Copper Amino Isolate Serum 2:1 Review & Comparison

(This post is not an ad, sponsored or paid for. The product was sent for review purposes. No affiliate links.)
Ingredients: (COPPER CONCENTRATE) Aqua (Water), Copper Gluconate, Isoceteth-20, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin. (ACTIVATOR) Aqua (Water), Glycerin, Tripeptide-29, Tripeptide-1, Myristoyl Nonapeptide-3, Trifluoroacetyl Tripeptide-2, Acetyl Tetrapeptide-2, Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer, Glycogen, Propanediol, Pentylene Glycol, Dextran, Dimethyl Isosorbide, Ethoxydiglycol, Isoceteth-20, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin. 

After being insanely excited about this NIOD launch for months, of course it would finally happen during my unplanned and longer than expected Insta-break in November. I had initially planned to write about it in time for launch, but that sadly didn’t happen and I am very sorry because I know how many of you were waiting to hear more about it. I got a lot of DMs and emails about CAIS2 while I was away, so in this post I want to address the questions that were asked, share my experience with the new formula and give a comparison to the 1% and 5%. Continue reading

NIOD – The Complete Review

(Disclaimer: This review is not an ad or sponsored and all opinions are my own. No affiliate links. )

April 2020 Update: I will be launching my Personalized Skincare Routine Program shortly. To register your interest, please leave a comment here.

Even though when The Ordinary had its surprise debut last year and caused a major commotion in the industry, NIOD have always been the original game changer in my books. I was already very familiar with DECIEM when NIOD arrived, having used Fountain since it first launched back in 2013, as well as Hand Chemistry (now The Chemistry Brand) and then HIF when that came along, so when Brandon Truaxe finally introduced his very first official skincare line I was more than ready to get on board. Continue reading

The Ordinary – A Recommended Routine For Every Skin Type

(This post is not an ad, sponsored or paid for and does not contain any affiliate links. All products sent for review unless otherwise stated.)

Ever since The Ordinary launched my number one question is now “what should I buy?”. People are excited and somewhat confused, which I can completely understand. Choosing the right products for your skin type and needs can be a daunting task, especially when there are so many options. In the beginning it was pretty easy since there were only ten products, but now there are over fifty (with more on the way), so it has become even harder to not only know which ones to buy, but how to use them. I wanted to create this guide of recommended regimens and example routines in the hopes that in addition to my review, it will make it as easy as possible to use these products and get the most out of them.

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NIOD Copper Amino Isolate Serum 5% Review (Discontinued)

(Disclaimer – this review is not an ad, sponsored or paid for and does not contain any affiliate links. All products PR/Brand/Retailer sent unless otherwise stated.)
Ingredients: COPPER CONCENTRATE – Glycerin, Copper Tripeptide-1, Aqua (Water), Methylglucoside Phosphate, Copper Lysinate/Prolinate, PPG-26-Buteth-26, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Chlorphenesin, Phenoxyethanol. ACTIVATOR – Aqua (Water), Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer, Glycerin, Dimethyl Isosorbide, Ethoxydiglycol, Decapeptide-22, Ogliopeptide-78, Palmitoyl Decapeptide-21, Zinc Palmitoyl Nonapeptide-14, Myristoyl Nonapeptide-3, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Pentylene Glycol, PPG-26-Buteth-26, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Xanthan Gum, Caprylyl Glycol, Glyceryl Caprylate, Phenylpropanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Chlorphenesin, Phenoxyethanol.

I love how some things come full circle. Two years ago Victoria Health debuted the Copper Amino Isolate Serum 1% from NIOD, Deciem’s (at the time) newest skincare venture in the 2015 May Newsletter and on Tuesday I was featured in this year’s May Newsletter talking about my love for the 5% version. The honour of being featured on The Podium (alongside the Wayne Goss no less) was exciting and humbling, and led to lots of messages in my inbox asking all about CAIS 5%, so I thought it was time to get my thoughts and experiences out there because I could not love this wonder product more and you need to know why. When CAIS 1% first launched (review here) I immediately bought it, fell in love and pretty much started this blog a few months later so I could write a post about it because I was that impressed, and now almost two years later I have been blown away all over again. Continue reading

My Top Blemish/Congestion/Inflammation Fighting Nighttime Routine

(Disclaimer – this post is not an ad, sponsored or paid for and does not contain any affiliate links. All products PR/Brand/Retailer sent unless otherwise stated.)

When I posted this routine on Instagram a few weeks ago it got a lot of questions, so I thought I would break down the entire lineup on the blog and explain how and why I used each product. One of the reasons I wanted to do it is because it worked so well for me. Even though skincare can only do so much, I am still very grateful for what it can do because in this case, it saved my skin from a full on meltdown. The other reason is that a lot of the questions were about some of the newer products in my stash like CAIS 5%, the Mahalo and Siam Seas balms and then others simply wanted to know about the “FM 5-day cycle”. I know I have mentioned my own personal 4-day routine cycle (that post is coming soon) but this is completely different to what I did here because it was based around using NIOD’s brilliant Flavanone Mud for five nights in a row. Continue reading

The All Day 5 Mask Ultimate #SundaySpaDay Routine

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#SundaySpaDay has been a long tradition on Instagram and it’s one I used to look forward to a lot before I got to too busy to really enjoy them properly. I didn’t really do them at all over the summer, but these past few weeks I have made an effort to bring back the facial fun and this is my current favourite routine. I have done this three times now and the results have been so great that I thought it was time I shared it with you. Enjoy! Continue reading

Long Overdue Huge Empties Post

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It has been far, far too long since my last empties post (here), so brace yourself for an epic rundown of everything I finished up over the past few months. I love these type of posts because it’s so helpful to reevaluate my thoughts on a product once I’ve used it all the way to the end. It’s important to me to see if my first impressions still stand or if my feelings have totally changed, as it has done with some of these. Most of the products included in this post have been fully reviewed on the blog already, so this is just a brief final overview of my thoughts and experiences, a “last impressions” if you will, before the empty bottles hit the trash. Not everything here was used up by me and not everything was a success, so keep reading to find out which ones I loved to the very last drop and which ones didn’t get that all important “repurchase” seal of approval. Continue reading

September and October Favourites: The Ordinary Skincare Full Review Part 1

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Update: to read my complete 27 product full review of The Ordinary please click HERE.

It’s been almost two months since the launch of Deciem’s new line The Ordinary and it has been a total whirlwind for everyone involved! From the moment it was announced there has been such an incredible buzz about it and that has not stopped. I probably got about 20 messages about it within an hour of the debut and since then The Ordinary has become one of my most asked about brands. By now, most of you will know what this new “skincare concept” is all about, but if you’re still new to it, you can read my introduction to the brand here. As I said in that post, this has become one of the biggest (and arguably most important) launches in the history of skincare and a total gamechanger. I have been using 5 out of the 10 products for the past few weeks now and can’t wait to tell you all about them, because they have proved to be far from ordinary… Continue reading

Skincare Confession: My 30 Seconds Or Less Two-Step Routines

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As some of you will have noticed from my recent inconsistent posting on Instagram (sorry about that), I am pretty busy at the moment. There has been no time to share my skincare routines with you all, but worse than that, there has barely been any time to actually do them! As shocking as that may seem, it hasn’t been all bad as on the days when I have been too tired for even just a “simple” cleanse, tone and moisturize, I have found some pretty impressive 2-step combos that have done a great job of taking care of my skin in 30 seconds or less, which has been so helpful. Continue reading