Previously I wrote about my experince using the Botani Olive Soothing Cleanser. Today’s post is also a review on another product from Botani, the Olive Repair Cream which I use as a body moisturiser.

I think I shall give a brief introduction regarding the brand. Botani’s products are organic and they come from Australia. It carries a line of skincare products as well as some bodycare products. To purchase this range of products in Malaysia, you can visit Nature In A Box. They carry other brands as well so you can check out other offerings while you’re there.

So let’s move on to the topic of the post, the Botani Olive Repair Cream.

This cream is suitable for sensitive, dry, mature and sun-damaged skin. It is claimed to be a non-greasy and non-clogging cream. Are these claims true? Read on to find out my experience.

Some of the major benefits of this cream caught my eye, and they include:

Softens fine lines, repairs and protects from harsh environmental elements

Gentle and effective treatment for eczema and psoriasis

Assists in healing scars

Assists in prevention of stretch marks

The above benefits were big enough to make me want to try out this product. However, I do not have eczema or psoriasis, so I won’t be able to say much about it. In terms of softening fine lines, assisting in healing scars and prevention of stretch marks, I guess I could put it to the test over long term use of this cream.

Having said that, I also think it’ll be hard for me to see any positive results in the area of preventing stretch marks. As it is, I do have them from my pregnancy some years ago and there was nothing that could’ve really prevented it nor is there anything that can make it go away now. Stretch marks, to me, is more deadly than putting on weight during pregnancy. At least with the weight matter, I can go for some recommended best weight loss pills and it might just work. But with stretch marks, I was told by my doctor that it can’t go away. It may lighten over time, but it will not disappear with the use of any kind of products.

Okay, enough sad story about stretch marks and let me get back on track about the use of the Botani Olive Repair Cream on my skin. I have pretty dry skin as I don’t often apply body lotion or moisturisers because I’m lazy. But since I got some of this cream, I thought I might as well put some to use and see if it can help my terribly dry skin.

The texture of the cream is quite thick and oily. The suggested application method is to use a small amount and pat it onto the skin using pressing movements. Since the texture is a little too oily for my liking, I found that this patting application doesn’t work well for it to be absorbed. So I apply it the way I always do, by rubbing it onto the skin. That way it absorbs faster.

The good thing though is that it doesn’t leave the skin feeling oily after application. So I’m quite happy with that as I was initially quite worried that it’ll leave an oily and slippery layer. So it is true to its claim that it is in fact non-greasy. The other claim about it being non-clogging, well that one I can’t prove it with any visible results just yet.

I find that the Olive Repair Cream helps to moisturise my dry skin well. I’ve not used it for long or many applications, so my skin is still a little dry.  I don’t expect the first few applications to help me be rid of this dry skin problem that I’ve had for so long. But I guess with continuous use of this cream, I should have an improved condition. This is provided I am hardworking enough to apply it diligently everyday!

So far I’ve no complaints with this cream. If you would like to give it a try for any of the benefits mentioned above, you may purchase it online from Nature In A Box. This 120g jar of cream retails at RM159.50. Quite an expensive cream, but if it works to serve one or more of the areas that you want to fix, it might just be worth the money.

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Review of Botani Olive Repair Cream

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I’ve owned laptops for years but I’ve never once bought a laptop bag. I’ve always used the ones that came with the notebook, ugly as they may be. The reason is because I use my notebook mostly at home. At the most I sometimes go out to coffee outlets and bring along the laptop to check my mails. So I didn’t need to spend that kind of money on a nicer looking bag.

But now that I have bitten the bullet and adopting a different lifestyle where the notebook will be on the go with me all the time, I decided that it’s time to get a bag for the notebook. I know exactly what I want in a laptop bag, so it wasn’t difficult and it didn’t take me long before I found just the one. I also don’t have expectations as high up as cell towers, so I pretty much bought the bag in less than half an hour of shopping for it.

I bought a Checker Plate bag, and not in the back pack form. I bought a more lady-like design as it can double up as my handbag too so that I need not carry too many bags with me. It’s kinda big, but then I think it’s practical and workable for me. How do you like my purchase as pictured below?

For this model, there are 2 colours available, brown and black. I chose the black one. It’s very roomy and has all the space I need for everything. I’m very happy with it. I paid RM199 for it. Considerably cheap for a computer bag?

It comes with lifetime warranty so let’s see how many times I will be going back to Checker Plate, as there are bound to be wear and tear along the way. At least with this lifetime warranty, it gives me some assurance that should I tear it in the next couple of months, I won’t need to throw it out completely.

It remains to be seen if carrying this over time will cause me strain on the shoulders since the straps are not very thick nor padded, and we’re talking about lugging around a 14-inch computer. But I really prefer to be carrying a computer bag like this than a back pack one. This is vanity talking!

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I’ve always loved credit cards. Not because I spend a lot on them, I don’t max them out but I sure love having lots of different ones for different purposes. Some I use for discounts and privileges being offered, some I use for reward point collection because I’m eyeing some particular items from the reward catalogue, some I use for rebates on petrol, etc. That explains my need for a few credit cards.

But now that the government has introduced a tax on each credit card, it’s going to cost me a lot to maintain all those cards even though there are no annual fees on them. Before, they really were “free” but now the government’s going to make money out of me for having all these credit lines.

So instead of enjoying the discounts and privileges of using so many credit cards, I’m going to save myself the money by cutting them up. All my cards including supplementary cards will cost me about RM800. Yes, you saw it right, close to a thousand bucks a year to have credit cards!! That’s a lot of money and better spent on some other stuff which can give me something in return, like a term life insurance policy or even an investment in unit trust. Don’t you think?

In the next two months I’ll be busy “strategising” which cards need to go and at most I’ll maintain just two. It’ll be quite tough to decide which ones outdo the others in terms of which benefits are most crucial to me.

What about you? How many cards are you going to maintain for your shopping purposes?

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In the last 5 months I have been a loyal user of City-Link Express courier service when I ship in my products for Penny’s Online Shop. Up until this month, I found that the service was reliable and it did fulfill its promise of pretty fast delivery. Well, within the stipulated time given, I would say. Sometimes, they would surprise me with a phone call on the day they deliver my parcel to give me a heads up. I liked that on top of the online tracker that I can use to monitor the status of my parcel.

Then sometime early this month I encountered the first bad service. I was dropped a yellow card in the mailbox which means that the parcel was delivered but there was no one around to sign for it. The message was that they would make a second attempt to deliver which is fine.

I called up and spoke to a guy and asked if they can deliver it to another address, and he said yes. He took down the address I gave him and it was agreed the parcel would be re-sent the next day. Hours later, a lady from the company called and said that they can’t deliver to the new address without the consent of the shipper.

So I said that’s fine. Since I had the day off, I thought maybe I can spare some time to go over to their office to collect it. But since I was out and didn’t have access to internet, I asked this lady whether she could kindly send me a text message to give me the address of their office. I asked this of her because she used a mobile phone to call and I thought she could possibly send me an SMS too.

She quite rudely told me this: “No, I will not text you anything”

I was quite shocked at the way she replied and I asked why not. She then responded “I will not use my personal phone to text you the address”. By then I was so agitated with her. It was not just what she said but also how she sounded. Not a friendly tone at all and more like reprimanding me for being stupid. Well, that’s what she made me feel.

So when she gave me that response, I said “Oh yeah? Then it’s quite funny that you’re now using your personal mobile phone to call me!” to which she responded “No, this is something called a company line”.

Hello??! Couldn’t she then text me using that company mobile line?! She was telling a lie somewhere in between all that conversation and I no longer knew what’s true and what’s not. In the end I told her I have no time to talk to her and she can freaking go do whatever she wanted to do and I didn’t hesitate to tell her how unhappy I was.

Then recently I again had another restock for my stocks and I used them again. This time, I tracked the parcel closely and going by the tracker, the parcel should have been delivered yesterday. I even called in the morning to talk to someone and he confirmed that my parcel has been despatched to be delivered to me. He said it should reach me before 2pm, failing which at worst it will be by 5pm the same day.

The entire day not a single parcel came for me. And this time, there was no yellow note either. Today a lady called up from the office and said they will send the parcel tomorrow and asked if I would be home. I said no, unless they can deliver before 9am to which she said is impossible.

I took the opportunity to ask her why the parcel didn’t arrive yesterday since it was confirmed to be despatched to be delivered. She gave me a totally unacceptabled answer – she said her driver did go out to send to me, but he couldn’t find my place. What kind of crap is that?! I asked her how come the other times for so many months they didn’t have a problem and she said maybe it’s the driver’s problem. Then she asked if my address is a house or some metal buildings. I don’t really know how to respond to such funny conversations.

Anyway, I didn’t have time to argue with such nonsense so I told her by hook or by crook I need the parcel to reach me by Monday and she said she’ll arrange it. Minutes later, she called again and said “Tomorrow you’re not in meh?”. I already said I will be out by 9 and won’t be around for the weekend. Then she said “Not even a maid?”

I said no and told her that she just has to make sure I get my parcel by Monday. She then answered me “But our driver went to your place yesterday, you weren’t there.” Did you spot another lie right there? In the first call she said her driver couldn’t find my place!!

I told her that if they had come and there was no one home, there should’ve been a yellow card dropped in my mailbox and I told her I found none. She insisted there was one and said “Are you sure?”

My God. I was really boiling hot at all the lies and told her that I checked for that yellow card until this very morning before leaving for work. Only then did she back down and say she’ll work on getting the parcel to me by Monday.

How many lies do they intend to tell their customers? I don’t think I want to use them again in my future transactions. Cut the lies and deliver your promise!

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Recently I was introduced to a new range of organic skincare and didn’t say no to trying out the cleanser called Botani Olive Soothing Cleanser. This organic skincare product is a product of Australia but can be easily purchased here in Malaysia via Nature In A Box.

This organic cleanser does not contain sulphate and is suitable for all skin types, especially for dry and sensitive skin. Some of its active ingredients are listed below:

Plant Squalene (derived from olives)

Jojoba oil

Calendula

Olive leaf extract

Chamomile extract

This cream cleanser feels very much like a milk cleanser to me. It doesn’t foam much at all and rinses off easily. However, I personally like a little foam when cleansing my face, and I don’t like using milk cleansers so it took some adjustments for me to get used to the texture of the cream cleanser.

It does its job alright, it doesn’t dry my skin after washing and that’s very important for me because I easily slip into the dry skin category if I use drying skincare products. It does have quite a strong scent from the ingredients used, but it doesn’t disturb me much since it doesn’t linger on after rinsing off.

This organic cleanser from Botani is a little on the expensive side for me, but comparing it against the general market rate for organic skincare products, I think it is around the same price range.

For a 100ml bottle, the Botani Olive Soothing Cleanser retails at RM106.50. If you are unlike me and are used to using milk or oil cleansers to remove make up and cleanse your face, then you might find that this is a pretty lasting cleanser. You only need to use a small amount for a thorough cleanse. So value wise, you might be getting a good deal for an organic product.

So if you are keen to try out this cleanser, head on over to Nature In A Box and check out how you can purchase with just a click of the mouse and have the product sent right to your doorstep.

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