Dr Ndlovu body cream

Fordoun Spa sells a small range of their own spa beauty products.  They have the body lotion in all the common toilets throughout the buildings (not in the hotel rooms).  And I got to use the stunning lotion every time I washed my hands during a two day stay in the hotel.  (Clever marketing!)  I liked it so much that I popped over to the spa and bought a bottle to take home.  The bad news is that they only sell it through the spa.  I am not sure whether they would sell you a bottle over the phone if you called and asked nicely.

The brand is called Dr Ndlovu and is based on local products.  Dr Ndlovu is a local traditional healer who works with the spa to develop some of their products.  It comes in two different fragrances.  I bought the Wild Dagga one.  It has a fairly strong smell, of weeds, I guess.  The cream is fairly runny, but is silky soft when you rub it in.  It makes your skin feel really soft.

It is not cheap.  I paid R115 for 250 ml.  It comes in a lovely pump bottle.  Although I really like the products, the price is a bit much.  I think you can get equally soft and silky hands using a much cheaper product.  This one is a treat and a slightly more luxurious experience.  If you like the complex smell, the idea of using an indigenous product and to treat yourself, this is the product for you.

Washi Tape

I have read about Washi Tape, have seen all the lovely, lovely things you can do with it. 
 

But I have not been able to find it in person in Durban.  Sure, you can order online.  And then I discovered Amanda.  Here is her website. 

Screenshot of Amanda's website

She sells Washi Tape, very affordably and goes to great lengths to help her customers.  She sends emails when she gets new stock and even dropped me some rolls when she came in my direction.  Good service is so rare.

The Washi tapes I currently have in my collection

February Rubybox

This month my Rubybox had four things in it.

 

1.       A 1.5 ml sample of perfume – Cacharel catch me.  I love, love, love the perfume samples in the Rubybox.  I have an inability to choose a perfume in a shop.  This whole try perfumes at home thing works so much better for me.  If Rubyboxes consisted of perfume samples only, I would definitely be a fan.  This perfume is no exception. 

2.      The second thing was a Rubybox tweezer.  It comes nicely packaged in a box and looks like a nice tweezer.  According to the little card in the box it is worth R50.  I am not really sure that a tweezer could be worth that much.  I already own two, so I am not sure what I am supposed to do with another one.  Rubybox has been giving one tool in every box for the last few months.  I think I only need the sharpener and eye lash curler to have them all.

3.      A full size, 200 ml bottle of Piz Buin In Sun Lotion SPF10.  I have never used Piz Buin prior to Rubybox.  I received a full size bottle SPF 30 last year in a box and I love it.  I am fairly religious in buttering up my boys with sunblock, but I hate sharing my Piz Buin with them.  It smells divine and is not greasy or oily.  It feels like a lovely moisturiser when applied.  I really am in love with the Piz Buin I already have.  This one has an SPF of 10, however, which makes me a bit edgy.  I have not used anything below an SPF 20 since the 80’s.  (I remember a factor 2 or 5 as a teenager.)  I struggle to see why anyone would want to sell an SPF 10.  The card in the box said this should be used in stead of a moisturiser on days you do not plan to spend much time in the sun.  I might just do that.  This product is as nice on your skin and non oily as the one I already have.  It also smells exactly the same.

4.      There is an envelope with three Elizabeth Arden products.  A wash, serum and moisturiser.  They are each a mere 2 ml and packed in small sachets which are hard to use.  But I love fancy skin care products and look forward to testing them.  The cleanser is soft smelling (a bit of an old lady cosmetic smell, smells like something your mother would use), has exfoliating granules and does a great job of cleaning your face.  The serum was a bit of a surprise, since it looks like a moisturiser and is not oily like most serums.  It seems to work well, but it is hard to see whether it is a good product with only a use or two. 

Insert in the box

 

Rubybox has received a lot of criticism lately for the content of the boxes.  I was not very happy with the November and December boxes, the January one was a bit better.  This month the box I grew to love last year was back.  It had what I would like to see – an expensive skin care product, a luxury slightly larger product (does not have to be full size, but more than a sachet), and a perfume. 

You can read one review here.

Essence french glam nail stickers

 

 

These stickers are lovely and dainty and detailed and easy to apply.  I liked the look of a flower or sticker on one of my nails.  Some of the stickers come with a little bit of bling.   It was very cheap, around R25.  However, as with the essence nail polish, it basically only lasts 24 hours.  It lasts as long as the nail polish with a top coat applied over it.  Cute!

Travel sized samples




I made my first trip since getting samples through beauty boxes.  Wonderful!  This meant I could pack small travel sized cosmetics.  In the past I would decant large products into small bottles and then they would all look the same and I need to tell my shampoo from my toner by smell.  Not always easy. 

I thought this photo was fun, although you cannot really see the cosmetics
That little bag on the left was large enough for everything I packed

Packing samples turned out to be harder than expected.  The problem was that some of my samples were really small.  Some small samples I have been using for a while and I had no idea how much was left in the tube.  This meant that I often packed more than one product to ensure I have enough.  Packing 3 samples kind of defeated the whole travel light idea and running out of an expensive product like moisturiser while on holiday would not be cool.  Packing samples I have never used before was also kind of scary.  How would I know that it would work? 

This was a different hotel.  Look - toothbrush in the hand.



 

All worked out well.  Nothing ran out.  Nothing was a totally horrible product I was forced to use.  But I did not like having so little choice of what to use.  I only packed one eye shadow set and that was not nice.  I did not pack my hair protector at all.  I thought I had lived for years without it, I can do it for one week.  And I really, really missed it.  I guess that says something about it.

African soap

I am all for soap.  I love shopping for soap.  Just normal soap you buy for the family to use at home.   If I shop for soap I usually buy one in each colour of a specific range.  I came across an African range by Johnson's recently. 

There are about 6 fragrances.  And they look and sound just great.  Just imagine:   Relaxing Rooibos and Cape Chamomile; Energising Marula and Kigelia (I do not know what this is); Hydrating Aloe and Water Mint; Nourishing Shea Butter and Honey; Moisturising Baobab and African Jasmine; Nourishing Cocoa Butter and Honeybush; Revitalising Cape Geranium and Buchu.  The soaps were really big, at least twice the size, if not more, of a normal cake of soap.  The down side of this is that it takes a while to finish one cake of soap, so it will take me a while to try all 7 variants.  So far I have used only three:  The nourishing shea butter and honey, the blue Energising Marula and Kigelia and currently the Cape Geranium and Buchu.  The smell is subtle, but it is a very creamy soap.  It is divine. I loved them all.  The foam is rich and creamy and silky and a joy to use.

The range also comes in body lotions, body creams and a body wash which I have not tried yet. 

Here are some reviews. 

Question on Monday: Hot and Humid

I have a fairly oily skin, but like rich moisturisers meant for non-oily skins.  The Christmas break was very, very hot and I noticed that everything I put on my skin was too oily.  Should you change your normal skin care regimen during the dog days of summer?

Make your eyes pop

I noticed the nicest makeup  recently on a pretty young girl.  It inspired me enough to try.  And I love the results.  She lined her top eye lid with white.  I have not found a white eyeliner yet, and have tried it with white eye shadow.  It makes your eyes pop!  Your eyes look brighter and more awake.   I have gotten quite a few compliments with this style.  I apply the white eye shadow close to my eye and then line my eyes with black eye liner.