• First Impressions with MOR Emporium

    October 9, 2019

    Hi Everyone!

    Last month, I received a box from Calissa with 3 products and today, I’ll be reviewing the MOR Emporium Trio of Treasures. The trio includes: a soapette, hand cream and perfume oil. They sent over the Lychee Flower scent. It looks like Calissa doesn’t have the Trio of Treasures, but they do have the soap and candle in the lychee flower scent as well as a variety of other products from the brand.

    First of all, I love the beautiful design on the products and the tin is such a cute little container.

    All 3 products smell very strongly of lychee especially the perfume oil and hand cream.

    Hand Cream

    Enriched with Vitamin E, Shea and Cocoa Seed butters for smooth, soft and perfectly perfumed hands.

    I don’t like using scented hand creams, so I gave it to my mom to use. She tried it on and she said the cream felt very nice and moisturizing, but it was a bit too strong for her. So, she ended up giving the cream to my grandma who loves scented hand creams.

    RATING: 3/5

    While it is a nice scent and the hand cream itself is nice, the scent is so strong that you wouldn’t be able to wear it in an office.

    Perfume Oil

    Bountiful with Rosehip, Vitamin E, Sweet Almond Oil and flourishing with fragrance for silky-soft skin and perfectly perfumed pulse points.

    The perfume oil is a rollerball and as soon as I applied some to my wrists, I could instantly smell the lychee. The product felt very nice (not too oily). After a while, it started to mix with my body chemistry and faded a bit after I washed my hands. By the end of the day, it smelled quite nice. Personally, I love fruity fragrances, but this one is a bit on the sweet side for me.

    RATING: 3.5/5

    Soapette

    Housed in a collectable tin, each precious Soapette creates a decadent lather that leaves skin brilliantly refreshed.

    • Enriched with nourishing Shea Butter and Vitamin E
    • Velvety Triple-Milled soap for a smoother, creamier and more luxurious lather

    I think the soapette is my favourite product. It smells like lychee, but when you walk into the bathroom, you can’t smell it. You can definitely smell it when you use it though and it’s the most subtle of the three products. I’ve been using it for a few weeks as the soap on my sink and it hasn’t softened (like some soaps I’ve tried). There’s still quite a bit left.

    RATING: 4/5

    All of these products were nice, but if you have a sensitive nose like I do, you probably won’t like these. If you don’t mind stronger scents and you like lychee and sweet-smelling products, you’ll like these products.

    If you would like to make a purchase on Calissa.com, use code 10FRIENDSOFCALISSA to get 10% off! (This is not an affiliate code, just a code for you to get a discount!)

    Check out my other posts on products I’ve received from Calissa!

    Love,

    *I was sent this product by the team at Calissa. All opinions are my own.

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  • First Impressions with Purify Soap Co.

    May 28, 2019

    Hi Everyone!

    Today, I’m doing a first impressions review of a brand called Purify Soap Co. They reached out to me on Instagram for an honest review and they sent me their Kisameet Clay Balm and Soap Bar. Keep reading to hear my thoughts on these two products!

    Mineral Clay Balm

    I tried the balm first and I was unsure of how I would like it because it does smell like clay. I put it on my lips and luckily, I couldn’t smell it after I applied it. It felt very moisturizing and kept my lips nourished for a few hours. Let’s move on to the soap bar before I tell you my rating…

    Cleansing Soap

    Lather in your hands and apply to your face and body (or you can lather directly onto your face and body for more exfoliation), leave for 2 minutes. Wash off, avoiding contact with the eyes. Now, it’s your skin’s time to shine!

    Ingredients
    Carthamus tinctorius (safflower) seed oil, elaeis guineensis (palm) oil, cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, aqua,  sodium hydroxide, Kisameet Clay (Colloidal Clay), melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) oil, lavandula angustifolia (lavender) oil, menthe piperita (peppermint) oil, ocimum basillicum (basil) oil. 

    The soap bar smells minty and as I lathered it on my skin, I could feel it exfoliating my arms. The next day, unfortunately, I woke up and my lips were a bit inflamed and I had a bit of a breakout on my arms. It’s been three days and the left side of my lip still looks a bit puffy. I must’ve had some sort of reaction to both products which is disappointing because one of the claims is to help with eczema.

    I know that coloured bars of soap look pretty, but any soap bar that isn’t white just makes a mess of the sink and shower. Similar to a charcoal bar of soap I recently tried from Woodlot, this one ‘bled’ greenish-gray.

    RATING: 2/5

    Before I had the reaction, both products seemed very nice and might work for you. I haven’t quite figured out what it was that caused the reaction, but it’s safe to say that I can no longer use the balm. Since I have sensitive skin, I think that I had a very unusual reaction to something in both of the products. If the testimonials on their Instagram account have any truth to them, then it might work to help someone who has psoriasis or eczema. Even if this did work for me, it retails for $28 USD which I think is way too expensive for a bar of soap. As someone with eczema, I would rather just use my Cetaphil Gentle Daily Cleanser (for body and face).

    Love,

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  • First Impressions with Woodlot

    April 23, 2019

    Hi Everyone!

    Update: Sadly, the brand closed its doors.

    Today, I have a first impressions review for Woodlot products. It’s a Canadian brand that was founded in 2014. They generously sent me three products from their collection: two soaps and a body lotion.

    woodlot amour nourishing body lotion

    Natural Recharge Soap

    A simple antidote to stress and fatigue. Soothing aromas of rosemary + peppermint.

    Ingredients: Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Avocado Oil, Sodium Hydroxide (Lye), Shea Butter, Cocoa Seed Butter, Peppermint Essential Oil + Rosemary Essential Oil

    This one smells really nice. I love the peppermint in it.

    Natural Wildwoods Soap

    Embrace the power of detoxifying bamboo charcoal. Blended with nourishing butters, soothing balsam oil, crisp fir oil, and warming clove oil, this cleansing bar is brimming with benefits.

    Ingredients: Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Avocado Oil, Sodium Hydroxide (Lye), Shea Butter, Cocoa Seed Butter, Activated Bamboo Charcoal, Balsam Essential Oil, Fir Essential Oil, Clove Essential Oil

    This one has a nice scent as well, but products with trees tend to smell more manly to me. The one thing I don’t love about this one is the activated charcoal. While it’s great that it detoxifies, it can get quite messy with the charcoal bleeding when it gets wet.

    RATING: 4/5

    While these are nice soaps, $10 is a bit expensive for one bar.

    Amour Nourishing Body Lotion

    Scents of floral palmarosa, fragrant rose damask, and spicy black pepper oil make this nourishing and lightweight lotion a romantic treat for your skin.

    Ingredients: Purified water, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil**, Ecomulse, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Coconut derived MCT Oil, Neodefend (botanical preservative), Glycerin, Xanthan Gum, Cymbopogon martini (Palmarosa) Essential Oil, Rosa damascena (Rose Damask) Essential Oil, Piper nigrum (Black Pepper) Essential Oil, Sodium Hydroxide (ph adjuster). **Organic ingredient

    This lotion made my hands feel very soft, but the black pepper is a little overwhelming for me. I don’t usually use scented lotions because I have sensitive skin and a sensitive nose. I get headaches from scented products easily.

    RATING: 3/5

    woodlot amour nourishing body lotion

    My favourite of the three is the Recharge soap. It smells so good (and I don’t usually like Rosemary), but the mint makes it refreshing.

    They gave me a discount code. Use the code JENCAT-XO at checkout to get 15% off!

    Have you heard of Woodlot?

    Love,

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