FASHION & BEAUTY

Clean Fragrance Review

May 16, 2019 / FASHION & BEAUTY / 0 comments

This Spring and for this coming Summer, I’ve made it a point to venture into light clean fresh fragrances. I’m kind of tired of wearing heavy scents, especially those with strong alcohol notes. As the sky gets brighter and the daylight gets longer, I needed a few new light scents that could lift up my mood and inspire me throughout my activities. I wandered inside Sephora a couple of weeks ago and stumbled into a few Clean fragrances. We all have known, seen, and probably tried some Clean scents before, but on my part, I feel like I haven’t really taken a closer look and tested their fragrances thoroughly. I do know that their stuff seems to really gear towards light scents.

Clean scents are definitely scents that are meant to be light and clean. They’re made of simple, sustainable, and cruelty-free ingredients, with the concept of giving back to the community and improve their lives with every Clean fragrance made.

Upon trying a few scents at Sephora, I noticed that some of the scents really appealed to me, while a few also repulsed me, and there were also others that made me nostalgic or even gave me a few mixed emotions. Ultimately, I brought home three travel-size scents that I knew will be the ones I’ll be reaching out the most this season.

Clean Reserve

Citron Fig (0.34 oz: $28, 3.4 oz: $98) – This has a very citrusy green scent, but it’s quite light, fresh, and somewhat tart. I like this note of citrus a lot because it’s not so acidic and you can’t detect any alcohol content in it even if it’s in there. It’s just pure lemon and citrus from the beginning ’till the end, and it’s the kind of scent you would wanna wear from Spring until Summer.

Rain (0.34 oz: $28, 3.4 oz: $98) – Also available in Clean Classic, which is a lighter note compared to the Clean Reserve line, this Rain scent is the complete definition of a no-fuss, fresh, light, scent. It reminds of me of fresh morning dew, light rain, misty grass, fresh water, and delicate flowers along the meadows. Now that’s deep, LOL, but yeah, Imagine that! It smells simple but describing it is actually complicated. All I know is that it is so fresh, interestingly light, dreamy, and just beautiful. This gotta be my most favorite Clean scent of all.

Clean Classic

Fresh Laundry (0.34 oz: $24, 1 oz: $44, 2 oz: $74) – Inspired by freshly laundered linens under clear blue skies (per Clean Beauty’s website). A lot of people love this scent. This has a soapy cotton and linen scent that will definitely remind you of freshly cleaned clothes, whether dried under clear blue skies or baked out of a dryer, LOL. But yeah, the concept is there, and though I find the soapy scent of this to be a little bit too much, I still like its unique scent. It’s quite similar to the Clean Warm Cotton fragrance, but that one is just way too strong for me. Now, a lot of folks are saying that this particular scent smells like the Vicktor&Rolf Liquid Diamonds, which is one of my most favorite scents ever, reviewed HERE. Honestly, this Clean Fresh Laundry doesn’t really smell like the V&R Liquid Diamonds. I think they’re way too different from each other, even though they both have this hint of “freshly cleaned clothes” smell. Fresh laundry mainly smells like pure clean linen, while Liquid Diamonds has a lot of floral notes to it.

Other Clean scents I’ve tried and not photographed here in this review.

Acqua Neroli – exactly like Tom Ford’s Neroli Portofino. Not sure which came first, the chicken or the egg? Hmmm, seems like Tom Ford had it first.

Sel Santal – very much like Le Labo’s Santal 33, though a bit lighter, and cheaper as well.

Skin – not a fan of this. The scent is too much. Like sweat.

Solar Bloom – so intrigued by this. I couldn’t quite discern the complicated notes of this. It’s like fresh floral, earthy, and somewhat has coconut in it. I may wanna purchase it soon.

Warm Cotton – way too strong. It’s very soapy.

What I love about Clean scents is the fact that they tend to have this linear type of fragrance. The scent pretty much smells the same from the moment your first spray it on the skin until the very end of its lasting power. Their top notes and their dry down don’t change that much and I really love that in a fragrance. However, since these are light fragrances, expect to notice that they do fade a lot sooner than most perfumes.

Are you a fan of Clean fragrances? What’s your favorite?

The Clean Classic and Reserve scents are currently available at Sephora, Ulta, Nordstrom, and Birchbox

Urban Decay Naked Reloaded Eyeshadow Palette Review & Swatch

May 13, 2019 / FASHION & BEAUTY / 0 comments

Just when I thought Urban Decay would add another type of Naked Eyeshadow palette this season, it didn’t occur to me that they would completely redo and update their first Naked palette at all. For me, it kinda came as a surprise because I love the first Naked eyeshadow especially its color scheme. I was gonna skip on this one but seeing how beautiful the colors looked in-store, I decided to try it and see if it can keep up with the first ever popular Naked Palette.

The Urban Decay Naked Reloaded Eyeshadow Palette ($44) has 12 shades that are meant to be universally flattering for everyone, just like the first Naked Palette. The two outer pans on each side are slightly wider which are composed mostly of neutral mattes and soft shimmery shades. These are the shades a lot of us typically use the most as base colors on our lids. The rest of the colors are a mix of wearable mattes, earthy metallics, and micro-shimmers. There is one standout shade that looks like a salmon-matte color called Retro.

The packaging of this eyeshadow palette feels satiny to the touch but it could get stained easily because it’s pretty much made of cloth. It has a vintage look that I don’t like much because it’s not really eye-catching.

Application-wise, first of all, unlike most UD Naked Palettes, this doesn’t come with a brush, which would have been so useful right? And I do like most of the brushes that came with the Naked Palettes, so yeah. I find the mattes of this palette to be soft and pretty much easy to blend and apply, and also surprisingly very pigmented, even more so than the original Naked Palette. The metallic shades have mostly no fall-outs and are really pigmented as well. The shimmery ones as I expected, are not that pigmented but they can be worked on the lids easily, especially if you use your finger to apply it and pack the colors. There are also minimal fallouts from the shimmers as well, but they’re so fine that you probably won’t be bothered by it.

My favorite colors from this palette are Bucked (warm basic bronze matte), Burn (copper), Reputation (shimmery rose gold), Blur (creamy light neutral brown), Distilled (bronze), and Boundaries (terracotta). I was a bit worried about the Retro shade which is the most standout color of this palette that looks like a matte salmon-pink at first glance. I thought it may not look great on me, given my light-medium skin tone, but it actually turned out to have a pink terracotta-ish finish on me, which doesn’t look totally bad at all.

I did notice that after using this palette a couple of times, my skin started to react to it. I managed to catch it on time and had stopped using the palette since then, but it was enough to make my eyelids look puffy, red, and super itchy. I had to apply an antihistamine cream on my lids because it was starting to burn quite a lot. My lids normally don’t react like this to most powder eyeshadows, especially not with Urban Decay or with most UD Naked eyeshadow palettes at all, but this Naked Reloaded got to me, unfortunately. So, I won’t be using this from now on. It’s a pity because I really love the color scheme of this palette. I feel like this is such a fresh take of the original Naked eyeshadow that is so timely for this Spring and coming Summer.

Overall, at first, I thought this update to the first Naked Palette was not necessary but I must agree that the colors and pigments of this Naked Reloaded Eyeshadow will make you think otherwise. While I’m not quite sure if the color scheme of this palette is really universal since most of the shades may be too deep for lighter skintones, I do think that this is worth a try, but be wary that this may cause an allergic reaction for some.

Have you tried palette already? What do you think?

The Urban Decay Naked Reloaded Eyeshadow Palette is currently available at Sephora, Ulta, QVC, and Nordstrom

Pantene Rose Water Collection Review

May 9, 2019 / FASHION & BEAUTY / 0 comments

Hey guys! I’m back with another round of Pantene hair care review. If you have been following my previous posts, you’d know that I reviewed two of the Pantene Pro-V Blends haircare products like the Micellar Shampoo and Conditioner (seen HERE), as well as the Charcoal Purifying Root Wash and Renewing Cream Rinse (reviewed HERE). This time, we’ll be talking about the latest from the Pro-V Blends line, the Pantene Rose Water Collection (Twin Pack/17.99 oz: $19.99).

I’ve always wanted to test this particular Pantene haircare line because I had such a great experience with their Micellar and the Charcoal shampoo and conditioner. Also, with all the latest trend in skincare nowadays, the rose water is definitely having its moment. So, if it’s good for the face, it must be good for the hair as well. Why not? Right?

According to Pantene, the Rose Water Collection is meant to “help soothe and rehydrate hair so you can look your best with moisturized, petal soft hair”. It contains no sulfates, no silicones, no parabens, and definitely no dyes nor mineral oil. Packaging-wise, it’s really beautiful with its pinkish rose petal bottle that is totally Instagramable. For its price, well, it’s very affordable and it’s relatively easy to find.

However, I do have mixed feelings about this particular Pantene haircare line. First off, let’s start with the scent. This line smells pretty much like the rest of the Pantene Pro-V Blends, there is not much distinction fragrance-wise between this and the Micellar ones. The Charcoal ones smell the same too, but at least you could discern a hint of charcoal in it. This one doesn’t smell like a rose at all. I feel like Pantene could do a much better job at developing the fragrance of this.

The Rose Water Shampoo (10.1 oz: $5.99, 17.9 oz: $9.99) has a gel-like consistency and it’s meant to be a moisturizing shampoo. While it does feel moisturizing on my hands and right when I applied it on my hair, I seem to notice that this doesn’t lather very well compared to most moisturizing shampoos I’ve tried before, and even more so when compared with most core or regular Pantene haircare. I don’t know what’s in this, I know this feels really moisturizing while I lather this on my strands, but this feels like an oil slipping through my hair. It’s like my hair is not getting a thorough cleanse. As I kept lathering, I did kinda notice a very very faint scent of something earthy and rosy, but it’s almost hard to notice.

The Rose Water Conditioner (10.1 oz: $5.99, 17.9 oz: $9.99) on the other hand, feels much better than the shampoo version above, but it isn’t as creamy as I would have wanted. It does condition the hair but the scent is pretty much the same as the shampoo, and I feel like this pretty much feels like a standard conditioner. I feel like some other drugstore conditioners could do a much better job than this.

With those being said, a couple of minutes after washing my hair, my strands felt dry, especially at the roots. I have never experienced this with any moisturizing shampoo before. I had to literally use a leave-in conditioner in order to add more moisture to my strands. It’s kind of a bummer because this Pantene Rose Water Collection is meant to restore or add moisture to the hair, but I feel like the Micellar Collection and the Charcoal Collection (my most favorite) can do a much better job than this. So, if you’re looking for a good drugstore moisture shampoo/conditioner, I’ve had a good experience with L’oreal Evercreme Deep Nourish Shampoo and Conditioner. For the high-end ones, I like the Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Replenishing Shampoo + Conditioner (reviewed HERE), as well as the Kerastase Discipline Sulfate-Free Smoothing Shampoo (seen HERE).

The Pantene Rose Water Collection is currently available at Amazon, Target, and Walgreens.

Have you tried this already? How do you feel about this collection?

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