Beauty Reviews.

I apologize ahead of time as this blog post isn't about anything vintage at all, but rather it is about beauty products. I suppose I could relate it to the beauty routines of yesteryear when dames took a little extra time, but that would be a bit of a stretch. Hopefully, this post won't be a bore.

I am so grateful for my girl Tayva and her trips to England. She always brings me back goodies that I fall in love with and new things to try! She just recently returned home from across the ocean with goodies in tow.

In my goodie bag was a huge handful of candied violets that are wrapped like Smarties. I do believe I ate all of them in one day! They are wonderfully addictive. The violet taste takes a moment to get used to, as it can taste like licking perfume at first, but soon all I can taste is likened to crystal sugar. They also leave the most yummy aftertaste on your tongue, which is the reason I ate them all promptly in one day. The aftertaste is light and almost a bit minty, but not terribly strong. I do believe I will be tracking down some more candied violets here soon. Besides, what other kind of candy would be perfect for a vintage snob like me? I am so vintage I eat only vintage candies! Hahahaha

She also gave me some mascara from Benefit called Bad Gal Lash. The brush takes a bit to get used to as it is pretty fat for a standard brush. Now, I don't know that much about mascara other than whether I like it or not. I like this one, it gets the job done. Now I can't give a better review on how well the mascara works or what it's special lash magic properties are, I just know I like it. Perhaps if I learn more about what makes a mascara good or bad I might repurchase in the future, but for now, I will enjoy this one that I have and stick to my drugstore brands when I run out.



Recently I picked up my guy's habit of always having some sort of chap stick or balm on my lips. So lucky me when Tayva brought me back Strawberry Crush, a glossy lip balm from Rose and Co. I don't think I have ever used any lip moisturizer type topicals total in my entire life as I have since using this balm. It smells like Strawberry Shortcake figures from the 80's, but without that cheap waxy plastic scent that usually goes with it. I carry this around with me now and when I am not wearing any lipstick I put this on to help soften my lips. It is quite embarrassing when your man's lips are softer than yours! I don't know if it is improving my lips any but I'll keep hoping it does! The tin is super cute too with a gardening pinup in red gingham on the lid.

From Lush she got me a sample of Greased Lightning. This has been getting super reviews all around. Naturally I wanted to try it. I can't remember off hand, but I believe it is just a zit and grease zapping agent. From the teeny sample the gal gave Tayva we deducted that Greased Lightning is probably just tea tree oil and aloe vera gel. As far as a zip zapper, I had much better overnight results with my blemish powder from cosmedicine. I also didn't close the cap tight enough and it dried out faster than Grandma watching porn.

Tayva knows me so well. She also picked me up a soap stack from Lush. She said there were two to choose from and when she told me what was in the other one, I knew she chose correctly for me. The stack she got me was aptly named Sweetie. The three bars of soap were Honey I Washed the Kids (my favourite and one I can never have too much of), Rockstar (which I previously didn't care for, but it smells great in the stack), and I should Coco.

If I had never used any of these soaps and just left them in my bathroom it would be heaven. Just having them fill my bathroom with their aroma is delicious. Sometimes I just walk into my bathroom to smell the soap. Having already written about Honey, I Washed the Kids and Rockstar I will just review I Should Coco.

I Should Coco:
I have a love hate relationship with this soap. On one hand I absolutely love the scent. It is very subtle on the soap, but strong on my skin afterwards. Unfortunately, on the other hand I hate having to fight with a million pieces of coconut grits to achieve any sort of lather. I can understand why people would like the coconut grits. It creates a soft buffing exfoliator. I however like my exfoliator to be hard and gritty. The sand in Sandstone was a dream for me. I am actually surprised I like I Should Coco as much as I do. I am not a fan of coconut and that alone would keep me from purchasing the soap on my own. I am however quite happy that it came in this soap stack and I was able to try it out. I think this will be one of those soaps that I have on hand at all times.

Tayva also gave me a slice of her Chox Away soap. I think that is the name of it.

Chox Away:
This is an interesting soap to me with a very sharp scent. Tayva said that the soap is chocolate, orange, and mint. I used it once on my whole body one morning and noticed that the scent really woke up my sinuses and my mind. Since then I have only used it to shave with. I think it is a fantastic shaving soap. It has a smooth creamy lather perfect for my man hair and razor. I don't know if it is shaving with this soap or the use of lotion regularly now, but my legs are noticeably softer. I am actually excited to get a new razor so I can try the soap with a fresh sharp blade. It's amusing to me the things I get excited about. I don't think this soap would make a good guest soap like some I use and I don't think it would make a great all over body soap, but I may repurchase just for the perfect shaving qualities for me.

Something that Tayva picked up on her trip home for herself, I ended up falling in love with was some perfume. I feel so bad, because it seems like everything Tayva gets I want. Hahahaha... not true for everything... just most! :-D After I dropped her off at the bus station I ran back to Pierre's house to look these perfumes up. I found out that only one place in all of AZ carries the perfume and lucky me it was about 3 miles from Pierre's house.

The other day Pierre took me to the store and unfortunately they didn't carry the scents in the small bottles that Tayva got that I really liked so Pierre got me two new ones in the smaller bottles and one of their hand cremes. Which I didn't mind because I wanted to test out the different scents anyway! I also found out that the store is no longer going to carry the perfume... NO!!!! That is ok, I can just order them from online. Tayva, when I have a few extra bucks I will pick you up a couple of bottles as well. I like all the scents so far and the bottles are small enough and cheap enough that I won't feel as though anything is wasted if I don't fancy them enough.

In perfume I got Inspire and Wish. Inspire smells heavily of alcohol at first whiff, but fades into a soft flowery fragrance inside your nose when scented from the bottle.
I am glad that I didn't let this turn me off to it and I got it anyway (even if it was just for the pretty bottle). On my skin it smells delicious and blends nicely with my Glow Lotion from Soap and Glory that I use on my arms and chest. It blends into a warm summery scent that is floral without smelling too green. When I think green I think earthy and planty.

In bottle Wish smells a bit like an alcoholic drink. Not being a drinker myself I cannot place what it smells like to give a relatable scent. The more I smell it however the more I think it smells like candied orange slices. Like oranges, but not citrusy. This smells just as yummy as Inspire does on. It is a stronger scent on than Inspire, but just as delicious.

So far I am really happy with these perfumes. I have been looking for a "signature" scent and as much as I love my L from Gwen Stefani, it just didn't seem to catch on. Not to mention that my guy didn't much care for it. (Shakes fist at him.) I liked it anyway... So yes, I am rather pleased with these scents. I am constantly smelling myself. Hahaha Yum...

I also got a small tube of hand creme in Inspire. It smells a bit different than the perfume. I as can't tell just what it smells like exactly because I have three different lotions on my hands at the moment. I never thought I had dry hands that needed to be lotioned all the time, but I will try this out for awhile and see if it softens up my hands any... I am getting older... eh...

I do believe those are the latest beauty related products I have right now. I hope to get more soon that I can post about. Until then I will be setting my hair for the day. Maybe a review of my new old bonnet dryer will be coming soon...