I must first admit that I’m a little spoiled when it comes to brushes. I love makeup brushes and have quite a few sets of them. I think that makeup is art, and in order to improve and perfect the practice of makeup application you must have the proper tools at your disposal, so I have invested in some core pieces and have tried numerous brands to that regard. My favorite brushes are my Mac brushes. They range in price from around $20 to about $40. They’re worth every penny and on top of doing a fantastic job, they also make me feel like a pro! Ok, I know that’s not super tangible, but I kind of love it.
The Body Shop’s brushes come in an adorable travel bag that would fit some extra goodies of you were so inclined. I would definitely take these on vacation with me, using the extra space in the bag for cosmetics. I love the bag. It has adorable little phrases on it. And it has a pocket and slots that the brushes fit into.
I used the brushes today to do my makeup, and I wanted to give my honest take on them. I like the design. They’ve got this conical shape to them that is quite nice and they have a decent weight to them as well. The concealer/ lip brush, face brush and shadow brush all have very soft synthetic fiber bristles, and feel very nice on the skin. I used the face brush to do face powder and I felt like I had a hard time grabbing enough for full coverage. I think this brush would work great for highlighting, bronzer or anything else that you want to build. I used the lip/ concealer brush for concealer and it worked well for application, and I blended it out with a different brush. It worked well, but it wasn’t amazing to me. Maybe it would work better as a lip brush. I have a retractable one that I really like, so I think I’ll keep this one for concealer. I used the eye shadow brush for my crease and am most impressed with this one. This one actually will be replacing the brush I normally do my crease with: it picked up product with ease, was easy to use, and was effective at packing the shadow. I really liked this one. The brow brush worked well, but the lash brush has plastic bristles, and like I said: I’m spoiled. I have this fabulous Tweezerman one that has a metal brush and it kind of works amazing. This one worked OK, but it didn’t impress me. Over all, I would actually say that for sure this set is worth the money and right now The Body Shop is having a holiday sale where you can pay $25 with your $30 order for the set- so that makes it even more tempting, but apart from the shadow brush, I wasn’t ‘wowed’ by any of these. I hope you’ve found this review helpful. Thanks for reading!!
I have been a loyal Ipsy subscriber since July 2013, well over a year. I just received my November Glam Bag and I have since cancelled my subscription. There are a few reasons why I cancelled, and I’m going to try to go over them one by one.
1. Exhaustive Repetition of Brands
I get these bags because I enjoy trying new brands, and I want to see if I like products so I can buy and enjoy the full sized versions. Unfortunately, Ipsy has sent me too many brands repeatedly for me to be excited about trying the products anymore.
I compiled the contents of my Ipsy Bags over the last 16 months and got the same brands over and over. For example, I received “Pop Beauty” 3 times, “Sexy Hair” 3 times, “NYX” 3 times, “Elizabeth Mott” 4 times and “Be a Bombshell” 5 times. There were several other brands I received twice or three times, and sometimes I even received duplicates of products I had previously received (as with Sexy Hair’s Hair Spray).
2. The Quality of the Brands
I think that either Ipsy is having a hard time finding different brands to work with them, or they court the cheaper brands because they think their customers would rather have a large sample from a “national brand” than a small one from a “luxury brand.” I would take the tiny sample from the luxury brand every single time. But Ipsy rarely features even modestly high-end brands or products. I’ve received a Benefit product a couple of times and Bare Minerals a few times, I also liked the Urban Decay liner I received and I got a Dr. Brandt skin product once… However, upon reading over my list of received products, it looks like each month I received on average either one or none of these products. For example, I do love NYX’s Butter Glosses, they’re pretty great. They’re inexpensive ($6-ish), come in cute packaging, and the formula is pretty much perfect. However, if I want one, I’ll just go to Ulta and buy one. There’s nothing special about getting one- even a full-sized one- in my Glam Bag. But that’s the type of thing that happens every month in my Ipsy bag. I would much rather get the mini “They’re Real” Mascara sample by Benefit, like I got in my July 2014 Glam bag, than the full-sized NYC Mascara that I received in my October 2014 bag.
3. Too Many Glam Bags
This is probably trivial, but I actually don’t love that they send a new cosmetics bag with every month’s Ipsy sampling. I have too many of them, and part of me is curious as to whether more money could be invested in sending out better products versus sending out bags that aren’t getting used all that often (or at all, by me, at least). I think that they’re cute, and of overall decent quality, but I’d rather they spend that two dollars on better, or at least different, brands. Considering the selections I’ve received- it seems as though they could use it.
Not even all of them.
4. Colour Selection
Having reviewed my Ipsy bags over the past little while (you know, 16 months), I noticed the “uniqueness” of many of the colours of eyeliner and shadow I received. I don’t mind trying something different now and then, but honestly, I don’t wear burnt orange eye shadow, orange nail polish or purple eyeliner regularly, Halloween, maybe… I’m also not super into brown lipsticks. Some of these products seemed like things that were not selling well for the companies, so they just gave them away.
5. Customer Service Quality
Back in July 2014, I received an Ipsy bag where one of my samples had exploded all over all my other samples and the “glam bag.” I was able to clean it all up, and salvage everything except the exploded sample. However, it turned the experience of receiving a Glam bag from fun, to a chore featuring wasted time and paper towels. The sample’s cap had not come loose, the packaging had actually come apart at the seams and was broken. I threw away the sample and contacted Ipsy’s customer service. They apologized and apparently sent me a new sample, which I never received. However, honestly, after the ordeal of having to clean their mess, I did expect more. I thought that perhaps, given the opportunity to make it up to me, that they would have sent me an entirely new box- so as to recreate the fun and excitement that is supposed to go along with the experience of receiving an Ipsy Glam Bag. (And after reading this tweet today, I guess I’m not the only one who thinks that’s the appropriate response) That experience is what ruined the brand for me- Ipsy used to be fun, now they were a brand that required me to clean up messes and didn’t send me the product that they said they would. (Or maybe they did and I didn’t receive it? Either way, I was still not a happy customer.) I did want to avoid comparing Ipsy to their competition, but given a situation in which I ended up using BirchBox’s customer service they just sent me a whole new box. They were extremely courteous about the whole thing too. In fact, I was able to chat with them on the phone, while Ipsy’s customer service is available via email only. I’m sorry, but they really set the bar for me, and when the bar is set high, you’ve either got to step your game up or quit playing.
I hope that Ipsy improves their customer service. Mine is actually a very mild example. I just didn’t receive a sample, I’ve heard stories about people not receiving their entire monthly order- or of it being delayed for weeks.
Note for people who do want to cancel: After you click “cancel” on their website (and they’ll ask you to confirm three times), don’t forget to click the confirmation email too. I made that mistake and remained subscribed for an extra month by accident.
What do you think about Ipsy? Are you a subscriber? Do you prefer the national brands or the higher-end ones- but smaller samples? Why are you subscribed and for how long? I would love to hear some opinions, maybe this is just me? 🙂
Thanks for reading!
I decided to include photos of my IPSY bags so that you could see all the brand repetition and products I received if you were interested.
Hello again! Like I said in my first ’empties’ post, this series is designed to mimic my favorite YouTube videos where Beaty Gurus show off the products they’ve gone through and describe their experiences of what they liked and what they didn’t like. Like I said before: since this is a blog, I may re-organize these at a later date to create categories, but for now, I’ll just be posting a few items at a time until I think I have enough to create “collections” of comparisons.
I got a sample of this in one of my makeup subscription box services. I believe it was BirchBox. The sample size is 20mL, and I got about 10 uses out of it, if not more. As with most of my products, I tend to be very sparing with my usage. Some might even call me stingy in that regard. But I would rather be regarded as miserly than wasteful. This product reminds me of other mid-range basic cleansers. The cleanser that comes with the Clarisonic when you buy it comes to mind. I would characterize this cleanser as relatively boring, but effective. My face felt clean after using it, but it wasn’t exciting or anything. I might actually buy this if it were cheaper, but $24 for the full-size of 150mL is too much when there are many other alternatives for basically the same price.
I really enjoyed this product. As I recall, I got it as a sample with purchase when I was buying my favorite mask: Clear Improvement. This sample size was only 15mL, but I got several uses out of it. Over 10 for sure. I really liked this product because even though it is abrasive, I really felt like it was exfoliating my skin. I felt as though I was able to get the rice starch particles all over my face, unlike other products which can be hard to maneuver. I would probably not recommend this to someone with especially sensitive skin, but I think this would work for most people. I’m not normally a fan of things that boast peppermint as an ingredient, but this exfoliator performs so well I can’t complain. I will definitely be considering this next time I need a new exfoliating cleanser. It’s $20 for 1.7 ounces on Origins.com, click on the title to buy. 🙂
I got 3 samples of this from Ulta for free with purchase. I got 2-3 uses out of each sample, so I feel like I got to try this stuff out enough to have a fairly accurate opinion. I really loved the way this stuff smells. It’s divine. It works well; I find that most shampoos, so long as they contain SLSs (sodium laur* sulfates) work well. Right now this is available on Amazon for $12. I thought this would cost more since it’s a salon quality product, however I find $12 to be very reasonable for 500mL (or 16.9 oz). I might get this in the future, but I have a ton of shampoos and conditioners left to try out and go through, so I have no plans to buy anything for now.
These samples came with the Shampoo ones and I got about the same number of uses. Again, this stuff smells amazing. However, I did not find that the smell was especially persistent after I got out of the shower. This works well, but not amazing, and I often found myself using another conditioner- either a hair mask or extra leave-in treatment in addition to this stuff in order to get my hair to be as soft as I would like. I would describe this as quite average and I would not buy it at any price. Yawn.
I got a free sample of this and got two uses out of it. I liked that this stuff isn’t greasy at all, but I loathed the smell. Again, if you read my blog, you’ll know that I do not like strongly scented products on my face, especially at night when I will have to live with it while I sleep, and this was no exception. I though the cream performed OK overall, but I would not be tempted to buy, especially for $50. There are much better products out there.
** 2 Stars
Repurchase: No.
So, overall, this time had a couple resounding “no”s, but that’s just the learning process, and I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to try out so many new products thanks to companies like BirchBox and Ulta. I hope my next post has some more “yes”s and valuable information for you all. Thanks for reading! 🙂
Hello Everyone! My FAVORITE YouTube videos are called “Empties” videos. Usually some Beauty Guru will go through a month’s worth of empty products that she’s used up and tell you all about why she did or did not like them plus whether or not she intends to repurchase. Because this is a blog I will try to eventually organize certain products by brand or category, but for now, I’m just going to go through some of my “empties,” and put them in this post. The titles will be links to where you can purchase 🙂
Here’s a picture of my empties box:
Let’s try to get through these one at a time, shall we?
I got this on sale half-price at my local Walgreens. I loved it after using it a couple of times so I already have a back up. It makes my hair very manageable and completely removes tangles. I usually put it on in the shower and keep it on for 5 minutes while I do other things. After rinsing, my hair is soft and silky. Love this product!
I got this as a gift from my mother-in-law. I really don’t like it. I am pretty allergic to it and every time I use it I can’t help but to sneeze. I used it all, but I am glad I’m done with it. Yes, she reads this blog. Yes, I told her I wasn’t a fan. It’s fine, as soap, and it lathers well and everything, but the smell gets to me. There are too many good hand soaps out there to settle for this one. Also: I just learned, it has been discontinued. Fantastic 🙂 But hey, if you really want it- you can get it on eBay. You can always get whatever you want on eBay.
I couldn’t find a good link to these exact wipes anywhere. I have a feeling Pond’s has changed the packaging, but hey, you can buy them at Future Shop! LOL! I also think they’re available at Pharmaprix and Shopper’s Drug Mart. I really liked these wipes. I really didn’t know how good I had it with these until I got some bad ones- we’ll get to those in a minute! These smell very pretty. They have a clean/ moisturizer scent. I found them to be moisturizing and the soap on them was not harsh on my skin. They were adequately moist when I opened the package and didn’t dry out too much. Also: they work! They remove makeup very effectively. I would use them on my face, and (in order to avoid getting soap in my eyes) I would switch to an eye makeup remover and cotton pads for the rest. I really enjoyed these and if they were still available, I would repurchase. Unfortunately, I can’t, but I will be very open to trying other Pond’s makeup removing products in the future.
4 Stars ****
Repurchase: No
UPDATE!!! While rifling through my beauty supplies I found TWO MORE packs of these! So happy! They must have been on sale so I bought three. Yea! Now to find a replacement for when I run out of these…
First off let me say that I am happy that I did not have to pay for these. I got them in an Ipsy bag. These were absolutely horrific. And I don’t believe I’m exaggerating. First: They were relatively dry when I opened the package. That was fine, I thought, so I just moistened them before use. The “use” part really got to me though. They were rough- I think they are made from unprocessed bark, or maybe sandpaper. I don’t have sensitive skin, but these were just way too rough. They didn’t remove my makeup either. They just don’t work. Anyways, I can say one good thing: they smelled pleasant. I’ve read other reviews, however, that said that they found the scent too strong. I thought it was bearable. I used them to remove makeup on my hand after swatching things and playing with my makeup, but they were useless otherwise.
Let me just say that this is not a true solid deodorant, and the “smooth” part of it makes it almost a thick lotion consistency. I tried this because it was on sale and I needed deodorant. One good thing about it is that it smells nice, but I won’t be buying more for two reasons. The first being that I now believe that the ‘moisturizer’ in this is gimmicky, and secondly, I feel like I use way more because the moisturizer causes it to be thinner in application overall. So, personally, I suppose I just prefer the solid, and after I go through this last one, I’ll be sticking to the plain boring “baby powder” scent original secret, unless y’all have any suggestions. Yes, I just asked the internet for deodorant suggestions.
3 Stars ***
Repurchase: No
That’s it for this round. I think I’ll try to do one of these posts with 5 items per week, eventually I’ll organize these by product category and it’ll be a little review showdown post for each category.
It’s time for the next instalment of Body Shop product reviews. I did my first one a few months ago when they started sending me free stuff to give my opinion on, here. This month I was excited to see that I would be reviewing nail polish. Nail polish is my thing. I love doing my nails and I love having all the unique shades. I like doing amateur nail art and putting stickers on my nails. Before they sent me my colour, which is called: Red My Mind, they had me do a survey to find my “Happy Colour,” which can be found by clicking here. I like my happy colour, it’s bold, like me.
Like I said: I love nail polish:
My nail polish collection
I really enjoyed this formula and they can sell people like me on things like: “Formaldehyde & Toluene Free.” They don’t make many claims about this product other than that it comes in 24 “feel-good” shades, is “enriched with Marula oil, 100% vegan, nail-loving” and finally, a claim that is testable that it is “quick-dry” and “high gloss.” I would agree with both of those claims. This formula impressed me and I almost wish that The Body Shop were more boastful. Not only is the formula quick-drying and nice & shiny- it also applies fairly opaquely on the first coat. I put two coats, but mostly out of tradition- in fact I noticed little difference between one and two coats. I also loved the brush. It was thick and easy to maneuver making application simple and intuitive. I can be rather messy sometimes, and I found that my blunders were mitigated while using this brush, so I didn’t get as much on my fingers as normal. Still did though, of course.
The colour is very pretty and I would say a classy, classic red that leans on the coral side. I’m going to enjoy this manicure and I will let y’all know if I end up finding this polish chippy or otherwise less than satisfactory, but for now, I have to say I’m relatively impressed and I will be giving it 5 stars. I think that the $8 price point is very fair, considering the performance and compared to other brands I like such as OPI and China Glaze which cost between 10 and 12 dollars. The other reason I think it’s fair is because The Body Shop often holds 40% off sales, which would bring the price down to a level where I would be tempted to try ALL the shades! I have a ton of nail polish already, but I’m glad to be adding “Red My Mind” to my wall of polish. If you want to buy some you can find it here.
Pretty Polish! Messy application by me 🙂
UPDATE: It’s been about 2 days and I only have a slight chip on one of my nails on my dominant hand, so I’d say this stuff is pretty good. Particularly considering that I forgot to put on a top coat.
UPDATE: It’s been 4 days, and it’s pretty chippy. I am not disappointed, since many of my other polishes would have chipped about as much by now, but I wouldn’t call this formula particularly long-lasting. I would say I got an average amount of wear out of this application.
Hello everyone! It’s time for another instalment of NEW Body Shop Product Reviews! The Body Shop recently started sending me things to review and this month they sent me “Drops of Youth Eye Concentrate.” I’ve been using this for two weeks, one to two times daily, because I wanted to give a full and honest review. Let’s see what the product information says about it:
Smoothes the appearance of lines around the eyes
Appearance of eye bags seems reduced
Eyes appear less tired
Innovative cooling roller ball pump applicator
Partner with bestselling Drops of Youth™ Concentrate for a youth-enhancing boost
Let’s tackle these one by one like I did last time! *Un*fortunately, I don’t have lines around my eyes *yet* (knock on wood!), so I can’t speak to this claim. I would definitely agree that eye bags in the morning are reduced, but I think it’s more the applicator (it’s metal) than the product itself. The eyes do appear less tired once those pesky bags are gone!
That said, I didn’t love the metal applicator. It was cold and I feel like I’m ultra sensitive to the cold and even though it does work, I’m not inclined to put it under my eyes in the morning when I’m still groggy. Some people said that they loved that it “woke them up,” but I am not that type of girl. I used it “as directed,” up until this point so that I could write this review, but in the future, I intend to squirt some of the product on my finger and apply it that way.
With that out of the way: I really like the product that is inside the container. It smells, sweet and light. If you read my blog, you may recall that I do not like heavily scented things on my face, and this scent is slight and therefore pleasant in my opinion. I think that this would actually be a great ‘overall’ serum and I might end up using it all over my face, but I was not really impressed with the packaging. I’m giving it 3 stars.
I wanted to take a couple of pictures of the applicator to show the metal rollerball construction. It’s well-made, not cheap-feeling at all.
I think that maybe if I were older, I might like this product more, but I don’t have any of the issues it claims to treat, so it’s difficult for me to review it based on that criteria. Overall- I love the Body Shop, but this product was not for me.
Hello everyone! I’ve been on vacation, but I’m back now and I have another review for you. The Body Shop has kindly chosen to gift me some of their products, and as I mentioned last time- I am excited to be able to review some products from one of my favorite companies. This month they gave me their new “Instablur” primer to try. I’ve used it a few times. Immediately, I noticed that it reminded me of Smashbox’s Photo Finish primer. Upon inspection, they both have similar application. The Body Shop one is slightly more robust (thicker) and has a light scent. While the Smashbox one is thinner, with no scent.
I had a lot of fun comparing this to other primers I own. I went through my makeup drawers and grabbed every primer I could find. This primer bears little similarity to Boscia’s Skin Perfecting primer, Sephora’s Anti-Shine Foundation Primer, or Laura Mercier’s Foundation Primer. These all apply “wetter,” and as more of a moisturizer than the Body Shop’s Instablur and the primers I will be comparing to it.
I also found that Ulta’s Professional Matte Prime applied similarly. It has the most shine to it, but the ingredients are very similar to those in the Smashbox Primer. (The first three ingredients are exactly the same, and there are other ingredients listed that are also the same further into the lists) I didn’t find that it had much of a scent either. For reference, the ingredients and other information about the Ulta primer and the Smashbox primer can be found by clicking the links in this sentence.
The Body Shop’s Instablur is an effective primer. It applies a little thicker than other primers, but reduces to a thin, matte finish. You don’t need a lot, just put a little on your finger and keep rubbing it in until it goes smooth. It’s thick at first, but it will blend into your skin for that matte finish we all love. I used it a few times under my makeup, and I can definitively say that it did not break me out. I’ve had issues with liquid makeup items causing breakouts in the past and that didn’t happen with Instablur. (Thank Goodness!) On The Body Shop’s website it says that this primer is supposed to do 5 things:
Shine Controlling 12h
Reduces appearance of pores
Blemish Hiding
Complexion Unifying
Make-up Extending
Let’s tackle the list, shall we? I don’t have issues with shine or sweating, so I really can’t say whether this was effective at controlling shine. I can say that it applies matte, but I can’t speak to its shine-controlling abilities. It definitely reduced the appearance of my pores. I would say that this one performs the best at that and at complexion “unifying.” I think “complexion unifying” is a silly thing to call evening out your skin tone, but nevertheless this did accomplish that. I think that reducing the appearance of pores, and evening out your skin tone begets the fact that it will also hide blemishes. So check “yes” on that one as well. I have some issues with white heads and other smaller blemishes, I think that a concealer would work best to hide larger flaws, but this works well for small inconsistencies in the skin. As far as “Make-up extending” goes, I just can’t be 100% sure. I wear good quality makeup that is designed to last and I also use Urban Decay’s Makeup Setting Spray to keep my makeup from moving. I’ve had exceptional experiences with that stuff. So, I can’t say it necessarily helped my makeup stay longer, but I can say that I did not experience any straying or moving of makeup I did apply after using this product.
I have yet to be “wowed” by any primer but so far my favorite things about this one are the scent, the non-greasy application, the matte finish, the fact that it doesn’t break me out (seriously- I’ve had issues!), and the pore/ blemish/ complexion awesome-ifying.
This retails for $22 and goes on sale in Monday, August 25. In the meantime, I found this cute promotional video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejk5uCb3TmI and here’s a picture of the product itself:
I’m super excited to tell y’all about a couple of new things I got the opportunity to try recently. First, I think you know how much I love The Body Shop’s products, as I have discussed their products in past posts. In the new year I decided I wanted to develop a steady skin care routine, and I’ve been a fan of The Body Shop and in particular their Tea Tree Oil line (it has acne prevention/ treatment properties!) for a long time. I’ve branched out and tried other products by them and I guess they noticed that I’m a fan, so they sent me some brand new stuff to review!
Both things they sent me are from their new Wild Argan Oil line. It will be released on their website on Monday, July 28, 2014. Here’s the information that came in my package:
Front page of pamphletInside you can see it’s a 3-step skin care system.The Wild Argan Oil Information’s back page tells us about the fair trade practices The Body Shop engages in with the Targanine Cooperative. To learn more, watch their YouTube Video about this!
The Body Shop sent me the travel sized Wild Argan Oil Body Butter, and it comes in a package like this:
Wild Argan Oil Body Butter
And it looks like this on the inside:
I took this photo to show texture.
Review on the Body Shop’s Wild Argan Oil Body Butter:
I wanted to give y’all a good, solid full review, so I tried this stuff out for a week, to make sure I like it and to let you know how it affects my skin.
Let’s start with first impressions: First off, the packaging is typical, if you’re familiar with the way The Body Shop packages their travel sized Body Butters, it’s the same exact packaging, twist off cap. Once the cap was off, the smell hits you. It’s absolutely divine. I can’t tell you how wonderful this stuff smells, but I honestly wanted to eat it. Thankfully, there’s a little disclaimer on the package that says “unfit for consumption.” I’m glad that was there, otherwise I would have tried to taste it. (Just kidding, but it seriously smells delicious.)
The texture seems a little thicker than my normal Body Butter, Satsuma (Orange)- but like all Body Butters, a little bit goes a long way. I used a dollop about the size of two quarters on both of my lower legs each time I used this. It’s very moisturizing initially and holds well. I used it over night each time and when I woke up in the morning it was apparent that I had used a moisturizing product the night before and had not 100% rubbed off on my sheets like many other moisturizers. Although, that is typical of the Body Butters, as they tend to have more staying powder, than let’s say a Body Milk, of which I had been working through two before being sent these products to try.
Since my favorite videos on YouTube are actually “Empties” videos where the girls post videos reviewing products they’ve used up and say whether or not they will be repurchasing them, I’ll be posting reviews on products that I’ve used up in future posts- they will include one or two Body Milks, and I hope to do a better job of describing the difference.
So, so far it smells amazing, is nice & thick and long lasting. I’ve noticed that my skin is so much softer throughout the day- this is for sure on my “repurchase” list. However, I still have some other Body Butters I want to finish up first, so it may have to wait until I finish a few of them… Not that I’ve run out of this one yet- either, not at all. It’s only been a week 🙂 If you’re curious, I’m a little over a third the way through my sample.
As shown above in the product information, this IS a 3-step system. Since I’m 100% out of my last Body Scrub- which I loved and plan to do a review on in my post about “Empties,”- I will be buying the “Rough Scrub” from this Argan Oil line. It costs $5 less than the one I’m currently using; I hope it smells like the Body Butter.
The second thing The Body Shop sent me was the Wild Argan Oil Radiant Oil for Body and Hair. I’ve mostly been testing this out on my hair as a replacement for the oil I’ve been using normally. So far, I have found that I like the smell, but it’s very faint, so if you prefer products that have a light scent, you may prefer this to a more heavily scented hair oil. I flip flop- sometimes I like things to be heavily fragranced, sometimes I don’t. It sometimes changes with my mood, but usually depends on the type of product. For example, I prefer that my night cream be lightly fragranced, if it smells like anything at all. Meanwhile, I love a heavily fragranced body lotion.
Here is what they sent me:
Radiant Oil
The consistency is exactly what you might expect. It’s simply the consistency of a natural, nut oil. It’s also quite light, and not nearly as thick as other hair oils I’ve tried. This worked great on my ends, it kept the frizzies at bay and I was able to obtain really pretty curls, which was a surprise, since my hair is typically unmanageable. I wouldn’t say it’s a miracle treatment, but my hair looked MUCH healthier than normal and I was able to wear it naturally without using heat products each time I used this product. You know, in public and everything. The only thing I don’t love about this product is the dispensing mechanism. Most of my other oils have flip caps, making it easy to get a lot of product (I have a lot of hair!) and this one is a spray. I think I’ll be removing the cap, to ease application for next time. However unique the spray mechanism, I can’t deny the results. And they are impressive- at least for me. I can’t get over how I can actually wear my hair down without heat styling after using this product and I was able to do it with a little dry shampoo on second day hair as well.
This line will be released on Monday July 28, 2014
I just want to provide a list, with links of all the products offered within this new Wild Argan Oil line, along with prices
Anyways, I hope this review helped you. If you have any questions about something I didn’t cover here, please leave them in the comments below! If you too have tried this tell me what you think about my review! Do you agree/ disagree? I’d love to know!
#QueenOfOils
UPDATE!!! Oh my goodness, well, it’s been a month (July 21, 2014) and here I am again. It’s August 22 for the record. I REALLY couldn’t wait to try that scrub, but I waited until there was a sale anyways 🙂 and bought it. I’ve used it at least 3 or 4 times now and I really love it. I’m so glad I bought it. I was hoping that it would smell like the body butter and it does. It’s gorgeous in that regard. I love the exfoliation that I get from this product but I want to let you know that this isn’t your typical sugar scrub. There are shells in this and they can be abrasive. Personally, I love it, but I don’t think that anyone who has sensitive skin would like it. Of course, you can always take a chance and return if you’re not loving it- or give it to someone who might like it. The Body Shop seems to have a decent return policy, although I have zero experience with it- I usually love the stuff I buy from there 😉
Anyways, it smells exactly like the body butter- so you shan’t be disappointed. It works well as an exfoliant and the best part is that the argan oil leaves your skin feeling hydrated afterwards.
I just really love it. I even like it better than the last scrub I had and that’s saying a lot because I LOVED that one. This is definitely on my “repurchase” list!
Packaging.Interior product photo
If you liked the Body Butter, I would definitely give this a try.
Hello! It has been a few months since I updated my New Year’s resolution regarding skin care, so I thought it was time for a new post. In my last post, I talked about how my skin had gone from dry to oily and how crazy the change had been for me, so I had started looking for solutions. I have found quite a few solutions since then and I feel like I know exponentially more about skin and skin care than I used to and I’m so much more confident about where I spend my skin care dollars. I’m here to let you know what I’ve learned in the past 4 months. Going from knowing literally nothing about skin care, to knowing as much as I feel I know now.
I also want to say again that (obviously) I’m not an expert and that I think everybody’s skin is different and what works for me may not work for you and vice versa. And, as in my last post, I’ll just stop and remind you here about my post about Glam Glow, and also my first post where I initially talked about developing a regular skin care routine.
Moving along…
Last time I updated, I talked about what I did and which products I used; I think that format worked well, so I’m fixin’ to use it again!
Morning:
Cleanse: I use Liz Earle’s cleanser and natural muslin cloth, that I got absolutely addicted to after I sampled it through BirchBox. (BirchBox is a monthly subscription makeup sample service.) It is really pretty, and comes in a sort of Tiffany blue tube, and the muslin cloth is slightly exfoliating. I absolutely love the Eucalyptus smell of it, it reminds me of the spa. It also feels quite luxurious on the face. I really recommend it, and you can get a huge tube of it (the small sample size lasted me 30 uses or so) plus 2 large muslin cloths (the sample came with a small one) for $24.50.
I don’t exfoliate in the morning, as I consider the exfoliation I get from the muslin cloth to be sufficient, so I tone next. I usually use a mild toner, like The Body Shop’s Tea Tree Skin Clearing Toner, as that seems to be working well for me.
Next I apply a serum, usually The Body Shop’s Pomergranite Firming Serum, because it seems mild to me, no heavy acids (AHAs, for example). I’m probably going to try to find a different “mild” serum, because I don’t love this one, but it’s good, and I would recommend it.
Finally, I apply a layer of sunscreen. If I’m wearing makeup that day, I still apply sunscreen, it’s the one thing I won’t leave home without, and I keep some in my purse- always. One cannot overstate the importance of photo-aging prevention. As for which sunscreen, I’m currently testing out a few but I like The Body Shop’s Aloe Soothing Sunscreen, and Philosophy’s Take A Deep Breath SPF 30.
Night:
My nighttime routine is a little different from my daytime routine. I start with a basic cleanser, I have quite a number of them that I’m experimenting with right now, but I usually reach for either The Body Shop’s Seaweed Deep Cleansing Facial Wash or Purity by Philosophy and apply that to my Clarisonic.
I do a more intense exfoliating treatment in the evening, and after using my Clarisonic, I use a basic exfoliating gel or cream. I have been using The Body Shop’s Tee Tree Blackhead Exfoliating Wash and Skin Clearing Lotion, but I am no longer enjoying it as I find the particles are too big to concentrate on exfoliating properly. The two I’m enjoying most right now are Aveeno’s Active Naturals’ Positively Radiant Skin Brightening Daily Scrub and Philosophy’s The Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash. I prefer the Philosophy one because it has smaller particles that seem to last longer, so I have more time to exfoliate, but they’re both good and I would definitely recommend the Aveeno one to someone looking for a good drugstore product. The only thing I don’t really like about the Aveeno one is that it has Sodium Laureth Sulfate in it, which is, in my view, more of a shampoo ingredient than a face wash ingredient.
Then, once I’m out of the shower (did I mention that I Clarisonic in the shower?), I usually throw a mask on. Sometimes I Glam Glow, but most days I’ve been using Origins’ Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask. I really like the Origins mask because you can use it every day if you want I don’t think I’ll repurchase the white jar of Glam Glow again, but I do want to try the black jar next time, as I’ve heard it would be better for my skin type. On days that I don’t use masks, I use Biore pore strips to clear my pores, although it does say on the box not to use them more than once every three days. I also want to mention that the reason I do this after I shower is because it is when my pores are most open from the steam and how water, so my mask or pore strip will be most effective at that time.
Once my mask dries (or my Biore strip “paper maches”), and I remove it, I rinse off and dry my face. After that, I’m ready for toner. The evening is when I use a more intense toner. So, I usually apply my Clean & Clear Deep Cleaning Astringent, but once I run out of that, I’m switching to a Paula’s Choice one to see if I like it better. I’m happy I finally found a toner with a higher percentage of salicylic acid. I’ll let you know if I like it once I try it.
I usually wait about ten minutes after applying my toner to apply my serum and night cream. I don’t think I have to wait, it’s just something I like to do. My night serum is either the DDF sample I got (which I still have) or the same one I use in the morning.
My night cream is also in a state of flux. I know Philosophy’s Take A Deep Breath is not a night cream, but it’s so luxurious that I can’t resist using it sometimes. I also have some samples from Clinique and Origins I’m working through. I really haven’t made any significant development towards an evening cream, but I’m learning about what I like and what I don’t like. I enjoy a thick cream, but I don’t like ones that are strongly scented.
If y’all have any recommendations for a night cream I should try, let me know in the comments below. I’ll definitely update this post once I try out a few more things and develop a more concrete routine. This is really starting to become a hobby for me, as I feel I’ve learned a lot about proper skin care, even if I’m not 100% of the way there, it’s a long way from sunscreen and basic bar soap.
I just wanted to post and update about my New Year’s resolution regarding skin care. I’ve always had pretty decent skin, but since I moved, it’s gotten a little greasier, and I’m experiencing blackheads, enlarged pores & other unsightly, unpleasant side-effects. I’ve been trying a few different things over the past month or two, but the truth is I still don’t know what the heck I’m doing. I know almost nothing about skin care, and I really can’t afford to spend a ton of money to go visit a dermatologist. Also: I’m afraid that if I go she will laugh at me. Honestly, my skin problems aren’t that bad, my main problem is that my skin has changed. I used to have problems with dryness, now I have problems with oiliness & it’s all very shocking.
DISCLAIMER: I am not an expert. BUT this is what I’ve found so far in my search for knowledge. I’ll just stop and remind you here about my last post about Glam Glow, and also my first post where I initially talked about developing a regular skin care routine. The following are photos of the products I use most often.
Aveno Clear Complexion Foaming Cleanser, Purity & Total Matteness by Philosophy, Glam Glow & The Body Shop’s Tee Tree Mask.Tee Tree Skin Clearing Toner, DDF Amplifying Elixir, Tea Tree Pore MinimizerAveno Positively Radiant Skin Brightening Daily Scrub, The Body Shop’s Tee Tree Blackhead Exfoliating Wash and Skin Clearing Lotion, Neutrogena Oil-free Moisture with Sunscreen, Neutrogena Naturals moisturizer, Clinique Turnaround Overnight, The Body Shop’s Aloe Soothing Sunscreen, Philosophy’s Take a Deep Breath,
So, I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube beauty gurus lately, but some of the products they recommend are a little pricey, so I’ve been trying to use their advice, but to find products that are less expensive, but still meet my needs. My favorite YouTube beauty gurus, for skin were Veronica Gorgeois, who can be found here, and Ingrid Nilsen, who can be found here.
I have developed the following routine for myself:
In General, twice a day:
Cleanse: I usually use Total Matteness by Philosophy, $25, in combination with my Clarisonic Mia 1, $125, and totally worth it. I use my Clarisonic every day & I love it. You should change your brush every 3 months & I’ve found some good deals on duo packs on Groupon.com & Overstock.com. On the Clarisonic website the 2-packs are $40, but you can get them for around $25 on Groupon & Overstock. I sometimes use Purity by Philosophy and Aveno “Clear Complection” Foaming Cleanser, but it just depends on how hard I’ve been on my skin in other ways. I think Total Matteness is a good medium cleansing treatment. Purity is very mild and the Aveno ‘Clear Complection’ has Salicylic Acid in it, so in my view, it is more invasive.
Exfoliate: Technically, I think this is a second exfoliation, because the Clarisonic exfoliates on its own, but I do use an exfoliant after I cleanse. I have two different exfoliators. One is from The Body Shop’s Tee Tree Oil line, which I love & I have almost every product in that line. Specifically it’s called “Tee Tree Blackhead Exfoliating Wash,” which is perfect because my number one complaint is enlarged pores resulting in blackheads. The other exfoliator I use, which is more mild, is called “Aveno: Active Naturals *positively radiant* Skin Brightening Daily Scrub.” I use the milder one more often, but I really like the Tee Tree one too.
Toner: I currently use the Tee Tree Oil toner by the Body Shop as well. I like it because it has the same “shake to activate” indication as the Clinique “Acne Solutions” Claryfying lotion, but is cheaper & I was unable to find a full ingredients list anywhere, so I figured I’d stick with what I knew. The main difference between what I use now & the Clinique is the Salicylic Acid & menthol in the Clinique. The Salicylic acid is good for acne treatment, but the menthol just irritates the skin, so I figured I could do with out it.
Serum: I currently use a sample I got in BirchBox called DDF Amplifying Elixir. I’m not sure if it works, but I do like it. I don’t know if I’ll buy this when it’s done, just because it’s kind of pricey and I’m trying to develop a routine that’s affordable. I’ll look for a cheaper alternative with similar ingredients.
Moisturize: In the morning I always use a moisturizer with sunscreen. In the evening I use a night cream, recently I’ve been using Clinique Overnight Turn Around, but I doubt I’ll be buying it. I also use The Body Shop’s Tee Tree Blemish Fade Night Lotion, but because it does target acne, I sometimes find that a little drying, so sometimes I end up using “Take a Deep Breath” by Philosophy. I also re-apply moisturizers at varying points during the day, usually sunscreen, and usually not more than twice more.
Other: I also use a pore minimizer once in a while, from The Body Shop’s line and I Glam Glow three times a week. I also sometimes do an acne treatment and I am still using a 2% Salicylic acid treatment. It’s the strongest I was able to find.
Note on my Glam Glow use: I used to apply Glam Glow to my entire face, but I found that my cheeks were getting ultra dried out & I was getting blemishes on them, so I started applying Glam Glow only to my T-zone and it’s working out much better for my skin. I still love Glam Glow & I find that it’s making a positive impact on my skin.
I’ll update again when I choose a primer or find new or better products, but I just wanted to let y’all know how it’s going and maybe give you some ideas. Like I said, I’m not an expert, so if you have any ideas for me, I would love to hear them in the comments below!
