HyperSmash Hues N Blues: October 2011

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Thursday 13 October 2011

Update

Hi everyone, just a quick update to let you know I won't be posting much over the next couple of weeks. I'm moving house, so not sure when we'll get connected to the internet so I don't know when I will be able to start posting again. I will try schedule a couple of posts if I get time, but I'm not promising anything!

Just so you know I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth!

Friday 7 October 2011

Indie4Ever Review: Haus of Gloi Sugar Exfoliant

Hello! Today I have a review of one of my all-time favourite bath and body products. I'm doing this as part of KimmieKarmaLove's Indie4Ever project.

It's Haus of Gloi's Sugar Exfoliant, also called the Emulsifying Scrub on their website.


The labels on Haus of Gloi products are always beautiful, with the description and directions on the label. The labels on bath/body products are made of a plastic-y material so water won't smudge the writing. The graphics coordinate with the name and idea surrounding each scent.


They describe the product as:

"A luscious in shower confection designed to both moisturize and buff your skin to incredible softness! Our made from scratch recipe begins with heaps of organic sugar, pure shea butter and coconut oil whipped lightly with a host of a skin loving olive and apricot oils. These emulsifying scrubs are balmy in texture, do not require stirring and never leave you feeling too greasy after use. When combined with water these scrubs emulse into a very light cream and rinse away leaving you perfectly moisturized and divinely scented! 100% vegan, always."








I really like this scrub, as it is the perfect amount of scrubbiness for the body, and really gets the skin smooth. I think this scrub, as opposed to the other type Haus of Gloi make, the Bubbling Scrub, would be my pick for dry skin. After using it, I feel like the oil and shea butter stays on your skin to leave a moisturising layer. Despite this, I never feel greasy after getting out of the shower, however I wouldn't use this in the bath then wash my hair in it! If you do use it in the bath you can see the oils on top of the water, Because of this, if you suffer from acne on your body or don't like a lot of moisturiser or oils on your skin, you might not like this product. If that's you I'd probably recommend the bubbling scrub instead, which washes away more cleanly.


I suffer from bumps on my legs, and this is the only thing I find helps them to go away, when used in conjunction with a body butter or their Body Emulsion. This definitely helps to smooth the skin out a lot.


As for the scents, I have loved every scent I've tried from Haus of Gloi. The descriptions on their website are very accurate to me. My favourite for the scrub is probably Picaroon, which is a salty limey smell, very refreshing for in the shower. You can also get perfumes and body butters in the same scent, which can help keep that smell on your skin for longer.


Overall I think this is a fantastic product which I highly recommend! UK/non US customers should be aware that because these are heavy products, the shipping costs are fairly high, and you may encounter import tax, but I still feel the price is very reasonable for such a well-made and thought out product.


Sugar Exfoliants are available from hausofgloi.com and are priced at $10 for 7.5oz, or $2 for a 1oz sample.

Thursday 6 October 2011

Shiro Cosmetics Kawaiishadow Collection

Just a quick review and swatches of something I received recently today. A while ago I made my first order from Shiro Cosmetics, and part of that included the Kawaiishadow set of eyeshadows.

The shadows come as a collection of all five pastel shades of eyeshadows, wrapped beautifully, with a couple of Japanese sweets thrown in. You can see on the website how they are presented.They would definitely make a great present to someone, and you can tell a lot of thought and love went into the wrapping and design of the items.


The jars all have stickers on top with kawaii little faces on, which coordinate with the colour of the shadow inside. One thing I would say about the packaging is that because the stickers are paper rather than shiny plastic-y labels, they might get stained with products, or if you get them wet the ink may run.

Onto the swatches







They were swatched dry over Too Faced Shadow Insurance. Sorry about the goosebumps, I had to go into my cold bathroom to photograph!

The shadows themselves are nicely pigmented, especially for paler shades, which I often find to be more sheer. The pink one (Kawaii) doesn't look as good as the others, but I think that's just because it's quite close to my skin colour. The shimmer in them isn't too much, but makes sure they are easy to apply and blendable.

I think they would work really well as inner corner colours as part of a bright eyeshadow look and I can't wait to use them over Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk!

I think the main issue people might have with these is that you have to buy the full set off full-sized eyeshadows. The current price on the website is $28 for 5 2 gram jars of shadow, which is really good, but could put people off if they only want one, or just want to try them out. But overall I think this is a lovely product which is really well thought-out and professional.

I'll be posting more reviews/swatches of the other things I bought from Shiro soon hopefully so look out for that!

The Kawaiishadow Collection is available from http://www.shirocosmetics.com and is priced at $28.