I’ve been looking forward to reviewing my January Beauty Army box all weekend! There are some excellent items that I’d never heard of and was really looking forward to trying.
I am a HUGE fan (read: sucker) for skin care products. There is nothing I love more than to have a product that completely wows me to the point where I can’t stop touching my skin. The cherry on top is when my SO touches my skin and comments on how soft I feel. I give all kinds of kudos to a product that does its job so well its catches his attention!
Shea Terra Organics Black Soap Facial Cleanser
Shea Terra Organics Black Soap Facial Cleanser – 100% Natural. The world’s most effective, amazing face wash! Based on an ancient African formula, this wash works like microdermabrasion to get rid of dead skin,even skin tone, firm skin and fight acne. Look younger in just minutes of using.
Sample size: 1 oz
Ingredients: Deionized water, Yoruban black soap (cocoa pod ash, plaintain peel ash, palm kernel oil, camwood bark), certified organic shea butter, certified organic coconut oil, potassium hydroxide (electrocuted salts- what makes oil into soap), certified organic rose hips oil, rose hips fruit, aloe ferox, rooibos tea, kigellia africana, certified organic marshmallow root, licorice root.
Directions: Avoid contact with eyes. Slight redness and tingling are normal as soap works away dead skin. Apply to face, massage in circular motion. Set 5 – 10 mins. Wash off with warm water in circular motion working away dead skin. Repeat procedure for desired results.
My thoughts:
- Packaging: Very dark bottle, you almost think its black but its not. The label is simple and to the point, which I love. Very distinguishable in my container of skin care products.
- Visual Appeal: Very simple design, easy to distinguish, solid feel
- Texture: THICK blackish fluid, it’s like molasses. You will literally turn the bottle upside down and wait a few seconds while the product meanders its way down to the opening to pour into your hand. Be patient though! It’s worth the wait!
- Scent: It has a very faint scent, really earthy. I can certainly see where it might be off putting to some but my opinion, it’s a small price to pay for the magic contained within.
- Use: Very easy to work with, lathers up nicely, there is certainly a tingling sensation. It’s not a burning type sensation but I could certainly tell something was happening. Washes away cleanly and easily.
I know the saying is you should save the best for last but ya know, life is short. Let’s just get to the good stuff.
THIS PRODUCT ROCKS!
There simply are not enough words in the known universe to completely convey how much I love this product. I’ve never been this crazy for a skin care product in all my adult life. From the moment I washed it off, I knew this was going to be a keeper. My skin looked and felt so much smoother. It feels phenomenal, which I didn’t think was possible. I am such a skin care fanatic, I am always looking to keep my skin smooth and soft. I never knew what I was missing until I tried this product. I will be stocking up on this wonderful magic in a bottle.
Pass/Fail: Pass (!!!!!!!!!)
Indie Lee The Body Scrub
Indie Lee The Body Scrub – Indie formulated this all natural scrub, to deliver a daily dose of pampered, sexy skin. The essential oils create a calming, light, lemon scent to start or end your day.
Sample size: 12 fl oz
Ingredients: Saccharum Officinarum (sugar cane), Coco Nucifera (coconut) Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (jojoba) Oil, Melissa Officinalis (lemon balm), Essential Oils of Cymbopogon Citratus (lemongrass) and Vanilla Planifolia (vanilla)
Directions: Best if applied to wet skin and worked in to remove dead skin. (Directions my own)
Retails: $38
My Thoughts:
- Packaging: Very cute dark amber plastic canister, plastic screw top lid
- Visual Appeal: Simple, non – descript but perfect for storing in the shower.
- Texture: Very abrasive, slightly oily due to essential oils
- Scent: Soft citrus scent
- Use: Easy to use, did leave skin feeling oily once rinsed off however was absorbed into skin almost immediately after drying so no greasy feeling afterwards.
This was a lovely product to work, it certainly left my skin feeling soft and smooth. However, there are other scrubs on the market that do just as good a job for much less money. I will, however, be reusing the canister once I finish with the scrub.
Pass/Fail: Pass/Fail
LaRocca Skincare Pumpkin Fleur de Sel Body Polish
LaRocca Skincare Pumpkin Fleur de Sel Body Polish – Not just for pumpkin pie. An invigorating sea salt body polish with pumpkin and cinnamon to decongest dry rough skin, tighten and stimulate circulation leaving your skin glowing all over..
Sample size: Approximately 1 oz
Ingredients: Sea Salt, Volcanic Stone, Cucurbita Pepo (Pumpkin) Fruit Extract, Zea Mays (Corn) Starch, Water (Aqua), Chrondrus Crispus (Carrageenan), Cinnamomum Cassia (Cinnamon) Bark Oil, Aloe (Barbadensis) Leaf Juice, Canola Oil, Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Cinnamomum Cassia (Cinnamon) Bark Oil, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Camelia Sinensis (Green Tea) Extract, Thymus Vulgaris (Thyme) Extract, Hippophae Rhamnoides Fruit Extract, Sedum Rosea Root Extract, Lactic Acid, Tocopherol, L-Ascorbic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate.
Directions: Best if applied to wet skin and worked in to remove dead skin. (Directions my own)
Retails: $35 for 6.76 oz
My Thoughts:
- Packaging: Very cute, portable sample size. Clear plastic body with plastic gold screw top lid
- Visual Appeal: Very simple design
- Texture: Very creamy, slight gritty texture
- Scent: Heavy on the pumpkin and cinnamon cassia scent, does not linger
- Use: Easy to work with, rinses off clean
I really liked this product, the scent is just lovely and I can see adding this to my collection.
Pass/Fail: Pass
Boo-Boo Cover Up
Boo Boo Cover up – Have a Boo-Boo? Skip the bandage and the shiny ointment. Look your best even while you heal with Boo-Boo Cover-Up. Our innovative formula offers great coverage for skin imperfections while containing ingredients known in nature to promote healing.
Shade: Medium
Sample size: small sample
Ingredients: Aloe, Chamomile, Green Tea, Tea Tree Oil, Vitamin E
Directions: Dot and blend a small amount over minor skin imperfections. A little goes a looooong way! Shake if needed (for full size). Apply twice a day for 6-8 weeks. Not intended for use on open wounds.
Retails: $19.99 – $36.63
My Thoughts:
- Packaging: Very tiny sample, could be reused for depotting lipstick once product is used up.
- Visual Appeal: Nondescript
- Texture: Very creamy,dries quickly to a powder feel, very light on the skin
- Scent: None
- Use: Blends easily into skin, dries quickly, light weight
I do not get a lot of blemishes so I can’t speak to that particular selling point but does seem to work pretty well as a concealer.
Pass/Fail: Pass
CellCeuticals NeoCell
- CellCeuticals NeoCell – Neo-Cell Micro-Resurfacing Skin Treatment uses natural enzymes and volcanic micro-minerals to gently resurface skin without irritation, revealing smoother, more radiant, and healthier-looking skin. Natural enzymes and volcanic-minerals work together to exfoliate surface skin cells without irritation.
Sample size: .33 fl oz
Ingredients: Water, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Pumice, Acrylates Copolymer, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth-20, Glyceryl Stearate SE, Stearic Acid, Glycerin, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Bromelain, Papain, Bisabolol, Panthenol, Mimosa Tenuiflora Bark Extract, Allantoin, Propylene Glycol, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Phenoxyethanol , Chlorphenesin, Sorbic Acid.
Directions: Dispense a quarter size onto hands. Apply to wet skin and gently massage for two minutes. Rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water. Follow with CellCeuticals skin treatment.
Retails: $47.50 for 2 fl oz.
My Thoughts:
- Packaging: White plastic tube with plastic semi transparent screw top lid.
- Visual Appeal: Nondescript
- Texture: Very creamy, gritty feeling
- Scent: None that I could detect
- Use: Works well on my skin, left skin feeling soft
This is one of those skin care products that promises a dramatic change in a few weeks. This sample size is not enough to test those claims and at the price tag just for this micro dermabrasion product, I feel there are others out there that do just as good a job for much less.
Pass/Fail: Pass/Fail
Bling Tone Eye Shadow sp"ice"y
Bling Tone Eye Shadow sp”ice”y – In the bleak mid-winter she longed for the warmth of the sun to shine on her face. But with no escape to a tropical clime she did the next best thing and wore sp”ice”y that day…the rich, warm brown with an icy glow that reminded her of the spiced bay rum they drank on the beach, or the warm glow of the copper sand under their feet.
Directions: Apply blingtones with just the swipe of a finger for a little color.
Retails $20 from Beauty Army
- Packaging: Clear plastic container with flip lid, easy to see which color is contained
- Visual Appeal: Initially reminded me of a wheat fields, very soft color with high sparkle
- Texture: Very smooth to the touch, highly pigmented
- Scent: No scent
- Use: Works well on my skin, used as a base color for today’s FOTD
This is the second Bling Tone I have added to my collection and love working with this product. I hope to be able to add more
Pass/Fail: Pass
And with that, we move on to the Face of the Day these products inspired!
FOTD - January Beauty Army
Eyes:
MAC Untitled Lid Primer – Entire lid and brow bone
Bling Tone sp”ice”y eye shadow – inner half of eye lid & outer half of lower lash line
MAC Twilight Falls eye shadow – outer half of eyelid and crease
MAC Beauty Marked eye shadow – upper lid liner
Maybelline Falsies Flared Mascara
Lips:
MAC lip pencil – Hover
elf Luscious Liquid Lipstick – Ruby Slipper
This was a photo that was a complete fluke but I loved it so I had to share.
Jan Beauty Army Fluke Pic
Beautiful World 
eye cream with caffeine drugstore
July 8, 2014 at 4:32 am
Hi, I read your blogs like every week. Your writing style
is witty, keep it up!