Review: Indochine Natural Star Anise & Coffee Soap

I don't post about soaps normally, those of you that are eagerly awaiting for Kara's Way makeup samples boxes to come out would be happy to know that this particular one is in the lineup for the near future. (I have no idea which box they are intending to release it with).

Indochine Natural, which is part of the Dew Puff line, is a natural handmade soap. This particular scent is interesting (and that's not a bad thing). It's listed as a soap that would be liked by people who enjoy strong licorice scent which is pretty spot on. The star anise is pretty potent and if you're new to the scent in general, it might take some time to grow on you.

For me, when I was younger, my family and I used to enjoy star anise biscotti with our evening coffee. So immediately when Maria handed me this soap to try, I thought about those moments as a teenager.

You get the scent of the star anise almost immediately and it only becomes stronger as you open it. Taking it into the shower though lessens the impact of the star anise and brings out a bit of the coffee (but, the star anise still dominates). If you're not a fan of this scent right away, I caution you that it may just end up growing on you.

Ingredients (as per the label): Sodium Palmate (Palm Oil), Sodium Cocoate (Coconut Oil), Pure Water (Aqua), Star Anise Essential Oil (Illicium verum), and Coffee Arabica.

If (or when) you get this soap, you'll notice that that there's a sticker on the back over the original label. The company was originally only located in Malaysia and since then, it seems as though they've changed the formula. They are currently in a slow rebranding phase in order to become more aligned with Dew Puff. The soaps, from what we've heard, is still made in Malaysia, but can be found for retail on Dew Puff for $7 a bar. Sorry for the technical stuff, but in case you start looking into it, you can rest assured that there is actual exfoliation in there through the coffee and that you don't have to order the soap all the way from Malaysia.

The scent of the star anise in the shower kind of rises and falls, mixing a bit with the coffee. The coffee in itself offers fantastic exfoliation. Overall, I loved how this soap performed because as I mentioned before, I have very dry skin. I normally go for very moisturizing soaps but this one isn't really like that. I will admit that it was a bit drying for my skin but that's probably due to the exfoliation. While one who has even drier skin might find issue with this, for me it meant that the heavy lotions I use could finally penetrate my skin. My skin in general feels a lot better afterward.

---

Product: Indochine Natural Star Anise & Coffee Soap
Price: $7
Would Recommend? Yes.
Takeaway: The scent might take some time to grow on you, but if you like star anise, this will be enjoyable. It offers a good amount of exfoliation which may leave your skin a bit dry (that is, if you have dry skin) but it is great if you pair it with a heavy lotion.

A Blast From Halloween Past

Ever since I was a kid, Halloween held a special place in my heart. Let's skip the variety of reasons and go right to the silly reason. It was because during a time when most nail polish companies were afraid to put out a black, Wet n' Wild stepped up to the plate and every Halloween would release black nail polishes. Since they costs about $2 (sometimes a dollar on sale), I'd buy 2-3 bottles. They were the only nail polishes to date that I'd finish.

Moving away from New York for some reason meant a reduction in Halloween makeup items. Now maybe it's because retailers have more investment in Christmas so they start moving products for Halloween off the shelves before Halloween has even hit. Some don't even get Halloween items in stock and just skip it entirely in lieu for the sweet Christmas payout. For the Halloweenies, like myself, this leaves quite the scramble. This year, a few stores had some of the Wet n' Wild lineup, but not everything.

Going through my stash I found some classics in there. 

Behold! I still have a Black Pearl nail polish, an old tube of black lipstick (old packaging!), and a MegaSlicks in a translucent shiny... white? The MegaSlicks is not officially part of the Fantasy Makers line; if memory serves correctly, this was their first venture into the glow in the dark line without focusing too much on glow in the dark. As a result, it wasn't released as an official Halloween item. I could be wrong as my memory is a bit fuzzy about this item, but I do remember buying it with some other glow in the dark products years ago (I'm talking about almost 10 years ago).

So here are some old notes I have about them because I remember buying them for an Undead Bride costume. The nail polish... well it chips easily. Years of using this nail polish has taught me that much. I recently purchased a Zoya in Raven to replace my constant dependence on this nail polish. It gets the job done if you only plan on painting your nails black once but if you're looking for a long term solution, try OPI or Zoya.

The black lipstick is quite pigmented but not enough. I wore the lipstick without any liner (this was just a test run, not the final look). I can't remember if it lasts but luckily I'll have the chance to find out this Halloween since my new costume is Edward Scissorhands. 

The "translucent" lip gloss-- well, it's not quite translucent. To me it smells like a sugary blueberries whereas my friend said it smells like Sweet Tarts. It has a lot of hints of green in it which was really hard to capture in the light. While it seems a bit odd on it's own, I highly suggest pairing it with the black.

Below you can see the black lipstick with the lip gloss dotted along the back in the center. I think that together they look amazing (but you can be the judge for yourself.

Unfortunately I can't find these products online for sale, but if you have a local store that carries Wet n' Wild then you might be able to find them there. Please keep in mind that the packaging for the lip gloss and the lipstick might have changed. All the items are sold for under $5 each.

Kara's Way: Fizz Butter Bath Bomb Giveaway

While I haven't tried the Fizz Butter Bath Bomb just yet, Kara's Way has another giveaway just in time for Halloween. (And yes, that means that you have till the 31st of this month -- Halloween (Samhain) -- to apply. They are giving away Fizz Butter Bath Bombs and all you have to do is enter the scent that you like (which makes things pretty simple).

If you aren't familiar with all the scents that Fizz Butter has to offer, then check them out here. Good luck!

Halloween Lip Glosses

As you may have gathered, Halloween is my favourite time of year. I'm a huge history nerd and one thing I love about this time of year is what it represents throughout history. So even though I don't break out all the bells and whistles, I do observe it happily from a distance.

Part of this celebration includes a bit of indulgence, like a bar of Pumpkin Sugar Scrub Soap from BubblesUpByBethie and... well, that's kind of been it. There's been a disturbing lack of awesome makeup things at major retailers. Sure, there has been an amazing amount of Halloween items coming out from indie makeup brands (and I'll list some of them out soon) but stores have been lacking. My local stores haven't had the Softlips Marshmallow Ghost & Vanilla in stock, nor the China Glaze Ghoulish Glow, the infamous Wet n' Wild tombstone nail polishes, and the list goes on. That's partially why I've been focusing a bit more on nail polish since that's my one true Halloween source for right now.

I do have an order from Shiro Cosmetics on the way, so I can't wait to post about that soon. So don't fret, once this month is over, I'll be returning to my normal types of posts. I did find one Halloween related item in Sephora though and it made me incredibly happy.

Underneath all of those samples is the philosophy Trick or Treat Duo Shine which has the Crispy Marshmallow Bars Lip Shine (a champagne shimmer) and Caramel Apple Lip Shine (a sheer dark cherry). I am extremely excited to get it (simple as it may be) but I wish retailers would stop forgetting about that Harvest Festival celebration with which we get to go wild with makeup. A palette with black, oranges, reds, purples, golds, and greens would be fantastic.

In case you were wondering though, these are the retailers that do have Limited Edition Halloween colours. I haven't tried them so I can't attest to their staying power but if you're a Halloweenie, then this might be useful to look into.

• BFTE Cosmetics Halloween Collection
• Concrete Minerals Zombie Collection
• Darling Girl: The Ghost With the Most and Zombies
• Evil Shades Bump in the Night Halloween Collection
• Glamour Doll Eyes Halloween
• Hi-fi Cosmetics Halloween Collection
• Meow Cosmetics Halloween Shoppe
• Morgana Cryptoria Halloween Collection
• Pretty Serious Monster Mash
• Shiro Cosmetics: Nightmare Before Christmas
• Venomous Cosmetics

While these companies below don't have specific Halloween collections, they have items that would be of interest:

• MyBeautyAddiction: Highly pigmented lipsticks and eyeshadows.
• Sobe Botanicals: Highly pigmented lipsticks, eyeshadows, and not to mention, Halloween costume sets.
• Sugarpill: Gorgeous eyelashes and highly pigmented eyeshadows. I love this brand quite a bit and I use it for all of Halloween makeup.

Review: Disney Baby Daily Renewal Naturals Baby Shampoo Powder Fresh

For some reason, I thought I had blogged about this one before. Wait, stop -- give me a chance here. I know it's a bit of stretch, but if you're at all interested in haircare that is free of parabens, sulfates, silicones, and dyes, then this is your best bet.

As I mentioned before, I love Garnier Pure Clean but it flies off the shelves of all of my nearby drugstores. Not one or two, but all 4 within the immediate vicinity so sometimes I have to stockpile these when they are finally in stock. (Okay, not true, but I do have to buy a set for my place and my boyfriend's place). The last time I ran out of bottles of the shampoo and conditioner in both locations, I had to go find it at my local drugstore and while there was two bottles of conditioner left, there was only one shampoo bottle left. So I searched the store to find a bottle of shampoo that fit the bill. 

If you've tried this at your local drugstore then you know that it's kind of hard (to say the least) because haircare that fits this criteria (of being free of parabens, silicones, sulfates, and dyes) is a challenge. You can find something that matches some of the criteria, but not all. So I searched high and low (literally, the shelves are rather high), I couldn't find anything that fit so I gave up and headed to the toy section. Which is conveniently located by the baby section.

Upon quick glance I noticed quite a few bottles that touted being free of many of the items I've listed. But it became very apparent that some of these baby shampoos were actually a great replacement for my beloved Garnier Pure Clean.

Now, of course, I was drawn to this particular bottle because there's a Pooh and Tigger on the front and it immediately reminds me of my best friend. After doing a quick check, you'll note that this bottle is free of sulfates and parabens. You can find the full ingredient listing at the Disney Renewal Baby website.

So how does it stack up? Well, let's get a big ticket item out of the way. This bottle doesn't quite smell like powder -- in fact, it kind of smells like oats. It was remarkably like the Fresh Soy Face Cream.

It works very well although admittedly it doesn't lather (which is fine by me, but I just wanted you to be aware of that factor). It works well and I use it interchangeably with my Pure Clean (that is, if the Pure Clean is finished and I can't find it in store). Overall, you'll love it if you're looking for a good (cheap) sulfate-free and paraben-free shampoo. It's also silicone free and seems to be dye free as well. This has been another happy (Disney!) addition to my haircare lineup.

---

Product: Disney Baby Daily Renewal Naturals Baby Shampoo Powder Fresh
Price: ~$5
Would Recommend? Yes.
Takeaway: Great shampoo if you're looking for something that is free of sulfates, parabens, silicones, and possibly even dyes. It's also easy to find in local drugstores which makes it all the better.

More Halloween Manicures

Halloween is my favourite time of the year so I've been all about the simple manicures for this month (it is timed well with my latest nail polish haul). This week I did two and my boyfriend named the first one the "8-bit Lava" and the second is something I call "Halloween Night."

8-Bit Lava: Two coats of Sinful Colors Courtney Orange (30), two coats of Lucky 13 Lacquer Super Meat Boy, and one coat of Sinful Colors Black Crackle (1019). The Super Meat Boy nail polish has a red jelly base with small white square, and medium black hex glitter. The way the crackle dried exposes the white squares perfectly. At first I thought it looked like wood on a fire, but my boyfriend insists it has more of an 8-Bit Lava look -- hence the name.

This is the beginning of the Halloween Night manicure -- I wanted to test out sponging first. The base is two coats of China Glaze Bizarre Blurple (1137). I sponged on some of the Sinful Colors Courtney Orange (30) which didn't really show up so I decided to sponge on a bit of Milani Good Morning Sunshine (29). Overall, I loved the look of it and considered adding in stars but opted for another coat of nail polish instead.

I couldn't get a good shot of the end but I love the look of this one. The final coat is Lucky 13 Lacquer Cogs which is a light brown jelly with small copper square, medium gold, and large silver hex glitters. The copper squares look a bit orange in this manicure so it gives an interesting allusion to a night sky. (As I mentioned, the picture doesn't do it justice).

---

You can get Sinful Colors at Target or Walgreens and the normal bottles costs ~$2. The Sinful Colors crackle costs ~$4. The China Glaze usually retails for about ~$5 but this particular bottle was part of a set (and I got this bottle as part of a makeup swap). Lucky 13 Lacquers are available online for $10 for a bottle. (but this particular bottle was part of a limited edition set).

On Being at Work

Some thing I have yet to go over is the items I keep at work. Now I know that seems kind of weird, but when you spend 8 hours at the same place, you tend to keep a few items within an arms reach. So I figured that it was about time I went through some of the items I keep at work.

First of all, I have a small amount of things that I actually keep on my desk. The majority of them go into my super awesome Halloween pail from McDonald's (2011) and here they are below.

• Avon Moisturizing Gentle Cream Cleanser - Which like apparently every Avon item I own has long been discontinued. I don't use this often but given my oily skin, it's best to keep a cleanser at my desk.
• Hand Lotion Mixture - I wash my hands a lot throughout the day (for some reason or the other) and that leaves my hands quite dry. I not only have my one of my concoctions (which is pictured) but I keep a spare shea butter hand lotion in the drawer.
• Mark Glow Baby Glow Hook Up - I have quite a few of these because my friend used to work for Mark. I keep them around because the hookups is a nifty idea (you can easily switch them out for brushes, eyeshadows, eyeliners, etc) and each replacement costs about $6.50. The colours I currently have are: Bubbles, Petal Luxe, and Flirty Luxe.
• Sante Naturkosmetik Mascara Endless Lashes № 03 - Sometimes when I'm running out the door, I forget mascara. Now, normally I skip the eye makeup in general so it doesn't matter whether or not I'm using mascara, but it kind of opens my eyes a bit. Keeping one in your purse or at your desk isn't a bad idea, overall. You can read the review for this particular mascara by clicking here and the spoiler is that I love it.
• e.l.f. Essential Shine Eraser - Oily skin strikes again. I've tried a lot of blotting papers in my time and honestly the best kind is any kind. The e.l.f. sheets get the job done and they cost $1 a packet, which beats any packet I've seen on sale.

Okay so that takes care of what's on my desk -- there's a small bag I keep in my drawer though with some items that aren't necessarily important but still good to have. Some of them aren't even makeup, but I'm still going to point them out anyway.

• Bandages - Even though we have a First Aid kit in the kitchen, sometimes I'm a bit clumsy so it's just in good practice to have them a little bit closer. 
• Tide to Go Instant Stain Remover - For approximately $3 and the amount of coffee that I drink in a day... well, it's better I have one of these at my desk. I've definitely spilled a bit of coffee on that white shirt or my cream coloured hoodie a few times and this little pen has come to my aid. 
• Pill Box - I actually smiled a bit when I pulled this out to take a picture. This was the first pill box I ever bought (ever) and I got it from Claire's when I was a teenager. I don't use it much anymore (but there are some Advil's in there in case I get a headache).
• Bobby Pins - I don't have long hair anymore so these aren't as useful, but I keep them around anyway. My hair ties are kept in another container close by.
• Nail Clipper - I don't clip my nails at work, but since I grow my nails long, I do keep one around in case a nail breaks or if I get a hangnail. My nail file has seemingly disappeared, so that's something that should be pictured but I'll have to replace.
• Floss - Ridiculously useful. We need not an explanation of this.
• Capzasin - I'm old. Actually, I kid -- I've had issues with my knees even as a teenager so I keep this around since it's unscented. For the unfamiliar, this is an arthritis pain relief liquid.
• Blistex Lip Infusion Moisture Splash - When I don't feel like getting all glittery with my Mark Hook Up lip gloss, I resort to something that it a bit toned down. This does the trick and it retails for about $3.