Sunday, June 23, 2013

It just needs to be said

The most delicious food in the vicinity of Hollywood Road is kebabs from Beyrouth. Not cheap, with a smallish lamb kebab costing HK$65. Keeps me wanting more ...

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Frivolous rave/question

I bought a shower gel about half a year ago by the brand o'Naomi, which I don't expect anyone to have heard of. I hadn't. This is the website.

Reasons for purchase:

  • It said made in Hong Kong, so I figure I save on transportation costs, and it's more environmentally friendly.
  • It said "organic," which I am skeptical about naturally (har-har), but still it swayed me. I later found out from their website that they also supposedly do not use dioxane, a carcinogen found in many products.
  • It was called "sugarcane and orange blossom" shower gel. The short-ish ingredient list included essence of those things, and olive oil. Somehow, sugarcane seemed like a believable ingredient, because it's cheap. I normally assume when a product says it has an exotic, expensive ingredient (like I dunno, caviar? Avocado?) that it just has half a drop per bottle, and it's actually a turnoff because I think they are exaggerating and are therefore immoral.
  • The label design was not very attractive (similar to those pictured). So I thought I wasn't paying for some expensive design service.
  • It was cheaper than the more well-known brands, likely for the above reasons.


Review:
It's totally normal and feels good and smells good. No problems. I'm gonna only buy this brand from now on for hair and bath stuff for the above reasons. So unless I get a dud, I'll just use this. (I also had an extreme allergic skin reaction to a Tresemme shampoo recently, so I am very fed up with imported big names that just use fancy plastic bottles and are just full of chemicals anyway.)

Question:
I wonder what other people think of this brand. They make these unattractive-looking shampoos and conditioners that use Chinese herbs. They are kind of hidden on one side of the drugstore shelf with the other unattractive shampoos, while the Vidal Sassoon and Japanese brands, in their sleek, shiny, expensive-looking packaging, are prominently displayed under bright lighting.