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. :)

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The Spa Sample Series (8) : Le Masque Hazelia Cucumber Hydrating Scrubbing Gel

When I feel like I've been having too much "good skin days", I feel the need to torture myself by continuing with my reviews on the Spa Samples my friend passed to me. It's like I feel like I owe him to try out EVERYTHING that he worked so hard to procure for me. When my skin is good, I reckon that there's nothing that Le Masque Hazelia can do to worsen the condition. Or if it could, my skin is at such an awesome state that it has shields ready to protect itself against Le Masque Hazelia.

On a travel moment, I took along the Cucumber Hydrating Scrubbing Gel, which by its name, you reckon sounds quite good. Cucumber = cooling + Hydrating = Moisturising + Scrubbing = That Squeaky Clean Feeling of Being Thoroughly Cleansed. I actually had high hopes that this would go down well!

The sample was just enough for one face wash, and the product had that weird rubbery texture that I've grown to associate with Le Masque Hazelia products. The exfoliation beads felt like sharp stones against my awesome face and I did not dare to be too vigorous, less I start bleeding.

As usual, after rinsing off, I didn't feel 100% clean, so I had to find another face wash and wash my face over again. I actually took along the "Cucumber Soothing Cream" that is supposed to be used together with the face wash, but I honestly did not dare to use it. I think I was just too jaded by Le Masque Hazelia at this point.

I will probably use the soothing cream on my feet or something. Definitely not my face. *distrusting*

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Pond's Clear Solutions Anti-Bacterial Facial Scrub

After finishing my last bits of the Neutrogena Deep Clean (which I didn't really feel was that deep cleansing), I started using Pond's Clear Solutions Anti-Bacterial Face Scrub. I remember buying this from Watson's because they were having discounts + a Pond's-related contest. :D I guess I didn't win the Pond's contest, but I'm glad I bought this face scrub, because it's really, really good!

If I remember correctly, it costs about RM16 for 100g tube. Not sure if this is before or after discounts. But I think it's really worth it because :
a. you *really* get that "deep cleansed" feeling using this!
b. just a tiny bit of product is required to produce chokingly THICK foam. It feels DELICIOUS against your skin!
c. micro-exofliating beads (in the same color as the bottle cap!) included as well, to really get the scrub in

After using it, I don't see myself breaking out as much. Either that or my facial has been working wonders on my skin! ;) The only bad part is I would say that this doesn't smell very good. Too clinical for me, but I've gotten used to it anyway. Best part? Leaves my skin feeling moisturised, fresh and squeaky clean!

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The Spa Sample Series (7) : Le Masque Hazelia's Rose Hydro Whitening Renewal Facial Scrub Gel

It's time for another Le Masque Hazelia outing! By the way, I am finally able to blog a bit more because my training at work has ended. Previously, I'd get home and still have to finish the exercises and test cases. Hallelujah, it's all over. I was also struck by this thought recently - if I keep looking forward to the weekends, that's only 2 days a week that I look forward to. Poor statistics... let's try to look forward to EVERY SINGLE DAY OF OUR LIFE.

**this message has been brought to you by Drug Store Beauty. Free of charge. ;) **

Anyway. Since I had time to thoroughly "enjoy" my experience with LMH, I picked out the Rose Hydro Whitening Renewal Facial Scrub Gel to wash my face after work today. One thing I have to say --- why does Le Masque Hazelia need such long and overtly descriptive names for their products? They seem to find no middle ground. It's either something long like this, or something like "Ultra Gel" that has me wondering what the heck is it for. My face? My body? My teeth?

Straight out from the packet, the facial gel actually smells quite good. Like, a very light rose scent. The gel is.. really like a gel, which I found weird for a face wash. I don't think I've actually ever used a sticky gel kinda face wash before. They are usually cream like... I think the closest I've used is my Simple face wash... but even that wasn't a sticky kinda gel like this one. Le Masque Hazelia is definitely pushing boundaries and innovations with this creation. Lol.

I don't know if you can see it, but the face gel is also a very light pink rose in color. In terms of looks, I would have to say this is pretty interesting. I was also curious -- why is this a scrub, but there are no exfoliating beads whatsoever? How is it going to "scrub" when they have nothing to scrub with? I was actually sorely disappointed by this.

As usual (for Le Masque Hazelia standards)... what smells ok from afar smells like a chemical factory on your face. I tell you... I nearly choked on the rose stench when I was ACTUALLY washing my face with this. ~_~ Why couldn't they have make it less .... odorific. Is this product actually for people who can't smell properly? So they have to make everything super strong?

Oh, and this gel was really weird. Like, once I rubbed it between my hands (trying to get a good lather), it started BALLING up. Then I realised that this was one of those "scrubs" which so-call ball the dirt on your face up. As you keep rubbing the gel on your face, you will see these little balls forming. However, I don't know if those balls are actually the dirt coming off your face or just the gel naturally turning into gel balls. Lol. I don't know how to explain this further, and the following pictures just don't show in full glory what this gel does :


The gel also leaves a rather strange sensation on my face and fingers. I really don't know how to explain it. Maybe.... why are my fingers all pruned up from washing my face with this gel? Maybe that's the strange sensation. I don't know. It's not like it didn't feel cleansed, (though I had the urge to wash my face again after using this) it just felt like something wasn't right...

Though not scandalously bad, and its weirdness intrigues me, I don't think I could bring myself to buy this and continuously use it over a period of time.

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The Spa Sample Series (4) : Le Masque Hazelia's Aloe-Vera Face Scrub Cream

Have no idea why aloe vera is described as "aloe-vera" with the dash in between for Le Masque Hazelia, but then again this is the brand that gave me a greasy mask, burning skin and acidic whitening facial wash, so I shouldn't be surprised by anything by now. Spelling problems are hardly an issue.

I really had to brave myself up to try something from their range again, and I comforted myself by saying that I would use this "scrub" to wash off my make-up after work, and then after dinner out with my boyfriend, I would wash my face again with normal cleanser. So the "effects" of this scrub will not be for long. Hahaha!

The sample provided enough "face scrub cream" for one usage. Once I had squeezed the contents out of the packet, I was quite horrified by the smell. Nothing like the soothing, cooling aloe that I was expecting, but something that smelled VERY clinical and chemical-y. Thankfully, it was not too overpowering, or maybe I just got over the initial shock. It is still usable.. hahaha.

The first thing that caught my attention was : "Crap! Those are some big ass buffing beads!" Usually, the exfoliation beads are very small because it's supposed to be gentle on your skin. It's also better because it is exfoliating you on a micro-level. Remember when you were doing living skills back in high school? You would use the "rough" sand paper to do the inital sanding on a piece of wood, but you would use the "fine" sand paper to give it a smooth finish. I suppose Le Masque Hazelia reckons my face is at the roughest stage right now, so they need to do some macro-level sloughing.

Holding my nose, I proceeded to wash my face with this product... and gradually, I started to quite like it. I mean, yeah, the exfoliation beads are rough against my face.... but I quite like the feeling of being scratched all over my face, lol. Ok, "scratch" is a very harsh term, but I guess I have some sado-masochistic tendencies and I *like* an exfoliating face wash to feel like it's exfoliating me??

After a while though, I didn't like it again.. because it was starting to feel greasy against my face. Lol, I don't know how LMH does it. Their products always make me feel like as greasy as KFC. Also got some of it in my eye and boy is it painful.

Rinsed off, and I don't know why, but though I had just been exfoliated, I didn't feel CLEAN. In fact, I had a feeling like my eye make-up wasn't thoroughly removed. It was so disconcerting that I just had to wash my eye area again with a different face wash.

Thus ends my review of this face scrub. Worth buying? I would say no. :)

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