Last week NIVEA were kind enough to send me a huge hulking box of their goodies. As a result, I’m now inspired to start one of those ‘end of the world’ bunkers where you can safely store up a bunch of staples off which to survive. After all, the Mayans did say we weren’t going to see 2013. Or at least you won’t. I’m going to be safely tucked away in my Bunker O’ Awesomeness with a lifetime supply of NIVEA body lotion and tinned pilchards plus whatever else I can find in a tin that only expires in another century.

But ja, getting back to NIVEA; I’ve spent the last for days playing around with all their goodies and have some firm favourites which I’ll tell you about over the span of three posts. This is one’s the first and I want to use it to fill you in on their new Powerfruit shower gels:

NIVEA Powerfruit shower gels available in two variants; Refresh with Goji berries and Relax with Acai berries (which are similr to blueberries).

Both shower gels contain antioxidant-rich ‘superfruit’ extracts and a stable derivative of vitamin C. They also make use of something NIVEA call Hydra IQ technology. It’s kind of complicated but in a nutshell, it uses two naturally occurring ingredients to create teensy li’l ‘aquapores’ (tiny little gaaitjies in certain cell membranes) to help improve the flow of moisture in your skin.

Clever formula aside, I like both gels’ fresh berry scent. It’s very subtle though and to be honest, I can’t really distinguish all that big of a difference between the two of them. What I love, however, is that they feel fabulous on your bod thanks to a non-sticky glycerine-like texture that lathers up enough to make you feel ‘clean’ but not as much as other shower gels so you don’t feel as though you’re drying out your skin; perfect for winter.

Want to try NIVEA’s Powerfruits shower gels yourself? They’re on shelves as I type going for R24,99 a pop.

Love, love

Leigh

So let’s talk brows… Being blonde mine are rather light. I should totally dye them a little bit but I’m just too scared. The past two therapist who’ve tried somehow managed to turn them a hectique shade of black, causing my boyfriend to refer to me as ‘li’l Mexican muchacho’. Fun times.

As a result, I rely on eye pencils to darken them up and fill in the little hole in the brow on right. I have no clue why it’s there but I have been able to grow the hair back using Priori’s Lash Recovery serum. It totally works, but once you stop using it the hole comes back after a while. Meh. But ja, getting back to pencils… the nicest I’ve used in a while is deffo this dude:

Empro’s award-winning Triangular brow pencil, R109.

It’s living in my make-up bag as we ‘speak’ and here’s why: the pencil isn’t too soft so it doesn’t grab onto your skin and end up looking too dark.
The shade ‘Blonde’ is perfect for my cool blonde brows in that it doesn’t look khaki-toned or grey like other blonde pencils I’ve tried. I also like that it’s shaped like a triangle so, depending on how you use it, you can get very thick or thin strokes.

See?

Better yet, it doesn’t require sharpening and has a little brush on the end so you can ‘arrange’ your brows beforehand and then again after using the pencil to slightly ‘blur’ anything you’ve drawn which’ll make it look more natural.

If you want one yourself, you’ll find them at Dream Nails beauty salons across the country going for R109 a pop. Shade-wise, you can pick from Natural Grey, Blonde, Golden Brown, Natural Brown and Brown.

Love, love

Leigh

P.S. When I have time I’ll update this post with a piccie of my brows without brow pencil and then with it. I’ve just seen that the shot I snapped this morning turned out blurry. Oops!

Yesterday I attended a Ponds/Vaseline launch at the 12 Apostles hotel. Aside from a delish lunch, I got to learn more about Vaseline’s new and improved body care range as well as the new goodies that have been added to Pond’s Age Miracle and Flawless Radiance ranges. I’ll be chatting about the latter in another post but today I want to talk about new Vaseline Total Moisture body lotions and creams.

The range consists of three different nature-inspired variants; Aloe Fresh, Total Moisture (which uses oat extract) and Cocoa Glow (with cocoa butter).

These guy’s have a clever new formulation that makes use of Stratys-3, a patented hydrating complex that can hydrate all three ‘levels’ of your skin. To explain, the first ingredient, Glycerol Quat, was ‘engineered’ by Unilever to attract up to four times as much moisturiser as regular glycerine but be less likely to absorb into your skin. This is a good thing because it lingers around the upper levels of your skin to keep them nice and moist. (It doesn’t, however, hang around on the surface of your skin so don’t worry, you won’t be left feeling greasy or sticky in the least!) The next hydrator is regular old glycerine which sorts out your skin’s core (middle layer) while the last is hydrating hydroxyl ethyl urea (HEU) which is able to reach the deepest layer. Clever, right?

Of all the three variants I’m most keen on Total Moisture, the oat one. I like it’s super-light floral scent and love how it hydrates like a bomb but sinks in fast so I get slip into my clothes immediately after application. It doesn’t leave any gross greasy residue on my bod and better yet, its formula includes a decent concentration of lactic acid, an AHA that’ll help slough off old, dead skin cells. (For the record, I’ve looked at the aloe and cocoa butter formula’s ingredients and don’t see any AHA’s in either of them. I’m not sure why Oats is different.)

Anyway, despite being cheap as chips, Vaseline’s using a very nice formula here. You’d be surprised by how many other ‘drug store’ brands that are supposed to be super hydrating yet list alcohol (often as alcohol denat.) at the top of their ingredients list. Aside from being an irritant, alcohol can dry your skin out while damaging your cells.

Want to give Vaseline’s new body line up a bash? You’ll find them in store as I type. Each variant is available as a light body lotion (R20 for 200mls and R32 for 400mls) and a richer body cream in a tub for drier skin (R28 for 350mls and R37 for 500mls).

Love, love

Leigh

P.S. Did you know Vaseline now have a local Facebook page? Check it out over here.

Last week Clouds, she of And Lollipops, and I attended the launch of a new Southern suburbs restaurant, Josephine’s Cookhouse, in Boundary Road in Newlands, just next to SAB Breweries.

Josephine’s Cookhouse

It’s actually in the historic Josephine’s Mill building but has gotten a little make-over to give it a warm, cosy, casual feel, making it the type of place you’d like to relax on a rainy Sunday.

While Josie’s is the little sister of French cuisine-inspired hot spot Societi Bistro in town, it’s menu is all about good Italian eating. They’ve only been open for a few days and already they’re getting a rep for having seriously good pizza; the best in the Southern Subs, in fact! I got to try their anchovy and olive pizza (R85) and was very very impressed.

Skinny leg jeans be damned, this is my new favourite thing.

I’m now dying to round up a group of friends so we can visit en masse on a cold winter’s eve. The interior’s super cosy and you can sit near a roaring fireplace with a big glass of red before diving into a plate of carbs that are actually worth the kilojoules; what more could a girl want?

Cosy, cosy…

Anyhoo, speaking of vino; get a load of their gorgeous little cellar:
 The restaurant’s PR chica Hailey says you can rent it out for functions or a romantic private dinner. Just bear in mind that it’s a little cooler than the rest of the restaurant as it has to keep all their vino in good nick. It also holds a few select bottles of ridiculously expensive French champers”

Bottoms up, bitches! (Just don’t you DARE drop it!)

Otherwise, getting back to the food… (and boy was there a lot of it… the dishes just kept on coming…) I was most impressed with their super-crispy garlic flat bread (R18!), creamy-tasting just-salty-enough parsnip risotto with brown butter and parmesan (R72), tender rib eye with basil and garlic butter (R110) and, the piece de resistance, the hazelnut gelati in a  sugar cone (R32 for two scoops). The gelati’s so good, actually, that I’d drive all the way there just for that alone; if Fererro Rocher made ice cream, it would taste EXACTLY like that.

Thanks Josie’s! You’ll definitely be seeing me again. And again… and again… and (‘Oh look there’s that cheerful girl the size of a Wendy house!’) again…

Love, love

Leigh

PUMA have just added two new fragrances to their line up; PUMA Yellow for girls and PUMA Green for boys. Both scents are rather summery and have taken inspiration from the island mon; Jamaica.

Fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt, is PUMA fragrance’s spokesman.

A ‘sparkling’ only slightly fruity-floral, PUMA Yellow’s official notes are bergamot, apple, magnolia, rose, violet, freesia, orris, sandalwood and cedar. All I can really pick out, however, is an airy blend of white flowers and perhaps a little apple just after the very first spritz.

The bottle’s kinda like a sporty-looking version of Chanel Chance, don’t you think?

To me, it’s a very light, unobtrusive scent, the kind you can spray on several times a day and not give yourself (or anyone else) a headache. It’s the kind of thing I’d toss into my gym bag and use after a shower on a day when I wanted to smell clean and fresh. In fact, if you’re in high school and want to wear a perfume but suspect your teachers would give you grief if you rocked up in a cloud of Angel, this could be a safe bet.

I also like that PUMA haven’t felt obliged to go the usual route in creating a ‘sporty’ fragrance which is making it smell like some kind of generic oceanic/ozonic body spritz along the lines of Davidoff’s Cool Water (super boring) Woman. The only negative (aside from if you don’t like the smell) is that the staying power isn’t very good.

If you’re looking for an inoffensive, very easy to wear spritz n’ go type of fragrance (ideal for warmer months), check out PUMA Yellow and let me know what you think. Price-wise, it’s fabulously affordable at R125 for 20ml, R195 for 40ml and R280 for 60mls.

Love, love

Leigh

A friend of mine is seriously considering buying Botox via Groupon.

Steek me baby!

Personally, I’ve never bought anything off of Groupon and been left feeling like I’ve gotten my money’s worth, even at a discounted rate. Have I merely been unlucky? Am I possibly just a paranoid snob?

Tell me girls, I want to know; would you buy a cosmetic procedure via a group buying website? And if you have, I want to hear about it; both the good and the bad.

Otherwise, if you’re keen to check out the special, here’s the link.

Love, love

Leigh

P.S. For the record, I’m a big fan of Botox. Dr. van Niekerk at Just Skin is a veritable wizard and has never screwed me by giving me a piddly dose that didn’t feel ‘strong enough’ or worn off prematurely.

Don’t you love it when a brand goes the extra mile in regards to press release presentation? Check out the little mystery box that arrived just last week:

Oooh, what do you think could be inside?

Surprise! It isn’t a sprinkling of anthrax or an ex-co-worker’s severed hand (a girl can only wish) but Maybelline’s new Illegal Lengths fibre extensions mascara, R100:

Booyah!

…

Exhibit A is the washable/regular version and Exhibit B is the waterproof one.

Here’s what it looks like on the shelf:It’s formula promises to help create an instant lash extension-effect thanks to the inclusion of teensy ‘extension’ fibres that are up to 4mm length.

If you look VERY carefully you can actually spot a fibre or two.

I tried the washable one (i.e. the one that wasn’t waterproof) and while it didn’t come even close to looking like I’d gotten extensions, it did a decent job of creating very defined slightly longer-looking lashes. It doesn’t, however, volumise in the least, so if you’re all about drama, this isn’t for you.

See?

While I could see the fibres in the formula if I looked really closely, they aren’t in great concentration but in a way this is a good thing; I’ve tried fibre-heavy formulas in the past and found they ended up looking clumpy. Not so with this little guy. Another plus? When your lashes dry, it doesn’t flake in the least. Phew!

Have you given this fun lovin’ criminal a bash? If so, let me know your thoughts.

Love, love

Leigh