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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Benefit's Winter Wonders!

A follow-up to my previous entry over here, it seems like there are more goodie's in Santa Benefita's bag, and they have released their Winter Wonders as well! Here are another 4 limited edition products for the holiday season! :)

Romancing The Mirror
This set contains full-size "That Gal", "Bad Gal Lash" and "Sugarbomb" products! I quite like this combination, although I would prefer the Bad Gal eyeliner instead (isn't eyeliner more loved than mascara?). Also, my boyfriend just got me the "That Gal" face primer, so it's not practical to get another one so quickly. :)

This costs USD$32


All Decked Out
Oohh, this contains full-size Benetint (cheek tint!), the Porefessional and a mini Some Kinda Gorgeous foundation faker. All 3 are items that are on my Benefit wishlist, although for USD$32, I was hoping that the Some Kinda Gorgeous would be full-size too! But still, this is a super good deal, because original full-size Benetint is USD$29 and the Porefessional also goes for USD$29! You totally save a USD$26 right there!

[[putting this into my shopping basket]]
[[oh crap, it's out of stock!!!! hopefully they restock asap!]]


POWda WOWza
Omg, don't you just love how cute Benefit can get with the way they name their products? :) This exclusive box o' powder contains Coralista, Bella Bamba and Hoola. I like the first two, but would buy this if they put in Thrrrob instead of Hoola! If you're interested, it's currently going for the same price as a normal box o powder - USD$28!


Crescent Row Limited Edition Set
The Benefit perfumes! I've never smelled them before, and to be honest, the packaging does NOTHING for me. However, people are commenting that it's long lasting and smells good. You can try all 4 in one go now!
laugh with me LeeLee (a light blend of citrus, jasmine & lily blossoms)
my place or yours Gina (an alluring affair of pink pepper, wild raspberry & patchouli)
garden of good & Eva (a crisp floral spiked with pear, jasmine & freesia)
ring my Bella (a seductive floral with lily, jasmine & vanilla)
I think it sounds promising! One set going for USD$36

Oh gosh, I'm so pissed off thinking about how only the set that I really want is the one out of stock! Grrr!!! Everyone can see a good deal, huh?

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Liese Juicy Shower

I've been interested in the Liese products ever since :
a. Dawn Yang advertised it
b. seeing the actual products on the shelves in drugstores! They are so irresistably cute!

I've tried the hair dye from Liese before as well, and though it was really non-drip as what they advertised (because of the bubbles), I found the color was not as vibrant as expected, and it kinda faded very quickly even though I used shampoo for colored hair. *sigh* I had been resisting myself from buying the Liese hair stuff for the longest time ever --- because it's quite pricey. :( However, I finally gave in to temptation when I bought the Liese Juicy Shower mixed berry hair-hydrating mist!

As I blogged before, I bought the refill instead of the spray bottle version because it was more worth it. When my Free&Free Damage Aid hair serum finished, I washed it out carefully, dried it and then poured the Juicy Shower in!

I've been using the berry mist for about 2 weeks + now, and I honestly feel a bit disappointed with this product. Mainly because it doesn't smell as "berrylicious" as I expected it to be. It's not awful smelling - far from it, but I just expected a LOT more. However, my hair does feel softer and more nourished after I've used it. I use it before I go to bed, hahaa. Or on weekends when I don't want to waste my precious Kerastase hair serum, but I like the thought of feeding my hair before heading out. ;) No doubt that Liese does the job, but it doesn't do as good a job as Kerastase, and for the price, I rather grab another bottle of Free&Free.

The product claims to :
a.Gives hair a quick boost of moisture anytime (well, you are spraying liquids = moisture on to it, so of course this is true. How much of what you spray on it is retained is anyone's guess... cos my hair feels softer after a night's rest, but it seems to go away when I've wet my hair again....)
b. Refreshing berry scent to invigorate the senses (as mentioned - I don't think the scent is anything to shout about)
c. Uniquely formulated with raspberry extract to instantly quench dry hair (hmm... sounds a bit like point a)
d. Hair will become smoother and softer over time with Hair Beautifying Technology (they don't explain what this technology is exactly, but I hope this is true! My hair does feel smoother & softer after using this, but as mentioned, it is not a long lasting effect --- only til the next shower session, lol)

Those of you who like the scent would love this product as it somewhat does the job, and it comes in cute packaging, etc etc. The price is about RM35 - RM40, I can't really remember. To me, I would stick to Free&Free Damage Aid, but at the same time, I've heard good reviews about the Liese Hair Cocktail.... should I try it? Hahaha...

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Mary Kay TimeWise Firming Eye Cream

So I've been using the Mary Kay TimeWise eye firming cream that I won from their Mary Kay roadshow, and to be honest, it's not even been halfway through but it's been hard going. :( Let me tell you why.

The 14g of firming eye cream comes in this very cute bottle. It made me think that the eye cream is light pink in color as well, with sparkly bits! Hahaha. Sadly for me, it is just normal white in color eye cream. Still, I really like the packaging and I was hoping that this cream would do wonders for me.

As advised by the consultant, we do not need much eye cream for our eyes as too much cream might cause the formation of milia around the eyes. We do not want that! However, though they are good at advising us on not putting a lot of the stuff on our eyelids... the design of the pump for this bottle is such that it is in fact VERY difficult to control how much comes out. You have to be veryyyyy controlled and even so, usually I find I end up with a bit more than necessary.

But the most damning point for me for this cream is the fact that if it does get into your eyes... it stings like crazy! You will almost be at the point of begging for your life. Tears will definitely be streaming down your face! I believe that although eye cream is definitely not to be put into your eyeball in the first place, sometimes you cannot help a bit of it going in because of the fact that you are putting something near your eye area! Don't ask me how it gets in, but I seem to have a 25% chance of ending up crying when I put this on. Of course I wind up not wanting to use it so often!

However, it's such a waste not to use it, for the retail price of this product is RM150 (around there). I haven't used it enough times to see any significant changes in the eye area, but I shall persist. *sigh* *scared*

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Elizabeth Arden Green Tea Lavender

I won a 100ml bottle of this perfume from a Cleo magazine contest about 2 years ago, and I still haven't been able to finish it!

I've always been a fan of Elizabeth Arden's Green Tea perfumes - I find it very light and refreshing and it was my "go to" perfume during my early years of working. It also helped that it is not that expensive (in fact, at the airport you can get RM80 for two bottles, or even cheaper! It's insanely cheap!), so I found it very worth the price. Maybe because it's an EDT, and those are generally cheaper.

Through the years, Elizabeth Arden released more versions of Green Tea, such as Green Tea Tropical, Green Tea Lotus and Green Tea Summer. I have not tried those before, but my friend said that they either smell too similar to Green Tea, or that they add in some weird spices that totally spoiled the perfume. I'm glad to report that Green Tea Lavender retains the fresh, crisp Green Tea scent that we all love, but also has a different dimension to the perfume, giving it a somewhat sexier and more sensual aspect.



Although it is an EDT, I find that it is quite long lasting - at least for 5 - 6 hours. Personally, I don't detect much of a lavender scent, but I still quite like this fragrance. Suitable for office use, and also for casual outings on the weekend. My boyfriend also says that this clean fragrance is very suitable for my personality. =)

The top notes are amalfi lemon, mandarin orange, chamomile and mint; middle notes are lavender, tea and Carribbean magnolia; base notes are musk and ambrette (musk mallow).

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Befas Platinum Face Mask

I don't know what possessed me to purchase a box of these masks from Taiwan, but I think they were having a promotion and signs showing discounts are irresistable to me. Plus, I'm a mask-a-holic, so I was drawn to it...

If you can read mandarin, maybe you can tell me what it says! For me, a set of 4 masks cost me around RM26, it was not cheap! I think it is for whitening purposes -- have no idea why they called it platinum masks. =)

The first mask that I used was when I just came back from HK, and my skin was in very bad condition. I thought I would treat my face to a mask, just to "cool" things down a bit. Using this mask was a very bad idea, because my skin was a bit "raw" (skin was peeling, red, bumps, etc), and this mask made it STING like crazy! Don't talk about putting this on my skin for 15 minutes. After two minutes, I wanted to throw it off! I don't know what is inside the essence, but it was not soothing at all.


To be fair, I used another mask recently, and though I don't feel the stinging sensation anymore ... I don't feel much difference using this mask or not. The amount of essence is ok-ok, not too much, but not too stingy either. The mask is also a pretty good fit! No particular scent, so no extra enjoyment for me.

After using the mask, the skin condition did not improve significantly. Temporarily felt extra moisturised and relaxed, but it is not long lasting. Quite disappointed, and next time will remember to buy stuff that has translation. :P

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How Do You Sort?

How do you keep your make-up and skincare products properly? I'm seriously running out of ideas (and space). Though I tried so hard to refrain from buying plastic containers (cos I think its tacky), RM5 plastic containers was what I bought in the end. *facepalm* I think I have too much stuff that I'm trying to use finish! But before I use finish something, something new catches my eye and then voila... I add in one new product into my plastic bins. *_*

This one is my face products (foundations, face primers, mineral powder, concealers) bin, but since don't own that many face stuff, it's also my nail polish bin, my fake eyelash bin and my free samples bin. Hahaha. Kinda became the "miscellenous" bin.

This one is my eyeshadows and blusher bin. There's kinda an overlap between this bin and the other one --- there's also blusher in the 1st bin, but because it's mineral powder blusher. This one is for my more compact and travel-friendly blushers. Oh who am I kidding, I just kinda junk stuff together. Actually, I kinda pushed all the "for office" eyeshadows to the front part of the bin, and the weekend eyeshadows is everywhere else.

My lipgloss bin! I just bought this new plastic container from Tokutokuya (something like 100 yen shop) and it's actually a plain plastic container with some floral design at the bottom. After putting EVERYTHING in, you can't even see the floral design anymore! Hahaha. Oh, and I'll explain the wrapped up toilet roll thingy another time. ^^

On the left-hand side, I have toner, pimple creams, mascaras, eyeliner and handcream junked in (kinda a miscellenous box #2) and on the right-hand side, is my lipstick / lipbalm / liptint collection. Aka the non-sticky lip stuff. :) Have to separate as I don't wear lipgloss when I'm meeting Tron. ;P

This one is called my "Daily" basket, as it contains all the items that I use daily, or TRY to use daily. I don't know about you, but I use different moisturisers, powders, hair care products, face moisturisers for day and for night. The reason being that I tend to use cheaper stuff at night because no one is going to smell me. Hahahaha. Also, that way I can try out more products at the same time!

Actually, I'm pretty satisfied with the arrangement at the moment. Though it lacks in creativity, I know where everything is and from afar, it looks very neat. Everything compartmentalised - just that the things INSIDE the compartments might look a bit junky. ;) How do you organise?

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