Posts Tagged ‘guest review’

Dry is good!

February 8th, 2011
A guest post from the wonderful Hilaire.

insta-dryI’ve been wanting to write something for PPP for a little while now, but everything I seem to get excited about has already been well and truly covered by the community.
Until I found Sally Hansen Insta-Dry nail colour.
Oh baby is it fast! I put it on less than a minute ago (yes that’s right less than 60 seconds) and I’m already confidently bashing away at the keyboard, no petite taps for this lady – Sally lets me get on with my business, pronto!
The bottle is pretty comfortably for holding, it’s right-angle triangle shaped, but with the corners curved or planed off.
The brush is shaped a little different from what I’m used too, it’s a lot flatter and slightly tapered at the corners giving more coverage over the nail per stroke. But it does the job well.
The polish itself is a great consistency and it covers fairly evenly. I didn’t have to go back and fill in gluggy or patchy spots. As I am a busy lady, sometimes I don’t take as much care in application as I should. So the bits which I have got on my skin have dried and seem easy to peel off with my fingernails, but the actual polish on the nail wants to stay right there where it should be. I like that a lot.
I got mine from Amcal Pharamcy on Cuba for $16.99. They had an amazing range of colours, including a brilliant banana yellow. I went for the Jumpin’ Jade which pretty much matches the online swatch – it’s just a tad darker than a British racing green. (sorry my digi is broken so no actual photos)
I’ve yet to see how long it lasts and how chip proof it is, but for me it gets four keyboard love hearts <3 <3 <3 <3. Right, GTG it’s a busy life being fabulous!

In the workout zone

April 6th, 2009

Previously Amy reviewed Workout Zone after getting some samples from Kirk’s. Rosy got in touch with us offering a full set of the products for a proper review, so as Amy and I prefer not to work up a sweat unless we’re rocking out to Rockband, we drafted the wonderful Miss Deuxmont to do a review for us.

workout

The branding for WORKOUT|ZONE’s products is much like the product itself, simple and pleasantly absorbed. After a quick flick over the instructions, which are very easy to marry up to each product, I have a clear idea in my head about how I will use it.This suite of 4 products is intended to help promote ‘deep skin fitness’ – using natural body heat from activity, to assist the penetration of moisturisers and control dehydration.

I’ve been using the products for a week now – so that I can guest review it for the Pretty Pretty Pretty gals.  For some context, I have normal skin but with an oily T-zone.

Pre-workout
Step 1, product 1, cleanse face. Now this make complete sense to me yet I don’t ever do it before I work out. It’s just straight in, make up and all. I can’t imagine this is doing my pores any favours. The cleanser is thick with granules, but not too rough. Easily wiped off with a wet tissue.

Step 2, product 2 (easy huh), pre-workout moisturise. I only needed to use a small amount of this – it’s nice and easy to apply, with a mattifying effect – a nice change from the usual shineyness.  Delicate, pleasant smell, a tiny bit oatmealy.

I have a choice of 2, an indoor version, and an outdoor version (which has SPF30+).  Smart thinking as I do usually use a sunscreen when jogging/walking.  And have trouble keeping it on (I sweat it off!).  Will be interested to see if this helps.

Workout time
Product 2 tells you to rub it in more while you are working out, for added hydration benefits.  I do this, but get a few sidelong looks, so I find a way that makes me look like I am massaging my temples, and not just rubbing sweat into my face!

Shower time
Step 3, product 3, pre-shower bodywash. Now this is a new concept, and I get a few more sidelong looks, as I rub in the product, before I shower.  I should stop worrying about what people think, really.  The bodywash is nothing like a bodywash – in fact it’s like applying a rich cream (rich but again, mattifying).  In the shower, I get confused about whether I just wash it off.  Do I? Hmm.  It seems a little greasy on my skin, so I click that it’s to help retain moisture.  Can’t get my head around this, so I use my regular bodywash, and make a mental note to check the labelling again (read it again, still confused – but can’t make the mental break to using non-soapy bodywash).

Step 4, product 4, moisturise.  I have 2 choices again – an alabaster, for fair skin, and a golden, for darker skin.  I choose the golden version. You don’t need much of it, and again it has a lovely mattifying effect – which a subtle shimmer.  Not too keen on the smell of this one, it’s a little stronger and more organic smell than the other products – but not enough to stop me from using it.

I feel like I’ve really treated my skin, and am excited about using it again.

One week later
It’s so good I think I’ve found my new skin care regime.  I still haven’t figured out if I should ditch my soapy bodywash and only use the Workoutzone product.

Biggest likes: Feeling super clean when I am working out, and also the matt effect the Restore conditioning cream has – in fact I now use it as a primer under my makeup.
Biggest dislike: The slight dry feeling after applying the Restore conditioning cream – but this doesn’t last.

Summary: If you are a regular gym goer and really want to treat your skin with gentle and reasonably priced products (less than $100 for the entire set), I definitely recommend WORKOUT|ZONE.

Read more about the Workout System here.

Homemade facials – a guest post

March 30th, 2009

When the lovely Megan said she was having a homemade facials day with her friend, we knew we had to get her to write about it for us, and so she did! Hurrah!

facials

I am a big fan of facials. Lying back, relaxing, while someone slathers something cool and gooey all aver your face. Even if, as the New York Times tells me, they don’t work, at the very least, you leave feeling refreshed. And feeling less stressed, and pampered, always makes you look prettier.

But in these straitened times, it feels a little indulgent to be spending $100 a month to have someone rub gunk on your face. Which is why my friends and I have decided to start having home facials with homemade products.

We started by cleansing our faces with normal cleanser, which, in this case was a Skinfood one (in keeping with the organic and green theme). We then lay on the couch with hot facecloths over our face – relaxing and pore opening!

We then scrubbed, with a scrub made of brown sugar, almond oil, and vanilla extract. You can buy all of that at the supermarket, and just mix them together – don’t use too much oil, or the sugar starts to dissolve. Don’t scrub too hard, just kind of smooth it over, and the sugar will start to dissolve on your skin. And once you are done, I’m pretty sure if you add some flour and an egg to the leftovers, you’d get a delicious cake.

After scrubbing, we applied the mask. We used one I found on the Martha Stewart website, but there are heaps of different ones on the internet.

Balancing Facial Mask
1 small avocado, mashed (about 2/3 cup)
1/2 small cucumber, finely grated (about 1/3 cup)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons green clay powder (sold at natural-foods stores)

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, using a fork to blend. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Apply a thick layer of the mixture to clean, dry skin on your face and neck, avoiding the eye and lip areas. Keep fairly still for 10 to 15 minutes, allowing the mask to dry in place. Wipe skin clean with a damp cloth; splash with cool water, and pat dry. makes enough for probably 6 applications – but it won’t keep for long.

You can buy the green clay powder at health food stores, in Wellington, they have it at Commonsense Organics. This mask, which did take a while to dry, reminded us a lot of this, which if you are the same age as me, you probably remember playing with as a teenager.

Anyway, once you have slathered it on, lie back with a glass of wine and some healthy snacks, and some good conversation. It’s best to warn anyone around your house that you have it on, as it really isn’t that nice a sight. Once it is dry, wash it off, and slather on the richest moisturiser you have, and you are done!

Our skin felt soft and smooth, and we definitely had a post-facial glow. Today, my co-facialist reports her skin looks very happy. Mine does too, but it also feels slightly sensitive – possibly from overly vigorous scrubbing.

And hey, even if it does nothing for your skin, an afternoon in the company of your Pretty Pretty Pretty friends can’t be bad, right?

Oscillation vs Virtuose: a guest review

March 4th, 2009

Please welcome this guest review from Miss Deuxmont – and if you’d like to write your own full reviews, we’d love to have them!

oscillatingvsvirtuose

I was so impressed with Lancome’s Virtuose – which makes your lashes appear really think, and they look nicely fanned out. It was running out so I bought the much-hyped Lancome Oscillation mascara (thinking the oscillation would add even more vavoom), for $79 from Kirks in Wellington.

Very underwhelmed on first use. Not just by the mascara itself (spidery, inflexible, hard to remove, compared to the Virtuose), but the oscillating mechanism. On the right mascara wand it would be great – in fact on the Virtuose wand I think it would definitely help to create more drama. But on this mascara wand, it tends to hinder more than help. There is a button that you push, to make the wand oscillate – it’s situated on the end of the wand. You need to hold it the entire time you want it to oscillate – but because it’s on the end, your leverage is severely compromised – I ended up getting bits of mascara on my face because the wand was wobbling. Normally, I hold it closer to the wand (as pictured). Perhaps it’s me that holds my mascara uniquely, shrug.

Lancome could improve this mascara by moving the oscillating mech closer to where you naturally hold the wand – and improving the mascara used!

So my opinion is – don’t bother. Unfortunately I threw out my receipt so I don’t think I will get my money back on this one. Boo!