Viva Organics Amaze Exfoliating Gel Review

Viva Organics Amaze Exfoliating Gel, Image from TheGreenKiss.ca

Viva Organics isn't a brand that I've heard too much about, but I was browsing through some clean beauty websites and saw this. Someone left a rave review about this mask/treatment and I eventually decided to take a chance and order it. I am SO glad that I did.

Viva Organics is a natural/clean/green brand. The Amaze Gel is Paraben, Gluten, GMO, artificial fragrance and colourant free. It's also hypoallergenic, formulated for sensitive skin, vegan and cruelty-free.

The Amaze Exfoliating Gel is supposed to do exactly what it says on the jar- exfoliate your face. They state "This exfoliating gel treats blackheads, rosacea, acne, and blocked pores while also minimizing visible age spots, scarring, and fine lines. With its unique combination of ginseng and aloe vera, the Amaze Exfoliating Gel heals, calms, and repairs damaged skin. "

Awesome bamboo lid and logo design.

 But what makes this different than any other product I've tried before?

Frankly this gel is unlike anything else I've experienced.

The consistency of the Amaze Exfoliating Gel.

Firstly this isn't a mask and it's not a leave on product either. This gel is a quick treatment that literally takes 10 minutes tops- and that includes washing and drying your face off before use. In order to use this you dab some of the lovely ginger smelling gel onto your dry face and then gently massage it into the skin.

This is about all you need to treat a full face with the Amaze Exfoliating Gel.

Cloys of the Amaze Exfoliating Gel on my face so you can see approximately how much I use each time. 

Within seconds it starts to feel a little gritty under your fingers and then there are suddenly little balls. That is literally dead skin lifting away from your face and gathering. Keep massaging in circular motions gently all over the face and when the gel seems to have absorbed in/dried up then stop. You'll have this creepy but super satisfying experience of literally seeing all this dead skin come off. A quick rinse with a wash cloth and you're done. (Scroll quick if you don't want to see a pic of me with the result of dead skin balls on my face, I've kept it small so it's easier to ignore. Click the image to see it bigger if you want a better idea).

The impressive results of dead skin removal with the Amaze Gel.

The absolute best part? There is literally no pain associated with this. No stinging, no redness, no scrubbing, no tingling, no menthol. Literally no sensitivity. I'm not sure how it works but this stuff blows me away! There isn't even a grit to this product just smooth super-powered gel.

Afterward using this my skin is so so soft. Like I have to try not to touch my face soft. It has such great ingredients as well, including hyaluronic acid, and aloe as some of my favourites.

Here are the full ingredients: "Aqua (Water), Propanediol (Zemea, Approved by Ecocert), *Vegetable Glycerine, Cetrimonium Chloride, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Carbomer, Polygonum Multiflorum Root, *Camellia Sinesis Leaf (White Tea), Potassium Sorbate, Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Lactobacillus Ferment, *Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root Oil, *Panax Ginseng Root, Angelica polymorpha Sinensis, Sodium Hyaluronate" *items are certified organic.

Past all this, the packaging is super luxurious in my opinion. I love the heavy frosted glass jar and the bamboo lid. The only plastic part is the inner lid and the cover that goes over the mouth of the jar to seal in the moisture. I do wish they'd have come up with a way to eliminate the plastic completely but they did an admirable job in getting most of it.

The Amaze Exfoliating Gel retails for $49 CND for 30 ml or if you can find it some places like thegreenkiss.com have a 10 ml trial size available (as of this moment they are sold out). You can also find this product through PureAnada.ca  and well.ca. Take a look around a bit before you buy because sometimes these places have deals and you can save a bit of money (which is what I did). So yes, while this gel is expensive in my opinion it is so worth it. You don't need much per use and frankly the results are so immediate and satisfying it's well worth the investment.

Sprite Rating: 9.5/10

I will totally purchase this again once I finish it. I love how I can do this super quickly so it fits into my routine really easily, and I love the results. 

Have you tried anything from this brand Viva Organics? What are some of your favourite treatments? I'd love to hear from you!

Huda Beauty Demi Matte Cream Liquid Lipstick- Swatches and First Impression

Image of the Demi Matte Cream Liquid Lipstick from the Sephora Website

Huda Beauty has recently come out with a new product for lips called the Demi Matte Cream Liquid Lipstick. I was lucky enough to snag one of their sample pamphlets in all fifteen colours and I've swatched them all below for you both on my arm and my lips. I also give my first impression of the formula.

Huda Beauty is a cruelty-free company and is available through Sephora and their own website for $26.50 CND. These liquid lipsticks are perfect for people that want the long wear time of a liquid lipstick without the ultra matte finish and tight over dry feeling normal liquid lipsticks give. 

These go on silky smooth without any stickiness and feel moisturizing for hours after application. More about the formula later though, lets get into the fun part- the swatches! All the photos were taken at the same time on the same day in natural indirect light so that the shades can be compared to one another. Click any of the pictures to see them larger.

Here's the pamphlet of swatches

First up is Provocateur. This shade is a very modern taupe-purple-grey colour.

Provocateur in natural light

Close-up of Provocateur on the lips

Wearing Provocateur in natural indirect light

Next is Feminist. Feminist is a medium peachy nude shade.

Feminist in natural light

Close-up of Feminist on the lips

Wearing Feminist in natural indirect light

Lady Boss is third and one of my favourite shades from the collection. It's a lovely berry shade that somehow manages to be slightly muted but still fun.

Lady Boss in natural light

Wearing Lady Boss in natural indirect light

Sheikha is next, it's a hard to describe shade as it's a neutral rose with a slight brown-purple undertone to it. 

Sheikha swatch in natural light

Wearing Sheikha in indirect natural light

Mogul is next, it's an orange-based nude-rose that is darker but close to Feminist in shade. 

Mogul in natural light

Close-up of Mogul on the lips

Wearing Mogul (indirect natural light)

The only red in the collection this is a bright true red with a blue-undertone to it, which weirdly has a slight orange tinge every so often depending on the light. Hopefully you'll be able to see what I mean from the pictures! (Or my eyes were playing tricks on me lol).

Boy Collector swatched in natural light

Wearing Boy Collector (indirect natural light)

Révolutionnaire is next and it's a nude brown with a cool undertone to it. It's the darkest nude in the collection. 

Révolutionnaire swatched natural light

Close-up of Révolutionnaire on the lips

Wearing Révolutionnaire (indirect natural light)

Game Changer is another orange undertoned rose shade. It is really lovely and one of my favourites from the line. It somehow manages to be mainly warm toned (peach-rose) with more neutral rose in some lights.

Game Changer swatched in natural light

Close-up of Game Changer on the lips

Wearing Game Changer (natural indirect light)

Half-way there now! Bawse is next and it's the darkest shade in the line. Bawse is a blackened eggplant shade.

Bawse swatched on my arm (natural light)

Close-up of Bawse on the lips

Wearing Bawse (natural indirect light)

Catwalk Killa is next and it's a muted/slightly greyed berry-purple-mauve shade.

Catwalk Killa swatched in natural light

Wearing Catwalk Killa (natural indirect light)

Day Slayer is the lightest nude brown in the line and the one most suitable for fair to light skin-tones such as myself. It's not really light though more of a medium shade in my opinion.

Day Slayer swatched (natural light)

Close-up of Day Slayer on lips

Wearing Day Slayer (natural indirect light)

Another of my favourites from the line is Bonnie. In my opinion the most feminine/girly of the shades Bonnie is a rose with a touch of watermelon pink to it. 

Swatch of Bonnie on my arm (natural light)

Wearing Bonnie (Natural indirect light)

SHEro is a medium peach-brown nude.

SHEro swatched (natural light)

Close-up of SHEro on the lips (natural light)

Wearing SHEro (natural indirect light)

The boldest shade in the collection is Passionista. This colour is almost a hot pink/magenta or a bright raspberry. 

Passionista swatched (natural light)

Close-up of Passionista on the lips

Wearing Passionista (natural indirect light)

Last but not least is SheEO. This is another medium nude shade with an almost neutral undertone.

SheEO swatched (natural light)

Wearing SheEO (natural indirect light)

Phew! If you're still with me that is all of them. Here are shots of them side-by-side for comparison.

From top to bottom: Provocateur, Feminist,  Lady Boss, Shekha, Mogul, Boy Collector,  Revolutionnaire, Game Changer

From top to bottom: Bawse, Catwalk Killa, Day Slayer, Bonnie, SHEro, Passionista, SheEO

Here are some of my thoughts overall. I think there are quite a few similar shades so I don't think anyone would need all of the colours but I do like the shade range. I think there is something for all skin tones which is really nice, and pigmented lips don't stand a chance against these. These are super pigmented, you don't need to layer these on they are almost opaque from the get-go. They feel great on the lips too and last quite a while on- hours if you're only drinking. They aren't transfer-proof though so they will come off if you eat, etc. 

They do have a mint tingle to them for a while when first applied, but not so bad or uncomfortable that I needed to remove them. They don't smell like mint though, rather some sort of nut oil, which does stick around for quite a bit I found. I didn't exactly like that smell but I didn't entirely dislike it either. I just found it a tad odd. It does fade eventually.

I would also say these are not a matte finish, they don't dry down all the way. Instead I'd categorize them as satin. They're very smooth, non-sticky, and almost cushion-y. They feel really nice on. 

Also important to note is that these babies stain like crazy, especially the darker shades, so be sure you get them where you want them. They don't slide around at all so that isn't an issue but application-wise you want to get them on the lips correctly, or fix it fairly quick (which is possible I did it for these pictures).

My stained arm

Above is a photo of my arm after swatching and after I scrubbed with soap and nails to wash it off. It didn't work lol.

As for the shades overall I found many of them to be warm-toned and/or greyed down. They almost all feel very modern and chic colours. Very on trend. 

My favourites from the line are: Bonnie, Game Changer, Sheikha and Lady Boss. 

As for shades that are close to one another Provocateur and Catwalk Killa are both muted purple-ish shades, however Catwalk Killa is more berry toned and Provocateur is much greyer and more brown.

Bonnie and Game Changer are both rose shades with a hint of watermelon pink to them however Bonnie is a touch lighter and has more pink to it, it also is a touch cooler toned, where as Game Changer is warm toned. 

Révolutionnaire and Day Slayer are both nude brown shades however Révolutionnaire is darker and a touch more cool toned. 

Feminist, Mogul, SHEro, and SheEO are the closest to each other shade-wise as they are all warm peach-nude shades. Honestly they are so close they are hard to describe so I took a picture of them side by side and I'll try my best to describe them as well. 

From L-R: Feminist, Mogul, SheEO, and SHEro

Feminist is a rosy-peach brown, Mogul is a more rosy shade with brown undertones, SheEO is a peach-brown with more brown than peach and SHEro is a peach brown with more peach than brown.

Well that's it for this post, do any of these shades catch your eye? Have you tried Huda Beauty?