Take it or Leave it: Soap & Glory

It's the return of everyone's favourite series, Take it or Leave it! In this series I provide mini reviews on all of the products I own of a specific brand and let you know which products are worth your money and what you should avoid. Today I focus on Soap and Glory. In Canada, the body products are available from Shoppers Drug Mart. I picked up the makeup when I was in the UK. I certaintly haven't tried everything from the brand but I thought I would give my options on what I have tried. Overall Soap and Glory is one of my favourite brands. 

Take it

Rich & Foamous Body Wash
This is a really great body wash as it smells absolutely amazing and it gets you nice and clean while leaving you feeling moisturized. I'm totally in love with it. You also get a lot, as it comes in a large bottle.
Sugar Crush Body Butter Cream
Another amazing smelling product. This has more of a sweet citrus scent which I think is great for spring and summer as it's a really energizing fragrance. It also has a super thick formula which is great for moisturizing.
Archery Brow Tint & Precision Shaping Pencil
I am obsessed with the way this product makes my brows look. It fills in your brows while still keeping them looking natural. One end has a fine tip pen which is great at mimicking the look of brow hairs to fill in sparse areas. The other end has a pencil to help shape your brows. I don't know what I'm going to do when this pencil runs out. I guess another trip to the UK is in order :)
Kick Ass Concealer 
This is the perfect all in one concealer. It has two cream concealer shades and a powder to set everything in place. The pinker more salmon toned concealer is perfect to counteract dark undereye circles, while the more yellow toned concealer hides blemishes perfectly. It's creamy and thick but blends really well and once set with the powder, it won't budge or crease all day.
Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Crayon
A lip crayon that acts more like like a lip gloss is a fairly unique idea but is something that I reach for on a regular basis. The shade I have is Nudist which is perfect for more natural makeup days. It's also really moisturizing and smells wonderfully sweet.
Solar Powder Bronzer
All the makeup I've tried from Soap and Glory has been fantastic and this is no exception. It's the perfect bronzer for my fair skin. It has a matte bronze side and a lighter more shimmery side which adds a sunkissed glow to your complexion. One of my all time favourite bronzers.

Leave it

Hand Food Hand Cream
It's not that this isn't a good hand cream, but I find it leaves my skin a little greasy. While the smell is nice, I think there are better hand creams at the drugstore.
Scrub 'Em and Leave 'Em
Personally I am not a big fan of the scent of this product but besides that, the granules in this scrub are fairly rough on my sensitive skin. It also is not as moisturizing as I would have liked. There are many better scrubs out there. Unless you love the scent, save your money.

Let me know what you think of Soap & Glory's products! Do you disagree with my opinion? Tell me why I'm wrong in the comments!

The other brands in the series:

The Body Shop

Urban Decay

Maybelline

Take it or Leave it: Maybelline

It's time for another Take it or Leave it post and I'm back to a drugstore brand this month. Maybelline is one of my favourite drugstore brands and while I haven't tried everything from the brand, I've amassed quite a few products over the years. Like always the main goal of these posts is to list some of my favourite products from a specific brand so you'll know what's worth your money.

Take it

Creamy Matte Lipsticks
This is probably my favourite Lipstick formula ever. These creamy matte lipsticks are very comfortable, pigmented, long wearing and non-drying. The shade 660 Touch of Spice in particular is amazing. If you haven't picked up one of these lipsticks I highly suggest it.
Eyestudio Gel Liner
I've had this gel liner for over a year and it's still creamy. It lasts a really long time on the eyes and doesn't budge. I don't like the brush it comes with for application, but if you use a liner brush this gel liner is amazing.
24 hr Colour Tattoo
I've made my thoughts on the Maybelline Colour Tattoo's very well known on my blog. These are perfect for quick makeup looks. They take no time at all to apply. They blend out really well but once it dries these don't crease at all. I can't attest to the 24hr claim because I've never worn makeup for 24hrs but these do last all day on me. My favourites are 25 Bad to the Bronze which is a cool toned shimmery bronze and 80 Creamy Beige which is a matte beige, perfect for a no makeup, makeup look. These also work great as eyeshadow bases.

Creamy Beige, Bad to the Bronze, Pure Nude, Tough as Taupe, Inked in Pink

Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer
This concealer is amazing at hiding darkness under the eyes plus it's really light so it won't crease. It comes in many colours including a Radiant shade which is great for highlighting all over the face.
Master Drama Eyeliner
I think this is a good option when looking for a drugstore eyeliner. It's a twist up liner and the shade in Midnight Master is very black and long-lasting.
Dream Fresh BB
This is a very lightweight, moisturizing BB cream. It evens out the complexion but has little for coverage. Perfect for those good skin days. It also has an SPF of 30 which makes it my favourite for the summer months.
Colour Elixir
The Maybelline Colour Elixir's are unlike any other lip product I've tried. I would classify it a lipgloss. It is very smooth and glossy while also being long-lasting and pigmented.
Mascara (The Falsies, The Rocket)
I've liked the mascaras I've tried from Maybelline. I think besides Covergirl they are the best Mascara option at the drugstore.
Dream Wonder Powder
This may have become my favourite powder. I have very dry skin so I have trouble with a lot of powders accentuating any dry spots but this one doesn't seem to cling to my dry skin at all. It has fairly high coverage too which is great for days when I don't feel like wearing foundation.

Leave it

Dream Bouncy Blush (not shown)
I mentioned in a disappointing products post how this isn't my favourite blush. I find the texture is weird and hard to blend out.
Master Glaze Blush Stick
Once again another cream blush from Maybelline that I am not a fan of. I don't really like the stick application in this product and I find there is way too much shimmer in the blush for my liking.
Lipstick
The Creamy Matte lipsticks may be my favourite formula of all time but I am not the biggest fan of the rest of the Maybelline lipsticks. The lipsticks are creamy, last an average amount of time and the brand has really good colour selection but overall I think other brands make better lipsticks. (Check out Revlon or Rimmel for good drugstore lipsticks).
Colour Show Nail Polish
This is a fine nail polish but I would spend my money on nail polish from other brands first. There are lots of good nail polishes at the drugstore but I think these are just average.

Take it or Leave it: Urban Decay

It's the return of my series Take it or Leave it. If you haven't read the first post in the series where I reviewed The Body Shop products, you can find it here. The point of this series is to focus on a specific brand and give you my opinions on what products are worth your investment. As last time I focused on an affordable brand I thought I would do a high end one this time. Urban Decay is one of my favourite High End makeup brands and I have accumulated a lot of products from their line.

Take it

Naked Palettes- Pretty much every beauty blogger out there owns at least one of the Naked Palettes so I don't feel like I need to go into great detail as to why these are the best. In my opinion Urban Decay has one of the best eyeshadow formula's. They're buttery, pigmented and blend really well. The neutral shades included in the Naked palettes are suitable for everyone. You can find my individual reviews for 2 here and 3 here. In Canada they retail for $64.
Naked Basics Palettes- I think I like these palettes more than the Naked Palettes. They include 5 matte shadows and one satin making them perfect for subtle everyday looks. They're also complementary to the Naked Palettes (eliminating the problem of too many shimmery shadows and not enough mattes) and the packaging makes them perfect for travel. You can find my individual reviews for the original here and 2 here. They retail for $34.
Eyeshadow Primer Potion- Shadows just don't work as well without a primer and this is my all time favourite. Colours show up brighter, last longer and make for less fallout. A tube retails for $24 but lasts forever.
Naked Flushed Palette- I have the palette in Native and it's such a convenient all in one palette. It comes with a bronzer, highlighter and blush all in one tiny package with a big mirror. Really perfect for travel. The powders are blendable, long-lasting and not too powdery. It retails for $35.

Naked Flushed - Native

Leave it

24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil- Don't get me wrong these are my all time favourite pencil liners (I have *drum roll please* 9 of these liners) but I think there are a lot of pencil liners that are just as as good and a lot cheaper. Yes they're really creamy and long-lasting and yes the colour selection is amazing but at $24 each I just can't recommend these when there are other liners out there. For example, I think Rimmel's Scandaleyes liners are a really good dupe.

L-R Perversion, Crave, Demolition, Twice Baked, Roach, Tornado, Ultraviolet, Mars, Deep End

Single Eyeshadows- Once again this is a matter of price not quality. I've already said it a hundred times, "Urban Decay has one of the best eyeshadow formula's" but I think the palettes are a much better deal than the individual shadows. Single shadows retail at $22 (which in my mind is absolutely INSANE! They're good but they're not that good).
Lip Junkie Lipgloss- This makes the "Leave it" list for a few reasons. One, I'm not a fan of the applicator as I find it makes the product hard to apply evenly. Second I didn't notice any plumping from this product which is one of the advertised benefits. I think there are better plumping lip glosses out there (see Boxom). This product retails for $23.

Top Lip Junkie in Naked
Bottom Revolution Lipstick in Naked

Revolution Lipstick- This isn't a bad lipstick by any means I just think it's really average. There are much better formula's out there, both drugstore and high-end. The shade I have is beautiful (I have Naked) and it's comfortable but I don't find it very long lasting. It retails for $26.
All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray- This was the hardest product to decide on. I think this product is great for summer or for people with oily skin. It does make makeup last a little longer on the skin but I've never noticed a huge difference. It's also fairly expensive and I'm really not a fan of the sprayer as it doesn't come out in a fine mist. I've heard the L'Oreal Setting Spray is better and it's about half the price. The full size product retails for $36.

What's your favourite Urban Decay product? If you disagree with any of my opinions feel free to tell me why I'm wrong in the comments! 

Take it or Leave it- The Body Shop

I'm starting a new series called Take it or Leave it where I review products from a specific brand and hopefully help you decide if a product is worth your money. I've accumulated a lot of products from The Body Shop as The Body Shop usually has buy 2 get one free sales. I thought this would be a good brand to start with. You can find these products at thebodyshop.ca 

Take it

Honey Bronzer- This may be my favourite product from The Body Shop. This is also the only makeup I've tried from them but considering how good this is, I'm very eager to try more. This is a matte bronzer and the colour 01 is light enough to look totally natural on my fair skin. It isn't very orange, it's pigmented and really blendable. It retails for $20.

Aloe Calming Facial Cleanser- This is my all time favourite face cleanser and one I would highly recommend for people with sensitive skin. It really does calm my face and it leaves it feeling clean. It doesn't irritate my skin or overly dry it like most other cleansers. It retails for $15.

Aloe Protective Serum- I feel like my skin overall has less problems when I use this serum. It doesn't get as dry or breakout as often. The product sinks in really fast and calms my skin. I use it before I apply moisturizer and makeup in the morning. It really seems like it acts like a protective shield against the elements. It retails for $22.

Vitamin E Sink-in Moisture Mask- I've raved about how this mask transforms my skin overnight leaving it soft and hydrated in the morning. It has a jelly texture and it's really thick so a little goes a long way but it really is a skin savior in the winter months. It retails for $22.

Body Butter- I feel like The Body Shop is best known for their Body Butters and there's a good reason. Nothing can hydrate my dry skin quite like these Body Butters. I tend to aim for the ones labeled for dry or very dry skin as they work best on me but they'er all really hydrating and smell amazing. They retail for $20 but are usually on sale for $10.

Almond Hand &Nail Cream- This is a light weight hand cream that has kept my hands from getting dry this winter and with everyday being -30 degrees or colder that seems like a miracle. It sinks in fast, smells good and is not greasy. I wish I had gotten it in the bigger tube. The small size retails for $10 and the larger one $20.

Raspberry Body Scrub- I'm pretty sure this was a limited edition spring product but I think they bring it back, or at least something like it, every year. It's exfoliating but not too rough on my sensitive skin. Plus it looks and smells exactly like Raspberry jam. It retails for $20.

Leave it

Vitamin E Illuminating Moisture Cream- I actually like this product I just don't necessarily think it's the best illuminating product you can get. It's moisturizing and really illuminates the skin but the reflecting particles are a purple and not necessarily flattering if not covered by makeup so I wouldn't wear this product on it's own. Plus a little goes a long way. It retails for $19.

Vitamin C Energizing Face Spritz- This spray is supposed to energize dull skin and refresh it but I didn't really feel like it did anything for my skin. Plus it has a really strong fake citrus scent which I didn't much like. It retails for $18.

Tea Tree Oil- I know lots of people swear by Tea Tree Oil but I couldn't get it to do anything for my skin. If someone knows the best uses for Tea Tree Oil please, please let me know because I'd love to find a way to make this product work for me. It retails for $10.

Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil- Another product people swear by so I will say Leave it if you have dry or sensitive skin. If not hopefully this product will work for you because it does take off eye makeup like a dream. I just found it to be super drying and it broke me out. It retails for $16.

I hope you enjoyed the first post in this series and found it helpful. Comment below if you have any favourite Body Shop products you think I should try.