You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Beauty' category.
It would be ideal if I was willing to mosturize my body every night after shower/bath, but it’s such a pain having to rub the cream/oil all over my body for a few minutes for it to be absorbed by the skin. If I don’t rub it over and over the cream/oil would just sit on top of my skin giving me this greasy sensation. My prayer has been answered when I found Kiehl’s Superbly Restorative dry oil. I know it sounds funny when I say it’s oil but not oily at all. You’d have to try it to understand what I am talking about. The oil is absorbed by the skin immediately without much rubbing. It leaves my skin very smooth with a healthy glow.
What’s up with this hype? Majolica Mjoraca’s mascara was praised by magazines ever since its launch in Hong Kong. They kept saying how wonderful this mascara was so I finally gave it a try, and couldn’t be more disappointed. There are SEVERAL mascaras in the market that out perform the Mjolica Majorca’s. Shiseido positions this line as a drugstore brand targeting teenage girls and also those in their early 20s. The packaging is sweet and playful (should appeal to asian teens). Given its performance I would say this mascara is ridiculously expensive (HKD108). First I curled my lashes (FYI I have soft/fine hair), then I applied one coat of mascara. The texture of this mascara was very light but it managed to slowly drag down my lashes with just one coat of application. My lashes haven’t been darkened by much, did not lengthen, and did not become fuller. So the only thing that it did was to drag down my lashes without doing anything that a mascara should do. How magical was that?! I thought ok let me put another coat then curl my lashes again. One more coat and it did lengthen my lashes for a tiny bit but my lashes became totally flat!! I didn’t even bother to curl them again.
I started searching for the right eye cream when I was about to finish that tiny jar of La Prairie. Brand loyalty doesn’t apply to me coz I always wanna look for the next best thing when it comes to skincare products hehe. I use eye cream to keep my eyes firm, hydrated and also as a preventive measure (would hate myself for not taking good care of my skin). The quest continued for a week and I ended up getting the INTENSITÉ™ LES YEUX by RéVive. Here’s what the brand promises to deliver: A reparative, hydrating eye cream containing Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF) which helps plump the appearance of lines and wrinkles. The eye area will be smoother and brighter with a significant diminishment of dark circles, restoring a glowing, youthful expression to the entire face. The price is definitely on the steep side (about HKD1200 for 15ml) so it better shows results. Since I don’t have wrinkles I can’t tell if this product actually plumps the appearance of lines and wrinkles. The texture of this cream is light and velvety with no fragrance (which I like because fragrance does nothing to your face and I always feel that it actually harms the face in some ways unknown to me). My skin feels hydrated, moist and the little dry lines haven’t found me even in cold winter. I think this cream is pretty good for people in their 20s and 30s. There are quite a few praises on this product from women in their 40s even 50s. I’ve used Sisley’s, La Prairie’s Skin Caviar Eye Luxe Cream, La Prairie’s Anti-Aging Eye Cream SPF 15 and personally I think RéVive does a better job.
Available at Joyce Beauty in Hong Kong.
A good makeup remover removes all traces of makeup without drying out your skin. Makeup removers come in many forms so how do you know which one is the best? First of all, the most effective cleanser is ALWAYS oil based. Oil is always superior compared to other cleansing agents because makeup (especially heavy makeup) can only be totally desolved with oil. If you chose a non oil based product such as cleansing gel or cleansing form you’d have to leave it on your face for at least 5-10 minutes before it can soften and lift out your makeup. Here are 2 cleansing products that I absolutely love: Eve Lom’s cleanser and Shu Uemura’s cleansing oil. Both of them are oil based and able to remove makeup effectively. Shu Uemura’s more user friendly because you can rinse it off easily with water.
What is perfect looking skin? Smooth, even-toned, flawless, with a bit of healthy glow. Recently I’ve reignited my love for Cle de Peau because they’ve launched a fluid foundation which is lighter than the cream foundation and yet provides enough coverage. The texture is very smooth and easy to apply. I prefer to spread out the foundation with my fingers and then blend it with a sponge. Another advantage of using a sponge is that any excess foundation can be soaked up by the sponge leaving your skin with just enough foundation to do the job. The fluid foundation comes in 8 beautiful colors.
Sometimes when I wanna be quick and just put on a little makeup, I use their powdery foundation which is a lightweight compact that gives a matte finish. Almost forgot to mention the concealor stick that I’ve been using for many years. Absolutely love it!
Keeping your skin clean is the first important step in achieving and maintaining healthy looking skin. Deep cleansing done once or twice a week at home can seriously make a difference in the appearance of your skin. It addresses problems like dullness, excess oil, dirt, blemishes, inflammation etc. First of all, I hate scrubs. Any products that require scrubbing is a no no to me. I don’t like the idea of scrubbing my skin with liquid sand paper. I prefer products with fruit enzyme for exfoliation, and gentle clay for its natural drawing ability to suck out all the dirt and oil in your pores.
2 favorite products:
1. Dr. Hauschka Cleaning Clay Mask. I have normal to dry skin and my face doesn’t feel dry at all after using this product. The clay is in powder form. All you have to do is mix the clay with toner or mineral water, spread it on your skin and let it dry. Then rinse off. My skin is visibly cleaner, softer, more evenly toned and radiant after use. Suitable for all skin types. Highly recommended.
2. Z. Bigatti Impact Fruit Enzyme Mask. I just leave it on my skin for 3 minutes and my skin looks so bright and clean after. “Papain and Bromelain, natural but potent fruit enzymes, desquamate the dull outer layers of skin without irritation, as Impact Mask works rapidly to correct and repair. A generous milieu of botanicals rejuvenate the skin while antioxidants in Grape Seed and Green Tea combat environmental stress and exposure, known to contribute to skin aging.”
I have normal to dry skin and cream foundation is better for me. I use Prosays‘ transparent cream foundation. The thing about cream foundation is that you only need to use very little of it for the entire face. It makes my skin radiant and silky looking without looking heavy at all. My recent find is La Prairie’s skin caviar concealor/foundation SFP15. It’s a cream foundation that gives a dewy finish and long lasting ( I didn’t need to touch up after 8 hours). The color choices are great too.
Every hair stylist I met said this when they first met me: you have such fine and soft hair. That’s right…my hair is naturally fine and soft which means my biggest hair problem is not having enough body. That’s why I always have my hair dyed to mess up the texture a little bit. I also get a perm every 6 months to give my hair more body. Result: my hair gets dry. I’ve tried many different shampoo from cheap to expensive. Some of them were so rich they weighted my hair down. Others left my hair dry and tangled. Good news is that my friend Bonnie who’s a stylist recommended me a set of shampoo and conditioner by Milbon (ミルボン) and they did wonder to my hair. My hair is now light, silky smooth and doesn’t tangle up. Milbon is a Japanese brand and they have many lines and each line is further broken down by hair types. I use their Nigelle AX (S) line for fine colored hair. Japanese know how to make super good shampoo that smells oh so goooood.
When you wanna cover pimples and marks, you need a concealor that’s not liquid like to provide enough coverage and won’t wear off easily. My magic product is Sofina’s spots cover specialist. It comes in a tube with a sponge tip so you can dot the stuff on the spots that need to be covered. The texture is dry yet easy to apply which is perfect for the job. Absolutely my fav!! So now you all know the secret to my flawless face. 
We all know how important it is to protect our skin from the sun, but do you know you should apply sun block daily even when it’s not sunny? Just because it’s not sunny doesn’t mean there’s no UVA and UVB around. Make sure you apply enough sunscreen on your face, about 1.6ml which equals half a teaspoon. When you are out shopping for a sunblock, pay attention to these 2 readings:
1. PA (Protection factor of UVA) shows how effective a product is in fighting against UVA. The Japanese created the PA standard, and in Europe, PPD standard (persistant pigment darkening) is used to show UVA protection level. PA+++ is the same as PPD 8.
PA+ delays sun burn by 2 to 4 times
PA++ delays sun burn by 4 to 8 times
PA+++ delays sun burn by more than 8 times
2. SPF (Sun Protection Factor) shows how effective a product is in fighting against UVB.
UVA does more damage to our skin than UVB. It’s the cause of skin cancer, prematured aging like wrinkles and collagen loss. I like Shu Uemura Protection with SPF50 and PA+++. It’s not greasy, doesn’t make my face white, and smells good. Highly recommended.
