Thursday 12 August 2010

Review: Lancome Galatee Confort Cleansing Milk

Until recently I never really considered using cleansing milk/lotion - I always thought it wouldn't do much in terms of cleaning my skin. After two years living in near constant sun in Dubai my skin has become somewhat dry where it used to always be oily or just normal. So my recently developed dry skin has led me to try cleansing milks. The Lancome Galatee Confort Cleansing Milk I have is only a smaller "ideal for travel" size of 50ml. Due to the size I do only tend to use it for travelling so guessing its going to last quite a while!



I like the solid lid which shuts firmly and has some small hole for good control in pouring out the product - I hate it when you're just left with a hole to pour out of!



The product itself is cream in colour, and thick enough so it doesn't slip down your face or off your hand without being too thick that it's annoying to rub in. It does have a clear scent which is pretty hard to describe but I'd say it's fairly unoffensive...might be an issue for sensitive skins. This product is oil based with one of the main ingredients being mineral oil which would make it more ideal for those with dry skin and for removing waterproof products.

Lancome describes this as;
"This creamy cleanser is rich in emollients to gently and effectively melt away makeup and impurities. Infused with nourishing milk-proteins, moisturizers and softeners, this instantly-comforting formula leaves skin feeling clean, silky-soft and soothed."

Here's a test I did on my arm using foundation, waterproof eyeliner and eye shadow.



The cleansing milk once worked into the skin and then removed with cotton wool easily removed all the products leaving clean, fresh skin. I forgot to include waterproof mascara here but tested it individually and again the milk worked with but required slightly more working in prior to removal. When used on the face I felt I was left with a slight oily film afterwards but within five minutes this had completely sunk in leaving my skin feeling soft, fresh and moisturised.

Pros: - Light feeling on skin
- Works well at removing even waterproof products quite gently
- Good travel size

Cons: - Price; full size or regular price this product is very expensive at £20 for 200ml or £32.50 for 400ml (incidently full size does come with a more ideal pump)
- Greasiness initially after removal
- Scent may be off putting to some

Rating: 3/5

Repurchase? No - definitely not. While the product does do what you want it do to, frankly it far from amazes me and if I was to shell out that much for full size I would be wanting so much more and real benefits for my skin. As I am just getting into this section of skincare I am eager to try out more brands but at this point I do feel cheaper and more accessible brands would do the same if not better for my skin.

NOTW: OPI - Mod About You

This week I have been wearing another OPI polish from the US Blog Sale - OPI's famous Mod About You. And I have to say I agree with the general consensus of this being a perfect summer (and spring) nail polish. Somehow it really makes you look and feel more tanned!


So Mod About You is a very lovely opaque and creamy pink with lilac tones, and I'd describe it as an almost white pink; the opaqueness and brightness of this pink is really what makes it unqiue and different from most pale pinks.


I've now had this polish on for about six days and it has actually lasted amazingly well with only the most tiny bit of tip wear! It has surprised me, particularly considering the application problems Mod About You has: it oftens applies quite streaky and oddly, so requires two good coats or occasionally three for a good app. Once I did get some minor bubbles on a couple of nails, however I really think that was a one off.


The minor difficulties in applying this polish is completely made up for by the lovely colour and uniqueness! However for anyone who has China Glaze's Something Sweet from the "Up" collection, this is a near perfect dupe of Mod About You.

Going to keep trying to get the most out of this polish while summer is still here! Hope everyone's having a good week (:

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Review: Lush Creamy Candy Bubble Bar

Sorry it really has been awhile but had a few personal and technical issues (younger brother spilling half a jug of orange juice on my laptop doesn't really help it much!. Oh well, I will hopefully be posting much more regularly and without further ado onto my first Lush posting...


Now I love Lush, despite many years of finding it hard to breathe in the sickly smell walking past the shop, and I'm now getting into trying out their range of products. However, I am just a student and can not afford to buy items regularly from Lush – but that said I do have a few bits and bobs that I’m going to be using over the next few weeks. I’m definitely taking my time enjoying and hoarding them!



My flower got all shattered ):

The bubble bar is described as a combination of a bath melt and a bubble bar – and it definitely delivers on bubbles! The Creamy Candy bar has an obvious very sweet vanilla candy smell (hence the name I’m guessing!) and I LOVE vanilla scents - from memory I think this scent is very similar to the Rockstar soap.
Another thing I love about this bar are the chunks of cocoa butter in contains; they are really moisturising on the skin and leaves it feeling gorgeous (the almond oil also helps here)!

Here you can see a chunk of cocoa butter

The bar is crumbed under hot running water and allowed to bubble up; it produces a great mountain of fluffy bubbles and turns the bath water a lovely pale milky pink (the pink water would be basis alone enough for my mum to buy it!).

Not a huge amount of foam as it was still filling and I only used a third of the bar


After getting out the bath the smell does remain on you, but not in an overly sickly way but a nice fragrance with very little or no residue compared to what you might expect.
The bubble bar is priced at £2.35 for 100g which although a bit expensive isn’t ridiculous pricing considering you can get at least two and possibly three baths out of each one – but they are definitely a treat for me on a day when I need a relaxing bath (I think things like this always feel better if they’re kept as treats(: )
If you are someone who loves and aims to use only natural products be aware that these bars do still contain some chemicals including the commonly used sodium laureth sulphate found in soaps and shampoos to induce foaming, so I suppose it is a necessity in bubble bars!

Pros:
- Can be easily split for multiple baths
- Produces plenty of bubbles and nice pink water
- Moisturising
- Lovely light initial and lingering scent

Cons:
- There aren’t any huge genuine cons other than the very slightly expensive price, but it is very affordable as a treat!

Price/Value for Money: 4/5

Rating: 5/5

Repurchase? I would definitely repurchase this but I really want to explore some more of Lush’s huge range first!

Sunday 18 July 2010

OPI - Lincoln Park After Dark

For my first true post I thought I’d do a little something about a bit of a new obsession of mine: OPI nail polishes! At the start of the month I got a bunch of lovely OPI and China Glaze polishes from a US Blog Sale – these were my first ones from both of these brands. And I have to say I love them! This may be the start of an expensive addiction…
Anyway, I’ve gradually been making my way through these colours – I’ve really been trying to stop myself from putting them all on one after the other! Now for the first one I chose to show on here is OPI’s Lincoln Park After Dark – I was pretty curious about this as it was one the first OPI polishes I ever read/heard about a couple of years ago.
Lincoln Park After Dark (LPAD) is a really incredibly deep, edging towards black, plum purple. It’s a bit odd to be wearing this in the summer but I have a feeling it is going to be a great favourite in autumn or winter. Personally I feel that I cannot do a pure black nail at all – it just isn’t right on me – so I love the off and almost black colours, they look a lot gentler and less harsh but still gives the black appearance. And here it is:






In these pictures I’ve used two coats which is completely opaque, I found that it the first coat was a bit streaky however if you did want a bit more purple coming through I think a single generous coat could work for a good finish.





As for the general application it was very easy, I love the OPI brush, I think the wider and slightly flat point design makes for a good and quick application – I personally like slightly flat brushes and find them easier. Also I think the consistency was great which is another thing I am really liking about the OPI polishes so far.

So overall definitely thumbs up from me, the first coat streakiness isn’t an issue at all in the end – I’m curious to try out some more OPIs and see how the application and colour is for others. I’ll absolutely be wearing this come autumn!

X

Saturday 17 July 2010

The First Post

Hey there (:

Well, I finally bit the dust and started my own blog! Probably for around the last year now I've been reading and admiring all the amazing blogs out there - so when it hit the summer I decided to go for. Hopefully this will be a little place where I can share my thoughts, have some rambles and meet some great people!
And me - I'm a 17 year old between-university-and-high-school 'student' who is a bit of a geek - and proud of it! - who loves travelling, new people, friends and family, pretty things, science and books, shopping, new things and cosying up in a duvet with a movie!
I've spent the last two years living abroad and getting used to being back in the UK - so apologies if I talk about things that have been out there for a wee while, it's new to me (:
So there's my introduction - far from the greatest post, but hey, it'll do!


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