Let’s talk about The Shampoo by Augustinus Bader

I know some of you are looking at that sample size and then looking at the amount of hair i have and are thinking, there is no way that is going to be enough. You are close, I managed to get one try out of the trial sized container. But mostly I wanted to talk about shampoo in general.

I love haircare products. And I will be honest, i don’t mind spending extra on luxury hair care products. I generally will pick up a luxury hair care Item and use it as a reward. I will use a drug store shampoo (one I like) during the week and after workouts and then at the end of the week as a reward for making it to all of my scheduled workouts and avoiding the local doughnut shop down the street from me despite the delicious scents wafting form their building that I can now smell on my early morning walks, I will use the luxe products as my personal reward.

Part of that is as a reward for achieving my weekly goals. It actually makes me feel like I am getting rewards. I think part of it is that during the week I am rinsing off sweat post walk and just doing quick jump in the shower before getting back to my day without feeling gross sorts of things. when I reach the end of the week I will break out the luxe shampoo and conditioner and body wash and body lotion. I will take my time and really luxuriate in the products instead of racing through. And then on Saturday’s i will use a hair mask.

But here is the thing. In order for me to choose a luxury shampoo and conditioner, it has to out perform my everyday standard. If it can’t our perform my everyday standard then it is just an expensive product not a luxury one.

At the moment the standard that has to be out performed is Suave Rosemary and Mint from the Suave Professionals line. It is a good, solid every day shampoo and conditioner. I can wash my hair every other day and while my bangs may need a bit of a dry shampoo touch up in between the rest of my hair just needs to be rinsed out post work out and I am fine. It is my current standard.

And if we want to talk luxury products, the Shampoo and conditioner i am willing to spend the extra money on to have a luxury shampoo and conditioner are the Zents Mandarin Shampoo and Water Conditioner Set. The Mandarin Shampoo has a light orange scent that intensifies slightly when you are massaging it into the hair, but then rinses off clean leaving very little scent behind. What I love about it is that instead of lather rinse repeat, using more product for a deeper clean, you apply the same small amount to the hair and then let it sit for a minute or so, then rinse out. You get a deeper clean without using extra product. The water conditioner is the same with a light fresh scent that intensifies as you put it in your hair and leaves as the product is rinsed out. And yes, if you need a little extra conditioning, let the conditioner sit in your hair for a little longer, maybe shave your legs and then go back and rinse it out. You get a deeper condition again without using excess product.

Now while the Zents products have other fabulous qualities I’m just keeping this short as it is an example (highly recommend the brand though). Each bottle is $41 so the set will run $82. But even without getting into the clean ingredients, you use very little product with each shampoo and conditioning, you have the delicious scent that rinses away for the scent sensitive and while I generally only use the Luxe products once a week, when I was testing it out to decide if I was going to make it my go to luxe product I used it as my only shampoo and conditioner for a month. It was utterly fantastic and it did very much out perform my Suave. hile I treat it as a reward, I would happily use it daily.

This is my spectrum. If you want to be considered worth the luxury price, you have to out perform Suave. You have to give me things I can’t get with my base drug store products. If you can’t beat the standard than I will not buy. and whatever your base product is, I think that is a good test for a luxury brand. I love luxe products as much as anyone, but I am not willing to pay more if I don’t get more.

The product sampled here was the Augustinus Bader The Shampoo. While I love the Light Cream they make, I can’t wear the Rich Cream as it breaks me out. This was all I knew of the brand. Admittedly for me the Light cream is fantastic and well worth the Luxe price. Until this shampoo came in my Beauty Fix box, I didn’t know the brand made any haircare items. So that was well worth knowing. The Product retails for $58. And it promises fuller shinier and thicker hair in eight weeks.

Clearly my one sample was not going to last eight weeks. But it was enough to let me try it out. To be honest, i was not impressed. I used the shampoo and paired it with my daily conditioner. The shampoo was a clear gel with no real scent. It foamed well enough but the lather was not a luxurious one (which I am okay with as some of my favorite shampoos don’t foam well, but i was looking for a little luxe given the price). Post shower my hair was a little more tangled than usual, but nothing unmanageable. To be honest, there was nothing that actually stood out with this shampoo. It performed like a basic shampoo.

There was nothing extra about it but the price. And yes you could argue that it takes eight weeks to see results, but when I use a product like the Grow Gorgeous Intense shampoo and conditioner (which is my favorite volumizing shampoo) I get thicker fuller hair that is shiny and healthy with one wash. And I think the shampoo and conditioner each retail for $18 (at the moment Look Fantastic has it for sale for $10,80 if you are looking to stock up or try it for less, I put my order in this morning actually). Which means i am not sold on the eight weeks until results. While I believe in the cumulative effect of products, if I am spending $58 on a shampoo, I want more bang for my much. For me, This Augustinus Bader Shampoo fell flat and I will not be purchasing a large enough bottle to give it an eight week chance to prove itself. For me, it simply wasn’t worth it.

Testing the Temu Perfume

This is going to be a different sort of perfume review. I don’t know if any of you have heard of TEMU. It is a discount website like Wish. They have just a little bit of everything and it seems like every time I turn around there are ads for them cropping up. I have even seen several people doing TEMU Hauls lately.

I have ordered things from them periodically, mostly bulk beading supplies. (I tend to do beadwork in my spare time). However I recently branched out to try a few things. (one thing I picked up and am starting to play around with is the Cordless automatic curler, but more on that in a future post).

While I was poking around I came across this Warm Kiss Perfume. If if has a brand name on it then it is in one of the non-English sections of description, so we are just going to call it Warm Kiss.

Now some of you may be thinking, okay, others may be looing at this and be thinking, that looks vaguely familiar although with a few bits erased. Yeah, that’s why it caught my eye. One of my all time favorite perfumes is Mon Paris by Yves Saint Laurent.

If you look to the left you will see a mini of this perfume and it’s box. The bottle did have a velvet bow but I have since removed it. I have also used all but a tiny little bit of this scent. I will be purchasing the full sized bottle from YSL soon as this is one of my favorite perfumes and one I always want to keep around.

But I couldn’t resist a comparison.

The YSL box is clearly black and gold with even the finishes looking luxe. The pink even has the pearlescent sheen to it that just says YSL. The Warm Kiss is not so luxe in it’s packaging but it is clear what it want’s to be when it grows up. The pink is flat and what should be gold is clearly yellow.

The YSL mini bottle had a velvet bow, and heavy glass bottle. The Warm Kiss is a polyester blend. I am impressed with the bottle itself though. It is a nice heavy glass. It doesn’t have the extra faceting of the YSL bottle but it is not a bad copy. The top covering the spray is a less expensive plastic but the rest of the bottle does feel nice in the hand. You know looking at it that it isn’t the real deal, but it still looks lovelty.

But looks are not why you wear a scent. As much as I love glass bottles and the look of them, it is what is inside that counts. Warm kiss has a slightly more alcohol scent when first sprayed than does Mon Paris. The fruity notes of the scent are a little more pronounced once the alcohol scent fades than in the Mon Paris, which I don’t mind that much as it is only a slight difference in scent. If you put one on one wrist and the other on the other wrist and then sniff you can tell they are different perfumes but they are close, very close in scent. The YSL does have that little extra back note that makes it seem just a touch more luxe. I actually tried them on and had my babydoll apply one scent each wrist and I could tell the difference. There was just that slightly luxe undertone that let me know which was YSL and which was not.

But it was very close.

The biggest difference is in longevity. I can apply a dab of Mon Paris from YSL on my wrist and know that it will be with me throughout the rest of the day. In the evening I will still be able to smell the ghost of the scent on my wrists. With warm Kiss I applied it in the morning and it was a mere shadow of scent by lunch time.

Over all though, they are very close in scent profile. If you like one then you will like the other. Will it prevent me from repurchasing the YSL Mon Paris? No. I am still planning on the full bottle purchase as a birthday gift for myself. However given the cost difference, the Warm Kiss is something I don’t have to wait for a special occasion to purchase. And to be honest, I will probably keep that on hand as well.

Because lets face it, the TEMU version cost $6.49 for 30 mL while the YSL 30 mL bottle is $85. Which makes it a very cost effective alternative, even with the differences.

I picked up this scent because I was curious as to how close in scent the perfume I found on Temu was to my favorite YSL perfume. I was quite frankly amazed by the comparison and am kind of curious to see what other of my favorite scents can be duplicated by the TEMU scent department. It was an interesting experiment and one that I will probably repeat several times over, providing the scents are available.

The Daily: April 8th, 2021

Good afternoon my darlings. Do you see what I see on this rainy and somewhat dreary Thursday? It is a delightful bag from Zents. They very kindly sent over some lovely items for me to try out and review for you. If you have never heard of Zents, they are a company that makes bath and body products. I’ve used their bath truffles before and they are amazing. The scents are fantastic and as they have both Epsom salts and Shea butter in them they are excellent for soaking your muscles and making your skin silky soft. Growing up any time we had muscle issues or aches and pains my mother dropped epsom salts into the bath tub for us as a general soak, so everytime I see them in a bath time treat I am just tickled. Of course the super soft Shea butter doesn’t hurt any. Nor do their scents. I’m partial to the mandarin while my mother swears by the Oolong.

That shouldn’t be much of a surprise as if it has a scent even vaguely reminiscent of tea it shoots right to the top of her scent preference list. I’m pretty sure you could get her to buy a muscle car if you replaced the new car scent with the scent of tea. (In case you are one of the many who has never met my mother, she is not a muscle car sort of person)

I like the fact that while they smell absolutely amazing they are all about the gentle aromas, so you aren’t being hit over the head with scent. They also have unscented too if you prefer to skip the aromas. I have to say i was very excited to peer inside. While I routinely pick up their bath truffles I haven’t actually tried anything else from the brand. I know that sounds strange but I have several brands I do that with. I find something I like and then just keep reordering without poking around on the site and trying new stuff. I tend to do the same at restaurants. I know my favorite item on the menu of each restaurant I like and that is what I order at the at place. I’m working on it.

Today Zents sent a shampoo and conditioner set, the Shampoo in my favorite Mandarin Scent and conditioner in the scent Water which sounds intriguing and their Eau de Toilette Sample set. It contains ten scent samples and oh my darlings you know how much I love trying out new perfumes and scents. In the case of Zents it is actually a little more than just trying out the eau de toilette scents though. The scents used in the actual scents are also the scents of the bath products. For example while the conditioner they scent is called Water, there is also a scent called Water, as well as a bath truffle with the same scent profile.

Testing the scents in the eau de toilette sample set is also going to help me branch out of my comfort zone when it comes to other products on the site, like the bath truffles. I generally only order the Mandarin for me and the Oolong for my mother because I know those scents and that I really like them. Now I can smell them as scent and decide if I also want to try them as bath products. As well as scent too of course. I can’t wait to start trying them out. And now I am extra glad I decided to use up a shampoo sample instead of starting a whole new bottle. Because now the sample shampoo is gone and I can just start with this. woot. what a nice Thursday surprise.

As I mentioned before it is a kind of rainy and dreary day. so there is no walking on the walking trail for me. And I’m still trying to catch up a bit from taking a day off so lunch was cheese and crackers at the desk and dinner is a salad. Spinach themed mostly. A little bit of extra iron is not a bad thing right now.

I did manage to take a little time and do my makeup today so I am feeling a little bit more normal. No fever and normal rhythms returning. I did go for a relatively quick and simple look today.

Today’s Look

Primer: Urban Decay Optical Illusion Complexion Primer

Foundation: No 7 Lift and Luminate Triple Action Serum Foundation

Bronzer: Marc Jacobs Hi Fi Filter

Blush: bareMinerals Bounce and Blur Blush

Highlighter: Fenty Beauty Killamatt Highlighter in Ginger Binge and Moscow Mule

Powders: Elf Loose translucent setting powder and No 7 Perfect Light Pressed powder

Eye shadow: Butter London Natural Goddess Palette

Mascara: Big Poppa from Wet ‘n Wild

Lip: Kristofer Buckle in Bardot

Setting Spray: The Porefessional Super Setter from Benefit Cosmetics

I used a mix of old favorites and products I am still on the fence about. Since I have been testing the No 7 foundation it was on the top of my dressing table so I just picked it up naturally. It is a good foundation and it will probably go into my list of favorites as I can easily see myself reaching for it often. The Urban Decay Optical Illusion Primer I picked up because it is a full on primer. It is like spackle for the face when you are feeling less than skintastic.

My skin was doing really well, despite the increased masking at the gym and then after my vaccination I had just a massive fever. I was sweating less like a sinner in church and more like I had organized and set plans in motion to overthrow the devil and take up the reigns of the demonic domain.

While my fever did break and the sweat stopped, it left behind a spate of blemishes that have started rising to the surface. I think that deep sweat just pulled everything and anything to the surface. I was going to try a new mask tomorrow for face mask Friday but at this point I believe I am going to have to break out my Herbal Dynamics Beauty Chamomile and Cacao Clearing mask to set my skin straight. I love trying new products, but sometimes you have to go for the tried and true.

Incidentally you can currently get 25% off at Herbal Dynamics Beauty with the code NEWSKIN25. The deal starts today. I’m not sure how long it will last. Usually they give 20% off for new orders so this is just a little bit extra in case you are interested.

Most of the other products today fall into the tried and true category. The Marc Jacobs I will use until I hit pan and then repurchase and I just adore the buildability of the bareMinerals blush. I will be reaching fot it a lot, not just because I love it but because it is a sample size. I want to purchase the full size but my general rule is that I can’t buy the full size until I use up the sample. Admittedly this sample is already showing a distinct wear curve in the center of the pan.

The two products I was on the fence about were the highlighter and the eyeshadow palette. The highlighter is Fenty Beauty and good quality but when applied it is a bit too pink and makes me feel like I am just adding extra blush with a little bit of sparkle. I may leave it out this weekend and just play around with it. I love the colors, but I think I may like them more as eyeshadows rather than highlighters. I think if I pair it with a mauve or pin eyeshadow it could make a quick and easy combo, especially for traveling. I’m just not sure the highlighter works as a highlighter for me.

The butter London Natural Goddess is an interesting one. I really like the formula of these shadows but I don’t reach for it often. I tend to forget abut it honestly. It has two mattes and four shimmers. One of the mattes is a teal blue shade I don’t like so the only matte I use is the brown. And then I just vary the brown with a shimmer or two. Today i used the pink shade (Queen in the center) nd the with silver shade of Enchantress on my inner corner with the one brown matte, Temptress as my, well, matte. every look I make with this palette is just a variation of the shimmers against the brown. I always like what look I come up with but I always sort of know how it is going to look. there is something to be said for that though. I always reach for the palette thinking, ‘you know I really don’t use this enough and should probably pass it along.” and then I use it and thing “oh I love this shadow formula.” Oddly Butter London’s formulas aren’t always consistent. I like the formula of this palette much better than I like the Teddy Boy Palette. For now the palette stays But I do need to start reaching for it more.

And that my darlings is how today is shaping up. It isn’t the most dramatic of days, but it is shaping up to be a return to normality, and that is something I can get behind.