Blue Ocean Hair Care Oil

Got this during my trip to Turkey few months back. I am not sure if Blue Ocean is Turkish brand or it comes from neighboring countries.

This is one of those pre-shampoo treatments. You are supposed to apply and massage the oil to the hair and scalp, then wait for 30-45 minutes. Shampoo and condition as usual after that.

First, the packaging… plastic bottle with spray nozzle to dispense the oil. But since the oil is of cooking oil consistency, I do think the spray nozzle is not so helpful. Yes, it does eliminate the risk of the bottle tipple over and spilling its content… but I just don’t like the idea of spraying 2-3 times before getting enough oil for my thick and coarse hair. But hey, this might be a godsend for those with shorter, finer hair- who wont need as much oil as I do.

Here’s the list of ingredient: sesame oil, sweet almond oil, pine oil, nettle seed oil, chamomile oil, lavender oil, myrtle oil, eucalyptus oil, wheat oil, castor oil, rosemary oil, coconut oil, olive oil, vitamin e, vegetable oil.

While the ingredient is full of fragrant oils, the oil itself is not as wonderful smelling as I imagined in the beginning. It smells faintly of something I cant point my finger on… not nice, but not repelling… just strange smell-which dissipates quickly after application.

The oil rinses easily if you massaged your hair thoroughly during shampooing. I just wash my hair as usual then condition. It does make my hair softer and more manageable, But not extraordinarily so.

Bottomline,

Not a necessary addition in my hair care routine. It does make my hair softer and more manageable, but no extraordinary result here.

Seabreeze UV Cut & Jelly in Crush Berry SPF 25 PA++

I have owned this bottle for a while. Amazing how I never thought of making a review on it… this week have been a UV protection-sunblock week for me. I posted my thoughts on Nivea’s smooth milk, Fasio’s airy shield, SuhadaFit’s Baby milk.

Seabreeze is UV protection line from Shiseido. This brand offers variety of fragranced products aimed at younger audience. This Seabreeze UV cut & jelly is available in 4 fragrances: soapy, apple, citrus and berry. I got myself the crush berry from Sasa Taipei.  

It is packaged in nozzle tipped plastic bottle, just like most Japanese UV milks. From the size of the content (60ml) I do think this is aimed at may be face and body too. It is a thin milky gel with sweet-berry candy fragrance with a hint of mint. Like most gel, it gives cooling sensation when applied; the fragrance is quite strong compared to other UV milks I have tried, but not as strong as fragranced body lotions.

It gets absorbed easily and definitely didn’t leave any white cast on my skin.

I do think Seabreeze UV cut & Jelly to be more suitable for body, for simple reason.. the minty sensation might be too much for face’s skin. It is very mild on me, but I can imagine it irritates some people with more sensitive skin.

This has been a buddy in my beach bag. While I don’t think it is water resistant, I like the cooling sensation when I applied it under burning tropical sun. too bad it only comes in SPF 25.

Bottomline,

I do think I will buy this again for my travelling bag. It is refreshing and light for travels.

Ma Cherie Straight Care Wax

Ma Cherie is brand from Shiseido, a Japanese cosmetic giant. I am loving Ma Cherie for their cute pink packaging, refreshing light scent and the gimmicky bad-smell absorbing formula. I don’t know if this really work, but hey…It sounds good! Especially if you work around smokers or smokey kitchen a lot!

This time I purchased Straight Care Wax from Sasa shop in Taipei. Like some waxes from other Japanese brands, this baby comes in tin tub. Of course, in baby pink! I adore this whole wax in tin thing, but after a while it gets annoying. While it is pretty presentation, the tin got dented easily during shipping or in my suitcase! And sometime, the product got to the side of the tin lid. I just don’t like how it looks.

Ahem, back to the wax… scented with Ma Cherie signature scent, this looks more like glossy semi translucent gel than wax. I can imagine putting it on a tiny plate and looking at the glob while thinking it is a lychee flavored jell-o. don’t do this at home, people, this wax is not for eating.

The wax is definitely moisturizing and makes my hair look more glossy. But it provides zero hold. It does help tame flyaways, but not more than that.

When I applied it prior to flat ironing, it helps keeping my hair to look more healthy…less fried. But unlike treatment wax from Kose’s Salon Style, Ma Cherie Wax feels more silicone-y. and yes, it does contain a few silicone based ingredients.

Bottomline,

While I adore Ma Cherie’s scent, I don’t fancy the too silicone-y feel of this wax. I prefer Salon Style’s. So, no repurchase for this baby.

SuhadaFit UV Baby Milk SPF 38 PA+++

Yes… this is the UV milk week. I managed to write a few posts on various Japanese sunblocks, specifically the milky variation. In the last few days, I wrote about Nivea and Fasio. This time, I will share with you my experience with SuhadaFit.

(from adambeauty.com)

SuhadaFit is a brand from yet another Japanese cosmetic manufacturer – isehan. I don’t have much experience with isehan’s brands, so cant share much about them here. SuhadaFit sunscreen line comes in 4 variations: Face essence, Water gel, baby milk and daily milk. All features cute packaging design and SPF 50 (except baby milk, which offers only SPF 38).

(from isehan.co.jp)

I don’t need another bottle of UV milk when I got myself this. But, cmon… look at the pretty pink packaging! It will look pretty on my office desk! Ha!

According to BeautyKat.com: ‘contains Aloe Vera, Soluble Collagen, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Hyaluronic Acid and Rice Bran Oil for improving dryness and the problem of sensitive skin. extracts to protect skin from drying out caused by sun exposure.’ … and I do agree with most of this product description.

While SuhadaFit is perfect in term of presentation, it is lacking on the SPF department. Most of the milks from Japanese brands will come in SPF 50, this one only offers SPF 38.

This sunscreen is in lotion-like texture which is non-sticky and will not leave a greasy layer on the skin. SuhadaFit’s milk is not as runny/thin as most Japanese UV milks. It is more of runny cream/ thick milk- similar to yoghurt consistency (yes, I am hungry now…). But that comes with a surprise… I feel it moisturizes more than other runny UV milks! I like it, since it is still easy to absorb and doesn’t leave white cast- while doesn’t make my face feel oily. My guess is, this would be pleasant to use for those with dry skin. Another good news: it doesn’t smell like anything. Love!

Bottomline,

I love the texture of this one – more moisturizing, yet not sticky/oily. It would be perfect hand bag companion if the SPF is higher.

Kose Cosmeport Salon Style Treatment Wax

For my dried, fried, straightened hair, I am always on the lookout for products to keep my hair looking more glossy and tame... this one from Japanese cosmetic giant, Kose, sounds promising...

(picture from adambeauty.com)

Salon Style is wallet friendly hair care line from Kose. this wax promises glorious flowing hair. With hydrolyzed wheat proteins & collagen, the wax is said to repair hair too. not only that, Kose also throw in UV protection to prevent pigment fading in dyed hair. Scale 1 for styling power (1 low to 6 high) and Scale 5 for glossiness. as usual, product claims sound good...

This Salon Style Wax series comes in 6 variants, ranging from low hold (like mine, Treatment Wax) to strong hold waxes.

I adore the packaging, too bad mine arrived dented in several spots. the glossy-borderline gel like product lightly scented. the light fragrance is gone by the time i applied it to my hair. the product is ultra light, doesnt weigh down my hair at all. and it got easily absorbed as well.

my hair does feel slick and look glossier when wearing this. I usually used this in the morning, during styling.

Once I used it prior to flat ironing my hair (i towel dried my hair prior to straightening it with flat iron), and it worked fine! it helps tame frizziness and doesnt make my hair feel dried and rough after the flat iron abuse.

bottomline,
Cheap and easy to use! Definitely will repurchase.

I got mine from adambeauty.com (I am not affiliated with adambeauty, but I shop there often)

Nivea Sun Face Moist Beauty Smooth Milk SPF 50+ PA +++

I have known Nivea since I was a kid (I bet you do too), in form of their classic cream in blue tub. Back then, Nivea creams means heavy cream for elbows and dried hands… now, Nivea also offers light milk, Japanese style sunscreen. Not only that, The Face Moist Beauty series also offers Essence version of the sunblock, which I also purchased later after trying the Smooth Milk and liking it...

(picture from adambeauty.com)

As the bottle suggests, this baby has texture of light milk. The color of the product is not white like most milk sunscreen, but it has a hint of apricot in it. Lovely! It also contains hyaluronic acid and royal jelly to moisturize. Not only that, they also said it helps reduce oiliness!

Like most milk products, this product is super easy to blend. And it doesn’t leave whitish/ashy cast on my face! It blends and gets absorbed effortlessly. It has super light fragrance which I can only detect when I pretty much dug my nose in the milk.

As for the reducing oil claim… it is pretty much non existent on me. But then again, my T zone is almost always oily.

Bottomline,

Even though it doesn’t help control my oil, I do like this one. The tiny tiny bottle makes it easy to carry and I adore its light texture. Plus easy to my wallet. I am going to repurchase this one.

But it does contain alcohol, so those with sensitive skin, must be careful.

I got mine from adambeauty.com

Kose Cosmenience Happy Bath Day Precious Rose Rose Enrich Hand Cream

Woohoo… one my favorite line from Kose: Happy Bath Day! This time, I got their hand cream.

(picture from adambeauty.com)

I wont sing more praises on its cute pink, rosey packaging… lets see the product! The cream is thick and glossy. Gets absorbed easily. And … doesn’t make me feel like there’s a layer of film after I rinsed my hand with water! Lovely!

Of course, it is scented with Happy Bath Day fragrance- cheerful fruity rose. Definitely repurchase! too bad it comes is tiny 40g sized tube.

I got mine from adambeauty.com

Fasio Airy Shield UV Screen EX SPF 50+ PA +++

I know Fasio mostly because of their mascara and eye shadows – most of the time their products doesn’t appeal much to me. But when I was running out of UV milk, I saw this in adambeauty.com and decided to give it a try.

(picture from adambeauty.com)

Now, as far as I am aware, there’re 2 types of Airy Shield UV Screen from Fasio. The one in golden bottle and the EX (silver bottle). I tried to find the difference online, but I couldn’t find any. And since I don’t read Japanese, the box pretty much says nothing to me…

Back to the product. Just like most Japanese UV milk out there, the bottle is hard and has nozzle tip. The product is light and milky. It is spread and get absorbed easily upon application. I do think it is lightly fragranced, but nothing too noticeable. Just pleasant light whiff upon pouring the milk on my palms. Good thing, no whitish cast when applied. And it is super light I don’t feel like I’m having SPF on my face. Nice!

But… I do feel the alcohol here. Those with sensitive or dry skin might want to notice this…

Bottomline,

Lovely choice for humid summer days. But I don’t think I will repurchase, because of the alcohol-y feeling it gives during application.

Skinfood Kiwi Yoghurt Wash Off Mask

Skinfood of Korea always has this yummy sounding, prettily packaged stuff... like this one... Kiwi Yoghurt. How can I miss that?

The product is supposed to contain...well, Kiwi Yoghurt, of course! all to balance pH, tighten pores and brighten skin. sounds good...

The texture is just like thick milky gel with green beads suspended. I usually applied it on my face and massaged it in a little bit, then just watch those re runs or grab a DVD. heck, sometimes I do laundry in between too!

after washing the mask off, my skin does feel more fresh and supple. brighter... not so much... tighter pores...definitely didnt see that.

Bottomline,
It's an okay mask. not a must. I will wear it when it is there, but wont specifically repurchase.

Sasatinnie Magic Fairy Coralline Algae Mask

Another mask from Sasa’s house brand! Recently I cant help but noticing wide variety of beauty products the Sasatinnie brand has to offer. From creams to masks…

The Magic Fairy masks comes in a box of three sheets, each individually packaged as other sheet masks do.  The nonwoven material in this mask is thicker and somehow more rough than other brands I tried, like My Beauty Diary. As usual, each mask has its own thin plastic sheet backing and ultra saturated with essence.  Just place the mask on your face accordingly (there are holes for eyes, nose and mouth) and watch your favorite re runs! Sasatinnie recommends 15-20 minutes. Me? Sometime I bring sheet masks to short nap or to watch few episodes of my favorite shows.

Coralline Algae mask is designed for all skin types, especially dehydrated skin. It promises to energize and nourish skin. The mask contains coralline algae to reduce fine lines & pigmentation, USDA organic aloe vera for hydration, anti aging & skin repair plus ECOCERT edelweiss to minimize pores and act as anti oxidant + anti blemish. All sounds good to me…

Despite the rougher thicker mask material, I love this mask!!! My skin feels so refreshed and supple after wearing this. The essence got absorbed easily by my skin and it doesn’t leave sticky residue.  Lovely!

Bottomline,

This is an enjoyable mask to wear. Too bad each box only comes with 3 pieces, not more! Softer materials will be appreciated too!