Hello lovelies! Today I have a haul featuring items that are new to me and that I’ve been trying out!

LA ROCHE POSAY TOLERIANE PURIFYING FOAMING CLEANSER

I’ve been curious about this face wash for a while now, so I thought I’d try it out! So far, I really like it. It’s gentle and doesn’t strip the skin and leave it feeling dry. It has ingredients like ceramides and niacinamide which helps hydrate the skin and fade hyperpigmentation. It reminds me a lot of the First Aid Beauty cleanser because of how gentle it is.

PIXI CLARITY TONIC

When I saw Pixi drop this on their Instagram, I knew I had to get it. Not only does it have blue packaging (my favorite color ?), it also seemed to have lots of good ingredients that would help out with skin problems. Some of these ingredients are salicylic acid, lactic acid, and glycolic acid, which are all great AHAs, or chemical exfoliants. 

I’ve been using it for almost 2 weeks now and so far, I don’t have an opinion on it. I don’t really see a difference in my skin and I don’t know if it helps with breakouts. I plan on trying this for at least a full month before coming to a conclusion. After that, I’ll be writing a review on it, so look out for it!

PIXI CLARITY CONCENTRATE

The same goes for the Pixi Clarity Concentrate. After looking at all the ingredient lists in the product line, I chose to go with the Clarity Concentrate because it looked to be packed with the best ingredients. It feels silky going on, like a hydrating lotion but in more of a liquid form.

Again, I don’t have an opinion on this either. It feels amazing on the skin and sinks in quickly, but I haven’t seen a significant difference in my skin. It can take a month or more to see results from using new skincare products, so that’s why I’m going to keep using these and update you in the future if I see any changes!

BANILA CO CLEAN IT ZERO 3-IN-1 CLEANSING BALM

I got this because I heard that it was a really great makeup removing balm and I wanted to see how it compared to the Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm. Unfortunately, I haven’t tried it out yet because I haven’t been wearing a lot of makeup since quarantine started so I’ll have to give you my opinion on this in the future.

Based on first impressions though, I like how it’s more affordable than the Clinique cleansing balm and even though I realized it has fragrance in it (I’m trying to use less fragranced products), it still looks promising. I look forward to trying this once I can get myself to put on a full face of makeup, haha.

SCHMIDT’S CHARCOAL & MAGNESIUM NATURAL DEODORANT

I don’t usually sweat much or have strong body odor (really it’s true, many of my friends have complimented me on smelling good ?) but I’ve used deodorants throughout my life more as a precaution rather than needing it to help with underarm wetness or odor. Anyways, I wanted to switch over to using a more natural deodorant and I thought this would be nice because it’s affordable and they have unisex scents. However, I don’t like it for several reasons. 

The first reason is how long it takes to apply. You’re supposed to hold it to your skin so it warms up and swipe it on, but I ended up patting it on because it never really warmed up enough. The next reason is when I used it regularly, my underarms looked dry and my skin was peeling? This was strange to me since I had never experienced this before. And the third reason is that ever since I started working out more, I’ve noticed that I need an antiperspirant. This isn’t their fault because it’s not advertised as one; it’s just a personal thing. I’ll keep using this for now, but I think I may have to go back to regular deodorants/antiperspirants until I can find a better alternative.

PERIPERA INK AIRY VELVET IN #02 AND INK VELVET IN #05

My friend gifted me these lip tints when she came back from Korea and I’m so happy to have them! One is an airy velvet tint and the other is a velvet tint. I’ve heard a lot of people rave about them because of their staying power. 

#02 is like an orange with a slight hint of brown, making it more neutral and it really does feel airy. It’s hard to describe, but when you apply it, it dries to a really light and airy texture. #05 is a lot stronger than the other shade. The color is really nice and you only need a small amount of product if you don’t want it to look too bright. I like to dab just a bit on and blend it with my fingers. They do feel a bit drying because it dries down to a velvet matte finish but it stays on your lips for hours, even after you eat. Applying a hydrating lip balm helps with the dryness, but it may affect how well the tint stays on.

NEUTROGENA HYDRO BOOST WATER GEL LOTION SUNSCREEN WITH SPF 50

Now that summer’s here, I wanted to get a body sunscreen so I chose this one! It’s part of their Hydro Boost line so it’s supposed to be formulated with hyaluronic acid and comes with SPF 50. Even though I want to use less fragranced products, I like how this doesn’t have the traditional sunscreen scent and it feels pretty moisturizing on the skin. The only thing I’ve noticed is that it feels a little sticky, but I feel like most sunscreens are like that. 

It does say you can apply to your face as well, but I’ve never tried it so I don’t know if there would be any issues there. Overall, I like using this on my body and I’ll definitely be applying it whenever I leave the house this summer!

THAYER’S UNSCENTED WITCH HAZEL TONER WITH ALOE VERA

So I bought this toner because I’ve been really curious about it. As of right now, it doesn’t really have a place in my skincare routine because I wanted to use this in the morning before applying a full face of makeup, but like I said earlier, I haven’t been wearing face makeup so my skin feels clean enough after my morning cleanse.

However, I have been using it on days when I’m too lazy to wash my face in the morning so it replaces my cleanser. I don’t do this every day because I’m usually oily when I wake up and prefer a cleanser, but it’s a nice alternative on lazy days, especially when I’m not going anywhere (which is most of the time now). Overall, I haven’t noticed anything super special about this toner and it hasn’t made a difference to my skin, but I’ll keep using it and review it in the future!

ST. IVES EXFOLIATING BODY WASH WITH SEA SALT & PACIFIC KELP

I feel like back acne is a topic that many people don’t talk about, but I’ve struggled with bacne for many years. I used to not care about it, but this summer I got a little self-conscious when I saw photos of people in backless tops with clear skin. I don’t have severe bacne but I break out occasionally and I have a lot of hyperpigmentation. I’ve also noticed some texture on my back as well so I wanted to get something that would exfoliate my body. 

This seemed promising because unlike the St. Ives face scrubs, I felt like the exfoliants here would be helpful for my back and body in general. However, I think the granules in this are too fine to exfoliate the body, so once I finish this, I’ll be looking for something else to try.

NEUTROGENA ON THE SPOT ACNE TREATMENT

After finally using the Clean & Clear spot treatment and seeing good results with it, I wanted to also try a benzoyl peroxide spot treatment to see how it would compare. I picked up this acne treatment from Neutrogena and it has 2.5% benzoyl peroxide. I’ve used their Clear Pore cleanser with 3.5% benzoyl peroxide for years with no problems so I thought this would be fine on my skin as well.

So far, it’s been a hit and miss. Sometimes I see my acne disappearing overnight and sometimes they look the same. I’ve been alternating between salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide on my skin, but I’m still not sure which one works better. I’ll keep using them both and try to write a comparison post on them once I figure out how they work on my acne!

L’OREAL INFALLIBLE PRO LAST WATERPROOF EYELINER IN NUDE

Lastly, we have an eyeliner. By now, you’ve probably gotten the hint that I probably haven’t tried this because, yes, I haven’t really been wearing makeup. When I do wear makeup, it’s usually only concealer, brows, and mascara so I don’t really play around with products these days. I do really want to try this eyeliner though because I like the black one, so if I get around to using it, I’ll let you know how it goes! I got this because I thought the nude shade  would be good for opening up the eyes and helping you look more awake, so I hope this works.

And now you’ve made it to the end of the haul! I hope you enjoyed reading this and discovered some new products you might want to try. Like many people in quarantine, I’ve been more focused on skincare instead of makeup and I’m starting to look into ways to make my skin as healthy as possible, so it’s been really fascinating to try out skincare products and research ingredients. Like always, thanks so much for reading and I’ll see you lovelies soon! ?