April 2019 - Pretty In Bronze

Friday, April 26, 2019

New Makeup from Almay ~ Review
April 26, 20190 Comments
Hello!


I received a gifted bag full of makeup products from Almay a little over a week ago for reviewing purposes. I took pictures that same night before I jumped into trying the new products on Good Friday without looking at any reviews.



Almay is one of those brands that I’ve never truly tried before. I can with 100% certainty say that I’ve never purchased anything from them before, but I’m pretty sure my mother had a few products from them when I was a child that I may have played with over  decade ago when they were probably expired for a little while (my mom uses the same mascara for 3+ years if that tells you anything). Why have I never tried them? I’ve honestly never heard people raving about any of their products. If anything, most mentions of the makeup were negative.


I went in with a small bias that the products wouldn’t perform well and to be fully honest, some didn’t. However, of the products i received, I really enjoyed most of them! The only product I haven’t yet tried is the mascara because I already have two different ones open and I’m the type of girl who doesn’t wear makeup very often and doesn’t want any of it to go to waste. I also have to change my mascara’s every 2-3 months because my eyes are super sensitive.



Let’s jump into the actual review and swatches!


Make Them Jelly Hi-Lite


When I first opened the box, this is immediately what my eyes went to. I know Jelly products have been a thing for years, but I’ve never tried any before so I was really excited to give these a go. I swatched them both and they perform equally as well, but it mainly comes down to preference of colour for me. I’m a gold-toned kind of girl when it comes to highlighter and eyeshadow (Pretty in Bronze… duh) so I know I’ll be using that one the most, but I’m keeping both for sure since pink is another favourite of mine and can make for some really cool looks (especially if using it on the body).



The texture is exactly what it looks like. Though once you warm it up with your fingers it is very easy to apply. These apply more like a thin glitter, but they don’t look chunky on the face at all. This also doesn’t disrupt my foundation when I go to apply it (even on my nose!), but that might also depend on the foundation. I’ve been using the Lancome Teint Idole, which is pretty long-wearing in itself. These look so beautiful on their own and amplify powder highlighter that you add on top.




Powder Highlighters


Like the jelly highlighters, I received one in gold and one in pink. When I first swatched these I was worried that they were going to look powdery or have no shine on the face, but thankfully that’s not the case. I always mix the four colours together in the pan onto my fan brush before applying like normal. These go on very smooth an give more of a glow than a shimmery look (which I prefer), but when you layer them on top of the jelly they’re so amazing since the shimmers from the jelly shine through and give such a cool look. Not to mention that using both together makes your highlighter last all day long without needing any touch ups at all.




Eyeshadow Palettes


I had a feeling when I saw these that they wouldn’t be great. I feel like a lot of the negative reviews of Almay products in the past had to do with their eyeshadows, and after swatching and wearing these I understood why. These are powdery, not very pigmented and they blend away too easily and have a tendency to become muddy looking. I’ve tried both palettes and the quality is the same between both, but I do prefer the darker one since they aren’t very pigmented. I wouldn’t recommend these since there are so many affordable eyeshadow palettes that are on par with high end eyeshadows for under $10 CAD at the drugstore so you aren’t missing out on these ones.




Velvet Foiled Cream Shadow


Thankfully not all eyeshadow products from Almay are the same. These Cream Shadows are actually pretty good and I enjoyed them quite a bit. I wish I got a deeper neutral colour, but I made both work with my eye look over the weekend. These make a nice base and work well on their own too. I do find that you have to wait for it to dry a bit before applying a bit more to make it opaque enough, but at least it layers to give you good pigmentation. While I liked them, I don’t see myself reaching for them very often for use on their own, but I definitely like layering powder eyeshadows on top to make my eye look last all day long!



I'm an idiot and forgot to take swatch pictures of this one :(


Goddess Gloss


I was really excited when I saw these glosses because I can never get enough! I enjoy a few liquid lipsticks (sometimes), but I’m the kind of girl that likes my lips to look moisturized and shiny. I decided to not open the white/iridescent gloss since I own a very similar looking colour and would rather make someone happy with it, but I went straight for the (fuschia) the second I opened the bag and put it on before taking pictures of anything.


I really like the texture and colour payoff from this lipgloss. It looks super shiny and glittery in the tube, but when you put it on it gives the perfect amount of both without looking like a metallic or foiled lip. The application is nice an the texture is as well. It’s a little bit sticky so I refuse to wear this if I’m outside in the wind or if my hair is down and in my face, but if I’m taking pictures or wearing this indoors I love it! After all, if a gloss is a bit sticky, it tends to last a lot longer than one that feels super slippery.


Clear Complexion Blemish Armor / Salicylic Acid


This was the strangest product to see in the gift bag I received. I feel like a lot of brands are releasing Salicylic acids, but the ingredient is always the same. I don’t know how it works, but even though it’s always 2%, the texture of the acid is always different. This one is creamy looking and not completely clear. I’m not a fan of using an applicator to touch directly to my breakouts (even if the acid is supposed to make the wand clean) and honestly, this doesn’t work as well as my other go to salicylic acid 2% products. I’m not sure how that makes sense, but I can’t be bothered looking it up. I also find this hard to take off in the morning without using a cleansing water after washing my face. My other ones wash right off and I’m ready to go. This is another disappointing product, but it’s also not makeup so I don't mind.



Overall, I really enjoyed most of the products I received from Almay! I don’t know if it’s because they’re all new and the brand has stepped up their game, or if I just have different preferences to most people, but I’m no longer afraid to actually look at the products from this brand when I’m walking down the makeup aisle in the drugstore. I can say with confidence that a lot of it is good and they just aren’t spoken about a lot. Hopefully this will inspire you to give some of their products a try, or to give brands a try that you may have heard negative reviews about in the past. Other than the regular eyeshadow palettes and salicylic acid, I recommend trying out all of the other products. Please look up reviews of their mascaras since I didn’t get a chance to try it for this post (I will eventually share my thoughts once I use it), but everything else was great!


I hope you enjoyed this review. Thank you Almay for giving me these products for free to try out and provide my honest thoughts!


See you soon!

Monday, April 22, 2019

Silk'n Infinity Permanent Hair Removal Device Review
April 22, 20190 Comments
Hello!

June 2020 update: Scroll to the bottom of the post and you'll be able to read my one-year update including if I think it's worth it or not!

I've been trying this Silk'n Infinity Permanent Hair Removal Device ever since I got back from Vacation at the beginning of March. Silk'n has provided this device to me for free in exchange for this blog post and the YouTube video that I posted a few weeks back, but they are not paying me and have only requested an honest review on my true opinions.


It's been a month and a half since I first started using it and I feel like I can provide a decent review at this point and have results that you can actually see. This device costs $450 CAD, which may seem pricey, but the website sometimes has discounts (15% off spring discount currently running) and you can use ebates to get yourself some cash-back. If you don't have ebates, sign up here with my affiliate link to get money back when shopping on so many websites!

I want to jump into my review first as that's what a majority of you are likely interested in, but after that I'll be sharing a bunch of information that I thought was useful, as well as the settings I use on myself personally. First and foremost I want you to read the claims for this device so you can really keep that in mind.

Claims

This device claims that users with light/medium skin who have brown to black hair will see approximately 60%–70% permanent hair removal after completing the sessions. I'm personally ok with this as my biggest issue is the sheer amount of body hair that I have—not the fact that I have body hair in the first place. I feel like this is important to keep in mind as I don't want anyone running out expecting that 100% of their body hair will be gone after completing treatments with this device. After all, this is a safe to use (FDA approved) at home hair removal device that you can use on your own as much as you need to reach your desire results rather than spending much more money at a salon.

Now onto the review!

Review

I've used the device five times on my arms, underarms, fingers and moustache. I've used it four times on my legs, bikini line, and toes. I decided to split these up as it takes a long time for me to use because I like to be very thorough and full disclosure... I'm too lazy to shave all of the areas at once in order to use the device.

Below is a video where I show you how I use the device and provide some info and my thoughts at the time. This was my third treatment of my arms, underarms, fingers and moustache and because you can't see clearly in the video, I did take a few pictures several days after filming to show you results in comparison to the first time I did the treatment. All of the photos were taken five to seven days after treating the area so you can see the hair-growth rather than stubble, and compare (especially with the newer and larger bald patches).






I've now used the device for an extra two treatments on these areas and will be basing all of my thoughts on those. While I've used it a few more times on the other areas, they are still behind a couple of treatments so the results are not as advanced.

As you can see from the pictures, the hair-growth is definitely more sparse. My arms have definitely seem the biggest results and now it takes much longer for the hair to grow back on them. I feel like at this point that I've seen a 30% decrease in hair, but with every treatment I notice even more changes so I am confident that I'll see a total of 60%-70% less hair by the time that I complete eight treatments. The individual hair strands also seem to be a little bit thinner, but I've noticed that more on my moustache area and underarms compared to my arms.

Below are the latest pictures I've taken after all of the treatments I've done so far (five) before uploading this blog post. Hopefully you can really tell what a difference the device has made for me!


Taking pictures alone is super hard so it's not the best, but I'm stoked with the results! This has also shown me that I clearly favour certain areas while doing treatments so I have to pay attention to those that have more hair that I tend to miss. My moustache is basically gone, but I'll continue treatments there because I don't want it coming back.

Final Thoughts

If you're looking at reducing the amount of hair you have (not getting rid of 100% of it) I think this is actually a really great device! There is a return policy in case this doesn't work for your hair colour or skin tone, but I recommend doing a bunch of research beforehand to be 100% sure that you want it.

I also recommend moisturizing well after every use as this does tend to dry my skin out.

If you decide to buy this, please check out the links at the beginning of this blog post and don't forget to use ebates so you get some nice cash-back from your purchase! Once again, this blog post isn't sponsored and I was told to provide my honest review (which I did), however, I did receive the device for free.

See you soon!



June 2020 Update:


I've had the device for an entire year now and have noticed for the past few months I've been receiving comments on Instagram and YouTube asking for an update and if my thoughts were still the same. I thought it'd be easier to include all the info in this post so anyone coming across it can read it all in one go.


Are my thoughts the same on how well the device works? Yes. Do I still think I'd buy it for myself if I had to pay for it? Not necessarily. Because I have a few people that could use my device (after sanitizing it of course) I would because it is a lot cheaper if more than one person is paying for it so you can share. Whether it be someone in your household or your best friends, it's 100% more worth it that way since you can wipe it down with alcohol to completely disinfect it.

If you're buying it for yourself, it really depends o what you're looking for. I'm using it for pretty much full-body laser minus parts of the bikini area (Brazilian) that I'm honestly too scared to use on my own. That's something I'll eventually get done professionally even though getting it done at a salon still doesn't make it permanent. Please do your research on laser hair removal because you'll learn that it's never permanent. From my understanding getting it done in a professional salon can get rid of more of the hair (rather than the 60–70% advertised by Silk'n... I feel like I got 75% to be honest), it will eventually grow back one day and will need upkeep once in a while. I do think if you don't keep up with this device it grows back faster, but since you own it and have it at home, it's not a big deal to do a touch-up session once a quarter to keep the hair away.

I know a lot of people do both, as in they go to a professional and then for upkeep they buy a device like this. If you, like myself, care mainly about decreasing the amount of hair you have rather than eliminating it completely, I still think this is more worth it. Though there isn't a large range of people that can do laser hair removal in general (based on the technology behind it not working well on light hairs or dark skin.) If you have darker skin or light body hair, I highly HIGHLY recommend consulting with a professional first so they can determine if it would even work for you. The last thing I want is you spending hundreds of dollars just to find out it won't work on you and then have to go through a hassle to return the product or lose your money all together.

I will address that I've received a comment on my video review from someone claiming to have a bad customer service experience with the company. I can't speak on that since I received the device for free in exchange for an honest review so I didn't have to go through the normal ordering process. I will say that you should do your research into this brand and any other brand you look into because everyone has a different experience. I've had really bad experiences with brands people rave about so in the end, do your research into reviews by people that bought the product themselves and determine if you think it'll be good for you! Also, if you can buy it in a store (like Shoppers Drug Mart) you'll probably have an easier time returning it and getting big discounts or lots of points for it!

I don't have any update photos to share right now as I haven't used the device in about six months now (and I've been away from home for several months during this pandemic) so I don't have it on me to touch up and my hair is definitely coming back. Still nowhere near as thick as before, but I have to shave most areas a few times a week (not every other day like I had to before though) so I look forward to things being safe again so I can go home and start using it again!

I think that's about it! Please leave any questions you have below, on my instagram or YouTube video and I'll add FAQ's here or answer you directly if it's specific :)

See you around and stay safe out there!



@beautybyamysousa