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Mario Badescu Facial Spray Review

March 27, 2019 / FASHION & BEAUTY / 0 comments

Curious about Mario Badescu Facial Sprays? I am and had been for some time. Actually, I was on the lookout for some good facial sprays and this brand caught my eye. There seem to be a lot of raves about their Green Tea, Lavender and especially their Rosewater face mists. So, I couldn’t help but try them for myself. For starters, I kinda like the ingredients of these facial sprays and they seem to be light on the skin. Since I’m actually not a fan of thick, heavy, and oil-based face sprays because they’ll just emphasize the shine on my skin, I felt like these Mario Badescu mists seem like the perfect fit.

There are a couple of things I noticed about these facial sprays. First, they’re really quite versatile to use. They’re not just simple facial sprays, they can also be used as a toner or as a complement to your favorite moisturizer since these sprays add extra moisture to the skin and soften the dry patches of the face. So, in general, these mists are perfect for layering under makeup. Second thing is that these are perfect for spraying on our favorite facial sponge of the world – the beautyblender. Speaking of that, oh my, I do that quite a lot. I like the convenience of having a facial spray nearby so I could moisten my beautyblender with it on the spot. I tend to get lazy in wetting my beautyblender especially when I may not have access to the nearest faucet and I have to apply my makeup fast. I actually like the feel of my beautyblender that way as opposed to wetting it with water, because it sorta retains a firm texture which makes it easier for me to control my makeup application. Moistening it all over could make the sponge too soft. I love to smack that beautyblender on my face so I could have a more even, natural, and less cakey foundation on the skin. Lastly, as a facial spray, these really add moisture to dry skin, and they’re great as a finishing spray since they make the foundation look less harsh and more even. Also, these provide for a nice facial refresher during the day.

Facial Spray with Aloe, Herbs, and Rosewater (4 oz: $7, 8 oz: $12) – This face mist is great for all skin types, but actually all Mario Badescu Face Sprays are. This one, in particular, has a nice rose scent and it’s meant to rehydrate, clarify, even the complexion, and add a glow to the skin. For me, I didn’t notice the glow part at all, but I guess because my skin is already glowing in oil anyway, LOL. This facial spray actually did quite the opposite. It did kinda control the excess oiliness of my skin even though the effect is very subtle. This spray also moisturizes the skin and it feels light, non-sticky, and it didn’t give me any breakouts. So this is really nice for those with oily-prone or with problematic acne skin. Also, there are no harsh ingredients in this, like Sulfates, SLES, Parabens, etc.

Facial Spray with Aloe, Cucumber, and Green Tea (4 oz: $7, 8 oz: $12) – Smells fresh just like Cucumber and Green Tea, I like leaving this face mist inside my refrigerator, and I use this to hydrate my skin throughout the day. Try it, you’ll love it. This spray is also great for all skin types and I believe, apart from delivering extra moisture to the skin, this pretty much adds an invigorating effect, the type that wakes up the senses.

Facial Spray with Aloe, Chamomile, and Lavender (4 oz: $7, 8 oz: $12) – Talking about relaxing and soothing face mists, well, this is the one. Just like the calming effect of Lavender, I love using this spray at night especially before going to bed. My face tends to get dry at night so this spray helps a lot. I find this to be quite comforting and surprisingly very hydrating, probably even more hydrating than the Rosewater one above. This is also great for all skin types and free of any harsh ingredients.

In general, though the effects of these face sprays are very subtle and there’s really not that much difference among them, the important thing is we hydrate our skin and these deliver. So I highly recommend these facial mists. I like that they help to invigorate our senses, they’re mild on the skin, and that they’re pretty much affordable. The bottles are large enough for daily use and they could last for some time. The spray nozzles could use some improvement, but I’m cool with that.

The Mario Badescu Facial Sprays are currently available at Sephora, Ulta, Anthropologie, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack, Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Off Fifth, Urban Outfitters and Amazon

Are you a fan of these? What’s your favorite Face Mist?

VII Code O2M Oxygen Eye Mask For Dark Circles Review

November 13, 2018 / FASHION & BEAUTY / 0 comments

What’s Up everyone! I could probably count on my fingers the number of eye creams and other undereye treatments I’ve come to used and liked in the past. That’s because it’s one of those skincare products/regimens that I tend to forget, neglect, and frankly, it’s hard to find the right one that works, especially when my undereye issue is not just a combination of lack of sleep and overall lifestyle, but also it’s partly genetics. Apart from having dark undereye circles which I usually try to hide by using creamy concealers, I also have puffiness and very thin dry area on my undereyes that I tend to control by using some soothing eye masks and heavy eye creams. Some of them kinda work, but most of them don’t, and from time to time I would forget applying them anyway since they’re easy to overlook.

Enter VII Code’s Oxygen Eye Mask for Dark Circles (6 treatments: $58). I was thrilled when they sent me a box to try and I immediately used each treatment every night, carefully following the instruction on how to use it. To give you a bit of an overview, VII Code is an eye skincare brand with a rich history that dates back to the 18th century. They’re specialized in creating tailored eye skincare products targeting different undereye skin concerns. The O2M Oxygen Eye Mask for Dark Circles has plant oxygen extracts, grapeseed oil, seaweed, and white tea among its ingredients. The goal of this mask is to nourish and refresh the skin around the eyes, aiming not only to reduce dark circles but also to reduce undereye puffiness and minimizing any signs of aging by making the skin around the eyes firmer and looking well-hydrated.

Use each individually wrapped eye pads after cleansing and prepping your face, that is, after your favorite moisturizers or any other creams. Try to be careful not to put anything towards the eye area and don’t put any eye creams at all because the VII Code eye mask has a peel off sticky side that needs to adhere to the skin. Upon application, I noticed that this eye mask has a gel-like feel, kinda like one of those hydrocolloid bandages, and it’s really soothing. I let it stay on my skin overnight (8-hour use) and I was surprised that it indeed remained on my undereyes without moving. In fact, this eye mask adhered well all throughout my nightly usage of it. I even put some on the refrigerator and that made them even more relaxing to use. On day two, I woke up and noticed that my eye bags were looking less pronounced and I didn’t look so tired, also the skin around my undereyes seems more balanced. As the days progressed, I noticed that my undereyes didn’t look and feel so dry and that I didn’t need to apply that much concealer at all. Also, I didn’t have any problem with my foundations looking cakey on my undereyes since my skin feels and looks more hydrated.

The VII Code O2M Oxygen Eye Mask has been one of the most fun eye masks I’ve ever tried. They’re quick, practical, easy to use, and applying them is definitely not messy. Each eye mask sticks well to the skin, yet they’re also easy to remove without causing any skin irritation. They feel mild and soothing to the senses and they help to make you look and feel good about your undereyes.

You can find the VII Code O2M Oxygen Eye Mask For Dark Circles and some other VII Code eye products/treatments and eye creams by visiting their website at http://www.viicode.com or you can also purchase their products on Amazon.com.

(Disclosure: Product samples provided by VII Code. The reviews, photos, and opinions herein are solely mine)

Favorite Facial Toners

July 26, 2018 / FASHION & BEAUTY / 0 comments

Facial Toners are probably the skincare product I used to skip a lot. I don’t remember exactly what had gotten me to start using them diligently, it must be that I just really took my skincare rituals seriously since I’m tired of seeing zits and blemishes on my face. I’ve been hooked into Facial Toners for a couple of years now and since then, I noticed a big improvement in my skin. We may not realize it, but toners do play an important role in skincare. I have probably experimented on a lot of Toners in the past, and still, I feel like there’s not really a lot of good Face Toners out there. However, I did find a few that seems to work for my skin. So here now are my favorite Facial Toners, a few of them have been a constant favorite for years, and also, there are some that are current favorites or new discoveries and are definitely holy grail-worthy.

One of the first and my most favorite Facial Toner of all time is the SK-II Facial Treatment Clear Lotion Toner (5.4 oz: $76). This toner is gentle and calming to use. It doesn’t leave any residue on the skin and it’s non-drying. There’s almost no scent and it gives a refreshing feel. Its main ingredients are AHA and Pitera – which is rich in amino acids. With that being said, this toner gives a youthful glow over time, and it pretty much balances my skin tone and it also improves and evens my skin texture. My skin used to look dull and tired-looking, but after using this toner for more than 2 years now, my skin has been looking radiant. It also seemed to control my hormonal breakouts, and it brightens and heals whatever zits I have, which is amazing because it usually takes a while for my blemishes to go away. I usually use this Toner right after washing my face, and I soak a cotton pad full of it and just dab it deeply into my open pores and it preps my skin for any serum or moisturizer. It usually takes a while to see this Toner’s effect, but with time, you’ll notice the difference. As with almost all of my reviews talking about SK-II products, I definitely feel like my good skin days always happen whenever I use SK-II. My face overall just looks smooth, glowy, and my oily T-zone seems less likely so. Because of that, I also use their Facial Treatment Essence, which is also great at making my skin look its best. The only drawback with this Toner and as with most SK-II products are the prices. This is definitely a pricey toner even though its packaging is large enough to last me about 2 months. I do try to use it conservatively though as much as I can. But yeah, by now, you know that I really love SK-II products and I highly recommend them.

Probably the closest dupe to the SK-II Facial Treatment Clear Lotion is the Son & Park Beauty Water (11.49 oz: $30). It comes in a really large plastic square bottle and you could find it right now at Sephora. It is a K-beauty favorite and has really good reviews online. I’ve also heard about the popular K-beauty brand Missha as having a similar ingredient/toner to the SK-II Facial Treatment Clear Lotion, it’s called Time Revolution Toner, but I haven’t tried it yet. Anyway, back to this Beauty Water by Son & Park. I usually purchased this Toner whenever I don’t have a budget for the SK-II one. It’s not exactly alike, but it’s similar enough. It’s also a very mild Toner with faint fruity ginger scent, kinda like the scent of the Belif True Cream Aqua Bomb. All throughout my use of this, I noticed that it’s good at removing some remaining makeup residues and it doesn’t dry my skin. It made my skintone look more even and it also feels very calming and so refreshing. I even use this as a face mist and it leaves my skin supple.

This Fresh Rose Deep Hydration Facial Toner (8.4 oz: $44) is an Allure Best of Beauty Winner 2017 and I was surprised to have fallen in love with this at first try. I thought this would be too harsh for my skin, but it’s not. This is actually so refreshing and so calming that I literally zone out every time I use this. LOL. Also, this toner’s packaging is too cute to use and is simply pretty to look at. Although I’ve heard some people say that it looks like one of those jars in their chemistry labs filled with some experimental stuff, LOL again. But anyway, this toner is definitely gentle and I can attest to this since this is pretty much alcohol-free, non-drying and this seems to moisturize a bit. For me, this has all the bells and whistles of a perfect Face Toner like removing debris and purifying the pores, as well as removing extra makeup residue left. But what I love about this is how it really helps soothe my face during breakouts. I just love using this Toner whenever I get those raging hormonal zits and it seems to calm it down, leaving my breakouts reduced in size and almost cured the next day. So, for me, this toner has a therapeutic effect which helped my skin a lot. The packaging is pretty large too, so you can use this for some time.

Next thing is the Dr. Andrew Weil For Origins Mega-Mushroom Relief & Resilience Soothing Treatment Lotion (6.7 oz: $34), which is a Toner that got the clean skincare seal from Sephora and is fairly new to me. I’ve only been testing this for a couple of weeks now and who knew mushroom skincare can be so good for the skin? This is literally a very gentle toner even though the scent may not be so gentle, but it’s not bad. It has an aromatic herb-like scent which is soothing of course at least for me, but for some, it may be too much (but I doubt it). I haven’t noticed any dramatic results or improvement of this Toner on my skin yet, but what I do notice is that it never broke me out, I mean, it’s expected because it’s made of clean ingredients like reishi mushroom (anti-inflammatory) and probiotics among other things. It also seems very calming on the skin and it pretty much relieved my skin’s redness.

Last but not the least is the Caudalie Beauty Elixir (1-3.4 oz: $18-49). This is also a new discovery for me, but from the moment I tried this, I literally was like “Where have this toner been all my life?” Apparently, this product has a cult following and I wasn’t a follower of it? Hmmm… I don’t know what kind of sorcery is in here but I was really impressed the moment I sprayed this on my face. It literally made my face smooth and soft and my pores didn’t feel so rough at all. It actually kinda tightened it and my skin looks glowy. Furthermore, it feels soothing with its rosemary, mint, and rose scent. It also has some orange flower water. I usually use this prior to applying a serum or moisturizer during the day and also as a face mist to refresh my face during the afternoon and evening. It’s also great as a setting spray for makeup and it really evens it out, reducing any chances of cakiness. This is definitely on my holy grail list now and it’s definitely worthy of being called a beauty elixir.

Bottom line, it’s good to use Face Toners regardless of what brand you’re using or planning to use. I personally think that you shouldn’t skip on this skincare ritual since it’s very important to prep the skin after washing the face. Also, Facial Toners remove extra residues of makeup and dirt that may not have been removed by usual face cleaning, even after double cleansing. On top of that, Facial Toners are very beneficial in purifying the pores. The only downside about Toners is that they get used up a lot, so it’s always a good idea to purchase them in the largest packaging possible, even though most of them are already housed in large containers. So yeah, there goes my favorite Toners of all time, I hope it helps you in finding a favorite one as well.

Wishing you good skin days all of the time. Muah!

xx.