Beauty chat: Rediscovering old loves

I've been sighing and shaking my head at myself. 

It beats me why -  when I KNOW something works, have even raved about it in the past - I'd just sort of forget about things that work and stop using them. 

Perhaps its because they became such basic and intrinsic parts of my beauty routine that I sort of forgot what they did, took them for granted, neglected them... and skin paid for it. 

Take for example, Neutrogena's Deep Clean Blackhead Eliminating Scrub. It wasn't readily available in Hong Kong when I arrived so I just shrugged and did without. Well on a recent trip back to Malaysia I toted a tube back to HK with me (I had one sort of just sitting around) and dear goodness. My skin's been keeping clear up, my scars fading, it feels smoother, makeup goes on better... WHY did I ever think I could live without this?

Thank goodness that before I go into a full-scale panic attack about the lack of this baby in Hong Kong, they launched it! It's now in every Watsons and Mannings praise the skincare gods. 

Handbag Handy: Etude House Mini Anti-Germ Hand Lotion

Everyone say, "Awww..."

Despite their overwhelming and slightly terrifying cutesiness, I continue to be impressed with Etude House. You're familiar with my handcream obsession.. well here's another kicker, I'm the daughter of a microbiologist. So while I'm not a germaphobe I do like my anti-bac stuff.

So I squealed (yes I confess I did) when I saw them both rolled into one adorable, portable package. I'd heard of such things, I even have a tube of the one from Boots, but until now they haven't been available here and the one from Boots isn't the most portable.

I was tempted to get out the petri dishes and the agar gel to test its antibac properties, but decided to just take their word for it. As a handcream it's actually kinda perfect. It's light, sinks in quickly and yet you need surprisingly little to keep your hands happy. My dry cuticles have been looking a lot less ragged since I started using this too.

Rave: Cheerful Mind Badger Balm

Pix from MusingsofaMuse

Scent is a powerful thing. It's actually important to me that the hand cream I bring around with me smells wonderful. One of my most poignant memories was using Soap & Glory's Hand Food in the London Tube when the train had been stalled for awhile and tensions were high. As soon as that lovely scent went airborne, people around me started smiling, a few (yes these are Londoners) asked what the lovely scent was and where they could get it. I passed the tube around for a few ladies to use, the train started up, it was a glowing moment.

But sadly, Soap & Glory isn't available here... still that's where Badger Balm comes in. This solid salve makes it perfect for handbags and for long haul flights (it's solid so it passes through liquid restrictions) - can you think of a better time to have a cheerful mind than a long haul flight?

So does this salve live up to its claims? Hell yeah!

Loving: Marks & Spencer's Grapefruit Hand & Body Lotion

I'll admit I didn't like it at first because it doesn't smell of grapefruit. Nope it's a citrus floral. But after testing it a few times (at first, resentfully and then with increasing anticipation) the scent grew on me and I bought a bottle for my bedside. Then finding it working miracles on my dry cuticles, I went back and bought another for my office desktop. 

Mehndi Beauty ~

With the Deepavali celebrations in full-swing this past Saturday, me and a few friends decided we would get cheeky and join in the fun.


We got ourselves some mehndi done on our hands!

My Favourite Things: Soap & Glory The Righteous Butter (Mini)

It would appear that I have found a new travel companion. Whether it's a short balik kampung (back to the hometown) trip, or one out of the country, I now have a new friend I tote along for these occasions.


Because it's just perfect for it. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Soap & Glory The Righteous Butter (Mini), now a firm favourite of mine.

How much do I love it? Read on to find out.

Burts Bee's Hand Salve

I am so on the fence with this one. On one hand, I love the tiny flat tin (its smaller than the Vaseline lip tins), I love the idea of it and it is quite a moisturising balm. But despite its on-the-go format, it just isn't an on-the-go kinda hand salve.

For one thing it takes some effort to get enough out to rub into your hands. Then it takes awhile for your hands to stop feeling waxy. Plus it smells like camphor. Don't know what camphor smells like? Think Minyak Angin not the most glamorous scent.

But the reviews of it show it to be a great healing balm for cuts, scrapes and burns. So I think for now this little tin hasn't earned itself a place in my handbag but it's a must bring for travels when all the above, plus dry spots, may happen.

Ingredients: Ingredients: prunus amygdalus dulcis (sweet almond) oil, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil,cera alba (beeswax, cire d'abeille), parfum (fragrance), tocopheryl acetate, symphytum officinale (comfrey) root extract, tocopherol, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaves, lavandula angustifolia (lavender) flowers, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf extract, glycine soja (soybean) oil, canola oil (huile de culza), linalool, limonene

If you're interested in giving this a go, Burts Bees now has stores at The Curve and MidValley (I think). The small tin is RM15 and I can't remember how much the larger pots are.

Latest indulgence: Crabtree & Evelyn Citron Honey & Coriander Hand Therapy Collection

I have my first tube of C&E handcream thanks to an incredibly generous and dear friend who gave me an RM50 coupon for C&E -specifically to buy this hand cream because she knows I'm batty about handcreams and citrus cents. Normally I can't bring myself to blow so much dough on a hand cream but after using this for two weeks I don't know how I'll ever give it up!

C&E handcreams are famous for a reason. They're thick, a little goes a long way, your hands are beautifully moisturised BUT the cream sinks in fast and does not leave your hands feeling greasy. What more could you ask for?

While using this hand cream just once or twice a day and every night (I keep it by my bedside) all my nasty hangnails have gone away. My cuticles now look healthy and normal and I haven't even had to use my Burts Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream very much. Mostly I use it when I'm bored and because I adore the scent. =P

And ah yes the scent. If you love citrus scents, this hand cream is gorgeous. No it does NOT smell like detergent. It's a cleaner greener citrus scent with a hint of spices that makes it yummy, refreshing and very sophisticated. If this were a perfume I'd be spritzing it all over me.

RM73 gets you 100g and RM46 gets you 50g. While I would like the more portable size, the Chinese Hokkien streak in me did the math and you definitely get more bang for your buck if you go for the 100g tube. I really hope this scent is permanent, I'm not sure if I can do without it!

Handy Dandy

My hands have been a problem for me ever since leaving sunny humid Malaysia for dry cold Europe. They get dry and chapped, my skin peels and hangnails form around my cuticles till they bleed. (Sexy, huh?)

So I've been trying handcream after handcream, Nivea, Norwegian Formula, Marks & Spencers, I've tried them all but I don't go back to them. Because if they work they're so greasy I can't touch or do anything for ages after putting them on, and if they don't feel greasy, they don't work.

Thank goodness for Soap & Glory's fabulous Hand Food and Burts Bee's Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream.


Hand Food
My love for this hand-cream amounts to an addiction. Only £4.50 for a nice big tube (125ml), it sinks right in to form a silky glove that protects my hands and keeps them lovely and soft - without greasing up everything I touch. It contains extracts of fennel and lotus flower to hydrate and protect, and it has the loveliest, most complex scent of any hand cream I've come across. It's light, and yet has an indefinable something that makes applying this on a crowded tube, a therapeutic experience for my frazzled nerves. The site lists "fresh bergamot, strawberries and mandarin, fruity and floral midnots, and a base of musk amber and warm vanilla" as its scent notes. I can't really pick all that up, but it smells yummy, nuff said!

Burts Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream
I initially bought this as an extra-pampering treat for my fingers after a hard day's cleaning up around the apartment or washing lots of dishes. I'm so in love with the scent though that I find myself sniffing the jar, and applying it before I sleep and while working at the computer jsut so I can enjoy that delicious lemon-drop scent. This heavy cream will grease up your fingers, so it's actually best as a night-time treatment (unless it addicts you like it has me - you have been warned!). Since I've started using it, I've had nary a hang-nail and my nails seem stronger and smoother. It retails for about £3 - £5 and can be bought online, on Boots.com Premium Beauty, or at natural and health-food stores.