Review: Dr. Organic

I first discovered Dr. Organic about a year ago, when a friend gave me a shower gel and a lip balm from the Pomegranate range. It took me a while to get used to the smell of pomegranate, because I had never used any products with pomegranate before, but after a while I really loved it! Dr. Organic always tries to use the finest natural and organic materials to create their products. Furthermore, their products do not contain harsh chemicals such as sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS, something a lot of people try to avoid because it can dry out your skin), parabens and artificial fragrances. And it gets better: no animal ingredients, no animal testing, no GM ingredients and no mineral oils. Dr. Organic has many different products within the following ranges: Aloe Vera, Pomegranate, Tea Tree, Vitamin E, Lavender, Manuka Honey, Virgin Olive Oil, Royal Jelly and Rose Otto. Within these ranges there are lots of products, such as body wash, shampoo, skin lotion, body butter, deodorant, lip balm, eye cream, day cream, and even toothpaste. So, there is something for everyone.

I haven’t tried very many Dr. Organic products yet, but I will review the ones I have tried. The first one is the Pomegranate body wash.

The bottle looks nice, quite simple but attractive. The body wash is a pinkish colour, although the colour can vary per batch and this does not affect the product. At first I thought this body wash smelled of washing-up liquid but after a while I got used to it and now I really like the fresh and fruity smell. This fresh fruityness is probably also why I thought it smelled like washing-up liquid. I usually put the body wash on my puff sponge, to foam it up a bit. Even though the product does not contain SLS, which is often used to create foam, it still foams. This is something I really like, because I always want my shower products to foam, it just makes it feel nicer and it also makes it more fun! I don’t have the feeling this body wash does anything for my skin, or at least not more than other shower gels/body washes I have used. However, my skin is quite normal and not dry so maybe it works differently on someone with a different type of skin. All in all I like this product, and a new bottle of it is waiting for me in the cupboard.

Another product from the Pomegranate range that I own is the lip balm.

The packaging of the lip balm looks like any other lip balm, just the lid is smaller than most lip balms I have had, and you have to turn at the top instead of the bottom to get the lip balm out. I really like the smell of this lip balm, but I think the texture is a bit hard. However, once I have rolled it over my lips a few times it softens and is easier to apply. The lip balm contains shea butter and vitamin E and it has SPF 15 protection.  Again, I can’t really say whether this product makes my lips softer because I don’t have dry lips very often. Also, I don’t use a lot of lip balm so I don’t have anything to compare it with. However, I think it’s worth a try for anyone with dry lips because of the smell and the natural ingredients it contains.

At the moment I am using the Manuka Honey body wash, so I will also review that product.

The bottle is very similar to the Pomegranate one, just the colouring and the picture is different. I like this, because it keeps the Dr. Organic products very recognisable. This body wash really smells of honey, and I think it might not be a smell everyone likes. I think it is a bit strong, but also quite nice. This strong smell doesn’t stay after you’ve showered, which I like, but you could always emphasise it by also using a body butter from this range. On the whole, this body wash is quite similar to the Pomegranate one. There is no difference in the effect of the body wash on my skin, but I think someone with very dry skin might be better off using the Manuka Honey body wash because of the moisturising properties of honey.

As you can see, I quite like Dr. Organic products. I’m sure I’ll buy them more often, but not too often because I like to vary with shower products and try different brands and smells.

In The Netherlands, Dr. Organic products are available at De Tuinen, and the body wash costs €7,19 for 250 ml and the lip balm costs €4,19. In the UK you can buy Dr. Organic products at Holland & Barrett.

Have you tried Dr. Organic products before? What do you think of them?

Pictures come from the website: www.drorganic.co.uk

Review: Lush Vanilla Fountain

I bought Vanilla Fountain, a bath bomb from Lush, a while ago, but I only used it yesterday. My expectations were quite high, because Lush promises a 'comforting' bath and a lovely vanilla smell, partially due to the vanilla pod stuck into the bath bomb. To use a bath bomb, you fill your bath, and once it has filled you step into it with your bath bomb. When I put Vanilla Fountain into the bath it started fizzing, like a bath bomb is meant to. But I am wondering why Lush called it Vanilla Fountain because it looks nothing like a fountain. After a few minutes, all that was left of it was a yellow colour in my bath water and a vanilla fragrance. This fragrance stayed after I had the bath, but it did not last more than an hour or so. Also, after emptying the bath, some yellow residue was left on the sides of the tub, so make sure you clean your bath properly after using this bath bomb, or you might end up with a yellow instead of a white bath.

Personally, I only occasionaly buy bath bombs. I think they are a bit of a waste of money, because they are gone after a few minutes and often their smell does not last long either. To be honest, Vanilla Fountain has not made my high expectations come true. The smell was nice, but not amazing. The bath also did not do much for my skin, it was not much softer than it normally is. Therefore, I don't think I will buy this bath bomb again.

Vanilla Fountain costs 5,15 euros.

Advantages
- It smells good
- The vanilla pod inside makes it look attractive

Disadvantages
- Smell does not last very long

- It is quite expensive for one bath

- It does not do much for your skin

Buy it or not?

I would not buy this bath bomb again, but that is because I generally do not really like bath bombs. If you are a fan of bath bombs, you could always give this one a try, because you might like it more than I do.

Review: KOH 134 Rainy Day!

Last week, I got KOH 134 Rainy Day! from my mother. I wanted a nice dark gray nailpolish that will fit with any outfit in autumn and winter, or even in summer and spring if you add a nice bright colour on one nail, like I did (the pink nailpolish is from Safari and I have no idea what it is called/what number it is, I won it in the give-away from Daily Noted. I think it's a really nice colour!). I'm very happy with the colour, but I am less impressed by the quality. The first small chips appeared on the third day that I was wearing it, and bigger chips appeared on the fourth day. I hadn't expected this from a rather expensive nailpolish like this one. This problem can perhaps be solved by using a better top coat, I just use one from the Hema (Dutch cheap shop). Also, there were a lot of little air bubbles on my nails when the nailpolish had dried. However, this is probably more due to my polishing skills than the quality of the nailpolish. Even though the quality is not as amazing as I had expected it to be, it is still a good polish and I am happy with it!

Conclusion
Advantages: Really nice colour that will fit with any outfit, the little case (don't have a picture of that, sorry) you get when you buy it (haha, I just think it's cute!)
Disadvantages: Chips after 3-4 days, dries quite slowly
Buy it or not? If you have the money for it, yes I think you should definitely buy it, because it is a polish that is great for autumn/winter and will fit with any outfit.

Nailpolishes from KOH cost about 14 euros and can be bought at the better perfume/make-up shops such as Mooi (where I bought it).

What do you think of KOH nailpolishes?

Review: The Body Shop Coconut Body Butter

I really like The Body Shop, but most products are quite expensive, so when I got some money for my birthday I decided to try out one of their body butters. I bought this coconut body butter in March, but didn't use it much back then. A few weeks ago I decided to start using body butter more regularly, and therefore I can now share my experience of this body butter with you!

As we are used to from TBS, this coconut body butter comes in a simple but very nice pot. I especially like the picture of the coconut on it, and I think it makes the product look attractive. It took me long to choose the body butter I liked best, because all of them smell so good. Eventually I chose this one because of its soft, subtle smell of coconut. When you open the pot, you smell the coconut right away but when the butter is on your body you only smell of coconut very subtly, and that's just how I like it.

The main ingredients of this body butter are shea butter, cocoa butter and caprylic, which is derived from coconut oil. So, as with all TBS products, this body butter is full of natural ingredients that are a treat for your skin.

 The body butter has a creamy, buttery texture - just what it's meant to be like.

And this is what it looks like when you smear it out.

The body butter has a nice, creamy, buttery texture (see pictures above), actually just what you would expect from a body butter. You need to actually cream it in, but it 'dissappears' quite quickly. Just after applying it my skin feels a bit 'sticky'/fatty, but I think this is because the body butter needs time to be absorbed by the skin. Later in the day, my skin just feels soft! Also, the body butter leaves behind a subtle but wonderful smell of coconut!

I use this body butter for dry places, such as my knees and elbows, but sometimes I just cream it on my whole legs. If you want to cream in your whole body, it is better do it in the evening because the butter needs time to be absorbed by the skin so you don't want to pull tight clothes over it right away.

Conclusion

Advantages: makes your skin very soft, lovely smell, nice pot

Disadvantages: takes a while to be absorbed by your skin, it is quite expensive (especially for poor students like me)
Buy it or not? Buy it! I think this body butter is really worth its prize, and since the pot is quite big (200 ml) you can use it for quite a long time. Especially if you like coconuts, this will be a great body butter for you.

You can buy this Coconut Body Butter at The Body Shop shops or in their online shop. It costs € 15 for a pot containing 200 ml. 

What do you think of the body butters from The Body Shop?

Review: Essence Cracking Nailpolish

A while ago I bought cracking nailpolish from the cheap make-up brand Essence, and I tried it out last week. I used Essence 02 Sparkling Silver cracking base colour and Essence 01 crack me! black cracking top coat. This silver base colour can be replaced by any other colour nailpolish, but I decided to go with this one for the first time. The black cracking topcoat can also be replaced by a different colour cracking topcoat. Essence also sells a white one, and I bought that as well but I don't really like the colour of that one.

 

Essence 02 Sparkling Silver and Essence 01 Crack me! black on my nails.

It is really easy to create the crackling effect with these two nailpolishes. Start off by applying a coat of the base colour. I had to apply 2-3 coats to make it nice and opaque. Let this dry (on the bottle of the base colour it says that you have to let it dry for 4 minutes, but basically you should just wait till it has fully dried) and then take the cracking top coat. Applying the top coat goes really fast because you only need to apply one coat per nail. I found out that applying a thin coat gives a lot of small/thin cracks (see right two nails on picture), and applying a thick coat gives fewer but bigger cracks (see left two nails on picture). So depending on what you like, apply a thin or a thicker coat. It is important that you apply this coat in one go, because the nailpolish starts cracking within a few seconds. When everything is dry, apply a transparant top coat (I used one from Hema). I applied the nailpolish on Thursday evening, and the first chips appeared on Saturday, but that's probably because I went climbing that day. I have now been wearing the nailpolish for about 4 days and it has chipped on some nails, but it's not really ugly yet. 

Essence 02 Sparkling Silver
Advantages: nice colour, not too glittery
Disadvantages: 2-3 coats need to be applied before it is really opaque
Buy it or not? yes, for the cheap price (I don't remember the exact price, but I think it was about 1,50 euros) it is very good! But if you have more money it is probably better to invest in a better silver colour.

Essence 01 Crack me! Black
Advantages: only one coat needed, very opaque colour, cracks very nicely, does not chip fast
Disadvantages: none
Buy it or not? yes, definitely buy it! For the cheap price (about 1,50 euros) this is an amazing crack nailpolish. I am very happy with it.

Where to buy these products:
In The Netherlands Essence is sold at most Kruidvat shops, and these nailpolishes cost about 1,50 euros (I don't remember the exact price) each. I don't know about other shops or countries.

What do you think of cracking nailpolish?

Tea Tree Oil

Tea tree oil comes from a tree, the Melaleuca alternifolia, which only grows in Australia. This oil can be used to treat skin problems, something which the Aboriginals have already known for ages. The oil has many powerful sides, it for example kills bacteria and works as a painkiller. I have been using products containing Tea Tree oil for about 5 years, and at the moment I wouldn't want to use any different products for my face. I initially started using it as a treatment against my acne, but the products are still very useful when most of your acne has disappeared. The brand I use is called Courtin, and they have many different products containing Tea Tree oil, ranging from a face wash to foot cream. Of course there are also other brands selling Tea Tree products, I have seen some products in The Netherlands at Kruidvat, The Body Shop and De Tuinen.

My daily Tea Tree product ritual, which I would recommend to anyone, with or without acne:

Night (before I go to bed)
- clean face with the hand and face wash
- apply 24 hour cream (a day and night cream in one!) to face

- put a dab of pure tea tree oil on pimples (don't put it on your whole face, because it will dry out your skin! Also do not use it when you are going into the sun because, in combination with sunlight, it will bleach your skin.)

Morning (when I come out of the shower)
- apply 24 hour cream

These three products (the hand and face wash, the 24 hour cream and the pure tea tree oil) are the ones I use most. I really like the smell of the products, but for some people it takes a while to get used to it. My favourite product is the 24 hour cream, because it makes my skin really soft.

Do you use products containing Tea Tree oil, or did you ever use them? And what do you think of them?

Daily Noted's Give-away!

Daily Noted is one of my favourite blogs. It is run by 7 girls, and they each have their own day on which they post an article. This means there is a new article every day! The girls write in Dutch, but I think it's worth it to look at their blog even if you don't speak Dutch. I think the blog is very original, because the articles are not just about one theme, they are very diverse. So if you don't know Daily Noted yet, just go have a look!

Yesterday, Daily Noted started a give-away (<- click) to celebrate the fact that they have more than 100 followers (quite amazing because they only started a bit over 7 months ago) and 50,000 pageviews. And the prizes in this give-away are quite amazing! You can win 2 nail wheels, a bag containing about 500 fimo figures and 4 Safari nailpolishes.

I joined the give-away, are you going to join it too?