Fragrances -Monyette Paris - Monyette Paris
Kelly9 5/22/2013 11:18:00 PM
Humid and dense gardenia & cream to my nose, with something that is almost but not quite overripe banana. Very tropical and buttery. My husband says it smells of vanilla and flowers. I find the packaging adorable, it is a small bottle with a tiny little rollerball. This is pure perfume oil inside, so a little goes a long way. I love to take a little bit of Monyette and apply it to the ends of my ponytail, so the scent provides a nice little waft when I move. The formula provides me with just the right amount of floaty sillage--never overpowering to others, but giving them just a tease on the air every so often. I'm crazy about this scent as the weather is warming up, and love it right out of a bath (I apply virgin coconut oil for a moisturizer first--a perfect pairing with this perfume) and even before bed, because even though it has quite a lot of body, it is a gentle fragrance. As always, because everyone has different tastes, give it a try before you buy.
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Fragrances -Christian Dior - Hypnotic Poison
Kelly9 5/14/2013 7:33:00 PM
On good days, it reminds me of the beach with a little suntan lotion and the saltwater taffy factory wafting its scent over the aged wood planks of the boardwalk. And a little of that wonderful Suave Milk & Honey handsoap. On "bad chemistry" days, it reminds me of this guy that I dated in high school who had a strong vanilla air freshener in his car and wore loads of Drakkar Noir. I'm sure we must have stopped for a root beer soda somewhere on that drive. It does get compliments and my DH loves it, but I always wish I picked something else to wear on the days I have this on. Don't let my review stop you from trying this popular and well-liked perfume, try for yourself and see where it takes you.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Sunscreen -EltaMD - UV Physical SPF 41
Kelly9 5/8/2013 11:29:00 PM
I can't use anything with "benz" or "sal" or aloe on my skin anymore, so that wipes out most sunblocks for me. They break me out in a bumpy, burning rash. Elta MD's tinted physical sunblock was recommended by my derm for a non-irritating physical sunblock. Its tint keeps my face from looking chalky, and it applies smoothly (like a nice lotion) and has a nice, non-shiny finish. The only con for me is that my skin is already quite dry, so wearing this sunblock does make the flakes worse. I am still looking for a great moisturizer that will allow me to wear this beautiful sunscreen every day.
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Lotions/ Creams -Hanae Mori - Butterfly Body Lotion
Kelly9 5/8/2013 10:05:00 PM
Best perfumed body lotion I've tried in a long time. I think this feels like Lubriderm, and it smells perfectly of Hanae Mori. It is very moisturizing and doesn't irritate my skin. The aqua capped squeeze-tube printed with butterflies is really cute, too. It has plenty of fragrance. Like the perfume, it starts of strong, but softens and becomes a cuddly aura of scent. Lovely for bedtime.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Hanae Mori - Butterfly EDT
Kelly9 5/8/2013 9:51:00 PM
I passed this one up many times because I felt it was just another sweet vanilla perfume. My collection is full of opulent orientals and straight-laced chypres, and I thought it was time I bought something fun. Hanai Mori fits that bill perfectly. Sweet, yes, but it makes me feel so light-hearted and pretty. My perfume, after all, is for me, and Hanae Mori makes me feel like I'm on top of the world. So how does it smell to me? Sort of like a soft-serve vanilla ice cream cone, the part where you've eaten it all the way to the cone, and now you are taking bites of the ice cream and the cone together. Melty and sweet, but totally delicious and fun. I'm sure there are berries in there somewhere, but this perfume is all about the sweet cream. I love the butterfly cap too, but beware--it is glass, and I've already dropped mine twice in one day. The matching body lotion is stellar, also. It has a texture and moisture like Lubriderm, but it smells exactly like Hanae Mori.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Jimmy Choo - Jimmy Choo
Kelly9 12/24/2012 9:34:00 AM
Jimmy Choo EdP is one of those scents that you shouldn't decide if you love or not in the first five minutes, because the drydown is so different from the opening. When first sprayed, it is an overload of juicy fruits, esp. pear--which some might really love at first sniff! I am not a fruit perfume person, but these top notes are growing on me, and this challenge keeps it interesting. The drydown is the best part, IMO--that creamy, toffee patchouli! The patchouli is right in the middle of the scale: It isn't the potting soil smell of raw patchouli, and it isn't the modern sterilized stuff which to my nose can be very sharp. Just perfect! I think it smells clean, womanly, and impossibly chic. The toffee gives it a smooth texture and some sweetness, but not tooth-achingly so. Gorgeous in the summer with a *light* hand, but in cooler weather you will need to touch up after several hours. The bottle is heavy two-toned glass, and feels special.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Rosewater by Heritage Products
Kelly9 1/30/2012 2:40:00 PM
I love this rosewater! I've been buying this product for years. It has no alcohol, no witch hazel, no aloe, nothing but simple rosy freshness and water. For my super dry skin, that is a major plus. I use it in these ways: before moisturizing to help thick creams sink in, after applying makeup to help set it and give it a dewy look, to freshen hair and prevent split ends by spritzing the ends of dry hair and sealing in with a small amount of conditioner, to help my daughter's fine/flyaway hair comb back into a tidy ponytail, as a refreshing pick-me-up, as a moisturizing mist in dry air (like planes or when indoor heat is running). When static cling is a problem, I can can calm it with a little mist of rosewater. And it smells great too! Just a light scent of fresh rose petals. Definitely a holy grail product for me. I can't recommend it enough.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Lolita Lempicka - Lolita Lempicka Eau de Toilette
Kelly9 9/27/2011 8:59:00 AM
Just got a sample of this while sniffing at Neiman Marcus. I wasn't a Lolita Lempicka fan when the original EdP came out (to sweet and sharp for me), so I didn't have any expectations one way or another when trying out this new EdT version. I was very pleasantly surprised! For those of you who love using baby wash, particularly the lavender bottled J&J Bedtime Bath or Huggies wash, you would adore this. This doesn't smell like lavender, but neither do those washes. Just creamy soft, sweet, gentle musk and flowers with a hint of plastic bottle. It definately conjures that snuggly, just bathed and in for the night feeling. Or spritz in the morning and you'll smell fresh and sweet all day. Fans of DK Cashmere Mist: you might also really love this. Again, this is for the Lolita Lempicka EdT version!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Hermes - Ambre Narguile (Hermesessence series)
Kelly9 8/18/2011 1:08:00 PM
I love, love, love this perfume. But the price is out of the question for this stay-at-home-mom's single income family budget. But how wonderful of Hermes to send a sample upon request. Yes, I'd be wearing a super fancy expensive perfume while just being at home with the kids, possibly in sweats or jeans. But it makes me feel like a million bucks. It is so delicious and classy! It smells like a fresh baked apple pie and a cedar closet. Like taking your cozy sweater out of the cedar chest after storing it all summer and then wearing it while enjoying all the scents of autumn. Particularly apple pie.
7 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lips -Cover Girl - Outlast Lipstain - 405 Berry Smooch
Kelly9 5/9/2011 9:58:00 AM
This was not good. After purchasing this and eagerly trying it for the first time, I was surprised first by how dark it was compared to the color on the tube. That wasn't a dealbreaker, as I never used a stain before and figured I'll need to apply less next time; or maybe the color will fade and leave me with that perfect "stain". After letting it dry I licked my lips and the taste of this stuff was so nasty and bitter (like food dye) that I had to go spit it out and rinse my mouth out. When I did that, it all rinsed off my lips too. Thinking maybe I was doing something wrong, I tried again. Same result. I returned this product right away and do not recommend it.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Thierry Mugler - Alien
Kelly9 3/8/2011 12:20:00 PM
Alien reminds me of springtime and hiking in Texas--like great big blooming Mountain Laurel bushes (if you have never smelled them they are grape-y and very intense), craggy rocks and twisted mesquite trees. Not exactly rocky and mesquite smelling, but more of the atmosphere--dry and sun-warmed with that huge radiating floral waft on the air. I'm not really into florals at all, but because of the imagery I get from Alien, I'll make an exception. Here's a photo (not mine, btw) of Mountain Laurel: http://www.wildflower.org/gallery/result.php?id_image=24669 I quite like the bottle: looks like golden-clawed alien fingers grasping a huge amethyst. My favorite way to wear this is to spray some into unscented lotion and apply to my arms and legs. It tempers the sharpness and helps it become part of my personal space in a gentle way.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lotions/ Creams -LUSH - Lemony Flutter
Kelly9 2/15/2011 7:57:00 AM
I bought this after reading a review stating each pot contains a whole lemon. Ordered sight unseen from LUSH. At 1.5 oz, there's a ton of cuticle butter in there. Especially since I only use a small bead of product for each hand. I have continuously dry and ragged cuticles but this stuff keeps them soft and moisturized. My fingertips also get rough and can catch on fabric, but this helps that too. A little too thick and greasy to imagine all over hands (for that, LUSH's Smitten is almondy heaven in a hand cream) unless you use cotton gloves or have some time for it to sink in. But it is that thickness that keeps your cuticles moisturized all day. This isn't one of those solid oil balms like Badger or Burts bees- it is almost like a putty in texture. The smell I thought was overkill. My nose interpreted this as lemongrass, which isn't exactly lemon. But, it has grown on me. The impressive part is that I have actually used this stuff down to the bottom of the pot, whereas most things get used halfway before joining the unloved creams and cosmetics basket.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Conditioner -Dr. Bronner's - Organic Shikakai Conditioning Hair Rinse
Kelly9 1/25/2011 11:38:00 AM
Sorry, Dr. Bronner's. This was not good. I give it credit for being all natural, and the first commercial conditioner I have seen meant to be used after soap washing (instead of concocting your own lemon, vinegar, or other acidic rinse). I did like the scent. If you made a cup of lemon juice and coconut oil, that is what this would smell like. Very natural. I wasn't bothered by the process of using it. The directions say to take a capful of the (brown!) liquid and mix it into a cup of water. That doesn't strike me as difficult or inconvenient. Surely safer than keeping that glass bottle of ACV in the shower... Pouring it over my hair in the shower, I could feel the lemon on my scalp, but I could also feel the coconut and other oils clinging on my hair strands. It felt soft when I rinsed, but my hair also felt coated when it dried. I have fine hair, so maybe it just didn't work for my type. I also noticed my hair smelled dirty faster than usual.
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Gels/Soaps -Dr. Bronner's - Organic Shikakai Baby Hand/Body Soap
Kelly9 1/25/2011 11:25:00 AM
This is for the hand/body soap in the opaque pump--not your usual tiny-text covered, famous castile liquid soap. I haven't even considered this pump soap before, as I already have 5 bottles of castile circulating through my home for scrubbing tubs, washing hands, making counter spray, etc. While I love their traditional castille, it was not good in my hair, and not good on my very dry skin. Then I saw this skikakai formula on their website, and read how it was supposed to be good for hair, too. With a sensitive, itchy scalp, and two kids with sensitive skin, I thought I'd give this a try. The pump is nice. Doesn't clog in the pump. Handy at sinks or on the edge of the tub. The soap itself is brown and slightly runny. It has a strange soap-and-molasses odor, but it doesn't stick around after bathing. I can only guess the smell is from the shikakai herb (which is supposed to be excellent for skin and hair according to herbal hair care websites). It lathers well, has a soft feel on skin, doesn't leave a tacky residue, and most importantly, makes my family's hair very soft! I tried using the Dr. B conditioner (not good, not good.) but find this to give me better results without any conditioner at all. Note: this is soap, and not tear free. If you will be using this on children, just keep out of eyes. This product nearly fulfills my fantasy of having just one bottle in the shower that does everything for me and my kids. But, I simply cannot use this on my face daily. It makes my face red and tight feeling. But I love it everywhere else. Fans of cleaning the house with traditional Dr. B's castille: I wouldn't recommend it with this one for cleaning. Ingredients from Dr. B website: Organic White Grape Juice, Organic Sucrose*, Organic Coconut Oil*, Potassium Hydroxide**, Organic Olive Oil*, Organic Shikakai Powder, Organic Hemp Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Citric Acid, Tocopherol (** None remains after converting oils to fatty acids and glycerin)
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Lip Treatments -Dr. Bronner's - Magic All-One! Organic Lip Balm - Rose
Kelly9 1/5/2011 8:49:00 PM
This was included in a recent online order of mine as a freebie. I was surprised to see a rose scent, as it is not yet listed on their website, and was very excited to give it a try. I am a big fan of Dr. Bronner's products--they are full of natural ingredients and the lip balm is no exception. Ingredients: Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Beeswax, Cannabis Sativa Seed Oil, Rose Fragrance, Tocopherol. The texture of this balm is neither too thick or too thin. It smoothes over lips and leaves a healthy protective coating. The rose fragrance/flavor is nice--definately rosey--without being artificial or overpowering. When I pop the lid off the tube it smells just like rosewater. I do reapply this often, because I like the feel and scent. It is long lasting, though, and will last through a shower even. It doesn't dry my lips out or make them irritated. I like this. Thanks, Dr. Bronner's co, for including this sample! I will definately purchase this again when I run out. Well, editing to say that the Rose scented lip balm is an Asia-only product, they just had extras to include in orders. So I guess I can't buy this exact kind again.
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