Egyptian Magic All Purpose Skin Cream

Every couple of months or so, me, hubby, and our little guy tag along with my parents to Costco to pick up some croissants (doesn't hold a candle to the flaky French version but does make great sandwiches, and freeze well too!), some fruits (just apples and pears, really), granola bars for hubby, etc. Every time we go it's a real treat for our little guy. Not only he gets a ride in a gigantic shopping cart, he also gets to try random snacks from the many tester carts xD

Once in a blue moon, this baby-mama gets a treat too, like this gem of a find: Egyptian Magic All Purpose Skin Cream Costco Trio that includes a large 118.3mL/4oz. jar, a smaller 30mL/1oz., and a mini 7.4mL/0.25oz. size jar.

I've read about this stuff ages ago. It's one of those cult beauty products like Boiron Homeoplasmine Ointment and is often found in the medicine/bathroom cabinet of many a celebrities. I've always wanted to try a jar but never got around to actually buying it (readily available online through Amazon, etc.). So I took my encounter of this Costco Trio as an auspicious sign and grabbed one without a second thought ^.^

Which is to say I had no idea what to do with this stuff, and with so much of it! I knew it was an all-purpose skin cream, but as you can see below, it's not really a cream at all. It's almost comical how folks keep mixing up the balms and creams: this all-purpose skin cream is most definitely a balm ^.^" The trick is to scoop some out, warms it up until it melts into an oil, then apply the oil onto the skin. It's not like I haven't used an oil on my face before. The thing is that this balm is so rich that it's a bit overkill as part of a skincare routine. After lotion/toner, serum/essence, and eye cream, I would actually prefer a rich cream instead of a rich balm.

118.3mL/4oz.

Fast forward some nine months, I'd just finished a bottle of Kuramoto Bijin Komeyu Beauty Oil, and while I have another backup bottle, my belly getting so big this oil was no longer adequate, even when layered under YuSkin A Family Medical Cream. I'm 7.5 months now and I look (and feel +.+) like I'm already 9 months! That's what happens on subsequent pregnancies when the body's like, yeah, been there done that, and all the insides know exactly how to organize themselves to make room for baby.

30mL/1oz.

My belly rub routine this time around is different than the first. Whereas I didn't start moisturizing the belly until around 8 weeks last time with YuSkin A, this time I started immediately with the super light Yanagiya Anzu Oil (yes, it's meant mostly for hair but I use it all over like any other oil). Whereas I didn't start showing until 5+ months last time (my family had no idea we were expecting until I broke the news at 5.5 months), this time I got a baby bump at 3 months, which was about when I finished the Yanagiya oil and moved on to Kuramoto. With the Kuramoto oil, I started with 5 generous shakes, and when I started to get itchy about a month later, I started to layer a full pump of YuSkin A over the oil. Towards the end, I used 7 generous shakes of the Kuramoto oil and my belly still itched by the time I finished the bottle.

7.4mL/0.25oz.

So suffice to say I need something thicker and richer for the belly rub, and I didn't want to go back to Burt's Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter. So I dug out the large 118.3mL/4oz. jar of Egyptian Magic and used one of those pesky plastic spoons that came with cleansing balms to scoop. So far so good, and it's been three weeks of nightly use layering under YuSkin A. Let's hope this balm will keep the belly happy until the tiniest member of the family arrives.