Naturalla Beauty

Makeup is always the tiniest of empties categories, but since I've been collecting these for so long, I've actually accumulated a fair number of products to share!  

CLEANSERS + SCRUBS

OIL CLEANSERS/MAKEUP REMOVERS


MOISTURIZERS/BALMS

I'm a firm believer that healthy, optimal skin needs both water and oil.  It's possible to get both components from a single product -- as is the case with standard water/oil emulsion moisturizers -- but with the prevalence of anhydrous (waterless) butters, balms, and oils in the green beauty realm, many people are missing out on the water element entirely. 

Another great way to illustrate these separate needs is the distinction between dry and dehydrated skin.  Dry skin generally feels rough or papery to the touch and might flake or peel, while dehydrated skin feels tight and sensitive and tends to show more prevalent fine lines.  In simplest terms, dry skin is lacking moisture (oil), whereas dehydrated skin is lacking hydration (water).  As such, skin can be dry, dehydrated, or both.  

I'm very conscious of incorporating both water and oil components into my  routine, but when my skin started looking generally lackluster and feeling dry and tight towards the end of the winter, my regular oils and moisturizers just weren't cutting it, so I knew I had to up the water component in my regimen.  Enter the Pure Anada Smooth Priming Serum....



The Smooth Priming Serum ($25 CAD for 30ml) is advertised as a hydrating and plumping makeup primer, and while I'm sure it works great for that function, it's, at its root, a very basic hyaluronic acid serum.  I purchased it with the intention of adding it into my skincare routine and that's where I've kept it, rather than as a first step in makeup application. 

The ingredients are incredibly simple: just plant-based hyaluronic acid and organic chamomile floral water.  Chamomile is a favorite ingredient of mine that smells wonderful and is fantastic for sensitive or irritated skin.  Hyaluronic acid, a humectant that draws water into the skin and binds to it, helps skin retain moisture, keeping it plump and hydrated.  (Be aware that in dry climates hyaluronic acid can have the opposite effect and actually pull water OUT of the skin if there's nowhere else for it to draw from!)  

The ingredient simplicity is what first drew me to this product -- a lot of water-based serums are made with glycerin, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's not an ingredient my skin enjoys in large amounts, so it can be an issue for me in some formulations.  Glycerin can also sometimes feel sticky or tacky on the skin, and has the potential to clog pores in larger quantities too.  The Smooth Priming Serum, on the other hand, has a lightweight consistency and sinks into the skin beautifully without any residue or residual tackiness.  It does a great job plumping up the skin and (temporarily) reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.



I prefer to apply the serum onto damp skin, either from a toner or just a spritz of water, since it immediately gives the hyaluronic acid some moisture to bind to.  Usually I do a two-step routine, following the serum with a separate oil or cream moisturizer, but I've also enjoyed blending a couple drops of the serum and an oil together in my hand to create a sort of micro-emulsion.  I was using the serum daily in the winter, but since the weather's warmed up -- and all the humidity that comes with that here in Toronto -- I only find I need to use it 1-2x per week now.

The Bottom Line
Pure Anada is a great Canadian company and, clearly, I'm a fan of the Smooth Priming Serum!  The serum does a fantastic job hydrating and plumping the skin and its simple ingredients are gentle and perfect for sensitive and reactive skin.  I prefer using the serum as a skincare step rather than a direct makeup primer, however, I think it does prime the skin for makeup this way also.  Healthier, hydrated skin inevitably creates a better surface for makeup to sit on top of and reduces the number of crevices and fine lines for products to slip into throughout the day.  Whether you're looking for a skincare serum or a makeup primer, The Smooth Priming Serum is a great inexpensive option to consider.  You can also purchase samples directly on the Pure Anada website.  

It's been a long time since I've done one of these posts - apparently June 2013 was my last one - so I figured it was past time I wrote about some of the products that have not been making the cut in my beauty cabinet.  I want to preface this by saying that none of these are bad products - well, with the exception of one that kinda, maybe is - but they're items that haven't worked for me.



Nubian Heritage Repair & Extend Shine Gel
If you saw my recent Best of Curly Girl Hair Products, you'll know that this gel did not make it onto that list.  I've heard a lot of good things about Nubian Heritage, but this gel was my first time trying anything from the brand.  I've ended up only using it a couple times due to how strong and perfumey it smells.  Super disappointing because it's one of the few Nubian Heritage products that's made without either Japanese honeysuckle extract or palm oil.  It also did seem to work really well, with a good hold that was neither overly crunchy or sticky.  The smell - courtesy of a "proprietary essential oil blend" - is pretty overpowering though, and it tends to hang around all day, so I'm not sure it's worth it.

Sukin Aloe Vera Gel
The thing that I said was maybe just a bad product?  That would be this one here.  Aside from the company's fondness for phenoxyethanol, I really like Sukin products, so when I was given a spare tester from the health food store I was working in at the time, I expected good things.  It's hard to find aloe gels without a ton of fillers, and although Sukin's has only three ingredients - aloe leaf juice, alcohol, and hydroxyethylcellulose - it's awful.  Using alcohol as a preservative requires a moderately large amount, and with so few other ingredients to buffer it, the aloe gel is left smelling like straight up rubbing alcohol.  The alcohol also seems to negate any of the moisturizing properties inherent in the aloe, making the gel pretty useless.  I'm really not sure what anyone was thinking when they made this product.

Pure Anada Fresh Mandarin Pressed Mineral Cheek Color
I featured this Pure Anada blush in a roundup of new blush favorites early in the fall, but since then, it's mostly fallen out of my good books.  Pure Anada's pressed products have a weird, plastic or putty-like scent that the company attributes to the raw, unrefined jojoba oil they use to bind them, and whether or not that's what the smell is, I'm just not a fan.  I like the experience of putting makeup on to be enjoyable, and even luxurious at times, so something that makes me feel like I need to hold my breath while applying it, just isn't what I'm looking for.  It's a shame too, because the color is really pretty.  

Schmidt's Lavender-Sage Deodorant
I already let the cat out of the bag on this one when I wrote about how I transformed my Schmidt's into a deodorant that didn't sting or irritate my armpits, but I thought I'd stick it in here too, in case you missed that post.  The deodorant, in its original state, kept me stink-free, but it completely tore up my armpits.  And apparently I'm far from alone on this, as a lot of you described similar experiences with Schmidt's, both in the comments on that post and on Instagram and Twitter.  

EOS Sweet Mint Lip Balm
As one of the few all natural lip balms that's easily accessible in stores here, I'd wanted to try EOS for years, but I only actually got around to it last month when my mom bought me this one.  The ingredients are good, the egg shape is cute, and I love the Sweet Mint flavour/scent, but the balm itself is just not as hydrating as I would like.  I even sometimes feel like it has the opposite effect and actually dries out my lips.  

[EOS Fans: Do the balms vary by scent?  I also have an unopened strawberry one, but I may end up passing it on if it's going to be equally lackluster in terms of moisture.]

The All Natural Face Midas Cream Concealer 
I'm always looking for products that will conceal my dark circles, and the yellow-toned Midas has garnered a lot of positive attention.  Sadly, it doesn't work for me.  The concealer is illuminating, but it gives hardly any coverage, so instead of achieving the bright and awake under eye look I'm going for, I end up with a layer of shine that may even make my dark circles look more prominent.    Needless to say I'm not a fan.

Have you used any of these?  Are there other underwhelming products that have left you disappointed recently?

With skin as pale as mine, it's very easy to overdo it with blush and end up looking like a clown.  For that reason, it's taken me a while to fully embrace wearing blush, but I think I'm officially a convert.  Today I want to talk about three fairly new-to-me blushes I've been loving.


The All Natural Face Desert Sand Glow
Technically this one is an all over face glow, not a blush, but it's way too dark on my skin to use all over.  Instead, I love using it as a subtle blush.  It's a nude pink color that goes with just about any makeup look.  It works equally well to tone down an otherwise dramatic makeup look, or just as an easy blush to grab when you're in a hurry or can't decide what color to wear.  

Pure Anada Fresh Mandarin Blush
Peach blushes are always a favorite around here and Fresh Mandarin is a pretty, burnt orange shade that seems especially fitting for fall.  I've mostly gotten used to loose blushes, but the added convenience of a pressed blush definitely comes in handy sometimes.  One drawback of this product is that it has a weird, putty-like smell, but according to the company, this is just the scent of the raw, unrefined jojoba oil that's used as a binder.  Would I like it better without the smell? Definitely, but it only smells in the pan, not on your face, so it isn't enough to stop me from enjoying such a pretty blush shade.

Silk Naturals Abstract Sheer Blush
Abstract is a pale, plummy pink shade with a nice, luminous finish, but no actual shimmer or glitter. The base is a cool-toned pink, but it has a slight gold sheen that warms it up nicely.  Seriously, I've been using this color almost non-stop these last few months and I just love it.  Silk Naturals' blushes are fantastic for us lighter skinned folk, because they go on sheer (at first) and blend very easily.  They're still very buildable though, so I don't think darker skinned ladies would have any issues using them either.  


The Bottom Line
The swatches of these three paint a pretty clear picture of how I like my blushes: not too dark and not too pigmented.  I'll reach for a more vivid blush on occasion, but for everyday, I usually go for a fairly subtle cheek color, somewhere along the lines of these three.  

What's your go-to blush color?