Hello! It's been a good week into April and I apologise for the tardiness! :p March has been a pretty good month in terms of empties as I have used up quite a few products!
Before I move on to the post, I would like to point out that I have already come to the very last squeeze of my SK-II Facial Treatment Gentle Cleanser but it did not make it to the group photo of empties as Mum popped it into the bin before I could say….
NNNOOOOOoOoOOO!!!
+____+
As you know, I have embarked on a journey to get fit. Fast. =D Losing weight comes in at second priority. Alright, who am I kidding?
I usually hit the gym before I start work so a nice long shower together with skincare and makeup is very much needed before I face yet another work day!
Time is not something I have much of so I try not to bring too many products with me. However, readers who know what I’m like would go
Yeah, there she goes again, chucking every single darn item into her bag!
I fit all my skincare and makeup into this rather beat-up white bag:
Hint: It is pretty stuffed in there. lol!
Come to think of it, I’ve never done a fragrance review as I find it intimidating. The fusion of various notes, scents never fail to do my head in.
I have a sensitive nose. Whenever I step into an intensely perfumed shop eg. Lush stores in the UK and The Lovely Lace shops in Malaysia…. I go all heady and nauseous with all those smells that come together all at once!
Now, don’t get me wrong. I still love Lush. But this is how I describe smells. If it’s too strong it stinks. Too mild there’s no scent.
So what if it smells good? I’ll just say
“Oooh this is such a lovely scent! I love how ‘floral’ it smells!”
This is where my problem comes in. Let’s say I own a lovely perfume. It’s lovely. I like it. It smells nice. It doesn’t make me smell like week-old-garbage. End of story.
My journey with fragrance has been a ‘touch and go’ one as I don’t wear perfume everyday, due to my forgetfulness.
Last Christmas, Mum decided to gift me with this Pivoine Flora eau de toilette from L’occitane and I thought I should at least talk about this because this has turned me into a bit of a perfume junkie and I now wear perfume nearly everyday! =)
So how shall I proceed with this review? I went to my good friend Google and look what he found via L’occitane UK’s website:
Following up from yesterday's post, we paused at mostly face products. I call the products in this post a necessity, others may see them as nonsense or rubbish. Take your pick!
Hello lovelies! It’s nearly December now which means my monthly empties post would be put up soon-ish! This month, I have found a few products to be nearing their end as I come so close to using them up. Also, being monthly favourites (or daily staples), a few shopping trips were done where I repurchased some of these favourites.
I thought I’d quickly share them with you today in place of my usual Trigger-Happy Thursdays post where I put up random photos that may not interest some of you. However, I do post photos on a daily basis via my Instagram account here so feel free to check them out and follow me if you like! =D
Kicking off today’s post is a gift from my fellow #soulmate Steph who needs no introduction. Lovely Stephanie sent me a parcel filled with goodies when I was still in the UK and this was one of the many items she sent!
Cellnique’s Soothing and Hydrating Lotion which I reviewed earlier here. Close to 4 months later I used up every single drop of this and I liked it so much that I bugged Mum to get me another! =D This costs RM79 so it doesn’t do too much damage to the wallet. I’m actually tempted to try Melvita’s Floral Waters but I liked this so much that I just had to repurchase it.
Shiseido’s Perfect UV Protector is a product I swear by. I am currently in the process of using up my third bottle and moving on to the fourth. Having used this since early this year (February/March), this is the best sunscreen I have used up to now and I have been through many sunscreens from various brands as my skin cannot live without it. I will not go on and rave about this product as I can go on and on all day. If you haven’t tried this, please give it a go!
Ah, an old favourite: L’occitane’s Lavender Vinegar. I am coming to the end of my second last bottle and I am incredibly nervous about using the final bottle up! This product has been discontinued and I will be sad to see this leave my table for good. :’( This works on the odd breakout but did not do anything for the severe breakout my skin went through. Still, it smells lovely – if you like the scent of lavender, that is. =D
The only mascara that doesn’t harm / irritate my eyes to date: Shiseido’s Perfect Mascara Defining Volume. I still have quite a bit left in my old tube but thought I should purchase a spare ‘just in case.’ This stuff rocks my boat: minimal next to no smudges at all, holds the curl and lasts all day. Only gripe? It can be a bit of a pain to remove. Without this lovely mascara I doubt I can ever bring myself to even curl my lashes, what more apply mascara.
Another staple! My all-time favourite hand sanitiser. Ever. I’m typing this and wondering why I do I sound like a bimbo. Anyway, I think it’s due to the fact that these are products I love so much and I can’t stop gushing about them like a child so bear with me, lovelies! The L’occitane Lavender Hand Purifying Gel smells heavenly and is non-drying. Most hand sanitisers I’ve used smell so strongly of alcohol and my hands feel taut and dry after use but this one doesn’t. Mum and I were once stuck in a place that smelt of smoke and she asked for a squirt of this for her to ‘breathe properly.’ Haha! I’m doing my best to squeeze the very last bits out before I move on to my spanking new tube. Before you think this costs loads and would not last very long, allow me to point out that I have used this close to a year with near daily use. I also share this with friends and family before we tuck into meals so it has gone a very long way for me.
These are the products I have repurchased this month and it’s quite an achievement for the fickle me who likes trying out new items! Have you repurchased anything this month?
Howdy folks! Ever used samples of a product that prompted you to purchase the full-sized item? This is something I have done and I thought I’d compile these mini-reviews and create a little column for them! =D I do not think this is column is going to be a weekly feature on the blog but I love samples and would love to share them with you.
In order for samples to make their way into this column, I must get at least 5 uses out of them (my blog, my rules. Hehe) as to get a proper feel of the product I’m using. 5 uses is more than enough for my sensitive skin to reveal its angry side so I hope everyone finds this helpful. =)
Kicking off this column with some shampoo – L’occitane’s Shampoo for Sensitive or Irritated Scalp to be exact:
I love L’occitane. Love their packaging, love their scents and above all, love their hair conditioners. I swear by them and have been using their hair conditioners for over 10 years now. Sometimes I stray due to the price but I always come back to them as soon as some other hair conditioner turns my hair into straw.
On the other hand, I haven’t had much luck with L’occitane’s shampoos as they seem to weigh my hair down and create a lot of product build up (read: dandruff)! I even got head pimples when using one of their shampoos (I think it was the dry/damaged hair version) so I naturally stay clear of them.
Recently, I was at one of their stores where the SA tried to coax me into purchasing their shampoos. I informed her of my predicament and she whipped out sachets of this for me to try. Each sachet houses 8ml of product which gives me about one and a half uses and I received 4 sachets of this.
Let me tell you a little more about my hair routine. A daily wash is a must. Should I be deprived of a squeaky clean scalp? Greasy, flat hair and an awful temper will greet you. So I shampoo and condition my hair everyday and hair masks / treatments are done at home on a weekly basis.
This product is clear and has a slight lavender scent which I love and lathers up gently. I describe the lather as gentle because it’s not the kind of SLS-infused lather you get with drugstore shampoos eg. Herbal Essences and the like. Instead of looking like a bubble-head, you look just like yourself with a bit of froth on your head.
Now that I re-read the previous sentence I do not know what’s worse: looking like a bubble-head or froth-head.
Anyhoo, my scalp feels so comfortable after using this shampoo. It feels clean but not stripped and I did not get any product build up when using this for over a week!
In this case, trying this out made me want to run to my nearest L’occitane outlet to purchase a full-sized bottle but I am holding back for now as I am waiting for their Christmas gift sets to land on our shores. =D
I promised I’d keep this short so here you go, a quick (yet long-winded) review! Did you enjoy it? What are the most recent samples you got your hands on?
