Review of Montagne Jeunesse Aloe Vera & Willow Blemish Mud

So once in awhile I will have a break out, it happens still, even at an age nearing 30. I wash my face regularly, use creams, and serums to keep my skin looking as fresh and young as possible, and in turn, I still get break outs. Curse of genes.

I decided to try out a mask by Montagne Jeunesse, called, Aloe Vera & Willow Blemish Mud. I hoped using the mud mask would help diminish the breakout and keep future breakout from occurring for the time being. I have used the masks before in the past, and always liked them, so I figured I would like this one too.

Application:

Applying the mask is easy enough, you tear open the individual use package, and wipe the mud onto your face.

The scent was semi harsh at first, with a minty sort of tinge to it. I figured the mint would dry out the breakouts I presently had. I was not to keen on that though, because my skin reacts oddly to feeling dry. It will produce more oil, which in turn produces more breakouts.

While drying the mask will leave your face feeling very dry, and extremely tight. It's not an unpleasant feeling though at all.

The mask took around 20 minutes to fully dry to a white clay that eventually I wiped away with a warm moist towel.

Results:

My skin felt clean, but as far as feeling like the mask did anything, I sadly would have to say no. Once the clay was cleaned off from my face my skin felt exactly as it would feel after doing a quick facial scrub. Clean, but nothing really else to report.

Now here is where I got really angry about my purchase. You see, the following morning I woke up to 2 brand new basketball sized bruisers on my face.

Overall:

Garbage. The mud mask was supposed to keep my face from breaking out, but instead it seemed to irritate it so much that it caused 2 monstrous sized pimples to form on my chin and forehead.

All in all, I would suggest skipping out on this one.

Review of Steve Madden, Carnaby Booties- Taupe Suede

In this day and age of fashion it seems that everyone is copying one another in order to make high end products affordable to those of us without high end budgets.

I do not mind copycats, as I live for getting fashion bargains with lower prices attached to them.

When it comes to Steve Madden, Carnaby Booties- in Taupe Suede, the very first thing I thought of when I saw them was of Jeffery Campbell Lita boots and how Steve Madden 100% copied their look. But hey, Jeffery Campbell probably copied that look from some other shoe designer.

The Boots:

The Steve Madden, Carnaby Booties come in 2 colors that I am aware of, black and the color that I picked up which is taupe suede.

They feature a gorgeous thick wood stiletto in the back, that stand tall at around 5", with around a 1.5" platform. These shoes look daring, and look like they will be scary to walk in at first, but if you are used to high heels wearing these boots is actually easy considering how thick the back heel is.

They are very easy to walk in, and the overall finish is definitely appealing to both fall and winter seasons. They however do not provide a whole lot of warmth factor to keep your feet toasty warm, however they do the trick well enough and your feet will certainly not freeze while wearing them either.

The added height you get from these also gives off the illusion that your legs are longer and leaner than what they may really be.

Comfort Level:

I am a Bordello stiletto lover, and those shoes are by far more comfy to wear than sneakers in my opinion, however when I bought the Steve Madden, Carnaby Booties, I was expecting them to be even comfier than my stiletto heels, seeing that they are boots, and that the heel in the back was way chunkier.

Sadly these boots actually have a discomfort zone, and you begin to feel it about 3 hours into wear. Mine are the correct size, no pinching and plenty of toe wiggle room. The back however begins to stress the foots arch out, and I found myself getting cramped up in the arch of my foot. I imagine this happens because they have not mastered the perfect shape inside of the shoe.

Overall:

The boots are nice, attractive on the eyes, and have already managed to reel in a few compliments, however I can only wear them for so long as they stress the arch of my foot out too often.

In my opinion, this takes the $60.00 boot, down to a $20.00 level. So not worth $60.00!
 

Review of Lush Golden Slumbers Bath Bomb

Lush Golden Slumbers Bath Bomb looked pretty phenomenal on the Lush.com website, it featured a large bath bomb with one half of it being white in color, and the other half seemed to be some sort of golden round pellets that were shiny.

When it comes to the Lush website, you never really should go by what you see, because more than half the time you receive something in the mail that looks like an error. My Golden Slumbers bath bomb was white, pure and simply white. I was a little disappointing in that, but I hoped that maybe when I added it to my bath that it would dissolve a little and release this golden slumber wonder.

Sadly that never happened. My bath bomb was pure white from start to finish. It did however release a few unexpected surprises. For some though, the surprise inside of this bath bomb is not always wanted.

Before getting into that though, I wanted to first cover the scent.

Golden Slumbers Bath Bomb smelled like fresh herbs, something I would cook with rather than bath with. The website promised a lavender fragrance, that would induce a sleepy state, while reducing stress. Although I was not 100% fond of the bomb the way it smelled when dry, I knew Lush, and knew how their products could transform in scent once it hit hot water. I hoped with this one that the scent would be more floral, and less spaghetti sauce herbs once I used it.

In The Tub

Golden Slumbers Bath Bomb fizzed away pretty quickly, and while doing so began to release these incredibly ugly brown seeds. Upon closer inspection the brown floating substance seemed to be dried pieces of flowers; likely the lavender.

The scent however remained a high potent herbal note, with no tones whatsoever of lavender that I could detect.

I didn't hate it, but I also was not in love with it.

The Selling Point

Although this bath bomb was semi disappointing while using it, the magic that it included was a golden slumber. I never slept better after using this bath bomb. The light herbal fragrance stuck to my skin and literally helped drift me off to sleep, and I am one who does not sleep well. Once using this bath bomb, the moment I hit the pillow my eyes were getting heavy.

Overall

This may not be the best scented bath bomb, but it actually does what I wanted it to do, and that was to aide me in an easy nights sleep. It did just that, and I will likely buy this one again for that, and that alone.

Review of Lush Abombinaball, Bath Bomb

What stinks about being a lover of bath products from Lush, is the fact that we do not have an official Lush store anywhere within a 100 mile radius. It's frustrating because those of us whom do not have a Lush store are forced to either go without, or order products blindly on the Lush.com website.

While doing my yearly routine Lush.com shopping I came across a slew of new seasonal winter bath treats. Sadly you cannot smell a description through a screen.

When I spotted their Lush Abombinaball, Bath Bomb I knew this would be one I would want to try. The bomb displayed on the site features this blue and white squished near flat bath bomb, with an imprint of what appears to be the face of an abominal snowman. Eek!!!

By the overall look alone, it seemed to me that this bomb would have a minty, fresh, snowy like scent going on.

It took about a week to finally come in the mail, and when I finally had my package in hand I went ahead and used Abombinaball first.

The Scent:

The scent of this bath bomb dry reminded me of delicious chocolate grasshopper girl-scout cookies. A minty and creamy chocolate mix that just reminded me of the winter season. I hoped that when I plopped this one into a hot bath, that the scent would be just as scrumptious as it is when dry.

My Use:

I ran a hot bath, got in, and dropped in the Abombinaball. Immediately the bomb went to work, fizzing around and releasing a frothy white foam to the top of the bath water.

Quickly after foaming up the top layer of the tub, the bomb then began to release lovely deep denim blue coloring to the water. It reminded me a lot of Dragons Egg by Lush, which has a white outer shell, and a blue inside coloring that floods the bath water. The blue is the same, deep when releasing, but transforms to a gorgeous Caribbean sea aqua in the water.

I liked it, I liked it a lot.

The name of the bath bomb should have been icebergs though, because this is what this bath reminded me of a scenery you could only find in Antarctica. I had white mounds of bubbles at the surface of the water, and a beautiful blue aqua right below the mounds. It was sort of magical, and beyond relaxing.

The minty scent does not smell like grasshopper cookies in the tub, but it is definitely present, and more minty vanilla than anything. Your skin really feels the cooling tingly sensation that the peppermint gives off, a bath with Abombinaball is nothing short of relaxing, refreshing, magical, and fun.

Overall:

I have not had a new favorite bath bomb in quite some time now, but Abombinaball managed to steal the #1 slot for me. I could not recommend this one enough. It is not just a bath, but a total sense experience.

Review of Lush Christmas Eve Bubble Bar

Lush Christmas Eve Bubble Bar looks slightly less attractive in person than it does on their website, however this bubble bar truly is capable of delivering magic to your bath. The scent however is not anything I would truly associate with the holiday, or even the winter season for that matter.

The Bubble Bar:

Christmas Eve Bubble Bar on the Lush.com is a round deep denim blue bubble bar, with a yellow sliced bubble bar pressed into it, forming the shape of a crescent moon. The moon has very small flecks of glitter on it, but the amount will not do anything for the water. It's just added for show.

What I Got:

Instead of the attractive bubble bar shown on the website, I got a small squished blue disc, with the yellow portion simply added to the middle and cut like cookie dough. There is no separation, the yellow moon is already in the blue mold. There is also no glitter as shown on the site.

The Scent:

This one is tough to pin point, as it smells nothing like what I would associate with Christmas. No pine, no cinnamon, cider, or fresh mint.

This bubble bar smells more like something for the romantic season of February. It has a very low key musk scent going on, but I loved the scent, and it reminded me of Jennifer Lopez's GLOW perfume for women. Musky, angelic, and completely made for a woman.

Regardless of this bubble bar lacking that wintery mix in the scent department, I loved it.

My Use:

I always cut my bubble bars in half, and save the other half for a later use. I find that you get plenty of bubbles doing it this way anyway.

In order to get full mounds of bubbles, there is a form to adding the bubble bar to your bath water. You must squish it up under the hot running water as you fill the tub.

Walk away for a few moments, and wallah, the magic of the bubble bar is in full force.

When it came to Christmas Eve Bubble Bar, I was very happy with the results. I had mounds of lightly scented bubbles, and the color of the bathwater had been transformed into a beautiful blue color.

What I liked about this bubble bar was that it also left the water feeling silky smooth, which is a nice little addition to the mix.

Overall:

Christmas Eve Bubble Bar may not necessarily remind anyone of Christmas, let alone winter, however it is a delicious bubble bar that is capable of creating tons of long lasting bubbles.

Review of Splat, Purple Desire Hair Dye Kit

2 weeks ago, I decided to do something a little different, a little bold, and something a little bit fun to my hair. I wanted to add some small chunks of color to my hair. My 9 year old niece inspired me really. I had her for the day, and she kept going on and on about how badly she wanted to add color streaks to her hair, like Jade on Victorious; one of her favorite Nickelodeon television shows.

Before going through with her ultimate wish though, naturally I had to ask for permission. Once permission was granted we went out on the hunt for some bold hair colors to streak out hair with. This was basically how we came across Splat, Purple Desire Hair Dye Kit.
The box description displayed a promise of long lasting bold purple hair coloring. It also mentioned that the longer you kept the purple dye on the hair, the longer the color would last. We did not want our color going anywhere, so we left the dye on for the maximum amount of time, for the boldest color results.

But first, let me go over the steps that this kit involved, and you can decide if it is something you want to give a try.

My nieces hair color is naturally blond.
Mine is a dark brown.

Our results definitely varied.

For those with darker hair, before you can go and add the purple hair dye, you will need to first use the included bleaching system to get your hair as light as possible, before adding the purple color.

I decided to add the bleach to the hair that I intended to dye purple. As I waited for the hair to lighten, I went ahead and added the purple color her hair first, as she did not need the bleaching step.

You will need gloves, which are included to apply the purple dye. Separate the sections of hair first before adding it.

It was actually really simple to do with gloves on, and the dye did not drip onto other hair strips as I set it down to dry.

The color took to her blond hair perfectly. The result after rinsing the purple coloring out 30 minutes later was striking, bold, and looked really good on her blond hair.

While she was done, and rocking out her bold new purple streaks, I still waited for the bleaching agent to do its job. It took around 30 minutes to lighten my hair, and it was not the bleach blond color I was hoping for. Instead I got more of a light orange hue, as I expected it would.

I decided that perhaps the color was light enough and to go ahead and add the purple Splat to my streaks. I waited the full 30 minutes and rinsed.

Immediate Results:

My nieces hair looked awesome, mine however did not really take the purple coloring as well, and I ended up with a more fruit punch maroon coloring. I liked it a lot, but it was not what I was initially going for.

Results After 2 Weeks:

My streaks are barely eve recognizable at this point. I can see a very subtle red highlight to where I added the dye 2 weeks prior. I imagine in another week, the overall coloring will be 100% faded, which angers me considering the fact that the color was supposed to last for much longer than that.

My nieces results after 2 weeks is not as drastic as mine, her purple color however has faded into a light baby pink color, which looks fantastic. I imagine her coloring will last for much longer.

Overall:

Splat, Purple Desire Hair Dye Kit seems to work perfectly fine on those with naturally blond hair, or those who actually are able to get the included bleach to actually bleach their hair. Otherwise you will just end up with a maroon color, that fades nearly 100% in just 2 weeks.