UGUISU NO FUN HYDRATING SOAP

UGUISU NO FUN HYDRATING SOAP

Hellos! Today I would like to share so-far “the most” effective acne soap I have ever tried to date! Before I share my intensive review, let me go on with a quick overview of the soap I am about to share~


UGUISU NO FUN HYDRATING SOAP

What it claims:

Uguisu Poo Soap Hydrating treats chronic dry skin and is made from the feces of Japanese Nightingale Bird which is used by the elite class of Japanese women for hundreds of years to clarify, protect and illuminate their skin.

Using Uguisu Poo Hydrating Soap guarantees a dramatic improvement in the skin tone, pore size, acne, acne scars, discolorations and the overall skin complexion. It locks in moisture into the skin to ensure a well hydrated, smooth and supple skin.

Main Ingredients of the soap:

Uguisu No Fun, Tahitian Pearl Powder, N-Methylglycine, Sodium Hyaluronate, Sodium Palmate, Sodium Palm Kernalate, Glycerin, Hyaluronic Acid, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Persimmon Tannin, EDTA-4NA, Disodium EDTA, Olive Oil, ButyroSpermum Parkii.




Consistency: Brown soap that is very easy to lather and does not melt fast
Scent: Tea scent
Suitability: All Skin Types including sensitive skin
Availability: www.uguisushop.com
Size: 80gram
Price: $22.95 USD




Why I LOVE it:

The soap was easy to lather so it definitely will last me quite a period of time
Able to eliminate excessive oil but still manage to provide sufficient moisture to skin. Helps clear and heal acne fast; would see visible improvement overnight.

Reduces redness and helps calm skin
Skin feels clean, soft and smooth after every wash
Did NOT encounter any irritation despite having a sensitive skin (no sting, itch, dryness NADA~)
Managed to clear Mila and heal tiny zits overnight
Quite expensive for a bar of soap!

Personal Experience:
I have these two reddish zits on my left cheek and I wash my face using this hydrating soap at night. In the morning, I noticed that the two zits were not that red anymore and has somewhat shrunk and look “semi-clear” already.
I made sure to document the progress by taking a picture after 3rd , 7th and 10th day of usage.

Take note I did NOT combine it with any skincare product (No toner, moisturize, NADA, just this soap ALONE!) because I want to test its efficiency. 

And by far of all the acne wash/soap I’ve tried, this would be the Best in terms of healing progress!

MUA Haul: Lipsticks

MUA Haul: Lipsticks

Time for the last part of my MUA haul (Part I, Part II). At a very affordable price, 1£ a piece, I could hardly say no these two. The pair are the cheapest lipsticks I own and I dare say the quality is not lacking because of that. I wanted the shade 15 Juicy for a while - well ever since I saw it on Katie's blog. I decided to get shade 13 after researching extensively on the internet what other shades I find appealing. Both are creamy and pigmented, they just glide over the lips. Both last long on the lips, red lasts longer of course, but even the light shade lasted about five hours.The packaging is nice, doesn't feel flimsy like from some others inexpensive brands. The end part can be screwed off and there is more more lipstick inside. While the red felt very photogenic, my camera refused to capture the real beauty of Juicy in the top picture (however, others pictures are very accurate). I found the picture on Beauty Quest Blog here to be the closest.




15 Juicy is a very peachy shade, but with a hint of pink. It's a brighter shade and it does stand out. It's similar to Barry M 147 peachy pink, but perhaps a touch less orange and with a much creamier formula. Since it is a lighter shade, it does emphasize dry patches, so make sure your lips are as smooth as they can be. My lips do get drier with passing hours when I'm wearing it, so dry patches become very apparent and it's doesn't look that nice up close. The colour is still very vivid, though. I do enjoy wearing peach shades and this is definitely one of the prettiest and appropriate for even someone as pale as me, however, my lips have to be perfect and moisturised to be able to wear it.


13 is an orange based red, very bright, in fact the brightest and lightest red I own so far. Again the formula is very creamy and pigmented. However, since it's a darker shade it lasts longer and nicer on the lips. Even after hours no dry patches appear. It's not that hard to find a cheap red shade of good quality and this one is no exception. It lasts long and wears off nicely leaving a stain behind. 

It's Christmas tomorrow and I've baked a ton of cookies. Inspired by that I dug up my vanilla fragrance from Yves Rocher, because it's the most cookie smelling vanilla I've ever tried and I mix it with Noix de Coco eau de toilette. So now I smell like a pastry shop. Thanks for reading and happy Christmas! 

Hair Oils Series: Macadamia Natural Oil Healing Oil Treatment

Hair Oils Series: Macadamia Natural Oil Healing Oil Treatment


This makes my hair look like a Pantene commercial. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but even other people noticed how good my hair looks, which considering the mega frizzy state of my natural hair, I see as a big accomplishment. Funny how low my expectations were about this oil, because my first impressions were not that good. I was immediately taken aback by the mega strong masculine scent, but my impressions got better and better by the day. This whole test was partially inspired by Summer's rave about Macadamia Natural oil. I trust her judgement so I had to try it and then I thought, why not try several oils to find out which one is the best. So here we are.


Packaging: It comes in a dark glass bottle with a brown and bright green label. This provides protection from light exposure, however, the label prevents you from seeing how much product is still in there. There are several different sizes available: 10ml, 30ml and 125ml, the biggest size comes with a pump. I have the 30ml and the bottle is quite heavy, in fact the heaviest out of the three similar sizes of oils I have.


Ingredients: The first two ingredients are silicones, which are then followed by Vitamin E, macadamia and argan oil. The next seven are fragrances and last three colours. Vitamin E, macadamia and argan oil are great for dry hair. I actually use pure macadamia oil as a pre-wash treatment and it works wonders. In addition,Vitamin E helps with hair growth and prevents hair loss (argan oil by itself has a high vitamin E content).



Scent: It has a very intense, strong and heavy masculine fragrance. Definitely the heaviest out of all that I tried. It smells exactly like my grandfathers cologne. Well, it is a deodorant. The one that is/was in a dark green bottle with a black cap. I don't know the name, but probably something widely available in Slovenia. I went round the house asking everyone if it's only me that smells grampa's cologne and they all agreed I wasn't imagining it. I'd describe it as a mix of sandalwood, patchouli and musk (basically nothing like the pure macadamia oil). The scent remains very strong on wet hair for about 20 minutes, then it disappears. Much to my delight, it doesn't last long on dry hair. It's not a bad scent, but too strong and too masculine for my taste. I think I'll grow on me, though.


Performance and Results: The product is thick and amber colour. It has almost identical consistency as Morocanoil. When I applied it on wet hair before blow-drying, I had difficulties getting the quantity right. The usual amount I use at other oils was not enough, so I added a few drops more and it felt like it was almost too much. I had a feeling it was easy to overdo and it could leave your hair greasy and limp, but despite the amount my hair still felt ok. After blow-drying my hair was mega shiny and definitely less frizzy especially on the top, where I can never get completely frizz free. It didn't feel as light and bouncy, but my hair felt stronger. I curled my hair with my big barrel curler and that's when this product really shone. I got the sleekest result out of all, it was mega shiny, soft and almost frizz free. It is the best anti-frizz and my ends looked surprisingly well, moisturised and soft. On the next day I was getting more and more impressed. Despite using a drugstore conditioner I didn't have to use Alverde Mandel Argan oil, because my ends didn't dry up at all and they stayed in great shape even on the third day. I'm definitely very impressed by it.



Where to buy: I got mine on eBay from this seller because it was the cheapest. It's available in hair salons (if you're in Slovenia try Simple) and online (Feel Unique, Beauty Bay, Cheap Smells, Fragrance Direct, Look Fantastic, ...).
Make sure you're buying the Healing Oil Treatment and not the Healing Oil Spray. The ingredients are different : Cyclopentasiloxane, Isopropyl Myristate, Fragrance (Parfum), Tocopheryl Acetate, Argania Spinosa Oil, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Benzylsalicylate, Cumarin, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Linalool, Hexyicinnamoldehyd. Judging from ingredients the spray is lighter (obviously, since it's more liquidy). It's the equivalent of Orofluido Sahara.

I'd say it's best for dry hair, but also appropriate for normal hair if you use a smaller amount. I'm loving everything but the scent, which doesn't last anyway. It gave me most shine, it's the best defrizzer and kept my ends moisturised. This gets my two thumbs up and I'll definitely try other products from this brand.

Review: Kérastase Nutritive

Review: Kérastase Nutritive

Prepare for a long and picture heavy post. It's been more than a month since I got these goodies and after some thorough testing, I'm finally feeling comfortable writing a review. Originally, I was going to do a separate post for each, however, I feel the need to put them all in one for a good reason. The thing is that individually these are all great products, some of the best I ever had, however, when all three are used together the magic happens. I swear my hair hasn't never felt this silky, light and soft then when I use all three/four products together. I just can't stop touching my hair and the effect lasts for three days - normally, the top layer of my hair and the ends get dry fast. You know how on L'Oreal or Pantene commercials when they lift the hair, it falls down like a waterfall, well that's how my hair feels after using these (it doesn't look as retouched obviously, it's still normal people hair that feels amazing to the touch). They must have some very high quality silicones too make it this way. The whole Nutritive line is targeted for dry to very dry hair (the description of my hair type is under about).




I tested each individually (with a combination of other products from different brands) and all together. These are all very expensive products and even though I coveted them for a year, I wasn't really prepared to part from my money until a truly fantastic offer came my way. I got the three products 15% off and was given a full size Elixir Ultime, which retails about 35€. A word of advice, salons really overcharge these, so go online on sites like HqHair, Lookfantastic, Feelunique and other similar ones to find the best prices.

Kérastase Nutritive Bain Oléo-Relax Smoothing Shampoo




It's meant for dry, frizzy hair that refuses to be tamed. Other reviewers describe it as the best shampoo for taming frizz - admittedly that was what sold me. Texture-wise it's a regular, gel type shampoo that has an orange hue, it's more on a liquidy side, rather than a thick gel. It foams lovely and lathers to a rich foam. My hair feels quite silky, when I'm rinsing it off and I can easily comb though the knots with fingers. The comb basically just glides though the damp hair. It's a similar effect to using a light conditioner, which is a consequence of the added silicones. It's absolutely not one of those shampoos that leave your hair squeaky clean (a feeling I genuinely dislike) and is one of the best shampoos for dry hair I tried. It doesn't irritate my scalp which is also a plus, however, I do feel the silicones might build up on my hair, so an occasional use of clarifying shampoo or baking soda is needed. As far as the anti-frizz properties go, I must confess I didn't see much of an effect, my hair was equally frizzy than when using other shampoos, however, what I call frizz on my hair are actually individual shorter hairs that get curly because my hair is naturally curly (the longer the hair the less curly it is in my case).



The scent is similar to that of shampoos you get at the chemist's, something like regular soap (aldehydes), but slightly more sharp. I have a slight gripe with the bottle, because the top twists off, rather than having the one that flips. It's more time consuming and frankly a bit annoying, considering I'm paying a lot for it.




If your hair is either normal or oily, you'll probably find it too heavy because of the silicones. It's expensive for a shampoo and I get though shampoos so fast, so it's really more of a luxury to be buying it regularly. It was 18€ on Lookfantastic and the prices on most online shops are about the same.



Kérastase Nutritive Masquitense Épais - Thick






There are three different hair masks in Nutritive line and this one is targeted for thick hair, which mine are. Thetexture is like a medium thickness silicone-heavy cream that just glides on the hair with such ease. Due to that you actually don't have to use much, which is a relief because the pot contains a quite stingy amount of 200 ml. Curiously, there are no instructions as to how long you should leave it on, I do at least 45 minutes. When I'm rinsing it off my hair feels truly silky and it has a lot of slip, it's a very similar feeling to when I use Tigi's Serious Conditioner, but here it's less intense. Once my hair is dry it feels very soft, manageable and moisturised, but the biggest difference is that amazingly my ends stay moisturised for four days. Usually they get dry either on the second day if I use a cheap drugstore conditioner, or on third day if I use a more expensive one and I have to use an oil to condition it. It smells exactly like sunscreen, a scent that I love.





The packaging is a nice simple pot, nothing special but functional. The price is a shocking 26€ for a 200ml - honestly it could a least be 300ml.
A little advice: Be careful not to get any water in it, this applies to all products actually, it can affect the effectiveness of the product. So no sticking your fingers into pots under the shower or with wet hands.

Oh, Honey

Oh, Honey



It's time for one of those post again, when I have a craving for a certain scent and go all bonkers for all the products (previous posts for coconut, chocolate/cocoa, tropical and peach). This time it's honey.

Lush Honey I Washed the Kids 

HIWTK is probably one of the most famous products by Lush. It's a bar soap and honestly, a pretty average one when it comes to quality. Though it's marketed for dry skin, I find it drying as any other much cheaper bar soap and it leaves that (for me) awful stripped, squeaky clean feeling. I got quite a big 200 g chunk of it because that was the smallest piece they had at the time, but I cut it in much smaller pieces to use. The top "honeycomb" part is essentially useless. It smells exactly like Honey Bee bath bomb, Soft Coeur massage bar and the already discontinued Ma-Bar bubble bar. I don't get any honey at all, rather a very gourmand, toffee scent, however, it is not one of my favourites (I do like it and everyone that sniffed it, loved it so far). Though the scent is relatively strong, in my experience it doesn't last that long on the skin, which is a a pity. It is priced €4.95 for 100g.
If you want a shower gel version of HIWTK, it is called It's Raining Men. I didn't get it because I hate Lush's plastic bottles with passion as they are so bloody hard to squeeze.



The Body Shop Honeymania Body Butter
I'm a fan od TBS body butters, actually this is my seventh so far and it is another great quality product. Texture-wise it's similar to the shea butter, grapefruit and passion fruit versions from TBS, which in my opinion is one of their best kind - properly buttery, not too hard and easy to apply. You might be surprised at how freshly floral the scent is when you smell it in the pot. I certainly was concerned at the lack of honey, however, applied on the skin, the proper honey note finally appears. It's a nicely blended mix of soft honey note with a fresh wildflowers scent. It may not be a warm, sweet scent that L'Occitane excels at, but it's a well made floral interpretation, which I find quite lovely.
By the way, we need TBS in Slovenia. Just sayin'.



L'Occitane Honey Foaming Gel
If there is one company that makes their honey scents perfectly, it's L'Occitane. So far all the products I tried from their various honey lines were amazing. Unfortunately, they have all been discontinued or LE, including the Honey Foaming Gel, which has a gorgeous sweet honey scent and jelly-gel texture. It is basically the same thing as the discontinued Honey Harvest Foaming Jelly from their old honey line. This is the best honey scent I've found so far.


Fame eau de Parfum by Lady Gaga
Fame became my favourite scent mainly because it has honey in it. However, this is not a full-on honey scent, but rather a lovely honey-floral fragrance with a strong fruity note in the beginning represented by apricot and a hint of smokiness from the incense. I did a full review here.



Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm
A lip balm that smells like soft honey mixed with beeswax and I also detect a hint of rose (it's an earthy, natural scent). The texture is quite waxy for a lip balm, therefore not my favourite, yet it's still an okay product. What I like about it is how small the tube is, so I carry it in my overstuffed makeup/essentials mini zip bag that's in my bag. However, I doubt I'll ever repurchase it since I've had it for a year and rarely used it.
I stumbled upon Burt's Bees products in Müller and almost every product has a tester there. I was sadly disappointed by all the scents, it's not what I expected by a brand with a honey tradition.


Rosal Lip Balm Milk & Honey
Another lip balm, but this time in the milk and honey version. The scent is more of a honey and milk meet plastic and beeswax, but not in a bad way. It's pretty much just a run-of-the-mill lip balm. Basic is the best way to describe it and most like petroleum jelly in a sense that it feels like it's just coating the lips rather than nourishing them. It's really similar to Labello (Nivea) lip balms in texture. I wouldn't repurchase since I already found my HG lip balm (Palmer's cocoa butter formula Swivel stick). This is Croatian brand and mine is a bit old now, so I don't know in which countries it's sold, but's it's inexpensive and comes in a lot of flavours. Labello has a honey and milk scented lip balm as well, but I have never tried it.



Milka Milchcréme & Honig
I found this on my recent trip to Müller. Milka often has fun new editions and honey is one of the current ones. It's can get quite sticky if you're not careful because the drops of honey ooze from the chocolate, but the taste is surprisingly good. It's mostly regular Milka with cream, but that bit of honey gives it that bit of extra yummy sweetness.



Some more honey based products
I've been eyeing the Lavera Body Spa Organic Honey Moments line that is available in a local Müller but I never took the plunge as my previous experience with this brand was not that great. It sound interesting though, especially since it has a eau de toilette in the line.

Whilst researching for best honey scented products I came across a recommendation for Kings & Queens Nefertiti Honey Body Butter (a part of Korres brand), which supposedly smells like very sweet honey. But since I can't see it in person, I doubt I'll go as far and buy it.

As an affordable option there is always Balea and their Milch & Honig line of products. I recall having a hand soap, but I believe I was unimpressed by it and switched to by favourite Peach & Nectarine version.

The amount of rave reviews Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey Mask got is good enough reason by itself to include it here. It's described as a deeply moisturising, cleansing and anti-oxidising treatment, but it is not the cheapest face mask.

Though Marc Jacobs Honey eau de parfum has honey only in it's name, I included it here solely because I find the bottle adorable. I tested it yesterday and it smells like fruit punch. Why name it Honey then, right? At least Daisy smells like daisies.

NUXE's Reve de Miel line with it's famous Ultra-Nourishing Lip Balm, is a line of products for all dry and sensitive skin types. It consist of several products and I've read some great reviews for most of them. They are quite expensive, though.

Tigi Catwalk Oatmeal & Honey Conditioner is an old favourite of mine. I used it for years before it was discontinued and now it's finally being relaunched with an addition of a hair mask to the original shampoo and conditioner. It doesn't smell exactly like honey, but it does smell like Christmas cookies: vanilla, cinnamon and gingerbread - all the goodness that make washing your hair a special treat. Once I use up my stash of hair masks and conditioners, I'm definitely buying it again.


That's quite a lot of honey based products. Most brands use honey in at least a few of their products, but there are rare ones that actually smell like honey. I still use honey as a face mask when my skin gets super dry (it was my saviour a few years ago, when my skin became dry) and I even used honey as a face wash for a few months, though I wouldn't recommend it because it's very difficult to completely wash it off.
If you have any recommendations for products with a good honey scent, write them in the comments.

Kérastase Nutritive Nectar Thermique

Kérastase Nutritive Nectar Thermique






This product excited me the most with the results. It's a heat protection and leave-in conditioner in one meant for dry hair. It's a light cream, truly nothing too heavy, in fact I find it hard to overdo on my hair, but others whose hair aren't so dry might find it heavy if used too much. It glides on the hair with ease and even before blow drying you can feel how your hair feels more silky. During and after blow-drying my hair feels incredibly silky and very soft, the only product that I can compare the feeling to is Tigi's Serious Conditioner, but this goes to an even higher level. My hair looks shiny, but not much less frizzy, I tame frizz with a bit of silicone oil like Elixir Ultime (or Macadamia,Orofluido,...) and Tigi's Spoil Me. The feeling lasts for three-four days and my hair remained soft and silky, but my ends did get a bit knotty as usual.

I really appreciate it for it's moisturising properties. If I had to choose my favourite heat protection, this one and theTigi S Factor one are neck to neck, but I use them in two different ways, Tigi on dry hair because it's more oily and Kérastase on damp because it's a cream (I use a lot of heat protection, I apply it every time I use a heat tool, so before blow drying and then again if I'll use a curling iron).


It's 19 € for 150 ml which is actually a very nice size, since it just glides on the hair and you don't need to use much. For example TIGI Catwalk Sleek Mystique Blow Out Balm contains only 90ml for 15€ (well, I got it for 9€ on offer) and I have to use quite a lot pumps. If you really want something from Kérastase, I would definitely go with this first.

Hair Oils Series: Kérastase Elixir Ultime

Hair Oils Series: Kérastase Elixir Ultime


And the award for the most over-dramatic advertising goes to - Kérastase (owned by L'Oreal):


“The alchemy of four precious oils to beautify hair. A new legend is born, the secret of magnificent hair is revealed.”


*Facepaw* Alchemy? Legend? Secret of magnificent hair? Give me a break. Who comes up with these things? It’s a hair product not a trailer for a fantasy blockbuster. Let’s keep it real, please. But let’s focus on the product.


Packaging: A clear plastic bottle with a pump. It's good for travelling, not only because it's plastic, but also because the bottle is light. It has a pump that dispenses the product nicely and in small amounts, so it's easy to pump out the desired amount. Because the bottle is clear, it's better to keep it stored in a dark place to protect it from sunlight.


Ingredients: First two ingredients are silicones as with all of these hair oils. They are followed by corn oil, argan oil, camelia oil and pracaxi oil. The rest six ingredients are fragrances.




Scent: It has such a gorgeous scent. It reminds me of some high-end fragrance. It's a floral-coconut-amber scent that I think is most universally appealing out of all hair oils I tried. The fragrance is not too intense or in anyway offensive and doesn't last very long on my hair. This is one of my favourite scents out of all hair products I ever tried.


Performance and Results: It's very light, runny and feels most silicone-y like. The colour is clear. It's very much like the rest of the non-argan serums. I needed to use quite a lot because of the lightness and I used four pumps before blow-drying on wet hair. During, my hair felt more unruly than with the rest I tested, but the end result was about the same. My hair felt very light and bouncy, also shiny and silky, but my ends felt a bit dry, even after I applied some more on dry hair. Because it's so light, it doesn't kill the volume, making it great for those who want a sleek result, but wish their hair to retain some volume.

Here is the end result. I know the second picture is bad quality, but it's the only one where you can see the ends, which could be better, but the rest of the hair felt really nice.



Where to buy: I bought my travel version on Feel Unique. It's available in 50 and 125ml version. You can buy it in selected hair salons and online (eBay, HqHair, Look Fantastic, ...)




I'd say due to it's lightness, it's most appropriate for those with oily/normal hair. I have dry hair and it's not enough moisturising for me as it still leaves my ends dry. I can't guarantee you that it won't be too heavy if your hair is oily, but I'd be surprised if it would be, because it is very light, especially if you use only one pump. This is very expensive for such a light product and I can't get pass the fact that the highest oil ingredient is the cheap corn oil. I think there are a lot of cheaper drugstore dupes in terms of texture, but if you feel like splurging it's still a nice product and the scent is gorgeous. I would refrain myself from calling it legendary, though.