January Drug Store Skin Care Haul

I will be the first to admit I'm kind of a skin care snob and I've been that way for a while; I would turn my nose up at the thought of purchasing a cleanser or a moisturizer from somewhere that also sold cereal and postage stamps. Having been this way for ages I was probably the last to know that some of the drug stores have really stepped their game up and are now carrying high end brands and even foreign brands that are next to impossible to find even online.

After sending a copy of my Paris shopping list to a co-worker who is also interested in skin care and lamenting about how I couldn't even find any of it online she brought to my attention that she'd seen quite a bit of the Nuxe skin care line at Shopper's Drugmart. On my break I dashed over there and quickly spent $98 in 15 on so many goodies!

The only thing I've tried from this haul before was the Rêve de Miel® Ultra-Nourishing Lip Balm which is a life saver for someone with constant chapped lips like myself; if you live in Alberta you NEED this in your life! I've been battling super dry skin for a while and finally had it under control until I tried the Ren Glycolatic Face Mask I had mentioned in a previous post and had a horrible reaction to it that left my face super dry and flakey, so I figured I would also give the Rêve de Miel® Ultra-Comfortable Face Cream a try and see if it was able to restore my skin back to its soft supple past! I am also in the process of trying to grow out my hair that I've been dying for well over a decade and hearing amazing things about Klorane I decided to give their Desert Date Hair Mask a go! After seeing Avène Thermal Spring Water on so many beauty blogs and vlogs I had to find out what all the fuss is about and I'm super excited to see what kind of results it gives. I'm just as addicted to Soap and Glory products as the next girl, I have been since I used to live in Ireland so I was so excited to see Shoppers Drug Mart expanding what the collection they carry to include cosmetics and since I've been battling dark circles under my eyes I figured I'd give the Trick & Treatment Under Eye Concealer a whirl! The other two products I picked up at TNT Asian Supermarket, one you may recognize as the Mysterious Flesh Eating Booties I reviewed last week, I bought a pair of them for my mum to try as she's always complaining about her dry cracking feet, so we'll see how she likes them! And last but not least the strange package of powder with no English on it whatsoever that depicts a girl sweating in a bathtub, best guess is it's bath crystals of some sort, mildly nervous but kind of excited to try them!

I also picked this little dude up at the grocery store the other day, seriously if you see me in public don't let me anywhere the hair/skin care section, I HAVE A PROBLEM! This is just a single use deep conditioning hair mask that clearly states it's for people like me that use and abuse their poor hair, plus it's paraben free and I like that!

I will most likely be writing a review of some of these products within the next week, if there's any item specifically that you'd like to see a review of let me know in the comments below! Also, if there's any drug store "must haves" that I need to check out also leave those in the comments below.

Face Q Peeling Foot Mask

I picked these guys up from the asian supermarket at the recommendation of a girlfriend who had nothing but AMAZING things to say about them and having adored other products by the same brand I figured I'd give them a go!

First let me give you the instructions for use because the only thing in English on this packaging is the ingredients list. Put the enclosed booties on (from here on referred to as the Mysterious Flesh Eating Booties) and let your feet sit and stew in the booties for an hour. I would recommend putting a towel under your feet if you're going to put your feet up as they may drip! After the hour is up rinse any of the residue off your feet and apply one packet of the enclosed lotion to your feet, I recommend putting socks on to help it soak in and not get everywhere.

Over the next couple days socks are going to be your best friend for a couple reasons; A. Because it'll help the lotion soak in (I recommend doing it at bed time) and B. All the dead skin is going to start peeling off your feet and it's super gross so spare everyone around you the sight of your feet molting!

I've got mixed feelings on this product so let me tell you what I love and what I didn't love so much; first of all they were a little more expensive than I expected as all their face masks are like $1 each, I can't remember the exact price but it was around $25 for a box that contained one set of booties and five packets of lotion. Secondly, my feet are more dry than scaly and I was hoping they'd have a more moisturizing affect which sadly it was the exact opposite they were quite drying. If your feet are extremely scaly and rough I think this would be amazing for you, I would also recommend using extra lotion on your feet while doing this to prevent them from getting so dry - use the enclosed packets of lotion at bedtime and wear socks and in the morning before putting socks on slather on some extra moisturizing lotion. I do have to say that while they did leave my feet a bit dry they are quite soft and two days after finishing the lotion I still have dead skin peeling off and now that I'm loading them with lotion they feel super soft.

If you're somebody that needs to see immediate results these are not for you; a week after using the mysterious flesh eating booties I'm now just starting to see the results but I am happy with what I see. I will most likely purchase these again but they won't be a staple in my skin care collection thats for sure! If you can get your hands on a package try them out and let me know what you think!

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse

After finding out the boyfriend had booked us a surprise trip to Paris in a couple weeks I fell into the black hole of googling French skin care; several items kept popping up on every blog I came across, ask anyone who knows me, I've been beyond excited to get my hot little hands on some of this liquid gold. Whilst counting down the days to Paris, and hording all the skincare trying to get my face ready for the streets of Paris, I was in Sephora picking up Ren's Glycol Lactic Radiance Renewal Mask(watch for a review in the next couple days!!) and whilst standing in line pursuing all the little goodies near the till my eyes fell onto a golden little bottle I've been dreaming of for weeks! Nuxe's Huile Prodigieuse was just sitting there calling my name!

As soon as I got into my car I cracked the seal, put a couple drops of heaven into my hand and ran my fingers through the ends of my parched hair! First I would like to mention the scent; its a really light aromatic smell with hints of floral without being overwhelming and obtrusive and yet has warm undertones, I can't quite place a finger on any specific familiar fragrances within it but the overall smell is a delicate inviting one. It has a light weight texture, not sticky and heavy like some other oils I've tried. Six hours after applying it to the ends of my hair I find my hair feels soft, still smells fantastic and is not at all greasy - although I would avoid applying it to the scalp as I feel it might get a bit greasy and unmanageable. So far I've put the oil in my hair, smoothed it all over my body after a bath and mixed it into my night cream. It absorbs into the skin quickly leaving your skin soft and dewy but not at all 
greasy. I found it instantly brightened my face and I'm excited to see what continued use has to offer.

Aside from how amazing this product smells and feels the ingredients are of 97.8% natural origin whish is definitely something to get excited about in the day and age when in comes to skin care with ingredients lists that barely fit on the packaging.

 I found my 50ml bottle at Sephora for $26, they also had the Huile Prodigieuse with shimmer dry oil that would look amazing in your hair and on your skin giving you that almost sun-kissed shimmer, I'll being going back for it shortly! If you haven't tried any french skin care yet this is an amazing introduction; it's simple, sophisticated and the results speak for themselves.  

Who, What, Wear and Why?

Why Facepalm Beauty Blog? I think like many things in life skincare, haircare, make up and beauty in general has many "Facepalm" moments when you can't believe it took you that long to figure it out. Let me have all those facepalm moments for you and learn from my trials and tribulations in the beauty industry.

Who is the face behind Facepalm Beauty Blog? My name is Sara and I'm a 22 year old long time make up addict and newly converted skincare junkie from the prairies of Alberta, Canada. I've dealt with everything from oily acne prone skin to skin so dry it bleeds. I've recently started down the path of becoming a certified MUA with the help of the guys and gals I work with at MAC so expect make up galore but makeup is only as good as the skin underneath an frankly I'm addicted to  skincare from all sides of the world, anything I can get my hot little hands on!

Keep your eyes on this space for reviews of some of my favourite - and not so favourite - products and where you can find them!

-Sara xo