Hero beauty product - Yu-Be moisturizing Skin Cream

I've decided to restart my weekly beauty reviews.  I do miss writing them and I have a stack of products which I'm currently trying.

I'll try and publish every Thursday, (work schedule permitting) so here goes with the first review of 2014...

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I was walking through Covent Garden recently when I came across some girls handing out little cardboard boxes containing cosmetic samples for a promotional event.  I was lucky enough to be given two little boxes (it pays to be nice to people), one of which contained a sample of Yu-Be.

I'd never heard of Yu-Be but it turns out it's very popular in Japan.  It's one of those multi purpose products, a bit like Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream or Lucas' Papaw Ointment that can used on dry areas all over the body including the lips.

Image via http://www.beautybar.com

So is it any good?

Oh yes, it most certainly is!  I actually prefer it to Eight Hour Cream or Lucas' Papaw Ointment because it's glycerin based whereas they're both petrolatum (petroleum) based.  I find that petroleum products tend to dry out my skin because they seem just to sit on the surface and once they've rubbed off/been washed off, my skin's just as bad as before.  

Yu-Be, however, is a different kettle of fish.  It's got a really rich creamy texture which soaks in quickly and it's incredibly moisturising. I've got these dry spots on my knees and Yu-Be really is the only thing that works on them.  It's also very good on the lips and any other dry patches that occur. 

I love the faint camphory smell to it too.  I know it's probably some placebo thing but it makes it seem medicinal.

I've been jealously eking out my little tube but it's going to run out soon.  You can buy it from Boots & Space NK but I bet it's cheaper at Japanese stores.  If anyone knows of a Japanese outlet where I could stock up, do let me know.  x  

The life I'd like to have versus the life I actually lead.

In my head I'm one of those women with an immaculate, glossy lifestyle that everyone tries to copy.  You know the ones - they live in all white homes accented with a 'pop' of colour (maybe a vintage chair they sourced at a flea market or a large clock).  They have amazing yet casual wardrobes and they instagram pictures of themselves eating Laduree macarons in pretty cafes with a perfect rose on the table.  Tea is always drunk out of floral teacups with gold edges and there's always a Diptyque candle on the go.

In my real life I'm a technician.  I wear steel toe capped boots & old holey T shirts to work and my hair is always a mess.  I'm not going to talk about the time I was mistaken for a vagrant on the tube (I'd worked an 18 hour day - I was tired!)  Don't get me wrong, I love my job, I just wish I had a bit more girliness in my life.

So I was very pleased last night when the waitress in the restaurant where we were eating commented on my umbrella, saying how much she loved the birds because they were so girly.

Image via amazon.com

  

Where has the time gone?

How on earth has it the 26th of January already? Christmas was over a month ago!

Well, in my case the time has flown by in a blur of work, socialising and well... more work. And now, rather wonderfully, I actually have two and a half days off! Yesterday I spent mainly in my pyjamas just recovering - watching stuff on catch up, internet surfing and sleeping! I didn't even leave the flat. It was bliss and today I actually feel relaxed but energised enough to go out and do things.