pixelbunny's picks

Supreme Nourishing Hand Cream 

Are you like me and have dry hands? Working in a hospital dries my hands out like nobody’s business, so I am constantly slathering on a plethora of hand creams and lotions, just to restore some moisture back in. Marcelle’s entry to skincare gives us their Nutrilux line, with the Supreme Nourishing Hand Cream. It’s ingredient list includes shea butter, jojoba oil, allantoin, and pro-vitamin B5. Also, being hypo-allergenic, I knew this would be fragrance free.

The Packaging

The tube is comprised of a pliable plastic that bounces back to its original shape after squeezed. It’s also has a flat top so you can stand it upright on the table. This is key for me as it allows gravity to do its work – pull the product down towards the nozzle, so there is less work for me to squeeze from one end of the tube to the other.

Flip-top cap and nozzle

The flip-top cap makes it easy to open and close with a satisfying click.

The Product

There’s 75ml in the tube. The product is easy to squeeze out of the tube, and comes out as a cream. It’s definitely thicker than a lotion, but not thick enough that you need a large amount of force to squeeze it out. It’s very easy to work into the skin and is soaked up immediately. There is no oily or greasy residue afterwards. I think my skin loves this stuff.

Before use

I tried to capture how dry my hands were this day. You can see the dry lines and flaky skin, especially around the underside of my knuckles.

After use

After using, you’ll notice that the dryness has gone away, leaving me with a smooth silky skin.

One thing to note is the smell. There is definitely a noticeable smell, almost like a plastic sort of smell, but only if you put your nose right to your skin. I can’t smell it otherwise. For the moisturizing properties it has and for how well it works on my hands, I can overlook this. However, if Marcelle does bring this line back, this would be one minor thing to work on.

The Verdict

Marcelle’s Nutrilux Supreme Nourishing Hand Cream is quite the effective and affordable product to use. It moisturizes my hands well without that greasy feeling. I’ve been using this exclusively at work and all of my coworkers use it as well. They all love it as well and was pretty sad to hear that it’s no longer available for purchase. If it came back though, you can bet that I’ll be buying a few to have and keep as a back up!

Where to Buy

• It’s not available for purchase anymore.

Supreme SOS Replenishing Butter 

We’ve all been there – no copious amounts of moisturizing will save our elbows, knees and bottoms of our feet. What’s a girl to do? Thankfully, Marcelle has come to our rescue with their Nutrilux Supreme SOS Replenishing Butter. Made for very dry and cracked skin, this stuff is enriched with shea butter, jojoba oil, allantoin, and pro-vitamin B5. One of the facts on the box states “Intensely hydrates the skin and brings a feeling of new skin”. This intrigued me because what kind of cream brings about a feeling of new skin?

The Packaging

Little tub! 

This little tub holds 60ml of product. It’s made of sturdy, glossy white plastic with a twist off lid.

Lid off

Like the Supreme Comfort Body Cream, there is no inner seal.

The Product

Swatch

The butter is quite thick, but is able to be absorbed by dry skin very well. I do take some time to really massage it into every aspect of my dry skin, particularly the soles of my feet. Now this might look gross, but I really want you to see the difference.

Foot before application

I confess; I have really dry feet, especially my heels. How much time do we really devote to taking care of our feet anyways? Don’t shake your heads at me, I know there’s many of you out there that are the same as me!

Foot after application

You can see just how much of a difference this butter makes. Immediately, the dry cracks are smoothed over, giving you that “feeling of new skin”. Fast forward 12 hours later, and I can see the dry cracks reappearing, but that’s to be expected when my feet are so dry. However, with prolonged use, I did notice that it takes longer for those dry cracks to reappear. I typically use this after I shower at night, and sometimes in the morning when I wake up for an extra moisturizing layer before I put my socks on.

The Verdict

A great product for those poorly neglected dry spots that we all know exist, but never want to do anything to help them. Yes, our poor heels, elbows, and knees (and anywhere else for that matter) has something truly hydrating to help rescue it. Funny enough, this is also frequently used by Mr Pixelbunny – he gives this his seal of approval.

Where to Buy

• Unfortunately, this is not available for purchase anymore.

It’s Luxebox time!

Surprisingly, I received some mail today! That’s right, mail delivery on a sunday? Maybe because it’s getting closer to holidays? In any case, I received my Winter Luxebox today! So what could I do but anxiously open it up?

The contents

To be honest, I was pretty disappointed with this season’s box. Most of what I received were small samples and not considered a deluxe size at all. Here’s the breakdown.

EVOLVh UltraShine Moisture Shampoo

Never heard of this brand but am open to trying it. However, I would have appreciated it if they included the matching conditioner. I’m a shampoo and conditioner kind of gal, so only having shampoo in the box perplexes me. Now I need to use a conditioner that’s from an entirely different brand that might not even work well with this shampoo.

Full size: 250ml for $24
Sample size: 75ml for $7.20

Keratase Elixer Ultime

I’m pretty sure I received something really similar in a previous box, though not exactly the same. This is a hair oil that’s meant for colour-treated hair. This is something I’m positive I had indicated in my personal profile that I do NOT have. This is a completely useless product for me.

Full size: 250ml for $42
Sample size: 3ml for $0.50

theBalm Stainiac

I was only introduced to theBalm from the last Luxebox so this is something I’m willing to try out. I wonder how it is compared to Benefit’s Benetint?

Full size: 0.3 oz for $17
Sample size: $2.27

Essie No More Film

I’m very disappointed with this as No More Film was part of Essie’s 2012 Resort Collection, which means the collection has been out for over a year now. To have this in the box now is pretty late.

Full size: 13.6ml for $11.99
Sample size: This is the full size.

Yves Rocher Sexy Pulp Ultra Volume mascara

A mini tube of mascara. I’m not too interested in mascara since I can only wear it when I wear my contacts. I’m still willing to try it out though.

Full size: 9ml for $19
Sample size: $5.28

L’Occitane 20% Shea Hand Cream

The one thing I’m really really excited to try. I’ve heard so many good things about L’Occitane’s hand creams, especially this one in particular. I can’t wait to try it out!

Full size: 150ml for $30
Sample size: $2

Loose Button lip brush

I feel like these Loose Button branded brushes shouldn’t be counted as part of the 6-7 deluxe samples that each box is supposed to contain. For consumers that are as like-minded as I am, I am paying for these quarterly boxes to receive up-to-date deluxe samples that are on trend with the current season. A lip brush is not what I consider something that is “on trend”. I am treating this as a freebie throw in and not counting it in the value of the box.

Full size: No price, but I’m going to guess around $6.
Sample size: This would be considered full size.

To sum it all up…

# of sample size products = 5
# of full size products = 1
Total value of this season’s Luxe Box = $29.24

Wow Loose Button. This box was pretty much a fail. To put out a box that costs only marginally more than what I paid for when all of your other boxes have had much greater value? This is enough to seriously make me consider cancelling my subscription altogether. Even though you’re providing consumers with the option to “upgrade” their boxes by paying extra, I feel like it’s just an extra cash grab to gain more money. Part of the fun is not knowing what you’re going to get and the surprise that comes with it. However, if you’re advertising 6-7 deluxe beauty samples, then that’s what you should be providing. Never mind. Their website now says 7-8 trial sized beauty and lifestyle items. I’m remember when they made the change from monthly to seasonal, they said the extra time would allow them to curate better deluxe sized samples.

I’ll be taking some time deciding if I want to continue with my subscription or not. Hopefully all of your boxes were much better than what I received.

I have dry hands. Not parched dry, but flaky, cut attracting dry skin. And I blame my work environment for it. You see, I work in a hospital and the constant use of hand washing with anti-bacterial soap as well as all the hand sanitizer has made my hands dry out like crazy. I’d gone through several different hand creams in search of ones actually work on my skin and have found one that I’d like to share with you. Enter the tube of Rosewater Hand Therapy from Crabtree & Evelyn.

Rosewater Hand Therapy – $20 for 100g

I was first introduced to this hand cream by one of my “aunties” (in Chinese culture, anyone from your parents generation is either “auntie” or “uncle”) who gave one to me as a gift. She knew I was a nurse and bought me one to try. It wasn’t this exact one, but the age-defying version. I instantly fell in love with it. I used it until I could no longer squeeze anything out of the tube, and then hounded the store until there was a sale. Once Christmas sales had started, they had a 3 for $40 sale and I snatched up 6 of them.

The Packaging

Top of tube and cap

Each metallic tube has a small white screw cap. You can easily squeeze the tube to get the product out, but I would advise squeezing from the outermost end towards the opening. There’s no spring back from the tube so once squeezed, it will stay in that shape.

The Product

Thick cream that absorbs very easily

The product is more cream than lotion. It’s thick and it absorbs into the skin very easily and quickly. There’s also a light rose scent to it that smells heavenly. It’s like breathing in a fresh bouquet of roses. I keep this tube in the bathroom by the sink and use it every time I wash my hands. I tend to put a little extra on just before I go to bed and slowly rub it in until it’s all absorbed. By morning, my hands are super soft and my awful dry spots are significantly improved. I find it takes at least several days for the dry patches to really go away, but with the way my work schedule is, by the time I have a couple days off, it’s time to go back to work and to those dreaded hand sanitizers (oh the joys of shift work).

The Verdict

So far, I’ve been using this pretty much every day for several months and I love it. I’ve started recommending this to co-workers and even gave some tubes as gifts to my nursing friends. I’d say the only bad thing is the tube design. If you put it in your bag and it gets indented, due to the tube design, the product will come gushing out once you open the cap. The tube doesn’t spring back so once “squeezed”, it will stay that way. If you choose to keep this in your bag, be careful.

Where to Buy

• Crabtree & Evelyn – $20 for 100g, other sizes available
• Rexall