Davidoff Cool Water Deodorant

First things first... I'd like to state for the record that I do not have body odour. However for the sake of the general population, I use deodorant to ensure I smell nice all the time. The only times that I do not use deodorant is when I'm sleeping coz it's not necessary and when I exercise coz I don't want any  pores to be blocked and allow my body to detoxify.

I've been using Davidoff Cool Water Deodorant for more than 15 years now. In between I've also tried other smells like Polo Sport, Issey Miyake and Boss. Yes those are ALL men's deodorants. Not only do I use them because I like the fragrance, I am also unable to find any ladies deodorants that aren't antiperspirants. Ladies antiperspirants are also lighter and don't last as long.

There have been a lot of reports around about antiperspirants blocking the sweat ducts, therefore the body cannot purge the toxins and the toxins find their way to your lymph nodes and BOOM breast cancer. Now I don't know how true these reports are and I'm not really qualified to make any statements about that. For me, deodorant is it.

Davidoff Cool Water Deodorant smells fresh and for some strange reason does not smell quite the same as the Eau De Toilette. Smells a bit lighter and less sharp. I know the eau de toilette generally smells better on oilier people, somehow when it's mixed with their body oils it smells more woody and less sharp. 

It's been tried and put through the harshest tests - 15 hour work days, walking 10 hours in Malacca, hours of hardcore dancing (and back in the day, you could smoke in the clubs so there's all that smoke smell added into the mix), 12 hours of zoukout, flying more than 24 hours to get to the other side of the world... it's really been through almost everything, probably with the exception of farming. At the end of each test, not much remains intact, sometimes even my legs feel like they're about to crumble. But aha... the deodorant still smells good. In other words... no armpit smell! It's a total win if you ask me. I've never had to reapply through the day. NEVER.

One small problem is that it you can't find this in the stores, unless you go to the specialty stores that will order it in for you. One stick like this generally lasts about 9 to 12 months and costs only SGD $22.50 on Strawberrynet. If you're a frequent shopper on Strawberrynet, you get loyalty discounts on a progressive scale, once you're at your 20th order and up, you get a 10% discount. Orders above SGD$40 after discounts, which is easy and will also get Free Shipping (with certain exceptions when your order is on fragrances or home scent items). Your order normally gets to you within a week or maximum two weeks. Items are gift wrapped individually, I'm not sure of the reason for that and the box is filled with a lot of spongy stuff to ensure your purchase doesn't get damaged. I've been buying from them for years and it's not been damaged before. I highly recommend Davidoff Cool Water Deodorant and also Strawberrynet coz there's nothing worse than an online shopping spree gone wrong.

Crabtree & Evelyn Jojoba Oil and Evelyn Rose

No one is new to Crabtree & Evelyn products.  The smell of their products in their stores are always pleasant and never overpowering.  I decided one day that I wanted to buy some nice soap and I couldn't wait.  I recalled how I used the Jojoba Oil soap when I was a child and opening my parents'  cupboard and seeing it filled to the brim with boxes of this.  For some strange reason had to use it again... now.  So I hurried to the nearest Crabtree & Evelyn store and smelled everything that looked like a bar of soap.

Decisions had to be made and I bought 1 box of the Jojoba Oil soap which is a classic that never gets old and 1 box of Evelyn Rose.  Well there's nothing exciting about the Evelyn Rose soap because it smells like... well... rose.  There was also Rosewater but I preferred Evelyn Rose soap as it was a powdery rose scent.  So it has another dimension to the smell, instead of just a blah boring rose smell.

Needless to say, I've had more showers than is considered normal (4 or 5 a day - I blame it on the bad weather).  I love the lingering scent on my skin.  That plus the fact that with THAT many showers in my few waking hours, my skin isn't dried out.  Amazing by humanly standards if you ask me.  Who would have thought that a shower could bring so much joy.  Each shower I have is thoroughly enjoyed and I emerge from each shower a better person I'm sure.

The Jojoba Oil box of 3 bars of soap costs SGD$28 and the Evelyn Rose box of 3 bars of soap costs SGD$40.  Ahhh the simple pleasures :)

Homemade Soap: Goat's Milk, French Green Clay and Peppermint EssentialOil

Soap making seems like a pretty fun thing to do and I love showering (and I don't just mean normal love... it's goes beyond that) it's a pretty serious kind of love. *true story*

Anyways I did a lot of research into this and realised that in Singapore, there's no way you could make bar soaps from scratch because you can't buy lye here. (Maybe I don't know where to get it but I'm quite sure it's not sold here coz it could be used to make stuff that could cause serious damage.) Lye is the solidifying agent and allows the liquids to become solid = giving you the bar.

I managed to find a place in Singapore that delivers the soap bases with help from some trusty people (yes you super tweenz). I went ahead and purchased 1kg of Goat's Milk Soap Base and 1kg of Clear Soap Base. Each for SGD $25.90 at Massage Supplies Warehouse. The service was prompt, the order was placed in at night, the next morning I was contacted by the salesperson, and the next day it arrived (delivery charges were SGD $6). Pretty impressive hey! One of the reasons I love Singapore is efficiency like this.

Now that the goods were in my hands, more research was underway as I couldn't decide on the smells, colours or combinations for my first try. Eventually the choice was made...

Goat's Milk, French Green Clay & Peppermint Essential Oil

French Green Clay is a mineral clay - a strong natural antiseptic with anti-inflammatory properties, feeds new cells by promoting blood flow, draws toxins and impurities out, removes dead cells... the list goes on. Pretty impressive stuff. If you have read my previous post on DIY Makeup Face Powder, you would know that I also use French Green Clay. I buy it from Cest Natural, also online for SGD $28.90, no delivery as the seller met me and passed it to me the next day.

Peppermint Oil is minty and good for asthma, flatulence, headaches, nausea, sinusitis and vertigo. It's stimulating and enhances alertness and stamina. Not to mention how refreshing it feels and smells! I buy my essential oils from Young Living even though they are really expensive SGD $44.75 for 15ml, but they are therapeutic grade oils (I've added these oils to my drinks to change my tea to peppermint tea. 1 or 2 drops go a really long way) and I believe in using top grade stuff in fear that my skin will be messed up otherwise... I have really sensitive and bad skin.

Instructions

I couldn't find a disposable container, you know the ones where you buy take away food and they give you a rectangle plastic box? So I had to use the baby size pyrex and lined it with aluminium foil. I lined it completely so that when the soap is ready, I can pull the foil out and not face the problem of having all the soap stuck in the dish.

I used about 1/3 of the 1kg block of goat's milk soap base, cut it into small blocks so that it microwaves quickly and evenly and put it all into a microwavable bowl. The soap base felt a little sticky but not in a gross way. Microwaved it in 30 second intervals so that I could stir it. After 2 minutes, I had what looked like a bowl of milk. It didn't smell like milk either so that was a relief.

I added in 2 teaspoons of French Green Clay and about 5ml of Peppermint Oil. Mixed it up well and poured it into the foil lined pyrex, popped it into the fridge. Easy! Took me less than 15 minutes in total. It doesn't look that nice considering the foil was all crumply, but it beats not being able to get it out of the dish. Also most of the clay settled on the bottom of the dish, to prevent this I think you need to stir it when the soap is semi hardened. I will try that the next time.

Right way and the other way

In relation to my previous post about the absolutely wonderful bar shampoo and conditioner that I bought from Lush, the verdict after using it for a week is that it makes my hair feel clean and light without drying it out and my hair smells SO good. I've had numerous compliments strangely enough, I never imagined that it would make a noticeable difference. I've been told that my hair looks like it's had a lift and that it looks really good. I have had no trouble with the bar conditioner Jungle Conditioner, I just have to make sure my hair and the bar is wet, then I rub it on my hair. I use the conditioner quite liberally (because it feels nice, smells nice and frankly... Just because I can!). However, it turns out there is a right way to use the bar shampoo and then there's the other way (my way! haha). 

The WRONG way

When I jumped in the shower to use the bar shampoo Godiva for the first time, I rubbed the bar directly onto my hair. Causing my hair to get really dried out and tangled. I was SO disappointed, they told me that it was the most moisturizing bar shampoo they had. On my second visit to Lush (which was the very next day), I asked for some advice...

The RIGHT way

The correct way to use these bar shampoos is to lather it between your hands and then massage the suds into your hair. That way it's not too harsh and gets the job done pretty well. It lathers really easily so a sufficient amount shouldn't take too many rubs.

So there you go! I hope this has helped some other enthusiastic shower addicts in their quest for the perfect wash.

More Hair Goodies

As promised, I went to Lush at Wisma Atria again. This time with an even wider grin plastered on and sheer excitement burning in my eyes. I must commend the staff there for entertaining my every ridiculous question and indecisiveness mixed with extreme greed of wanting to have everything!

After what must have been half an hour or a whole hour *rolls my eyes at myself*... I practiced some self restraint and settled on 3 products. Pretty pleased with the choices...

JUNGLE CONDITIONER

Smells fruity and creamy, infused with avocado, banana and cocoa butter. This bar conditioner is most definitely a MUST in my shower. It moisturises and softens my frizzy, dry and impossible hair, all for S$11.50.

ORANGE SOAP

Zesty, pure orange juice with toning Brazilian orange oil is the definition of shower fresh, decorated with a slice of orange preserved in seaweed-based jelly. This little gem was on sale so it only cost me S$7.

HOTTIE (Massage Bar)

This carnival of aromas is definitely an instant feel good the moment it melts into your skin. With jojoba oil, shea and cocoa butters jam packed into this bar, your skin will feel baby smooth; hot, spicy black pepper and ginger oils will stimulate circulation. To top it all of, for only S$20 you will smell like heaven and not be left with an oily/sticky residue. 

I think I might never leave the shower!

Hair that smells good enough to eat

Last Sunday I went to check out this bar shampoo that I had read about online. (Yes... during the times that I am unable to go to the shops, I spend online looking for things to buy)

It's from Lush and is called Godiva, smells like Jasmine and is meant to be a shampoo + conditioner type thing. (Apologies for not having a proper photo that I took, I decided to start this blog impromptu, I promise I'll have some proper photos for future posts.)

The smell of the store was extremely overpowering and I wasn't really able to handle that assault on my sniffer. But I persevered onwards and upwards. Making sure I bought what I wanted. I bought this for S$26 and it's supposed to last for about 80 washes.

I rushed home and quickly tried it. It wasn't as difficult to use as I had imagined. (I imagined pieces of it being stuck in my hair) On the contrary it lathered beautifully and didn't take much to get enough on my hair for a good scrub. It smelled fresh and my tresses felt squeaky clean. Therein lies my problem... my hair felt like it had been stripped.

At this point I'm not sure if the condition of my hair had actually caused this result. I wash my hair once in the morning and once in the night after exercising. So that could very well be the main cause of Godiva not being able to moisturize enough. I'll continue to use this just because it smells so wonderful that it deserves a proper shot and this gives me a reason to go buy the conditioner. I'm heading there tonight...

Lush only has 2 outlets in Singapore at the moment, 1 in Wisma Atria and 1 in Suntec City. I'm eying the Big Solid Conditioner and the Jungle Conditioner. I'll update once I get my grubby paws on it!