Our Cosmetic Experience

I am going to come back to our ancestry stories soon, right now I need to catch up with my other series posts.

Here is another entry on the cosmetics we tried. I am planning to write about a product/cosmetic once only, even if we like it and buy it more often.

Body care
The cleansing liquid by Cetaphil is fragrance-free and did not cause any skin irritations. However, it is not my favorite body cleanser as it makes my skin feel the same as if I used regular soap - dry and stripped of lipid surface. On the other hand, that cleanser is a good option if you need to replace soap with a milder product considering washing some more delicate body parts or just hand and face.

Would we buy it again? Maybe

Bath salt
The size of the Epsom salt bag was very convenient and pouring the right amount of the salt into the bath was very easy.
Epsom salt makes a bath a relaxing experience. It helps to relax tired muscles and refreshes the skin. Another factor which I find very important is: the salt does not affect the PH of the skin and the intimate body parts as many bubble bath liquids do. Epsom salt cannot be used by everybody - always read the about the product provided by the manufacturer.

More about Epsom salt in my other post.

Would we buy it again? 👍

Body wash by Rossmann
When I lived in Poland, I often purchased cosmetics at Rossmann drug stores. I liked the store brands, its quality and the prices at the store as well. Isana is of their brands too. I got the body wash during our last visit in Poland. It was great - creamy and of rather thick consistency (which made it very efficient). And it smelled so nice - like a bunch of flowers. I liked the flowery pattern on the bottle as well. If I could, I would have bought more cosmetics at Rossmann. Unfortunately, it was not possible - when we were coming back home, my suitcase was filled up to its limits and nothing more could be possibly packed in it.

The body wash by Isana contains Magnolia Liliflora extract.

Would we buy it again? 👍

Leg care

My calves love that horse-chestnut based gel. It improves the blood circulation in varicose veins, makes them less visible. The gel relaxes the tired legs as well. Its fragrance is delicate yet pleasant. When I lived in Poland I always applied some gel with horse-chestnut extract on my calves - morning and evenings.  My legs were fine as my calves did not hurt thanks to the treatment. The thing is this kind of gel is very popular in Poland, available in different versions by different brands.

When I moved to Texas, I tried to find a similar product but, regrettably, nothing like that chestnut extract based gel was available here. That was one of the things on my shopping list when we were in Poland again. I am glad I finally got it! The box was quite big (it contained320g of the product - which was a lot). Wish it had been bigger and lasted much longer than four months.

Besides horse-chestnut extract, rutin is one of the gel ingredients.

Would we buy it again? 👍

My Long Flight Essentials

Last week we came back from our November trip. The travel itself was very long - it took us 24 hours and three plane connections to get from Texas to my home place in Poland. Therefore, I am going to tell you what items helped me survive such a long journey.

First of all, no makeup (besides some bronzer and a little of powder, to avoid the shiny nose effect). During the long travel, spending hours at the airports and on the planes there would have been no time - and no mood - to remove the makeup and do my usual face care routine.

The air conditioned environment (planes and airports again) made my skin dry, that was why I was carrying my first aid moisturizing kit.

The containers were small enough to have them in the carry on luggage.

1. Vitamin face mist (paraben free and alcohol free) by Yves Rocher.

After about five-six hours since our travel started, the skin on my face started 'shrinking'. I could feel it needed some support. The pink grapefruit mist refreshed it and provided an instant revitalizing moisture.

2. My regular under-eye cream. Yes! The under eye areas were crying for help too!

3. A small box of Nivea cream - classic moisturizer brought a relief to my face during the 10-hour flight. One application on my cheeks and my face skin needed no more till the end of our journey.

A few minutes after spraying my face with the vitamin mist, I applied the under eye cream _ The Nivea cream - cheeks and forehead. It felt really good and prevented the face skin from the return of the 'dry-shrinking' feel.

There was something more, not for my face, though...

For my feet and legs comfort.
When we got to our seats on the plane (the longest flight), it was so good to be able to take off my boots and wear the comfy home shoes. At least during those 24 hours of travel, my legs/feet could rest too and I did not have to wear boots all the time.

To sum up, if you ever happen to travel for hours/spend so many hours on the plane, make sure you have your travel essentials in your carry on luggage. They do not take much space but may help to make your trip more enjoyable and easier.

My Cosmetic Side: Epilation

If somebody asked me who started 'hairless woman's skin' trend, I would say it must have been a man. Possibly, a man/men involved in shaving business. Maybe some guys related to shaving devices manufacturing, who knows. The point is, I do not know any woman who enjoys the tortures of epilation. At least the ones I have known did not. Including myself. On the other hand, I am not a fan of 'the hairier, the hotter' either. In my opinion, a girl/lady needs to take care of herself to look and feel good.

Nevertheless, no matter how important the epilation routine I find, considering both the aesthetic and hygienic reasons, I truly dislike it. Why? Well, if you are a woman, you probably know why: skin irritation, possible cuts, stingy pain, delicate skin of some body areas and more. If you still do not understand why epilation care is not my favorite activity, you can try it on your own body and possibly, you will know what I mean. Recently, I watched a movie “What Women Want” in which the main male character tried wax epilation on his legs. He certainly found out the answer to that 'Why?'

Some advertisements try to convince consumers that using their stuff such as creams, shavers or epilators/depilatories will make your body hair free for a month. Well, I would say it is not entirely true. I have observed that the hair on the body does not grow simultaneously - all of them at the same time. The epilated hairs may not regrow for a few days, but still, after a week you can notice your skin needs to be taken care of again.

When I was in my twenties, I thought I would go to a beautician's studio, to have my face attended - meaning epilation of course. The beautician did a very good job. However painful the treatment was, I was pleased with its results. That is why repeated the visit a few times. Once, when I came out of the studio, due to the cold weather, the spots on my face which had been taken care of got red. It was embarrassing as everybody could see and guess what place I had been to and what for. Since then, I have been my own beautician and skin carer.

Some time ago, I happened to visit Italy. In local cosmetic stores, I came across the biggest collection of epilation products I had ever seen. Meaning non-razor or electric and battery operated devices. They had entire sections dedicated to 'ladies hair removal care'. Everything was there: sugar based balls, wax and whatever you wanted. I did not buy anything then, I was just amazed at the selection which was on offer.

My personal favorite ever was the face wax epilation kit which I got from a friend. The lady received it from her sister in Canada. Since my friend was not convinced the kit would work for her, she gave it to me. The set included a small pot, which contained little drops of colorful wax and a wooden spatula. I just needed to heat the pot on the stove for a short time - the wax melted and was ready to be spread on the skin. It was easy to remove it and it took care of all the unwanted hairs very quickly.
A second product which I found good as well was face wax strips by Isana - unfortunately available in Europe (Rossmann stores) only.

As for the electric devices, I think the best are the ones which have two heads: a razor and an epilator. You can use them interchangeably, depending which part of your body you need to take care of. In my opinion, a razor is better while dealing with more sensitive areas. It is good if you have the option to switch then, using the same device.

No matter what you used to epilate the body, it is important to take care of the irritated skin afterward. Some sets available in stores include an 'after' cream or balm. Not all of them are good for my skin - some caused pimples and additional irritation. My choice is a regular face cream (for face areas of course) and Gigi Post Epilation Lotion (I wrote more about it here).

Epilation pros and contras seem to be obvious. As my mom says: 'one must not neglect themselves'. A very subjective opinion, but it is enough for me. You just need to take care of yourself and your body to feel good. And you do not have to spend much money on it at all.

My Cosmetic Side: Aroma & Aromatherapy

I have always been interested in many different things considering the outside world and lifestyle. One of them is beauty and cosmetics in general, which is obviously quite a common interest for a woman (and not only). A reason why I started this blog was a thought, it would be my beauty related posts space. And at the beginning I was writing about my favorite cosmetics mostly. Nevertheless, after some time I got bored with the topic, mainly because my interests are so much wider than the beauty stuff. Do not get me wrong, there are specialists in the field which share very interesting information about e.g. makeup brands and their products, and I find reading their articles quite involving too. On the other hand, in my opinion, life, the world, means loads more things to learn, discover and experience. That is why I skipped writing on beauty items for quite a long time as it became too monotonous and one sided.
However tiresome it got then, it did not change the fact that the beauty routine and all the items connected with it are quite an important part of my life. I do not spend all day long in front of the mirror (maybe a few hours ;-)) but I would be incredibly miserable if I was not able to take care of my skin, hair and body as I am used to - which leads to the cosmetics world again.
That is why, every now and then, I am going to write about 'My Cosmetic Side' - including my favorite items and certain products I have been using. I will keep the alphabet pattern but, very likely I will not limit myself to this frame only.

Here is the entry for today:

Aroma & Aromatherapy

Since my nose is rather picky considering choosing the scents it tolerates, I associate aromatherapy with the distinctive aroma which is pleasant according to myself. And I do not mean any special kind of  healing treatment. Just a nice, scented bath can be a relaxing experience, especially when we can enjoy it after a long day. Read more about it in the post I wrote some time ago.

Talking about aroma and aromatherapy - the use and meaning of it may be quite unexpected. A couple of years ago, in the summer, we happened to have a biting flies season in our area. They were tiny and quite annoying, especially that the little creatures seemed to choose me mostly as the most interesting object to bite. It resulted in the big, red, itching spots on my skin which did not go out for weeks. I tried to use some insect repellents but they did not help much. That was why I finally decided to use the natural carnation oil which I had brought from Poland. I rubbed it all over myself - mainly the legs and arms as, due to summer temperatures, they were uncovered and most exposed to biting flies attacks. I smelled like a carnation field. The flowery aroma was quite strong but, luckily, I was not allergic to the oil. It did not irritate my skin, it must have irritated the nasty flies, though, as they stopped bugging me. I was really glad then. The carnation oil saved me.