Apivita queen bee anti-wrinkle and restore eye cream is greasy and heavy

I have to say I am very disappointed about this product. As you may aleady knew that I am a honey fan. I like all kinds of products made by real natural honey. And I did have good hope with Queen Bee product  line. It says it is "with royal jelly and honey", how can this go wrong!?
I got this trial size with a purchase from Apivita. Could not wait to try. Let's look at this from a few angles:
Texture
Um.....texture is quite versatile, light lotion form. Easy to appy.
Smell
I still cannot believe this has a weird stinky smell. Not sweet, nothing like honey but a bit sour and also strong to my nose. Overall not pleasant at all.
Skin feel
Very rich despite of the lotion texture. Can see the grease right after putting on. And feel sticky on skin too. This is not supposed to be good for my under eye skin I doubt. Does not seem to absorb well.
Results
After using about half the mini bottle, which is around 3 weeks. Fine lines are noticeable, *signs of dehydration*; tiny oily bumps are found, *crying*; undereye is saggy probably with the overly heaviness and richness.
I stopped using it and switch back to my regular eye serum and cream. Yes a small change accumulates and keep your skin beautiful and healthy! Although the tiny bump is still there but no more saggy undereye or fine lines. I am relieved!
For those who might be interested in Queen Bee range, this post is for your reference. I hope it helps you make the best choice for your skin.

Make your regular serum richer for dry winter

I always have a thing about essential oil. I especially love the scent of rose so it is easy for me to buy bottles of rose facial oil without really knowing what to do with them on my skin.
There are a few ways I tried using rose oil on my face:
- warm on palm and directly apply on face by pressing gently
- mix with my daily cream and apply as usual
These two ways are not very satisfactory. I feel quite oily that it leaves an oily film on my face. Well, some may think of course it is oily for it is oil! Having said that, I found my favourite way of using the oil now and I am happy about it cuz it leaves my skin nourished without feeling oily.
Mixing the oil with any transparent serum or liquid is simple yet blend in well for your skin to absorb.
What I use here is Aesop serum and organic rose oil. I blend 2 drops of oil with serum about a size of a dime. Blend together with finger until it turns into a milky mixture, then apply as usual. Yes that's it! It does magic. Perfectly versatile now but nourishing enough in dry winter.
You may want to start with one drop of oil and apply at night first if you have not dealt with oil in your regimen before. It can be a nightmare if you don't know how to work with oil. But for those who master the skills, you will find the benefits which go a long way. Enjoy!

Compare gentle makeup removers: Aubrey vs. Melvita vs. Apivita

Somehow I found 3 bottles of makeup remover in my bathroom which I use them quite randomly. So I figure it might be interesting to have a mini competition to compare between the three.
To me, the effectiveness to remove traces of makeup is priority. I need something to clean well.
Products up for the challenge are:

A) Aubrey vegecol facial cleansing lotion - 100% natural ingredients. Claim to remove makeup and impurities and soothes the complexion.

B) Melvita bouquet floral cleansing milk - claim to remove makeup and impurities without damaging skin's hydrolipidic film.

C) Apivita 3 in 1 cleansing milk face & eye - 99% natural ingredients. Claim to be cleansing-tonic-make up remover.

I put the darkest eye shadow for the test.

As shown in the photos it is quite obvious that melvita doesn't clean that well after rubbing. The other two are relatively clean, almost without traces of makeup.

The skin feel after using the three products are quite the same. The smell is very nice from melvita despite the fact that it does not cleanse that well.

I personally like aubrey the best so far. For it cleanses the best leaving me skin feel very comfortable. Best of all is also it is the least expensive. On the contrary, melvita is the most pricey.

Hope this mini test helps a bit when it comes to picking your next safe and natural makeup remover. Enjoy!

Update: olive oil to remove makeup, I am giving up...

After trying out olive oil as my makeup remover for over a month, I am reluctant but I have to admit that it is not for me. Despite of all the positive comments about how amazing the EVOO works on their skin, I unfortunately have a few disappointing experience before any amazing results.

1) it has been difficult to clean my eyes completely without leaving bits of oil around my eyes. That turned out to be an issue after accumulating the oil for some time. I found white heads around my eyes.

2) using warm / hot towel to wipe my face did not do me any good except the loss of elasticity. I noticed less firm skin. Oh yes I pay extra attention to my skin condition during the whole challenge.

3) my fault not to use newly washed towel every time and I got allergic skin patch - dry scaly patch. My guess is caused by the not very clean towel.

Well, honestly I am worried and not truly faithful about the olive oil regimen anymore. I decided to give it up and go back to my regular makeup removal routine with some natural store bought products. Not a total surprise but it works well and the issues are eventually gone. I feel relieved.
Nothing against the oil cleansing method, I guess it is just not suitable for me. What I wanna do is to continue looking for skin friendly products. Something that my skin has got used to for like 20 years.
Have a happy 2012 everyone!

A new challenge: remove makeup with olive oil

Yes, I'm calling this a challenge because I have to admit that this ritual has been very challenging and I'm still trying to master the best tricks for my skin after over a month now.

Removing makeup with Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a well-known natural recipe for skin care. The claimed benefits are awesome: harmless and natural without drying skin, give your skin the moisture and nourishment it needs, remove makeup completely, clean effectively to avoid blemishes, inexpensive, etc. The logic is also very simple and it sounds promising (to me at least) - like
washes like, in other words, oil removes oil.

Let me share with you my interesting experience with EVOO so far: I did a bit of research and found that the best to use on face is Extra Virgin Olive Oil that is cold pressed. I'm not an expert about oil
production so I just looked for the one with words like "Extra Virgin" and "Cold" on packaging. It did not cost much anyways.

It was a fascinating moment when I pressed a handful of oil on my face for the first time. Trying to smooth it out my entire face in an upward direction, leave it on for 2 minutes or so. Then I press a hot damp towel on my face for the steaming action. This is supposed to push the oil or any dirt out of your pores. After a few gentle wipes, then I pat dry. DONE!

This was repeated for about a month and I only use it at night as it removes my makeup. Ok, here's the pros and cons for me.

Pros - my skin feels less dry, if you have read some of my other posts, I have dry sensitive skin.

Cons - can't completely remove my under-eye concealer, I had to wash again; wiping with hot towel did not treat my skin well, I noticed slightly bigger pores.

So far I guess my experience with EVOO was not impressive. I told myself not to give it up easily as I know it takes time for the skin to adapt and function well. Having said that I've also been looking for alternative ways to may be tweak this method a bit to make it work for me. I'm staying faithful!