The Body Shop's Smoky Moonstone palette is quite perfect for the holidays.

It's been a long while since I've paid much attention to The Body Shop's cosmetic range. Until Kahani pointed out how pretty their cosmetics collection was for this year's holiday season.

So I looked. And looked again. And fell in love with the Smoky Moonstone palette.

MINE.

Beauty chat: Rediscovering old loves

I've been sighing and shaking my head at myself. 

It beats me why -  when I KNOW something works, have even raved about it in the past - I'd just sort of forget about things that work and stop using them. 

Perhaps its because they became such basic and intrinsic parts of my beauty routine that I sort of forgot what they did, took them for granted, neglected them... and skin paid for it. 

Take for example, Neutrogena's Deep Clean Blackhead Eliminating Scrub. It wasn't readily available in Hong Kong when I arrived so I just shrugged and did without. Well on a recent trip back to Malaysia I toted a tube back to HK with me (I had one sort of just sitting around) and dear goodness. My skin's been keeping clear up, my scars fading, it feels smoother, makeup goes on better... WHY did I ever think I could live without this?

Thank goodness that before I go into a full-scale panic attack about the lack of this baby in Hong Kong, they launched it! It's now in every Watsons and Mannings praise the skincare gods. 

It Don't Work No More: The Body Shop Vitamin C Skin Boost

Ever had a product which worked but stopped working after you moved to a different climate?

I have. Lots, in fact. The Body Shop Vitamin C Skin Boost is one of them.

I absolutely loved this stuff while I was in Australia. It kept pimples at bay, helped to heal blemishes really quickly and made my skin look brighter after weeks of regular use.

Cue my return to Malaysia.

Sparkly goodness: The Body Shop Nail Colour in 02 Twinkling Pink

I'm rushing this post because this is a limited edition product and I'm afraid it'll be sold out if I wait to review it. 

Twinkling is RIGHT. This metallic pink has silver sparkle and fine holographic glitter. In bright sunlight it's quite mesmerizing. It's, of course, quite hard to capture on a photo so I suggest you drop by a The Body Shop outlet and check it out for yourself! 

Aruba, Jamaica, Moringa...

I just love travelling, and I love my holidays. I mean, who doesn't, right?


Unfortunately, though, there's only so much travelling one can do in light of the time off and cash needed. And when I can't have that, I indulge in something else that brings out the holiday mood for me - The Body Shop Moringa Body Scrub.

Truth be told, I never gave this product much thought before. But since I really wanted to pick up the Coconut scrub and it was on a BOGOF offer, I went around sniffing for something I'd like and came up with this. And boy am I glad I picked it.

*sighs* Another Deo Disappointment: The Bodyshop, DeoDryStick in Cool & Zesty

The thing with me and deodorants is I love multitasking products. So a deo that actually has a scent I wouldn't mind as my daily perfume really captures my attention. And this fresh citrusy deo really does smell lovely and I fully expected to love it. After all, it's a stick deo (check!), smells of citrus (check!) and is paraben and aluminium salts free eliminating that niggling worry about skincancer. So what's wrong?

Bathing in the Milky Way: The Body Shop Raspberry Shower Gel

When scientists aimed a giant scope at the milky way they found the presence of ethyl formate. It's the chemical that gives raspberries their flavour and rum it's scent.

Isn't that beautiful? The milky way tastes of raspberries and smells of rum.

So when using this shower gel (which PrettyBeautiful gave me -thanks babe!) I indulge myself and imagine that it smells of the milky way. Could use a touch more rum though ;)

Like most body shop gels it's beautifully scented, foams nicely and washes off cleanly. Although it's gentle, it isn't moisturising and can be rather drying. So follow up with a lotion if you're dry-skinned.

I believe this retails for about RM25 for 250ml. A touch pricey for me which makes it an even lovelier indulgence. What's your fave Body Shop shower gel scent?

My Vanilla Crack: The Body Shop Nutmeg & Vanilla Body Scrub

When The Body Shop first released their Christmas offerings late last year, I was rather nonchalant. Not that I don't like their products, heavens no. It's just that they dish out lovely offerings year after year, it's hard to stay super excited all time.

But any rate, I had been looking forward to checking out their holiday offerings and so I did.

There was Merry Cranberry (their faithful annual release), Black Velvet Apricot, and Nutmeg & Vanilla. Nutmeg & Vanilla? I did a double take. Really.

Just as I had declared how much I love the Cocoa Butter Body Scrub, I was beside myself with glee taking sniffing in the vanilla scent. I knew the body scrub was miiiine. I was pretty much like a squirrel on crack.

And in perfect timing, a lovely lovely friend (you know who you are, thank you!) offered to do a The Body Shop run for a discount! Which saw me bringing a tub of the body scrub and a bottle of their body lotion home.

Some have described the scent as being too sweet, or even cloyingly so. But as my nose is rather scentically-challenged (yes, I coined that word), it doesn't seem to mind it at all. In fact, I find the vanilla scent delicious and comforting. Not quite sure where the nutmeg comes in though, in terms of scent. I'm hopeless.

Anyhoo, on the product itself. It's rich and creamy, with ground nutmeg to exfoliate the skin. There's also something else in there (I'm not sure what it is), but it looks like orange microbeads, and works as a finer scrub.

(Notice the dark brown beads? Those are ground nutmeg (I assume). And if you look closely, you'll notice orange-coloured microbeads, which works for a gentler exfoliation.)

I've used it a few times now, and I always feel so clean and pampered after a good scrub. And my skin feels uber smooth and rather hydrated too, thanks to its creamy goodness. Perfect for when you need something to lift your spirits a little after a long and tiring day.

Priced at RM69.90 for a 200ml tub, it IS crazy pricey, but one tub will last me quite a while yet. While it's no longer available on the shelves, one can always scour the Net. And hope it'll come back this year.

One can always hope, no?

Monday's Beauty (Holiday Collections) Bits

Hello people! Hope you're this week is starting out great for you guys. Today's Beauty Bits will be snippets of some of the holiday offerings that I've managed to check out over the past week. I've managed to exercise some amount of self-constraint, but got a little naughty too. So read on to find out what I products I succumbed to!

I don't know about the other MAC lovers, but after going through the MAC collection again a little more thoroughly, I found it slightly disappointing. The only eye palette I had found myself drooling lustily over, Sorceress, didn't swatch nicely when I was on the verge of buying. Even the dark purple took work for it to show up, and that just doesn't cut it for me. Not for a palette which costs RM180. I had also wanted the Hocus-Pocus face palette, but as I already have Peachykeen, logic got the better of me and so I walked away. Verdict: I'll pass.

I ran into Shu Uemura too, hoping to find their Rouge Unlimited Supreme Shine lipsticks (glossy finishes in lipstick form always appeal to me), but all I got was a super-blank look from the SA. What I found out instead was, that the tsumori chisato holiday collection is out. No swatching done (Shu usually swatches beautifully anyway), but a quick look at the collection told me it was not for me. Verdict: I'll pass. (Anyone who does know anything about the Supreme Shine lipsticks, however, I'm all ears!)

The Body Shop, now is a different story altogether. Christmas offerings this year include their regular Cranberry range (called Merry Cranberry) and the new Black Velvet Apricot. But what I really, really dig is their Nutmeg and Vanilla range. I took a whiff, then whiffed and whiffed again. The scent is just divine, for a vanilla-mad girl like me. If you like vanilla, you'll want to check this one out. Serious. The body lotion and body scrub have my name written all over them. Verdict: Come to momma!

I haven't seen this in the Sasa outlets, but getting my grubby paws on a theBalm booklet, I noticed that there are in fact TWO Shady Lady palettes. One in leopard print (which me and Kahani both caved for), and then there's another one - in Zebra print. Looking at the pictures, it looks like several shades overlap, but I'm guessing Shady Lady Vol. 2 should include shades like Just This Once Jamie, Mischevious Marissa, Racy Kacy and Sexy Stacey. Verdict: On the look-out.

And finally, Bobbi Brown. Ah Bobbi, your Chrome Holiday Collection has left me absolutely drooling. And a mighty big collection too, I might add. I checked out the Earth Metal Lip & Eye palette, which looked gorgeous, but chickened out at its RM240 price tag. I didn't dare go near their Chrome Palette. But what snagged me was her Pewter Chrome Eyeshadow. At RM75, it's super-pricey but it's so super gorgeous I just caved. *Sigh* And while I was there, I also got snagged by her Illuminating Bronzing Powder in Maui. That cost me RM115. But it's beautiful I tell ya! Verdict: Came to momma!