Thursday, May 30, 2013

Review: Pink Sugar by Aquolina

Looking for a super sweet, sugary scent? Look no further than Pink Sugar by Aquolina.
There is nothing remotely flowery, tropical, or clean about Pink Sugar. Along with that, it is almost impossible to detect any alcohol in it. When you spray it, you're bombared by a medley of sugar, sugar cookies, and vanilla. And A LOT of it.

When I first smelled this perfume, I immediately thought of this: Generic Sugar Girlyness.
Which, is pretty accurate, in my opinion, I have decided, after smelling it some more.
This definitely isn't a summery beach scent. I would say it would be appropriate during the winter, or at some kind of a fancy party. Even during the day, if it is applied lightly. Lightly.

As far as the smell goes, in retrospect, there's nothing wrong with it. It's simply a sugary, girly, and warm (As in stuffy warm, even cozy, perhaps) perfume. Definitely a playful scent.
I have a feeling I'll be smelling a lot more of this (they were giving samples away when the Sephora opened in the JCPenny's in my mall) since it seems to be one of the new "it" fragrances.

Overall Ratings:
Scent: 3
Look: 3
Price: $$$ ($20-50, it depends where you buy it.)

So, the overall score is: 3!



Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Herbal Essences: Smooth Collection (Rose)


Leaves your hair silky and shiny, and smells like roses?! Herbal Essences Smooth Collection Rose shampoo is sure to please. Clairol discontinued this line a while ago, but now they're back! Yay! This is my first time using this shampoo, and I hadn't heard of it when it was discontinued, but apparently it was so they could market more "tween/teen friendly products." I still like this one. ;)

This shampoo smells pretty much exactly like roses, if not a bit sweeter. Rose is a perfect scent for any shampoo, as it's clean yet smells good at the same time. 
After just finishing up my bottles of Tigi Bed Head Control Freak Shampoo and Conditioner, (read the review here) this was a really nice break. Sometimes the most simple ones work better than expensive salon-treatments. Even after drying my hair a lot recently, it's restored some of the "shine" that had been lost from the heat. 

I definitely reccomend this to everyone of all ages, as this is currently one of my favorite new shampoos!

Overall Ratings:
Scent: 5 (ROSES ZOMG)
Package: 4 (Pretty but a little old-fashioned.)
Price: $$ ($3-5, depending where you buy it.)
I would totally buy this again!

So, our overall rating is,
4.5!



Saturday, May 25, 2013

Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana

My first reaction when I smelled this: HOLY FREAKING COW OWW OW OW OW OW MY NOSTRILS AND SINUSES!
I had sniffed directly from the bottle (genius, I know) so my sinuses felt like they were on fire. (Or more accurately, that someone had shoved a bunch of nonscented hand sanitizer up my nose and made me inhale.) Smelling it again a bit later, the strong, overpowering firey alcohol scent was still there, but I could easily detect the other notes that gives it a breezy, crisp smell, which is nice.

I think this is one of the more versatile fragrances, because I can easily imagine myself wearing it any season, for any event. It's formal yet carefree, which gives me a wide varitey of places to wear it.
Once on my skin, it faded away a bit, the strongness gone, replaced with a refreshing, somewhat fruity and pleasant smell.

Judging by what I've seen, (and smelled) it's a pretty popular perfume, and ther are quite a few out there that smell similar- at least this one doesn't overpower your senses.

There is also a version for men, so this is fantastic for both men and women (and girls/boys!).

Overall Ratings:
Scent: 3
Packaging: 2.5 (it looks awfully boring)
Price: $$$-$$$$ ($60-100+)
I might buy this product again. Undetermined. 




Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Review: Pleasures, by Estee Lauder



Generic and flowery, Pleasures by Estee Lauder is precisely that.
I know I've smelled this before. It smells somewhat similar to either Fleur or one of The Body Shop fragrances, (I can't remember which.) mixed in with a bit of Flower by Kenzo. Or grandma perfume. >_<
Just, more generic. And with patchouli as a base note. Meh. It kind of makes it unpleasant.

Personally, it's too strong for me, and my skin is holding on to the smell like glue. 
I can't see this as the description states, "a springy-summer scent."
I'm just not seeing it.

It's just too strong for me, and just smells musky. (Sandalwood is the other base note, so it makes sense.)
I wouldn't really be able to say what places would be good for wearing this. Unless you plan on making it your siganture scent, there's not really many places I can imagine wearing this to.

It's not horribly repulsive, and it's not *WOW.* 
It's just one of those "Meh." perfumes. Don't like it, don't hate it.

Overall Ratings:
Scent: 2.6
Look (bottle): 3
Price: $$-$$$ ($30-60)
I wouldn't neccessarily buy this (again.)

So, the overall rating is: 2.9

Monday, May 20, 2013

15 Fantastic Skincare & Beauty Tips








Hi everyone! Lived One Thousand Lives here, as a guest author, and I'm going to give you my list of beauty/Skincare tips/tricks that I have found to work!



In no particular order, here they are:

1. Put chapstick on right before the shower. The steam helps take all the dead skin off.
2. Shave with conditioner, it helps get a closer shave.
3. Wear sunscreen. I know it's not "cool," but it's really good for your skin.
4. Moisturize! Everywhere!
5. Go natural with makeup as often as you can! Makeup clogs your pores!
6. Make your own facials to save money. Do it with a friend and it's a lot of fun too.
7. Exfoliate your skin.
8. Clean your face like 1,00000 times a day. Ok, not really but clean your face very often.
10. The best thing you can do is drink water. My trick is put 8 rubberbands on your wrist or in your pocket and after every glass of water take one away. After every sugary/caffeinated drink, add one back! This helps keep up on your hydration until you make it a habit.
11. Whiten your teeth with baking soda and hydrogen peroxide, it works wonders.
12. Toothpaste on a pimple overnight practically takes the pimple right off.
13. Use the buisness card trick for better mascara. Don't know what i am talking about? Check it out here: Mascara Business Card Trick
14. If your mascara is running really low, but you can't get to a store, heat it for a few seconds with your blow dryer  It softens the mascara left over so you have some to use. 
15. Have a really red pimple? Break open a gel capsule of advil by poking a hole in it with a safety pin and pour the liquid onto the pimple. It instantly takes redness and swelling away.

These are my beauty tips and tricks! Let me know what you think and email me at livedonethousandlives@hotmail.com

Thanks so much for having me!
Salaam, Lived One Thousand Lives

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Flower by Kenzo



(You can be expecting a lot more fragrance reviews for the next little while, I've got a bunch lined up!)

I was immediately interested when I saw this bottle.- simple, yet\ eye-catching, I thought it was really cool.
Flower by Kenzo is a very interesting and layered scent, with many different and strong base, top, and middle notes. (If you aren't sure what those are, read here.)

When I initially smelled this for the first time, my impression was pretty much this:
"WHOAWOW WOW WOW THIS IS SOME STRONG STUFF!"
That impression still stands. Despite being quite heavy and lasts a long time, it is a clean scent, in a way. (A very strange way.)
You can definitely smell the flowers that were added to it, along with some other, more musky scents.

I couldn't detect this at first, but upon just smelling it, it does smell somewhat like old lady perfume. Which is a MAJOR NO-NO.
Aside from that, it kind of reminds me of the Titanic...and Africa. That sounds pretty strange, I know. I say it smells like the Titanic because it smells like what I would have imagined a lot of those women wore at that time. Just that time period. And Africa? It reminds me of Africa because it reminds me of freedom and power, but in a restricting way.

I truly believe that this is one of those products that are big for a little while, then deemed "unwanted" after that obsession is over. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone that wants a fragrance just for day-to-day activities. I wouldn't wear this unless I was at something really, really, super-duper-mega fancy. (And maybe not even then.)


So, overall rating time!

Overall Ratings:
Scent: 2 stars
Look: 4 stars
Price: $$$

And, the overall score is:
2.5 Stars!