Silk Naturals Haul

I wrote about my first dip into the waters of Silk Naturals the other day, and I was so impressed I bought full sizes of everything except the Kiss Foaming Cleanser - and not because there was anything wrong with that, but because Lily already has a massive bottle of Cetaphil cleanser that she is working through and that's fine for now. I also took a chance on a full bottle of the Intensive Moisturiser (without having sampled it) rather than the Firming Moisturiser. I did like the Firming Moisturiser but it wasn't moisturising enough under makeup. I was so excited to get my hands on this haul - I loved the samples, and I hated having to go back to my regular stuff while I waited for the full bottles to arrive. But now they're here! And I've been all over it!

I'll do full reviews when I've had a proper amount of time to test it all, but for now I'll just tell you what I bought.

Silk Naturals Skin Care: First Impressions

A while ago I read a review about Silk Naturals skin care on someone's blog - and I can't for the life of me remember whose it was (if you're reading this can you speak up because I've been trying to find that post again!). I know it was someone Australian, because they talked about international shipping... anyway the point is that the post interested me enough to want to try the line myself, despite the fact that I have skin care products up the wazoo.

In fact, having skin care products up the wazoo is the problem - I'm constantly chopping and changing and trying something new for a review or whatever, but what I really want to do is find a line I like and stick to it. I'm sick of all these whizz bang products with stupid made-up ingredients in them, and I'd like to find something clean, effective, and with as few bells and whistles as possible. So this brand sounded like it was exactly the kind of thing I wanted to have a go at.

I don't remember when I ordered and received it, but from memory it was about three weeks from go to whoa - not bad considering that it's probably made to order (I don't really know, but most of the products have a limited shelf life, so I would assume so) and post from overseas has been DEATHLY SLOW of late. A lip balm order I did from Etsy was shipped on 7/10 and I didn't get it until Thursday. A MONTH. Either Customs or Australia Post are playing funny buggers. Probably both.

But I digress. I bought samples of all the products I wanted to try, and for most I bought two samples, assuming they would just be those one use sachets. However, they came in little dropper bottles and most had a good three or four uses in them (some even more) so I had a chance to have a really good try of everything - happy with that! And the samples were only $0.75 - $1.50US, so I was able to get a load of things to try and including shipping it was less than $25US. They send out a free sample with your order that changes each week - the one I got was an eyeshadow called Sunny. Meh, it's yellow - I'm not a yellow eyeshadow person. That will go as a freebie to someone next time I have a blog sale, I suspect. There was also a little sample of a lip product, but Noodle Arms took it and I never actually saw what it was.

So here is what I bought and what I think of it - it's a long list, so get set for some reading!

Tag: I Wish I Hadn't Bothered

This is a tag that Jacquie started the other day, and I struggled with it a bit, because if there's something I really regret or don't like, I tend to just give it away. If I'm not going to use something, I'd much rather it go to someone who will use it. Either that or I just throw it out. However, I had a look around and found a few things that I think fit the tag.

Face of Australia Face Base & Gentle Makeup Remover

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive an enormous bag of goodies from Face of Australia, and I've been testing them out and messing about with them since. That is, all except for a big bottle of Auscreen Coconut-scented Sunscreen Spray, which Noodle Arms absconded with for her school sports day and I haven't seen since. I've smelled it wafting past me a few times, though...

New YouTuber

My friend Tegan and I both reviewed Hissy Fit (Hissyfit?) Saving Face Tinted Moisturiser recently - my review is here and Tegan's is here.

Tegan's just done her first YouTube video for The Beauty Explorers, where she talks about this product and gives some very interesting information about how SPFs are tested. And she also mentions me! So check it out, because she's nice and she knows her stuff.

Nivea Visage Q10 Plus Anti-Wrinkle Tinted Day Cream SPF15

Is it just me, or are the names of skincare products getting ridiculously long? Tegan sent me a tube of the Nivea Tinted Day Cream a few weeks ago and I've tried it a few times since - it's taken me a while to make up my mind about it.

The odd thing is that it only comes in one colour, and claims to be "suitable for all skin tones". I don't know about that. I don't see how something that looks okay on me - a fair-skinned person - would also look okay on someone who had dark skin. There's something about that that doesn't sit well with me. It seems kind of... homogeneous.

Favourite skincare/body products in 2010

Cleanser
Ye Olde Staple, Clarins Cleansing Milk with Gentian. I have been buying this for several years now, and though I dabble with other cleansers regularly, I always come back to this one. I've bought bottle after bottle after bottle - it's great to stock up on when there's a GWP going. Love it!

A question for you beauty geniuses - I need help!

I seem to have picked up a bunch of new followers overnight (thanks no doubt to Heather's awesome shout out) and I've hit 100! That is so exciting - I remember getting my first follower and being chuffed to think that someone was actually reading my blather. Hello and welcome, new followers! And hello to everyone else too, I really appreciate you being here. I think I should do a giveaway, but it will have to wait a couple of weeks until I get Noodle Arms all sorted for high school this year. I'll definitely give that some thought and come back to it, though.

HissyFit Saving Face Tinted Moisturiser SPF30+

Tegan from Tegania's Thoughts reviewed the Hissyfit Tinted Moisturiser the other day, and since I had a sample of it, I thought I'd give it a go and review it as well. I wasn't as enamoured of it as she was, unfortunately.

Clarins Skin Beauty Repair Concentrate

I don't really have sensitive skin as such - that is, I don't generally have to be careful about certain brands or ingredients. However, as I have a tendency to chop and change products and test out a lot of different things, every now and then my skin rebels and goes a bit nuts.

This is what was happening when I went to visit the Clarins counter some time last year. The sales assistant recommended the Skin Beauty Repair Concentrate, and although I nearly keeled over from the price of it ($86AUD, from memory), I decided to give it go. To be honest, I rarely stop and engage with shop assistants on makeup counters because as soon as they have my attention, they can pretty much sell me anything. A couple of times when I just wanted a GWP and only needed to buy specific things to get it, I would send Ben in with a list so I didn't have to cop the cajoling to buy something else, and something else and something else...

Cheap and sometimes cheerful...

I think I'm poorer at the moment than I have ever been in my adult life, but I have to admit, it's my own fault. I've supported myself (and then myself and Noodles) for many years, but six years living with a partner and having a ton of newly disposable income turned me into a profligate spendthrift. Since he moved out in May, I've been trying to get back into the habit of being responsible, and it's hard! Hopefully by the end of the year I'll be back on track, but for now one of my strategies is to drastically reduce the amount of money I fritter away on expensive vanity products. To that end, when I ran out of a few products last month, I decided that instead of stocking up on pricy cleaning oils, Clinique facial wash, and L'Occitane hand cream, I'd have a crack at the supermarket shelves. The results have been... hit and miss.

Olay Gentle Foaming Face Wash
I like to use foaming cleansers in the shower in the mornings just to refresh my face and cleanse off any overnight grime. I usually use Clinique Liquid Facial Soap, but even on Strawberrynet that goes for about $30, whereas the Olay Gentle Foaming Face Wash cost me about $9AUD in Safeway (or Woolworths as they call it here in Adelaide - should be called Safeway though). It's a very unexciting product - fragrance free, boring packaging - but it does what I wanted it to do, which is cleanse and refresh my face without drying it out. I think I will continue to buy this - a third of the price of my usual morning cleanser is okay by me!

L'Oreal Gentle Make-Up Remover for Eyes and Lips
I received this free in my recent L'Oreal haul, and all I can say is WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE? I love this - it removes all of my makeup without stinging my eyes, and without me having to scrub away at my skin. It is a bit oily - and I've read a few complaints about that in various reviews, but I always cleanse after with a cream cleanser (Clarins Cleansing Milk), so I don't care about that. It's one of those Bi Facil products with the two separate parts, and you shake it up before you use it. I think it's about $12AUD, and you can get it from Priceline and supermarkets.

Garnier Skin Naturals Clean Sensitive 2 in 1 Waterproof Make-Up Remover
Another Bi Facil product you shake before using. Unfortunately, this one isn't anywhere near as effective as the L'Oreal one. I had to rub quite a bit to get makeup off, and even then I still had a lot of residue coming off when I did the second cleanse with my cream cleanser. I don't think this is a very good makeup remover at all, and certainly not for sensitive skin because you have to really work to get it off and that could only be irritating for you delicate flowers. It's about $10 in Woolworths; I wouldn't buy it again.

Vaseline Healthy Hand and Nail Conditioning Hand Lotion
Ugh. When it comes to hand cream, you really do get what you pay for. When I was in Woolworths buying these cheapies, I was actually looking for that Nivea Q10 anti-ageing hand cream, which I think is about $10-$12. It's not great, but it's okay. However, there was barely anything - bit slack on restocking the shelves there Woolies! - so I pretty much had to get what was available, which was this. It was about $4, I think. It's terrible. My hands are pretty trashed from constant washing - years and years of working in public contact have turned me into a bit of a germophobe. This hand lotion does absolutely nothing to moisturise them. In this instance I am definitely going back to the more expensive products, and I hope it's not too late to undo some of the damage!

My current routine

This one has been doing the rounds again - I believe The Belle Lumiere kicked it off earlier this week, but you can also nose around in the virtual bathroom cabinets of Dempeaux, Jade Musing and love vulcanella.

Face

01. Cleanser
Morning: Olay Gentle Foaming Face Wash
Evening: Clarins Cleansing Milk
02. Toner/lotion
Clarins Toning Lotion with Iris
03. Serum
Morning: Alpha-H Liquid Gold Poly-Oxidant
Evening: Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair
04. Moisturiser
Morning: Nivea Anti-Wrinkle Q10 Plus Day Care
Evening: Paula's Choice Resist Barrier Repair
05. Facial mask
Paula's Choice Carbon Mask, Payot Masque Clarifiant
06. Exfoliator
Palmer's Gentle Exfoliating Face Scrub
07. Make-up remover
L'Oreal Gentle Eye Makeup Remover, Garnier Skin Naturals 2 in 1 Waterproof Makeup Remover

Body

08. Shower gels/soaps
Philosophy Vanilla Cake Batter 3 in 1
09. Body lotions/creams
Perfumatory Vixen Body Cream
10. Hand cream
Clarins Age Control Hand Lotion
11. Lip balm or lip treatment
The Morbid The Merrier Caramel Apple Lip Balm, Ophelia's Apothecary Buttercream Frosting Lip Scrub
12. Perfume
Van Cleef & Arpels First, Van Cleef & Arpels Collection Extraordinaire Orchidee Vanille, Jean Paul Gaultier Classique, Chanel Coco Mademoiselle

Hair

13. Shampoo/conditioner
Frederic Fekkai Glossing Shampoo, Terax Crema
14. Mask or other treatments
Moroccan Oil

Make-up

15. Foundation
Chanel Mat Lumiere in Cendre, Revlon ColorStay in Sand Beige (or Beige Sand?)
16. Powder
Chanel Poudre Douce in Mimosa
17. Blush
Milani Luminous
18. Mascara
L'Oreal  Extra Volume Collagene Mascara
19. Lipstick/lipgloss
MAC Syrup, ELF Liquid Lipstick in Bark and Pink Lemonade
20. Eyeshadow
NARS Ondine, Urban Decay Toasted, Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow Flatter Me, NYX Shimmer
21. Eyeliner
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil Slate

Review: Alpha-H

A few months ago I bought a starter kit of Alpha-H products from Adore Beauty purely on impulse, and then promptly shoved it in a drawer and forgot about it. However, in my current attempts to not buy anything I don't absolutely need, I've been working my way through my "samples and trials" drawer (pictured above), and a few weeks ago I hauled the kit out and started using it. The kit comes with the following products:

*Liquid Gold 50ml
*Triple Action Cleanser 50ml
*Liquid Gold Daily Poly-Oxidant Complex 30ml
*Rejuvenating Cream 50ml
*Liquid Gold Smoothing and Perfecting Mask 4ml
*Liquid Gold Power Peeling Pads x 3

So, what's it all like then?

Review: Skin Physics Photon LED Photo Rejuvenation System

A couple of months ago I was sent a Skin Physics LED Starter Kit to trial for Beauty Heaven. I was pretty excited, because I'd been wanting to have a go at one of these, but wasn't so keen on coughing up the $300 to do so. You've probably seen the ads - the deal is that the LED light supposedly regenerates collagen and does all kinds of other whizz bang things to make you look speccy and young. I've seen something similar being flogged on TVSN, and to be frank, it looked like a bit of a dodge, so even though I wanted to try it, I was a bit skeptical.

A general ramble about nothing much.

I am what my mother used to call a Gunner - as in, I'm "gunna" do this and I'm "gunna" do that. I talk big and make grand plans, but I rarely follow through. This is because I am a) impulsive, and b) lazy. For those of you who believe in Astrology, I'm also a Gemini Monkey, so that might have something to do with it. Lately however, I've finally learned how to just shut up and get on with it, and there are two things that I am quietly pleased about. 

Review: L'oreal Youth Code

This is L'oreal's new anti-ageing range, and I was lucky enough to be sent some to trial by Beauty Heaven. I've been using it for about six weeks now.

Review: Alpha-H Age Delay Hand and Cuticle Cream

Years of working in public contact jobs has made me something of a germophobe, and though I'm not compulsive about it, I do wash my hands a lot more often than most people. More often than most people I know anyway, but maybe I just know a lot of grotty people. I also use that antiseptic hand gel stuff a lot, and though the upside of that is that I don't get very many colds, the downside is red, flaky, dry hands that are completely trashed.

Hair cuts

Noodle Arms and I have been to the hairdresser's today - we were way past due for a cut. It was a very pleasant afternoon - the ladies were lovely, and boy did they know an easy sell when they saw one. We came out $300 poorer, but with great hair, waxed eyebrows, and a whole load of products:

Review: NeoStrata Bionic Eye Cream

This unassuming, unexciting little tube is my Holy Grail eye cream. I haven't had any for a while because I had a ton of other bits and pieces from GWPs and impulse buys that I wanted to use up first, but now I'm back, baby!

The first time I tried it, I saw results within a week - I kid you not. Fine lines were smoothed and my under eye concealer didn't go cakey halfway through the day, as it is wont to do. The key ingredient is something called Lactobionic Acid. I did you all a favour and looked that up - it's a sugar acid used in the cosmetic industry as an antioxidant (according to Wikipedia). Whatever it is, it works a treat. 

The second key ingredient is Vitamin K, which is there to help fade under eye circles. Until recently I didn't have dark circles, but I sure do now, and Bionic Eye Cream has helped to reduce those. To be honest though, I am not seeing a DRAMATIC improvement in that area. I'm not overly fussed about it, because my main concern is the wrinkles, but if you're looking for something to really get rid of dark under eye circles, I can't honestly say this is going to be your miracle cream.

I also use it on the fine lines around my top lip, and I can see a difference about two weeks after regular use.  Honestly, what more can I say about this product? It does exactly what you would want it to do.

It costs about $50AUD (you can often get it for about $40 on pharmacy websites, but then you're paying postage on top so not much cheaper), and it's a teeny tube, but it lasts for ages. It doesn't have much of a scent - I can't pick up anything unless I sniff it right up close, and then there is a very faint whiff of something like tea.

One or both of these items is keeping me young.

A couple of months ago I received a tube of ROC Retin-Ox Wrinkle Filler to review for Beauty Heaven, which was very exciting as I'd never received anything from them before. Around the same time, I finally cracked into a jar of Estee Lauder Time Zone that I'd bought on a whim months earlier to get a GWP (Estee Lauder always has the best GWPs).

I was more rigorous about using the Wrinkle Filler, as that was for review purposes, and right up to the day I was due to submit my review (after about six weeks of use), I was convinced that there was nothing more than a cosmetic effect, that - as the name suggests - it filled in wrinkles while you had it on, and once you washed it off it was gone. However, when I was examining "after" pics of my giant forehead, I realised that it was actually looking more smooth, and this was without the product applied. I could also feel that it was less "indented", if you know what I mean. I continued using it after my review was submitted, and I've noticed a definite change in the appearance of my (few, it has to be said) wrinkles. It's obviously a product that takes a few weeks to kick in.

I used the Time Zone about three or four times a week around the same time - it was particularly hot weather at the time and I hate having layers of product on my face in Summer, so a lot of the time I just let the wrinkle filler act as a moisturiser. So I don't know that it really had much of an effect on the end result, but it is a lovely, smooth moisturiser that sinks in quickly and doesn't have that general Estee Lauder problem of being so overly-fragranced that you feel like you're in an old lady's "best room" waiting for a watery cup of tea and  a stale scone. I'm just about to run out of it in the next couple of days (woo - P10P addition!), and I don't think I'll buy it again. It was $120, and for that price I could buy a jar of the Planet Skincare moisturiser I've been coveting for ages.

I will buy some more of the ROC Wrinkle Filler, though - that's definitely earning its keep.