February 23, 2011

Vacation

No post this week; I'm on holidays! Unfortunately, it hasn't been much warmer down south than in the frozen north, but hey, it's still nice to get away!


I did just hear a bit of news, though. My family doctor moved her practice to another end of the city without telling us. So the question is, do we stay with her, or stay within our geographic locale? Why is it so hard to keep a GP these days?

February 15, 2011

Product: KoS Queen of... Shaving Gel

You may recall an earlier review of King of Shave's Smooth and Sensitive shaving gel for women, a product I was quite happy with. At the time, their products for women were being phased out to make way for their new "Queen Of..." line. (You can still get the previous line on sale at KoS's online store.)

Then, I was very grateful to receive samples of KoS's new shaving gels to try! I always use up a product completely before I review it, so I can comment on long term use on the face, for those of us for whom face shaving will likely have no end. And so, after months and months, here's what I thought:

Queen of Ooh La La! and Queen of Ta-Da! Shaving Gel - 150 mL

Ingredients:
  • Aqua (Water), aloe barbadensis (aloe vera) leaf juice, sodium laureth sulfate, glycerin, acrylates / C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, triethanolamine, cocamidopropyl betaine, eucalyptus globulus leaf oil, melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) leaf oil, styrene / acrylates copolymer, sodium chloride, coco-glucoside, mentha viridis (spearmint) leaf oil, magnesium nitrate, benzyl alcohol, cinnamomum camphora (camphor) bark oil, potassium sorbate, citric acid, benzoic acid, magnesium chloride, methylchloroisothiazolinone, methylisothiazolinone, limonene. Queen of Ta-Da! also includes CI 17200 (Red 33).

Things I Liked:
  • I think readers know by now that I prefer gels and oils because they don't suds up and dry out the skin, and you can see where you're shaving. Both these gels live up to that expectation.
  • They're a good price compared to what I usually see in the drug store, and when you use them on your face, they last a long time.
  • Although no fragrance has been added, both smell much better than their old gels. They're fresh and minty and revitalizing. (My favorite is Queen of Ta-Da! which has a sharper tea-tree oil note.)

Things I Didn't Like:
  • Nothing! My only complaints about their old shave gel was the smell and the fact that I was worried I wouldn't be able to buy it anymore. Their new gels are just as good at doing their job, and smell far better.

Did it do what it promised?

Like their predecessors, KoS' new shave gels are low foam and perfume free, which makes them so nice on the skin anywhere. I am very comfortable using them on my face--they protect and lubricate the razor without stressing the skin anymore than I have to, and I honestly have yet to find a product that compares to anything KoS has turned out.

If you're wondering, like I am, the difference between Ooh La La! and Ta-Da!, I didn't find much practical difference between the two. It really is up to your personal preference. They are equally effective as shaving mediums. Ooh La La! features it's ingredient aloe vera, and has a gentler minty scent and no color. Ta-Da! advertises tea tree oil, and you can smell the difference. It's not at all irritating like I usually expect tea tree oil to be, and aside from the smell I didn't notice any other particular benefit. Also, it's pink. ;-)

See what other people thought of KoS' Queen Of... line of shave gels:

Boots.com
The Advice Sisters review
Desi Girl Does Make-up review
Mint Green with Envy review
Pinch Your Cheeks review

February 11, 2011

Goofy Fangirling

I like comics. I especially like webcomics. And I love this new invention of Livestream that lets me watch as artists make them. I get to watch them draw, listen to their music, and sometimes their voice. It's total creative voyeurism.

The other day, I was watching an artist making her webcomic update, while a chat was scrolling off to the side. I'm not sure how the chatters got on the subject, but the artist admitted to not being able to have children. And eventually, she said that the reason for this was because she had PCOS. She lamented to losing her hair with good-natured resignation, the same teasing air with which she presents anything else.

I, of course, was excited. I haven't met anyone within the artistic community who openly talked about something like that. She didn't mention hirsutism being one of her symptoms, but even so, I just wanted to hug that faceless artist out of sheer delight to know of someone with PCOS in the creative world. Even if it's very different from what I have, it's almost a common ground, the kind people don't talk about every day.

I didn't end up saying anything. It was her show, and it was about comics, not hormone issues. But now when I look at her work, I know and I feel just a little bit akin to her.



In other news, I've been on Alesse for two months now, and on Spiro for a month. I'm not nearly as itchy towards the last week of hormone pills, and the mood swings are fractionally better. On Tuesday, I was on my lunch break and realized I didn't have to blot the oil off my face like I normally do, or pat on more anti-shine powder. One of the nice things I noticed about being on Spiro last time; the improvement in my skin.

February 3, 2011

"Sticks and Stones"

I'm having a bad day today, in a way totally unrelated to this blog. Ever had a really positive morning, and then one person's bad attitude rips all that away from you and leaves you shaking with fury? I hate how fragile good moods are.

So watch this amusing and totally relevant episode of My Name is Earl. It's not a show I normally watch, but my step-sister happened to flip to it the other day and it was this episode. I tried not to seem too engaged in it, but I think I failed.



My name is earl 203