goat Milk Moisturizing Cleanser ($50 CDN | 120 mL)

I didn’t actually realize this oil-rich cream cleanser was a favourite until I put this post together. It was included in the Caroline Hirons Summer Kit and wasn’t an instant favourite in the summer. It’s quite expensive but I do enjoy this ultra gentle cream cleanser. I could do without the fragrance, but fortunately it’s towards the end of the ingredient list and isn’t offensive. For a cream cleanser, this cleanser is both ridiculously gentle and rather good at removing makeup and sunscreen. It doesn’t burn my very sensitive eyes and actually does remove eye makeup well. This cleanser is formulated with super gentle cleansing agents, a number of plant oils, soothing milk proteins, honey and a teensy bit of lactic acid. This is a cleanser that I adore especially in the dry winter months alongside my prescription retinoid.

Pestle & Mortar NMF Lactic Acid Toner ($44 US | 200 mL)

This is the chemical exfoliant I have happily been reaching for most days in the latter half of the year. It contains lactic acid, gluconolactone, niacinamide and soothing black tea extract. It has been easy enough to tolerate in a routine with a prescription retinoid and leaves my skin radiant, even in tone and texture and with very few clogged pores. Using this toner, I find my skin looks resurfaced and bright.

Laneige Cream Skin Toner & Moisturizer ($43 CDN | 150 mL)

This year, I discovered a new milky toner or rather moisturizer in liquid form. It’s fragrance free,has a short and benign ingredient list and really helps to soothe, hydrate and calm the skin. It’s a godsend at any point but was particularly useful when my skin barrier was compromised and my skin was red, raw and sore. It contains glycerin, meadow foam oil and the antioxidants, white tea extract and vitamin e.

Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence ($23.81 CDN | 100 mL)

Although it’s marketed as an essence, this was my favourite serum discovery of the year. It contains wound healing and reparative snail slime, sodium hyaluronate, soothing allantoin and barrier-repairing panthenol. It might feel a bit slimy but I enjoy the instant comfort it provides and the hefty dose of humectants it imparts into the skin. After using this, my skin was always plumped up, calmed and significantly more hydrated. This was a godsend, especially in a world where everyone was going overboard with the active ingredients. It resulted in generally less pissed off hydrated skin.

Neutrogena Bright Boost Gel Cream ($24.97 CDN | 50 mL)

To my chagrin, this gel-cream textured humectant — which I use as a kind of serum-moisturizer hybrid underneath my sunscreen during the day or underneath a heavier moisturizer at night — comes in a pot and is substantially cheaper on Amazon than anywhere else. It contains glycerin, mandelic acid, gluconolactone, acetyl glucosamine and squalane. The acids it contains are larger molecules and therefore are gentler on the skin and the polyhydroxy acid performs as a humectants while exfoliating. The acetyl glucosamine is an interesting skin brightening ingredient and squalane adds extra nourishment.

Paula’s Choice Omega+ Complex Moisturizer ($35 US | 50 mL)

This whipped comforting shea-butter-containing moisturizer really helped me to get through a really rough bout of flaky, red, sore and raw skin at the beginning of the year and I haven’t stopped buying since. Actually, I love this whipped cream so much that I was a bit panicked when my container was empty and the product was out of stock. It never burns or stings with it’s gentle fragrance-free formula and is soothing. It relies on shea butter, omega-rich plant oils, ceramides, fatty acids and replenishing ingredients including sodium hyaluronate.

Belif The True Cream Moisturizing Balm ($50 CDN |50 mL)

If I hadn’t tried this moisturizer in a sample, I don’t think I’d have ever tried it from the ingredients list alone. It’s packaged in a jar, contains a bunch of potentially irritating plant extracts, contains some fragrance and doesn’t contain many barrier reinforcing or reparative ingredients. It can sting a little on skin with a compromised barrier but I must say, I love the cushiony silicone-y feeling of this moisturizer that soothes the skin, immediately sinks in and imparts lasting hydration. It contains glycerin, silicones, macadamia oil, soothing fermented extracts, panthenol and oat kernel extract.

Paula’s Choice RESIST Super-Light Daily Wrinkle Defense SPF 30 ($33 US | 60 mL)

My favourite sunscreen discovery of the year was this tinted mineral sunscreen. The sunscreen, while marketed towards normal, oily and combination skin types, works well on my dry skin, especially throughout the hot and humid Summer we had. The finish of this sunscreen is semi matte and still flattering on drier skin but doesn’t lean shiny and the tint on it is a fairer subtler grey-beige. It doesn’t offer much for coverage but was enough for a base on its own for me a lot of the time, diffusing redness and evening out the skin. It’s a fragrance-free formula, enriched with a number of antioxidants and soothing ingredients and iron oxides for additional visible light protection. I love that it works for me on top of a serum or moisturizer and doesn’t cling to dry patches.

Avene Mineral Tinted Fluid SPF 50+ ($33 CDN | 40 mL)

This was another tinted mineral sunscreen that I happily discovered in 2020. It uses nano sized particles but still offers robust protection and includes even more iron oxides for added visible light protection. It has a beige tint and offers substantially more coverage, suiting light to medium skin tones best — I can get away with it, particularly when I have fake tanned or when I accidentally have gotten a bit of colour in the summer, on my fairer skin. It has a glowier, more moisturizing finish that can get kind of shiny, when sweating is involved. The formula contains numerous emollients and tocopherol and not much else. My favourite way to use this sunscreen was actually mixed with the aforementioned Paula’s Choice option to get my perfect colour and finish.

Paula’s Choice Defense Essential Glow Moisturizer SPF 30 ($29 US | 60 mL)

This mineral-sunscreen-moisturizer-hybrid was one of the products that got me through early lockdown, when my was red, raw, sore and flaky. It has a moisturizing lotion kind of vehicle and contains antioxidants, skin-soothing ingredients like liquorice root, a peptide, fatty acids and barrier repairing ingredients. From what I’ve read and experienced, the particles are nano sized but this allows for the soothing mineral sunscreen to not cling to dry patches and apply evenly, with basically no cast. On my fairer skin, I basically do not experience a cast; instead, it has a slight grey-beige cast that diffuses redness without depositing any kind of colour. I will note that the finish it leaves is dewy and it does have a glowy kind of sheen to it but it never angers my skin, even in the phase where everything was angering my skin. It’s also a fantastic sunscreen choice when you’ve overdone it with the acids or retinoids.

Eucerin Eczema Relief Cream ($15.47 CDN | 226g)

2020 has been a year of eczema outbreaks for me on body, unfortunately, but I have become better at dealing with it as a result. This cream is one that I’ve repurchased multiple times and have used twice daily to decrease itchiness and irritation and help to repair my quite frankly damaged skin barrier. This fragrance-free cream contains 1% colloidal oatmeal to soothe the skin and act as a skin protectant, mineral oil and castor seed oil, soothing liquorice root extract and a barrier-repairing ceramide. It feels comforting on the skin and doesn’t sting on super irritated patches.

Polysporin Cracked Skin Healing Balm ($16.47 CDN | 312g)

This thick and kind of greasy balm has helped me tremendously throughout the year, allowing for some painfully itchy and sore eczema patches to heal. Applying it regularly on these patches allows them to heal, and keeps the dryness and itchiness at bay to a certain extent. If I’m feeling very broken out, I’ll use it all over areas but I usually just use it on patches of dry irritated skin. It contains glycerin, fatty alcohols, dimethicone and oat to seal moisture in and repair the skin. The formula is very bare bones and fragrance free but it works incredibly well to seal moisture in super dry and irritated areas.

Eucerin Aquaphor Healing Ointment ($8.54 CDN | 50g)

I originally fell in love with this petrolatum and mineral oil based ointment as a lip balm for my chronically dry, flaky and chapped lips. However, I came to rely on it to keep moisture in chapped patches of skin from mask wearing or random causes around my mouth, eyes and nose. It also contained panthenol, glycerin and bisbolol so it’s healing in the sense beyond being just a pure occlusive agent. It does contain lanolin as well, which can be an issue with some people prone to eczema.

What products got you through 2020?
Maggie, x.

Fall Sephora Sale Edit

I legitimately have spent enough money at Sephora to maintain my VIB Rouge status from these biannual — or sometimes more frequently if we’re lucky — savings events the last three years. Starting today, October 30th, VIB Rouge members will have access to 20% off until November 9th. Beginning November 3rd, VIB members will have access to 15% off until the 9th as well and beginning November 5th, any Beauty Insider member will have access to 10% off until the 9th as well. The code is HOLIDAYFUN and can be used as many times as one desires. Here are some products I’m interested in or would suggest you think about:

Briogeo Detox + Restore Kit ft. Scalp Scrub Shampoo + Don’t Despair Repair Hair Mask ($67 CDN | 2×236 mLs)

The Briogeo Don’t Despair Repair Hair Mask might actually be my holy grail deep conditioner and those aren’t words I use lightly. This kit also comes with a full sized deep conditioner along with their scalp scrub shampoo for only a little bit more than the price of the deep conditioner alone. The mask is lightweight, silicone-free and contains a myriad of oils, biotin and some hydrolyzed proteins. It always leaves my wavy curls bouncier, clumpier and moisturized — the slip is also out of this world fantastic. The scalp scrub shampoo is a more recent discovery of mine and I enjoy using it as well — and it’s expensive so this kit is appealing. It doesn’t contain sulfates but it has more deep cleansing surfactants than I would usually use, leaves my sensitive scalp feeling soothed and refreshed and my hair not dried out. I’m usually against essential oils but I love the peppermint when I’m in need of clarifying.

Briogeo Merry Multi-Masking Kit ft. Don’t Despair Repair Deep Conditioning Honey Bear Hair Mask ($46 CDN | 1×236 mLs, 2×59 mL)

Because the very thought of running out of the cult-favourite hair mask gives me feelings of anxiety and because I’ve wanted to foray into their other mask offerings, I picked up this set during the Friends and Family Sale. I must say that for the price of the full-size classic deep conditioner — and a full sized product — this holiday kit provides excellent value. It has a full sized honey rendition of the classic mask that I’ve always wanted to try and two smaller tubes of the classic Don’t Despair, Repair and the new protein-free Be Gentle Be Kind Avocado + Kiwi Mega Moisture Superfood Mask.

Bumble & Bumble Repair Blow Dry ($38 CDN | 150 mL)

While the most heat I’ve used on my hair in a year has been a diffuser, I would still recommend this leave-in cream for those of you who blow dry or flat iron slash curl your hair. It contains silicones to smooth out the hair and, lock out humidity and protect the hair from heat damage — but I never experienced build up using a sulfate-free shampoo either. It doesn’t provide loads of hold but leaves the hair smooth, shiny, moisturized and super-soft. It’s a particularly great cream to use while blow-drying even wavy-curly hair into a smoother style.

Briogeo Curl Charisma Chia + Flax Seed Coil Custard ($34 CDN | 177 mL)

I’ve always been a curl cream kind of girl and that hasn’t changed since I’ve started or restarted the curly girl method. However, I’ve been struggling with finding the right one to help my waves and curls clump and form nice curls — especially since that whole Devacurl debacle began and I can no longer recommend their creams. Despite this being marketed as a custard and for way tighter textures, it’s an excellent medium to rich textured cream with light-medium hold. It’s silicone-free but contains castor seed oil, fatty alcohols, shea butter, hydrolyzed proteins and amino acids, glycerin and plant oils. I tend to pair it with a gel but I don’t have to and I actually don’t have to use much product in my thirsty, high-porosity waves and curls.

The Inkey List Oat Cleansing Balm ($12.99 CDN | 150 mL)

I’m borderline fanatical about using a balm or oil cleanser to dissolve sunscreen and makeup thoroughly with ease and minimal disruption to my admittedly fragile skin barrier — and this is one I’ve had my eye on. I’m not even sure if it’ll be eligible for a discount but I’m not sure I care. It’s fragrance-free, in tube packaging and contains sweet almond oil and oat kernel oil, along with soothing oat extract. It’s no frills but I’ve heard amazing things.

Laneige Cream Skin Toner & Moisturizer ($43 CDN | 150 mL)

This milky toner and moisturizer hybrid might seem boring as sin but it’s been a love of mine since I discovered it. It has a thick milky toner-lotion consistency that adds loads of hydration, soothing action and can function as a toner for drier skin types or a liquid moisturizer for the more sebum-blessed. It has an incredibly short and simple ingredient list: glycerin, meadow foam seed oil, vitamin e and tea extract. I’ve found it helps with hydration, protecting and repairing the skin barrier and leaves the skin luminous.

Viseart Aperol Spritz Eyeshadow Palette ($55 CDN | 12g)

This warm peachy-coral toned neutral palette is among my best makeup purchases of 2020. Ever since I bought it, it’s been my daily go-to palette; it’s easy, simple and has all of the shades I find myself reaching for on a daily basis. I love the variety of finishes and just how easy the drier formula shadows are to work with. I’m enjoying this edit format of Viseart’s palettes, as you get the versatility of one of the larger palettes and a variety of finishes. I would highly recommend Viseart shadows in general, but this format is my specific pick.

Huda Beauty Mercury Retrograde Eyeshadow Palette ($88 CDN | 16.72g)

This is actually a pick in my current small cart for the sale. A close friend of mine absolutely raves about the Huda Beauty shadows — I’ve never tried before — and in particular, this palette. I like the combination of some neutral shades in a variety of finishes, along with some pops of colour. Some of the colours are a bit outside of my comfort zone but I’m excited to play with the blues and purples — both shades are notoriously difficult to formulate but I’ve heard great things about these versions.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Face Palette – Sculpture ($105 CDN | 8.4g)

Those who have been long time readers of my little old blog here and those who I’ve waxed poetically about makeup to in real life will be aware of my love for the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder formula. I have a bunch of the blushes — which I absolutely love –, a highlighter — that I’m not in love with — and a semi-shattered palette of the original powders but I’ve held off on buying the larger palettes they tend to release each year. The large palettes are very expensive, kind of impractical — I mean, I don’t always reach for large face palettes in my day-to-day makeup life — and are worse value for money than buying the original individual products but I’m happy with this one that I bought in the Friends & Family Sale. It features the powders in Diffused Light and Dim Light — which are the two shades I’d be most likely to use anyway, a pretty champagne highlighter, Glistening Strobe Light, two blushes in Mood Exposure and Vibrant Flush and Natural Bronze Light. The powders are some of my favourites as a powder-disliking gal on the fairer end of the spectrum.

Will you be buying anything in the sale?
Maggie, x.

The Favourites | Late Spring

There are times when beauty products and your self care ritual really matter; these lasts few months have been one of those times. In hindsight, it probably was not a great idea to reintroduce a prescription retinoid into my routine at the same time that the weather was changing, I was dealing from irritation from wearing a mask during the pandemic and was dealing with a bit of a seasonal transition skin freakout. The act of self-care was something I really got back into when dealing with this quite frankly super weird and anxiety-inducing time. I discovered and rediscovered a bunch of essential products and here they are:

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Laneige Cream Skin Toner & Moisturizer ($43 CAD | 150 mL): This is a soothing milky toner with a minimal ingredients list that is incredibly sensitive or sensitized-skin friendly. It’s fragrance-free and has a short but substantial ingredient list featuring glycerin, meadow foam oil and green tea.  This is one of the products that helped me get through the period where I reacclimatized to using a prescription retinoid and was starting to deal with the irritation of wearing a mask. It’s incredibly soothing.

Avene Mineral Tinted Fluid SPF 50+ ($33 CAD | 40 mL): I realized that I had in previous months been slacking on the sun protection front, when I got better at applying it every single morning and my skin was looking so much better. I was enjoying using this tinted mineral sunscreen with iron oxides (that help protect further against visible light). The tint is actually a bit dark on me but I can make it work. It’s a golden kind of shade that would be ideal for light to medium skin tones. It has a super lightweight and thin vehicle that is hydrating and doesn’t include drying alcohols or anything of that sort. It was ideal for when I was using fake tan during the past few months, but can also get away with without. It was great on my sensitized skin and didn’t even highlight dry patches. Plus it offers enough coverage to actually cover redness and the like and I’ve been using it as my face product on more minimal makeup days.

Bioderma Photoderm SPF 50+ High Protection Milk ($25.90 CAD | 100 mL): Another sunscreen discovery was this one by Bioderma that I enjoy wearing (even on my face), despite being a chemical sunscreen. I’ve been happily using it daily on my neck, chest, shoulders and arms. It doesn’t contain any drying alcohol and has a comfortable lotion vehicle but most impressively, it features the less irritating filters Tinosorb S and Tinosorb M for far superior UVA protection and photostability. It leaves my skin feeling moisturized but not sticky or greasy.

Paula’s Choice Defense Essential Glow Moisturizer SPF 30 ($29 US | 60 mL): I’m on a SPF favourites roll, it appears. I didn’t realize how much I loved this moisturizer-sunscreen hybrid until I accidentally threw my tube out (an unfortunate accident) and instantly found myself repurchasing. It was a great daily pick on my sensitive flaking skin, with mineral actives but no real white cast on my fairer skin. The ingredients in this lightweight lotion gives a greyish beige cast to the product that adds some glow to the skin and diffuses redness slightly, without adding any sort of colour to the face. It was a gentle sunscreen option that was moisturizing without being greasy or thick. It contains soothing liquorice, kiwi extract, niacinamide and a vitamin c derivative.

Paula’s Choice Omega + Complex Moisturizer ($35 US | 50 mL): I’m a bit of a Paula’s Choice skincare fiend but it’s been years since I’ve loved one of her standard moisturizers — I’m a major fan of her sunscreen-containing moisturizers, however. In the last couple of months I bought this one and have loved it, especially during that stage when my face was flaking, burning and generally hurt. With its fragrance free, shea butter, plant oil, fatty acid and ceramide laden formula, I experienced minimal stinging and an immediate calming effect. It has a fluffy consistency that is rich without being overly heavy that I think anyone experiencing dryness would enjoy, especially if dealing with sensitivity.

Fenty Beauty Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Bronzer in 02 Butta Biscuit ($42 CDN | 0.22 oz): There’s something just so easy about cream products and I often find myself reaching for them the most often, even when I’m not doing an elaborate whole face of makeup. This is an easy to use balmy cream bronzer that blends like a dream and offers buildable colour. I really like the warm caramel colour it offers without veering into orange territory and the natural glow it gives to my fairer skin.

L’Oreal Matte Signature Liquid Dip Eyeliner in 700 Black ($14.99 CDN): Even though I’ve been into a more minimal makeup look, black eyeliner is still always in the equation. I’ve been really liking this precise brush tip liner because of how black it is and how precise and thin of a line it allows you to draw. It wears well, only smudging slightly if I nap on my side right on the wing and removes easily. I will note it requires a steady hand, as its not a pen style liner.

L’Oreal Bambi Eye Mascara in Blackest Black ($14.49 CDN):I may have rolled my eyes at the marketing of this mascara when I saw it but it’s a good one and does achieve that wide eyed effect. It achieves loads of volume and separation, achieving drama without feeling heavy on the lashes. It has a large somewhat football-shaped synthetic wand that isn’t difficult to use. It doesn’t flake or anything on me and isn’t a hassle to remove. It’s a good one.

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Eau de Parfum ($123 CDN | 50 mL): I invested in this spendier perfume around Christmastime and I’ve been loving wearing it, even just for myself, even moreso now that late Spring is in bloom. It’s a gorgeous warm orangey citrus with some rose and jasmine and some warm patchouli. It’s a warm floral that I love that’s surprisingly fresh and lingers. There’s a reason why everyone wears this one.

What have you been loving?
Maggie, x.