Cherry Ice Cream Smile I Suppose It's Very Nice- Caress Brazilian Exotic Oil Infusion Body Wash

As far as my skin is concerned, testing mass market bath products is like playing a Russian Roulette. I'm allergic to several of them, as well as to some of the most popular shampoos, and have stories to tell that are only funny in retrospect. And if you're not me.

The reason I even agreed to try Caress Brazilian Exotic Oil Infusion body wash was the promise of a unique cream and oil formula, and the mental image of sleek Brazilian bodies (stop laughing). What didn't take into account were a) that they promote this product using Nicole from the Pussycat Dolls who sings butchers a staple of my long lost youth, Duran Duran's Rio (you're still laughing. Stop it), and b) that people's idea of a tropical Brazilian scent is death by mango.

Now, I can try and forget that I've ever heard this version. But getting over the initial fruity blast (plastic passion flower) I got when opening the lid was harder, and the bottle was put aside until I got braver. The good news is that when actually pouring some out onto my loofah it was less sugary juice and more of a Piña Colada. And I'm marginally fond of Piña Colada, even if I'm not sure I need to smell like it.

The good news continue: The scent is much more subtle when confronted with hot water and it doesn't linger. By the time I'm out of my bathrobe and ready for body butter, all I can smell is "clean". The even better news is that the formula is quite nice. The texture is lotiony-creamy, it glides smoothly and doesn't dry the skin even one bit. The foaming is minimal and people who don't suffer from a Cuir de Crocodile might have a problem with a bathing product that feels almost oily, but for me it's quite pleasant.

There are two other scents: Japanese (white lotus cream and kukui nut oil) and Moroccan (cassis cream and starflower oil). I'm curious to know if any of you tried them and have any insight. I understand that it's not realistic to hope for a lovely wood-incense scent of a drugstore product that sells for $4.29, but one can dream.

I don't like the scent enough to buy a replacement bottle, but it's a very decent body wash and would probably be a big success with those too young to have had fantasies about John Taylor.





Ingredients (yay for no parabens):
Water, Glycine Soja Oil or Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil, Glycerin, Petrolatum, Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl, Betaine, Ammonium Laureth Sulfate, Lauric Acid, Cocamide MEA, Polybutene or Polyisobutylene, Fragrance, PEG-5 Cocamide, Euterpe Oleracea Fruit Oil, Passiflora Incarnata Flower Extract, Acrylates/Beheneth-25 Methacrylate Copolymer, PEG-30 Dipolyhydroxystearate, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Isostearic Acid, DMDM Hydantion, Propylene Glycol, Tetrasodium EDTA, Etidronic Acid, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Titanium Dioxide, Yellow 5, Yellow 6.

The bottle was a PR freebie. You can find it everywhere under the sun.

The Great Eyeliner Hunt II- On the High-End

Eyeliner is without a doubt my "desert island" product. It's the one thing that I can't do without and must have one in every possible color and texture. I don't think that I'm alone in that obsession. Just ask Cleopatra. Or Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes.




In previous posts I've mentioned some of my most frequently used liners. This is a good opportunity to give them center stage.

Sue Devitt's thick pencil in Gold Reef-I usually prefer thin pencils, as they are better as "liners", and I don't like thick, dark lines over my eye. But this color is magical- it does give contour and definition to the lash line, but it's light enough to not look like something out of Courtney Love's makeup drawer. It's a perfect bronze that works well as a shadow as well as a liner, which is why I love it as part of my "no effort" look.

The pencil glides easily over the lid. It's soft enough and doesn't pull the skin, precise despite the thickness and doesn't smudge or bleed. It stays in place for long hours, fades a little by the end of the day (especially if I don't use shadow to keep it in place) but doesn't migrate. It has an eye shadow applicator sponge on its other end that works well for smudging and blending, which I especially like for its narrow tip. It's a great liner and I keep promising myself to get it in some other colors. It didn't work well with the sharpener I had (a cheap one from target), so I had to purchase the Sue Devitt sharpener from Sephora. It was well worth it, because it sharpens well all my other lip and eye pencils.




Another liner in my collection is Chanel Precision Eye Definer (Le Crayon Yeux)in Blue Jean. This color appeared a couple of years ago together with a beautiful eye shadow compact that was also called Blue Jean and contained four different shades of blue. It was the perfect example of how blue eye shadow can be beautiful, flattering and not make you feel like it's 1980 all over again.

The liner is a very dark navy with a slight hint of metallic (that I find unnecessary). It's not very blue and can be easily worn for daytime. It's almost a "light black", so it doesn't scream "I'm wearing blue eye makeup". The color stays put all day, doesn't bleed or smudge, even when I accidentally rub my eyes.

Its two drawbacks are the slanted sponge applicator that isn't very effective (it's of the smooth, rubbery variety. Not the porous one that I think works better for blending and smudging), and the texture of the pencil itself. I'd expect a high-end product to feel better on my skin- it's too hard and unyielding, resulting in some skin pulling when applying it. My personal preference is for creamy pencils, even if it means less staying power. I use it because I like the color, but when it's time, I'll be looking for a navy pencil from another line.