[Reupload] Egyptian Magic Cream

Egyptian Magic... Heard of it? Its an all purpose cream that can be used for dry skin, burn skin, scars amongst many other things. CLICK HERE to go to their official website, I mainly bought it for the scar reduction ability and maybe sometimes for the dry skin. I bought mine off of eBay for around £27, the tub is 4oz/118 ml and its made in the USA.

It is made from only 6 natural ingredients, Olive oil, Beeswax, Honey, Pollen, Royal Jelly and Propolis Extract (Propolis is a resinous mixture that honey bees collect from tree buds, sap flows, or other botanical sources.).

How to use it is to get a small amount onto your hands and the best way to use it is to rub your hands together until it gets oily like, what it feels like is, imagine you have some olive oil and it ends up being so cold that it goes into a solid, that's exactly how the Egyptian Magic feels. Sometimes after rubbing your hands together you might still find some small lumps that haven't melted but what I usually do is just breathe over your fingers with some cream in to warm up the cream before rubbing your hands together and that usually does the trick in making it all melty! Then it is best to massage in circular motions to rub it in. This is what it looks like and how much I have used already!

I have used it for about 1 month now I think, an truthfully, it hasn't done anything for me yet - however, whilst I was ill I didn't use it for a week because I didn't really have the energy to do anything! But as I said I am using it for the scar reducing ability and I have loads of old eczema scars well, everywhere really. I am going to carry on using and maybe when I see a difference I will let you know. FYI, I have also tried using Bio Oil, again for scar reducing and that was note very good at all, with Bio Oil it just feels like your dousing oil all over yourself! But I won't slam it too much, it does absorb after about 15 - 20 minutes but I usually did it after a shower so I would be rubbing it whilst sitting on my bed and I was always really scared to put my legs down incase it made my bed sheets all oily. I still have that feeling with the Egyptian Magic but its not as a big deal because its more like a petroleum cream as opposed to really wet oil.

I started using on my face hoping that it would help my complexion, fade marks and evening out my skin tone. I did it for about a week and initially it feels really horrible and sticky because the cream is thick and it takes quite a while to absorb too and after using for a week, I didn't really see a vast improvement in softness or anything so I decided to stop doing it since it feels quite uncomfortable. I have tried using on my lips as well, it works okay but still no where near as quickly effective as Vaseline but I must admit that sometimes Vaseline can irritate my lips and I end up scratching my lips quite a lot and this did not happen with the Egyptian Magic so I now carry around a small pot of it in my bag to use.

I think with a product like this, it takes time around like 3 months to see gradual improvements and it doesn't really work with old scars. You must be really determined to see the visible results and and put it on at least once a day but out of this cream and Bio-Oil,I definitely prefer this one as you can still use it whilst wounds are still open whereas with the Bio-Oil you must wait until the wound is fully healed before you can start the scar healing process and also the Egyptian Magic is almost like an all purpose cream so you can use it for eczema and even if you burn yourself, I burnt myself with my hair curlers, it was only small on my thumb but I put the Egyptian Magic on it a few times a day and there seems to be nothing there now (=.

As for buying it again or not... I'd probably say yes to use for dry skin rather than for scar reduction.

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year! Have you kept to your resolutions? Mine is to work hard and graduate this year so let's hope I do stick to mine!

[Reupload] IQQU

NOTE: IQQU is no longer associated with Michelle Phan, I believe she sold the company so she could have more time with her projects such as her Lancome work. This product has also discontinued )= Shame.. I really liked it!

Hi Everyone!!

I've been so busy lately! End of semesters always mean loads and loads of deadlines so I haven't had the time to write )= I'm still working on some work now but I'm taking a break to talk to you about IQQU Skin Rejuvenator that I bought when it was the black friday sale a while back.

For those who don't know, IQQU is the brand by Michelle Phan aka RiceBunny, she is basically the original beauty guru of YouTube! If you haven't come across any of her video's then you should search for her! I have wanted to try her products for quite a while because not only did she formulate the products herself with scientists but she uses them on a daily basis and her skin is soooo perfect! There are RAVING reviews of her Acne Serum, with that I'd love to try it but I don't have acne so it would not be a great use to me!

As she was having a black friday sale it meant that most products went from being $33 to $25! but shipping is quite expensive which is why I didn't try it straight away. For me it costed $8 so it meant the equivalent of buying the product normally with free shipping but still, it was cheaper so I bought it! I got it quite quickly in the post but since there were probably a million orders that Michelle was dealing with, she had abit of a delay with some orders as she was packing I think all the US orders herself and something also went wrong so she needed to manually email everyone that ordered and ask them again poor girl! I got confused at the time as I replied and heard nothing back and I was unable to sign into my account too to check the progress of my order so I filled out the 'Contact Us' form on her website http://www.iqqubeauty.com/int/index.php and she replied after about a day and explained the situation to me but after less than a week after ordering, I got my package with the skin rejuvenator in!

This is what the skin rejuvenator can do for you...

This product is for you if...

You want to hydrate your skin without your skin feeling oily.
You want to even out your skin tone.
You want your skin to retain moisture.
You want an extra lift and stimulate collagen production.
You want to renew your skin without irritation.
You want to give your skin natural antioxidant and sunscreen.

I wanted everything that this product can offer! When I received the package I literally just ripped it out the box and wanted to use it! I have used it for a bit now and it is quite moisturizing. This is not the best time for me to be testing it though since every year around this time I have really bad skin problems because of the weather, it started snowing in London not long ago! so temperatures have been dropping below 0 and usually when going to University, I commute for 2 hours with constant changes on different trains so usually going from in to out and out to in with the heat from the inside and the cold outside, it has damaging effects on me that I haven't had since I started going to University (Luckily this is the last year!) It's currently on the mend at the moment though since its thankfully the holidays!

I digress though... back to the product, It has no fragrance to it and it is a cloudy white colour. The cream itself is like a gel, thin and light weight as advertised, it absorbs well with little effort and immediately leaves your skin feeling soft but not if you have very dry skin even with eczema or psoriasis, I have some patches at the moment and they don't immediately disappear but remember, this isn't a miracle cream!

This is what the cream itself looks like... That little blob of cream is about half a pump and you can see that its slightly starting to trickle down my hand, I had it there for about 30 seconds to take the picture and I don't know if you can see the faint line on top of my hand I've rubbed some in and its already starting to absorb!

I am using it by itself and not using the revitalizer as suggested as this was the first time trying this brand at all and if I had any problems with it then I wouldn't feel like I've wasted any money on stuff that I can't use and really want to! Out of this and the Laneige Emulsion that I use, I prefer the Laneige it has been developed for sensitive skin whereas the IQQU is designed for everyone and not one product, I believe, can suit everyone. Also, considering that I can't buy either of a products in a shop, they were both around £20 for me and the IQQU is 30ml and the Laneige is 100ml so money wise the Laneige is currently still winning.

All in all, I love the product and If I could, I would buy everything from IQQU and use it, Michelle uses it and look how perfect her skin is! But, long term wise, for a student, it is quite costly for what you are buying and there are some design flaws with the bottle that I have noticed, its in a standard regular pump bottle but sometimes some cream can get stuck under the nozzle so its not very hygienic and after each pump, there is still some that comes out - quite similar with what happens to hair mousse so if you just pump once and then replace the lid, you'll find that its leaked abit which is not great either with it being wasteful, I can't say for sure though whether it is a design flaw or something happened during the posting but to me it looks all normal which is why I am calling it a design flaw.

Again, Sorry for the lack of updates and not even one for over a month but I have been busy and just had no time to even sleep! I hope you have all have a lovely holiday and keep warm! (If your in a cold place of course, if your not, I'm very jealous of you!). Take care of yourselves!

[Reupload] Lips Part 2

Hello again! So... I've been ill so sorry for no updates, I always get ill this time of the year and everyone calls it fresher's flu but I'm not a fresher! Nor do I party like one! But here I am, feeling alot better after going to the doctors and getting some antibiotics! So if its cold, wrap up warm! (= If not, lucky you!
Finally though, here is the second part of my lip post. This particular post is looking at those drug store brands that I have used before aside because not everyone can always get access or afford the real expensive ones, I know I certainly can't!

First up - Vaseline

I'm sure this is the most popular one that everyone knows about and can easily get access to! I'm not going to go too much into detail about this one because its been around for years, its very popular and I'm sure at some point you have used it before. This one is definitely a must have! I don't use it on a daily basis as I find it very oily but sometimes when you use expensive things, it takes a toll and you can't afford to keep using it so I always have a Vaseline handy so that maybe when I'm just at home for the day I would use it to keep my lips moisturized without using expensive things! I have used the lip one and the one that comes in a tub and I would favour the one designed for lips but both work just as well (=



Soft Lips - I used this many years ago, I think I used a vanilla one but they have pretty much changed since I used it but I didn't like it very much at the time. I felt like I was using every 5 seconds and it didn't feel very comfortable, once again the barrier type feeling that I don't like. The packaging is nice though however, its very slim and small so good for people like me who carry loads of stuff in their bags! and its not too expensive.



Nivea - I like this, it does what a lip balm should do. Not thick or oily, feels moisturized for a long time and and you know when you get that feeling of when you lips feel very soft and you also feel like you have nothing on, thats what I like about it so much. However, after a while of using it, I felt like my lips had got used to the lip balm and it wasn't working the same anymore so if you are looking for something long term - I don't think this is it. The Johnsons & Johnsons range have a lip balm that is very similar to this too. I also prefer that its in a lipstick stick style because it saves you from using your hands because they may be dirty because for example, your on public transport and touched a handrail that could not be clean!

I'm sorry this is a short one, I'm a bit busy with Uni work at the moment, I am in my final year now and I have to make a documentary! With the help of my lovely girls, I am Producer for this documentary so lots of paperwork for me to do! But I can let you know that I will doing a post on a new curling iron that I bought and I m also running low on some make up so I will be buying more very shortly and of course I will not forget to tell you how I feel about them!

[Reupload] Lips Part 1

At the moment, I thought I would share with everyone my insight into lip salves/creams/moisturizers. I have the most awfullest lips that anyone can ask for, they have been like that since I was born and no cream or medicine has been able to cure it (not even yucky Chinese herbal medicine!), however, I do try to prevent them from being as bad as they are on a daily basis but every now and again when the weather changes drastically they turn drastically too. Be prepared! Haha, its going to be a long one, my lips have always been something that have been troublesome for me so I try everything! Even when I go to make-up counters they will always look at my lips and recommend and let me try their lip products! even if I am looking at something completely different!

Over the years I have tried numerous lip creams from very expensive to drug store cheap. Vaseline is the main one I'm sure you guys all know of, I have used it for many years but do not as much anymore. I find it very oily and thin, I don't use it often but it is still a good one to always have on you for occasional use.

Recently, I have been trying other things that have come to my attention... as you can see from my previous post, I love Laneige! My favourite lip blam is definately the Laniege Lip Treatment.

This seems to do wonders for me, the edges of my lips can get really dry and crack like hell to the extent that opening your mouth is sooooo painful! This lip balm soothes it a lot for me and after a few minutes of putting it on it feels like they have suddenly gone smooth like how lovely lips should be and I can open my mouth again! I unfortunately can't tell you what is in it since all the ingredients are in Korean but the sales lady who convinced me to buy this told me that it is all natural, the fragrance of the lip balm is lovely, its like a honey-ish time smell and this is just from the stuff that has been added to make the lip balm (so I've been told). It is a traditional lipstick style twisty up kind of thing so no hands are needed to apply this! It has also been said that it can be used as a lip base but honestly, when my lips are really bad, I don't wear lipstick/gloss because it doesn't feel good, feels like your making it worse so just this lip balm is good for me. Definately my HG (Holy Grail) of lip balms, but at $150HKD, its pretty expensive and it lasts me about 2 weeks with continuous use so I use it very sparingly as I cannot even purchase it without having my cousin buying it for me and posting it to me!

Another lip balm that I have found to be quite good is Kiehl's Lip Balm #1, it retails at £8.31-ish, it depends where you get it from! It can be purchased in Kiehl's shops (there is one in Covent Garden and you can also buy them in Space NK, the difference isn't too much though, its like around 10p less or more in different shops). My cousin actually recommended this to me, she lives in China so she has to buy it online but luckily its accessible for me. I really like this one as well because it isn't oily, thick and it absorbs in well. It is a squeezy tube so you have to use your hands to rub it in but remember that your hands are your best tools! It doesn't really smell of anything, if it did smell bad I wouldn't use it since your mouth is directly underneath your nose so you'll be able to smell it all the time! I think a good way of describing this lip balm would be like vaseline - the consistency is the same but it is a lot less oily an much more absorbing but at a slower rate but after a few applications your lips begin to look and feel a lot nicer. If I am bad I would normally put it on about 6/7 times a day whereas if I'm alright/good I will put it on about 2/3 times a day. This is 15ml and with constant use, it can last me up to about a month/month and half.

I don't know if you can see well in the picture but you can see that my lips weren't great on that day, it was on an average day because the skin around my mouth wasn't doing great then either but what I usually would do is put it around my lips as well at night time before bed and next morning it would feel better and not so tight, itchy and peeling.

If you do have cracked sore peeling horribly annoying lips like mine, a good way to moisturize them is to put it on at night and in the morning they won't so bad. A good little exfoliant is the olive oil and sugar trick. Sooo simple and extremely affective, literally how it sounds, mix some extra virgin olive oil with some normal white granulated sugar and smooth over lips and leave for a couple of minutes and rinse off. Whats great is that the sugar acts like a scrub and the oil softens things, its also great because if you accidentally eat it, its not a problem at all! At one point when my lips were really bad I was doing this about 3/4 times a day, its always a good idea to put something back on your lips after you finished eating, just like lipstick it needs a touch up.

There are other things that I have tried in the past, not used long term so these are based on first impressions.

Shiseido Benefiance Full Correction Lip Treatment - Retails around £28.50 for 15ml, for such a price I really do not think that it is that great considering Shiseido is one of my favourite brands and the Benefiance line is produced for mature and dry skin. It was very thick and sticky which is what I do not look for in a good lip balm, it felt like I had a layer or barrier over my lips and it also felt like I couldn't do anything for ages like eat/drink, even if it was windy and hair blew into it, it would feel really horrible and would stick really badly to it.

Shiseido The Skincare Protective Lip Conditioner - I got this when my auntie actually gave this to me a long time ago. I would compare this to the Nivea lip balms that you can get in drugstores but a little bit nicer. Retailing at around £21, I would only buy this if I had bit of extra cash and I felt like treating myself. An added bonus is that it has an SPF of 10, it is 4g in size so again doesn't last me too long with continuous use.

Biotherm Aquasource Moisturizing Balm Protective Lip Care - Thought about trying this after becoming interested in Biotherm, I haven't ever used any of the products but my cousin does which is why I became interested in it, again my lips are my biggest concern so immediately went to look at the lip stuff. I actually went to a counter to try it out before I bought it because it retails at around £12 so didn't want to waste it since Biotherm isn't a brand that I know I can trust at the moment. I didn't like this one either, thick and gloopy like a barrier again, very close to the Shiseido Benefiance one but cheaper.

*Phew* that was a lot. These are mainly the high end ones that I have use(d). Next time we will be talking cheap drugstore brands like Nivea, Vaseline and Johnsons.