review – Page 2 – Christina Hopgood

Oh man! I am SO CHEESED OFF.

So! Many months ago now, I blogged about how the Beauty Minerals salesgirl sweet-talked me into buying $150 worth of products from her little stall in the middle of the shopping centre. That $150 only bought me 2 products – the eye cream and the exfoliating face scrub. Both claim to have minerals from the Dead Sea which makes them super amazing for your skin (the science says, just because).
I’ve been using the exfoliating scrub for ages, whenever I have the time to do so, but only just started with the eye cream as I only just finished my previous stuff.
Here are my reviews (click the links to go to the Beauty Minerals product page):

Exfoliating scrub (the one I got is not on the site any more, but this one is similar).
The directions are as follows: Apply to face and neck in a thin layer, leave for 15 minutes, and then rub it off in circular motions. When you rub it off, it actually feels like it’s exfoliating your face, and it comes off like eraser rubbings. Do this over the sink! Afterwards, your face really does feel smooth and fresh. It’s a lovely feeling! I really like this product.
Packaging: Comes in a nice little glass jar with a screw top lid. Easy to access the product.
Product: It’s like a creamy moisturiser with little bits in it – the apricot grains. That’s what is the exfoliating agent. It smells really nice! Super easy to apply.
Amount: A pretty good amount! You don’t need too much to apply all over your face, so it will last ages.
Effect: Great! It really leaves my skin feeling clean, exfoliated, moisturised, and soft.
Price: RIDICULOUS.

Eye cream (This is what I’m so cheesed off about.)
The directions are as follows: Pat around the eye area. Easy!
This eye cream claims to do a whole lot of things: reduce dark circles and puffiness, stop wrinkles forming, cleanse pores, etc.
Packaging: Again, in a little jar, smaller than the other. Not the best packaging for an eye cream, where you are aiming to get a very little amount on your finger.
Product: It’s very thick, for an eye cream. More like cheese than cream. Very difficult to get a small amount on your finger, due to viscosity and packaging.
Amount: You get a good amount, it would last a long while.
Effect: I’ve only used this for two nights. It’s irritated my eyes so much they’ve been watering and burning all night. I’ve hardly slept at all! So it has NOT reduced dark circles and puffiness, because I’ve been awake all night crying basically! I’m really upset by this stuff. It felt like there was acid in my eyes and I couldn’t wash it out. By morning I had cried most of it out. I don’t even know why I used it twice!
Price: RIDICULOUS.

That’s my review! One very positive, one very negative. I have sensitive skin!

product, review

Nivea Q10 Night Creme and Eye Creme review!

June 3, 2011January 24, 2018 christinahopgood

In my constant quest to find a product that lessens or eliminates my dark under eye circles, I came across the Nivea Q10 range. I bought the night cream and the eye cream. I know that Nivea spells it ‘Creme’ but we all know that they only do that because it’s fashionable, and it’s not actually how you spell cream. This is what the Eye Cream blurb says:

With age, skin loses its ability to produce energy deep within the skin’s cells. As a result, wrinkles appear and deeper wrinkles are further accentuated.

Now enriched with twice the amount of skin’s own CoEnzyme Q10 as part of a high performing Anti-Wrinkle System, NIVEA VISAGE Q10 PLUS Advanced Wrinkle Reducer Eye Creme activates skin’s energy metabolism from within thereby continuously fighting wrinkles in the deeper layers of the skin’s surface. The fragrance-free light, caring formula is easy to apply and quickly absorbed.

Result:

Appearance of dark under-eye circles is minimized.
Fine lines are visibly reduced within hours.
Mimic wrinkles are visibly minimized within3 weeks.
Deeper wrinkles are visibly reduced in only 4 weeks.

And the night cream adds:

During the night, when skin is most receptive for moisture intake, the intensively moisturizing formula replenishes & regenerates skin most effectively from daily stress for soft & supple skin in the morning.

So! It says that appearance of dark under-eye circles is minimised. I’d like that! So I started applying both products every night. Here’s what I thought of them:

Packaging: Win. The night cream comes in a lovely little glass jar which made it easy to get out. It’s also blue! The eye cream comes in a squeeze tube. Easy to get out but hard to get the dregs at the end. A bit like a tube of toothpaste.

Amount: Win. They both lasted me about 4 months, with the eye cream lasting longer by a few weeks. That’s a pretty long time, and I am fairly generous when I apply this kind of thing. I want it to WORK dammit!

Dark under-eye circles: No effect. The only reason it would make your dark circles diminish is because the cream is white. It doesn’t actually DO anything to your skin colour or anything. People still told me I look tired.

Fine lines: No effect. I have fine lines around my eyes – have done my whole life* – and almost have some on my forehead. While these creams didn’t promote wrinkles, I also didn’t find them diminishing, even after 4 weeks as advertised.

Moisturiser: This is such a good moisturiser! If you want a great luxurious moisturiser, then this is the stuff. It’s thick and absorbs well and really does leave your skin soft and velvety smooth. The reason I stuck with this stuff for so long even after it had no effect on fine lines or dark circles was because it was such a great moisturiser.

Price: A bit pricey I guess. I think it was around the $25 mark for the night cream and $12 for the eye stuff. It would be more worth it if it actually worked.

Originally I tried Olay’s product range, but it always burnt my skin. Nivea doesn’t irritate at all. All in all, a really nice moisturiser! I would buy again – but after I finish using my next trial run! Now I’m using Beauty Minerals eye cream for a while! Review to come!

*When I was in year 7 I went to a friend’s sleepover and we did each other’s makeup, and the girl who did my eyes said “you have really wrinkly eyes.” I thought it was such an insensitive thing to say, and it’s really stuck with me. People don’t realise that the things they say can make such a huge impact for a lifetime.

review

Review! Body Shop Japanese Cherry Blossom stuff

November 25, 2010January 24, 2018 christinahopgood

So recently I’ve been going through a “using stuff up” phase. I have so much stuff to get rid of!

Last Christmas (perhaps the Christmas before?) I was given a Body Shop gift pack – Japanese Cherry Blossom themed. It contained a shower sponge thing, some “body puree“, body butter, and shower gel.

Firstly, the shower gel. This was great! Smells nice, lathers well, and washes me! All good traits for a shower gel.

Now the Body Butter. I don’t really get body butter. It’s really thick greasy moisturiser. It really doesn’t absorb into the skin well, and you feel like you’ve just wiped your legs with grease. It stays slippery for hours. It really clogs the pores. But, this really does smell good, and feels nice to put on. I did kind of like this, since it is a really intense moisturiser! I would recommend this if you have super dry skin for whatever reason. If your skin isn’t super dry, don’t use much, or use some regular moisturiser. It is luxuriously rich stuff!

This one is the “Body Puree”, which I assume is made up of puree’d human bodies. It’s a moisturiser, I think. This was very non-greasy, in fact, it was quite the opposite. It absorbs into the skin pretty well, either leaving the skin as dry as before, or sticky. I do not recommend putting this on before bed or you’ll be most uncomfortable until you have to get up and wash it off. It generally stops being sticky after a few hours. It rubs on easily enough, but seems to be a bit thin in texture and not at all creamy. It is literally like puree’d fruit. Do not like!

The sponge was nice!

I can see on the website they’re all really expensive too… so whoever gave me that gift must have paid a lot. But I really liked the shower gel and the sponge, and the body butter was good.

So I’d give this 3 stars. Out of one hundred. But tell the Body Shop it’s out of 5.

makeup, product, review

Product review – Garnier Caffeine Eye Roll-On

October 25, 2010January 24, 2018 christinahopgood

So as we all know, I’m a little sensitive about my eyes. I often have kind of wrinkly, dark circles. So my friend recommended this stuff: Garnier Caffeine Eye Roll-On!

The stuff comes in a little plastic tube with a big silver ball at the top – kind of like a giant ball-point pen. You roll it under your eyes and it claims that it tightens the skin, reduces dark under-eye circles, gets rid of puffiness, and refreshes your skin. Sounds super great! However, it’s kind of sticky and you have to make sure it dries properly before applying any makeup – or it’ll roll off in gross sticky chunks.

It is a pretty good product, but I have to admit, the reality is only moderately great.

Claim 1: Tightens the skin. I think this is actually true! It leaves a thin film on your skin, which really does seem like it tightens the skin. It could be that it’s covering up any wrinkles and making them stay put. This might be enough for some people!

Claim 2: Reduces under-eye circles.

Not at all. My dark circles are as dark as ever! The tightening of the skin might give the illusion of reduced circles, but I don’t think it works really. To reduce dark circles I think you probably need bleach!

Claim 3: Gets rid of puffiness. I don’t really have puffiness so that doesn’t apply to me. Puffiness is what I want. I suspect it would work though, because there’s caffeine in it. Or something?

Claim 4: Refreshes the skin. This is true! It feels really nice to put this on! It’s super cool the first few seconds and then it starts to feel warm, at least for me. I really like the cold then hot feeling. It is very refreshing for tired eyes.

Do the results last? No. As soon as you wash it off, the skin returns to its previous state. This is okay, I guess. But it does mean that there’s no opportunity for real improvement, and that improvements are only as good as the amount of product you put on your eyes. It’s just like a prep for makeup, or if you eyes look just a bit lame today.

My friend thinks that maybe different people have dark circles for different reasons – allergies, tiredness, genetics. Mine are because of genetics – my mother and grandmother both have them. So perhaps if your dark circles are because of lack of sleep, or allergies, or something – this product might work better on you than it did on me.

In a couple of weeks I’ll review that super expensive stuff I was conned into buying the other day. I’ve tried it out and it is SO NICE OMG. My face feels so good.

dear celine, kidsyoyo, qutieland, review

Qutieland/KidsYoYo/Dear Celine REVIEW!!

May 3, 2010January 24, 2018 christinahopgood

KidsYoYo Mary Style Elegant High Collar Blouse and Dear Celine Rhyme of Winter Flocking jumperskirt

On 9th of March, I ordered and paid for these two items off Qutieland’s new website. The new ordering process was straightforward and simple. I had to give a lot more measurements than usual, which was kind of time-consuming, but I guess that’s what they need to make a well-fitting garment.

After I finished on the website, I got an email from Billy asking for MORE measurements, including an arm measurement. I got an email back saying that my arm measurement is well below the minimum the store makes, and that I must have done it wrong. I’m really grateful that he didn’t just push my stupid measurement through, or I would have ended up with a weird looking blouse. I think that both Qutieland and KidsYoYo must double-check measurements and things to ensure a quality garment. I feel very lucky to have such good customer service for such a low price!

The Qutieland website has a “track your order” function, which I found really fun (and addictive… I was checking daily) and informative. On that page I could see everything about my order, even that they had to ask for that extra arm measurement!

Communication and customer serivice: 5/5.

The estimated making time was listed as 25 days, excluding weekends. That’s 5 weeks. I got my shipping number on 29 April. It ended up taking 7 weeks and 6 days to arrive, including shipping time. I know that the Dear Celine dress was ready first, so we had to wait on KidsYoYo for a while. These shops must be busy! I know that KidsYoYo have been busy because they’re apparently moving their factory (!) and they have that big Marionet Girl series they’re doing right now. The shipping was EMS, which has always been reliable in my experience. The package was soft, with two separate plastic bags inside. The blouse was in two plastic bags (?) so I guess it was EXTRA protected.

Time taken: 3/5

Shipping: 5/5.

On to pictures and reviews of the garments!

KidsYoYo Mary Style High Collar Blouse: 4.5/5

Fabric: The fabric is a slightly stretch cotton. The lace is high quality. The only issue is that the colour is pure white, but in the stock photo it looks like a cream colour. Maybe I’ll tea-dye? Last time I tea-dyed my lace turned out pink. Maybe not.

Fit: This fits beautifully. The sleeves are just the right length!!! Please note that the ruffles on the ends of the sleeves are humongous.

Workmanship: As far as I can tell, the workmanship is lovely! The pintucks are all even and straight, and the lace is sewn in nicely. A cool thing is that there’s a press stud in between the buttons at the bust line, so you can never have a gappy blouse! Such a nice touch, and well hidden. The detachable bow is really cute, and the blouse looks good with or without it. It came with four extra buttons, an extra press stud, and an extra brooch pin. Just in case!!

Here it is, fresh from the bag!

Close up of the label, collar, bow, and lace.

Dear Celine Flocky Jsk: 4.5/5

Fabric: The black part of this dress is made from thin velvet-type fabric. The flocking is grey wool with black velvet patterns. The whole thing is fully lined with black sateen. The fabric seems like it will be quite warm. There is a nice lace detail at the front which might not be as nice as the lace on the blouse, but is also not as integral to the design, so no matter.

Fit: I deliberately ordered this a little bigger than the blouse because I wanted to be sure it would fit over the top of a blouse or whatever. I needn’t have, as it is a pretty large fit on me. It does fit, but I have to do the corset lacing up pretty tight (all the way) before it feels really snug. This is my own fault! One weird thing is that the front bodice is a bit gappy at the top, just above my bust. It’s not really noticeable, especially with a pretty blouse underneath.

Workmanship: This is just lovely. The pintucks and ruffles on the bodice are really well done, and the ruffle at the bottom of the skirt is even and falls nicely. I’m really happy with this dress! It also came with two extra bow pins, which are pretty and have a jewel in the centre. As per stock picture!