Review: Yves Rocher Framboise (Organic Raspberry) Silky Lotion

I mentioned in my previous post, about the Yves Rocher Raspberry Eau de Toilette that the scent wasn't the only Yves Rocher Raspberry product I was gifted by my husband. So it's time to tell you a bit more about the lotion, called a "silky lotion" by Yves Rocher themselves as well.

I actually like this lotion a lot more than the Eau de Toilette. I just find it has a more delicious scent, that reminds me of raspberry yoghurt somehow. I know this does not sound like something everyone would like to smear on themselves, but I think it works really well on me.

This lotion also has a quality that is perhaps the most important quality of all when it comes to body lotions, according to me: it absorbs really fast! And this happens even if you apply rather generous amounts (I have a tendency to do that), so I am super happy with this body lotion for that reason alone. I generally do not have time to sit down and do nothing, including move, after I apply body lotion, you see, so being able to carry on as usual right after applying the lotion is a must for me.

I also think the scent lingers for quite a long time, which is nice. On the other hand, this might be a cause for annoyance for some, so I would advice those who prefer for the scents to go away rather fast to stay away from the Yves Rocher Raspberry Silky Lotion.

Oh, and this is an organic product, as well. Gotta love that!

Review: Yves Rocher Framboise (Raspberry) Eau de Toilette

I must say I have never really been a fan of Yves Rocher, since my mother used to give me their products when I was younger, instead of "real", more expensive beauty products, I think. So I have never really been buying their products for myself as a grown up. However, my husband knows how much I like raspberries, so when I recently travelled and spotted an Yves Rocher store, and needed to buy me something to bring anyway, so he decided to get me an Yves Rocher Raspberry Eau de Toilette, as well as a body lotion from the same range.

I really did not expect to like this scent at all, but I do think it is quite nice. It does have a very clear raspberry scent, after all, even though the staying power is not the best I've ever ran into.
I did kind of expect the scent to be chemical, which is definitely was not, so that was a nice surprise! This is definitely more of a summer scent, however, I am not sure it is so suitable for winter.

I do think the bottle is kind of cheap looking, though, which is a shame, but to be expected from a lower end brand like Yves Rocher, I suppose.

All in all, I am definitely glad I got a chance to try this scent. I might even buy it again. But I would not go out of my way to get it, I suppose. It's nice and cute, but not that special, if you know what I mean...

Review: Farmasi Cherry Peel Off Mask

I recently tried a brand that was completely new to me. In fact, so new that I had never even heard of it! The brand is called Farmasi, and apparently has Turkish origins.
The reason I decided to check them out was that I spotted their Cherry Peel Off Mask in my local pharmacy recently, and since I:
- Used to love peel off masks, but have not used them for ages
- Loooove cherries and anything that smells like cherries
I thought this might be a product I might like.

I even took a whiff of the product in the pharmacy, and thought it had a really nice scent then, but now that I've tried it, I actually cannot understand why. Because the scent upon use is far from plesant!

I would actually describe the Cherry Peel Off mask as having a scent which only reminds me of plastic. No cherries, nothing natural, just plastic through and through.

I personally think this is a really bad thing in beauty products. I don't necessarily need them to have a natural scent, in fact I quite like strong scents that are not natural too, but plastic is definitely not a scent I want to be found in my beauty products.

The mask was pleasant to use, though. And since I hadn't used peel off masks for quite some time, I had a blast peeling the mask off!

The mask is supposed to moisturize and cleanse your skin at the same time, as well as prevent black heads. While I don't have an issue with black heads (so I can't give a verdict on that), I do think this mask cleansed my skin pretty well, and I do think my skin felt a bit less dry, too!
So I would say that the mask does what it says, so it's really a shame about the scent. That will probably make me not try it again, to be honest...

Review: Jade Lash design mascara

This is actually a mascara that I got at the same time as I got my Pupa Ultraflex one, since I was standing in the drug store, having picked up the Pupa one, when I was approached by a saleslady who said she knew a much better mascara than the Pupa one, that she thought I should try. She gave a whole speech about this mascara, which happened to be Jade's Lash Design one, in order to persuade me to get it, and since the mascara was also on offer, making it really cheap, I decided to give it a try.

Now, I will not deny that I would probably never have tried this mascara if it wasn't for that saleslady, and if I hadn't... well, let's just say that I would not have missed out on much!

Because while this mascara separates my lashes beautifully (which is always nice, as opposed to clumping them together in an ugly way), it does not elongate my lashes or thicken them up, which are my main criteria for a mascara. It also flakes a bit, not as much as some other mascaras I've tried in the past, I must say, but still. It does not smear though...

All in all, I would call this a really unspectacular mascara with few redeeming qualities. And I've also learned that I really should stop listening to "well meaning" sales people! They seldom do any good and are probably just after their commissions anyway. In this case it really turned out that the mascara I was naturally drawn to (the Pupa one) turned out to be really good, while the one someone had to convince me to get really wasn't.... So always go with your own gut when making purchases, unless you're dealing with a really spectacular salesperson, I guess!

Review: Pupa Ultraflex mascara

As some of you reading this may already know, I am a bit of a mascara snob. I think most mascaras out there suck, so I try not to switch mascaras very often, since I usually get very disappointed when I do. However, my favorite brand of mascaras, Lancome, is not sold everywhere where I live, and when it is, it is often quite expensive, so sometimes I have no choice but to try something new. That happened quite recently, I ran out of my Lancome mascara and had no choice but to buy a new mascara at the local drug store. I saw that they had a pretty good deal on Pupa's Ultraflex mascara, so since I had pretty good experiences with Pupa products in the past (read this, for instance) I decided to give the Pupa Ultraflex mascara a try.

And I actually really liked it! This mascara does seem to elongate my lashes, and while it does not make my lashes thicker too (I tend to go for mascaras that both make my lashes thicker and longer normally), the effect of longer lashes is really pretty. You do need to use several layers in order to get your lashes to look really long and nice, though, so I would not exactly recommend this mascara for those who don't like applying several layers of mascara, because at least 3 or 4 layers are needed, I think. I don't mind applying several layers, though, so this is not really a serious con for me.

The mascara also does not smudge of flake, which is great, since smudging and flaking is definitely one of my biggest pet peeves with mascaras in general. I also think it is worth mentioning that while some, and even Pupa themselves, I believe, claim that this mascara curls your lashes, and I do not really think that's true. If you need your eyelashes curled, you need to curl them with a curler, and not rely on this mascara. Not a big deal for me, but could be a deal breaker for others...

I will definitely get this mascara again, especially if I can find it for a good price like this time. I did really like it, and if you look at this as a budget mascara, it is really one of the better mascaras in its price range that I've ever tried!

My favorite look on nails right now...

... has to be the gorgeous nails shown at the Kate Spade show recently:

I think they are just perfect, I need to find a nail polish in exactly this shade right now!

Review: Biotop Professional 911 Quinoa Hair Mask for dry and damaged hair

I reviewed the shampoo from the same range recently (read that review here), but I just finished up the hair mask, so I thought I would share some thoughts on that as well. What I do like about this hair mask, as well as the shampoo from the same range, is that it is cruelty free and not tested on animals. It also does its job and hydrates my hair nicely, which is what I bought it for, so that's good.

But unfortunately, this hair mask is not really special in any way. It doesn't have a great scent, an unusual texture or anything at all like that. It is simply a very, very basic hair mask in every way, so while I wasn't exactly disappointed, I wasn't impressed or overly excited about this mask either.

So I don't think I will be getting this hair mask again, there are simply many more special and better hair masks out there, so I prefer to re-buy those when I can. Still, it was definitely interesting to give this hair mask a try!