April Product Reviews: EcoTools, Fekkai, SeaRx and More

Finishing cleaning and moving, here are 7 reviews from must-have to meh that have graced my apartment the past few months.
Two EcoTools products - a brand I would have not known about if it wasn't for Influenster. I received the sponge in one of my first VoxBoxes last year, and the brush more recently in another this winter.

I used  the natural sponge in the shower for my facial cleansers. It is a very interesting thing, one kids might want to make a science project out of. Dry, it is pretty hard, and you wonder how your skin is going to handle it. Get it wet though & it turns into an amazingly mushy absorbent fluffy egg that you almost have trouble getting the water out of. Natural, reusable, and cool enough to give as a gift.

The brush I attempted to brush through my hair a few times, but doesn't go well with my naturally curly hair. I suspect for my straight & wavy haired friends that it would be a fabulous addition to your styling collection. Thanks to Influenster, I'm digging this brand & look forward to discovering more things from them.

Sea Rx Micro-dermabrasion Face & Body Scrub - I'm pretty sure I got this in a Birchbox a couple months ago while all my samples were piling up & I never got around to it until now. I was really looking forward to trying this out, being a person who has gotten a professional micro-dermabrasion treatment and knows how amazing the results are first hand. This product however fell flatter than a 9 year old ballerina to me. I did not feel any derm-abrasion, not even on the micro level. I used it wet while in the shower, and it came with no directions. Maybe I needed to use it dry for it to work... with a scrubber... and a machine... But sad-face, I will not venture to get this product on my own in the future.

Fekkai Technician Color care with Grape-seed Oil smells fantabulous. It's supposed to be used as a treatment you leave on 3-5 minutes in the shower then rinse out. It performs terrific as a conditioner, but even better as an overnight mask. I shampoo my hair 2-3xs a week and like saving my overnight masks for when I shampoo at night to rinse out in the morning. Try it out!

Two To-Gos To Keep Around:

Febreeze To-Go
Pick this up for about $1.50 at Target. Use wherever for whenever you want a fresh pick-me-up. Am I alone in thinking Febreeze is slightly ingenious?

Tide-To-Go
I received this in one of my Influenster VoxBoxes last year, the "VowVoxBox" which had a bunch of wedding related things in it. (There was a Sally Hansen Complete Manicure nail polish in a light blue which was god-awful and my first bad review ever, & I love the brand.)



Boscia Pore Purifying Black Strips 
Kind of like the more expensive version of Biore Pore Strips. Same idea, but - I hate to say - as much as I love Boscia skin products, I wasn't impressed with these. Didn't appear to grab as much as I've noticed other pore strips have in the past. Maybe I got lucky with extra clear skin I didn't notice, or didn't leave it on as long as it needed to, but I don't think either of those came in to play. For now - I'll stick with the Boscia cleansers and creams.

Influenster #VowVoxBox Review

My second VoxBox from Influenster is the VowVoxBox: Basically, getting ready to say "I do" aka - vows. I received these items complementary for testing purposes.

 In the box was:

• Tide To-Go
•  Pure Silk Raspberry Shaviing Cream
• Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Barracuda
• Olay Regenerist Luminous Tone Perfecting Cream
• Eco Tools Facial Sponge
• Riley & Grey Online Coupon

Let's start with what turned out to be my favorite tester: The EcoTools Pure Complexion Facial Sponge:

Gets soft in the shower & foams up nicely. It's a great reusable sponge & great for the environment too!

Olay, however, was the biggest positive surprise. I didn't think much (or expect much) of an Olay cream. I get my face & skincare products mostly from Sephora and would have not tried this on my own. Pleasantly surprised. Points from this cream:

• Did not irritate my sensitive skin
• Blended in well; didn't leave a greasy or film feeling
• It mositurized just as well as the other brands I use that cost 3-5xs as much
• Although I only used it for a week, it might actually possibly does what it says: I was starting to get an age spot at my oh-so-very young age & decided that's what I was going to test it against. Maybe it was the placebo effect, but I do feel my skin has a more even tone. Would definitely suggest to those looking for something to even skin tone that's economical

 

Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure however, was a huge dissapointment. I normally love Sally Hansen products, but as you can see: This polish goes on watery and chalk-y. I used two coats, so you can compare one coats on the left, and two coats on the right. I'm hoping I just got a bad bottle, but there you go.

Tide To-Go was also another dissapointment, although I didn't expect much from it in the first place. I decided to test it out on some white satin PJs (closest thing to a bride's dress I have, right?) to see if it would do anything. I got some sad brown stains from the washer one time & I couldn't figure out what it was, but they wouldn't come off & I didn't want to use hardcore bleach on something so delicate. I tried, but to no avail. At least I don't have to wear them out in public.

~Samantha