Review - Lucas' papaw ointment

Hi Guys!

I've been wanting to test this product out for years but been too addicted to my Elizabeth Arden 8 hour protectant cream. But eBay had this pretty cheap (£4.51 for 15ml with lip applicator, free p+p) so I thought I'd give it a go.

You can read about Lucas' papaw ointment over here:
 http://lucaspapaw.com.au/

Basically, it's an ointment that you can use on your face, hands, body, and lips. Chaps, burns, nappy rash; it's a really handy product to have around the house. To me, I use it exactly as I use my 8 hour cream.

The 15ml tube (comes in bigger tubes, and also in tubs) is so handy to carry around and if you know me then you will know i am constantly putting product x on my nose and lips, so a multi purpose product like this means I can use it on my lips and face without carrying multiple products around. Sure in my handbag I can have a face cream, lip balm and a hand cream but I can't exactly pop those into my pocket and put it on easily during a work meeting. Or at a bar. Or the cinema. Or all these other places that I never go too lol

This is a bit random - both of my ointments are a 15ml tube - but the papaw ointment tube is much bigger than my 8 hour cream. Handbag wise this isn't a big deal, but it can get a bit tight in my skinny jeans pocket!

Texture wise it's nice and thick and once rubbed in it isn't greasy or oily. I would say that it's less shiny than the  8 hour cream.

This whole lip applicator thing is suppose to be a selling point but I am really not bothered. For hygiene reasons I prefer to squeeze the product onto my finger rather than apply straight from the tube, but obviously I wouldn't really want to be rubbing the lip applicator onto my face in public. Or in private; it'd be pretty messy.

Scent - the original Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream is famous for it's stinky smell but they do do a fragrance free version. This doesn't affect me but I do notice some people wrinkle their noses when I whip out my tube. I think the papaw ointment is suppose to have a faint smell but i can't smell it. So for me they score the same scent wise.

In terms of preference.....I don't know. I really like both. I might stick to the Lucas' papaw ointment just because of the price point.

I would definitely recommend this product. 

Review: No7 Cleansing Brush

Hi Guys!

As I showed in my Christmas 2014 haul my mum got me (and my brother hahaha) a cleansing brush from No7. Basically a rip off clarisonic; an electric toothbrush for the face!

When the Clarisonic was first getting hyped on youtube and on beauty blogs I was interested - I do love to manually exfoiliate but then I didn't think it would be too wise to test it out on my face, especially for a price point of way more than £100. 

But now I own this nifty little thing so I thought they'd be no harm in giving it a go. I don't know the price but considering mummy got two and also two packs of extra brushheads I am assuming No7 (Boots) gave her a good deal. 

In the box was.....exactly what you see, plus an instruction manual (press start and move it around your face!), plus 2 batteries. 

The thing I searched out for on the instruction manual was the whole water issue. I didn't want to risk electrocuting myself! But this is safe to use, even in the shower, but it says "don't submerge in water". I use mine at the sink anyway so unless I drop it in the toilet, we're a-ok here.

So....I remove makeup and cleanse my face as usual, and use this once a week for a deep cleanse. Wet the face, blob on my face wash and then press the 'start' button and gently (don't press down - I assume your face is softer than your teeth!!!) move it around your face.

I like that this is really easy to use and considering how sensitive my skin is the brushes are the right combination of soft and firm. It's been about a month and I have no complaints. I love washing my face and am tempted to use it all the time but even though I've had no bad results I don't want to tempt the skin Gods!

Rave Review - Hydraluron

I LOVE HYDRALURON!!!

I have so much love to give to this product that I am feeling slightly overwhelmed. I want you to understand how great this product is and am worried I won't do it justice.

*deep breath*

Ok, this is Hydraluron by Indeed Labs and is available exclusively at Boots. It rrps for £24.99 for 30ml. (I got mine while it was on a promo for £16).

Let's just deal with this now - it is pricey for 30ml but knowing what I know, I wold pay even more for it. In fact, after 3 days of using it, I got myself 2 more tubes of the stuff. If that doesn't tell you all you need to know then I don't know how else I can show my love. Putting my money where my mouth is!!!

It's a moisture booster. On all the reviews I read prior to parting with my money had basically copied and pasted the whole official spiel and it's like who cares! I am not a scientist, I am not trying to make it myself at home, WTF is it supposed to do and does it work!?

What does it do? MAGIC! On my face I have some broken skin and cracks from when I had an allergic reaction that literally tore my face a part. Thank god it is managable nowadays, no weeping or bleeding (jeez, sorry) but it is bone dry. I am constantly rubbing vaseline and 8 hour cream on it. I just thought it was dead skin. I put Hydraluron on my nose/mouth area and BAM! after 3 days I notice that my skin is....getting better. I don't want to say it's healing, but it hurts less, looks less angry/raw and it's not as discoloured. So that's basically why I love this and stocked up. It boosted life into my skin! (And it's silicone free which is great for me.)

It's a colourless watery gel type texture (serum!) and when you apply it on your face (I also use it on my whole face a few times a week - I'd use it everyday but it is pricey lol) it feels slightly tacky for about 2 seconds. You then put on your normal face cream (this is important, Hydraluron is not a moisturiser) and that is when you feel the magic happening.

Like I said before, I am not a scientist, and there are loads of great reviews/information out there if you are interested, but I think (very very very very) basically that hyaluronic acid can hold 1000 times its own weight in water. It is already in our bodies/skin? but hey extra help is always a good things. So anyway, you put it on your face and your other stuff and it just holds moisture. It's like a supercharger. Gummy bear juice for your face (if you get that reference then you are old enough to be using this regardless of the state of your skin!).

A little of this goes a long way. If you have dry or dehydrated skin you need this in your life. Apply it to your whole face, problem areas, whatever. Even if you buy this just to have for days when you're having a not so great skin day, or you've been partying too hard - it is worth it.

If you buy it, tell me what you think!

BB creams

For a while now I've been interested in delving into the world of 'bb creams' (amongst others, bb can stand for blemish balm).

It's suppose to give amazing coverage as well as working magic on your skin. The formula was originally developed to help laser surgery patients heal better, and then it became popular in SE Asia and it is slowly reaching here. MAC America/Europe are supposedly launching their own BB cream on these shores soon (I differentiate between MAC SE Asia and MAC America/Europe because MAC have already got BB creams selling over the East Side.)

There's loads of BB cream available online and it's no means hard getting a hold of this stuff - the problem is a) choosing the right shade b) knowing which are good brands and worries along those lines.

My mum went to Thailand and on my request bought back a bunch of BB creams to try out with the aim of knowing what I like so that when my Dad goes in September he can buy me more.

The one I am using on a daily basis at the moment is:

.....by a brand called Mistine, which is popular in Thailand. It's been maybe a month now and it hasn't broken me out and it seems pretty decent (my first proper try so nothing to really compare it with so watch this space). The only problem and for some it might be a massive problem is the colour.

As you can see from the [above] pic, the shade is a)too light b) kinda grey looking. And this is pretty much true to life. But this doesn't really bother me. It would be great if it was a perfect match but c'est la vie! What I do is mix it with my revlon photo ready which is too dark/orange and so I get the perfect shade!

The other bb creams my mum got me are waiting to be given a trial run - no pictures or swatches cos I can't remember where I put my stash and can't really be bothered to hunt around. sorry!

However, I do have another batch of bb creams to share with you courtesy of someone at work....nickname shall be NK (btw these initials are not the people's initals but initals of the blog nicknames I have given them e.g SF's initials are not SF and NK's initials are not NK - in this case K stands for Korean cos she likes korean stuff. FYI).

NK has been very sweet because we don't really know know each other or talk very much, but one day we started talking in the loo (I was fixing my clown blusher) and next thing we had a looooong convo about BB creams and kpop, and the next day she bought in stuff, as shown below, for me to swatch. How kind!

[Pics ABOVE AND BELOW:]

This is a bb cream by Missha. I used this on my face twice and it's really good. Again, as you can tell in the swatch below it's still light and grey and I also have to mix this with my revlon photo finish.

It's hard to explain in words but BB creams feel like a thicker denser foundation (gloopier?) but when you put it on your face and blend it is not as thick as foundation....confused? I am! lol I must be honest, because of the colour situation it is very hard for me to this review this in a normal way. But I thought I'd share with you anyway my experience with BB creams because I am thinking that when it hits these shores then I'll be able to get my shade.

And lastly........

Next we have 4 sample sized tubes of bb cream by Skin 79 which is a very popular brand of BB cream (btw, if you did want to buy your own samples online all 3 brands I mentioned are good SE Asia brands).

From TOP to BOTTOM we have:

VIP Gold collection super blemish balm which had the most coverage out of this mini bunch (it probably doesnt look like it cos unlike the others it didn't super speed squirt out the tube as soon as I took off the lid!).

Triple Function (whitening, spf25 and wrinkle free) - this product swatched nicely but tbh all of the bb creams in bunch (the 6 I'm blogging about and the one's my mum got for me) all have the same functions

Diamond Collection Pearl BB cream - I love this! Definitely not an everyday bb cream as it is packed with glitter (described as luminous on the tube) but great for a night out or mixed in with your normal bb cream/foundation to give you a bit of boost.

Prestige blemish balm from the Diamond collection - erm, that's all it says so I dunno! I obviously had a bit of an accident whilst swatching....my arm seemed to like it ;)

So, have you tried any bb creams? If not, does the concept interest you?