Haus of Gloi: Summer 2013 release!!!

By now, I'm pretty sure that most of you know just how excited a good Haus of Gloi release can make me! 

In fact, one of my favorite things in the whole wide world (may sound pathetic to you, but hey, that's what floats my boat) is reading the descriptions of the upcoming scents and trying to decipher them, imagining what they'd smell like - moment, surpassed, only by the sniffing and the trying on of the products when they actually arrive!

And since I hadn't made an order in a long time (I'd also pretty much ran out of body scrub as well), I saw the Haus of Gloi Summer 2013 release as a sign; a sign that read "Get everything"! And, of course, I had to comply!

Let's have a closer look:

Sanctum is described as "A welcome respite: muskmelon, coconut water infused with bergamot flower, kaffir lime polished ho wood and sticky benzoin". To me, the melon notes are the most prominent, with the coconut elements coming at a close second. It's very exotic and if you enjoy cocktails in the Pina Colada family, then this is definitely up your street!

Narcosa is one my two favorites of this release. Described as "A thick haze of tonka and black vanilla, three jasmines, tuberose and ylang ylang", it's every bit as warm and sensual as you'd imagine. The jasmine notes are easily distinguishable, yet blend perfectly with the musky, woody elements, creating a final result that I've personally named "oriental seduction". My other favorite from the collection is

Sol, or "The sun at its apex: Dry gingergrass, litsea cubeba, neroli, frankincense tears, saffron infused honey, rosemary and the faint touch of true cinnamon". This is probably one that everyone would enjoy, and I could easily see this worn by guys too. It's almost equally fresh and spicy, and you just can't have enough of it! Oddly enough, I imagine this working as a winter scent too, yet, it's such a pure, distinctive and powerful concoction, that "sun at its apex" sums it up ideally.

Beguiled is described as "Lemon cake made with the tang of fresh buttermilk, raspberry coulis - an otherwise innocent cake corrupted by cardamon and deceptive pink peppercorns". This one smells like something out of a bakery or a patisserie, like lemon biscuits or something! I got this in the whipped soap formula (which, I adore), and, despite being able to smell the raspberry notes from the jar, those got lost on me in the shower.

(l to r: The Brier Path Soft Bubbling Scrub, Zazz Soft Bubbling Scrub)

The Brier Path is described as "A sun drenched trail leading to a daydream of ripe wild berries and woods' rose, rich forest loam, ozone, dark amber and cream". This one is not for the fainthearted: it's quite an intense scent, that reminds me a lot of incense sticks, only, in the way you'd imagine they'd smell in the middle of a mountain forest. It's an interesting mix, though I can't say that I'd enjoy it as a body butter too.

Zazz comes with this description "When something feels a bit lackluster, dull and boring, it is obviously lacking zazz. To fix this we recommend something definitely zazzy and not overly complicated: Tart cranberry, pink grapefruit, sparkling champagne, all shook up with crushed ginger root". Despite its long ass description, this is, indeed quite a simple scent - think pink lemonade and you've pretty much summed it up! Extremely fresh and uplifting, I can see this working as a little pick-me-up in the shower!

All in all, I found the Summer 2013 release to be a very cohesive one as a whole and one of the best I've tried in general (it comes as no surprise that most of the scents are repromotes from last year). Personally speaking, Narcosa and Sol have my heart, and I'm glad that I got both of them in the pumpkin butter form.

At this point, I can only say that Haus of Gloi are doing an excellent job with their products, in that the quality of the formulas goes hand in hand with that of the scents. I'm definitely a very pleased repeat customer, and I will keep having an eye on their future releases.

How about you? Any loyal Haus of Gloi fans out there?

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Oldie but goodie: Illamasqua Complement Eyeshadow Palette!

I have a confession to make: I've got a nasty habit of buying things, which I only try out for a few times before I fall back to my usual routine, made up of MUA Heaven and Earth + MAC Well Dressed + MAC Creme D' Nude (or products to that effect, but you get the idea).

I rarely buy something, that I use the heck out of immediately, and Illamasqua's Complement Eyeshadow Palette was one of those rare occasions - a palette that not only complements my coloring, but one I've also been complimented on whilst wearing (see what I did there? no? eh, well)!

Illamasqua Complement palette contains four shades: Slink, a light champagne shade, Focus, which is a liquid metal in the most beautiful metallic mid-tone brown I've ever laid eyes on, Forgiveness, an aubergine shade, and Queen of the Night, a dark purple with pink glitter running through it.
Swatches coming up straight away!

(L to R: Slink, Focus, Forgiveness, Queen of the Night)

Bet you can tell that I'm not exaggerating about that brown, right? I've also found that Focus works wonders as a crease color and that the cream formula makes for a hassle-free application! The other shade that stands out is Forgiveness, a matte, but extremely smooth eyeshadow, almost buttery, which completely made me second guess my fear of working with matte textures. To be fair, Queen of the Night is a little tougher to work with, because it can result to some fall-down, but you can work around that, if you do your eye makeup first and use a light hand.

Here's the palette in action:

Now, I know that this is hardly a new product, especially when new collections are being released at a light speed and we're always looking for the newest trend, but it's one of those items that stand the test of time, and can potentially reach "staple" status. I, for one, have used this quite a bit over the past few months, and intend to use it some more.

Have you tried Complement? What's your take on the eyeshadow palettes by Illamasqua?

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June Cherrybox Review (Cherrybox Ιουνίου)!

Now, I'm sure that a large number of you are already well acquainted with various beauty subscription boxes, but it's only been a few months that such services exist here in Greece. Cherrybox, the one I'll be reviewing today, is, to my knowledge, the second of the three brands currently available.

So, Cherrybox reminds me a lot of Glossybox or Birchbox, as I've seen them on foreign bloggers and YT-ers. The box is pretty basic, yet sturdy, and there's also a cute card included with a note, as well as a list of the products inside your box. Cherrybox claims to send you 5 to 7 sample sized and deluxe sample sized items, catered to your beauty needs and habits (you create a profile when you sign up for the service). Here's what my June subscription came with:

1. Red Water Green Tea Face Foaming Cleansing Gel, 60 ml. Apparently, this is a Greek brand that I've never heard about, a pleasant discovery. I should say though, that it smells very "soapy", unfortunately, I can't seem to easily find its ingredients anywhere (either on the bottle or on the Cherrybox website). I'm gonna give it a whirl, but I'm a little afraid that it might be too harsh for me, despite it being marketed as an alkaline free product.

2. Amelie et Melanie Que de l' amour perfume sample. Too strong, heady and a bit old for my taste.

3. Laura Mercier blush in Rose Bloom. This is only a 0.95 gr sample, but the shade looks lovely. I must admit, my experience with Laura Mercier, is limited, so it's an opportunity to try something I haven't.

4. Juliette Armand Extra Moisturising Cream, 20 ml. Another presumably new Greek brand. I haven't tried this cream, but in theory, it should work with my weird skin, I appreciate the hyaluronic acid and the collagen in the formula and that it's paraben and mineral oil free (which breaks me out), though they should perhaps ditch some other of the chemicals in it (personally, I'm a little apprehensive about anything containing triethanolamine). I'm keeping an open mind about this one, though.

5. Kyana Aqua Colour Protect, 100 ml, a leave in conditioner that helps with dry and colour treated hair. This couldn't have come at a better time, since I went blonder recently, adding dye to my usual highlights, so all help is welcome.

There's also a nail file included in the box.

I did the math, and the cleanser, the face cream and the hair conditioner, cost more than 27 euros, while I paid 10 euros for the box, that's definitely a plus. It also seems, that they did indeed read my profile - at a first glance all of the items should work with my skin/hair type. Now, I'm not exactly wowed by the overall contents of my box, but I'm willing to test them out. At this point, I think I might try another one or two boxes before I make my final decision.

If you haven't tried such boxes and don't mind the tenner without knowing what you'll receive, then go for it, it might be worth discovering something new, that you might enjoy.

There is, however, a significant con in the Cherrybox service: the huge delay between ordering and receiving of the boxes: you have to pay until the 25th of each month to get next month's box, which is shipped out during the first 10 days of the month.
As in, payments from 26th of April to 25th of May, result in you getting June's box, sometime in June.
Payments from 26th of May to 25th of June, means that you'll get July's box, in July.
And here's the problem that this leads to: when the reviews of each month start to emerge, that month's box is already unavailable. In other words, if I see a good month and want to order too, I can't, I can only pay for a box without the slightest clue of what could be inside it. I understand that there's a limitation to their samples, but, realistically, we all shop because we 're enabled to, and the way Cherrybox works at the moment, doesn't really allow that to happen.

So, have you tried any of these beauty boxes?
Have you renewed your subscriptions?

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In body oils we trust: my current body oil picks!

So, it's that time of the year again, when bikini season preparation is the trending topic. And since my schedule won't allow me to even approach a beach for the next few weeks anyways, I thought I'd use the extra time to prep my skin a little more carefully.

Which, in my case, means two things: 1) banish cellulite (a task in itself as most of us can attest to), and 2) moisturise my skin to the point where it looks healthy and glowing (i.e. dry, flaky bits be gone). And having tried a lot of body products over the years, here's the winning duo that I'm currently sticking by:

Fushi Really Good Cellulite Oil & Garnier Body Beauty Oil.

Why oils, one might ask? Well, I find that products in oil form tend to be "purer", in the sense that they don't require a huge number of synthetic additives in their formula. They're also a nice change from the thicker consistencies I'd been using over the winter months.

Now, before I move on to my reviews, let me add a quick note about cellulite first:
No product on earth will make cellulite magically disappear, as it's a problem caused by excess fat, as well as fluid and toxin retention in the affected area. In other words, if you don't put in some decent effort when it comes to exercising regularly and eating healthily all year round, don't expect instant miracles by a cream. Such products can work (some, not all), but only as an addition to your cellulite-fighting scheme and only for as long as you use them.

That said, I've found the Fushi Really Good Cellulite Oil to be the most effective product I've ever tried. Big words, I know, but I can back them up! So, this oil, which consists of organic ingredients at a staggering 98.75%, is infused with gotu kola (a healing, anti-inflammatory and anti-ageing agent), green coffee (to increase topical circulation), and grapefruit (an antioxidant that also stimulates circulation) , in addition to other beneficial oils, such as sesame seed oil, jojoba oil, wheatgerm oil and birch oil. Potent stuff!

What all of that translates to, is really really smooth skin! Now, clearly I'm not convinced that this oil alone is to thank for my improved derriere's appearance, and not my efforts in eating better and increasing my excersice, but it moisturises my skin unlike any other product and makes it appear much more even and healthy looking! The oil formula is also very pleasant (don't get me started on those sticky gels and heat-inducing creams, ugh) and allows me to properly massage the area. Now, it's not a cheap product, but if you make sure you don't let any drop go to waste, it will last you about 3 months, following the recommended use. All I know, is that it's well worth the $ and that I'll keep going back for it!

The ingredients' list, for those of you that pay attention to stuff like that:

As for the rest of my body, I use Garnier's Beauty Oil, one of their newer releases. I was super pleasantly surprised with this body oil, for a number of reasons. Firstly, it's a Garnier product, and while I adore Garnier hair products, I've been disappointed by their body range repeatedly in the past. Not this time, though! This oil, made of argan, macadamia, almond and rose oils, is a real treat for the body! It's fairly lightweight like they claim (ok, maybe not in the same ballpark as, say, Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse, but then again, it's not in that price range either) and it does keep the skin hydrated for many hours. The scent is pleasant as well, though if you put too much on, the "oily" argan oil scent will seep through. One thing I can't seem to get used to, however, is the spray nozzle, which basically means, that my bathroom tiles, bathroom mirror and bathroom floor all need a good cleaning after each application, no matter how careful I am (perhaps, decanting it could solve the problem, but I've yet to bother with that).

The full ingredient list, as follows:

Not much more to say, other than I'm keeping this as my body routine of choice for as long as I can - for some reason this duo works really well with my dry skin. I've already ordered a backup of the Fushi oil and I intend to stock up on the Garnier one as well, when it begins to run out.

Disclaimer: the Garnier Beauty Oil is a pr sample.

How about you, any oils in your current body routine? 
Any products or treatments for cellulite, that are actually effective?

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