QUICK REVIEW: TONYMOLY KISS LOVER LIP MASTER IN 04 ALLURE ORANGE

Thanks to my lovely colleague, I've got a chance to try out this amazing orange lipstick. I tried lots of so-called orange lipstick before, but this is the only one that truly appears as an orange shade on my lips.

This is supposed to be a dupe for YSL Glossy Stain. I haven't tried out the YSL version yet, so I can't compare between the two. Tonymoly advertised this as an all-in-one lipstick + gloss + tint, and I think this lipstick lives up to its claim. The color is as vibrant as a lipstick, it looks glossy on my lips (but honestly, all lipsticks look glossy on me, so... yeah) and it has the amazing staying power of a lip tint! After 4 hours of drinking and light eating, it still stays on my lips! As the color fades, the color turns into a reddish orange shade like the following photo:

Pros:

- Nice orange shade

- Non-drying

- Long-lasting

- Affordable 

Cons:

- None that I can think of

Purchase?: Yes. I'll get this as soon as possible and I may get shade 03 as well :)

REVIEW: NIVEA ANTI-PERSPIRANT WHITENING DEODORANT

I bought this roll-on deoderant on a whim in Malaysia during a "Buy 1 get 1 free" promotion. I didn't have much expectation for this but it turned out to be quite a good product.

 Description:

Ingredients:

My opinion: This deodorant has a pleasant and subtle scent which lasts all day. This 50ml bottle lasts for such a long time. I've been using it regularly for about 4 months and there's still a third left. This is free of colorants and preservatives. It works great as a deodorant, but I don't notice any whitening, pore-tightening and anti-perspirant effects whatsoever. However, with such a cheap price, I honestly don't expect it to perform all of those things.

Pros:

- Nice scent

- Stay on all day

- Last for a very long time

- Cheap

- Free of colorants and preservatives

Cons:

- No whitening, pore tightening or anti-perspirant effects

Repurchase?: Yes, but this product may have been discontinued as I can't find it on Nivea Malaysia website :(

REVIEW: IT'S SKIN POWER 10 FORMULA VC EFFECTOR WITH VITAMIN C DERIVATIVES

It's Skin Power 10 VC is the first serum from the Power 10 line that I've ever used. Since then, I've tried 8 different types of Power 10 serum and haven't had time to go back to this yet, but it always holds a special place in my heart :)

(Source: itsskin.com)

Description (from It's Skin English website): Brightening serum containing vitamin C and green tea components suppresses the formation of freckles that can make skin look dull and dark, and tightens pores to leave skin fair and luminous.

Size: 30ml

Price: 467,000 VND (about US$21)

Ingredients (from ratzillacosme.com): water, butylene glycol, glycerin, polyglutamic acid, PEG-60 hydrogenated castor oil, ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate, methylparaben, triethanolamine, carbomer, camellia sinensis extract, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, chlorphenesin, fragrance, disodium EDTA

My opinion: This serum has a thick consistency and it feels sticky on my face. Despite that, it doesn't clog my pores or break me out even in the hot summer weather. It does have a brightening effect, but to be honest, I think Power 10 CO and Power 10 LI works better in this aspect. I don't notice any pore tightening effect. It doesn't make my skin look as glowing as Power 10 VE. OK, so I guess now you're wondering why I said that this had a special place in my heart if it doesn't perform that well in terms of brightening and pore minimizing. Well, that's because of its moisturizing property. As I've mentioned countless times on my blog, I suffered from a very bad case of dry and damaged skin because of Tonymoly Pore Cleansing Brush, and although this serum didn't completely cure that, it helped so much in soothing and repairing my skin. So, if you have dry/sensitive skin, I highly recommend this product.

Pros:

- Moisturizing

- Non-comedogenic and non-acnegenic

- Brightening

Cons:

- Sticky

- No pore tightening effect

- Contain paraben

Repurchase?: Yes, but not immediately coz there're other things I wanna try first :)

REVIEW: IT'S SKIN PRESTIGE CREME D'ESCARGOT

Most of my skincare products are quite affordable. However, once in a while, when I feel like my skin is really really bad, I'd splurge on a high-end product. I bought It's Skin Prestige Creme D'escargot when I suffered from hormonal cystic acnes on my chin and my philtrum earlier this year. They often came around that time of the month, took about a month to heal, so just when the old ones disappear, the new ones came up T-T They were huge and quite painful to the touch. Since the regular acne treatments just didn't work on them, I bit my tongue and purchased this insanely expensive cream. It cost me 2,863,000 VND (about US$136). And yes, I still shudder every time I think about the price >.<

Description: First class luxurious cream contains mucin (snail mucus), the ingredient with superior cell restoration, moisturization, and skin trouble relieving effects, and EGF (epidermal growth factor), through the combination of which creates a synergy effect to regenerate damaged cells, the fundamental cause for skin aging.

Size: 60ml

Packaging: The jar is gorgeous and it comes with a small spatula for those who don't like dipping their hands into the cream.

My opinion: This is hands down the most expensive cosmetics product I've ever purchased. So was it worth the price? I have to say, yes. It has a light citrusy scent that snail products seem to have. The moisturizing property is okay, nothing to write home about. It didn't make my skin feel smooth or plump. It absorbed fast coz of its light texture but still felt sticky on my skin. If you have dry skin, this won't be enough for you. But I bought this to treat my cystic acnes, and for that purpose alone, it worked great! The cream got rid of my pimples in less than a week! And while I was using this, I stopped having any new acnes! So, it cured and prevented acnes at the same time! However, it didn't work on the small bumps I had under my skin and it failed to fade away my old acne scars. I was heartbroken when I ran out of this coz my pimples started coming back around that time of the month T-T Around 2 months ago, I was lucky enough to receive some samples of this cream. However, it seemed that this time my skin had got used to this product, coz it didn't have any effects whatsoever on my skin. It neither cured nor prevented acnes. And no, it's not because the formulation has changed coz the full-size product and the samples were manufactured at around the same time. This happens to all acne treatments I've used: after a while, my skin becomes immune to them and they stop working for me (yeah, my skin is cunning like that). But you know what, in a weird and twisted way, I'm kinda glad that it's no longer effective on me coz it means I don't have to buy it again :"> Besides, thanks to my new skincare routine and my (relatively) healthy diet and lifestyle, I rarely get cystic acnes now (cross fingers), just some odd zits around that time of the month (they are small and often go away after a few days), so I no longer need any acne treatments :) I'd still recommend this cream for those who suffer from severe acnes coz it's a gentle, non-drying yet effective acne treatment :)

Pros:

- Moisturizing enough for oily skin

- Effective on curing and preventing hormonal acnes

- Gentle and non-drying

- Gorgeous packaging

Cons:

- Not moisturizing enough for dry skin

- Ineffective on under-the-skin bumps and old acne scars

- Feel sticky on the skin

- My skin becomes immune to it

- Insanely expensive, especially in Vietnam 

Repurchase?: No, coz my skin has become immune to it. 

QUICK REVIEW: DIOR ADDICT EXTREME LIPSTICK IN 479 HOLIDAY

My colleague has just bought Dior Addict Extreme Lipstick in 479 Holiday, and she was kind enough to let me try it (thank you so so much ^o^). Here's my quick review for this lipstick :)

Packaging: Very sleek and elegant in my opinion :)

Shade: On my lips, it's pink with just a hint of purple. It's quite sheer though and I had to apply 3 coats to get the color in the following photo:

Staying power: This fades so quickly! It's gone right after I drink water T-T

Moisturizing effect: It feels quite moisturizing, but since I don't have dry lips, I don't know how it'll perform on those with chapped lips. My friend doesn't have any problem using this lipstick though.

Pros:

- Nice packaging

- Non-drying

Cons:

- So-so color

- Fade quickly

- Expensive

Purchase?: No (my friend also regrets buying this). It seems like I don't have much luck with high-end brands, which may actually be a good thing for my wallet :)

REVIEW: TONYMOLY GOLD BLACK SUGAR MASK

It's good to exfoliate your skin once or twice a week to get rid of the dead skin cells. One of my favorite exfoliator is Tonymoly Gold Black Sugar Mask. This is also one of the few beauty products that I've actually repurchased (I've just finished my 2nd tub!).

Size: 100ml

Price: 223,000 VND

My opinion: Although this is a mask, it has a grainy texture that resembles a scrub. I tried using it as a scrub but it was a little bit too abrasive and didn't really take off my dead skin cells. The best way to use this, in my opinion, is to apply it all over my dry face and neck, let it sit there for 15-20 minutes, then wash it off. At first, I can feel the mask heat up on my skin, which is quite nice and relaxing actually. The feeling goes away after about 5 minutes. After removing it, my skin feels soft and looks radiant. It helps deflate my acnes, too! It can get rid of blackheads and clogged pores, but only to a certain extent. If you have extremely dry or sensitive skin, don't use this coz it may dry out or irritate your skin. I tried this when my skin was dry, and trust me, it wasn't a nice feeling! But if you have dull, oily and congested skin, I highly recommend this product coz it's cheap, easy to use and effective. One tub can last up to a year since you only need to use it once or twice a week.

Pros:

- Cheap

- Last for a very long time

- Effective in removing dead skin cells and deflating acnes 

- Relaxing feeling 

Cons:

- May not be suitable for people with dry or sensitive skin

- Not really effective in removing blackheads and clogged pores

Score: 8/10

Repurchase?: No. It's good and I like it, but after using it for 2 years straight, I wanna try something new. Besides, I feel that peeling gels are gentler and more effective in terms of exfoliating.

REVIEW: KATE CHEEK COLOR S IN PK-1

When it comes to blushers, I prefer something natural, but not too sheer to the point that it doesn't show up on my skin at all like a Bourjois powder blush that I used to have (I don't know why but it seems that I've always had bad luck with Bourjois products T-T). After a really bad experience with a now-discontinued Clarins blusher, which makes me look like I've been punched and pinched on the cheeks, I also stay away from any reddish/orangish color. I decide to try Kate Cheek Color S in PK-1 coz Asian makeup products in general tend to fit me better than Western brand, and the reviews for this one are quite positive.

Size: 2.7g

Price: 350,000 VND

This blusher has 2 colors. The lighter one is a highlighter, and the darker one is a cheek color. If you hate shimmer, skip this coz both parts contain shimmer. But in my case, the shimmer doesn't show up on my cheeks at all, so don't worry too much about it. As for me, I usually swipe the brush over 2 parts simultaneously for about 10 times, apply it on my cheek, then repeat the procedure for my other cheek. It sounds long but it really doesn't. It takes me about 1 minute to apply the blush on my cheeks. I love the brush coz it's so soft and doesn't shed. I'll keep it even after I finish this brush :) This blusher gives me a natural pink color, the kind you get after going to the gym or when you're embarrassed :) It looks so real that some people even think that it's my real cheek color and not a blusher! However, because of the sheer color, it doesn't show up well on photo and the lasting power is so so (about 3-4 hours for me). I don't recommend this to people with dry or flaky skin as it will emphasize your dry patches. Having said that, this blusher will not dry out or irritate your skin in any way.This is how it looks on me:

I'm sorry if you can't see the color, but I've tried taking various photos in different lightings, and these are the best that I can come up with T-T

Pros:

- Natural pink color

- Great brush

- Affordable
- Non-comedogenic and non-acnegenic

Cons:

- Accentuate dry patches

- Average staying power

Repurchase?: Maybe. I'm not sure yet coz this'll last for a very long time, and by the time it's expired, I may get bored of it :P