BEAUTY + SKINCARE HAUL (+ FIRST IMPRESSIONS)

Well I haven’t done one of these for a while! I was trying not to buy too many bulky and not so move-around-the-world friendly things (ie. beauty and skincare) when we landed but now that we have (Yay! home!) I started to look into beauty again. I’m not going to lie a love a good affordable product but I can’t help trying the more high end things too. A mix of both in this post 🙂 Some of the products I haven’t even touched yet and others I’ve used more than a handful of time and can give a small breakdown of what I think so far.

Ahh, The Ordinary. So glad they were able to stick it out after all the ups and downs they went through with their founder.

I’ve tried A LOT of stuff from them, some I’ve bought over and over again and others were total flops (you can read about one of those HERE) but overall, I love their stuff and especially their price tags. It’s hard to beat – I love a  good deal!

I recently ran out of my face wash and when I couldn’t easily find a place to get a new one of the same thing (I was using the Fresh Soy Cleanser) I started to look a different, more accessible options. There were a few in the running but at the price point of this one, I had to give it a go. I’ve been using it exclusively for about 2 weeks now and am happy to report – I LOVE it. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go because it’s a very different texture to anything else I’ve used but it’s awesome. It comes out of the bottle like a thick white lotion but when swirled in your finger tips for a few seconds, it turns into more of a creamy oil. I splash a little water on my face and massage it in, rise off and I’m done. I melts aways any makeup I have on (although I do use a micelar water to get any remaining makeup off) and cleanses my face without being drying or oily. I do have pretty sensitive skin so I am always a little hesitant introducing new products but this one is a WIN.

I also picked up the Clinique take the day off and Elemis cleansing balm to give those a go. I haven’t used them much yet (I’m enjoying the Ordinary cleanser so much!) but these two are next in the line up.

Along with the clinique cleanser came their mascara and an eyeliner – it was a little set that caught my interest. I knew I loved the mascara so I didn’t mind get a refill. If you haven’t given the Clinique High Impact mascara – you are missing out! I love this stuff. It was gifted to me as a mini earlier in the year and I was hooked! And I’m a tough sell when it comes to mascara – so you know it’s good! I love that my adds so much volume to my lashes, makes them nice a dark and best of all, easy to remove at night. I can’t stand a mascara that is a nightmare to remove and leaves me with racoon eyes each day.

Another product from The ordinary. This one I’ve been using for a few weeks and we are getting along quite well so far. When I purchased it the sales women did ask if I had sensitive skin and if I had used any of the other more potent products before. I said yes and she said my skin would likely be ok with this product. I do find I have a bit of a tingle when I put it on but doesn’t burn  – to tell you the truth I kind of like the tingle, it makes me feel like it’s doing something. She described it as vitamins for your skin – like a green smoothie but for your face haha. But you really can’t go wrong with the price tag, again, it’s under $10.

Click the images below to shop :

That’s all I got for now. I’m sure there will be more to share in the near future – now that we have landed in a more permanent home and I feel like I can buy all the things again 🙂

If you want to see a few more items I picked up recently, check out my YOUTUBE channel where I did a video of this same haul but MORE!

You can also check out previous beauty posts HERE and HERE!

Follow along on Instagram! @aandreaclare – love to see you there 🙂