Pond's Active Moisture Moisturizer Review

Hey Girls,

How are you all ? The dry weather has taken a toll on my skin, especially my facial skin. It feels so rough and dry. I tried using baby oil and other oils after toning but that had little effect on dryness. So while shopping for some random stuff, I spotted this facial cream and bought it. Let's see the usual stuff which A blogger should tell before the review. (LOL)

Pond’s claims 

 Winter dryness strips your skin of its natural moisture balance, making it look lifeless, rough and unhealthy.

 New pond’s active moisture plumps-up your skin with its ideal dose of moisture.

• Skin recovers its necessary hydration and radiates with glowing vitality.
• Uniquely formulated with an Active Moisture Lock Technology that effectively locks in the moisture deep within the skin layers*.
• See your skin look more vibrant from the very first application.
• Within 1 week, your skin looks healthier and flawlessly radiant !

Directions For Use:

Gently massage Pond’s Active Moisture on your face and neck in upward circular motions twice daily.
Claims for all skin types. 

Ingredients 

My Experience

I had always seen a huge white tub of Pond's cold cream on my mom's dresser. By the time I was about 15 or so, I was forever experimenting with facial creams and lotions. And my mom, she uses whatever I would force her to purchase. 

Quantity - 50 grams

Price - Rs. 120 

I bought the Pond's Active Moisture Moisturizer because the 24 hour moisturizing claim caught my eye. After using it for 3 weeks, all I can say is that it is an average facial cream and won't really help dry skinned girls like me. It does provide moisturization but only for 4-5 hours. I won't really say it reaches it claims of giving radiance to skin etc etc. because I did not notice anything like that. :-( It will make a great facial cream for winters for girls with normal skin and oily skin. Dry skinned girls need something extra. 

Though my experience with this facial cream has been average, I am going to post a review soon about the Ponds Age Miracle Deep Action Night Cream which I purchased along with this cream. 

Pond's products are available at Beautykafe

Giovanni - D: tox System - Face Cleanser

How does it feel when one day you log in to Blogger and realise that all the photographs that you have taken and put for your reviews, over the years have disappeared?? Not Good. I guess. The same thing happened to me when I was playing with my smartphone few days ago. By Playing, I mean fidgeting with the keys and accounts blah blah..I synced something something and then synced some more. When I opened my phone gallery, I was horrified to find some 200 pictures from my blog consuming all the space on the SD Card. What the heck!! Delete Delete. I am so happy. When Next day I logged in to my blog, every single picture is gone. It felt like I lost a little bit of me. No way to get those pictures back. I am so stupid. Btw, how’s the weather treating you these days ?? It’s already so hot and my skin feels more parched then in winters.

Giovanni - D: tox System - Face Cleanser

Claim: With activated charcoal, volcanic ash and super oxidants acai & gogi berry. Your face is your calling card. In order to help your skin be pure and detoxifed, you need this lush, gentle foaming cleanser. With volcanic ash to dislodge and absorb pollutants, activated charcoal to extract impurities and detoxify, and super-antioxidants acai and goji berry to rejuvenate your face and recharge cells. Leaves skin refreshed and hydrated. PH balanced.

For all skin types.

Weight - 7 oz/207ml

Price: Rs. 495 for 207 ml bottle. Use within 24 months of opening.

Giovanni D:tox System, three steps to skin purification: only from Giovanni 3-step D:tox System, a premium detoxifying body care system. 

Steps 1 and 2 of Giovanni D:tox System lift impurities, polish and purify with activated charcoal and volcanic ash.

Step 3 of Giovanni D:tox System hydrates and replenishes with the super antioxidants acai and goji berry.

Step 1 of D:tox system is the Purifying Facial Cleanser.  It claims to

• Removes makeup, including eye makeup, leaving skin refreshed and hydrated, pH balanced
• Volcanic ash and activated charcoal work to extract impurities, rejuvenating skin, removing makeup and its traces withouth drying skin
• Includes hand-harvested super-antioxidants of acai and goji berry to help recharge and rejuvenate facial cells. 

100% Vegetarian Ingredients No Animal Testing / Cruelty free 

My Take on Giovanni D:Tox Facial Cleanser

My T-zone is super oily whereas rest of my face gets very dry in winters. My skin is also sensitive to certain natural products like aloevera, turmeric. In summers, my T-zone of course remains oily but the rest of my facial skin is normal. What really fascinated was the presence of volcanic ash. I have read posts about how volcanic ash can do wonders for skin. So, when I spotted this one, I had to try this at any cost. I wanted a dry skin variant but this is the only cleanser in the D :tox system range. I have been using this for almost 4 weeks now. those 4 weeks were very severe and harsh winters in North India, when my facial skin except my T-zone gets super dry. I was expecting it to make my face very dry, but it did not. No stretchy feeling to rush and apply a thick cream. The slight dryness which I feel is can be easily taken care of with a hydrating toner or a light face cream.

I need less then a pea sized amount for my entire face and skin really feels fresh and clean after cleansing. After using it continuously for one week, I could notice a soft subtle glow on face. I used it only once for cleansing my face. If I used it more then once, my face felt more dry and stretchy. I would recommend it for dry skinned girls too, (Me being one too) it’s best to use it only once, probably in evening to take the remains of the day of your face. It has all the natural and organic ingredients, especially volcanic ash & activated charcoal alongwith green tea, acai & gogi berry. The bottle is huge and quantity is 207 ml, so it’s a good value for money but not travel friendly. The facewash can easily last me 5-6 months, with single daily use. It’s really good for a facewash and does not remove water proof makeup and stings a bit if gets in eyes. The only downside is the availability and the packaging. Wish this one came in chubby squeezy tube of 50 or 100 ml which can be easily carried in handbag.

I am definitely going to buy this again. Have you used any Giovanni Products ? Do let me know your experiences with this brand. 

Giovanni Products are available at Beautykafe

P.S. - I am trying to restore my blog back. This post was previously published but lost the Pics. So published again.  

NYX Powder Blush in Pinched Review

Today’s review is one of my most used and adored blushes from NYX in shade Pinched. Let me tell you first though, I am a bit of weirdo. I like my blushes with shimmer. Yes, you read it right. I love shimmers in my blushes, though not glitters.  The shimmers seems to give a nice healthy glow to face to perk up my day and my looks. 

Quantity - 5.2 grams 

Price - Approx INR 550  

The NYX Powder blush in Pinched is beautiful peachy pink colour with hint of gold shimmer through it. I think it’s quite close dupe of NARS Orgasm, though I never had a chance to look at NARS Orgasm in person. That one is a Diva Blush I tell you. Every time, I want to but it from apothica, it vanishes. The shimmer in Nyx Pinched is very minute and blends in very well to give a lovely glow. I love it more because i am quite pale in terms on skin tone and have to use my blushes very cautiously, to avoid looking like a clown. Nyx Pinched gives a lovely hint of colour and adds that healthy glow without looking over the top at all. There have been times I felt like I applied too much, but I lightly swiped a tissue and it looked perfect. Here’s another tip! Sometimes, when my other blushes refuse to blend in, Sigma F80 Flat Top Kabuki brush comes to my rescue. 

Availability of NYX is not an issue anymore. A lot of Indian website stock these and NYX powder blushes for around INR 550-600

NYX Pinched will suit almost all skin tones, from pale skinned girls like me to dusky pretties, even though the colour may not show up well, the shimmers will definitely give a lovely glow.

NYX Blushes are available at Beautykafe

TRESemme Smooth and Shine Shampoo for Dry and Damaged Hair

Hey Girls,

Tell me what do you think is a girl’s most important and cherished physical attribute after her face and eyes ?? Hair, of course. I am sure, most of you would agree with me. If you had read a few of my old posts, ..........you may remember how I have been blessed with thick, heavy and dry hair, which never seems to give up when it comes to throwing tantrums almost every other day. :Sigh: If only the dry part was missing in my hair. So, I am perpetually on a lookout for shampoos/conditioners/hair masks, which can reduce the dryness of my hair.  A few months back, when TRESemme Smooth and Shine shampoos were launched in India, a lot of blogger friends used it and were quite impressed with the results. So, how could i be left behind ?? I too jumped into the wagon and grabbed the variant meant for ‘Dry and Rough Hair’. 

Price: Approx Rs. 130 (Inexpensive)

Net vol: 225 ml

What it claims 

My experience with TRESemme Smooth and Shine shampoo for Dry and Rough Hair

The shampoo comes in a big black bottle with a screw on cap which also has ‘press cap’ at the top to dispense the product. Quite easy to use and travel friendly, but who carries shampoo bottles daily in handbags, unless we are travelling? Bad Joke, Sorry.  The Shampoo is pearly white in colour and has a lotion like consistency, not too thick and not too thin. I take about 1 & ½ teaspoon of shampoo in a bowl and fill it to the brim with water to dilute the shampoo. I always dilute my shampoos for easier application on hair. I usually shampoo twice because my hair has a thick skin and refuses to feel clean unless slathered with shampoo. (maybe it’s just in my head, but I like shampoos which give a lot of lather). It has a mild fragrance which lingers for few hours after shampoo.

After wash, my hair does feel soft but it still becomes frizzy after drying and by next day, it is back to its misbehaving best. It does clean hair and scalp well but I cannot say that it made a lot of difference to my hair, just it makes my hair look great on the day when I shampoo. I think I was expecting a lot from this range of shampoos but if you ask me, it’s an average shampoo, nothing bad and nothing great. I would recommend it for girls with mildly dry and rough hair. Girls with very dry and rough hair can join me in the search for perfect shampoo.

Please do suggest any shampoo for very dry and rough hair, tried and tested by you.

TRESemme Products are available at Beautykafe.

Maybelline Eye & Lip Makeup Remover

Before any more blabbering, let me just tell you I have very sensitive eyes. My previous two attempts to use contact lenses failed miserably. My eyes turn red and dry very soon.  So, I guess my poor little eyes are jinxed with glasses for a lifetime or till I turn brave and opt for Laser, which I don’t forsee soon because i am quite a chicken when it comes to scalpels, needles. Before using this makeup remover, i would use olive oil or almond oil to remove my eye makeup, specifically, liner and kohl. No mascara. Even those oils, used to sting my eyes and make them hazy for hours if the oils got inside my eyes. 

What Maybelline claims about its Eye & Lip Makeup Remover

Efficient & Easy: Instantly removes all eye and lip makeup, even waterproof and non-transfer.

Gentle: Formulated for sensitive eyes, it is especially very gentle for the delicate skin around eyes. Ophthalmological and Dermatologically tested

Direction for Use:- Expert Tip – Shake well before use. Soak a cotton pad with the lotion and apply on your eyes or lips.

Price:- Rs.215 for 70 ml

Shelf Life:-  30 months from the manufacture date.

Packaging:- The makeup remover comes in a transparent plastic bottle with a tiny hole to dispense the product  with a screw on cap.

Maybelline Makeup Remover is a Bi phase liquid which has layers of oil and water like liquid, which when shaken get mixed together well to work as cleanser.  When shaken, both liquids mix together and become an icy blue colour. Gosh! I love the colour. Yup, it feels so soothing. (Weirdo me).

This makeup remover is a miracle worker. A tiny amount, say 7-8 drops effectively remove the kohl and eyeliner with just a single swipe. Even if it gets inside my eyes, it does’nt sting but my eyes feel little hazy, till I rinse them with clean water. That’s it! No haziness, no creamy or oily residues and no racoon eyes.

It’s absolutely fragrance free .

What else do I say ??  Nothing. I just love it. It’s my HG eye makeup remover. And the price makes it even more affordable.  Of course, I will re-purchase,  but whenever it gets over, which I don’t see soon, because a tiny amount is required.

Btw, my experience is only limited to eyes. I have’nt used it on lips or face. I eat all my lipsticks and don't use foundations, concealers on face. So no need there.

 Maybelline Eye and Lip Makeup Remover & other Products are available at Beautykafe.