2021 has slipped through my fingers like a precious beauty essence, but I couldn’t let it end without sharing a few of my favourite gift ideas of the year. I’ve struggled to get amped for the holidays in the pandemic (like a lot of people I know), and these are coming in late. It’s never too late, however, to nab something nice, like the breathtakingly-affordable The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA Moisturizer.
These products are a really lovely treat for yourself, as well as a fantastic bundle of things to pick up in-store or order for late delivery. Let’s start with a Clarins Calm-Essentiel review, then talk about two additional silicone-free moisturizers that I’m really loving right now… including The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA.
A lot of my holiday gatherings have been postponed until 2022. (Tentatively also labelled as “whenever we collectively feel like we have enough information about Omicron’s spread to keep ourselves safe” and “whenever all of our friends and family have gotten their booster shots.)
As a result, my holiday planning this year is… chill. My family is doing a day of over-the-top snacks and desserts instead of a gift exchange. After that, the gift exchanges that are still on the table look like they’re slated for closer to January or February.
So: let’s go get ready (late).
Clarins Calm-Essentiel review
Clarins absolutely kills me with their skincare launches. You know I adore their makeup line, but their skincare line is not all silicone-free. Launch after launch of theirs will come out looking absolutely beautiful, but it’s only every now and again that I can use the products.
These Calm-Essentiel items thankfully fit into that category.
Like the rest of the Clarins line, these products smell amazing. Both the Clarins Calm-Essentiel Soothing Emulsion ($52 CAD) and Clarins Calm-Essentiel Restoring Treatment Oil ($68 CAD) work wonders on my extremely dry skin, taking away the bite of the dry winter air within minutes. They feel somehow simple on my skin, providing gentle moisture as soon as they’re applied.
I fell in love with the Guerlain SOS Serum during a facial a few years ago, but I could never get myself to bite the bullet and pay the $120 CAD-ish price tag. This Clarins Soothing Emulsion reminds me a lot of it, at half the price (and after something like a half-decade of inflation). It has a thiner moisturizer’s texture (not too wet), but makes my skin feel comfortable in the same way.
I love the packaging, formula, and scent of these, and the fact that they do actually seem to calm the skin is the cherry on top.
Korres Donkey Milk review
Clarins’ new moisturizers weren’t the only products I fell in love with this year. I also fell head over heels for the Korres Donkey Milk Moisturizer ($37.30 USD). It’s a rich, glossy face cream that sinks into dry skin beautifully, and unlike a lot of other products, I don’t need to layer it with an additional hydrating serum or face mist.
This donkey milk moisturizer smells comforting in a way that I quite enjoy. However, it’s fairly strongly scented. The scent makes me crave using either this moisturizer or its matching cleanser; both work to gently exfoliate your skin, like other milk-based skincare products do.
I’ve used this product on and off since the spring, and I’ve loved it every time. Its finish is a little greasy, but in the exact way that I really enjoy—I’m almost out of it, and already sad that I won’t get to hear the click-clack of an expensive glass jar at my fingertips each morning and night.
The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA Moisturizer review
On the other end of the spectrum is this gorgeous The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA Moisturizer ($5.80 CAD) by Deciem. It doesn’t offer enough hydration for my face, but its super-smooth, scent-free, vegan, cruelty-free formula made me fall in love immediately.
Deciem offers 23% off every November with the exception of Black Friday, so I seized my opportunity and stocked up on Natural Moisturizing Factors. I’ve been using the large tubes as hand creams around my apartment (they sink in SO quickly), and I have a stash of small ones that I plan to give out to future potential relationships. Being super sensitive to silicones can make dating new people tough, but at $5 a tube, The Ordinary makes it easy to make sure anyone with long-term potential has a moisturizer on hand that I’m not allergic to.
This one is great for normal to oily skin, and mixes well with a serum for dry skin types. Or you can use it the way I do, and moisturize your hands with its smooth goodness 10x a day.
Anecdote Candles Holiday 2021 favourites
As I mentioned up top, I’m just… not in the holiday mood right now, and neither is anyone else that I know. We all seem to be hitting the point of knowing that this pandemic is likely never going to end. It’s like we’re kids realizing that we won’t get our treat: last year, quarantine seemed okay, because it had a purpose. This year, we’re tired, and lonely, and they promised us a normal Christmas that we know is never coming.
Anecdote Candles Snow Day ($42 USD) is my holiday dream (and solution). Its rich, sweet scent of sugar and sandalwood fills my entire living room even when the candle isn’t lit. Even in a year where the holidays don’t feel festive at all, Snow Day lights my craving for a long winter walk. It makes me hum Christmas carols, online shop for the perfect gifts, and turn my warm-glow lights on throughout my home.
I received two sets of holiday candles from different companies to review this year, and I was shocked by how much better Anecdote’s are. The trios (the other Anecdote Candles I have right now are Spiked & Spiced, a fruity red wine and cinnamon, and Après Ski, which is spruce and cypress) have a similar scent profile, but they couldn’t be more different. Anecdote’s fruity winter scent is zestier and spicier; their tree fragrance is softer and filled with more longing; their sweet scent is butterier and sugarier.
These are really, really good candles—and they’ll get you through the rest of winter after the holidays are over, too.
Slip Silk Scrunchies
The last gift on my list this year is Slip, which makes super-smooth headbands, hair ties, pillow cases, and more to protect your hair and skin while you sleep. You know I love a good scrunchie set, so I gravitated toward Slip’s Mega Scrunchie Set ($49 USD) and Large Slipsilk Scrunchies ($53 CAD at Sephora).
These soft, silky scrunchies have a beautiful, lustrous finish, and slide smoothly out of my hair when I inevitably tug my hair tie out before an impromptu nap. They’re a great gift for anyone with long hair, and are an especially nice treat for dry, brittle strands.
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Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post were submitted by PR for editorial consideration only. The Christmas Grinch vibe was supplied 100% by yours truly.
