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Essential Deep Cleansing and Light Finish Volumizing Shampoo and Conitioner Review

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Sponsored Review

Hey all! Today I am back with another shampoo review, and this time it is the Essential Deep Cleansing Care and Essential Light Finish Volumizing Shampoo and Conditioner.

I am not sure about you guys, but I actually sincerely do face this problem*: having combination hair/scalp. I wasn't even aware of this condition till recently when I was reading about the information provided along with these sets of shampoo where I realized that combination hair does exist, just like combination skin.

Now what combination hair really means is that you have oily scalp as well as hair roots and dry and often easily damaged hair ends. This explains why no matter what shampoo I used, either my scalp or my hair ends always feel wrong.

*Trust me, I did not just invent a problem for the sake of writing this advertorial. 
Essential Deep Cleansing Care Shampoo and Conditioner
Essential Light Finish Volumizing Shampoo and Conditioner 
For the past few days, I have been testing out the two sets of hair care products as shown above and here are my first impression of them!

Essential Deep Cleansing Care Shampoo and Conditioner
The deep cleansing care shampoo is transparent in color and smells really great, as do all essential shampoo does! What I like about it is that it foams excellently when you scratch it out into your scalp, and it is actually proven that foam is better able to remove sebum! (Think about Biore facial foam wash, aha!) I do think that the shampoo has achieved what it promises to, which is to thoroughly cleanse the scalp of the sebum residues to make the scalp feel much fresher and breathable!

Additionally, even a day or two after usage, my scalp still does not feel as oily as it would have been prior to using this shampoo! Amazingly, I also noticed a reduction in the amount of dandruff-resembling bits (they aren't actually dandruff since they don't fall off in flakes, I think?) on my head when I scratch my scalp, which makes me very happy!

However, one problem with using the shampoo and conditioner on the whole length of my hair (my hair reaches my lower back) is that the bottom half of my hair becomes incredibly tangly and dry, I think? I feel that the lower part of my hair lacks the necessary nutrients and oils because the Deep Cleansing effects of the shampoo has done it so well that even the oils on my hair ends have been stripped off. Nonetheless I am still very pleased with the shampoo and I won't hesitate to rate it a 9/10, where one mark is deducted for the dry effect on the lower hair ends.

Thank goodness we have the volumizing hair shampoo: it is here to salvage your hair ends!

Essential Light Finish Volumizing Shampoo and Conditioner 

I tried to do an artistic shot. Too much backlight D:
In a way, the light finish volumizing shampoo and conditioner is perfect for the lower half of your hair because it does nourish the hair to provide a silky and smooth finish that creates that extra volume! Nonetheless, I was careless enough to use it on my scalp once, which had caused my scalp to be oily rather quickly. However, this also proves that the shampoo does what it claims: to provide the additional oils and nutrients to improve the quality of your hair...that your scalp does not need!

Essential Shampoo Massage Brush
On top of these amazing hair products, I also had the opportunity to try their brand new Essential Shampoo Massage Brush! Available in both hot pink and mint green, I think it is safe to say that they have a color to appeal to both our girly side and our manly sides!


The shampoo massage brush is designed in a way to improve your blood circulation in the head when you brush your head with it whilst shampooing! The soft silicon bristles prevents harsh shock to your scalp and provides a gentle and comfortable massaging experience.

Not only so, the brush was helpful in gently cleansing my scalp build-ups which is a gross combination of skin and dirt! After usage, you can see greyish gunk on the bristles that can be easily washed away with water.

However, I do notice that if you have a lot of hair or very long hair like I do, the brushing may be harder because I don't really dare to push the brush all the way into my scalp: for fear of tangling my hair! Essential recommends for us to NOT use the brush in circular motions as it will cause tangles. Instead, we are supposed to move it side to side with small movements!



Also, to store the brush, face the brush up like I did with the mint green brush and don't rest the brush face down as this will damage the soft bristles, causing them to go out of shape, i.e. bent.

All righty! I have come to the end of my post and I am sure you guys are interested to find out more about these cool products! You guys will be thrilled to know that currently there is a special promotion from mid-May 2015 where by you can buy a set of 2 shampoos and get a mint green/hot pink shampoo massage brush for free! That banded package costs only $19.60 at all leading supermarkets and personal care stores (Watsons/ Guardian etc), good deal right?

Not only so, don't forget to grab your samples from Essential Singapore's Facebook Page to try out your very first FREE samples today!

Last but not least, if you are interested in more special offers and promotions, why not follow Essential on instagram @essentialsingapore and also myself @kiraknightyy to keep yourself updated of the latest freebies and cool stuff!

Till next post, toodles!

Retrospect

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I have been sick for almost five days now, since last Thursday night. It happened when I was sleeping - it almost always starts the same way for all my illness: my bones start hurting. Like a grinding sort of pain that bothers you minimally, nonetheless still present as you try to carry on with normal life.

Then I got really cold. It escalated quickly from there: I couldn't breathe properly from a blocked nose, my throat started hurting badly and in half an hour, I was burning up with fever.

I think I must have knocked into something when going to the washroom to wash my face because my mom woke up to check what I was doing making such a din at 3 am plus in the morning and she got a shock at how I look. (Not really sure how I look, according to her, I look like I was dead and walking.)

She felt my forehead, knew something was wrong and quickly took my temperature. It was rather high, at 38.4 degrees I think? I can't remember much - all I knew was that I felt so uncomfortable and so achy that I just wanted to sink back into my pillows.

I went back to bed and slept fitfully, texting people to inform them I was sick.

Hehe, I like gaining sympathy like that. *winks*

Anyways, when  I woke up next morning, I didn't feel any better. I couldn't eat anything, my head was spinning quite badly and I was feeling feverish and heaty all over. I was supposed to go out with my mom to shop for stuff that day, but she eventually had to cancel because I couldn't stand properly. I tried going out to get a snack, but when I got back home, I dropped onto my bed and passed out into deep sleep. I think my mom went out with my dad to do some stuff together (don't ask me what, I can't even remember what I did in those few days, ha!) and my fever peaked to 39.0 degrees.

I refused to take fever medication.

All my closest friends who found out that I was sick through a self-serving Instagram post of mine wished me well: I was secretly pleased haha. I mean, isn't that the whole purpose of "instagramming" things? To get other people to notice you and give you either praises, assurances or sympathy. But of course it also reminded me that the people who bother checking my Instagram are my closest friends in real life, because only they would care about me.

So to the girls (and guy) who messaged me, thank you so much haha, you guys are really awesome. <3

Back to the question of medication. A lot of people recommended a variety of medication to me, including paracetamol, panadol and ibuprofen but I didn't want to take any of those, especially not panadol. Sorry to Panadol company, but Panadol is pretty damn toxic. It damages one's livers in the long run, which is why I rather suffer from the fever and discomfort than to take it. Fun information: apparently the toxic from one Panadol pill takes 7 years or something to be fully cleansed from the body...

I couldn't conduct any lessons because of my severe fever but I persisted and did one lesson in total ultimately. Thankfully, the kid was very empathetic and sympathized with me because I was dripping mucus (heh). It was a fruitful lesson, thankfully.

I think I went out on Friday night...oh yes I did. Throughout the night my chest was hurting badly and I couldn't feel any strength in my upper torso to support myself, so I leaned against the wall whilst having a meal with my friend. I think that he thought I was really bored throughout the conversation, which wasn't actually the case! The stories he told are actually really funny, but for one thing, there had been this feeling of blocked ears in me for a while so I couldn't really hear him, and also it hurts my chest when I tried to speak or laugh. And it was also highly likely that all my facial expression came out to be grimaces...which is like yikes, major let down haha. Imagine going out with your friend to have your friend grimacing and sighing at all the things you say, feel kind of bad.

On Saturday and Sunday...I again can't remember much. I think on Saturday I didn't do anything much apart from having a fever: the fever officially took over my life for more or less 5 days where it went up and down like a roller coaster. Saturday night was meaningful I think, shall not share with you guys what it is because it is private, and only meaningful to me. Ha.

On Sunday, despite my fever I went to watch a movie! I know! I am pretty bad ass. I watched Tomorrowland, George Clooney was really good in the movie and the whole concept was really cool, though it didn't offer me the sense of completion that I would have liked.

Had lunch at Xin Wang Cafe. It is pretty cool, despite the saltiness of the food. And actually I find it too expensive in comparison to Itacho Sushi, because well, you can eat more at Itacho with the same amount of money.
Yummy but salty Ebi Baked Rice
 I didn't finish my baked rice because it was really really salty (might be because I was sick) and I didn't finish my grass jelly drink either because I thought it was too sweet. I know I sound like an old fuss pot here but I am really not a fussy eater! I mean, otherwise how would ever have turned into a fat ass, right? (Psss, reminder: I am no longer fat! Check out proof!) To be fair, I wasn't like morbidly obese obese kind of fat in the past, like I needed to wear a size M to L, but now I am down to an XS-M depending. Okay, enough of my fats.

Vegetarian Hor Fun



I persisted with not taking any medication.

Unfortunately, I also didn't take enough water. Which is very very bad.

But on the bright side, I ate lots of yummy food. Which may not necessarily be healthy or even suitable for someone with a persistent fever of 38.5 to eat. All right, that side is not so bright anymore.

Okay, on the brighter side, I lost weight, again! Ha! Gosh, now I am as slim as a pole (laughs). No really! Remember last time I was making all kinds of promises to defatify myself? Now I managed to do it effortlessly! Whee!

Okay, that side was really bright. My mom disagrees. She thinks it is a dumb thing to be happy over.

I ate this bento lunch this morning. I couldn't finish it. For once haha. My mom was saying that my stomach shrank from the size of China to the size of Singapore over the past half a year because I kind of just lost my appetite more each time I fall ill. And strangely, I am seldom hungry nowadays.

Ebi and teriyaki chicken. Yums.
I reflected on myself in the duration of my fever. I know I haven't been most health conscious...or rather not at all, because I am stuck with the notion that because I am young, nothing can happen to me.

Guys, if you all are thinking like me, don't. Don't ever let that kind of nonsense get into your head like it got into mine because you CAN GET CANCER no matter how young you are. Yes, read the newspaper: the general cancer-getting age has dropped from 60+ to like what? 10+? Like people who are still in school are getting cancer. We will more or less know of people or people who know those who had.

Anyway by Sunday night, my fever was still as high as ever and my chest was hurting so bad from a mixture of reasons and I had totally lost my voice. I couldn't speak without panting, and when I did, it took me so much effort to get the words out. Whenever I spoke a short sentence, I had to gasp really hard to breathe through my lousy blocked nose and mouth and raspy throat. (I have a nagging suspicion that my throat is so ruined, as are my lungs).

By Monday noon, I felt like I was ready to just sleep forever because I don't see myself getting better. I hadn't been so sick since exams are over (the last time I was sick for around 2 days in April, fever around 38.5, but I was feeling fantastic heh).

I caved in and took paracetamol. 

I put that in block quote because I am deeply ashamed of the fact that I succumbed to the easy way out of my (hopefully only) flu rather than waiting it to get over with. I was mentally and physically too tired to battle the flu virus in my body and I just wanted to be able to sit down at my computer without flopping onto the table like a sapling that has withered. And I googled paracetamol and all the chemical compounds scare me further as I started to remember my grandpa's research on how they can damage your livers in the long run and then give you liver cancer...(I'm guessing). My livers hurt just thinking about it.

Anyways, after taking the bloody pale blue pills, I flopped onto bed and snoozed. Within an hour I broke out into sweat and felt so much better that I was wondering why I wanted to put myself through the ordeal of battling my flu with my natural antibodies. I mean, why go through all the pains? My head hasn't felt like a head since Thursday night, it felt like the loudspeakers at a club - always throbbing. With the pale blue pills, my head felt like a normal head again!

By night time, the effects of the pills were gone and my fever was slowly rising again. So I took 2 more pills of paracetamol. I am deeply humbled by my own cowardice for not standing up to the allure of the medication. I didn't want to have the headaches, body aches or the burning fever at all.

Anyways, by now, I am still running a slight fever of 37.8 and thank god that my home has ran out of paracetamol (ha, all the rest are expired, so I don't want to risk it). I feel like if there were any more of those pale blue things, my livers would have been severely compromised. I feel so guilty that my livers have to work extra hard now to get rid of the additional toxin and each time I think about it, there is a sharp twang in my side (whichever side livers like to plop themselves in).

Anyhoos, I resolve to not drink alcohol or take anymore paracetamol in the future to protect my livers. Maybe I should try to be vegetarian again...afterall I had tried once before and it had worked!

To my livers who may read this, I apologize sincerely and vow to take good care of you guys.

Cheers!

P.S. A barrage of sponsored posts are coming up. Enjoy reading my rants while you can! :D

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula

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Sponsored Review
Hey guys! After a long hiatus from blogging due to my overly hectic life, I am finally back with something really cool for you girls and guys!

Have you always known about the benefits of applying moisturizers but have simply found using them too much of a trouble? Personally, I am well aware of the skin benefits of using a good brand of moisturizer, such as having well-hydrated skin that is simultaneously better nourished! Nonetheless, being lazy as I am, I can never finish using a tub of body butter or moisturizer because it is such a chore.

Imagine having to unscrew the tub, dig out a dollop, screw back the lid and possibly having to repeat the steps again because you took out too little. Even worse, I have once contaminated my tub-form moisturizer by double-dipping my finger into it.

Naturally a better option for me was using a tube form, but when I am rushing it, I tend to squeeze out too much from the tube...until I am introduced to the amazing SPRAY moisturizers.

You read that right!
Palmer Rapid Moisture Spray Lotion (picture source)

Not only is it now easy for us to apply the spray lotion, it also comes in a variety of choices for us buyers to find the one that we truly like! Personally, I am quite spoiled for choice!

I was fortunate enough to be given the Palmer's Rapid Moisture Spray Lotion with deep moisture function to try and review, and as an individual who is quite picky about her moisturizers, I was surprised to find myself liking the spray lotion more with each use!

Palmer's Rapid Moisture Spray Lotion: Deep Moisture
Let us first take a look at the key ingredients list:
  1. Cocoa Butter: a rich natural moisturizer that leaves skin soft and silky, transforming even the roughest, driest areas into buttery soft skin.
  2. Vitamin E: a powerful antioxidant that helps improve the appearance of scars, stretch marks and imperfections on the skin, giving a more even and toned appearance.
  3. Shea Butter: deeply moisturizes and nourishes to leave dry soft and radiant
On top of the fact that cocoa butter is a superfood for your skin, might I also add that it is extremely good smelling? It has the scent of raw, rich chocolate which makes one smell like you just step out of a chocolate bath, without having to actually waste the chocolate, ha!

Watch the video below to find out more about cocoa butter as a lovely source of nutrients for your skin!


Okay, and the company actually came up with a rather cool dance advertisement for their product!

That aside, here are my first impressions on the product!

Foremost, convenience! What I love most about this product is the high level of convenience it has brought into my life, making the application of moisturizer that much easier and thus making me less likely to forgo the moisturizing step in my daily bath ritual! All we have to do is to hold the spray can close to the skin and press the nozzle, then you will see the moisturizer landing on your skin! That cool!

Secondly, I also love the smell! If you are worrying that the smell will be strange, then worry not! It smells absolutely wonderful. To me, the fact that the smell stays is also a plus point, because I like smelling like cocoa butter!

Finally, it is great as a moisturizer because it really does make the skin hydrated and softer upon application. Check out the before and after photos:

Before application

Applied one small spray:


Final Result:

Okay, I really did try to capture the subtle sheen that the moisturizer provides one's skin, but we know the limitations of technology too well: I really can't capture how much softer and more moist that my skin was! And such feeling of hydration persists long after application.

And for readers who might be interested in Palmer's Brand Story, here it is!

Founded in America more than 170 years ago in 1842, Palmer’s has become one of the world’s leading names in skincare, a brand that women around the world have grown up with. Their unique heritage and commitment to quality has stood the test of time. Generations of families have loved the fantastic moisturizing qualities of Palmer’s skincare range, and millions of women around the world agree – Palmer’s can be found in bathroom cabinets in the homes of families in more than 80 countries, making it one of the popular skincare brand. Their #1 formula, Cocoa Butter Formula, is one of Palmer’s key offering in its wide range of skincare. Today, Palmer’s is still committed to creating affordable products that really do work, growing to provide a Palmer’s product for every skincare need : hand and body care, facial care, stretch mark care, hair care, body care and personal care. Using nature’s richest, most luxurious ingredients, Palmer’s key ingredients include Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Palmer’s has created a Palmer’s product for every skincare need. Palmer’s is against animal testing and all of the products are cruelty free. Majority of Palmer’s products are free of parabens, phthalates and sulphates.
To me, learning their brand story is really important, because as highlighted above, consumers like us can now rest assured that whilst we are pampering our skin, there are no animals out there suffering because of our products. Not only so, I love the fact that Palmer products are parabens, phthalates and sulphates free: it ensures that we can use the products long term without suffering from potential health complications!


If you guys are interested in getting one of this, they are easily available at Watsons, Guardian, Fairprice, BHG, Robinsons, John Little and leading cosmetic stores at the price of S$17.90/200g!

Whilst it may seem a little costly, this 200g can last you a really long time, not to mention that it is also good nourishment for your skin! :)

With this, I have come to the end of my post! Hope you guys have enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Have you tried any spray lotion yet? If not, why not? Leave your comments or queries down in the comment box below and I will definitely reply you! :)

Cheers!
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Lots of funny things happened recently. I suppose in a way they are enough to offset all the unpleasant things that have happened.

But I also noticed that among us, it seems like the people who are the happiest and most carefree are affected by the most things in life. Underneath the veneer of cheerfulness, they too are suffering.

Too lazy to type more.
Shall watch a movie instead.

Sometimes, I am disappointed by how disposable I seem to be.