Review: Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion in Honey Beige W24

I'm such a laggard when it comes to trying out new cosmetic technology and innovation. I have heard of the various BB Cushions in the market but I have yet to try any...till now. At first, I thought this beauty invention was just a gimmick, but ah, I couldn't be more wrong. 

Paydays are my favourite days. Not only because they make me feel happy about the financial department, but also because the sudden surge in moolah pushes me to buy new products to try out, like this Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion. I bought it for S$20.50 on Qoo10. 

I'm a BB Cushion convert, and here's why...

There are 3 shades available on the Qoo10 site:

• N02 Light Beige
• W13 Natural Beige
• W24 Honey Beige

As with most of South Korean foundation-type products, you have limited choice when it comes to finding the shade to match your skin. I bought the darkest one out of the lot (W24 Honey Beige) and I think it's still too light for me. 

Every single time I use the Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion, I will skip the sunscreen. It has SPF50+/PA++! I think that is a good number for a hot and humid weather like Singapore's.

Ingredients list

Packaging: A slightly hefty round compact that scores high marks in terms of product hygiene. There's a plastic separator between the puff and the cushion. The cushion is also sealed and you have to remove the safety seal before usage.

How to use: The application process is quite different, but it's not rocket science. You take the given puff and press the blue side on the cushion till you get the desired amount of product. Then you apply the puff on your face by either patting it on or spreading it all over the face. The application will have to depend on your skin condition and what you want out of the product. Relatively clear and smooth skin? Then spreading it all over is enough. If you have redness or acne to cover up, the pat the puff on the area - more coverage this way!

Usefulness of provided puff: It's marketed as the Collagen Air Puff and I understand why there's no "sponge" anywhere in the name. This puff doesn't absorb the product like a sponge! It picks up the cream and the cream will stay at the surface without getting absorbed. When you apply it on your face, you are applying what you dispensed out of the cushion. No wastage due to absorption! Also, the puff makes application a breeze. It also makes the cream look more even and smooth as compared to when you apply using your fingers.

Product consistency/texture: The Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion has a runnier consistency than the usual BB creams. I guess this slightly liquid consistency helps the puff pick up the cream better.

Application: As mentioned briefly above, application with the aid of the puff is a breeze. I don't know how they created the puff; it's amazing! Now I use it with my other liquid foundations too. First of all, the cream applies beautifully and evenly. The puff also ensures that the product is not just sitting on top of large pores and making them more obvious. With the puff, the Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion makes any large pores miraculously disappear. It's not an exaggeration - I have huge pores around my nose area and after using the puff with any of my liquid foundations, they are no longer as pronounced. I can't even see them anymore unless I go really close to the mirror.

Starting from the left:
1. Bare skin
2. One layer of Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion
3. Two layers of Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion

Coverage: The Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion has a medium coverage that's definitely buildable to a full coverage. As you can see from the photo above, one layer of Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion can cover most redness. Two layers can conceal the redness and acne better. Even after two layers, my skin doesn't look cakey or thick. It still looks like ... my skin... but better! For those with dry skin, you don't need the loose powder at all. This dries to a semi-matte finish. However, if you're like me and you have overworked sebaceous glands, then yes, loose powder is a must to finish things off.

Longevity: This lasted a good 3-4 hours before my skin looked like an oil spill occurred. I'm not complaining though because the product won't move when you blot. You don't get that irritating uneven patches on your face after the tissue/blotter picked up some product in the process. This will work VERY well for users with normal to combination skin. You will have dewy skin by the end of the day!

Will I buy it again? Wah I definitely will. It has high SPF and it has coverage that can rival liquid foundations. Moreover, the given puff is AMAZING. Of course will buy again lah. I hope Etude House provides more shades. So many people will love your product you know? Expand your target market!!

Hope this has been helpful! Have a great day guys! :)

Review: Klarity Lasertox™ CC Miracle White Lotion

When I received the email to review the Klarity Lasertox™ CC Miracle White Lotion, I was frankly on the fence. Not because I heard bad things about the brand, but because my skin wasn't (and currently also still is not) in the condition to test out new facial products. As I read on, I realised it wasn't just for the face, it can be used on the body too! That part intrigued me - a CC lotion useable on the body? Ok. Let's give it a go! 

The Klarity Lasertox™ CC Miracle White Lotion retails for S$29.00 (30ml) or S$49.00 (100ml). 

Before I continue with my review, let me explain a little on my skin condition. Ever since 2-3 weeks ago, my skin has been acting up and I have a lot of painful pimples around my jaw area (obvious indication of a hormonal imbalance or pre-menstrual syndrome). I did not want to risk worsening my condition. Moreover, there was a caution written on the label as to "not use on sensitive or irritated skin". Not testing the product on my face was a blessing on disguise though because I wouldn't have thought a CC Lotion would work so well on the body! 

Ingredients list

The 11 short and sweet claims: whitening, purifying, repairing, firming, smoothing, soothing, hydrating, toning, anti-aging, sun-screen protection and being water-proof.

The most interesting feature of the product is the trademarked term "lasertox" - so fancy right? So what exactly is this "lasertox" technology?

"It's a functional treatment methodology that brings you targeted treatment to improve on specific concerns, by adopting the laser technology. This laser technology reinforces efficient penetration of the natural beauty essences into the skin's dermis layer." 

Basically, using a laser method of focusing penetration on a target area to purify (detox) the skin layers for better absorption of the essence. Laser + Detox = Lasertox™!

The Klarity Lasertox™ CC Miracle White Lotion:

• promises to give you one tone lighter whitening effect instantaneously.
• is enriched with diamond powder - instant glow after application
• is enriched with wild rosehip extract - source of powerful antioxidant, prolongs skin youthfulness
• has sunscreen factor of SPF30/PA++
• is light on skin and colorant & paraben free 
• does not clog pores
• leaves skin smoother and more moisturised without stickiness and oily shine

As with all BB and CC products, there are a lot of claims that need to be tested out. 

Packaging: The box and the product are both in this gorgeous and mesmerizing holographic hue. I may sound crazily biased, but please ah, I'm a holographic freak, you give me a product packaged totally in holographic awesomeness, confirm two thumbs up from me! The first time I received this in the mail, I was a bit pissed because the mail was in a bad condition, hence denting the product box. Then I saw the holographic magic in full effect and I forgot my displeasure with Singpost. I just sat on bed and admired the product for a good minute or so. So pretty leh!

Texture: The Klarity Lasertox™ CC Miracle White Lotion has a texture that is like a cross between a thick night cream and a mousse-like eye cream. Not heavy at all and very smooth. Once blended out, the texture becomes a little bit more runny and patchy.

Application: When the Klarity Lasertox™ CC Miracle White Lotion is applied, there's this extremely pleasant instant cooling effect. The product blends out quite patchily but it will eventually blend out to a smooth and even finish. It just takes slightly longer than other similar products.

Whitening effect: I was highly skeptical about this claim so I put it to the ultimate test. I didn't capture my test in photos, but here's what I did - I applied the Klarity Lasertox™ CC Miracle White Lotion on my right leg and right arm, and then around 5 minutes, I tried to see if there were any differences in skin tone under different lighting. To be really honest, the difference in skin tone varies according to body parts. The difference is more prominent when I compared the darker parts like the elbow and the knee. So yes, if you are concerned about your elbows and knees, this may be a good solution.

Actually in the photo below, you can somewhat see the difference (comparing to the first photo of my hand).

The best thing about this is there's no white cast even though it's packed with SPF30 and I took this photo with flash. That's always a plus in my books! No more ghost-face disaster!

Overall thoughts: I wasn't able to test out the Klarity Lasertox™ CC Miracle White Lotion on my face, so that's a bummer. However, I love applying it on my body in the mornings, especially right after shower. It's like instant aircon for 2-3 minutes. Super shiok. :D

Ok ok, other than the temperature gratification, the CC lotion does not leave a sticky feeling and it dries to a complete matte almost instantaneously. This will of course vary according to how much product you actually use, but at the end of the day, you don't feel that eeky sticky sensation and you won't feel like the product is melting under the hot Singapore sun. The essence is absorbed entirely and you don't even feel like you have anything applied!

Will I buy it again? When I'm feeling rich, I will buy it again. As of now with my successful HDB BTO balloting, I need to seriously reprioritise my finances. Maybe I will use the Klarity Lasertox™ CC Miracle White Lotion sparingly now and once my bonus comes in at the end of the year, I will get more!

Klarity SG - Facebook

Product page - 30ml

Product page - 100ml

Hopefully this has been a useful read! Have a great Saturday! :)

Makeup Buys on Zalora SG!

Me and my never-ending fascination with beauty products. Some people call me obsessed and wasteful (they don't understand why I have so many different black eyeliners), while some others enjoy the recaps of my exploration to find the perfect product. I can go on and on about why I have so many eyeliners (different purposes, different occasions, different brushes, different pigmentation, different looks, aiyah can go on forever) but I think the more important thing is to share with those who are interested the various websites that you can buy beauty products on. 

I have been a Zalora customer since 2012 (remember this post?) and I was extremely excited when they added more and more brands and products to their Beauty section, especially the women makeup products section. 

What am I most excited about? Definitely the addition of Sephora make-up products. I still remember what my first Sephora makeup product was - Sephora Sun Disk in Light. I didn't know what it was for but I bought it because I just received my very first pay and I wanted to splurge on a new product.   

This is way out of point and incredibly random, but look how gorgeous the website layout is for Sephora! 

I'm already eyeing some makeup items; the Smart Liner is different from the myriad of eyeliners in the market and I'm intrigued!!

Now I hope Zalora will add in more and more brands to the Beauty section!

Have a great day ahead guys! :)

Review: L'oreal Mat Magique All-In-One Matte Transforming Powder

A rather exciting review post. I've been wanting to write about the L'oreal Mat Magique All-In-One Matte Transforming Powder because the first few applications were amazing, but I decided to test it out for a couple more weeks before I give you guys my feedback on this! 

L'oreal did a great job in disseminating information about their latest product online. They approached popular lifestyle bloggers and I got to know of this amazing product from these blogs. Good marketing plan, L'oreal! It's quite obvious that their plan worked hugely to their advantage because I had to visit 3 different Watsons before I could purchase the L'oreal Mat Magique All-In-One Matte Transforming Powder in my shade. 

My shade is N2 Nude Vanilla and this retails for S$30.90. Fortunately, I got this during a sale, so I paid less than S$25 for mine. 

The first thing that will catch your attention - OMG SO PINK?! 

If you absolutely detest pink, then this may not be the product that you want to have. Or maybe you can just buy, hide it at home and apply before going out because the product is quite stellar! 

The L'oreal Mat Magique All-In-One Matte Transforming Powder has a lot of oily-skin friendly claims:

• Shine resistance of up to 12 hours
• Powerful sebum absorbant
• "Just-out-of-shower fresh finish and sensation" - Wahlao this one a bit pushing it haha
• Poreless skin
• Great for priming the skin 
• Minimize appearance of imperfections
• Ultra sensorial velvety soft touch

Those are a lot of huge claims. To be honest, the powder didn't work that miraculously on me. However, I still love it! For those with extremely oily skin, this powder will work for around 5-6 hours? 5-6 hours is only half the claimed 12 hours, but if you have EXTREMELY OILY skin, you will understand that 5-6 hours of relatively shine-free skin is like a miracle. 

To give you an example - if I don't include this powder in my makeup routine, my skin will get oily once I step into office; that's like 2 hours after application. Sigh~~ 

Ingredient List

Packaging: Pink, pink, PINK! Thank goodness the interior of this product is not pink. Phew. I'm not a pink fan but for the amazing product, I'm willing to shelf my negative feelings for the colour. This contains 6.5g of product, which is significantly less than what I'm used to. I have been using the ZA Two-Way Foundation since secondary school (10 years already!!!) and that has 9g of powder.

Colour: N2 Nude Vanilla is a little too pale for me. I normally use OC10 for ZA Two-Way Foundation. I don't use this powder on its own so it's not such a huge problem.

From left to right:
1. Bare skin
2. One swipe of L'oreal Mat Magique All-In-One Matte Transforming Powder (no concealer)
2. Two swipes of L'oreal Mat Magique All-In-One Matte Transforming Powder (no concealer)

Application: On its own, the L'oreal Mat Magique All-In-One Matte Transforming Powder can be quite drying, especially if you have dry skin. The powder applies smoothly and the provided sponge applicator is quite useful in providing a dense application. There's a tendency for the powder to cake up after the second application, so I will recommend you to stop at one application. Two applications maximum if you have more blemishes to conceal.

For those with more problematic skin, the L'oreal Mat Magique All-In-One Matte Transforming Powder can be used as a finishing powder after your usual BB Cream/Liquid Foundation and concealer routine. Use a less dense, face brush and you will get the perfect look. A dense brush will cake up your face and that is not the look that we should desire for!

Mattifying? Oh yes, definitely. I had relatively matte skin 5 hours after application and I was so impressed! No other powder has lasted me more than 2-3 hours in the oil-control department so this is amazing! If you have normal-combination skin, the mattifying effect would probably last longer on you.

Concealing? For those blessed with few imperfections, this powder is good enough be used on its own. You won't even need concealing because it covers redness quite well. However, if you have a lot of acne scars, pimples and all those face demons, then this will be better as a finishing powder.

Touching up: After using this for more than 2 weeks, I have come to realise that I have to blot thoroughly before any touch-ups. If not, there will be powder coagulated at the oily parts and that's nasty. Hence, quick tip for touch-ups: blot and make sure there are no shiny parts before touching up!

Will I buy it again? As of now, this is the best mattifying powder that I have ever tried. 5-6 hours of mattifying and shine-free effect may not be ideal for some of you, but for an oily mess like me, it's more than sufficient and frankly, quite a miracle. Also, this didn't break me out (halelujah!!). Hence, yes, I will buy this again!

Hopefully this has been useful! Have a great day ahead guys! :)

Monochrome & prints

Sunday's coming to an end. I have a new Elixir Juice order that just arrived (this time all fruits because my previous order had celery juice in all my selections and I really don't like celery juice) and I just made a Taobao order. So many blogpost drafts created, and I'm tired from taking photographs and editing them.

On a really exciting note, Kengyang's coming back in 2 weeks' time. HOORAH! :))

Have a great Sunday guys! 

The Body Shop Atrium Sale Haul (Chinatown Point)

The Body Shop had an atrium sale last week at Chinatown Point and the prices were too good to miss! It's not like the usual in-store sales; this is like the annual warehouse sale where you can get up to 70% discount! 

I always wanted to try the Tea Tree Cleansing Wipes, and they were going for Buy-1-Get-1-Free, so I grabbed a couple... 

The Body Shop's Body Butters are luxurious and costly. They are usually S$30.90-S$32.90, and I got these two for S$10 each! Score!!

This is my new favourite body scrub - Cocoa Butter Cream Body Scrub. Smells just like chocolate!!! I think I bought this for S$19.90.

4 mini shower gels for S$10. Not bad for travelling.

I needed a more potent eye serum for whitening my dark circles, so I was glad that the Moisture White Shiso Eye Serum was on sale for S$15!

I spent more than S$60, so I was gifted the Spa Fit Toning Concentrate.

It was quite a good sale! I was tempted to go back on another day, but I resisted. Good job to me for resisting! Till next time, TBS! 

Note: The atrium sale has ended. 

iPrice Coupons Singapore - Get your online shopping coupons & codes here!

I'm no stranger to online shopping; I'm actually quite the online shopping addict. I have days (I'm sure many of you can relate!) whereby I feel really tired and stressed out at work, and I decide to explore the various dangerous online shopping sites. Most of the time, I will end up carting and checking out something. It's a terrible habit to advocate, but this post is dedicated in telling all you online shopaholics how to save some money! 

I was approached by iPrice Coupons Singapore for a blog collaboration and after I browsed the website, I knew I would need to share this with my readers! A quick disclaimer - I was approached by iPrice Coupons Singapore by email to share the website in my blog, but nope, I was not paid to intentionally rave about the website. All opinions are of my own and I genuinely like the website! Can save money le, of course must share right! 

iPrice Coupons is already available in other Asian markets like Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong, and I'm so glad that it has finally landed on the red tiny dot! 

With this site, you can also browse through their shop that carries a lot of famous labels internationally and locally. You can search for River Island, Mango and more. Not only that, you will be notified if there are any deals or promotions going on which relate to the brands that you like!

Because I online shop so much, I always try to find discount coupons and codes to at least save some money. I find my codes/coupons either by googling them before I check out, or I subscribe to an online shop's mailing list and I will get notified in my inbox. 

The problem is blindly searching for a working and authentic code on Google is quite a challenging task. There was one time I tried 10+ codes on ASOS and in the end I bought my stuff without any codes, AND THEN THE NEXT DAY ASOS GAVE ME A MAILING LIST EXCLUSIVE CODE. =_= 

Also, I subscribed to A LOT of online shopping website and sometimes my inbox is flooded with various emails from these sites. I usually delete them on a daily basis and in the process of deleting, I may have missed a code or two. 

That's why iPrice Coupons Singapore is a great website - it compiles all the coupon codes for various web-stores like Zalora, Luxola and Zuji. You have the access to all these codes in one site and it's really saving a lot of time; no more googling and trying out various codes for these web stores! 

iPrice Coupons Singapore

For example, you have the various available (and authentic) coupons for Zalora. Each code comes with an expiration date, which is a nifty touch.

And some codes for Luxola. Luxola is my guilty pleasure haha, so yay can save money on my next purchase!

There are two types of codes/coupons that you can get. First is the codes that you have to enter when checking out. In iPrice Coupons Singapore, these are indicated by the blue "Get The Code" buttons. When you click one, you will be prompted with the code that you can copy paste on the check-out page. 

Second is orange "Go To Offer" button. This one will bring you straight to the web store. For example, Zalora had a specific sale for Mango. So when you click the orange button...

... Zalora's page will pop up on a new tab, specifically for the Mango items that are on sale! Hence, even if you are not on Zalora's mailing list, you're still informed on the various sales that they have! 

iPrice Coupons Singapore proves to be quite useful for my many impulse online shopping adventures. They are currently adding more and more stores to their list and I'm excited for the future discounts that I can get! HEH. #onlineshopaholicforever 

iPrice Coupons Singapore

Do check out the website and hopefully you can get additional discounts on your purchases! :) Have a great weekend guys!!

Quick Review: Annie's Way Aloe Moisturizing Jelly Mask

My previous post on the Annie's Way Aloe Moisturizing Jelly Mask had excellent response, so I feel the need to get back to my readers on how I feel the product has worked on my skin. 

I bought mine from Taobao (here's the link!) and I saved a lot of money by doing that. This mask is available online locally, but it's S$27 per tub. I bought mine for RMB50 (~slightly more than S$10 a tub), so even with shipping charges, I'm paying much less. Taobao is truly heaven. 

I wanted to get one Aloe Moisturizing Jelly Mask and one Arbutin + Hyaluronic Acid Brightening Jelly Mask, but the latter was sold out, so I got two Aloe instead, which was a blessing in disguise because I use up one container more quickly that I expected. 

Each tub contains 250ml of product. It seems like a lot of product, but trust me, you will use it all up within 10-12 uses or so because for each usage, you have to use a lot of product! You cannot be stingy with this. 

The seller forgot to include the spatula and I didn't want to use my fingers to get the product (bacteria alert!!) so I came up with a genius plan - I used an IKEA children spoon. It's made of plastic and I can scoop out a lot of product. Furthermore, when I'm done with the 30 minutes of masking, I can use the handle to scrape the product off. GENIUS RIGHT?! 

How to use the product:
You need to cleanse and tone your face before applying this mask. Then, use a spatula (or a spoon) to scoop out enough product to apply a 0.3cm-0.5cm layer of product on your entire face, avoiding the eyes and lip area. 30 minutes after application, you remove the product by scraping it off with the spatula (or spoon) in a outer-to-inner direction (I always use my nose as the final scraping point lol). After that, you can use water to remove the remainder product. If you have more time on your plate, follow up with a sheet mask!

My thoughts about the Annie's Way Aloe Moisturizing Jelly Mask:
To be frank, I'm undecided whether I love it or whether I hate it. The first time I applied it, I loved it so much. My pimples dried up immediately the next day and my skin felt so smooth for a couple of days after that first application. After that, I just don't feel like the mask worked anymore! My skin still feels smooth after a usage, but that's about it! I'm currently about to finish my first tub and I decided to reserve this mask for days when I'm feeling really lethargic and stressed out at work. It's like putting aloe on sun-burnt areas.

I don't know why it didn't work that well for me. I applied it twice a week religiously and I really didn't see any noticeable changes. Even when I had new pimples, they didn't dry up as fast as that first application. The good thing is I actually enjoy it when I have the Annie's Way Aloe Moisturizing Jelly Mask on my face. No breakouts, no allergic reactions, but also not much beneficial effects. Maybe it's regulating my skin slowly from the inside, but aiyah I cannot see lah.

I still have one more tub to go. Definitely won't be relying on this for acne treatment. It's a good mask to have for those crazy days at work though.

Will I purchase it again? Not really. I feel that there are some sheet masks that do the same thing. Once I finish both tubs, I will go back to using sheet masks regularly. Guys, I'm super bumped that this didn't work better on me :((

Anyone else using this product? What are your thoughts on it? 

Have a great Saturday! 

Elixir Juice - Affordable Cold Pressed Juice!

I recently saw a instagram post from Tammy Tay (@ohsofickle) about Elixir Juice and I immediately clicked the link and browsed the website because I really wanted to find a company that sells affordable cold-pressed juices! 

Furthermore, after doing my research (thanks to my resourceful friends) on juice cleansing, I decided that I didn't want to go on a juice-cleanse. In case you don't know what a juice cleanse is, it's a dietary modification whereby the user consumes different types of juices only for a preferred period of time. Many cold-pressed juice companies provide a 1-day, 3-day or 5-day juice cleanse systems. These systems are also remarkably expensive. The highest price I have seen was over S$500 for a 5-day juice cleanse. Of course, there are some people out there who choose to pay that amount for their health and wellbeing. I will not make judgements on them because it's their choice and if they can afford it then why not right? Personally? I think it's way too exorbitant and I think my body (and soul, and mind, and my everything) cannot take just having juice for more than a day. I love food way too much. HAHA. 

This is why Elixir Juice is perfect for me! Just a quick disclaimer - I am NOT sponsored by Elixir Juice. I have purchased the box of 6 bottles with my own money and I genuinely love everything about this company, hence I'm dedicating a post entirely to Elixir Juice! 

4 main reasons on why I love Elixir Juice:

1. Compared to other similar companies/websites, Elixir Juice juices are very affordable. Like S$5-S$7 a bottle affordable. My set of 6 juices was only slightly over S$40, and that's with delivery charges included! 
2. The juices are described as compliments to daily meals. I love this concept! Instead of forcing the idea of juice cleansing, they encourage replacing soft drinks or other sweetened drinks with their juices. This way, your body will gradually adapt to the healthy changes that you are making and in the long run, I think it's more beneficial for your health! Another reason why I don't want to embark on a juice cleanse is because I don't want to let my body go into a "shock" mode because I'm forcing it to handle just juices for a day or more. Hence, thank you Elixir Juice for providing a platform for people like me! 
3. The ordering and delivery process was amazing. Your order will be in packages. Each package contains 6 bottles and in each package you can choose up to 3 different types of juices (they have 32!!). So basically, you can only order in multiples of 6. 
4. The juices taste FANTASTIC. Even those that had primarily vegetables as ingredients. Maybe I'm just used to drinking vegetable juices.  

I think I'm going to make another order now. I really love Elixir Juice! Please don't ever raise your prices okay!!!!

Elixir Juice Website

Elixir Juice Facebook