Used Up Beauty Products / Empties #5

Dang, I've used up a lot of stuff since my last empties post...  Most were samples and foil packs.

Used Up Beauty Products / Empties #4

Sorry, I've been quite lazy with blogging... work has been keeping me busy, and during the weekends, I just want to enjoy the beautiful Summer weather.

During the months, I've finished a ton of products... so, I figured I would return with an Empties post.  My last empties post was in June!

London Drugs Coupon: $10 off any 2 cosmetic suncare

I hope some were able to utilize the heck out of the May coupon (I think I used it 5-6 times... lol).  Here's the June coupon, where you can save $10 off the purchase of any two cosmetic suncare products.

I would highly you stocking up on the La Roche-Posay Anthelios Shake Sunscreen Lotion!  It is my new HG face sunscreen.  Read my review on it here: click!

Disclaimer:  I am not affiliated with London Drugs.  I am not paid or renumerated by London Drugs or anyone else.  R, this blog, and I are not sponsored in any way.  (As if we had that kind of viewership, lol)

- M

I Don't Want To Fucking Burn - Lovechild Bonus!

Recently, I did a two-part sun protection series on my personal line-up of both face and body products.

I've since found a Summer lip balm:  NIVEA a kiss of protection

• SPF 30
• waterproof (lick-proof)
• no sunscreen smell
• goes on clear (no white sunscreen wax)
• creamy but not thick (non crusty)
• super moisturizing
• super long lasting

Otherwise from my Lip Ice (R mentioned it a while back), I swear by my Nivea hydrocare lip balm.  This sun protection one is basically identical to the hydrocare, even the smell and texture.  It takes a little longer than the hydrocare to sink in, but I don't mind because it's got SPF 30.  (Lip Ice has SPF 15).

At $2.29 CAD, it's a must for anyone who is out in the sun a lot.
(I was just at my second home, London Drugs, and it's currently on sale for $1.99 CAD)

♥ M

P. S.   Welcome back to the clubby, R.

P. P. S.   That UD brush is a piece of shit.  That, is all.

BACK IN STOCK: La Roche-Posay Anthelios Ultra-Fluid Lotion SPF60

 Since my previous facial sun protection post, I've had the chance to use the La Roche-Posay Anthelios Shake Sunscreen Lotion numerous times and love it!  It is my new HG face sunscreen.

When I tried to buy a backup bottle from London Drugs and Shoppers Drug Mart, it was sold out EVERYWHERE!  I think I went to most of the store locations within my neighbouring cities, and everyone was backordered.  Who knew it was the hottest thing?!

Anyway, I tweeted last week, but they're back in stock at both London Drugs and Shoppers Drug Mart for my fellow Canadians.  This sells for $26 CAD.

If you buy it at London Drugs, you can use this coupon and save $10 CAD!

♥ M

I Don't Want To Fucking Burn (Part II) - Body Sun Protection

This is the follow-up post to my two-part Sun Protection series.  Part II will focus on the body.

(Read Part I, which focuses on the face:  click!)

Here's the body lineup:

I love this cooling body mist sunscreen!  It feels amazing to apply, especially if your skin is already warm from the day - it's super refreshing!  This is my #1 choice in body sunscreen whenever I vacation in the tropics.  It's a little bit greasy, but I don't mind it because it seems to reflect the sunrays.  What I really like is it doesn't spray white.  The liquid is clear and sticks well to the skin, even on wet skin!  Only downfall is that it's water-resistant, not waterproof, so it's good for everyday use in the summer when there's more sweating (yum, hahaha), but not a good choice for pools.  It's $9.99 USD / $15 CAD.  This is a HG for me.

Ok, clearly, I am a sunscreen nut... so when I saw SPF 100+, I almost died from happiness lol.
It's non-greasy and waterproof, which is awesome!  It's exactly the same as the cooling mist, just without the cooling feeling during application.  Same thang about the water-resistant and not waterproof.  I got this for $9 USD at Walmart.

This one has the strongest sunscreen smell, and a slightly thicker consistency in its spray.  I'm not really sure how I feel about that just yet... This is the rookie of the lineup.  I just bought this last year because it was only $6 USD at Walmart (I've been die-hard Neutrogena for 5+ years).  I only got to try this a couple of times at the end of last summer, so I don't think I can do a solid review on it, but I added it in because I really love its spray.  Stupid, I know, but it's a twist-click-open sprayer, not a separate-cap-er like the Neutrogena!  That's sooo convenient!  I have a tendency to drop the cap and watch it roll off.

In Part I, I mentioned about about I was super choked up by the discontinuation of my Neutrogena After-Sun lover... well, I've found something that's almost (99.99%) identical to it!

Recall that I ROAST up in the sun... I know, people blahblahblah about how they roast up... but I don't go sun-baking!  Seriously, there's no first degree burning for me - it just goes straight to second degree as the minimum... hence this obsession.  So, after I become a lobster in complete pain, I would cake on Neutrogena After-Sun.  I just spread it on me like icing... mostly because any sort of slight contact with my skin would be painful beyond belief... thus, any sort of rubbing in is out of question, duh.  The Neutrogena would instantly soak into my skin and cool down my skin's redness and pain.  The redness would instantly turn from tomato red to a deep pink.  I don't know what was in it but it was crack for me - probably did have crack and had to be "discontinued."

Anyway, this Burt's Bees After Sun does the same thing for me, PLUS it's 99.5% natural (no crack)!  Instead of the baby powder smell of the Neutrogena one, this has a fresh, earthy smell (I think the 0.01% lacking to the Neutrogena is partly weighed on missing the baby powder smell).  Its effects aren't as instantaneous as the Neutrogena - probably, more like within half an hour instead of seconds, which is still amazing.  It's a very light formula as you can see from my swatch, and has a less artificial cooling sensation than the Neutrogena.  I've got three backups of this in my reserves, and will probably stock up on a couple more for the summer when I go down to the states this weekend.  Walmart in the states has them for $9.99 USD, while London Drugs and Shoppers Drug Mart robs us at $15 CAD in Canada.

Goes without saying that this is a HG for me.

♥ M

I Don't Want To Fucking Burn (Part I) - Face Sun Protection

Now that the sun's coming out more and longer, I'm pulling out my collection of sun care reserves.

I'm not joking about reserves - I've got at least two backups of all of these.  Ever since my favourite Neutrogena After-Sun Lotion got discontinued/disappeared after one season, I will never risk it again!

I have super super super thin and light skin, so I burn very easily.  A little bit of sun exposure and my skin will be red and hot.  No sun protection, and I'm a tomato.  My skin also doesn't tan... it just burns and peels, reptile style.  (Read the backstory on my sensitive/combination/hormonal acne-prone skin here:  click!)

I use a ridiculous variety of products so I'm breaking it down to face and body.

Here's the face lineup:

La Roche-Posay is the newest addition, and I can definitely see this as being the prom queen of all.

I got this during London Drugs' 15% off all La Roche-Posay products deal last month.  It's $26 CAD at regular price.  It is water-based so you have to shake it like mad.  It is very liquidy, and blends very smoothly as a thin lotion formula.  The formula dries quickly and actually disappears within your skin.

I'm always super sceptical of sun products that claim to dry matte, but it's never completely matte.  So, naturally, I had scepticism "bullshit" all over my face when the beauty counter manager at London Drugs was telling me about it.  She squirted a generous amount on the back of my hand and I rubbed it in.  After a couple of minutes, it had the same familiar "matte" look and I kinda scoffed in the woman's face.  BUT, after 5 minutes, it was as if I had nothing on my hand!  OMFG!  It's not just matte, but you cannot tell that you're wearing any sun protection product!  There's no sunscreen scent and your skin is completely smooth to the touch without any glow.  Ok, I'm gonna stop - I'm sounding like a fucking infomercial.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to reach for this one all the time, because it's so lightweight and actually matte.  I'll probably replace my Clinique lotion with this during the Summer.

What makes it even more of a plus is it's paraben-free.

These two bottles are the exact same thing.  The one in the package is just the repackaged version of the one on the right.  It is VERY close to the La Roche-Posay one, except it's a smidge thicker in consistency and the sunscreen scent is definitely there.  It isn't "invisible" like the La Roche-Posay one, but the "matte-ish" shine is the most minimal that I've seen out of all the other popular drugstore brands out there.  If you're not crazy and obsessive like me, then go for this one at Walmart for $9.99 USD.

I'm not completely sure, but I think this one may be replaced by the UltraSheer Water-Light.  Read on about the Water-Light one.

Here's a comparison between the La Roche-Posay (L) and Neutrogena UltraSheer (R).

As you can see, there's significant difference in the consistency.

Neutrogena UltraSheer Water-Light is slightly more watery than the regular UltraSheer.  I think it might be the water-based version of the UltraSheer?  Might be pulling shit out of my ass again, I don't know...  But it's definitely closer to the La Roche-Posay than the UltraSheer one.  Obviously, I prefer this Water-Light one over the regular UltraSheer, so yay!

I don't know what I'm talking about... I sound like jibberish.  Just try it out for yourself.  It's $9.99 USD at Walmart.  Canada charges at least $15 CAD.  It doesn't fucking sparkle like the La Roche-Posay one, but for more than half the price, it's comparable.

You can see that it's definitely more watery than the UltraSheer, but not as thin as the La Roche-Posay:

I put this UltraSheer Face in as part of the face section simply because it's labelled that way, but it's wayyy too thick and shiny for my face.  When I say way too thick, I mean relative to the products mentioned above.  The formula is thinner than regular sunscreen.  I can see that it's good for someone who has drier skin or wants a thicker consistency.  I just happen use it as a body product.

I bought this from Walmart for $9.99 USD.  Once again, Canada charges at least $15 CAD.

Isn't this the cutest thing?  It looks like a deodorant for babies, haha.

It actually has a dry, waxy consistency like a deodorant too!  I like using this for my ears, around my eyes, and to touch up.  It's especially good for the eye socket area, because it doesn't melt or run - no tears!

I think I got this for $6 USD at Walmart or Target.

♥ M