Haul: Back From Kyoto :)

Before I start my post, I just wanted to say thank you to all my readers - I've reached 1,000 while I was away, and it was the best thing EVER to come home to! :) My blog means so much to me, and to know people want to hear what I have to say means the world! So thanks to every single one of you :)

So I got back yesterday from my 5 day holiday with my mom to Kyoto & Nara. They are located in Western Japan (Kansai), and are also the two previous capitals before Tokyo - and as usual, I picked up some local beauty goodies :) (I would say exclusive but these lot have branched out quite a bit - however their reputation as a Kyoto brand is still very much alive!)

This time the products are from a brand called Yojiya that started in Kyoto in 1904. They are famous for their blotting papers (pictured above) that initially became very popular amongst 'maiko's (apprentice 'geisha's) in the 20's, but today they're probably the best known blotting sheets in the country! These were originally made from the paper that is left behind when stamping gold-leaf onto art and other fancy things, and have been developed/improved since then :)

The brand has loads of make-up items too, but I decided to purchase the 2nd and 3rd most popular products: the mini-sized handcream made from silkworm.. stuffs? (left) and the full-sized lip balm made with 'yuzu' (right), which is a type of citrus.

I've only tried the lipbalm as of yet, but it smells LUSH and does a really good job as far as I can tell :) Not the cheapest of brands, but these two weren't too bad - the two tub set was about £10 and the blotting sheets for one booklet of 20 sheets is about £3. But what kind of a beauty blogger would I be if I didn't think illogically at times? :P

Here are some of my favourite shots of Kyoto and Nara :)

Arashi-yama station

Fushimi-Inari: torii gates built as gifts to the gods by those who want their wishes to come true :)

 Inside Tenryuuji - those signs telling people not to roll around was definitely aimed at me.. how tempting does it look?!

Gardens of Tenryuuji

Nanzenji 

Todaiji Entrance in Nara - with lots of wild deer :P 

Being bullied by a deer into giving her some food lol. 

 Toji Pagoda (and a pretty white bird.. very picturesque/cliche :P)

A very Kyoto-ey lunch! :)

Some goodies I picked up while I was there - I know, the hippo is probably the most pointless thing I've bought in years but she was too cute to not get! :P

Most of my mom's side of the family is from this area of Japan and to be honest - I have no idea why anyone would pick to live in Tokyo over Kansai - to me, it's much more chilled out and interesting!

Also, the peaceful elegance of old Japan never ceases to impress me. I only wish I knew more about Buddhism and Japanese history so I could really understand the significance of the temples, the statues, the national treasures and the buildings that I saw!

I know those were a lot of pictures of travelling for a beauty blog but I couldn't help myself! :P

And thanks again for helping me reach 1,000 readers! :)

<3yu

Review: Betty Hula Moisturizing Creams

A few weeks ago, the lovely people from Betty Hula sent me a few samples of their Shea Butter Moisturizing Cream and the Secret Anti-Aging Oil to review - very exciting, thanks guys!

From the beginning, I was REALLY excited to try them out because they have several ethical values that makes me really want to support them.

Firstly, all ingredients are natural, there are no chemicals used at all, and the Shea Butter they use is Grade A.

Secondly, they are handmade.

Thirdly, the ingredients are fairly traded.

For those of you who these things really aren't a concern, it's still important to realise that natural ingredients and lack of chemicals more often than not imply that they are suitable for sensitive skin :)

Like I said, they sent me samples, but here is a image on what the original packaging looks like - how cute are the tubs for the moisturizers?! Check out the website for better pics :) Anyway, on to the reviews! :)

The Secret - £15.99 for 50mL

By the nature of it being an 'anti-aging oil', I obviously couldn't really test it - it'd take years to really see if you've aged, and even if you didn't, who's to say this product's made it better, you wouldn't know what you'd look like had you not used it :P

So I kind of treated it as a serum/intense moisturizer - and I enjoyed it! The scent is something like honey-lemon, but quite refreshing and the surprising thing is that it absorbs really well into your skin and doesn't leave a film and rather feels like it would if you applied a cream lotion.

That being said, I'm not really interested in an anti-aging oil nor a serum so I probably wouldn't purchase this on my own. However, I did look up other bloggers' reviews and some pregnant ladies had said that this oil helps stretchmarks - will keep in mind for the future, I think!

Shea Butter Moisturizing Creams in Champagne & Spice and Rum & Blackcurrant - £14.99 for 120mL

There are three scents in the range - Champagne & Spice (orange), Rum & Blackcurrant (pink) or Kiwi & Lime (green). I got the former 2, and I personally prefer Champagne & Spice. They both have a very coconut-ey, rummy smell but I find that Champagne & Spice has that zingy-ness to it that makes it a bit more refreshing and not as full-on as the Rum & Blackcurrant. That one is a bit too sweet for my liking, and I didn't really sleep well with it on my hands cuz the smell lingers for a really long time - which is a good thing if you like the smell! :)

Because the samples were relatively small, I decided to really put them to the test and use these on various locations on my body that were in different degrees of emergency dryness. My hands, legs, elbows, cuticles, ankles and heels. The first 2 are usually normal but sometimes get a little bit dry, my elbows get quite dry and hard, my cuticles are constantly dry, my ankles are calloused and my heels look like they had a garlic-grater run over them cuz of my new sandals! (Yuck, I know)

For my hands and legs - a little went a really long way and blending them into big areas was so effortless. I found I only had to do this once a day, sometimes even 2 days to keep the dryness at bay. The consistency is kind of like a moussey cream, so it's not as heavy as a body butter and doesn't leave too much residue at all - definite plus points over other body butters. 

My elbows were the place where these babies worked the best. I moisturized them once every 3 or 4 days, and my elbows would be soft throughout that whole time. No more whiteness, no more thickened skin - it was literally just like the skin on the rest of my arm.

This wasn't great for my cuticles - it really didn't do much at all! No idea why, but there ya go. To be fair, they're not a cuticle cream - I just wanted to test it to see how it went.

For my ankles, this cream was okay - but let's face it, no moisturizer is going to get rid of callouses - they have to be exfoliated. That being said, this moisturizer softened them up significantly, and I could tell from the first use that they were working. However, after applying them twice a day for a few days, it never progressed, and it was just as soft as the first time I used it.

The heels were probably the second best place that they worked, as my garlic-gratered heels soon just became.. well, heels, which was pretty amazing because even the Body Shop body butters were incapable of doing this. I applied it twice a day, and again, it improved from the first use. But unlike my ankles, it kept getting better each time I used it. Really preferred this to buffing my deadskin as sometimes I find it a bit too harsh.

All in all, my expectations of the Shea Butter Moisturizers were met, and what they did to my hands/legs, elbows and especially my heels is something I really really enjoyed. Again, the consistency was very light, but the moisturizing effects were as good, if not better, than body butters, and they did not leave any nasty residues behind. I also really liked the Champagne & Spice smell, as I love the sea and the tropics and these put me in a really summery mood :)

Now of course there's the issue of a 120mL tub being £14.99, which atleast includes P&P - and because there are other products out there that moisturize my arms and legs and my elbows, the significant advantage of this product really only is the fact that they heal my heels (hehe wordplay!). I'm not 100% sure I'd pay that much for that. They are now available in Sainsburys - but I'm not sure if that means they are cheaper?

I rate the products a 8/10 - because they do what they say, they're ethical and they even heal things that others cant - it really just is the price :( You are paying for the handiwork, the natural ingredients, the fairtrade, and I love that but I just couldn't justify it. Maybe it'd be better if they had a smaller tub for a lesser price, because you really don't have to use a lot if you don't intend to use it as an all over body cream! :) (And it'd be perfect for me to just buy in the summer for my godforsaken heels :P)

Anyway, I just want to say a quick thanks to Keren and the rest of the Betty Hula team for this opportunity to try the products out - maybe one day when I'm not a poor student, I will be able to treat myself to some! :D

Have you tried any Betty Hula products? :)

<3yu

Review - Soap&Glory Hand Food & Heel Genius

I know the Soap & Glory Hand Food is an incredibly popular hand cream, and there's loads of reviews on it but I wanted to do a review on it anyway because I feel quite differently about it from most people, and also cuz I don't think Heel Genius gets much attention next to Hand Food! :)

HAND FOOD.. (£4.85 @ Boots)

First of all it smells divine. However, I am not its biggest fan because 1) I think it leaves a greasy residue on your hands and 2) I usually apply hand cream outside of the house and would not take this massive tube in my handbag.

That being said, I happily use this right before bed if I feel the need, as well as carry around a small tube in my handbag - sometimes, a greasy residue is the hydration you need, especially with the dryness these days.

Rebuy? Maybe the small tube. But with the greasy residue, it's nothing special and I have other lotions I could turn to that doesn't leave this greasiness. However, I like that it's not creamy because atleast that makes it lighter than most hand lotions. You can see the consistency in this picture:

Top: Heel Genius, Bottom: Hand Food - as you can see, neither are the thickest of creams!

HEEL GENIUS.. (£5.11 @ Boots)

I love this one more :) It smells divine as well, but what I love most is the greasy residue (lol) as opposed to the creamy kind of thickness that you get from body butter (as you can see above) - I don't like that on my feet. It's more watery than lotion, but it doesn't compensate in the hydration of your feet.

I usually put this on before bed and wear socks to sleep. In the morning, my feet feel a lot softer. That being said, it doesn't seem to be a long-term cure for dry feet, nor does it absorb completely during the night - I always want to wash my feet in the morning.

Rebuy? Maybe. But there are other foot lotions out there that I want to try before I set myself on this one :)

Have you used either of these? What do you think about them? :)

<3yu

P.S. Please check out my blogsale - new pictures, reduced prices and open internationally :)

Picking Up Some Essentials..

I've been running out on many things - moisturizers, deodorants etc., so it was about time I plopped myself on a bus to town to pick up some necessities.

L to R: BOTANICS Instant Glow Tinted Moisturizer, Night Shift Moisture Cream, Day Shift Moisture Cream

I was in dire need of a day and night moisturizer so I went to Boots to take a look. Botanics won me over with their good reputation for the make-up remover and the 3 for 2 offer. So I picked up these 3. I LOVE the jars, they are visually pleasing, sturdy, and I wont have to cut up tubes to use up every last drop! They all smell very light, subtle and fresh so I'm very excited to try them out :)

I picked the tinted moisturizer just because it's something I've never had and the rest of the Botanics range were things I have from another brand :)

Tinted moisturizer: £4.59, both creams: £5.10 = £10.20 for the 3 :) Available at Boots.

I also went in wanting to try a new Aussie product, because I have fallen in LOVE with their shampoo & conditioner. Again on offer in Boots, you can get 2 Aussie products (from shampoo, conditioner or 2-in-1 products) for £6. I didn't have anything else I needed so I got this for £4.69. However, if you are wanting a shampoo & conditioner, pop over to Superdrug instead cuz they have a £1 off each which actually works out cheaper :)

On the right is Sally Hansen's Cuticle Massage Cream with Apricot Oil. This was £4.07, and hopefully will cure me of my eternally dry cuticles and nail beds. They are a nightmare, and I often have bandaids on my fingers because they hurt :( So hopefully this will work, because Sally Hansen has an amaaaazing reputation!

This is my HG deodorant, if there is such a thing. These are from Bodyshop, and the one on the left is the actual casing that you can get for £4 - obvs comes with 1 cartridge. The one pictured is the roll-on one, but there is also a stick one too. I'll do a more in-depth review on these, but I bought myself the cartridge that's on the right today for £3 - very eco-friendly and cost-effective. Amazing quality, let's put it that way for now :).

Other than that, I was VERY disappointed by the local H&M, as everything I had hoped to buy online was not in the store. I walked out with yoga pants, a V-neck white t-shirt, and a dust roller. Not too exciting, but these yoga pants are so comfortable.. *wiggles in seat*.

<3yu

The Project 15 Pan: Product 1!

So I finally finished one product out of my Project 15 Pan (P15P) and it turned out to be my Nivea Soft which is now in 3 pieces..

I know it's not 'make-up' but since I want to start using up all my beauty products as well, I've allowed myself 5 beauty products out of my 15. As promised, I intend to do a mini-review for each product I finish, so here goes :)

Packaging: I'll stick with the tubs from now on. It was nice to carry around when I was travelling and whatnot, but I would only ever get a tiny tube for travelling after this because this was a b*tch to get the last drops out of (hence the multi-decapitation).

Formula: Amazing. It's a middle-ground product, which I am always a fan of. The smell is never offensive, it's quite neutral and is a good change from the other fruity or floral smells that I have. It's also good because you can use it on your face and you don't have a strong smell. I love how it's not too thick or not too thin, so you feel at ease when you use it on your body or on your face. It's multi-functional in terms of you can apply it on your face, body and hands and appropriate for any situation in terms of the smell.

Rebuy: I already have a back-up! :)

14 more to go!

<3yu

Review - Ted Baker Girliest Convenience Vanity Set

Since Ted Baker is a really popular brand, and there are loads of other gift sets that include products from this vanity set, I thought I'd do a review :).. especially for those wondering what to get people (or themselves) for Christmas! This set is like.. the almighty Ted Baker gift set that is available at Boots, and at the moment it's included in the 3 for 2 Christmas deal. But there are sets down to £10 with mini-sizes that would be perfect for stocking-fillers or friends :) The video on it will be attached at the end.

The products included are as follows:

• Heavenly Cleansing Body Wash 300ml 
• Lathers so nicely, a lot goes a long way, leaves you smelling gorge :)
• Divine Relaxing Bath Soak 300ml 
• Doesn't bubble up too great, you need to use a lot, packaging isn't easy to get a lot out of.
• Heavenly Rich Body Souffle 250ml 
• Light moisturisation, soaks into skin, love the smell!
• Divine Moisturising Body Lotion 300ml 
• Light moisturisation, awkward amount comes out with one pump (too much for just hands, not enough for body), not rich enough for coarse areas.
• Heavenly Fragrance Body Spray 150ml
• Divine Fragranced Body Spray 150ml 
• Both Body Sprays have a light amount of fragrance, not as fragranced as perfumes so kind of dies away unless topping up either the Souffle or the Lotion with respective smells.
• Divine Scented Candle 
• Never used, doesn't really smell like the other Divine items :S

Scents: The Divine & Heavenly are distinctions of not only the colour of the case (dark and light respectively), but also the scent. Divine is more of a sugary sweet smell, while Heavenly is more of a fresh smell with a bit of a lemon-y tint. My preference is definitely the Heavenly :)

Packaging: The only complaint about the packaging would be the Body Lotion & Bath Soak as mentioned above. Otherwise, the design is suitable for the products, and aesthetically, they are so pretty, I love swirly patterns :)

The Vanity: I LOVE IT! The pattern is obviously a personal taste thing, but I personally find it very pretty, neutral, and appropriate for all age groups. There is a little pouch inside as well as rubber bands to keep items in place (see video), and these confuse me because they're not the right size for the products that come with the gift set.. so I'm guessing it's meant for use with other things :) Can't wait to travel with this one day!

Price: £40 - pricey, but there are other little gift sets that include mini versions of some of these products for as little as £10. These will give you the chance to try them out before you get full sizes/get them as gifts/stocking-fillers for other people :)

Rebuy? Well, not the whole set lol but I would rebuy the Body Wash for sure, and the other things don't jump off the page but I do like them, so I may! :)

I've also tried the Invigorating Sugar Scrub and that is my favourite exfoliator of all time! Definitely recommend :) The smell is from the Divine range.

What are your favourite 3 for 2's at Boots or Ted Baker products? :) Has anyone tried the make-up from them?

<3yu

P.S. Thank you to my darling boyfriend from getting me this set :) LOOOOOVE <3