Some hair TLC with Kerastase Masque Age Recharge

I have been super busy with work and other projects and it shows on my skin and hair condition. My fine straight Asian hair was soft and easily manageable, but because I have oily scalp I've always washed my hair on a daily basis without using conditioner afterward. In the past it was never a problem because I always try to make time for monthly hair spa session either at a salon or at home. But my last hair treatment was during my last holiday in April. From then, it's been work work and work.... So my hair strands are dry and brittle with tons of fall out all through the day, while my scalp is still oily. It desperately needs some tender loving care.

So last week I make the time to stop by my regular hair salon to purchase a hair mask. After the salon lady scanned my hair and scalp, she recommended Kerastase hair mask called Masque Age Recharge. To be honest, I only bought it is because she told me that I can apply this at night, go to bed and then wash it in the morning. I thought it saves me time since I don't have to waste 15-30 minutes waiting for the mask to soak in. I purchased my mask for IDR 480k (roughly equivalent to $48), cheaper than the price on Kerastase website but still more expensive than those sold in Ebay or Amazon. Pricey, but my hair and I were desperate.

Glowing pink cheek with Tom Ford Beauty Cheek Color in Wicked

My fascination with Tom Ford product started with its lipstick, but I am a blush collector by nature. So when I found a new love for a brand I would always try its blushes. Tom Ford Wicked Beauty Cheek Color in Wicked was not the first blush I purchased, but it is one of my favorite.

I purchased mine from a spree service and it takes forever to be delivered. Just look at how worn the box is. At the time the picture was taken, I've had it for almost 2 weeks.

LOTD - NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Lodhi

I have always have a soft spot for chubby lip pencil, whether it's a $3 drugstore brand or a $30 luxury brand. I love them because applying lip color from a lip pencil feels much easier for me. First, the pencil shape let me hold it firmly, which gives me more control during application. Second, the tip of the pencil is round and pointed, improving my accuracy when applying compared to when using a standard lipstick. So, whenever I heard of a new chubby lip pencil, I will try them as long as I can get my hand on them.

Right now I'm loving NARS Satin Lip Pencil ($25), mainly because of its intense pigmentation and formulation. My lips tend to be dry and opaque lip color tend to emphasize the dryness. So I was pleasantly surprised when I tried NARS Satin Lip Pencil. There is not tugging on lips. The color goes on smoothly and it goes opaque in one stroke. The color is INTENSE.

LOTD - Burberry Lip Cover Soft Satin Lipstick in Bright Plum

I was not much of a lipstick girl. In the past, I probably only had 4 or 5 lipsticks that I wore for more formal occasions. But most days I used to dedicate my time to decorate my eyes (which I sometimes believe as my best feature) and just slapped on any lip gloss that I happen to find in my bag or my work desk. I never like how dry my lips feels after applying lipstick and how some lipsticks are heavily scented (everyone said it's vanilla scent... but for me they always smell like yucky old cosmetics). Lipstick tends to accentuate all my cracks and flakes of my lips (regardless of their finish). I also don't like how it wear off unevenly. When work gets busy, reapplying lipstick becomes priority #111 because I would need to stop working, grab a mirror and reapply my lipstick. The bottom line is I don't like it. 

Strangely two years ago, I decided to jump on the luxury brand band wagon. It started with a Chanel lipstick that I bought in Singapore duty free. The coverage was great, quite moisturizing and it wear off evenly making reapplication much easier. From then on, the rest is history. I just love wearing bright lipstick and how having bright lips seems to dress up.

My latest love is Burberry Lip Cover Soft Satin Lipstick (rrp $30). Okay.. to be honest, I purchased my first Burberry lipstick because of its packaging. All the beauty blogger was raving about its sleek gunmetal casing with magnetic closure. So I bought one just to have a try at the casing. Surprise surprise when I actually love the texture, pigmentation, and how moisturizing it is.

Amp Up Your Skin Moisture with Healthy Dose of Oil

Having a mother and sister with dry skin is somewhat a blessing. My mother, being an extremely busy woman who is as a well known professional in law and financial industry, takes a good care of her skin as she believes that being smart and beautiful are powerful attributes to have in her line of work. While my younger sister is obsessed with discovering ways to moisturize every inch or her skin with natural products from the reasonably priced moisturizers to insanely priced elixirs that is probably too expensive for daily use.

They said that I am fortunate to have my father's oily skin as our skin tends to age slower than those with dry skin. But before I turned 30, I started to notice the result of years of neglect to my skin. My feet, knees, and elbows are rough and darker than the rest of my body. I can also see dry patches on my legs and arms that are enough to cause a panic! So, I called my sister and she came over with her arsenal of tried and tested body oils.

Vichy Normaderm Promat Ultra Mattifying Lotion

It's time for another skin care review. My main problem with my combination skin is that it gets oily (especially on T zone area) real bad but I keep having dried flaky skin on my nose (also on my T zone) and around my jaw. The oily face reduces my makeup staying power. It also makes most of loose powder oxidize after a few hours. While all sort of mattifying or oil free moisturizer makes the dryer parts of my face gets even dryer, and my makeup emphasized all the flaky. So it’s a bit of a catch 22… I need to get rid of my dried flaky skin so makeup can be applied smoothly, but I cannot use rich moisturizer because it’ll make my face even oilier.

La Femme Sparkle Dust Stack & Eye shadow

My small purchase of La Femme Sparkle Dust Stack and single eye shadow arrived on my door step Friday evening and I woke up early on Saturday morning to play the new addition to my La Femme collection. The only La Femme Cosmetics products that I have purchased before are the blush on rouge and the glow on rouge, which I obsessively acquired one by one. My good experience with the brand fueled my curiosity to try La Femme other products, which seems to be less popular than the blushes. I decided to try its eye make-up because I love doing eye make-up.

L-R: Iridescent Taupe, Sparkle Dust Stack #4 (consist of #5 Opal, #20 Chantilly, #7 Flamenco, #2 Rose Chiffon, #32 Ruby, and #38 Gypsy Wine)

Gosh Cosmetics Nail Lacquer in Pink Rose & Frou Frou

I'm feeling so cheerful everytime I look at my manicure this week. The polish called Pink Rose from Gosh Cosmetics, a European based cosmetic company I discovered during my summer cruise. The packaging of Gosh Cosmetics seemed plain and uninteresing to me. The counter I visited was a drugstore counter and was not as fun or glamorous or interesting enough to me. The only reason I picked up my nail polish is because a friend asked me to find some colours that cannot find online. But now I'm loving them like mad and regretting that I only picked up two nail polishes....

image: Gosh Americas

Review - Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser

This is my first time writing a review for skincare product because I used to think that most skincare products are mainly similar in terms of formulation  and varied greatly in terms of packaging and advertisement (so does cosmetics actually, but buying new skincare products is like a hit and miss attempt for me with more miss than hit). So I don't usually bother trying out new skincare and rather splurge on cosmetics instead. However, as my skin got quite rough with quite a few breakouts due to my previous fertility treatment, I was keen to try on new skincare products during my cruise holiday.

My sister introduced me to the Liz Earle skincare brand, a UK beauty brand whose philosophy of creating simple, fuss-free products which are gentle and effective for all skin types. At first, I was hesitant to try it, but my skin was in such bad conditions I thought I had nothing to lose (except around £13).

So we went (more like dashed through the store) and buy the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser starter kit. It cost £13 which consists of 100ml of the cleansing cream, 2 muslin cloths and an instruction card on how to use it, all stored in a in a small zip pouch.

Review - MAC Marine Life Highlighter

I’ve caved into the crazed on MAC To The Beach Collection as part of their limited edition release for summer 2010 and manage to get my self only a few items from the collection. I bought Marine Life Highlighter, Hipness Blush, Bronzer, and Float Away Kohl online and received some of them through mail about 2 weeks ago.

I’m loving my Marine Life Highlighter so much so I thought I’ll write up a review on it. You might have heard that the gold embossed sea horse on the highlighter disappeared after a few swipes. So I actually ordered two Marine Life Highlighters. So I can use mine and have a spare one just for me to stare at! ^__^

Review & Swatches - Rouge G de Guerlain

I was doing some window shopping and cosmetic counter hopping in on the mall in Jakarta with one of my online fried, Lumiele, when I decided to check out the Guerlain counter. Bad move! I have been craving for Guerlain lipstick, especially the Rouge G de Guerlain #63 Giulette after seeing swatches of it online for some time, which was always out of stock. Unfortunately (for my wallet), Guerlain counter just got restocked!

So I ended up buying Rouge G de Guerlain #62 Georgia (#63 was a bit too bright for me). Here is my take on it.

Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss

I’m a big fan of lip glosses with strong punchy colors and always on the look out for them. I don’t like lip glosses that are too shiny, glossy and sticky as they can look unnatural and after a while sink into fine lines on my dry lips. When I heard about Illamasqua, which many people referred to as the MAC of UK, I was firstly drawn to their cream blushes, not to its lip glosses.

I recently got my hand on one of its Intense Lipgloss in Follow, which is a bright blueish red gloss which is low in shine and more opaque in color. The lip gloss has a diagonal plastic applicators (similar like juicy tubes), which makes it more hygienic than other lip glosses with wand applicators and easier to apply on the go.



In the tube it looks shockingly bright. Thus, I tried applying it really sheered out on my lips and I fell in love with the color. It gives enough punch of color to my lips, but still safe enough for work make up. Then I tried layering it to get the intense color like the tube. I don’t usually wear really bright red lips, but I love it. It’s the right blueish red color for my skin tone. Unfortunately I’m not confident enough to walk around during the day with really really bright lips… maybe soon though…

I swatched it quickly at night, so it wasn't perfect ;)

I have tried wearing it sheered out for work a couple of times and it lasts around 6 hours throughout morning coffee and lunch without any touch up. I had another round of coffee after nearly 8 hours wearing it and being ever forgetful, wipe my lips with tissues. It does fade a bit after 6 hours, but you can definitely still see the color on my lips.

Texture-wise, I love its slight glossiness and the fact none of my hair sticks to my lips during the day (which always happen when I have MAC lipglasses on). Also, it does not sink into fine lines at all! A big YEAY for my dry cracked lips.

Overall, I have nothing bad to say about Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss, except for its price ($19 from sephora or £12.50 from Illamasqua website for 7ml or 0.2oz of lipgloss). But I guess for a high end lip gloss, it’s definitely worth the price. I’m hoping to get my hands on more color (and more Illamasqua blushes) when I visit my sister in June…

XOXO,

MAC Viva Glam Cyndi

I’ve always been a lip gloss girl rather than a lipstick girl. There is no apparent reason of why I prefer lip gloss over lipstick. Even when I do a full eye make up, I’ve rarely reach for my lipstick. So I tend to splurge on blushes and eye shadow in the past.

But lately I’ve been getting more and more lipstick and getting used to the idea of lightly applying lipstick before getting off my car to work. So when I heard about MAC Viva Glam Cyndi and Gaga, I was determined to get my hands on either one…. or BOTH!

I hunted Viva Glam lipstick by calling all MAC counters in Jakarta, and finally went to MAC counter in Grand Indonesia, which is the closest to my office building. They only had 2 Viva Glam Cyndi lipstick left and none of Viva Glam Gaga. Oh well, one is always better than none…

So, here’s my take on Viva Glam Cyndi…



Color: Bright reddish coral with slight luster finish. As coral seems to be THE color for summer, I’m loving the brightness of this lipstick.

Texture & Application: I don’t usually go for MAC lipstick other than slimshine because they’re too drying on my lips. But I find that some luster and cremesheen lipstick can work on me, with the help of my trustee Lancome Vinefit Lip Nectar. Viva Glam Cyndi applies easily and smoothly. I didn’t even need a lip brush to apply it on my lips.

Packaging: It comes in a black and red lipstick tube for Viva Glam collection. But MAC printed Cyndi Lauper’s signature on the lipstick and its box. As I’m a sucker for cute and limited edition packaging, I’ll be keeping the empty lipstick box in my closet!



Now... If I could only find Viva Glam Gaga somewhere....

XOXO,

Review - Cover Girl Lash Blast Volume Blasting Mascara

I love buying mascaras, but I have a principle of only having 1 mascara open at any time. Thus, I don't have any favorites when it comes to mascara as I don't get to compare whatever I am currently using with other mascaras.

Anyway, I recently tried Cover Girl Lash Blast Volume Blasting, which was ordered online since we don't have the Lash Blast where I live. Here's my take on my new mascara...



Formula: It's unlike many other drugstore brand mascaras, CG Lash Blast is not clumpy, even if you apply it in layers. I tried the non waterproof Lash Blast and it really does not smudge.

Brush: The brush is what made me wanted to try the mascara in the first place. The bristles are kinda HUGE, firm and ORANGE. Teehee..

sorry for messing up the mascara all over my eyeliner. I applied them in a hurry...

Result: It does quite a good job. It volumises my lashes, but not sure it does anything to lengthen them. Since my main concern is finding a mascara which volumises and does not clump when applied, CG Lash Blast does the job perfectly. I also love how the firm plastic-ky bristles lift and separate my lashes, making it looks thicker and natural. It's suitable for every day office make-up. An extra point from me for having a non-clumpy formula, as I usually applied my mascara while driving to work (on the red light of course). So clumpy and messy mascaras are big no no for me.

In the past I lean towards higher end brand like Lancome or tubing mascara like L'oreal Double Extend, but most clumps really really badly when applied in layers. So I'm happy to find an alternative drug store brand mascara for everyday use...

XOXO,