Biore Sakura Sensation Shower Cream

Been finishing shower gels left and right coz I've been using smaller size stuff recently. The Biore Sakura Sensation Shower Cream is something I picked up from Thailand in Dec '12. I still don't see this being sold in Malaysian stores, but I found a write-up about it on the Kao Malaysia site, so maybe I've just missed it. Biore stuff are pretty affordable, so I don't think that this is hard on the pockets, plus it's just 220ml... easy to finish.

 

I thought it smelled nice and floral when I first bought it, plus it sounds really exotic. SAKURA .... it's like the new secret ingredient in a lot of beauty products nowadays. In fact, I don't really know what sakura is supposed to smell like. And after using this shower cream, if THAT is what sakura is supposed to smell like ... I guess I'm not that interested to go visiting Japan during the sakura blossoming season. :P

To me, it smells like the horrible, assault-your-noses type of floral scent that you get in car fresheners. It doesn't make for a nice, aromatherapy session in your shower. You kinda just end up wanting to get it over with. Such a difference from when I was using my peach shower gel from Body Shop. Tsk tsk. The shower cream does feel nice and moisturising against the skin, but the "extra moisturised" feeling doesn't extend further than the shower itself. Kinda generic, normal shower cream this is. For the price, I guess I couldn't expect more. Was hoping that the smell would be awesome and memorable though.

According to Kao Malaysia, this shower cream contains Biore’s proprietary Vital Plus. This component protects the skin’s inner layer & restores lost moisture on the surface for a supple after feel. Sorry, but I don't really find that true! Not a repurchase for me, and glad that my 220ml bottle is nearly finished!

Read more...

Benefit's Rockateur Box O' Powder

Feeling really annoyed right now because just about 2 months ago, I bought a whole bunch of stuff from Benefit, and now they are making me feel like doing another haul again. T_T All because they launched a new blusher, and it looks so nice! The latest addition to the Box O' Powder family is Rockateur! Described as rose gold shade, color payoff looks good and the DESIGN of the powder itself looks sooooo attractive.

I'll just let the pictures do the talking, mmmkay?

 

The best part is that you get a free rockateur tote with any order over $85 by entering "ROCKIT" at the checkout. Even the tote looks cool... then again, I haven't used totes since I finished high school. :P Offer valid til August 27th only!

Read more...

My Beauty Diary Strawberry Yogurt Amino Acid Cleanser & Vanilla Souffle Face Scrub

Sorry for not posting more frequently, but let me give you a two-in-one review! :) The My Beauty Diary Strawberry Yogurt Amino Acid Cleanser & Vanilla Souffle Face Scrub are mini sizes that I got as part of the My Beauty Sweet Teatime set that I bought last time (almost two years ago!). No worries, it only expires in 2014, so I faster took this out of storage. Since this is part of the Sweet Teatime set, it's really mini-sized, only 30ml for the cleanser and 50ml for the vanilla souffle face scrub.

 

First up, we have the  My Beauty Diary Strawberry Yogurt Amino Acid Cleanser! I had high expectations of liking this cleanser because I like strawberries. Turns out, this smells more like CHOCOLATE than strawberries, which I kinda dislike. So misleading. I also don't like my cleansers coming in a tub form because I don't like digging into the cleanser with my fingers. I read that the full-size product comes with a scooper to keep things more hygienic, but that wouldn't help an inch for me because I find that so cumbersome. Seriously, keep it simple!

This is how it looks like on the inside. It's a pale pink, creamy cleanser with bits of exfoliation beads inside for a bit of a scrub. It leaves skin feeling soft and clean, but it's not really good at removing my make-up. I dare say that it's even worse than  the Berli Pops cleanser that I used before this one. 30ml doesn't last long at all, I would say I finished the entire tub in about 2 weeks or slightly less than that. And the last bits in the tubs are filled with watery bits.... yeah, that's what you get for designing a cleanser that comes in a tub. -____-"

Next, we have here the My Beauty Diary Vanilla Souffle Face Scrub. I couldn't read the characters on the packaging, and since it came all in one box, I assumed that the cleanser was to be used hand-in-hand with the cleanser. Everytime I washed my face, I would use this face scrub as well. I was wondering what kinda "scrub" is this, it has less exfoliation beads than the cleanser because it looks like this ....

Isn't that the cutest puff ever? SO CUTE. I think it's so much foamier than the Biore Marshmallow Whip. That's because it comes out of a spray nozzle! It's very consistent with the bubbles and doesn't seem to lessen. I thought it's similar to the marshmallow whip and was using it as such. I did feel a bit silly though, because I didn't find my skin that much better using both the cleanser & souffle face scrub together. But I have to say, I much prefer the vanilla scent of the souffle scrub to the chocolatey amino acid cleanser. If you're doing the same thing, STOP RIGHT THERE because this is supposed to be used on CLEANSED, DRY SKIN!

After getting a good size of foam on your palm (like the above picture), carefully apply it all over your  face. Then, keep rubbing the foam in until it forms little beads. Some people say that it's just the dried up product. Some say that it is dead skin cells. Some say that it's a combination of both! To me, I HOPE it's a combination of both...

I don't feel like my skin is much better after using this souffle scrub, and I have to say that it takes a LOT of scrubbing to get the little beads to start forming. I rather stick to my Hello Kitty Gommage! It smells even better!

All in all, interesting products to try out, but nothing that I would repurchase. I did like the Sweet Teatime masks though! I do like it when companies package all their new products together in a set so that we can try out everything before deciding whether we want to spring for the full-size items. In case you're curious, the full-size Amino Acid Cleanser is USD12.50 for 90ml and the Vanilla Souffle Face Scrub is USD19 for 120ml. :)

Read more...

Friday Cheapies : Modbox Beauty Box

I've blogged about Vanity Trove's personalized trove collection... and it seems that another beauty box on the market is catching up and having the same concept. Here's my take on VT's personalized trove, and today, I want to share with you the cheaper alternative - the Personal Modbox.

Of course, there's pros and cons for each item, and no way am I saying one is better than the other. As a savvy consumer, we always wanna know more and choose what is suitable for us based on what is available on the market. :)

VT's personalized trove costs RM50 + shipping, and you get to choose 6 samples out of a possible 30 choices. Wide range of variety, and there are full-sized items to select as well!
Modbox's personal box costs RM9 (!!!!), but does not include shipping. I paid RM6 for shipping within West Malaysia. Think it's slightly higher to East Malaysia. You get to pick 3 samples out of a possible 6, and you can only select a specific combination. E.g: for the first sample, you can only select between a Crabtree & Evelyn Lavender Hand Therapy cream OR a Ronasutra 2-in1- foundation powder.

VT's personalized trove is still delivered to you in their classic, drawer-style box. Modbox has shrunk their box to the height of an iPhone 4S, and definitely does not look as attractive or as sturdy. If you don't plan to keep your boxes, it's no biggie for you, I suppose! Because of the smaller box, Modbox is able to arrange the items nicely & make everything look "full to the brim". This was something that I noted was a problem with VT's personalized trove, as the random selection that I got meant that everything couldn't be arranged 100% perfect.

Another mini complaint that I mentioned about VT was also overcome by Modbox - the lack of product card with VT. Since it is now "random selection", VT is not printing out nice product card on nice paper. What Modbox did was to print each product's description individually on smaller pieces of paper, and then tie them together with a piece of string. It looks very DIY, but heck, it does the job of telling us what the products are about.

Enough talking, here is what I chose for my 3 products in this round's Modbox personal beauty box:

Doesn't it look full to the brim?

I chose Crabtree & Evelyn's Lavender Hand Therapy (25g tube, RM30) against a 1g tub of Ronasutra's 2-in-1 mineral foundation powder. They have a great promotion of a free Crabtree & Evelyn Tarocco Orange skin refreshing body lotion sachet and a 0.5ml vial of Somerset Meadow EDT. So worth it! The price of the lavender hand therapy is already double of what I paid for this box, and I already took a sniff of the Somerset Meadow. It smells soooooooo good! If I really want to buy full-size perfume, Modbox has kindly included a 20% voucher with the Crabtree & Evelyn stuff. :)

Second item I chose - 30ml tube of Privia U Perfect Pure Cleansing Foam (RM43 for 150ml) instead of a 7g tub of Unico UV defense cream. The cleansing foam is a perfect travel-size, perfect for me to bring on my short holidays. :) The Pure Cleansing Foam is now sold out though, you can only select the Unico defense cream...

Last item was kinda a crap toss-up between a 0.44ml sachet of Murad eye lift illuminator, 3ml sachet of Privia U magic peeling gel and a 5ml tube of Juice Beauty antioxidant serum. The Juice Beauty serum is sold out, so I chose the Privia U magic peeling gel coz it's something to get rid of blackheads. Honestly though, the 3rd choice is really kinda crap coz it's all sachets. You can barely test a product out with sachets! I would feel bad writing a review based on just sachets, especially if it's something that you really have to use in the long run in order to see a difference.

All in all, it's super worth it for just RM15, although I still think the selections at VT are better. I'm looking forward to seeing what else is available for selection in the next personal beauty box!

Read more...

Monday Masks : Guardian Caviar Face Mask

I have two pimples sprouting out on my chin. Based on studies, pimples around this area is usually hormonal, and not due to bad hygiene. Still, I panicked over the weekend and decided to pamper my face with a mask to help get things back to normal. As always, I've not been very disciplined with my mask application, and it's time like these (when skin condition is shite) that I start to become very diligent!

Based on my stash of sheet masks, I decided to use the Guardian Caviar Face Mask for my current condition, because it promises to nourish and treat delicate skin. Well, my skin is at a delicate condition now! :P Yes, it is a real drugstore brand - Guardian pharmacy's very own in-house manufactured sheet masks. Don't snub your nose at it, I find that sometimes in-house products are much better than cheap stuff you get from Sasa and so on. I bought this at a promotional price of RM7 for 2 or something like that. Look out for good deals like that in your local drugstore!

Packaging is a bit cheesy and nothing to shout about. The sheet mask though, is thick and comes with plastic backing. Already much better than those cheapo masks like Sasatinnie. -___- Was a bit doubtful about using a CAVIAR mask because I was afraid that it would smelly FISHY, but in fact it smelled STRONGLY of something like green tea. I know the green tea that you drink is generally erm... scentless. But this smells like a very strong kind of green tea perfume... floral and zen. Hahah. Quite nice, but got a bit too overpowering at the end.

Fit of the mask is really bad. Lots of gaps in the wrong places and loose at other places. Really look like a monster in the above picture. After pampering skin for 20 minutes, skin does feel softer and more moisturised. Pimple area is not as red, but noticed little white heads are popping out on my forehead the next day. Don't know if this is a "detoxifying" effect or what. Hope my skin condition is really not headed towards the shitter.

I still would give this mask one more chance (I have one more sheet!), cos I don't think the additional whiteheads are caused by the mask. Plus, I did really feel more refreshed and "nourished" after using the mask! Secret ingredients include caviar extract and grapeseed oil. Caviar extract is rich in vitamins A, D, B1, B2 and B6, which help to slow down the aging process whilst providing intense hydration to skin. Meanwhile, grapeseed oil contains linoleic acid that helps general skin improvement, including curing skin conditions like acne.

Of course, expect these to come in very very minute quantities in this face mask. :P

vitamins A, D, B1, B2, B6

vitamins A, D, B1, B2, B6

Read more...

The Body Shop Elderflower Eye Gel

Sorry for the lack of updates! I've been catching up on TV series of late, and this time, it's an old fave (that I suddenly remembered I hadn't been up-to-date on!) --- Dexter! And what the heck, it's up to season 8 already! I just finished season 6 and dyinggggg to start on season 7! Well, enough about TV series, today I want to talk about The Body Shop's Elderflower eye gel!

All these years, I've been applying eye gel directly on my eye lids and eyebags. It didn't really help at all, and in some cases, it caused me to get sang ngan tiu jum (sty). This caused me to "write off" eye gels after a while. FYI, I've been using eye gels since I was 24-25 years old. My colleague told me that the younger we start, the better! I was already really worried that I had lost some precious years. It is so important to get the right type of eye gel for yourself, you don't want to end up getting milia as well to add on to your worries about wrinkles and eyebags! That is a reason why my friend told me she stopped using eye gels as well --- cos of the milia!

Thankfully for me, I don't get milia, only the sty! Then I found out that I was not applying eye gel correctly. In fact, you do NOT apply it directly on the eyelids and eyebags, but you are supposed to lightly dot AROUND your eye socket. The gel should naturally absorb and spread into the correct area. Here's a helpful link and picture from Dermagist that illustrates this further:

Having learned "the secret" of applying eye gels correctly, I was very keen to find out how my Body Shop elderflower eye gel would fare. Going at RM35 for 15ml, it is pretty affordable cos you don't really need to use a lot. It is an unperfumed and clear gel that feels instantly cooling to the touch. It is light and absorbs quickly to the skin, without leaving any oily trace behind.

 

The product labelling doesn't claim to reduce eyebags, dark circles, puffiness... in fact, it doesn't promote anything on the label! I made a bad decision to buy this because I "naturally" assumed that that is what eye gels are usually for - to reduce dark circles! This one is actually just for "refreshing" and "cooling" the eye area... which, it does. But why would I want to specifically use an eye gel to refresh my eyes? It feels really strange, and the "perked" up refreshed-ness only lasts for a short while. I need some magic for my dark circles, yo! 

Some people have commented that the cooling effect is good for puffy eyes (e.g: when you've been crying) and for redness. As I've not experienced this, I can't ascertain that for sure. One good thing about this product is that because it's non-oily and easily absorbed, I can wear this under make-up and go to work. It doesn't affect make-up application, so I do get a bit of the cooling action bright and early in the morning. This is unlike other types of eye gels that you can typically only put on before going to bed. 

Really think that the "refreshed" feeling I get is psychological and applying it doesn't ACTUALLY refresh me. Maybe the cooled teaspoon trick would do the same? Either way, this is definitely NOT a repurchase for me. 

Interesting titbit: cold elderflower infusions are applied on the eye area as a wash for sore and inflamed eyes.

Read more...