Thursday 20 March 2014

Loreal Paris Smooth Intense Smoothing Shampoo

Hi,today I am back with a review of a shampoo that I had been using through the winter months this year.I finished up the whole bottle finallu and now feel confident enough to share what exactly I feel about this shampoo.I had tried Loreal conditioner looong back that to on the recommendation of the local parlour and after that never again.Not that the conditioner was not good but then Loreal was not exactly available over the counter and the professional ranges at the parlours were too pricey and had to be availed from the parlour only and I hated visiting parlours.After that somehow I never felt like trying this brand again as I was quite happy with my Sunsilk shampoos.Recently,now that I have gained a bit more knowledge about need-specific shampoos,I started looking for ones that will exactly suit my requirement and this is how Loreal Paris Smooth Intense Smoothing Shampoo took it's entry in my life.
First let's begin with my hair type-I have wiry-curly shoulder length hair,that is not very dense and gets really frizzy specially during winter months.While my scalp is oily during summers it gets dry in winter and this year it got too dry and I got dandruffs!But my hair is pretty dry which gets even more so during winter.I wanted a shampoo that will have moisturizing properties and smooth out my frizzes.I suppose my scalp got so dry because I had been using my Lush Jumping juniper even during December.So when I saw these shampoos at the More store,I was instantly sold to them as it promised everything I was looking for.Moreover it contains Argan Oil which is really good for hair.I researched a bit online and bought the small bottle of both the shampoo and conditioner from the same range.
Packaging:
It comes in a creamy golden bottle made of plastic with a flip-top cap with a brown border.The Label with the brand name,product nam,the ingredient list are all in a combination of brown,gold and cream.I was actually very much attracted to the packaging-the cream colour is so rich.The packaging is sturdy as well and the cap click locks quite firmly.The colour of the shampoo is a tad more lighter than the colour of the bottle and contains minuscule shimmers.
Price:Rs.69 for 90ml
What the brand claims about the product?
"For the 1st time the L'Oreal Laboratories have suceeded in combining Argan oil and Silk Protein which is naturally reach in essential fatty nutrients:
1.Deep Norishment:the creme formula nourishes and smoothes your hair from root to tip making it look more smooth and manageable.
2.48hr Protection:the formula shields your hair from the effects of humid and dry weather ,like unruly,unmanageable hair."
Now I am not going into the details of the oh-so-long ingredients list.I will just mention some key ingredients though,which are not really desirable at least by me in my shampoo.The shampoo in "Surfactant based", contains SLS as the 2nd product in the ingredient list,contains paraben("sodium methylparaben").
My take:
The shampoo is mildly fragrant and is quite heavy-this was my first impression and a impression that stayed on as long as the shampoo got over.I have always used lighter formulas so this shampoo felt exceptionally heavy on my hair.You need loads of water to remove this entirely from your hair,even then it leaves behind a slight sticky feeling-no wonder this shampoo is a "smoothing" shampoo!When I didn't have the patience to keep washing and washing my hair-I ended up with my hair weighed down by the shampoo and conditioner since I never skip conditioning.Hence my hair would easily get sticky and dirty,collecting all the grime in the city in the curls of my hair!However when I did wash it well enough,it left my hair shiny and visibly smooth and soft-even more so when I blow dried my hair afterwards.The fragrance lingers for quite sometime but is quite pleasant specially when topped with the conditioner.As for the 48hr protection claim-I really don't know-my hair felt sticky when I was not patient enough to wash it all off and even when I did manage to do so,my hair got quite frizzy the very next day after shampooing even though I almost ritually conditioned then applied a smoothing serum.Another thing is that I experienced comparatively more hairfall as long as I had been using this shampoo.With my lush shampoo maximum hairfall averaged at 2-3 post-shampooing,but in case of this one it got increased to 9-12!However it is no doubt moisturizing.Overall it is a fair choice if you are looking for a budget moisturizing shampoo and don't have any high and extraordinary expectations and if you are patient enough at shower. :P
At a Glance:
Pros:
  • budget-friendly
  • travel friendly
  • smooths hair visibly
  • makes hair soft and shiny
  • easily available
Cons:
  • contains Parabens and SLS
  • requires loads of water to wash off
  • makes hair sticky and weighs down hair if you do not wash your hair well
  • increased my hairfall
  • not the permanent solution for frizzy hair(not that I expected it to be)-hair gets frizzy again the very next day after shampooing
Will I repurchase?
No.I am extremely happy with my little Jumping Juniper and I suppose I will try some other moisturizing shampoo that is easier to wash off.
Recommendation?
Not that bad but neither too good,get it at your own risk.Who knows?I might work really well for you.
I don't realy like the shampoo much but the conditioner from the same range proved excellent so far-A perfect pair to my Jumping Juniper.I will soon review it,once I have finished up the bottle.Till then,good night and wake up bright!

Tuesday 18 March 2014

Lakme Enrich Satin Lipstick-142

Hi!Today I am going to review a lipstick from a very popular range by Lakme-The Enrich Satin range of lipsticks.My relation to this one brand that Indian beauties can boast about as their very own have always been really like a tug-of -war game-while I love a few of their products,most have proved to be disastraous for me and not to mention their sudden  price hike for all their new launches making it impossible to invest on them,specially for those who are on a tight budget.Now coming down to this range of lippies-they have been around from time immemorial,they were the definition of lipstick for me a kid and they are one range that haven't altered much over time.I am not much into lipsticks and this range repulsed me always with their collection of all the aunt-ish colours(I am sincerely sorry if I have offended all the mauve-purple-dark maroon-magenta-sprakling lipstick lovers).But recently after they added 26 new colours to this range and I happened to stumble upon a very pretty true pink-peach shade(143) that my curiosity about this long-forgotten range was again evoked.I did a bit of research which really did not help so much given I was sorely disappointed seeing that all the shades except 143 were actually variety shades of brown.But they were better than the almost black-browns and magentas and purples and since I was looking for a nude lipstick to add to my collection within a budget I decided to give them a go after all these years.I went to my local cosmetic store with a few shades in mind and swatched only them so as not to get confused and finally got 142.

The packaging is the same old eternal classic(?) boring maroon rectangular plastic tube with a golden band reading "Lakme".The only difference that I find is that the plastic has a matte finish which I like unlike the earlier glossier version .In general I hate the packaging but I suppose it's no use complaining given the price they are charging and the 70 shades they are offering(though most look like twins and triplets!).The cap click locks but is quite flimsy and will break for sure if you drop it too hard.There is a maroon sticker both above the cap and at the base of the lipstick tube mentioning the shade number which can again be very confusing if you own too many of these lipsticks.Priced at Rs.225 for 4g approx,this lipstick is a winner pigmentation-wise. Shelf-life is 3years.A single quote give near opaque coverage and double coat increase the depth of the colour.Staying power is average-around 4hours with light snacks and after that it leaves a even brownish stain which is not very pretty to my eyes at least.Another part is the smell-It is quite overpowering but the plus point is it does not linger too long.This particular shade appears light burnt-seinna brown in the tube but swatches look more like a mixture of peach and brown and on my lips it looks like a cross between rust and brown.There is no shimmer in it and does not bleed.It do not settle into lines either.It does not transfer too much either,especially when worn with a primer beneath.Now I got this lippy during mid-January and the season was quite cold in Kolkata.It felt quite hard on my lips and did not glide easily.Hence application was also patchy.I had to solve this problem by warming up the bullet by rubbing a couple of strokes on my palm.Also their were minute granules of god knows what in the bullet.It's mid-March now and already it is scorching hot specially during the midday.To my amazement the bullet feels so buttery now-almost brittle and is sweating.While on the up-side,it has turned real buttery and easy for application,the down-side is that it is melting and broke from the base today even though I did not apply much pressure.This shade will suit fair to medium skin tones and even dusky divas when a couple of strokes are applied otherwise it may wash out on them.This works great when paired with dramatic eyes and rosy cheeks.A perfect colour for office or formal occasion,this will look equally well with ethnic or western outfits.Brown tend to age people but somehow I don't find this issue with this shade.It is my go-to colour whenever I am doing a black smokey eye look.
Tubelight-with flash

The lipstick

the bullet

hand-swatches

primed lips with maybelline bb stick-radiance and then topped the lipstick
 
When worn alone it imparts a bolder brown-rust colour,but when layered over primed lips,it looks a very light peachy brown-almost like you are not wearing anything.My lips are neither too pale nor too pigmented,and on covering up with bb stick,it appears slightly darker than my skin tone.This way,as I have observed the lipstick survives much longer as well.
At a glance:
Pros:
  • Very affordable
  • Good pigmentation
  • Good staying power
  • does not transfer too much
  • 70 shades available
  • easily available
  • cap click locks hence travel friendly 
Cons:
  • awful smell
  • boring as well as confusing packaging 
  • hardens during winter to the extend that application gets patchy
  • melts during summer-my bullet broke actually!
  • flimsy packaging in terms of the material of packaging
  • most of the shades out of the 70s are actually variety of browns-brown-peach,brown-plum,brown-black,brown-purple... Do I need to go on? and maroon.Exceptions are 356-siren red,143-pink-peach.
I am sure everyone has tried at least one of these.They are a nice and very easily available choice at a reasonable price but not the best.You can get much better quality at similar price or a few more bucks from Avon and Colorbar.Which of these do you like?And do share if I have missed any of their "different" shades,that is any other shades that is true to its origin and not mixed with browns and maroons.I don't think I will again buy one of these unless I am looking for a siren red just to experiment how it will look on me.Good night and stay tuned,I will soon be coming up with tutorials once my upcoming exams get over.

Friday 14 March 2014

Maybelline Color Show Nail enamel-Downtown red

Hi,today I am back after a long time with a review on a recently launched nail enamel that became an instant hit-you can guess I am talking about none other than the Maybelline color show nail polishes and today I am going to review the shade "Downtown Red " from the range which is also the first nail polish that I tried from this range.
This range comprises of 40 vibrant shades within a large spectrum of colour-ranging from sparkling golden to pastels,neons and even a white nail polish!Since I don't like to spent too much on nail polishes as they dry up in the bottle before I can finish with them,I always preferred those within a budget of Rs.100.My all time favorites are the Streetwear and Elle 18 ones.But I am biased towards Maybelline since anything by them works brilliantly for me so I was dying to lay my hands on at least one of these babies.The local gift shop didn't have all the 40 colours,but only the sparkly ones except this.So I got this one.I thought I would hate it because I never really liked maroon but this became my favorite nail polish and I suppose I will again and again buy this,read on and you will know why.I also own 4 more shades from the range-Sweet Sunshine,Constant Candy,Porcelain Party and the base coat and I find them displaying different traits so I will dedicate individual post to each of them.
Quantity-6ml
Price-Rs.75
The bottle is cylindrical with a black cap that flaunt the name of the range and the brand,I find the packaging comfortable to handle and funky.The shade name and code are written on top of the cap.The bottle looks big enough to be a 9ml one but holds 6ml so I must admit the glass is pretty thick and hence packaging is sturdy.
 Pigmentation is really good as one coat goes almost opaque .It also dries up fast within 1-2mins and the formula is rather creamy.And the best thing is,particularly this shade,does not chip easily.It stayed on for 5-6days without any chipping on my nails and also retained the initial gloss of the colour.The colour is not exactly maroon-a single coat impart a true maroon colour while on layering another coat it becomes a wine red.Initially I really regretted buying this shade as I always hated maroon and also it looked odd on my short nails as you can see in the swatches.So I just kept it off till my nails grew a bit more.This time I really liked how it looked and to add some to my glee-I got lots of compliments about how flattering the colour looks on me from friends and often some complete strangers.So,I also started really loving this colour.You can find dupes of this shade in any brand,Elle 18 and street wear too has one each but somehow this colour feels more deep and sofisticated compared to them.
The only downside of this range(and I faced this problem with sweet sunshine as well) is that it leaves behind hideous stains-even with a top coat!I don't know how that is possible but it did on me and I really hate that as I loved my original pinky nail bed so much.Another thing that I observed compared to the other nail enamels that I have used so far,this range tend to dry up in the  bottle real fast.
Pros:
  • Wide color spectrum
  • affordable
  • easily available
  • really good brush
  • this is a really beautiful all purpose red-bridal or office-it will work anywhere.
  • good pigmentation
  • chip resistant till 5-6 days
  • retains the glossy effect for quite some time
  • dries on your nails quickly
Cons:

  • stains the nail
  • dries too quickly in the bottle
Will I repurchase?
Yes,this shade and the shades whose dupes are not available in Elle18 and streetwear and also the lighter ones so they stain less.
Recommendation?
Do I need to?Everyone is after these beauties ever since they are launched.But I wish they wear not so staining on the nails.A single nail polish altered the natural colour of my nails with one application!I so hate that!

Thursday 13 March 2014

The Body Shop Body Mist-Moringa

HI!
Today I am going to review my first body mist and my first ever product from the Body Shop.While in many ways,Kolkata is a great city and I really love my city a lot,it sucks when it comes to availability of major cosmetic and beauty brands.There is Lakme,Maybelline,Lotus,Himalayas that are most available but even then they don't keep each and every product launched by these brands(I face this problem specially with Himalaya Herbals).High end brands like MAC,Inglot,Lush are only available at the Forum Mall which is located so far away from my home.Kryolan is not even there or at least I haven't yet been able to locate it anywhere and I happen to have visited almost all the big cosmetic stores of central and north Kolkata.So,when The Body Shop store opened at the mall within 5 minutes walking distance from my home I was literally jumping with joy.I was always fascinated by the reviews and range of their products.
I was real confused about what to try first.
I was looking for a strawberry scented body wash or perfume or whatever and TBS had quite a few products meeting my demand.I settled for the body mist reading after reading the review that the Body Polish scent don't linger long enough.I tried their testers but the strawberry scent was way too strong,almost gagging me.But it was yummy and I had a hard time deciding and choosing only one from the 7-8 scents.So I made a mental note,went back home without anything and sent back my parents with a list so they can try only those tester and choose one.I had short-listed shea butter,strawberry,vanilla and moringa.My parents ended up choosing Moringa.I was bit upset that they chose this one as I was thinking about shea butter but now I just don't have any regrets at all.
I prefer scents that are not overpowering and subtly balanced-I don't like to reek of my perfume and make other's nose burn.When I had tried the tester of moringa,somehow it had felt ok,but nothing heavenly.But at home,when I tried it on again,I was just swept of my feet.Read on to know why.
Now moringa is nothing but the flowers of drumstick tree,called "sojne danta" in Bengali and the drumsticks are widely eaten all over India.I have seen this flowers hundreds of time in the tree,and after getting this perfume and knowing that moringa is actually drumstick flowers I even tried smelling the live flowers.They don't smell anywhere near this body mist-in fact they have no distinctly strong smell at all-just a hint of earthy smell if you closely smell them.Before this body mist,I was only interested in the drumsticks and not the flowers,they are delicious!I never imagined such ordinary flowers could be used for such a heavenly smelling scent.
Ingredients:
Alcohol Denat(69.9%),Aqua/water/eau,Parfum/Fragrance,Linalool,Benzyl Salicylate,Propylene Glycol,Geraniol,Glycerin,Moringa Olifera Leaf Extract,Sorbitol,Eugenol,Denatonium Benzoate.
Direction of use:
All over Body Spray.Flammable.Do not Apply to face.For adult use only.
As you can see the ingredient list is full of organic compound and what puzzled me is that it says clearly that it contains the leaf extract and not flower.The bottle however show the picture of the flower alone.The packaging is very simple glass bottle with a silver cap,containing 100ml of the body mist and costs Rs.745.
The smell is not too floral or heavy.It is a light fragrance that is similar to Jasmine.I find it difficult to describe,it is unique.If you spray too much it stings the nose a bit for a while but once the alcohol evaportaes the floral smell left behind is sure to turn heads.However the lasting power is not at all up to the mark.It vanishes within 2hours post-application.I can only smell it when I hold my wrist to my nose that too very very faintly.It seems to last longer when I spray it on my clothes and at the nape of my neck below my hair,specially after bath.You won't get that puzzled "what is that smell?"-look from passersby through out the day even then until you keep topping it up through the day,which is again impossible if you are travelling sinc it is made of glass.After experimenting in several ways I managed to make it last around 4hours on me.I just sprayed it liberally on my wet body after towel drying at pulse points,sprayed it on my clothes and within my wet hair before blow drying.The mist feels great on the skin specially during summers as it feels cool.Overall,it is a awesome perfume and I love this one only for the scent if not anything else.
Pros:
  • no animal testing
  • heavenly smell
  • 100ml will last forever for me-since I use this only for special occasions,the rest of the time-my Yardley london English Rose deo is the savior.
Cons:
  • does not last long enough
  • not travel friendly at all-glass bottle
  • not widely available-I suppose TBS Diamond plaza is the only TBS in Kolkata
  • overpriced compared to the performance
Will I buy it again?
Still in dilemma because I love the perfume so much and equally hate the bad staying power.
Will I recommend?
Yes,if you like floral scents that is not overpowering or feels artificial and if you are ready to cope up with the bad lasting power,and of course if you are not on a budget then go for it.Otherwise be a little more patient and keep hunting for your signature perfume.I am sure there are many lesser known brands providing far more long lasting and equally good-smelling perfumes at the same price.And do let me know if you get one,I want to know my options once this gets over which is not going to happen in a long time though. Till then take care and have a great day ahead.