Updated Skin Care Routine Part 2

As promised from my last post, this post will be about my daily skincare routine part 2. I’ve stuck to this routine for about 2 weeks now and I’m feeling pretty good about my skin. As the saying goes, “There are no ugly girls, only lazy ones.” – this is very true. I wished my mom actually introduced me to skincare at a much younger age. I find that most girls know how to wear make-up but the one thing they are mostly clueless about is how to remove their make-up and take care of their skin! Taking care of your skin is really important and it shouldn’t be undermined.

Ever since I started working at Lush, I was introduced to more cosmetics and beauty products. I started using them and exploring brands outside of Lush over the last couple of years. When I was a polytechnic student, I used to use the Ettusais skincare range. It worked well for my skin then and stuck to the Ettusais routine for more than a year. After that, I started using Lush because I work at Lush. My entire skincare and body products were from Lush until 2012 when my skin took a bad turn. I still do not know why – maybe it’s the changing hormones or my skin got too used to the Lush products. I started looking for alternatives. (p/s: Don’t get me wrong, Lush products are still great but if you know cosmetics, you would know that different types of skincare products work for different types of skin. I still use a ton of products from Lush. :D)

 

 

 

My day time routine is much simpler and shorter. I cleanse my skin in the morning with either Innisfree’s Apply Juicy Foaming Cleanser or St. Ives Green Tea Scrub. Sometimes, when I feel that my skin needs a little bit more care (especially when I break out during that time of the month), I use Lush Fresh Farmacy. After that, I use Lush Eau Roma Water. After toner, these are the following steps for my morning skincare routine:-

1. Kiehl’s Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution
2. Kiehl’s Line-Reducing Eye-Brightening Concentrate
3. Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream
4. Kiehl’s Ultra Light Daily UV Defense

After these, I just slap on make-up.

 

For the night, I usually remove my make-up with Innisfree Juicy Apple Lip/Eye Make-up Remover and Juicy Apple Cleansing Oil. Read my blog post on my Updated Skincare Routine (Part 1) to find out more about how I cleanse my skin with Innisfree products. After removing my make-up, I use my Lush Eau Roma Water again or Kiehl’s Calendula Toner. Then I would follow-up with the steps below:-

1. Kiehl’s Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution
2. Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Cocentrate
3. Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Eye Cream
4. Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream OR Innisfree Green Tea Pure Sleeping Pack
5. EOS Lip Balm in Strawberry Sorbet

Updated Skin Care Routine Part 1

Over the past couple of months, my skincare routine has kind of changed. I was in the process of trying out new products from different brands and seeing what’s suitable for me. Lately, I’ve been trying a handful of products from a Korean brand, Innisfree and have been loving them all!

 

I wear make-up almost every day and on most days, I would definitely use some sort of eye make-up like mascara, eyeliner or sometimes, eye shadow. I use to hate putting on mascara because I wasn’t able to remove my mascara with a good make-up remover. However, I’ve now found one and would most likely stick to it for a really long time! The first step to removing my make-up is the eyes and I use Innisfree’s Apple Juicy Lip/Eye Remover. This product is so value for money and amazing! It removes literally all my eye make-up, even waterproof mascaras. I realized that this is probably one of their best-selling products in Singapore because it’s always sold out. A bottle, which is about 100ml, would last me about 2 months.

The second step to removing the rest of my make-up is using their Apply Juicy Cleansing Oil. I was initially a little hesitant about trying out their cleansing oil because I’ve used Shu Uemura’s cleansing oil for a very long time. I wanted to look for a cheaper alternative and I believed I have found one with this product. In comparison, it definitely isn’t as good as the Shu Uemura cleansing oil (which is several times the price) as it doesn’t emulsify as well. However, I find that it does the job of removing my make-up and really just making my skin feel soft and supple afterwards.

The last step to making sure every trace of make-up is removed from my skin is the Innisfree Apple Juicy Deep Cleansing Foam. To be honest, I haven’t used a liquid/cream foaming cleanser for about 2 years. The only foaming cleanser I have used in this couple of years is Lush’s Fresh Farmacy – that’s about it. Even with Fresh Farmacy, I don’t use it every day because it makes my skin feel squeaky clean and personally, I dislike that feeling. I only use it for deep cleansing days. However, with the Innisfree Apply Juicy Deep Cleansing Foam, it cleanses my skin gently without making it feel totally stripped off of its natural moisture.

As you can see, I really am loving their Apply Juicy range of products. I love the scent and the best part about Innisfree products is that they are natural and preservative-free. For people out there who is very particular about their products being paraben-free, you should try Innisfree. It’s affordable and effective. I’ve been trying out a couple of other products from them like their sheet masks, capsule masks and sleeping masks – which I will review soon here.

After cleansing my skin, my skin care routine in the morning and night differs slightly a little. I’m currently using most of the products from Kiehls for after-cleanse. I will elaborate more on my next post!

Review: Innisfree

Apple Juicy Lip/Eye Remover, Olive Real Cleansing Tissue

Innisfree, a brand from Korea, Jeju Island landed in Singapore about two weeks ago. I stepped into the store the second time today and managed to get a couple of things for myself and some christmas presents for my friends. I haven’t read much about the brand but the last time I was there, I wanted to get the Apple Juicy Lip/Eye Remover but it was sold out! Today, I quickly grabbed it when I saw it.

The Apple Juicy Lip/Eye Remover is S$11 for the 100ml bottle, which I thought was pretty value for money. All of the products are pretty low to mid-range prices. I was wearing full eye make-up today, with waterproof mascara, eyeshadow with primer underneath, eyebrows drawn and eyeliner. I used 2 cotton pads with this product and it removed everything, even my mascara. Wonderful, I’d say considering it being just $11 and it smells awesome too!

After removing my eye make-up with that, I used just one sheet of the Olive Real Cleansing Tissue to remove the rest of my face make-up. I kid you not, this product does its job pretty damn well. I was with full foundation today, powder, bronzer and blush. I used just one sheet of this and used a sheet of my Simple make-up wipe to test if there’s any remnants of make-up. No traces at all! Not only did it remove all of my make-up, it is really moisturizing because of the olive oil inside. Don’t ask me how they do it. I thought the Simple cleansing wipes were rather awesome already, but this tops it! I wouldn’t use it everyday though because I don’t really have super dry skin. However, I will recommend this to anyone who has very dry skin or who’s living in really cold weather. It removes your make-up, cleanses your skin and hydrates it. It’s just S$8 for 30 sheets. So, I guess one pack will last you for a month if you use one every day? Pretty worth it, I’d say!

In all, I rate the two products as follows:-

Apple Juicy Lip/Eye Remover – 4/5 stars

Olive Real Cleansing Tissue – 4.5/5 stars

I’m definitely going back to try more of their products very soon!!!

Updated Skincare Regime

 

 

It’s been quite a while since I last wrote here! Been really busy with school… I’m in the last week of school for the term and the projects and presentations are driving me crazy. So I’ve decided to take a breather by showing you guys my updated skincare regime as of the month of November! Below are just some of the products that I find myself grabbing most often.

I wash cleanse my face at least twice a day but with more emphasis on my night routine as I do wear a bit of make-up every day. I’ll talk about the products in terms of how I use them.

CLEANSING

In the morning, I use LUSH’s Let the Good Times Roll facial cleanser which is made of maize flour, polenta and corn oil. It’s 100% natural and preservative-free. This cleanser debuted last Christmas and I instantly fell in love with it. Angels on Bare Skin used to be my holy grail cleanser but THIS, beats AOBS hands down for me. The smell is just so yummy too – and it stays on the skin! Since I’m done with my Shu Uemura cleansing oil, I now use Bioderma’s Sensibio H20 to remove my make-up and cleanse my skin at night. It’s an all-in-one product that’s really gentle and soap-free. It doesn’t remove waterproof make-up like mascara that well though, so you might have to use another eye make-up remover. However, I seldom use mascara so this works well for me.

TONING & MOISTURIZING

I use LUSH’s Eau Roma Water mostly both day and night nowadays. Sometimes, I use the Breath of Fresh Air in the morning, depending on my mood. I’ve been using BOFA for almost 1.5 years and recently fell in love with Eau Roma Water. It’s made of just lavender water and rose water – so it’s really gentle, calming and soothing. For moisturizer, I’ve been using Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream both day and night. It’s a wonderful product that is not overrated (I must say).

SERUMS & EYE CREAM

I must admit that I do not use the two travel sized samples of Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery and Dark Spot Corrector every night. But when I do use the Midnight Recovery, I wake up with dewy skin. The Dark Spot Corrector worked for my stubborn blemishes which I wanted to clear. So, I definitely would recommend these two products. For eye cream, I’ve been using Kiehl’s Line-reducing Eye-brightening Concentrate which has vitamin C. I love this but I won’t use it every night as well. I want to try Kiehl’s Avocado eye cream soon.

SUNSCREEN

I cannot emphasize my LOVE for this sunscreen from Kiehl’s! It’s really ultra light like what the name says, Ultra Light Daily UV Defense. I use this product every single day after my morning skincare regime. It feels really good. I hate products that make my skin feel greasy in the day and this works really awesome! I have been recommending this to all my friends and family. Definitely repurchasing this after I’m done with my current one. It is a little pricey for a sunscreen but it’s totally worth your money.

 

Hope you liked this post. Still on the lookout to try more skincare products and see what works best for my skin! 🙂 Let me know if I should try any skincare products that you highly recommend! 🙂

3rd Lush Christmas

1st row: Gold Fun, Let the Good Times Roll, Buche de Noel, Christmas Eve
2nd row: So White, Rose Jam, Snow Globe, Santa’s Lip Scrub, Sandy Santa
3rd row: Melting Snowman, Lord of Misrule, Shoot for a Star, Luxury Lush Pud, Penguin, Secret Santa

This year marks my 3rd Christmas with Lush and I admit, it does feel a little nostalgic and special. It all started 2 years ago in Christmas after all when we open our first shop in Singapore on 3rd December 2011. Back then, I will not deny that I knew nothing about what this journey will be like. Neither did I think that I will be celebrating my 3rd Lush Christmas. I still remembered how Lauren from the UK told us that she counts the number of Christmases that she has been with Lush to tell how long she has been working here. 🙂

Most people might not understand but Christmas at Lush is indeed huge! It really does feel like you are celebrating Christmas even if you don’t. Looking at all the Christmas products makes one feel like yay, it’s bonus time! They come up with the best ever inventions every single year. I still remember being able to see what’s for Christmas in 2012 at Lush Fest. It was amazing. I remembered how I screamed like crazy when they unveiled Twilight as the new shower gel! Never have I been so excited. Still gutted that Twilight isn’t coming back this year, meh.

This year’s Christmas products are all about three things: 1) Innovation, 2) Invention and 3) Spectacular Christmas and Lush for Life! We say Lush for Life because most of the scents of this year’s products will be familiar scents – you can link them easily with our permanent all-year-round products. There are a handful of new products this year and some, not so new ones. One thing’s for sure is that the returning products all had a lot of improvements made to them! Another special news is that the products that has vanilla absolute are all fair-traded (World’s first!). Also, the two new body lotions, Celebrate and Sikkim Girls are preservative-free! Exciting, isn’t it?

I’m just gonna share with you guys some of my picks from this Christmas!

• Ultimate favorite Christmas product: Christmas Eve bubble bar
• Favourite product from 2013: Secret Santa bath ballistic (because it smells like a Lush shop, not kidding!)
• Favourite bath product(s): Secret Santa bath ballistic, Penguin bubble bar, Christmas Eve bubble bar, Golden Wonder bath ballistic
• Favourite shower product(s): Rose Jam shower gel, Sandy Santa body butter
• Favourite soap(s): Snow Cake, Noriko, Snow Globe

Tell me what’s your favorite product from this year’s Lush Christmas range! 🙂 I might do a more in-depth post about some of the products soon. 😉 Till then.

Review: Lush’s A Crash Course in Skincare Fresh Face Mask

A couple of weeks ago, Melissa went to South Korea and I knew I had to ask her to get A Crash Course in Skincare fresh face mask for me there! This mask is discontinued about a couple of years ago and I believe South Korea is probably the only country that still manufactures this mask.

Ingredients: Fresh Avocado, Kaolin, Natural Yoghurt, Glycerine, Talc, Fresh Lemon Juice, Sandalwood Oil, Lavender Oil, Lemongrass Oil, Chamomile Oil, *Citral, *Geraniol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume (*Occurs naturally in essential oils)

This mask is possibly one of my favorite masks from Lush to date! The consistency of the mask is amazing – ultra smooth and easy to apply. I doubt I have ever used a mask made locally with such consistency. After rinsing it off, my face feels cleansed, soft and smooth. I love the smell of it too – with two of my favorite essential oils in it, lavender and sandalwood oil.

It costs 18,700 KRW which is about S$22. I wish this mask wasn’t discontinued. Definitely repurchasing whenever I have the chance to. I spoke to one of my Lush Korea friends a few days ago and she was telling me this is their best selling fresh face mask after Mask of Magnaminty!

First Purchase from Kiehl’s!

As the title says, this is my first purchase ever from Kiehl’s! I’ve always wanted to try their products but never got down to buying any of them because I thought they were too expensive. Besides, I found it a bit intimidating to walk into the local Kiehl’s stores. I don’t know if it’s the white gowns that the sales assistants don on or sometimes, some of the sales assistants at some stores are just plain arrogant. I’ve gotten the “Don’t waste my time. You can’t afford this.” look many times from a couple of stores in town. It’s quite a turn off really.

However, sometime a few weeks back, I actually entered the Kiehl’s store at Suntec City while I was window shopping with Adriana. I wanted to just check out their Ultra Facial Cream, which was highly recommended by Vinci. I was greeted by a very friendly, Janelle (I hope I got her name right). She demo-ed the Ultra Facial Cream on me and thoroughly explained what is it good for. She also asked me about my skin type and showed me other moisturizers in their product range.

I must say that I was convinced pretty quickly. Besides, it was only S$48 for a 50ml tub – which I thought was pretty reasonable for a tub of moisturizer. Of course, you don’t compare it with drugstore brands where you can buy off the shelves of Watson’s. If you compare it with brands like Lush, L’occitane and Crabtree & Evelyn, it’s very reasonable.

There was an ongoing promotion on that day whereby if I spent S$120, I could become a member and get 2 travel sized products. So, I picked out another product – the Line-Reducing Eye-Brightening Concentrate (retailing at S$72). This was introduced to me by Janelle. Kiehl’s has a number of eye creams and it can be a little overwhelming when I try to compare them to see what’s suitable for me. I wanted something to help with fine lines and dark circles. Therefore, Janelle recommended me this particular eye cream. It’s from the Kiehl’s Dermatologist Solutions line.

Janelle gave me a ton of samples to try. It was so overwhelming! I took home the Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution serum and Midnight Recovery Concentrate travel size samples. Apart from that, I got samples like the sunscreen, BB cream, Biological Peel etc. I tried the sunscreen samples when I got home, which lasted me about 8-10 days for 2 sachets and super loved it! After my samples were finished, I made another trip down to the Suntec City outlet to purchase the full size product.

I got the Ultra Light Daily UV Defense with SPF 50 PA+++ sunscreen (retailing for S$52). It’s really ultra light like what the packaging says and that’s what I love most about it. Again, I was given more samples to try and this time round, I got a sample of the Calendula Toner which so many of my friends have been raving about. I had to try it.

I have been using these 3 products for a few weeks right now and loving them! 🙂 Can’t wait to try more products and see how it goes.

p/s: Also, if any of you out there would like to check out Kiehl’s, I highly recommend the Suntec City outlet as it is probably one of the Kiehl’s stores that doesn’t intimidate me that much when I walk in. I don’t know if it’s because it’s relatively quiet so the sales assistants there tend to give you a lot of attention. However, comparing it with my other recent experiences at the Tangs and Ion outlets, both outlets pale in comparison to the Suntec City outlet in terms of service.

Review: Lush’s Catastrophe Cosmetic Fresh Face Mask

I’m back with a new review this week. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that my skin was slightly peeling and I needed something to calm my skin down. What’s better than Lush’s Catastrophe Cosmetic fresh face mask, right?

 

Catastrophe Cosmetic is one of my favorite fresh face masks from Lush. In fact, I think it’s my number 1 go-to fresh face mask. I do love the others like Love Lettuce and BB Seaweed, but THIS, is just amazing! Let me start with the ingredients first then I’ll get down to what I really love about this mask!

Full ingredient list for Catastrophe Cosmetic

Looking at the ingredient list, calamine powder is the first ingredient on it which is the essence of this face mask. Calamine helps to calm your skin down and gets rid of redness or soreness. Another exciting feature of this mask has got to be the fresh blueberries! If you do not know this by now, blueberries are antioxidant. The best part about fresh face masks is that it’s 100% natural with no preservatives and chemicals!!!

What’s so great about this mask, you ask? It’s gotta be something when it’s one of the top best sellers globally, right? In my opinion, this mask is suitable for any skin types. It is so calming and gentle for the skin – even suitable for the younger crowd! It’s a fuss-free mask which really helps to calm your skin down in times of trouble. If you experience peeling, redness, soreness or congested skin, definitely do give Catastrophe Cosmetic a try! Even when you are experiencing breakouts, this mask will not clear your break outs but it will soothe it and lighten the redness or soreness. The after-effects of this face mask is clearer and brighter skin!

Me with the mask being applied on my face

If there is something that I don’t really like about this mask is that it dries out very quickly. I’m guessing it’s because of the calamine. Calamine, for a fact, can be slightly drying if overused. However, I counter this problem with applying the mask on for about 5-7 minutes and rinsing it off no longer than that. In fact, most people like to put it on for about 5 minutes. Anything more than 7 minutes or so, you’d find that it flakes off and can be difficult to wash off.

All in all, this is definitely one of my ultimate favorite products from Lush! I believe many would agree too. If you haven’t tried this, you definitely should!

Review: LUSH Mask of Magnaminty

I’ve been with Lush for more than 1 and a half years but I can’t believe I have only recently discovered my love for all-time Lushie’s favorite products like Ultrabland and Mask of Magnaminty. My love for Mask of Magnaminty (MoM) started about 2-3 months ago when I purchased a super fresh small tub of MoM. I’ve used it before when I first started working at Lush but didn’t really seem to love it that much – I really have NO idea why!

MoM is only of our best sellers in Singapore and I believe it is world wide too. It is such an awesome face mask! After being with Lush all these time, I have come to realize that a product really works best when it’s fresh. In my opinion, I have found that products made within the first 6 months of manufacture is the best. I’m saying this with experience as I have stocked up on many Lush products during my trip to UK last year and have compared it with the new ones that I have repurchased. In terms of appearance, consistency and efficacy, I really love it when it’s FRESH! After all, FRESH IS BEST in Lush, isn’t it? 😉

 

The MoM that I have now is made by the lovely Wiola on the 3rd July 2013 and will last me through 3rd November 2013. MoM only has a short shelf life of 4 months and after purchasing MoM for a handful of times, I realized that it’s best used within the first 2 months. I love it when it’s still moist and fresh. Although it lasts you for 4 months, I find that it will dry up when it approaches the end of the 3rd month of its shelf life.

 

Teehee, that’s me with MoM! Customers always ask how much or how thick a layer should they put on and my reply will be something thick enough to cover my whole face to make it opaque. I know some people like to spread just a thin layer but I find that the thicker it is, the better it feels for me – so that’s how I do it all the time. I typically leave it on for 5-10 minutes (as instructed) and use warm water to rinse it off after. 🙂

Why is MoM so good, you ask? It has the simplest but the best ingredients ever!

 

The bentonite gel, being the main ingredient actually helps to cleanse the skin and extract all the dirt and oil from the skin. It also helps to tighten the pores. What I love most is the peppermint oil and the ground aduki beans! The peppermint makes my skin feel tingly and the ground aduki beans are just the right texture of exfoliants for the skin. MoM really suits all types of skin – whether you just want a face mask to relax your skin, cleanse your skin or minimize pores, this mask is for you!

I’ve tried the much raved about ‘Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask’ which some people say it’s a dupe for Lush’s Mask of Magnaminty and I can guarantee you that it is nothing close to the latter. If you think that it’s awesome, you probably haven’t tried MoM yet!

Skincare Routine

I recently saw a post on the Lush Staff Room about Ultrabland and everyone was raving about it. For some reason, it never really sold well in Singapore. Most of the employees locally weren’t into Ultrabland as well. Having read reviews that this is the only product that helped people with their problematic skin and got rid of their blemishes and redness, I really wanted to try it! So, I jumped onto the Ultrabland bandwagon and attempted the 1-month Ultrabland challenge.

I’m coming to a full month soon. The first week of using it, I actually sprayed Breath of Fresh Air (toner) onto my cotton pads to remove it after massaging it all over my face to remove my make up. One week into it, I decided to do warm water instead of toner as I realized I was wasting too much toner. Boy, I was glad that I changed it into warm water because it worked so much better for my skin! It removes my make up effortlessly and makes my skin feel soft and smooth.

In terms of blemishes, I haven’t really seen much improvement though but I’m gonna continue using this until I run out of my Ultrabland. I actually bought one last year in July from the UK and didn’t use it till last month. It’s gonna expire soon and I thought I just might as well try it. I finished a small 45g tub in about 3 weeks and got another fresh 45g tub once I finished that. I was contemplating on the 100g one but I was still in the trial mode. Now, I think I would definitely repurchase the 100g one which can probably last me for 2 months if I use it daily.

Keep checking this space for more updates on how Ultrabland works for my skin. 🙂

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On a side note, I shall list what I’ve been using on my skin recently.

• Lush Ultrabland Facial Cleanser
• Lush Breath of Fresh Air Toner
• Lush Gorgeous Facial Moisturizer
• HABA Sunscreen Stick
• Lush Mask of Magnaminty Face & Back Mask
• Lush Fresh Farmacy Facial Cleanser