New ecostore hair care range

ecostore has just reformulated their hair care line. The new range consists of:

Anti-Dandruff formula shampoo and conditioner
Fine/fragile hair shampoo and conditioner
Dry/damaged and coloured shampoo and conditioner
Normal hair shampoo and conditioner

The sizes each shampoo and conditioner comes in are 220ml ($10.95), 1L ($35.95), and 5L ($175). I haven’t seen the range in stores yet, but they can be purchased at http://www.ecstore.co.nz/. They look good, I’m a big fan of ecostore products, and I have used and liked some of the products in their previous hair care range.

Stuff that smells like coconut

Coconut smells yummy, and makes me think of tropical islands! Try these products for a scent of the tropics.

Trilogy Botanical Moisture Masque for Dry Hair 95ml $29.95 – A thick moisturising hair treatment with a divine coconut scent.


Ecostore Coconut Soap 80g $3.70 – A gentle soap with natural coconut fragrance.



Alba Botanica Hawaiian Coconut Cream Lip Balm 4.2g $8 – A yummy-tasting vegan lip balm.

Surviving Swine Flu

I am trying not to freak out too much about the global pandemic of swine flu, but being a paranoid germaphobic hypochondriac, this is not easy. I’m actually reasonably calm about it - if it was bird flu I would be in major freak – out mode, but since swine flu seems a lot less serious (as in less people are dying from it, but obviously it still is serious in the sense that it’s highly contagious, etc), I figure there’s less to worry about.

However, having the flu (whether swine flu or regular flu) is never fun. It tends to make you feel completely crap, (which I realise is a terrible pun, because sometimes ‘the runs’ is a symptom of the flu, and has been in a lot of cases of swine flu) but there are a number of products around which can help ease some of the symptoms.

Keruru Cold Balm, $6 for 30ml, and $10 for 60ml - Rub it on your chest to help with congestion.

The Herb Farm Headache Away Cream, $7.80 for 15ml, $13.60 for 60ml, and $22.70 for 60ml – Massage into the temples to help with headaches.

Egg Essential Care Sniff Box 8gm $17.90 – Intended to ease pregnancy-related nausea, but could probably be used to ease flu-related nausea too.

Also, to minimize the spread of infection, make sure that you keep your hands clean – check out the post on hand washes and hand sanitisers.

Organic range from Pacifica Skincare

Up until recently the Pacifica Organics line has online been available on Air New Zealand planes for business premier and pacific premier class passengers (therefore only on international flights – New Zealand is too small to have business class on domestic flights – domestic flights are no more than an hour long, because we’re a small country, and our planes are pretty small too).

Ok, end of lesson on NZ. Pacifica Organics has been supplying Air New Zealand planes for the last few years (previously Living Nature products were used). Anyway, the line contains a lot of native New Zealand plant extracts such as Pohutukawa, Harekeke, Kawakawa, and Manuka Honey. The products are:

Nourishing Lip Balm 10ml $11.99
Eye Cream 20ml $34.99
Replenishing Serum 30ml $42.99
Gentle Facial Cleanser 100ml $29.99
Refreshing Toner 50ml $24.99
Hydrating Facial Day Cream 100ml $44.99
Hydrating Facial Moisturiser for Men 100ml $44.99
Nourishing Hand and Nail Cream 60ml $23.99

The range is available at Life Pharmacy stores. It looks very nice, good to see another NZ natural skincare brand on the market.

Five grey eye shadows

I am a big fan of grey eye shadow. I have blue eyes, and grey shadow enhances my eyes nicely, but it suits all eye colours. Here are some nice grey eye shadows:

ChiChi Eye Shadow Dust in Shopaholic, $18.90 – Super-affordable, this has a slight mauve hint to it.

Almay Pure Blends Eye Shadow in Steel, $20 – A pressed powder shadow in a cute little compact which closes magnetically. It’s a pale grey shade, perfect for everyday wear.

The Body Shop Nature’s Minerals Eye Colour in Radiant Graphite, $25 – It has flecks of gold in it, which gives it some warmth.

Couleur Caramel Eye Shadow in Pearly Anthracite Grey, $26.99 – Another pressed powder shadow.

Living Nature Eye Shadow Duo in Clouds, $44 – A light grey and a dark grey, pressed powder. Each one is great alone, and they look great together as well.