Fail Product - LUSH No Drought Dry Shampoo

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about a fail product for me, but a great product for my younger sister. LUSH's No Drought Dry Shampoo was one of the first LUSH products I ever bought (excluding their bathbombs) and something that has never really worked for me! Of course just like every review I write, this isn't to say that it won't work for you, but is just my personal experience and thoughts.

"Our dry shampoo absorbs excess oils and volumizes locks, making the hair look and smell fresh without having to wash. When you don't have time or want to give you hair a break from too much washing, massage a little into your scalp and through your hair, then shake or brush out. It blends in completely, even on dark hair, to give texture and a soft, matte finish. Lemon, grapefruit and lime oils will give your hair a fruity fragrance, so you'll smell fresh too!

Features

• Quick fix: A lifesaver on days when you wake up late and don't have time for a shower.
• Keeps you feeling fresh: The zesty, citrus fragrance makes hair smell fresh and clean.
• Wash wherever you go: The perfect companion for late nights and early mornings, camping, travel, music festivals and a whirlwind life!" (1)

I shake this product throughout the roots of my hair in three parts, (long thick hair problems) and distribute it evenly with my hands. This is incredibly messy due to the bottle packaging. It's vital to lean over a sink to apply this, and if possible to wear clothes you don't mind dusting with the powder itself because I can almost guarentee that you will get this Dry Shampoo everywhere.  

My hair looks voluminous after I've ruffled it up, but after brushing it through, it flattens right down and looks and feels just as greasy as before (but with added white flakes that look like dandruff). I feel like the after photo looks a little better than the before, because my hair gets a little pale after being dusted with white powder. This Dry Shampoo makes my hair look exactly the same as before, except now my clothes are also covered in in white powder and I have dandruff.

I found this review on the LUSH USA website, and apart from the fact that this product really doesn't work for me, I find it very applicable.
 

"Most Liked Negative Review

The price of environmentalism
Let's face the facts: this product is much less convenient and somewhat less effective than the kinds you can buy at the drugstore in the awful CFC cans full of weird chemicals. That's the tradeoff we have to make, and I'm okay with it, but we should be honest with ourselves.

That said, it works fine to perk up hair that's been one day without a shower and isn't particularly dirty. Putting it on and distributing it through your hair is an annoying process (Lush seriously couldn't think up any better way to get powder out of a bottle??), and the powder will get everywhere, and getting it worked in evenly so it doesn't make you look like you're going grey takes a minute. Basically the whole thing is kind of a pain, but it takes less time than shampoo and conditioner, you're not killing the planet, and one bottle lasts forever and ever. Is the trade-off worth it? That is up to you, my friend."(1)

What I Love

- Environmentally friendly

- Inexpensive ($16.90NZD)

- Works for my sisters fine, dark blonde hair

- One bottle will last you years

What I Don't Love

- Messy

- Strong Smelling (potentially good for smelly hair though)

- Doesn't do anything for my hair other than make it look like I have dandruff and a messy cocaine addiction

Final Thoughts

I much prefer to use the Bastite Dry Shampoo for my hair, but I really wish that this Dry Shampoo worked for me so I can feel eco-friendly and look after animals. I just didn't think this product made my hair look or feel less greasy, which is of course the main reason you would use a Dry Shampoo! 

However, it works wonderfully on my younger sisters fine, dark blonde hair, so I would still suggest trying it out if you can since it's not too expensive (and lasts forever and a half!), so I will be giving my bottle to her!

Have you tried LUSH's No Drought Dry Shampoo? Did it work for your hair, or leave it as greasy as before like mine?

First Impression - TonyMoly Intense Care Dual Effect Sleeping Pack

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about the Tonymoly Intense Care Dual Effect Sleeping Pack! I trialled two of these little sample packs during my month in Taipei, and I found them really helpful during the cold weather to rehydrate my skin!

What Is It?

"Tonymoly Intense Care Dual Effect Sleeping Pack moisturizes and vitalizes skin while sleeping. Its gel type consistency allows for better absorption and the ability to penetrate deep into the skin. Pomegranate extract is an anti-oxidant that fights free radicals, creating smoother skin more elastic skin.
Directions: After nighttime cleansing, apply a generous amount all over face. Leave overnight while sleeping. Cleanse face in morning." (1)

This sleeping pack has a thick gel texture and leaves a soft matte, moisturized finish on my skin. Matte and moisturized? This gel makes my skin look matte but feel incredibly soft and moisturized, and somewhat sticky for about 30 minutes before fully absorbing. Sometimes (if I skip the sleeping pack the night before) the gel absorbs faster, but since I generally do my skincare routine an hour before I go to sleep this stickiness doesn't bother me too much as my hair is up in a lazy bun/plait and I'm trying not to touch my face anyway! 

I feel like this sleeping pack does help fade out my acne scarring and brighten my skin up because I feel like my skin looks a lot healthier and brighter when I wake up, but I don't think that two sample sachets are enough to come close to forming a solid opinion on a product. This is just the first impression that I got from the product, (obviously).

Would I Purchase This Product?

Maybe! This worked really well for me while I was in Taipei during the cold, heavily air conditioned conditions, but I'm not convinced that it would be as good in the less air conditioned conditions of New Zealand. I am pretty keen to try the full sized version too see if it helps fade my acne scarring though since it is becoming problematic again (and I can't afford the Skinfood Omija Whitening skincare *cry cry*).

Have you tried this sleeping pack? Did you see any brightening results?

Review - GEO Grang Grang Choco Lens

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about another pair of lenses that I ordered from Pinky Paradise - the GEO Grang Grang Choco Lens! I've been wearing these lenses for about three months now and am due to replace them which means it's a perfect time to review them! ^.^ I have done a Pinky Paradise Store Review which you can check out too!

GEO - Grang Grang Choco
Diameter: 14.2mm  
WaterContent: 38% Base Curve: 8.6mm Life Span: 1 year disposal
The design of these lenses are really noticeable. Imagine a hazelnut pudding with swirls of dark chocolate. The arrangement of the different shades of brown in addition to the thick chocolate brown edge makes the lenses really unique, yet they blend in perfectly with your eyes and give you a perfect everyday look. They highlight and emphasize your natural eye-color at the same time no matter if brown, green, blue or gray.   

These lenses come with a complimentary macaroon case to help you tell your left eye from your right eye. If your prescription is different like mine is, don't be dumb like me and open both lens cases at the same time when you first get your lenses, because the prescription isn't necessarily written on the glass bottle as well as the caps that you've just thrown away. Idiot.

These lenses have a really beautiful yellow brown gradient (these pictures are inside out because I fail at life) with a much darker limal ring. This dark limbal ring deepens the colour of the lenses so indoors it seems like I have massive black eyeballs, while in flash photography or outdoors the lenses actually blend in really nicely to my natural eye colour.

 They also look pretty cute with blonde hair! ^.^

 Colour and Design

I really like the colour and design of these lenses in direct lighting or flash photography, however indoor lighting makes these lenses look plain scary! I don't particularly mind how they look (I think it's cute!) but people kinda get freaked out by the large dark dead doll stare. 

Enlargement

Even though these are not supposed to be particularly enlarging, (being the same size as my regular clear contacts), these do make my eyes appear significantly larger! However, I think the dark limbal ring contributes significantly to the larger appearance.

Comfort

I find these lenses to be relatively comfortable, bearing in mind that sticking a thin sheet of plastic onto your eyeball feels exactly like sticking a thin sheet of plastic onto your eyeball. I can wear these for up to 9 hours with no problem, and don't generally need eye drops to re lubricate the lenses. I don't find these much more uncomfortable than my regular clear lenses (which I find uncomfortable anyway) so I guess they are pretty ok!

What I Love

- Lovely design (fades well into brown eyes)

- Comfortable (for plastic stuck to your eyeballs)

What I Don't Love

- They look a little dark and scary when away from direct light

Final Thoughts

Even though I really love the design and look of these lenses, they are not really for everyday use. They just look really dark and dead when away from direct lighting, which causes people to ask me if I'm wearing contact lenses - which is not the look I'm going for! However, they are really quite comfortable for coloured lenses so I'm considering purchasing the lighter coloured version of these lenses to trail too! ^.^ I would recommend this set of lenses for people who want really dark eyes, or who have quite light eyes and want a pair of lenses to make them look much darker.

Store Review - Ebay Seller Etudehouse-korea

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about an Ebay seller by the name of Etudehouse-korea! This Ebay seller is meant to be the official Etude House seller on Ebay, but it seems like they are no longer selling anything, which makes this store review incredibly pointless. Yet here we are anyway! I'm not sure what happened there, but since I had the draft of this done in February (when they had products listed) I thought I would just publish it anyway!

Website Practicality

I'm not sure whether I really need to talk about the practicality Ebay itself, but I found Etudehouse-korea's listings to be incredibly aesthetically pleasing, having a full description of the store itself on every listing and good quality photos. Ebay is a 50/50 place to shop for cosmetics because it's very common to find super cheap fakes pretending to be the real thing, but it also has Seller Protection, where you can enlist Ebay's help to get your money back from un-trustworthy sellers. 

Price Comparison

There's nothing listed anymore, so this section is irrelevant, but will be updated if they ever list anything ever again!

Shipping and Packaging

I made an order with this Ebay seller back in October 2014 for one limited edition lipstick that I couldn't find on any other online stores. Unfortunately, this lipstick never made it to my house. This is my third missing package in three years, but after raising a query with the seller using Ebay's Seller Protection program, I had my payment refunded through Paypal, purchased another lipstick (I really wanted that lipstick!), and it arrived two weeks later! 

This seller features free shipping, and my package arrived in the standard plastic wrapping, which I did not take a photo of due to being incredibly annoyed at some irrelevant things to do with moving houses (moving sucks so bad, apart from finding cute things I thought I'd lost!). Nothing was damaged or squished during transit which I thought was pretty incredible due to the box only being wrapped in a thin layer of plastic.

Products

Etude House, we really need to have a serious talk about you spending all my money because of your incredibly gorgeous packaging. We also need to talk about putting glitter in ALL your limited edition lipsticks, please stop that. It makes my lips look super dry and gross, but I can't get rid of the lipsticks because the packaging sucks me in! Please just make a couple of them rich cream colours or matte and I'll be so much more satisfied.

This is the Dear My Blooming Lips lipstick in the shade Talk Etude Pink, and it cost $19USD from Etudehouse-korea on Ebay. It features the same hard, pink casing as the regular Dear My Blooming Lips lipstick, but with a different little glittered spray and embellished E rather than a small metallic bow. The packaging is adorable, however, obviously not travel friendly or storage friendly.

This lipstick is a gorgeous pink colour, but features the bane of my lipstick existence - glitter. I now have almost all of the Etoinette lipsticks from Etude House and I hate that they all have glitter in the formula, because it makes my lips look so weird, dry and tends to slide to the outside of my mouth within 10minutes.

I can't quite decide if this is a heart shaped caridge or a crowned heart with weird little tendrils.

What I Love

- Quick refund
- Good communication
- Great product

What I Don't Love

- Package was lost (out of their control)
- They don't list anything anymore?

Final Thoughts

I'm not sure what to make of this seller since they no longer actually sell products? But in any case, I would buy from them again! They quickly refunded the full amount of my lost package so I could purchase it again (which doesn't always happen with awful Ebay sellers *shakes fist*), the product was gorgeous and well priced! I'm just super confused as to why they don't sell anything anymore, so if you know, let me down below! ^.^