trudiannracquel

Category: beauty

  • What to buy in the Sephora 2023 Spring Savings Event // SEPHORA product recommendations

    Good morning! Today is the day we’ve been waiting for at Sephora! I believe everything is on sale! Most importantly, for us financially conscious people, everything that is SEPHORA branded is 30% off from April 14- April 24. There’s another blog post with everything else (not Sephora branded) that I would recommend from the website. Check it out here!

    Skincare Recommendations

    Melting Cleansing Balm

    I’ve used this cleansing balm for about three years now, and it’s never broken me out or dried my skin out. It’s perfect for daily double cleansing, whether you’ve worn a full face of makeup or only sunscreen! Buy it here: Melting Cleansing Balm Cleanse + Balance – SEPHORA COLLECTION | Sephora

    Vitamin C Glow Serum

    I have an affinity for Vitamin C. It’s a part of my morning skincare routine and I use it religiously. I did a review on this particular one here, and there’s a demonstration of it on my YouTube channel here. 10/10 recommend. Buy it here: Ultra Glow Serum: Glow + Strengthen Vitamin C Serum – SEPHORA COLLECTION | Sephora

    Face Sheet Masks

    These are a great option when you want a quick glow on your skin, and you don’t wanna wear makeup that day. When I do sheet masks, I usually do them in the morning, and I layer some type of moisturizing serum underneath. These are an affordable, yet luxurious way to treat yourself. Buy it here: Face Masks Fruit & Plant Extracts + Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid – SEPHORA COLLECTION | Sephora

    Eye Sheet Masks

    Eye masks are a great way to nourish your under eyes at the end of the day. Thankfully, if you’re a busy person, you don’t have to sit down and let them soak in. You can move around while they’re on your face. So if you’re looking for a convenient way to brighten your under eyes, buy it here: Clean Eye Mask – SEPHORA COLLECTION | Sephora

    Makeup Recommendations

    Bright Future Gel Serum

    I use this concealer every day! In fact, when I first started my makeup, it was one of the first concealers I ever tried. The line includes colour correctors as well, which I own but I haven’t quite dabbled in yet. But overall, it’s creamy, long-lasting and worth the money. Buy it here: Bright Future Gel Serum Under Eye Concealer – SEPHORA COLLECTION | Sephora

    Best Skin Ever Foundation

    This used to be my everyday foundation when I wore full coverage foundation daily. It has a ton of shades to choose from, and while the undertones are hard to pick from, it matches my skin pretty well. I still have to blot when I wear it because I have mostly oily skin. I did a review on it last year on my YouTube channel. Buy it here: Best Skin Ever Liquid Foundation – SEPHORA COLLECTION | Sephora

    Micro-smooth Multitasking Baked Face Powder Foundation

    My mother is a big fan of this powder. It seems to smooth out her liquid foundation, without adding cake or too much shimmer. It’s basically undetectable on top of any foundation she’s tried. However, I would like to try it on its own during the spring. Either way, it looks beautiful on her skin. Buy it here: Microsmooth Multi-Tasking Baked Face Powder Foundation – SEPHORA COLLECTION | Sephora

    10-Hour Perfection Foundation

    While I haven’t used this foundation in a long time, I still love it. In my opinion, it provides more coverage than the best skin ever foundation. I love it for a night out or for a more elegant occasion. It lays beautifully on my skin and doesn’t highlight the texture when I haven’t exfoliated for a while lol. Buy it here: 10 HR Wear Perfection Foundation – SEPHORA COLLECTION | Sephora

    Matte Perfection Powder Foundation

    This is my current everyday foundation. I re-discovered it when I was going through my makeup and have been using it every day for a few weeks now. I have a video featuring it (and the rest of my everyday Spring makeup routine) here on my YouTube channel. It keeps my skin matte for about 4 hours before I need to blot. When I blot, not much of the foundation gets taken away. If I choose not to blot, my skin still looks healthy and smooth and I love it! Buy it here: Matte Perfection Powder Foundation – SEPHORA COLLECTION | Sephora

    Trio Contour Palette

    I bought this in the fall of 2022 and it hasn’t failed me yet. While I don’t use it daily, it is surprisingly dark enough to contour my face. The lightest shade I use as a highlighter, the medium shade I use as an under-eye setting powder and the darkest as a bronzer/contour. It makes makeup simple and easy to do. Buy it here: Trio Contour Face Palette – SEPHORA COLLECTION | Sephora

    Translucent Loose Setting Powder

    Now, this is one item that I’ve had for a while and haven’t used yet. I’m a bit of a makeup hoarder and I tend to purchase things when they’re on sale or when I think of a new routine I’d like to try. I do like a translucent powder for setting my under eyes though, and because I’ve used so many SEPHORA products, I really have no worries recommending this one. Buy it here: Translucent Loose Setting Powder – SEPHORA COLLECTION | Sephora

    Cream Lip Stain

    These are perfect for the hot summer days when you want to drink as much water as your lungs desire, but you don’t want to lose your lip colour. This stays. Period. It’s one of my favourite liquid lipsticks overall, and I love the fact that they come in non-traditional colours like forest green and bright violet. Buy it here: Cream Lip Stain Liquid Lipstick – SEPHORA COLLECTION | Sephora

    Hydrating Lipstick

    When I do wear lipstick, this is one of the ones I choose. It’s hydrating to the point where you don’t need a lip balm underneath it. The array of colours is perfect for every choice from simple to extravagant and the price entices you to buy as many as you want. Buy it here: Satin Hydrating Lipstick – SEPHORA COLLECTION | Sephora

    Rouge Gel Lip Liner

    This is a great lipliner for filling in your entire lips. I don’t tend to use it strictly for lining my lips because I find it’s a bit too soft to stay in place. I prefer a lip liner that mimics a normal No. 2 pencil, a little more rigid and less creamy. However, I still like it for a full lip colour. Buy it here: Retractable Rouge Gel Lip Liner – SEPHORA COLLECTION | Sephora

    LIPSTORIES Lipstick

    I remember when these first came out and how heavy the advertising was. The whimsical photos drew me in, I’m not gonna lie. And the fact that each lipstick told a ‘story’ was very enthralling. I bought festival lights, a shimmery bronze, and I haven’t looked back. Buy it here: #LIPSTORIES Lipstick – SEPHORA COLLECTION | Sephora

    Check out my Spring Makeup Routine on my Youtube channel and don’t forget to follow and leave a comment!

    https://youtu.be/BQAGYMcMs5Y

    xo,

    Trudi – Her Life

  • Biossance Squalene + Vitamin C Rose Oil

    Biossance Squalene + Vitamin C Rose Oil

    Hello! Welcome back to another two-minute review!

    Today’s post features the Biossance Squalene + Vitamin C Rose Oil. The Sephora website says it works well to help firmness and dryness, and it claims to work on all skin types. I have a free sample that is 0.15 ounces. However, it was pretty expensive. The 0.5-ounce mini is $52. Now I’m convinced that all oils are WAY too expensive, but I guess it’s because you’re not using as much in your routine, and companies need to make money. It’s also clean and vegan so if you’re into that, there you go.

    It has lasted about 2-3 weeks since I only use it nightly. I use it to top off my moisturizer and seal it in. Just a reminder that I have combination skin (half oily and half dry/normal), so it may not reveal its benefits to me completely. Because of its ingredients, it helps to keep my skin tone even. It is lightweight, so I can imagine it being a good base for your foundation should you choose to wear any. It doesn’t have a smell (to me) initially, but since I sometimes confuse the order of my nighttime skincare, my tea tree oil gets into it. I use tea tree oil on my dark marks specifically, usually after I’ve sealed in my moisturizers for the night.

    Overall, I’d give this oil a 3/5. It’s a little expensive for me to purchase a full size right now, but I think it helped to keep my skin moisture balanced throughout the night. It also didn’t burn or break me out and works well with my standard skincare items, so that’s a bonus if you spend $50 on an oil…

    If you have any nighttime oil recommendations, let me know in a comment below!

    Have a beautiful day 🙂

  • How to make your Spring fragrances last! Vaseline? #hackorhoax

    Good morning! Thank you for reading this post!

    I always have wondered about that internet-famous hack: to get your perfume to last long, apply it over a layer of vaseline. So today. I decided to put it to the test. With Spring coming up, there are a 50% chance that I’ll start leaving my house more often. And I am a ‘smell me before you see me’ girl; I love love love perfume. This explains why I have about 50 minis and ten full-sized bottles.

    Today, with this hack, I’m testing the Wonderland Peony Eau De Parfum – Floral Street | Sephora Eau de Parfum. This type of fragrance usually lasts anywhere from 6-9 hours because of the amount of perfume oil concentrate in the formula. It costs $40 for the mini version on the Sophora website, which is an average price for a travel spray perfume. It’s floral, with notes of blackcurrant, pink pepper and candy floss. My God, it is beautiful. It was a sample sitting in my closet, and I will definitely be purchasing it this week.

    https://youtu.be/40_ZOFo710E

    It’s a softer fragrance, kind of powdery. It smells like a spring picnic. Girly, flirty, but not sweet like Pink Sugar. It is still sweet, though, like Hubba Bubba bubblegum when you smell it through the package. If I wear this, it’s definitely for a day I’m wearing gingham, lilac or florals. It’s so beautiful. I am wearing a long sleeve shirt made of cotton and my wrists are generally very dry, so my skin oils shouldn’t prevent it from lasting longer. But I went about my day the way I usually would.

    At the same time I tested it without the vaseline on my left wrist. I aim to see if it can last until the 8-hour mark without re-applying. I think that’s probably the average time people wear fragrance for during the day i.e. for work. It’s also a lighter fragrance, so if this hack works on something that’s not super strong to begin with, it’ll work on my stronger fragrances like the Killian Love, Don’t be Shy or the YSL Libre

    Hourly updates:

    9am – Left wrist (without vaseline) smells very sweet. Right wrist (with vaseline) you can really smell the alcohol in it. It smells stronger; it seems like the vaseline brought out the alcohol.

    11am – Left wrist (without vaseline) has faded a lot; I’d say it’s at about 40% of the strength from when I sprayed it at 9am. Right wrist (with vaseline) still has the alcohol undertone, with the perfume scent on top. But it’s still almost as strong as when I first sprayed it. I’d say it’s at 80%.

    1pm – Left wrist (without vaseline) is still sweet, and about the same strength as before. I’d say it’s at 30% strength. Right wrist (with vaseline) is now at about 60% of it’s initial strength, still smelling strongly of alcohol, but has started to fade slowly. It’s acting more like I thought the fragrance without the vaseline would act.

    3pm – Left wrist (without vaseline) is still going the same. I’m impressed. Right wrist (with vaseline) has decreased significantly. I’d say it smells the same, but at around 30% of its strength from before.

    5pm – Left wrist (without vaseline) is still the same as it was 6 hours ago. It has not faded since 1 pm. Right wrist (with vaseline) I had to, unfortunately, dig my nose into my wrist to smell it as this point. LOL. It’s faded a lot, but that’s what I would expect a perfume without the vaseline base to act like.

    Overall, this was a weird experience. Somehow, the wrist without vaseline acted better than the one with vaseline. It was as if vaseline did not work with all fragrances, maybe just certain types. I will probably try this hack again with a different type of fragrance and at a different pulse point on my body. Perhaps on the inside of my elbow, since this would be less susceptible to fading from handwashing. ‘

    Overall, I give this hack a 1/5 with this fragrance. It didn’t help the longevity and brought out a part of the fragrance that I was not attracted to. If you have any other hacks to help perfume last longer, please let me know in a comment here or on Youtube!

    Have a beautiful day 🙂

     

  • Amazing Grace by Philosophy Whipped Body Creme

    Amazing Grace by Philosophy Whipped Body Creme

    Good morning!

    Today’s two-minute review features the Philosophy Amazing Grace Whipped Body Creme. Keep reading if you want a quick overview of my opinions!

    Sometime last year, I wanted to find my ‘signature scent.’ I wanted it to be sweet but clean. Warm but have a bossy energy to it. Rich, soft life-type vibes, you know? This fragrance had always been suggested for those who wanted to smell clean and fresh from a bubble bath. But I think this one is a bit too…on the nose.

    Ladies and gents and everyone in between, it smells like soap. It reminds me of Ivory soap. It smells like I just cleaned myself and then decided to sit in a tub of soapy water for an hour. LOL. Which is not necessarily bad if that’s what you’re into!

    On the website, it’s advertised as floral, soft and clean, with bergamot and musk. It also says it has a lightweight, whipped texture that leaves the skin smooth and lightly fragranced. It does have a whipped texture. Once you rub your hand over a section that’s been moisturized, it definitely feels smooth. It has a nice shine when the light hits it. And it keeps its scent, which is not as strong as I made it seem earlier.

    Unfortunately, my skin is super dry on my body. I mean, after an hour, I think my skin inhaled it like a vacuum cleaner. It disappears on me. It took me a while to realize that my skin was just dry, so half of the container was gone before I started mixing it with a body oil to help it last longer, which certainly helps.

    At $41 for 8 ounces, I’m unsure if it’s worth it for me. Because I’m not the biggest fan of the scent, I’d have to use so much to keep my skin moisturized, and I also needed to mix it with something else; it gets a 2.5/5. Maybe I would have better luck with the Warm Vanilla fragrance from Philosophy, but I have about 30 samples to make my way through before settling on one. Maybe I’ll tell you how that works out for me in a post here.

    Any suggestions on thicker body cremes would be appreciated! I’ve been looking for a good one for years at this point. Besides pure Shea Butter, I haven’t found one.

    Thanks for reading! Have a beautiful day 🙂

  • Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen

    Good morning everyone!

    Today’s two-minute review centres the Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen.

    As a person of colour, my first concern is, say it with me, white cast. Since I started taking skincare seriously and understanding the importance of sunscreen daily, that was my first point of contention. Even though my skin tone is not the darkest, I am by no means light-skinned. This means that, if there’s even a possibility of a white cast, I’m looking ashy. Thankfully, this sunscreen does NOT disappoint in this category.

    As you can see, I use the mini size and this lasts me around 3 months even when I use it daily. It is 0.67 ounces for $30 and compared to yesterday’s post about the TULA moisturizer, I’d say that’s a bargain. Also, remember that you’re not using it day and night and that you don’t need the same amount as a moisturizer.

    It’s won an Allure award, it’s oil-free and is 100% worth it to me. When you apply it, it smooths your skin. I’m assuming that this would help your foundation or concealer go on more smoothly as well. For my combination and acne-prone skin, it doesn’t cause me to break out. I think because I’ve incorporated it daily into my skincare it has significantly helped my dark marks from acne disappear.

    It also says it’s SPF 40 (which is a minimum), water resistant for 40 minutes (I haven’t been near a body of water since 2019, so I would not know) and is certified clean at Sephora. So if you have sensitive skin, this would probably be a winner for you. My niece also says it smells like sunscreen, but she’s 11 and my palm was smushed into her face when she said this. I don’t think it smells like anything.

    Overall, this gets a 5/5. This is my second bottle of the mini size and I will definitely re-purchase. I would like to try the Glowscreen however, so maybe this summer that review will be linked here. If you have tried either the Unseen or the Glowscreen, let me know in a comment!

  • TULA 24/7 Moisture Hydrating Day & Night Cream

    Hello everyone!

    Let’s jump into it and I hope you’re having a beautiful day 🙂

    I received this moisturizer as a sample last year, and while it looks small, it is mighty. Like me. It has lasted the same length of time as my TULA face wash, and it was 0.5 ounces. I’m shocked, but the price of 0.5 ounces is $34 on the Sephora website. That’s highway robbery. I wouldn’t recommend it if the budget determines whether you purchase it.

    The TULA moisturizer has probiotics to soothe skin, prebiotics to maintain skin balance, and peptides to firm and even skin tone. In my experience, it’s a very basic moisturizer. You could substitute it for the Neutrogena one in similar packaging. It doesn’t provide intense hydration or dry out my skin. It doesn’t leave me extra plump (it does a little bit) or give me a nice glow.

    As you can see from the video, even in poor lighting, it doesn’t do anything spectacular. Honestly, I think I’m just disappointed in the price, which is why this review seems so harsh. LOL. It is certified clean at Sephora and is suitable for most skin types, which is good if you have the money to spend and super sensitive skin.

    I give it a 1.5/5 simply because of the price-to-size ratio. I believe it would be a better deal if you went up in size, but as someone focusing on getting the most bang for my buck and keeping an attainable budget, this does not seem like a good purchase. Also, I have only used it for a few weeks, so maybe my opinion would change if I used it for longer and could reap more results.

    Let me know in a comment if you’ve tried it or if you agree with me! Looking forward to hearing from you

    🙂