Friday, May 05, 2017

Vegan and Cruelty-free Brushes | Free Colourpop Brushes with your order? Not as free as they seem


Colourpop Eyeshadow Brush, Colourpop Blending Brush. Vegan and Cruelty-free Brushes in India

This is not an outrage, I love the brand for being Vegan and Cruelty-free and for their steps towards animal welfare and to add their customer care has been a cordial experience so far.
This is an eye-opener post for all the makeup lovers who are planning to purchase from Colourpop Cosmetics and ship/import it in India.

In January 2017, in the hope greed of acquiring more and more Colourpop super shock eyeshadows, I placed an order for 12 super shock eyeshadows. Coincidentally, the brand was giving away free 'newly launched' eyeshadow brushes. Vegan and Cruelty-Free Brushes, and I refrained from restricting myself.

Vegan & Crueltyfre Brushes online India, Synthetic Brushes online India

So I placed an order and I could not wait for it to arrive. I was wondering looking at the brushes and the pricing, really really wondering if I made the right decision by greedily adding 12 eyeshadows for the brushes. It did almost after, 15-20 days(don't remember exactly) and also arrived a shocking fact: Import Customs Duty. INR 2778/ $40 for an order worth $53.
I checked again to see if it is 270 or 2778, to be really sure. My calculations were wrong!
And I sat down to really check if there was no error by calculating online. Here are few websites that let you calculate the import customs duty in India online and for free. Dutycalculator.com needs a subscription.

Colourpop Shipping International Vegan and Crueltyfree makeup not tested on animals

And when I checked the customs bill which was stuck on the outer package, I could see $21 for three brushes and the total was calculated as $79.03 (on the surface.) But if you really calculate everything: 6 brushes and $53 worth eyeshadows, exactly 50% customs duty was charged.
And even if you calculate the whole price including the free brushes, It turned around $95/6507 INR $53 eyeshadows + $42 free brushes, it does turn out less ie 1900 INR. So in fact, 50% is the new duty rate of the 'New' government.

Colourpop Import customs duty on orders to India, Buy colourpop online in India

So was it worth all the hassle? Not so much!
The brushes are custom made for the eyeshadows and work like a dream together. But I don't think they're worth the price tag!

I'd take that as a lesson and hence I decided to shop wisely (hopefully). Spending INR 8000 for an Indie brand, No thank you!

Wednesday, May 03, 2017

Cruelty-free Skincare | The Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Serum Review



How I discovered the magical results of this serum has a back-story. You can read at the beginning of this post here. I never was a fan of The Body Shop skincare; I tried the Vitamin E range and Aloevera Range and bought myself some breakouts. Until now...
The Drops of Youth Bouncy Sleeping Mask is my H-o-l-y-g-r-a-i-l! You can read my brainwork here.

I never gave much thought to including serums into my daily skincare routine. I’m a minimalist and do away with a moisturizer, 9 of 10 times. Still, I am not a fan of layering skincare, anymore.  I do battle dry patches and dehydrated flaky skin occasionally and adding serum into my skincare routine before makeup has helped. Here is an in-depth experience of using DOL Pure Healthy Brightening serum with Clarifying Foam wash and Brightening Day cream.

What are Brightening Serums?

Brightening Serums usually focus on evening out the skintone as well as lightening hyperpigmentation. These are formulated with Light Reflectors which adds instant radiance on application. Kojic Acid, Vitamin C or Arbutin tops the ingredient lists which reduces spots and mildly exfoliates.

Texture and Efficacy

The Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Serum is light and runny. It is almost a colourless fluid that absorbs within a few minutes on application. My skin was instantly transformed into soft velvety hydrated skin. The amount of serum you’d need is 2-3 drops, this serum has a tendency to go on sticky if used more than required. (I sense a high amount of glycerine?)

Cruelty-free Skincare | The Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Serum Review


Drops of Light Serum with and without makeup

This serum gels well with Silicone based foundations as well as tinted moisturizers. But this serum (with primer on top) works best with powder foundations on my normal-combination skin. This or some ingredient in this does not let the mineral foundation cling to the dry patches or accentuate flakiness.

I tried mixing this serum with Chanel Vita Lumeire and it did not mix at all. I wanted to turn my foundation in serum foundation. Utter FAIL!
This serum works best upon layering rather than mixing. Is it just me? Or I thought I could create serum foundation on my own?

I use this serum exclusively during daytime and avoid using it in my evening/night time routine. It adds a subtle radiant glow to my face when used alone. And it is said already, I cannot afford to skip this under makeup.

Cruelty-free Skincare in India, Malaysia, UK, Phillipines, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia,MalaysiaThe Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Serum Review

Products that complement DOL Pure Healthy Brightening Serum

I am starting to include all the products I use along with the Skincare products to lay down a brief idea of what goes well with the focused product.

I did not like using the Brightening Day cream from the same range with Face cleanser and Serum. The day cream with the serum is too heavy for my liking. So I either layered Clean and Clear oil balancing moisturizer or The Body Shop Vitamin C moisturizer, both of these moisturizers worked well.
Clean and Clear mattified my skin while Vitamin C added a million watts glow, good enough to go bare face.
The other products that complemented this serum are Bioderma Matte fluid and Nivea Aftershave both which I used as a primers.

Brightening Effects on Blemishes & Scars

When I bought this, all I was anticipating was-clear and even skin. And that is what it delivers. This does exfoliates, extremely mild because when I use this I feel less need to exfoliate.
Apart from adding a radiant subtle glow on application, evening out skin tone and complementing well with my base makeup, this additionally boosts the skin's hydration levels. Major love for that!
So did it work on my blemishes and scarring? No.
But on the brighter side, if wearing alone under moisturizer, the scars and blemishes do appear diffused, due to light reflectors maybe?



Crueltyfree Indian Beauty Blog, UK Crueltyfree blog


Is The Body Shop Cruelty-free? Yes

Is DOL Serum Vegan? Yes

Price In India and UK: INR 2,450 and £ 26.00

Will I repurchase? YES. Perhaps,my only restraint is Alcohol Denat, though it did initially broke me out. But I do see DOL with a potential to be my holygrail serum.



Sunday, April 30, 2017

Cruelty-free Skincare | The Body Shop Drops of Light Pure Clarifying Foam Wash Review


The Body Shop Drops of Light Skincare Range Review, Price, Buy online and Details


A quick background on how I discovered  The Body Shop Brightening Serum and bought it, I picked up  The Body Shop British Rose Shower Gel - sometime in June-July and the SA slipped in a sample of this in the bag. I was testing the Kama Ayurveda Kumkumadi serum as night oil at the time. I tested this serum the next morning and my skin was instantly clarified and radiant. And I could not understand why. And I was taken by the hydration level of my skin and hence I decided to purchase the range. But I did not achieve the same clarified result with the full sized product. Fishy!
My skin at the time was not really in a preferred condition. Inflammatory acne due to the weather change and my rosacea had poked its head up and my skin was drier than usual. I have used the range for a few weeks- two to be precise and stopped using the Pure Healthy Brightening Day Cream due to acne breakouts. 

Texture & Efficacy

I find it unnecessary to spend on some clarifying cleanser that is nothing more than an ordinary foaming face wash. I had to put this range to test and hence I bought it without much thought. The clarifying Foam wash has a pearl sheen to it and foams more than an average cleanser. I find this works well with my Michael Todd Sonic Brush as well as working with hands; I tend to use a lot with the brush in compared to using it with my hands. It has extremely micro-particles, the kind you’ll only feel when you’re sensitive. I assume the creamy yet soft gritty texture is due to clay in it. I am sure the exfoliation is as micro as possible, great for sensitive skin.
Indeed clarified and non-drying results are achieved after rinsing off. At first, I disliked the overall working of the product including the texture and results. I am used to liking squeaky clean skin but I am noticing a radical change in my preference; Squeaky clean = Stripping of beneficial natural oils.
This does leave a slight veil of creaminess except for the areas around my mouth. I find it a balance of clay and creaminess that should work for both oily and dry skin.

Brightening Products The Body Shop

 

Clarifying Foam Wash with and without Drops of Light Serum and Brightening Day cream

The Body Shop Drops of Light Pure Healthy Brightening Day Cream broke me out so it was wiser to eliminate it from my daily routine. I did continue using the Serum and Face wash together and my review is entirely based on this combination.
I did notice radiance after using the Foam Wash but that did not last any long. With the continued usage of the Foam Wash and serum daily, I did notice a difference in my skin tone alone. It did fail to work on my hyperpigmentation, texture and old scars. But I did skip exfoliation or restricted only once a week.

Skin Brghtening Products by The Body Shop

Conclusion

I find it unnecessary to use the Clarifying cleanser on its own. It does not strip natural oils from the skin and leaves a healthy satin veil of moisture on the skin. I am assuming that it boost the radiance when used with the products from the same range. At times, I did keep the lather on for few minutes to notice if it works on removing suntan, sadly it didn’t but instead left my sensitive skin feeling raw after rinsing. MicroExfoliation, as I noticed. To put down in one sentence, it is insignificant on its own, unless If you’re planning to include the DOL Range in your routine. On its own, it is just another cleanser. I’d rather invest in a cleanser that doubles as makeup remover and cleanser at once.

Is The Body Shop Cruelty-free? Yes

Price In India and UK: INR 1,525 & £ 12.00

Will I repurchase? No