Care for a scrub of tea?

St Ives Green Tea Scrub, that is.

In my perpetual search for something to satiate my scrubby needs, I came across this tube of green tea goodness whilst I was drugstore prowling in the States last year.

Did I really need another scrub? No.

Did I want another scrub? Especially one that has 1% salicylic acid? Heck, yes.

Loving: St Ives Fresh Skin Makeup Remover & Facial Cleanser with Chamomile

Once again, I was doing my usual prowl at the drugstore when the cleanser-fairy sprinkled some fairy dust on me, and suddenly I had to buy a cleanser.

Not buying it? Alright, not really.


But spotting an old old flame on the shelves... I had no choice but to bring it home. And the St Ives yada yada bla bla Facial Cleanser with Chamomile... we really go a loooong way back.

Guest Rant: "How DARE they change the packaging on me?"

God I love Petra's (Eli's sister) rants. I love them so much I let her write about them and I publish them on my blog even when they make little sense. Read and giggle, my loves!

By Petra Gimbad


“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!” I dialed Kahani’s number. “KAHANI!”

“Yes?”

“Gotaminute? They changed the packaging!” My mouth was too dry to froth.

“What packaging? Slow down, I can’t understand you.”

“The packaging! St. Ives! Apricot Scrub!” I screeched in the pharmacy.

“I don’t get it. You’re mad!” said Kahani. As always, Kahani was very patient with me.

However, this time – Philistine, I thought ungratefully.

“There is no integrity! How can they change the packaging?”

“You can’t expect the company not to change the packaging to please you.”

Red dots floated into vision. “Yes I can. Can I write about this for your blog? This is an atrocity!”

Bless her, she started to laugh.

Great Time Saver: St Ives Exfoliating Apricot Moisturising Body Wash

I am not a morning person.

Anyone who knows me, knows that. Which brings me to a slight problem.

I love my morning showers, but I always seem to be in a rush. If I can sleep in for just an extra five minutes, I will. But I like to shower in the morning before I head out too. And sometimes, a little scrub while I'm in the bath wouldn't hurt either.

So what's a girl to do when she needs a morning-perk-me-up-showercumscrub-but-dang-I've-only-got-five-minutes? Well, meet my answer: St Ives Exfoliating Apricot Body Wash.

A body wash that contains apricot extracts and jojoba beads, it cleanses and provides a lovely mild and gentle exfoliation at the same time. If you have sensitive skin and find that body scrubs are just too harsh for your delicate skin, this might be a good option to check out too.

My skin always feels great after a rendezvous in the shower with this. It is moisturising enough that my skin feels comfortable, without any hint of dryness.

Of course, it also doesn't hurt at all that this body wash also has a delightful fruity scent which helps me wake up just a little bit more. Until I have caffeine in my system, I never fully awake.

For about RM16 for a 400ml bottle, I think it's very reasonably priced.

This body wash reminds of two-in-one coffee. So I get my morning shower, with a nice little scrub, and I still make it out of the shower in five minutes. Not bad, eh?

Of course, no one's stopping you if you want to take more than five minutes with it.

My Favourite Things: St Ives Whipped Silk Advanced Body Moisturiser

Hello lovelies,

As requested by April when I decided (against my better judgment) to let you girls know how many moisturisers I had, here's a review of one of my absolute faves - St Ives Whipped Silk Advanced Body Moisturiser.

I first met this Whipped Silk moisturiser several years ago, when it was first released. Anyone remember the old packaging with the blue caps?

Originally, there were two scents available, I believe, as I remember clearly there was the one with the purple rose, and a pink rose.

Today, St Ives seems to only have the purple rose variety. But no matter. It's still one heck of a moisturiser.


For the Malaysian climate, St Ives couldn't have done better. It's moisturising but light enough even for our humid weather. I'd say this is even lighter than this Oatmeal & Shea Butter variety. If you're in a temperate country, this is a summer lotion alright. As much as I love it, I'm afraid it won't be able to carry you through winter.

Slathering it on, it does a great job of moisturising the skin without any of that greasy feel. It sinks right into the skin, which is a rather important point for me when it comes to body lotions.


A cute little extra that St Ives did as well, was to design the dispenser in a star-shape. This feature was also available in the original blue-capped design, and gives your moisturiser a whipped-cream look. Nice touch, don't you think?

As for the scent, it has a lovely and light floral scent which is very pleasant, and a little comforting. I love applying this at night as I find it has a rather calming effect on me.

The list of ingredients is as below:


Price-wise, it costs about RM16 for a 354ml bottle, which isn't pricey at all if you ask me.

To conclude, I really love this moisturiser, and it ranks up there with my all-time Dove holy grail. I have one bottle at home, and I'm still using my old bottle at my parents' place for when I visit them.

Yup, I love it that much. Have you tried it?

Review: St Ives Soothing Oatmeal & Shea Butter Advanced Body Moisturiser

Hello ladies!

Ah, to be back. I think this post will, without a doubt, prove that I'm still in the middle of my current cream-craze. Nevermind that I had only reviewed this Vaseline moisturiser two weeks back.

This bottle of Oatmeal & Shea Butter moisturiser I picked up during my recent trip to Hong Kong, amongst a few other items. And it's a purchase I'm happy to have made.

I first took note of this moisturiser because of the Oatmeal ingredient it boasts. Having read somewhere recently that oatmeal actually works jolly well for eczema, I thought I'd pick up a bottle for the hubs and see how much help it'd do him.

So read on to find out more!

It could be just me, but more often than not, products I'm interested in are usually out of reach. And of course, this too, is not available in Malaysia. Hence, the picking it up while in Hong Kong. Sorry girls, but this one you can't get here. Can anyone tell if it's sold in Singapore?

Anyway, it's one happy purchase as my skin didn't take the (lovely and mild) Hong Kong winter very well. Two days into my trip, my skin had turned all dry and scaly, and it was starting to itch like crazy.


Just as well, don't you think? Sorry hubs, I'm helping myself to this first. After all, it does claim to provide "instant non-irritating relief for dry, itchy skin".

And I must say, I was rather impressed. Slathering it on all over provided somewhat instant relief for the dryness, and my skin stopped itching. And slapping it on in the morning kept my skin comfortable pretty much throughout the day. But I'm pretty sure the glycerin had more to do with it than the oatmeal, considering the fact it's listed last in the ingredient's list.


But what's great about the product is that it claims to be have been formulated without parabens and phthalates. Tree-huggers will also rejoice in knowing that St Ives does not test on animals, and that the bottle contains 20% post-consumer recycled material.


Scent wise, Kahani describes it as "milky and nestum-y", which I didn't mind at all. And of course, dearest Kahani had to hate it.

"I can STILL smell you!" she groaned, despite being curled up in her duvet, head and all.

Granted, we both shared this tiny room, and her bed was not three feet away from mine. I think it's one of life's ironies that best friends we may be, but our noses most certainly aren't. I love vanilla, she hates it. She loves lavender and citrus. I hate them BOTH. Go figure.

Anyway, this huge 532ml bottle (which cost less than RM20 after conversion) will last me a long, long time. Which is great, since I do really like it. However, considering that I am currently swimming in body moisturisers, and the fact I can't get my itchy hands on it here, I doubt I'll be repurchasing.

Oatmeal, anyone?

Revisiting an Old Fave: St Ives Naturally Clear Apricot Scrub Blemish & Blackhead Control

I used to be a St Ives Apricot Scrub devotee but stopped using it after reading reviews that the jagged apricot seed kernals were too harsh and tore the skin. So what made me revisit it? Desperation.

After the Hong Kong trip, my skin rebelled against 4 days of interrupted skin routine. Really the only two items I didn't bring was Neutrogena's Deep Clean Cleansing Lotion and Himalaya Herbals Neem Mask. What can I say? I don't have a skin routine, I have a battle plan and every little bit counts.

Bursting out with white heads, cystic acne, and clogged pores even Himalaya Herbals and the Aspirin mask didn't seem to have to goods. In desperation I scoured the shelves of Watsons and came across this reincarnation of my old favourite. With 2% Salicylic Acid I pounced on it, brought it home and slathered the thick scrub on like a mask. After about 2-3 minutes I gently worked the scrub in and washed it off to reveal deliciously smooth skin.

That was the watershed moment for my skin. From then onwards it purged happily and easily (meaning the white heads came and went but never formed angry red bumps) and was back to normal in a week. The exfoliation is also helping the scars fade away more rapidly.

Compared to the old formula, this one has a less heavy cream and 2% Salicylic Acid. Regrettably the gentle more natural apricot scent has been replaced with something harsher and more perfumey - but hey it works so I'll forgive it. I also find the scrubbing grains to be finer, more plentiful and a lot smoother so don't be afraid of it tearing at your skin.

Conclusion
At RM19.90 I think I've found a new addition to my skincare arsenal. I plan to use it as a semi mask once a week and scrub with it mid-week - so I should be able to leave it behind on my shorter jaunts. *sighs*