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Showing posts with label burt's bees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label burt's bees. Show all posts

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Empties!

Enough time has now passed that I have a couple of products I have completely used up -- and since it takes me a while to use things up, this means over 6 months since my last blog post. I want to make this a more regular thing again, and I really have no excuses. Let's do this.

My empties are all shower-related, but I am nearing the end of a few skin care products that hopefully I will remember to write about in another post.




Organix Weightless Hydration Coconut Water Shampoo. I bought this because I wanted to buy Organix's Coconut Milk shampoo after using it at a family member's house and loving it, but they didn't have it at the drugstore so I thought I'd try this one instead. It's good. It's not as moisturizing as the Coconut Milk one, which I have recently purchased. I like that Organix has so many different "flavors" of shampoo and that they are, actually, organic, and affordable at the drugstore. I always buy hair products at the drugstore since the higher-end products I have tried do not justify the higher price to me. I've tried Aveda, Bumble & Bumble, Paul Mitchell, Alterna, and others. My hair also seems to develop buildup easily from shampoos, so I usually keep two shampoos in my shower at a time and alternate them and this seems to help. This is easier to do when the bottles are under $10 as opposed to $20 or even $30.
Aveeno Positively Nourishing Hydrating Body Wash. I don't usually get my body wash/shower gel from the drugstore, but I was out, and for once was not in the mood to carefully research which one to try and go out of my way to get it. Most Aveeno products are a safe bet for me allergy-wise, and it seemed like a fairly new product. I liked all of the scents when I smelled them in CVS, so I randomly chose this "hydrating" one which had a fruity fig scent. This is a solid body wash -- not hydrating enough that you can skip moisturizer afterwards, but not stripping and not irritating, and I used it pretty much every day in the shower. I've actually already repurchased this but in a different scent to switch things up.

L'Occitane Essential Oil Shower Gel. It appears that this product has been discontinued, as L'Occitane tends to do. In any case I don't think I would have repurchased not -- not because it didn't do the job, but because it didn't wow me at a higher price point. It had a unisex minty, herbal scent and lathered nicely.

L'Occitane Almond Shower Oil. I am seriously shocked that I have not blogged about this before. I just went through all of my past blog posts to double check because I was that sure that I had. I've been using this on and off for years and often ending up coming back to it. I love the delicious almond scent of this oil and the other products in the L'Occitane almond line. It's very moisturizing on its own, but I like to pair it with the Almond Milk Concentrate when I get out of the shower. This does not produce much of a lather, so if you like the intense lather that comes from sulfates in most body washes you won't find that here. I do sometimes feel like I'm not getting as thoroughly "clean" as I could be when I use this, which is why I now prefer to use a regular body wash like the Aveeno one, and use the Almond Shower Oil exclusively for shaving. YouTuber Essie Button actually gave me this idea, and it does work SO well as a shaving oil. It also makes the product last longer, as it's on the pricier side.

L'Occitane Shea Butter Ultra Rich Body Scrub. This was a great scrub that lasted FOREVER. I only used it once every few weeks most of the time, and because it's so rich, a little goes a long way. It's not like most other scrubs I used in that it has a creamy base instead of an abrasive one, so it leans more toward the moisturizing side as opposed to exfoliating. It does have "finely ground nutshells," though, as its exfoliator, so when you use the right amount of pressure it does the job. I got this as a gift but I would definitely purchase it, although I would probably try the Almond scrub first to see how it compares.

Cleansing Wipes - Yes to Cucumbers, Burt's Bees Pink Grapefruit, Neutrogena Makeup Removing, Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit. I lumped these all together in one category, but I actually only use the Neutrogena Makeup Removing wipes on my face and the rest on my body after working out if I don't have time to shower. The Neutrogena Makeup Removing wipes are surprisingly the only ones that I can use on my face to remove my makeup that do not irritate my skin. The rest - even the Yes to Cucumbers - make my face beet red. I know this doesn't make any sense because the Neutrogena ones are heavily fragranced (which I don't love) and not specifically for sensitive skin, but, that's my skin for ya. Side note -- I also tried the CVS brand sensitive skin wipes at some point and had to return them because my skin hated them the most. For my body, the Burt's Bees Pink Grapefruit are probably my favorite, although they all do the job. The Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit ones are very similar in scent but the Burt's Bees scent is slightly less artificial. The Yes to ones have a crisp, clean scent. 

And, finally, I would just like to take a moment to rant about how much I hate Eos Lip Balm. In my opinion, this is the WORST lip balm of all time. The spherical shape intrigued me, but this thing got dirty. I actually think it was growing some kind of mold at some point. I started wiping it off with a tissue before every time I used it which was annoying and time-consuming. It also didn't moisturize half as well as other drugstore lip balms, like the Burt's Bees ones. 

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Saturday, March 2, 2013

Lip Balm Nostalgia

I can clearly remember many of the different lip balms I've used over the years, since my preteens. I believe cherry Chapstick was the first beauty product I ever owned, followed shortly by Clearasil. I remember writing a letter to my longtime penpal and friend since preschool, Jen, when we were about 12, asking "What type of facial cleanser do you use?" and she wrote back "I use soap to wash my face." She must've thought I was a weird kid (which I undoubtedly was) to ask that question. It was around that time my infatuation with beauty products started.

Anyway, back to lip balms. There's something about them. Each one that I've used evokes a vivid memory. I remember having really chapped lips when I was young from the cold New Jersey winters, and they would burn so badly that I would just apply layer upon layer of Chapstick thinking that the more I used the more effective it would be, but it just left me with clown lips and a bad taste when I proceeded to eat or drink something.

I don't remember how exactly, but someone must've introduced me to Burt's Bees. It's the first beauty brand I can remember having a real obsession with. I dragged my mom to boutiques to find their products (this was long before they were stocked in pharmacies) and used my dialup internet connection to explore every section of their website. The two products I remember the most vividly are the orange face wash and peppermint lip balm, which at that time only came in a tin. I used that peppermint lip balm for years, through high school and maybe even some of college. It was decent, but it often left a white chalky residue and felt kind of waxy.  The orange cleanser smells delicious, like an orange grove. In fact, I think I may pick a tube up the next time I see it. The ingredient list is short and natural, and mainly because now I can't stop thinking about that heavenly smell!

12 years and countless lip balms later, I finally have a new favorite that I think might make it to a Repurchase when it runs out: L'Occitaine Shea Butter Lip Balm Stick. I bought it completely on a whim when I was purchasing some other L'Occitaine products, and it was by far the standout. It's super moisturizing, natural, nongreasy, leaves no residue, and is taste and odorless. I apply it every morning when I put on my moisturizer, and I usually only have to reapply once during the day. I'm also a fan of Sugar's line of lip treatments, especially the tinted ones, but as far as a basic, reliable, moisturizing lip balm--I think I may have finally found the one.