Thursday, October 26, 2023

Soffell Mosquito Repellent Lotion Review

With Green Cross no longer in existence, Soffell is now the most effective mosquito repellant I have tried in recent years. It's also better in terms of how long it can keep mosquitoes off than Off, Moskieshield, Human Nature, and Biteblock. It's on par with Guard in terms of performance. If any of these would be in the family stock, I would, hands down, get (with my teeth, kidding) Soffell. And maybe Guard.

Mosquito repellent lotion

Soffell Mosquito Repellent Lotions keep their promise of repelling mosquitoes for five hours, sometimes more. Their active ingredient is diethyltoluamide at 13%. I guess the contact number for the PGH National Poison Management and Control Center on its label should have clued us on how potent these are.

Soffell Mosquito Repellent Lotions are not thick, not liquid-y. They're light, easy to apply but still a tad sticky and warm on the skin, sensations I could do without but would rather endure than get bitten by mosquitoes.

There are three Soffell Mosquito Repellent Lotion variants. I have only tried Pinky and Orangee since they're the ones available at the drugstore I visited. They only differ in terms of scent. Pinky is a warm white floral (jasmine is quite pronounced) with similarities to Gucci Bloom. Even my sister who's not so much into floral scents likes it. Orangee, like it's name, smells of orange bubblegum. Fragrance becomes powdery as time pass. I'm eager to try Appely which more likely smells like green apples given the picture on the label. 

Soffell is manufactured in Indonesia and is sold everywhere else in the world in different formats. At some Mercury Drugstores, a 60ml bottle retails for P110.

Thursday, October 19, 2023

Of Online Stores and Hyped Products: Let's Face It Tropifruit Might Be a Decade Early

I think it was a decade or more ago that Let's Face It Facial Salon came out with Tropifruit, a body care line consisting of a shower gel, a hand and body lotion and a body mist. 

It didn't fly. It was only available at their salon, most likely limiting buyers to just salon customers. Online shops have yet to boom. It was competing with products that had more exposure. I only learned of their existence after I was gifted a set.

It didn't help that scents were, like this line, short-lived. I remember the body spray smelling fruity,  the distinct smell of ripe balimbing / star fruit / carambola coming through. The hand and body lotion in a tube was kinda sticky, the sweet scent fruity with a hint of rose. The shower gel was in a clear plastic bottle with a tin cap. It smelled of jellyace and tiny bit floral. Sudsiness was okay and it wasn't slippery. The products are actually better used independent of each other. 

So maybe they were not cut out yet to offer body care products. Still, Bioessence and Lay Bare are some salons now selling products online and  doing relatively well. Lazada, Shoppee and tiktok sure changed the retail landscape. 

Current beauty companies are lucky they have social media to promote their products. One only needs to trend or go viral on Facebook or tiktok to make a killing. Never mind sucking. That is until someone calls out that the emperor has no clothes. But then that someone still needs a ton of followers. 

I don't think I have ever succumbed to tiktok trends though. If I ever have purchased a hyped product, I would have had learned about it from Reddit, Facebook groups and certain accounts on Facebook and blogs. Kinda gives away my age, huh?