MMBB’s Purifying Moisture range – a review

ok, so as promised, here’s a review of MMBB’s Purifiying Antioxident cleanser and serum.

Verdict : I’m so loving both of them!

Purifying Moisture Cleanser (PC)

Organic Aloe Juice, Organic Rooibos Tea Extract, Organic Olive Oil, Cocoamidopropyl Betaine, Emulsifying Wax NF, Kosher Vegetable Glycerin, MSM,Organic Jojoba Oil, Decyl Glucoside, DMAE, Organic Green Tea Extract, Vitamin E, HA, Activated Charcoal, Organic White Tea Extract, Organic Lichen Extract,Organic Black Willowbark Extract,Vitamin B Complex, Vitamin C Ester,Xanthan Gum

Like Lisa initially described, this is a greyish-purplish cleanser. It doesn’t have the strong smell that some people have noticed in the Miracle in a Bottle (MIB) cleanser so that may please some. PC also doesn’t strip the skin until it feels taut and squeaky clean – an effect I get with MIB. It leaves the skin feeling clean and supple.

I’m finding myself using PC more and more often. On days when I feel I need more oil to be cleaned off, I reach for my MIB… on every other day, I’m reaching for my PC!

This cleanser would be especially good for gals with combo to dry skin, in my opinion. As it cleans without stripping off all the much needed moisture in the skin’s surface.

Purfying Moisture Serum (PS)

Organic Aloe Juice, DMAE, Organic Jojoba Oil, Organic Rooibos Tea Extract, Emusifying Wax NF, Organic Green Tea Extract, Kosher Vegetable Glycerin, Organic White Tea Extract, Vitamin E, HA, Vitamin B3, MSM, Organic Black Willowbark Extract,Xanthan Gum

This serum is my answer for daytime moisture!

my much loved ultimate serum gave way too much moisture resulting in oil slicks pretty quickly… as a result, I used half the normal amount during the day or usually chose not to use it at all at the expense of a little dryness.

with PS, it goes on feeling oily. In fact, during my initial tryouts, I felt like I put too much cos my face felt soooo oily. However, I was pleasantly surprised when 5 mins later, it seemed like my skin just sucked up all the goodness and what I was left with was a smooth soft skin surface. Lovely!

The serum itself is a white creamy liquid (unlike the yellowish/brown almost syrupy texture of the Ultimate serum) that is easy to blend on to the face. I put a 10cent size dollop in my palm, rub my palms together and smear it all over my face. If you find it too thick, try adding some mist to your palm before rubbing your hands together. (personally, I find this mist trick an easy way to dilute anything that I find too thick for me) Easy :)

My nose isn’t too sensitive and I don’t smell anything from this. :P

This serum, I feel, would suit the more oily skin types for night time use. For dryer skins, it doesn’t quite give the treatment I’d like for night time BUT it does answer my daytime needs with great finesse.

Verdict repeated : am so loving both these products and have stocked up on both.

do refer here and here for my normal face cleansing/moisturizing routines. And let me know if you’d like to try some samples too.

MMBB swatches, a new liner and eotd

Here are the swatches from the freebies Lisa sent together with my order.

Hot Chocolate & Bronze lippies

impressions :

hot chocolate was a mlbb shade for me. Could hardly tell it was on. Gave an added gleam and shine to my lips.

bronze is totally a wrong shade for me. looked way too orange I think. not used to it at all. will probably pass this one on.

in terms of texture and usage… I guess I’m not used to using a lip brush (another skill I haven’t learnt) so I think I ended up putting on too much. Resulting in gloppy lips which I didn’t really like (don’t like feeling lipstick on my lips). Will retry the Hot Chocolate again and see if I can’t do better the 2nd time.

*from left to right – using monistat as base*

bella blue, sunkissed jade, golden rosalie, princess fiona

 

loved these shades Lisa chose for me. All of them are pretty and totally usable.

here’s an eotd

monistat – base
NYX JEP in pacific – lid
MMBB Bella Blue – lid blended upwards
MMBB Golden Rosalie – highlight
L’oreal HIP liner in navy

   

and on my trip to Watson’s, I picked up SilkyGirl’s Funky Eyeliner Pencil in pure purple (what other color would I have chosen?). Again, this is a recommendation from Mag. It cost me SGD6.30/USD4 after a 20% discount and comes in a pretty wide range of colors.

I like the pigmentation of this… one swipe and you see color on bare skin. its smudgeable immediately after you apply but sets to become really hard to take off with just soap and water. (had to wash my hand three times and rub hard!)

haven’t tried it on my eyes yet… can’t wait to see what results I’ll get.

what was the most annoying part of this purchase was that the plastic wrapping was almost impossible to take off. Even using a pair of scissors… finally gave up trying to get it off the cap.

but while I was trying… I managed to knock the pencil off the table, resulting in the broken nib you see in the swatch photos. *cry* the lead is seriously soft!

skin routine – Moisturizing – how to and reviews

 

after all that cleansing, the skin needs some lovely input.

Mineral Makeup Hydrating/Setting (Immortelle) Mist
the middle bottle

Organic Aloe Leaf Juice, vegan Glycerin, Phenoxyethanol, DMAE Bitartrate, MSM, hydralonic acid, Salix nigra (Black Willowbark) Extract, Polysorbate, immortelle flower,Tea Tree Essential Oil, Tetrasodium Edta, Citric Acid.

geee…. such a long name… I just call it my immortelle hydrosol… which is totally wrong I know cos it really isn’t a hydrosol… but… *rolls eyes*

I love this… before I switched to using MMBB’s products, I was moisturizing my face quite a bit. It just felt dry and tight and ‘old’. I couldn’t believe when Lisa told me she only used this mist as a toner cum moisturizer. Well, I do now. :) cos its all I really use in the day time.

On my non-dry days, just a couple of spritzes of this lovely spray is enough to perk up my skin. Its good for setting my m/u too. I also use it during the day whenever my skin feels like it needs a little something or I just need a 'pick me up’.

On my drier days, I add in this…

Ultimate Facial Serum
the bottle on the right

Rosa Damascena (Rose) Distillate, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Propylene Glycol, Kosher Vegetable Glycerin, Dimethylaminoethanol (DMAE), Emulsifying Wax NF, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Vaccinium Myrtillus (Organic Bilberry) Extract, Saccharum Officinarum (Organic Sugar Cane) Extract, Acer Saccharinum (Organic Sugar Maple) Extract, Citrus Auranium Dulcis (Organic Orange) Fruit Extract, Citrus Medica Limonum (Organic Lemon) Extract, Vaccinium Macrocarpon (Organic Cranberry) Extract, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Ascorbyl Palmitate (Vitamin C Ester), Phenoxyethanol, Idebenone, Beta Carotene (Pro Vitamin A), Retinol Palmitate (Vitamin A), Alpha Lipoic Acid DL- Thioctic Acid, d-Calcium Pantothenate (Panthenol Vitamin B5), Niacinamide (Vitamin B3), Daucus Carota (Carrot) Oil, Lecithin, Xanthan Gum (Polysaccharide gum), Tetrasodium EDTA, Citric Acid

this one I was actually rather hesistant about at first as I was happy with my Beauticontrol serum. But then my supplier went awol so I had to look for an alternative and Lisa was kind enough to send me some to try. It really was love at first try. Again, just a little goes a long way. Especially around the eyes. It seems to have eased the puffiness. Plus over time, my skin really seems softer and the pores look more refined especially on my cheek area.

I use this usually at night but occasionally for the daytime too.

Here’s the daytime amount I use… its about half a pump

then I add three sprays of Immortelle mist, rub my hands together and apply to my face.

  

If you’d rather use the serum neat, just put a couple of drops all over your face (forehead, cheeks, nose & chin) and blend.

here’s the amount I use at night… one full pump.

Purifying Moisturizing Serum
the littlest bottle

Organic Aloe Juice, DMAE, Organic Jojoba Oil, Organic Rooibos Tea Extract, Emusifying Wax NF, Organic Green Tea Extract, Kosher Vegetable Glycerin, Organic White Tea Extract, Vitamin E, HA, Vitamin B3, MSM, Organic Black Willowbark Extract,Xanthan Gum

just got a sample of this… and have used it twice. So far, really liking it. Used it with the purifying antioxident cleanser the first night they came. My immediate reaction was… wow… my face is finally clean and oh so baby soft.

Will continue to use it and report back on my findings. :)

Hup… 2… 3… 4

the army has arrived! and boy, do they look so sharp, clean and oh so spiffy! all ready to wage war against dirt, makeup and dead cells… 3 cheers for My Minerals Bath and Body!

   

Roll call!!!

• 8 big bottles of AHA Cleanser/AHA Exfoliating Cleanser/MIB/Purifying Cleanser
• 4 samples of pumpkin masque
• 4 samples of Immortelle Mist

this has got to be my biggest order from MMBB so far… and the postage… well, that was a bomb too!

and freebies… thanks so much Lisa for further possible enabling! :P

• one lovely Lilac and Lavender roll on fragrance from B&I (smells soooo good)
• one Lavender, Apples & Oak fragrance sample
• sample of Peppermint Hair Zen
• sample of Purifying Moisturizing serum (can’t wait to try this!)
• sample of Stay Put Aloe gel
• samples of sunkissed lavender, bella blue, golden rosalie and princess fiona e/s
• samples of bronze and hot chocolate lippies

The army was delivered by a lady in uniform… the mail lady! The Batman box… yes, you’re seeing it as it came… was too big for my mailbox so it got hand carried all the way upstairs to my door. :D

I simply love this card… have read Joni Eareckson Tada’s story many times during my teenage years. She was always one of those people who inspired me to say “if she can do it, so can I!”. To receive some of her artwork in the mail… just amazing :)

more from Fur’s RAOK

Ok.. so just spent a lovely hour sorting out all the baggies that Fur sent me. To say it was overwhelming would be an understatement really.

Didn’t take a pic of the entire pile of baggies – cos that would have been too daunting a task to look at – but did take some shots. :P

*before I forget… Fur… this again has brightened up my day… it was another stressful morning which left me with a huge headache. So I decided to take a nice long jacuzzi bath (burt’s bee theraputic bath salts + lavender eo + rose gerinium eo + silk protein = happy silky smooth frond) and then play with my package. End result.. I’m all chilled out and relaxed. So thank you again!*

here’s all my RAOK’d foundations (inc those from Xarata’s RAOK). Seriously, if anyone wants these… and there’s a good range of shades to try… please comment or PM, I’ll be happy to send them off to you! I’m just too plain lazy to test foundation shades plus I’d need to train my eyes to see the variations in shade… too much work… *blush*

There’s a huge pile of e/s and eye shadows… here’s the two biggest contenders…

to be honest, I’ve tried AL’s e/s before and wasn’t too impressed. I may give some of the shades a try though… since I have them.

I did find four bags of glitter than I couldn’t resist… these will definitely have a home with me! (without then with flash)

they are soooo glittery… I’ve no idea how I’m gonna use them but I can’t give them up! The one on the bottom right has the loveliest pink sparkles… so very very pretty… sad that the camera didn’t pick up on them.

Meow e/s… never tried them at all so will probably dip a brush in to give them a go. :)

There was also Joppa, J Lynne, MAD, Cory, Luminere, TSS, SilkNaturals (SN) plus other brands. In short, I am totally and truely flooded in e/s pigments.

What I was especially pleased to see where the TSS and SN bags. For SN, there were shades I haven’t had a chance to try. So expect to see some eotds using them coming up. For TSS, I think I recognise some LE shades that I didn’t get a hold of… plus there was the shade “Kiss the Frogs” which I was already planning to get a sample of… so more eotds to come for those too.

Last, but not least, there were MMBB e/s to play with. Since I’m expecting a biggish package from Lisa… I decided to swatch these first (so I can “hint” to her what colors I’d like to try. *evil grin*)

*with flash*

*without flash*

from left to right using monistat base
*comments in brackets*

opal beige (e/s), peach glow (matte e/s or glow – probably not as a glow… too orange), matte coffee (matte e/s or bronzer – rather sheer), pink twinkle (e/s – super light color w sparkles)

sunstone (e/s), celery (matte e/s – kinda weird in the bag and weird on my skin.. not sure what I’m gonna do with this), be dazzled (e/s – pretty pretty! got a green shimmer), twilight green (e/s – looks super dark in the bag but turns out to be a v. lovely bluey green), princess fiona (e/s)

purple frost (e/s – me and purple… nothing more to say), champagne glimmer (e/s or glow), aruban coral (e/s – pretty pinky silver)

and here they are in their baggies…

*whispers to Lisa… let me try PF on my eyes first… I’ll let you know tomorrow. Ok?*