Fruit of the Earth Cocoa Butter

Hmm... an interesting story on how I ended up getting this! As usual, Tron and I are pharmacy prowlers, and after prowling around the store (I remember - it was Caring, Empire Gallery), he had a basketful of stuff. Being a generous boyfriend, he said, "Is there anything you want? You can put it into my basket." Which is of course, the gentlemanly code of saying "I will pay for you."

Well! I'm so glad you asked, Mr Tron. Why, there's a lot of stuff I want!

I shyly (shy lah, cos I rarely get to pick my presents, right?) showed him this Palmer's Eventone Fade Milk series. It came in a very nice free bag as well. Price tag? Oh somewhere around RM80. He balked and said, "Why do you need all that!"
Me : "What!! Got facial cleanser + moisturiser + eye cream all in one!"
Mr Tron : "Nonsense. If you're going to ask for nonsense then I'm going to pay first."

2nd choice of gift.... I showed him this MooGoo moisturiser. I've always been uber curious about the MooGoo range, but I'm afraid it might be TOO heavy for my skin (it tends to break out if it's TOO moisturising). But there was some discount or other, making it only about RM50-RM60. Mr Tron just gave a look of "What the heck do you want this for?" again and in the end...

I chose a twin-pack of Fruit of the Earth's Smooth Hydrating Cocoa Butter with Aloe & Vitamin E. -___- Eh, please don't say that I chose it just to make Tron buy me something... it *was* something I wanted, but because of the price, I reckoned I could get it myself. Hahaha. Oh gosh, now I really sound like a golddigger. But how can I golddig when Tron is hard as rocks? It would be like goldmining not just digging. I would need an excavator. A pickax! Not just a spade. Lol!

I went way off topic, please note, all this is in jest. The point is that Tron was very willing to pay RM15.80 for TWO bottles of Fruit of the Earth's skin care lotion! Yea, that makes it only RM7.90 per 325ml bottle!! Super cheap right? Of course it attracted my notice! Plus, I've heard good things about Fruit of the Earth (in fact, I've used their after-sun aloe gel before), was wondering why it was going for so cheap!!

First of all --- the "cocoa butter" is quite unlike any "cocoa butter" product I've used before. Mainly because it doesn't smell like cocoa? Like Palmer's classic cocoa butter. This one actually smells more like aloe vera lotion! I say, they should've named this Aloe Butter. However, it's not unpleasant, it's just that I was surprised that it wasn't what I expected it to be after all.

The lotion is SUPER moisturising. No surprise there as this is marketed to contain the "Intensive Moisturising Formula". Having said that, I would say that it doesn't rest heavily on the skin, but it does take a heckuva long time for the cream to absorb into my skin. You either have to use a very small amount, or you have to really vigorously keep rubbing the cream in. Otherwise, you'd be left with white marks all over your limbs!

This product also contains wheat germ and sunflower seed oil on top of the aloe vera and vitamin E. How does this help you? Well, according to this site, "Wheat germ is rich in zinc, which plays a crucial role in the production of new skin cells. It also has anti-inflammatory properties to help prevent eczema; recent studies even indicate that wheat germ can help reduce acne. Get half a cup of wheat germ per day for your daily dose of zinc. Try sprinkling it over salads and yogurt or adding it to smoothies."

As for the sunflower seed oil, it is also very rich in vitamin oil and contains vitamins that can help soothe skin irritations and be a "natural guard" against acne. Well, I don't have any body acne, so I can't tell if it helps or not, but this might be useful information to some people. :)

All in all I would say that this product is DEFINITELY worth my money, haha. I may or may not buy it again --- I am someone who likes to indulge in my skincare, so I'm not really searching for discounts. I am willing to pay more for something that smells better than this, and absorbs quicker. I'm really picky on the absorbing quickly thing. It's a must-have for me in moisturisers. Still, it gives me a thrill when I find good products which are going for such a great price.

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Dove Go Fresh Shower Gel in Grapefruit & Lemongrass

Seems like I need to take back my words from this entry. I realised that I had used Dove Go Fresh shower gels before with no untoward side effects before, I am not sure why when I used the nectarine & ginger one, I encountered a rash (which stopped when I stopped using the shower gel). However, I remember using the Waterlily one before for gym and it was A-OK. Prompted by that, I took a small bottle of the Dove Go Fresh Shower Gel in Grapefruit & Lemongrass for my gym usage. I had bought it a long time ago anyway, and I reckoned that if I got all scratchy again, I would just stop using it.

I have to say that I totally love it! I love the invigorating citrus scent, and I always feel so fresh & energised after my shower at the gym. The shower gel itself LOOKS like there are some sparkly stuff inside it. Lol! At first I was wondering if it was GLITTER, because that is what it looks like. But after Googling online, I found out that it's supposed to be micro-exfoliating beads. If that is really the case, then I think it REALLY doesn't work at all because I don't feel any exfoliation going on. Definitely got nothing on my body scrubs, that's for sure.

However, since it's just being marketed as a simple body wash / shower gel, I didn't expect any exfoliating from it, so all's good.

The secret to why you feel so refreshed after using it? It's in the sparkling grapefruit scent! Grapefruits have always been used as a mental boost-up thanks to the positive vibes the scent imparts on the users.

As for lemongrass, I'm sure we all know its scent is widely used in spas around Malaysia, and for reason to. It leaves a calming, tranquil effect and it can be very therapeutic and calming for a tired body with aching muscles.

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Kerastase Nutritive Oleo-Relax Serum

My hairstylist (at Kimarie) recommended this to me after my rebonding treatment. Another hairstylist had asked me whether I wanted to do a hair treatment, and I had grudgingly agreed to it (cos she made me feel like I had abused my hair soooo much already). However, the guy who actually cut & rebonded my hair shoo-ed her away and told me that instead of spending a few hundreds on a one-off hair treatment, why don't I get this product instead? A 125ml bottle set me back RM80 and apparently if you use it properly, it could last you anywhere between 6 months to a year!

Much better than a hair treatment --- according to the guy, the shine and overall "healthy hair look" would wear off after a few washes.

The Kerastase Nutritive Oleo-Relax Serum is actually mainly used to tame frizzy hair or to administer to dry hair. The ends of your hair generally look a little worse for wear after dyeing / curling / rebonding it, so this is really just a quick fix. All you need is ONE pump from the bottle, rub it between your hands and you just quickly run your hands through the ends of your hair. Set! Doesn't even take 30 seconds.

Sometimes I feel that 1 pump doesn't look like much, so I add another one for good measure, but you really don't need it. Unless you plan to put it over your entire head and not just the problem areas.

And I just loveeee the smell of this serum! I don't know how to explain it... it just smells very soothing and relaxing. Nothing awful and chemical-ly about it at all. Oh, and silly me. Forgot to mention that it REALLY works! I can see that my hair is less frizzy and definitely more manageable. It also leaves a little bit of shine and hair feels softer to the touch as well. What more can you ask for from your hair serum?

An A+ product. Totally love it and worth the money! Love the hairstylist too for being so honest and a great recommender. ;)

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Lush Cynthia Sylvia Stout Shampoo

Guess what this is?

You wouldn't expect me to say that this is SHAMPOO right? It's not as creamy as your usual shampoos and it is BROWN! How many people have shampoo like that? Hahaha. Anyway, this is the Cynthia Sylvia Stout shampoo from Lush, a company that is known for not very conventional products.


The first time I sniffed Cynthia Sylvia Stout, I thought it was horrible... but I've grown to like the slightly alcoholic smell mixed with an amazing amount of lemongrass. My scalp feels soooooo refreshed using this, and everything just feels so amazingly CLEAN. I checked the ingredient list on Lush, and apparently there's no lemongrass, but there are lemons in it. Hmm... anyway, it's a really lovely citrusy fragrance.

It takes quite a fair bit to get really foamy, and what I have on my palm is definitely not enough to wash my entire head of hair. Sigh, a pity because that means I'll probably end up using the entire bottle pretty quickly as this was just a free gift bottle from Lush HK, so it's only 100ml.

I had a choice between choosing American Cream or this shampoo, and I decided to go out of the norm and select this as the free gift instead (though I love American Cream!) because.... I actually wanted to try out whether there's any truth in beer / brandy promoting hair growth. I guess I'm concerned with this because I felt like my hair is dropping more after I did so much rebounding. What a weird position to be in - worried about not having enough hair - when I used to think that I have a lion's mane.

Anyway, it's still way too soon for me to judge whether it works or not, but Lush did say that the secret to the hair growing is in the YEAST in the beer. Apparently yeast improves the health of the hair and scalp and encourages the growth of new hair. Beer also contains protein to give your hair weight, smoothness and gloss. It's excellent for hair that tends to go frizzy in damp or humid environments. Perfect for me!

All in all, an excellent shampoo. I put it on par with Rehab for my fave shampoos from Lush! But do take note --- the smell does take getting use to, and now I love me some Cynthia!

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Deary Chamomile & Arbutin Mask

I actually used this quite some time ago, but I didn't post it up as it seemed like I was only doing face mask posts! I am quite a fan of face masks, and after all this while, have grown to be quite a connoisseur. :) Deary is a brand that I've seen on the shelves, but have not tried before. I find the packaging to be quite cute, but the colors hadn't attracted me before. Plus, something about using the Curlz font that have put me off all this while. Anyway, after scrutinising what they have, I decided to go with the Chamomile & Arbutin mask...


This mask is mainly for whitening and minimising pigmentation. It is suitable for all skin types, especially for those who are suffering from uneven skin tone, pigmentation and freckles. I find it funny that PIGMENTATION is considered as a "skin condition". After all, all of us are pigmented to a certain degree, right? Anyway, I consider myself a little bit "conned" when I bought this mask because I thought the chamomile is supposed to be a soothing / relaxation kind of mask. Sigh... although chamomile tea is calming, chamomile for your skin is actually used in cosmetics for various skin problems, ranging from acne, irritation and other forms of rashes and skin complaints. It also promotes granulation and cell regeneration. As for arbutin, it's mainly used for skin whitening...

For myself, I didn't really notice any major differences in my skin, especially not in whiteness or in more even skin tone. To be honest, I was majorly distracted by the smell of the mask. Quite unpleasant, and it had a rather sticky kind of texture. Meh.

However, you can see from the picture that there's a LOT of essence, dripping all over my face and ensuring that the mask sticks closely to my skin. The ergonomics of the mask is also pretty good. But I guess I look so sad because I didn't like the FEEL of the essence on my skin, and I also didn't like the smell! Hahaha.

All in all, it was good for moisturisation for me, and that's it. I'm kinda doubtful about buying more masks from this range, cos as I have specified before, I am very particular about the aroma of my masks. Also, the mask that I bought in Watson seemed to be old stock, and the packet was kinda dusty! Wtf! (And it was one of the cleaner ones on the shelf)

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NanoWhite Day Renew Cream with SPF 25PA+

My final part in the HK Sample Series is the NanoWhite Day Renew Cream with SPF25PA++. I really liked this day cream! Just a small amount goes a long way - I could use just a little bit to get full coverage that made my skin feel moisturised. Totally no greasey / oily residue, everything gets absorbed super quick. Out of all the face creams I used on the trip, I would definitely say that this one is the best!

This 2ml packet was enough for two uses, so I'm pretty impressed. I don't know the exact price of the products, but Nanowhite is a pretty affordable drugstore brand, with their products ranging from RM15.90 to RM59.90.

As you can see from the product description, "Day Renew Cream is a miracle day cream that your skin can't live without. It helps moisturise, renews, protects and whitens, all at the same time. Unlike ordinary moisturisers, its light texture is absorbed completely and does not leave your skin feeling greasy, even hours afer application."

I would have to say that the description is completely true! However, for the whitening and long term effects of using this, I won't know as I only used it twice! It's a good product though, interested in this range now...

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Anubis Barcelona Bio Anti-Age Cream

This is part of my HK Sample Series (aka what I used while travelling in Hong Kong) and also part of my Sample Spa Series (samples from my friend whose mom owns a spa). Apparently "Anubis" is a well-reknowned brand for anti-aging products, and can be quite pricey. Again, I only had one small 2ml sample sachet of the Anubis Bio Anti-Age Cream, so it's really hard to gauge how good it is at anti-aging. I would be shocked if after using just 2ml, I looked 1 year younger. (Then again, I look quite young, so even 1 year difference can't be gauged... *arrogant*)

The white cream had a rather nondescript smell that was neither pleasant or unpleasant. Though it initially felt quite heavy on my skin, it gradually got absorbed in and didn't leave unpleasant stickiness, like the Biotherm Skin.Ergetic. My skin didn't feel more moisturised or whatsoever. To be honest, really no positive feelings from using this. I also find the initial texture quite oily / greasy, though as mentioned, it gradually gets absorbed in and doesn't leave any unpleasant traces.

As you can see from the picture, this product is an antioxidant and for regenerating purposes, and contains tomato, argan oil and shea butter. Tomatoes are said to be one of the richest sources of lycopene which has long been regarded as one of the most powerful natural antioxidants around. However, I thought it has to be ingested, not put on the skin, so I'm not sure how that works. As for argan oil, apparently it's gaining popularity in the cosmetics industry and has been nicknamed "liquid gold" for it's nutritional properties. It even claims that argan oil is edible! Aside from being rich in Vitamin E, you can read this page to see what are the other benefits of argan oil. :)

Tried to check out what the original price of this item is, but couldnt' find the quotation! But my friend says that Anubis is a pretty upscale brand, so prepare for the worst, I guess?

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