All The Things I Can't Live Without...

By now, if you've been a loyal reader of my blog, you'd know that I take bi-annual trips into Malaysia for holidays. And this time is no different. Before the trip starts, I'll always roughly plan what items I want to get there, just because makeup, nail polishes and a whole ton of stuff are so cheap there.

So here's what I bought this time:

Not a lot huh? Hah, that's because I spent a day and night in one of the highlands, where there's no shopping and only scenery. Which was really relaxing, I'll show you guys in the next post.

But my target items this time was:

1) Cleansing oil = got it!

2) Rimmel lipsticks = got only one, but still got it!

3) Keeping to my nail polish ban...which I obviously failed. But I have a valid reason, you'll see in a while!

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So first up, I dutifully got my cleansing oil. I was looking for one that was affordable, since this is my first time trying the stuff out, and this Biore one costs RM$17.50 only! It retails for $12-14+ in SG I believe, but I got it for half the price. *thumbs up* And I got the Sunkiller BB Perfect Strong sunscreen on a wimp, just because it's not available in SG and I'm forever looking for a HG sunscreen. This costs RM$33, if I remember correctly.

Here's the product description on the back of the packaging.

I like it that the fluid is very lightweight and yet, it isn't mostly made up of alcohol (which a lot of Japanese lightweight sunscreens are). And of course, how they tell you how much to use each time and how many applications the bottle can last, ha ha!

Then I also dutifully got myself a Rimmel lipstick, in the shade "Undressed".

I wanted to really haul on the lipsticks but after swatching all the shades, I only really liked this colour. It's really cheap in Malaysia (RM$17), but maybe the colour selection wasn't all that fantastic. Many shades were frosty, which I don't like.

Then, lo and behold, I discovered essence cosmetics in a Watsons at Sungei Wang, KL! If you guys haven't heard of the brand, it's a budget cosmetics brand in UK (like really budget, everything only costs 1-2 pounds there). Quite elusive in Asia I think, cause this is the first time I've seen it in Malaysia despite holidaying there every year.

I grabbed 2 eyeliners and 2 lip liners. The skin-toned one is a Stila kajal liner rip-off, the shade "Almost Famous" in the Long Lasting eye pencil range (RM$7); the white one is a pearly, shimmery white pencil called "White Divine" in the Metallic range (RM$8); and the bottom 2 are the lip liners in "Nude Coral" and "Red Blush" (RM$6 each). All 4 pencils are made in Germany, the land of both branded and budget eyeliners.

I've always wanted a shimmery skin-toned eyeliner to get that wide-eyed look, and the white metallic one reminded me of the Lancome eyeliner that Michelle Phan always uses in her videos for her brow bone and inner corners of her eyes, so I grabbed them both. And they're so affordable too! Also, I've been meaning to get a red lip liner to do a bold red lip, so in goes the 2 lip liners (corals and peach are always my colour weakness).

Here's a swatch of all the products mentioned so far:

On the top and bottom most left is the Sunkiller Perfect Strong BB, both unblended and blended out. This gives a good amount of coverage, isn't too pale or pink-toned and it sets to a matte, powdery finish. Next to that is the Rimmel lipstick swatch, a nice neutral lip colour. Then comes the lip liners in "Red Blush" and "Nude Coral", and the eyeliners in "White Divine" and "Almost Famous".

You can see the skin-toned long lasting eyeliner still sticks stubbornly to my skin despite me having wiped everything else off. Not bad!

And then I saw these. These things that made me break my perfect 6-month polish ban record!

It's because they're so special and so cheap, no one can resist them! The bronzy one was RM$10, while the other two were RM$7 each.

The polish on the left is "No. 43, Where Is The Party?" and it's a beautiful purple-green duochrome! I'm not sure if it's visible in the picture, but the sides of the bottle always shines green, then graduating into a slight murky yellow and finally a deep purple. It is amazing. The polish on the right is "No. 38, Choose Me!" (and yeah, I did choose you) and it's a dead-on dupe of OPI's "Catch Me In Your Net". Who can resist that beautiful blue-green with gold sparkles?

Now this one you've gotta see, magnetic nail polish!

Yeah, I bought the little magnet that you're suppose to use it with, which I shouldn't have cause it's quite weak. But zomg, the polish! The shade is "No. 02, Copper Rulez!", and it's a gorgeous bronzy, brown shade with golden and copper sparkles! And apparently iron too, cause it totally creates the designs you see in that little pamphlet.

Nail polish swatches~

(Zomwidqqbidubsvfffff at that teal polish with that sick gold sheen!)

You can see the waves of brown-black in that magnetic bronze polish, those are caused by holding the magnet above the wet polish for about 30 seconds.

And of course the duochrome polish, which always never fails to make me stare at my nails 24/7 and make me look like an idiot.

See, told you I had a valid reason for getting these!

Last of my haul, clothes finally. The grey cardigan costs only RM$25 and the 2800 Denier leggings only RM$17 (dead cheap or what?). Both are for my coming trip to New York and Canada, where I'm positive that I'll be freezing my butt off.

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Last but not least, I wanted to get a full mani-pedi done but by the time I got to Times Square, it was already late and most of the nail shops were closing. In the end, I only did the pedicure (for only RM$40) and this is the polish I chose for my troll toes!

Ha ha ha, so unlike me right? So purple and pink and girly! But I wanted this as it's an ORLY duochrome (and again, yes, duochromes did me in).

I don't know the shade, but I was totally suckered in by the golden sheen of the polish, when light hits it at certain angles.

I shall end this post with a shout-out:

Did you know that Max Factor can be found in KL?

I didn't know that at all and I was dumbfounded when I saw the counter in Sungei Wang's Parkson Grand. I played with a few of their products, like the foundation and mascaras, but they didn't display the price and there wasn't a sales assistant nearby so I just walked off after that. So now you know, if you desperately want to get Max Factor makeup, you can always head to Malaysia!

Hope you enjoyed reading this haul post (it's been quite a while since I did one), thanks for dropping by!

I know a lot of people dislike slathering on sunscreen, especially those living in SG because it's so hot and humid here. I know how it feels like, cos only just 5 months ago did I start putting on sunscreen (on my face, haven't done that bit for my body yet). Sunscreens were just too thick and oily, and they feel like a film of white grease that would never set in a climate like ours.

It started off with me experimenting with my ZA Tinted Moisturizer.

 It had a measly SPF of 10, which honestly isn't enough for sunny SG, but it was enough to see a difference. I used to be quite tan a few years back, cause I rode my bike in the sun everyday to school. After enrolling in Uni (not being to ride to school) and starting on the moisturizer, I realized that I got quite a bit fairer. So much so that in a matter of a few months, the tinted moisturizer looked too dark and orangey on me.

That's when I decided to invest in a proper sunscreen and also to get something in a lighter shade to suit my skintone, so I got Biore's Perfect Face Milk (SPF 50, yayness!) and Lioele's Water Drop BB Cream (SPF 27).

With the Biore Face Milk as a makeup base, and a little mixing of the BB cream with my ZA Tinted  Moisturizer, I got a "foundation" that matched my skintone nicely, wasn't too thick/suffocating, had a good amount of coverage, and packed a whole lot of SPF protection! Most BB creams are actually really thick, but this one by Lioele is really watery and cooling to the skin. Unfortunately, it was still too light for my skintone - that's why I used my darker moisturizer as a "colourant".

So I stuck to this routine and while I was working in Sephora, quite a few people actually complimented on my "foundation" and asked me what I used (to which I sheepishly told them "BB Cream"). And after 4 months, I can not only see, I can also feel the difference the sunscreen and BB cream made!

A picture dated 4 months back. Notice the pimple on my right cheek, some uneven-ness/enlarged pores, and the dullness?

Compared to this picture taken 1 week back.

 For one, I got so much fairer. When I went to visit an aunt whom I last saw during CNY (this Feb), she immediately told me I got much whiter and that I'm even fairer than my 9 year old sister now. Of course being indoors the whole time I was working played a part but I think a lot was due to the high SPF I had on too.

Along with the fairness, I noticed the sallow/dull skintone I always had lightened and brightened considerably. My skin feesl more taut and supple, as compared to the non-bouncy tofu-soft skin I had previously. I also saw a slight shrinking of my pores, especially at the cheek area. Plus, even though I don't really get pimples last time (only the occasional few on my cheeks/forehead), I get even fewer pimples nowadays! Just remember to exfoliate and mud mask once every week~ 

I'm sold. Putting on high SPF and perhaps BB cream really helps! I'm glad I started on this regime and I'm still loving the finishing of my customized "foundation". :) Those 3 items are my daily holy grail face products now.

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Now onto the Biore Face Milk review! From the first picture, you'll probably notice that I've moved on to my 2nd bottle.

Name: Biore UV Face Milk

Variety: 3 types - Moist (purple bottle), Perfect (white) and Bright (pink). The Moist is a hydrating sunscreen for dry skin, the Perfect has oil-controlling properties for oily skin, and the Bright is a pink-hued sunscreen for reducing sallowness.   

Price: S$12.40 for 30 ml (can easily get it at a discount at John Little or Watsons)

Texture: So lightweight, watery and non-greasy! Gets absorbed, and sets really easily too, unlike traditional sunscreens.

Pros: Extremely good texture, affordable, easily found in shops, what more do you need? :D

Cons: Just one, it still has got a slight white cast, so use it as a base or mix it with your foundation (or tinted moisturizer in my case!)

Re-purchaseability: Definitely yes!

I've tried the Perfect and Moist types so far, and one thing I can say is, the oil-controling properties of the Perfect face Milk is really good. I bought it thinking it would reduce the slight shine I'd get on my face mid-day, but it controlled oil so well that my face got really dry. Note that my skin is actually normal, not oily and not dry. I couldn't wear it alone as it would cause small patches of dry skin, but layering my BB cream-tinted moisturizer mixture on top gave me a shine-free finish that lasted the whole day!

So I got the Moist version, and boy was it moist, lol! It's so hydrating that my face feels slightly tacky after applying it. I didn't want to use my BB cream in fear of increasing the stickiness, so what I do on lazy days is to just mix my tinted moisturizer into the Face Milk to give it colour, put it on and lastly set it with finishing powder. My face routine is that simple. But when I'm spending a whole day in school and want more coverage, I'll still put on my BB cream.

Oh, and another thing I did was to mix the remaining Perfect face Milk into the Moist bottle - to get a bit of oil-control as well as hydration. So far it's working out fine (no break outs), though I'm still not used to its slightly sticky finish. Better hydrated than dry, for my case now. =x    

 If you're looking for a makeup base that controls oil well, definitely give the Perfect Face Milk a try! The Bright Face Milk also has quite good oil-control ability, plus it brightens the skintone too. The Moist one would hydrate dry skin (especially those who practically live in air-conditioned places) very well. And bonus, they have a whole ton of SPF and PA+++!

Hope this review helped, and thanks for reading guys! Cheers~

As I was saying the other time, I really needed a makeup remover-cum-cleanser to clean up my face at the end of the day. Previously, all I had was the Maybelline Eye and Lip Makeup remover (you know, those that have the blue oil on top and the clear water below) because all I wore out was only eyeliner. Obviously with my face powder, tinted moisturizer, blush and the occasional eyeshadow now, the makeup remover isn't going to be enough to remove everything - it's just a waste. So I bought this to experiment with!

Product: Bioré Makeup Remover Cleansing Gel

Size: 170g (quite a big tube IMO)

Price: S$9.70 (I got it at S$7.76 after a discount at John Little)

The Good:

1) It does a good job at removing the basic makeup, such as foundation, face powder, blush and eyeshadow. It's also able to remove Stage's waterproof eyeliner.

2) Not drying.

3) Smells good, kinda like cucumber...? Do you guys like smelling cucumbers? .___.

4) Large amount for the price (Woots, bargain!)

The Bad:

1) The most disappointing thing - it's unable to remove that friggin' stubborn Majorca Majorlica mascara! I mean, they didn't mention anything about being able to dissolve waterproof mascara but I was hoping it could ( no harm done being optimistic).

2) I would say, it's more suited for those normal-dry skin types. Because it was a bit too moisturizing for my skin (my skin is 75% normal, 25% oily), so much so that it felt like I didn't rinse my face enough, you know, those kind of slippery, soapy feeling? Yeah...

3) To make sure you remove all makeup from your whole face requires quite a bit of the product. So even though it may be a big tube, it may finish faster than expected.

Ratings: 3/5

Where to buy it: I think most beauty stores and drugstores do carry them. John Little, Watsons, Guardian, Venus definitely sells them, I think even NTUC sells them too. Bioré is just too generic to be ignored. :D

Recommended: Erm... It's an okay product. It does its job of removing basic makeup but it's a no-no for stubborn waterproof makeup. Also I think it depends on your skin type. If you have normal-dry skin, I'm sure this product won't dry it out. It's a good bargain though.

Would I get it again?: Hah, for now, probably not. I think I'll take quite some time to finish this large tube and I'll love to try other makeup cleansers, probably those more suited for my skin. This thing is too moisturizing for me, I actually have to use a bit of my facial cleanser to get rid of the soapy feeling, cannot stand it! But since I set out to buy something that will remove my face powder and blush, and this does it nicely, I'm not complaining on that aspect. :]

Hope this review helped, cheers~