Thursday, May 20, 2010

Have You Gotten Your Tokidoki?

While I'm still very mad for not getting the Bare Essentials Foiled Eye kit from Sephora's V.I.B Bonus event, there's another promotion came in last week. It's the free Tokidoki necklace with $75 purchase. Of course it's not as sweet as the BE one but my husband still rushed over. By the time he got there, there were only 2 left knowing how crazy Californians are.


On the way home, he said it's one "cheap" necklace. I'm afraid I have to agree with him. Even though it's sterling silver the charm seems poorly made, not to talk about the cheap packaging. It looks like this.


I tried it on the other day. I think it's about 14" long but I'm not sure. It's pretty short.


The little pink charm and the back closure.


If you haven't gotten it, I don't think you missed a lot. With $75 purchase, it's not worth the effort. But I guess it could be a cute little jewelry for my daughter.

While my husband was in the store, he picked up 2 Make Up For Ever makeup stuff, The HD primer and the new HD cream blush. I wasn't a big fan of MUFE before because a lot of their products have strong scent and I didn't like the scent. Also my first and only MUFE purchase (Aqua Eyes liner set) didn't work out for me, I was quite skeptical about the brand. But I guess it's time for me to give it another chance. In my future post, I'll be showing you which primer and which blush color my hubby picked.




Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Color of the Week - Chanel Runway Inspired

It's another gloomy day today, it even rained again during noon time. How come every Monday is like this? Don't get me wrong though. I love rain just not heavy rain, a little bit. Don't you think it's romantic when it rains?

Anyway, today it's all about gold and black.


Le Vernis 463 Rose Satin, 219 Black Satin and Facettes D'or Gold Fiction.




Recently Chanel released 3 limited edition nail colors for Summer 2010, it's called Noir Et Or Paris-Shanghai Collection.

The 3 shades are Black Velvet, Gold Lame and Illusion D'or. I haven't got them yet and I'm not even sure if I will be getting them. But I'm definitely intrigued by the runway nail look. And I'm doing it in my version.


I use Rose Satin as a base. It's such a nice neutral pink color. The color is perfect for a lazy all over everyday nail. It's not very shimmery but still got the right amount of shine. It's very easy to apply, you don't need to worry about streaking or anything.


Then I paint the Gold Fiction on top of the rosy pink starting from the smile line. Back in the days, this color was very hot (Fall 2008) and it's in a special opaque yellow bottle to protect the 24k gold color from light. It's the truest gold color I've seen so far.


For the tip, I use Black Satin. It's not completely matte like the Black Velvet. As name suggested, it's got the glossy satin finish.


The finished nail seen from other people's view.





Saturday, May 15, 2010

Day Time Skincare Routine

After reading Lulu's Skincare Routine, I decide to share mine. First of all I want to talk about my day time routine.

Before I start, I will list some of my skin stats - Combination to oily skin with dry surface; large pores on cheeks and nose area; sun spots and uneven skin tone; dark circle under eyes; occasional breakouts; no visible lines and wrinkles just yet.

Now moving on to the day time routine. I keep it simple so no deep cleansing, exfoliating, masking and all those crazy stuff. But that doesn't mean cutting corners either.

1. Cleanse:

Most of the time I use Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser if my face doesn't feel over greasy in the morning. I learned in a beauty book to only use mild cleanser in the morning because over cleansing could strip away surface moisture thus causing complexion dull and flaky. So using mild cleanser can minimize the damage to our skin. When I do want to have fun with my foams, I go for Jill Stuart cream wash or White Lucent Brightening Cleansing Foam w. And I always use a foaming net. It only takes a minute or two, but the result is smoother and richer foam. It rinses off easier too.


2. Tone:

I use the ROHTO Hirojyun lotion to further cleanse and replenish moisture to my skin. Then I apply La Mer the radiant infusion around extra dry area. It's not really necessary but I just have to finish it up before it expires. I want to get a hydrating serum afterwards though.


3. Treat:

In the morning I try to use as little serum as possible. There're two kinds of products are must for me, whitening and anti-aging.

I just finished my Clinique Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector but luckily I have the White Lucent Intensive Spot Targeting Serum. This one is so much more expensive than the Clinique so hopefully it works better.

For anti-aging, I have the Kinerase C8 Petide Intensive Treatment. I didn't buy this, it came with my Clarisonic facial brush. I kind of like it but I don't know if I will repurchase it. It's very expensive, $98 for 1 oz.


4. Moisturize:

During day time, I like light textured moisturizer so my skin can breathe. Also sunblock is a must for everyday. I used to think the higher SPF the better but it's not the case. If you stay in the office all day, SPF 15 to 20 is all you need. High SPF can stress out your skin too.

Currently I'm using the Shiseido White Lucent Brightening Protective Emulsion w SPF 15. I also use the Dior Hydra Life Pro-Youth Sorbet Eye Creme. Detailed reports are coming soon.


5. Optional Products:

Left side is the Lunasol Morning Wakening Massage, I try to use it every morning but I get lazy sometimes. I like how it helps my blood circulation and whisks away impurity.

If I'm going to the beach or I know I'll be exposed to the sun a lot, I will apply the Diorsnow White Reveal UV Shield. It has SPF 50 PA+++.


6. Beauty Tools:

I forgot the take a picture of my Shiseido cotton pad which I use to apply the ROHTO lotion. Those cotton pads are pretty good.

I use the Shiseido sponge wand to lightly pat my face. It really is a little nifty tool. It helps lotion absorption and exercises my skin.

The little metal ball applicator came with the La Mer eye balm. To be honest, the applicator was the main reason for me to get the eye balm so of course I saved it after the eye balm was gone. I use it to cool and smooth my eye area after the eye cream.

The bottom one is the ethe jeune cooling applicator which came with my old Panasonic facial steamer. After applying my moisturizer, I always rub my hands so they get warm. Then I gently press my face so the moisturizer can absorb better. The last step I do is using the cooling applicator to close up the pores and smooth the skin.



Read the reviews of some of the products

Jill Stuart Cleansing Oil and Cream Wash Review



Thursday, May 13, 2010

MAQUillAGE Shiny Jelly Rouge

MAQUillAGE Shiny Jelly Rouge was first released during last year's Christmas time. It took Shiseido 10 years of research to make this jelly like lip gloss. There're 6 shades in total and they're all regular items.


The packaging is very sleek and cute. It's in pen shape. I can drop this in my purse for easy touch up.


The top of the cap is transparent so you can see exactly what color it is.


The bottom of the "pen" has a dial for dispensing. You turn the dial and roll out only 1mm. Don't be too excited turning because once it's out, it can't be pushed back.


The color I got is #44.


It's a rosy pink color with lots of silver and peach shimmers.


Being call "Shiny Jelly Rouge", it does feel like a jelly. The consistency is in the middle of a lipstick and a lip gloss, very soft but not sticky. The gloss does not have any scent.


Unlike a typical lipgloss, the Shine Jelly Rouge is supposed to be applied in the center of the lips first, then you fill in the corners. MQ website has a demo on how to use it.

I swatched it on the back of my hand. The color doesn't look as pigmented as in the packaging. It has diamond powder in it so the finish is clear and sparkly.


My bare lips with no lip balm.


Under natural lighting, my lips are plumped and smooth. I love how moisturizing it feels and how dewy it looks. 


Another picture with flash.


After a couple hours the color got lighter and looks more natural with a flush of shine. The moisturizing effect is amazing, even better than a lip balm.


I really like the packaging and how soft it feels on my lips. But the coverage is very sheer so I don't recommend it for pigmented lips. I'm happy that it's a regular item and it's small (only 2g), that means once I finish up this one I can get another!


Related Post:

Got Package?


Monday, May 10, 2010

Color of the Week - Givenchy Vernis Please! Purple by Night

It's been windy for the past weekend and it even rained a bit at noon time today. This is  not my type of weather. To cheer myself up, I want something rich and intense. So I pick Givenchy Purple by Night.


This was a limited edition nail polish back from Holiday 2008. Got mine at Sephora for 15 bucks, not the cheapest nail polish considering how small it is. I also wanted another one from Givenchy called Dandy Moire but it was out of stock at the time.


VERNIS PLEASE ! 160 PURPLE BY NIGHT


I really love Givenchy's logo design. It looks somewhat like an Asian Feng Shui thing.


All 4 sides are like this, no letters written at all.


Under the sunlight, there're a lot of fine blue and silver shimmers.


The color of the polish is written on the bottom of the bottle.


Now moving on some swatch pictures. Natural light, flash and sun.




Let along being an expensive polish (a lot more expensive than Chanel and Dior), Givenchy Purple by Night has a medium to thick consistency. It applies easily on the nail with a flat big brush that barely leaves any streaks. The lacquer is highly pigmented, as I only did one coat. The finish is not as glossy as I wanted but I think a good top coat will easily fix it.



Saturday, May 8, 2010

Opal Sonic Infusion System

We saw the Opal Sonic Infusion System at Sephora the other day. Knowing it's the same company that makes our Clarisonic face brush, even though it's very expensive ($245), we still decided to bring it home and give it a try.


The outside box looked like this. It's not much bigger than a box of sheet masks.



An age-fighting innovation that combines sonic infusion technology with Anti-Aging Sea Serum for visible results that last for hours and build over time.

Robb Akridge, PhD, optimized this serum for the dynamics of sonic infusion. Using his immunology expertise to promote skin health, he employed a multi-layered approach of marine extracts and botanicals to: Hydrate, Firm and tighten, and Protect.


As shown in the figure below, the Sonic infuser's gentle sonic micro-massage infuses the sonically-optimized Anti-Aging Sea Serum into the outermost layers of the epidermis, where it begins to work immediately.


The ingredients:


The before and after comparison looks amazing.


Inside the packaging, there's a white travel bag.


The charging base.


Two Anti-Aging Sea Serum Dispenser Caps wrapped like this.


After opening the wrap, the dispenser cap looks like this.


The infuser.


This is the applicator tip that you put under your eye area. I think it's made of gel or something, really soft.


The serum will be dispensed from this nozzle onto the applicator tip.


This is how it looks when closed.


The back of it.


Well, indeed it looks splendid to me, the design and the technology behind it. However the result is too intense. Before it got to my hands, my husband had a test drive on it. He said it's so strong that his under eye area sores. His eyes almost got swollen the next morning. That really scared me so I passed. And we both decided that it was way too over priced. The system alone costs $245, then after that two replacement caps will run $100 which supposed to last 90 days each. With that kind of money, I'd rather buy me some nice eye cream.

Conclusion: Opal has to go back.



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