Kyobian Body Cream

Here's a super short post for these 35g jars of Kyobian Body Cream in Ocha, Sakura, and Yuzu. Kyobian is a sub-brand of Kyoto Kurochiku, so you can guess where this is going, right?  

Mamisango Maiko-san Moisture Cream

Here are two 30g jars of Mamisango Maiko-san Moisture Cream in two varieties: Komenuka (pink) and Matcha (green) that I finished long ago. These were facial creams that, like the Maiko-san Sakura Cream, were soon "demoted" as I didn't love them.

 

 

 

RiRe Heel Care Foot Stick

I live in a desert-like climate and my skin takes a beating for it, especially my hands and feet. So imagine my excitement when I first spotted these 22g tubes of RiRe Heel Care Foot Stick! You bet I bought, like, 4 of them and gave them to my mum, my mum-in-law, and my friend M., all before trying it out, because how badly can someone screw up a moisturizing stick for the feet?

Yu-Be YuSkin Heel & Elbow Moisturizing Socks

In the spring of 2021, I ordered a Deluxe Gift Set from the Yu-be USA online store (aka YuSkin in Japan). The gift set was a pretty good deal because I got quite a few goodies in a nifty and very well made canvas bag. Among those goodies was this pair of Heel & Elbow Moisturizing Socks that hubby loves so much I thought I'd do a quick post for it.

Suave Cocoa Shea Nourishing Lotion

Quick review for this 88.5mL/3fl. oz. tube of Suave Cocoa Shea Nourishing Lotion I just finished.

Aquaphor Healing Ointment

Been using this Aquaphor Healing Ointment for over a year now so this is an overdue review. As you can see, I have various sizes of the stuff, a gigantic 396g/14oz. jar I keep in my little one's bathroom, a huge 198g/7oz. tube I keep in my bathroom, and a smaller 50g/1.75oz. tube I keep in the baby bag for use on the road.

Also, I'm not sure why the big jar and the big tube have "baby" on it and the small tube doesn't. I've compared their labels and ingredients and found all three to be identical.

L'Occitance Bonne Mere Gentle Cream

I think it's about time to declare some love for this L'Occitance Bonne Mere Gentle Cream Milk ^.^ It all started with the Gentle Body Wash Milk. Even though the scent may be strong for some people, hubby and I like it so much I couldn't wait to try out the cream. I figured since this is an all-purpose cream, if I don't like it on my face, I can always use it on my neck, hands, feet, or just slather it all over myself LOL!

But still I was cautious, buying several 15mL/0.5oz. travel size tubes from Ebay to try first. Turns out this is one of the most gentle all-purpose creams I've ever tried and I fell pretty hard for it upon the first use xD I gave hubby a tube and my mum a tube to try and they too love it! Time to get the full size, pronto!

The Bonne Mere Gentle Cream Milk full size 75mL/2.6oz tube comes with a pretty neat twist cap dispenser that's sealed with a clear sticker for freshness. After this sticker is removed, you just twist the cap to open, squeeze to dispense, and twist again to close. The cap does not come off at all, so there's no worries about dropping it, etc.

Rose & Co Apothecary Salves

Aside from some really nice Beauty Salves, Rose & Co Apothecary also carries more medicinal balms and salves that are along the lines of vapor rubs and muscle rubs, etc., a few of which I've picked up for myself and for holiday stocking stuffers.

- Zam-Buk Herbal Balm: I kept this one for myself because it looks so...mysterious ^.^ But I haven't used it yet. It's supposedly an antiseptic ointment and, according to the website, has some "amazing powers" and is great for traveling. Alright, I'll keep it with me xD

Zam-Buk Herbal Balm: 

Petrolatum, Eucalyptus Globulus (Eucalyptus) Oil, Cera Alba, (Beeswax), Pinus Sylvestris (Pine) Oil, Camphor, Thymus Vulgaris (Thyme) Oil, Limonene, Linalool, CI 75810, (Chlorophyll).

Rose & Co Apothecary Aromatherapy Creams

Over the fall when I was placing an order with Rose & Co Apothecary for some salves for myself as well as for holiday stocking stuffers (will post next), I spotted a couple of interesting items from their Aromatherapy Creams section so I thought I pick up a couple of things too. And plus the brown glass jars they come in looked simple and cute, and they weren't too expensive ^.^

My sister has stubborn eczema on her feet that is easily aggravated especially in this dry and cold weather, so I bought her the Tea Tree & Cypress Foot Cream to try. This is actually a bit of a risk, because while both tea tree and cypress essential oils have anti-fungal and antiseptic properties, both are also skin irritants and can be very drying, so in the end, these oils in the cream might make her eczema worse. But my sister was willing to try it! She's, erh, adventurous, I guess.

Tea Tree & Cypress Foot Cream

The Body Shop Peppermint Cooling Foot Lotion

Just a short review for this Body Shop Peppermint Cooling Foot Lotion. I was using it every night on my last 2 home visits since the weather got cooler (and then very cold) and it is already very dry at home where my folks are to begin with, so normal body lotion just doesn't help.

This Body Shop Foot Lotion is very thick and has peppermint oil, so it goes on with a slight minty tingling sensation. It was just an okay lotion, nothing spectacular or special. Being thick and somewhat greasy, it didn't absorb quickly at all and I had to massage it in, which is kind of the point ^.^ But of course, given that I only put this on right before going to bed (who wants to walk around with greasy feet?), being sleepy and lazy I want it to absorb right away so I can sleep. So this was definitely a downer for me. Then again, is there such thing as a thick foot lotion that absorbs quickly without being greasy? May be I'm asking for too much ^.^

Badger Foot Balm

I love this Badger Foot Balm, and I keep the tin right next to my bed on my nightstand right next to its sister Sleep Balm. It is a thin balm and looks and feels like a balm, but it's pure magic, as in it heals my chapped and cracked heels in just a few nights' application. I also use it on my dry knees and elbows and after just 2 nights, they're smooth and soft again!

The balm is not greasy at all. I rub it on well and forget about it, and I really like its soothing scent that's a bit different than your usual peppermint, eucalyptus, or tea tree foot balms. It has all three ingredients in it, plus another that stands out significantly in terms of fragrant - cardamom. I do realize the cardamom can be a bit too spice-y for some people, but to me it's a lovely touch that gives the balm more of herbal-y vibe. I will probably grab a few more tins to give as gifts the next time I'm back in the states.

L'Occitane 100% Pure Shea Butter

After my so-so experience with the L'Occitane Shea Hand and Foot Creams, I got curious about the L'Occitane 100% Pure Shea Butter. So I got myself the smallest size, the tiny little 0.26 oz. tin, to try.


My first impression was that it smelled funny. And it felt hard and waxy, like very cold butter. The instructions say I need to warm it up in my palm first, which I did, but it didn't get much softer afterward. Hmm...sounds like another so-so experience... Another thing is that the shea butter was milky white and I've read that it was supposed to have a bit of a butter tint. A milk white color and hardness means the shea butter has been overly processed, during which it lost a large portion of its healing and moisturizing properties. Doh!


I use this shea butter primarily for my cracked cuticles, sand-paper fingertips, corners of the mouth that gets patchy and cracked (ouch!), and even my upper lip areas that got painful after a few times blowing my nose. Did I tell I have super dry skin? I did, right? Yeah. Luckily for me, the shea butter does a good job healing (see, it's supposed to heal!) the cracks and dryness on my skin. It takes a few days, but it does heal. Now I just really really wish it was softer so I could use it all over my hands and feet too. Until then, I got a couple more of the little tins to keep in my purse and at the office :D

In the mean time, I saw pure shea butter on sale at Ebay...Very tempting, indeed.

L'Occitane Shea Hand and Foot Cream

I think I was an alligator in my last life. How else would I explain my horribly dry skin? My hands and feet are always dry and parched, even in the midst of the hot and sticky summer. While away on vacation in 100% humidity, I still couldn't be without a hand cream, isn't that just crazy or what? What I'm saying is - get ready for an onslaught of L'Occitane reviews :D

I started with just 2 small tubes, 1 of L'Occitane Shea Hand Cream and 1 of L'Occitane Shea Foot Cream. I've seen L'Occitane stuff before, but they were always expensive and doesn't really interest me. L'Occitane is a lot more commercialized than they'd like to think. Just slapping on the label "Made in France" and the products somehow commands the prices they do? I don't think so. Still, those damn tempting promotions suckered me into buying. Sigh...I'm so...weak. And plus nothing else was working, so I totally, completely, caved. After the hand and foot cream came a bunch of stuff, the majority of which are from sets (a great way of trying a different variety of stuff, no?). But I'm going to start with just the hand and foot cream for now.

I tried the L'Occitane Shea Foot Cream first, using it nightly before going to bed. It absorbed quickly and moisturizing. And it had this minty sinus clearing herbal scent, which is really kind of strange - did they expect me to sniff my feet or something? Normally, hand creams would have that smell, not foot creams. I wasn't impressed with this foot cream, to be honest. I guess I'm just really jaded with my dry skin so I didn't expect much to begin with. It was moisturizing, but it was kind of a temporary fix and the next morning, my feet were back to being rough and dry again. I thought shea butter had some healing property and is meant to treat severe dry skin? And 15% shea butter is a good amount too! Oh well...a temporary fix is better than no fix. After I finish this small tube though, I'll probably move on to something else.



The L'Occitane Shea Hand Cream is better. For one thing, I like the scent much, MUCH, better. It's not a minty sinus soothing herbal scent, and I'm not exactly in favor on those scent anyway. Instead, it's a lovely and relaxing powdery milk scent, just like the L'Occitane Shea Extra Gentle Soap Milk. If you ever pass by a L'Occitane boutique, stop by and smell that soap. I keep a couple of the soaps in my linen closet, and the whole closet smells like it!

Anyways, back to the hand cream. It has a better texture than the foot cream, absorbing very quickly and not greasy at all. The down side is that it is also a temporary fix and my hand returns to its rough state the next morning. They don't want to heal my severely dry hand because then want me to keep using it, buying more when I run out, is that it? So the moral to the story is: this will work for now, and it will definitely work for the cooler spring and fall. But for the winter, I will need something more moisturizing that will leave lasting results, at least results that will last longer than just one night.

Burt's Bees Hand Salve

Every once in a while my hands get crazily dry, so I grabbed a small little pot of this Hand Salve to see if it would heal the cracks around my cuticles. And it does! It works well, but again it's quite greasy and takes a long time to sink in. It has a very strong menthol scent too, kind of soothing. I bought a HUGE pot for my dad who also has very dry hands, and he likes it enough to keep it by his bedside.


***Picture from Burt's Bees.