Review: Culpeper Herbalist Essential Oil

Since young, I grew up in an environment whereby smell is given particular importance. From the distinctive spices of my mom's cooking, to the concoction of my dad's perfume and cigarette *he used to smoke A LOT*...... and YES, I love love love perfume or any other scent, and will continue to till the day I die. To me, scent is not just a status of symbol, to make yourself more noticeable, and neither is it to combat any unwanted body odour. To me, it's a symbol of personality.

In this particular post, my bf recently bought a set of aromatherapy essential oil (Mandarin, Rose Geranium and Lavender) from Culpeper Herbalist, one of the oldest English herbalist since the 17th Century. It has mainly body products ranging (mainly aromatheraphy ones) ranging from bar soaps, to remedial creams. The only shop that I know can be found in the ground floor of Parkson, Sunway Pyramid.

Mandarin Essential Oil
Latin name: Citrus Reticulata
Calming and soothing. Mandarin Oil is used as a relaxing bath fragrance to encourage peaceful sleep. Blend with Vitamin E to help prevent stretch marks and premature wrinkles. Good for nervous indigestion. Sedative and uplifting, this is suitable to dilute and use on children’s skin.

Rose Geranium Essential Oil
Latin name: Pelagornium graveolens
Relaxing yet uplifting in the bath or a rich, exotic room freshener. Rose Geranium Oil is a popular oil.

Lavender Essential Oil
Latin name: Lavandula officinalis

The most versatile and popular of all essential oils. Useful in almost every condition. Used to help aid recovery of burns and skin wounds. A balancing oil for the nervous system this oil is known for its relaxing properties. Beneficial for muscular tension and emotional anxiety. Extremely antiseptic and healing in skincare.

The descriptions of the essential oil are directly taken from the Culpeper's official website.

As all pure essential oils are harsh....they should NEVER be directly applied to naked skin. For massage purposes, always mix them with any carrier oil.... (You will have to ask the SA for the proportion though). For a relaxing bath, mix approximately 10 drops to warm water and soak your stress away.

For me, my favourite way of relaxation is still using the traditional essential oil burner. Just drop about 2-3 drops of your favourite essential oil into the burner... and sway into the mood of relaxation. As I am buried in countless assignments and presentations, I'm relying on the magic of aromatheraphy to release my stress :P.... or maybe it's just another of my excueses to pamper myself ?! *I deserve a smack on the head*

Personally, Lavender has always remained as one of my favourite essential oils. It's truly relaxing, and doesn't hurt the nostrils at all. On the other hand, geranium has a kinda 'sweet' smell to it; it's very uplifting and pleasant. For some reasons, Mandarin is sposed to be sedative, but I personally found it invigorating.... sth refreshing to start your day. LoL....maybe I'm the weird one here :O

Price range: The website currently retails for 8 pounds per 15ml bottle...... but he got 3 bottles for RM 138. Aiks, Pricey I know.... but for the sake of your mental state of mind, it'd better be worth it ~ Overall, I can't really tell if an essential oil is of top-grade etc.... I guess you really need years of experience/if you're naturally born with really accurate smell sense.

But, for sure.... I could tell the difference between this one and the one sold in the Taiwanese gift shop!

L'Oreal ELSEVE Nutri-Gloss Shine Serum

When talking about hair serum... I think that this edition of L'Oreal still remains my favourite ! Although I think this hair serum has been out in the market for possibly 1 year +, but advertisements of it can still be found in pages of magazines (I saw it in this the April 2009 CLEO's mag!).

Description:
This hair serum claims to contain "Pearl Protein" that helps to infuse shine into dull, lacking shine hair. Haha, it's funny after completing endless Marketing assignments, we're taught that all these 'scientific' names such as XL-Xylitol, in this case Pearl Protein, etc merely serve as another tactic to stand out from their competitors.

The packaging differs slightly from the ones here in M'sia.
I got the pic above from a UK site.

OK, back to the serum pls:)
Reason #1 why I love this serum is the fact that it does provide you with that "Soft, Cashmere Touch" as it claims! I normally apply one pump on towel-dried hair and another additional pump after my hair is like....90% dry ?! It gives me this light bouncy feeling on my hair, and keep some of my stubborn strands at bay. VERY good, Me likey.

Texture wise is rather runny, and is obviously oil based *it also contains Jojoba Oil which is supposed to be good for hair*. Although it's oil-based, it does not feel oily upon application and the serum somehow infuses/I would like to believe that it does, to the hair. It comes in a 50ml pink plastic bottle with a pump diffuser. Is also slightly scented, giving that fresh-outta-bath feeling.

However, I must address some of its down sides too. One thing for sure is that because the serum is rather runny, you would need quite a large quantity for it to be sufficient. I have thick shoulder length hair and I'm using 2-3 full pumps per time. Secondly and also lastly, although it makes my hair soft and manageable, I doubt that it has nourishing properties. If someone with damaged/severely chemical-treated hair uses this.....umm, I guess this serum does not help much in nourishing the strands. However, putting into consideration that it costs less than RM30.... I guess it's worth it !

VERDICT:
Overall, I would recommend this to those that have normal-oily hair. Or if you're looking for an everday use serum. If you have severely dry/chemically treated hair, then perhaps....this bottle of serum would not live its claims.

One of my past time

This is probably one of the posts unrelated to reviews and beauty products..... but would like to share this very website that I stumbled upon and already been a regular over the past 9 months.

A website that provides..........

MAGAZINE SCANS !

*afterall, good things are meant to be shared*

*ballons, and squeels !*

To visit this website....go to www.vvshu.com

Some of the magazines available........

I think they're easily 100+ over types of magazines.

The website is in Mandarin, I'm a banana, I can't read Chinese despite proudly being one, but I manage to navigate my way through...... however, that's only if you're interested in Japanese Fashion Magazines. Some of the brands that I've never heard of *simply because they don't have it in Msia!!*....like Figaro, Nylon, ecaES POSHH!, Anecan, and so much more ! Go check it out, go go go :)

Like most Pisceans, I consider myself an arts person, I love creative stuffs from card making, paper quilling, sequinns, and also embroided stuffs. And this website provides some craft books from Japan. It's fun and pleasing to my eyes, but have never attempted any projects from there, because, first, they're all in Japanese!, secondly, I have to gather all the materials from scratch....where to get, I know some places, but the price is over the roof ! *Sigh*

And the best thing is that most of the fashion magazines are pubished 2 months in advance. This issue of Ray magazine below is May 2009's edition. *which is also my fav mag!* I know that the Jap magazines in M'sia are at least 2 editions older, I quietly wonder if they're importing these unsold/tak-laku mags from overseas, which is deemed as a way to get rid of old stocks. In economic term, this is also known as dumping!

Word of caution:
You may get frustrated viewing the scans if your connection is not fast enough. It might take some time for the pages the load, and you CAN'T download the entire issue in one shot.... all pages must be viewed individually. So if you have nothing- else- better- to- do- days, and if you're a fashion maniac like me, then by all means, go ahead and tease your patience :P

Tip: For a shine free day look

Very often, when it comes to choosing cosmetics...... I am very tempted to choose those that comes with sparkles/shimmer/micro-glitter/whatever you call it. And I bet that many girls out there are one the same side of team with me, am I correct cOrrect ?!

Well, ofcourse products with shimmer provides that extra sparkle to your overall look and definitely spices up your make-up. However, being in Malaysia.... where normal day temperature averages about 32 degree Celcius, I believe that many Malaysian women felt that their make up kinda melts at the end of the day, if not...... ending up with unwelcomed glistening cheeks/forehead. So, in here, I would like to share a very simple tip that reduce (or at least creates an illusion) of make-up that stays fresh throughout the day.

A good example of day make-up that I'm talking about.
Natural look that enhances on the skintone.

Personally, I have combination skin, where my skin tends to be oily at the T-zone. I've learnt my lesson over the years to choose day moisturizers that are oil-free, and also be selective in choosing cosmetics. What I meant by 'selective in choosing cosmetics' is not to provide too much shimmer-effect on the face. Imagine if you applied a nude shimmery eye colour, coupled with a highly shimmery blush PLUS lip gloss that shines like a mirror ! Seriously, I've seen many ladies out there whom tend to go for overly shimmery stuffs, and when it comes to someone lazy like me, whom doesn't blot/touch up frequent enough (when your skin starts getting oily)........ the result is a pool of melted cosmetics!

Therefore, my advice is to prep the skin with the suitable moisturizer, for me, I prefer an oil free one. Always remember to keep your skin moisturised even if you have oil-producing skin ! Then, follow up with your sunscreen/make-up base (in here, my recently bought BB cream is all I need!). Then lightly dust your face with loose powder. For a more natural finish, just concentrate on your T-zone.

Finally, if you decide that:
--> You want all the attention to your eyes, then keep the lips matte/simple.
--> You want kissable glossy lips, then its best opt for a non-shimmer blush.

A simple rule of thumb : Less is more.

Products I use for day look:
--> Avene Micellar Lotion Cleanser (non-rinse type)
--> Avene Thermal Water as toner
--> Eucerin DermoPurifyer as moisturizer
--> ZA Dewy Effect Eye Gel + Kate's Stick Concealer for the eye area
--> GoWoonsesang BB Cream (very good oil control properties)
** For cosmetics, products varies as it depends on my mood and occasion

Note: Ofcourse, if you live in a winter country where the atmosphere tends to be drier or if you have normal/dry skin, then you may not find the above tips very useful.

Have a nice day, muah!

Review: BB Cream by Gowoonsesang

So, after hearing all the raves about BB cream in beauty forums and beauty blogs, I made a very detailed research of the BB cream that I was going to purchase (YES, it's recession now.....every penny spent must be worth it value !! ).



Apparently, there are a few shops here in Malaysia that sells BB cream. A few to name are: The Face Shop (the texture on my wrist was alright, but I do not like the fact that it does not contain SPF, meaning, you would either have to apply a moisturizer with sunscreen or a sunscreen seperately. I know that Missha and Skinfood has it too, but I did no try them as the reviews I read were not very positive.

Anyway, the next shop, which unites all the best-selling cosmetic items in Malaysia is none other than SASA Cosmetics ! I went there, not once but twice to enquire about the BB Cream. Apparently, there were two brands of BB creams available in SASA: Tic Toc and Gowoonsesang. I was HIGHLY recommended by the sales assistance (SA) of the later one, Gowoonsesang as it's a famous brand in Korea and apparently, it is a 'doctors formula'.

At the back of the box it reads:

"Gowoonsesang is No.1 cosmeceutical brand in Korea which established by 8 medical doctors (MD/Ph.D), 43 dermatologists, 114 nurses and 110 medical estheticians with abundant clinical experiences of treating 300,000 patients since 1998".

WHEW, with 8 medical doctors, 43 dermatologists 114 nurses..... how wrong could this product go ?!

Description of packaging:
Comes in a squeezable plastic tube and a screw off cap. Hygienic and practical !

The funny thing about most BB creams is the fact that they do not come in various shades unlike other foundations. So, I would assume that your skin tone would need to be within the 'normal range', meaning that you can't be geisha-ly fair nor too dark. I was told to dot only five dots on the forehead, both sides of the cheeks, nose and chin. Then gently blend outwards to the entire face. The first thing that worried me was the fact that the BB cream's shade was prolly 2 shades darker than my skintone. However, as the blending goes, it seems to melt seamlessly into my skin leaving no traces of makeup or whatsoever. It is also not oily, and does not make my skin feels uncomfortable.

However, as compared to my regular foundation powder (currently using Skin Remaker by Majolica Marjoca), my skin somehow does not look as bright and fair, perhaps because I'm using the powder which is shade lighter than my skintone. In terms of oil control, this BB cream does a pretty good job, but I think it depends on the type of moisturiser that one is using. The one I'm currently using is an oil free range from Eucerin.

Fast facts of BB creams:
The full name for BB cream is also known as Blemish Balm Cream. Although initially created by cosmetic surgeons in Germany for patients, it was popularised in Korea. Up to date, I've never came across a non-Korean BB cream. Most BB creams act as moisturiser, make up base and foundation, however their properties might be different. Most of them (altho some may differ) has special properties to prevent breakouts, evening out the skin tone and also whitening. Therefore, there is actually a thin line of the BB cream falling into the category of skincare or cosmetics.

One may wonder if make-up remover is needed during cleansing process? The answer is YES. I guess that as long as you put on make-up, although just very minimal, it is vital to ensure that your skin is free from traces of make-up during the night time.

Ingredients:
Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Titanium dioxide, Glycerin, Talc, PEG-10 Domethicone, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Methicone, Dipropylene Glycol, Isoeicosame, Arbutin, Hexyl Laurete, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Triethylhexanoin, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone, Crosspolymer, Cyclomethicone Acrylates/Dimethicone Copolymer, Magnesium Sulfate, C12-14 Pareth-3, Zinc Oxide, Iron Oxides, Palmitic Acid, Dimethicone, Metylparaben, Imidazolidinyl Urea, Tocopheryl Acetate, Silica, Proplyparaben Betaine, Aluminium Stearate, Aluminium Hydroxide, Sodium Metabisulfite, Rosmarinus Officialis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil, Rosa Centifolia Flower Water, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Glycosyl Trehalose/Hydrogenated Starch Hydrolysate, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Peel Extract, Camellia Sinesis Leaf Extract, Fragrance, Trimethysiloxy Silicate, Dimethiconol/Silsesquioxane Copolymer, Butyleparaben, Propylene Gycol, Butylene Glycol.


*Ingredients are copied directly from the back of the bottle. If I were to read all this out, my tongue would probably end up in a knot !

I need a new bag!

I have been reading this amazing and highly popular website for almost a month now. It gives tips on womens life and most importantly,gives reviews on products that are available here in Malaysia. You know, there are times where you see really good reviews on this product to only find ............that it's no where available in Malaysia! #$^#@$$@@##@!!!#%

Anyway, in conjunction with the 2nd year anniversary of Women's Stuff, FREE handbags will be given out ! *Squeals!*After looking at AliceWonders.com (Women's Stuff's Sponsor).for the 349807773 time, the Fickle-minded Me FINALLY decided which bag that I wanted. The battle is actually between Coco Black Quilted Bag Chain VS Coco Classics Bow Chain Bag. After weighing down the pros and cons of both bags, to the extent that I listed them out in a piece of paper, I've finally decided on the ............... *Drums Roll*

May I proudly present..................

THE COCO CLASSICS BOW CHAIN BAG

I know I know, some of you may think it's very simple. But that's what I like about it, Really ! It's description goes like this :

• Design inspired by Channel,


• Eyelets for leather threaded chain strap


• Quilted flap wit statement clasp


• Fabric interior with 3 pockets

LoL, aren't you tempted too ?

Plus, plus.... I've always been looking for a Black coloured bag that goes well with practically everything. The ones that I saw were either too 'Aunty' or priced at the amount which only Mr/Mrs/Ms Billionaire can afford. Sigh..... an unfortunate case for me :(

However, with this bag, I can picture myself taking it to the office or even just a casual outing with my girlfriends. Very Versatile ! *Wink* Also, although this exquisite design is inspired by Chanel, it has an understated elegance in it... in other words, it is not too flashy. *I never like a bag that is too flashy, it outshines my personality* It's probably why I opted for this one instead of the Coco Black Quilted Bag Chain which looks way too similar like the Classic Channel Bag that everyone is crazy of these days !

I want me a new bag ................

because I can perfectly picture myself owning the Coco Channel Bow Chain Bag. Like I've mentioned above, this design is timeless, simple and most importantly, I see a reflection of my personality in this bag.

Review: SOHUM Creme de la Creme ! (all d way from Aussie :) )

My eldest sister just got back from Australia. Well, yes, she did tasted kangaroo steak, had the best crocodile burger (guLp), and ofcoz....since this is a beauty review.... she got me a jar or SOHUM Body Creme ! I love you Che Che ! Not only it was nicely packed when presented to me, the jar of cream itself looked so Posh & Feminine, I felt reluctant to use it.Sadly, SOHUM is not available in Malaysia, at least that's what I know from my research....via, AHem, Google :P !!







Just in case you're interested to know more bout the products, kindly go here. It has the complete range of products....all looks equally tempting for me, but unfortunately, I'm unable to judge if the smell is good. For instance, Pink Frangipani, Cranberry Plum & Cassis and Apple Fig and Vanilla. Goodness, even the name itself sounds tempting enough ! Only if I was there...... *dreams away*

Review Time !

The cream comes in a screw off jar, not a bad idea, but somehow, as I've always emphasized in my previous posts, I do not like the idea of double-dipping for hygiene reasons. Initially, I THOUGHT that this cream would be oily, leaving a layer of 'uncomfortable-feeling' emolient on my skin. There's an old saying that goes "Time tells the truth". Well, true enough for this case. After a while, the rich creme was absorbed or rather disappears leaving my skin feeling really plush and moisturised ! I mean, seriously, the only time that I feel my skin 'naked' after applying lotion/cream is when I use hotel lotions ! Which does not make any difference to the moisture level on my skin. In this case, I know it's different. The range that my sister got for me was Peony Roses. I have no idea how Peony smells like, but from what I know, Peony is actually another species of Roses (so are strawberries!) It looks something like this.....

A pink peony flower up-close.

A bouqent of peonies elegantly arranged in a pale pink swirl vase....

Note: If you're interested to educate yourself more about this interesting flower, go here. Quick quick quick! Gah, I can't believe how I Google and Wikepedia everything ~ What to do, born like that ma

So, how does the body cream smells like ?

Hmmm....tough question, it's not to easy to find a classification of a peony scent. However, the main note is rather floral, light..... pretty much suitable for the spring season. It reminds me being in a garden full of fragrant blossoming flowers. The smell lingers for a while, but is not over-powering nor does it intimidates the people around you. Personally, I find the scent unique as it is unlike other mass produced scents, it smells natural.

Would I repurchase this again ?

Surprisingly, No. As it comes in a 250mL jar, I think it would last me for some time. Plus, I've always been that kinda person whom likes to try a bit of everything. However, if I ever had the chance to stumble upon SOHUM, I would be more than pleased to try its other range or products (eg: bath salt, perfume, soap). Definitely !

Ingredients:
Love, Purified water (aqua), Cetearyl Alcohol, Peg-100 Stearate, Glycerin, Sesamium Indicium (sesame) oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (shea butter), Theobroma Cacao (cocoa) seed butter, Cyclomethicone, Persea Gratissima (Avacado) oil, Rosa Eglanteria (Rosehip) seed oil, Triticum Vulgare (Wheatgerm) oil, Triethanolamine, Carbimer, Tocopheryl Acetate, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance (parfum), Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Butylparaben, Love.