Review: Herbolution

I am in love with Herbolution's products. I've tried the Organic Mandarin Aloe Body Butter and though my initial issues with it remain, it is clearly a good product. Because I don't like my hands being too greasy, I only use a tiny bit at a time. If the skin of my hands are tight and dry, then the butter just sits on top of it. When I leave the shower, however, it absorbs much better. The smell is not overpowering, yet it's a sweet citrus. It's a bit difficult to get out of the jar - I scrape it with my nail - but considering it's a butter which goes solid at room temperatures, that's expected. :) The other products I got samples of which is enough for 2 uses.

Organic Strawberry Face Scrub/Facial Breakfast remains my favorite thus far. The smell was such a fresh strawberry and oats smell that I felt healthy using it.

I'm not a fan of Cleopatra's Facial Cleansing Grains with Goat Milk and Organic Rose's smell mainly because I couldn't smell the rose and it really smelled super earthy. The red clay did look fabulous on my face. Not going to lie...I half wanted to sneak into my roomies' rooms and wake them up like that. I get up super early too. Haaaaa!

I just started using the Peppermint Sage cleansing grains and while the peppermint scent is a bit of a wake up...well, not sure about the sage so much.

Other than scents, the products themselves are FABULOUS. Seriously. Scents are a personal preference anyway and I'm a bit of a fru-fru girl at times.

More to come later! Contemplating some new orders too. :D

Herbolution: Haul #1

I finally got my Herbolution in the products the other day! I got the shipping confirmation on Wednesday or Thursday and by Saturday, the product at come. I ordered on Tuesday. Believe me, I was sitting on pins and needles, mainly because of excitement for the Organic Mandarin Aloe Body Butter. It looked so tempting on the website I HAD to get it! It was the full 45g for me and not a sample. I think I was really convinced that I would love it. :D

I also got the Floral Clay Organic Mask in a sample size and sample set of their Organic Cleansing Grains.

Then...surprise! They included a sample of their Organic Strawberry Face Scrub and another sample of their Sandalwood Facial Cleansing Grains.



I used the strawberry one right away. I absolutely loved it. It smelled like strawberries and cream oatmeal. My face didn't break out, it wasn't super dry afterwards (though I'm a habitual lotion user so I did use lotion) and I just really liked the wheat-y, strawberry smell of it. Not to mention, the ingredients in the cleansing grains made me believe that what I was putting on my face was definitely good for my face:

Strawberries have more anti-aging Vitamin C than oranges and grapefruit. It also possesses salicylic acid which helps control breakouts. Oatmeal is a gentle exfoliate. Not to mention, the milky substance oatmeal products is also a great in hydrating your skin. The other major ingredient is flax seed which has a high concentration of omega 3 oils and it's a cure-all for skin issues like rosacea, acne, psoriasis, etc.

The body butter was a bit of a disappointment. It was a little bit greasy. Not only that, I'm not sure why my skin does this but instead of absorbing any of that, it just sits on top of my skin. I don't think it's the formulation as much as it is I have weird skin. The formulation does not work for me. :/ I also expected a much stronger and much crisper mandarin smell. Another sadface later...I did not get it.

Shipping: Seriously...I think because I was so excited, it felt much longer. I ordered Tuesday and received my package Saturday. :)

Customer Service: They didn't have much information on their website about shipping so I contacted them Wednesday night and got an answer. Shipping confirmation received Thursday, it didn't show any info until Saturday when I received the item. I blame that on USPS, lol. Otherwise, they were very lovely to deal with.

Price: Yikes. I think unit-wise, the products were a bit more expensive than I thought. I received 45g worth of product (about 1.5oz) for $10 whereas other stores sell their lotions/body butter/etc for much more quantity. Usually, it's 6.0 to 7.5oz that gets sold for $10.

Overall Products: I am loving the facial cleansing grains. <3

Would I return? Hmm...I don't know. I like quality product but I like a lot of it. I was checking out the amounts for their facial cleansing grains it was less than my mandarin body butter but at $11. Maybe when I become richer...until then, I may have to go for a cheaper alternative. LOL. But seriously though...LOVE their facial cleansing grains and eve if the butter is a bit different, I'm still using it (switching between all my lotions). :)

Edit: This is another GREAT thing about them - they refunded my extra shipping, yay! However, I think they returned my ENTIRE amount and it's *their* money. I've contacted them about the issue but so far, no cigar. :/

Haus of Gloi: Haul #1

I have been obsessed with beauty blogs lately and I don't know why. It did provide some interesting finds - Haus of Gloi being one of them. Funny thing was, I was searching for reviews of Villainess and the one review I *did* read ended up making me go for Haus of Gloi instead. I will check out Villainess later in the future (when I have more money...*sadface*) but for now, here's to presenting...



Ta-da! I purchased 3 samples of their sugar scrub (Imp, Vice, & Apothecary) and a regular jug of Lassi sugar scrub. I also got a 4oz Lassi lotion and they included a free sliver of Imp soap. :)

So just a little background about my skin...on my face, it's combination (normal, oily) but extremely touchy. I wouldn't call it sensitive but some weird ass things have set it off. I'm not one to break out easily so I generally know what to avoid if I do. On my hands, they're dry. Not so dry that the skin is cracked and bleeding but dry enough that the skin is uncomfortably tight and sometimes, lotion won't help it but give it a weird, waxy coating. :/ I'm weird.



Clearly, I have already gotten to work. So...scent descriptions:

Apothecary: A pure essential oil blend of: Lemongrass, rosemary, atlas cedarwood, sweet basil, lavender and the tiniest drop of vetiver.

Imp: Peculiar passion fruit mingling with sun cured apricots, perfectly pink grapefruit juice and innocent whispers of wet mimosa blooms.

Lassi: Sweet organic sugar and fragrant orange peel powder are lightly hand whipped with a buttery blend of pure shea butter, coconut oil, apricot oil, almond and olive oils. An in shower exfoliant, designed to buff away dull skin, nourish, moisturize, pamper and soften! Not to mention leaving your skin deliciously scented!

Vice: Steam billows rolling off a vessel of fresh made Turkish coffee, marshmallow goo tainted by graham cracker crumbs, toasted hazelnuts and blanketed in black chocolate.

Lets see...Apothecary smelled so strongly of lemon, I thought it smelled a bit artificial. Not to mention, after using the scrub on my face, I woke up with a painful pimple the next morning. Of course, it might not have been the scrub at all but since my chin is a bit tender, I've avoided using it.

Vice smelled like something I wanted to LICK.

Lassi smelled like sherbet. It was a bit too sweet but I'm still using it. :)

Imp doesn't smell great from the jar but when you use it, it's like biting into a succulent fruit.

The lotion gave me that same waxy feeling. It smells lovely and I know my hands are moisturized but for some reason, there's this really funky coating. I wouldn't blame it all on Haus of Gloi. I get this same result with SEVERAL lotions that I've used.

Shipping: Great. Ordered on Wednesday, got my order the following Monday. I was so excited when I ripped into the box.

Customer Service: I only interacted with Matt and he seemed like lovely fellow.

Price: Competitive. Most Etsy stores charge what they charge for these sorts of products.

Overall Products: Hmm...not too crazy about the lotion but I love the sugar scrubs. Both my roommates tried Vice and said that the scrub left their hands feeling smooth and smelling so yummy, they wanted to lick the jar. There's not really a great selection of scents but I didn't mind the ones I got.

Would I return? Maybe. I've been eyeing the Maedwe scent and I heard they were coming out with foaming sugar scrubs so it's definitely leaning towards yes. :)

What am I about?

I'm working right now and even though I love my job, boredom does set in at times. I usually break regiment by shopping around for indie makeup and have recently developed an obsession for sugar scrubs. For some reason, reviews are sorely lacking and thus, this blog was born. Recent purchases: BPAL, TKB Trading, and Haus of Gloi. Reviews and pictures are forthcoming - pictures are difficult as the lighting in my room stinks and we've had really bad weather.

I will also be making purchases in the future (I love Etsy's bath and beauty section) so keep an eye out for reviews. :)

Regards,