Dove Intensive Cream for Extra Dry Hands......A Review

The second post of my PRE-SPRING series is going to be a hand cream review. If you read my blog regularly, you'll know I like to post reviews on Mondays. After all the cold you might have endured this Winter if you live in a very cold country, you need to get your hands in shape before Spring starts especially since we can no longer cover them with gloves. And once our hands are soft and smooth nail polish and arm candy will look even better.

As I told you in my last hand cream review post, I found a new hand cream which works great and it's the cheapest one I have purchased so far. I found it totally by coincidence. I was shopping at a new supermarket and since I noticed the prices were cheaper than in other places I shop I went around and around to try to spot some good deals. And when I found this Dove hand cream I was immediately attracted to it.

First of all the clean and simple white packaging makes it look as something more natural and less complicated in terms of ingredients. And although I am sure this is actually my perception of this product, I am fine with it because this first perception turned to be a positive one. The second thing which attracted me to this product was the fact that Dove is my favourite brand for body washes, so I was intrigued to try a different product from this brand. The third thing which pushed me to put this item in my trolley was the fact that it is marketed as an intensive cream for extra dry hands, which is exactly what I have. When I first smelt this cream, the scent was there, and if you know this is something I don't really like in a hand cream. In fact I prefer non fragrance ones. And this happens to have a pretty evident non natural scent, and by non natural I mean that is not fruity or flowery. Anyway, all the above were the reasons why I placed this item into my trolley. At that time, however,  still didn't know its price since it wasn't marked on the shelf. So I wasn't sure whether I would end buying it or not. It all depended on the price. And when the cashier told me it was only 2.13 euros I was amazed and I knew I definitely needed to try it. 

From the first time I applied it I fell in love with its consistency, the way it blends but not with the scent. I can however live with how it smells, especially if it makes my hands feel so good. The hand creams I have tried before were either too watery, too greasy, too sticky or just not that good apart for few exceptions including the Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula with Vitamin E Concentrated Cream. 

The Dove Intensive hand cream has a combination of moisturizing, hydrating and nourishing properties. I think what makes it so great is the nourishing oil which combined with the hydrating ingredients give my hands that balance they so much needed. And although it has oil in it, it is not greasy at all. It applies quickly and blends easily into my hands without need of rubbing for too long. My hands feel soft and no longer dry and stay smooth for a good amount of time. Once I apply this cream I no longer feel my skin stretching and this effect stays for many hours, even after washing my hands.

All these positive aspects combined with the cheapest price I have ever paid for a hand cream and the fact that this is easily available in supermarkets and drugstores make this product a great one. So if you have extra dry hands, or if you are simply looking for a richer hand cream I suggest you to try this out. After all you have nothing to lose.

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Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula with Vitamin E Concentrated Cream.....A Review

Last year, on this exact day, I posted my Best Winter Hand Cream post which you can read here. In that post I raved about how much I loved that cream. And while I still like it, you all know how life goes - we try new products and find better ones. So in this post I want to share with you my review on a hand cream I have hit pan on which I will definitely consider repurchasing....

The hand cream I am talking about is the Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula with Vitamin E Concentrated Cream. Although I have heard many great things about the Palmer's brand, especially for body moisturizing, I have never planned to buy this cream. All I knew was that I needed a new hand cream since my Neutrogena one was empty. Since I wanted to try something new I checked a different pharmacy and had a look at their hand creams section. When I saw this cream I really got interested and started reading the information at the back of the packaging. Initially, I wasn't going to buy it because of the fact that it contains perfume, and you all know I prefer unfragranced products especially for my face and hands. This cream was the one I ended up picking.

This cream is supposed to soften, smooth and relieve very dry skin. And it's technically not a hand cream but a concentrated moisturizing cream for hands, elbows, knees and feet. In my opinion it works perfectly as a hand cream as while being moisturizing is not too heavy and sticky. These 2 characteristics are the ones I liked the most when compared to the Neutrogena hand cream. While this latter is very stiff and sticky and takes long to blend into the skin, the Palmer's cream moisturizes my hands and leaves them soft without any grease and stickiness. Plus it's quickly blended  and absorbed into the skin.

Even though I still prefer an unfragranced hand cream, especially during this part of the year when my hands are not only dry and extra sensitive but they are also cracked, inflamed and swollen - I didn't mind the scent which this cream has. It's actually very pleasant. It reminds me of something sweet containing chocolate, caramel and orange. The price was pretty good - 4.35 euros for 60g vs the 5.70 euros Neutrogena hand cream which comes in a 75 ml tube.

I am going to conclude by saying that I enjoyed using this cream. It made me realize that the Neutrogena was far to concentrated, sticky and stiff and was actually making my hands worse. In fact my hands actually needed something super hydrating to stimulate my circulation as they were already stiff and swollen. Having said that I still think there are better hand creams out there. And I intend to find them, try them and continue posting my reviews here. And to give you a sneak peak of what is coming- I am actually trying a new hand cream which has more product, it's half the price and is surprisingly amazing! If you want to know which hand cream it is subscribe and you will be notified when I post this review. 

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Smooth, Healthy & Replenished Hair.....Shampoo & Conditioner Review

Since my last hair post, New Haircut + Winter Hair Routine, my hair has changed a lot. Thankfully, the change has been a positive one. Although my hair has always been healthy, partly thanks to mother nature and the other part thanks to taking good care of it (in terms of using less heat as possible and only colouring it once so far), before my December haircut it was sort of dry, lifeless and very frizzy. Usually my hair falls into place the next day I was and hair dry it without doing anything. But at that time it wasn't looking good even after washing it and styling it. The hair cut helped a lot, and so did the hair routine I talked about in that same post. However, my hair never felt as good as during the past month. I am sure I owe it to the new hair shampoo and conditioner combo I have been using since mid January 2013. So here I am sharing these amazing 2 products with you, hoping that they will make your hair as smooth, nourished, full of life and healthy looking as they did with mine.

One of this product is part of a brand I have already tried and reviewed, Dr Organic. You can check my Dr Organic Vitamin E Shampoo review here. This time, I was finally able to get my hands on the Dr Organic Manuka Honey Shampoo which I have been wanting to try for a few months. We all know honey is a great and powerful natural ingredient both to eat and to apply on our skin as well as hair. And lately I have been experienced the powerful effects of honey (especially when mixed with lemon juice) for easing digestion as well as protecting and healing colds and flu. Hence, I had high hopes about this honey shampoo doing great things for my hair. And it did! As stated on the front packaging label, this shampoo not only smells amazing but also heals your hair by replenishing it with all the good things it needs to be healthy, restoring its original healthy look, regenerating it and nourishing it from the roots to the ends. It also lasts a good amount of time. I have started using on January 18 and I still have about 1/4 left. Its thick consistency makes it great for  deep cleaning oily hair as well as nourishing dry hair and scalp.

The amazing conditioner I have been using in combination with the above shampoo, is the QV Gentle Conditioner. I have been wanting to try a hair product by QV for the past year but it wasn't available in Malta until last month. So you can imagine my excitement. I was however worried that I wasn't going to like it, but I did. This conditioner really makes my hair smooth and moisturized since the moment I am applying it on my shampooed hair until the next time I am washing it. The fact that it is free from soap, fragrances and other unhealthy ingredients and that it is recommended by dermatologists is a great plus for me since I suffer from itchy scalp. I believe this conditioner was the solution to my frizzy hair because it really does lock moisture into the hair. Styling my hair has become so much easier now that my hair is so smooth. To give you an example, for my Valentine's date night  with my husband this is all I did for my hair: I washed it the day before using this products combo I have been talking about; I left it in a towel for less than an hour; then I applied my 2 Tresemme styling products  which you see here and I dried my hair with my hair dryer using no brush; the next day I simply twisted my hair and clipped it for few hours; and after dressing up and doing my makeup I took down my hair and I applied my serum and some hair spray. You can check my Valentine's day outfit of the night post if you want to see how my hair looked without any straightening or curling. 

Next on my list are the Dr Organic Olive Oil Shampoo and another of the Weleda conditioners.

                

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A good eyebrow kit....Essence Eyebrow Stylist Set Review

 Until very recently, I rarely filled in my eyebrows. The main reason was that I didn't have the right product, and when I would use any brown shadow to fill them in, I wouldn't like the result. At the beginning of 2013 I decided to buy an eyebrow kit, and I am really pleased with the one  I bought. It's cheap but does a great job. It's the Essence Eyebrow Stylist Set.

 

This eyebrow kit comes with 2 shades and a tiny eyebrow angled flat brush. I like both colours. While I use the darker shade to fill in any sparse areas when I want a more defined eyebrow, I like the lighter one for a more relaxed and natural result. These shades are very pigmented and last well for several hours, even without being set with an eyebrow gel. The brush is very handy, it has in my opinion the right size and allows a precise application. 

I definitely recommend this product for the low price and the good quality.

If you still do not fill in your eyebrows, I recommend you to give it a try. You will be amazed by how much of a difference it makes. When I fill in my eyebrows, I get more defined eyes and my entire face looks more put together.

Have you tried this product? If not, which eyebrow kit do you love?

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Catrice Concealer Palette....A Review

I have been wanting to purchase a good concealer palette for months, and I finally found one. It's cheap and has the perfect shades for my skin tone. I am talking about the Catrice Allround Concealer Palette.

As you know I have been raving about the Maybelline Affinitone concealer in shade 01 for years. After having repurchased it several times I decided to try a new one, and I went with the L'Oreal Paris Infallible Concealer. Since I don't like the latter at all, I was pretty happy to like this new concealer palette which is actually 1/3 of the L'Oreal concealer price. 

As you can see in the image above, this concealer palette comes in 5 shades: a green one for concealing redness, a pink one for under eye circles and any other blue veins showing on your face (especially if you are fair), a dark beige, a medium beige and a light beige. This is how I like to use them.

• I like to apply the pink shade under my eyes followed by the lightest shade which I also apply on my eyelids as a primer. This combination gives me a good result in terms of concealing my under eye area and also brightening it.
• I also use the lightest one to conceal any blemishes on the rest of my face as well as my redness.
• I use the dark beige to contour my cheeks and my nose.
• Although I am not currently making any use of the medium beige, this might be great for Summer if I decide to tan.
• I have only used the green one once and, while it wasn't bad, it's definitely my least favourite in the palette.

This concealer palette comes in cream form and I think that's why I like it so much. Lately, I have been noticing that my skin doesn't do well with very liquid products like my Vichy foundation and the L'Oreal Concealer. While these latter don't blend well, the creamy concealers in the Catrice palette have a consistency which makes them very easy to blend. I also get way fewer creases, especially under the eye.

Overall, I definitely recommend any of you to try this product- especially since it's under 4 euros. 

Have you tried the Catrice Allround Concealer Palette? Let me know if you like it?

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Facial Brush by Body Shop.....A Review

While I am extremely happy with my makeup remover, which is the Dermo Cleanser (review here), I cannot say the same about my cleanser. For the past year or so I have tried various cleansers. While I have purchased the Dermo Cleanser at least 3 times (soon 4) during the last year, no cleanser has left me amazed or has really been that good to make me repurchase it again. I tried the Cetaphil (review here), the Softnening Foaming Gel (review here) by La Roche Posay and I have been using the Dermo Cleanser few times a week as a cleanser apart from using it to remove my makeup. The reason why I am not liking any of the cleansers I try is that I keep compairing them with the one cleanser I really liked, the Clinique cleansing bar. Although, this might be a little drying in the long run, especially for normal to combination skin like mine, it used to give me a squeaky clean feeling no other cleanser does. But because I was actually allergic to all of the Clinique products I was using I cannot use that cleanser any longer. Since the Clinique soap bar foaming effect was one thing I really liked about it, I have tried to use foaming cleansers which are both gentle and fragrance free. So far, the one which foams most is the Softening Foaming gel but it has an unpleasant scent which at times really bothers me. One more thing I have tried is to use a facial cleansing accessory to wash my face together with my cleanser with the aim of achieving that squeaky clean feeling I have been talking about. So far I tried the Body Shop soft facial cleansing sponge and the Body Shop facial brush. While the first one didn't cause any foaming at all and made my face feel more greasy than clean, the second one gives me a little foaming. Below are more details about this facial brush....

The first time I used the facial brush I thought that it was scratching my face more than cleaning it. In fact, the bristles felt very harsh on my skin and I didn't like the cleansing result I got. After few uses (about 3 times) the brush became softer and I started getting used to handle it, especially around the nose area and on the actual nose which are the hardest areas to reach with this brush. I still think this brush is not amazing and I won't repurchase it again. One thing I like is that it stimulates my facial circulation which I think might be a good think to keep my face looking young. In fact, after I use this together with one of my cleansers, my face looks extremely red but not sore. After few minutes the face goes back to its normal skin tone. The best cleanser to use with this brush, among the ones I have tried, is the Softening Foaming Gel because it allows some foaming and gives me a better cleansing result.
 

So far, after using it for about 3 weeks, I cannot say that it has done any good to my skin. But since it had done no harm either I am going to keep using it about 3 times a week. I wouldn't however recommend this to someone with very dry skin, or even very sensitive skin, nor to people with active breakouts. This is definitely something you might be interested in trying if your skin is either normal, normal to combination or combination without extremes of oiliness or dryness. 

Since the price was 4 euros and it seems it's going to last me a long time since it keeps well and doesn't seem to be deteriorating in any way so far, I can say it was definitely worth the money (at least to try it). I also like the fact that it comes with a cap, although I keep mine without the cap on to make sure it dries between each use and doesn't get moldy or smelly.

I will definitely keep on trying more cleansing accessories and also new cleansers, and keep you informed about the results I get. So keep reading.....

Have you tried the Body Shop Facial Brush? Did you like it?

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