Monday Masks : Skinlite Refining Herb Mask

Whoa, haven't been updating in a bit, and it's a whole new month! I've been mad busy at work, and now that I'm monitoring some wonky servers with a tendency to restart themselves, and a feverish husband  with a propensity to shout out various demands, what better time than to fill up my beauty blog a bit more? Should be feeling good about myself because our lean team managed to rollout a pretty cool project to 3 different countries. However, now is the "stabilisation" period - only, you're stabilising 3 different countries and you are supposed to prepare for the next!

Holiday - where for art thou? My Singapore jaunt seems so, so far away. :(

Anyway, keeping up with the "Monday Masks" theme from before, here's my review on Skinlite's Refreshing Herb mask. Incidentally, I have not been religiously doing my masks, and I haven't gone for a facial in a while. My skin condition is horrid! [Reminding self to schedule another appointment with Cellnique]

So this is the last of my Skinlite mask from HK, the really cheap, worth-your-money but kinda-hit-and-miss one. I think the refining herb is one of the misses. Though it is totally inoffensive, and my skin felt moisturised after using it, I felt that it was not good enough for me to disregard the wonky fit of the masks. Plus, it was too inoffensive --- totally no scent. I might have been using just plain water soaked paper masks. Who would've known?

The refining herb mask from Skinlite contains 19ml of essence and  contains Korean natural herbal extracts such as honeysuckle flowers, licorice, colx lacryma-jobi seed, phaseolus lunatus seed and hoelen. I must admit, most of that sounds alien to me, but maybe it won't be to the Koreans. ;P The mask helps to clarify skin by controlling oil & sebum secretion, but also gives you a healthy glow by helping blood circulation. The last bit is a bit of an epic tale, really. I really do not see how this would help blood circulation - the herbs in the mask don't get absorbed into the blood stream, do they?

Here I am giving you a really grisly photo of myself... there's enough essence, I would say and the quality of the mask is really good, albeit on the thick side. Off topic, but I do not like how it looks like I have quadruple eyelids in the photo - blame it on the lack of sleep!

All in all, a mask that did no wonders to my skin, but given my love for cheap products, I should be thankful it didn't cause any adverse reactions. Upon further research, I was pleasantly surprised to find that honeysuckle flowers and licorice are indeed used as antibiotics to sooth irritated or itchy skin, so for those people who are suffering from redness or inflamed skin, using this could give more marked improvements than for someone using it just for fun and to get more moisturised and pampered skin. ;)

Read more...

Online Shopping Is Like Window Shopping (Whitesoot & Victoria's Secret)

After nearly 2 months of absolutely NO shopping (well, I lie - I bought an evening gown for my sister-in-law's upcoming wedding - but this doesn't count because it's a NECESSARY purchase), my fingers are straying across my keyboard and going to all my favorite online shopping haunts to ogle at the beautiful clothes. Recently, I found another online shopping site that looks very promising. I first saw it on Bobostephanie's blog, where she was wearing this awesome one-piece-top-that-looks-like-a-two-piece. The item was sold out on the site, but that's when I was first introduced to Whitesoot. I've not actually bought anything from the site before, but I like how you can even get your items via meet-up (instead of PosLaju) at SS2 McDonalds. I can easily swing by the area!

I might be on a temporay ban from shopping, but I can still share what caught my eye, right? I'm liking these few pieces from Whitesoot. Mainly like the office-wear-with-a-twist (bright colors, cute detailing) and the casual dresses. Most of the dresses I bought from wholesale website that I shared last time are way too short. I promised a post on that, didn't I? Still trying to collate some nice photographs!

 

Skater dress with a triangle cut-out, inspired by something similar from Topshop, I believe!  I think it's flirty, fun and playful... just think it might be too youthful for me!

 

Another casual dress with a twist... it's a little bit like a high-low dress, but slightly more subtle. I'm getting tired of high-low dresses that are "too" high-low. Like super short in front and trailing like a bridal train at the back... a bit too over for me. This one is sweet, simple and just nice! 

A top that is suitable for office, in this season's hottest color - mint! Don't know if you can see it, but there's some subtle silver polka dots as well. Apparently this is Zara inspired.

Not a 100% sure about this top, but I'm attracted to the vibrant purple color.

At the moment, I'm very into puffy sleeves. This, and the subtle clever detailing makes this top suitable for formal occassions and casual outings as well.

How much would you pay for tops like the above? I believe none of the items above are more than RM80 per piece. In fact, the tops are around RM50-ish, if I'm not mistaken. Super affordable in my books, but of course, haven't gotten the chance to check out the quality. I might buy one or two items first, just to test the waters. Tell me if you've gotten the chance to buy from them! At the moment, I see lots of rave reviews, but most of them are from Whitesoot's blogger circle. Those gals get the clothes for free, so they might be biased. **sorry to say this**

Next up on my "online window shopping" --- only, my most favorite site ever - Victoria's Secret! I've bought tonnes of stuff from them, and everything from innerwear to pajamas to clothes have been of excellent quality (some things I've been using for years and years), fashionable and cute! My last purchase was just before my honeymoon (wink wink) and now they have a lot of new trends for fall. According to the editor's picks, look out for more sparkle (sequins!), poppin' colors and lots of luxe. Here are some of the new selections that are my pick. ;)

 Long sleeve chiffon + sequin top. It looks so luxurious and glamorous... though I can't really think of an occassion to wear this too... plus I don't think I would look good with white pants! (Like the model!)

 I actually have a similar pleated skirt (in peach) from Forever New, but I just super love skirts like this! My husband hates the skirt though, he said that people might think that they can see my underwear wtf. 

 Love the lace skirt in this velvety plum shade. Love love love!! 

 A boyfriend shirt in a vibrant print

 Might have posted this before, but silk shirts are my Achille's heel... they look so comfy and welcoming in Malaysia!

Sigh.. when will my bonus come? With a new married life, comes new responsibilities. Can't be a-spending on frivolous things like clothes so often anymore. ;(

Read more...

Clairol Herbal Essences Citrus Lift Shampoo

As promised, I'm updating more on product reviews! I have been getting pretty lazy and slacking off blogging, but I feel that writing more product reviews makes me "take care" of my appearance more too. Like, to actually keep up with my "daily / nightly" regiment of applying creams and all sorts!

So this is the shampoo that I'm currently using - Clairol Herbal Essence's "Citrus Lift" :

 

For the umpteenth time - I'm really attracted to citrus scents, so no surprise why I chose this shampoo that promises "radiant & soft" hair, and contains tangerines, lemongrass and aloe vera. I also have a good impression of Clairol Herbal Essences shampoos in general, as I always put the "camellia hot oil" shampoo as a must repurchase whenever I go back to Singapore. ;) 

However, this shampoo is not a repurchase for me. :( 

Firstly, this is NOT the type of citrus scent that I like. It's very mild and there's no "tang" to the scent. No wake-me-up-before-you-go-go-perk-me-up scent. It's like... what some orange glucose would smell like, seriously. The expected tanginess that will electrify and perk up my scalp is just NOT there. It is however a pleasant enough scent, so no complaints there. 

I don't see a bright improvement in my hair. I don't find it more radiant or softer than usual. In fact, I find that if I just use this shampoo on its own without any conditioner, my hair seems extra dry and frizzy! Because of this, I tend to put wayyyy more conditioner than normal to combat the dryness I seem to get with this shampoo. :\ Tsk tsk. On the other hand, you do get the fresh / clean feeling on your scalp after using it. Not tingly clean, but clean enough. ;)

Lastly, for some reason, my husband complains that I have a lot of hair fall. Now, I don't know if it's caused by this shampoo or if in general, men like to complain that their wives hair drops a lot as they need to vacuum more. My husband is adamant about me changing my shampoo IMMEDIATELY. I have about half left out of this 400ml  bottle, so I'm a bit reluctant to waste the shampoo like that. My colleague tells me that her husband also complains about a lot of hairfall, so I'm hoping that this is just something that women face in general, and not something caused by shampoo or a hectic work life. 

I'm thinking of changing to another shampoo, just for a while, just to see if this really is the cause.

Ironically, I just did a small search on the ingredients in this shampoo and they are all apparently good for preventing hair fallout! Tangerine essential oil is good for preventing DRYNESS in hair and dandruff, lemongrass essential oil is traditionally used in Indian medicine to prevent an oily scalp (hmm, wouldn't this lead to DRYNESS?) and a variety of other hair problems including hair fallout. Lastly, aloe vera controls sebum secretion in the hair glands and promotes hair growth by increasing blood circulation to the scalp. Hey, don't quote me on all this, this is what the Internets is telling me. ;)

However, I tend to believe what I'm finding out because I am experiencing dry-er hair after using this shampoo. As someone with normal-to-dry hair conditions, all the tangerine, lemongrass and aloe vera must be making my hair TOO dry. I would probably recommend this for someone suffering from an oily scalp. I don't see how this should be marketed for someone with Dry / Colored hair, really. 

Read more...

The Body Shop Strawberry Body Butter

Now if you're a girly girl like I am, you would probably not be able to resist strawberry-anything. I don't know why, but I grew up liking strawberry ice-cream, strawberry jam with butter sandwiches, clothes with strawberry prints... heck, even the name "strawberry" is so cute. I just can't explain it. The truth of the matter though? The fruit itself is pretty sour and I've never eaten a strawberry that tasted like I expected it to.  Still, I ooh and aah over strawberry chocolate, I still order strawberry juice (usually added with so much sugar that it becomes sweet and what I imagine strawberries to really taste like), and I buy things like The Body Shop's Strawberry Body Butter without smelling it first because I think that it will definitely smell nice.

Well. It definitely didn't smell like strawberries to me.

I honestly do not detect anything remotely strawberry-ish about this body butter, except for the mild pink body butter. It is indeed super duper moisturising, but unfortunately, is one of those type of moisturisers that leave an oily residue behind. And believe me, it leaves an oily residue behind for a long ass time. My husband grabbed my arm after my nightly ritual of moisturising and exclaimed, "Yer! Why you apply oil on yourself!?"

Hmmm...

However, my skin in the morning is the best thing ever. After a night of moisturising, it's oh so soft in the morning and the scent that lingers behind is not as nauseating as what you get direct from the jar.

This is definitely not a repurchase for me, and because I suspect all body butters from The Body Shop are going to be like this, I will probably get my moisturisers elsewhere. HOWEVER, everytime they have a sale, I keep getting tempted. This, even though I'm having such an unpleasant time trying to finish this small 200ml tub. I just keep telling myself maybe those will smell super awesome. Scents make up for everything. :P

 You can almost see the shine that is given out after the body butter has been applied! I don't think I need to tell you which thigh has been applied with body butter already! :) 

I'm finishing it! This pale pink cream that doesn't smell like strawberries! Tsk tsk!

Retailing at RM55, I got this on a 30% off sale. Hence, find it worth the money (need very little of this body butter to get all "oiled" up), despite my complaints about the scent and OVER-oiliness. The strawberry seed oil is apparently what moisturises the skin. High in vitamin A&C and anti-oxidants, strawberry seed oil also contains anti-bacterial properties that makes it beneficial for taming irritated skin. Since it's the strawberry seeds doing all the work, maybe that's why the body butter itself doesn't smell very strawberry-ish!

I don't notice my skin behaving better than usual, just notice it being ultra smooth and moisturised in the mornings (which is good enough for me). If you are interested to give this a go, take note that this is suitable for normal skin only.

Read more...