Kiehl’s Rare Earth Deep Pore Daily Cleanser

My latest go-to brand to try new things has been Kiehl’s.  Their Rare Earth Deep Pore Daily Cleanser is great!  It makes your skin feel fabulous and fresh.  I’m always interested in anything that’s supposed to deep clean and/or refine the look of pores.  I definitely wasn’t disappointed with this cleanser.

Kiehl’s Deep Pore Daily Cleanser has Amazonian White clay that is there to help exfoliate and detoxify.  The clay gives the cleanser a creamy quality that is very pleasant.  But it also suds up a little bit too, and spreads easily.  When I use it I take a little dollop of cleaner into my palm and rub my palms together to spread it equally.  Once spread I apply to my (previously moistened) cheeks forehead and chin, then use my fingertips to smooth it around in little circles.  This motion spreads it evenly, creating a little bit of suds and exfoliating gently.   After about 30 seconds of this, I rinse with warm water.  (It comes off very easily, which is good because sometimes I get annoyed at how much effort it takes to get a cleanser or a mask off your face, especially if it’s clay based.)

The exfoliation is pleasant and gentle, not too rough.  I sometimes get a little sensitive if I use an exfoliator every day, but this one is definitely fine to use on a daily basis.  It leaves your skin smooth and tingly and when you apply a toner or a pore refining product after using it you can feel it penetrating even deeper in your now more open pores than you would if you had just used a normal cleanser.  It leaves skin soft, smooth, and helps refine pores.  That’s definitely what I’m looking for in a cleanser.   I thoroughly enjoy it.     

 Scent: 4.5 (Very neutral & non-offensive.)
Health: 4.5 (I don’t see any sulfates or parabens, and their website touts their natural ingredients.)
Ethics: 4.75 (They seem to be very involved with community charities.)
Price/Value: 4 (Well, it is $22.50 on http://www.kiehls.com/ but I’ve had my tube for at least 2 months and it’s still half full.  I vote it’s worth it.)
Does what it says: 4.5 (It’s a great exfoliator and leaves your skin feeling great.  I can’t tell for sure if my pores are smaller, but I sure feel like I’m actively fighting the issue.)

Overall: 4.5 (Makes your skin soft and smooth and makes your pores feel lovely.) 

The Body Shop Spiced Pumpkin Bath & Shower Gel (Special Edition)

Fall is my favorite season. I love the weather, the food, the family time, the holidays and the shopping… But mostly I love the smells of the season. Crispy leaves blowing in the wind, fresh baked goods, cinnamon, pumpkin, apples and cider Mmmmmmm. So naturally I was super excited to see a fall seasonal scent at The Body Shop!

Spiced Pumpkin Shower Bath & Shower Gel is an excellent example of fall in a bottle. It’s hard to describe the scent exactly; it’s not like blatantly pumpkin, despite its name. But it is blatantly delicious. It’s kind of like an appley, cinnamony, clovey, pumpkiny mash-up. The combo is very potent, almost to the point of being too strong, but not quite getting there. But its so delicious you don’t care about that. And because it’s a fall scent combo, it can stand to be strong. I almost want to heat it up in a mug and drink it.

Also Spiced Pumpkin is part of The Body Shop’s Originals collection (which is totally funny since it was just created this year and the rest of that collection is from when The Body Shop first started) which is cheaper than their regular shower gel line. I wonder if that means they’ll keep it around? Since it’s a fall scent I figured it might just be seasonal but I think it’ll do well so maybe they’ll keep it. Fingers crossed!

So, in conclusion, if you love fall, you’ve got to get your hands on some Spiced Pumpkin Bath & Shower Gel from The Body Shop. It’s a great way to incorporate the season into a part of your day where you can’t be outside in the awesomeness that is fall.


Scent: 4.75 (Delicious! But strong.)
Health: 3 (It does have sulfates and colorants….but it’s too yummy to care. Lol.)
Ethics: 4.75 (The Body Shop does a lot with Fair Trade, Eco-Friendly Products and Charity.)
Price/Value: 4.5 ($5.99 regular price at The body Shop, and TBS always has sales so it’s even cheaper!)
Does what it says: 5 (It’s kind of hard to mess up a shower gel. I’ve never tried it for a bath but I’m sure it’d be good.)

Overall: 4.5 (Overall it gets you clean while indulging the senses. Yum!)

The Body Shop Vitamin C Skin Boost

Lately I have had more and more interest in skin care products.  Maybe it’s the fact that I’m starting to get a little older and slightly starting to worry a little bit about future things like wrinkles and sagging.  Lol.  Not that I’m there yet.  I randomly get kind of a lot of compliments on my skin, so I thought I’d share some things that work for me.  Vitamin C Skin Boost by the Body Shop is one of my favorite facial care products.

Vitamin C Skin Boost is great because it leaves your skin silky smooth and radiant.  Sometimes when people come over my house I take the bottle, put a little squirt on the soft fleshy part of their hand between thumb and pointer finger, rub it in and then invite them to feel their skin after a minute.  Everyone always wants to go out and buy this product afterwards.  Or at least steal it from me.  Lol.  It’s one of those products that works well for many skin types.  No matter what skin issues may be present, everyone can always benefit from a little having skin that’s a little smoother and a little more radiant. 

Skin Boost is a serum and usually serums go underneath your regular moisturizer, because they can penetrate deeper than your (presumably) thicker moisturizer to hydrate lower lying skin cells.  But Skin Boost goes over any regular moisturizer, and takes care of top layer cells, evening out and brightening the skin, making it look and feel better.  This smoothing, mattifying quality makes it great to use in place of a make-up primer.  When applying make up over it, it goes on silky smooth, much smoother than when just going over lotion and a million times smoother than over dry skin.  

Skin Boost has antioxidant vitamin C which is supposed to fight free radicals and help brighten skin.  It is also scented with a lovely light citrus that makes using it that much more soothing.   I used to think that a serum might be a little too much for skin that’s not overly dry, but with skin boost I never feel like I have too many products on my skin.  I simply moisturize, add this then smooth on make up and my skin feels and looks great.  Overall, Skin Boost leaves you with silky soft luminous skin, which is what everyone who’s ever thought about that kind of stuff wishes for, right?  It’s definitely worth a try.

Scent: 4 (Very nice light citrus. Not unpleasant at all, but not super dreamy or anything.)
Health: 4.25 (There are a lot of words I don’t know.  But it does not appear to contain parabens.)
Ethics: 4.75 (The Body Shop does a lot with Fair Trade, Eco-Friendly Products and Charity.)
Price/Value: 4.5 (Okay, so it’s $26. But you’ll love it, and the bottle lasts a long time because you don’t need a lot.)
Does what it says: 5 (Absolutely. Silky smoothness with a lovely glow!)

Overall: 4.75 (Overall makes skin look and feel great!  Get ready for some compliments!) 

LUSH Curly Wurly Conditioning Shampoo

Okay so this is my fifth LUSH product in a row, and after this I’ll go back into some other brands.  Today I’m going for LUSH Curly Wurly Conditioning Shampoo.  I love love love this shampoo.  Now I don’t technically have curly hair, but my hair waves if I let it dry naturally, and without proper product, it’s a frizzy disaster in a muggy environment.  So as a result, I often use products targeted at curly hair, because they often seem to control the frizz and actually make my hair sleeker.  If you have any frizz issues, no matter what your hair texture, try out a curly hair shampoo and see what it can do for you.  

Curly Wurly is coconutty goodness.  The container says that it has 15% coconut for conditioning.  And desiccated coconut is listed as the second ingredient.  It’s kind of weird at first, because you can see a whole lot of coconut flakes right in it.  You’re thinking, “Why would I rub coconut on my head, what’s that gonna do?” and “Is that stuff gonna get stuck in my hair?” Lol.  But it’s fabulous.  By the time I comb out my conditioner (which I always do just before rinsing it), all the flakes are gone.

It actually doesn’t look like shampoo at all really.  It kind of looks like some sort of coconut goo dessert.  And smells like one too.  It smells absolutely delicious.  Kind of like a coconut almond cookie or something.  It’s supposed to be coconut vanilla, but I feel like it’s more of a coconut almond scent then vanilla.  Also, it’s not liquid like a normal shampoo, but actually a thick, creamy goo.  And when you grab that goo and rub it into your wet hair, and it starts getting all sudsy and creamy, it’s a scentual delight.  Get it, scentual?  Lol.  But really, it’s quite an experience.  And it helps make your hair smooth and frizz free.   What more could you ask for? 

Scent: 5 (Delicious.  Calorie-free dessert!)
Health: 4 (Does contain sulfates.)
Ethics: 4 (LUSH is great, but not perfect.)
Price/Value: 4.25 ($21.95 per container, but it lasts a long time because you don’t need a lot and it’s a pretty big container.)
Does what it says: 5.25 (I give this one extra because it works for hair of all kinds of textures.)

Overall: 4.5 (A yummy smelling smoother!) 

LUSH Dirty Toothy Tabs

Okay, so here goes number four of five LUSH products in my review of five in a row. Like I said when I was talking about the massage bars, LUSH loves making anything that normally comes as a liquid into a solid. And why not? It’s fun. And travel friendly, since you don’t have to worry about how many ounces it is or if you should carry it on or check your bag. This time I’m going to review a product that’s relatively new, and of course, fabulous!

Dirty Toothy Tabs are actually toothpaste in solid form! What a fabulous idea! Lush has just come out with a bunch of new flavors, but Dirty was the original, and so far my favorite. (Yes as soon as the new ones came out I bought a box of each to try as well.) Maybe it’s because they are spearmint flavored, which is my favorite of all the mint type flavors. I was also interested in Dirty because it came out with a launch of a new men’s line from LUSH, also called Dirty, which I now think is also pretty much fabulous overall.

So anyway, how do you use these things exactly? Well, grab one, wet your toothbrush, and place the tab in your mouth. I keep it between my lips and front teeth to start, and then use my front teeth to chomp it up into crumbly bits. Once you’ve got it crumbled, stick your wet toothbrush in your mouth and start scrubbing. Brush as you normally would. The tab foams up into a delicious scrubby cleanser, and is a whole lot more fun than regular toothpaste! It leaves your mouth refreshed and your teeth shiny.

Do not mistake these for mints. When they first came out, I was explaining them to my boyfriend, who took one, put it in his mouth, started chewing thinking it was a mint and immediately was like, “What IS this?” I had literally just explained to him that it was toothpaste. LOL. But if you put it in your mouth knowing what to expect, it’s a lovely experience!

I find these great to take on trips because they are small and easy to carry around or shove in a bag without worrying about disaster. If anyone happens to observe you brushing your teeth, they are a great conversation starter. Lol. They’re also great if you’re flying because you don’t have to worry about being able to fit all your liquids into your carry-on. Overall, they are convenient and more interesting than any regular liquid toothpaste. Yay!

Scent/Taste: 4.75 (Yummy spearmint)
Health: 4.75 (No parabens! Ingredients mostly recognizable! But not all organic.)
Ethics: 4.75 (LUSH is fabulous, but not perfect.)
Price/Value: 4 ($3.95 for a box of 40 tabs, that’s 20 days of brushing! A little more then regular toothpaste, sure, but way more exciting!)
Does what it says: 4.5 (It’s a great toothpaste. Isn’t quite as overwhelming a clean as regular toothpaste, but I’ve been using Tom’s of Maine and this is similar in intensity.)

Overall: 4.5 (Minty fun for all!)

LUSH Hottie Massage Bar

 

Here’s to my third LUSH product in my review of five in a row.  This time I’m going for the Hottie Massage Bar.  In general, LUSH’s massage bars are fabulous. Obviously, a massage bar can used essentially as you would use oil for massage.  There’s just a different application technique.  Instead of pouring it out of a bottle, you rub the bar in your hands or over skin to melt the oils.  So really the massage bars are more like a regular moisturizer in solid form.  LUSH likes to do that with a lot of things.  Like if it’s normally liquid, wouldn’t it be fun to make it solid?  Lol.  So using their massage bars is like using a fabulous lotion. 

If I were a masseuse, I would want to use all LUSH massage bars instead of oils, because they’re so luscious.  But the Hottie Massage Bar is the only one that I actually use mostly for actual massage (i.e. begging my boyfriend to give me a massage when I’m feeling sore from the gym or whatever, he’s usually a good sport about it J). That’s why Hottie is special. 

So the reason why Hottie is so great for a massage is because it contains black pepper and ginger oils to create warmth and help improve circulation and ease sore muscles.  (I would just be careful to make sure no Hottie massage turns “frisky”, as pepper oil doesn’t sound like it’d be too pleasant to have in um, certain sensitive areas.)  The bar is shaped with nubs I suppose to help in the massage aspect but essentially they are pointless.  The bar melts too fast for them to really be used to knead sore muscles. 

You only need to rub the bar over the massage area for 15-30 seconds to melt enough oils for a great lubricated massage.  Then I recommend putting Hottie down so it can cool down to room temperature and re-solidify, keeping it mostly intact for your next use, and continuing on with your massage using the oils that you just melted. If you just kept rubbing the bar over skin, you’d get gobs and gobs of oil as it kept melting, making the whole mess super slippery and probably majorly greasing up any bedclothes nearby.  You only need a little bit.  So rub on a small amount, then keep it close (I keep mine in a little tin on the side of my bed), so you can grab it again if you feel you need more lubrication.  And besides being a great lube for massage, Hottie also leaves your skin smooth, soft, moisturized, and dreamily scented.

It smells heavenly and is therefore soothing in that way too, adding to the massage experience.  It contains vanilla absolute, which is probably why I like the smell so much.  I remember the first time we used it I was like OH MY GOD this smells AWESOME.  But it doesn’t really smell strictly of vanilla.  I think I can detect hints of vanilla & ginger, but overall I’m not sure what to call the scent.  Besides amazing.  Overall, LOVE IT!

Scent: 5 (Delicious.  Very soothing.)
Health: 4.75 (No parabens!  Ingredients mostly recognizable!  But not all organic.)
Ethics: 4.75 (LUSH is fabulous, but not perfect.)
Price/Value: 4.5 ($8.95 at LUSH, not too bad.  It’s high quality, and lasts as long as you use it & store it properly.)
Does what it says: 4.75 (Definitely.  Leaves you soothed and moisturized, no matter what the skill level of your masseuse!)

Overall: 4.75 (Overall makes everyone feel great!  Grab a friend or lover and have some fun!) 

LUSH Bubblegum Lip Scrub

Okay so here’s my second review of a LUSH product.  I’ve decided to do five, so here’s number two.  I absolutely love LUSH Bubblegum Lip Scrub.  Not only is it delicious, but it leaves your lips silky smooth for days. 

I’m not really sure why the flavor is called bubblegum, but it is a tasty delight.  It doesn’t really taste like classic bubblegum though.  It tastes more like just a sweet sugary pink candy treat, more like one of those dots you that you have to pull off the paper to eat (usually with a good amount of paper still attached), and it’s the pink dots specifically that the bubblegum lip scrub makes me think of.  Lol.  It’s a great negligible calorie treat for when you’re craving a little something sugary, with the added bonus that it leaves you’re lips softly flake free!

So not to be gross or anything, but I always felt like my lips were a little flaky and definitely unsmooth on a regular basis before I found this product.  I would apply lip balms like there was no tomorrow and while some of them softened the lips, they didn’t do anything to smooth the skin hanging around there.  This does a wonderful job.  To apply, I lick my finger (I’m allowed to do that, since I’m the only one who uses it), press it into the pot, and rub what I pick up onto my lips in a circular motion.  I dip another time or two and scrub some more, and then lick my lips to remove the sugar.  Delicious! 

I’ve tried other lip scrubs but none seem to work nearly as well.  And no others I’ve found are nearly as yummy.  I get like excited to put this on my lips.  And my boyfriend always says my lips feel so soft afterwards.  J  

 Scent/Taste: 5 (Love it.)
Health: 3.5 (It does contain artificial colorants, but I’m willing to overlook it for this.)
Ethics: 4.75 (Lush is a pretty great company, as I’ve mentioned before, but they still do use parabens in some products.)
Price/Value: 4.5 ($8.95 on LUSH and the little tub seems to last forever.)
Does what it says: 4.75 (Fabulous exfoliator.)

Overall: 4.5 (The health brings it down a little bit, but it’s amazing!)