Coconut Hut Beauty haul: bit of Hawaiian-ness bodycare

Before I became a beautyblogger I was an avid visitor or makeupalley.com. The different boards lured me into various excellent brands and ways of pampering.

One of my favourites for a while was the bath and body board, and from that board I came to enjoy one of my favourite brands: Coconut Hut Beauty.

Made in Hawaii by Lena they radiated the idea of tropical paradise. I first ordered from them in 2006 or 2007 and, even though there were lots of new etailers, I returned to them for their lovely formulas.

I hadn't ordered from them for a couple of years, but I really felt like ordering something tropical in some kind of escapism against the winter. I really like the bloggers fave of the moment, Haus of Gloi, too, but their scents really have been too wintery for me and I just wanted some plain Hawaiian zest that I used to love.

So do I still like the products?

Yeh, absolutely. Let me introduce their Hawaiian Icing Whipped Sugar Scrub first:

I talked about scrub last week. Actually, about Rituals Hot Hammam scrub (here).

This is something entirely different. Uh, not so different that it isn't scrub but the effect is different.

On Coconuthutbeauty's site:

A Coconut Hut Best Seller and Lena's Favorite Scrub! A luscious blend of Organic Cane Sugar, Golden Brown Cane Sugar, Granulated Cane Sugar, skin nourishing Cocoa Butter, and precious oils of Coconut and Jojoba. This scrub is truly unique in texture[...]When applied this amazing sugar scrub turns into a creamy lotion, rinsing clean without any greasy residue.

Indeed, it looks like a Whipped Icing blend:

So it is a smaller grain scrub made from SUGAR which turns milky when applied to moist skin. It really is wonderful for parts of the body that need a bit of exfoliation, but not the large (and somewhat scary) grains of seasalt that is present in the Rituals Hammam scrub.

So yeh, it is just for what aim you decided to put it for. I like the salty grains of Rituals Hammam on the 'wobbly bits' and the rest can be pampered with the TLC scrub or Hawaiian icing.

The scent is delightful: I love how the lemon is zesty enough to remind me of a warmer climate but the ginger is still wonderful for feeling warm and that bit of spice. Such a delicious combination.

You can find more info on the scrub over here

Coconut Oil in Blood Orange (travel size)

 Something new I missed on the last couple of years: their 100% Coconut Oil in liquid form.

I picked their travel-size in 1 oz, which was still rather big and economic in use. 

Coconut everything has been really hyped lately, in beverages, cooking oils, ect. On the skin it is a real treat as well. I often use oils for nourishing my hair, but I really liked the thin-ness of this oil and the fact it rinsed out really good (unlike the pesky olive oil). 

My hair looked sleeker and less frizz-prone afterwards.

It was also a real treat on the skin and thin enough to keep you from being a greaseball but nourishing enough against winter cold and central heating.

Love and a repurchase too (more info and the product itself over here)

I also got a little freebie in the form of a Cocoa Cabana Whipped Body Souffle. Yummm, I love mango and Mango Madness really whisked me away into a tropical vacation (for a couple of seconds). Their formula of body cream is still really good.

Rituals Hammam Hot Scrub: mini-spa-ness...

For today I thought it would be good to look at a 'spa-at-home' product.

Most of us are in that pre-christmas haze that we do not have that much time (and money) to spend in a real spa, but still do not want to resemble a lizard in that dreadful moment we have to present ourselves in our christmas dresses (or perhaps a cute Tux like Bianca Jagger ;D).

Overal, the combination of the body-showing event and the midst of winter is not the best combination, so time to look at some scrubbies...

Rituals Hammam Hot Scrub: Ginger & Eucalyptus & sea salt

Rituals has been a Dutch brand around since approximately a decade, and it is that good (and well marketed I believe) that they have been branching out their products outside the country as well.

Their main cities are displayed on the shopping bag, but I have them seeing mentioned in the British Glossy magazines as well, so I know they are available in the UK.

I picked the Hammam warming scrub because I didn't have any scrub available at my home (mostly from etailers from the US) and they were the weekly deal: €10 instead of € 14,90.

But most importantly, I have been interested in the Hammam scrub for some time because it smells really good and is incredibly grainy and warming.

And the instructions on the back mention that is is aimed to relieve fatigue and to lift the mood...yep, I need that!

Rituals Hammam scrub: instructions in various languages.

The Ritual stores are quite inviting to try out their product. They have these luxury water basements and most of their line ready to use at the side. Afterwards, they have these fresh hand-towelettes to dry your hands in a luxurious style and the interior of their shops is quite luxe. Some Dutch train-stations have these Ritual shops and they are so wonderful for waiting commuters who like to scrub their hands and try out some things.

The scrub is quite large and contains a hefty dose of 250 gr or 8.8 oz. But don't be too fooled because that black lid on top is like a high hat and it is not filled to the brim of that black hat.

It's still bigger than my BELOVED CoconutHut Beauty scrub, but I picked their 4 oz size and they have a 8 oz size as well, but I like to vary scent-wise so I picked their smaller one (ooops, that is another review that is up in the making)

Back to the Rituals:

Their scrub is based on SEASALT, so beware of little wounds on the body-parts or you will feel a different feeling of 'invigoration'.

Their other two main ingredients: Ginger and Eucalyptus, are really strong and remind me of those old-fashion spa's or perhaps those cough-rubbing balms.

But it sure wakes you up for a moment.

The large grains are perfect for that last-minute cellulite blasting, although I know I will never blast all of it, but it is all in the effort and the mind that it somewhat looks a bit less ;D.

So this combination makes me feel clean and has a semi-spa-like experience.

It never goes really spa-like, unless you have a willing partner with good hands and patience who likes to perform the 'therapist'-role for you (that is a different kind of role-play, think of it, the kind of role-play women would prefer, teeeheee)

It doesn't really get warming as some of these warming-scrubs do, but the ginger/eucalyptus and invigorate scrubbing of the large grains get the blood flowing, so I do not have to complain that often (see post yesterday) about the cold.

Rituals has an online shop over here and the Hammam Scrub is over here  € 14,90

Oh, and for the people remembering the glorious 1990s, I wanna put up some other TLC (the fab girl-group) and their idea on scubs ;D

Worldcup peace

Today I feel like writing a bit about the uncoming worldcup soccer events. Because lots of girls and women reading and writing beauty blogs will probably have a person in their life (partner, friend, brother/sister or dad, perhaps even the mum) who will be totally hypnotised by anything worldcup related (ain't I right?).

I personally am not into watching soccer. Perhaps if there is a hot male member on the field, and only when the camera has the eye for him, and otherwise that kind of play is not really captivating for me.

I do like watching some sports, for example cycling. And that has not so much to do with the men, although they start out pretty fit and trim, but unfortunately end up in a superskinny version of their selves from three weeks earlier (eg with the Tour de France and Vuelta). I like the landscape of the cycling countries and the connection between teamplay (when a group of cyclist escape) and competition (even of the same group when they approach the finish). It kind of gives that Robin Hood dimension, hoping that the small group of escapers reach the finish before they will be caught up by the calculating groups.

Enough about cycling, gheee, it is a beauty and stylish items blog...

Well, the word wordcup widows sounds a bit dramatic and too focussed on the negative side of footbal so I think it is good to think of the perks of a certain kind of singleness due to soccer. And yes, I will focus on the pampering part.

But first, she will be my talisman during the worldcup. Meet my sweet keyholder doll Hitomi:

She carries the symbolism of Caring. You can read what her doll-character will say about it in the next picture:

Update (thanks for asking Jess): she is a Kimmidoll from the kimmicoll collection. There are various dolls with different symbolisms, and you can check them out at kimmidoll.com.

I believe that the need to care and to long for care is quite feminine, although I would not exclude this for men, as some research say that men often remarry faster after a divorce/death of spouse than women (perhaps pinpointing that men need to be cared off a bit more than women ?).  So, it is perhaps a human need.

Anyway, I think the attention towards women will be a bit less during the soccer matches, so the spiritual care would be ok...

Notwithstanding the doll is utterly cute, so if the symbolic strenght does not do anything, it is still cute and dinky enough to carry around...

Back to pampering. I would not like to be seen with my facial masks in front of the partner, but during soccer matches he will probably not even notice your hair would turn purple with pink stripes, so I might sit next to him with a conforting sheet mask.

It is another version of beloved Beautymate, in a purple edition...It claims to even out unevenness, which would be the most perfect thing for my face:

The bodily skin always needs some prepping too, either for summer of just for your own confort. I will stick to the standard version of Bodyshop: standard enough to be able to get easily but friendly enough for the environment and ethnically/globally concious.

Oh, manicures...I love them being done, but when you have enough time on your hands (no pun intended) you can do it yourself.

I still have this fantastic bottle of Lippmann in my collection, which is absolutely not a summery colour, but I think I am into a bit of brown with a coppery sparkle, so I will be sporting (pun intended this time) Brown Eyed Girl.

Besides of the pampering opportunities,  it is a good time to catch up with the other non-soccer fans (friends) as well.

Oh, and I actually expect more beauty posts online to be written because of the time away from the soccer-dominated tv set....

Anyway, I hope all of the non-football fans will have a good time during this period. And the football fans will have a blast as well, because it is their ultimate season.

Ps: do you have some extra plans that are related to the worldcup events?...please share! I'm always intrigued by what the other bloggers/readers are up to....