Lux Soft Touch Body Wash + Join the Lux Giveaway!

Hey dearies!

One of the things that I enjoy is when I smell something really good. I'm not talking about food, I'm talking about fragrance. I'm a sucker for good-smelling rooms. I always have a room spray next to my bed in-case I needed to uplift my mood before I rest. I also have scented oils and scented candles with different fragrances and I use/light one depending on what I feel. My love for fragrances doesn't stop there, I also appreciate bath and body products that smell really good. So what smell is "good" for me? I like florals like sampaguita, moringa, and rose scents as well as powdery scents. There are days when I am addicted to musky ones too but only for perfumes. ;)

A couple of days ago, I saw a package for me in the mail. It contained the following products:

Do you see the scent? It's FRENCH ROSE! So the first thing I did was open the lid and sniff the product to check how it smelled... and it was glorious!

The scent already sold the product to me and this reason also made me curious of how the other three variants—White Impress, Magical Spell, and Love Forever—smell like.

And of course, since this product smells so good, I had been using it everyday. Before I share more of my thoughts on the product, check the labels first for more information:

Info from the website:

Revel in irresistibly soft skin with LUX Soft Touch. Infused with moisturizing SilkEssence™ and French Rose, this beauty secret will leave you with silky soft skin that's delicately scented.

Here's how the product look like. It's like a pearlescent light pink cream. I use it with a bath foam or a bath pouf and it foams up very well.

After I rinse the product off my skin, I don't encounter dryness. Some people associate strong scents to cause skin to dry, but I don't really believe that. This product proves that you can smell really good without drying skin. Even after an hour after taking a bath, I can still smell the French Rose scent on my skin! 

And you get to experience this luxurious treat of Lux Soft Touch in a very affordable price of PhP 55.00 for 100ml, PhP 120.00 for 250ml.

And if you're not a fan of body washes, check this out:

Lux Soft Touch is also available in a bar form! 

The bar soap looks really pretty because of the low relief details. 

 A bar is worth PhP 39.00 only!

Do check out the Lux Soft Touch products and experience luxury in an affordable price. You can purchase them at leading department stores, supermarkets and drug stores and online via BeautyMNL, Zalora, and Lazada.

OR YOU CAN GET THEM FOR FREE!

Just join this contest:

To join the Lux IG contest, post a selfie and answer why they love having fragrant skin. With just a selfie and a few clicks, you may be one of the twenty winners who will receive a Lux Soft Touch gift pack! Wooot! And oh, don't forget to use the hashtags #BatheWithLux and #LuxSoftTouch.

 Giveaway duration is from April 28 to May 28, 2016.

They'll need to follow @LuxPH on IG as that is where winners will be announced

Do join the giveaway and give these products a try! Once you do, let me know what you think of the Lux Soft Touch or its other variants. ;)


Cheers,
DAWN 

Review: The Body Shop Oils of Life: Intensely Revitalising Facial Oil

Good evening ladies,

This may be a long overdue review but I think it's worth writing. I have been using this product for about a year and I must say, it is a really good product.

Product photos taken from TBS's press photo materials

This product is is part of their Oils of Life collection launched last year. This collection is infused with black cumin seed oil, rosehip seed oil and camellia seed oil which are known for their supreme revitalising and repairing properties on skin.

The full daily regimen consists of the Essence Lotion, Facial Oil, and Gel Cream. But since I was mainly unemployed at that time, I could only go for the Facial Oil. 

So, here was the condition of my face before using the product.

This was my face post-board exams period and I had the most terrible case of seborrheic dermatitis. For anyone who's not familiar with the condition, here is the simplest most non-medical explanation I can give: it's basically dandruff but not JUST on your hair. It's different from psoriasis in that it's not as worse or as wide spread but they are similar in being SUPER itchy. The most common places where you will see them on your face are: sides of the nose, near your eyebrows and sometimes in your eyebrows, and some on the forehead. They're usually red with flakes on top (DO NOT PICK ON THE FLAKES! IT WILL MAKE THINGS WORSE!)

What causes it? Well, for me, mainly: STRESS, extremes of weather, and bad hygiene. I notice that my face gets exceptionally oily AND dry during these times.

What measures have I used to cure it? Before I go and tell you about that, do know that although I am a licensed MD, please see your dermatologist prior to subscribing to the next treatment regimens. 

I have used the ever trusty hydrocortisone cream for the really nasty itchy and red patches, Nizoral shampoo (instead of a facial wash), and a really good moisturizing regimen.

Moisturizers which I always subscribe to are of course the dermatologist brands (oh you know them already). But, I have found that they aren't enough to keep the break out at bay. They are good while you are treating yourself for the condition but come the extremes of weather and stress, I found that they do not tone the breakouts down.

And then this collection from The Body Shop came along.

Product photos taken from TBS's press photo materials

When TBS launched this line, the testimonies were many: "Revives radiance", "Skin looks revitalized", "Skin feels nourished" and the overarching "It's not a miracle, but it's close". Their line says that after 4 weeks, signs of aging will be reduced, wrinkles appear minimized, and skin feels more elastic and firm.

All these things were secondary goals for me. The test for this product was ultimately: can it keep my breakouts at bay and can it speed up the disappearance of my existing dermatitis?

My skin was at the worse during and immediately post-boards. I did all the moisturizing and whatever, but the stress was just too much. I think it did age me since I wasn't getting enough nourishment (I lose my appetite when I am stressed).

My use of this product was on the evenings, after cleansing and toning, I put two drops of the product on my palm and then pat/spread over my whole face. After I feel like my skin has absorbed it fully, I top it with a facial moisturizer. The product is very light and the scent is aromatic and calming (and also light to the nose).

So did it meet the four weeks? Yes, it did. My dermatitis was healed in four weeks. And to be fair I did not use hydrocortisone or Nizoral (because with these they disappear in 2 weeks time). Though I did supplement the nightly regimen with a morning application of moisturizer.

But overall, I was very happy with the result.

Here is my face 2 to 3 months after.

Still quite dry in some areas, but mostly because I started slacking off the morning routine. In the past year, I have not had any severe dermatitis breakout. People may argue that it may be because I am not as stressed as I was, though I beg to disagree. The past month especially stressful for me: deadlines, reports and my first "big mistake" moment at work was met with one teensy tiny dermatitis spot over the side of my nose and that was it. Even in this extreme weather, my lips would chap but my skin was never red, never itchy, and never flaking.

So in that way this for me was a win for the product.

Were the testimonials true for me? Yes and No. Yes, because after I started using this, the number of people mistaking me for a 16 year old has increased (sometimes to the point that it gets really annoying). No, because it still doesn't feel as smooth or as revitalized.

Is it worth it to buy? This is quite a pricey product but it is one of the more affordable oils/serums you can buy. Another serum I bought cost around 4K where this lands at Php 2,395.00 for a 30 ml bottle. Don't worry that it'll run out quick because my 30 ml bottle is still almost 50% full even after almost a year of continued use.

So what do you think? Do you also love this product? If you do and you have the full regimen, please share what using all of them together was like. For now, I will leave you with this nice video I got from The Body Shop's UK website.

Cheers,

LIZ

No More Dry Skin with the Healing Power of Vaseline Body Lotion

Hello loves!

Are you dealing with dry skin? How do you usually deal with it? 

My face has oily skin so with just the right skincare, especially moisturizer, I rarely encounter skin drying on that area. For the body, unfortunately, I do encounter some dryness, mostly on my elbows, knees, and feet. I've experienced this way back when I was a kid and my mom would advise me to apply some petroleum jelly on the dry areas for intensive moisture. When the heels of my feet get cracks, I would apply petroleum jelly and wear socks overnight to keep the product on my feet and not transfer on the bed sheets when I sleep. The next day, the cracks lessened! 

So yeah, I have been a witness to the moisturizing properties of petroleum jelly so when I saw the package that arrived in our mail yesterday, I smiled. Why? Well, it is a kit containing Vaseline's Petroleum Jelly and Lotions. It's always good to receive things that you will surely use, right?

Not only that, it contained this very interesting experiment using the Vaseline Petroleum Jelly! This experiment highlights the healing power of the petroleum jelly. It's actually very fascinating... Check out the video below to learn more:

As seen in the video, they coated leaves with the petroleum jelly and left them outside during the hottest days of our country. It's actually quite amazing how the leaves with the product retain its color and moisture for so long! I didn't see the actual billboard which was along C5 last April 8-10 since I don't usually pass by that area...

BUT I get to have a closer look of this experiment because along with the kit were leaves with and without petroleum jelly! 

THESE ARE REAL LEAVES, GUYS!!!

The leaves may appear darker but it's probably because it was inside the box for so long and without sunlight, but moisture-wise, I'm amazed. I'll be checking these leaves for the next few days to see how long the ones with Vaseline Petroleum Jelly would stay green.

Not only does it retain and provide moisture, it also protects and help heal minor cuts and burns! It really is a wonder product. 

I actually got goosebumps when I read the part on the video where it stated, "If Vaseline can keep a leaf vibrant, imagine what it could do to dry skin."

And the good news doesn't stop there! See those lotions beside the petroleum jelly? What if I told you that they too have petroleum jelly infused in them??

Here are parts of the press release to learn more about this great fusion:

Did you know that tropical weather can actually dehydrate your skin? Unbeknownst to many, living in an environment with a hot and humid climate does not mean that one’s skin will not turn dry. Every day, skin is exposed to factors that can damage and dry it out. From hot showers, air-conditioned rooms, to the heat and pollution during one’s daily commute, skin is stripped off of its natural hydration and moisture. 

To address this, Vaseline aims to make it easy for Filipinas to replenish their skin’s moisture by infusing what is known as a wonder ingredient into their NEW Vaseline body lotions.

In 1859, New York-based chemist Robert A. Chesebrough created a wonder jelly, a do-it-all product that can heal burns, rashes, chapped skin, cuts, bruises, and more. A few years later, this wonder jelly was labeled Petroleum Jelly, which is now an important staple in all households because of its healing properties and outstanding skin benefits, and which is also the very ingredient that is now present in New Vaseline body lotions. Heal dry skin from within with Vaseline Lotions.

The new Vaseline Lotions now has micro-droplets of Vaseline Jelly that works deep from within the epidermis to bring back lost moisture and heal dry skin. To know the condition of your skin, take the Dry Skin Test on http://www.vaseline.ph/skin-index-test. 

I've actually tried the test and got this result:

Good thing I now have Vaseline Lotions to try. I'll use them both and see which variant I like better, although I'm leaning to the Intensive Care one since I'm not much into getting my skin lighter. And I like the scent of it more too. ;)

The lotions are pretty affordable too! Here's the list of prices:

100ml- PhP 69.30

200ml- PhP 126.00
400ml- PhP 225.00

I've actually used both (Intensive Care last night and the Healthy White this morning) and in case you are wondering, both of them are quite lightweight on skin! None of the thick layer that some might dislike when applying petroleum jelly. It sets and gets absorbed by the skin pretty quickly. My skin feels refreshed just a few seconds after applying. I'll continue using the Intensive Care variant from now on and will update this post about my thoughts after finishing the bottle, ayt?

So do check out these lotions at leading supermarkets and department stores nationwide and discover the healing power of Vaseline with me with the petroleum Jelly-infused Vaseline lotions and say hello to well-hydrated skin!


Cheers,
DAWN

NYX Butter Gloss in Raspberry Tart

Hello lovelies!

Here's the swatch post of the last one among the four butter glosses that my friend sent me last December. Yayyyyy!

NYX Butter Gloss in Raspberry Tart

This shade is really cute because of the cool purple-pink shade. You'll see the swatch photos in a bit!

But first, here are pics of the labels on the packaging:

Description from the website:

Buttery soft and silky smooth, our decadent Butter Gloss is now available in 12 more sumptuous shades! Each glossy color delivers sheer to medium coverage that melts onto your lips and is never sticky, leaving your lips soft, supple and kissable.

Ingredients:

Mineral Oil/Paraffinum Liquidum/Huile Minérale, Polybutene, Diisostearyl Malate, Beeswax/Cera Alba/Cire d’Abeille, Silica Dimethyl Silylate [NANO], Microcrystalline Wax/Cera Microcristallina/Cire Microcristalline, Polyethylene, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Paraffin, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance/Parfum. MAY CONTAIN / PEUT CONTENIR (+/-): Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Red 6 (CI 15850), Red 28 Lake (CI 45410), Yellow 6 Lake (CI 15985), Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140), Blue 1 Lake (CI 42090). 

This is the applicator

And the swatches...

On the hand

applied on lips

The color is a rich orchid shade—a beautiful mix of purple and pink. As mentioned in my other posts about the other NYX Butter Glosses, this product is a gloss that keeps the lips hydrated. It's non-sticky too so it's very comfortable to wear. It's the kind of lip gloss that I like. :D

What do you think of the NYX Butter Gloss in Raspberry Tart? What's shade from the Butter Gloss line are you most interested to try?


Cheers,
DAWN

BYS Nude 2 Eyeshadow Palette

Good evening,

I am a big fan of nude palettes and my most favorite from my stash is Urban Decay's Naked Palette. Therefore, the first time I laid eyes on the Nude palette from BYS, I just had to start comparing it. I own a Naked palette and have only seen the Nude palette from BYS, and I have to say they look very much the same. You could fool me into thinking that it actually that they are one and the same. 

However, this product, admittedly, was from the BYS anniversary event and I was given the Nude 2. 

I had originally thought that this was a dupe of Naked 2 but unlike the original Nude palette which was spot on, this wasn't.

Image Source: http://www.urbandecay.com/naked-2-palette-by-urban-decay/282.html#q=naked+2&start=1

It kind of felt like an in between dupe of Naked and Naked 2 only with lighter colors. Plus I can't say I love all the choices they put because there are so much more metallic shades which I am not a big fan of.

On the bright side, the product is pretty decent. I have to say sorry about my camera work because it does not do the product justice. It has a decent color payout and transfers well from brush to skin.

Packaging for me is ok because the covering on the lid holding the mirror always feels a little loose. I have never used the brushes that come with it, mainly because I prefer brushes with longer handles since they give me better control and also because the free brushes tend to fall out whenever I open the palette. I love the mirror though, because of its size and clarity making this palette a nice traveling companion.

It costs around Php 1,199.00 which arguably is quite a good price.

So will I buy this again? Come time my Naked palette has breathed its last, I'd most probably buy the Nude palette as its replacement since I get pretty much the same colors and performance for half the price.

Anyway, hope this helps you wrap your weekend.

Cheers,

LIZ

Hair Goal Achieved: Purple Hair

Hello ladies,

I have finally achieved the Purple hair color I want. So I wanted to share with you it's current progression.

I will share the hair products I have used after getting it colored in another post but this post is solely about going dark purple and what to expect after 3 washing.

So first, here was how I looked getting it colored to dark purple. It looked like ube on langka. :)

Anyway, here it is right after coloring in flourescent light. The color was kind of a mix between blue and red so as you can see, there were blue streaks on. They looked pretty cool and kind of looked like highlights.

And here it is under an LED bulb. It showed a darker hue and if you are walking around at night, you can hardly tell that it's purple. Which is something I like since it adds a little shock factor when you actually see the purple in the light.

  

Day 1 post coloring under shaded natural sunlight. It's hardly an in-your-face color but it does brighten up your complexion.

Then you go directly under the sun and BOOM! PURPLE! See what I meant about the WOW factor?

After that, I was advised to not wash my hair for a while and when I did, the picture above happened. The used water was pink to red in hue, and as you will notice, the top part (my crown) is visibly lighter in shade than the ends.

With a little more sunlight...

During the first, second and third wash, I have never used shampoo and followed the conditioner only regimen (plus my conditioner was sulfate-free) However, on the second wash, I noticed that the color was getting more lighter. In certain lighting, it looked very purple, and in some it was a mix of blue, brown, and purple streaks. That rattled me a little but I was advised that the color will last so I shouldn't worry.

However on the third wash, The purple is almost completely non-existent.

Here is my hair post-third washing under cloudy sunlight.

I noticed more blue streaks now especially when I flip the bottom part of my hair and a heck of a lot of browns.

After the second wash the roots were still strikingly purple but after the third, that hue has diminished to this.

I am a little disappointed at the staying power of the color since I was expecting it to last at least 1 week and not wear out this fast (especially since I am using sulfate-free products). Though my brother's friend had told me before that purple does not last as long as others. 

It's starting to have a gray-brown kind of hue over my bangs area while the rest have streaks of purple, brown and blue. My workmates even asked me what happened and that my hair is starting to look like a rainbow. 

Well, I just hope it doesn't end up with a tanned brown color because I hate that color and it doesn't suit me.

Will I still retouch the color? If it doesn't require me to re-bleach my hair in order to get purple, I would recolor until a certain length that it's cool looking balayaged hair color.

So what do you think of this hair color? Would you try it if you were in my shoes? Do you have any suggestions on how to make it last? Do tell me so I can try and salvage this hair color.

Cheers,

LIZ