May 2021 Favorites

Hey folksickles,

Alright, all the goodies I've been enjoying in May :) 

1. White Barn French Baguette Scented Candle: This candle just has such a comforting, cozy, freshly baking bread scent that's reminiscent of a bakery. It's very soothing, yeasty, and delicious. Personally I think it's perfect for anytime. 

2. Maya Chia The Straight A Serum Advanced Gentle Retinol Treatment: A repeat favorite but I just have to sing its praises because I've been loving it! This is a joy to use for nighttime. In terms of retinols I've found in the past that my skin tends to get irritated by them if I use them too frequently or, because I don't have any particularly significant signs of aging, I don't notice that retinol treatments make a difference to my skin after I spend time building up a tolerance to them. This, however, was worth the investment in my opinion. First of all, it's genuinely gentle, I can use it nightly without any issues. It has a beautiful rose scent which I find soothing - although I would suggest avoiding this product if you dislike rose scents or are allergic to roses. In addition, it just gives my skin a beautiful glow and radiance. I still don't have aging issues on my face specifically to comment on and so far I've been using it for a few weeks and am breaking out around my jawline. I'm unsure if my skin is purging or I'm just breaking out because To update on the breaking out thing - I've been using this since March and no longer have those breakout issues around my chin so I don't think this was causing them. 

3. m-61 Hydraboost Oil-Free Sunscreen SPF 40: The reason I love this sunscreen so much, other than being a pale AF person who's also a retinol user, is its texture is just SUBLIME. Oftentimes sunscreen can be thick or sticky but this has a beautiful lotion-like texture that absorbs nearly instantly. I know this is technically not supposed to double as a moisturizer but personally I find that on top of a facial oil, this hydrates adequately enough for me to not need a moisturizer with it. 

4. Virtue Curl Line: Given how much I love Virtue, when the curl line dropped I picked up all the products in it - the shampoo, conditioner, and the curl-defining whip. I have to warn you ahead of time that while I like the products, they are intensely moisturizing; so if your hair is curly and oily, this might be a skip. The line is designed to help enhance curls and give them the hydration that they're often missing, so when I purchased this I was thinking, well my hair is wavy so maybe this will help it somehow because Virtue always does the most for my hair. Friends, my hair is so curly now, as in it looks like I purposely went and curled it but I didn't, it just falls into this really lovely curl pattern. If you need something for your curls or you're someone who curls their hair and wants their hair to stay curled, I would highly suggest looking into this line of products. 

5. ORLY Kiss The Bride Nail Lacquer: I haven't used this nail polish in a hot minute and just did a manicure with it as of the day I'm writing this post (5/30) and I feel like my nails just look so elegant with this on. It's definitely a nice whispery pastel pink that pretty much goes with everything. 

Disclaimer: I paid for the products mentioned above myself with the exception of the m-61.