June 30, 2012

The Body Shop: Seaweed Mattifying Day Cream

Since my Vitamin E Moisturiser (the one I reviewed - from TBS) is finished, I got this one. Honestly, I felt that my dry area is so dry that a moisturiser for combination skin won't hydrate me enough. I thought that I should just try to buy a moisturiser for very dry/dry skin and avoid putting any of it on my T-zone that's oily. At the Elemis, it turned out to be a bad idea and it wasn't an ideal solution (check out the part of the bacteria). Therefore I decided to give it a shot (and they also did recommend me trying to try a product for combination skin and then just decide) with trying a moisturiser for combination skin.
So this time, I present The Body Shop Seaweed Mattifying Day Cream.
Product File:
- Contains 50ml / 49g
- Oil-free
- Gives a shine-free and matt look.
- Non-greasy
- For combination/oily skin
- Shine-control
 
It has a really special consistency (like a jellyfish) and ironically it reminds me of the sea. The colour, consistency and the smell. But the smell isn't the bad sea type of smell. It's actually incredibly refreshing.
I only need to take a small bit of the product with my finger and lather it into my hand before i swipe it all over my face. I noticed that it needs to be quickly or else it gets absorbed before you even get the chance to apply it on the face. Now that's special. If I ever feel like I still have a bit of dryness on certain parts of my dry skin areas I can just apply a little bit more and it will become hydrated and not feel tight at all. That only happened once to me, so I can actually say that this product works wonderfully on me. Even the shiny parts of my face do not shine anymore thanks to this moisturiser and I have no trouble on my nose area anymore.

I might try to get another facial analysis some time in a while to see if my skin condition has improved. But we'll see about that.
My final saying about this is that I'm giving it the full 10 out of 10 that it wholeheartedly deserves.

June 27, 2012

Elemis Skincare Essentials Summer Event (long post)

Long post!


Yesterday, I was invited to an exclusive event of Elemis held at Debenhams. The event revolved around the "Skincare Essentials Summer Event". I was actually very surprised to be invited to this event and I was indeed honoured to do so. Why? Well, one of the reasons is that only 10 exclusive guests will be informed of the event and have extra things done for :)


Do you know what Elemis is? And have you heard of the company and spa chain before? 
"Elemis is the leading luxury British spa and skincare brand favoured by as many as 6.5 million spa-goers per year. The successful combination of natural active ingredients with cutting-edge technology has enabled Elemis to bring to market some of the most influential anti-ageing products and professional spa-therapies the beauty industry has ever seen."


Sadly, I forgot to bring my camera so please bear with my low quality phone camera pictures from the event.
Goodie bag! :)

We were introduced to all the products and then we signed our names up for a facial assessment report that was done by one of the Elemis staff. It was highly educational if I must say so myself. I was surprised by what I found out and I also confirmed my concerns regarding different areas of the skin on my face. Here is an excerpt of my Facial Assessment Report: 
Yes, that's me! Or part of...
A little about the parts of the report
Spots: The first one is the amount of spots. You know; blemishes, whiteheads etc you name it. She told me that it was a pretty good result I had here. 

Wrinkles: 5! That number surprised me a lot. Especially those two on my cheek because usually that place is pretty much smooth. I thought I might have a maximum of 2 or none at all. But she told me that this was of no concern and it was really normal to have numbers like this. That I should only start being concerned very later in my life and since I am only 19 this is pretty much a normal number. Notice that they are only short, and real hardcore wrinkles will be longer. - Nevermind that weird line on my cheek. It's the paper because I folded it.

Texture and Pores: Both are pretty much connected to each other, do I need to explain what the pores do? Look at the amazing war arena going(at the Texture part) on thanks to the pores! The picture of the pores pretty much sums up the open large pores on my face and they are a lot.

UV Spots: Sun damage! Repeat: sun damage!  This is way worse than I thought. Usually I am not a lot outside in the sun, mainly because over here from 11am until 3pm the UV Index is 11+, which is really extreme. And I might add that that was a wake up call for me. I always skip the sunscreen because I am  always in a hurry when I need to go out. One should put sunscreen 20 minutes before going out. Dermatologically speaking, one should avoid being outside in such an extreme sun weather because it results in a great deal of sun damage and it more than just recommened to wear sunglasses. I will explain further about this in another post.
Oh, and the darker the area on the skin, the more sun damage, so the yellow spots are so small that the outline of the yellow washes out the almost black color that shows you how bad it is. Look closely and you can see three spots that DO show the blackness. Sigh.

Porphyrins: See that? That's bacteria! The Elemis lady told me that I had combination skin. My nose area is the T-zone part of my face that's oily. And oily skin? Tends to break out. That's the connection between sebum (the oily produced by the skin to keep the external part of the skin from drying out) and bacteria. Therefore it's pretty much normal that whatever bacteria that resulted from the oily part of my nose spread a bit further to my upper cheek area together with the traveling bacteria tourists.

I learned a lot from my visit as you can see and I am so grateful for the staff and their incredible help. I was even recommended a very easy routine with specific products that target my general skin problems and they told me that for me to get rid of my biggest concern which is the nose area and it's bacteria is to try to get a facial at one of their Elemis Spas and I'm totally going to do it! 

These are the products that was recommended to me, and I tried their samples at the stand (the two first pictures in this post) and also at the Elemis Treatment Room where we got a free facial treatment:

- Elemis Soothing Apricot Toner
Extracts of fragrant Apricot soothe and harmonise, giving rise to a fresh sensation and radiant appearance. Ideally suited to extra-sensitive, delicate and hormonal skin. This alcohol-free toner is so gentle, it may also be applied to cotton pads for a soothing eye treatment.

- Elemis Maximum Moisture Day Cream
This fresh feeling day cream with adaptive technology intelligently adjusts to your skin's needs. Providing continuous hydration whilst actively helping to protect against environmental toxins, the lightweight formulation visibly improves skin's condition.

- Elemis Papaya Enzyme Peel - this is just an amazing product. I found out it is an awarded product.
To celebrate the award-winning Papaya Enzyme Peel’s 10th Anniversary, Elemis is delighted to present a LIMITED EDITION bottle designed by British artist Laura Oakes.
For every product sold they will provide a 5-in-1 Pentavalent vaccine to immunise a child in Africa against 5 leading diseases and hope to donate 50,000 vaccines through this programme.


Now to the goodie bag! Here is what was inside
What was inside
- A paper explaining a bit about Elemis and where to buy the products. There is also a link to their Facebook page and a phone number to know where their selected spas and salons are throughout the country.
- Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Cream
- Elemis Papaya Enzyme Peel.

I was so happy to have gotten the Papaya Enzyme Peel. I saw it do wonders at the facial treatment.
Oh, did I mention the competition draw? My friend won and got a full sized product! It was around 250ml so that's really decent! It was a body oil with Japanese Camilea Blossom. Even smelt amazing.

Elemis: Defined by Nature, Led by Science.

June 24, 2012

Breakdown review of the June GlamBox

Today, I will be having a detailed review of the June GlamBox. I took my time because I wanted to try everything out. The reason is that some products have to be used more than once before you will be able to review them fairly and that's due to them taking some time before showing results. Come on, nothing works overnight right? Right! Let's get started!


This is a Urban Male Lounge gift certificate. It was released because the release of the June GlamBox was very near the date of Fathers Day. So they decided to give these certificates out so all the ladies recieving the boxes can give their dads something for Fathers Day. My certificate contained a free hair cut, which is a pretty reasonable thing actually. Some people might get something else, or maybe not. I compared mine to my friend, Ayesha, and she told me she got the same thing.


Gatineau - Strategie Jeunesse Eye Pads. "These eye pads help reduce the appearance of dark circles and relax the eye area by smoothing fine lines and traces of fatigue." If you look closely, you can see that the last line on the sachet actually says "Anti-Age", which means that this sample is more or likely directed to those with mature skin. I am 19 so I don't need something like this and it will most likely not even work on me. I tried it anyway, and I didn't see any results. Mind you, it was a good eye makeup remover though. Haha. I should have given it to my mother, but I forgot. She might have had better results, because it really didn't do anything for me at all. All in all, I wasn't exactly impressed with this product at all.



Hello Kitty Fragrance. This packaging is beyond pretty. I really really like it. It has this victorian/classy style about it that I'm a huge fan of. I'm aware of the fact that this package also comes in other colours. I, again compared with Ayesha and she got the red one! It looked really pretty too but I'm glad I was lucky to recieve this colour, because I love blue!
Neat isn't it?! The perfume sample is a hello kitty head. Haha. I imagined it to be a bow or something, but this is just as good. It also has a detail that I love. When you take the cap off, you can actually just shake the bottle and it will only drip one drop after the other without wasting too much product!
I can't explain the fragrance though. For me, it smells of... glue and candy! It's probably a weird combination but this is what comes in mind when I smell it. :)
Green Bar - Apricot and Grapefruit Body Oil. There is two things I love about this product. Firstly, the fact that it isn't infused with a bunch of chemicals. I forgot to list the ingredients but as far as I know it was only Apricot Oil and Ruby Grapefruit Zest. Isn't that amazing? Oh, and the smell is so yummy, so be careful not to try to eat it. I doubt it's even edible.
Please excuse how my hand looks in the picture. When I shot the picture, I just got home from doing some errands and it's very clear I didn't use enough sunscreen. Just look how dry it got. It was very hot and dry today and the UV Index was 11+! Unbelieveable right? It was just too horrible for my skin. But anyway.
It was a bit hard to take a picture of the oil. It's incredibly runny and it just slid off as you can see so I had to take a picture of it quickly. You are supposed to put it on damp skin and it will work its magic, just keep massaging it until the skin absorbs it. I must say, it does incredible things to my skin and I'm very happy to have discovered this product. I will defintely purchase the full size because it's a must have!
The Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion! The star product of the whole box. I've been eyeing this primer for a month now and then what happens? I get it in my box! Do I even need to review this? This is like a universal product that everyone should have in their purse. Haha. Okay, maybe not. But yeah I tried it for the first time that day. It has a nude colour, but when blended to the skin it becomes clear but you can still feel the primer as it should. It makes the eyeshadow applied last longer. I have yet to experiment on HOW long though. But it's defintely good and I know that it won't disappoint at all.

June 23, 2012

Sephora Mini haul

Okay. This might me a micro haul or something. Way smaller than a mini one. But anyway, I got these stuff yesterday and I thought about sharing them? Also for the record, the other reviews are coming soon. I might be reviewing two products later today in the few hours to come. Promise.


But here is what I got yesterday.
I'm just going to mention everything from left to right from the first row to the second. I got:
- L'OCCITANE Rose Hand Cream, 30ml
- L'OCCITANE Shea Butter Hand Cream, 30ml
- Benefit Hoola Bronzing Powder, 8.0g
- Benefit Lemon Aid, color correcting eyelid primer, 2.7g
- BIODERMA Photoderm MAX Cream SPF 100 sample
- The Body Shop Cocoa Butter Lipcare Stick
- L'OCCITANE Soothing Concentrated Mask sample (2pcs)
- L'OCCITANE Aromachology Soothing Conditioner sample (3pcs)

Let me just mention that L'OCCITANE are amazing french luxury products. I've always been using them religiously and they both work and make me extremely happy. Just sayin'

June 21, 2012

Sleek MakeUp: Face Contour Kit

A few days ago, we acquired the Sleek Makeup Face Contour Kit. It is a set that contains a bronzer and a highlighter. There isn't much to say about it, but I would actually like to add how much I like it for being able to use it to put on a natural and an inconspicuous look. Therefore, you can actually make it look really really natural. You can also choose to put it on more visibly, which works best as an evening look. Both looks can be achieved easily. It all depends on how much you want to add. I just have one complaint, which is that the palette might require a lot of build up, yet it contains so much product that it will defintely last for quite some time.

I also like that the highlighter do not have any specks of glitter on it like many many other highlighters. One I have come across is The Body Shop's Vitamin E Illuminator that I have mentioned early in one of my earlier posts. That one had specks of glitter that you could actually just brush off. But it was really hard to get it off your skin and your clothes. Haha. That's my reason for not buying it. It also worked as a moisturiser, but still. It wasn't very practical. 

Product file:
- Contains a bronzer
- Contains a highlighter
- Comes in 14g
- Comes in three shades: light, medium and dark.
- Comes with a mirror.

Sleek MakeUp

As you can see, the shade chosen is LIGHT.

I'm really sorry for how the pictures turned out. I wasn't at my usualy place, and it seems like the light turned even more orange than how it looked like. The highligher is not even this colour. It has a really nice, reflective light beige/creamy colour. It's a bit hard to explain because you need to see it to understand it.
So.. Yeah, I first realized how seriously serious it was when I got home and uploaded the pictures. Therefore, I've put up a picture from the Sleek MakeUp website on how the palette actually looks like. It's the last picture in the post.
Say Hi to my friend Ayesha. She's the one I experimented the palette on. Natural beauty, isn't she? :) 
You can check out her YouTube channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/BeautyLoveAffair101/videos

The kit did it's job wonderfully and gave her a very natural contoured look. Nothing too extreme. I've applied the bronzer on her jaw line, neck, cheekbones, sides of her nose. The highlighter was applied along the nose, apple of the cheeks and below the brows. 

It is different from one person to another person as where to highlight the face, because everyone has different bone structures. Therefore the best tip is to apply on all the places in the face that reflects the light. 

Where to get the palette? I know of two places:
- The official website: http://www.sleekmakeup.com/en/products/face-contour-kit-dark-393.aspx
- The online site we bought it from: http://www.laylam.ae/Sleek-Makeup/Face-Contour-Kit-Light.html

About Laylam, it's a very nice shopping service that makes it easier for some people to buy products so that they don't need to worry about large shipping expenses in case they want to buy something from overseas and far away. We recieved the packaging and it was very clean, nothing was broken and in excellent condition, as seen in all our pictures. So we are very happy with the service and will defintely buy more from them in the future.
* Prices can vary

I'm giving the palette: 8½ out of 10

June 19, 2012

My GlamBox has finally arrived!!

I am beyond excited for this but something happened along the way. At some point I realized that my friends recieved their boxes and I didn't! Even one of them lived like 5 minutes from my house and she got her box. But I was determined to wait for mine. Until GlamBox actually did their June reveal on both the website and YouTube and the contents were no longer a surprise for me :( So I contacted them and found out that despite the box having arrived, some mishaps arrived resulting in me never realizing that they actually brought it to me. In the end, the post office saved my package for me until I was able to pick it up. BUT I got it today. And I am very very happy despite everything because it was only 2 days late which realistically isn't something to be upset about. Honestly, just opening the box and seeing the contents was even better.


Here is a teaser for you guys as in what's in it. I'm going to try everything out and then I will review the stuff later on my way through them. Haha, and I realize I promised the same thing about my The Body Shop haul, but I needed time for these body products. Rather a good review than a rushed one.

So neat, right?!
Another box in the box. Boxception :)
The insides! 1. GlamVoucher - a pretty nice voucher with a very decent amount. I'd rather not share the number because so people might have gotten more or less. And I had to erase my code of course, haha.
Look at the pretty ribbon. 
2. Urban Male Lounge gift certificate. If someone is in doubt about what to get their dads for fathers day, this is a perfect gift to give. 
3. Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion. I was so surprised for getting this one. I bet it's amazing due to the overwhelming reviews of this product all over the internet. I cannot wait to use it. This is my first Urban Decay product ever.
4. Green Bar - Apricot and Grapefruit Body Oil. I'm looking forward to try this one. I have a thing for everything moisturising because of my really dry skin.
5. Hello Kitty - Fragrance. This perfume is so cute. It SMELLS cute too. In the review, I will show how the sample actually looks like, because it's different from the full size. But let me just say it's the head of our favorite japanese cat!! My sister has been eyeing it because she's a big fan of Hello Kitty. I might consider handing it down to her, but it's too cute...
6. Gatineau - Strategie Jeunesse Eye Pads. "These eye pads help reduce the appearance of dark circles and relax the eye area by smoothing fine lines and traces of fatigue." Hmm. This is going to be an interesting try. Looking forward for it nonetheless.

I am beyond happy for this package, and it's not disappointing at all. It's so neat, and classy and so sophisticated.  I love how GlamBox always have a star item in all their boxes. Everything is good, but there is always one thing you will definitely DEFINITELY either recognize or fall in love with because it's so amazing. My star product of this package must be the Urban Decay :)

June 17, 2012

Dita Von Teese Classics Makeup Line Launch

"For the first time Dita Von Teese, the beauty icon with the unmistakable look, is presenting the secrets of her glamorous appearance in a timeless, classic make-up collection. Seduction, elegance, and a touch of mystery are her signatures. Famous for her porcelain complexion, signature red lips, and her cat-eye liner, she is the modern face of retro Hollywood glamour. With her motto of “Beauty is Art”, Dita invites all women to feel beautiful with her"


Art Couture Lipstick Velvet
 
The Art Couture Lipstick velvet in the matte collection contains the perfect shade for any woman. The unbeatable new generation of lipsticks offers seductive, sensuous, rich colors that are combined with feminine elegance and softness. There is an ideal balance between long durability, complete opacity and satiny color quality. High pigmented color creations tie together with intense luminosity and depth of the color. The silicon-free texture of cadelilla, bees and carnauba wax protect the lips. "Classic red lips are always the height of glamour, and the most chic beauty statement a woman can make!" Dita Von Teese

Ceramic Nail Lacquer
This Nail Lacquer has a patented, revolutionary formula. Ceramic particles in the combination with a patented plasticizer and Polymere give this lacquer optimum consistancy, perfect coverage, good durability, high color brilliancy and makes it more resistant against chipping. The brush is made of nylon fibers that cares for an even color. Formaldehyde-free.

Lip Liner

Lip liner is essential for the perfect red mouth. The specifically developed formula of the Lip Liner makes it extremely long-lasting and it prevents the lipstick from bleeding. The pleasantly creamy texture assures a simple and precise application. The Lip Liner can be shaded out directly after application and is characterized by an especially good color coverage and high opacity. Contains natural antioxidants and Vitamin E. Fragrance-free.


Blusher

The blushers are available separately and so can be combined individually. They provide brilliant colors, stay in place for ages and have a pleasant texture for soft application. The blushers are very gentle and can be applied intensely or softly at will. 


Glamour Eyeshadow

Extremely fine glitter particles reflect the light and conjure an incomparable display of colors with shimmering effects on the eyelid. A special eye-catcher for every occasion. The eyeshadows in high color brilliance are supple and soft in application and are available separately, so they can be combined individually. The eyeshadows can be stored in the practical Limited Edition refillable magnetic beauty boxes.


Eyeshadow Matt

Thanks to their new, particularly smooth and silky quality, the matt colors adhere perfectly to the eyelid and can be applied especially even. The brown shades are ideally suited for the accentuation of the eyebrows. The eyeshadows are available separately, so they can be combined individually.


The mascara contains rice bran wax nourishes the lashes with every use. Suitable for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers. Fragrance-free.


Compact Powder


In contrast to conventional powders, due to their coarse-grained texture, on closer inspection they're often visible, but the Compact Powder flatters the skin and invisibly coats it. The powder is characterized by an extremely silky soft feel and feather light gliding application. Shiny skin is matted perfectly thanks to oil-absorbing properties.
Beauty Box Quadrat

Eyelashes

Eyeliner Brush and Styler

This is actually a great collection. Very timeless and defintely something I will get. All the colours are colours I see still able to wear by anyone even 20 years from now. They have a retro vibe about them, but most defintely classical and almost natural.

But ArtDeco is german as far as I know and... I just checked and found out that they sell in many countries worldwide! So it won't be a problem. I am a bit perplexed though, that I haven't heard about this brand before, since Germany is nothing but my neighbouring country! Alas. Here is a link to those interested i knowing where to get it:
http://www.artdeco.de/en/store-search/worldwide.html

June 16, 2012

The Body Shop haul + St.Ives scrub

Here is my The Body Shop haul from yesterday. In case the picture is not clear enough, I got:
1. Rainforest Moisture Hair Butter, 100ml
2. Vitamin E Hydrating Toner, 250ml
3. Shea Butter Shower Cream, 250ml
4. Peppermint Smoothing Pumice Foot Scrub, 100ml
5. Rainforest Moisture Shampoo, 250ml
6. Rainforest Moisture Conditioner, 250ml
7. St. Ives Apricot Scrub for face and body, 300ml

I will each review these in their own post, and explain more about them and my experiences with them. Except for the St. Ives Apricot Scrub which I have used before, everything else is completely new to me.
Take care :)

June 15, 2012

TBS: Lily Cole Makeup

Remember my post about a new makeup launch that will be coming out towards the end of May/start of June? Well, by now it's out everywhere! Let's take a look.


The Body Shop Statement: "We are proud to launch a new, special-edition make-up range: cruelty free make-up. Celebrating out against animal testing ethos, out cruelty-free make-up range is so great that Lily (Cole) put her name to it."


Products that has been launched:
Lily Cole Cosmetic Bag - 10$  
Lily Cole Shimmer Cubes - 22$
Lily Cole Nail Buffer - 3$
Lily Cole Lip & Cheek Dome - 15$
Lily Cole Nail File - 3$
Lily Cole Liquid Eyeliner - 13.50$
I think this one comes in only a violet colour
Lily Cole Hi-Shine Lip Treatment - 5$
Lily Cole Compact Mirror - 8$
Lily Cole Pearl Radiance Primer - 22$
Lily Cole Puff On Radiance - 22$

Looks on Lily Cole produced using the products:


Support The Pledge Today:
The Body Shop encourages people all around the world to sign the cruelty-free international pledge. They are calling on governments to ban on animal testing for cosmetics in every country around the world. 
They have provided the following link to anyone who is interested. It IS a great cause actually. Click here * The link will open in a new window.