Gettin' Soapy with Naomi Pure Beauty

There is something wonderfully old-school about a good piece of clean soap. 

Nowadays it does not have to be that all-removing type like our mums use to treasure. We can have both worlds of gentle care and practical hold. And how convenient is something non-liquidy for travel? 

I have already been testing some gorgeous Osmea Beauty soaps lately. But for shipping reasons, I wanted to look closer and more European. 

Yeh, I know! I should buy locally Dutch at the rural market but somehow the soap-making qualities have not been as esthetically pleasing as Naomi Pure Beauty. And carbon offset from Ireland is not as bad as US right? And for some reason I find the air more pure in Ireland than my own little (crowded/polluted) country so there you go...

1. Black Magic

 My first choice is not based on some eerie need for potential voodooooooo; I was simply looking for something with active charcoal after seeing it featured as "wonderproduct" on far far away US Osmeabeauty site. Claimed as healing for eczema and congested skin, I wanted to give the active charcoal a shot.

Naomi Pure Beauty is even more positive about Black Magic with Activated Charcoal as it can be a "Acne Remedy, Reduce Blemishes, Skin Perfection, Clean Skin, Detoxify, Purify". 

I have been using it a couple of times, and it is a strong soap. With strong I mean that it has the properties to make your skin wonderfully clean like one of those hamman experiences. I soaped myself in and got the exfoliating body brush to accompany it. Afterwards, my skin became even more clean than the grainy sugar/salt scrubs I use frequently.

The water will mix in greyish when you use it. That seems like proof that the charcoal is not just a gimmic.

It is not the type of soap I would use every day, due to overexfoliating. However, how delightfully detoxifying this one is when using one or two times a week.

2. Seaweed Soap

I picked up my second soap on the same account I frequently pick up a anti-cellulite lotion: Slimming! I am normal sized but the thighs are always demanding. Winter time often brings in the warming chocolaty drinks, mmmmm, so slathering them in seaweed soap makes me think that they can stay in their trusted pair of skinny jeans.

I have only used it once, and it smells like a mix of soap and something leafy. I'm not a seaweed expert but I guess that is probably it. The embedded seaweed bits function as a exfoliating tool so you actually stimulate the so-called problem area twice.

3. Cafe Mocha

  

 I just bought this soap for scentual pleasure. Good for me: no agenda! Ok, getting clean ofcourse or I could just sniff the coffee I brewed earlier, right?

It smells nice and coffee-ish but it could be slightly stronger. Perhaps I have to use it some more times to let the fragance cure a bit more.

4. Coconut Soap

 The coconut soap is marketed as a shampoo soap. My hairstory is extremely difficult: My damaged hair only tolerates Alterna Caviar Repair X line lately so I did not expect miracles from this one.

That said, I tried it and it is a pure way of washing hairs. My hair did not look too bad afterwards, but I still need the Alterna Caviar Repair X to make it look like it has not been traumatised (it has). So I like it as a more neutral soap for the body.

 *

Overall, I really like these soaps and the price has been fantastic for the quality thinking it is about 3.50 per soap. The labels looks instagram-worthy and that is important these days.

I gotten the four in a set over here for €12 which is a fab deal. It will make a cute holiday gift for those people you do not really know that well, but are still on you "to know better"-list.

Bucket-list filled: Josh Rosebrook, Olivine Salt & Love + Rose & Love

Who doesn't have a bucketlist? 

Well, I have a bucket, I had a small wishlist, and now my bucket is filled!

I needed some love in my life, and roses often are connected to love:

 

♥ ♥ ♥

Ok, I actually picked this Rose-based facial mist on its delightfully potent ingredient list:

did you see its 1st ingredient? Unconditional Love!

With summer in my mind, I already started a fantasy trip with beachmist Love & Salt... Wouldn't we all not mind some summer lovin'?

The ingredients are quite simple. But for recreating a true beach look: why add stuff the beach would never do in real life?

Both the Oviline Salt & Love as the Rose & Love come in real glass bottles. 

Then there is 'happily married' pair Josh Rosewood Deep Nourishing Shampoo and Conditioner: 

 They work well apart, but they complete each other together.

I'm still in the long-term testing phase, but I already love Love & Roses: it feels pure and smells like the real deal.

The Salt & Love is quite nice, but I feel it could be replicated easily with some himalayan salt and coconut oil: there's a-plenty DIY-es on pinterest around. I like that you can reuse the glass bottle again for other liquids.

The Josh Rosebrook Deep Nourishing shampoo is rather sudsy when you've gotten used to the often less sudsy organic variety. I actually do not feel a strong need to condition afterwards so I'd say it's quite nourishing. It really reminds me of Living Proof smoothing shampoo in therms of feel & scent. It smells like Rooibos tea with some fruits.
The Deep Nourishing conditoner is the perfect follow-up for the areas that still needs a bit of extra softness. Thin, but an effective mid-level moisturizer.

All of these are travel sizes that I bought on abeautifulworld.com.

Used up's...

"Newly used up's, isn't that an oxymoron?" 

I have quite the selection of products:

1. Suti Rejuvenate Face oil;
I often buy skincare on naturissimo and they have some gorgeous sample sizes that I love for travel. I often return to sample sizes of Suti as their samples are quite generous and not too expensive (£2.95 for 4 ml here). I don't know why I haven't gone full-size yet because I repurchase the sample size oftenly.

2. Aurelia Revitalise & Glow serum
It gotten quite the positive reviews in the Vogue UK, had a feature on net-a-porter, but the review that made me buy this was thanks to the glowy Grace from LondonMakeupGirl.  She branded it as the serum close to Nude skincare serum and I loved that one. Also, I often find beautybloggers to be more unbiased than people working at Glossy magazines (etc) and I love a concise review that makes me plunge into buying something unsniffed/untested.
I love this serum and it's quite similar to the fantasticness of Nude Skincare serum. I will rebuy when I finish my Omorovicza Gold Flash Firming Serum.

 3. Phylia de M Clean shampoo
 Oh, my hair-woos story...This shampoo was included in a set that gotten me an extra bottle of my beloved Phylia de M Connect. I am not sure if it really works but it's a fresh and natural shampoo. I do not think I will repurchase as I think that the spray itself is more effective on getting the Fulvic Acid to my roots.

4. Melvita Mousse Nettoyant (cleansing mouse)
I have to update my original review (here) as it has been gentle, but not too effective in cleaning off all of the makeup. I do not use that much makeup but I still had too much on my face when I used my cotton pad with toner.

5. L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary oil for hair
I would only buy it to obtain such an ecstatic gaze as the model has on the promotion photo...hehe.

It was a BOGO deal with another L'oreal and I liked it for pre-oiling my hair before shampooing. I do not think it is as good as Kerastase Elixir Ultime but sometimes I get too frugal about my expensive haircare: this one was so easy to slather on as a pre-conditioner before shampooing (extra protection).
I didn't get the ecstatic look as the model, though, but if it's featured in another BOGO I might repurchase it for it's easiness described above.

L'óreal Serie Nature Abondance de Cacao shampoo

I don't think shampoos are the most exiting things to review on beauty blogs, but I still like to have a look at a recent [LIKE] of mine .

My last L'óreal Serie Nature mini-review was not too positive, however,  I am mostly content about their products: They are effective for the aim you use them without using too many chemical enhancers (read about their guiding principles here). Not that L'Oreal Serie Nature is the most organic brand ever, au contraire, but they are often soft enough for my sensitive scalp.

L'Oreal Nature Abondance de Cacao

*Abondance* means abundance or overflow in french. Shortly, they promote an abundance of cacao and most girls like their chocolate (and not getting fat) which brings in a fantastic concept. But Cacao is not only that delightful thing that soothes the soul and palates: it also can be used to create volume in finer hair. Hence we feed the hair chocolate so the hair can get fat voluptious!

That is something I need.

I have been discussing my recent lack of volume (here) and I believe a gentle, non-SLS shampoo is the first step into reconstructing the hair. And not just that: A shampoo without SLS, parabens or other chemical elements is better when the skin around the hair is eczematic or has other sensitivities. People often forget about this, but notice their skin flares up after showering: well, that could be it, that your shampoo (conditioner) is too harsh for you.

chocolaty liquid: No worries, it rinses out

I actually have some scalp sensitivity during winter weather. This shampoo is easily tolerated and I feel it does not irritate or aggraviate my sensitivities.

Then the chocolate element. How does it smell? Wow, it is quite a wonderful and cacao-y scent that reminds me slightly of a mixture of cacao butter with some warm chocolate mixed through it.

The volume aspect? Ok, I have difficult hair so I see a tiny bit of result, but no shampoo has had that amazing effect on me yet. Ok, some of the volumising shampoos have some effect but leave hair really crispy dry or fluffy unmanagable and this one keeps everything soft but slightly more bouffant [=volumized].

I love this in conjuction with the L'óreal Nature Abondance de Cacao hairmask which has the same delicious scent and is really good at taming down frizzies and moisturizing dryness.

Conclusion:
A delicious fraganced shampoo that is really gentle for hair, scalp and surrounding skin. It has a bit of volumizing effect but I actually like it for it's smoothing (frizz) qualities. Best thing of L'Oreal Nature lines is that they are almost as cheap as most drugstore line, only made with higher quality ingredients made for the expertise of hairdressers.

Availability:
It's on lookfantastic.com (here) and Dutch people can get it over here. Also in hairsaloons that sell this range (see lorealprofessionel.com)

Using, Used, Gonna Use

I'm such a chatty blogger but I will keep this round of "using, used, gonna use" concise.

1. Using: Sofina Primavista Smooth Base Coat primer in Yellow:
I've talked about my Rudolph (red nose) syndrom yesterday. This primer doesn't just make pores appear much smaller, but the yellow cancels out most of the redness too.
I've bought it a while ago and revisited it recently...and my nose thanks me for it

2. Used:  Christophe Robin Creme Lavante/ Cleansing Cream with Citron
I once got a GWP of this and I liked it enough to repurchase in large. Anyway, sometimes it happens that you like the sample but feel *meh* about the full-size: that happened (but I still emptied it because it's still good).  It works as a no-poo sort of cleansing conditioner (see what the no-poo method is over here, trust me, nothing to do with the toilet). I started to get *meh* about the scent which reminded me of Cif cleansing lemon scent. And, I am not really a no-poo person: I love to shampoo my slightly-greasy roots with foamies...sorry for that.

3. Gonna Use: La Prairie Cellular Treatment powder Foundation
 I finished up my Poor Burberry and hope to be much gentler for this luxury babe...

Finished Business

Last month I have finally been able to finish up some of the products I had lingering in my beauty box:

Left: Haus of Gloi Selicie bubbling Scrub:

The first one is a continuing favourite of mine. I simply enjoy Haus of Gloi scrubs a lot. I often order the sample size for the simple reason that I am always curious about their regular update of new scents. Sometimes I hit an all time favourite and then I order something larger...

Middle: Kerastase Resistance Bain de Force Shampoo

I kind of stick to the rule I once read that 'things you rinse off can be the cheaper variety, as they do not do so much for you' in contrast to the things that are leave-on/in. I normally do not go for the more expensive variety of Shampoos, but splurge on conditioners etc. This one was in a set, so I wanted to try it out.
Lovely fresh scent, a bit of a combination of grapefruits and chemicals.

Still, I would not repurchase. It is expensive and does not do so much extra for my hair.

But as I said before, most shampoos wouldn't. It's best to have a non-stripping one, and for the persons that have coloured their hair in a certain hue to have one that targets or is gentle for your colour. There are lots of cheaper variety that can take care of that need too...

Right: Caudalie Vinosource Sorbet Creme

How much that I love Caudalie and have been the greatest fan of their Pulpe Vitaminée for a long time (and I would repurchase that one), I just do not think this one was that brilliant. First, they claim it is suitable for sensitive skin:

This ultra light cream immediately hydrates and soothes sensitive and dehydrated skin. The cream restarts internal hydrating mechanisms and restores water reserves. Fortified and protected from free radicals, the skin is left luminous, velvety, and lastingly soothed.

Well, it is quite perfumed, although in a fresh, fruity way, but still perfumed. That meant that my skin did not really liked it when it had one of its sensitive moments. I DID use it up, but only when my skin was fairly normal.

As for the hydrating properties...meh, I had better (eg the Pai cream I will discuss later in this post). It is fresh and moisturizing but I would not recommend to really hydrated skins.

So, I would not repurchase this one either.

Boscia Enlivening Amino-AG Eye Treatment:

I use this one up, or not quite, asI threw away some when I was in the middle of it. It works nicely as a eye-PRIMER, but not so much as a cream. Reason for that: silicone-valley. I have the feeling this cream is loaded with silicones: a good thing for primers or for mature eyelids to have that illusion of a wrinkle-less skin, but not completely suitable for day/nightcare product.

So, I would not repurchase this one either.

Pai Organics Lemongrass Moisturizer:

I have to say that I completely LOVE this one. It came in a set with some other PAI organics products and I have been using it a lot. The scent is so fresh and so natural and it gives a ton of moisture to the skin.

Probably a bit too much for oilier skintypes, but I just blotted some of the moisture off with blotting sheets and had a plump and dewy skin for a large part of the day.

This one I would absolutely repurchase, but it is quite expensive so I have to reconsider it for a while and finish up something more.