The Beauty Secret Advent Calendar – Week 2

 

Week 2 of the Beauty Secret Advent Calendar is here! So far I’ve been so happy with the contents of this calendar and I’ve already used up some of the products I got last week.  Let’s see what I got from the 7-11 boxes.

Box 5 – MOROCCANOIL Treatment The Original 25ml
Everyone knows Moroccanoil probably. And so do I. I’ve tried this oil before and it’s amazing. It has a lot of silicones in it which is good for dry hair. In hair care products I don’t mind the silicones. The oil in the product is argan oil – which is my favorite oil for my skin and hair. This one I didn’t open ’cause I have so many other opened hair products and oils at the moment. But this is good and I can’t wait to use it!

Box 6 – MONUSKIN BB Cream Illuminating Primer 25ml
I’ve never heard of this brand and at first when I opened the box I was a bit disappointed. The product looked really boring but I was happy it turned out to be a primer. It has a SPF 15 which is good and it doesn’t contain parabens (I’m sensing a trend here). The funny thing I noticed when looking at the ingredients is that the second ingredient is zinc! It goes like this: Water, Zinc, Silicone +tons of other ingredients. I’ve already tried this and I think it does give a beautiful base and surprisingly it’s more matte than illuminating. It’s really sticky which makes the foundation stick to it well. It lasted well through my 10km run too. I like this primer and will continue using it!

Box 7 – NUDESTIX  Lip & Cheek Pencil in Mystic

I’ve wanted to try this brand so this product was perfect for me. Again I love that the shade is nude so that it goes well with everything and suits everybody. It comes with a sharpener which is good ’cause not everyone has a sharpener for this kind of wide pencil. NUDESTIX has matte pencils too but I’m happy that this one isn’t – it’s not as drying and it has a beautiful sheer finish. This is my favorite product for this week.

Box 8 – REN Revitalising Night Cream 15ml

Okay, some of these products look really dull at first but they end up being awesome. I’ve actually heard of this brand – or seen adverts of it. My skin doesn’t usually take well new products, especially creams, but somehow it has loved this! Again there’s a big list of ingredients it doesn’t contain (parabens, mineral oil, synthetic colorants, silicons..). Apparently REN products never contain those things. I did some research and I’m really impressed with their products and their INCI- lists. This product is actually anti-aging, but my skin has been so dry it welcomed this with open arms. I want to try more REN products in the future – maybe something more suitable for my skin type though.

Box 9 – Ojon damage reverse Instant Restorative Hair Serum 15ml

I already got the Moroccanoil so I wasn’t too happy about this.. On the other hand I do use a lot of hair oils or treatments so I guess hair products are good for me. I haven’t had the time to try this and I forgot to pack it for the weekend while I was away so I might save this one for later. I couldn’t find info on this from lookfantastic.

Box 10 – ARDELL Demi Wispies Lashes

Yes to these! There are two lash brands I love: Eylure and Ardell. Ardell’s Demi Wispies are a classic. You can see me wearing them for example here. I love lashes that have invisible or almost invisible lash band and these are like that.

Box 11 – Christophe Robin Regenerating Mask 50ml

This might be one of those products I would have never picked but be glad at the end of trying it. I wouldn’t know though, ’cause I just came home from my weekend trip and opened the box about two hours ago.. Anyway this is a hair mask that is free from parabens, silicones, SLS or colorants. (Now there’s definitely a trend here!) I opened this just to smell it and I have to say I hate the scent – it’s too heavy for me. This or the Ojon Serum was the most disappointing product for this week.

Are any of these products familiar to you? Which is your favorite? 

The Beauty Secret Advent Calendar – Week 1

  

Finally I got to open my Advent Calendar from lookfantastic! I’ve already opened 4 boxes so let’s see what I got.

I’ve already tried all these products so these mini reviews are also my first-impressions on these goodies.
I also picked my favorite and least favorite surprise of this week.

Box 1 – Pixi Glow Tonic

I was so happy when I opened the first box and found the Glow Tonic from Pixi. I’ve read about it a lot and I was gonna test it anyway at some point. Now I got this small size so I get to try it, yay! The Glow tonic works by exfoliating your skin with glycolic acid which it contains 5 %. It’s definitely good for any skin types but especially for my oily skin and large pores! I’ve been using acid in my toners for a while now and I will definitely continue in doing so. This toner seems really good – it has a nice subtle scent, it’s not drying and it’s affordable.

Box 2 – Rituals The Rituals of Sakura magic touch body cream  ♥

Again I was so happy to find this in the second box! I’ve been using Rituals’ shower gels/foams for about two years now. I use them weekly if not daily. I actually have this Sakura one in shower gel too. It has a lovely clean yet sweet scent. It doesn’t contain mineral oil or parabens which are something I try to avoid. It’s really nourishing and definitely a bit creamier than what I normally use but it absorbs quite nicely into the skin. Love this! I will buy this in the future. This was my favorite product of this week.

Box 3  –  Inika Loose Mineral Blush – Blooming Nude

Box 3 contained this beautiful loose mineral blush from Inika. I love mineral makeup so this was a nice surprise. It’s also vegan and organic. The color is this beautiful peachy nude shade that suits many skin tones. I love the packaging – I think it’s very pretty and I like that it’s smaller than some of my mineral blushes. I tried it on my face too and it blended nicely on the skin.

Swatch of Inika Loose Mineral Powder in Blooming Nude. Matte, peachy, nude beautiful color.

Box 4 –  sleep plus+ pillow spray

Okay the first impression was: what the f? But actually I’ve been having trouble falling asleep and this could work. There’s no harm in trying it, right? This smells like lavender which is known to be calming. I have a night oil which smells like lavender and I like to use it so I think I will like this too. You’re supposed to spray this into your bed linen and your natural movement releases the scent when you sleep = you’re relaxed and you sleep well. Still definitely the most disappointing product of this week.

My post about lavender oil, aromatherapy and it’s benefits in skincare & well-being can be found here.

The next week’s boxes will be posted on the next Sunday. I open the boxes everyday on my snapchat – charkkueve.

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