cleanser

Empties! (February)

Hi everyone! Aren’t you glad it’s Friday?! 🙂

I’ve been lucky this week, as I celebrate my birthday this week. I received a present from Mr R which was a massive surprise – and you’ll be glad he got it for me – because it is a new DSLR camera!!! 🙂 It’s a Canon EOS 600D and, well, I think it’s going to take me a while to learn to use it properly but I think the quality of the pictures I’ve been able to take on it is waaaay better than with my old cameras! Sometimes I’ll still use my older and smaller cameras for photos where a bulkier camera is inconvenient or impractical, but most of the time I’ll be shooting with my newbie. So far I’ve got 2 lenses for it – one capable of general + macro shots and one for more long distance shooting.

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Here’s a selection of my empties from February which I thought were worth reviewing! (Whoops forgot to watermark this pic… oh well!)

My thoughts on these products, going from L to R:

Biore Deep Cleaning Pore Strips

Price: approx. $6 AUD depending on where you buy it.

Where can I get it? Most supermarkets and chemists.

Well I think these are the original and still the best when it comes to pore cleaning, congestion clearing, or however you’d like to put it! A while ago I tried using THEFACESHOP’s mask which claims to do the same thing and it did not even mildly compare (you can read more here).

These have been my go to since a teenager, so yup I always end up repurchasing these! (I wish I didn’t need to but my skin is combo – oily so I don’t think this will happen any time soon. 😦 )

Do make sure you follow the instructions carefully and you should be equally happy with this product. Steer clear of it if you have very delicate or easily irritated skin.

Beautiful rating: quality 5/5, value 5/5. They do what they say they’ll do and they’re a reasonable price.

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Maybelline Great Lash Blackest Black mascara

Price: can be up to $14.95 AUD depending on where you get it… Yup we get ripped off here don’t we?! 😦

Where can I get it? As per the pore strips! 🙂

Another staple of mine. Very reliable mascara. Not sure if it’s truly the “blackest black”, as how “black” can black be past, well, black?!

However, I find that this mascara does not do terribly well in terms of extending the length of your lashes or enhancing curl. I like it as a day to day mascara for work or general outings, but prefer others when going out at night and for special occasions.

Beautiful rating: quality 4/5, value 4/5.

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Olay Wet Cleansing Cloths – Sensitive

Price: I got it on sale for $5 AUD.

Where can I get it? Most supermarkets and chemists.

Boy I was disappointed with these. I’ve used a range of cleansing cloths in the past and never had the problem I did with these, which ironically are meant to be for sensitive skin. As soon as I used these (I typically use them as a first step of cleansing to get most of my makeup off, particularly eye makeup) my eyes began to sting and water like mad! So they went straight in the bin after I took the Empties shot. 😦

I’m considering actually contacting Olay to give them my feedback on these as I felt the “Sensitive” tag is very misleading. I guess at least by including this in the post it will alert others to the problems with this product.

Beautiful rating: quality 1/5, value 1/5 – no good for sensitive skin!

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Well folks, that wraps up the Empties for Feb. Onto my thoughts on some Etude House products!

For those of you who are into cameras – what type of camera do you have and why? (i.e. Do you have a preference for a particular brand or type of camera, such as film vs digital?)

Thalgo Haul!!!!

Well, as many of you may know, I really love Thalgo skin care products! (Click here to read my past reviews and posts on this topic :)) As such I have decided to gradually convert most of my skin care products to Thalgo. I generally find that their products help my skin maintain a healthy equilibrium rather than get too dry or become too oily. Also, their products last a long time as a little goes a long way!

Yes, Thalgo can be considered an expensive brand – if you buy it direct from your beauty salon. Thank goodness for eBay! I have found a reputable seller of Thalgo (and other brands) there, who sells most things for 1/2 of their AUD RRP, and received my second order from them yesterday. I was so excited! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 (Yep you can pretty much say I’m addicted to Thalgo!)

🙂 🙂 😀 😀 + + + !

I ordered a Cocooning Cleansing Milk (cleansing cream – it is for sensitive skin but I chose this over the one for combo-oily because the latter contains vitamin C extract which irritates my skin) and a Moisturising Eye Care cream. I was lucky to also receive several bonus goodies and samples, including:

• a Decleor Aroma Confort body lotion (I plan to keep this for a future giveaway on the blog!);
• Thalgo terre & mer organic Vital Fluid (sample size; I think it’s a moisturiser);
• Thalgo terre & mer organic Anti-ageing Concentrate (sample size; I think it’s a serum);
• Thalgo Serum d’Exception (sample size);
• Thalgo Wrinkle Control Smoothing Concentrate (sample size; I think it’s a serum);
• Thalgo Oxygen SOS Serum (sample size);
• Thalgo Revitalising Eye Contour Cream (sample size); and…
• Thalgo Moisture Quenching Mask (sample size – I’ve only tried their masks when at the salon so look forward to using this at home!).
  (Gee this eBay seller knows how to get me to keep shopping at their store, right?! ;))

I can’t wait to try all of the Thalgo stuff out; I will post up reviews of each of the products as I go, to help convert (;) !) guide others who might be interested in this brand. 🙂

Has anyone else tried Thalgo products? What do you think of them?

off the shelf – neutrogena, l’oreal men expert & palmolive for men

Hey! 🙂 How has everyone’s weekend been? I attended a Nutrimetics party on Saturday (more on that in an upcoming post :)) and today I have been working on some home renovations (I am in the process of giving my kitchen a makeover and am busily gathering materials together for that – it’s fun but also = $$$ :(), amongst other random stuff!

As part of all this I spent a bit of time with D at his place this afternoon. We were chatting away and I asked him about the products he currently has on his shelf in his bathroom. He kindly agreed to have his views put up on the blog. (Thanks dude! :)) Here is an abridged version of what happened… (WARNING this is a long post! :P)

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Neutrogena: Oil-Free Moisture – Combination Skin

D: This is my favourite moisturiser at the moment  –this should be reviewed!

S: Ok so tell me about it. How much did it cost you?
D: Uh somewhere between $10-$15 [AUD].

S: What do you like the most about it?
D: It moisturises my skin but it also absorbs [excess] oil at the same time, it reduces shine [visible shine on the skin – when talking with D it became clear that the latter was, to him, a key feature of the product].

S: Is there anything you don’t like about it?
D: Well the cost is higher [considering] the size, compared to other products at the supermarket [D is a bloke always looking for a bargain! ;)].

S: Would you buy this again?
D: Yes I will keep buying it as it’s the only one [moisturiser] out [at the supermarket] that’s good for anti-shine.

S: What would you rate it out of 5 in terms of a) quality and b) value?
D: 4/5 for both.

***L’Oreal Men Expert Skin Caring Shave Gel Anti Irritation Sensitive Skin
(what a mouthful!)

L’Oreal Men Expert Vita Lift Foaming Cleansing Cream: Glycerin

D: I got these L’Oreal products in a pack – when I bought it you got these plus a gym towel for between $20-$30.
S: That’s pretty good value.
D: Yeah I thought getting the gym towel was good too! [My impression when talking with D about these products was that the free towel triggered him to buy the products! I know that I have sometimes been tempted to try a new product/s based on particular promotions/giveaways at the time too. Is anyone else like this???]

S: Tell me about the shaving cream first.  What do you like about it the most?
D: It is good for sensitive skin; it doesn’t irritate my skin at all. It also has a nice gel texture.

S: Would you buy it again?
D: I’m not sure; if it was on sale, yes.

S: So what do you think about the cleanser?
D: Well it leaves your face feeling clean but also it moisturises at the same time, so your skin doesn’t feel dry. I would buy it again if it was on sale.

S: What would you rate each product out of 5 in terms of a) quality and b) value?
D: 4/5 for both across the board.

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Neutrogena: Deep Clean Facial Cleanser – Normal to Oily Skin

[This product, D estimates, retails for $10-15.]

D: I use this one only about 1x/month – otherwise it dries my skin out too much [I noted that on the packaging that it is designed for daily use but the manufacturers advise to use it less often if it is too drying].

S: It almost sounds like you’d consider this a “treatment”  – something to only use now and again?
D: Yeah that’s right.

S: So, given all of that, do you like this product?
D: Yeah as it does deeply clean my face and get rid of the excess oil. I would give it 4/5 overall as it does what it is meant to do!

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Palmolive For Men Rapid Shave Foam Sensitive
(sorry for the black frame guys – the image wouldn’t let me crop & re-save :()

D: This should be reviewed too!
S: Ok tell me about this one.

D: It costs less than $10. It’s an inexpensive shaving foam, but despite being “sensitive” it does irritate my skin sometimes.

S: Would you buy it again?
D: Yes if/when I can only afford a cheap shaving cream.

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Phew that’s a lot of products in one post! D was a very keen reviewer! 🙂

What do people think about the length of blog posts on this site? OK, too long, too short, or???  I try to vary it to keep things interesting, but all constructive feedback is welcome!

Well that’s all folks for this evening. Thanks for visiting; have a great week ahead!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀

palmer’s face products: gentle daily cleanser, daily facial lotion & night renewal cream

Good evening readers!

The rain is bucketing down but it’s still quite warm outside = humid weather! It does, however make good weather for me to sit on the computer for a lil while! 😉

I was fortunate to pick up a free sample of Palmer’s Gentle Daily Cleanser, Daily Facial Lotion, and Night Renewal Cream recently. I’m a fan of Palmer’s olive oil based body lotion (you can click over to my review of that here) so have been keen to try their new face range. There’s also a clay based mask that they do which I haven’t yet tried and isn’t included in this review.

Price range: you can pick up these products for <$15 AUD each, depending upon where you shop!

Where can I buy it? Most chemists and supermarkets, with supermarkets typically being the more expensive place to find it.

I tried the three products across a single day – the cleanser and facial lotion in the morning and the night cream, well, at night!

The Gentle Daily Cleanser contains interesting ingredients in addition to the cocoa butter Palmer’s is famous for, such as milk proteins and antioxidants. It has a pleasant and noticeable floral scent which was not overdone. The cleanser is meant to be a “light foaming formula”, so I was disappointed when I had difficulties getting it to lather properly and it took a lot of work to wash off! (Perhaps I used too much?) My skin felt quite dry afterwards.

The Daily Facial Lotion contains SPF 15+ and seeing SPF in a skin product for daytime use always makes me happy! 🙂 It is marketed as a “lightweight moisturiser”. The scent was milder than that of the cleanser and the texture was indeed light weight. It left parts of my skin feeling dry; I’m not sure if this was due to my experience with the cleanser before hand or just my skin type (which is combination but getting older so needing extra moisture in the non t-zone areas!).

My experience with the Night Renewal Cream was the best of all 3 products. 🙂 Again the scent was lighter than that of the facial cleanser, and it had a nice consistency, not being too thick and heavy or thin. The hydration was good – my skin didn’t feel dry nor oily. A good budget night cream buy!

Of all 3 products I would buy the night cream, definitely skip the cleanser and probably not pick up the day lotion.

Beautiful rating – Gentle Daily Cleanser: quality 2/5, value 2/5

Beautiful rating – Daily Facial Lotion: quality 4/5, value 4/5 (for the right skin type – <25 year olds or for older skin if your skin is oily)

Beautiful rating – Night Renewal Cream: quality 4/5, value 4/5 (was fine on my >25-year-old combination skin! :))

PS. Priceline have 20% off all hair care products the next 2 days, and are selling Palmer’s Olive Oil body lotion with SPF 15+ for approx. $3 AUD (BARGAIN!!! XD) in their new catalogue which starts tomorrow! (Please note I have no professional affiliation with Priceline – I just shop there a lot so am on their email list :P)