Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Second Opinion

On Second Opinion, or why yes, I do believe everything I read: I see a lot of reviews of stuff in blogs and magazines and papers. And then, because I'm gullible, deeply susceptible to marketing, and enjoy nurturing within my bosom a tiny seed of hope, I buy/watch/visit the stuff in question. This occasional blog series will reveal what happened to that delicate nugget of expectation.

So! Onward.



The second opinion: I wage a sad, daily war with the unpredictable oilslick of vindictiveness that is my complexion, and I liked this a lot, largely because it's significantly cheaper than the last stuff I had which did the same job (Origins made it, and it smelled nice, but good God was it expensive)*. It didn't do much immediately for my face - disappointing based on the review, but that sounded like the reviewer used it regularly so maybe that's why. I used it last night and did find myself thinking my face felt softer when cleansing tonight. (I stroked it a bit, like a lady in a Fairy Liquid ad.) That said, the dual warming and exfoliating effect was very nice, even though I used a big dollop when maybe should have only used a thin layer. (The instructions were not specific.) Also there's something a bit satisfying about exfoliating. I will use this for the three times a week recommended.



* The original reviewer has this whole thing about how it used to be cheaper before Sanctuary got all rebranded, and I feel her, because I just bought a pair of shoes that are lovely but were £8 cheaper when I bought them in a different colour in spring (yeah, you, Office: on notice), but I never bought this stuff before so it didn't bother me. Actually, it bothered me a little bit, but only because I'd read her review. Otherwise I would never have known they slapped on another couple of quid because they changed the colour of the box or whatever. And then it wouldn't have bothered me at all.


Monday, September 27, 2010

The imaginary friend

Yesterday I listed a bag on ebay for the first time ever, excitingly. It was a replacement for a bag that broke, but now I've lost faith in it (... so maybe it wasn't really intended for carrying laptops around) so I'm selling it as new but didn't want to go into all that in the listing, so instead described it as an unwanted gift (to explain why it's new/unused). Now I find myself feeling guilty for my ingratitude in selling it. Sorry, imaginary offended gift-buyer.