Showing posts with label honey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label honey. Show all posts

The Sweetest Facial Masks. HONEY!

I just may have discovered my favorite facial mask. H O N E Y . Real organic honey. But not just the honey that you find at any supermarket but honey that does more than what honeys already do for you. I've got two on my list: Pro Baccari-x Amazon Honey and Manuka Honey




Honey itself is amazing for your skin. It hydrates, moisturizes, and calms the skin. But these two honey jars I've picked up also focuses on killing the bacteria on the surface of your skin. For sure, Manuka Honey is already quite famous as the world's best honey, coming from New Zealand. I first heard of it when I started using the Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey Mask. Loved that mask, and then after I finished that whole tube, I discovered that way before I even heard of this mask, my mother was already collecting jars of manuka honey.



My mother has a nice storage of honey. She's known about the benefits of eating honey, but also for the skin. Though she's never used it on herself, she's always told me to try it out. Why I never listened, I don't know! But once I was done with my Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey mask I was compelled to give the real Manuka honey a go.

Another honey jar that's blown me away was the Pro Baccari-x Amazon Honey. Again, these are actual honey jars meant for eating but I found that they help the skin just so much that I've taken these two jars up to my room for my own personal dermatological use!

The Pro Baccari honey really focuses in on killing bacteria. Unlike the Manuka it is a bit coarser with beads of solid honey that is hard to break down. I take half a table-spoon of the honey. Try to melt it with my fingers and spread it very gently all over my face. I keep the honey mask on as long as I possibly could. I would go about an hour with the mask on, until I have to go wash it off because the honey is melting!

And of course, honey washes off so easily.

But goodness, the aftermath is really visible. Skin is so much softer (I mean, real soft). Skin has calmed down. The overall skin tone has brightened. Itchiness (if there is any) dies down. It's just... wonderful.

I have been trying to use this mask everyday, but with my busy schedule I find it use it maybe three times a week. Each time I use it, I love it more and more. The makeup application the next day is made so much more enjoyable when skin has been prepped with such organic luxury the night before!

Sometimes the best things are closer than we think... maybe even in our kitchen cabinets!

Antipodes. Aura Manuka Honey Mask

This is rising to the level of a must-have, staple skincare for me. Again, if you've read my recent blogpost, you'll know that I am going through some severe skin journey. Sigh. But, that aside. Let me tell you about this amazing mask that has been saving me the past few weeks.



It is the Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey Mask. I actually bought this months... I mean, months ago. But, after using it once or twice, I decided it really wasn't worth all the hype (amongst British bbloggers, mostly).

How wrong I was, because when I picked this up again a few weeks back, I was taken aback by how amazing the results were!

Antipodes is a New Zealand certified organic and natural skincare line. This Aura Manuka Honey Mask can be used all over the face after cleansing and dried, or as spot treatment. I prefer to use this as a proper mask.

The results of using this was most definitely all of the following: brightening, calming, hydrating, and spot treatment. All four results were really obvious.

This really creamy smell glides on beautifully on the face. It doesn't set like some clay masks, but remains somewhat cream-like. You can then rinse it off with warm water and voila!

Here's what it says on their website:
The facial mask delivers a deeply moisturizing, cleansing and anti-oxidizing treatment. Fragrances of vanilla pod and mandarin linger to bring peace and balance to your aura – meaning you’re tending both your skin and your spirit.
Elements of Beauty: Manuka honey remedies skin by attracting moisture, premium pohutukawa antiozidants treat skin, fragrant vanilla pod and mandarin pacify and balance your spirit
Daily Ritual: Smooth thick layers of this creamy mask over your face and neck twice weekly. Leave for 15 minutes and rinse with warm and pure water. Also ideal for treating spots and blemished as they may arise.
I highly recommend this mask! So in love with it :) And I will restock for sure.

Falling in Love⎪CHANEL BEIGE fragrance

Every time I think of doing a FRAGRANCE COLLECTION video or blogpost, I just get way too excited and realize that I just won't be able to finish all my obsession in one post. So, let me put that off to another day. Because, well today I'm going to be talking about my newfound IT fragrance. I'm going to telling you about my fragrance discovery journey, and how I fell in love with Chanel's "Les Exclusifs" fragrance in BEIGE.

[It's going to be a long story. It has to be. But if it's too long, skip down to the next bracket!]

To give you a brief summary about my fragrance history, I was always never really into perfumes. In high school, I dreaded the heavily drenched perfumed girls. I never enjoyed the artificial scent, and always be surrounded by that artificiality, I never gave perfumes a chance. The one time I thought something actually smelled really nice was when my sister brought home a Chanel No.5 body powder. She had sitting on her topshelf and I took a sniff. It smelt EXQUISITE! Sometimes when she wasn't home, I remember dabbing myself in that powder and thinking: wow, this really smells beautiful.

That was the end of Chanel though, and again I thought nothing much of perfumes. I tried to like them. Took a sniff of so many other perfumes that were trending at the time, and even those that are the usual classics. I never liked any of them, all for the same reason. And really, none of them felt like me and I wasn't sure I wanted to be walking around smelling foreign to myself.

Then, I became obsessed with the world of Youtube. Well, no Tanya Burr. She mentioned Diptyque's Eau Duelle in one of her videos. She described it with so much class and elegance, I thought I'd search into it. It sounded like something I'd go for. It didn't seem artificial, and the whole idea that a smell develops on your skin and it can be "sophisticated" got to me. I went online and searched through diptyqueparis.com. I became more and more interested. I loved reading the mini-stories of the inspiration behind the fragrances.

That began my fragrance journey. I am currently still obsessed with Diptyque and my love for the ones I have collected knows no boundaries. They are displayed in this beautiful mirrored tray on my topshelf. I look at them each day while doing my makeup with adoration.

Recently though, I saw that Diptyque's Oyedo was falling short. That meant I was missing a citrus scent in my collection. No, well Byredo Parfum's Pulp is quite the fruity kind but I had to give that away to my sister who wanted it so much. I wanted something new for my collection-- something to represent the sweetness, the freshness, the floral-ness of the coming Spring.

[Here begins the real Chanel discovery story]

Chanel "Beige" 2.5oz. ($130) / 6.8oz ($230)

I took a purposeful trip to Saks, intending to use up my gift card from the holidays. After failing to find any fragrance that I loved within the cologne section of Diptyque, I cruised over to the Chanel counter. I've always found that the only brand fragrance that really smelt of anything like my taste was Chanel, but not everything from Chanel. I especially liked Chanel's No.5 and Coco. So, with that in mind I thought I'd really give Chanel a go.

I skipped the counter that had the famous ones displayed. Instead, I went the counter that had the line-ups of their Les Exclusifs de Chanel, coming in with about fourteen fragrances! Unfortunately, the man behind the counter was horrible in describing the scents. So I told him I'd try them out myself. I took a stack of the cards and started spraying all 14. I picked up Gardenia. Holy. It was beautiful. Then, I picked up BEIGE.

Wow. I was searching for something that would represent Spring, be slightly sweet, sophisticated, long-lasting, and floral. I didn't want anything too deep or heavy. This was amazing! It had the quintessential Chanel scent that we all know, but with such a lovely variation of honey and white petals! Thankfully, there was this huge book introducing each fragrance and the story behind each of them which I love to read! Each fragrance should have a story, like a poetry, or a painting that draws out the scenery of which the scents blends into.

Finding "Beige" to be the most appealing and something of a SO-ME-FEELING compared to all the other 13, I walked over to the book and read on it. That's when I thought, yes. This has to be the scent!

Here is their description:
“I take refuge in beige because it’s natural,” said Mademoiselle Chanel. An elusive colour with infinite variations, beige may seem quite ordinary. And yet, behind this apparent simplicity, it hides a discreet sensuality that builds slowly before revealing itself fully. This sensual outburst is interpreted by Jacques Polge through a bouquet of Hawthorn, Freesia and Frangipani, with shimmering hints of honey. A stunning blend of white petals and yellow gold…in other words, a breath of beige. 
A nectar fragrance, the union of sensuality and simplicity evokes the colour beloved by Gabrielle Chanel… 
How do I not fall in love if the description is written this beautifully? The name "Beige" just rolls off my tongue and I can't help thinking how well they've named this fragrance! It fits perfectly! I love the packaging. It's just a bottle with the simplest label stuck on it. Yet, how does Chanel manage to make it so utterly chic? It comes in a box that has its famous monochrome design. I purposely asked the lady at the Chanel counter to gift-wrap it since I just wanted the whole experiencing!




Before I left Saks, I spritzed myself all over with this fragrance. The rest of the day I was sniffing myself (ew, does that sound weird?!) and thought: Yes, this is it!

I love that Chanel's fragrance lasts really long! And I love that what I have is a little different from the hundreds and thousands of ladies who love Chanel and all smell the same! It has the essential smell of Chanel, but with that younger, yet sophisticated, nectar sweet, fresh, almost airy floral scent! Oh, it's just so lovely!

So, welcome my dear fragrance to your new home. I love you so :)

Heartland Fragrance Loofas

I love these natural loofa soaps! So much that after I tried them in Glossybox with rather a suspicion, I fell in love! Although the scent was "Peppermint" and I wasn't too fond of the scent, I saw on Heartland Fragrance website that they had a lot, a lot of other beautiful tempting scents. As you can see, I place quite an order because they were having a sale going on. 

Here's the list of what I've got: ($8 each)
  • Honey
  • Sweet Garden
  • Gardener's
  • Oatmeal & Honey
  • Sweet Lavender
  • Sweet Pea
  • Vanilla 
  • and Lemongrass Sage (for a bonus!)


Now, what's great about them? Well I personally like the duo of a scrub and the soap all in one. It's so convenient. The rough skin is easily exfoliated and I find that it leaves my skin feeling so soft and silky.  At first, it does feel like it's too rough on the skin. But make sure you damp it in hot water for a bit and let the loofa soak up some water. Then, when you start circulating it on the skin, it helps blood circulation and the exfoliation. 

The loofa looks as such:


I haven't opened them up yet. My sisters and I are still fighting over who gets to keep which scent, although I've bought them all for myself! (I'll have to share won't I...) Personally, I am absolutely loving the Honey scent and the Vanilla scent... and the Sweet pea, and the Secret Garden... and the Honey & Oatmeal... and... the rest of them :)

Also a special thanks to Heartland for the bonus they've added in! I'm excited to try their glycerin soaps. Thank you so much! I shall enjoy them very much indeed. The only downfall of Heartland is that... THEY DON'T SELL IN STORES IN NYC. So, that being said. Please come to NY!

If you guys try this, do tell me what you think :)






Sleeping in Radiance! Mario Badescu Bee Pollen Night Cream

How do I know winter is here? When even a combination-oily skin like mine gets tight and dry. My face, as well as my body has become unbearably dry. But, even before the whole dryness kicking in, I have been on a search to renew my skincare. I have been lost for awhile after I tried some really terrible products. I ended up going back to the safest of the safe... to Mario Badescu products. I was particularly in want of a really good night cream that I could slap on my face and let it do its job overnight. I wanted that feeling of getting up, touching my face, and feeling absolute smoothness and suppleness.


I have to say, the stress has been building up in my life. I have been having breakouts and my skin is as irritated as my usual self is nowadays :( I wanted something that could just boost my skin so that even if I have only slept for say five hours, it feels as though my skin had a 12-hour night rest!


Well now, I have found that very product! It is Mario Badescu's Bee Pollen Night Cream. You definitely want to use this only at night time, no matter how dry your skin is usually. That is because it is a really thick consistency. Once you put it on, you can feel it melt into your skin by the warmth of your hands as you massage it in. Then, you may feel a bit of oiliness. But let me tell you, that's not "oily". It's... (not a dermatologist) but an abundance of moisture mixed in with antioxidants that work overnight to give you radiance.


It says that it hydrates and improves overall skin texture. This skin softening cream provides a combination of natural oils with bee pollen and honey extract. This is taken off their website, and it truly is exactly that. It improves the overall texture of the skin and hydrates it. Even an oily-prone skin like mine loves, absolutely loves this!


What's even better is that all of Mario Badescu products are so affordable. This really rich cream is only $18.00. It feels like its worth so... much more. I love putting this on after my toning process, and jumping into my cozy bed. The next morning, no matter how little I've slept, the first thing I do is touch my cheeks... and it is so amazingly soft :)

NUXE Rève de Miel Ultra-Nourishing Lip Balm

I am obsessed. The hype around NUXE Rève de Miel Ultra-Nourishing Lip Balm was no lie! It is such a hydrating, soothing, and nourishing lip balm.



About a month before I began to see the hype around this product in the beauty blog community. I love it that it is matte and it can handle the coldest winter winds. This is quite good for times when you want to apply a lip balm under or on top of a lipstick that is matte and you want to keep that matte texture. This also smells delightful!

Powered by Blogger.