Two of the Pure Romance products that I received work really well together. The first was the heated heart massager, a concept that I’ve seen a time or two and is kind of deceptive in is simplicity. This PVC-shaped heart contains some chemicals that react when you snap a small piece of metal. The liquid forms into crystals that you knead to produce a soft, workable massage tool. For whatever reason, I also overlook this type of massage tool. I forget that adding a little heat can simply be awesome. It really is, though.

If I have any complaints, it’s that the effect doesn’t last long enough. You see, the crystals begin to harden and although this process is slow (and further slows if the massager is still in use), you may not get as much time as you’d like. I noticed this took only about 10 or 15 minutes and, in my opinion, that’s far too short. To make the heart massager usable again, you need to boil it for 20 minutes or so and the prep definitely is one of those things that will probably prevent me from using it as frequently as I’d like.

Heart Massager

Coochy Shave Cream

I probably wouldn’t make the switch to Pure Romance‘s Coochy Shave Cream simply because the tube is so small! At 4 ounces, it’s half the size of my regular brand. At a price of $12 per tube, you’re paying $3 per ounce. That’s not value. Unless you really love the scent (mine arrived in mandarin and while I prefer that to the citrus massage lotion, I just can’t get over how awesome Island Breeze is), I can’t justify spending that much. Even then, I’d recommend against purchasing from a party and browsing Ebay for steals. Your consultant and hostess probably won’t be happy but your wallet will be.

Thanks to Pure Romance for this opportunity!

So when I saw that they were working with bloggers to sponsor reviews, I hopped on the band wagon. I won’t lie, I was really hoping to get my hands on some more of their Island Breeze scented products as I felt in love with it at the party. I had actually just purchased a bottle of the body wash before sending an email into the cyber ether to see if I could score some more products.

And I did. So I have to say a great big “Thank You” to Allison from Pure Romance who not only agreed to send me things just to talk about them but also sent an entire box. An entire box, wrapped in ribbon!

Pure Romance Box

The box contained a whole bunch of items but I was most excited for the Island Breeze lotion and body wash (known as “Excape”). The body wash comes in an especially cute, round little bottle, I was super excited to use it, in addition to my new body spray. The body wash lathers ridiculously well. A little really goes a long way, which I was a relief to be because the bottle isn’t super large. It really smells great during use and feels quite silky. My skin feels great afterward, even now when it’s hours since I last showered. If I have one complaint, it’s that the scent doesn’t stick on my skin after showering. I really wish it did.

Island Breeze Products

Now, let me try to explain just why I love this scent. It’s young, floral and fruity. The website doesn’t list any specific ingredients or scents and it blends so well that I can’t put my finger on a specific one. Regardless, after I shower, I’m spraying on the body splash (“Kiss” is the name of the splash line) and I can top it all off with some lotion (“Entice“). According to the packages, all these products include pheremones to enhance my natural appeal. I don’t really buy into that but they smell good enough anyway.

The lotion smells wonderfully but the pump bottle isn’t my favorite style. It took a good minute of pumping to finally get the product to come out. Now that it’s over, it worked fine. The lotion is thin and does take a bit to work into the skin. It likes to slide over the skin at first. You can definitely smell the Island Breeze scent after you’d applied to lotion though. I like to use the lotion on my hands and arms as I get ready in the morning.

Body Bling

Unbelievably, I’ve only talked to you about three of the items in the box and the post is already ridiculously long. Stay tuned as I finish my review for the rest of the Pure Romance products!

Thanks to Pure Romance for this opportunity!

Sometimes, a company says samples and they mean it. A tiny aluminum pouch full of enough lotion to moisturize a finger. But the folks at Bodycology sent me full sized tubes and bottles of 3 different products. 3! This review is definitely thanks to them!

So the first item I’m going to discuss is the one that’s making my hands smell delicious: Vanilla Cupcake Body Cream. It comes in a giant 80z tube with yummy looking cupcakes pictured on the front. The cream itself is slightly darker than white and the back of the tube describes it as an indulgent mix of buttercream and vanilla scents. Indulgent? Yes. Smells exactly like vanilla cupcakes? Hell yes. It makes me hungry but I love it.

It’s a bit thick for use on your hands, though. It will make you sweat and is a bit slippery. But I cannot help but use it. It’s best use is to provide moisture to extra dry spots like knees or elbows, in my opinion. The scent is also very young and fun. And fairly strong. It would probably be best for a teen or young adult. For some reason, I just don’t think it’d be great in the work place but maybe I’m weird.

The Sweet Petals hand and body lotion has a bit more adult scent that would be perfect in any setting. It’s a mix of berries and sweet pea. If you’re a fan of sweet pea scents, then you’ll love this. I enjoy sweet pea but the hint of berry makes it more interesting.

This lotion is a bit lighter than the body cream which makes it perfect for your hands. The bottle I received has 12 fl ounces and a press-top cap for dispensing. It’s a lighter off white than the Vanilla Cupcake cream.

The Cherry blossom body mist is the last Bodycology product I received to review. Of course, it’s a new product in the line (as are the others I mention in this post). It comes in a typical spritz bottle with images of cherry blossoms on the front. I am usually not a big fan of this scent by any brand but I’ve been wearing the mist instead of my normal perfume. It’s floral and a bit perfume-y.. like powder scents. It’s quite mature and not as fun as the Vanilla Cupcake scent but it’s fresh and clean.

You can find descriptions of all these products and scents at the Bodycology website and connect with the company via Facebook or Twitter. If you’re torn between any of the products, there’s an on site quiz that recommends one to you, too. If you want to smell the scents for yourself, you can check out Bodycology products at Walmart, Walgreens and some grocery stores.

I really enjoyed all of these products and want to thank Bodycology for allowing me to review them. I definitely have all my lotion needs met for the next year or so. d= If I had to pick a favourite, it would be the Sweet Petals lotion.

The bottle has a small image of citrus fruit — lemon and limes — with a slice of coconut. The lotion itself is a very light green. There scent is definitely reminiscent of coconut and has a citrus tang but it does not necessarily smell like coconut and citrus. To put it plainly, I think I like it because it’s not what you would expect.

So I use it all the time and it feels nice quite on the skin. It absorbs well and provides adequate moisture. I don’t expect much from my lotions so this one works pretty well. What I love the most is that the scent is strong enough that I can smell it for a while. That might be a con for some people but I don’t mind.

Based on my experience with the Citrus Coconut Body Lotion, I’d be willing to try more Essence of Beauty products.

In reality, I am not a fan of sandals or even open toes shoes because I don’t like my feet. Partly due to the fact that feet look, well, just weird and partly due to my feet having stubborn calluses as a result of many years running around outside barefoot.

However, I am always looking to remedy the latter issue and I’ve used several foot care products in the search of the “one” that will leave my feet silky soft and ‘smooth. I’ve used foot files, buffers and pumice stones along with various lotions to achieve varying results.

Pumice stones are one of the older methods of softening and smooth hard and dry calluses on feet. They’re pretty straight forward; it’s a stone made out of pumice. Sometimes they’re called “pumice sticks” when a handle is attached and sometimes they come with a brush or file attached to do multiple duties. Sometimes it comes in pretty colours or shapes and sometimes it looks like a lump of grey rock because, oh wait, that’s what pumice is (“a porous or spongy form of volcanic glass, used as an abrasive”). Pumice stones are natural and can be used as part of a green lifestyle!

I’ve used one from Avon Foot Works attached to a handle and had little luck. Part of achieving good luck with pumice stones is finding a stone that is rough enough and that product just wasn’t. The other factor in good exfoliation is effort applied to the stone itself which might be a little easier to do without a handle though this may possibly be rough on the hands where skin is not callused.

I picked up my favourite stone from date in the dollar bin at the local store. (It was mislabeled and came up $2, though, humph!) It was a round stone with two sides and no handle, one the typical gray and the other yellow and was labeled “silver and gold.” The ‘silver’ was intended for abrasive exfoliating and the ‘gold’ was intended for moisturizing afterward even though it seemed to be pretty much the same as the other side. Despite its cheap packaging and price, it worked wonders (until breaking in my luggage on vacation!) and made me feet feel much softer and smoother. As it was a no name item, I have yet to find it again.

On the other hand, foot files are man-made, almost always have a handle and usually have 2 sides: 1 for abrasive filing and one for smooth buffing. Sometimes the files are metal, plastic, emery or even glass with have a sand-paper like look and feel.. I’ve used several, usually drug or dollar store brands, but not to much avail. It seems that pumice stones do a better job for me but, again, that may be because I’m not a fan of the handle. Also, foot files often have a finer grain than pumice stones.

Overall, I prefer the stones to the file because the stones do the work for you. Top it off with a daily lotion like Suave Skin Therapy Advanced Therapy lotion, and calluses will be greatly improved!

So, my recommendation? Avon Foot Works Sloughing Cream and Intensive Callus Cream work well together but for a less messy and easily attainable solution, the classic pumice stone with lotion also works well.

In reality, I am not a fan of sandals or even open toes shoes because I don’t like my feet. Partly due to the fact that feet look, well, just weird and partly due to my feet having stubborn calluses as a result of many years running around outside barefoot.

However, I am always looking to remedy the latter issue and I’ve used several foot care products in the search of the “one” that will leave my feet silky soft and smooth. I’ve used Avon Foot Works Sloughing Cream as in-the-shower treatment along with Avon Foot Works Intensive Callus Cream with mixed results. Avon is a big name in the make up and cosmetics industry and is relatively affordable but is usually seen as a step above drug store cosmetics.

I remember fondly, the Avon Foot Works Sloughing Cream working well on my callused feet even if it was a little messy. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to work quite as well some years later, probably do to the calluses on my feet worsening over time.

Instructions read that one should use on dry feet after soaking them in Avon’s Condition Foot Soak, then, massage the area until flaky rough, dead skin wash away. I skip the foot soak step but using after a bath or shower would probably help the effectiveness of this product.

After applying the Sloughing Cream which contains rough, abrasive particles, I let it sit and then ‘massaged’ the sloughing cream into my feet. Let me say that massage is misleading; a rough rub is what one should shoot for to make this most effective. In doing so, I was able to see the dead skin actually rub right off. It also made my hands much softer. However, be aware of sores or cuts, especially tiny ones like papercuts, which will become irritated by the rough particles on the Foot Works Sloughing Cream.

Even after 1 application, my feet were notably softer and smoother. Note that using the product on wet feet or in the shower nullifies most of the effects. Water reduces the friction which actually causes the dead, dry skin to rub off.

I follow up with Avon’s Foot Works Intensive Callus Cream which is, unlike lotions, extremely greasy in application and has a very strong mint scent (the sloughing cream has a slight minty smell but it’s almost hard to notice). Unfortunately for me, I don’t like to feel greasy or to smell mint but it does make my freshly sloughed feet feel even smoother and softer!

There’s good news, though. Avon has seems to be developing Watermelon scented Foot Works products as an alternative. I will probably look into the Watermelon Exfoliating Foot Scrub or the Foot Works Exfoliating Bar Soap which should be less mess and usable in the shower, to replace the Sloughing Cream in the future. I hope they expand this line because Avon’s Foot Works product really do work!

In reality, I am not a fan of sandals or even open toes shoes because I don’t like my feet. Partly due to the fact that feet look, well, just weird and partly due to my feet having stubborn calluses as a result of many years running around outside barefoot.

However, I am always looking to remedy the latter issue and I’ve used several foot care products in the search of the “one” that will leave my feet silky soft and smooth. I’ve also foot files, buffers and pumice stones along with various lotions to achieve varying results.

Sometime before I happened upon the Sally Hansen Callus Remover, I tried Avon’s callus buffer, the predecessor of its Foot Works Electronic Callus Smoother with Interchangeable Heads. This was a little machine that looked much like a miniature drill with flat, metal bits instead of, say, a phillips. I didn’t find that the buffer did much at all, even with a head for rough, medium and light calluses. It might have even worked better as a personal massager if I hadn’t been so grossed out by the fact that it had been on my feet!

However, the modern version has only 1 head for the toughest calluses, a pumice head for medium and a nylon brush for gentle cleaning. I still suspect traditional pumice would be more effective than nickel and steel but the new Foot Works Electronic Callus Smoother seems like a worthy upgrade!

In reality, I am not a fan of sandals or even open toes shoes because I don’t like my feet. Partly due to the fact that feet look, well, just weird and partly due to my feet having stubborn calluses as a result of many years running around outside barefoot.

However, I am always looking to remedy the latter issue and I’ve used several foot care products in the search of the “one” that will leave my feet silky soft and smooth. I’ve used both Sally Hansen Extra Strength Callus Remover Gel and Avon Foot Works Sloughing Cream as in-the-shower treatments along with Avon Foot Works Intensive Callus Cream with mixed results. I’ve also used foot files, buffers and pumice stones along with various lotions to achieve varying results.

Both Avon and Sally Hansen are big names in the make up and cosmetics industry and are relatively affordable but are usually seen as a step above drug store cosmetics.

Some years ago, I had been using an Avon product which may have been the Sloughing Cream or its predecessor and I was happy with it. However, I ran out and just never got around to purchasing it again. In the meantime, I forgot about foot care or simply used a pumice stone. I happened upon the Sally Hansen Callus Remover in a store and decided to try it out. It was far different from the pumice stones and sloughing creams which were actually physically abrasive. Sally Hansen Extra Strength Callus Remover Gel promises to “erase deep, thick calluses, instantly exfoliates & smoothes, leaving feet silky-soft & supple” not by physical abrasion but by chemicals.

I thought I’d give it a try. The super slick, clear gel is to be applied to (dry, I suppose) callused skin for 1 minute then washed off with soap and water. I did so. I saw no results. Absolutely nothing. However, I did manage to spill a small amount on my hand when first checking out the product which resulted in an unusual rash; it didn’t make my skin any smoother or softer.

This product might be worth a try in conjunction with a foot file or pumice stone but if I’m going that route, I’ll stick to half the work and just use the file or stone itself. I’m tempted to lay the blame on my super-callused feet (which my husband has compared to “bullet proof” and “steel”) but even a customer with slightly callused feet has bad luck.

I like other Sally Hansen products but, if I were you, I’d pass on this one.

I’ve used many lotions, as most females have, and have found that while some may smell great, they tend not to do a good job. Conversely, if it does a great job, it probably smells medicinal and disgusting.

However, Suave skin therapy Advanced therapy moisturizer has a pleasant but serious smell and does a great job. I’ve always had extremely rough and dry feet so I originally purchased the Advanced Therapy lotion for there and I noticed a huge difference!

Suave’s lotion claims it isn’t greasy and they come true. It moisturizes your skin deep without leaving residue and don’t be fooled by that pleasant smell. It’s neither fruit nor flowers nor baby powder. It’s something else. Almost medicinal yet strangely pleasant and elegant. Your nose won’t be offended but your mind knows it does the trick!

If you’re looking for a cheaper alternative for a powerful lotion, this is it!