Product of the month/Not the product of the month Dec-Jan

 

I’m late with this, this time round. What with all the excitement, I forgot to do this post this month. But here it is.

Product of the month goes to – Moa The Green Balm.

I got it from a Joliebox a few months ago and was skeptical, especially as the tub is so small. But I used it on my face when I had skin problems, or when a spot was 70% healed and needed that last little boost. It’s really good and speeds up the healing process so much. When I was in Paris I forgot to take it with me and I really really missed it. The only downside to it is that it’s slightly greasy, so I have to make sure I use it at night, or at times when I don’t have to put makeup on top of it.

You can buy The Green Balm from Moa’s website HERE.

Not the product of the month goes to – Bumble and Bumble Thickening Hairspray.

I bought this in Sephora as I’d heard of the brand but didn’t even know where to start with what I should try out from them. All of their products are ridiculously expensive – I don’t think I saw anything less than 20, maybe 25 euros – and so I expected a lot from them. As it was Sephora, a salesman came round to bug me and I asked him what he’d recommend for my thin, boring hair. He suggested this spray (but before he made his decision he asked me – rather curiously – “do you do lots of brushing with your hair?”) He said that it’s not only a thickening spray but also a protection spray, too. I’ve been using it to blowdry my hair with for about 3 weeks now, and I can say it’s made no noticeable difference. As a protection spray, it’s hard to judge how well it works, but I have a much cheaper spray that does that, so I was covered in that area.

I’m not taking it away on holiday with me, so maybe I’ll miss it and realise that it really was making a difference, but to be honest, I doubt it. 25 euros for a medium bottle of spray and I expect a lot, lot more.

Have you tried either of these products? I’d love to hear your opinions!

Hair Raising Reviews!

I’m getting quite behind on my review type posts so expect a some more in the next few days!

I’ve been using these two products, both from beauty boxes – Wen Sweet Almond and Mint Cleaning Conditioner from the July JulyBox, and C:EHKO Intensive Care Shampoo from my July GlossyBox.

Let’s start with the Wen conditioner.

Now, I must say that I took it literally when it says that it’s conditioner – meaning that I used shampoo before using this. I guess I’m not so good at reading instructions… You’re meant to use a small amount, add a splash of water and massage it into your hair, then comb through and leave for up to 5 minutes.

Now it could be because I used shampoo before this, but it really made my hair dry. It made my hair dry and frizzy and it’s not been in such a bad state in years and years. The smell was ok… Kind of fresh.

Because I wasn’t having much luck with it, I decided to give it to my friend Candy, who has gorgeous hair (which deserves its own blog) and he looks like a boy from a manga he’s so pretty. Candy used it correctly, because he’s not doof like me, but he also said that it didn’t work so well in his hair and wasn’t any better than the normal stuff he uses. He said he liked the smell, but it didn’t last so long.

Considering that this product is pretty expensive, neither of us would buy it.

Now onto the shampoo!

C:EHKO seems to be a German brand. On the English part of their website, they say of this shampoo -

Intensive Care Shampoo with a deep-penetrating formula provides care even while shampooing. High-quality active agents and the AMICONE^®-COMPLEX give new vitality and freshness. The hair is left smoothed and reconstructed. Adds a marvelous shine.

The first thing I noticed about this was that it’s pretty thin. I know a lot of haircare products are trying to cut down on the crap in them right now so I assume that’s the reason behind it. It doesn’t lather up very well either. The second thing I noticed was that it smells like Tutti Fruity sweets! SCORE! It does kinda make me happy to smell that in the shower.

As for making my hair shiny… when used (incorrectly) with the Wen conditioner it didn’t do so well. But paired with a hair mask (to undo the Wen mess), someone asked me if I’d had a hair cut because my hair looked so good. I reckon if used with a decent conditioner, it would be really good.

According to the website, it’s a good 14 euros, so I don’t know if I’d repurchase it – but the shampoo I’m using right now was 20 euros so I guess it’s not out of the question to spend that much! If I did, I’d buy the whole set, though.

Have you used either of these products? Let me know if you have!

 

July/Aug Empties

 

This is going to be a pretty huge post, so I’ll try to keep descriptions short…

Some of my favourite videos to watch on Youtube are the empties ones – where people review things they have finished. By reviewing things at the end of their usage, you can guarantee that the review will be solid. I’d say 80% of what I buy now is influenced on things I have seen in these videos.

So, let’s get cracking!

 

Ahhh Essence… I get a lot of hits every day from people searching what cosmetics to buy when they are in Germany – the answer is always Essence stuff. Their stuff works and doesn’t cost very much at all.

I bought this Essence Anti-Spot Toner from their Pure Skin range a few months ago, purely because I wanted a toner and this was the only bottle that said toner in English on it. I used it every night after cleansing, and it really sorted out my greasy skin and stopped me from being so spotty. I have a slightly more up-market toner right now, but I would definitely buy this again.

 

I got this tiny little sample of Chanel Hydra Beauty Creme from Douglas a while ago. Their website says -

At the heart of the HYDRA BEAUTY range: Camellia Alba PFA*, an active ingredient that promotes optimal moisture retention within skin cells. When combined with an improved, more powerful version of Blue Ginger PFA, a vital antioxidant, the perfect synergy of ultimate hydration and protection is created. The Crème, with added shea butter and canola oil derivatives, will quench the driest, thirstiest skin. Ideal for normal-to-dry skin.

You know, I didn’t think much of this. It was ok, but so are lots of other, cheaper creams. It smelt lovely and the texture was really nice too, but otherwise it was really bog standard.

 

This L’Occitane Almond Shower Oil was part of a set I got for Christmas. It was probably my favourite from the set. Not only does this smell lovely, and make my skin super soft, but it’s also REALLY good if used when shaving my legs. It made them so soft and kept me smelling sweet all day long. I’d really like to buy the full size of this next time I’m in need of more shower goodies.

 

In my very first JolieBox I got this Body Shop Rainforest Radiance Hair Butter. I was like “… hair butter?” but it’s actually pretty good! I didn’t realise that it should be used as a treatment, and instead used it as a conditioner. You comb it through your wet hair and leave it in for a bit before rinsing. It made my hair really nice and soft – I was a fan after first use! Not only did I go and buy a replacement, but I also bought the whole set. It’s sat waiting for me to start using it all but I have so many shampoos and conditioners to use up first… #firstworldproblems

 

More freebies from Douglas! This time it was Clarins Daily Energizer Cleansing Gel and Cream. Clarins say -

Clarins Daily Energizers has an innovative cocktail of four natural ingredients.  The first is an energy boosting shot of Vitamin C that stimulates the skin’s natural defences to keep it looking fresh all day,  because young skin has lots of vitality it uses up energy so quickly that it does suffer from periods of fatigue and dull skin tone.  The second is Turmeric or Indian saffron, a powerful antioxidant that strengthens this action. The third ingredient is purifying Alchemilla, an astringent plant extract that regulates sebum production to keep pores and the complexion clear.  And finally, radiance-boosting Ginkgo biloba, to improve the skin’s uptake of oxygen so it looks brighter and healthier and to strengthen the walls of the skin’s super-fine network of blood capillaries.  

Using them both together, my skin really improved – became a lot brighter and clearer, too. I only had to use a tiny bit of both of them every day so even though they were tiny samples, they lasted almost 2 weeks. I’m not sure if I’d buy them in full… but I would consider it if my skin started getting worse again.

 

A tiny bit of a boring on here. Micro Cell Nail Repair Remover was something I bought after deciding to upgrade from using cheap nail varnish removers all the time. It seems to be a German company so I didn’t know anything about it, but it was around 10 euros if I remember rightly, so I thought it might work a little better. It didn’t, really. It made my nails really dry and didn’t seem to ‘repair’ anything at all. I wouldn’t buy it again. And I wouldn’t recommend it, either. Just say no!

 

Lastly I have Pantene Pro-V Repair and Care Conditioner.

I bought this a looong time ago, then switched to fancy department store hair care so forgot about it. Thinking I should use up all my old stuff before buying new products, I picked up this 1/3 full bottle again and started using it. My hair was SO soft. I don’t know why I didn’t notice how good this was before! Maybe I had to have a hair cut to get bad ends off, or maybe with the shampoo I’m using now it worked better… either way, this stuff is amazing. Equal, if not better than the fancy stuff I buy these days.

Like I said before, I have so many hair care products to use, so when they are all finished, I will be buying this again for sure. It just goes to show, you don’t need expensive products to get good results!

I’m hoping to make Empties posts every 2 months, and I quite enjoyed actively looking out things I need to use up to review – which saves money too! I hope you enjoyed this post too. If you’ve used any of these products, please let me know!