My Turkish Bath Experience

My mom and I went to the spa the other day for a special treat since our trip to California got cancelled due to the Coronavirus… We went to the Hammam Spa by Céla at Bayview Village in North York, Toronto and it was so relaxing and gorgeous that I just had to share my experience! Below is a picture of the tea lounge.

I got a custom facial for my first treatment which was pretty standard and and felt super nice, and then my second treatment was something called a ‘Turkish Bath’. This is the description of the treatment on the Hammam Spa website:

“Cleanse your body and soothe your spirit with this purifying and refreshing ceremony, modelled on one of the world’s oldest cleansing traditions. Center yourself in our steam room before heading to our calming Turkish suites. Lay on a heated marble table while hot and cool water treatments stimulate your senses. Feel renewed as you are exfoliated with a Céla exfoliating mitt, then experience deep cleansing as layer upon layer of moisturizing bubbles are gently placed on your skin, leaving you softer than silk. The treatment concludes with a final cleanse with stimulating eucalyptus black soap. To finish, unwind in the tea lounge with warm tea, baklava, and Turkish delight — a perfectly sweet ending to this ethereal experience.”

So basically you start in their steam room for 15 minutes to get all your pores open and ready for cleansing. This steam room was SO cool. It is a big room with gorgeous Mediterranean looking tiling and a big pole in the middle where the steam generates. It gets SO steamy in there it was kind of hard to breathe in there sometimes (but I liked it hehe), and you could only see about 1 metre in front of you. It had cool LED lights that changed colours and really soothing music playing. It was so trippy in there it felt like a mild LSD trip with the combination of steam, lights and music LOL.

Then I went into this gorgeous marble room with a marble table that I lay on. They give you disposable underwear to put on and a small towel to cover your boobs, so you’re basically naked. It starts with the splashes of warm and cold water, and when I say ‘splashes’ it’s literally an entire bucket of water poured all over different parts of your body. It’s mostly the hot water that is used but you also get a few cold splashes of water on the top of your head, back of your neck, and all over at the very end of the treatment (but the water really isn’t that cold, more refreshing). After the first few splashes, she then takes an exfoliating mitt and work on my whole body from head to toe. My skin was SO soft after, not a trace of dead skin was left.

The next part was my favourite. Your whole body gets covered in bubbles!!! Legit you look like the Michelin Man, your body is completely covered and you can feel them dissolving over your body it and it actually feels really nice. When the bubbles are still on you, they will take a black soap and cleanse your entire body with it as it mixes with the bubbles. It feels SO soft on your skin and they kind of massage your body as they do this. After that they splash you with more water to rinse, and have you lie on your stomach so they can do it all over again for your back. And as I mentioned before, the treatment concludes with a final splash of cold water on your front and back. After the treatment, I went into the steam room for one last steam.

This was unlike anything I’ve heard of before and it was such a unique experience. It’s not something I would do all the time (it really is just a glorified shower) but it’s definitely a luxurious treat from time to time. The next time I go I want to try a clay wrap!

I definitely recommend the Hammam Spa for any of you Toronto readers. It’s a little pricey but definitely worth it for a day of luxury!

That’s all I have for now!

xoxo,

Sarah

 

$300 Worth of Tatcha Skincare! A Review

My sister bought these Tatcha products for herself a little while back but she said that they broke her out, she even waited to see if it was just an initial breakout like you get with some products. Unfortunately after a couple months of use she was still breaking out so she decided it was due to these products and that maybe they would work better for my skin type. I was definitely interested in giving it a try and I knew Tatcha was an expensive brand so I was kind of excited that I didn’t have to pay!

The first item is called ‘The Essence Plumping Skin Softener’ and it retails for $124 CAD. This has an extremely thin and watery texture so initially I thought it was a toner. It actually is quite different and still requires a toner before hand. After toner, I apply this to my face by quite literally pouring it right out of the bottle onto my face because it is that thin, and any other method risks losing product (people actually advise against using a cotton pad with this). This is supposed to boost the effectiveness of all your other products that you use, and has ingredients in it that help target aging (never too early to start) and uneven texture and dullness (that’s me!). It definitely makes my skin feel hydrated but I truthfully haven’t seen any crazy or drastic differences after the few months I’ve been using it for. However, I do like the idea that it makes my other products sink in better, I feel like I spend less time patting in products when I use this because it helps things sink in rather than just sitting on the surface.

The next item is the ‘Violet C Brightening Serum’ which retails for $114 CAD. This is a high intensity vitamin C serum which has 20% vitamin c and 10% AHA. Vitamin C is known to reduce the appearance of dark darks and uneven skin. I’ve always incorporated some type of vitamin C into my skin routine and while this stuff is good, I can’t say that it is any better than anything I’ve used in the past and all of those are about a third of the price! I would honestly save your money on this one as there are vitamin c products that are way cheaper and work just as good. You can get these ingredients from the ordinary for like $5 bucks a pop.

All in all, I like the stuff for sure but I definitely don’t think it should be worth $300! I will use the products until the end but I won’t repurchase them on my own, it’s just not worth the price to me! But it was fun to try and it’s fun to use luxury products every once in while.

That’s it for now!

xoxo

Sarah

My Holiday Party Look – Outfit & Makeup

It’s officially holiday party season! My workplace had their party early this year and it already passed 2 weeks ago. I loved my look and I wanted to share it with y’all just in case you needed any ideas for your party!

My dress was from FashionNova and it’s called the Start The Show Sequin Dress in Rose Gold. Link here —  https://www.fashionnova.com/products/start-the-show-sequin-dress-rose-gold?traffic_source=email_order_confirmation

This is the perfect holiday party dress and will definitely turn heads at whatever function you attend.

I’ll Insert a few pics of me below.

I finished the look with some pink sandals from Steve Madden (unfortunately not photographed…dumb boyfriends :P) and a beige patent leather purse from Stuart Weitzman.

As for my makeup, I did the majority of it myself and then had my friend Anna who is a makeup artist do my eyes.

 

Primer: Too Faced Peach Perfect Primer

Foundation: Nars All Day Luminous Foundation in Shade ‘Punjab’

Concealer: Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in Shade ’20’

Powder: Too Faced Peach Perfect Translucent Powder & Maybelline Fit Me Powder in Shade ’20’

Contour: Benefit Hoola Bronzer

Blush: The Balm shade ‘Houston’ from ‘Grl Pwdr’ Palette

Highlight: ABH Glow Kit in Sundipped (Mixture of Summer and Moonstone)

Eyes: Morphe James Charles Palette & Too Faced ‘Shake Your Palm Palms’ Palette (unknown shades since my friend did it…SORRY, it was a rose gold cut crease)

Mascara: Benefit Bad Gal Mascara

Lashes: Koko Lashes in ‘Queen B’

Brows: ABH Dip Brow Palmade in ‘Dark Brown’

Lips: Too Faced melted liquid lipstick ‘Cool Girl’

Setting Spray: The Body Shop ‘Mandarin Energizing Facial Spray’

I hope this gives you some inspiration on what to wear for your holiday party look!

That’s it for now!

xoxo,

Sarah

 

Tako Nose Pore Strip? – Trying Korean Skincare

My friend from work was nice enough to give everyone some skincare goodies from her recent trip to Korea. She gave me a 3 step nose pore strip and the whole process takes 45 minutes. I was so intrigued because I’ve never heard of anything like this before, all the pore strips we have here seem to just be one step.

The first step is the ‘Heating Sheet’. It claims to “Open pores and macerate black head and sebum before absorption”. This feels like any other sheet mask, it is super soaked with serums and it just rests on the nose area for 15 minutes. Even though it’s called the heating sheet, it didn’t feel hot at all which was a little disappointing. You then wash off the serum, dry your nose, and get ready for the second step.

Step two is when we extract all the gunk we just prepped. It looks and feels like any other pore strip (think of the Biore ones for example). You wet your nose and apply the dry strip and let it stand for 10 minutes, or until the strip has completely hardened on your nose. When you remove the strip, all of the blackheads and oil should come out with it. It definitely gets stuff out, however I didn’t really stand out from other strips I’ve tried. I feel like I got the same result from this as I did with one step strips.

The third step is called the ‘Tightening Sheet’ and it claims to tighten pores, control sebum and put moisture back into your pores. This is the same consistency as the first step, it just feels like a classic sheet mask but this time you don’t wash off afterwards. I can say that it did bring moisture back into my skin, but also made it feel kind of oily. Truthfully I don’t feel that it was the best consistency for my skin type.

In the end, I don’t think I would recommend this product to anyone. I think it’s way too time consuming with very little payoff. For a 45 minute treatment I expected to be WOW’d, but sadly I was not…It pulled the same results as any other pore strip I’ve tried. It’s a cool concept but I just wish it did a little more! Either way, it’s always fun to try something new.

I hope you enjoyed this review! Maybe it will work out better for other skin types!

That’s all for now,

xoxo,

Sarah

Three Cruelty- Free Products I Use Every Day – By Marisa Chiorello

Hey beautiful souls!

My everyday makeup routine is pretty simple. I use liquid foundation, loose powder, bronzer, blush, mascara, and lip-gloss. Not only is my makeup routine pretty simple, but also, all the products I use are cruelty-free. Cruelty-free products are super important, and if you’ve thought about switching over, you totally should! I use cruelty-free products because I do not agree with animal testing. I hate the thought of animals being tortured or killed in order to create a product. This makes me sad! I also use cruelty-free products because they’re good for the planet! Cruelty-free means all good things! Here are three cruelty-free products I use every day. Hopefully you’ll want to try them, too.

Sephora Collection 10 HR Wear Perfection Foundation, $20.00.  I use Sephora’s brand for my liquid foundation in the shade of 25 Medium Beige (N). This shade is for light-medium skin with neutral undertones. I went to Sephora a few years ago and was matched by an employee. Now, this is the only liquid foundation I use! This foundation is the best because it really provides me with full coverage, and is very lightweight on my skin. It doesn’t clog my pores, and when I’m breaking out it covers my acne very well. Most importantly, this product isn’t tested on animals!

Urban Decay Naked Flushed Palette, $34.00.  I use Urban Decay’s Naked Flushed palette for my bronzer and blush. Sometimes I’ll use the highlighter, but I typically have a different palette for that. I love the Flushed palette because the bronzer matches my skin tone perfectly. It also blends really well! The blush is a deep mauve colour so it’s light and refreshing. It gives me a bit of color and shimmer on my cheeks without being too overpowering. When I use the bronzer and blush together I achieve a glowing look. But, what I really, really love about this palette is the fact that it is 100% cruelty-free!

NYX Professional Makeup Butter Gloss, $5.00. I got this butter gloss in a pack with three different shades, Tres Leches, Feelin’ Jelly, and Swirlwind. I love these butter glosses so much and will switch them up depending on the color scheme of my outfits. They’re easy to apply and go on pretty smoothly. They also make my lips feel very soft, and give me a beautiful pop of color. They smell delicious, too! But, the best part of this lip-gloss is they’re all cruelty-free!

Until next time,

Marisa

I Tried Arbonne Speak Volumes Mascara – By Marisa Chiorello

Hey beautiful souls!

Dedicated readers already know this, but I pride myself in being a bargain shopper.  I love drugstore makeup; I can find similar versions to the latest celebrity-clothing trend at shops such as H&M, American Eagle Outfitters, and Kohl’s; and I teach fashion and beauty lovers that you do not need to spend all of your money on clothing, makeup, and face treatments. However, there are times when I like to splurge on certain items, typically shoes and makeup. Recently, I decided to try Arbonne Speak Volumes Mascara, $30.00.

Arbonne is known for their “green journey.” They’re a company that doesn’t put anything harmful into their beauty products, skin products, and health products. All of their products are pure, safe, vegan, gluten-free, and cruelty-free. Arbonne’s products show amazing results, too!  This intrigued me, so I decided to purchase a product.

Arbonne has individuals who assist in selling products; they’re called Independent Consultants. I happened to have a friend named Melissa who sells Arbonne. So, she helped me with all my purchasing needs! I decided to purchase the Speaks Volumes Mascara because I’m obsessed with mascara. When I do my makeup, I like my eyes and lips to stand out. Since I have sensitive eyes, I cannot use eyeliner, so mascara is the next best thing!

This mascara pleasantly surprised me. My eyelashes can be pretty sparse, but the Speaks Volumes Mascara really added thickness, volume, and length to my lashes. At first, I just added one layer of the mascara for a natural look. However, when you add more than one layer, you really get a dramatic, defined, bold look! I loved it! My lashes never looked better! Just look at some results below:

I also love how this mascara is infused with vitamins, it’s vegan, gluten-free, and cruelty-free. So, you’re putting natural, safe, and pure products on your lashes. You’re helping them! This mascara is definitely worth the money, and I’ll definitely be purchasing more!

Let me know if you try Arbonne Speaks Volumes Mascara and if it transforms your eyes like it did mine!

Until next time,

Marisa

Korres Pomegranate Moisturizing & Balancing Cream-Gel

Since my boyfriend and I share skincare, we go through it like crazy! So it’s already time for us to buy a new moisturizer. We just finished ‘The Ordinary – Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate 10% Hydrating Cream’ and truthfully it wasn’t my fave. It didn’t sink into the skin very easily and felt greasy to me. I wanted to try something that was more geared towards oily skin.

I came across this one from Korres called the ‘Pomegranate Moisturizing & Balancing Cream-Gel’. This is specifically geared towards those with oily skin. It is considered a ‘gel-cream’ which is great because I prefer gel moisturizers over thicker creams, and this is somewhere in between which will be good for the winters when my skin gets a little more dry.

The packaging is adorable (it’s pink so I was immediately drawn to it 😛 ) and you get 1.35 fluid oz for $42.00 CAD.

Processed with VSCO with fp8 preset

Processed with VSCO with fp8 preset

Below is a pic of what the moisturizer actually looks like. It’s clearly thicker than other moisturizer’s I’ve tried (see my others posts here for more info: https://livelifeintheflorallane.com/2019/08/03/makeup-and-skincare-haul-reviews/

https://livelifeintheflorallane.com/2019/02/21/the-best-moisturizer-for-oily-skin/)

It takes a bit longer to sink in than a straight up gel moisturizer, but it doesn’t take too long and it eventually dries feeling smooth and soft. It smells really good which is always a plus, I don’t like when my products smell medicinal or chemically.

This is my first time ever trying a product from Korres even though I’ve always heard really great things. So I’m pretty excited about this and I’m definitely going to review more Korres products in the future!

That’s it for now!

xoxo

Sarah

Gel Nails at Home – Bossy Double UV Lamp

I am SO excited about this next post because I think I’ve finally mastered the art of nails at home. A while ago I posted my different attempts trying professional nails on my own. I tried both acrylic nails (where you have the liquid and powder that you make into a mixture yourself) which is really hard and not worth the time in my opinion, and I also tried dipping powder, which was easy but the nails fell off in like 2 days. I’ll link that post here if you want to read more about those processes.

https://livelifeintheflorallane.com/2019/02/25/at-home-professional-nails/

Now here I am trying gel nails, and it’s by far the easiest method I’ve tried, when I initially thought it was going to be the opposite (idk why it always just seemed the hardest?). The process takes about 2.5h which is the same as if you were to go to a salon, but at home you can take pee and snack breaks and also breaks for puppy/kitty cuddles in between ;).

I first start by buffing off the old shelac colour and grinding it down to a smooth base before I apply the layer of gel. I then take a square flat nail brush, dip it into the gel and apply it on like I would any nail colour. I start from the base where the cuticles are and put a thicker layer where it needs to be refilled, then drag the gel up the rest of the nail. It’s a really thick gel and it’s super easy to work with, and if you make a mistake you can wipe it up and fix it before it hardens when you put it in the UV lamp.

Once the gel is done and hardened (I like to put it in the lamp for 2-3 round just to be extra safe) I switch up the head on my electric nail file so it’s not so harsh and we don’t buff off all the hard work we just did. I buff it down so it’s super smooth, file it to the shape I want it and now we’re ready to paint.

This part is super easy, you take the UV gel base, put it in the machine, put on whatever shelac colour you want, put it in the machine, and then finally put on your top coat and, yup you guessed it, put it in the machine LOL.

And that’s pretty much it! They turned out super nice and they lasted for a good three weeks before they grew out and I had to do my next refill.

This is by far my new favourite method of nails and I will never be spending money in a nail salon ever again! You can get these supplies at any nail supply store, and I think my total ended up being around $250 for the entire kit (which comes with 6 polishes).

Here is a picture of the final product for the past two attempts.

That’s it for now, I hope you enjoyed!

xoxo

Sarah

My Top Three Lip Balms for Dry, Chapped Lips – By Marisa Chiorello

Hey beautiful souls!

If you’re anything like me, you know that dry, chapped lips don’t just happen during the cold winter months. You can have dry, chapped lips 365 days a year regardless of the season. It’s annoying, it’s painful, and it’s what I’m currently going through. So, I set out to try the best chap stick and lip balms for dry, chapped lips. Three of them really worked for my lips, and they are definitely my top three lip balms for dry, chapped lips. My lips are finally saved, pain free, and soft! Here they are!

Burt’s Bees Beeswax Lip Balm, $4.

The first chap stick I tried was, of course, the very popular Burt’s Bees. Burt’s Bees comes in many, different scents such as Cucumber Mint, Mango, Vanilla Bean, Wild Cherry, and Pomegranate- just to name a few. I decided to stick to the original, although I’m excited to try the other scents.

I know you’re probably thinking, “What took you so long to try Burt’s bees?” Well, I remember using them when I was younger, but I don’t remember the results. Plus, I spent years using EOS lip balm. So, back to Burt’s Bees I went, and I’m happy I did!

While using Burt’s Bees Beeswax Lip Balm, my lips immediately felt smoother and relieved. When I put on a lot of this lip balm, it looked like I was wearing lip gloss. I loved this! My lips really improved using this product. Also, you won’t break the bank with this purchase.

Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment Sunscreen SPF 15, $24.

I love the Sugar brand and I’ll purchase their items whenever I have the money. However, if spending is not a problem for you, you should try this product! After testing out this lip balm, my lips were definitely more moisturized. I also loved the fact that there is SPF 15 in this, which is great when you’re out in the sun. This lip balm smelled delicious, too!

You can also get Sugar’s lip balm in different tints!

Vaseline Limited Edition Pink Bubbly Lip Therapy, $3.99.

This is the lip balm I’m currently using and I’m in LOVE! First, I loved the light pink colour and the sweet, delicious smell. However, nothing beats the purpose and results of Vaseline! This lip balm states that it “locks in moisture for beautiful, healthy lips.” This is totally true! The first time I used this lip balm my lips were thanking me. The extra moisture really helped my dry lips for hours. Yes, this lip balm really holds the moisture for a long time, before you have to re-apply. I also liked the fact that this lip balm isn’t sticky or greasy. I use this lip balm every day and I no longer have dry, chapped lips!

Let me know which lip balm you try and how it helps your lips!

Until next time,

Marisa

Playing With Joico Hair Dye

I was getting a little bored with my grey hair, so I felt like changing it up with a semi permanent hair dye! I wanted to start of with a light colour and work my way up to the more fun darker colours since it’s way easier to go from light to dark. I went to a hair supply store near my work and was drawn to a giant display of Joico hair dye. After 10 minutes of debate with my co-worker I finally decided on the lilac purple shade.

Processed with VSCO with c8 preset

The instructions say to apply it to dry hair and let it process for 20 minutes. You can apply heat to make the colour last longer throughout washes and this is what I did. The hair dye has sparkles in it too which makes the process a little more fun 😉

The Results:

Since my hair wasn’t completely bleached white to begin with (it had the grey tones in it), the end result turned out much more blue than purple. I’ll insert a picture below.

This is fine and still very pretty, but just wasn’t what I was expecting. I even did a second coat of the dye the next day to see if it would bring in any more purple tones but it just turned out even more blue   I think this stuff would work much better on completely bleached hair with no toner in it.

After a few shampoo washes the colour has completely changed again! (but this is expected with semi permanent hair colours). The colour now is more like a muted turquoise blue with grey undertones. Truthfully it’s not my favourite colour so I bought some stuff that is supposed to remove semi permanent hair colours. I read some other blogs and found that vitamin c powder mixed with an anti dandruff shampoo mixed together as a hair mask should help to lift up the majority of the colour.

After I remove the colour I was thinking of trying a pink or a more vibrant purple! What do y’all think I should do?!

xoxo

Sarah