Pretty In Bronze: June 2018

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Indie Expo Canada 2018 Overview + What I received & Bought

June 20, 2018 BY Amy Sousa 0 Comments

Hello!

So I went to the Indie Expo Canada for the first time last week, and I was given the opportunity to go as official press! This means that I was able to gain early access before the public in order to take all of the pictures I needed, talk to the vendors, and collect any press packages that may have been available.

I received a VIP bag for free since I was press, and also received several press kits from vendors, including Indie Expo only shades that are not available elsewhere. I'm not the brightest so I didn't organize everything perfectly according to what was in the VIP bag versus gifts from vendors, but I did separate what I purchased myself. I will be showing everything I received and purchased, but first I'll show a few pictures that I got of a few displays and items at the expo.

Clionadh Cosmetics was the most exciting brand to see for me since I am more of a makeup blogger. They had their products displayed in a way that made it really easy to swatch before purchasing. The shadows are PIGMENTED and I couldn't help but buy two for myself (even though I received a couple for free, which you'll see later in this post. Their famous Archeo palette was on display and available for purchase at the event (even though there was a waiting list online) which is why events like the Indie Expo are huge so you can get your hands on things like this. Another huge plus for this indie brand is that they're 100% vegan and cruelty free.

The three pics above consist of three different brands that I noticed with Indie Expo exclusives! This seems to be common for the event and I think it's wonderful because you get to purchase something special that no one outside of the event can get their hands on. The first pic is from Fair Maiden Polish, the second from Girly Bits Cosmetics, and the third is from Paint it Pretty Polish!

While a vast majority of the products were nail related, there were also a bunch of skincare and body care (as well as general wellness) items at the Indie Expo as well. Terrah Essentials was one of them and they had a BUNCH of cool items. You'll see below that I received a few goodies from this brand for being official press and I'm really excited to try them out!

My photography skills honestly sucked this day (the lighting in the room didn't help either) so it was a bit blurry, but I wanted to show you the table where you could buy some cool Indie Expo swag! I didn't pick any up because I'm a huge budgeter and it wasn't necessary for me (especially since I now have a lovely pink VIP bag from the event to keep forever), but I know many love swag so that's something else you'll have to look forward to if you decide to attend in the future!

Here's a pic of me holding up my super cool press badge!

Now onto the part of the post that most of you care about most. I do plan on reviewing a lot of these over the next few weeks, but here are the products I've received for free!

This last picture below is actually what I purchased at the event! I heard amazing things about the Acetone Additive by Cuter Cuticles, so I wanted to pick up a bottle to hopefully save my nails a little bit every time I use acetone to remove my nail polish (at least once a week). Alter Ego Body Care Products had this cool dog shampoo bar, which I obviously had to get for Chewy. I mentioned above that I actually bought two eyeshadows, and these are the shades! I don't have either in my collection, so I thought these would be a perfect start for me, but so many other amazing shades, as well as blushes and highlighters were available that it was really hard to pick.

If you're into indie brands like I am, I absolutely think you should visit the Indie Expo Canada! A lot of my all time favourite products are from indie brands, and they tend to be fairly affordable, so there's really no downside to them other than accessibility. I'm very excited to dive in and try everything out that I possibly can and to return soon with several reviews!

Keep an eye out on my Instagram to see posts about these products and more!

See you soon!

Monday, June 18, 2018

Dermalogica: Calm Water Gel + Barrier Defence Booster

June 18, 2018 BY Amy Sousa 0 Comments

Hello!

So I went to a Dermalogica event way back during the winter months (two seasons ago to be exact) and received two full sized products in my goodie bag. I'd never used anything from the brand before, but always heard amazing things, so I went in with high expectations.

They were offering free facials and mini facials during the event. I didn't sign up quick enough for a full facial, but I did get a quick 15 minute one done and was incredibly impressed. They conducted a full analysis of my face and I discovered that I actually have dehydrated skin, which is the reason why I have so much irritation on my forehead as well as excess oil.

The goodie bag I received contained two brand new products... well now I guess they're only considered recent. I received the Calm Water Gel and the Barrier Defence Booster. These were both used on me during my mini facial and I fell in love with them.

I put on the Barrier Defence Booster right after I'm finished cleansing my skin. This has helped significantly with the irritation on my forehead. My skin absorbs this fairly quickly and I could tell a difference right away. This is available at Sephora for a whopping $101 CAD, which to me is crazy. While I do love this, that's more than my entire entertainment budget for a month, so I won't be purchasing this when it runs out. I've gone down to using this a few times a week to try and preserve it as long as it can and will be really sad when it runs out.

The Calm Water Gel has the most amazing consistency I've ever felt in a moisturizer. I apply this right after the oil and the smallest bit goes a long way. This spreads really nicely and is super hydrating. I like to put this on right before I do my foundation because it creates a super smoothe and hydrated base, and prevents my makeup from looking cakey. This retails for $65 CAD at Sephora, which almost sounds very reasonable compared to the oil, but it's still super pricey in my books. However, this is my favourite moisturizer that I've ever used and a little goes a long way, so I might actually purchase this one when it runs out. I won't buy it right away, but if I notice that my skin just isn't the same with my other moisturizers (or that it's noticeably more textured and dry) then I will buy this one. I will also drop down to using this only a few times a week to try and preserve it (mainly on days where I'll be wearing makeup since it makes it apply so nicely on top).

Now these products aren't cheap. They're actually ridiculously expensive to me, the person who is now used to moisturizer being under $7 CAD, but they are really good. I've actually considered buying Dermalogica's Daily Microfoliant before and that's $85. At the event they were giving bloggers 30% off and I'm now regretting not jumping on that because I didn't realize just how expensive everything was. If I could've known, I would've bought the Microfoliant and a backup Calm Water Gel that night.

Final thoughts? This brand is worth it if you have the budget, but I'd stick to the Calm Water Gel if you can only afford one since in my opinion it's the most effective. If you don't have lots of money to spend, I'd stick to more affordable brands that might not perform the same, but at least they won't be bad and won't break the bank.

I hope you enjoyed this review! See you next time!

Wednesday, June 06, 2018

reviews skincare

Rocky Mountain Soap Company - Face Polish & Hand Cream Review

June 06, 2018 BY Amy Sousa 0 Comments

Hello!

It's been a while! I feel like I always have no real reason for taking a small break other than 'life,' but this time I was taking a break because I've published my debut novel Once Upon A Tear and that has taken a lot of time out recently. Now my books is out and things are slightly calming down for me so I can slowly start blogging again.

I was sent these products a while back (several months ago, actually) and have been using them a lot, so I can finally give a full review.

Face Polish

I've been using this face polish several times a week since I received it, and at first it was kind of tricky to use. I'm not about to get a measuring spoon out so I was just guestimating the amount of polish compared to water (or oil) that I needed, but after a few weeks it became second nature and now I can quickly pour some out and get to exfoliating my face.

While you can use this product with water, oil or creams, I prefer just using water. I tried using it with a face oil, and it didn't exfoliate as much as I wanted it to. I feel like it doesn't mix as easily, and to be honest, I don't really like using oil on my face unless I'm using it as a leave-on treatment.

This polish is gentle when mixed properly, but it still gets the job done. Of course you can mix less water in and have it be grittier, but I don't like using it that way as it scares me what I could be doing to my skin. Having the tiniest bit of texture helps scrub the dead skin and clean up anything around my breakouts. The smell is also quite nice, so that makes the overall experience nicer because I'm super lazy and will find any excuse to not do a full skincare routine at night.

Has this made a major difference in my skin? No. It has made a small difference in the sense that it feels a little bit smoother, but I didn't really have a problem with that before. I, however, do feel like this would make a bigger difference on someone who does have skin issues (particularly someone who is struggling to achieve smoother skin or dry skin).

Hand Cream

This is ok. It's very hard for me to review a hand cream because my hands rarely ever get dry. I wear gloves to wash dishes and for any cleaning duties involving soap and anything stronger, so they've been well preserved (thanks to allergies). My hands also get moisturized as a by-product of moisturizing my body. The few days where the weather went crazy and my hands DID feel dry, I put this on and it did really moisturize my hands.

One downside is that this takes a bit longer than I'd like for it to completely soak in. I work on a laptop all day, so my fingers can't feel moist in any way or my trackpad is annoying to use, so I did avoid using this when at work because of that. For just being around the house it's totally fine, or doing pretty much anything else, but on my laptop I want my fingers completely dry so I can preserve my laptop's trackpad and keys as long as possible. That being said, this is a lot quicker than most hand creams I've tried in the past.

I do have a hand cream that I prefer over this one so I wouldn't purchase this on my own, but this one is more moisturizing, so it really all depends on your preferences! I've also received several hand creams recently, so I place them in different places (bedside table, makeup bag, work, etc.), but this unfortunately doesn't stand out much to me.

This ended up sounding negative, but that wasn't my intention! There's nothing wrong with these products by any means. They just didn't blow my mind at all and aren't that unique. I'm keeping them and do rotate between using different skincare products on a daily basis, but I would not purchase either since they don't wow me.

See you soon!