Hygiene: Feminine Wash??

So... weirder post today, as you can probably tell from the title. I was kind of afraid to try feminine wash at first, and I don't know why. I seem afraid to try a lot of beauty products, don't I? Anyway, I saw Missglamorazzi, Ingrid, talk about it in her What's in my Shower video, and I thought maybe I should try it. It's kind of the best thing ever.

A couple of showers ago, I decided to bin my bar of soap that was completely drying out my skin (turning me into a scaly beast) and use my CVS Cleansing Wash for Sensitive Skin (that I had been using down there for months) on my whole body! In addition to keeping your lady bits in tip-top shape, it works wonders on your skin. It almost completely smoothed down my keratosis pilaris on my arms, and my dry, scaly skin was perfectly hydrated. This stuff is supposed to be gentle and balance pH of the skin, after all. (It does work nicely in your privates, too, by the way. It makes me feel nice and fresh... But I won't go into that here). 

My version from CVS doesn't really have a fragrance, which is good for the no-no square anyway. I kind of find that it smells exactly like the Clinique soap from their 3-step systems though... :P It also lasts a long time; a little goes a long way. 

Well, strangely enough, I think I've found my permanent body wash. Although I do love changing up body washes for the different scents, I think this might just be better for my skin in the end, and it is a two in one... It's not that expensive either, only about $5. 

It's also kind of relieving to find that one product that you know you can't live without, no?

Ingrid said some people use feminine wash as a face wash (it does combat bacteria, so I imagine it's great for sensitive acne-prone skin). I'm not sure if I'll try that yet, but who knows (I've heard some people use Preparation H on their face for wrinkles...)? When I run out of my current face wash, I might pop this stuff onto my Clarisonic and give it a go. A 3-in-one?? Who doesn't like simplifying their routine? 

Anyway, I couldn't recommend this more highly. Give it a go!

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Lush Lust: Jumping Juniper Review

I used to be scared of solid shampoo. I tried this natural one from Whole Foods ages ago, and not only did it not lather well, but what I got onto my hair completely destroyed it, leaving behind a dry, tangly mess. Therefore, I was rather skeptical when trying the Lush Solid Shampoo bars.

I got Jumping Juniper as a part of a hair kit that Lush put together last summer, and I am now completely sold on the whole solid shampoo thing. This lathers better than a lot of liquid shampoos, lasts ages (if you use a soap-saver to keep it from melting in a puddle of water), is great for traveling (solids in a carry on = not taking up space in your liquids bag! :D), is great for the environment (no packaging - even recycling uses the environment's resources), and makes your hair super shiny. Also, it barely has a fragrance, so if you are sensitive to fragrances, this won't bother you.

I just wet the bar, wipe it all over my wet hair, and massage it in with my fingers.

As much as I love this, I'm not sure if I'll repurchase it. It's supposed to be for oily hair, and as mine is quite dry, I think I'll try one of the other Lush solid shampoos for dry hair (like Godiva). But if you have oilier hair, this is perfect.

Jumping Juniper is also one of the cheaper shampoo pucks that Lush makes at $9.95 as opposed to $10.95, so if you want to save a dollar...

Heat styling

I've been finding myself straightening my hair more often than usual. Since I never use heat to style my hair normally, I've been using a ton of heat protectant just to keep my hair in that condition.

I run about a quarter-size amount of Kérastase Nectar Thermique through my hair (or the Lait Nutri-Sculpt depending on my mood), put a little but of Lush R& B at the ends to moisturize, put in some Kérastase Oléo-Relax for anti-frizz, and then blow dry. After, I'll spray some S factor Flat Iron Shine Spray into my hands and then rub that into my hair, straighten, and after that add another pump of my Oléo-Relax.

Lost the cap... hee hee

It's all kept my hair pretty healthy. The last two products smell great as well. The only reason I wouldn't repurchase the Nectar Thermique is because I think it smells like an old lady, but other than that, it's a fantastic product. On that note, I don't know if I could really repurchase any of these just because of the prices...

Can anyone suggest a heat protectant/anti-frizz combo (that's cheap)? I really want to get my hair routine down to one product.

Nail Love: Butter London Knackered

I am completely obsessed with nail polish, especially super glittery or "color-changing" duo-chrome ones. I saw Fleur de Force mention Knackered by Butter London in a monthly favorites video a while back, and I knew I had to have it.

One thing that's awesome about the Butter London nail polishes is the packaging. Not only is it sleek and rectangular, but the cap is sealed so you know no one opened it up to test it. There's another cap underneath the big black cap, which is also really nice and makes the product seem extra high-quality to me. (It's the same idea as the Chanel polishes).

The color itself is absolutely gorgeous. It's a pale lavender in some lights, an amazing green color in other lights, and sometimes both! It has holographic glitter in it, but in natural light, that glitter just looks silver. This is definitely the prettiest nail polish I own. Sadly, iPhone pictures don't do it justice.

The formulation of the product is awesome, too. The polish goes on smoothly and dries fairly quickly. My  only complaint, though, is that this particular color takes about four coats to reach opacity. But once it's on and dry, it stays on. This is seriously the longest lasting nail polish I've ever used. I had it on for five days (wearing at tips only and no chips) before I just wanted to switch up polishes. 

Because the polish is fairly sheer, I think next time I wear it, I'll use solid color and then layer this on top. I think that'll speed up drying time as well. 

I was so glad I got the chance to go to Ulta to get a bottle. Unfortunately, it did cost me $14. So worth it though!

Skin Savior: CVS Tone Correcting Serum

I don't really worry about aging all that much because I'm only 19. However, I do have some spots from time to time, and those spots pretty much always leave behind dark marks. I was at CVS looking for something for said spots, and I came across CVS Age Renewal Tone Correcting Concentrated Serum. It's supposed to be the same thing as the Neutrogena one, and really, as long as the active ingredients are the same, you might as well get the cheaper one. (Unfortunately, my campus CVS jacked up the price to around 17 bucks, which was still cheaper than the Neutrogena one).

This promises to basically solve all your skin problems, and it pretty much does that. I woke up the very next day with smaller looking spots and already fading dark marks. It's even way better on acne than my adapalene (prescription) acne gel. This stuff is fantastic, and I think it's made a permanent spot for itself in my skincare routine.

I put this on at night before my other products (I cleanse, tone, use this, put on my Lush Grease Lightning, and then moisturize). Aside from just working, it smells fine, is moisturizing, and feels so good gliding over the skin. A little goes a pretty long way, too.

Even if you're not aging, I highly recommend this. It's funny, but I've found that anti-aging stuff works the best for acne-prone skin as long as it's oil-free.

What are your skin saviors?

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Making soap!!

I used to make soap all the time, but as school slowly took over my life, I found myself not spending as much time on that hobby as I had before. Alas, for Botany, we had to do a project with plants. I was going to press flowers and just make some pictures with them, however, on a very nice (but also windy) day, I left my window open. I had my pressed flowers on my desk, and the wind decided it wanted them on the floor. A lot of my flowers were destroyed, and I didn't have enough flowers to make a decent looking picture. My solution to save my project? Make soap again! I went to Michael's, got some glycerine and a mold, melted the glycerine, added some Marc Jacobs perfume, poured the mix in the mold, added the flowers I had left, and voila! I saved my botany project and now have some nice flowery soaps for myself.

If you guys haven't made soap before, you should try it! It's super easy, fast, cheap, and you get the soaps looking and smelling exactly the way you want.

Fragrance: CLEAN!

During the Spring and Summer times, I usually find myself wanting to wear lighter, fresher fragrances. My favorites lately have been a few CLEAN ones: Outdoor Shower Fresh, Shower Fresh, and Fresh Laundry. The three fragrances are really nice and, as their names would imply, fresh. 

  

The one I've probably used the most is Outdoor Shower Fresh. It's a really green scent that's a little bit deeper than the other ones and definitely more perfume-like. I find I can wear it at any time of the day.

The Shower Fresh one really makes me feel like I stepped out of the shower. It smells almost fruity (kind of like a XXX Vitamin Water?) and completely clean and crisp.

Fresh Laundry is my favorite of the three. It smells exactly like it's name: fresh laundry. When I put it on, I kind of feel like I just put on a cozy sweatshirt straight from the dryer. I'm using this one sparingly, though, because I only have the little mini size.

The only downside to these fragrances is the staying power and the price, which I find rather expensive because they really just don't last long. You'd be lucky to have the scent on your skin after a few hours. I'm glad I got some of the mini bottles, though, so I can just refill them from the big ones and take them with me to reapply.

I have five CLEAN fragrances, but I don't care for Warm Cotton and the original CLEAN ones. I find that they both smell like bathroom cleaner and develop really badly on the skin. I actually just use them as room spray in my bathroom (which kind of seems like a waste, but I don't know what else to do with them), and I like the smells there because they actually do make my bathroom smell nice and clean.

I was able to get the fragrances in a couple sets for a really good deal around Christmas time last year. One set had four 1 oz bottles (Outdoor Shower Fresh, Shower Fresh, Warm Cotton, and CLEAN) and the other had three minis (Shower Fresh, Fresh Laundry, and Warm Cotton).You can find them all at Sephora from 38 (1 oz) to 69 dollars (2 oz) (except for Outdoor Shower Fresh, which only comes in the 2.14 oz bottle). 

What are your favorite Spring and Summer fragrances?

My Everyday Makeup

I don't wear too much makeup. I only wear concealer, powder, blush, mascara, and lip balm during the day. If I'm going out, I will do all that and then some eyeshadow and maybe a stain on the lips. That's it. :)

After I've done all my skincare routine, I put on my Smashbox Concealer in 4.0 and then my Maybelline Concealer in Medium Beige sticks to cover some acne and dark spots. The Smashbox one is a bit too dark and orange-y on my skin, and the Maybelline one a tad bit light, so they balance each other out perfectly.

I also find that their consistencies balance each other out too. The Maybelline one is kind of harder to blend, and Smashbox is really easy to blend, so when they go together I get the perfect mix of blendability and coverage. However, I'm still on the lookout for one perfect concealer that looks good alone on my skin. Using two gets kind of annoying. I will say this about the Maybelline one though: The stuff does not budge. I go swimming at my campus' rec center with it on, and all my other makeup will come off and this won't. (This is without the Smashbox stuff).

I then put on my powder. I use the Maybelline Fit Me! one in 210. It's okay. The reason I like it is that it looks fairly natural on the skin and sets my concealers. However, it does have a little bit of shimmer and doesn't really control oil. Again, still looking for that perfect, natural looking power that does the job.

As far as the packaging goes, it's okay. It has a compartment under it with a mirror and a little powder puff/sponge thing. They'd probably be better off skipping that compartment and just making the product cheaper. No one uses that stuff, and it makes everything bulkier.

After that, I sweep on Revlon Matte Powder Blush in Perfectly Peach. I am absolutely obsessed with the color. It looks so natural on my skin-tone, which is kind of neutral to olive-y/yellow. It looks kind of unnatural when you first put it on, but after it kind of melts into the skin nicely. It doesn't last the whole day, which kind of stinks, but it'll do. I really got this blush for the color, of course, but also the packaging. It was really sleek compared to all the other stuff I was looking at, and I guess I just like square black compacts.

After all that, I put some mascara on and brush my brows into place. I don't use anything on my brows, though. They're already pretty thick and dark. The mascara I've been using for a while is the Covergirl Lashblast 24 Hour mascara in Very Black. I kind of have a love/hate relationship with this stuff. I love it because it really does last a super long time. It doesn't flake, smudge, and it makes my lashes look really nice. However, this stuff does NOT come off without a lot of work. I've lost quite a bit of lashes trying to get this stuff off with my regular makeup remover, and I've been wondering whether having perfect lashes all day is really worth it. That's how long it lasts. Again, I just need to find something that's like this but just easier to remove. Maybe something that gives me a bit more length, too. I've tried the Covergirl Lashblast Fusion in Very Black, and I really like that. I just wish it didn't smudge.

After all that's done, I put on some Desert Essence Lip Rescue and call it quits. This stuff is fantastic by the way. It smells amazing and completely saved my lips this winter. Love. (It was free for me, too. I got two sticks free with my purchase on drugstore.com!)

Except for lip balm, I'm still on the hunt for those perfect products. Even though I did repurchase the Maybelline Fit Me powder, it was mostly because I could get it for $0.99 at my CVS (coupon!) and because I knew that shade was good for my skin-tone. I usually use drugstore everyday stuff, too, because it's too much of a hassle to go off campus to get anything, and I also am a poor college student. haha If anyone has any suggestions for the perfect concealer, powder, blush, and mascara, I'd love to hear them. 

Lush Lust: R&B Review

One thing you have to know about me is that I am completely obsessed with Lush. (However, not to the point where I have things around that I don't use, because the stuff does expire after only a year). Anyway, this past summer I got my hands on the little hair kits that Lush was selling at the time for only $20 each. Knowing how expensive the products (four products per box) would be on their own, I had to snap them up and get my first taste of Lush hair care. I got the one for curly hair and the one for damaged hair.

R&B was in the curly hair box (along with a Jungle Conditioner, a Jasmine and Henna Fluff Eaze Hair Mask, and a Curly Wurly shampoo). The pot I got (1.7 oz) was smaller than the normal sized pot (3.5 oz) that they sell separately from the kit. However, this little pot has lasted me absolutely forever. Just a little bit of this product goes a super long way.

R&B promises to "control your frizzy, flyaway hair." It's supposed to be more of a "hair finisher" and is supposedly really good for African American or curly hair. I have thick, frizzy hair that's pretty long. The product sort of does what it says. It does help keep my hair in line as far as flyaways go, and I feel like it makes my hair a bit healthier, but nothing can control my frizzy hair. No matter what I put in it, if there's enough moisture in the air, my hair will be a giant fuzz ball at the end of the day.

One thing to note about R&B is the smell. To me, it smells fantastic. I can smell this stuff on myself all day; the smell lasts until you shower it off at night. It's a strange smell to describe though. The site says it smells like jasmine and orange flower, so we'll go off that.

Even though I do like the smell, I think there's too much of it, and it's a kind of fragrance that not everyone will love. I think the only reason I haven't really finished my pot yet is because when I wear R&B on its own (just putting it into my dry hair in the morning with no other products), I get a little bit self-conscious about the smell. It's really intrusive, and sometimes when I have it on, I get really paranoid that the people around me are bothered by it. (I had it on in my Botany lecture the other day, and the kid sitting next to me looked kind of disturbed the whole time and was coughing a bit. He could have had a cold, but somehow I think it was my fault).

Now I use it if I've showered in the morning and am going to blow dry my hair or if my hair is still damp from my shower the night before. I rub about a nickel size of R&B in the palms of my hands and run it through my towel-dried or damp hair. I then put in my heat protectant and my anti-frizz, and then I blow dry. Doing it this way kind of dulls the strong smell, and I feel like I'm still getting the moisturizing, no flyways benefits. (Be careful not to put too much in or your hair will feel really greasy all day and won't move nicely. You can always add more if you find that you need it).

I am going to finish this product (even though it will take me a while), but I don't think I'll buy it again. The smell is a bit too strong, and it's really expensive, too. The only reason I got it in the first place was because it was in a $20 set with three other products that would have also been too expensive for me to buy separately. Alone, the 3.5 oz pot costs $20.95 before tax is added in. If the product were absolutely fantastic, it would be worth it, but... yeah.

As much as I love Lush, some products can be really hit or miss with different people. Even though this product wasn't really for me, it could work for you if you can tolerate the smell and if you have a different hair type.

Have you tried R&B? What did you think?

Let me know if you want any more reviews of what was in that kit and the other one (which had Jumping Juniper solid shampoo, Rehab shampoo, H'suan Wen Hua hair mask, and Retread conditioner).

Also, if you have any hair recommendations, I'm looking for a really good heat protectant (blow-dry and flat iron) and anti-frizz combo!

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Nail Love: Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover

Hello all,

This is my first ever post, so let's see what happens!

I had never really used a cuticle remover before (aside from what they do to you when you get a manicure, and I don't get those often). I had seen them everywhere, but for some reason I thought that removing your cuticles would be really painful.

One of my hall-mates was doing her nails the other day, and I saw her using hers. I decided to try it.

It's the Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover, and I'm pretty sure it's life changing. It's also absolutely painless, too. :P

It's supposed to remove your cuticles in 15 seconds. (It says it can also remove callouses in a minute, but I haven't had to try that yet).

You just apply the remover all around your nails (on cuticles, under the nail tips), count 15 Mississippis, and then start using a cuticle pusher to push back your cuticles and then kind of scrape everything off. Then you wash your hands in warm, soapy water.

I think I ended up leaving it on a bit longer just because I applied it to my thumb first and then put it on every nail before I started counting and finally removing my cuticles. It didn't do me any harm, but if you're worried about that, I think by the time you have put it on all of your fingernails you can start scraping off everything starting on the first finger it was applied to without having to count 15 seconds. I did one hand at a time.

The results are amazing. After I used it, my dry, way overgrown cuticles looked clean, short, and moisturized, and the usual dead, nasty skin under my fingertips was gone, too. I put on some hand lotion and massaged it into my cuticles. I will never be without this stuff again.

I had to get my own bottle, of course. I got mine at Ulta on sale for $3. They have it pretty much anywhere though (Ulta, CVS, drugstore.com, etc.), though I saw it at my campus' CVS for about $7.

Am I a little bit late on the cuticle remover bandwagon? Have you guys tried it/ want to? Give this stuff a go, and definitely tell me what you think!