Indulgent Reviews

Description: Absorb excess oil, minimize the occurrence of blackheads, and leave your skin beautifully soft and smooth with this unique combination of clay and carbon. This gentle, fragrance-free formula contains soothing anti-inflammatory agents to help reduce redness and irritation, setting you on the path to clear skin.

I have a love hate relationship with this mask. First of all, this mask burns and stings like fire the minute you put it on. That’s the part I hate most about it.

What I like about it though is that once rinsed off, skin feels noticeably smoother and softer.

The product, being a carbon mask, is black in colour and thick in texture. It’s kind of hard to squeeze it out of the tube especially in winter when products like these tend to solidify a little bit in the tube. Anyway, the instructions were to apply a thick layer on clean skin for about 10 – 15 minutes. But, because of the terrible burn effect, I could only stand to use it for about 5 minutes. You literally will feel like your skin is being peeled away when this mask is on. So, so painful.

I thought it was me at first, but having read a few other reviews, I now know that it is the product and everyone seems to have the same experience.

I no longer use this mask for the full face as I really can’t tough out on the pain.

It does work and clean pores real good, but I seriously do think that skin care should not sting that bad and no one should have to endure pain for the sake of smooth and soft skin.

I have been out sick for the past few days. In essence, I have been pretty miserable. I was not able to upload my scheduled posts for the week on the weekend. Hence, the lack of posts for my usual Monday and Wednesday schedule.

Despite my misery and still being slightly sick, I decided to tough it out and went to work yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised when I found a package from Amazon in my drawers.

The spankin’ brand new Kindle 3 I ordered way back in July has finally arrived! Hurrah! Aye to a new reading experience.

I have always been rather skeptical on reading on devices. To me, at one time at least, nothing could replace a physical book.

Anyway, I got captivated by the whole ereading thing when I started running out of precious storage room for my books at home. I used to ship my books back to Malaysia, but now, even my parents are stopping me from doing that. They’re running out of space too! I even started selling some of my books on eBay a while ago and that was when I started looking into ereading.

I started this whole ereading thing through the Kindle and Kobo apps on my Blackberry and Ipod Touch. After a whole lot of getting used to and playing around with Kobo ereader device at Borders, I found that I quite like the reading experience on it.

I went into a frenzy researching on the merits of a Kobo or Kindle and finally settled on a Kindle! Glad I did. Now that it has arrived, I absolutely love the look and feel of it. I’ll get into a proper review once I’ve properly used it – perhaps a review can be posted sometime next week or the week after.

I’m sure I’ll absolutely love it even more coz I am loving it already!

Description: Serious shine and sexy color in sheer, creamy and semi-sheer formulas. Extremely wearable and versatile shades may be worn alone or over other lip products for heightened drama. Available in Orgasm, a sheer, warm pink with golden shimmer.

Anyone who has been involved in the beauty scene at all would know the cult status that the NARS brand has for its Orgasm line. The blush is a hot item amongst many and is so flattering to many skin tones. I myself am a lover of the blush and the lip gloss I got fully confirmed that this versatile shade is a true wonder to have in all forms possible.

It is a sheer peachy pink shade with a hint of shimmers. This goes on well when you’re out with a nude look and goes well over other light lip shades for the added shimmer. I like NARS’ lip glosses because they’re non sticky and feels moisturizing on lips. It lasts quite a while too, well, the shimmer at least.

This is another NARS hit for me and hopefully there’ll be more NARS collection for me in time to come!

Description: Softly even out your complexion and let your natural skin tone show through with this creamy-light, sheer formula that has just a hint of colour. You’ll love its smooth, satin matte finish and easy-to-blend texture, plus your skin will be shielded from harmful UV rays with its broad-spectrum titanium dioxide and zinc oxide sunscreens.

• Five soft, sheer natural-looking shades
• Broad-spectrum UVA & UVB sun protection
• 100% fragrance-free
• Salicylate-free for those with fibromyalgia

I love tinted moisturizers. They’re perfect for the day for that natural look. I use a tinted moisturizer almost everyday and hardly use a foundation especially on work days.

I ordered the Barely There Sheer Matte Tint SPF 20 from Paula’s Choice in Sheer Beige and the shade fitted my skin tone down to a t. It was perfect. The coverage was just nice and sheer (enough for day time usage) and it was easily absorbed. It also didn’t leave me greasy at all, which suited me to perfection.

The product itself comes in a very basic packaging. Nothing fancy.

I use this on top of a light lotion/moisturizer and it works well to keep my skin moistened throughout the day with a hint of light / sheer coverage. It evens out skin tone well and I’d say it is suitable across all skin types.

I think that it is a perfect option for people who do not like to use foundations but want a sheer coverage with the added bonus of a high SPF sunscreen in built. Paula’s Choice offers samples and this product is available in four shades – Sheer Beige, Sheer Neutral, Sheer Ivory and Sheer Fair.

I have repurchased this product twice now and will probably continue repurchasing it again as it functions well for all it’s intents and purposes.

Description: Dr Wu VC Skincare Extra Whitening Lotion with AA2G is a lusciously light and refreshing moisturizer that hydrates, perfects and protects. Dr Wu’s Triactiv Whitening Formula contains trio patented technologies – AA2G™, Potassium Azelaoyl Diglycinate and Melaclear2™, and Lipactive Inca Inchi™. This unique formula not only lightens the skin, regulates melanogenesis and reduces dark spots but also proves to be effective in reversing the signs of aging such as loss of elasticity, spots and uneven skin tone.

Ingredients:

• AA2G™ (Ascorbic Acid 2-Glucoside)：A natural vitamin C (ascorbic acid) stabilized with glucose, which is developed as a quasi-drug cosmetic ingredient to prevent pigmentation and reduce pre-existing melanin by suppressing melanin synthesis, resulting in a lighter and brighter skin.
• Potassium Azelaoyl Diglycinate：A derivative of azelaic acid constantly used by dermatologists to clear and lighten skin through an antagonistic action to the enzyme tyrosinase, improve skin feel and appearance by eliminating gloss and regulates excessive production of sebum.
• Melaclear2™：A multi-component hydroglycolic solution with keratolytic enzymes used to eliminate pigmented epidermal cells and provide a smoother cutaneous surface,
• Lipactive Inca Inchi™：A botanical extract with high concentration of essential fatty acid, which can restore the cutaneous barrier organization and the epidemic elasticity, at the same time, maintain skin hydration and bring a remarkable emollient effect.

This moisturizing lotion is of very light liquid texture and absorbs real fast onto my skin. It feels incredibly refreshing once applied. My only qualm about it is that it isn’t that hydrating for winter, so for night use, I find it too light. However, it is perfect as a daytime moisturizer and complements well with my SPF 20 tinted moisturizer.

One pump is enough for the whole face and I think that this is a perfect moisturizing lotion for summer use and for use in tropical climates such as back in Malaysia. My skin feels nicely soft, smooth and possibly even more brighter and luminous after using this for a whole month now.

I purchased this from Sasa for USD 36.10. It is a Taiwanese product and is supposedly suitable for all skin types.