Grocery Store Beauty Products: All Natural Toners

A few months ago I made a wonderful discovery.  I had been struggling for a few months to find an affordable toner at the drugstore that still made my skin feel great. My oily-combination skin really needs something soothing and balancing - not too drying, and with anti-aging benefits too.

I had tried Burts Bee's Radiance Toner with Royal Jelly and I really liked it, but I found it hard to find and it was more than $20 a bottle, so I began searching for something cheaper.  I tried a few common drugstore brands but I found it nearly impossible to find anything that was paraben and sulphate free, as well as being alcohol free.  Any toner that contained alcohol (pretty much all of them) left my skin dry and patchy in some places and extra oily in my t-zone because my skin was overcompensating for the drying quality of the alcohol.

Then I discovered Rose Water and Orange Blossom water.  I have to give credit to Youtuber Lisa Pullano as it was watching her videos that inspired me to try using these products as toners.  I have kept these two items in my pantry for years as ingredients I used occasionally in recipes (try stirring a bit of rosewater and honey into some yogurt and drizzling over roasted figs, YUM!).  These two products smell so amazing and are less than $5 a bottle at the grocery store!! (check the international items aisle).  The only ingredients are rose petals/oranges and water.

I noticed a difference in my skin immediately.  Using orange blossom water in the morning and rose water in the evening, the dry patches on my face disappeared and the oiliness of my t-zone decreased dramatically.  I have since even learned that flower waters (aka hydrosols) have anti-aging benefits such as being packed with anti-oxidants that make them anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial as well as antiseptic. They also contains small amounts of hydrating essential oils. They are said to help with acne and redness and to prevent and even reduce the appearance of wrinkles.  They are gentle enough to use even around the delicate eye area.  Best of all, they smell amazing.  I find the rose water very soothing which makes it perfect for before bed.  The orange blossom water is the perfect natural, subtle and exotic perfume.  It is even said that the scent can reduce stress and anxiety, which makes it a perfect start to the day.  Since I began using these products, I have received so many compliments to the beauty of my skin and I believe these are the products that have made the difference.

A few other things you can do with these products:

• put a few drops into cake batter or frosting to give a subtle aroma
• Pour a few teaspoons into your bath water for a soothing soak
• Put it into a spray bottle to use as a makeup setting spray or hydrating spray throughout the day
• Pour a few teaspoons into a pot of simmering water to create a natural air freshener

June favourites!

Here are my favourite things from the month of June!

Beauty:

My number one favourite new product this month is my Loreal Majic Nude Foundation.  I had been putting off buying it because it is quite expensive ($19-$20 Canadian) for a drugstore foundation, and I just didn't need a new one.  When London Drugs had all Loreal foundations for $11.99 I took advantage and picked this up.  I loved it instantly.  It is a very thin consistency so it blends out really quickly and easily, but it also provides a really good medium coverage that looks really natural.  It tranforms into a powder finish when it sets so it gives a really beautiful finish to the skin.  It gives the coverage of a liquid with the lightweight feel and look of a powder.  Perfect for spring and summer!  I only wish it had SPF protection (that would make it worth the almost $20 price tag!)

My other beauty favourites have all been lipsticks, so watch for a post all about my most loved and hated lip products soon!

Parenting:

This month I have to write about something that has been one of my favourite parenting, beauty, and food products for quite a while, but I use it so often and in so many different ways that I always forget about it!  This miracle multi-purpose product is Cold-pressed Extra Virgin Coconut Oil.  I get mine in a huge tub from costco which stays in my kitchen.  Then I scoop some of it into containers that I keep in my own room and in P's room.  I use this stuff numerous times a day.  I'll stick to its parenting purposes for today, but it also has so many health benefits when used in cooking or as a beauty product.  Google it people!!

P sucks her thumb as she falls asleep, so she often gets sores on her lips and thumbs from this habit.  I apply coconut oil to her lips and thumbs a few times a day and the sores clear right up.  This stuff is perfect because it doesn't matter  if she ends up ingesting it .  For that reason I cant use polysporin or anything like that as it is being applied to spots that will inevitably end up in her mouth.

Once I started using coconut oil for that specific purpose and seeing how well it worked, I started trying it for other things as well.  Low and behold, it works great on cuts and scrapes before you put on a band-aid because of its anti-bacterial and anti-fingal properties. It is great for bug bites for the same reason, and it even soothes and heals diaper rash!  It is perfect as an all-over moisturizer for dry skin (which D suffers from terrribly).

I also use it a ton in baking and cooking because of its health benefits, but I'll write more about that in a future post.  If you don't already have some of this miracle oil in your house, you should consider getting some as soon as possible.  I just keep on discovering its wonderful qualities and uses!  

Cooking and Food:

Cooking: This month I have been inspired by a tall stack of cookbooks that I picked up at my local library.  I love food reading, and I am always interested in cookbooks written by celebrity chefs or cookbooks all about a certain country I am interested in at any given time.  My local library has a ton of cookbooks, and I bet yours does too.  For free!!  Check it out if you're a frugal food lover like me.

Food: This month I stopped drinking coffee to see if it would help me feel better, since I had been ill.  It didn't :( but I did find that I started sleeping better and those terrible headaches I'd been getting went away (the ones that used to start a few hours after I forgot to drink my coffee...).  So, I didn't start up again.  Instead I started making a cup of herbal tea in the morning, and my favourite is the Presidents Choice brand Chocolatey Chai herbal tea.  It smells so good, and with a little splash of milk it satisfies my craving for something hot in the morning.  Also satisfies my craving for something dessert-ish in the evening. Ok, the stuff is delicious any time of day. Its cheap too. Bonus!

Random Stuff:

I have, of course, been watching TV and reading books this month.  I have not, unfortunately, come across anything so wonderful that I feel the need to recommend it here today.  If I'm gonna call it a favourite, it has to be pretty great. 

Not so Frugal Friday?!? New Sephora in my City!

Today was an exciting and historic day in my city, Regina Saskatchewan, because we finally have a Sephora!!  It opened this morning and my sister-in-law and I were among the first to enter.  Now, it may come as a surprise for a makeup nerd like myself, but before this morning I had never been in a Sephora. I had ordered online, and my husband (saint that he is) would stop in to the Saskatoon location for me once in a while to pick up this or that if he was there for work.  Needless to day, it blew my mind.  I had been looking forward to this date with my sis-in-law ever since we found out Sephora was coming to Regina, and we had a blast.

I spent more money than I intended, and I cant even claim to have gotten good deals, as all we received was a measly and somewhat useless makeup bag (I mean, what makeup nerd doesn't already have way more of those than we already need??).  Still, it was a deeply rewarding and satisfying shopping trip on which I was able to swatch a ton of stuff I had been very curious about, and purchase some things I had long been waiting to own.

Among my purchases were a bite lipstick pencil, a Sephora cream lip stain, another Sephora lipstick, a Nars creamy concealer, a sample of Josie Maran coconut watercolour cheek stain, a Formula X for Sephora nailpolish, and a Beauty Blender solid brush cleaner.

My instant favourite is the Sephora cream lip stain in colour 01 red, which I put on as soon as I got home, and it lasted through lunch, the afternoon, and snacks eaten on the go while out at some community events.  I have been searching for the perfect red lipstick, and I have definitely found it!

Stay tuned for more reviews in future monthly favourites posts!

Perfect Red Lipstick!

April favourites

Here are my favourite things from the month of April!

Beauty:

Nails: I have really been enjoying my Milani nail lacquer.  It claims to be a high speed, fast dry, one coat formula. These really are a very fast drying formula and one coat usually does the trick, which I love because I usually want to be able to do my nails in 15 minutes or less. I don't use a topcoat (takes too long!) but I usually get a at least a few days out of a manicure with this stuff even though I am cooking, cleaning and gardening a lot. The colour selection is bright, vibrant and perfect for spring and summer. I have the colours Pink Express and Jiffy Orange.

Makeup:  My hands down favourite makeup purchase this month is from Tarte Cosmetics. The Brow Architect is a brow shaper, liner and definer.  One end is a brow pencil, but instead of coming to a point, it comes to a flat tip, much like the shape of the tip of a pair of tweezers.  The other end has a spoolie, and then in the middle is a neat little compartment that contains a concealer/highlighter with a sponge applicator tip.  I use this product along with my NYX brow powder, and my brows have never looked better or more natural.  I have the colour Fair.

Hair: I was hooked in by the bright orange packaging on the Herbal Essences Body Envy dry shampoo, and it's also one third the price of my old favourite, Batiste brand.  I like the Herbal Essences one for a day when I am wearing my hair half up or in a ponytail, because it it gives me great texture and volume. I can pull my hair back and pin it or tie it and it always has a perfect bump of volume on top and smoothes out easily.  I also like that it soaks up all the oil but it doesn't turn my hair white (at least, not once I rub it in), and it gives me quite a bit of hold as well.  For a non-washing day when I want to wear my hair down and have it feel really clean and soft, I will still use my Batiste because the herbal essences one leaves my hair quite stiff.

Parenting:

Colgate children's electric toothbrushes: So about a year ago the public health nurse suggested I try electric toothbrushes for P and D.  And then she gave me some free toothbrushes.  Being the frugal Saskatchemom that I am, I did not run out and pay money for more toothbrushes.  It took me until this month to finally check out the options in children's electric toothbrushes, and to my surprise there were a ton! I choose a few that came with stickers for decorating and P and D were hooked as soon as they heard that word "stickers".  They love using these toothbrushes, and now it is them who remind us it's time for teeth cleaning! It also makes the job quicker and much less work for us.

Food:

Youtube: I have been loving youtube channel Food Wishes this month.  Host Chef Jon Inspires me to try and make things I would never imagine I could do at home (like baguette at Easter, or pita bread! Who knew such things were possible for a simple home cook!?! ... he did I guess).  His videos lay out complicated recipes into simple to follow instructions, with every detail outlined so that if you follow his guide, the recipe is pretty much foolproof.  I love this guy and he really cracks me up too.

Snack:  At costco a few weeks ago I picked up a box of Calbee Snap Pea Crisps.  While I was reading the label and being pretty impressed with the common list of ingredients and acceptable-to-me nutritious value, a random woman told me I had to try them because they are delicious.  So I did, and they are.  P and D like them too.

Random Stuff:

Television:  Suneil and I have really been enjoying Big Brother Canada.  I am rooting for Neda by the way!  but our true addiction this month has been BBC's Downton Abbey, a period drama about a wealthy family adapting through troubled and changing times.  We got our hands on all four seasons, and two weeks later we had watched it all.  I know it's crazy.  How can the busy parents of two year old twins possibly find the time to watch quite so much TV???  I promise our children were not neglected, but I did neglect all of my other favourite pastimes in favour of watching this show.  It has the ability to make me laugh out loud and sob uncontrollably, sometimes in the same episode!

Books:  I am somewhat ashamed to admit that due to my insatiable addiction to Downton Abbey, I have read only a portion of just one book this month. I am just halfway through Markus Zusak's The Book Thief and I am really enjoying the story about a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany.  Sounds like it's been done before, but the story is very original, written from the point of view of the Grimm reaper.  A definite page turner, even after you've just finished an emotionally exhausting marathon (of television watching).

People: This month my favourite people are a little more personal for me.  A few weeks ago something shocking and terrifying happened to one of my siblings.  With my parents out if the country, it was up to myself and my other siblings to deal with everything that needed to be done and to support each other emotionally with the usual leaders of our family absent.  My fave people this month are my in-laws, who seemed to save the day over and over.  My sister-in-law was a rock, providing moral support, much needed information, a listening ear and babysitting whenever she was needed.  My (future) brother in law silently took care of all the tasks that no one else had the time or motivation to do.  So many times I remembered something I should get done, only to find he had already taken care of it.  My husbands parents arrived early this week and provided all kinds of support, providing a less chaotic and much more upbeat environment for P and D, supporting everyone in my family with heartfelt concern, and helping out with daily tasks wherever they were able.  These people are all so very dear to me and I had to give them props this month.

Hope you enjoyed this random list of goodies!  Happy May!