Aspasia
Member Since: April 15, 2008Reviews
Pantene Pro-V Aqua Light Shampoo
My hair is long (mid back), fine, and not colour treated. I am always using volumizing shampoos in an attempt to keep my fine hair from sitting flat on my head. I'd heard about Pantene's new Aqua Light shampoo and I was eager to give it a try. I was... +
My hair is long (mid back), fine, and not colour treated. I am always using volumizing shampoos in an attempt to keep my fine hair from sitting flat on my head. I'd heard about Pantene's new Aqua Light shampoo and I was eager to give it a try. I was hoping it would be light enough that it would leave my hair weightless and full of body.
When I opened the bottle I was really surprised by the scent. I usually find Pantene shampoos to be very strongly perfumed (which I don't like), but this was not what I was expecting! The scent was fresh and very light. I always shampoo my hair twice in a row, and did the same thing with this product. It lathered up really well, and felt great on my hair and scalp. I loved that it has no colour or dyes, and it's paraben free! It rinsed out of my hair very easily and left it feeling very clean. There was a little bit of the scent left on my hair, but it as very light and smelled great!
After using the Aqua Light conditioner and Aqua Light Weightless Conditioning Shake, I blow dried my hair and the result was fabulous! Full of volume (even more than when I use volumizing shampoos and conditioners), great shine, very clean and smooth feeling, and it kept my hair clean for three whole days! I almost always wash my hair every day, or every other day, but with Pantene's Aqua Light products, I had great looking hair for three days! Incredible!
This is going to be my "go to" shampoo from now on! I loved it! I would highly recommend it to all of my friends!
NB: I received this product free as a member of the Product Review Club.
-
Dove White Beauty Bar
I received the Dove Beauty Bar as part of the Product Review Club. I have been using Dove's Body Wash and hadn't used the bar in a couple years. The first thing I noticed about the beauty bar was the fragrance. I found the smell to be really... +
I received the Dove Beauty Bar as part of the Product Review Club. I have been using Dove's Body Wash and hadn't used the bar in a couple years. The first thing I noticed about the beauty bar was the fragrance. I found the smell to be really overwhelming and way too strong. If I were to buy this product for myself, I'd buy the unscented version. I used it on my face and didn't find it as effective at removing my makeup as my regular face wash. It had trouble removing my non-waterproof mascara effectively. I also found it a bit heavy for my face. I have slightly oily skin, and the moisturizing cream in the bar was just too much for my face to handle.
As a body soap it was fine. It rinses clean and doesn't leave my skin sticky or too slick.
I would recommend this to a friend, but not as a face wash. I think I'll stick to the body wash though.
-
L'Oreal Paris Voluminous Million Lashes Mascara
You simply cannot beat this mascara! I was using the regular Voluminous mascara for a while, but this takes the cake! My lashes are incredible with this stuff. I use the Carbon Black colour. It doesn't flake or smudge and it's never... +
You simply cannot beat this mascara!
I was using the regular Voluminous mascara for a while, but this takes the cake! My lashes are incredible with this stuff. I use the Carbon Black colour. It doesn't flake or smudge and it's never clumpy. My lashes look thick, long, and luscious!
I would pay double the retail price of this mascara if I had to. It's that good!
-
NIVEA Aqua Sensation Eye Creme
I love Nivea's Aqua Sensation Eye Creme! I was in the market for a new eye cream after using NeoStrata's Eye Contour Smoothing Cream for about two years. Nivea's Aqua Sensation Eye Creme works as promised for me. It really has reduced... +
I love Nivea's Aqua Sensation Eye Creme! I was in the market for a new eye cream after using NeoStrata's Eye Contour Smoothing Cream for about two years.
Nivea's Aqua Sensation Eye Creme works as promised for me. It really has reduced the dark circles around my eyes, and the puffiness is totally gone. The amount of moisture is the perfect set up for concealer and eye shadow. I wish I'd found this product sooner!
-
L'Oreal Professionnel Intense Repair Masque
I received this product as a member of the Product Review Club. My hair is fine, dry, but not really damaged and no longer colour treated/bleached. My hair is also long (to my mid-low back) and I wash it daily. Because I live in a place that's... +
I received this product as a member of the Product Review Club.
My hair is fine, dry, but not really damaged and no longer colour treated/bleached. My hair is also long (to my mid-low back) and I wash it daily. Because I live in a place that's dry year round, but especially in winter, my hair is often in need of a moisture boost.
I find the price of this product to be on the high side. For $30 you get only 200ml of the repair masque, which is really not a lot.
I used the L'Oreal Professionnel Intense Repair Masque after shampooing with the L'Oreal Professionnel Intense Repair Shampoo, which I also received through the PRC. The masque smelled really nice without being super fruity/floral or too perfumy. I followed the directions on the packaging and towel dried my shampooed hair before applying the masque. I applied the masque starting with the ends of my hair and working my way up to the roots. I used approximately 2 tablespoons of the product in one use. I massaged it into the hair and then piled my hair up into a loose bun on the top of my head and started a timer for 3 minutes.
At the end of the 3 minutes I hopped back into the shower to rinse it out. The first thing I noticed was that as I was rinsing it, it made the floor of the shower extremely slippery! I've never noticed this from conditioner or hair masques before, so it took my by surprise. Be careful of this when you rinse it out! Since the packaging said to "Rinse Carefully" I was sure to rinse it out really well. I made sure it was completely out of my hair and then continued to rinse my hair (just in case) for at least another full minute. When I towel dried my hair again it felt so super smooth and hydrated. It was incredible.
To style my hair I didn't add any leave in products as I normally would. I just blew it dry with a diffuser. My hair felt light and soft and had a nice amount of shine to it. I was surprised to have no frizz or fly-aways. Despite the fact that I usually wash my hair every day, the next day my hair still looked freshly blown dry. I was surprised that a product that moisturizes so well didn't weigh down my fine hair or leave it feeling greasy the next day.
The next time I use this product I will leave it in for a full 30 minutes to get a really intense moisture treatment.
I would recommend this hair masque as a special treatment to use every week or every other week during winter and maybe once a month during the Summer. I probably wouldn't use it every day because I can imagine that with continued frequent use it would weigh my fine hair down, but as a special moisturizing treatment I think it's great!
-
L'Oreal Professionnel Intense Repair Shampoo
I received this product as a member of the Product Review Club. My hair is fine, dry, but not really damaged and no longer colour treated/bleached. My hair is also long (to my mid-low back) and I wash it daily. Because I live in a place that's... +
I received this product as a member of the Product Review Club.
My hair is fine, dry, but not really damaged and no longer colour treated/bleached. My hair is also long (to my mid-low back) and I wash it daily. Because I live in a place that's dry year round, but especially in winter, my hair is often in need of a moisture boost.
When I received the package with the L'Oreal Professional Intense Repair Shampoo, I was surprised by how small the bottle was. For $30 you get only 250ml of shampoo. Not very much at all, but I feel that this is the type of product that wouldn't be used every day.
When I used the shampoo I really liked the smell. It wasn't super fruity/flowery/perfumy, but the smell was nice and just enough. I shampooed my hair twice in a row (as I always do). I found that it lathered up really nicely even thought we have hard water. The lather wasn't super foamy, but it was a nice thick consistency with lots of tiny bubbles. I didn't find that I had to use a huge amount of the shampoo to get the lather I wanted. I used about a loonie or twonie sized amount both times. The packaging said to "Rinse Carefully", so I was sure to rinse it out of my hair really well both times.
When my hair was wet it felt just as smooth as it does after I use my regular shampoo and conditioner (Herbal Essences or Pantene). I was worried that since my hair is very fine and tends to be flat, that the shampoo alone wouldn't have enough moisture to keep my hair smooth. My hair was easy to comb when wet after using this shampoo without any conditioner.
I followed up with the L'Oreal Professional Intense Repair Hair Mask and then (without adding any additional product to my hair) I blew it dry using a diffuser (as I always do). I was concerned that my hair would be static-y or have lots of frizz, but it was still smooth and frizz free (for the most part) despite not having any leave in product in my hair. Although I usually have to wash my hair every day, I was able to skip washing it the next day. My hair still looked freshly blown dry! I was surprised that products intended to add intense amounts of moisture didn't weigh my hair down at all.
I would recommend this Shampoo as a special treatment to use every week or every other week during winter and maybe once a month during the Summer. I probably wouldn't use it every day because I can imagine that with continued frequent use it would weigh my fine hair down, but as a special moisturizing treatment I think it's great!
-
Crest 3D White Whitestrips 2-hour Express
I received Crest 3D White Whistestrips 2-hour Express through the Chick Advisor PRC. I've used Crest whitening strips before, but have not used them in a few years. I remember using the one week and two week kits and finding that the strips were... +
I received Crest 3D White Whistestrips 2-hour Express through the Chick Advisor PRC. I've used Crest whitening strips before, but have not used them in a few years. I remember using the one week and two week kits and finding that the strips were really thin and flimsy and that it was difficult to keep them on my teeth even for the 15-30 mins. The 3D White Whitestrips were nothing like the old one and two week kits. The strip felt much thicker and was significantly more sturdy that what I remember. When those strips were placed on my teeth, they weren't going anywhere! When the two hours were up the strips were still holding onto my teeth like crazy, but it didn't hurt to remove them. The only issue I had was with the bottom strip. I tend to have over-active saliva glands (so much so that even my dentist has trouble working on my lower teeth, they have to stuff my lower jaw with cotton absorbers and replace them every 10 minutes...), and this caused the lower strip to be smothered in saliva (even though I held my mouth open for the full two hours). As a result, I found that the gel on the strip was overly diluted and that my bottom teeth did not whiten nearly as much as my top teeth. The whitening that I did notice (mostly on my top teeth) was subtle but definitely brighter than my teeth were before. I didn't notice any white dots on my teeth (which I'd noticed with older versions of Crest white strips).
As far as sensitivity goes, this product made my teeth super sensitive for about 20 hours after taking the strips off. I didn't feel any sensitivity or pain during the two hour treatment. The sensitivity started about 3 hours after the treatment and lasted for most of the following day (I put the strips on in the evening).
The instructions that were included with the product were not at all helpful and didn't actually say which strip was for the top and which was for the bottom (both top and bottom are in one wrapper on the same plastic backing). The only way I knew which strip was for which set of teeth was by looking at the pictures on the back of the box. The first picture shows the two strips on the plastic backing with a longer strip on top, the next picture shows a smile with the strips already applied... I guessed that since the first picture showed the shorter strip on the bottom of the plastic backing, that it was for the lower teeth. It would have been nice to have some more detailed instructions about what you can and can't do while the strips are on. I remember a while ago seeing an ad about Crest Advanced whitening strips that said you could drink water with the strips on, but the 3D white whitening strips didn't make any mention on this on the box or in the limited instructions.
I have to admit that I found it difficult to find a time in my day where I felt I could go without drinking anything, speaking at all, and have my mouth handing open for a full two hours. It was incredibly difficult to speak with the strips on, and laughing made me feel like the strips would slide off. Despite applying chapstick every 15 minutes or so, I still felt like my lips were really dried out after using this product.
I wasn't expecting these strips to give me a brilliantly white smile, so I wasn't disappointed when the whitening was fairly subtle. The chart on the back of the box does indicate that the 3D white 2 hour kit will not give professional whitening results, but will "brighten" your smile. The kit includes a year's worth of treatments (4 pairs of strips) and the limited instructions say to repeat every 3 months. I might just do it again 3 months from now to see if the brightening is more noticeable with repeated treatments done according to the recommended schedule.
Overall I think I would recommend this product to a friend if they wanted a slightly whiter smile and didn't have the time to use a one or two week system. I did the treatment just three days before I was the maid of honour in a friend's wedding and it was convenient to be able to do it last minute. If you really want a smile that's noticeably whiter, then the longer treatment systems that Crest has are more effective as long as you have the time!
-
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat
Although this product isn't going to dry your nail polish to a hard smudge proof surface in only 30 seconds, it does help with preventing smudges right away if you're a little careful. It makes the nails dry to the touch after 30 seconds and... +
Although this product isn't going to dry your nail polish to a hard smudge proof surface in only 30 seconds, it does help with preventing smudges right away if you're a little careful. It makes the nails dry to the touch after 30 seconds and I find after about 10 my nails are totally dry. I love the shine that it gives and it does help prevent chips. I like to apply it every few days to maintain a great shine and continuously prevent chipping. -
OPI Nail Polish
I love OPI nail polish. It really lasts a long time and the colours are all really great. I only wish it dried faster, but I suppose it isn't the worst thing in the world to have to relax a bit while my nails dry! My favourite colour is I'm... +
I love OPI nail polish. It really lasts a long time and the colours are all really great. I only wish it dried faster, but I suppose it isn't the worst thing in the world to have to relax a bit while my nails dry! My favourite colour is I'm Not Really a Waitress. It's a delicious red with a bit of shimmer to it. My other favourite was Bailin' Hay in Santa Fe, but they discontinued it about 5 years ago! I was told that OPI never discontinues a colour, but lo and behold they discontinued the best every day "wear to work" nude they ever had! My advice is to buy a few bottles of any colour you really love, just in case it gets discontinued! -
Sally Hansen Continuous Treatment Growth
I bought this product because my nails always break or tear and take forever to grow back. I started using it as a base coat under any nail polish I wear and I really like it. Even on its own it lasts for almost a full week and it makes my nails... +
I bought this product because my nails always break or tear and take forever to grow back. I started using it as a base coat under any nail polish I wear and I really like it. Even on its own it lasts for almost a full week and it makes my nails grow a bit faster than they would if they were bare. I would highly recommend giving this a try if you have slow growing nails! -
Looking for more?
Check out our other review websites:
