As Seen On ...Bond Girl Severine - Amplified Louboutin Nails

Seen Skyfall yet? Two thing I remembered the most from the movie were Adele singing the theme song and... Severine's make up and nails. 

Remember those days when the beauty equation was like this:

dramatic eyes + bold lips = disaster?

Those days were over! Bond girl Severine proves that it is okay to do both eyes and lips….

(picture from opi.com)

Lovin' her look!

And look at that nail! First we have the Louboutin trend – black on top and red on underside of nails- just like those covetable Louboutin shoes. Then now we have this gold Louboutin as seen on Severine.

Granted, it won’t make a big difference for those with short nails… plus it makes cleansing the polish pain in the arse… but I do think it adds extra oomph when done on fake nails (means no messy cleaning the undersides of my nails…yay!)

Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Skin Therapy Oil

I’ve got this bottle for a while already, can’t believe I haven’t done anything with it yet! I think most of us are familiar with Palmer’s. The brand pretty much offers everything hydrating for the skin.

 Palmer’s claims that this oil is good for scars, stretch marks, dry, damaged skin, uneven skin tone, aging skin, fine lines and wrinkles. They also say this is good not only for your arms and legs... but also your face. That’s a lot of claim thrown in there!

You know me... first, I am going to try it on my hair! The oil is thin and easy to get absorbed. It makes my hair feels softer. The oil has faint fruity rose fragrance. It doesn’t bother me at all, as it dissipates very quickly after hair or skin application.

On my dry skin, it gets absorbed nicely as well. Dispense carefully, as just a little too much oil will give the oily skin stickiness.

One thing I really really hate from this oil is the bottle! The small plastic bottle size is perfect. But the nozzle is pain in the ass. It is too small and somehow I cant dispense it cleanly, without spilling some on the sides. Hate it.

Bottomline,

Practical product for those who wants skin and hair oil in one. But, I just detest that plastic bottle. Please, change the nozzle!

Kao Liese Designing Jelly 1 Tidy Straight

I am always amused by the level of differentiation Japanese hair styling products presents to us. They pretty much have one type for every single hair style. Sometime the vast choices overwhelms me, but most of the time, it’s all fun.  And Liese is not an exception... it is one of the biggest brand of hairstyle in Japan, which offers pretty much everything you need for your hair styling routine. 

 As usual, I picked up the one which promises me pretty, tidy, straight hair. That leads me to number 1, tidy straight. It promises natural, sleek look by keeping frizz at bay and flyaways tame.

 I don’t think I will ever bring this during my travels, but the bottle is just too cute. It kinda reminds me of nail polish bottle. The cap, which makes it cute, also makes it travel un-friendly... it simply will take too much space in my luggage.

The product itself is light runny liquid gel like, which get easily absorbed by damp towel dried or fully dried hair. It is lightly perfumed with light fruity floral fragrance, which dissipates when applied. Nice thing is, it doesn’t feel silicone-y or weigh down my hair.

On regular day, this is a nice styling product. It does exactly what Liese says about it. But don’t dream that it will straighten your wavy hair. Tidy Straight tidies up your hair, but it will not straighten it.  I love to use it to tidy up fine hairs which frame the face.

Bottomline,

Nice styling products to tidies up a little frizz and flyaways, but it is not suitable for heavy duty straightening. 

Beauty 911 - Beauty Oils

One item which I never ever leave out from my travelling pouch is, obviously, beauty oils. I always have spot for a tiny bottle of baby oil. When I have extra space, I squeeze in dry oils such as Nuxe Huile Prodigiuse or The Body Shop Beautifying Oil.

  

(picture from johnsonsbaby.com)

Not once or twice did one of my oil collections safe me from beauty 911. 

Let’s start from the top: hair. I applied baby oil on my split ends when once I ran out of conditioner. Just beware, baby oil overdose will make your hair appear greasy, apply one little drop at a time. I find dry oil to be less greasy to the hair.  Work it always from tip, allowing each oil drop to get absorbed before adding more. I never apply oil nearby my scalp, for simple reason, I don’t want to look like a wet rat.

(picture from fr.nuxe.com)

Not a surprise here, oils are fantastic 911 moisturizer. I like to use it after bath before towel drying my skin. Apply generously over wet skin; then dry your skin with towel as usual. This will make skin feels less oily, but just nicely moisturized- especially when you are using baby oil.

(picture from thebodyshop.co.uk)

I love a little dry oil for my cuticles too. Little goes long way here, unless you fancy oily fingertips. 

Last but not least, my favourite way to use oils... as make up remover. Of course; don’t slather your face with it. Dip your cotton ball or Qtips and wipe... voila... make up gone! For more stubborn stuff, like waterproof mascara or MAC liquidlast eye liner, apply the oil lightly and let it rest for 5-10 seconds, then slowly massage to dissolve the pigment residue. Wipe with tissue paper to absorb the oil, then wash with facial cleanser as usual.

One thing I wont use my baby oil for is... face moisturizer. I don’t think baby oil is as easily absorbed by facial skin than body skin. Moreover, some might find the main ingredient, mineral oil, might be irritating for more sensitive skin.

Bottomline... always have a tiny bottle of your favourite beauty oil in your luggage!

Ma Cherie Hair Oil

I love hair oil waaaayyy too much. I have a lot, yet I keep on buying more. This time I grabbed one from Shiseido’s Ma Cherie. I tried their hair milk and straight wax before, and am quite happy with the results.

Ma Cherie says this hair oil will provide deep penetrating nourishment to your hair. They also promises light texture. It will protect hair from heat styling and UV rays. Two of the star ingredients are Champagne royal jelly extract to repair damaged cuticle inside out and hydroxyethyl urea and inositol to enhance gloss and shine, plus making hair soft to touch. And as with all Ma Cherie product, the fragrance promises protection against odors and cigarette smell.

This hair oil is colorless and feels very light-almost watery, with light fruity floral fragrance that’s present in all Ma Cherie products. It does feel a little silicone-y, even though the ingredients list doesn’t mention various silicone based stuff. But then again, we never know the proportion of each ingredient from the ingredient list.

Ingredients: c 13-14 isoparaffin, dimethicone, olea europeaea fruit oil, hydrogenated polyisobutene, poly silicone-13, triethylhexanoin, amp-isostearoyl, wheat/corn/soy amino acids, bis-ethyl-hexyloxyphenol methoxyphenyl triazine, royal jelly extract, wine extract, ehtylhexyl methoxycinnamate, isostearic acid, alcohol, water, tocopherol, butylene glycol, bht, fragrance, red 17, green 6.

This product is a pleasure to use. Single pump might appear and feel too much in the beginning, but it does get absorbed easily. It doesn’t weigh my hair at all or make it appear oily. It just adds softness and shine and reduce tangles on my hair ends. This might be the perfect hair oil for those with normal or softer hair. for me, I would want my hair oil to give a little moisture to my split ends.

Nowadays I’m using it to complement my regular Vrai oil, just after I towel dried my hair.

Bottomline,

Pleasant to use, light hair oil. It adds softness and shine, but doesn’t weigh down my hair. might be a perfect hair oil for those with finer or normal hair. Personally I wont repurchase, as I would want my hair oil to supply more moisture to my fried our hair ends. 

Kanebo Ichikami Hair Treatment Oil

Hair oils… I am in love with them right now. Previously, I tried Ma Cherie’s Hair Oil, and now I am trying Ichikami’s version. I am so intrigued with this one, as this baby promises tsubaki oil. I have been dying to try the buzzed up tsubaki oil. In fact… I purchased this one because of the tsubaki oil content.

As with other Ichikami’s products, they uses ingredients that’s used since ancient Japan for haircare; such as black rice extract, tsubaki oil, hiougi (a kind of iris), mukuroji and walnut. Ichikami says this oil prevents and repairs serious hair damage.

I do love the packaging, small plastic pump bottle with small nozzle. Making it a breeze dispense small amount of oil at a time.

The light clear oil has no discernable fragrance. It is not sticky and get absorbed easily. This oil doesn’t add any weigh on my hair, it just add softness and sheen. I don’t notice any stark result difference when I applied it on my damp towel dried hair or fully dried hair.

Bottomline,

Another pleasant to use light hair oil. I love the small plastic bottle and tiny nozzle for easy dispensing. It is light and makes my hair feel so soft, I think this would be nice for finer hair or normal hair. I won’t repurchase as it doesn’t add moisture as much I want my hair oils to. 

LUSH R&B Moisturizer

Here in the tropics, as we welcome rain and humidity… I welcome… even frizzier hair. not fabulous at all.

But… with a little welcome from LUSH, my ever-frizzy hair is way more manageable. Beauties and handsomes, please meet my current favorite… R&B Moisturizer!!!

(picture from lushsg.com)

When I first picked this off LUSH online shop, I was amused by the fact that LUSH says it works for African American curly hair. Actually, that makes me grab the tiny 100gr jar instantly. As usual, LUSH always has stories behind the product… which in this case, was 3 store managers with problematic hair.

Well, now the product… LUSH promises: dry no more, vegan and work out for out-of condition hair. all these three, I can say, I totally agree!

This moisturizer is innocent looking pastel yellow cream in LUSH black plastic jar. Don’t be fooled. It looks innocent, but do apply with care… as it is super moisturizing. Even for me, I always pick a little product at a time, massaged in, then pick a little more when needed. Else, you will end up like a wet rat.

Now, I tried both methods of application as LUSH suggested. On semi-dry / towel dried hair, it doesn’t moisturize as much as when I applied it on fully dry hair. I recommend using it only on your dried ends, not too near to your scalp… again, oily scalp aint pretty.

My favorite way of using this is to apply on my hair ends after straight ironing and leave on Vrai Argan Oil. When I do this at night, I wake up with easier to manage and less frizzy hair. lovely.

Ah, yes… the fragrance. I enjoyed the fresh floral scent of R&B. but bear in mind, this is not your watered down fruity floral colognes… this is jasmine. Not as jasmine-y as LUSH Jasmine and Henna Fluff-eaze. When applied over night, I wake up with softly scented hair. pleasant, but not too strong that it competes with my perfume of the day.

Bottomline,

Definitely repurchase for me! Dry hairs, frizzies… this is your heaven-sent moisturizer! Those with fine and normal hair… remember to apply with care on towel dried hair.