Reviews I never posted

Hi Lovelies,


Welcome back! And if you are new here, welcome 💕💕💕

I got this idea of bundling quite a few reviews in one blog post as I want to get them out of the way - these are the products I planned to review individually, but never got round to it for various reasons. Some products were used and gone a year or so ago, and I moved on to another products (so it doesn't make sense to post reviews of three or four eye products in the row) or the products didn't suit me in one way or another, and I didn't want to put out a bad review. I have a few, but I don't feel comfortable with them, like I am bad mouthing a brand or product, even though I am always very clear why something didn't work out for me. I is good to be known for your honesty, but it is double edged sword. Like in life in general, isn't it?
I won't be listing the ingredients of everything here as not to turn it into two mile blog post. Ingredients are only a short google search away anyway :) So let's get cracking, shall we?

Neal's Yard Remedies White Tea Eye Gel

This came in my NYR consultant starter kit, so it was ages ago! Technically I am a NYR consultant, but also my one and only customer - my inner circle are more interested in getting free products from me than buying stuff, and pushing products onto people I don't know is not for me, let's put it that way. I have a few blog posts on NYR products, and I will link them down below. As for the gel, it worked really well, my under eyes were nicely hydrated, and I really enjoyed using it for the day time, combining with Lil Fox eye butter for the night time (more on it for just a second). Even though I never repurchased it it stayed at the back of my mind in my imaginary "to repurchase someday" list, and one day I will definitely get it again. It is just us bloggers are a fickle bunch always onto the next hot product, plus we get sent stuff. I guess I should add I bought this eye gel with my own money? Transparency is important to me. The gel was nice and cooling and never caused me any issues in form of millia or irritation and you gotta love that, right? I know I did at the time I had it. The only con was that it expired on me only one third way down, but as that was four or five months later, I got good use out of it! The label says three months use after opening, so I stretched it for a bit longer as you can see, but as the product is housed in sanitary pump bottle I wasn't worried about contamination.

Neal's Yard Remedies White Tea Eye Gel and Lil Fox Miami eye butter

Neal's Yard Remedies White Tea Eye Gel

Lil Fox Miami Eye Butter

Lil Fox Miami Eye Butter

I think this was my first ever giveaway winning via Instagram (if you are not on Instagram, get on it immediately, as there are always fabulous giveaways going in the green beauty scene) and I was jumping for joy when my "surprise" win turned out to be Lil Fox Miami eye butter! I have never had an eye product from a luxury brand before, so needless to say I was really excited and dug straight into it. The product was also very good, and I really enjoyed using it while it lasted, but truth to be told I can't afford 50€ worth of eye butter, especially after seeing it also expired on me halfway through, but this was partly my fault - I savored it more than I used it - up until recently I loved "having" lots of nice goodies rather than truly using them consistently.  One tip to take away from this post guys - use your green beauty products like there's no tomorrow people! Don't save and savor it, like I tend to do, but I am learning. We all want really natural products sans preservatives, but we also get upset with their short shelf life. I understand how hard it is on brands to navigate this fine line, but as consumers, I say we should aim for less but good quality products and love the ** out of them, pardon the language. Lil Fox Miami is a brand I really want to go deeper into and try many of their products, as I am always oohing and aghhing over their ingredients!

Zatik Sea Buckthorn -Apricot Organic Herbal Moisturiser

Zatik Sea Buckthorn Apricot Organic Herbal Moisturiser

Zatik is one of the few brands that is always to be found in TKMaxx, and I was eyeing this product for weeks before getting it, I wanted to try it badly because I already had and really enjoyed their organic hair oil (review to come, promise) but at the time I didn't need a new moisturiser. I So when I finally got it and tried it, I was sad to learn it is not for me - it irritated my skin and wasn't moisturising at all. I have had many products with sea buckthorn in them (from different brands) and I always enjoyed what sea buckthorn does to my skin, but this product wasn't any good unfortunately. Despite it's aimed for normal to dry skin (hello, me) it is thin yogurt consistency with no moisturising properties to it whatsoever. And I didn't feel any sea buckhorn oil in it, so the amouth must have been minuscule. My face was left tight, dry and irritated after using it, so I had to give up pretty soon. I tried using it as a hand cream, and it was the same, irritated and not moisturised skin. Not repurchasing. I had one more Zatik skincare product that I remember not having good experience with either, but for the life of me I can't remember what the product was, so even though I can still find Zatik skincare in TKMaxx to this day, I am passing on them. The one product I would repurchase and worked really well for me, the hair oil, is never to be found in said shop ever again. Why, oh why?


Jason Shampoos and Conditioners

Jason Shampoo and Conditioner

These products were one of the firsts I have tried when I switched to green beauty lifestyle years and years ago, but I remember I didn't like them for some reason, and I couldn't remember why. So when  I was offered them for review, I said yes, because I wanted to try their newly released Gluten Free line, and partly because I was curious if they will work for me second time round. It didn't. And I remembered why I didn't like them straight after my first wash - it gave me dandruff. Gluten free one was the same, so I left them to my family there after. The conditioners are not my fave either, they weigh my hair down, and I don't feel they are that moisturising. . Purists might be not entirely happy with their ingredients list (I remember seeing a few ingredients I didn't like) but as we all are on a different levels of what we deem "pure", what is not satisfactory to one person, might be perfectly fine to another. Good thing they are widely available, in the shops and online, and if they happen to suit you, all is good. My own daughter asked me to repurchase it for her, so I did.

Kjaer Weiss Foundation (not pictured)

Umm, can I just say that finding your perfect cream or liquid foundation in the green beauty world is proving the hardest thing to do? Years later I am still not there much to my frustration. I purchased this foundation maybe a year and a half ago, maybe just a bit over a year ago from Naturisimo - just a refill to try first, and that is exactly why I don't have a nice picture to show it to you. Well, I am really torn about this foundation - for once, this is certified organic and has an ammaaaaazing coverage for a natural product, but on the other hand, it doesn't last, collects in my pores, has talc in the ingredients list and I much rather not have that in my foundation. Especially at this inflated price point! Let's elaborate a bit, I know there's quite a number of you who wanted my opinion on it, and I found myself writing the same lengthy response over and over and over on Instagram, so why not add it here too? First of all, as I already said it has an amazing full coverage for a natural product, something I really like about it.I am also impressed that it is certified organic product. It also looks very good in photos - giving you that luminous, lit from within kind of glow that you see in the pictures.  But I feel the pros ends here, and here's what I don't like about it - I feel it is not suitable for a day to day life - yes, it will give you coverage and you will look fantastic as you see the models from the glossy ads, but give it an hour or a couple of hours, and it will looks like crap on your skin - it will emphasize any dry patches on your face (even the ones you didn't know you had), it will slide of your face, collect in your pores and crease badly under your eyes (yep, even though they say it is foundation and concealer in one, it does not work as a concealer, it will crease badly no matter if you will set it or not, and the creasing will make you look older, and quite frankly who wants to look older? I think it is due to the talc in it, it is notorious for it, plus drying your skin out. I would like to see how those models look after a few hours after the photoshoot, as they go on about their daily life? Looking good for a shoot, yes. Holding up as you go on with your daily life? Hmm. And forget staying power if you have seasonal allergies like me, as soon as you will blow your nose, all the coverage will be gone from that area. Yes you might carry it for touch ups, but then again, you will go thought it like there's no tomorrow, meaning you will run out of it quite fast. Setting it helps staying power a bit, but as a dry skin gal I don't like to set my foundations as I don't to be a cake face. But as you can understand, this foundation does not hold up on it's own. Ooooh! I just remembered one more valid point I should add - it broke me out every single time until I used a primer underneath. At the time of getting it I had no primer, and after spending that much dough on it I wasn't willing to admit to myself that it breaks me out (coconut oil in it), but the zits popping after every single time after I used it told me another story. I persevered with it for many months, and finally got no spots after finally acquiring a primer. I know many of you keep this foundation for special occasions or for a nights out, but as those are a rarity in my life, I don't think I will repurchase it any time soon.

Chrys Renee Candle & Bath Spa

This is a US small company who does soy soothless candles and soaps - they sent me one of each back in March, and I have to say the candle was very good. Burned for a week straight (burning it at day time only, I always snuffle candles for the night) and never giving me any issues - it burned evenly, I never had to trim a wick or anything like that, and I was really happy with it. I was tempted to repurchase, but their free shipping is for US only.

Naobay Soft Tolerance & Eye Contour Cream
This is Spanish certified organic brand I wanted to try and was excited to do so when offered. I used it in winter along with Mahalo Vitality Elixir, and I was happy with it. I should have to say almost happy, I always had slight itching on the skin upon application, but as I never experienced any adverse reactions beyond it, I carried on. The thing is when I ran out of Vitality Elixir and started to use this on it's own, my skin really wasn't happy with it, itchiness and red patches appearing on my dermatitis affected areas quickly made me to discontinue using it. I finished it up as a hand cream. Oh, the joys of uber sensitive and dermatitis prone skin! Everybody else, be my guest.

Soley EyeGLO face cream
I moved onto this after setting Naobay aside, and at first I really liked - it seemed to really suit my skin, not irritate it in the slightest, and I even saw some diminishing of my dermatitis scars. So I was prepared to give it a glowing review. But... after going through half the jar, the same thing happened! Not sure what happened over there, did it go bad on me or something? I didn't change anything in my skincare routine, nor I added any new  
 

See? This is why I don't like putting reviews of the stuff that didn't work for me - I feel like I am trashing products, even though I know most of you will appreciate it as a valid points of why it does not work. It is also worth remembering that we are all different and what's not working for me, might be as well your perfect product, who knows? We have to agree to disagree on certain points. And I am certainly happy if these products ended up working for you. My skin (and scalp) is very sensitive, and even if I reacted to some product or other it does not mean you will too. Not everybody has sensitive and reactive skin.


That is all for now. Have you tried any of these product and what was your experience with them?


Lots of Love,
Renata.

Related:

Neal's Yard Remedies Palmarosa Daily Moisturizer Review

Neals Yeard Remedies - My Stash and Experience So Far

Neal's Yard Remedies Wild Rose Beauty Balm review

My Everyday Skincare Routine

2016 Favourite Products

Green Beauty Items Spotted in TKMaxx

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