lol. I was just updating the blog description, and I misread the character limit as word limit. Thus, I now have a long-ass description that cannot be posted as a description. I left the first little part as the Blog Description, the rest are below:
I (Mar) hope the reviews on products I post are of help to potential shoppers. I try to be as picky and detailed as possible, to give the reader true idea of what to expect.
I aim for this blog to be an outlet for my thoughts (much like my diary), to act as a rough chronicle of my daily life. I will try to update frequently, so subscribe/bookmark and check back often if you're interested.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Review: Crabtree and Evelyn Lip Butter and Hand Cream
If you have ever looked to the blogs I follow, you'll notice I follow a fair bit of fashion blogs. So, with that inspiration in mind, I would like to offer my personal review of beauty products once in a while. I know I myself personally will google a beauty product before buying, because you (at least me) can never fully gauge how some products are at the store, especially when you're being pressured by sales associates, friends, or just time constraints. I'll often buy something, only to realize later its texture wasn't what I remember it to be or that it had a funky smell I couldn't smell fully at the store. So I will attempt to warn and give a review on products that I get or have. I am NOT being paid to do this. I bought everything with my own money and received no discounts or bonuses that is not given to every shopper. Now, onto the review!
Crabtree and Evelyn Hand Cream:
I've been using C&E's hand cream for a couple years now. I got my first tube as a gift from a family friend when she came over to stay in Toronto for a medical residence. I got the Rosewater Hand Therapy, which I continue to love and use to this day.
It's a rich hand cream that smells like roses, not the cheap sweet rose smell, but fresh and fragrant (it really does smell like real roses...just like the ones from my garden during late summer). Another plus for me at least is that it is actually made with rosewater. Using rosewater to wash your hands and such reminds me of a really really good spa or the extravagent and rich European kings and queens of the past. (You know, instead of using lemon water to clean their hands after meals, they use rosewater. Come to think of it, lemons were probably more precious than roses back then.) The shea butter is expected in a hand cream like this, so not much more to say about that. C&E has tons of different scents, and they usually all each have a unique ingredient in them (ie. Rosewater contains...rosewater. Lavender has Lavender oil..etc).
I find this hand cream less oily than other hand creams. It's still very thick and rich, but it's not oily per say. It is absorbed quickly and leaves your hand feeling super mositurized. One thing I did notice was that if I put too much on, it makes my palms kind of damp. It's not an oily feeling, but a slightly damp/moist one. It's nice though in the winter if you're not doing anything with your hands to just let them absorb and be surrounded by moisture.
Overall, this is a nice hand cream that's a nice treat for these harsh winter days. I just got 2 for $25 at Eatons last weekend, so they will cost you about $15 with tax a tube. They last a long time (at least for me), and a tube lasts all winter for me. I usually share the second tube with my best friend or mom....or save it to give away as a present later. The cream has a pretty long shelf life (I found my first tube a while back, and it's still good...and it's 2 years old now), so it can be stored for a while. I don't recommend 2 years though...but they'll easily last half a year or so I'm sure.
Crabtree and Evelyn Lip Butter:
Last weekend, I was at Eatons and I stopped by the store (2nd floor...on the south side (queen station) by the apple store) to pick up a gift for Ben's mom. I ended up getting a Hand Polish, two regular tubes of Hand Therapy (2 for $25....So I got two. They're $18 each normally), and a small travel sized Hand Therapy. They were giving a gift of 2 travel sized Hand Therapy (La Source and Rosewater...my two favourite ones!) and 2 Lip Butter (Vanilla Creme Brulee and the Mint one) for any purchase over $50, thus the extra travel sized hand cream.
I used the Mint one the day of since I'm usually not fond of vanilla or food favoured products. The mint one was really underwhelming. It really was not anything special and I would not spend $7.50 on it (and luckily I didn't). The Creme Brulee on the other hand smells divine. It doesn't have any taste, but it smells SOOOOO good. I feel like I'm eating dessert just by smelling it. YUM.
The texture of the Lip Butter is like....well....butter at room temperature. I honestly feel like I'm just putting butter on my lips. It's a little too liquid for my preference. However, it does leave your lips decently mositurized and shiny for a while. But once again, it's just like putting butter on my lips. It might be just the thing you like, I don't personally like it because I'm more of a lip balm and lipstick kind of girl. But that's my preference. If you're looking for a rich, creamy lip product that smells divine, this might be it for you. Shea butter is listed as its top ingredient, so it's a somewhat natural lip product.
I think I will be using the mint one to treat my cubicles...><" since I'm not super fond of it and I don't really need another lip product. The consistancy and such makes it a good candidate for the cubicles I think. I will continue to use the Creme Brulee one since it just smells so good and is a nice treat for the senses.
Overall, I would not pay $7.50 for a Lip Butter. However, I do recommend you to stop by the Crabtree and Evelyn store and buy some hand cream, soap....etc and get the freebie gift (it's worth $25 if you bought the stuff in it separately). Shelf life wise for the Lip Butter, it doesn't look like it's going to have a long one. So share it if you got two and you're not fond of one, or find some other purpose for it. The tube is 14g, so there's quite a bit of product there to use.
UPDATE: The lip butters go bad after about 10 months to a year. Their consistency changes and you get grain-like particles (size of loose flowing salt) in them (I believe it's the fat in the shea butter). So don't buy a bunch of these thinking they'll last. They won't.
Crabtree and Evelyn Hand Cream:
I've been using C&E's hand cream for a couple years now. I got my first tube as a gift from a family friend when she came over to stay in Toronto for a medical residence. I got the Rosewater Hand Therapy, which I continue to love and use to this day.
It's a rich hand cream that smells like roses, not the cheap sweet rose smell, but fresh and fragrant (it really does smell like real roses...just like the ones from my garden during late summer). Another plus for me at least is that it is actually made with rosewater. Using rosewater to wash your hands and such reminds me of a really really good spa or the extravagent and rich European kings and queens of the past. (You know, instead of using lemon water to clean their hands after meals, they use rosewater. Come to think of it, lemons were probably more precious than roses back then.) The shea butter is expected in a hand cream like this, so not much more to say about that. C&E has tons of different scents, and they usually all each have a unique ingredient in them (ie. Rosewater contains...rosewater. Lavender has Lavender oil..etc).
I find this hand cream less oily than other hand creams. It's still very thick and rich, but it's not oily per say. It is absorbed quickly and leaves your hand feeling super mositurized. One thing I did notice was that if I put too much on, it makes my palms kind of damp. It's not an oily feeling, but a slightly damp/moist one. It's nice though in the winter if you're not doing anything with your hands to just let them absorb and be surrounded by moisture.
Overall, this is a nice hand cream that's a nice treat for these harsh winter days. I just got 2 for $25 at Eatons last weekend, so they will cost you about $15 with tax a tube. They last a long time (at least for me), and a tube lasts all winter for me. I usually share the second tube with my best friend or mom....or save it to give away as a present later. The cream has a pretty long shelf life (I found my first tube a while back, and it's still good...and it's 2 years old now), so it can be stored for a while. I don't recommend 2 years though...but they'll easily last half a year or so I'm sure.
Crabtree and Evelyn Lip Butter:
Last weekend, I was at Eatons and I stopped by the store (2nd floor...on the south side (queen station) by the apple store) to pick up a gift for Ben's mom. I ended up getting a Hand Polish, two regular tubes of Hand Therapy (2 for $25....So I got two. They're $18 each normally), and a small travel sized Hand Therapy. They were giving a gift of 2 travel sized Hand Therapy (La Source and Rosewater...my two favourite ones!) and 2 Lip Butter (Vanilla Creme Brulee and the Mint one) for any purchase over $50, thus the extra travel sized hand cream.
I used the Mint one the day of since I'm usually not fond of vanilla or food favoured products. The mint one was really underwhelming. It really was not anything special and I would not spend $7.50 on it (and luckily I didn't). The Creme Brulee on the other hand smells divine. It doesn't have any taste, but it smells SOOOOO good. I feel like I'm eating dessert just by smelling it. YUM.
The texture of the Lip Butter is like....well....butter at room temperature. I honestly feel like I'm just putting butter on my lips. It's a little too liquid for my preference. However, it does leave your lips decently mositurized and shiny for a while. But once again, it's just like putting butter on my lips. It might be just the thing you like, I don't personally like it because I'm more of a lip balm and lipstick kind of girl. But that's my preference. If you're looking for a rich, creamy lip product that smells divine, this might be it for you. Shea butter is listed as its top ingredient, so it's a somewhat natural lip product.
I think I will be using the mint one to treat my cubicles...><" since I'm not super fond of it and I don't really need another lip product. The consistancy and such makes it a good candidate for the cubicles I think. I will continue to use the Creme Brulee one since it just smells so good and is a nice treat for the senses.
Overall, I would not pay $7.50 for a Lip Butter. However, I do recommend you to stop by the Crabtree and Evelyn store and buy some hand cream, soap....etc and get the freebie gift (it's worth $25 if you bought the stuff in it separately). Shelf life wise for the Lip Butter, it doesn't look like it's going to have a long one. So share it if you got two and you're not fond of one, or find some other purpose for it. The tube is 14g, so there's quite a bit of product there to use.
UPDATE: The lip butters go bad after about 10 months to a year. Their consistency changes and you get grain-like particles (size of loose flowing salt) in them (I believe it's the fat in the shea butter). So don't buy a bunch of these thinking they'll last. They won't.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
lazy day...
i just spent all day watching tv shows.....grey's anatomy, house, bones, big bang theory. I did absolutely NOTHING today, and it feels sooooooo good! I think it was a pretty prefect winter sunday. =)
Friday, February 4, 2011
Dear Sony pt 2
Alright, so I've been using the laptop for a while, and I noticed another design fault. The power button, is too soft and located at the edge of the computer. now, the light makes a nice addition, especially as it allows a user to know the status of the computer when the lid is closed, but the button is in the way and wayyy too sensitive. I will accidently push the button about once an hour, if not more. It's not a big big deal since i can just wake the computer up again within a few seconds, but it still is rather annoying.
however, I will give credit where credit is due, and the new computer IS quite nice. the fan is quieter and it's a lot cooler than the CR computer (even after i got the cooling unit changed). The web quick access key is nice, it launches your default browser. Not much else to say so far.
on a completely side note, I got a nail polish yesterday that completely matched my EA laptop. lol.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Freedom of Speech vs Verbal Harassment
I was on the subway today, coming back from lunch, when i encountered a scene that irrates and upsets me to no end. A man was in the middle of the car, loudly proclaiming his belief that immigrants and their children should all learn to speak english, and that allowing multiculturalism was ruining the canadian culture.
Now, I fully support the freedom of speech. This man had absolute right to proclaim his opinion on his thoughts and opinions on this matter, however, he apparently started this rant (and i say apparently because I finally started listening to what he was saying about half way thru when he started speaking directly at me and my friend. I'm chinese and she's indian fyi.) he apparently started this rant because a mother was speaking or maybe teaching her young daughter in a foreign language. The part I find most upsetting was the fact he directed a good half to a quarter of it to said mother and child, which I find utter upsetting. While the mother may have shrugged it off, I wonder how the child felt. I wonder how much of it she understood, because she was relatively young, but I am sure she understood the meaning and intent of the speech.
This grown man had just verbally assulted a small child because of her country of origin, her race, her culture, her extra knowledge of a language, and her hertiage. Now, I admit I did absolutely nothing about it except say loudly to my friend, so what level of education do you think he has? as a response to when he started talking about how education and intellectural communication. This is partially because of my own cowardice, my stop was the next stop, my suspicion the man himself had a mental problem, and because I didn't know what to do. However, in retrospect, I wish I had stepped in and asked the man if he can refrain from speaking so loudly, or even asking the mother and child if they were alright.
During the attack, and I do call that since he attacked me verbally as well, all I could feel was rage, hatred, and hurt. I thought the days of attacking people publicly because of their cultural differences were over, especially since this was Toronto, one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world. However, this man proved me wrong and I didn't even have to guts to help the victims. I know what it is like to be bullied because of being foreign, and I hope no body has to feel that ever here in Toronto.
Since I have left the scene already and will probably never encounter the mother and daughter or the man again, I can only leave behind my wishes. I wish that the mother and child can forget about the attack and keep embracing their culture and language, for that is what makes Canada's, especially Toronto's, culture. The mish-mash of unique and 'foreign' cultures IS canada's culture. Sure, we archtype canada as the land of the beaver, beer, caribou, seal hunts..etc, but we are also where millions of people have a second or third language, where we celebrate chinese new year, Diwali, hanukkah, Eid, and countless other culturally diverse holidays. I hope the man gets a chance to learn the beauty of other cultures, get help if he is mentally ill, and learn what it really means to be canadian.
Now, I fully support the freedom of speech. This man had absolute right to proclaim his opinion on his thoughts and opinions on this matter, however, he apparently started this rant (and i say apparently because I finally started listening to what he was saying about half way thru when he started speaking directly at me and my friend. I'm chinese and she's indian fyi.) he apparently started this rant because a mother was speaking or maybe teaching her young daughter in a foreign language. The part I find most upsetting was the fact he directed a good half to a quarter of it to said mother and child, which I find utter upsetting. While the mother may have shrugged it off, I wonder how the child felt. I wonder how much of it she understood, because she was relatively young, but I am sure she understood the meaning and intent of the speech.
This grown man had just verbally assulted a small child because of her country of origin, her race, her culture, her extra knowledge of a language, and her hertiage. Now, I admit I did absolutely nothing about it except say loudly to my friend, so what level of education do you think he has? as a response to when he started talking about how education and intellectural communication. This is partially because of my own cowardice, my stop was the next stop, my suspicion the man himself had a mental problem, and because I didn't know what to do. However, in retrospect, I wish I had stepped in and asked the man if he can refrain from speaking so loudly, or even asking the mother and child if they were alright.
During the attack, and I do call that since he attacked me verbally as well, all I could feel was rage, hatred, and hurt. I thought the days of attacking people publicly because of their cultural differences were over, especially since this was Toronto, one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world. However, this man proved me wrong and I didn't even have to guts to help the victims. I know what it is like to be bullied because of being foreign, and I hope no body has to feel that ever here in Toronto.
Since I have left the scene already and will probably never encounter the mother and daughter or the man again, I can only leave behind my wishes. I wish that the mother and child can forget about the attack and keep embracing their culture and language, for that is what makes Canada's, especially Toronto's, culture. The mish-mash of unique and 'foreign' cultures IS canada's culture. Sure, we archtype canada as the land of the beaver, beer, caribou, seal hunts..etc, but we are also where millions of people have a second or third language, where we celebrate chinese new year, Diwali, hanukkah, Eid, and countless other culturally diverse holidays. I hope the man gets a chance to learn the beauty of other cultures, get help if he is mentally ill, and learn what it really means to be canadian.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
EA is a slight improvement
alright, so i went ahead and started using my EA laptop today. Overall, the feel of the laptop is better. it's more balanced and works better as a LAPtop because of it. the trackpad on this one seems to be more responsive and slightly smoother. (sony, are you loosing your consistent quality? i thought you'd make each and everyone the same.)
however, i would like to note the differences. the EA came as a home premium, complete with sony's collection of bloatware, whereas the for the EB, i paid extra for it to have a 'fresh start'. Now, there are a LOT of application differences between the two. I'm going to have to spend some time figureing out which to keep on the EA and which to uninstall from the system. The extra applications seriously put a damper on the startup speed though. the two cpu's differ by 0.3ghz, which isn't that big of a deal, yet the EB has a MUCH faster load time. Time to get out the pruners and do some snipping on the background applications.
Right, that's all i have to say about the laptop. I'm glad I got a EA for myself. the EB was driving me bonkers.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Dear Sony
Dear Sony,
I am a huge fan of yours, seriously, i'm a true sony fan girl. However, i'm not feeling the love right now. You see, I just got a new E-series and I'm finding design flaws. No, this isn't my first vaio; I own a CR120 as well. The CR had the problem with the wobbly battery...and you have since fixed that with the newer models. Yet this E model is driving me bonkers. I bought a EB AND an EA (one for me, and one for my cousin). I'm currently using the EB one, so maybe some of my complaints will go away with the smaller EA one. But let's allow me to list below what's annoying me about the new EB computer design:
1) Why is the trackpad on the LEFT side? it causes one of my shoulders to over extend and thus straining it when I'm using it. Now, from what I have read online, I understand it's to place the trackpad underneath the space bar so that our hands don't rest on it while we're typing. I understand and can appreciate why it's on the left side on the EB model, but why in the world prompted you to just copy and past the handrest/trackpad design onto the EA model?! The EA model has a CENTERED keyboard (the ONLY reason I bought one...so i WOULDN"T have to strain my shoulders and neck working on a lopsided screen), so why is the trackpad placed on the left side still?
2) why is the trackpad textured? a) I've read that after some usage, it becomes smooth..now, i assume this is because dirt and etc gets into the little holes that create the texture of the trackpad. So...why is it textured? just so it can become a dirt trap forever? b) the texture is making my finger NUMB and SORE. Er....not a good sign if your customer is in pain from using it. Please offer some sort of solution to this. What if i put a touch-screen film protector on it? will it still work? and take away the texture? cause i really really really really like my smoooooooooooth trackpad. like really like it.
3) why is there a distinct ledge from the trackpad to the buttons? again, are we aiming for a dirt trap? because I see one....
4) Did you downgrade your speakers or something? sounds pretty bad....i think worse than the CR model. This might change with some usage I understand, so i'll let it slide for a little while under I have further proof either way.
5) Why is this new screen design so dangerous? my fingers are getting caught when I open it.....as are my loose pj bottoms...........
6) which bring me to my next complaint. the dc plug is on the side. i figure it must have been placed there to to keep the back devoid of ports so that the screen can open. However, this design interferes with my habit of holding my computer between my legs...odd i know, but it keeps the computer cool and in my lap.
7) which again brings me to another point. The screen no longer bends flat. You might not realize the benefits of it, but there are plenty. For example, I can lie in bed and read stuff.....while holding it up with one hand. The viewing angle on the laptop isn't good enough to do so without the screen bending a whole 170 degrees or so. So you see my dilemma, no more movies or novels in bed then. (so what's the point of having a laptop again if i must sit at my desk and work on it?!)
8) why does pressing vaio...the 'one touch access' buton...only bring up mute/un-mute. where's my camera access? do i now have to launch the application myself whenever i want to take a quick picture? or see how my hair is? also, my volume keys are also missing.....which again greatly inconviences me. i now have to press two buttons to change the volume? My CR has all the regular playback controls as well.....but i understand if you do away with them. but please bring back volume control. it's a true hassel to have to use fn keys to change volume. Sony, the laptops are after all called VAIO's.......you know....audio IS in the title...
Alright, the end of my letter has come. My last question to you is, is there a way I can exchange the internal components of the two computers? the CR and EA? Because then it'd be a pretty prefect combination. If it's possible (and you see this letter), please tell me how to do it. I'm willing to pay a decent sum of money to get the above mentioned 8 issues resolved.
Thanks, and have a good day. Please stop making idiotic design decisions. (and I haven't even started on the colours and the doted graphic design yet. *sigh* at least i don't have to see it when i'm using hte computer...)
Yours Sincerly,
Mary
I am a huge fan of yours, seriously, i'm a true sony fan girl. However, i'm not feeling the love right now. You see, I just got a new E-series and I'm finding design flaws. No, this isn't my first vaio; I own a CR120 as well. The CR had the problem with the wobbly battery...and you have since fixed that with the newer models. Yet this E model is driving me bonkers. I bought a EB AND an EA (one for me, and one for my cousin). I'm currently using the EB one, so maybe some of my complaints will go away with the smaller EA one. But let's allow me to list below what's annoying me about the new EB computer design:
1) Why is the trackpad on the LEFT side? it causes one of my shoulders to over extend and thus straining it when I'm using it. Now, from what I have read online, I understand it's to place the trackpad underneath the space bar so that our hands don't rest on it while we're typing. I understand and can appreciate why it's on the left side on the EB model, but why in the world prompted you to just copy and past the handrest/trackpad design onto the EA model?! The EA model has a CENTERED keyboard (the ONLY reason I bought one...so i WOULDN"T have to strain my shoulders and neck working on a lopsided screen), so why is the trackpad placed on the left side still?
2) why is the trackpad textured? a) I've read that after some usage, it becomes smooth..now, i assume this is because dirt and etc gets into the little holes that create the texture of the trackpad. So...why is it textured? just so it can become a dirt trap forever? b) the texture is making my finger NUMB and SORE. Er....not a good sign if your customer is in pain from using it. Please offer some sort of solution to this. What if i put a touch-screen film protector on it? will it still work? and take away the texture? cause i really really really really like my smoooooooooooth trackpad. like really like it.
3) why is there a distinct ledge from the trackpad to the buttons? again, are we aiming for a dirt trap? because I see one....
4) Did you downgrade your speakers or something? sounds pretty bad....i think worse than the CR model. This might change with some usage I understand, so i'll let it slide for a little while under I have further proof either way.
5) Why is this new screen design so dangerous? my fingers are getting caught when I open it.....as are my loose pj bottoms...........
6) which bring me to my next complaint. the dc plug is on the side. i figure it must have been placed there to to keep the back devoid of ports so that the screen can open. However, this design interferes with my habit of holding my computer between my legs...odd i know, but it keeps the computer cool and in my lap.
7) which again brings me to another point. The screen no longer bends flat. You might not realize the benefits of it, but there are plenty. For example, I can lie in bed and read stuff.....while holding it up with one hand. The viewing angle on the laptop isn't good enough to do so without the screen bending a whole 170 degrees or so. So you see my dilemma, no more movies or novels in bed then. (so what's the point of having a laptop again if i must sit at my desk and work on it?!)
8) why does pressing vaio...the 'one touch access' buton...only bring up mute/un-mute. where's my camera access? do i now have to launch the application myself whenever i want to take a quick picture? or see how my hair is? also, my volume keys are also missing.....which again greatly inconviences me. i now have to press two buttons to change the volume? My CR has all the regular playback controls as well.....but i understand if you do away with them. but please bring back volume control. it's a true hassel to have to use fn keys to change volume. Sony, the laptops are after all called VAIO's.......you know....audio IS in the title...
Alright, the end of my letter has come. My last question to you is, is there a way I can exchange the internal components of the two computers? the CR and EA? Because then it'd be a pretty prefect combination. If it's possible (and you see this letter), please tell me how to do it. I'm willing to pay a decent sum of money to get the above mentioned 8 issues resolved.
Thanks, and have a good day. Please stop making idiotic design decisions. (and I haven't even started on the colours and the doted graphic design yet. *sigh* at least i don't have to see it when i'm using hte computer...)
Yours Sincerly,
Mary
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