Lippmann Collection 'Did I Shave My Legs For This?' Ayurvedic Shave Cream

Did I Shave My Legs For This? is the brand new luxury shave cream from Lippmann Collection- yes, they do more than nail polish! Lippmann Collection has a line of luxury spa-type hand and body treatments like Steppin' Out Ayurvedic Foot Cream, Soul Mission Foot Scrub, Get Off Callus Softener and my personal favorite, Rich Girl Hand Cream (more on that in another post!).

The shave cream is described on Lippmann Collection's website as:

"The perfect way to indulge your skin and senses anytime, whether it's before a weekend getaway or whenever you need a little pampering. The specially formulated shave cream, for use on any body part and with any skin type, has soothing, moisturizing and toning properties so shaving will never be in vain. A unique, rare blend called the Ayurvedic Complex creates a moisturizing skin smoothing barrier that lubricates skin without clogging your razor. The creamy texture molds to skin while shaving- ideal for the areas prone to nicks like ankles and knees.

• Ayurvedic Complex - A blend of Green Coconut Water and Withania Root Extract exclusively selected in India, which is high in amino acids and vitamins to help restore, rehydrate and nourish skin.
• Exotic Acai Oil - Includes Omega 6 and Omega 9 fatty acids that hydrate and soften skin, phtysterols which help regulate and enhance the cell turnover process, and Vitamin C to protect skin from free radical damage and rejuvenate dull, sun-damaged skin
• Lavender, Lemon, Mint, Cypress and Labdanum Oils - Aromatherapeutic, natural botanical essential oils that relax the skin and delight the senses."

Sounds pretty alluring, I have to admit. I am not normally a shave cream type of girl- I favor the epilator over the razor, so I don't often have a use for shave cream. However, I am willing to change my routine if it means I get to use new products. I'm not just a polish addict, I'm a beauty, bath, body and fragrance addict as well, so of course I'd jump at the chance to try out some new thing that smells good.

I don't know anything about Ayurveda or how it relates to beauty products, but it seems to be a very popular beauty trend lately. I am always seeing signs and ads for Ayurvedic spas and all types of Ayurvedic beauty treatments. Effective or not, it does make the product seem more exotic, doesn't it?

Anyway, I used the product regularly for about two weeks and I had good results, but nothing stellar. My skin did feel softer and a lot more hydrated after using this product for shaving compared to using shower gel, and I didn't feel the need to immediately moisturize my legs after stepping out of the shower.

The cream itself is a new experience for me. I'm used to a traditional shaving cream that foams up when you apply it, but this is more like a lotion. It's a very thick consistency, like a rich body cream rather than a light, airy shaving cream. Despite the thick, lotion-like texture, this product washes off easily with no residue. It also washes off unintentionally while you're trying to shave in the shower, so be sure to step away from the water or turn off the shower while you're shaving with this.

The cream provides a nice, smooth shave and doesn't leave your skin feeling dried out afterwards. The scent provides a feeling of calmness and the formula of the product feels luxurious and indulgent.

Despite not being a country music fan, I do find the name of this product cute. I couldn't recall any of the words or even the artist who did the song, so I looked it up and listened to it a few times. In the song, the singer mentions doing her nails! But apart from that, it's a little sad and it is a good reminder of who you should really be trying to please.

My favorite feature of this product is the scent. The scent is fantastic. I am a person who buys things just for the scent, and this is a product that would inspire an impulse buy for me. It has a really unique scent that isn't my typical favorite "cupcakes and incense" type of scent.

It's calming, cool and herbal. It has a very serene, watery, spa-like aroma that is both relaxing and refreshing at the same time. I wouldn't categorize the scent as either masculine or feminine. I often find myself opening the tube of shaving cream just to smell it. It is heavenly. I need to find a perfume that smells like this!

Overall, it's a very nice product but there weren't fireworks for me. I'm not sure that I could really justify the cost of regularly buying this. At $24 for seven ounces, this is really a luxury product. It's a good, effective, moisturizing shave cream with a wonderful natural scent and a cute name. If you want to treat yourself to a small indulgence to make a very un-glamourous task feel a little less mundane, this is a product for you. Or, if you're like me, you'll sniff it once and come home with seven tubes of it.


Did I Shave My Legs For This? can be purchased directly from Lippmann Collection's website and it retails for $24 for 7 ounces (200 grams).

Review: Dylan's Candy Bar

I've been dying to smell these ever since I first heard mention of them on Sephora's Beauty And The Blog. Now they're finally here and I can actually say that they haven't just lived up to my expectations, they've exceeded them!

I tried:

Body Smoothie Lotion in Birthday Cake Batter: This lotion comes in a bottle, unlike the butters which come in a tub. I do like the bottle style, I feel that it's more sanitary when you don't have to stick your fingers in the container. The texture of the lotion is perfect. Absolutely perfect. Usually body lotions are too thin and not very moisturizing (think Bath and Body Works body lotion) but this is actually very moisturizing and not too runny. It's definitely not thick, which is good because otherwise it would be hard to get out of the bottle. It doesn't feel sticky, it just feels smooth and soft. Genius, I tell you!

As for the scent.... WOW. How can I even describe this?? It smells exactly like white cake batter. Not fakey weird chemical cake batter like most cake batter scents are. It is a *true* cake batter scent- like smelling a bowl of just-mixed white cake mix. It's not almondy or coconutty, it's not too sugary sweet and overwhelming, and it's not just plain vanilla. It smells edible.

I'm a huge fan of lots of etailers, and I have pretty much every cake / cake batter / frosting scent they carry, and none of them smell anything like this.


Candy Butter Cream in Chocolate Cupcake: The texture of the Candy Butter Cream is everything a body butter should be- super thick, rich and very moisturizing. It's quite a bit heavier than the lotion, but not gross-oily-sticky heavy. It's like The Body Shop body butters would be if they were half as oily. It takes a little while to soak in, but not all day like The Body Shop. It's a good balance, and it's now my favorite retail body butter. Excellent.

The scent (Chocolate Cupcake) is delicious. It's nothing like most retail chocolate scented bath and body products. I can't say it's a 100% true to life chocolate scent, but it's definitely the most realistic chocolate scented product I've tried.

The scent isn't overly sweet or chemical like other chocolate scents (Bath and Body Works Wickedly Hot Chocolate comes to mind), and it has more of a chocolate cake scent than a straight chocolate scent. I think the fact that it isn't too sweet of a scent is what I really like about it. It smells like chocolate cake, buttercream frosting and a hint of pure almond. Almond isn't the dominant note, but it really helps keep the chocolate scent from being artificial. After about ten minutes of wearing it, I get the slightest hint of base scent from the lotion- it's hard to describe- not quite like plastic, but not like chocolate either. It's not strong and it's not bad, but it's definitely there. Again, I'm super-impressed with this scent and it's easily my favorite chocolate cupcake scent now.


Candy Butter Cream in Strawberry Licorice: Same formula as the Chocolate Cupcake Candy Butter Cream, different scent. I had expected this to smell like Twizzlers or perhaps Raspberry Panda licorice, but it really doesn't.

It smells like sweet candy strawberry. It's an amazingly good scent, light, fruity and quite sweet, just not what I had anticipated. It reminds me more of the red Starburst than it does of strawberry licorice. It's not a fresh strawberry scent- it's definitely candy. It's lovely. If you're into candy-scented things I bet you'd really love this. I like it a lot, but I'm more into bakery scents than candy scents. I think this would layer really well with Philosophy's fruity scents, like Sugar Plum Fairy, Cherry Cola and Fruit Punch.

I also ordered the Soda Pop Shower Gel in Coconut Bon Bon, but I ordered it separately and it hasn't arrived yet. I'll be sure to review it when it gets here!

I'm now obsessed with this line. I really hope they release more products (a body spray or eau de parfum would be especially nice!) and more scents, because they're spot on with everything. I did not expect them to be this awesome. I'm really, really, really happy about that. I wish the prices were a little lower, but you really can't get any bakery-scented products that are this nice from any retail store, so that might be why they cost a bit more.

Compared to a line like Dessert Beauty, which was also a favorite of mine, the quality is beyond compare. These lotions aren't sticky, they're way more moisturizing and more heavily scented. The scent lasts on the skin and has a fairly decent amount of throw. The scents are also realistic. Even compared to Aquolina's body products (like the Creme Caramel body milk I'm hoarding), it just completely blows them away. The. Best. Period.

Foodie people, you have to try these. Go to Sephora and sniff, I command you! You will love this line!

OPI Avojuice Crisp Apple and Raspberry Violet

OPI will be releasing two new scents in the Avojuice lotion line, Crisp Apple and Raspberry Violet. OPI's Avojuice is one of my favorite hand lotions of all time, and I can't wait to smell these.

Not really as exciting as new polish, but still news! OPI La Collection De France is still scheduled for release around the first week of August, so I'll be sure to post pictures as soon as I get my well-manicured little hands on them!

Bath and Body Works Semi Annual Sale and Hello Sugar Review.

Recently I tried Bath and Body Works' new Hello Sugar line. It's supposed to be lemon scented, but I think it's similar to the much beloved but sadly discontinued Tutti Dolci Lemon Meringue.

Lemon Meringue had its downfalls, and Hello Sugar corrects every one of them. The scent lasts a long time, it doesn't turn perfumey and it smells realistic.

The scent is just amazing- fresh, sugary, lemony, a little sweet but not sticky or Pledge scented. I'm in love with it. It's incredible.

My favorite product from this line is the Crystalline Body Splash. It's your average body splash, but it comes in a cute bottle with an adorable rock-candy embellishment. The splash itself is not sticky at all, so you can apply a lot of it without feeling gross. The scent is not overpowering, so no one around you will be holding their noses when you walk past.

I wish they had a better body lotion in this line. Neither options are very moisturizing. The Shimmer body lotion is an improvement on Bath and Body Works previous shimmer formulas, with more even shimmer and less of a sticky feeling. Unfortunately, it's not very rich and leaves your skin feeling dry soon afterwards. I like the shimmer and scent, but I'm not always in the mood for shimmer. They need a plain body cream in this scent.

The Moisturizing Body Mousse isn't very moisturizing at all. Think Dessert Beauty's Whipped Cream. It's airy, sticky and not at all moisturizing. In fact, I almost feel like it's drying. I hate the sticky feeling. If I didn't love the scent so much, this would be headed for the trash.


I've heard that Hello Sugar has been spotted on the discount tables at the Bath And Body Works Semi-Annual Sale....

You haven't hit the sale yet? Why the hell not?! If the lure of $3 items or 75% off doesn't reel you in, this will:

50% OFF SELECT LIPPMANN COLLECTION NAIL POLISH!!!!!!

Yep, that's right, discount Lippmanns. I scored How Far Is Heaven, Fever, My Old Flame and Satin Doll. Nefertiti is included in the 50% off sale, and I've heard Lady Marmalade is as well.

Just a side note here, for anyone who wasn't sure. I am not affiliated with any beauty brand. I only give my 100% honest personal opinion on any product, brand, service, et cetera. I do not want to sound like an advertisement. If I start to sound like a commercial, please let me know, because that's the last thing I want. I feel like blatant advertising is boring, impersonal, and ruins the credibility of your reviews.

I am not a commercial! No one pays me to write my blog. I do it because I love it, I love beauty and I'd like to help other people by giving an honest opinion on something. If I don't like something, I'm not afraid to say it. Likewise for when I LOVE something. Generally, being a beauty addict, I love more things than I hate, but it still happens. ;-)

By the way, thank you so much everyone for your lovely birthday wishes! That made my day :) I ended up going with China Glaze Sexagon for my birthday mani.

LUSH... not worth the hype.

I think I had some sort of epiphany last night...

LUSH sucks.

There, I said it.

I was getting ready to take a bath, and I really didn't feel like having to dig out a bubble bar, break part off and crumble it. I wanted bubbles, but LUSH is too much work and I was tired.

I looked around, and on the ledge of my tub were a couple unused bottles of Bath and Body Works bubble bath that I'd gotten in gift sets. Sensual Amber was the prettiest looking one, so I thought, sure, why not.

This is when my eyes were opened and I came to the realization that I had been living a lie.

All this time I thought that LUSH had the best bath products. I was very wrong.

I have a huge bathtub, the jacuzzi kind, and when I use LUSH (bubble bar, bath bomb, bath melt, whatever) you can't smell the scent of the product you use after you put it in the water. In fact, you can't even smell it in the small bathtub either.

But, with this magical Bath and Body Works bubble bath, all it took was one little squirt from a convenient bottle (no crumbling!) and my entire bathroom, no- top floor of my house! - was filled with scent, and I had big, white, fluffy bubbles that didn't leave a gross ring on my bathtub.

As you probably know by now, I have a love/hate relationship with LUSH. Right now it's mostly hate. I hate how overpriced their products are, I hate that they have no packaging, I hate how there is no variety, I hate how you can't layer scents, I hate how much work is involved in using them, I hate their nasty skincare, I hate their advertising and their ego, I hate how drying their products are, I hate that there is no lotion, I hate that they discontinue everything I liked, I hate their crappy customer service and I hate getting broken products in the mail. Oh, I could go on.

It makes me wonder what inspired me to buy so much of this crap. Sure, I love the scent of Jungle, but I never use it. I love the scent of Christmas Kisses bubble bar, but it's too much work with the crumbling and the cleanup afterwards. I loved the scent of Sugar Rush and Ne Worry Pas, but, of course, they are discontinued.

I think I'll be using the more economical, better-looking, better-smelling, more effective, layerable, less-work Bath and Body Works bubble bath from now on.

Sensual Amber, mmm. I've never smelled it before but now I love it.

Also, a sidenote, I should have my OPI Retro Fun in the Sun collection polishes later on today, so if the sun decides to come out for a few minutes, I'll snap some quick pictures.

I really prefer the cloudy, rainy, beautiful day we're having, but it's balls for taking pictures.