Beauty Hits & Misses (October + November)
It’s amazing how many new beauty products tirelessly flood the market and truthfully, I don’t possess the stamina, or the cash (much less the skin) to try them all. that said, finding the best beauty products for yourself isn’t just about your skin type etc. It’s about your own routine and personal preferences. For me, I’m a quick worker who likes to do several things at once, i.e. I’ll put on a hair mask, slap on a face mask and read a book all at once – so I like beauty treatments that work in time blocks. e.g. I’ll use a 15 min hair mask with a 15 min face mask, vice versa.
I also prefer liquid-type treatments rather than cream types, as cream types seem too rich for my skin. That said, after hearing a friend rave about how wonderful the Bodyshop’s Vitamin C Facial Radiance Capsules were, I decided to give them a go, even though they were cream based. Plus it didn’t hurt that I had my member’s discount during the time :)
First, vitamin C is an essential component for collagen synthesis. Without adequate vitamin C, the collagen in your skin would be malformed and your skin and gums would not heal properly.
Secondly, vitamin C is a potent antioxidant. Like other antioxidants, it helps to prevent skin damage and wrinkles by soaking up harmful free radicals.
- The Dermatology Blog
I’ll freely admit that the packaging and the amount of product kinda bugged me at first. but hey, it was a winner in the Cleo Beauty Hall of Fame 2011, so no harm trying right? On first application, one definitely smells a very strong citrus scent, which won’t be a problem for those who don’t mind that type of smell. The cream doesn’t sink into the skin as quickly as my L’oreal creams do, but the after-effects – oh! I have never felt my skin feel so smooth and tight. It’s a pity that the effect doesn’t seem to last past an hour but I’m crossing my fingers and hoping that in the long run, my skin will become pretty awesome :)
Why capsules, you ask? Isn’t it environmentally unfriendly?
…topical vitamin C is highly degradable. When exposed to air it oxidizes and its free radical soaking capabilities are muted — it becomes an inert, yet nicely citrus fragranced, cream. This is obvious if you have a vitamin C cream at home; you will see that the cream around the cap turns brown (like an apple slice) indicating that the vitamin C in it has oxidized.
The Dermatology Blog
If there was one thing I ever had to criticize about The Bodyshop, it’ll be that they don’t ever have enough product description on their products – but given how I experienced the effects of this, I’m inclined to repurchase again, even with its hefty price tag of SGD $45.90. Wait for the sale people, wait for it!
Seeing that my Sephora foundation was depleting at an alarming rate, I decided to get new foundation – this time I was thinking of switching back to liquid, which typically has better, smoother coverage. Plus, when applying foundation in a hurry on sleepy mornings, I sometimes ended up with rather obvious swipes of powder on my face due to my careless, sleepy-eyed strokes. oops, embarrassing!
With its declarative name, Rimmel London’s Stay Matte Foundation sounded pretty awesome, promising up to 12 hours of matte coverage – but it was a rather huge disappointment. I don’t know whether it’s because I just have awfully oily skin or if it’s not suited for a tropical climate, but I got 4 hours of matte wear, tops. maybe 6 hours on a good day, which pretty much brings it below par when compared to my ZA foundation
The coverage is also pretty meh, it’s too fluid to do much, so I end up layering with powder foundation, which is a must because it leaves the face feeling kinda sticky, i.e. it’s not the fluid-to-powder type of foundation and you definitely need to layer powder on top to help it “set”.
Last but not least, my Bodyshop “Kiss of Colour Cheek Blush“. Basically, it’s a spring-loaded sponge that presses against the blush when it’s kept, so once you open it, out pops the sponge with the blush colour already on it. Simply dab the sponge onto the desired area of your cheek and tada! It’s done. Very quick, very fast and very easy. While the pigment in the blush is not its strong point (really, it’s hardly visible, depending on what shade of foundation i happen to be using.. ), but I love it for the shimmer, plus its fun and easy to use. So if you’re looking for an easy, fuss free product that gives a natural look, I’d recommend this. Not sure if i’ll repurchase though!
Stay tuned for our Beauty Hits & Misses every few months!
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A Wonderfully Short Week!
With the Presidential Elections & Hari Raya, it’s been a wonderfully short week! I’m absolutely luxuriating in all the rare leisure time I get to enjoy & unlike most of my other work weeks, I actually feel quite refreshed & energetic! Most weekends just aren’t long enough. *sigh*
& lucky me, this weekend was even more awesome, thanks to some $$ from MBS, whoohoo!
& this mind you, is pure winnings. I actually won $443 in total (but got greedy so gambled the $43 away) and minus the entrance fee, I came out $300 richer! YEAH! But first, a disclaimer:
I am by no means advocating gambling as a get-rich-quick method or a wise way to “invest” your money. I just happened to be lucky.
That said, I was also a pretty stingy gambler, which is why, I THINK, I got out pretty unscathed. I went in only with $200 ($100 for entrance fee, $100 to play) & I only played the 1cent – 5 cent machines. I only tried the 10 cent machines once! Plus, since i’m wasn’t too keen on the card games, I just played the bright shiny flashing machines that made me happy. HAHA gawd i sound like such a bimbo but hey, I’m the girl who made money! lol. The bf who played the cards lost, but in the end I *subsidised* him and everything ended well :)
Sad to say though, we really and truly felt like foreigners in the Casino – in our home country! It’s really worse than public transport, mostly because there’s no entrance fee for foreigners AND there’s a constant flow of free drinks. I got quite peeved when they kept swarming the drinks cart… & everytime I eventually got to approach the nice service staff, they would tell me that they had run out of milo, or coffee or tea :(
Well, with my new found wealth, I decided to treat myself! We headed for a post-dinner treat at TWG tea, which wasn’t as fantastic as I’ve heard it to be – we had their savoury crepe with a scoop of ice cream. The ice cream was really unique and fantabulous, but the crepe can’t beat those from Canele.
& I got new make up!
[left] Sephora Blush [right] Sephora Mattifying Foundation
The minute I saw this blush, I immediately fell in love with it. It wasn’t as shiny or as bright as Benefit’s Bimba Lola, nor as matte as the Bodyshop blusher I’ve had for the longest time. That said, it’s a pretty sheer colour & one definitely needs to put on more than a few swipes before the colour looks more noticeable. At $23, it’s pricier than drugstore brands but for such a pretty colour, I don’t regret it!
The Mattifying Foundation isn’t really that mattifying – then again, we’re talking about my insanely oily skin here. *sigh*. It’s no better than most drugstore brands but it does feel really light and gives good coverage. Most importantly, unlike most compact foundations, it doesn’t look too chalky or powdery after application, plus it doesn’t dry out my skin. So for $27, it’s not bad but I’m unsure if I’ll purchase this again.
Here’s the description from the Sephora website
Smooth and feather light, our pressed powder foundation glides over the skin and leaves your complexion looking like sheer perfection. This unique formulation includes Nylon 12, for excellent adherence and long wear. Plus it may be applied wet or dry, depending on the coverage you desire. Try applying over liquid foundation in place of powder for a poreless, porcelain finish.
Anyway, since we had yet another public holiday this week, the bf and I decided to head for our favourite chill-out activity: Prawning! This time, instead of going to our usual haunt (Bishan) we decided to check out the new place over at Punggol, since that’s where his new house will be in time to come :)
Although it’s under the same management as the prawning place at bishan, Punggol’s pond has the unique distinction of having 3 types: fishing, crabbing & prawning – with two different types of prawns too! (fresh water and sea water). I was amazed and pretty freaked out at the size of the fish. They were a good 30cm long each, some of the larger ones probably spanned 45cm or more!
It’s a very poor picture of the fishes, I know! But believe me, they were huge. The prices also differ accordingly. For prawning/crabbing, it’s the normal graduated rate as follows:
- 1st hour: $15
- 2 hours: $25
- 3 hours: $30
So we always get the 3 hour package, it just makes more sense! Unfortunately, we weren’t so lucky this time round and didn’t catch as many prawns *sigh* We DID see some one catch a crab though! However, because the fish were so big, no one dared to give it a shot, much to my disappointment. I would’ve loved to see someone try! It costs $5 / line to catch a fish (i.e. if your line breaks you gotta get a new one, but if you skillfully snag all the fish in the pond with just one line, it’ll cost you only $5)
Yep! so all in all, a great weekend + public holiday :D
just three more days til the next weekend! whee!!
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More than one of everything…
In my makeup box, I have more than one shade of foundation. Why? Well I do believe that when it comes to make up, it just makes sense to match everything in a colour palette. Blame it on my obsession with always being matchy-matchy, but I personally swear by using different shades of foundation for different make up looks. & by “different” shade i don’t mean shades that are a few tones apart, I mean shades that are pink-based, brown-based or yellow-based, but all almost the same colour.
Everyday minerals’ Kaolin Powder in Soft Bronze is pretty much my default au naturale shade for the day. With it, I usually match with soft gold, or varying tones of brown eyeshadow, with a muted mauve mascara and nude lips. This foundation looks great in yellow light, but isn’t so awesome in white light, where it tends to look slightly more pale. So I prefer to wear it in the day rather than at night.
Undeniably, certain women look better in certain clothes, mostly because they also have the makeup to match. Besides my au naturale set, I also have a set that’s for a tanner look – mostly for when I’m off for picnics, or am wearing beachy clothes, etc. With this, I do an extra step of using bronzer to sculpt the hollows of my cheeks and I also prefer coral lipstick. Za’s two way foundation in 22/32 (yellow base/pink base) is my go-to foundation for this look. Mostly also because everything in this set is slightly darker than the first, facial blemishes look less obvious and it’s more flattering in harsh white light.
Last but not least, the snow white set! For this I use maybelline’s compact foundation in the lightest shade, which isn’t discernably far from my natural shade, just a tad lighter. With this, i hardly ever go for soft or nude complements, as they would just make me look washed out. Instead, I go for dramatically lined eyes, mascara and red lips, with a touch of pink on the cheeks (see why I call this the Snow White set?) Of course, at times I do just go easy on everything, except the eyes.
So you see, there’s no such thing as a makeup “look” that won’t suit you – it just really depends on knowing how to match the colour palette for the look! so go experiment! step a little out of your comfort zone of routine make up colours & discover a whole new face to show the world :D
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Product Review: Bodyshop Mineral Foundation
Not too long ago, I purchased the Bodyshop’s Mineral Foundation. Here’s my review of it, comparing it to Everyday Mineral’s foundation, which for the past two years has been my staple.
Introducing first, the Everyday Minerals Kaolin Soft Powder Bronze foundation. It’s a very light mineral foundation that can be layered on for a thicker coverage. It’s semi-sheer and the perfect shade for me. Moreover, as it’s from the “anti-shine” range of foundations from the store, it helps keep my face matte for 2-3 hours (as compared to liquid foundations etc which do nothing at all for my skin).
After introducing this foundation to a close friend of mine, she noticed that it was almost waterproof! Unlike other foundations, it did not run and stayed on her face quite nicely. Moreover, I also appreciate the fact that unlike other foundations I’ve tried before, this does not oxidise and turn orangey on me, which is not a flattering effect.
Container-wise, The Bodyshop’s Mineral Foundation SPF25 is smaller, but easier to work with. The Everyday Minerals’ container only has six holes on one side for the powder to come out, but the Bodyshop’s has a sifter to ensure that the mineral foundation remains loose and is not clumpy. Oddly though, I still found that the Everyday Minerals’ formula spread across my face more easily and more evenly. The Bodyshop formula tended to “stick” to where I first put my brush and it was more difficult to spread it evenly around. I also used a lot more product.
Coverage wise, the Bodyshop definitely wins hands down, I only need one layer to gain my desired coverage. However, some may find it abit too thick, especially since it’s mineral foundation, which is supposed to be light and sheer. It’s not as great when it comes to mattifying, but I’m not complaining as it stays on the whole day without turning into an oily mess.
My verdict? For the price and quantity, I’m going for Everyday Minerals. Quality wise they’re both on par, it really depends on what you prefer. I personally prefer a lighter foundation that lets my skin breathe more easily, plus it’s also easier to apply, hence my choice.
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Our Quirky Loves
