Bath & Body

Review: Origins Organic Cleansing Body Bar

Paris B 3 Comments

I saw a fleeting article in the newspaper about Origins Organics range being brought into Malaysia. It reminded me that I was sent the cleansing body bar a while back and it slipped my mind to review it!

The Organics range by Origins is made of organic ingredients and according to the Origins website this is what the USDA says about organic ingredients:-

According to the USDA, an organic ingredient is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations.

rganic ingredients are produced without using most conventional pesticides, fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge, bio-engineeringing or ionizing radiation. Before a product can be labeled “organic”, a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure that the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA standards.

You can read more about it on the Origins Organics website. I can’t link you directly because its a flash site, but if you go to the main site, you can click around for more information about organic materials and what is organic certification.

Anyway, I have the Origins Organics cleansing bar, which is essentially a bar of soap. It is a pale yellow colur and has a rough feel to it unlike the usual processed soaps with the waxy smooth feel. I really like the smell. There is a strong herb-essential oil smell to it that doesn’t linger on the skin and it really perfumes the bathroom. This is because it contains Organic Clove, Rose, Lavender, Patchouli and Red Thyme Essential Oils.

I find that this soap bar isn’t drying as soap bars usually are but cleans nicely. Point to note is that it doesn’t leave the skin feeling moisturized either. It just doesn’t make it feel tight and dry. Some ingredients that can be found in this cleansing body bar are:-

Organic Coconut Oil: An effective moisturizer, it helps rehydrate skin. In addition, Coconut oil makes an excellent massage oil as well.

Organic Olive Oil: Used for centuries to soothe, smooth, refresh and renew worn-out skin.

Organic Palm Oil: Softens and conditions skin, renews and helps eliminate dryness. Often used in combination with Coconut and Olive oils.

One other thing I noticed about this bar of soap is that it lasts. It doesn’t melt away in the shower and one bar has lasted me more than 2 months! Its hell for someone who likes to change her shower stuff often, but it makes it worth the money you spend on it.

Honestly, for someone who prefers to use shower gels, I really like this soap. It retails for US$15 for a 100g bar. That means it’ll probably cost about RM50? Ouch! Expensive!

[rating:4.5/5]

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]

White Bath whitening foam bath from Beauty TCM

Paris B 11 Comments

Update: The website is now defunct and no longer exists

I was approached by Beautytcm.com to review a sample of their product – White Bath shower cream. BeautyTCM as I found out from their website, is a Malaysian company that originally started out with hair care products in particular hair loss products.

However, as my hair isn’t thinning, I opted to try the whitening body wash instead. It promises to have “immediate results” in that the skin will immediately look lighter upon using the shower cream.

The product comes in a white bottle that looks rather like a milk bottle. The cream is a white liquid and only very little is necessary as it is very emollient. The fragrance added is rather strong so if you are allergic to scent then you might have a problem with this. I would have preferred if they stuck to smells from the essential oils that seem to have been included in the product. It washes off easily and doesn’t make the skin feel dry, which is good.

The results are supposed to be immediate but I’m afraid I was unable to test this claim, as I am very fair to start with. While I did see a little lightening when I tested it on my hand (washing one hand with the cream) I cannot say for sure because my skin tone is naturally very light. Maybe prolonged use will help?

The White Bath shower cream is available from Beautytcm.com and retails for RM48 per bottle. I can forsee it lasting quite a while because you really only use very little. If skin whitening is your concern, then you might want to give this one a shot.

Important Tip: Use Sunscreen!

Paris B 9 Comments

It is never too early to use suncreen on your face and body. Now, I’d be the first to admit that I’m not always as religious about using sunscreen on my arms and legs but for my face, its a top priority every single day.

Its a fallacy that if you refrain from going out into the sun, you don’t need sunscreen. Or, that if you stay home with all the windows and doors closed, you don’t need sunscreen. Closing your windows and doors and staying indoors doesn’t prevent the UV rays from reaching you. So yes, maybe you won’t tan, but your skin isn’t protected from UV rays either.

And for anyone who indulges in anti-aging creams and cures, its best you start now with sunscreen. That is the best anti-aging cure you can hope for because it is a fact that the sun’s rays and UV rays damage the skin and causes skin to age and in extreme cases, skin cancer. Sunscreen blocks or filters these harmful UV rays thereby reducing the skin damage and therefore acting as an anti-aging measure.

I found this very helpful article about sunscreen and what kinds of sunscreen one should look out for. This other article about sun protection too is very insightful. In gist:

  • Use a sunscreen that blocks or filters UV-A and UV-B rays. These are broad spectrum sunscreens.
  • Use a sunscreen that is SPF15 and above. According to reports, there is no evidence that very high SPF will actually protect your skin more but here in the tropics, SPF 50 is the norm. The Japanese have their own system of rating sunscreens with PA+++ for the highest and PA+ for low ratings.
  • Reapply often especially if you are going to be out in the sun. However, for practical purposes, I can only see this reapplication for the body for most of us who work will have our faces made up and thus, reapplying sunscreen isn’t much of an option.
  • When applying sunscreen do not forget areas like your neck and ears. Men or women with short hair tend to forget the back of the neck and the tips of the ears which can burn easily.

For myself, I use L’oreal UV Perfect sunscreen for my face because thus far, it has worked best for me and it blocks both UV-A and UV-B rays. Biotherm Sunfitness isn’t bad too as its non-sticky. My foundation too has SPF. For my body, I use the one by the Australian Cancer Council. Its only available for purchase in Australia.

This post was actually prompted by my discussion with a friend about using sunscreen. I was appalled that anyone would not use sunscreen because I’m a great proponent and advocate of using sunscreen if not for beauty, then for health reasons. I’ve read some articles that say that sunscreens may not be all that good for you because of the chemicals, but in general, the pros have thus far outweighed the cons.

So, slap on the sunscreen. When you are 50, your skin will thank you for it!

Edit: This tip applies equally for both men and women. If you don’t use any other skincare on your skin, use sunscreen. It does make a difference.

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