June 2013 Taobao Haul

Taobao is heaven on earth. Especially for cheapos like me who refuse to pay almost S$30 for something from a blogshop because I know I can get it cheaper somewhere else. Not that I don't want to support blogshops, but come on, some of them are really just charging exorbitant and ridiculous prices. Why would I pay S$29 for a dress if I can find it on taobao for less than S$10? Sometimes I get size selection on taobao! 

Anyway, yes, I bought more clothes from taobao and I gotta say 65daigou has been the best taobao agent so far. The shipping charges are a little bit more expensive than the rest, but the items come fast and the service is beyond excellent. 

I got the below 6 items for less than S$60 (including shipping). AMAZING. Also, my items ALWAYS come earlier than the estimated arrival date. Damn efficient! 

It can be a little bit cumbersome creating a new account on 65daigou because you have to learnt the lingo well to be able to shop efficiently. But it's no biggie - very worth the time you take to educate yourself!

My sister and I are going to order from taobao (through 65daigou) again 2 weeks from now and we are downright ADDICTED. :D Thank you 65daigou woohoo!

Review: essence Oz: The Great and Powerful Highlighter Powder in 01

Along with my essence Oz: The Great and Powerful Cream Blush in 01 purchase from JEM's Watsons, I also bought the essence Oz: The Great and Powerful Highlighter Powder in 01 The Great and Powderful. This retails for S$6.90.

 

I was so intrigued by the different fonts on the surface of the highlighter powder! The name of the shade also made me chuckle a little. "Powderful" - how Singlish is that? I still remember those days (maybe nowadays too haha) when we will say "Your english very powderful ah?" to someone whose mastery of English language was really .. erm .. powerful. HAHA. 

 

I DIGRESS WAY TOO MUCH.

 

Let's continue with the review!  

 





Packaging: Not expecting anything fancy because essence is such an affordable brand after all. I thought it was all planned out cleverly though. Clear upper case + pretty fonts on powder surface = attention grabber. Good one!

Sadly, the words are only imprinted on the surface. After a few applications, it will look just like normal highlighting powder.

Swatch taken with normal lighting

Swatch taken with camera flash

Pigmentation: To be frank, I thought the essence Oz: The Great and Powerful Highlighter Powder can be a little bit more pigmented. I had to apply 3-4 layers of the product to achieve my desired look. I adore the micro silver shimmers though. I don't think it will be visible under normal sunlight but it will definitely show when you use the camera flash!

Application: It's definitely on the powdery side but it's not unmanageable. The positive thing is the powder almost has no colour after one application, so even if it's powdery, you won't be able to notice much. Also, this highlighter powder will be good to use on your neck and décolleté too!

Longevity: Honestly, I didn't even notice it when it's applied, and so I can't really tell you whether or not it lasted me well. :S

Will I buy it again? Nope. I fancy the packaging, but other than that I'm not a believer.

Have a great Thursday everyone! :)

Review: essence Oz: The Great and Powerful Cream Blush in 01

A recent visit to JEM's Watsons proved to be quite fruitful. I really like JEM in general! For those who don't reside in Singapore, JEM is the newest shopping centre in the west Singapore and it's mega awesome because it houses a lot of brands that are usually only available in town! So we have stores like H&M, Sephora, Topshop and many many more in the west now! YAY!

Anyway, we visited Watsons and woah the Watsons at JEM is MARVELOUS. Spacious and everything's not cramped. The store's very brightly lit too. I felt really cheery browsing the store. Definitely going back to JEM's Watsons! :D

 

I stocked up on toiletries at Watsons and while browsing around, I saw that essence launched a new line of products - Oz: The Great and Powerful collection! I am always intrigued by essence's new collections and so I grabbed a couple of things to try. Another reason why I purchased them was because of their cheeky names!

 

The essence Oz: The Great and Powerful Cream Blush in 01 Beware the Wicked Witch retails for S$5.90.

 

I always look out for cream blushes because if you find the right one that suits your skin, it can act as a terrific base for your favourite powder blushes! This combination will ensure that you have pretty, flushed cheeks all day long!

 

Packaging: The product comes in a tube with a pump dispenser. The design on the tube is simple and the only thing that catches your eye is the GORGEOUS shade of the cream blush. And maybe the cheeky name if you look closer. The pump dispenser is an A+. It is not one of those filmsy dispensers that dispense too much product with a slight pump. This pump dispenser is firm and solid enough, and yet it dispenses the product easily. It allows you to control how much product you want to use and that's always a plus in my books. Also, plus points for the cheeky name, LOVE IT! :)

Colour: 01 Beware the Wicked Witch is a glorious mixture of coral and shimmery gold. It has a coral orange base and the addition of gold shimmers creates this beautiful sheen under the sunlight. This colour will definitely suit women of all skin colour, but it will especially suit those with fair-medium skin because it gives that extra radiance to your face.

Swatch taken with camera flash

Swatch taken with camera flash

Pigmentation: The essence Oz: The Great and Powerful Cream Blush has that highly sough after "just-nice" pigmentation. It's not so lightly pigmented that you don't know what you are paying for, and it's also not so heavily pigmented that application becomes a nightmare. This cream blush looks highly intimidating when you first pumped it out of the tube, but the colour spreads evenly to create this wonderful glow, as seen from the swatches above! Since it's not crazily pigmented, you have more control in deciding how much you want on your cheeks. Want more colour, then apply a second layer!

Application: A dream to work with. The essence Oz: The Great and Powerful Cream Blush does not dry that quickly so you have time to spread it evenly on your cheeks. It also has a pleasant cooling sensation when applied.

I don't recommend those with combination-oily skin to only have this product on your cheeks though. Even though it gives a really beautiful look on its own, the combination of the skin oiliness and the horrid humid Singapore weather will kill its magical effect after a few hours. I tried it on its own and it turned really ugly. Yikes. My cheeks became really shiny and you can actually see streaks of product. I can't really blame the cream blush though because the majority of the mess was caused by my oily skin and by the fact that I had to walk under sunny (and terribly hazy) condition.

My suggestion will be to use this cream blush as a base, and then apply your favourite coral powder blush on top. Not too much though because you would still want the cream blush to shine through!

Longevity: A complete failure when worn on its own. Not blaming the product though because of abovementioned reasons. However, when coupled with a powder blush, it goes on for an entire day, give and take around 10 hours or so with no touch-ups. Quite impressive right?

Will I buy it again? This is a limited edition product, so I assume even if I want to get a back-up in the future, it'll be quite difficult. However, if essence were to launch other cream blushes, I may get them! :D

Hope this post is helpful and have a great Thursday guys! :)

Review: CANMAKE Day & Night Lip Serum (Holy Grail)

Lipsticks and lip glosses are never my thing simply because I have super dry lips! The first application would look amazing, but after a couple of hours, the application would look like a terrible mess. I don't know how else I can rectify this problem of mine other than constantly looking for the best lip balm!

I think I may have found the best lip balm for my annoyingly dry lips! It's the CANMAKE Day & Night Lip Serum! It retails for 380yen (before tax) or around S$5, and it is available in Singapore. The problem is this costs a hefty S$15.90. 

DAYLIGHT ROBBERY LAH! 

But whatever, luckily I got it in Japan for one-third the price. =___= If you have friends going over to Japan, or if you are in Japan now, I suggest you get some of this because it is AMAZING for those with dry lips! 

The CANMAKE Day & Night Lip Serum is not only a lip balm, it's a gloss and a serum as well! 

Since everything is in Japanese, I visited the CANMAKE website (http://www.canmake.com/en/elip/item_lip020.html) and according to the page, the CANMAKE Day & Night Lip Serum:

• is silicon-free
• is packed with plant and food derived agents
• is free from synthetic colourings
• has a non-sticky texture
• can result in plump, pillowy lips (WOWOWOW)
• can be used as a lip mask after you're done removing your makeup at night (can also be worn to sleep! AW YEAH! Now I understand why they used a photo of a sleeping baby haha)

Packaging: A delicately-coloured packaging! I really like the pale pink shade which has a beautiful gold sheen when it catches the light! The CANMAKE Day & Night Lip Serum comes in a squeeze-tube packaging and personally I'm not a fan. If you directly apply the lip serum on your lips from the tube, there's a high chance you're going to apply too much. I normally squeeze a little bit of the product on my middle finger and then use my finger to apply the lip serum on my lip. Much easier to gauge the amount that you are going to use!

Colour: The lip serum looks really orange when squeezed out of the tube. However, when you apply it on your lips, the colour fades away, leaving you with natural-looking and healthy lips!

Texture: I was quite apprehensive when I first squeezed some CANMAKE Day & Night Lip Serum on my hand. It looked really really sticky and glistening. To be quite honest, the lip serum is quite sticky when you apply it. However, after ten minutes or so, the product will get absorbed by your lips and the stickiness will get more bearable. The impressive thing is when I walked out of the house, my hair didn't stick to my lips despite the crazy wind! AWESOME.

Swatch taken with camera flash

Swatch taken with camera flash

Application: I cannot deny that this lip serum will take some getting used to, especially the sensation that you get after your first application. I don't understand how the chemicals work, but your lips will feel this strange tingly sensation. So, don't apply too much at first!! I'm not sure why my lips felt this sensation because my lips definitely did not look plumper or fuller after a few days of usage (some plumping lip products do give your lips that weird tingling sensation!). After the first application, I didn't feel it anymore and all's well! No allergic reactions or anything (I feared for this!).

Does it work? Holy cow YES. The first time I used it was in the day, so I didn't really see huge difference; maybe my lips didn't crack as much, but that was it. Then, I realised I could use it at night as a sleeping lip mask! So I tried and OHMYGOSH when I woke up the next morning, my lips didn't feel sticky but my lips were SOOOOOOOOOOOOO SMOOTH!! CANMAKE is not joking with the claim "pillowy lips" because my lips definitely felt pillowy after that mask session!

I thought it was going to be a temporary thing, but no, my lips felt awesome THE ENTIRE DAY. Simply amazing.

Will I buy it again? HECK YEAH. I'm gonna recommend this to everyone I know because it simply is an amazing product that delivers whatever it promises. I hope someone I know goes to Japan soon because I need to stock up on this amazing CANMAKE Day & Night Lip Serum! CANMAKE Singapore, why you give this product such a crazy pricetag (relative to Japan's pricing)? :(

Dealing with Acne

Our complexion is our pride. I'm quite sure many of you will concur. Not everyone is blessed with perfect complexion but it's safe to say that almost everyone wants to have one. Hence, many of us try different methods and products to help us achieve that smooth, healthy and radiant skin. Sadly, sometimes certains methods or products backfire on us and we are left with a mess that's extremely difficult to settle - ACNE.

When I was a teenager, I didn't really have acne problems; the occasional spots here and there, yes, but they were manageable and I still looked fine without makeup. I thought my skin was resilient enough, so I experimented with different products and different facial treatments. Of course, I thought wrong and finally last year, I had a terrible experience with a skincare product. My skin broke out two to three days after the first application, but I still persisted. Why? Because I thought it was a clarifying thing - maybe the product was deep-cleansing my pores and that's why I had a break out? I couldn't be more wrong. Till today, I still regretted using the product for an entire week because the aftermath of the disaster can still be seen now.

I freaked out initially. Before using the product, I had at most 2 to 3 stubborn spots on my face, and these spots didn't hurt at all. One week after using it, the number of spots on my face just kept increasing. I even had acne on my cheek area (I have combination skin and my cheeks are very dry, so usually I don't get acne there). Concealers didn't work. Instead, concealers emphasised the presence of my acne. It was not a great time. My self-esteem plummeted and I was so self-conscious that I tried to find excuses to not meet my friends.

Finally, I decided to visit the polyclinic. I was given doxycycline pills and also two different acne creams (Benzac AC 2.5 and Acne Clear). It took me a good 9-10 months to completely get rid of the acne. Currently, I still have acne scars and the occasional pimples during that time of the month, but it's definitely MUCH better than what I had to go through last year.

I realise that a sudden acne attack, or living with acne, can be quite daunting. Hence, I want to share my experience on dealing with acne. I hope this post can help (of course not entirely, but hopefully to some extent) readers out there who are looking for tips and support.

Self-esteem issues:

1. You have to understand that people will ask about your skin problems. Sometimes, these people do not mean harm; they are genuinely concerned. Instead of being angry or getting hurt by the remark, explain to them the situation. If you explain your situation to them, they will know that you are really bothered by it and trying your best to get rid if it, and in the future, they will try to not mention it every again. 
2. When you meet people who are insensitive and make fun of your problem, it's not easy to ignore them. But it's within your means to see the situation in positive light. I used to be really ashamed of myself when some bastards laugh at my skin problems. However, I realised that being depressed would not solve the situation. I turned the situation around and I was determined to get rid of the acne. Their laughs are only temporary and you need to internalise this fact. Also, being too depressed actually can lead to more skin problems!! It's alright to feel sad about it (we are all humans here) but it's not alright to be persistently sad about it! 
3. Surround yourself with people who understands your situation and will support you. If you know a certain individual will make fun of you, then why are you still hanging out with him/her? 

Dietary and exercise:

1. You need to move that body! Go out for a jog or spend some time at the gym, and make it a habit. You may think that exercising = sweating = more acne, but that's not always the case! Exercising actually helps to lower stress, build your immune system and make you feel better about yourself. With regular exercise (and a good and cleansing shower after each session), acne can be kept within control! 
2. Get rid of milk, or any food with high glycaemic index (GI). These actually cause a spike in your hormone levels and stimulates sebum production. Food with high GI includes potatoes, white break, fizzy drinks and chocolate. When I was treating my acne, I cut off milk completely from my diet and the difference was quite impressive. I always thought that this claim was not scientifically proven, but I guess it is now! Read this article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2281151/Milk-sugary-foods-DO-increase-risk-acne-say-researchers-looked-50-years-research.html 
3. Include health supplements that help with healthy skin in your diet. I religiously took vitamin E and evening primrose oil pills and they definitely helped with my skin condition. 
4. Drink lots and lots of water. You just have to replace all your sugary drink intake with water and you are good to go. 
5. Fruits and vegetables are of course a must! But be wary of what fruits and vegetables you eat. Eating too much of fruits that have high fructose (natural sugar) can also worsen your condition! Fruits like lychee, mangoes, bananas, peaches and pineapples have high fructose levels and you should eat these sparingly. I'm not saying that these fruits are bad for skin - these fruits are healthy food but TOO MUCH of each may cause more acne. The mantra is simple - too much of anything can be bad. 

Daily routine:

1. You need to sleep well. Period. Not sleeping well exacerbates the acne - the term "beauty sleep" is not just for show, you know? 
2. Get rid of your old cleansers, toners, moisturisers, etc. Start on a new skincare routine where the products are the gentlest possible. The only harsh thing that you should have on your skin is the medication given by your dermatologist. I highly recommend Cetaphil - it's a really gentle cleanser that does nothing but clean your skin. No weird chemicals that promise this and that, your skin probably doesn't need them now. 
3. STOP TOUCHING YOUR ACNE. It's incredibly tempting to pop a pimple. Some people argue that popping a really mature pimple with the correct procedure can be helpful. The question is how do you judge what a really mature pimple is? If you really have to pop one, do not use your fingers. Instead take a few layers of tissue and wet them slightly with warm water. With the warm layers of tissue on each finger, squeeze your pimple - this will at least make the process less unhygienic. Of course, the best solution is to NOT squeeze at all. Easier said than done, but you just gotta try. 
4. If you need to wear makeup, then go ahead. Dermatologists (and many other people) will definitely recommend you to not apply cosmetic products. However, there are some of us who need to at least try concealing the acne. It's okay to wear makeup, but you need to choose the correct products. When you buy liquid foundation or concealers or other products, be sure to buy those that are oil-free and non-comedogenic (will not clog your pores). 
5. Don't sleep with your face on the pillow/bolster. Your skin is terribly sensitive when you have a massive breakout and a slight bacteria infestation can worsen it. Therefore, sleep with your face facing the ceiling and don't cover it with a blanket. If possible, try to change your bed sheets more frequently too. 
6. When drying up your face after washing it, don't use your towel to wipe away the excess water. Instead, use many, many layers of tissue and dab on your skin. It's not very environmentally-friendly, but hey, you gotta choose. 

It's definitely not easy to cure acne. One thing that you have to constantly tell yourself is that it will take time. Acne cannot be cured within weeks. Some people spend years trying to cure their acne problems. Hence, the time taken to heal differs by individuals. Don't try to find the easy way out and just stick to a skincare routine religiously. If you have the willpower and if you stick to the correct habits, I'm sure the problem will go away. Sooner or later, it depends, but it definitely will go away. 

POSITIVE THOUGHTS EVERYDAY. 

If you have further questions about acne, please feel free to comment or email/fb message me! All the best and remember to always stay positive!! :) 

Review: CANMAKE Eyeshadow Base

CANMAKE is so readily available in Japan (practically every drug store has CANMAKE!) and I couldn't resist the affordable prices! It irritates how much more expensive CANMAKE is in Singapore. Bummer. :( They actually have really nice eyeshadows but really too overpriced in Singapore!

I bought the CANMAKE Eyeshadow Base because I was running out of my NYX one. It was 500yen (before tax) and that's around S$6.25? Really good prices!!

Packaging: Since it's not very expensive, it's only logical that CANMAKE decided to forget about all the fancy packaging and just presented the product simply. It's a really tiny product and the fancy-less packaging makes it easy to fit into the smallest makeup bags. 

Colour: The CANMAKE Eyeshadow Base has a nude-beige colour, perfect for your eyelid because it has almost the same colour as everyone's eyelids.

Consistency: It's very oily. The eyeshadow base looked like it had thicker consistency in the packaging but when I used my finger to swirl a little bit of the product, it's really slimy and oily. Definitely not the consistency that I was expecting. However, the consistency is not unbearable and it applies and spreads well on your eyelids.

Application: Easy to apply and very easy to spread because of its oily consistency.

Here is a couple of photos to illustrate how well the CANMAKE Eyeshadow Base works on eyeshadows. I used a CANMAKE eyeshadow for this comparison! That review will be coming up soon because I love the palette so much! :)

Swatches taken with cloudy day settings (this Singapore everyday so cloudy?! HAI)

Swatches taken with camera flash

As you can see from the above photos, the CANMAKE Eyeshadow Base really does make the eyeshadow "pop"! The eyeshadow pigmentation is more pronounced and it looks more shimmery that it normally is. I'm impressed at how the CANMAKE Eyeshadow Base delivers despite its low price.

Longevity: It does not fare very well in terms of how long it makes my eyeshadow stay put on my eyelids. I think one reason why is because of its oiliness. It's great during application but after a few hours your eyelids become an oily mess. I recommend that you use a better eyeshadow base for smoky-eye looks because this will ruin them. Even with neutral shades, I could see a line of oil filled with my eyeshadow shade when I looked down. It's not very flattering and hence I'm quite disappointed. It does so well in bringing out the colour of the eyeshadows but why so oily?! For those with oily eyelids, just steer away from the CANMAKE Eyeshadow Base.

Will I buy it again? No. I have oily eyelids and I don't want to ruin my painstakingly applied eyeshadow at the end of the day. Imagine if you apply this in the morning before work, everything looks fine and you look awesomepossum. Then you spend an entire day in the office, and when it's time to go home, you realise your eyeshadow is a hot mess. Not an awesome feeling because usually when it's time to go, you still want to meet your friends or partners. Seriously not glam loh. :(

Review: Hada Labo BB Moist Emulsion with SPF 50 PA+++

Finally catching up on my reviews! I apologise for the lack of review posts this week. I just started a new job and I think the transition from being a student to a full-time employee is not treating me very well. Moreover, I just came back from a 3-week vacation. Hence, I was lethargic everyday and I didn't want to write a blog review that was half-hearted. So, I took my beauty sleep religiously and now here I am starting on my review posts again. HOORAH. :) 

One of my favourite beauty/skincare acquisition from Japan was the Hada Labo BB Moist Emulsion with SPF 50 PA+++. My skin does not adapt to different BB creams very well and sometimes I'm scared to try out new ones because my skin breaks out so easily after using new BB creams! I decided to be adventurous this time round and plunged. The only other BB cream that I use currently is my all-time favourite Holika Holika one (http://fitrina-inamorata.blogspot.sg/2013/04/review-holika-holika-aqua-petit-jelly.html). 

The packaging of Hada Labo BB Moist Emulsion with SPF 50 PA+++ already caught my attention! SPF50 PA+++?! YES PLEASE. As beautiful as she is, Singapore is relentless with her sunshine. SPF is a must in your daily skincare if you want your beautiful taut skin to last! I'm so scared of getting wrinkly skin now that I make sure I have enough SPF to last me throughout the day. 

Everything's in Japanese, so I'm also as clueless as you are. But, since some of the words are in Mandarin, I can understand some of its claims. I guess its SPF50 PA+++ is currently the strongest in the BB cream market?

Also, this BB cream is good for being a:

• moisturiser
• sunscreen
• makeup base
• I can't figure out what the last category is :( sorry. 

Only 2 shades are available for this, so naturally I had to choose the darker shade. That's the thing about Asian BB creams that I hate. Why can't they provide more variety in terms of colours? How can you categorise your target market into just 2 shades? I don't understand loh. 

But anyway, moving on ...

Product Packaging: Very simple and very easy to recognise. I especially like how the font size of "BB" is so huge. Actually this packaging reminds me of high-end Japanese products. Usually the more fancy the packaging is, the more drugstore it is? (Just from my observation, not generalising here) I like how the product packaging looks so laboratory-ish too! I feel like my skin can definitely benefit from this. Placebo effect? haha.

Before you use the product, be sure to shake it first!

Consistency: The Hada Labo BB Moist Emulsion with SPF 50 PA+++ is not as thick as a liquid foundation, and it's not as watery as a oil-less moisturizer. I like its consistency because I don't feel weighed down by the product and I don't feel like I'm applying nothing to my face. So in all, it's all well in the consistency department.

Coverage: I was really surprised at how the Hada Labo BB Moist Emulsion with SPF 50 PA+++ has such great pigmentation despite its light consistency. I expected it to not cover very well and to just be a plain old sunscreen but no, it actually covers my blemishes quite well! I don't really have acne breakouts now, but I still do have acne scars and a few spots here and there. After applying this BB cream, my scars are ALL concealed and my spots are less obvious. I am very very impressed.

For those with more severe acne problems, you still have to apply some concealer after using this. But trust me, the amount of concealer that you use will be significantly lesser.

ALSO, this BB cream covers dark eye circles VERY WELL. I didn't have to use any under-eye concealer after applying this and I don't look like I epitomise death. I actually look healthy and presentable! AWESOME STUFF.

Swatch taken with cloudy day settings

Swatch taken under camera flash

For the two photos above, I applied the Hada Labo BB Moist Emulsion with SPF 50 PA+++ and then some concealer on my stubborn spots and then fixed it all up with my trusted ZA 2-way Foundation. The thing about this BB cream is it's not sticky after you apply it on your skin. So, I think if you have dry to normal skin, it's alright for you to just go out with only the BB cream on your skin. For those with oily/combination skin, a light dusting of mattifying powder wouldn't hurt! :)

Longevity: This is the part that disappoints me the most. It is amazing during application and around 3 hours after application. After that, the BB cream just .... melts. I don't know if it's the terribly hot weather or what, but I felt like I just got out of an oil pool. :( I really was shocked when I checked my makeup in the mirror after around 3 hours. Even my cheeks looked oily and my cheeks are usually the driest part of my face! So my verdict is, I really like how the Hada Labo BB Moist Emulsion with SPF 50 PA+++ applies so in the future I will just bring my mattifying powder out and touch up every couple of hours.

Will I buy it again? I'm on the fence. I really like how the product delivers in terms of application and coverage but the way it melts after application really disturbs me. I will see how it goes!

Hope this has been helpful and have a great weekend guys! :)