Monday 31 January 2011

January Empties






As you can see, this year is off to a flying start with my empties. Let's hope the rest of the year continues in the same way. I didn't do as well with reducing my stash as I'd hoped to last year, however I'm hoping to do better this year. I think that being a new mum will probably help, as I won't have as much time to shop.
Nivea Gentle facial cleansing wipes - These are great wipes and if I hadn't tried wotnot wipes I'd buy these again. Unfortunately, wotnot wipes have ruined all other wipes for me, nothing compares to them, so I won't purchase these. You can read my review here.


Garnier Delicate eye make-up remover - This is a great, gentle eye make-up remover, I'll definitely purchase it again.  I have reviewed it here.

A'kin Pure creamy cleanser and toner - I got this as a gwp and am so glad I did. It's a lovely, gentle cleanser, I'll happily use this again. Reviewed here.


Nivea Light Feel Daily Face Veil - This was okay, nothing special. In the end I used it on my neck and decolletage. I wouldn't purchase it again. 

Schwarzkopf Oil Nutritive conditioner - This was great for my dry hair and it's cheap too. I'd buy this. 


Abahna White grapefruit and May Chang bath and shower gel - This smells beautiful and I'd buy it for that reason alone. 

Clinique Rinse-off foaming cleanser - This one isn't empty, it's full, however I'm throwing it out because I don't like it. It stings my eyes and makes my skin feel squeaky clean, which I don't like. Needless to say, I wouldn't purchase this.

T'estimo PU-57 eyeshadow - This is a beautiful shimmery taupe eyeshadow that I'm really sad to see used up. If I had access to T'estimo I'd buy it again without hesitation.

Rimmel Sexy Curves mascara - I love this mascara. Although I can't say I noticed much curving with it, it's non clumpy, doesn't smudge and looks good all day. I also really like the funny shaped brush.

DKNY Pure perfume - This is a pretty scent, very fresh and nice for summer.

YSL Parisienne - I love this scent, if I didn't have a huge collection of perfumes I'd buy it tomorrow. 

Dolce and Gabanna L'eau The One - This is another one that I'd buy tomorrow too, it's gorgeous.

Dior Miss Dior Cherie - Like most of the Dior fragrances, this is beautiful and I'd love to buy it.  

Belli Elasticity Belly Oil - I can't say if this works or not yet, I'll post about it after I've had bub. So far I don't have any stretch marks so that's a good thing. This is a beautiful oil, it has a lovely, light lavender scent, sinks in quickly and stops the pregnancy itches. If you want it though, don't buy it in Australia as it's around $75 (AUD). I bought mine from Apothica for around $40 (AUD). 

The KMS bottle was actually my Shizen Rose face spray. I put it into the KMS bottle as the spray was horrible. Aside from that I really loved this product, it smells amazing and is really refreshing on my skin in summer. I keep it in the fridge and spritz it all over to cool me down. 

Palmers Gentle Daily Cleanser - I've reviewed this here. If you can't be bothered reading the review I'll summarise it for you. This is a lovely, gentle cleanser. I've gone through 2 tubes of it and will repurchase it again.


Little Me Organics Mum to be Organics Rich Tummy Cream- I really like this cream. It smells lovely, keeps the itchies at bay and so far I don't have any stretch marks, so it appears to be working.


The Body Shop Shea Butter sample - This is one of my favorite body butter scents, I've purchased it over and over again.

100% Pure Coconut body butter - This is heavenly. Coconut is one of my favorite 100% Pure scents, I'll definitely purchase this (if Kit still stocks it). 


Napoleon Auto Pilot Dream Cream for face - I'd buy this for the scent alone. I'm not sure what the scent is, the tube says fig but I'm sure it's more than that. Whatever it is, it smells amazing. 


Hissyfit Handy Work - I was quite surprised at how much I liked this hand cream. It's very hydrating, sinks in quickly and is non greasy. I'd certainly consider purchasing this.


Lancome Tresor In Love - I liked this scent but didn't love it. It's not one that I'd purchase.


Dolce and Gabanna The One - This is nice too, but not amazing.


Jean Paul Gaultier Classic - Nice, but again, not one of my favorite scents.


That funny silver tube you can see is my Clinique eye pencil. I have had this for around 15 years, it's one of my favorite eye pencils. I'm not sure what the full name was, but the colour is called blue grey. It has an eye pencil on one end and an eyeshadow on the other end. I'm so sad that I've finished it as I have never found another colour that's the same, it's the perfect blue grey colour.

It's not in the photo, but I also finished a Garner Mineral spray on deodorant - I really liked this, it was very effective even in the horrible summer heat we've been having. I'll happily buy this again. 

Friday 28 January 2011

Current Hair Love: Original & Mineral Hydrate & Conquer


Late last year Jose from O&M contacted me and offered to send me some products to test and review. I've been interested in O&M for a while now so jumped at the chance. Days later I received a gorgeous looking package. I love the luxurious way everything is presented, it looks so fancy. I'm one of those people who is really drawn in by packaging, I love things that look pretty and for some reason I enjoy using things that look pretty more than those that don't look pretty. I suppose when something looks good using it makes me feel good. 

The first thing I notice about any product is the scent. Scent is a huge thing for me, if I don't like the scent I won't buy or use a product. The scent of Hydrate & Conquer is amazing, sweet, butterscotch caramel lusciousness. The scent alone makes these lovely products to use.

Hydrate & Conquer is for dry, thirsty hair. It contains the antioxidant benefits of green tea, vitamin c and sweet almond oil. Despite being made for dry hair Hydrate & Conquer isn't heavy and doesn't leave my hair limp or greasy. I've been using Hydrate & Conquer for approximately six weeks now and I absolutely love it. My hair is in great condition, it's soft, hydrated and healthy. The products are a pleasure to use due to the amazing scent, I feel like I'm indulging myself when I use them.

Even with all the torture my hair has been through lately with my wedding, swimming at the beach every few days and the hot summer sun, Hydrate & Conquer has kept my hair soft and silky. Amazingly enough I haven't even needed to use any deep conditioning treatments, I've just used my O&M shampoo and conditioner and a light leave in conditioner and that's it. Normally in summer I need to use a weekly deep conditioning treatment to keep my hair from being dry and frazzled. 


All O&M shampoos contain pro-vitamin b5 and the conditioners have UV protection and silk protein to help detangle. O&M products are free of sulfates, parabens, MIT, phthalates, triclosan and propylene glycol. Even better, O&M is an Australian company.

Now that I know how amazing O&M products are I'm really interested in trying out more of their products. At the moment I've got my eye on The Power Base, Atonic, and Rootalicious

You can purchase O&M products online from Adore Beauty and Fountain Cosmetics, or at hair salons throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Will I buy these? Yes, they are beautiful products from an Australian company that are gentle, effective and they smell amazing!

Shampoo ingredients: aqua, decyl glucoside, cocamidopropyl betaine, sodium lauroyl sarcosinate, glycol distearate and laureth-4, polyquatemium-10, methyl glucose dioleate, sodium hdyroxymethylglycinate, phenoxyethanol, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, hydrolysed soy protein, panthenol, aloe barbadensis leaf extract, canaga odorata flower oil, macadamia ternifolia seed oil, coco-glucoside and glyceryl oleate, parfum.

Conditioner ingredients: Aqua, cetearyl alcohol, cetrimonium chloride, behentrimonium chloride, prunus amygdalus dulcis oil, amodimethicone and tredeceth-12, pheonxyethanol, macadamia ternifolia seed oil, panthenol, butyrospermum parkii, ricinus communis seed oil, tocopherol, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, aloe barbadensis leaf extract, canaga odorata flower oil, coco-glucoside and glyceryl oleate, parfum. 

Wednesday 26 January 2011

Living Proof's Full is here!


If you are a regular reader of my blog you'll know how much I love Living Proof's No Frizz range. You can read my review of the No Frizz range here

To my great excitement Living Proof have now released a volumising range called Full. The range consists of shampoo, conditioner, root lifting spray and volumising cream.

I haven't tried this range yet as it's been out of stock every time I've gone to buy it, but I'll be testing and reviewing it as soon as I can get hold of it. As with the No Frizz range it is available in full sized and travel size products. I love that idea as it means that I can try out the product to be sure I love it before buying the full size.

You can buy Living Proof from Mecca Cosmetica. As yet I haven't found any overseas stockists who ship to Australia.

Monday 24 January 2011

P50P for lips

I can't believe I'm saying this. I really don't want to say it and don't know how successful I'm going to be, but....I'm going to do a Project 50 Pan for lips. 

I went through my lip products recently and it's ridiculous. My collection takes up four make-up bags and a little tub. I have so many products, a lot of them I've only used once or twice. So I'm going on a no buy. Until I've used up fifty lip products I won't buy any more. The only way I'll allow myself to buy anything is if I get given money or a gift voucher, otherwise I won't be buying.

There are three exceptions to this rule. When my favorite lip balm shop Addicted 2 Lip Balm gets Mode de Vie and EOS lip balms I'm going to buy some, and I will also get Chantecaille Camellia Lip Chic, cause I've wanted it for ages but it's never in stock at Mecca.

I have no idea how long this is going to take me. I know that I can use up a lip balm stick in four weeks, so that means I'll finish twelve lip balms a year. Wow, this could take me ages. I have about three products that I've nearly finished, so they will start me off, but I could potentially be doing this P50P for ages. What a scary thought. If it all gets too much I might change P50P into a twelve month no buy. It'd be interesting to see how many lip products I can finish in a year.

So that you all know why P50P is necessary, here are some messy photos of my current lip product collection:







 

Friday 21 January 2011

Garnier Clean Sensitive Delicate Eye Make-Up Remover


Garnier says: Clean Sensitive Delicate Eye Make-Up Remover combines soothing plant extract and vitamin b5 with make-up removal agents to perfectly remove mascara from around the delicate eye area. Effective and gentle, it has been specifically designed to respect sensitive eyes. 

Eye make-up removers are one of those products that I don't like to spend much money on. I'm not sure why, I suppose it's because they just go straight down the drain. But they are a necessary product, I couldn't do without mine. Garnier's Delicate Eye Make-Up remover is my new favorite. I've just finished the bottle and I'm really happy with it. As the name suggests, it's a gentle, non irritating product. It doesn't dry out or sting my eyes and causes no irritation or redness. Unlike other gentle eye make-up removers that I've used in the past, it is very effective and easily removes my eye make-up, even waterproof mascara, in one go. I just put in on a cotton pad, let it soak in for a little while and then wipe everything off. Easy.

Would I buy this again? Yes. It's cheap and effective.  

Ingredients: aqua, hexylene glycol, glycerin, poloxamer 184, dihydrocholeth-30, disodium cocoamphodiacetate, disodium edta, panthenol, polyamnopropyl biuande, propylene glycol, rosa gallica extract, phenoxyethanol, sodium chloride, sodium glycolate. 

Wednesday 19 January 2011

Dove Wild Rose Minimising Deodorant Spray


I've used and loved Dove's deodorants for years now, I find them to be reliable and gentle on my sensitive pits. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for their Minimising Deodorant spray. This is an epic fail for me. Not because it doesn't work, but because it balls up and then drops little white balls all over the floor, my clothes and anything it comes in contact with. I don't know if I got a bad bottle or what the problem is, but I just can't get this to work for me. I put it on and straight away I have white snow falling from my arm pits. It doesn't matter how much I use or how I use it, it balls up and gets everywhere. 

Below are gross shots of my armpit, so if you don't want to see them look away now.

This is immediately after I've applied the deodorant.

This is one minute I sprayed the deodorant on. 

As you can see from the photos the balling up gets worse until it starts falling all over the place. The first few times I thought I'd done something wrong, so I read the instructions and made sure I was holding the can at least 15cm's away from my pits, but it made no difference.






The one positive thing I can say is that the scent is lovely, it's a beautiful, soft rose.




That's about all I have to say. It's horrible and that's the end of it. Strangely, I used the roll on version and loved it, my review will be coming up soon.

Monday 17 January 2011

Nivea Gentle Facial Cleansing Wipes for dry and sensitive skin


On my hen's day I was given a gorgeous basket filled with products that I'd either need on my wedding day or on the day after, which was a lovely idea (and one that I'm going to remember for the next time I need a hen's day present). One of the products that was in the basket was Nivea's Gentle Facial Cleansing Wipes. 


These are really good wipes. They have the usual, pleasant Nivea scent, are very gentle and they easily cleanse my skin. I use them to remove all my make-up including eye make-up. They even managed to remove my waterproof eyeliner and mascara.



Nivea says: Cleanse, soothe and hydrate in one easy step. Removes make-up and waterproof mascara for a soft skin feeling. As dry and sensitive skin is prone to moisture loss, it needs intensive moisturisation. Even during cleansing its natural moisture balance should be respected to keep your skin soft all day long. Nivea Visage Gentle Facial Cleansing Wipes have been especially developed by the Nivea laboratories to meet the specific cleansing needs of dry and sensitive skin. 

Would I buy these again? No. Whilst they are really good, I just can't go past my wotnot wipes, nothing compares to them. However if I needed something cheap to get me by, these would be my choice.

Ingredients: aqua, glycerin, dimethicone, isohexadecane, isopropyl palmitate, methylpropanediol, calendula officinalis, prunus dulcis, polyglyceryl-3 methylglucose distearate, sodium acrylates, glycine soja, 1,2-hexanediol, trisodium edta, phenoxyethanol, methylparaben, limonene, linalool, hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde, citronellol, alpha-isomethyl ionone, geraniol, butylphenyl methylpropional, benzyl salicylate, hexyl cinnamal, parfum.

Thursday 13 January 2011

Shop to help the Queensland Flood victims

In an effort to raise money for the Queensland Flood victims, several companies are donating a % of their sales to the flood relief fund. Below are the ones that I'm aware of, if anyone knows of any more, please feel free to list them in the comments section.


From 12 January to 13 February 2011 MOR will be donating 25% of all E-Boutique sales to the Queensland Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal.

If you haven't used MOR products before I highly recommend them. Now is the time to stock up on all your old favorites and discover some new ones. I know I'll be stocking up on my favorite Marshmallow products.


From now until 23 January 2011 Pola will be donating 10% of all online sales to the Flood Relief fund. I haven't tried any Pola products but they look amazing, so it's a great time to give them a go.

Tuesday 11 January 2011

A'kin Pure Creamy Cleanser & Toner


Pure Creamy Cleanser and Toner with rose and geranium and is a cleanser and toner in one. It contains shea butter and vitamin b5 and is suitable for normal, dry and sensitive skin.  A'kin says that it gently removes face and eye make-up, leaving skin fresh and soft. 

I love cream cleansers and am always testing out new ones. You'd think that cream cleansers would all be the same, but I've found that they aren't. Some of them are too heavy and leave my skin feeling greasy and dirty. Fortunately I don't have that problem with my A'kin cleanser. It is a lovely smelling, light cleanser that is very gentle on my skin and doesn't irritate it. I use this to remove all of my make-up, including eye make-up. 

As for the toner part, I'm really not sure about that. I don't use a toner as I don't see the point of them. I've used them in the past and they don't do anything for me, so I can't say if this is like cleanser and toner in one or not. I can say that when I use this my skin feels fresh and hydrated and I don't need to use a moisturiser afterward. 

Would I buy this again? Yes, it's a lovely, gentle cleanser.



Ingredients: aqua, glycerin, caprylic/capric triglyceride, sesmum indicum seed oil, cetearyl alcohol, sorbitol, sodium stearoyl lactylate, glyceryl stearate, lecithin, squalane, butyrospermum parkii, persea gratissima oil, macadamia ternifolia seed oil, hamamelis virginiana water, panthenol, simmondsia chinensis seed oil, tocopherol, ascorbyl palmitate, hydrogenated palm glycerides citrate, xanthan gum, sodium isostearoyl lactylate, stearic acid, glyceryl laurate, sodium gluconate, pheonxyethanol, sodium hydroxymethylglycinate, ethylhexylglycerin, rosa centifolia flower water, pelargonium graveolens flower oil, fusanus spicatus wood oil, citronellol, farnesol, gernaiol, linalool.

Wednesday 5 January 2011

Benefit Erase Paste Vs Smashbox High Definition Concealer

Elmo, this is for you.


The two photo's above are of Benefit's Erase Paste.

These two are of Smashbox High Definition concealer. 

I won't do a proper review yet as I haven't been using them for long, but so far I prefer Erase Paste. I think it hides my dark circles better and doesn't crease as much. These photo's were taken immediately after I'd applied both concealers, when I review them I'll take photo's at the end of the day so that you can see how they wear.

Tuesday 4 January 2011

Softlips Pure Organic Chai Latte


I mentioned in an earlier post how excited I am that the Softlips Pure range is now available in Australia. The Pure range is certified organic, cruelty free and 100% natural. There are four flavours in the Pure range, they are: acai berry, pomegranate, papaya and chai latte.

I was lucky enough to receive all four flavours to test and review. So far I've only tried the Chai Latte flavour because I'm in love with it. It's the only balm that I've used since I received it, which is amazing for me because I usually change my lip balm every week or two. 

The first thing I love about this is the flavour. You know how most chai lip balms are really spicy and cinnamony and smell nothing like chai latte's really do? This isn't like that. It actually smells and tastes just like a real chai latte.

The second thing I love about this is the tube. It's nice and small so easily fits into a pocket, which is great for lip balm addicts like me who need to have their balm close by all the time.

The third thing I love is that it moisturises really well and leaves a soft shine on my lips. And the last thing I love is that it's all natural!


The Softlips organic range is only new to Australia so if you can't find it, you will be able to soon.

Will I buy these? Yes, they're amazing and cheap.  

Ingredients: cocos nucifera oil, olea europaea fruit oil, beeswax, simmondsia chinensis seed oil, flavour, butyrospermum parkii, tocopherol, helianthus annus seed oil, camellia sinensis leaf extract.