Reviews and Other Stuff

Month: November 2019

Rahua Hydration Shampoo + Conditioner Review

rahua

 

Hi everyone. Advance Happy Thanksgiving! I can’t believe we’re approaching the holiday season pretty soon. Time goes by so fast. Anyway, let’s discuss this haircare brand that I’ve seen a lot on Instagram lately. The Rahua brand of haircare has been popping out of several folks’ Instas and I must admit, the packaging has really caught my eye. I find its interesting bottles/design to be not quite the typical ones I’ve seen in most haircare products, not to mention its overall color and presentation. I honestly had no idea what this brand was all about, but I’ve read that its name is pronounced as Ra-Wa, a haircare brand based on the benefits derived from the Amazon. One of its main ingredients is Rahua oil, which is packed with omega-9 fatty acids that have long been used by indigenous women in the area. So the brand is all about sustainability, being vegan, gluten-free, cruelty-free, organic and plant-derived.

 

Rahua Hydration Shampoo and Conditioner

 

For this review, I decided to try the Rahua Hydration Shampoo and Conditioner, which are both winners of the Allure Best of Beauty 2019.

 

Hydration Shampoo (9.3 oz: 34 USD)

 

Rahua Hydration Shampoo and Conditioner

 

The main ingredients for this shampoo are the following: Morete Oil for conditioning and hydration, Sacha Inchi Oil for sun damage protection, Rahua Oil for strand strengthening/hydration, and also Mango sugars to facilitate more hydration. It is good for all hair types, and as you can see, it’s a shampoo that is meant to deliver hydration and moisture, thus, preventing frizz and adding softness and shine.

 

Now, for my experience, I find this shampoo to have a very pleasing sweet scent. For some, you may find this to be cloying, but I don’t. Something about the scent of this made me nostalgic about smelling some overripe tropical fruits (mangoes, guavas, etc) even including wild berries and burnt candies – a life reminiscent of being in a tropical island. Also, it’s the kind of scent that you may find at the spa, the type that may make you curious and wonder as to what that is. Anyhow, the texture of this shampoo is very light and you can tell that it’s all-natural just by feeling the clumps of its ingredients on your hands as you slather it all over your hair. I wouldn’t say that this is very creamy, it’s actually more like thick and whipped. It foams well, but not as foaming as most shampoos. It cleanses well too, but if your hair is oily, you may want to do two washes with this. After rinsing, this gives an overall clean feel on the hair, which doesn’t leave any residue but it’s not super moisturizing as well. In fact, this does seem to have a tiny bit of drying effect on my hair. I can understand why people say this leaves their hair dry as opposed to being moisturized because this is a natural shampoo and is very very light. So, this left my hair quite volumized actually. A similar product to this would be the Briogeo Blossom & Bloom Ginseng + Biotin Volumizing Shampoo, seen HERE, which I also like. But if you’re looking for a really moisturizing shampoo, this may not be the one. I suggest you try the Kerastase Discipline Sulfate-Free Smoothing Shampoo, or the Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Replenishing Moisture Shampoo, and also the Bumble & Bumble Hairdresserโ€™s Invisible Oil Shampoo (high-end), and the L’oreal Evercreme Deep Nourish Shampoo (drugstore) for the ultimate hair hydration.

FYI, I also have another shampoo+conditioner brand that I will be reviewing soon, and those seem to be quite very hydrating, so, stay tuned for that.

 

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Hydration Conditioner (9.3 oz: 36 USD)

 

rahua hair review

 

This conditioner contains the same ingredients as the Rahua Hydration Shampoo above, only that the scent and the texture of this are slightly different. First of all, the scent is not that sweet compared to the hydrating shampoo, and second, the texture is more smooth and creamy.

This is a conditioner for all hair types and it’s doesn’t weigh down the hair. I love that this definitely adds moisture but it still keeps the hair light and clean. Also, this definitely prevents frizz while it also adds softness and healthy-looking shine. I would say that I like this more than the shampoo above because it doesn’t make my hair oily and heavy, however, the perfect combination of both this conditioner and the Rahua shampoo above actually made my hair look nice.

 

Rahua Hydration Shampoo and Conditioner review

 

 

So, bottom line, if you want an interesting haircare that is based on sustainability and is made of clean ingredients, with the effects of thorough hair cleansing (clean/volumized), and with a unique blend of tropical scents, though not necessarily very hydrating, then you will enjoy this Rahua haircare line. I do think that this is more of a Summer type of haircare, not just because of the scent, but also for its volumizing effect. For me, personally, I love the effect that this does to my hair, and since I tend to have oily strands, my hair looks very clean, volumized, bouncy, frizz-free and definitely lively with this one.

The Rahua Hydration Shampoo+Conditioner are currently available at Sephora, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Space NK, Net-A-Porter, Barneys New York, Harrods, and Dermstore

 

rahua hair care review

 

Have you tried this brand already? What are your latest haircare finds?

 

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Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look In A Palette, Gorgeous Glowing Beauty Review & Swatches

Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look In A Palette Gorgeous Glowing Beauty swatch

 

During my busy travels, I found myself constantly needing to downsize the amount of makeup I packed. Not only for space-saving reasons, but also because whenever I travel, I tend to not travel for pleasure. Most of the time, I’m running around doing errands, so I barely have any moment to put some colors on my face. Yep, the struggle is real. Add that with jet lag, and that’s when I start to fumble around, sleepy, disoriented, trying to decide which eyeshadow would look best (given the number of minutes I have), and that’s if I haven’t lost them somewhere already.

 

Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look In A Palette Gorgeous Glowing Beauty Review

 

So, I made it a promise to myself to pack light and to carry beauty products that are more compact. You know, the all-in-one type. Luckily, with the Sephora Holiday Bonus Sale that happened a while ago, I was able to score some compacts that are made to be for full-face makeup. One of them is this Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look In A Palette in Gorgeous Glowing Beauty (75 USD). A lot of us fell in love with the Instant Look In A Palette since the time it was first released because it allows us to create an almost full-face makeup (sans lipstick, brow enhancer, and eyeliner) in a small handy palette.ย 

 

Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look In A Palette Gorgeous Glowing Beauty complete face

 

The shade for this holiday season is the limited-edition Gorgeous Glowing Beauty. It’s got a combination of matte and shimmery shades for the face, cheeks, and eyes. The compact itself is cruelty-free and it has five shades at 0.07 oz each, and two shades at 0.21 oz each.

 

Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look In A Palette Gorgeous Glowing Beauty holiday 2019

 

1 Eye Brighten: shimmery rose gold, brightening/primingย 

2 Eye Enhance: slightly shimmery coppery bronze, adds dimensionย 

3 Eye Smoke: matte maroon, adds definition to the eyes, and can create a smokey eye look

 

4 Face Bronzer: medium brown

 

5 Cheek Swish: shimmery champagne pink

6 Cheek Pop: slightly warm rose-pink, for the apples of the cheeks

 

7 Face Highlighter: shimmery luminescent gold

 

Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look In A Palette Gorgeous Glowing Beauty Review

 

This palette will definitely be overused pretty soon. I love the whole look of it and I can truly get a complete makeup look with just this handy compact. Also, I can create different looks with this, going from a natural look to a nighttime glam. The shades may seem to be not as pigmented at first glance, but it is definitely pigmented upon swatching. The colors do somewhat vary in tone once applied to the skin. For example, the #6 Cheek Pop blusher is definitely much more pigmented once on the cheeks, and the #1 Eye Brighten seems to be quite shimmery and has a slight pinkish tone that tends to blend with my skin, so, with that, I use the #7 Face Highlight as my inner eye brightener. The #2 Eye Enhance is definitely well pigmented and enough to define the eyes or even create a smokey eye look. The #5 Cheek Swish seems to slightly blend with my skin tone as well and is quite close to the #1 Eye Brighten, so it doesn’t show as a blush on me, but it’s more of a cheek highlighter which I like to put on top of the #6 Cheek Pop for a nice subtle glow.

 

Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look In A Palette Gorgeous Glowing Beauty Full face complete face

 

Overall, the look of this palette can go from natural to very glam. The tones are earthy yet dramatic, beautiful, and totally wearable. The shades stay for the whole day on my skin without using a primer, and there are no fallouts from the eyeshadows. This is one of those palettes that you’ll be constantly reaching for, and it’s also ideal for traveling, which is just what I need.

 

This palette is limited-edition and is still currently available at Nordstrom and at charlottetilbury.com

 

Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look In A Palette Gorgeous Glowing Beauty

 

Have you tried this already? What are your favorite beauty compacts for traveling?

 

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Kaja Beauty Review

 

kaja wink stamp wing eyeliner stamp

 

Hello you, miss me? Please excuse my long absence, my life has been filled with what seemed like an endless traveling lately; jet lag after jet lag, and massive sensory overload, lol. But, I’m glad that I’m mostly done with traveling this year. The fun part is that I went to the Pacific and had a great time to unwind. More details about that trip coming soon. For sure, a lot of things have happened and there will be more coming my way. I sure do hope for better days ahead. Anyway, as of the moment, I am so thrilled to be back talking about beauty and other stuff :-).ย 

 

kaja wink stamp wing eyeliner stamp review

 

I was going to post this review a few weeks prior to my Pacific trip, but I ran out of time. Anyways, I’ve always wanted to talk about Kaja Beauty ever since it was released by Sephora. It all first started with the Kaja Wink Stamp Wing Eyeliner Stamp & Pen (25 USD) which I was quite reluctant to buy at first, but I knew I needed something that would make my cat eye application a lot easier and a lot faster since I’ve been doing a lot of errands and traveling lately. The Kaja Wink Stamp is a double-ended wing stamp pen with an accompanying liquid liner that creates a foolproof cat eye. You just have to stamp on each outer corner of the eye, connect it with the smudge-proof/waterproof felt-tip liquid liner, and you’re good to go. You got a nice, neat, and balanced cat eye in just a matter of seconds. Additionally, I surprisingly love the liquid liner because it definitely doesn’t smudge and it works very well with my oily lids even when in a hot and humid weather like in the tropics. Its firm felt tip makes for an easy straight almost accurate line. This and the Tom Ford Eye Defining Pen are my fave reliable eyeliners of all time. The Wink Stamp duo is also free of parabens, phthalates, and cruelty-free.

 

kaja beauty wink stamp wing eyeliner stamp

kaja eyelinerkaja wink stamp swatch

kaja beauty wink stamp wing eyeliner stamp

 

Since I love the Kaja Wink Stamp so much, I decided to try more of the Kaja beauty items. So, to get a good test of most of Kaja Beauty’s bestsellers, I decided to try the Kaja Lookin’ Like A Snack Must-Haves Collection which retails for 39 USD, yet it has an 82 USD value of products. This collection is in a gift-size pack and it consists of full-size Kaja bestsellers; 1 Beauty Bento Bouncy Shimmer Eyeshadow Trio, 1 Cheeky Stamp Blendable Blush, 1 Mochi Glow Bouncy Highlighter, and 1 Cushy Vibe High-Pigment Lip Stain. All products are cruelty-free and also free of sulfates, parabens, and phthalates.

 

kaja lookin like a snack must haves collection

 

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kaja beauty bento orange blossom bouncy shimmer eyeshadow review

 

Beauty Bento Orange Blossom Bouncy Shimmer Eyeshadow Trio (21 USD) – The packaging of this is just so cute and so unique. I love the idea of stacked eyeshadows to save storage and it makes them very compact. However, I’m not quite a fan of these Orange Blossom shades, which has the shades: Sandy Peach (light peach shimmer), Sun-KissedTan (warm peach gold shimmer), and Baked Cinnamon (golden shimmery bronze). The texture of these is quite similar to the Tom Ford Cream & Powder Eye Color (the powder part) but these are way too blinding and too glittery for my taste. The TF ones are micro shimmery and are quite natural, but these are just a little too much for my taste. But hey, if you love the shining shimmering splendid type of eye makeup, then you will most likely fall in love with this. I would love to try the matte ones of this Kaja beauty eyeshadow as those would probably fit the bill for me.

 

kaja beauty mochi glow bouncy highlighter

 

kaja beauty beauty bento orange blossom bouncy shimmery eyeshadow swatch

 

Mochi Glow Bouncy Highlighter in 01 Toy Alien (0.15 oz: 19 USD) – This highlighter does give a slightly bouncy feel to the touch and it feels a bit gel-like. Though it’s nowhere near as bouncy and creamy as the Allure Awarded Stila Heaven’s Hue Highlighter, this still gives an outstanding highlight that can go from being natural to dramatic. I would say this feels very light and airy upon application, and then it becomes powdery once you blend it on the skin.

 

kaja cushy vibe lip stain

 

Cheeky Stamp Blendable Blush in 02 Saucy (0.17 oz: 24 USD) – A blush packed as a cushion-type and with a heart-shaped applicator, this product is just too cute, and it’s very easy to blend on the cheeks. The effect is really a natural and gorgeous flush on the cheeks which I love a lot. To use, just twist the top to release the heart-shaped applicator sponge, then dip/press it into the fluid cushion compact color and press it on the apples of the cheeks. Blend and enjoy.

 

kaja beauty cheeky stamp blendable blush saucy swatch

 

Cushy Vibe High-Pigment Lip Stain in 05 Chiffon (0.19 oz: 18 USD, currently on sale for $9 each) – I love love this cushiony and super pigmented liquid lip stain. At first, I wasn’t quite sure how this lip product would turn out to be, because it feels a bit too creamy upon application, but once it settles, it becomes this beautiful blotted matte lip color that just looks gorgeous on the lips. It is also very light, comfortable, and long-lasting, which really blew me away. Because I love this lip stain so much, I will be reviewing and swatching most of its shades here in the blog soon, so stay tuned for that.

 

kaja beauty bestsellers

 

Overall, these sets are perfect for gifting especially for those who are simply curious or are just beginning to discover this whimsical Kaja Beauty brand. Also, if you’re into K-beauty, you really need to try these. Additionally, these sets can give you a full-face makeup look at a value price and top quality. So, they’re definitely worth it.

 

The Kaja Beauty Wink Stamp and the Kaja Lookin’ Like A Snack Must-Haves Collection are currently available at Sephoraย 

 

Have you tried anything from this brand already? What are your favorite K-beauty brands/products?

 

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