Parabens, Fragrance, Colorants, Talc: Debunking Bobby Parrish’s TikTok misinformation

22 February 202317 February 2023

Bobby Parrish, a home cook and food influencer who goes by the name FlavCity, has made a number of viral TikTok videos recently about dangerous personal care ingredients. As you might expect, there’s quite a lot of misinformation in them. I debunked a couple of them in a recent YouTube video, along with some other TikTok videos – you can …

Chemical Exfoliants as Deodorant? The Science of Smelly Armpits

9 March 202329 December 2019

As a dedicated skincare addict, I own quite a few never-ending bottles of exfoliating acid toners that I can’t really use up fast enough. They’ve been sitting around going dusty, and I was prepared to gift them to my grandchildren one day. Enter Tracy Robey, of fanserviced-b. Tracy, a longstanding member of the online skincare community, has kindly performed some …

How Do Bath Bombs Work? The Science (With Video)

5 January 202331 August 2019

Bath bombs are awesome balls of fizzy goodness, with some interesting science behind them! They were invented in 1989 by Mo Constantine, one of Lush’s founders. Bath bombs contain the chemical sodium bicarbonate, also known as baking soda, as their key ingredient. This is the text version – scroll down for the video! Some of you might remember that baking …

Fragrance Notes: Cedar

19 April 2018

Cedar is my favourite fragrance note at the moment. It’s a scent that’s really common as a base in perfumes, with some interesting properties:

Cedar oils in perfumery come from the wood and leaves of cedar trees, but also related juniper and cypress species.
Depending on the source of the oil, cedar oil can contain different scent compounds. Common chemicals in cedarwood oil include cedrol, ∀-cedrene, himachalene, d-alpha-atlantone and thujopsene.

Cedrol has been found to have a relaxant effect… and it also attracts pregnant mosquitoes.
Cedar can neutralise the scent of poop (from the chemical skatole). This odor-neutralising pairing is called a Zwaardemaker pair, named after the Dutch scientist who came up with the concept.

Cedar fragrance reviews

I’ve been working my way through Commodity’s sample sets, and encountered Book. It’s part of their Black collection, which is tailored more towards men. Book has eucalyptus and bergamot framing the cedar, and it smells a lot like a wooden bookshelf. The problem I’ve found with the entire Commodity range is that while the scents are unusual and interesting, they don’t tend to last very long on your skin. Book has decent lasting power – around 8 hours on me.

Perfume Reviews: Zadig & Voltaire, Trussardi, Elizabeth Arden and Ne’emah

6 September 2016

Perfume Reviews: Elizabeth Arden, Zadig & Voltaire, Ne'emah and Trussardi

I used to be a “signature fragrance” sort of person (a.k.a. too lazy to think so I’ll just wear the same perfume every day), but lately I’ve been switching up the fragrance I wear every day, and I can’t quite seem to settle on one. Recently, I’ve tried Zadig & Voltaire This is Her!, Donna Trussardi, Elizabeth Arden Always Red and Ne’emah Laya. Here’s what I thought:

Zadig & Voltaire This Is Her!

Zadig & Voltaire This Is Her! lives in a translucent white rectangular bottle with a “cracked” side that’s meant to fit nicely with the black bottle for the matching male fragrance, This Is Him! This Is Her! is described as woody, floral and gourmand – I’d say it’s mostly woody and gourmand, with a creamy and sweet scent that has a bit of flowery jasmine added in to stop it from smelling too much like dessert.

The most striking notes are sandalwood and vanilla. You can also pick up some of the pink pepper and chestnut around the edges, and a hint of jasmine too. It reminds me of a smoother version of L’Artisan Parfumeur Bois Farine. The scent is quite long-lasting, but it doesn’t project too much. It’s more of a soft, comforting, close-to-the-skin scent. I really didn’t expect to find this sort of scent in a mainstream store, but lo and behold, it’s in Priceline! I’ll be wearing this a lot.

Donna Trussardi

Donna Trussardi comes in an elegant white and gold bottle that looks a bit like a fancy liquor flask.

In short, Donna is jasmine on full blast. It isn’t too cloying or headache inducing though, thankfully, since the jasmine leans more towards a jasmine tea scent, and there’s some citrus in there to keep it light. The base is oriental (white patchouli, cedar, sandalwood and vanilla), but it doesn’t come through very strongly. This is a very straightforward, clean, friendly floral that smells like summer breezes, and is difficult to dislike unless you hate jasmine. I can see myself still wearing this in 10 years – it’s refined and elegant, without being dowdy.

Lush Vanillary and All Good Things Perfume Review

30 May 2016

I recently acquired two more Gorilla Fragrances to add to my Lush perfume collection: Vanillary (liquid spray) and All Good Things (solid balm). I received them at at the latest Bloggers United event hosted at Lush’s QVB store.

Vanillary

Vanillary has become my new everyday fragrance. As you can tell from the name, this is a hardcore vanilla fragrance! It’s not sweet, simple and lightweight like you might expect, but a spicy, buttery, full-bodied vanilla that’s gorgeously warm and sunny on the skin. There’s also a healthy blast of jasmine, especially at the beginning (it’s supposed to be less pronounced in the solid perfume) and tonka bean, which adds a creamy, brown-around-the-edges, caramelised toffee character in the middle and base. After a few hours it’s a lot less floral and mostly creamy, comforting and oh-so-sniffable – my sister says it “smells like cookies”. It’s reminiscent of the tonka drydown of the limited edition Twilight perfume. The sillage is great – one spray is enough, unless you want to offend everyone around you, and the creamy base lingers on your clothes for days. If you like creamy scents, this will probably be up your alley!

End-of-Year Empties

28 December 2015

I really didn’t get through as many products as I’d hoped to this year – I’m hoping 2016 will be better! Here are my final empties for the year:

Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar – I used this for my Aztec Secret clay masks, but I’ve switched to citric acid instead to avoid the vinegar stink. I don’t think I’ll be rebuying this for a while.

Biore Aqua Rich Watery Essence SPF50+ PA+++ Sunscreen – This is the old version, I’ve repurchased the newer, reformulated PA++++ version already. I love how light and non-greasy this is!

Nivea Repair and Protection Lip Balm – My trusty favourite lip balm. I have so many open tubes lying around my room.

Crop Gentle Cleansing Gel – I really like this foaming cleanser. It doesn’t strip your skin of oil, and I haven’t found the essential oils irritating on my skin either. I’ll be repurchasing this!

Banila Co Clean It Zero – I love this mineral oil-based cleansing balm for taking off heavy make-up. I have a bunch of little samples to go through, and I’d love to try the other varieties before going for a full-size tub.

Enbacci Vitis Vinifera Rejuvenating Gel Cleanser – This is a really nice, non-drying cleanser sample I received at the Bloggers United Australia event in Sydney earlier this year. I have a whole heap of other Enbacci samples I’m working through too!

Marc Jacobs Daisy Perfume – This has been my emergency handbag perfume, and I’m sad to see the end of it… lucky I have a few more sample sprays from various subscription boxes! Perfume samples are definitely one of my most used items from subscriptions.

Models Prefer Multi-Purpose Sponge – This is a nice sponge that’s a similar texture to the Beauty Blenders that are really popular now (I have a bunch of those too!). I find the sponge shape a little harder to work with, but it’s handier and a lot cheaper, and easier to wash.

New finds: The Body Shop, Urban Rituelle, DB Twist ‘n’ Go Polish Remover

13 March 201624 October 2015

I’ve been trying out a whole bunch of things lately – here are the ones that’ve made it to the top of my “yes!” pile. Urban Rituelle have released the new Dreamweaver range, which includes 2 summery fragrance blends – Island Blossom, a mix of jasmine, frangipani and berries, and Coconut & Lotus, which is a sugary blend of coconut, …