Beauty Buzz for August | Keep your Pride ongoing with these 7 brands
Montreal, though we are all saddened, stand proud! Beauty Buzz is here for August to hopefully, help you keep your Pride ongoing with these 7 brands.
Though we all live with the incredible loss of the Pride Parade this year, due to a lack of help or participants for the apparent security of the Parade itself, I am reminded of when we met at Parc Lafontaine and just assembled together to celebrate as a community, without authorization.
Afterwards, Divers\cité worked diligently for many years, organizing major parades that celebrated our queer identities, I take a moment to remember their incredible efforts, they never cancelled a Pride Parade on us last minute.
Hopefully, though our Parade has been cancelled by the organization entrusted to handle it, we will find ways to let that 2SLGBTQIA+ rainbow shine darlings, be yourself and be free, celebrate your uniqueness and keep on being the beautiful person you are.
Regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, spiritual beliefs, we all need to feel beautiful, to belong, and PRIDE is about that. Embrace yourself, shine forth and bring your authentic person forward!
I hope these suggestions make you smile, help you feel fierce and fabulous, let’s jump into this Pride edition and get our mugs ready!
Peace Out and Connect
Peace Out is one of the skincare industry’s newest darlings, this 2SLGBTQIA+ founded company is making headlines and gaining a cult following for its fun, relaxed approach to skin care.
Founded by Enrico Frezza, Peace Out has launched hit product after hit product, cementing its place in the skincare industry and becoming one of the trendiest ways to treat various skin ailments on the market today; especially pores, fine lines, blemishes and dark spots.
For Pride Season, Peace Out launched a limited edition version of their Acne Healing Dots, the Limited Edition Pride Acne Healing Dots, with 20% of their sales going towards the incredible charity, the Trevor Project; the world’s largest suicide prevention and mental health organization for 2SLGBTQIA+ people.
To celebrate this special release in time for World Pride, Peace Out also partnered with Happy Tears, a Montreal-based company that creates these wonderful Connect Decks, great social games to get conversations flowing and make people reflect in groups.
The wonderful Connect Deck Pride Edition is available on their website here.
I read through the entire deck of the Pride Edition of the Connect Deck from Happy Tears and I was so touched by the thoughtfulness of this product. An incredible game to get people exchanging together, I honestly can’t wait to play it with some friends and see what type of discoveries we find out about each other.
Leave it to say that I think that both Peace Out and Happy Tears deserve our support as they are socially conscious companies with a heart.
Though the Limited Edition Pride Acne Healing Dots by Peace Out are now sold out, you can still purchase the standard version, their excellent Acne Healing Dots at Sephora, here.
The essential fixing spray for a flawlessly set face
Setting sprays have become supremely popular in the last decade, an item that we occasionally found with the odd, professional-type brand, has now become a staple in most makeup collections offered by brands all over the world.
However, not all setting sprays are made equal and the On ‘Til Dawn Mattifying Waterproof Setting Spray by ONE\SIZE by Patrick Starr is a blessing to anyone who seeks to seal their makeup and not need worry about it for several hours; regardless of how hard you might perspire, glisten or get wet.
You can easily use the On ‘Til Dawn Mattifying Waterproof Setting Spray after you have completed your makeup, spray a good coat on, let it dry and you needn’t worry about keeping anything in place, nothing will budge for a long, long time!
The On ‘Til Dawn Mattifying Waterproof Setting Spray includes key ingredients such as Green Tea extract, known for tightening the pores; it also includes Witch Hazel, which helps give the skin its blurred matte finish, as it absorbs the excess oil on the skin.
The On ‘Til Dawn Mattifying Waterproof Setting Spray is vegan, cruelty-free and will keep your face un-clockable for hours on end as you dance the night away or perform to your heart’s content.
Patrick Starr is a gay beauty icon and his company, ONE\ SIZE by Patrick Starr produces some of the highest quality makeup products I have been lucky enough to try of late. A drag queen making great makeup products that fix, blur and perfect the skin; is my kinda drag queen, and has my utmost respect.
A truly beautiful lineup of products is available from ONE\SIZE by Patrick Starr, I can’t wait to share the other products I love from this brand with you, in the near future.
Spray this baby on and stay confident and care-free with your makeup, even in the hot challenges of summer nights in our beautiful city.
This concealer will help you unveil your best skin
Veil Cosmetics is another 2SLGBTQIA+ founded company that delivers quality products that are truly designed to enhance and treat the skin.
The thoughtfulness and concern for the well being of their clients is at the forefront of these beautiful hybrid products that embellish the skin.
Veil Cosmetics is a pioneer in the beauty field, innovating its products and staying true to their beliefs of showing your best skin and never masking it; instead you have soft veils to filter the appearance of the skin, flattering and enhancing your skin while protecting and even caring for the skin.
The Complexion Fix is the perfect quick-fix, concealer solution to rapidly enhance your skin in a soft and lightweight manner.
I speak more in depth about the product, here.
A definite pro-tip to touch up your complexion for Pride and you’re supporting an 2SLGBTQIA+ founded, Canadian company. Double pride in one swift online click, also available at Amazon, here.
A pink bottle to make your skin shine like glass
The Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dew Drops by Glow Recipe is the skin priming, glass-skin lacquer, I have always needed!
This pink, glass bottle contains a nourishing gel-cream that spreads effortlessly on the face and infuses the skin with instant hydration; plumping up the skin and making it appear beyond supernatural, supremely dewy and completely refreshed.
The Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dew Drops by Glow Recipe makes for an excellent primer under your makeup and can be layered to achieve even glossier looking skin. I love wearing it alone as skin dressing, I will put it on my skin after my sunscreen, as a last step, to give my skin a very glossy and dewy finish.
The Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dew Drops by Glow Recipe is a versatile product that can please someone only interested in skin care and please someone wanting to give their foundation more glow.
Glow Recipe is an Asian-owned company that is based in the United-States and pulls from the best traditions of Korean skin care, in super colorful and playful packaging. The products always apply wonderfully well on the skin and deliver a satisfying, sensory experience, as they perform and enhance your complexion.
An iconic lipstick that continues to raise money for AIDS
MAC Cosmetics was founded by partners Frank Angelo and Frank Toskan. A labor of love between both men that grew into one of the most influential makeup and skincare brands, in the world.
With innovative products, a completely open approach to beauty, MAC Cosmetics took the beauty world by storm.
They were one of the first companies working with celebrities and they chose to do so for their Viva Glam lipstick, which funds the MAC AIDS Fund.
The first Viva Glam lipstick was a collaboration with RuPaul, celebrities such as k.d. lang, Elton John, Mary J. Blidge, Lil Kim, Christina Aguerlera, Pamela Anderson, Missy Elliott and others soon followed suit.
Throughout the years the sales of the MAC Cosmetics Viva Glam lipstick has raised more than 500 million dollars for AIDS victims and people living with HIV.
The latest collaboration for Viva Glam is with the Keith Haring Foundation, the famous gay painter from the 80s who passed away from AIDS and whose playful and vibrant style remains influential to this day.
Available at all MAC Cosmetics stores and online, all proceeds of the retail price of the Viva Glam lipstick go towards helping AIDS victims and people who are HIV positive.
This is that rare purchase you can feel completely good about and know that not only are you making yourself prettier, but you are also helping people in need of care and contributing to the active fight against AIDS.
This cream blush will get you blushing for Pride
NYX Professional Makeup released their limited edition Pride Wonder Stick Blush in time for World Pride and summer.
The Pride Wonder Stick Blush by NYX Professional Makeup comes as a 2-sided bullet with 2 lovely shades of cream blush that you can wear alone or combine together.
The NYX Professional Makeup Pride Wonder Stick Blush comes with a lovely, frosted shade in a golden-pink, coral color and the other shade is a cream, peachy neutral.
I found the pigment blends well on the skin and can be layered on top of foundations or even under sheerer foundations for softer, subtler effects.
A beautiful, soft, blush color combination, the NYX Professional Makeup Pride Wonder Stick Blush is a great tool for you to get that glowing flush to your cheeks in time for Pride.
Iconic DJ makes the best organic, scented beauty in Montreal
Frigid is a queer icon of the alternative scene and has been a permanent fixture in the Montreal nightlife for several decades.
His brilliant musical style and direction have been featured in many of Montreal’s top fashion events and swanky parties over the years; Frigid also produces his own music which is atmospheric, intoxicating and mesmerizing, you can check out his Spotify page, here.
He currently has a residency on Wednesday nights at the legendary gay bar, Stud, which is open to all for this night of fun, fashion, and the best kind of partying that Montreal is renowned for internationally. This new night is called Retro Wave, well worth checking out on a Wednesday night!
Frigid is also the owner and creator of the exquisite line of beauty and self-care products , know as 7 Deadly Soaps, which features beautiful hand-crafted, organic soaps with the most unique and sensual fragrances, I have ever experienced.
The fragrances all come from his experience at mixing essential oils to create the most sensual and sexy fragrances around. His initial offering of seven soaps has since grown into a beautifully curated and diverse collection. Each soap more intoxicating and enticing than the previous one.
You can also find hair soaps, scented oils that are beyond belief, a perfect beard oil for any bear in your life and a wonderful face exfoliant and more.
When supporting this brand, you are not only enjoying a truly luxurious, hand-crafted item, you are supporting a gay icon and artist, whose many talents deserve more recognition.
7 Deadly Soaps is the best option for supporting the local queer community and keeping yourself clean and refreshed at the same time.
I hope you like this happy selection of products and that you support your 2SLGBTQIA+ owned brands and continue to let your beauty come forth, let yourself be the person you want to be.
Self-expression and self-care are two incredible tools for all of us to learn and implement in our lives to help us feel better, be truer to ourselves and own ourselves completely.
As we head into this last part of summer, go out there and celebrate, partake in the festivities, and live again; being alive is about exchanging and meeting new people and what better time than now, to enjoy that in our glorious, beautiful, vibrant city.
Until next time, celebrate yourself and stay beautiful!
