december beauty

It's been well over a year since I last wrote one of those list of skincare products I've-used-recently. I'm thinking it would be neat indeed if I could get those bottles and jars, lotions and potions (opened, used and recycled) squeezed into one post before the end of December. I think that time has come, here's what I've been using since August 2010;

:: facial cleanser - mineral flowers facial wash with almond blossom water and mud. the older i get, the drier my skin gets, the more in desperate need of moisture it is. most facial cleanser are just too dehydrating for my skin. as i never wear foundations and such anymore i don't even use a proper cleanser every day. this facial wash (without parabens) is for dry skin, but i still think it's a bit too drying for my skin comfort, it's very liquid ie there's a slightly excessive amount coming out from the bottle when you just need a dollop. smells fresh and natural.


:: facial mask - formula 10.0.6 pores be pure skin-clarifying mud mask. bought a few small packages of different facial masks from formula, just to see if it was intriguing enough to get a bigger bottle of them. not sure this one was. although granted i'm so very less than committed to my facial cleansing regiment these days, should probably use it more regulary to make a statement about it.


:: facial cream - origins a perfect world. smells absolutely wonderful of apples and pears (contains white tea), with a very nice texture and a little jar lasted a long time. it was however too light for my dry skin, perhaps it would work during summers when (my) skin is less dry.

(i'm currently back to my favourite kiehl's cream and when that jar is finished i've a supersized one to tuck into. so me and my face are set for quite a while now.)


:: facial spray - l'occitane amande pomme (almond apple). now and then i do enjoya bit of facial spray to refresh. i'm always seduced into buying something when i step into a l'occitane shop. i think i got this gift bag with three different almond apple products incl this facial spray a couple of years ago. smells lovely and refreshing. i feel a tightening of skin, but i also feel a heating sensation and i think it's probably a bit too much for my dry and apparently a bit sensitive skin. undoubtedly it's a great product for other skin types.


:: facial peel - kiehl's over-night biological peel. the idea of facial peeling as such (and i'm not talking about a scrub) leaves me a bit queasy. i have done it in salons a couple of times and it has been fine and i didn't feel a thing, but still... anyway. this bottle was not something i would have even thought of buying myself. and i'm still amazed that m would even think of buying something like this when i asked him to get kiehl's at tax-free. it's such a weird li'l high-tech product. admittedly i have only used it a few times so far, i don't think i'm qualified to think anything about it yet. (apart from the fact that the face didn't fall off during the night.) i really should use it more regularly as i actually do feel a bit tired and sallow. when i have i'll edit this post.


:: shampoo - tommyguns pomegranate & orange flower. i usually use colour care shampoo, but when it's nearly time for the next hairdresser appoinment i like to try other shampoos too (daring, that's me). i enjoy the smell of pomegranate (and as an ingredient in things drinkable/edible) and this shampoo had a lovely scent, cleansed well, but i wouldn't praise it. it was just an average shampoo that did its job.

aussie take the heat. these past few years i practically never use a hair dryer, so from that aspect this shampoo's special features are not for me. but it was a freebie and i love it for it's lovely scent (jojoba) and its cleansing properties.

yes to cucumbers color care. got this bottle at the birthday getaway. smells fantastic of cucumber and a dash of green tea. very very nice indeed. wish they were sold in sweden.


:: conditioner - gosh professional. danish brand, picked it up in denmark when i had run out of conditioner on holiday. cheap, smells amazing. as far as conditioning features are concerned i can safely say that it won't compete with any of the top three conditioners in my book, it's just an average one, not terrible, not very good, but i do enjoy its scent very much.

kevin murphy born again. i like the natural idea behind the kevin murphy range, i adore the pretty understated bottles. i don't particularly enjoy the scents though, to strong and somewhat chemical. and i'm not very impressed about what it does to my hair. ie nothing special. for that price it really should be at least borderline mindblowing. i know my hairdresser is a big fan, she holds kevin murphy classes, me i'm not convinced.


:: shower cream - bath&body works japanese cherry blossom. a gift, it does smell better in shower gel version than in the hand cream one, but it's still not a favouirte b&b works scent for me. lather and gives a nice clean feeling.

body shop earth lovers apricot & basil. love it! amazing scent, leaving a squeaky-clean feeling and being 100% biodegradable, what more could one ask for? i'm so pleased i got two bottles at the same time, the first bottle is nearly finished.

treacle moon the raspberry kiss. first of all, it's crazy how many brands who blatantly copy the design and idea of philosophy bottles. this one if one of them. i think i bought this bottle at tesco in 2008. it has been biding its time in the bathroom ever since. it still smells faintly of raspberries, but i fear those years on the shelf has been too many and it probably would have been a good idea to use it up sooner. to me its just a very basic shower gel, now more scent-free suitable to bathe the dog in than me.

radox shower smoothie natural balance. with honey and almond. a fine, sweet scented shower friend.

rossmann wellness passionblume & aprikose (passion flower & apricot) harmony. picked it up in berlin. smells lovely, a very nice shower friend.

yes to carrots daily pampering. like most things yes to carrots i adore this shower gel. smells so fresh, lathers and cleanse well, is long lasting. once again, wish they were sold in sweden...


:: soap - fragonard eau du bonheur. a very nice gift, fresh scent, long lasting, very enjoyable in shower.

crabtree & evelyn nantucket briar. a very nice scented gift. unfortunatley it contaned palm derivates.

the isle of skye soap company sweet fennel & pumpkin seed. i adore such sweet-scented wee companies (i got a bunch of them soaps in 2008, this one was the last of that bunch). but as with their other soaps it does contains palm derivate (and i can't see any information on their website about that having changed...). such a pity.


:: hand soap - gunry mjukt & skönt (soft & clean) hallon (raspberry). cheap swedish hand soaps found in supermarkets. quite nice, cleanses well, long lasting and smells delicious. currently using the äpple (apple) and the björnbär avocado (blackberry avocado) scents and they're very nice too. quiet perfect for simple everyday use in the toilet/bathroom and in the kitchen.


:: body scrub - h&m body scrub raspberry & melon with organic apple juice & apricot seeds. the only reason for me buying a cheap product at h&m was that it was organic. i wish i could say that it did not only smell divine, it was a darn good scrub too. it wasn't. crap scrub features and uneconomical.

100% pure organic chocolate mocha. as crap as the body scrub above was as mindblowingly good this one is. it smells so overwhelmingly good of coffee and dark chocolate (and i'm not a great fan of either, when eating and drinking), it's an awesome revitalizing scrub and i love it. (apart from the fact that the shower looks full of coffeegrounds afterwards. but that's a small price to pay for such an experience i think.) i got it as a gift some years ago, i have stinted it, a good scrub is hard to find. but now i've seen it's available to at least order online in sweden. when the time is right i'm definitely going to but another jar.

body shop mango. smells wonderful. but really, i must remember to never ever but body scrubs with oil, i think they're nasty and leave you feeling oily and unfresh when you get out of the shower. not the feeling i'm after. a pity, i would enjoy this immensly if it had been sans oil.

sephora ananas grenadine. another good buy at the getaway. such a lovely scrub, such a lovely smell.


:: body lotion - sephora pamplemousse (grapefruit, but i love the french word for grapefruit, pamplemousse, mmm...) tangerine. bought it in athens, with a smell that reminds me of just that, the orange blossom scent of athens. affordable, with quite nice moisturizing features. it was a nice experience.


bath&body works sun-ripened raspberry. one of my top three favourite scents from b&b works - please, please, please, i know i keep repeating myself, but when will you open up shop in sweden?? - i love this body lotion for both its amazing fragrance as well as its excellent moisturizing features. have sadly only a few centimetres left in bottle, but i'm hopeful i've found a great personal b&b works dealer as from next year, hooray!


:: body butter - mineral flowers multi functional essential body butter with almond & carob wax for dry skin. i'm not a great fan of body butter in general, because even if my skin often is practically parched in desperate need of moisture body butter has a tendency to only offer surface moisture, forming a sticky layer on skin rather than being absorbed. but this one i loved. more body lotion in consistency than butter, smelled fresh (like the facial wash) and left skin soft and supple. had i the opportunity i would definitely buy again (i haven't seen it in sweden).

body shop moringa. smells absolutely divine, uplifting and calming at the same time. however, i feel that it does just that i don't enjoy with body butters, no matter how carefully i cream it, it does remain like a slightly sticky layer on skin. however, the scent alone would actually have me consider byuing it again...


:: foot cream - l'occitane dry skin. i wish it smelled like its fantastic sibling the hand cream with shea butter. this one also contains shea butter but it smells too much of lavender for my liking. but is nice to feet and long lasting.


:: deodorant - johnson & johnson bebe happy. smells lovely, sweet and warm, but is basically crap if one wants a decent lasting deodorant. one of those little cheap things i tend to pick up on holiday, but they most always disappoint and i return to my old favourites from nivea and dove.


:: nailpolish - first of all, i totally blame berlin for seducing me into buying many small, cheap bottles of the stuff and giving me a newfound fascination of nailpolish and not being able to stay away from the more expensive polish. here goes a lot of bottles...

sephora nail hardener strengthener & smoother white 03. got this as a freebie some years ago. probably only used once or twice. i don't have much use for any of those features nor a whiteish polish.

isadora graffitti nails subway green 806. a top coat that supposedly would give a crackled look. it just looked nasty to me.

depend nr 157. orange. not a very nice hue, too pale. cheap, small bottles, swedish brand. not sure why i got it.

pieces. three cheap bottles that i apparently couldn't resist getting last winter. in the colours cookie dough, plum gum and soul petrol. nice hues, nice names, but not very good quality (chips easily etc).

mavala mexico 30 (dark purple), acapulco 63 (dark red), london (bright red). i used to enjoy mavala polish, affordable, small bottles, many colours, but now that i've made the acquaintance of essie and opi the quality of mavala is sadly inferior. still, love the exemplary small bottles.

isadora turquoise 85. it must have been last year when i was on a hunt for the opi no time for the blues (which i found only this past summer and enjoy very much) and i got this one as a turquoise substitute. as with mavala i used to enjoy the swedish brand isadora's nailpolish quite a lot. still do, but it's not as good as opi and essie...

orly witch's blue (such a befitting nailpolish for you says m...). yay for small bottles! wonderful deep blue hue and a pretty nice polish that lasts.

more opi. do you think i'm tex-y? a lovely dark red-pinkish hue. but for some odd reason i don't think this one is as good and lasting as the other bottles. dulce de leche. a beige-pinkish hue i adore. and of course gettin' miss piggy with it. which i now enjoy very much.

gosh sweet peach, essence xxxl shine, essence 46 wake up!, 53 you belong to me, 36 enchanted fairy, 41 very berry, 39 lime up! - read what i think about them all here

essie 742 coat azure, 731 sew psyched, 725 pretty edgy - love them all for their colours and durability but my favourite still is the wonderful perky green pretty edgy.


:: mascara - lumene blueberry curl deep blue. what can i say but, just another crap mascara, sigh...


:: lip gloss - lancôme juicy fruit toffee r&d 93. smells wonderful and as all juicy fruits it gives a nice gloss.


:: lip balm - yes to carrots lip butter. a nice balm, but i'm not too fond of the faint yet distinct medical scent.


:: body splash - bath&body works sun-ripened raspberry. heart a lot. old time favourite. can't wait tp place an order at my new personal dealer after new year's.


:: scents - sheer stella by stella mccartney. the sheer stella version of 2008 i think. it was a nice scent in its own way, but i never felt it suited me as well as previous sheer versions so i recently gave in to that feeling and gave the almost full bottle to my mum. it smells nicer on her. perfumes are such personal, delicate and unpredictable things.

(i'm currently using one of my old favourites, clinique happy. and as usual it certainly does for my mood what it says!)

and here we reach the end of long list. any favourite skincare, scents and such you want to recommend (i might have tried them, i might not), i'm all ears and eyes to learn about them ~