January 2016 Haul

Been awhile! 2016 has passing for one month... (too early to feel that 'time flies' sentiment?). My beginning of the year has been doing good -- at least so far, and now I'm happy to showcase here, the stuff I bought in January :D

So, there are changes in my hair care and facial products that I'm using in my routine. I bought new shampoo and conditioner, moisturiser and cleanser from Good Virtues Co., a relatively new Malaysian brand, (if I'm not mistaken, they were just out on sales in 2014), and they're offering something else: every product in the range contains organic black seed oil, aside from having no parabens and harsh chemicals.

Black seed? Okay, a short herbalism lesson here. After I took time to browse, black seed is a common name for seeds from Fennel flower (Nigella Sativa), where the flower is a native to Southern and Southwest Asia.

This beautiful flower, produces seeds that contain powerful properties: from anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory all the way to anti-oxidant. And of course, to make use of what nature blesses the seeds, we then extracts the oil, hence we got the name black seed oil (Arabic: Habbatus Sauda).

Traditionally, the black seed oil is used for various health cures: acne, toothache, fungal infection, asthma, as well as to nourish your hair and skin, as it will make them smooth and supple (reference).

Phutawan pomegranate Body Lotion review

So, a friend was coming back from Bangkok, Thailand, and one of the souvenirs she bought from me was this organic pomegranate body lotion, an authentic Thai product, in a small bottle:

100 ml; the size is ideal for travel. Let's close up to what it's written on the packaging: 

Brightening Skin plus sunscreen protection

Pomegranate body lotion that brighten your skin by gently regenerating the new 

skin cells, allows you to always remain young. Blended with vitamin B3, this

amazing lotion helps to (eliminate? reduce?) production of dark-skin cells, thus radiated your skin.

With the nutrients from vitamin C, the perfect anti-oxidant compound, protects your

skin from oxidative elements, brings back your youth skin, to brighten your day.

It's from Phutawan brand; unfortunately they don't have official website that displays their whole product range, but from what I browse this brand makes organic products, which means they contain no paraben, alcohol and artificial fragrances.

Anyway. Although this lotion says it has sunscreen, but I prefer to use it at night before I sleep because it smells so good, so yummy like the real pomegranate fruit, so delicious that I feel like I want to eat my skin, lol. I don't really like to use it in the morning or afternoon since the scent tends to fade quickly when I'm sweating, unless I don't do a lot of activities during daytime. 

By the way, I forgot to photograph the substance, but it comes in this light orange color:

The scent can last for 7 hours, it still lingers on my skin when I wake up. Lovely. And as personal favourite, I love to spray Peach Delima body mist cologne from Dewi Sri Spa after I wear the lotion, for a more long-lasting effect. It makes a perfect combination with the lotion smell. FYI Delima means pomegranate fruit in Indonesian/Malay :)  

B. Urban pumps

   Aren't they pretty?

Bigfoot (B. Urban) Timesquare has clearance sales... These ones were initially priced $89.90. Then they bargained it for $20. I was lucky to purchase my size!

I don't get it why I can't accurately Google about this brand (B. Urban), it's Brazilian, and I don't know if this is a high-end brand in Brazil as well, but their collection here are VERY expensive and very comfortable. My new pumps are about 12 cm and it's very comfortable inside I can wear this for long hour without hurting my feet. I used to wear heels from cheap brands several times and they always made my toes and ankles hurt! So ladies, never purchase heels from cheap brand! Not trying to sound arrogant, but if you buy expensive ones and they can last longer since they're in much better quality, isn't the money worth? Obviously.

The picture doesn't do justice! I took it under white room light since the day was getting dark outside. But as you can slightly see, they're made with black velvety fabrics, while the heels and bow-strips are from latex.

And they have this mini diagram of the shoes, so you don't have to open the box to check what the shoes inside since they've graphically labelled for you. How cute!

Summer 2015 Haul

I thought I had completely lose interest in beauty-blogging since I'm getting reluctant to update about whatever the new stuff that had gone through, under my skin... Oh wait, how long has it been? *checking the archives*

Doesn't matter. Long story short, I found inspiration to write again. I have always been a lazy blogger, I know, my hands and brain only want to synchronize when I'm in the real mood to write. 

But anyway, since this blog is about showcasing things... I'm going to show you some of my latest, favourite purchases this July (it's a month of Summer, right? You tell me, I live in a tropical country). To add new twist, I'm not just going to include beauty product, but food/drink related, such as my new favourite...

 It's Eid Mubarak here, so someone gave my family a parcel full of junk food and drink, but this one really caught my attention since I'm a chocolate lover; Swiss Miss Classics in Rich Chocolate Flavour. Says it has hot cocoa mix and added with real milk from Wisconsin. 

The sachet inside. It's quite large, I have to serve it in a big mug! It comes in paper sachet (not plastic!) so I can tear it off easily... Nice print-out, the graphic has some sort of classic looking. Best thing about this cocoa drink? Unlike Milo or Cadbury or Hersey's, it tastes less sweet which I love most, since I don't like sugary drinks. 

I got another product from cocoa... In lotion bottle. Found this is in Guardian drugstore:

Fruit of the Earth Cocoa Butter lotion, made in USA. It's surprisingly cheap... I got this around $3. Thought I need this for my stretchmarks. 

The back side of the bottle: Cocoa Butter, Aloe Vera, wheat germ and sunflower seed oil... Right. Full of natural bliss, minus the paraben and mineral oil, though; but still I would like to give this a try! Love the smell, it's very subtle, almost unscented (currently I'm into unscented skin-care products, but I shall write about that in different post).

Kleenex tissue special edition. Yea... I only bought this for the pretty vintage design (I LOVE vintage and I'm a huge of Victorian era!). Three packs in one plastic, comes with different design. I think they also got this special edition in box package, which could be a better display to cheer your working desk, dining table or your grandmother's grooming table. The texture is ultra soft, quite feather-like on your skin :)

Kleenex vintage edition also comes in pocket size, 8 sheets per sachet.  Do you know what the graphics remind me of? The Victorian silhouette images! 

Next, I also bought a couple of my favourite fragrance from The Body Shop:

  

Red Musk perfume. Been planning to buy this avant-garde creation since last year... Composed with tobacco, pepper, cinnamon and musk notes. No flower or fruity notes at all. Some say this could be a men perfume based from the note composition. Well, it does smell like a men perfume, but it's more subtle and I found it rebelliously feminine, I guess because of the musk note, so... it's much more suitable for ladies ;) 

I bought Red Musk in oil (30 ml). This is the first perfume I got in oil form; contains no alcohol so the fragrant doesn't smell that strong and sharp, and the best thing -- lasts longer.

Also bought Smoky Rose fragrance in 10 ml EDT (so I could carry it in my purse). Before the Red Musk was out, I was eyeing on Smoky Rose. The rose and tobacco note make it smell seductive, mysterious... It's beautiful. It reminds you with rose and tobacco. The best from White Musk series IMHO. 

Well, actually I think The Body Shop is the best big name perfume and skin care, because they dare to explore beyond the limit. They got products from absinthe and hemp, and perfumes composed with tobacco... Like you see -- alcohol, cannabis and smoking are the things your parents never want to let you try, but The Body Shop creatively infuse those three composition in their products. Genius.

Last but not least... I tried something new for my hair:

These are hair capsules, if you're not familiar with these beads... Well, you don't crush it to your hair and wipe it off, you have to cut it to extract the liquid within: hair oil (so the term hair capsule is not really accurate, huh?). 

I bought black Miranda hair capsules (eucalyptus alba + argan oil), perfect for my thick, black hair... And oh my, argan oil smells damn amazing. I use it about one hour after I wash my hair in damp condition.

Sure, the smell is great but having the oil in sealed latex capsule is so impractical, but I guess they've packed it in right amount for one-time use. Well, I prefer to purchase a bottle of hair oil anyway. You don't need cutter or scissors to open, or worry the precious hair elixir would spill off your hands *grin*