The Enabler Report: May + June Favourites

Can you believe it’s nearly  July? The past month has been a whirlwind for me – I started a brand new contract in the beauty field (hooray!) that’s been keeping me pretty busy and also took on some additional freelance clients that are letting me stretch my creative legs in different areas. The bonus of a new job in beauty: lots of products to play with! You can bet you’ll be seeing some of those in my July favourites (or, hey, catch a sneak peek on my Instagram as I test them out).

But, for now, I’ve been keeping busy discovering new products and re-discovering some old favourites and I have a feeling you’ll love them as much as I do! With summer officially here, I’m gravitating towards products with a nice light scent, easy skincare fixes and beauty goodies that help me get out the door in a flash. This month, I’m sharing…

• A head-to-toe beauty routine for glowing skin and smooth, shiny tresses
• The best new natural/neutral eye makeup palette
• A purely indulgent face mist
• Sweetly scented products perfect for summer
• The probably-discontinued fragrance I can’t stop wearing

Without further ado…my monthly favourites are below! Make sure to tell me which you’ll be trying out for yourself in the comments. If there’s a product you’ve been absolutely loving yourself, make sure to let me know about it – I love to try new goodies!

Pixi Beauty Peel + Polish

Have I mentioned how excited I am that Pixi is back in Canada? The team has been kind enough to send along some of their favourites for me to test out and each new package deepens my love for the brand. While I love the colour cosmetics, I’ve been extremely impressed by the skincare line. The Glow Tonic is amazing for everyday use but let’s be honest – I’m not exactly great with routines. Using Pixi Peel & Polish a few times each week has been something I can get behind, though.

The enzyme peel provides professional, salon-quality treatments in the comfort of your own bathroom and leaves behind glowy, incredibly smooth skin. Natural fruit enzymes loosen dead skins cells, lactic acid gently exfoliates, cellulose peels & sugar extracts polishes, lifting away dullness revealing brighter skin – I couldn’t say it better myself. My skin reacts incredibly well to this peel – it’s not too harsh and you can up the ante if you wish by massaging it on your skin rather than applying a thin layer. If you’re looking for a glow-boosting treatment, pick this one up exclusively at Shoppers (but remember to apply SPF after!).

Tata Harper Hydrating Floral Essence

I’m a sucker for customized products and have always coveted this Hydrating Floral Essence from Tata Harper. So, when I happened to be at Saks during the customization event…well, I went for it and spent $120 on this fancy, moisture-boosting face mist. If you get a boost from a good olfactory experience like I do and love the idea of more natural/green beauty products, you’ll want to splurge on this essence, too. Filled with 21 high-performance ingredients, this hydrating toner helps to boost radiance, plump your skin and prepare it for additional hydration. I keep it on my bedside table for a pick-me-up spritz and make sure to apply before my serums each morning and night.

Illume Tonka Noir Perfume

I have a confession. I bought this for a friend for her birthday a few years back and loved the scent so much that I kept it for myself (and got her something else instead. I’m not a monster!). Sorry, Stella (I thought you’d love the label!). This intensely comforting scent was tucked away in the back of my closet until recently – long enough to make it really tough to find in stores – and has been my go-to fragrance for the past month. With notes of rose, mandarin and jasmine layered with sensual inky tonka been, salted musk, creamy sandalwood and smoky Madagascar vanilla, this scent errs on the side of sweet with a bit of a masculine twist. Mike doesn’t usually notice my fragrance – unless I’ve ‘bathed in it’ – but this one always catches his attention. If you can’t find Illume Tonka Noir in perfume form, make sure to pick up the diffuser or candle.

Soap + Glory The Righteous Body Butter Lotion

Speaking of scents that catch my husband’s attention…he realized the benefits of sharing a bathroom with a products-0bsessed woman the first time he helped himself to a few pumps of my Soap + Glory shower creme. Luxurious lather aside, I may have caught him sniffing his arm more times than he’d care to have me admit here.

This body lotion loaded with shea and cocoa butter, sweet almond and rosehip oil, aloe vera and vitamin E imparts the same intoxicating scent: bergamot, peach, vanilla and sandalwood. Smooth on this nourishing lotion after a shower to lock in moisture and leave behind a light fragrance for hours. I love rediscovering old favourites like this one!

Too Faced Natural Love Palette

If you’re looking for an everyday palette that is a cinch to use, has great colour variety and payoff and can take you from day to night, the new Too Faced Natural Love palette is it! I couldn’t wait for this gorgeously packaged palette to hit Sephora so I ordered it directly from TooFaced a few months back. It’s been in rotation ever since. Featuring 30 gorgeously neutral shades, it’s easy to create a variety of looks from nearly-barefaced to bold and smoky with the palette. The colour payoff is pretty good and I’m impressed with the texture and quality of the shadows: exactly what you expect from TooFaced. It’s what I gravitate towards in the morning to pull off an unfussy-yet-polished beauty look. My favourites so far: Satin Sheets, Honey Pot and Love Bug!

Cake Beauty The Locks Smith Dry Conditioner

While we all solved the gross second-day-hair problem years ago (hello, dry shampoo!) it wasn’t until I gave The Locks Smith a whirl that I realized we’d all been missing a crucial second step: dry conditioner. Adding dry shampoo to your roots to sop up grease + add volume is a no-brainer; spritzing dry conditioner along the lengths is pure magic. The Locks Smith is a fine mist of dry conditioner that boosts luster, smooths away the frizzies and revives your style. As a curly-haired gal who is often sporting a DIY blow dry, The Locks Smith has been a game-changer. The dry conditioner adds bounce and shine to the point where I can often forego the usual curling iron touchup and settle for a finger-comb instead. Magic, I’m telling you.

Le Petit Marseillais White Peach and Nectarine Shower Gel

For those of you who have been following along for a few years, you might remember how a certain someone (yes, me) got saddled with overweight baggage tags on my way home from our South of France honeymoon. Because of an excess of soaps from Provence and not Chanel, alas, but precious cargo nonetheless. Well, Le Petit Marseillais is not exactly those picturesque pastel bars of soap but I’d reckon it’s better. Inspired by the scents and sun-kissed ingredients of Provence, Le Petit Marseillais is France’s #1 body wash. It recently arrived in Canada with 5 varieties I fell in love with immediately.

The White Peach & Nectarine Extra Gentle Shower Gel is my favourite for morning showers (it smells just like the TooFaced Peach line) but I gravitate towards the Lavender Honey Shower Creme before bed. I can’t offer an opinion on the Vanilla Milk since it was rudely stolen away the moment the package arrived by someone I will not name… Along with the subtle-yet-lasting scent, I love how nourished and comfortably cleansed my skin feels