Musings of a Muse

I’m very, very wary of trying new skincare items. I’m sort of stuck in my normal routine rut and since it works so well for me it’s very rare I try anything else on my face. I’m a Lushie for life as you probably already know from reading my blog. If you’re not familiar with my daily skincare routine click over here for the details.

I’ve been happily testing out two of Kiehl’s skincare products last week which were the Ultra Facial Cleaner and the Ultra Facial Toner.

The first thing that shocked me about Kiehl’s was that it’s affordable skincare. Seriously how often can you find affordable skincare that works? Tis a rare occurrence for me!

I normally take my makeup off with one of three products that I use. Lush Ultra Bland for hardcore makeup that’s tough to get off (liquid eyeliner, heavy eyemakeup etc…), Kose Airy Whip (for lighter makeup removal! This is sadly not available in the US.), and Philosophy Purity (I use this daily for all types of makeup).

All of the above products work fantastic for me so there isn’t any reason for me to change however I’m vaguely surprised, with being so picky the way I am, that I really enjoyed using Kiehl’s Facial Cleaner for the past week. I’ve been using this from Monday until Sunday evening and I must say it works a treat and I’m considering adding it to my current skincare routine!

For some reason I get a weird feeling of “you missed a spot” when using Philosophy Purity. I normally use this daily, more so then my other cleansers and it always leaves me feeling like maybe I didn’t get off everything that was on my face. However, I felt truly, deeply cleansed with Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cleanser. Even looking in the mirror after cleansing, my face looked really refreshed!

A little of this goes a long way as it’s a thick gel that foams up for a good deep clean. The cleanser is good for all skin types. At the moment my skin chooses to be dry because of the cold winter weather. It’s quite a gentle wash that is not drying to my skin! Believe me I’m already dry enough if I used anything that was drying I’d definately know!

I ended up wandering over to Kiehl’s website as using the cleanser had made me curious about the rest of the line and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the cleanser is $17.50USD for 5oz! I thought for sure something that worked this good would be $30-$40!

All in all I was very pleased with the Ultra Facial Cleanser! Well done Kiehl’s it’s on the Muse’s list for repurchase as soon as I get through the sample!

I also got my hands on the Ultra Facial Toner but this sadly wasn’t as wonderful as the cleanser. This is a very thick toner in comparison to my normal toner. I normally use Lush’s Tea Tree Oil (for oily days) or Breath of Fresh Air (for dryer days). My toner choices are very light and are spray on where as the Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Toner is a thicker formula that’s meant to be swiped on with a cotton ball! The formula is comparable to Guerlain’s Issima Success Model Smoothing Toner, the texture for me is spot on the same as the Guerlain but the Kiehl’s has a nice price tag! Happy Days! I really liked the consistency of this toner and it felt wonderfully cool and moisturizing when I swiped it on. Sadly, it dried me out a bit. This is for all skin types but for me it was a bit drying. I felt like my skin was very tight minutes after applying it. I used it for seven days straight just to see if I’d see an improvement but sadly nothing changed. I’d highly recommend this if you’re oily because it may very well dry your skin up a bit. My Asian readers that suffer from oily skin and humid weather (my lovely Singaporean readers) may find this an excellent toner for your skin! I think I’ll try this again in the Summer when my forehead decides to become a mirror!

Again, the price is very nice on this! $15USD gets you 8.4oz! That’s a great price and a great size! Total props for an interesting formula and texture but I can’t recommend this for people with dry skin! You might want to avoid it as I experienced further drying when using it.

Overall, the new lineup in the skincare collection is most definately interesting! For further information about the new additions to Kiehl’s Skincare click here!

Have you tried any of Kiehl’s Skincare?

Love it?

Favorite product?

Speak to the Muse!

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I’ve come to the realization that I don’t include nearly enough budget beauty finds in my blog! Many of my readers are quite young and spending $70-$100 or more on skincare is beyond their reach at the moment (at least that was the case for me when I was that age!).

In order to redeem myself I’ll occasionally make a mad dash to the local drugstore and see what’s to be had, what I try, what I like, and above all in keeping with an inexpensive price tag!

I was able to test out the new Wave Power Cleaner from Neutrogena and this is definately fitting in with Beauty on a Budget. This costs all of $10.49 USD at Drugstore.com or $12 USD at Target. The price, in my opinion, is so right! Plus if you head over to Neutrogena’s website you can print out a $2 coupon so that cuts the cost down to $8.49 or $10! Hell that’s a deal! Click to get your coupon!

I’ve wanted to purchase a power cleaner for a while now, in particular I crave the Clarisonic Skincare Brush but seriously I don’t see myself dishing out $200 for that thing. As lovely as it looks I can’t bring myself to pay that much for a cleaning brush.

I haven’t tried the Clarisonic so I can’t compare it to the Wave however I will say at the bargain price the Wave works bloody well for it’s tiny price tag with a few minor pitfalls!

The entire package comes with the power cleaner, a battery (sweet! I didn’t have to go to the store to get one!), 14 cleaning pads, plus a $1 off coupon for refill pads!

I’ve used the Wave three times so far. Once in the shower and once out of the shower. My first run with this was out of the shower and it was a bit of a disappointing run. First of all this isn’t brain surgery to operate. The cleaner has a ridged surface that you plop on the pads on. No special tools needed to hold it in place, no snap ons, or anything like that. Just slap a pad on and go.

Once your pad is on you run the unit under water, press the on button, and start working in on your face. This doesn’t rotate, there aren’t any brushes that rotate, the pad doesn’t rotate, none of that. The Wave simply vibrates which causes the pad to foam up and begins the deep cleaning of your face. Sadly that was my main beef with the unit. The pads didn’t foam up at all. For someone who wears a face full of makeup daily this is NOT going to remove your makeup so well. Absolutely not. However, after using it and rinsing with my regular cleanser my moisturizer did sink in very nicely so obviously the unit is working well enough!

That’s a minor rant as I found a few better ways to use the Wave. One was in the shower which I believe will be my main place to use it. I think if you have a clean face already and you’ve just woken up in the AM and you’re stepping into the shower this is perfect for doing a nice deep clean. The foaming won’t matter so much as your face is pretty much makeup less. I found that the unit worked wonderfully in the shower and it’s completely waterproof so no probs at all. I decided to get crazy and plop a bit of Philosophy’s Microdelivery Wash on the pad and that’s when I experienced nirvana! This made a huge difference and worked wonders for getting a nice deep exfoliating facial while in the shower! I came out of the shower refreshed and my moisturizer and makeup went on so much smoother!

Cheers for that!

The formula of the pads is a tingly, cool pleasant sensation and the smell is quite nice as well but as I said I seen little foaming from these so that does need a bit of work!

The unit is very tiny which I found fantastic for travel plus it runs on one double AA battery which means I’m not having to tug around a recharger with me when I travel. The entire thing is smaller then the palm of my hand. Really great for storage, travel, and it’s just nice to have a small unit that works well!

You might be curious about the refills and the price. It’s safe to say they are pretty inexpensive at $8 for 30! You know you’ll be able to score these on sell though and maybe even cheaper in Walmart!

I had a totally smashing experience with this little gadget and it’s definately part of my skincare regime from now on!

You can’t really beat the price plus it works great! If you don’t take my word for it check on MUA for the rave reviews! The unit is up to a 4.1 rating!

To learn more about the Wave Powder Clean have a click over here and check it out at Neutrogena’s website!

Did I mention you can choose your favorite color? The Wave is available in blue, pink, and green!

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Yea, yea, just call me a regular drugstore whore.

I’m quite a freak lately and have been making the rounds into drugstores far and wide. I’d normally never venture within the realms of a US Drugstore however I’ve had to get a few things for our mate, Rows, at Mostly Makeup thus I’ve seen the inside of one too many drugstores lately and I find…I’m sorta liking it!

I ran across Rimmel’s Spring Collection while rolling around the floor at Harmon’s searching out Milani Wet/Dry Eyeshadows that weren’t to be had or seen!

The collection consists of 6 cream shadow trios, 5 sparkling eye pencils, and 6 potted lipglosses.

Rimmel is far from my favorite brand of cosmetics even though my sister swears by it like it’s God’s given gift to the mortal soul.

I’ve only tried one item from the entire line and that was enough to set me off it for good. I can’t recall exactly but it was a mascara and that stuff flaked, ran, smudged, and just made me scream in agonizing pain at the unjustness of cheap mascara! WHY GOD WHY!

However, the Rimmel Spring display did tempt me. It was all bold and bright and the eye pencils called my name and said “Buy us! Buy us! We’re only $3.99 Each!”

So…I brought ‘em.

The eyeshadows held little appeal as I’m not much for creams and the idea of having three creams in one pot with no dividers made me shudder in fear! Imagine the mess?

The glosses weren’t exactly that fab either!

However, the idea of a sparkling pencil did get me slightly excited and the price was $3.99 so I got four of the five colors (I’d have gotten five but they sold out of the black shade!).

I purchased these because they reminded me of MAC’s sparkler pencil yet in deeper, darker, funkier colors!

Well…..the verdict is in and they go on smooth enough with a bit of tugging but I dunno I’m not thrilled. The formula could be a bit softer for easier application but it’s not completely bad either!

$3.99 USD isn’t too bad a price and the color selection is quite gorgeous however I didn’t see so much sparkle but as just an eyeliner they did an ok job!

The colors I got were Peridot which is a cold dark blue, Tiger’s Eye which is a gold based brown, Ultra Violet which is a sea green, and Lapis which is a brownish copper.

The good news is these have fabulous staying power. These babies aren’t going anywhere once on! I seriously had to do some major tugging to get them off with oil based makeup remover! No fading, no smudging, and lasted all damn day and night!

Tiger’s Eye, Ultra Violet, Peridot, and Lapis

Sorry guys the swatches all kinda look the same! New cam is on the way soonish!

As I said for the price you can’t really beat ‘em! I can’t Muse Approve these but I’d definately recommend heading to your local drugstore and having a peek!

You can see more of the collection at Lipstick, Powder, n’ Paint! Click!

Have these?

Want ‘em?

Love Rimmel?

Tell the Muse!

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Here’s one for the trash kids!

I was in Target a few days ago because my sister enjoys dragging me around that bloody store like nobody’s business!

As she oohhhh’ed and ahhhhhh’ed over her finds I wandered over to the Boots section to have a peek. I generally like Boots line of products and I haven’t really purchased anything that I didn’t love however the eye makeover remover gets my big old “don’t buy” stamp.

I normally get Sephora’s remover for $8 or when I’m feeling lucky I look through E-bay to score some cheap Bi-Facil (you seriously don’t think I’d spend $26 on that stuff did you? Sometimes the Muse is cheap!). However, I was feeling adventurous so I decided to grab some of the No7 Cleanse & Care remover and call it a day!

I was thinking somehow this would become a staple as soon as I noticed that it had a pump! W00t! Awesome! Instead of having to dip my cleaner onto my cotton pad I could now pump the cleaner on! Wow how techy!

The coolness ends right there my friends. Aside from the ultra awesome pump this does absolutely nothing in the way of removing hardcore eye makeup!

I didn’t have much on but it was a whole lot of tugging to get it to remove anything. A few swipes later and about half a bottle I had successfully removed about 60% of my eyeshadow and none of my mascara.

Sigh.

Well that chalks this up as heading right into the trash can! $8 bucks down the drain and still a load of eye makeup on!

Boo Boots! I’m disappointed in you!

Have you used this?

Love it?

Hate it?

Tell the Muse!

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I was shocked to hear that Heath Ledger has a total of $100,000 to his name. I’m left wondering how the hell that’s possible?

According to a news article on Yahoo the Brokeback Mountain star has a total of $100,000 in various bank accounts, a $25,000 car, and about $20,000 in furniture and home fixtures. He’s not in dept but he wasn’t exactly doing so great.

Click!

The man’s mad 23 films or so and he only squirreled away $100,000? Granted many of the films he’s starred in are Indie however he has been in some seriously silly Hollywood flicks…he had to be paid something for those right?

Wow.

Shocked here.

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