24 posts tagged “reviews”
i was lurking through the australian vogue forum and stumbled upon the thread on dry brushing. some of the girls claimed it really worked in giving them really soft buttery flake-free skin and some improvements with their cellulite aka the dimples. i'm sold!
i've been battling flaky skin forever! no matter how much i moisturise, i don't seem to get that buttery glowing skin. plus in winter, dry skin is amped by 10 notches, despite moisturising religiously. i know there are scrubs etc, but i always feel scrubs just don't do the trick - in most instances, the beads are washed off in the shower before i got the chance to .. well, scrub!
so on saturday, i hauled my ass off to the body shop and bought their cactus brush. it is made of natural fibres (big tick) and it's pretty rough. that would depend on your preference though, i just felt softer brushes wouldn't work as well. logical? maybe not, but i like pain like that. hah! the brush does not not have a removable head though, so i'm stuck with its long handle, which is a bit of a bummer.
so what is dry brushing?
basically it is.. well, brushing your skin when it's dry! you start brushing from your legs, stroking upwards towards your heart and from your shoulder down, again towards your heart. apparently this also helps with lymphatic drainage and ridding your body of toxins. whatever, i just want smooth skin, dammit! but if you want more info, there are lots of links out there on google with more specific info and directions on dry brushing.
this is day 2 of dry brushing, i haven't noticed any difference yet, but i'm going to continue doing this everyday for sometime coz it's fairly simple, non-messy to incorporate into my routine and plus, it's inexpensive to boot. now i just need a good moisturising body butter, and i'm on my way to glow!
after all these years of battling dry skin, i have found a cure! huzzah!
my skin can be hard to manage particularly in winter, the areas around the nose and forehead just gets so dry and flaky.
so i understood from reading all skincare materials that my combination skin is dehydrated, but nothing seems to combat that. i have serums, oils (good oils), creams, balms, drinking heaps of water... my nose + forehead are still flaky and dry.
enter Paula's Choice Skin Recovery Hydrating Treatment Mask (what's up with the super long name?)
i ordered a sample of this in summer, and i just decided to try it a few weeks ago. i applied this like a face cream overnight, instead of a mask. 3 days later, no more flaky skin. it feels gorgeous on, all creamy and soothing. and you know with paula's products, you get all the good stuff and none of the bad (fragrance, skin irritants, etc). i just purchased a full tube, which had arrived today. i lovesssss....
my besame haul is finally here!
i'm not sure what happened, i called them on 14 apr to check on the status of the shipment since i didn't get tracking notice at all! plus, they didn't respond to my email so i had to call 'em up. not too impressed with their customer service.
but nevertheless, i was informed that my order was shipped on 12 apr, but i got it today! so weird how it arrived so fast, right? but i think it was intercepted by customs coz the wrapping looked a bit dodgy when it got to me.
depite all that, everything IS truly gorgeous.. and TINY! i haven't tried any of them except my Red Velvet Enchanting Lipstick. I took some pics of me
wearing it in 2 different lightings...
i also ordered my most favouritest perfume online since i can't find it in shops here or even duty free shops in asia! it's been discontinued so i need to stock up. now i got 4 of these babies, which should set me back about 4 years or so.. haha..
credit: softpeachy's googleshop
i received 2 samples of Hanskins Glossy Magic BB Whitening when i purchased my Skinfood stuff a month ago.
colour: this bb cream contains pearl particles, which really brightens up your complexion but not in a super-bling kinda way. it's really subtle and imparts a dewy glow to your skin. the colour itself is medium yellow toned and matches pretty well to my NC30. actually the colour is better than Skinfood Shade #1 and #2.
texture: slightly - juuuust slightly thicker than Skinfood and it takes a teeny bit while longer to sink in to your skin.
coverage: pretty good - a teeny bit more than tinted moisturiser. the pearl stuff really helps in camouflaging imperfections by deflecting light (or something like that..)
scent: there is no scent, which is good for those sensitive to fragrances. but i am starting to like my sweet-scented skinfood stuff. darnnnn...sweet scented products!!
performance: i have only worn this for a few days so could not comment on the whitening power. oil-control was not so great though, i needed to blot once-twice a day. these days, i tap a tiny dot underneath my eyes to hide circles and appear bright-eyed when i'm really not.
Gosh, this product has a super long name. And I don't get why they would call it Beblesh... what a weird name. But anyway, asian products have weird names usually, so why should this be any different? LOL..
I only have a mini size for this, as per picture, I love the hot pink mini tube, perfect for travelling.
Colour: closest match to my skintone - MAC NC30. No heavy pink undertones like SF Mushroom and not too light like SF Aloe.
Scent: very very faint scent - almost none. It's a shame because I'm beginning to get used to SF's scents. Although this is good for those allergic to fragrance.
Texture: somewhat thicker than SF's bb creams, and blending takes a wee bit more work. but payoff is that the colour matches better to skinton.
Wear: it is now 3pm and I applied this at 6AM - today I wore it under Rimmell's primer and my skin shows minimal shine.
All in all, I feel this is a bit better in oil control. It evens out my skintone as per the other bb creams. Long term effects/benefits yet to be seen. I've only worn this twice so far.
day 8:
well, lately i've noticed my skin has been behaving very well. less blemishes, less redness and the odd bumps here and there, less dry flakes. it appeared more translucent and clearer. or perhaps i have gone crazy and had become delusional.
i maaaaaaaaaaay have swayed from my initial opinion, maybe wearing this bb cream long term does produce some results. as it stands, using this on top of my sunscreen has helped to keep the oiliness at bay for longer than usual. plus it smells kinda nice.
day 2:
righty-o, next up for review is the Skinfood Aloe Sun BB Cream SPF20 PA+, that's right, it is possible for a product name fo be that long. I chose Shade #1 (Light) this time.
although this has SPF, i still applied my trusty Neutrogena sunblock underneath just because my skin can feel a bit tight in the morning after washing.
skinfood aloe to me felt slightly lighter in texture compared to the mushroom bb and it has sweet/herbally scent, somewhat stronger than what i'm used to in face products. but i think this whole scented thing is very typical of skinfood range (haven't they heard of sensitive skin, i wonder?).
the shade is significantly lighter than my skintone, but since this has very little pigmentation, it provides a sheer coverage and blends well with my colouring. it helped evened out my skin and makes it look a bit more polished than usual. in terms of oil-control, this performs better than mushroom bb cream. i noticed at 4pm today, my skin has just a sliiiight shine to it. so from 7pm in the morning, this baby fared pretty well. when i did blot with tissue, i noticed very slight colour transfer - so it is not transfer proof. so far, i'm liking this just a tad better than mushroom.
again, for reference, the low-down on my skin:
colour: medium asian tan with yellow/golden skintone. probably about NC30-35.
type: combination. i have dry patches on my nose during winter, but gets oily t-zones. my skin is not sensitive.
blemishes: my skin is not prone to breakouts of acnes, white/blackheads (thank you God!). but i do experience the occasional bumps here and there and there are slight redness around my nose and cheeks, most likely broken capillaries.
day 10 was actually a few days ago, i just forgot to blog about it.
a lesson i learned was not to use too much. i realised i've been using just a tad too much - which really explains the extra few seconds i needed for the cream to sink in and blend in. d'oh! this may also explain why i get really shiny by the time i got home from work.
once i applied sparingly - it felt better on, weightless and blends so much better with my skintone ie, no visible pinkish tone.
but apart from evening out my skintone, i noticed no significant improvement in my skin. well, nothing that my eyes can discern anyway. so all in all, maybe the effects won't take place overnight (or.. 10 nights), but it serves as a good tinted moisturiser - with SPF to boot.
next up for review - skinfood aloe bb cream.
today i used a different sunscreen (sunsense spf - it's the watery kind of sunscreen that sinks in immediately and dries matte) underneath the bb cream, as well as some primer (rimmel recover primer) to minimise oiliness during the day.
granted these products aren't the best in the market to do what they claim (esp rimmel's primer). skinfood mushroom bb cream doesn't help at all in absorbing oil - hey maybe that's not what it is meant to do anyway.
but day 7 today, i haven't noticed any significant improvements in my skin condition. but i still have a few bumps here and there from it. i provides sheer coverage, which is enough for me, but apart from that, it acts like a tinted moisturiser.
3 more days to go.
i have now started to wear this over my sunscreen - Neutrogena because my skin just needed that extra moisture right now. the trade-off is it imparts a more dewey look.
today i noticed 2+ bumps around my eyebrows. kinda painful actually, these bumps.
but it may be contributed to my poor diet as of late (aka a bag of chips fo dinner, does not a balanced diet make).
Shade #2 (Natural) is definitely too pink-toned and light for my skintone. good thing it eventually blends well - and evened out my skintone. the first few moments post-application still looks kinda off.
