Beauty Products Update

Time for a bit of update on the beauty-front. Or rather the beauty-product front, since we can't all look and smell as irresistable amazing as the above flower shrub without a little help from the outside.

It's been a while since last, namely almost five months, how time flies on pretty wings! At the moment I'm on a self-imposed strictish budget when it comes to the cosmetic front. Which means I'm trying hard to not try any new and expensive products, and only buy the expensive must-haves when I just can't do with a cheaper and nearly as good alternative.

I'm trying to declutter my stock of products - making room for what I most probably will stock up on this summer when its once again and at last a bit of vacation time in UK, yeah! - as well as saving money. I try and look at it as a competetive sport. My only adversary being my own desires - and needs! - when it comes to these lovely, lovely things... An adversary which definitely shouldn't be underestimated!

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Soaps - Himla Feeling Raspberry, I used the green tea scented one earlier and loved it. The raspberry one was equally lovely, the raspberry scent lasted right until all that was left was a tiny piece of soap that got washed down into the shower drain. Soap leaving skin feel all clean and nice, being in a nice handcut shape too. Now I'll have to get out there and find more of those soaps, ahem, where did I buy them the last time...?

Get fresh Peach party bomb soap, I bought several soaps like this one years ago at that lovely Shared Earth shop on Minster Gates in York. Which I'm so planning to revisit this summer too! Situated very conveniently right across from Starbucks so you can contemplate over a latte where to head for more lovely shopping next... Some soaps I gave away as much appreciated gifts, this one I kept for own use.

Gorgeous scent - for me the divine scent trinity is green tea, raspberry and peach - , gives a clean feeling though is made in such an annoyingly weird, oversized, ungainly shape. But for a shower treat for all senses like this, I'm willing to overlook that shapething. And just look at all those lovely soaps of theirs... Heaven scent.

Shampoo - Kanebo volumising shampoo, divine scent, okey shampoo, not really sure about the volumising effect though. Suspect that's a product promise that plays the same league as miracle promises when it comes to anti-cellulite and anti-wrinkle products. Will probably not buy again, since there are other at least equally nice shampoos which aren't so pricey.

Conditioner - back to one of my fav conditioners, and very nice priced too, Aussie Miracle Moist. Alas, can't be found in Sweden, as far as I know - even though the first time we met was many years ago at a friend's hairdresser. My friend then lived in a smalltown and this hairdresser sold these products at quite the hefty price, I bought a bottle of shampoo. Liked it a lot. To my astonishment I later found them in UK at what can only be described as incredible bargain prices. So I mostly try and have a nice little stock of the Aussie products I like at home.

In the States I found this supersized bottle of Aussie shampoo that came home with me - and no I actually didn't have to pay for excess baggage that time. Honestly - a pity I haven't found it anywhere else. Imagine what a moneysaver that would be...

The only real drawback with this conditioner is that it contains macademia nut - so whenever I eat that nut, like in Häagen-Dazs icecream, it sort of tastes like I've got conditioner in my mouth. Minor thing really.

Deep conditioner - this is actually one Aussie product I consider to be *somewhat* overrated, and the only reason for me using it now is the cleaning up of old bottles in my bathroom, the 3 minute miracle reconstructor. Smells lovely, yes it does, but as far as the deep conditioning part goes, naah. As far as I'm concerned it's just a very basic conditioner.

Shower gel - I really, really do. Not like. Olives. When it comes to food. I don't like olive oil in my food either. IMHO, so very overrated. Like rocket and sundried tomatoes. Yuk. And by the scent and feel of this Organic Olive body shower I picked up at a supermarket in Copenhagen last year I really don't like to get friendly with olive-products in the shower either. Smells almost-but-not-completely-rancid, doesn't foam, is drying to skin. Will do for cleaning litter boxes instead. Everything Danish is very obviously not delightful.

Body lotion - finished a bottle of ACO summer breeze limited edition from last summer. Didn't like it, smelled like the above mentioned olive shower gel, almost-but-not-completely-rancid, didn't do much good for the moisture of skin and wasn't long-lasting - which in this case was a blessing I guess.

Kiehl's creme de corps is just as amazing as it's said to be, it really is, but as aforementioned I'm on this self-imposed budget and I'm searching for cheaper alternatives. Kiehl's does have many great products indeed, as well as other perks, I'm a great fan, but in Sweden they're also alas on the pricier side of things. So when it came to getting a new bottle of body lotion I went for a Nivea Rich Caring Milk. Which is pretty decent. And as always with a very appealing scent to it.

Facial cream - as with the Kiehl's body lotion, the Kiehl's ultra facial cream is my favourite for face. And as I with the body lotion went for a less pricey alternative in Nivea I went for a Nivea visage silk comfort day care facial cream for face. It's actually quite nice, creamy, moisturising and with a heavenly scent.

Body splash - finished the whole bottle of best-ever-bodysplash from Bath & Body Works Cucumber melon in a nip. Sigh. Will have to savour other bottle slowly. Pure mental torture to look at their website, drooling over almost everything. Sigh twice, double twice. Okey, countless sighs.

Perfume - finally opened a bottle a sale impulse-buy perfume from last winter (last as in 2006), Scent gloss EdP from Costume National. It's such a lovely clean, fresh laundry scent. At first I thought the scent was a bit too bland, but now I enjoy it immensly and the bottle is a pretty sleek thing in pale pink frosted glass. The only let-down is that the scent isn't very long-lasting. I think this is, and have been for quite some time now, a problem with most perfumes and scents, the lack of long lastingness of scent. I still adamantly expect more of a perfume than an EdT though. Slight grump here.

Mascara - Virtuôse, Lancôme, hadn't begun using it when I did that wrap up of products for last year. have begun now. Is far from impressive. So. Very. Not. Impressive. Doesn't keep a single one of those promises of "Divine Lasting Curves & Length". As if. Snarl. There's nothing divine with my lashes after using the mascara. It sure doesn't last very long. There's nothing remotely curvacious about my lashes. And the length is same old length like always. The only thing it gives is a bit of colour to the lashes. But that I can get from a far cheaper mascara. So, will definitely never buy again.

Lip gloss - Kiehl's Pink Rider, lovely raspberry-very-Pia scent to it, nice, natural glossing and moisturising effect. Will most probably try in other colours. Although I wish the tube was a smaller size, easier to finish, keeps fresh.

Lumene Berryfun I'll Follow You. Lumene is a Finnish cosmetics brand, I've actually never tried any of their products until I bought this gloss. And the only reason for me buying it was that I forgot the above mentioned Pink Rider one. Recommended by an aquaintance, rather cheap, has a great fruit scent (contains blackcurrant seed oil) and as I was looking for a brownish colour gloss and the name was so sweet, well, I got it. Nice gloss.

Hand soap - one of many nice things about staying at B&B in UK is the fact that you get to, when available, sniff out and use new products in the bathroom. Mainly soaps and shower gels. And then you can just pop over to the nearest Boots and stock up. Nifty. This handwash from Radox Milk & Chamomile is great. Divine scent, creamy, cleansing and moisturising, a true gem of handwashes. Another keeper that will need stocking up.

Hand cream - the Kiehl's hand cream I briefly mentioned before isn't much of a hit frankly. Admittedly I don't use it every night or whenever I've washed my hands, but I've had other hand creams that have worked small miracles in irregular and shorter times than this. And the almost non-scent of it isn't very nice. Not a new Kiehl's favourite.

I'm then so happy to announce that I have found another lovely hand cream, stumbled over by chance, L'Occitane dry skin hand cream. With shea butter, gives hands a lovely treatment during the day or at night. Has a gorgeous yet subtle scent, so comforting, the scent reminds me of something really nice I just can't seem to recall what. Will definitely buy again!

Now to some flashbacks - I wrote about the Ole Henriksen face mist African red tea earlier, I must say it's really a very, very nice product, the scent alone is heavenly and it feels very so lovely and revitalizing on skin. Apart from a slight and brief tingling sensation now and then I'm all hearts for it.

I wasn't very impressed about the Aussie 12 hour d-humidifer hair spray earlier. But somehow it has worked wonders with my hair as lately. Perhaps it's just a case of shampoo, conditioner and my mood working magic with this hair spray. Bottle nearly finished now, the life overturning questin now is, how will my hair survive until I can stock up on some new bottles...?