Cleansing Oil Part 3

Winter 2009, the folks at Boscia decide that they're going to change the packaging weight for the Makeup-Breakup Cool Cleansing oil. 4.06 fl oz up to 5 fl oz. with a $5 price increase. Was quickly running out of my cleanser and months were going by with nothing in stock at Ulta or Sephora. The helpful woman at Ulta suggested trying Dermalogica's Precleanse with natural plant oils (Kukui is one). She gave me a little test sample and it smelled good, cleaned as well as Boscia, and rinsed off clean with water. Only downside was the $34 price tag for 5.1 fl oz and the instructions that being a "pre-cleanse" you'd have to wash again with another face wash. Yes, I am that lazy at the end of the day.

Still, really needed something to wash off that makeup at the end of the night (especially that eyeliner) so I went for it. Used it all up, every night, and it lasted a little more then 6 months. It did what it promised, cleaned off every last bit of makeup, made my face feel fresh and clean, with or without the second wash (of course this would just make it even cleaner...). I would definitely buy this again, but because of the price difference and trying to save every penny I have, I've gone back to Boscia.

Boing! Gimme Curls!

Another curl cream? What?? I know. It's an ongoing battle with my hair and various states of the weather. Disclaimer - my hair is naturally wavy, but not super curly.

So far, I'm sticking with four products that I alternate to depending on a lot of things to keep my hair frizz free with nice waves.

1. Sebastian Potion 9
2. Pantene Nature Fusion Smoothing Creme
3. Aveda Be Curly Curl Enhancing Lotion
4. Unite Boing Curling Cream

The awesome chick who helps maintain some semblance of style with my hair pointed me to the latest (literally just a month or so ago) curl cream by UNITE. It's got the cutest name "BOING" and smells vaguely like the aussie brands, just not as strong. I've put it on damp hair and it dries with a lot more defined waves and a bit of hold, but not the crispy hold you used to see in the 80's and early 90's. When I used this with a blow dryer I got some really soft nice big waves, but again with a little bit of that hold so it kept the style nearly all day.

So far I'm a fan since it does what it promises, but haven't figured out how to do get "FAB" hair consistently enough.

Beauty Rush

You probably have already seen these lotions already:



As you know, VS lotions at least for me and maybe many others are purchased for the smell and not so much the moisturizing power of the lotion. I still say Aveeno all the way! I personally myself don’t like perfume as though they smell unique and nice in a bottle, once I put them on, somehow they all end up smelling like that floral blah scent that gives you a headache. So I’m not a perfumy girl. Now lotions with fruity or sweet smells on the other hand tend to be more subtle and typically tend to smell the way they smell in the bottle. This did hold true for this lotion I bought and it had this delicious sweet yummy tasty smell. But I forewarn you because I would not use it as a primary lotion to moisturize. I did once for my hand and the sweet smell kinda transformed to something too overwhelming, very strong and not so easily washable. The moisturization part goes away but not so much the smell. If I do want to smell nice, I do dab a bit of the lotion for the scent, but not for moisturizing.

Cleansing Oil part 2

This tanking economy makes you rethink shelling out $$$ for beauty products that have a cheaper alternative. Continued using the samples of the Shu Uemura cleansing oil (http://beautyrants.blogspot.com/2008/11/shu-uemura-cleansing-oil.html) and had only one real negative about it - actually removing the oil from your face took a little bit of time which considering the old adage regarding oil and water makes sense.

Was trying out a new concealer at Sephora and saw another Japanese based brand oil cleanser at the make over counter - Boscia Make-up Break-Up Cool Cleansing Oil. It was $21 and boasted natural ingrediants and no preservatives. Decided to try it out and it's been two nights so far. And so far - I like it much better then the Shu Uemura cleanser, mainly because it washes off so easily, but removes make-up (mascara, tinted moisturizer, eye liner, and concealer) as effectively. Because it does not have preservatives, it has an expiration date, but I'm sure I'll use it all up by 2011. If I don't, well it probably was thrown out with the trash. I'll post updates if my initial love affair sours with more use. But for today, I love Boscia!

Brand Recognition

http://www.loreal.com/_en/_ww/index.aspx?direct1=00003&direct2=00003/00001

My sister recently won a $200/month allowance for L'Oreal products and mentioned to me that Kiehls is part of that prize. Got me wondering - wait - L'Oreal owns Kiehls???

Well, yeah, turns out they do. And a lot of other brands. I knew about Lancome, but not about Kiehls, Garnier, Maybelline, Shu Uemura, Biotherm, the Body Shop, and on and on... I know from experiance (or maybe the placebo effect) that there are differences in these brands, but still - kind of made me rethink the price I was willing to pay. How much of a difference was there with my Kiehls lotion versus a less expensive L'Oreal lotion?

They aren't the only ones either - Estee Lauder owns M.A.C., Clinique, Aveda, La Mer, Bobbi Brown, Bumble and Bumble, Origins, and on and on...

http://www.elcompanies.com/our_brands.asp

And the weirdest one? Clorox owns Burt's Bees.
Yeah.

Sunscreen

A new sunscreen I am using. I actually went to purchase my regular NV perricone sunscreen or sunblock? But the store did not have any. The saleslady did recommend a nice sunscreen that is very light and provides protection from the sun with a nice spf of 55 without being thick. So this is the first day I am using it and so far, I really like how I don’t feel it being thick or oily at all. Not much else to say about it but because it is light, it is kinda liquidy so watch out for that when applying.

Happy New Year & Cheapo Mascara Update

First off - HAPPY NEW YEAR! The old year was thankfully fast, but it wasn't merciful. Other then Obama being elected, 2008 wasn't really a good year. But this isn't a griping blog, it's a beauty blog so... 2008 beauty highlights:

1. Yun Na helped me figure out how to keep my wavy hair in check
2. Naree got me into the Shu Uemura makeup/cleansing products
3. Realized I hated the Neutrogena mascara
4. Realized how I much I needed to go back to the Cover Girl Lash Exact mascara
   

Second... drugstore mascara update (see bullet's 3 & 4). I couldn't deal with the double dry application necessary to create some volume in my lashes. So before my winter vacation to the Bay Area, decided to finally stop the madness and tossed out the Neutrogena mascara and went back to Cover Girl Lash Exact. If it works for you, why stop right?

That's it for now. Hope 2009 brings some much needed change. PEACE!

Curly Hair Regime

So I’ve had my curly hair for ohhhh...about a month maybe now? I think I’ve developed a regime that allows me to have nice moisturized curly hair each time!
So,
after shower, pat hair all around so it doesn’t drip excessively. Using same towel wrap it around the head until hair is damp. Then take off towel and use bumble bumble leave in conditioner. (I use mostly on tips but some on the rest of the head too but not so much at the top of the head to avoid flattening it out) The leave in conditioner makes the curls soft and moisturized and I am assuming like skin lotion locks in the existing moisture in the hair. Then I air dry my hair till it gets to the level of curliness I like (at least for my hair, the wetter the curlier so I let it dry out to the point of looser looking waves) I then use the catwalk hair product on my hair (directions on how to use on my previous post) and wah-lah! Lovely, bouncy, moisturized curls. (So far did it twice with success, so must not be a fluke I think!)

Drugstore Mascaras

I'm overly practical when it comes to buying mascara. I just can't bring myself to shell out dough for department store mascaras that I will be tossing out in a couple of months. I end up buying drugstore brands - there are just so many to choose from right? Used to use a L'Oreal one back when - I think it was "Voluminous" (~$6.99). Back when I wasn't so lazy, I would use the Shu Uemura eyelash curler before the mascara. I have to admit, I can't really recall details about the smell or application, only that I didn't dislike it - except for the cracking cap if you turned too much.

After, went even cheaper and got the Maybelline Great Lash mascara (ol' school...). This could get clumpy I think, but it added some oomph to the lashes.

As I am a sucker for some things they advertise on TV, a few seasons back of ANTM got me buying a tube of Cover Girl's Lash Exact Mascara (~$7.99). Stopped using the eyelash curler at this point - and this is probably my favorite of any of the drugstore brands I've tried. It gave me that oomph of volume after two applications, and didn't get clumpy.

My inability to commit to certain things, and Penelope Cruz's commercial, got me buying the Bare Naturale Mascara from L'Oreal. After using the Lash Exact, it didn't really impress me right away. After a few times using it, I noticed it gave a good curl (without the curler) and so-so volume. Not enough to come back to willingly... and... the cap cracked on this one too.

So I tossed it in the trash and said - on to the next victim. Neutrogena's Weightless Volume Wax Free Mascara (~7.00). I'll be forthcoming with this, I just bought it yesterday. And after the first use and all day wear, I gotta tell you, it's just doing nothing for me. Looked on some sites that mentioned a smell - so I sniffed. The mascara smells like "crazy glue". That said, the mascara is definitely light weight. It doesn't give the length/curl like the Bare Naturale did and though it gives you some volume, it's really not very noticeable. It's a natural looking mascara that might work for some. Definitely doesn't irritate the eyes, but maybe it's because it's not really there. Just kidding. I'll give updates as I will be wearing this tomorrow -and I'll be the only one who can tell...

shu uemura Cleansing Oil

On a recent trip to the shu uemura store with Naree - she gave me one of her free samples of the brands "Skin Purifier - High Performance Cleansing Oil - Fresh". As someone who's got some sensitive skin for breakouts, I was a little hesitant to use something with the word "oil" in it to clean my face.

One makeup store site wrote that a bottle of this stuff is sold every 20 seconds worldwide, so guessing that this stuff works without the scary breakout effects that you'd think oil has - unless there's a billion people walking around with bad skin and still using this stuff.

That said, used it now for two nights and it's close to that special time of the month (this is usually when I tend to get some friends on my face). No breakouts so far. If anything, my skin's felt softer even before lotion. But what I've been really loving so far is the ease of the makeup removal and the feel of the stuff on my skin. It's not as oily feeling as I imagined it would be, and it's gentle enough to rub over my eyes and remove all the shadow, liner, and mascara.

Have to say, after two days of using I'm really tempted to buy the 5 oz. bottle for $28. Kind of loving this stuff so far but I'll hold off a couple days, use the sample for a few more nights and see if I still like it. Keep posted for updates ...

*****UPDATE*****
Used this for a few more days but felt like it was clogging my pores a little. So I went back to my tried and tested Neutrogena face wash until after that crazy time of the month. Started using this again for the last week or so and scored some samples from Nordstrom and (thank you!) Naree... so far so good, no clogs, no extra breakouts, just nice soft skin.