Skin Care

Does H2O Plus Bath Aquatics Escape Collection Equal the Ocean in a Box?

October 23rd, 2010 by Karen 6 Comments

Do you sea? Over there on the counter? The new H2O Plus Bath Aquatics Escape Collection looks like the ocean in a box. The $22.50 gift/travel set comes with four 4-oz. bottles of bodacious sea-derived body care.

What do you get, besides a good-looking present?

Shower & Bath Gel
Body Buffer
Moisturizing Body Balm
Hand & Nail Cream

BIG bottles — well, big for a gift set. As a matter of fact, the bottles are a little too big to bring in your carry-on (the TSA limit’s 3.4 oz.), but that’s both a blessing and a curse. At least you get more for your ducats.

All four have the same fresh scent, a mix of watery notes, baby powder and lemon. I like it. H2O calls it Natural Spring…

I wonder if it’s located near the Irish Spring, haha!

Right at the top of the box are the words, “sea-derived skincare,” and each of them contains cool things like watercress, Iceland moss, algae and seaweed.

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Do Philosophy Purity Made Simple One-Step Facial Cleansing Cloths Live Up to Great Expectations?

October 22nd, 2010 by Karen 24 Comments

Great Expectations isn’t just the story of an orphan named Pip. It’s also what I had for these facial cleansing cloths from Philosophy.

But can you blame me? Purity Made Simple One-Step Facial Cleansing Cloths are named after one of my favorite products of all time, Philosophy’s Purity Made Simple liquid cleanser.

Yep, PMS and I go waaaay back… 🙂

I couldn’t even venture a guess at how many bottles of it I’ve used over the years, but it’s been a lot.

Like the liquid version, the cloths, which have been out on shelves for a while now, are supposed to remove dirt, oil and makeup, except they do it without the need to rinse.
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Ladies and Gentlemen, Put Your Hands Together for the H2O Plus Hand and Nail Cream Trio

October 19th, 2010 by Karen 35 Comments

H2O Plus Hand and Nail Cream

Quick, name one hip hop song in which Timbaland does NOT appear as a guest artist.

Takes a minute, doesn’t it? 🙂 The guy is everywhere! He’s like a hip hop virus. I had my iTunes on random yesterday, and I swear the man was uttering nonsense in every other song. “Uh huh, uh uh,” “freaky-freaky-freaky!”

But no matter how many times he’s been featured in songs — and I’m fairly sure it’s in the hundreds — I bet I have him beat hands down in one area: hand washing. Because I like to wash my hands. A lot.

This also means my hands get dry. A lot (often?).

It’s worse in the colder months, which means hand creams? — totally my BFFs. Lately I’ve been getting my moisture on with these travel-friendly 2-oz. tubes of Hand and Nail Cream from H2O Plus.
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You Just Might Lava c.Booth Deep Cleansing Volcanic Mud Mask

October 16th, 2010 by Karen 8 Comments

Written by Annabella

Not even active volcanoes can stop UK beauty blogger Annabella of Skin Scrubs! Her beauty adventures have taken her from the British Isles to Appalachian drugstores — like the one where she discovered the subject of today’s guest post.

Mother Nature is a powerful force. It makes the trees grow, gives us beautiful tabby cats, and can delay flights for several hours when Icelandic volcanoes decide to erupt.

My holiday flight to Atlanta was delayed by nine hours last spring as the Icelandic volcano EyjafjallajÃ¶kull decided once again to spew ash into the air. Thankfully I found out the evening before so I wasn’t sitting around the airport all morning; however we still ended up sitting on the ground waiting for a new time slot to take off as the ash cloud above weaved its way around UK airspace. Eventually we took off but our flight was nearly two hours longer than usual as we had to fly around the ash. I am grateful though that our delays weren’t as bad as the first time disruptions started earlier this year.

A few days later whilst driving around the hills of Kentucky I went into a Rite-Aid store looking for something that I can’t remember only to notice the c.Booth Deep Cleansing Volcanic Mud Mask ($9.99 for a 4 fl. oz. tube) sitting on the shelf. Already knowing that a volcano can delay my holiday, I wondered if it was powerful enough to help my mostly oily, some times irritated and blotchy skin.
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Neutrogena Rainbath Refreshing Shower and Bath Gel: The Old Faithful in My Shower

October 13th, 2010 by Karen 55 Comments

Neutrogena Rainbath Review

Hmm… I honestly don’t know what Tabs would have said about me if he’d known me back in my Neutrogena Rainbath Refreshing Shower and Bath Gel phase ($8 for an 8.5 oz bottle), aka the late ’90s, aka my club kid days.

“Meow,” perhaps?

In his short kitty lifetime, he’s only known me as his cranky, uncool mum — the boring one who hits the haaay every night at 10.

He probably would have liked the late nights and parties because, back then, that’s how I rolled.

My, how things change…

‘Fridge magnet philosophy

Neutrogena Rainbath Refreshing Shower and Bath Gel sure takes me back… I’ve been using it off and on for years, at least as far back as the mi-’90s. It’s like the Old Faithful in my shower and keeps returning over and over again.
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Meet Tender Veronica Malibu Seaweed & Pineapple Body Scrub

October 12th, 2010 by Karen 39 Comments

I love a good meat tenderizer as much as the next gal, but I didn’t expect to find one — make that two in my new body scrub!

No, indie skin care line Veronica Malibu does not have quality control issues at their manufacturing plant. The meat tenderizers I found in this jar of Seaweed & Pineapple Body Scrub ($28 for a 2-oz. jar) were added deliberately, and they make the product stand out in the crowded field of skin scrubs.

Lately, I haven’t been in the mood for abrasive or painful scrubs; I want something kinder and gentler, so when I found out that water, aloe vera gel and seaweed were the top three ingredients in Veronica Malibu’s new scrub, it piqued my interest.

I love aloe and always have. I had a plant once, but I left it in my dad’s care when I moved away to college. Bad move… Let’s just say, his thumbs weren’t vera green at that time. 🙂

This scrub’s a gel, so it has that slimy feel to it (which you’ll probably either love or hate), but I find it strangely refreshing. Among other things, the gel contains jojoba beads, papain (from papaya) and bromelain enzymes (compounds derived from pineapples); along with papain, bromelain is one of the most popular substances to use for meat tenderizing.
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Dolce & Gabbana Rose the One Shower Gel and Body Lotion

October 8th, 2010 by Karen 17 Comments

If you were planning to pick up a dozen bottles of Dolce & Gabbana’s new Rose the One body products this month, I hate to break it to ya, but the Saks website says “No can do,” (in so many words).

Because of high demand, they’re limiting customers to just six (!) bottles of either the Body Lotion ($38 for 6.7oz) or Shower Gel ($38 for 6.7oz) every 30 days.

Yep, six bottles every 30 days.

Why anyone would need six bottles of this or any body lotion or shower gel is neither here nor there. 🙂

Both new products are scented with softened versions of the company’s Rose the One fragrance, with its notes of pink grapefruit, Mandarin orange, peach, lily of the valley, Bulgarian Rose, peony, geranium, plum, Ambrette seed, vanilla, amber and musk.

It’s a light fragrance — modern, youthful and fresh — and not heavy or matronly.

The Body Lotion feels thin, and while I usually prefer thicker creams, I like this reasonably hydrating, fast absorbing formula. It doesn’t leave a greasy residue, either, which is nice.
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I’ve Been Licked! Must Be New Urban Decay Honey Sparkling Lickable Body Powder’s Fault

September 30th, 2010 by Karen 28 Comments

urban decay honey sparkling lickable body powder review top

I wonder what Willy Wonka would have to say about new Urban Decay Honey Sparkling Lickable Body Powder ($29 for 0.78oz). Based on the name, doesn’t it sound like something he’d like?

A loose powder with colored glitter for your bod, it’s part of Urban Decay’s new line of Sparkling Lickable Body Powders released for the holidays, and it couldn’t be a whole lot easier to use.

With the included puff, just apply to arms, legs or anywhere else, and because it’s Urban Decay, the glitter’s fairly obvious, in other words, BLING!

I like the glittery look it bestows to my skin, but glitter doesn’t make the product stand out; this one’s more a matter of taste, as in the fact that it’s edible.

If honey’s not your cup of tea (a shimmery golden glitter with — SURPRISE! — a honey flavor and scent), it also comes in Marshmallow (a shimmery white glitter that tastes/smells like marshmallow) and Cocoa (a shimmery bronze that tastes/smells like chocolate).

So, are they magically delicious?

urban decay honey sparkling lickable body powder review open

urban decay honey sparkling lickable body powder review puff
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