Lotions/ Creams -LUSH - Karma Kream
silviabeloved 2/22/2013 1:46:00 AM
Love this. I honestly cannot comment on the smell because I am a huge fan of Karma scent. It's a really subjective thing, so obviously if you don't care for the smell of the Karma line, I would never recommend this to you. I think it moisturizes my body skin very well, and I haven't noticed any "stickiness" effect that was mentioned by many previous reviewers. On my body, it sinks in well, smells divine, and feels gorgeous. Both the smell and the softness of my body skin last and last. Sadly there are two kinds of parabens in this thing, and the price, well, I wouldn't call it expensive, but it's not exactly cheap either. I can see myself buying this again when I am done with my tube, or maybe try out other body lotions from Lush. The person who gets closest to my body loves this on me as well, so, another bonus.
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Gels/Soaps -LUSH - It's Raining Men
silviabeloved 2/20/2013 3:08:00 AM
Bought this when I was going home for Chinese New Year. I have a huge bottle of Flying Fox in my apartment which I adore, I thought about buying an empty small container and pour some of Flying Fox in it so I can bring it with me when I travel, but at the last minute I changed my mind and decided to get a small bottle of this. I don't particularly like or dislike the smell of this, perhaps a bit too sweet for my taste, I like that it's not drying and it works much better on my hair than Flying Fox. This also has SLS and parabens in it. Overall I prefer Lush's body products to their hair products, and most of their shower products can be doubled as shampoo. I like that there's 40% of honey in both It's Raining Men and Flying Fox. I am glad I tried this.
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Gels/Soaps -LUSH - Karma soap
silviabeloved 2/20/2013 2:53:00 AM
Got this in a "Karma set", I was going to buy only Karma Kream, but there's this promotion for the set that comes with a Karma soap, a Karma Kream, and a Karma solid perfume. I have always liked the scent of Karma (my sister hates it, so obviously it's not for everyone), so I thought why not, I will buy the set and give it a try. The soap has a more intense and orange-y smell than the body lotion, it's a bit drying on the skin (I am used to Dove Beauty Bar, which is not drying at all, so perhaps the comparison isn't exactly fair). I use a Muji net to help it foam up, so it lathers really well in my experience. I think it works better on my hair than my body, and the smell lingers longer on the hair as well. I think I might buy it again for my hair and the scent. Soaps are a lot more travel-friendly.
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Gels/Soaps -LUSH - Flying Fox Shower Gel
silviabeloved 2/20/2013 2:34:00 AM
My relationship with Lush as a brand hasn't been as smooth and easy as I would like it to be. I think I started out by trying their bubble bath balls, which I love, don't get me wrong, if I have money to burn I would use a different one everyday for a nice foamy bubble bath. But they are just too pricy. Then I moved on to their hair products, tried liquid shampoo (really not impressed at all), solid shampoo (can't find the motive to buy it again), and hair conditioner (disliked the smell and was utterly disappointed by the performance). Years went by and I never even once thought about stopping by any Lush store when I passed one by. Until a few weeks ago, we were having some works done in our apartment and it had been exhausting and a bit stressful, one day I asked my boyfriend to get me a huge bottle of Flying Fox on his way home from work. I had googled and done my research, had decided that Flying Fox is the one I wanted to try because of the ingredients (honey honey honey!!!) and scent (I used the solid shampoo with the same scent before), which turned out to be the decision that made me enter the "Lush phase". I used it right away that night, and it made me feel so relaxed and pampered. My boyfriend got in the room and the first thing he said was "Something smells incredible in here". It is indeed moisturizing, though I don't like the fact that it contains both SLS and parabens. I tried using it as shampoo, but it's a bit too rich for my hair and weighs it down. I am thinking about trying it as a kind of hair conditioner though. It also works wonders for a bubble bath, and considering the many different ways to use it, I think the big bottle is a lot more economical than other Lush products. I really like it, the smell is divine.
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Scrubs -L'Occitane - Amande Delicious Paste
silviabeloved 9/18/2012 4:21:00 AM
Maybe L'occitane renewed the ingredients for this product, the ingredients listed below by another reviewer is not the same as the ingredients listed on the jar I bought just a few weeks ago (and I checked Amazon.com, the ingredients listed there for this product are the same as mine), I am going to post the ingredient list here first, just so we all know that there's no paraben in this thing :) Ingredients Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil*, Kaolin*, Sucrose*, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter*, Octyldodeceth-25 , Laureth-3*, Silica*, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Shell Powder*, Fragrance- Mica*, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil*, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil*, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Fruit Extract*, Quartz*, Titanium Dioxide*, Tocopheryl Acetate*, Ethylhexylglycerin, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil*, Tocopherol*, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil*, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract*, Limonene, Coumarin*, Linalool*. *Natural Origin Ingredients If you use this wisely, it can easily be the best facial scrub out there (Yeah, I know it's marketed as a body scrub), and by using it wisely I mean 1. Don't use it on your face too often. 2. Don't rub it against your facial skin too harshly, be gentle. It's got a lot of stuff I love in the ingredient list, shea butter to boost your skin's hydration level? Check. Sweet almond oil and extract to sooth your skin? Check. Sunflower seed oil and grape seed oil to nourish your skin without clogging your pores? Check. Crushed sugar and almond shell to really exfoliate without irritating your skin? Check! (Believe it or not, whether you crush the sugar or not makes a huge difference) It's got a really nice smell, and if you use it on your face alone, it really isn't expensive at all. The big glass jar is indeed heavy and slippery, but it's not a big problem for me, for the result it gives, I am willing to put up with even more inconvenience, and I actually really like the plastic thingy on top of the product once you open the jar, it's practical to use. Did I mention how natural this product is? Well, by now you know I am in love, don't you?
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Scrubs -L'Occitane - Immortelle Brightening Smoothing Exfoliator
silviabeloved 9/16/2012 11:10:00 PM
Hmm, does the tube have a new look? I thought mine looks long and lean......... These days, the only facial skincare I still spend big bucks on is scrubs. I've found really nice cleanser and moisturizer that's fairly cheap, but after that whole "my face is seriously hurt by sugar" incident, I have yet to find a facial scrub that suits my face and is reasonably priced. (Sugar works really well on my body though) So I bought this and the Angelica facial scrub at the beginning of this month, I think. I prefer this one, and I actually really like it, which is not a good thing because of how expensive this is (You only get 75ml of product!!!) It has a really pleasant smell (The Angelica one somehow smells like grass, not a bad smell, but I always feel kinda weird rubbing it all over my face), the scrubbies in it are just the right size and amount (The Angelica one has round scrubbies and is a lot more gentle, in fact, you probably don't feel like you exfoliate your face much, which can be a good thing for extremely sensitive skin) The product kinda turns into some sort of white milky liquid on contact with water, so you know you can easily wash it off. It makes your skin incredibly soft (Which is something I fail to notice when I use the Angelica one), but not too tight (But I guess this one is a bit more drying than the Angelica one, so don't use it too often) I will have to buy it again if I can't find anything better and cheaper, obviously. I think using scrubs regularly makes a huge difference in the appearance of my skin, so, money well spent, I guess.
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Scrubs -Jurlique - Daily Exfoliating Cream
silviabeloved 8/31/2012 3:15:00 AM
This is expensive, and the design of the bottle makes it really hard to get all the last bit of the product out. It kinda has an odd smell, and yes, it has an even odder texture and the product falls off your face all the time. The alcohol content in it irritates my face a little, but not too much, and not always. It does make your skin feel smooth and softer, but I just really can't find anything about it that can justify the price. Not buying it again.
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Treatments -L'Occitane - Aromachologie Repairing Mask
silviabeloved 8/17/2012 3:18:00 AM
I got a sample of this, and also a sample of the "volumateur masque/volumizing hair mask", along with some other freebies from L'occitane when I bought the shea butter scrubs (reviews for both face scrub and body scrub available on MUA), before that, I was mainly using wild rose oil from Weleda on my hair when it gets too dry. I decided to get both hair masks because I like the way my hair feels, I tried the volumizing sample first and really didn't care for the smell, but my boyfriend did comment on the "wonderful smell on my hair" later on that day, so I guess some people do like it, and the fact is, after I bought it and used it a couple of times, I think I am either getting used to it or starting to like it. The repairing one/shine mask doesn't smell like the shampoo from the same range either, which I adore, in fact, it doesn't have a strong smell at all, comparing to the volumizing one. The thing about hair products from L'occitane is, though they don't contain parabens, dimethicone is usually very high on the ingredient list, I am not sure how I should feel about that, I know some people are saying how bad that is for you, but the truth is, the only moisturizer that I truly love, Cicaplast from LRP, contains loads of different kinds of silicones, yet it really helps my skin lots, so there you go, another dilemma there. Both hair masks make your hair soft and full of body without any greasy feeling you might get if you use a simple oil product. If I have to pick one, I think I prefer the volumizing one, not because it gives more volume than the repairing one, just because it makes my hair look really good. If I can't find anything better, I would buy them again, though I do love to try new hair products.
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Scrubs -L'Occitane - Shea Butter - Ultra Rich Body Scrub
silviabeloved 8/13/2012 4:26:00 AM
So far I am liking this even more than the face scrub from the same range. It's a really mild scrub that feels wonderful on the skin, may not be easy to travel with, but very economical.
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Moisturizers -Clinique - Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief
silviabeloved 7/18/2012 1:46:00 AM
This didn't really do anything for me, nothing bad, but nothing good either. The ingredient list leaves a lot to be desired.
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Misc Beauty Tools -Shu Uemura - Eyelash Curler
silviabeloved 7/17/2012 4:48:00 AM
Love this. I have been using this since I first started wearing makeup so I had no idea how good it is until a few years ago I used some other brand and hurt my eyes. This has never given my eyes any trouble, and it gives good results. Will keep buying until I am too old to wear any makeup (hahaha, I can't wait to see how I will look then)
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Treatments -Kiehls - Midnight Recovery Concentrate
silviabeloved 7/17/2012 4:33:00 AM
Bought one at some point last year, I think. Didn't do anything for me. I seem to be one of those people who can't use lavender on their skin, that was pretty evident to me when I tried the lavender oil from Weleda. Needless to say, I am not going to spend money on this again.
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Treatments -Clarins - HydraQuench Intensive Serum
silviabeloved 7/17/2012 4:28:00 AM
This clearly has fragrance in it (and boy, is that a long ingredient list) It's been a year since I last used it, I think, but as I recall, there's nothing to write home about. I didn't have any bad reaction to it, but I didn't see any kind of improvement either. I simply finished the bottle I had (let's face it, it's a lot of money for a little bottle) and moved on, never bought it again, and I don't think I ever will.
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Cleansers -Vichy - Detoxifying Rinse-off Gel-Mousse
silviabeloved 7/17/2012 4:16:00 AM
Way too drying for my skin, as I remember (it's probably been 2 years since I last tried this). It's got 5 kinds of parabens in the ingredient list, plus fragrance.
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Cleansers -Fancl - Mild Cleansing Oil
silviabeloved 7/17/2012 3:54:00 AM
If you like using oil to remove your makeup, you might like this one, though I personally would prefer using organic oils like jojoba oil. I have only ever tried this one and the one from Origins, I think this is milder and a lot less drying than the one from Origins, and it's at very least as effective, if not more so, in taking off eyes and face makeup. Out of all the Fancl products I have ever tried, this one is easily the winner, though I stopped using this kind of "commercial oil" to take off my makeup quite some time ago.
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