BonLogic - Sandalwood Soap

Sandalwood is a cleansing scent, more masculine than feminine, it has been used for centuries as incense. This aromatic wood is said to have properties that assist in meditation. It helps to create a peaceful space where the mind can relax and has even been stated to have properties which mark it as an aphrodisiac.

 I requested a sample of BonLogic's sandalwood soap because there were two varieties, Sandalwood and Indian Sandalwood. I was curious as to the difference since I'd never seen the distinction before in a product. The scent itself is too masculine for me, I prefer lighter scents and this is a heavily scented soap so I decided to put it in the kitchen. I figured it would be a good place to let the whole family try the soap out.

We discovered some amazing things.

 It's not just great for your hands, it's great for your dishes too. You can get quite a few dishes done with just one swipe of a sponge over the soap. We used it for about two weeks on hands alone before my mom used it on a dish. She found it worked great so we started experimenting.

 What could this soap do in the kitchen? There are a lot of questions that go with that, can it replace standard quality liquid dish soap in all things? What about heavy baked on messes, greasy pots and pans, how about sugar based glazes?

 I did my best to answer these questions. I started out trying it on small things, butter knives, the spoons used for peanut butter, a pan after cooking hamburger in it. I also tried it on a pan my mother used to make a peach glaze, the meat had been cooked in the pan as well so it was greasy and covered in baked sugar. The results, it works on just about everything.

 I found that if I used a little of the liquid soap on the heaviest baked on pans I could use BonLogic's sandalwood soap on the rest and everything came up faster and with less hassles than if I'd used just liquid soap.

 Normally, for these heavy baked on dishes I rinse them and put them in the dishwasher but for this review I washed them by hand. It works great on standard dinner dishes, plates, glasses, silverware, I tried it on a popcorn bowl it worked great.

 I actually prefer it to the liquid soap.

 In regards to amount. It's kind of hard to judge because one is a solid the other is liquid so I based the test on the number of times I had to reapply the soap. The liquid soap had more suds, in fact, it made loads of bubbles. BonLogic didn't make nearly the amount but you could tell there was still soap on the sponge with each swipe over the dish. I washed dishes until I couldn't tell there was soap. I had to go back almost 2x's as much with the liquid soap as with BonLogic's.

 I was concerned about the residue that might be left, scent primarily on the dishes using such a strongly scented soap like BonLogic Sandalwood but I found that the scent doesn't linger particularly long on the hands and lingers for even less time when used on dishes, by the time the dishes were dry they no longer smelled of the soap.

 It doesn't dry out my skin or my mom's we're the type that when doing dishes it's usually a good idea to consider rubber gloves. My skin peels or gets dry at even the slightest bit of abuse from hot dish water and most dish liquids. It is nice to pull my hands out of the hot water dry them off and not have to go find a bottle of lotion. Good for your skin and good for your dishes.

It also works great to remove the scent of garlic and onions from your hands. I rate it an A++++ across the board and would recommend it to anyone who had delicate skin.

My mother and I are already talking about making BonLogic a permanent part of our kitchen.

 You can check out BonLogic at http://www.etsy.com/shop/BonLogic

Chaos Cosmetics - Bombshell Mineral Eye Shadow

Eye Shadow, it can be subtle, dramatic, it can be matte or sparkle with every blink. The sky is the limit when it comes to colors and imagination. Recently, I was having a pink day. I don't get many of them and honestly pink is one of my least favorite colors but occasionally I dig out the pinks and have a truly traditional girly day, skirts, pink, lace, ribbons, the works.

While digging through eye shadows to complete my pink themed ensemble I came across my sample of Bombshell. A lovely peachy pink color color shifts to gold when the light hits it just right, I thought it would be the perfect complement. I put on some primer because I really wanted my eyes to pop with the pink.

I didn't put on any eyeliner or mascara I just let Bombshell do its thing.  I liked the color, it satisfied my need for pink and it was long lasting. When I washed it off at 3 am, I had put it on about 6:30 am, it had barely lost it's glimmer and pop. In part I figured its long life was due to having on eye shadow primer.

The next morning I decided to try bombshell again this time without the primer. There wasn't as much pop to the color, which was fine because I was going for something a little more subtle than the day before. I got it and the eye shadow lasted just as long. I still had to wash it off at the end of the day with minimal color loss.

The primer simply allowed the eye shadow to have a more dramatic look and to keep that look longer. Either way I found that Bombshell is a great color for those days when I want to go a little pink. 

Here are a few pictures of what Bombshell looked like on me with the Primer. With my eyes close you can really see the shimmer and gold as well as the rich peachy pink. 

Here's a picture with my open you can see a little of the shimmer

You can find Bombshell at http://www.bonanza.com/booths/ChaosCosmetics

D & R Apothecary Nail Polish- Cotton Candy

If everyone reading hasn't already guessed I practically live on Etsy. I'm constantly searching the pages, activity on my circle and everyone on my circle's circles so I'm constantly finding new products to try out. D&R Apothecary is one of those finds. I was lucky to run across the store during a sale. Who doesn't love a good sale so I did some looking around and found that D&R had a few listings for discontinued colors. Stock they were shifting from the regular line up to custom orders, to make more room for more great stuff. I've mentioned before I'm not a huge fan of heavy glitter polishes.

I find them to be overwhelming, rough and getting them off is a horrid prospect involving time spent with cotton balls and aluminium foil. I decided however, since they were on sale to give them a try. I received my purchase quickly and opened it with some excitement. I'm always happy to receive packages in the mail. Cotton candy has every shade I've seen in cotton candy, pink, purple, blue and green.

As the light hits it hints of red also come out and it's just as much fun to wear as cotton candy is to eat. You can layer it if you want to completely cover your nail. It only takes two coats to cover everything completely. I decided I wanted to try it with a solid undercoat and see how it worked with other brands. I was delighted to find out that it worked with everything I tried it with.

Overall, despite my general dislike of polishes that are filled with large amounts of glitter I enjoyed wearing this polish. I tried it with several top coats as well and found that it worked equally well with anything I tried. It's definitely a keeper. It adds a great sparkle to my nails. It's fun, and brings up memories of all the times I went to the carnivals with my grandparents. We always had cotton candy and always purchased the large bags that had every color. Here is a picture of what it looks like so you can see for yourself.

This is a picture of cotton candy over First Hyacinths of Spring by Pixie Polish. You can find D & R Apothecary on Etsy at http://www.etsy.com/shop/HitPolish

BonLogic - Face Cream

Having sensitive skin is probably one of the hardest things to deal with, my skin in particular drives me absolutely crazy. I have eczema, acne, and keratosis pilaris. I'm also Irish with the complexion to go with it, which means every time there is a problem with my skin, it's right there for everyone to see, in stark relief. 

It means my skin is rough, blotchy, red, itchy and a general irritation. I avoid pictures and cover make up like concealer and foundation just makes everything worse. So I did the reasonable thing and headed over to the dermatologist who unfortunately did the expected thing. He informed me that there was only one treatment option available for my particular combination of issues. I mean how often do you see oily skin that peels like excessively dry skin at the same time. 

The treatment a lactic acid cream and a topical steroid. It's unfortunate for me that I can't use steroids in any form. Even the smallest amount creates raving issues in my system. I thanked my dermatologist and picked up my scripts ( I miss the days when everything was on paper). I have to say I didn't try the treatment for than a day. I had to give my doctor his due. 

I then started looking for a solution on my own. I have to say I'm still looking for a permanent solution but I was lucky enough to stumble across BonLogic's Etsy store. One of the products I obtained a sample of was the day face cream. 

I approach all face creams, lotions, body butters, and serums with skepticism. I have two boxes, file storage boxes filled with creams and lotions all of them promising that they'll help with the very conditions I have and most of them just made it worse. 

The first thing I noticed about BonLogic's face cream was the lack of smell. Even perfume free stuff has a smell and sure BonLogic's cream does too, but it's very light. I don't notice it after a moment. I only had a small sample but I found that I only needed a small amount. 

I put just a little bit on my finger, rubbed together to see how it felt, it wasn't greasy, it didn't stay on my skin and require a large amount of rubbing before it was absorbed. It actually only took a few swipes and I was good to go. 

I tried it on my face, it wasn't heavy, I didn't feel like I'd just dipped my face in wax or spread grease on it, like I've experienced with other products. It was nice. It made my skin feel soft and so I used it, twice a day. First thing in the morning and again right before bed. Sometimes I'd use it a couple times more on the patches of my skin that tend to dry out. 

At the time I didn't have a working camera so I didn't get pictures of my skin before and after. However, the dry, itchy patches of skin that peeled and plagued me slowly disappeared over the course of about two weeks. The heavy red mask that covered my cheeks and nose started to diminish and I saw a decrease in the outbreaks of acne. 

All in all this is truly a wonderful product and I'm glad I found it. I did discover that if I don't use it regularly my skin starts to get worsen. The sample I've had for more than a month. it came in 1/4 oz jar and I still have a good 1/4 of the cream left so it doesn't take much to cover your face. I've already decided to order more. This time I have a working camera. I'm going to stop using it for a while, take pictures and then go back to using it so I can show everyone the difference. So check back for updates. 

I definitely recommend anyone with the type of problem I have give this lotion a try. Everyone is different so I can't guarantee you'll have the same results I had but I've tried tons of products that say they'll work and they haven't. It's definitely worth the try and you get a lot of bang for your buck. 

You can find the face cream at BonLogic's Etsy store http://www.etsy.com/shop/BonLogic

I'm off to buy more.