Maychiri's Thoughts

Bourjois

Bourjois Paris Rouge Edition Velvet [34 - Belle Amourose] Review

April 12, 2023

0 Comments

Acetone-free

Ebelin Nagellackentferner Express Acetonfrei mit Weisse-Blüten-Duft Review

April 12, 2023

0 Comments

Acetone-free

Ebelin Nagellackentferner Acetonfrei [Aprikosenkern-Öl] Review

April 12, 2023

Alright, now that we’ve seen the remover pads, let’s move on to a more classic type of remover! This is the Ebelin Nagellackentferner Acetonfrei, variant Aprikosenkern-Öl (here’s in English: Acetone-free Nail Polish Remover with Apricot kernel oil).

I have had great success using the other Ebelin acetone-free nail polish removers in these bottles. They were always a joy to use (until I inevitably spilled them, usually onto my keyboard, mouse, phone or any combination of the above; yikes!). This one not only has a pleasant scent, but it also has added apricot kernel oil to nourish nails! How nice! Compared to the other removers, is this one just as good or is it actually bad? Let’s see!

First, the packaging: this remover comes in a relatively large plastic bottle with a white cap. The cap closes securely, preventing any clumsiness-related mishaps. I like how they made the bottle apricot coloured, that’s a really nice touch! Besides that, there’s not much else to talk about, there’s your information stickers on the front and back and that’s it. It is a very simple design, but the lovely apricot colour makes it stand out!

Ingredients: apricot (Prunus armeniaca) kernel oil for nourishment of nails. No harmful ingredients or parabens. In place of acetone, there is ethyl acetate, a common substitute that is usually just as efficient at removing polish. The scent is, at first, your typical nail polish remover scent: the harsh, chemical smell of ethyl acetate, although it is noticeably sweeter than usual. As it evaporates it turns into a sweeter, more pleasant apricot scent that is just lovely! The expiration date is 12 months after opening.

Pro tip if you are clumsy like I am: ethyl acetate may not be acetone, but it still etches plastic just like acetone, so be careful not to spill it onto electronics. Any damage is irreversible. I had to learn that the hard way when I spilled it like an idiot onto one of my phones, and a bit of it seeped into the charging port. Suffice to say, the charging port was irreversibly damaged and now I cannot fast charge the phone anymore; at least I was lucky enough to manage to somehow MacGyver my way out of it being completely destroyed. So, take heed, folks, it really is dangerous to anything plastic, be careful with it!

The liquid is colourless and evaporates instantly on nails. It stays for a good while longer on a cotton pad, which makes it simple and easy to use.

I was hoping this remover would be good at removing nail polish, just like the other Ebelin removers. And indeed it is! It removes most nail polishes with ease, without too much rubbing. It’s doesn’t remove them in an instant, like the Express Remover, and I still do need to rub a bit to remove them completely, but it is still very good! Of course, if you are removing a glittery nail polish, expect to need to rub and rub and rub, but that’s more due to the fact that glittery nail polishes almost always tend to be a pain in the butt to remove.

This remover doesn’t dry out my nails terribly, though it dries them out to some degree; all removers do, after all. My nails develop dry, rougher areas that have to be buffed in order for the new polish to adhere properly. But that isn’t unique to this remover, almost all removers do that to my nails. At least the apricot kernel oil helps minimise the damage.

In summary, I like this remover very much! The cheap price helps, too! But it is not cheap in its performance, not at all! It removes nail polish easily, with not too much rubbing. It’s not the very best at removing nail polish, but it’s still quite good! It also doesn’t dry out my nails too much. And the smell is really lovely, as it smells like apricots! It’s a really good remover, just like the previous Ebelin acetone-free removers. I definitely recommend it!

Rating: 8/10

Would buy again? YES

0 Comments

Acetone-free

Ebelin Nagellackentferner Pads Aceton Frei [Grüner-Tee & Apfel Duft] Review

April 12, 2023

A nail remover, this is the Ebelin Nagellackentferner Pads Aceton Frei, variant Grüner-Tee & Apfel Duft. Or, in English, Nail Polish Remover Pads, Green Tea & Apple Scent.

I bought this product on a whim, because I wanted to see if it could be as good as old-fashioned nail polish remover. It would be great if I could just take one pad and remove nail polish easily. It was cheap enough, so why not try it, even if it ends up being bad?

Packaging: just a lightweight plastic pot. The lid closes securely and is easy to open, no fiddling with it. It’s a nice enough packaging that keeps the pads hygienic.

Source: dm.hr

Ingredients: vitamin E for at least a bit of nourishment. This is an acetone-free remover. However, interestingly, it doesn’t use ethyl acetate, either, which is the most common acetone substitute. Instead of ethyl acetate, dimethyl glutarate, dimethyl adipate, and dimethyl succinate function as pigment solvents. Novel approach, but it remains to be seen just how effective it is at removing nail polish. The scent is very intense, and, since it does not contain acetone or ethyl acetate, it does not have that strong chemical scent. It smells somewhat fresh, but much more tart, just like green apples. It’s much too intense, honestly! And it lingers on the skin and nails, leaving a more fragrant, slightly tart scent that still smells like apples. It smells much better after it has evaporated. This scent could be one of those either you hate it or you love it types of scents. The expiration date is only 6 months after opening.

There’s 30 polish remover pads inside this packaging. They are paper-thin, and relatively small compared to a standard cotton pad. They are so thin that they tend to stick to one another, making it difficult to just take one pad. The material isn’t the softest, it feels more like rough cellulose. It’s a much rougher material than cotton pads, that’s for sure!

These pads have a moderate amount of remover inside them; they feel slightly moist, not soaking wet. This leads me to think that there isn’t enough remover on one pad to remove nail polish from the nail. But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. The remover feels slightly greasy but it is still totally watery.

So, now about its purpose: removing nail polish. Or rather, how lacking they are in this regard. They cannot remove nail polish at all! No matter how much I am rubbing my nails with this pad, no matter how many pads I use, nothing gets through even the top layer of polish, let alone remove it completely. It just barely strips a bit of pigment, only making the nail feel tacky. So I try to remove my polish with this, but I am quickly forced to switch to a ‘normal’ remover as this isn’t any good. No matter the colour, whether it’s a bright, vibrant red nail polish or a barely-visible nude, this remover struggles just the same.

At least my nails seem to be less dried out than when I am using ethyl acetate. But how much does that matter when it’s almost impossible to actually remove nail polish? Speaking of drying out, you really mustn’t leave these pads open, or the remover will evaporate quickly.

All in all, completely useless at what they are supposed to do, and that’s remove nail polish. The scent can be sickeningly intense at times, although it isn’t really unpleasant; I actually like how it smells like green apples, it’s a synthetic green apple scent, but it’s still not too bad nonetheless. It’s the intensity of the scent that bothers me. You know what else bothers me? That these pads couldn’t even begin to remove nail polish even if, figuratively speaking, their lives depended on it. I rub and I rub and nail polish looks barely any different, yet all this rubbing of course leads to nail damage. No matter the colour or intensity of the polish, these pads don’t do a bloody thing! Almost like switching from the proven efficient ethyl acetate to various dimethyl compounds was a bad idea, even though they are used as paint strippers industrially. But at the barely there concentration found in these pads (remember, they only feel moist, not dripping wet), there’s simply not enough to actually function as pigment solvent, at least not efficiently. So, in layman’s terms, these pads are rubbish! I wanted to try and go easy on them, but they are utterly useless at the only thing they are supposed to do! At least they were cheap, so i didn’t end up wasting a lot of money on a useless product. Don’t waste your money or time with them! No recommendation.

Rating: 1/10

Would buy again? NO

0 Comments

Essence

Essence Repair Nail Oil Nails & Cuticles Nourisher Review

April 12, 2023

0 Comments

Bourjois

New Stuff - Part 10

April 12, 2023

0 Comments

Ebelin

Ebelin Bimsstein Review

April 12, 2023

0 Comments

Anti-blemish

Bye Bye Blemish Witch Hazel + Tea Tree Skin Toner Review

April 05, 2023

Alright, the only review for this week is the Bye Bye Blemish Witch Hazel + Tea Tree Skin Toner.

I had been using Revolution Skincare's skin toner for ages and it was good, but I wanted something stronger, something that I would be able to better fight acne with. Then Bye Bye Blemish appeared on Pink Panda and when I saw that the brand's entire concept is to effectively reduce blemishes, I knew I had to buy this toner. So, is it better?

Packaging: a clear plastic bottle that looks rather expensive. The cap closes really tightly. Inside the cap is a pump that dispenses the tonic. I like the pump as it is very easy to use and I only need to press it 3 times to get a suitable amount of tonic on a cotton pad (although Bye Bye Blemish say that you only need two apply 2 pumps). The only problem with this kind of pump is that it struggles when there isn’t a lot of tonic left in the bottle, but you can always just unscrew the cap and apply the tonic that way.

Source: byebyeblemish.com

Ingredients: tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) leaf water and leaf oil, glycerine, rockweed (Ascophyllum nodosum) extract, oil-seed camellia (Camellia oleifera) leaf extract, neem (Melia azadirachta) leaf extract, witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) water, glycolic acid, lactic acid, salicylic acid for nourishment. Whoo! I basically copied most of the ingredients list here because, truly, most of the ingredients present in this tonic are ingredients that soothe the skin or reduce blemishes (BHA/salicylic acid, witch hazel, tea tree) or are beneficial in other ways. I really love that tea tree water is literally the third ingredient listed and that witch hazel isn’t at the end, and the inclusion of salicylic acid helps make it even more effective against acne. Also the addition of AHAs such as glycolic acid and lactic acid helps the skin become smoother by gently chemically exfoliating the top layer of the skin. The only thing I dislike is that alcohol denatured is the second ingredient listed, so there is a fairly high concentration of it in this tonic, which can lead to dried out skin, especially in combination with salicylic acid. There are no parabens. The scent is herbal and medicinal, like green tea. It’s quite a nice scent, even if it reminds me of pharmacies! The expiration date is 24 months after opening.

The formula is watery, I mean, this is a tonic after all! But it isn’t at all oily or slimy.

This tonic feels super refreshing and very soothing on my skin, which I really like as it feels like it immediately starts improving the condition of my skin. It’s also extraordinarily light and absorbs within seconds. It’s super easy to use and spread across the entire face. I also think it’s relatively hydrating.

This tonic has actual, visible results from the very first time you use it! It immediately reduces redness and balances the skin, leading to a more even complexion. Blemishes are soothed, looking less red/inflamed and they heal much faster when I am using this tonic. This tonic does not dry out my skin despite having alcohol denatured as the second ingredient; of course, combo or dry skin types would probably have problems with the alcohol, but this tonic was, primarily, designed for oily, acne-prone skin. It also does not cause any irritations or new blemishes to form.

Conclusion: I adore this tonic! It is perfect for oily skin prone to breakouts, and it visibly soothes the skin from the very first use. It’s the first tonic that has had a noticeable positive effect on my skin, thanks to all the various calming ingredients like tea tree water, witch hazel water, and various AHAs and BHAs like glycolic acid, lactic acid, and salicylic acid. It feels really refreshing on skin and the herbal scent only adds to that impression. It reduces inflammation almost immediately and has a lasting balancing effect, as long as you keep using this toner, of course! It’s just such a brilliant toner for blemish-prone skin, so of course it gets top recommendations from me!

Rating: 10/10

Would buy again? YES, definitely