I've Been Sugarbomb-ed!

I'm sorry.

I'm not feeling all entirely chatty today as I'm feeling rather under the weather. No thanks to a glut-filled Chinese New Year (which isn't even over yet!), and our lovely (and insanely) hot HOT weather.

Temperature over the last week or so has been hovering at oh... just about 36°C. Lovely.

But no matter. Today I want to share with you lovelies a product that I'm sure many of you would have heard of by now - Benefit's Sugarbomb blush.


Sugarbomb comes in four quarters in four shades - peachy, pinky, rosey and lilac-ky. Notice that two of the shades are cooler, and two are warmer. Don't ask me how, but it works.

Swirl your brush in and slowly buff it on your cheeks for a lovely peach-pink glow. Don't worry about it being too much. If anything, I'd say it seems a little light for me (MAC NC25). It took me about 5 swipes before I got it to look like that in the photo below.

(This photo was taken earlier, when I was not as sick and could still smile. But not bad eh? A little blush, and a big smile, and I look pretty alright, no?)

Anyhoo, enough of me talking. Enjoy your weekend!

Me, I'm crashing out for now. Ta~

Green Beauty: Microfibre Face Towels

I've always felt slightly guilty over the waste in tissue paper that my nightly cleansing ritual generates, and thanks to MakeupAlley girls I believe I've not only managed to save the trees - I've one-upped the tissues!

Microfibre towels are super soft, dry quickly and wash out easily. Because they are comprised of very fine fibres, they pick up minute particles without scratching or hurting the surface. Mostly they've been used to dust around the house and polish cars - until the girls at MUA discovered that by jingo, it polishes skin really really well too. Bless them. Oh and they also mentioned that the cheap house cleaning towels you can get at Daiso for RM5 work perfectly too. So of course it's off to Daiso I went!

Although I already have the Nexcare Microfiber Face Cloth which actually works very very well, I felt it was a bit too expensive for daily wear and tear - especially since I can't get it in Malaysia. So a cheap, readily available alternative like Daiso's cleaning cloths was something I was keen to try out.

I cut the 40cm X 40cm towel into four squares - but I gotta tell you, even though the girls at MUA suggest this, next time just buy smaller towels. The ends flake like no tomorrow!

So how does it work? Pretty amazingly actually. My normal cleansing ritual is to wash my face with Johnson's Head to Toe, dry off, then rub in Deep Clean and tissue off. This usually takes two rounds to clean off Revlon Colorstay (it really does stay). The microfiber cloths do it in one round. The second round is squeaky clean.

The first time I used it, I could have sworn I saw it WIPE away some of my blackheads! With daily use the blackhead count has gone down and after some slight purging my skin is looking clearer with tighter pores. Whee! It's also very effective to just rub it over skin after a cleansing face mask - that gets out the more annoying blackheads. For this I use Nexcare's face cloth as it has a side with longer fibres that seem to get more gunk out. ;)

After using I simply rinse it out with Head to Toe and they're dry by the next morning. Easy peasy! =D

Conclusion

I'll be going to back to see if Daiso has a stack of smaller sized towels rather than just one big one. If you're going to give this a try, I recommend the soft slightly furry ones - not the smoother ones that are more for polishing.

Argh! The Internet hates me!

Hey ladies,

I'm having some real trouble with the internet at home - been trying to upload pics for ages and going nowhere. I've even had to try to publish this post several times. I'll try and repost again tomorrow a little later in the day so check back!

Thanks!

Love,
Kahani

Stories from my Grandmother: DIY Hibiscus Leaf Face Mask

Now, I have never tried this DIY mask before though my grandmother, her friends and my mother have given it a shot. My grandmother liked it so much; she used to use it once every few weeks (I think she has stopped) while my mother felt that it was a bit too strong for her skin.

“It’s like a DIY acid peel,” Mum said as I examined at her face carefully. “I think it takes off the top layer of skin cells because my skin feels thinner.”

Mum’s skin did look brighter and her pigmentation scars seemed a little lighter but her skin did seem a little “thin”.

“Hmm…. Think you are right,” I paused. “Eh, didn’t Popo (Hakka for maternal grandmother) say she’s going to do this again today or something?”

“She did? That’ll be the third time this week. I better call her while she still has a face left.”

If you are intrigued enough to try this, all you have to do is:

1. Collect 3-5 hibiscus leaves (not the flower) from your garden/ your neighbour’s bush/ side of the highway. Don’t get caught, of course.
2. Wash them and pound them with a good ol’ fashioned mortar and pestle ‘til they are mashed up.
3. Spread green stuff on already cleansed face and leave for 10-15 minutes before washing off.

As this mask sounds quite strong, I strongly recommend doing a patch test first. People with sensitive skin or acne should definitely stay away or wait until existing pimples subside.

Does anyone else have stories from their grandmother?

Review: St Ives Soothing Oatmeal & Shea Butter Advanced Body Moisturiser

Hello ladies!

Ah, to be back. I think this post will, without a doubt, prove that I'm still in the middle of my current cream-craze. Nevermind that I had only reviewed this Vaseline moisturiser two weeks back.

This bottle of Oatmeal & Shea Butter moisturiser I picked up during my recent trip to Hong Kong, amongst a few other items. And it's a purchase I'm happy to have made.

I first took note of this moisturiser because of the Oatmeal ingredient it boasts. Having read somewhere recently that oatmeal actually works jolly well for eczema, I thought I'd pick up a bottle for the hubs and see how much help it'd do him.

So read on to find out more!

It could be just me, but more often than not, products I'm interested in are usually out of reach. And of course, this too, is not available in Malaysia. Hence, the picking it up while in Hong Kong. Sorry girls, but this one you can't get here. Can anyone tell if it's sold in Singapore?

Anyway, it's one happy purchase as my skin didn't take the (lovely and mild) Hong Kong winter very well. Two days into my trip, my skin had turned all dry and scaly, and it was starting to itch like crazy.


Just as well, don't you think? Sorry hubs, I'm helping myself to this first. After all, it does claim to provide "instant non-irritating relief for dry, itchy skin".

And I must say, I was rather impressed. Slathering it on all over provided somewhat instant relief for the dryness, and my skin stopped itching. And slapping it on in the morning kept my skin comfortable pretty much throughout the day. But I'm pretty sure the glycerin had more to do with it than the oatmeal, considering the fact it's listed last in the ingredient's list.


But what's great about the product is that it claims to be have been formulated without parabens and phthalates. Tree-huggers will also rejoice in knowing that St Ives does not test on animals, and that the bottle contains 20% post-consumer recycled material.


Scent wise, Kahani describes it as "milky and nestum-y", which I didn't mind at all. And of course, dearest Kahani had to hate it.

"I can STILL smell you!" she groaned, despite being curled up in her duvet, head and all.

Granted, we both shared this tiny room, and her bed was not three feet away from mine. I think it's one of life's ironies that best friends we may be, but our noses most certainly aren't. I love vanilla, she hates it. She loves lavender and citrus. I hate them BOTH. Go figure.

Anyway, this huge 532ml bottle (which cost less than RM20 after conversion) will last me a long, long time. Which is great, since I do really like it. However, considering that I am currently swimming in body moisturisers, and the fact I can't get my itchy hands on it here, I doubt I'll be repurchasing.

Oatmeal, anyone?

Monday's Beauty Bits

And we're back! How was your CNY ladies? Frankly I spent mine eating too much then lying around gasping from the heat and eating too much. Well let's just ease back into the week with a few beauty bits aye?

For all you girls who love products you can find in your kitchen, look no further than olive oil as a makeup remover! Michelle Phan has a post on this if you need further proof. She also uses it in a DIY scrub and as a brush cleaner - just look around on her site.

Still hankering after NYX lippies? Makeupoverloaded has some in stock for RM23 a tube. What I really appreciate though are the great photos and swatches she took. Most sites selling NYX have absolutely dreadful swatches!

The heat doesn't just leave me gasping it's left my hair wilting. Since I've run out of Batiste, I've been making do with dusting plain silica powder in my hair, rubbing it in and brushing it out. It's been a great hair refresher but don't overdo it or you'll have cake batter on your scalp!

Have a lotion that's just too heavy to use as a body cream in a tropical climate? Don't let it go to waste, decant it into a smaller tube and tote it around as a light hand lotion. You'll still get great use out of it and your hands will love you too. I've currently got a travel-sized tube of ~H2O+'s Body Balm in Lemon Lust in my bag - an idea I got from Syen during our Hong Kong trip. Her scent of choice? Raspberry Guava of course! ;)

Happy Chinese New Year!

Hello lovelies!

One more day and it'll be the eve of Chinese New Year already! For all of our readers who are celebrating the festivities, here's wishing you a very, very Happy Year of the Tiger!

Instead of wishing you wealth and prosperity, we'll wish you all love in your hearts, joy in your lives, and peace and harmony within your families. And may this Chinese New Year be a blast for you and your loves ones.

For those of you who'll be travelling (I know I will!), drive safe and stay safe.

So Loverly will also be taking a few days off for the festivities, so see you lovelies when we get back!

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

Love,
Kahani, Syen & Eli ~

PS: Just a little something I'd like to share with you girls, so read on!

Cellnique has apparently repackaged their b.liv products again. I ran out of my HG pro sebum gel, and I knew I had to get a bottle before I ran off for the CNY holidays. And this was what I found.

The new look actually looks better, I think. They seem to be taking a cue from original packaging, minus the "aunty" look. It's now priced at RM179 for 45ml, but Sasa is giving RM29 + RM5 off until the end of the month.

Stocking up, anyone?