Nubian Heritage - Black African Soap

Since Burt's Bee had brutally discontinued my beloved Garden Tomato Soap, I was forced to find another natural facial wash to control my acne.

Introducing Black African Soap (note: there's nothing racist about the name).
Black soap is traditionally made in west Africa, typically Ghana, from secret recipes, and has long been used to heal problem skin including acnes. It usually made from the ash of locally harvested plants and barks such a plantain, cocoa pods, palm tree leaves, and shea tree bark.

I particularly choose this brand because it's available locally from an online sellee for 70.000 idr (US$8), and it has good review on the web. It's also available on iHerb and the websute ship internationally. I've been using this soap for almost a month now, so it's about time to write a fair review.

The soap is black. It's the first time that i see a black soap. The size is huge for a soap bar (5oz), so it can be used as a facial wash and last forever. Or you can also use it for a body wash if you have a body/back acne. I personally stick to my main purpose, cut it into tiny pieces and use it only on my face, twice a day.

The scent is nice, a fruity candy smell. It can be too overwhelming though, as I used it on my face, near my nose. But if I rub it on my palms with water first, and then applied it on my wet face, the strong smell can be reduce. It lathers well, and produce white foam (I thought the foam will be black too LOL).

Overall, I love this soap. It's an good subtitute fot the Garden Tomato Soap. Didn't break me out so far, or dried my skin (maybe because of the shea butter). It didn't prevent acne from appearing, but I notice that my active acne heals faster than usual, and I don't even need to put anything on my blemishes. The only downside is that it sometimes leave a greasy film on my face, so I usually wash my face twice. If I finished this soap (and only GOD knows when), I think I'll try another facial wash.


RIP my dear fellow. Your greatness shall be remembered..

Sleek Blush - Flamingo

I'm a big fan of Sleek eyeshadow palette as you can see in my previous posts. But somehow I wasn't very interested with Sleek's blush, although I knew they've been raved by many blushaholic everywhere (I think I just made a new vocabulary LOL). But I finally decided to try one of the most famous blush color, Flamingo, only to satisfy my curiosity.

I bought this from a local online seller for 90.000 idr (US$10), but you can get it from their official website for £4.30 and they ship internationally. The price is nice, but you only get a tiny amount of blush. I must admit I'm quite shock when I saw how small this blush is.

Flamingo is a warm hot pink blush, but the color is very hard to described. It's fuchsia without any blue-undertone, if you know what I mean (which I'm sure you don't). Actually the color reminded me of the tacky plastic flamingo garden statue.

Not the real animal, which has more coral color on their feathers.

Anyway, I have to say I'm really impress with the pigmentation. One swipe is enough to put a pink healthy flush on your cheeks, and the color is very pretty too. I think it will suit most skin tones, as long as you apply this very light handed.

But, I don't think that I will purchase another Sleek blush. Because it's powdery and takes forever to blend to achieve a natural look. Also you must use a soft fluffy blush brush, otherwise you'll get a streaky finish. It's a terrible blush option for people who must do their makeup and changing diapers (and eat breakfast) at the same time. But if you have all the time in the world (I'm looking at you single ladies!), feel free to get all of Sleek blush collection.

Swatches (left: heavy - right: blended)

Ingredients:Mica (CI 77019), Talc, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Pentaerythrityl Teraisostearate, Nylon- 12, Magnesium Stearate, Jojoba esters, Dimethicone, Polyethylene, Phenoxyethanol, ChloroxylenolMAY CONTAIN:Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), D&C Red 7 (CI 15850), Red 27 AL Lake (CI 45410), D&C Red 30 (CI 73360), FD&C Yellow 5 (CI 19140), FD&C Yellow 6 (CI 15985), Yellow Iron Oxide (CI 77492), Red Iron Oxide (CI 77491), Black Iron Oxide (CI 77499)

Sleek I Divine Eyeshadow Palette - Oh So Special

Ok, I think every one girl should own at least one Sleek eyeshadow palette in their life, whether she's a makeup junkie or not. They have high quality products, affordable, and have so many different palette theme that will suit any girl personality.

Introducing Sleek Oh So Special. An eyeshadow palette dedicated to all woman who want to feel errr special. The colors selection are wearable, soft, feminine, yet elegant. You can use this one for almost any occasion - to school, work, a romantic date, even for a sleepless girls night-out to the club.

Every color has their own name. I think those names are associated with celebrating something. Although some are clearly out of the theme, like Noir. Also I'm not sure why they came up with "The Mail" and "Pamper", instead of a more obvious celebrating word like Confetti or Bouquet (I should apply to be their creative director LOL).

This palette has a pretty good balance of shimmer and matte color. The matte ones are: Bow, Ribbon, Pamper, The Mail, Box, Wrapped Up, and Noir. The rest are shimmery. All the color are heavily pigmented, even the mattes one - although they are a little bit chalky. The shimmer colors are buttery and easier to blend than the mattes. But sadly the color "The Mail" and "Pamper" are too light to show up on my medium skin, but I think they would be pretty on fair skin people (jealous!).

All the colors are Oh So Gorgeus!

1st Row Swatches (natural lighting - no eye base):

2nd Row Swatches (natural lighting - no eye base):

Ingredients:
Mica, Talc, Paraffinum liquidum, Magnesium Stearate, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Dimethicone, Propylparaben, Methylparaben