Things I Take On Travels

Check out what I took along with me on my trip to Singapore! It was the perfect holiday for me & hubby - totally indulging in good food and shopping. ;) Although, I personally think that the shopping was better for him than for me. I didn't buy any new outfits for myself, and even my drugstore hauls are lesser than before. Anyway, I was determined to come back with a lot of samples finished so that I could have lots of stuff to post about. Check out what I took along with me for my holiday :

ALL the stuff to clean my face! Samples from Palmers, Kiehl's acne / blemish sample, pore strip, Shiseido White Lucent brightening cleansing complex and Hada Labo face wash. I brought along so much face wash because the last time I went to Thailand, I didn't bring enough, and I hated having to buy a full size wash for no reason. Anyway, I've reviewed the Shiseido White Lucent range before here -and, with this second round of using --- I really like it even more! I feel like buying the whole full-size range now. I find it super effective and yet gentle on the skin. My face felt so soft and moisturised the entire trip. (Now I have really finished the sample!)

I've also reviewed the Hada Labo face wash here, and also finally finished the sample. Thoughts have not changed about this face wash.. maybe because I'm still overwhelmed and impressed by the Shiseido White Lucent. :)

So scared that not enough face wash that I took the smallest full size face wash products that I have along with me... my vanilla souffle face scrub and strawberry yogurt amino acid cleanser from My Beauty Diary. In the end, did not use at all! Waste luggage space only. -_-"

My go-to, must pack Wisteria bath & shower gel & body lotion from Crabtree & Evelyn. I'm surprised that I've not reviewed them thus far! This must be the umpteenth trip that they've followed me along on!

I also took along a sample Palmers Olive Butter Concentrated Cream just in case the body lotion finished... but it didn't. Ended up taking along a lot of un-used products this trip! Tsk tsk... so much for "bringing along samples means you don't have to carry as much products"!

Took this along just in case the shower gel also finishes, hahaha. I have reviewed it before here. This time, I used the full packet in the shower cos too lazy to keep half-opened samples already. Didn't really experience great aromatherapy session in the shower.

ALL the shampoo samples! Only used two, one of which is the Sunsilk that I've reviewed before. I have like tonnes of samples of this shampoo! I think it's because it's the one thing MOST people want for their hair (smooth & manageable, compared to more specific problems like dry hair / oily hair, etc), so they gave out lots of this when they first launched the product.

The other is the Heads & Shoulders which I will review soon!

Mad amount of BB cream that I took along. Basically, I think I took all BB cream samples that I have. From Elite Paris, L'oreal, ZA, Ginvera, Skin79 and Bio Essence. In the end, I only managed to use 2 - the Skin79 and the ZA one. Even then, I had to throw away the ZA which had about 30% left cos I really don't want to drag it back with me to Malaysia. I thought of doing a comparison on which BB cream is better, but since I only used two, should I wait til I finish using all the samples? But afraid that I forget how it felt for each cream and I won't be able to judge accurately which is the best, hahaha. Dilemmas of a beauty blogger. :P

But I really have to say, this "stint" with BB cream really makes me love BB cream more! I used to be a pure 100% mineral foundation gal only. In fact, I was thinking of making a huge bulk purchase from Everyday Minerals again.

All the face moisturisers, eye cream, etc. The only ones I used were the White Lucent softener (which as I mentioned above - am starting to love more and more!) and the Pure Beauty Black Pearl youth restore essence and eye cream (at night). Really good products, and can't wait to review them for you too!

And took along two face masks as well! In the end, I was only hardworking enough to use the My Melody one. I really don't like using sheet mask in the hotel because the airconditioning is so cold, the mask is freezing on my face! It doesn't feel comfortable and nice. Ya, I can switch off the air conditioning, but then my husband will complain! Sigh...

Anyway, that's all for my realllly long grandma story on what I brought along on this trip and some of the things I have in the pipeline to be reviewed. Oh yeah, and all the haul posts as well, of course! :)

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Shiseido Maquillage White Lucent 3-Step Skincare

Whenever I travel, I tend to bring along sample size beauty products, to lighten the luggage + try new stuff at the same time! But as I learned from my painful HK trip, it's best to just try ONE product at a time, not 10! Hahhaa. For this trip, I took along my Shiseido White Lucent skincare set that I got from my church last time. :) Apparently someone in the church works for Shiseido and sponsored this 3-step skincare set for all those that attended

The Shiseido Maquillage 3-step skin care set consists of :
a. Brightening Cleansing Foam
b. Brightening Balancing Softener
c. Brightening Protective Emulsion

That big black packet -- I'm not sure what it is because I didn't use it. :P

Brightening Cleansing Foam
A pretty decent cleansing foam, that smells a bit TOO clinical for me. I like how you only need to use a little bit to get it all nicely foaming. This is also one of those RARE cleansers that REALLY make your face feel SQUEAKY clean after washing it off. Usually, magazines advise against cleansers like this because they said if it's SQUEAKY CLEAN, most likely it stripped off all your skin's natural oils. However, I didn't feel like my skin was TOO tight, so I quite like it. Also manages to take off all my make-up in one wash, so I think this is a really super cleanser. Pity about the scent though...

Brightening Balancing Softener
Notice that it's called a SOFTENER and not a TONER. I have no idea what this is used for, and although this is cooling on my skin, I didn't feel any significant difference after using it. I don't think it contains any alcohol, because I didn't feel the usual "stinging" feeling of using toner.

Based on Shiseido's website : "This softening step is what makes Shiseido's beauty regimen so original. Unlike toners which can strip skin of vital moisture, Shiseido softeners quickly and effectively replenish generous moisture. Skin with sufficient moisture becomes more receptive to the next skincare step and fully absorbs the benefits."

Brightening Protective Emulsion
Comes with SPF15, and again, a very little bit goes a long way. The cream feels thick and heavy on my skin, and although I feel that it was a bit hard to absorb, it didn't leave TOO greasy or oily a feeling, though it didn't feel exactly comfortable. I am not really a fan of heavy moisturisers, and my skin doesn't need such moisturisation either as it is not terribly dry. I only used it once during the trip, and didn't bother with it anymore.

In conclusion : love the cleanser, I like the idea of the softener (based on Shiseido's spiel) and I guess I need more frequent usage before I can say whether it works or not, and I don't like the moisturiser.

Price-wise, the full-size skin care set apparently costs between USD$50 - USD$70. Definitely out of my budget beauty range, but thankful that I managed to try it out in mini-size. :P

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