shu uemura Cleansing Oil

On a recent trip to the shu uemura store with Naree - she gave me one of her free samples of the brands "Skin Purifier - High Performance Cleansing Oil - Fresh". As someone who's got some sensitive skin for breakouts, I was a little hesitant to use something with the word "oil" in it to clean my face.

One makeup store site wrote that a bottle of this stuff is sold every 20 seconds worldwide, so guessing that this stuff works without the scary breakout effects that you'd think oil has - unless there's a billion people walking around with bad skin and still using this stuff.

That said, used it now for two nights and it's close to that special time of the month (this is usually when I tend to get some friends on my face). No breakouts so far. If anything, my skin's felt softer even before lotion. But what I've been really loving so far is the ease of the makeup removal and the feel of the stuff on my skin. It's not as oily feeling as I imagined it would be, and it's gentle enough to rub over my eyes and remove all the shadow, liner, and mascara.

Have to say, after two days of using I'm really tempted to buy the 5 oz. bottle for $28. Kind of loving this stuff so far but I'll hold off a couple days, use the sample for a few more nights and see if I still like it. Keep posted for updates ...

*****UPDATE*****
Used this for a few more days but felt like it was clogging my pores a little. So I went back to my tried and tested Neutrogena face wash until after that crazy time of the month. Started using this again for the last week or so and scored some samples from Nordstrom and (thank you!) Naree... so far so good, no clogs, no extra breakouts, just nice soft skin.

President Obama!

I know... it's not beauty related, but today is a beautiful day.
Barack Obama was elected to be the 44th president of the United States.

qiora - Cleanser, Clarifying Lotion, Clarifying Cotton

Ok! Since I moved to SoCal, my skin has been acting up pretty bad. My dr tells me that it's adult acne but I am done trying oral medication and topical treatment since it dries up my skin crazy. Instead I decided to try different face cleanser with salicylic acid in it. It was bad.. bad.. bad... idea. My last resolution was going back to the face cleanser I absolutely loved and can't live without. Again, I love this qiora cleanser (shisheido-$35). This product deep cleans pores and wash away impurities but doesn’t dry up your skin.

In addition, I tried some samples for this clarifying lotion with their cotton pad. “A purifying and softening lotion that lifts away skin-dulling impurities and keratin buildup while maximizing conditions for further care.” I didn’t really believe this until I start seeing the glow on my chic again. This absolutely picks up all the makeup and purifies your skins further and leaves soothing texture.
I use both, cleanser and clarifying lotion, at night (maybe over-kill for dry skin) and I absolute recommend this cleanser to all skin type.

Tea Tree Haircare

I switch shampoos and conditioners so often, you'd think they were going out of style. I usually start off loving most of them, but after awhile, it loses the initially wow and I'm left underwhelmed. There have been favorites that I keep going back to - Paul Mitchell's "Shampoo One" and "The Detangler" conditioner (~$12 each) and Matrix Biolage hydrating shampoo and conditioner (~$17 each) are two brands that usually find their way back to my tub (and subsequently my hair).

The man in my life usually sticks to two brands - Aveda Men Pure-Formance (~$19 each) and Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Special shampoos and conditioners (~$12 each). Both of these give a clean feeling for the husband, and a nice smelling head of hair for me.

Wanted a new shampoo to try and decided to try Paul Mitchell's Tea Tree Lavender Mint shampoo and conditioner. The beauty store was having a package deal on the shampoo and conditioner - both for about $19. These products have tea tree with the lavender and mint smell and promises hydration. With my waves, I have frizz to tame and need something to clean the product out of my hair at the end of the day.

So far... it's been about a month since I've been using this... I still heart this product. My hair hasn't felt any build-up, the frizz is under control, my hair feels soft, and the lavender mint smell gives me a calming, fresh feeling.

As a plus, Paul Mitchell donates funds from purchases of the Tea Tree line (there are three kinds - special, lavender mint, and lemon sage) to the non-profit American Forests.

http://www.paulmitchell.com/About_Us/WeCare/Pages/TeaTreeAmericanForests.aspx

Catwalk

Ok so-o I recently permed my hair with big wave perm. It's really popular in asia since most of us have straight straight hair and while that look is awesome, sometimes it's nice to have bouncy gorgeous waves. So yeah I did it, and of course there is a bit of maintenance with that. Now with years and years of many many perms, I've always come to do these things with optimism that it won't come out bad like the last time I did it (afro puffs). I mean, mostly that's due to poor maintenance right? People have recommended, hairspray, mousse, gel, serems, diffusers all to no avail. Plus the perms themselves weren't that well done, but that's digressing here. This time I got a fab perm with big waves that I've always wanted AND the product the hair salon lady suggested actually stinking works! It didn't just look when it was wet (not poofy) but when it was dry it actually held the curls and rocked them out! So with that, I super duper suggest this product Catwalk (the salon lady sold it but I'm sure you can find it somewhere online) curls rock.

I have about the middle of my back now and I use it just on the tips of my hair scrunching it in.

Simple, no muss, no diffuser to work with, just scrunch in and looking good.

yay!

Estee Lauder (re-nutriv)

So reading Lyn's post about eyecream reminded me about this product above.
My friend (who has amazing flawless skin who is one year the junior of me, says even she uses this very cream. I know my non flawless skin won't reverse back to flawless using this cream, but at least it should help to prevent wrinkles and other aging things that occur with getting older.
As a matter of fact, I read somewhere that the one's in their 20's is the time to use this sort of cream as the difference in skin quality shows between your friends when you all start going into your 30's. So I use this nightly (I think the directions say twice a day, but kinda super moist for regular day wear) and not sure if there are results or not but I guess I will notice in my 30's.
Like Lyn, it gives me peace of mind. I actually use it for eyecream instead of buying a seperate one. The lady at the counter said it's creamy good to work. Anyways at the price of this sucka it better be working. :P

Side note: I'd like to retract my comment about the mineral powder on Laura Mercier because I tried using it again and now I guess my skin has gotten used to it, and I don't get pimples, plus it really does give wonderful flawless coverage. Lovely~

Guerlain - Les Meteorites Powder for the Face: Mythic

Hello Ladies, I am Lyn's friend and glad to join you...

I bought this Guerlain Les Meteorites Powders (luminizer) ages ago and I still have these even with daily use. I use this on my face, neck, and collarbone and these tiny spheres will give me the perfect glow and lighten/brighten my skin instantly and also minimize imperfection.

They have these available in compact case but I always prefer loose powder or beads format. Oh! If you are sensitive to the scent, these have powder smell (pleasing smell) but as soon as you dust on your skin, you won't smell it.

I think this is a great product for any age and I strongly recommend this.

Dior Shadow

A few months back, Shiseido had the top spot for creamy powder eye shadow application. After nearly a year of using the Dior eyeshadow from my Dior Dazzle compact (4-colors to choose from), I'm hooked. Still like Shiseido, but I'm stuck on Dior.
Using either the applicator or a MAC eyeshadow brush, the application is easy to blend, never chalky, with the perfect amount of pigmentation (without primer). No crease lines, ever.
Unfortunately, I started to run out of the colors I was using on the compact and I couldn't seem to find the colors on their five-color eye shadow compact; but then... Dior came out with these two-color compacts ($35) and the colors made up their "Pop Look". Moderate enough for the office, but deep enough to feel feminine. "Purple Look" is the compact name for the picture. Absolutely recommend these eye shadows.

The Eyes Have It!

Been using eye creams since my mid-20's mainly for prevention of lines and other pitfalls getting older gives you as gifts. The ones that I've tried have always been on the lighter side, so if you need something a little more heavy, this post probably won't do much for you.

Tried Clinique All About Eyes, Kiehls Creamy Eye Treatment, Yes to Carrots Eye Can C Clearly Now, and Bliss All-Around Eye Cream. The Kiehls and the Clinique were a little too thick for daytime use. I didn't notice too much of a difference, but I suppose I just needed something to try and slow the effects of aging and sun exposure. All the "you look so young!" comments are either insulting or a tribute to the eye cream. The Yes to Carrots was disappointing, after my love affair with their clay mask, I think I was expecting a lot more. This didn't even give me a placebo effect.

The current favorite is the Bliss eye cream. It promises a lot that it probably won't deliver, but it provides light moisture to the eye area, something I definitely need under concealer and eye shadow. I'll let you know in a few years how effective it's been for prevention, but after a year of using this, it's definitely, if nothing else, given me some peace of mind that I'm doing something to shave off some effects of age.

Lancome

I recall that there was another eyelash curler...can't recall...ah shu uemura! That many people (by many I mean the sales lady and her claim states at Sephora) have raved about. I did buy it and try it. Once I finished I stashed it in my drawer of makeup tools (which doesn't really have much makeup stuff but I digress...) and found my lancome eyelash curler and thought, dang if I'd have known I had this I wouldn't have bought the one at Sephora...
Anyways, I went and tried the lancome one, and this one is more comfortable than the shu uemura...if I recall it was due to the nice padding the lancome one has. So with that I recommend lancome eyelash curler because it's awesome. Also their mascara which I don't recall if I mentioned (fatale) is one of the most luscious mascaras ever.
oh, side tip, I read in a magazine somewhere that when curling the eyelash one should not just hold it for a period of time but hold let go, hold let go, moving from the base of your lashes out to reduce denting your eyelashes.