Archives for December 2007

Review: SpaSensials Hand and Foot Treatment

Paris B Leave a Comment

I’d been on vacation the last couple of days and did a lot of walking in hot dry weather. When I got home, I discovered that my hands and feet felt rough and the skin was dry and peeling. It was then that I remembered having received a sample of the SpaSensials Hand and Foot Treatment, and thought to give it a go.

Introduced by Kimberly-Clark, what this product promises is a spa treatment for your hands and feet right in the comfort of your own home, at any time you want. The product comes in the form of disposable gloves and foot covers packaged in individual packs, so you can actually take them on vacation with you.

The SpaSensials Hand Treatment is in the form of gloves which you pull on. The material feels a little like paper that is moistened on the inside with vitamins (A, B5, E), aloe, avocado and jojoba. I have small hands so I found that the fingers were a little too long. However, as they are supposed to be one size fits all, I guess they have to make some accomodations.

The SpaSensials Foot Treatment comes in the form of little socks that you slip over your feet. Similarly, these are dryish on the outside and moistened on the inside. Unlike the gloves, I found that these socks fit a little snugly over my relatively small feet, so I’m not sure how anyone with larger feet could use them.

I slipped both the gloves and socks on and read a book for about 15 minutes. There is a cooling sensation and when I removed them, I found that my skin was noticeably softer and more moisturised. The skin does feel a little sticky after that but if you just massage the moisture into your skin, it goes away. The soft feeling lasted till the morning which was nice.

I can imagine using this treatment on vacation or on a plane where the air is dry. With the recent restrictions on liquids in carry on luggage, this would make a very useful product to carry on board and keep your hands and feet moisturised, so if you are looking for a gift for someone who travels a lot, you might consider the Spasensials Hand and Foot Treatment. Otherwise, for everyday, I’d stick to using moisturiser from the bottle because I like the feel of the lotion on my skin.

Pros: Convenient,Travel friendly, works as it should

Cons: Socks are too small, Sticky feeling after use

[rating:4/5]

Review: Skin care: Kanebo Blanchir Day Conditioner SPF29

Paris B 2 Comments

 

Kanebo Blanchir Whitening Day Conditioner SPF 29 ( Medicated )

I’d been recommended the Kanebo Blanchir Whitening Day Conditioner SPF 29 ( Medicated ) by the girl in the Kanebo salon when I went for my last facial. I was itching to try something new and this was new (to me). The medicated element I’m given to understand is merely the Japanese way of labelling the item because it is supposed to have whitening/lightening effects.

Anyway, this is the moisturiser cum sunscreen by Kanebo Blanchir. The texture is very fluid and light and it comes in a slim pump bottle. It does feel slightly sticky on the hand but once you apply it and let it sink in, you won’t notice it at all. I liked that you only need one pump to cover your face because of its fluid texture.

Living in the tropics however, I find that SPF29 just doesn’t cut it for me. So, I use this as moisturiser and then apply another layer of sunblock over it. However, if you are living in temperate zones, then this might work better because the sun isn’t so hot.

I think it cost RM168 for a 30ml bottle. Not super expensive for a department store brand but pricey for a sunscreen.

Pros: Fluid, light, pump bottle makes it easy to dispense

Cons: Pricey, not enough SPF for the tropics

[rating:3.5/5]

I’ve been remiss…

Paris B 2 Comments

… but with good reason.

The old theme was looking a tad cluttered so I decided to upload and tweak a new theme and declutter the site. I hope I did good! 🙂 If you are reading this in a feed reader, why not hop on over to the site and see how my home looks – just in time for the end of the year eh?

I have a review coming up so stay tuned!

~ ParisB ~

Tip: Using dark shadow as eyeliner

Paris B 3 Comments

Ever since I started using Bobbi Brown’s long wearing gel eyeliner, I haven’t looked back. However, there are days when I prefer something less severe as gel eyeliners can take on a rather severe lined look. So, on those days, I use dark eyeshadow as eyeliner.

BBespressoWhat you need is a dark eyeshadow in any brand. An example is Bobbi Brown’s Espresso eyeshadow which is a dark brown. Or you can use black for more contrast. Matt colours work better, but I sometimes use a shimmery colour for something different and unexpected.

Using powder eyeshadows as liner, you will find that the line drawn is less severe and the best part is that if you make a mistake, you can easily smudge it and blend it, and end up with a pretty little smokey eye look. So, this is a good way for anyone who is just learning to use eyeliner, to experiment, because if you plan to graduate to gel eyeliners, the concept is pretty much the same.

Bobbi Brown recommends using an eyeliner brush to apply the dark eyeshadow, rather like this one on the right. However, having experimented with it, I find that I don’t particularly like this shape of brush for lining the eyes.

I prefer something along the lines of this shape as seen in the MAC Cosmetics #266 Small Angle brush. I have something similar in a cheap little brand that I picked up from a beauty store and it works very well.

Applying the eyeshadow is easy. Just dip your brush into the eyeshadow powder, and apply it close to your lash line. If you prefer the colour a little more intense, lightly mist your brush with some water until it is slightly damp, then use it to pick up the colour. You’ll find that the colour applies darker and like an ink.

However, be warned that not all eyeshadows take kindly to being used wet. Some eyeshadows won’t work well after they are wet. However, Bobbi Brown’s eyeshadows are made to be used wet and dry so they are ok. MAC too can be used wet and dry, but make sure you only wet a little corner of it so as not to affect the texture of the rest of the shadow.

So, this is something you might like to experiment with. If you travel a lot, this is a good tip to learn because you end up carrying one item less. All you need is a brush which is small and light.

Happy experimenting!

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