TRANSFORMULAS Miracle Daily Glycol Cleanser

 I picked up this Transformulas cleanser at Priceline when on sale. It was one of those brain fade moments. I had ZERO need of a cleanser but only realised that after I'd got it home, unwrapped it and had a go using it.

This product shows how much of a sucker I am for clever wording. Miracle? Yes please! Glycol? Sounds like it includes glycolic acid and will smooth out my skin.

Woot all round.

And then I used it. It's really pretty - pale blue, pearlescent and you need only the tiniest amount (seriously, it lasts FOREVER) - it foams up really easily. It's not heavily scented which makes me happy.

But wow - my skin was feeling a little tight, a little dry after using it. So that's when I read the ingredients. Maybe one day I'll read ingredients lists before purchase ... still waiting for that to happen though.

Obviously the first ingredient is water and next ... sodium laureth sulphate. For crying out loud - it's a detergent and surfactant (so that's why it foams up so nicely) and it's a cheap one at that! It's basically like soap. For sure, it cleans but I know from past experience with very cheap cleansers, it has the potential to dry out my skin like nobody's business.

Next up on the ingredients list is sodium cocoamphoacetate - more surfactant, foam-boosting goodness (ahem) here but derived from coconut oil and recognised as gentler.

Fortunately for me, glycerin is fourth and I know how well my skin gets along with it. This meant that I was actually able to use this cleanser once a day and not have it knacker my skin. Every now and then I'd get a small patch of dry skin but nothing serious.

This isn't a cheap cleanser - normal price is $35 for 100mL. It does last for a long time so you do get good bang for buck, and, as it's stocked by Priceline, you will be able to pick it up on sale (as I write it's discounted by 30%).

As always - your mileage may well vary. My skin seems to be quite sensitive to drying out and Barbe over at Fashionista in Suburbia tried out a range of Transformulas products and really liked this cleanser.

Would I buy it again? No, but I would consider other products in the range.

I'm adding this post to Ingrid's Monday Madness Makeup Link.

Onsen Basic Series Smoothing Eye Serum

I bought this Onsen Eye Serum quite a while ago from OzSale* and it cost me $28. I bought it after I'd bought something else, so I did get free shipping - always a bonus! I'd seen the Onsen products a few times and had wanted to try them (for no good reason other than something new and different!).

Obviously, OzSale's price is heavily discounted - a similar product on OnsenSecret will set you back over $US200!

[UPDATE - I think I was originally comparing to the wrong product and that the usual retail on this product is more like $US100.]

The first thing I noticed about this product was the ridiculously large packaging. My 25mL of eye serum comes in a receptacle which is LONGER than my mobile phone! I compared it against several other products lying around my bathroom and trust me - the packaging is insane.

You might think that this isn't much more than a cosmetic issue, but in reality, what it means is that about day 2 into using this product and you start to struggle to get eye serum out. I've had to prop it up for AGES now. It's very frustrating and, on that alone, it would put me off buying it again.

To be honest, things didn't improve when I started using it. The serum has the slick texture that many of the blur creams have. That's because (according to the back label) its main ingredients are cyclopentosiloxane and dimethicone. Both of these are silicones that aid in spreading and act as barriers (they repel water) and conditioners, and also have the property of filling in fine lines. That's why they're used in the various blur creams. And, in an eye cream, they'll give it the appearance of doing something - but they're not exactly active ingredients. Ingredient number three is collagen, so there's some plumping and moisturising (and presumably it's trapped in by the barrier-like silicones) but again - not so much in terms of anti-aging action.

I had a chat to my beautician about the silicone-heavy ingredients list and she couldn't really understand it - except that perhaps the idea is to trap the moisturising ingredients against the skin.

Either way, I didn't see any change or improvement in my eyes while using this product (OK - I didn't take before or after photos - I'm going to do that with my next product which is currently on its way to me!). That, combined with my dislike of the slick silicone texture and the ludicrous packaging, means that I most definitely was NOT in love with this product.

I might give other Onsen products a go in future (provided I can pick them up cheaply AND can suss out the ingredients list prior to purchase ... if I remember!) but ...

Would I buy this product again? NO.

This post is part of Ingrid's Monday Madness Makeup Link Up over on Fabulous & Fun Life.

* referral link

Movie Review: Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience

OK - Master 6 is perhaps a touch old for Peppa Pig and definitely already been to the cinema at least once before. When I won a family pass for the new Peppa Pig movie, his initial reaction was 'BORING'. However, when I suggested that if that were the case we might like to give it away, his tune changed mighty fast!

He picked a friend to take along, I (hesitantly, at first!) sorted the logistics and so, last Sunday,we headed off to the cinema. First thing (well, 11am) on a Sunday morning is a GREAT time to go to the movies - easy to park and no one around! I think there were about 4 other people in our cinema.

Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience is actually 4 all-new (yes, Andy - ALL NEW - you haven't seen any of them before!) episodes. Peppa and family visit Kylie Kangaroo, meet a koala, surf etc etc. No departure from the usual Peppa script there!

For some reason, someone decided that the episodes needed stitching together (for want of a better phrase) by introducing some live action. So as the film opens, we meet Daisy - Peppa's human friend - who, along with puppets of Peppa and George - invites the audience to sing and shout and join in. It was unbelievably saccharine and because the cinema was empty, the interactive element totally fell flat. While I was cringing and wishing they'd just get on with the animation, the two six year olds were cheerfully shouting and fidgeting away.

Despite the incongruity of people and puppets, the Peppa episodes are exactly what you'd expect, so Peppa fans will be happy.

At the end of the show, I asked Master 6 what his favourite part had been. You wouldn't believe it. It was the live action parts. 'Because it was something new and different and I haven't seen it before'.

So that just goes to show why I don't work in children's programming!

Recommended for: well, apparently six year old boys will enjoy this movie if you can get them there. It's undoubtedly aimed at a slightly younger set and I think children of all ages will enjoy it more if it's a busy cinema!

Thanks to Westfield Marion for running the competition.