Tag: face

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Beauty

Lip Monthly March ’15.

lip monthly march

I seem to be issuing these posts at the speed of light.

Minute of sarcasm aside, there were three lip products and one nail polish in this box. Bag design was a standard one.

hikari crush

Hikari Lipstick in crush

This is the second Hikari lipstick I own, first one being cabernet, also received via Lip Monthly. I love this product. The colour in this case is a little bit not ‘me’, but it’s wearable. Matte, relatively long-lasting. Doesn’t feel drying.

lip monthly march balm

Jordana Easyshine Glossy Lip Color in Raspberry

This feels like a balm. Sheer pink, nicely smelling. I have a full queue of balms that I need to use up before I get to this one, but I have a feeling I’m going to enjoy using it.

lip monthly march crayon

J. Cat the Big Lip Pencil in Caramel Mocha

I love lip crayons, and I really wanted to keep this one. The texture is creamy, the longevity is okay. The only downside is that you have to sharpen it, and it’s a huge product waste with these big pencils. Unfortunately I was not feeling the colour at all, so after a quick swatch I gave it to my friend, who enjoys it very much.

lip monthly march swatches

Hikari, Jordana, J.Cat swatched. The photograph is a bit washed out, the Hikari lipstick is much brighter in person.

lip monthly march sally hansen

Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Nail Polish in Mighty Mango

A bright, almost neon, pink-orange colour. Would look great with a tan, which I never really have. Applied smoothly, but I cannot report on chipping etc., as I haven’t worn it yet.

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Beauty

#100empties: Garnier and Oriflame Face Creams.

If I attempt to be precise, then I have probably used up about 40 products by now. However I could no longer look at a pile of garbage on my windowsill (and what are empties if not trash?) and threw everything out without taking photos and posting. For the sake of documenting, we’ll count these ones as numbers one and two.

garnier face cream

Garnier Essentials Hydrating Day Care for combination skin

I can say nothing good or bad about this product. It’s a decent cream, but I’m in no rush to repurchase it. Didn’t provide enough hydration for me, and although it felt like it evened out the texture, I think it was more of how the cream felt when applied, rather than its evening out properties, if any. The scent was gentle. Absorbed quickly, left a bit of a matte finish that didn’t last long.

oriflame tea tree cream

Oriflame Love Nature Face Lotion for Oily Skin with Tea Tree Oil

Love Nature is one of the simple skin care series available from Oriflame. This cream is nothing special, but I’d probably buy it again because of its scent. It’s slightly medicinal and probably wouldn’t excite most people, but for me it’s just so fresh and calming. I’m currently using another one in the series, Aloe Vera for combo/ normal skin. The cream’s properties are about the same (slightly hydrating, absorbs a bit slower than the one above), but I’d still rank the Tea Tree one higher. I don’t like using it for day wear, even though I can’t say that it leaves much of a sheen or anything. I just prefer it for night. It’s light-weight, absorbs easily, leaves a nice feeling to the skin, and is just overall so fresh. I wish it had better skincare properties, because if it did, I wouldn’t stray to any other product. However it’s a generic cream that doesn’t solve any problems in my case — but it doesn’t create any either.

2 down; 98 to go.

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Beauty

Two Oriflame Masks.

Purifying and moisturising, that’s what this duo is all about.

Do forgive the overexposed photo. My camera is still without a battery, and it’s a little bit harder for me to regulate lighting with my phone.

two oriflame masks

 Oriflame Pure Nature Purifying Clay Mask, with burdock.

My skin is oily with a varying, but perpetual, amount of blemishes, so clay masks are one of my favourite things on earth. This one is no exception. It’s gentle enough to leave on your face until it’s fully dry or to use on the decolletage. I wouldn’t say that it gives a dramatic kind of effect, but after using it my skin felt smooth and wasn’t as congested, with an exception of maybe some particular stubborn spots and dots. Since it works subtly, it can be used in the mornings as well, though I still prefer to use all masks in the evening. And since the skin takes it so well, it’s possible to use another mask right after. Like the one below, for example.

Oriflame Essentials Hydrating Face Mask, with watermelon.

Yep, I’ve pretty much been using these in tandem. Part of the reason for this is, although this hydrating mask is indeed hydrating, it needs a bit of an exfoliating preparation to act properly. Otherwise it would, for the most part, fail to bring moisture to the skin.

The watermelon scent and I have a love/ hate relationship. I love it in masks and in chewing gum, and I could probably use it in a shower gel once or twice a week. But when subjected to it constantly, like with a spray or a body lotion, its artificial sweetness makes me want to puke. At least it’s not headache inducing.

I’m scratching my head as I’m writing this post, because I believe both of the products mentioned have already been discontinued by Oriflame. Man, these people are fast. The Pure Nature series was rebranded as Love Naturals. There’s a clay mask in there, but I’ve yet to try it, so I’m not sure how much of the formula was changed. No burdock extract, though, that’s for sure, which is a shame, because this plant has some really great properties when it comes to the skin. The Essentials sometimes pop up on sales and in mini-catalogues. I believe I’ve seen the watermelon series in particular some… three-four catalogues ago? It might appear again soon, now that spring is here and summer is closing up on us.

Regardless, the price of these masks is agreeable, and for that price they deliver nicely. Can’t tell you the exact amount, as it varies country by country. Your best bet is to get to the Oriflame site, and pick your region. I’m not sure if I would’ve repurchased the Essentials Hydrating Face Mask, but I would’ve certainly bought another tube or two of the Pure Nature Purifying Clay Mask. Better watch them sales and specials.

(I’m an Oriflame consultant, meaning that I buy Oriflame products with a special discount. All opinions mine. This is not a sponsored post.)

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Beauty

Products I’ve Used Up: AVON, Dove, Oriflame, etc.

products i've used up

AVON Naturals Hair Care Essential Balance Mango & Ginger 2-in-1 Shampoo and Conditioner

Can I just say… Tone it down, brands. All y’all name your products in a way that’s not at all Twitter-friendly.

I bought this product for its scent alone. Previously I had a shea butter and apricot one from the same series, and it smelt so good, I never wanted to do anything but wash my hair over and over again so I could just bathe in the scent. That’s saying a lot, because washing hair is one of my least favourite beauty procedures. This scent doesn’t disappoint either, but somewhere in the middle it became tiring. Not sure why I buy these ten-gallon packages, because commitment to one particular scent or formula is totes not my thing when it comes to bath products.

Shampoo-wise, it’s a good product, but didn’t match my scalp and hair exactly. It’s a hard thing to do, though, so I hold no grudge against it. It’s a 2-in-1, and if you’ve got short hair, or maybe even well-behaved mid-length hair, then I dare say the 2-in-1 will work, at least occasionally. Everyone else would need to use a conditioner with it.

Maybe I will repurchase it, but in a smaller size.

P.S. How many convincing words can one fit unto one label? Natural, science, technology, essential, care, balance… It’s either natural or tech, tho, but whatever.

Dove Hair Therapy Nutritive Solutions Daily Moisture Shampoo

I love Dove hair gels, deodorants, and body lotions — in fact, I’m going to do dedicated posts about each of these things soon enough — but their shampoos are horrible for me. The scent is harsh. The product foams up a whole lot. It’s not ‘moisturising’ in the slightest, rather, it stripped my poor scalp off of all oils, sending it into an overdrive each time, leaving me with greasy roots in something like 12 hours. The formula is thick and feels soft during the application, but it was very harsh afterwards. This is one of the worst shampoos I’ve tried in a long while. Will not repurchase, will not recommend.

Eveline Lip Gloss

This thing is old. It’s so old, I can’t even tell you the colour and the correct product name. I bought it on a sale long, long time ago, used it as long as it was usable, and then I just kinda forgot to discard it. It had a lovely vanilla-ish scent, and it was one of the less stickier glosses. They have since then discontinued this particular product, I think.

Oriflame All-Over Makeup Remover

(FYI, that’s not a piece of gum holding it. It’s an unfortunate bunch of sticky tack.)

Needed a make-up remover, and this was on some epic offer. I was a little hesitant, because the previous variation of Oriflame makeup remover (green rectangular bottles) was not good. It wasn’t particularly offensive, it just… didn’t remove much. This one is a certain upgrade of the formula, but if you need a heavy-duty remover, then this is still not your guy. I want to check out their waterproof makeup remover, see if it’s any better. Will probably repurchase if on offer.

Oriflame Volare Perfume

Very rose-scented, a little too much for me. The bottle was redesigned, however, and I’m going to buy that thing just for the bottle alone, because it’s in a shape of a crystal rose, and who doesn’t want a crystal rose on their vanity?! No one, that’s who.

Chistaya Liniya 48 hr Phyto-Deodorant in Calendula

Rather on the wet side, and a little bit harsh smelling, but overall I was pleased with it. What I loved most perhaps was the packaging. It is upside-down. How brilliant is that?! No weird balancing acts required to use up all of the product. I wish it were in a bit of a less… cone-like shape, though, because at times I found it hard to grip. Might try other scents, but I think calendula is the lightest of them all.

Pur-Lisse face cream sample

This came with my Lip Monthly bag. I hesitated using it at first, because it’s for normal to dry skin, and I’m as oily skinned as they come. However, this was a very nice cream. It moisturised well enough and didn’t leave any greasy residue. It smelt pretty much like nothing — an odd trace of non-offensive dust, maybe?.. Don’t know how to describe it. Anyway, these non-smells are a huge plus in my book, and I rather more prefer them to any kind of artificial or natural fragrance. No irritation, no break-outs, no rough patches. I cannot say this was an ideal match for my skin, though.

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Beauty

Sample Thoughts: Givenchy Le Soin Noir.

givenchy le soin noir

This cream has a gel-like texture, but applies buttery. It’s black/ very dark grey, with small black particles and what looks like very fine glitter. The black isn’t visible on the skin while applied, but it does leave just a touch of a… tinted greyish veil over your face to be noticeable. So I used both of my samples at night.

It’s both very light and very nourishing. Takes its jolly time to absorb. Also, it’s perfumed up the wazoo. I cannot imagine using this during my headache spells. It would slay me.

Obviously I cannot judge the packaging from my tiny magazine sample, but the photograph on Sephora looks exquisite. It better, because the darn thing costs nearly $400 US! (And it’s out of stock?!) That’s about as much as I make a month, so I think the magazine sample is as close an acquaintance as I can ever hope to have with this cream.

But would I actually buy it for this price after having used the two samples? Not sure. Perhaps over time it gives a noticeable effect that’s worth spending $400 for, but the 10 ml I had in my possession could not provide me with accurate basis for such judgement.

(This is not a sponsored post. It does not contain affiliate links.)