Saturday, December 29, 2012

Kao Segreta Hair Treatment Essence

Segreta is brand from Japanese beauty company, Kao. This particular brand is targeting hair issues of more mature audience. For me, I will try anything that promises more manageable, glossy, stronger hair. Previously I tried Segreta's Glossy Hair Oil. This time, I grabbed their Treatment Essence. 

(picture from adambeauty.com)

The treatment essence is housed in mist bottle. I dont read japanese, but I do think this is meant to be applied on dry hair, then dry your hair as usual. 

Its texture is just like water... with faint fruity floral aroma. very faint. I sprayed the treatment essence liberally on my dried hair, and wait for my damp hair to dry as usual. 

The result was slightly softer hair. But I am not super impressed by it. I do think this is still a nice spray to add a little moisture on my bone dry hair ends, but aside than that, I didnt see any magnificent difference. 

Bottomline, 
nice add on for my desk, during those bone dry hair days. but I wont repurchase. 

Friday, December 28, 2012

The Face Shop Mini Pet Perfume Hand Cream Set

Three cuteness in one pretty box. Who can resist that? Look at that bear and kitties!


This three in one set contains super cute hand cream in animal shaped packaging. The cute blue bear is baby powder scented, red kitty is fruity and pink gilry kitty is floral. There's actually 4 in the set, the missing one is pink girly bear that contains sweet candy fragrance. 


I am so loving seeing these babies lined up on my desk. So cute!


The cuties contains shea butter and argan oil to moisturize your hands. The cream is light glossy cream that's easily absorbed. It is moisturizing but not sticky. I love to apply these after washing my hands. 


Bottomline, 
Lovely addition on my desk or my friend's desk too! I dont think the cream is fantastic enough for me to repurchase the same variant, but I will purchase if The Face Shop releases new animals.

Haus of Gloi Soft Bubbling Scrub in Snow Wolf

Recently I am so smitten by Haus of Gloi. They packaged their boxes well, and the Pumpkin Butter in Three Treasures was heavenly. Unlike some stuff claiming 'handmade' but still using pre made bases, Haus of Gloi made everything from scratch. Adding cherries on the cake, their products are vegan and cruelty free. How lovely. Another item I ordered together with my pumpkin butter was Soft Bubbling Scrub in Snow Wolf.
(picture from hausofgloi.com)

I am not sure how I will like this soft bubbling scrub concept, therefore, I ordered a tiny sample of 2oz (56 gr) size. Let me tell you, it doesn't disappoint!


Soft Bubbling Scrub is basically whipped scrubby soap. The product is water activated, so, apply after you wet your body. Massaging in circular motions will cleanse your skin while the scrub particles is doing its job. 

The texture of the bubbling scrub is like dense whipped cream - still light but retains its shape when taken from its jar. I am keeping my jar away from water and making sure my hand is not dripping wet when I dig into the jar. The whipped cream melts easily on my skin while I massaged it. Just because the name is 'bubbling scrub', dont expect bubble bomb here... on me, it doesnt bubble much - intensity of the bubble is just like when you applied shower gel without bath lilly/bath sponge. The scrub particles are just nice - not too fine, not too large/rough for me. The scrubbies too, will dissolve when you slowly massaged in the product. 

Upon seeing shea butter as one of the ingredient, I was kinda worried this will make my bathroom slippery. But it doesnt, that's another plus point. After rinsing, my skin feels clean and fresh yet nicely moisturized. I think Haus of Gloi have another winner here. 

Now, the fragrance, Snow Wolf is balsamic fir with a dash of vanilla to round it off. It reminds me of walk in pine forest... the freshness of the air with homey, familiar, comfortable vanilla. This is a perfect scent for me to unwind after a long day in the office. relaxing yet fresh. Part of me wish they add a little minty stuff to give the scrub a little sparkling coolness factor. But, hey, I am not a perfumer... but  a girl can wish, right? ( I do hope someone from Haus of Gloi reads this paragraph...)

Bottomline, 
another winner from Haus of Gloi... perfect sized scrubbies, lovely texture, moisturizing quality. Plus... wonderful Snow Wolf fragrance makes this one a favorite in my bathroom. 

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Haus of Gloi Pumpkin Butter in Three Treasures

I couldnt remember how I came to know Haus of Gloi... was it the vintage image? was it the handmade factor? or was it the fact that products are vegan? Anyways... finally I clicked that checkout button and puff! A tidy box filled with nicely wrapped lotions and potions arrived on my desk. How lovely!
(picture from hausofgloi.com)

Haus of Gloi is Matt & Britton, each order is always accompanied with lovely handwritten thank you note. Appreciated personal touch! I am loving the way the pack things in my box. Each item was carefully wrapped with paper and the box is sturdy. Too bad my itchy hands has opened everything before I remember to take pictures of the nicely packaged stuff. Oh, another thing, they also sealed the jar with Styrofoam seal - I love details like this- making sure my precious drops of butter dont spill out and products stays fresh.

Ahem, enough about boxes and wrapping materials. now the product. Gloi's Pumpkin Butter is thick glossy cream. It gets absorbed rather easily when applied on my skin, but due to the richness, this might be too thick for whole body use for those with normal skin. But I do think this will benefit everyone with dry elbows and knees. 

The moment I opened the jar, I was just awestruck. The fragrance simply fills the air with goodness. Smooth resinous frankincense, not smoky, but fresh and rounded. I am so getting another tub of this!

And now I cant stop sniffing my hands... ah... the fragrance!!!

Bottomline, 
Fantastic product -very moisturizing and rich. and the fragrance... heavenly. I am definitely getting another one before this one runs out. 

Lush Caca Noir

Usually, I would prefer to use much easier, faster bubble hair dye like Etude House's or Kao Liese. Since my hair condition has gotten worse these days (drier, more brittle), I decided to darken my strands with softer dyes. That's how I met Lush Caca.

These Cacas come in bar, just like chocolate bars. You break it off and mix with hot water until reaching yoghurt consistency, then apply. Wrap with clingwrap for brighter color, but since I want to darken my brownish hair, I am going to let it sit as usual. Lush says leaving it up to 6 hours will give richer colors. Nay, I dont have 6 hours... so I left mine for 3 hours. Lush website says you can leave it as fast as 1 hour. 

In the beginning, I kept on delaying using this. for the fear that it would take ages to prepare. I was wrong. It was easy peasy. My trick was to break the bar off to small pieces, and add hot water soup spoon-ful by soup spoon-ful while continuously mixing and mashing with fork. This way, risk of adding too much water is minimal. For my medium length hair, 2.5 box was just nice to cover all my hair while leaving very little (if any) leftover. 

First off, I love the smell of this Caca. Herby and green and fresh... oh so relaxing (for me). What a departure from chemical fume of bubble hair dyes and straightening chemicals. The texture is a little grainy, even after careful mixing, somehow I cant make smooth paste. at times I leave trail of caca crumbs around where I sit while waiting. 

The application was pretty easy, simply massage in and make sure everything is covered just as usual. Let me remind you again, crumbs will definitely drop here and there while you apply your caca. Best if you apply it in bathroom where you can simply wash off the floor. and wear dark shirt you dont care about anymore. again... the crumbs, people...

Washing the caca out is another story altogether... it was a nightmare for me. I rinsed my hair with water twice, then with shampoo twice then once more with water. that's how hard it was for me to wash the crumbs off my hair. during the washes my hair feels so rough... and it tangled like nobody's business. Big dollop of Ma Cherie hair treatment helped to calm the whole thing down. I proceed with towel drying my hair and applied my usual hair oils and styling products. 

I am so glad that all that stiffness and roughness I experienced when I was washing away the caca doesnt last. after the caca is properly washed, everything came back to normal. my hair does feel a little darker, but not as jet black as my regular bubble hair color result. the good thing is,again, my hair returns to normal as soon as everything is washed off. with bubble hair colors, my hair feels noticeably drier, even though I applied my oils and towel dry as usual. 

Some websites mentioned that henna will neutralize chemical processes you have done to your hair. and to some degree i have to agree with this. my hair didnt turn to its usual frizzy curly messy self, but some part of it did. Stubborn patch of hair which unfortunately frame my face turns way more wavy than before I applied the Caca. but that's all the changes I noticed, I didnt notice other changes. 

Bottomline, 
when you want natural hair color and have the time to wait for the color to develop, LUSH Caca is for you. but dont expect deep jet black color from Caca Noir... you will get darker color, but not jet black. 

(picture from lushusa.com)

Stila Merry & Bright Collectible Holiday Palette


Nude shadows was never my thing... I want my shadows colorful and bright! But recently, I realize how handy it is to have nudes eye shadows in hand. It can never go wrong with nudes to highlight and emphasize crease!


That's why when I saw Stila Merry & Bright I jumped to purchase it. The set contains (of course) the eye shadow and make up palette plus lipglaze in kitten.

The palette is smaller than standard Stila travelling girl palette, but it contains more shadow variety! Super wearable nudes and neutrals in shimmery and matte finish. Plus a convertible lip and cheek cream. As usual, the palette also features handy mirror and simple face chart.


Strangely enough, I am most happy with the convertible color! I find it super handy to use. It gives my cheek that natural pinky flush.


The eye shadows on the other hand... Was a little meh. I love glisten and joyful the most, ebony and butterscotch the least. I find the two mattes too powdery for my taste. And I prefer my black, very black...

Bottomline,
Handy palette for travelling and touch ups. But for the price I don't think it is very worth it for me, as I can foresee myself using only the convertible, glisten and joyful. May be, molasses once in a while. But this palette can be a real gem for nude n neutrals starters who want variety of finishes in a single palette.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Milk_shake Glistening Argan Oil


I cant say no to hair oils... as the result, this week, I am welcoming Milk_shake Glistening Argan Oil to my hair oil stash.

Milk_shake is a brand by z concept, Italian company which churns out various hair related brands and products. Milk_shake is one of it.

Glistening Argan Oil promises to condition and nourish my hair... making it glossy and more voluminous. You can use this before of after styling. Just massage in few drops in your hair... lets hope it works.

I purchased the smallest 10 ml bottle, since I have enough hair oils to last at least 3 lifetimes. I was expecting at least a tiny glass bottle, since I paid more than 5 USD for this teeny weeny bottle. Unfortunately for me, the bottle is cheap feeling, light plastic bottle.

Lets forget about he plastic bottle, and see the content shall we, after all, the content is more important for my dried fried hair than the bottle. The liquid inside is golden and light, I can certainly feel silicone content inside. It is not heavy or sticky at all. It has vanilla musky fragrance which smells yummy – no worries it doesn’t linger long.

My hair feels smooth after applying this after towel drying. But i don’t feel my hair getting more moisturized when I apply this on.

Bottomline,
Nice light hair oil to soften my hair. However, with the price, I will expect more moisturizing and more rich product.  

Sleek Make Up Pout Paint in 158 Rosette and 162 Milkshake



I have always wanted to try OCC’s famous lip tar... but somehow never managed to get my grubby hands on one. So, the last time I ordered stuff from Sleek, I grabbed their Pout Paints. It does look like OCC’s Lip Tar, don’t you think?


(picture from sleekmakeup.com and sephora.com)

Sleek says Pout Paint is pigmented lip pigment that’s meant to be mixed with other colors. Sleek’s color collection is not as wide as OCC, but Sleek does offer mixer colors like white and blue. I picked up more wearable Rosette and Milkshake.


Rosette is my comfort zone color... creamy cool magenta pink, while Milkshake is milky coral pink.

I don’t know if my Pout Paint is stale or what, but when I first open it I can totally see the pigment and gloss separated. And it happened to both Milkshake and Rosette. By the way, I ordered them in different occasion, and they arrived at different time. Lucky for me, even though appeared separated, the product is easily mixed.

Pout Paint has texture like light gloss, comfortable on the lips and doesn’t feel sticky too. Both Rosette and Milkshake has citrusy fruity scent, but I detected no taste. Not to worry, the fragrance will be gone before you know it – it doesn’t last long.

Lets talk about Milkshake first. Count me disappointed here. I was expecting super pigmented product... but I got a light milky gloss. Pretty color, lovely texture... I would have raved about it if it were marketed as regular gloss- but it was not as pigmented as I wanted it to be. It is rather sheer and tends to pool in my lips texture. Dried prune lips, not fun. As you can see, the color is nearly similar with my natural lip color... so I cant really examine the staining power here.

Rosette is less disappointing than Milkshake. Rosette somehow applies more evenly, but it is still sheer. The color is not staining, and it doenst last very long on me- 3 or 4 hours max.  

Bottomline,
If you want light comfortable sheer gloss, this is for you. But if you want super power pigmented lipcolor, look elsewhere. 

Oriental Princess Cuticle Hair Treatment Leave On Serum for Damaged Hair


This week is going to be Oriental Princess week... I hauled quite a lot of products from this Thai brand during my recent Bangkok Trip. With its pocket friendly price point, I don’t think much when I stuff more and more bottles of potions and lotions plus paints in my shopping cart.

I have to say, currently I am loving the brand... they offer various lines and most importantly... they have specific product for split ends and fluffy hair! This serum promises deep nourishment and easily managed hair. It contains jojoba seed oil and sunflower seed oil too.

This time I am trying the serum. Far from my regular liquid pump bottle serum, Oriental Princess’ serum is more cream in a tub than liquid.

The cream is actually quite thick and glossy, yet easily absorbed when applied on either dry or towel dried hair – Oriental Princess recommends applying on damp towel dried hair. The cream has light aquatic-marine fragrance which dissipates when applied. My hair feels soft after the application. Not surprising, since the product contains silicone based ingredients.

It doesn’t weigh my hair at all too. but I didn’t feel my hair getting more moisture after applying it... just additional softness- which I also highly appreciate...

Bottomline,
If it were more moisturizing, I will repurchase. But this might be just the right product for normal hair. 

Oriental Princess Reflection Camaru Blue Eye Color



Like most make up brand nowadays, Oriental Princess also releases limited edition collection. When I bought this (2012), the current limited edition collection was called Reflection. Reflection offers various eye color duos and lipstick. I grabbed Camaru Blue, as I was intrigued by the blue and orange combination.

For a budget friendly brand, the packaging of this collection is impressive. The box is sturdy and the matte palette has substantial feel when held. The palette also offers generously sized mirror inside.

Look at that pretty swirl of blue and orange on the left side of the palette! I cant wait to swatch it... the color combo turn out to be sparkly sheer bluish forest green. The blue come up more pigmented than the orange swirl- it is almost metallic cobalt blue with healthy dose of shimmer. Honestly, I don’t think the two color complement each other... the green is more warm, the blue is more cold. The green, however, is a unique color. I don’t think I have anything like it in my stash.

The palette is solid – just like baked shadow formula. But I don’t see the company labelling it as baked. It can be used dry (like my swatch here) or wet. When applied wet, the colors appeared more intense. The palette is made in Italy.

Bottomline,
A little mismatched color for my taste, but I am loving the shimmer.  I don’t think I will add more colors from the collection as I don’t really fancy the sheer quality of this shadows when applied dry. 

Etude House Dear My Essence Lips Talk in EPK002 Bursting Pink Heart and EPK003 Swaying Pink First Love


What a mouthful name! Anyways, this is part of Etude House’s release for Summer 2012, along with the super cute Dear My Lipsticks. This launch of lip essence consists of 8 colors with good mix of wearable pinks, corals and nudes.
(picture from etude.co.kr)



The packaging totally reminds me of Etude House’s lippie from Miss Tangerine Sweet Shower Lips collection from 2011. Here’s  both lippie side by side… same tube design, just different color and design.


I picked up cool toned EPK002 and EPK003. Both colors are sheer and provide glossy sheen. EPK002 is cool magenta pink, sheer yet buildable. When I’m not in the mood for strong toned lips, I wear my trusty Badger Balm underneat and swipe EPK002 lightly on top – the result is glossy pretty pink! EPK003 is MLBB (my lips but better) pretty girly pink. It is sheer, and it might not show up well on beauties with more pigmented lips.




Both has the same feel and formula. Glides nicely on lips, glossy and not drying. I do think this formula is better than Miss Tangerine.

As with most sheer, glossy lippie… these wont stay long on your lips. Carry them on your purse for later touch up. With no tea sipping this last 3 hours on me. But with tea sipping and occasional snack nibbling, it is gone by an hour.

Bottomline,
Pretty colors, easy formula and pretty design. Good choice during uninspired days when I don’t know which lippie to wear. I do think this makes a good choice for lippie beginner or gloss ladies out there- as the formula is light and colors are super easy to wear. 

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Etude House Hair Wax & BB Cream for Men


Yes, I don’t need any wax… but I just cant take my eyes of these cute wax packaging by Etude House. Cant believe this products are meant for the boys!

These cute babies comes in 3 variants:
Magenta – Shiny Dandy is glossy wax for short hair
Blue – Natural Two Cut is designed to add volume for medium/longer hair
Grey – Matte Mohican is matte clay for short/medium hair

I am so tempted to get one of these for myself!

Not only that, they also released BB cream for guys: Good Guy -moisturizing BB cream for  natural look and Bad Guy for Sebum control & coverage. Fun!



(picture from etude.co.kr)

Etude If Story Nail Kit Winter 2012

Another winter launch from Etude House! 

I always enjoyed Etude's nail kits. The kits always offer me the chance to get few colors in smaller bottles at once(which I might not wear as often). Good way to experiment new style or out-of-comfort-zone colors!

If story Nail Kit offers 2 colors in each set. Christmas tree snow falls is the one with black base multi color glitter and clear base heart glitter. Melted ice in love is the more cooler toned of the set. Christmas tree certainly reminds me of Deborah Lippman's famous Happy Birthday!

(picture from etude.co.kr)

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Majolica Majorca Cream de Cheek Kiichigo Cream Blush in RD 411


Cream de Cheek is part of Majolica Majorca Autumn Winter 2012 launch titled Circus Ecstasy.  This collection contains liquid blush Cream de Cheek, nail polish, new perfume, liquid eyeliner Trick On Liner and hand cream. Of all, I am only interested with the liquid blush.

Majolica Majorca is Japanese drugstore brand from Shiseido. They always come up with pretty seasonal stuff. I have been in love with most of their products...good quality, buttery eye shadow, well pigmented powder blushes and all...


As usual, the packaging is pretty- frosted glass bottle with black cap and golden MJ logo on top. Lovely. It reminds me of nail polish! The brush style is just like nail polish too!

RD 411 is creamy warm red which applies sheer and lovely. It makes my cheek glows nicely – like baby cheek!

The consistency is similar with nailpolish too… minus the nail polish-y smell. Little goes a long way here… a single dot is enough to make my cheek blush nicely. Even though it is well pigmented, Cream de Cheek is easily blended.

Bottomline,
Lovely liquid blush! Pigmented and easy to blend. Just how I want my liquid blush to be! Too bad they don’t come with more colors.
(pictures from shiseido.co.jp/mj/)

Sleek Dip-It Liquid Eyeliner in 268 Forest Green


Sleek is a British brand famous for its wonderful iDivine palettes. Fallen in love with iDivine and their Blush by 3 palletes, I decided to try their liquid eyeliners.

(picture from sleekmakeup.com)
I have chosen Dip-It in Forest Green. Sleek claims it to be long lasting liquid eyeliner with Felt tip applicator. Dip It comes in various colors… from basic jet black to vibrant sky blue and glistening gold.

(picture from sleekmakeup.com)
As a packaging junkie…lets start with the packaging! All I can say is Meh… Unlike wonderful iDivine and Blush by 3, the material they used here totally look and felt cheap. Light matte plastic, plus its forest green color, reminds me of… this:

(picture from disneystore.com)


The color is lovely… matte camouflage forest green, which pairs nicely with a light wash of my favorite Majolica Majorca BE 826 (similar tone to NARS Orgasm)


Applying it…is another story… I was expecting soft nice felt tip like MUFE’s aqua liner. Nope. It is not as soft as MUFE’s. and somehow the product dries so fast, single dip wont even take enough product to make a thin line on my upper lashline. Ho hum…  it also feels clumpy. Meh (again). All of that combined… I cant make smooth, neat, single swipe line as I usually make with my other liquid liners.

(picture from Sephora.com)

Bottomline…
Pretty color aside, I don’t think I want to deal with clumpy eye liner with uncomfortable applicator. 

Philip B Drop Dead Straightening Balm


I am sucker for anything with ‘straghtening’ slapped on… of course, I grabbed this one. When the package arrived, I was more than thrilled.

Philip B says it is a non-greasy, silicone free and water soluble product to give curly and wavy hair straight, bouncy, tangle free finish.  Sounds good to me!

The product is supposed to be used on towel dried hair. work your hair starting from scalp to ends and then style as usual.

One thing you should note is, the texture of this product is definitely not balmy or anything close. It is a gel with medium consistency. Easy enough to work on my hair, yet not runny enough to drip off when I placed the tub horizontally on my desk. I didn’t detect any fragrance here, no oily, siliconey feeling too.

I am using this after my regular hair routine. That’s shampooing with Shiseido Tsubaki shampoo, conditioning Ma Cherie Moisture Treatment, during towel drying I massaged in my current leave on fave: Lush R&B hair treatment… then… I added Philip B Drop Dead Straightening Balm. But not to my whole head… since bottom part of my hair is still pretty much straight. My roots, however (especially those baby hairs around the face) is started returning to curly.

Totally cant believe what I saw afterwards… my roots and baby hairs are way more straight than they usually appeared as. My hair is super dry, stubborn curly wurly – just ask my stylists, my hair is not the easiest to straighten. This is like miracle! I proceed with regular straightening with straightening iron and didn’t set it as usual. Usually I after Lush R&B I would straighten my hair up and set it with Kose Salon Style Treatment Wax.

The next morning, I wake up with straighter hair… my hair didn’t go back to its curly self after a good night sleep. Major YAY from me!

Bottomline,
I am loving this one. Totally will repurchase it! I am even planning to check out other Philip B's products too!
(picture from beautybay.com) 

Friday, December 7, 2012

Pantone Color of The Year 2013 - Emerald


After 2012’s highly successful Tangerine Tango, Pantone has announced 2013 color of the year… Emerald!


I personally find Emerald super easy to work with… it is cheerful enough for spring/summer outfit and makes you get noticed during grey cooler months. To tone it down, pair up with beige or navy. When I feel like adding splash of color, I pair my emerald with a little sunflower. Emerald is one of those versatile colors which make both silver and gold jewelries pop equally.



In my beauty beauty & make up universe, I loved a little emerald eye liner in rotation with my staple jet black – like Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil in Covet. Or, apply little green eye shadows from Lancome’s Color Design 5 Palette in Vert Tendresse.


My personal Asian drugstore pick would be Kanebo Kate’s Eye Blend Zone Eye Shadow palette in GN-1 and Majolica Majorca Jeweling Eyes palette in GR 780.


Nails… ah… there are thousands, if not millions, of gorgeous emeralds out there- in variety of finish too! Like China Glaze Exotic Encounter if you like crème or China Glaze Deviantly Daring for duochrome lovers.  

So, are you going to embrace emerald next year?

(pictures from pantone.com, Sephora.com, chinaglaze.com, adambeauty.com, shiseido.co.jp/mj, head2toebeauty.com).