Tag Archives: skin care

Aug15

Face Mask Festivities: Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask

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Face Mask Festivities: Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask

Helloo everyone and happy Hump Day! Today, we are going to be talking about the Origins face mask that I got from my Sephora Play! box. I’ve heard really good things about Origins and was looking forward to giving their mask a try. But, it unfortunately missed the mark for me. Take a look at some pics and let’s discuss:

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Everyone knows that Lil Red loves a good charcoal product as much as the next guy and it’s good to know that the less costly brands that I use are doing me more justice than pricey Origins. The Clear Improvement mask was your standard charcoal mask. There was nothing special about it that made it different or better than my favorite one from The Body Shop.

This mask had no smell to it and it dried very, very quickly. Because the texture was so thin, the mask became dry and uncomfortably tight on my skin within two minutes. At that point, I might as well have just washed my face, instead. Especially because I didn’t notice any type of difference in my skin except for the fact that it felt dry as a bone afterwards. #disappointing

The beauty of subscription boxes is that you don’t have to be married to the product. It was fun to try something new and I’ll gladly finish my travel sized mask. But, I definitely will not use this mask or Origins products in the future. The drug store brands and The Body Shop reign victorious, once again.

What is your preferred subscription box? What is your favorite charcoal product? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug14

Sephora Play! Unboxing

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Sephora Play! Unboxing

Hii everyone and welcome to my very first Sephora Play! Unboxing! This subscription box was ordered simply to get me over the free shipping price during my online shopping extravaganza on Sephora. And, I enjoyed all of my goodies from the box so much that I’m definitely considering getting it for the entire year! Check it out:

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Survival Of The Chillest Play! Box:

  • Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir Major Volume Mascara
  • Origins Clear Improvement Active Charoal Mask
  • IGK Mistress Hydrating Hair Balm
  • Sephora Rouge Cream Lipstick in The Red
  • Caudalie Vinoperfect Concentrated Brightening Essence
  • Burberry perfume sample in Blush
  • 50 Beauty Insider points with a purchase at Sephora coupon

I was so completely impressed with my box of travel sized treats from Sephora and I simply adore the Me O’Clock bag that it came in. My sister has an Ipsy subscription and I always eagerly anticipate when she opens her bright pink envelope. But, I daresay, I think that this ten dollar deal from Sephora is even better than Ipsy. The high end products that I get to sample are such a treat and it’s so fun to be able to test out brands that I would never have tried before.

So far, I have used the IGK hair balm and have been loving it. In fact, I want to get it in full sized so that I can continue using it every day! I have also used the Origins face mask, which you can read about on Face Mask Festivities tomorrow and have been mixing my Caudalie essence with my micellar water to make it last. And, as I’m not a huge perfume girl, I gave my mom the Burberry sample and it smells awesome on her! It smelled very floral and powdery on me and it smelled energizing and citrusy on her. Crazy how that works out, huh?

I am looking forward to trying out the Marc Jacobs mascara and will be swatching my Sephora lippie soon, so keep it posted for that. And, definitely be on the lookout for more on the Sephora Play! boxes on lifewithlilred, because I have a feeling that it will become a monthly thing really soon!

Who else gets the Play! boxes from Sephora? Are there any other subscription boxes that I should look into? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug6

Quick & Easy Skin Care Tips

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Quick & Easy Skin Care Tips

Caring for your skin doesn’t need to be complicated. You simply need to adopt the best skincare routine, use the right beauty products, and avoid items that could cause an unwanted reaction that could damage your skin and dent your self-confidence. If you want to enjoy a clear, radiant complexion day after day, find out how to look after your skin easily with these tips:

Wash Your Face in the Morning and Evening:

If you want to have a clean and healthy glow every day, you must wash your face in the morning and once again in the evening. It should be the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning, and one of the last things you do before bed to keep yourself radiant. Once your skin is properly cleansed, then it can more fully accept the products you put on afterwards. As you build your beauty routine, research different options like skin-nomad.com or must try brands that your friends recommend. If you stick to your regime, you will be rewarded with a more radiant complexion.

Choose the Right Cleanser for Your Skin Type:

You also should pick a facial cleanser that is right for your skin type. For example, avoid products that contain benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid if you have either oily skin or acne. However, if you are living with dry skin, pick up a gentle, fragrance-free face cleanser for optimum results.

Turn Down the Heat in the Bath or Shower:

Hot water can damage your skin because it can strip away its natural oils, which can lead to dryness – so turn down the heat in the bath or shower. Try to only use warm water in a bath, and you would also be wise to limit your bathing time to just twenty minutes.

Try to avoid using fragranced soaps, as well, as they can be harsh on your skin. Once your bath or shower time is over, pat your skin dry instead of rubbing, and leave a little water on your skin so that it can soak up the excess moisture.

Buy Nickel-Free Jewelry to Avoid Irritation:

If you want to avoid an unwanted skin reaction, you should only buy hypoallergenic jewelry. Unfortunately, people living with a nickel allergy can struggle to find the right necklaces, bracelets, and earrings for their skin. Don’t make the mistake of triggering a flare up and turn to Blomdahl USA for fashionable, nickel free jewelry to complement your personal style.

Limit Exfoliation to Only Twice Per Week:

Many people make the mistake of believing that the key to healthy, clean skin is to exfoliate every day. But, this can be a huge problem, as it can seriously dry out your skin. If you want to scrub away dead skin cells to enjoy softer skin, you should limit exfoliation to twice per week.

Give a New Product Time to Work:

Unless a beauty product has resulted in an adverse skin reaction, such as a rash or redness, you should give it time to work. It can take time for you to feel the benefits of a fragrance-free moisturizer or cleanser, so have a little patience before you start seeing the desired results. If you use the product multiple times and experience little or no change, you should then look for a different option for your skin.

Skin care doesn’t have to be difficult and, with the steps above, you will be well on your way to a beautiful complexion in no time.

Jul25

July 2018 Finishes

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July 2018 Finishes

Hello everyone and happy Hump Day! Can you believe that another month of 2018 is nearing an end? Before we know it, we’ll be ringing in the holiday season and celebrating the start of 2019. Time continues to fly, and you all know what that means! A monthly finishes post, of course! Take a look at my empties and let’s discuss:

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Would I Use Again?

  • Le Petit Marseiliais Vanilla Milk shower cream: YES
  • Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water: YES
  • The Body Shop Strawberry scrub: YES
  • The Body Shop Oils Of Life serum: YES
  • 40 Carrots moisturizer: YES

Why/Why Not?

LPM Shower Cream: Although this brand name might be a bitch to spell out, this shower cream is so not a bitch to use! As all of you know, I looove all vanilla everything and this cream had the most richest, delicious vanilla scent I’ve ever used. The cream was hydrating as all get out, and my skin was left feeling silky smooth after every shower. It took me about two months to finish this product.

Garnier Micellar Water: Am I the biggest fan of micellar water? No. But, is it a cheap alternative to buying a toner and makeup remover? Yes. Garnier easily has the best cleansing water that I’ve used thus far and it lasted me a decently long time considering I use it daily – over a month and a half. It’s a good value and it’s an all in one product and I can definitely get down with that.

TBS Scrub: A scrub is an essential part of my routine when I’m shaving and I literally couldn’t imagine taming the Woolly Mammoth legs without it. We all know this by now. I got about six full body uses out of the mini sized scrub, which is not bad at all!

TBS Serum: I really, really like this product, and I was super happy because after using my other bottle, my mom gave me hers to finish up. The Oils Of Life serum hydrates the living hell out of your skin and it sits amazingly well under makeup. This serum ranges on the more pricey side of products from The Body Shop, but a little lasts a long way and it took me over two months to finish half of a bottle of it.

40 Carrots Moisturizer: My beauty queen sister gave me this moisturizer out of her reject pile of products and I enjoyed it well enough. I liked how hydrating it was and that you didn’t need to use a ton of it to make your skin feel well taken care of for the day. This moisturizer was thicker in texture but it sat under makeup with no problem. It took me over a month to finish half of a jar of the moisturizer so, from a value side, I would definitely use this again.

July brought along some new and old favorites for me to enjoy and I am satisfied with each product that I finished up. I would recommend all of the above empties and would gladly use them again, myself.

Have you used any of the products seen above? What are your thoughts on them? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jul24

Face Mask Festivities: Nubian Heritage Mud Mask Edition

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Face Mask Festivities: Nubian Heritage Mud Mask Edition

Hello everyone and a happy Tuesday to all of you! In today’s surprise edition of Face Mask Festivities, we are going to discuss a mud mask by Nubian Heritage. I say surprise, because I wasn’t expecting to have another FMF post for a while but, then, my mom bought this mask ON THE CHEAP at Target! How can you say no to an originally fifteen dollar mask for five bucks?! Lol, take a look at some pics and let’s discuss:

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In all honesty, this mask was not my favorite and I feel disappointed by that, because I LOVED the texture of it. It felt so cool to the touch and the consistency was like BUTTAH! It was so smooth and creamy and it felt amazing when I applied it. And, then, it remained that way on my face for the entire ten minutes that I had it on. It didn’t dry, it didn’t harden, and it felt like it didn’t do NOTHIN. When I washed it off, it felt exactly how it felt when I first put it on my hands, so it left me feeling like it didn’t even work. It was really weird.

I will say, that the blackheads on my nose look a bit better, and the scent of the mask was nice and earthy. BUT, its lack of a change of consistency when the mask was supposedly doing its thing left a lot to be desired. And, now I see why this was marked down to five dollars! #smh

Has anyone else used this Nubian Heritage mask before? How did you feel about it? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jul21

Londontown Pampering Party

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Londontown Pampering Party

Hello everyone and happy weekend to all of you! As we all know by now, Lil Red is a nail girl and I would be nothing without my beloved talon acrylics. I think this deep love for being pampered in terms of my nails comes from my beautiful grandma, because I can always remember how much she enjoyed having her nails painted with lovely shades of seashell pinks.

I am lucky enough to be pampered every four to five weeks or so when I get my nails filled. My mom, on the other hand, doesn’t get to enjoy the luxury of a manicure, because with the intense medical treatment that she’s under, she wants to avoid any more chemicals on her body than need be. This is perfectly understandable, of course!

But, this doesn’t mean that sweet JANE doesn’t want her nails looking as nice as possible, so I decided to treat her to a fabulous cuticle treatment by Londontown. Londontown is an amazing nail and hand care brand that is dedicated to strengthening nails and nourishing hands in the most natural way possible. Their products use a variety of different oils and essential vitamins to show your phalanges some love, and I knew that it would be the perfect surprise to give to my mom. Take a look:

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^^^ In order, you can see my mom’s nails without treatment, with the treatment on, and after the treatment was finished.

Londontown’s Nourishing Cuticle Oil treatment worked wonders on my mom, and she has now deemed herself “obsessed” with it. We had a blast playing beauty shop together as I applied the product and we watched as it worked its magic. Our first impression of the treatment was its scent. It smelled herbal and sweet without being overly pungent or perfumey. This was so nice, because that’s actually one of my mom’s favorite scent styles and it made us eager to apply it and see if it works as good as it smells!

Before using Londontown’s Nourishing Cuticle Oil treatment, my mom’s cuticles were really dry and brittle. They looked so ready to be removed, and I was really hoping that this product would be as good as anticipated, because if anyone deserves to be pampered – it’s my mother. Lucky for us, we didn’t have to wait long to see if this treatment was the one for her, because almost instantly upon application, she could feel it moisturizing the problem areas on her nails.

Not only was the treatment so nourishing, but its consistency did so in a non-greasy manner, which is so important to both of us when it comes to our beauty products. Its texture was not thick but, rather, quite thin and it stayed on the nail well without running onto the towel under my mom’s hands. #wastenotwantnot

After the Nourishing Cuticle oil was on my mom’s nails for a few minutes, she pushed her cuticles back, removed them as best as she could, and then I applied some more treatment. Neither of us are nail experts, by and means, but in just one use her nails looked so much better. My mom said that she felt so spoiled to be using the treatment and it made her nails look pretty without polish, which was the goal all along. ❤

Be sure to tune in next week to see my new acrylics featuring some gorgeous nail polish shades by Londontown!

How do you pamper your hands and nails? How do you create a spa night in? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

PS: I can’t make this up. As I write this, my mom literally walked down the stairs while rubbing in the cuticle treatment and goes “Sarah, I’m addicted to this. I just feel like my nails look better”. So it definitely has the Sarah & Jane Seal Of Approval! Thanks, Londontown!

Jul17

Face Mask Festivities: Freeman Avocado & Oatmeal Clay Mask Edition

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Face Mask Festivities: Freeman Avocado & Oatmeal Clay Mask Edition

Hi everyone and happy Tuesday! Until I acquire more face masks, this will be the last Face Mask Festivities post on lifewithlilred for a while. But, it has been a hoot trying out four different masks and I’m looking forward to trying out some of the ones that my wonderful readers have recommended next! To wrap things up, we are going to talk about Freeman’s Avocado & Oatmeal Clay Mask, so take a look at some pics and let’s discuss:

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I am a huge fan of all things avocado and oatmeal when it comes to skin care, and it was nice to use a mask with those ingredients that wasn’t a massive disappointment like the one I tested from CVS in May. This clay mask by Freeman really was just right and it left my skin feeling completely cleansed without being starved for moisture.

I love the way that this avocado and oatmeal mask smells, for starters. It doesn’t have the scent of either of its main ingredients but, rather, smells oh so creamy and rich. The lush, heavy cream aroma went hand in hand with the texture of the mask. It was thick without being too thick and spread perfectly during application.

The best part about this mask, however, was the fact that when it dried, it didn’t leave my skin feeling as dry as the desert along with it. It was easy to wash off and, after applying my moisturizing routine, my skin felt amazing. It had a vaguely cool feeling to it and my pores felt like they were taking a huge sigh of happiness. I would definitely recommend this mask for what it is – a simple product done exceedingly well. 10/10 would use again!

What are your favorite ingredients when it comes to face masks? How do you care for you skin after you wash your mask off? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jul16

Face Mask Festivities: Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque Edition

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Face Mask Festivities: Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque Edition

Howdy and welcome to a new edition of Face Mask Festivities! Today, we are going to talk about a lesser liked mask of yours truly – Queen Helene’s Mint Julep Masque. From the very first squeeze out of the tube, I could tell that this wasn’t a mask for me. So, take a look at some pics and let’s discuss:

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My first impression of this mask was how thick the texture was. So much so that squeezing it out of its tube and onto my hand required some serious elbow grease. The mask did smell nice and minty, however, and it applied fairly easily. Unfortunately, that’s really all this Queen Helene product had going for it.

Despite a wash off time of five to ten minutes as listed on the directions, this mask began to dry and tighten on my face literally as soon as it hit my skin. By the time I got to the point in my shower routine to wash it off, it was probably on for seven minutes or so and my skin was left feeling dry as a bone. I was so eager to get my eye cream, serum, and moisturizer on post wash off and my skin still felt parched after hydrating it. Whomp whomp.

I love the idea of an invigorating and minty mask more than the next guy, but all of that doesn’t mean much when it feels like the product vacuum sealed your face. I wouldn’t recommend this mask to my worst enemy (Over dramatic, I know.), and definitely won’t be using it again in the future despite it being in my skin care arsenal.

Have any beauty products disappointed you lately? What has been one of your least favorite face masks? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jul12

Face Mask Festivities: Freeman’s Charcoal + Black Sugar Gel Mask & Scrub Edition

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Face Mask Festivities: Freeman’s Charcoal + Black Sugar Gel Mask & Scrub Edition

Hello darlings and welcome to a riveting new edition of Face Mask Festivities! Today, we are going to be discussing another Freeman mask, which consisted of charcoal and black sugar. We all know that I love all charcoal everything, so this gel mask was an obvious hit for me! Take a look and let’s get to it:

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^^^ Peep that freshly dyed hair! 😀

In my humble opinion, charcoal products have been the most major game changer since Vitamin C skin care. It detoxifies, it cleanses, and it leaves the skin simply glowing after all of the gunk that’s been clogging your pores has been rinsed away. And, of course, this Freeman mask did all of that, which left for a really satisfying face mask experience.

The best part about this mask is the texture, because it isn’t your standard clay mask. This Freeman gel mask is a sugar scrub, too, so you got to exfoliate your skin while you were washing it off. And, speaking of texture, this mask literally never over dries. I had my mask on for the entire forty minutes that my hair dye was setting and it stayed the same consistency as when I first applied it until I washed it off. So amazing!

After giving my face a good scrub when rinsing my mask off, my skin felt so good. This Freeman mask gave my face such a deep clean and it was nothing short of invigorating. My pores feel like they can breathe, my blackheads are gone, and I would happily use this mask again.

Who else is a charcoal product fan? How do you keep pesky blackheads at bay? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jul10

Tiny TJMaxx Haul

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Tiny TJMaxx Haul

Hello everyone! Thanks to a generous birthday gift card from my big bro, I was able to ball out at TJMaxx this past week. After my first shopping trip, I had about ten dollars left on my card and it was burning a hole in my pocket, so of course I had to go back! For eight cents over the ten bucks that I was working with, I was able to get the last of the beauty supplies that I need to last me for a good long while. Check it out:

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As you guys know by now, I am an avid lover of all charcoal everything when it comes to my skin care routine. Destiny Boutique has the literal best charcoal products that I’ve ever used, so it was an absolute must to grab another one of their face bars, especially because I just finished up the one that I was using. And, did I mention that it takes me SIX MONTHS to finish one of their beauty bars?! For five dollars per bar, the cost per use is less than one penny and you definitely can’t beat that! 😀

I also treated myself to a new body scrub by Kind Natured. Using an exfoliator is a necessity for me when I am shaving, and since I finished up my Strawberry scrub from The Body Shop, it was high time for me to grab another. My new Kind Natured scrub smells freaking amazing – like oats and honey, which is one of my favorite bath and body and skin care scents. I did want to get another scrub from The Body Shop because they’re my favorite, but it will be nice to try something new and maybe it will become a favorite of mine, too.

What is one of the longest lasting products that you use? Who else is a lover of charcoal products? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah