theNotice: a beauty blog

The product: L’Occitane Immortelle Brightening Mist

So, I wrote a fifteen page paper earlier this week on prefrontal cortical damage and its intersection with tactical communications, mostly between the hours of eleven at night on Tuesday and two in the afternoon on Wednesday.

I’m still kind of dazed.

Despite the lack of sleep I’ve been getting this term, though, I think I’ve been presenting a pretty glowy base… but maybe my perpetually-dry skin just has me biased. Either way, L’Occitane’s limited edition facial spray has been high, high up on the list of things I’ve been loving!

What it is: Part of L’Occitane’s Immortelle Brightening range, the Brightening Mist is an alcohol-free toner & make-up setting spray. It’s enriched–of course–with floral water from the Immortelle flower, an anti-ageing “golden sun” (Helichrysum arenarium) sourced by L’Occitane from the island of Corsica.

Also formulated with Bellis Perennis (a common European species of daisy), the range is made to increase collagen production, protect against free radicals, and reduce the appearance of pigmentation marks.

The product: L’Occitane Magical Leaves Body Milk

Last month, L’Occitane released two scents inspired by the enchanted forests of Provence to capture the magic of the season. Available in a number of formats, from eau de toilettes to shimmering dry oils, Marvellous Flowers and Magical Leaves were/are limited edition — my apologies for having gotten this review up so late.

While not readily available online, I did see these in-store earlier this month.

I’m actually quite fond of the Magical Leaves scent, but the packaging was such a turn-off. In a sentence: it quite literally took this body milk from the top of my “post immediately!” list to — well, to the middle of January. 

The Body Milk has a good texture, sinking in quickly with light hydration and softly scented without too much throw. L’Occitane describes the fragrance as a (unisex) “zesty, mouthwatering composition,” with notes of verbena, hazel, citrus fruits, and vanilla – my nose doesn’t pick out any of the specifics, but it’s just… tasty.

It’s very fresh; unexpected for a holiday release but absolutely appreciated. A faint woodiness/sweetness keeps the citrus blend from coming off too sharply, but it does smell a little “standard.” I quite enjoy the fragrance, but won’t be stocking up on it.

As for its downfall? The wonderfully whimsical Feuilles Magiques packaging (which makes me think of storybook woodland fairies or something) is actually a pain to use — the plastic is hard to squeeze, and while thin, the formula isn’t so runny that it just comes pouring out of the bottle.

I can see this shape working much better for the shower gel, shimmering oil, and eau de toilette (all in the Marvellous Flowers fragrance), but for a body milk… I mean, I liked the scent, but it would’ve had to have been something pretty darn special to justify this much hassle.

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The product: Burt’s Bees Best of Burt’s Bees set (Holiday 2012)

This year’s Best of Burt’s Bees set ($24.99 CAD) contains three full-size Burt’s bestsellers, and is basically a hit of major hydration in a box. With targeted treatments for dry hands, feet, and cuticles, I like to think of it as my little “prairie saviour” box — perfect for soothing your holiday-shopping-tired feet and wind-chapped hands. 

(And by wind-chapped, I totally mean shopping-mall-chapped.)

The Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream

A Burt’s Bees classic, the Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream is waxy and unyielding, and takes a moment to apply . That said, though, it does its job well — that same waxy texture also means that it’s highly portable (in any climate), and stays on your cuticles like nobody’s business.

I haven’t tested this out long enough to give it a ringing endorsement, but from what I’ve seen of it so far, it definitely does a great job of locking in moisture without getting your fingertips or hands greasy. You don’t have to use a lot of it each time, and what you do put on withstands a respectable amount of wear & washing, to boot.

The Coconut Foot Cream

Rather unexpectedly (for someone who rarely-if-ever uses foot creams), this was my favourite of the bunch! Despite living on the prairies and having chronically dry skin, my feet don’t actually tend to get terribly dry — less so than the rest of my body, even.

The Burt’s Bees Coconut Foot Cream is strangely gelatinous, while still being petroleum-free and 99% natural. Like their Peppermint Foot Lotion, Burts’ coconut cream feels luxurious and has a bit of a minty tingle — but that’s where the comparisons end.

Where the peppermint lotion is thin, white, and sinks in quickly, this one reminds me of a thick honey butter, flavoured with a slightly-spicy coconut and a little sticky. It’s made to sink in overnight (follow up with cotton socks, of course), and delivers deep hydration while having what I’d actually describe as quite a pleasing scent!

The Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Cream

Like the coconut foot cream, Burts’ Beeswax Hand Cream has a lovely, interesting texture — in this case, the texture of a waxy butter, solid in the jar but which melts easily as it’s worked into the skin.

While rich and moisturizing in terms of formula, my complaint with this product lies in its portability and fragrance. The latter is overdone (a problem I have with a surprising number of Burt’s Bees products), and has a sharp, synthetic edge that may be headache-inducing for some. And, while the 2 ounce jar is a great sink-side or desk-drawer addition, it’s far from portable — just something to consider, with the way hand creams need re-application in climates like the prairies!

The verdict?

At $25, this set is a good deal… but only if you already love all three of the included products. With the way I (don’t) go through products, I tend to prefer sets like the Burt’s Bees Tips n Toes Kit  — that is, ones that let you try out a lot of different products, rather than those that get you stocked up with old standbys.

So, while I liked this set, I’d actually recommend that you give the other one a go, instead! (Or, hey, any one of these.) Something like the Tips ‘n Toes Kit is just $19 CAD for the same awesome formulas plus three others, but minus the commitment of full-sized containers.

Or, y’know, skip the hand care entirely and just go for the Coconut Foot Cream. I’m having a lot of fun with the texture! And, okay, the giant hit of moisture and tasty fragrance are pretty nice too, I guess.

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The product: Lise Watier Beauty in a Flash Kit

As those of you on a silicone-free skincare regimen (aka the ‘cone-free diet, as I like to refer to it in my head) will already know, finding a beauty kit that’s entirely silicone-free is a hard feat — a kit that’s largely skincare-based, even moreso.

These sets are few & far between, with the exception of a few natural beauty lines, but Lise Watier has put out a very cool Advent-calendar-inspired exception to the rule this Holiday season.

In the kit ($42 CAD), you’ll find… 

Seven Flash Lift Radiance Vials

On the periphery of the kit are seven re-closable plastic Flash Lift Radiance vials, regularly $27.00 for 7. They’re described as an all-ages “magic potion,” designed to lift, firm, smooth the appearance of wrinkles, erase signs of fatigue, and give instant radiance to all complexions.

I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that instant fixes never produce the same results as long-term skincare (or, I guess, an actual facelift,) but who couldn’t use a bit of a pick-me-up at this time of year? Between December deadlines, holiday shopping, and a constant lack of quality sunlight (at least in Alberta), I think we’re all a little more lackluster than we’d like.

The Flash Lift Radiance ingredients

Three pairs of Bio Lift Eye Patches 

To go along with the Flash Lift vials, our fairy godmothers at Lise Watier have slipped in three pairs of their Bio Lift Eye Patch (regularly $34 for 6 pairs). These ones are a little less instantaneous, needing 15 to 20 minutes overtop moisturized skin for full efficacy, but promise similar results: smoothing, softer lines, and an overall less-tired eye area.

The Bio Lift ingredients

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A quick catch-up post for today — everything I’ve had kicking around that falls just short of a post on their own. Each of the subject headings were taken from folder names on my desktop (or from folders which sit on the desktop rather than in my documents), and there are… rather a lot of urgent-looking exclamation points. File this one away in “behind the non-pro beauty blogging scenes.”

Somehow, despite the aforementioned exclamation points, theNotice’s backlog is still thousands of photographs deep. The system appears to be irreparably broken, which is probably why I found a folder labelled “!! look at your life look at your choices,” a few weeks back.

November is totally an acceptable month for hot chocolate.

Because hot chocolate is delicious.

The recipe for the perfect hot chocolate: warm (but don’t boil) 2% milk on the medium heat. Add in a heaping spoonful of cocoa, 2-3 large marshmallows, and 1-2 drops peppermint oil. Squish the marshmallows with a spoon if they’re not melting down fast enough (because who needs patience when you could have hot chocolate), and whisk until smooth and steaming.

Alternately, add a heaping spoonful of cocoa into a cup of eggnogg and whisk thoroughly. Easy & almost impossible to mess up!

(Lucerne does the best eggnogg that I’ve found, at least in Canada — nothing else is really worth drinking.)

Lavender/lilac/violet eyeshadow swatches

Swatched from left to right, dry over primer: Rimmel Royal Violet, Senna Fantasy, MAC Lovely Lily, Marcelle Dimensional Mauve (x2), Lancome Angora, Annabelle Hawaïan Hues.

Who needs breaks when you could have insomnia instead

In the past few days, I’ve photographed and swatched twenty-ish different products. It’s kind of exhausting, and always a race against the clock.

Just some of what’s to come in the next few weeks…

Fun fact: the sun in Edmonton sets around 4:30 pm at this time of year, but is rather on the weak side until one or two. The golden hour starts around four, which gives you… I’d say two hours of good sunlight a day, if the sky’s completely clear. (Gorgeous sunlight while it lasts, though — much brighter & more diffuse than what we get in the summer!)

Red/vampy lip product swatches

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