Same product, different countries

Last time I was I Denmark I bought a Cien conditioner from Lidl. When I came home, I found I had one in my stash already.

Then I noticed the difference between the Danish and Swedish versions. I found it pretty funny!

Danish version on the left, Swedish on the right…

The Danish version has translated almost all the text on the front, expect “Colour & shine” which I suspect is the product name?

The Swedish version has the front all in English for some reason.

In the back, the Danish version has two little pictures to illustrate how the hair should get healthier from use. You know, some fluff about provitamin B5 and such.

The Swedish version has a single little picture with the same stuff about provitamin B5, but in English as opposed to the rest of the back.

The Swedish version shares the back with the instructions in Finnish. That’s kind of funny because Danish products usually share their instructions with Norwegian too, since the languages are so similar you just have to substitute a word or two.

Maybe the Danish version was supposed to share the description with a Norwegian like the Swedish shares with Finnish? Since Lidl haven’t been in Norway since 2008, I guess they just stuck a nice pseudo-science picture on the back and inflated the text a bit to fill up the blank space.

All in all, nothing too major in the differences. But still I found it interesting and slightly amusing how one country would change a detail or two from the other version. 

More Memeboxes

I received four boxes in one pack today (!) Unfortunately I think I have a serious case of “Memebox saturation” and they more or less failed to interest me much.

In fact, just sorting my stuff managed to annoy me and feel like work.

Only a single product was put into my shoulderbag where I know it will be used soon.

Some of the makeup went into my makeup drawer to be used “Some day”.

A few things are going to a friend. Some, I need to put up for sale/trade.

But the vast majority is going into my storage to be used whenever I run out of the stuff I have in use at the moment.

Memebox special # 56 K-style 4

• Revecen Volumizing mascara

What a strange brush! I thought it had been squished or the product somehow managed to clump the bristles together, but I guess it’s supposed to look like it does?

• Shara Shara Petit friend matte lip crayon

I think this is the neon orange, or maybe the salmon orange? I can’t find the number for the colour anywhere. Not a colour that will work for me.

• Shara Shara Triple shine colour shadow in 03: Cobalt blue

Doh! I was happy to receive an eye shadow, but blue doesn’t work for me. It ends up being blue in blue and that’s no good. Any other colour would have worked for me.

I will give this to a friend of mine: Her two daughters are in that age where they have the first interest in makeup and this is the perfect, cute little compact for that.

• Revecen Face control foundation #002 violet

The violet colour is for livening up dull skintones. My skintone has a tendency to get too… “Lively” (aka. Red) so I have no use for this. Sell/trade.

• Beauty People Miss 100 auto gel liner in Glam brown

Card says “glam brown”, package says “gleam brown”. Eh?

I unenthusiastically stuck this in my makeup drawer.

• IdeeB Real Triple Rouge 02 shine pink

I might actually keep this and use it! It has a good coral/pink-ish colour and isn’t really shiny nor matte. It has the feel like it wants to rub off on everything, but it doesn’t. Which is weird.

Memebox superbox # 71 My cute wishlist 4

• TonyMoly Apple red tox honey cream

Haha. I’ve seen this one so many times in other bloggers reviews, but now I finally own one. This is a seriously, seriously cute packaging and it really smells like yummy juicy apples.

• Etude House sweet recipe candy stick in 01 Seedless strawberry candy

Again a product I’ve seen in other bloggers reviews. Cute! And the colour is good for me.

Yadah Vita-whitening aqua gel + Puregreen moisturising cream

Ah, Memebox. Are you inflating prices again? How are these two little 5 ml creams supposed to be $ 24? Good little sizes to stick in your bag though.

• DDung liquid eye liner

I honestly find that almost featureless, bug-eyed little chibi-character that ddung uses for their mascot to be creepy. Not sure.

• Holika Holika Pig-nose clear head steam starter

It’s a blackhead specific cleanser? Maybe? Contains aloe vera, so sell/trade.

• Pure Smile Choosy lip pack milk

Eh. Not really cute. But I’m happy to get a lip moisturising patch. Mine are really feeling the season.

• Pure Smile Snail hand cream milk

Awesome! I have this line in lip treatments so this is a product I’m looking forward too. I have another good handcream from the Honeybox in use at the moment, so this goes into storage.

• TonyMoly Egg pore nose pack

Okay, there’s a bunch of these products where I question the cuteness of them, but this one takes the price. It’s an anti blackhead nose pack and although I’m very happy with it, it’s just not very cute. For Korean packaging, this is distinctly “blah”.

Memebox special # 55 OMG 4

• Nadu Skin The first love pack

Okay Memebox, I give. This is very, very OMG. It took me a while to figure out what this thing actually was (Also had to google what a “Y-zone” is) and yea, this is for your private parts. There’s a male and a female sheet. The female one has that nice little cartoon thing for how it’s used. The male one just has the schematics for the essence sheet.

Hubby now thinks Memebox is perverted and refuses to cooperate in couples night with weird sheet masks.

• Pureplus+ Coccoon returning toner

It’s a toner with extracts from… cocoons? Uhh?

• Abalone Crystla double EX cream

$ 78! This cream is $ 78! Somehow this “Wow!”s me more than the fact that its made with fermented abalone.

• Shara Shara Secret magic lipstick in 03 Yellow to mango

It’s one of those lipsticks that changes colours when you put them on your lips. Meh.

• Dr. MJ Moisture bounce aqua memory BB SPF 30 PA ++

It’s a BB cream, supposedly with a funny texture. Yea sure, the texture is a bit funky, but for me the “OMG” is in how it isn’t in a nice, hygienic tube. The colour doesn’t match my face though.

• Purebess Hot styling hair fixer

Some sort of styling product in the shape of a mini comb. I think I may actually use this to fix those 10 stupid hairs at my neck that always curls up and stick out. How is this OMG though?

Memebox special # 57 For dry & sensitive skin

• Zamian Trouble skin handmade soap Ac’xxii

I really dislike bar soaps so this goes into sell/trade.

• The Yeon Jeju hallabong energy mild all-in-one serum

Nice. A serum specifically for sensitive skin. I will put this to use when I’m through the one from the citrus care box.

• Pedison Nutritive infusion cream

Body cream for sensitive skin. Another “Nice, I will put this in the queue and use it when I’m done with the other product”.

   

• Anacis Triactive dermatis intensive cream

This looks like it came from a pharmacy. I will also use this at a later time.

• Migabee Botanical moisture mist

I tried this and it’s a very light and nice moisturising mist. This will also go into storage though.

• Pureplus+ Lip treatment in Honeybee

This looks a lot like the Puresmile snail lip treatment in honeyI received about a month ago.

It has less of the tingly effect though, so this is the only product I put to use directly.

Everything put together, minus packaging

Verdict

Well, it’s obvious by now I have too many products from Memebox and I need a break from it. Use up some products and build an interest in getting more boxes again.

No more boxes until after my birthday in April, maybe?

(Except for hair-boxes. I could still use some of those)

I think for this 4-pack, my ranking will be:

1. For dry & sensitive skin for the most, nice products I am looking forward to try and only one product I won’t use
2. My cute wishlist 4 for the second most, nice products I am looking forward to try, but also some products I feel very “Meh.” about
3. OMG 4 for the toner and the cream, but the BB cream and the lipstick I will never use
4. K-style 4 for the mascara, eyeliner and lip thing that I will probably use, but aren’t very interested in and for 3 products that will go directly to sell/trade

Memebox # 54 and # 70

Memebox special #54 Miracle masks

It feels like Memebox and I have two very different opinions on what a mask is. In the last mask-box I don’t think I received a lot of actual masks. Sleep packs aren’t masks in my opinion, they are a cream or gel or something, part of a moisturising routine, but not a mask.

The Purederm Cucumber Eye pads leaked and everything in my box was greasy. It looks like the pads are pretty dried out too. Ugh. I should probably contact costumer support about it.

Purederm Cucumber Eye 24 pads

What a neat idea. Instead of the cliché cucumber slice on your eyes, there’s this.

Ddung Vitamin wash-off pack

It’s a facial pack you have to wash off after 3-5 minutes. Why so short time? So not only does it require extra work by needing to be washed off, it also isn’t time enough to do something in?

LadyKin Vanpir Dark repairing water mask

$ 46 for this? It’s another sleeping pack. Not a mask.

Mise En Scene perfect repair treatment

Okay, seriously mixed feelings about this. I have loved every single hair product I got from Memebox, but how the [bleep] is this a mask?

I bought this box because I wanted facial masks. This is not a facial mask. The sleeping packs aren’t masks either, but this is even further from being a mask.

To Be Nang Snail nutrition hydro gel mask

Now we’re talking! A sheet mask, and one containing snail secretion filtrate. Awesome! Snail stuff packs some serious, serious moisture and nutrition. This makes me really happy.

To Be Nang 24 K snail nutrition hydro gel mask

It bugs me like crazy that this thing is a lot bigger than the other two packs! It’s obviously the same line, so why the size difference? Lol, odd things you get annoyed about…

From the back of the pack, it appears to be a half-mask? Either that or a two piece “full” mask.

It’s infused with both snail secretion filtrate and gold. How cool!

To Be Nang Snail anti-wrinkle face & neck mask

Cool: This is a 3 piece mask where it includes the neck too. Masks that includes the neck makes me really, really happy.

Verdict

The last 3 sheet masks with snail stuff really saved this box for me. Again, Memebox and I have very different opinions on what a mask is. The water mask and wash-off pack wasn’t a mask. And although I’m very happy with the hair treatment, it’s not a mask! I bought the mask box because I wanted masks.

They could have sent me a stack of cheap sheet masks and I would have been perfectly happy. Like, a stack of the Sally Box masks would have been perfect.

Memebox superbox #70 Thumbs up! Blogger’s picks

I read that there was a sort of poll on Facebook or something for people to vote for their best products. The name of the blog sounds promising, but hmm. Let’s see…

N.S.M ReBorn Tint in sorbet meting tint

Holy crap. This is like a solid block of colour on my lips. It’s seriously clown mouth-coloured too, so ick. Who would this colour be flattering on? The colour smears off on everything too. I ate my lunch with his on my lips and it rubbed off on my food, on the fork, everything and still magically managed to be the same solid block of colour left. Weird!

The colour is really unflattering and overwhelming for my pale colours as it is, but with the first cold of the season in full swing, it looks extra awful with my red nose.
I will give this to a friend of mine.

Thumbs down.

LadyKin Aqua exfoliator for body

Awesome! I bought this one some time ago and really liked it. It did some serious exfoliation in combination with my Clarisonic and I liked it. I would have bought one more after I used the last one up, but they didn’t have it in stock. It’s still on my wish list on Memebox, so this is a definite thumbs up for me.

Thumbs up!

Croquis Dual concealer

It’s a dual ended anti-wrinkle concealer and spot concealer. But it also says it can work as a regular concealer for dark eye circles and conceal redness. Uh?

I tried the lightest end as a normal concealer and it fits my skin tone. Then I tried the darkest end as a foundation-type covering and that was too dark for me. Maybe the dark end will work better in the summer where I have a bit of tan?

The product itself is in Korean so I have no way of knowing which end is supposed to be which, but I’m guessing the lightest one goes on under eye circles and the darker one covers spots?

Meh. Thumbs…. Up, but unenthusiastically.

Hair+ Velvet Nutri-injection

I received this before in a Memebox and just like back then, I’m really not sure if this is a leave in product or a rinse out. So I guess I will mix this small tube into some normal conditioner and do a deep conditioning. Also a thumbs up for me, although of course I would like a larger product than 12 ml! And again, how is this thing supposed to be $ 5? I know Memebox tends to inflate their prices, but damn.

Meh. Thumbs…. Up, but unenthusiastically.
  

Evas Cosmetics Vitamin cleansing dessert in 02 lemon

It’s a cleansing balm type product. It smells absolutely delicious!

Meh. I dislike balm-type products for cleansing. Maybe I should try to give it a shot anyways and use it as the first step in my cleansing routine?

Meh. Thumbs…. Up, but unenthusiastically.

23 Years old air-laynic mask

How is this thing supposedly $ 14? Holy crap. It’s a single use gel type cleansing mask that you have to “assemble” with the sheet mask yourself. $ 14?! Wow.

But what is up with the sheet you’re supposed to use? There are two and they’re oddly shaped. It says they’re supposed to go over the nose and cheeks, but they’re shaped so they will cover your mouth too. Eh? Am I supposed to cut them more into shape then? And ugh, the damn gimmicky syringe again.

Thumbs down.

Purebess Galactomyces 100%

It’s a product to use 1-2 drops off as the first step of your skincare after cleaning. So I guess it goes after toner, but before emulsion and all? Sounds like a fancy toner to me. It didn't smell like anything at all and I couldn't feel any difference from my normal toner, so, what?

Meh. Thumbs…. Up, but unenthusiastically.

Secret Key Color recipe the pink cream

It’s a pinkish gel-type cream with little bits in it. I do like gel type moisturisers. It's very light and nice. It even smells like I would think pink smells.

Meh. Thumbs…. Up, but unenthusiastically.

Total count

Thumbs up! 1 product

Meh. Thumbs…. Up, but unenthusiastically: 5 products

Thumbs down: 2 products

Final thoughts
I think I'm reaching a point of over-saturation of Memeboxes. None of them really excites me anymore. Take the Miracle Masks: My reaction should be "How cool! Snail and gold-masks? That should have been in an OMG box!" but instead I was more like "Yea, okay." and then stuffed the masks into my storage for sheet masks. A lot of my products now go into storage because I have more than plenty of products in use as it is. 
Maybe it's time for a Meme-break and use up some of my products?

And that’s how you do it!

It’s no secret I have sensitive skin. I spend more time on my skin than on my hair. (Especially when it comes to worrying about it)

Recently I tried the Neutral line for my face. It comes recommended by the allergy association in Denmark and Norway, and is approved by some eco labels and such.

It boasts of 0% perfume, 0% colourings and 0% parabens.

Unfortunately it didn’t work for my skin. I got itchy from the skin tonic and the cream was too heavy for my skin, which resulted in more picking.

Sigh.

This fits my rule that you can get everything “right” and your skin can still be irritated. Unfortunately.

Even though it didn’t work for me, I still wanted to show it.

This is how you do it, this is how you have a good product with total openness about the ingredients. No weird bullshit or exotic snail slime, just the bare necessities and a minimum number of ingredients:

• Face cream: 14 ingredients.Link
• Face wash: 11 ingredients.Link
• Skin tonic: 8 ingredients. Link

On the website the ingredients are not only listed, there is an explanation on what the different ingredients do in the product!

A thought on sebum

It seems to be commonly accepted knowledge in the longhair circuit that sebum comes in two different forms: A liquid oil and a harder wax, and that each individual scalp has its own ratio of those two.

But lately I’ve been wondering:

What if the two forms are really just one? I mean, oil or milk or any other liquid for the matter can be split in firm and liquid components if you filter it finely enough.

Maybe the form of sebum you see the most is depending on how porous and absorbing your hair is.

If your hair is very porous, maybe it will easily absorb the liquid components of the sebum and leave you with the waxy kind?

And if your hair doesn’t absorb well, maybe the liquid oil will seem more dominant because the waxy kind doesn’t show up until you “drain” the liquid from the sebum?

What do you all think?