Well, not really, but every once in a while I get this urge to buy some pretty things for myself and not spend 3-4000 Forints in the process. That's where Drogerie Markt comes in. :-) It's not a Bergdorf Goodman or a Sephora, but it's still a lot of fun, and time and time again I re-descover their brand called Alverde and realize that it wasn't for nothing that I had kept buying their products before I turned to more high-end brands like Bioderma, Avéne, or Clinians. (Sorry, my financial situation doesn't allow me to get any "higher" than that right now... :-)

Let me show you today's haul:

What I both love and hate about Alverde is that they keep introducing new product lines and yummy new concoctions all the time. On the one hand, this often makes for a refreshing change and satisfies my need to try new thing all the time. On the other hand, unless you stock up on a lovely new product that has captured your heart (and nose), at some point in the future you'll find it gone from the shelves, allowing you yet another chance to practice the find art of "letting go"...

I hadn't been to DM for a good while, and when I stepped foot in one of their stores close to where I live this morning, I noticed with not-so-thinly-veiled excitement (Can you say "Squeeee!!!"?) that some of their products had got a makeover while others were completely new to me. But of course, the beauty-blogger in me got a little crazy (in an innocuous sort of way) and went on a rampage (a silly sort of rampage, mind you) to discover things herself.

The first thing that grabbed my attention was that Alverde's soaps got a makeover. They used to have lame packaging and even lamer scent and didn't appeal to most people I know (me included). Now their rose and lavender soaps might still smell boring and old-ladyish, but they have added two new soaps, one of which I have already had the pleasure of buying and trying. The two new scents are Grapefruit&Lemon and Pomegranate, though I haven't yet seen the second one around, just read on a forum that it exists.







Above you can see the end result of a silly photo shoot I conducted with my new favorite soap. :-) It was a lot of fun, although why I'm fixated on this lemony piece of goodness I don't know... Maybe it's the fact that it looks like a humongous piece of candy with its semi-opaque yellow stripes, and also that it smells like a fresh, ripe piece of grapefruit ready to be devoured. And oh, devour it I would if it weren't for the fact that it'd just give me the hiccups... ^_^

It truly does smell like something LUSH would come up with: no artificial smell in the background, there's absolutely nothing unpleasant about this 100 g soap despite the 0.7 € price tag. The ingredients list looks pretty harmless too and the soap itself is no more drying than any other soap on the market.

Verdict: I simply love it and will most likely hunt down the pomegranate version too while stocking up on this one as well. :-)

Sodium Palmate, Aqua, Sodium Cocoate, Glycerin, Sorbitol, Coconut Acid, Parfum, Citrus Paradisi Fruit Juice, Limonene, Linalool, Phytic Acid, Sodium Chloride, CI 47005 / 77891






Oooh, this reminds me of Alverde's gel cleanser I used to love so much! (I bought several tubes of it back then which is a truly momentous thing if I say so myself.)

It has this gooey, gloopy consistency; it's like some sort of marine lifeform sitting in your palm waiting to do wonders for your skin. The fragrance is lovely: warm and sweet, with notes of vanilla and something mildly citrusy in there, the two of them together forming a pleasant and harmonious whole.

I also bought a shower mitten by DM's own brand Ebelin (sorry, no pic!), which is surprisingly soft compared to the much pricier one I bought at Douglas a while ago. The shower gel and this mitten are a winning combination: they exfoliate while being gentle to my skin.

All in all, this new shower gel turned out to be a lovely surprise, well worth its price (~1.4€/250 ml), my only grievance being that it contains alcohol.

Aqua, Alcohol, Glycerin, Coco Glucoside, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Coco-Sulfate, Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Vanilla Plantifolia Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis Extract, Citrus Tangerina Oil, Parfum, Citral, Citronellol, Limonene, Linalool







Again, it's not the first time that I have bought this facial scrub, and although I do have St. Ives' Apricot Scrub at home, I really don't think that that one is gentle enough to be used on one's face. True, I swore vengeance on physical exfoliants a while ago, I realized that I still need to use one every once in a while (i.e.: once a week or every two weeks) for the sake of removing dead skincells completely from my skin. (I am planning to try microfiber cloths though...)

This scrub is basically a handful of silica beads and a little bit of linden extract mixed into a natural base of apricot kernel oil, shea butter and olive oil, and it's very gentle on your skin so people with less sensitive skin might be able to use it daily or every two or three days.

The scent is pretty much impossible to describe: it's the slightest bit sweet with some herbal undertones in it, and there's an additional element that brings to mind small, scrubbing particles diligently working to polish up your skin and make it glow. Well, the smell doesn't lie: that's exactly what this scrub does. :)

Aqua, Glyceryl Stearate SE, Glycerine, Palmitic Acid, Stearic Acid, Parfum, Silica, Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil, Coco-Glucoside, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Olea Europea Oil, Tilia Cordata Extract, Alcohol, Sodium Hydroxide, Tocopherol, Limonene, Linalool






I reviewed this once already about a year ago, and my opinion hasn't really changed since then: it's still essentially a lovely splash of rosewater that can be applied onto your face, hair or even body. I say "body" because this one seems to have a stronger smell and can thus be effectively used as a light everyday scent, which also moisturizes your skin to some degree. The packaging got a nice makeover and the ingredients list has a new item on it: silver citrate. It's colloidal silver that is used as a preservative here, and while some might have scruples about this particular ingredient, I really don't think it can do much harm in such small amounts. (Do share your opinion and knowledge with us though! I'm pretty much undecided about this whole colloidal silver issue, so any info is welcome and thanked for.)


Well, that's it for today. It was a fun post to write, probably because of the fun (and cheap!) products I got to enjoy and review. (What is it with people and getting more stuff for the same amount of money anyway? )


Now take a look at the chocolate truffles I made for Dad's B-Day and run to get your own fix! :-D



 

I went shopping today and after such a long time I am once again the happy owner of a tube of St. Ives Apricot Scub. Oh how I love this stuff... I don't know how I managed to exist without it for so long. I mean, the last time I had this was back in high school, meaning approximately 8-10 years ago. I remember I loved it back then too, but then the little explorer in me just wouldn't stay still and demanded that I try other scrubs as well. Since then I went through all kinds: LUSH, Alverde, Freeman, Garnier, and a Hungarian brand too, but nothing, I repeat nothing ever came close to this. Okay, maybe LUSH did. A bit. But seriously, I love the huge amount of scrubbing bit in this one, and the creamy-while-rough texture, and the smell and... Everything!

Only thing is, this is really something I can only use once a week because due to its roughness it's a bit irritating if used to often. It's not like the Alverde one which I could use every day: it has small, round bits of silica in it (sand, basically) which are exceptionally gentle with one's skin.

I'm off scrubbing my skin off... :-)

St. Ives.  

Hey there!
It's been a while I know, but I had my final exams recently and had to study a lot. Nevertheless, it payed off as I passed with flying colors and will soon have my degree in my hands.

Recently, the brand Freeman was re-introduced into the Hungarian stores and I instantly got hold of an Apricot and Wild-Cherry Facial Scrub. A few years ago I bought the body-lotion in the same scent and it was a real life safer at the time. For some reason I had terribly dry and flaky skind that winter and every time I moved or lay down my body would start itching like there was no tomorrow. Slowly but surely I was going mad with all the scratching and the continuous faliure of several of my trusted creams and lotions certainly didn't do much good to my nerves either.

Enter Freeman's Apricot and Wild-Cherry body lotion: the first time I put it on it was sheer bliss for my skin. (And my nerves...) It instantly gave me supple and dewy skin and gone was the itching and the dry, cracked feeling. It was heaven and I made sure to use it liberally each night before going to bed. Now the scent wasn't that good: it had a plasticy and slightly apricot-y smell but I was willing to tolerate it for the sake of previously mentioned benefits.

Beside the body-lotion I also bought myself an Iced-Teaberry and Mint foot-lotion and a Cucumber-Melon peel-off mask and while I absolutely adored the former (yummy scent, great results and good price too!) and really hated the latter one: the smell was dominated by alcohol and it did anything but do good to my skin.

Yet, I've been missing Freeman products a lot because they were affordable and I guessed that most of their products would still give great results if I gave them a chance, and there's also the fact that the packaging is young, cute and colorful. So I grabbed this scrub but not before consulting Makeup Alley to know what to expect. It turned out to be an excellent move on my part because it was obvious that while most of the reviewers liked this product it was NOT meant to be used as a scrub but a cleanser instead. You see, I like my scrubs gritty and grainy and full of scrubbing bits and I absolutely abhor any scrub which does not contain enough of those.

Anyway, I still bought it because I needed a new cleanser and guessed that even if it didn't contain (big) enough particles it would still be able to exfoliate a bit and it would be great if I could do a bit of scrubbing every day to keep my skin smooth and healthy. Well, I was right: it has a lovely scent (not artificial this time!), great texture (thick and creamy) and beside a few bigger bits it mostly contains small sand-like particles which do not irritate my skin at all and make it break out even if I use it every day. All in all, it's a great product for a low price. I'd like to try the Raspberry-Almond-Kiwi one next. :-)