Gels/Soaps -LUSH - Porridge Soap
Rydenfan3 1/7/2009 11:10:00 AM
I love the smell of Porridge. The oats do get everywhere & there's not much actual soap between the oats so it's a bit of a waste. Even worse, they mention on the Lush website that it's great for sensitive skin but whenever I use it, the soap leaves my skin hot and swollen. I've never had an allergic reaction to any other Lush soap, so there must be something in this one that my skin doesn't like. Ouchy. So for the price, the longevity of product and the fact that I am allergic, I can't give it more than 2 lippies.
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Hair -TiGi - Bed Head Self Absorbed
Rydenfan3 1/4/2009 3:36:00 AM
This stuff is pure crap. I bought it for the fruity smell because DH loves fruity scented shampoos and we were out. I've used other BedHead products in the past & figured it would be ok in a pinch. Well I washed my hair with it and it dried my hair out badly and caused tangles like I haven't had since I was a kid with long wild hair. Horrible horrible stuff. Avoid at all costs!!
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Lotions/ Creams -Pacifica - Tibetan Mountain Temple Body Butter
Rydenfan3 11/7/2008 7:19:00 PM
This is my favorite fragrance from the line (although I just found out Madagascar Spice is now available, which I also love). I've been wearing the Tibetan Mountain Temple perfume for a while now. It's a less piney version of Lush Karma to me, slightly more sweet and easier to wear. The body butter is perfumed heavily enough that you almost don't even need the perfume. (I have a male coworker who wears the Ruby Guava body butter and when he applies it you can smell it from a long ways off...good thing I love this scent). The body butter is very moisturizing and rich, so great for Winter. Love it!
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Fragrances -Pacifica - Mexican Cocoa Spray Perfume
Rydenfan3 11/7/2008 7:16:00 PM
This is the perfume version of the Pacifica candle in Mexican Cocoa. It's described as chocolate with cinnamon and almond. To my nose I don't really get a lot of chocolate or cocoa, just a very sweet almondy fragrance with a hint of spice. I actually wish that this had a bit more chocolate to balance out the almond sweetness. It's a great purchase for $20 and you can layer it with the Mexican Cocoa body butter. Now if they would just bring back Indian Chai and the Zen Green Tea fragrances and make those into perfumes and body butters, my life would be complete.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Masks -Fresh - Rose Mask
Rydenfan3 10/30/2008 11:24:00 AM
This is a great refreshing mask for those days when you want to feel pampered. The masque is composed of cucumber and fresh rose petals in gel form. The gel is cool when applied and the rose petals are supposed to melt into your skin when you rub the mask on. You leave it on for 5-10 minutes. I don't know that I feel amazing results after rinsing the mask off, but it smells and feels great. Rather pricey at $55 for a jar, but a little bit goes a long way so this jar should last about a year.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Serge Lutens - Chene
Rydenfan3 10/28/2008 2:02:00 PM
Chene is described as an Oak fragrance. Oddly I don't get oak from it so much as I get a blend of wood and fruits. There is no fruit in the notes but there is rum absolute. Perhaps the rum is what gives me-to my nose anyway-a hint of ripe pineapple. Then the fruit dries down and I'm left with sparse, smoky wood. A beautiful fragrance & it can be worn by a man or a woman. A bit spendy ($140 at Barneys) but worth it for such fragrant artistry.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Parfums De Nicolai - vanille tonka
Rydenfan3 10/28/2008 2:00:00 PM
An incensey vanilla fragrance. Sounds odd but to me this is like an incense version of Juicy Fruit gum. That is what I think of when I wear it anyway. Tons of sillage and long lasting. Great fragrance for fall/winter.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - -Tokyo Milk Ex Libris Parfum
Rydenfan3 9/9/2008 1:05:00 PM
Tokyo Milk is a new line of inexpensive fragrances in cute packaging from the folks who brought you Lollia. The description of Ex Libris is: "Fig leaf, magnolia, bronzed musk and cardamom crushed and distilled to perfection". This is a very green fig fragrance and then it dries down to a more woody, musky almost incense like scent. I don't usually like green fragrances or most fig scents because they're green to the point of being bitter, but I LOVE this one. The price is right-you can find it on BeautyHabit for $28 (or Ebay for about $22 plus shipping). Anthropologie also carries this line so you can go and check it out for yourself.
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -LUSH - coal face soap
Rydenfan3 8/18/2008 11:23:00 AM
I received Coal Face as a gift with purchase recently when ordering from Lush online (gotta love the return of the Retro Lush products). At first I was skeptical & thought this might be something gimmicky. It smells like arse-like hot tar with a little somethin girly thrown in. It has a rough grainy texture. But by gum, it works! It's the only product that's caused the swelling on the cystic acne along my jawline to decrease considerably. My skin feels pretty clean but not dried out after using. My first love is still MyChelle fruit enzyme cleanser but since they reformulated and took out the shea butter, I've been looking for an alternative. I don't know that I'd use Coal Face every day but it works well as a deep pore cleanser every couple of days.
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Lotions/ Creams -100 Percent Pure - Organic Pink Grapefruit Body Butter
Rydenfan3 8/18/2008 11:17:00 AM
I received this product as a sample with a purchase at the 100 Percent Pure store in Berkeley. If I had sampled this at the store, there's NO WAY I would have purchased it, let alone rubbed it all over my skin. First of all, the consistency of this body butter is *extremely* greasy & doesn't sink into the skin. Secondly, I couldn't smell Pink Grapefruit at all. It had a vaguely rancid smell, like old cooking grease or oil. After applying this I felt like I had bacon grease all over my arms, and I left greasy spots on the boyfriend's car everywhere my arms rested. Horrible stuff. I have to give them kudos for being organic and natural but bacon grease is natural too and I don't want that on my skin either. If you like this line, I urge you to steer clear of the body butter and head for the lotions instead.
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Bath Treatments -100 Percent Pure - Organic Blueberry Juicy Shower Gel
Rydenfan3 8/18/2008 11:14:00 AM
This is an organic shower gel with no sulfates, so as you might expect, it's thin and watery. It still manages to lather up somewhat, and smells delicious. I don't know how squeaky clean it made me feel, but my skin felt moisturized after using. I'm mostly reviewing the yummy scent! I paid $15 for a bottle of this at the 100 Percent Pure store on College Ave in Berkeley.
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Gels/Soaps -Unlisted Brand - Bubble Shack Soap in Lilkoi Shave Ice
Rydenfan3 6/22/2008 1:59:00 PM
OMG-I love this soap! It's supposed to smell like a shave ice from Hawaii with passion fruit, vanilla, and adzuki bean. I picked this up at a little store on the North Shore along with the matching lotion, and wow! Both SO and I love the fragrance-he's been using the lotion when I'm not looking and the soap is almost gone. The soap lathers really well and has a strong fragrance. It's colorful (kind of like Primal soaps) and it has a few whole adzuki beans in it (a bit random since they just fall out when the soap starts getting worn down). I bought one other soap (Epic Nectar) from this line that I haven't tried, but I know I definitely want to get more of the Lilikoi Shave Ice scent. Good stuff!
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Fragrances -Pacifica - Tibetan Mountain Temple Perfume
Rydenfan3 6/22/2008 1:55:00 PM
This is described as a blend of vetiver, patchouli, ginger and orange. I love it! It's dirt cheap (under $20 for a 1.2 oz spray bottle) and it has pretty good sillage for a cheapie fragrance. If you are an incense lover like me and you want something you can wear in warmer weather, this is an HG product. It doesn't last all day but for $20 you can afford to reapply. The bottle is small enough to keep in your bag, but I'd be afraid of breakage. I really love the whole Pacifica line of candles, soaps, body butters, solid perfumes, etc. This is a winner and I would repurchase.
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Bronzers -Too Faced - Pink Leopard Bronzing Powder
Rydenfan3 6/22/2008 1:48:00 PM
I received this as a gift so I can't really say anything about the price. I freaking HATE the packaging though-the brush is crappy and plastic and the bulky box is not something I'd want to travel with or put in my purse. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let me say I am not usually a bronzer person. I'm not pale enough to need to look "tanned" or sweep brown dust along my cheekbones and the idea usually makes me laugh. But since I received this as a birthday present I reluctantly applied it to my cheekbones. I was pleasantly surprised. I can use this as a blush! No need to try and look tanned or bronzed or whatever the hell people are trying to accomplish with this stuff. Just plain ol blusher. So for me it works out well. Would I buy it again just to use as a blusher however? Hell no.
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Aftelier Shiso Parfum
Rydenfan3 6/22/2008 1:42:00 PM
This is probably my favorite of the Aftelier fragrances. It doesn't do anything odd like scare my pets or turn to the scent of burning rubber. Instead it smells almost exactly like the Shiso leaf. It's a nice spicy-sweet scent that's definitely not like anything else on the market today. VERY expensive as a small 2 ml bottle is $45 and I probably wouldn't repurchase due to the price point & the fact that while it's pleasant enough, it doesn't seem very "me" overall.
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