Sewame Cream Cream

Sewame PXE Fruits and Vegetables White Aqua Cream

Been using this for the past whole month. It has a light fruity smell, thicker than a lotion but not as thick as other ordinary night cream. I only use this cream at night as my night cream. It does not irritate my skin neither did it cause any breakouts. I do not find this product whitening my skin, neither did I get any tanner over the summer. I do not care though as long as it does not irritate or bleach my skin. However, it forms a very thin waxy layer after applying and remains there until the next morning. I would not say that it makes my skin oily the next morning but a waxy layer. I remember it happened last time when I used another cream from them (see following photo). Maybe it is their special formula to reduce the lost of moisture? I have to say, in terms of hydration, this product certainly does a better job than the following one I am going to talk about.

Sewame Face Slimming QQ Perfect Firming & Whitening Cream

I used this as my night cream since it is quite thick in consistency. This product comes with a light fragrant I would say. This product did not break me out nor cause any irritation. Actually, I do not think this product does anything at all... It did not slim my face, did not lighten up my skin, not very good at hydrating my skin. (And I used this line's face cleanser as well...) One thing it does is that it sits on top of my skin and it feels waxy... Even though it did not cost a fortune, I am never, ever going to consider getting another cream from Sewame... These two products put me off... Well... A bit...

Big Fail B.B.

This is one BIG fail... I have never hated a face product (in terms of makeup) that much...

Arezia BB Cream

I have tried Arezia products before but nothing disappointed me like this product.

There were two shades available, this pink one claims to control oil. Since I am oily at the T-zone I decided to give the pink one a go...

First of all, it has very sheer coverage. It does not make your skin looks smoother, does not make your pores less visible, does not even out your skin tone, does not cover your dark circles nor acne scars.

If you use this in the summer you would found this product melts within minutes after application even if you stay indoor with air-conditioning. If you use this product in the winter you would find this dries out your skin so much that starts turning patchy. For the worst, it goes patchy at the time of application that you cannot even it out again no matter what tools you use, but to take off your makeup and start it all over again.

Staying power is so poor that you have hardly anything left when you take off your makeup at the end of the day. Applying powder over this product does not really help.

Using this alone, as a foundation or as a base would be a total fail.

I guess the only good thing about this product would be you do not have to worry about colour matching...

I will go back to Missha...

Perfection eyeshadow? No wayyyyyyyy....

 

Perfection
Eyeshadow Quad
Shade: Jewel (WJ)

Perfection
Eyeshadow Quad
Shade: Sapphire (X9)

Guess where I got these two quads from~



Marks & Spencer!

Correct! They do cosmetics as well but not every shop does. They also do different ranges of skincare products as well as perfumes for different age range (and price)...

I loved their liquid concealer from the basic line which looks like this:

This liquid concealer was one of my favourites, it covers so well and is so light-weight, more importantly, it is very affordable. However, they have stopped this and left with the more expensive range of stuff... SHAME!!!

I couldn't find one single liquid concealer from the more expensive ranges but I decided to try the eyeshadow quads and blush. 

I got two eyeshadow quads. They are both in the pastel shades and both the packaging and sponges are very sturdy. Feels so smooth when I did the swatches with my fingers and there is a pearly shine too all of them (not shimmer or glitter!) which I thought would be nice for a fresh spring look. I in particular like the ruby shade from the Jewel quad and the darkest shade from the Sapphire quad. However! It is another story when you try to apply on your eyelids... No matter if I used a brush, a sponge, or even my fingers, nothing showed up... Pigmentation is sooooooooo poor that I could see nothing after application... I threw them both away before I could make a dent on any of those shades...

Disappointing...

What a WASTE 

Night Night~

Simple Vital Vitamin Night Cream

Simple products are claimed to be suitable for people with sensitive skin since they are free from any harsh chemicals/additives/perfume..etc. I cannot prove that since I don't have sensitive skin, but their products certainly have never irritated me nor did I notice any fragrance. This night cream is quite light in consistency compared to other night creams I used before, but not as running as a lotion. It is more like a gel-cream texture. It does not leave an oily feeling but my face doesn't feel dry/tight the next morning. Suitable for use all year round in HK, but it's a bit not enough for winter in the UK especially with the heating on. Since this product is not that oily compared to other night creams in the market, it did not break me out nor block my pores. 

Overall quite a decent product and I DO recommend this product even if you have oily skin. Not to mention, Simple products are always very affordable. 

Nivea Visage Regenerating Night Cream

I found myself always go back to this and I have already gone through quite a few jars of this product in  my pass few years. However, when I reach for this winter, I found myself breaking-out a lot after using this cream for about two / three nights. I was really shocked and I have never had this problem before. I sat and thought about what was the problem and 'click!', OH YES... I did move to a different country. I used to use this product a lot when I was studying in the UK and this winter was the first time I reached for this product after I moved back to HK. I liked using this in the winter in the UK because this cream is as thick as if it's a block of butter (yeah, like body butters), not only very hydrating for use in the dry cold winter (with heating on), the oil in this product also prevents my face from loosing moisture. Yes, there is a slight oily layer after applying but acceptable and it's just the right amount to lock up the moisture without making myself look like a disco ball (back to those days when I was in the UK). It smells really nice, too! You only need a small amount, easily spreaded and quickly absorbed!

However, it's a complete different story when I reached for this in the winter in HK :(Even if I only use the tiniest amount, it took me forever absorbing this cream and made me looked like a disco ball... AND... blocked my pores very badly causing me acnes after two / three days of usage.

I DO recommend this if you are living in a country that's more cold and dry than HK, or somewhere you have heating on all the time that tends to draw the moisture out of your skin. 

I used to like the other products of this line like the oil-free moisturiser and the eye cream, but I don't think I can use any of these while I am staying in HK...:(

So good that my mum stole it

Neutrogena Visibly Clear Blackhead Eliminating Daily Scrub

As the title says, "so good that my mum stole it"

This product is so creamy and gentle of being a scrub. Effectively removes most of my blackheads even though I only use this about 2 times per week. It does not irritate my skin, neither did it dry out my face ;) I bought this from the UK but a similar product can be found in Hong Kong. The exfoliants are quite fine (but not the finest I have ever tried) and there are more of them in the product than a other usual facial scrub got. The red particles actually break as you massage the product onto your face. 

Even though it says 'Daily Scrub' on the tube, I wouldn't use a scrub product every day... It's way too harsh especially I am not a teen anymore... I am also slowly stepping out from the exfoliating routine because I found that my skin has changed now. I use to be really oily all over the face when I was a teen, then combination skin (with oily T-zone and dry cheeks) just before I turned 20. Now, I seem to have normal skin all over?????

Hormone's changing??? Oh dear am I getting old?

Battle of masks - ROUND ONE

Watsons Aloe Vera Soothing Moisture Mask

• A nice hint of refreshing smell, not too strong
• Quite runny for a cream but too thick to be a lotion, the consistency is in between a cream and a lotion
• Smoothed on easily but since it is quite runny for a cream mask, might need to use a lot of product to cover the entire face
• It did not dry on my face, rather, it got absorbed into my skin
• Tinkled a little (which I hate) but it's not like I have an allergic reaction since it did not cause any redness - not recommended for sensitive skin
• Left my skin not as drying after wash but neither did my skin feel moisturised/hydrated
• No irritation afterwards
• Did not clog my pores
• Did not cause any break-outs
• Did not leave me looking like a grease ball
• Can be easily rinsed off
• Did not feel soothing at all

Do I recommand this product to the others?
No, I'd rather spend a little bit more for a tub of mask that is actually going to sooth and moisturise my skin without any tinkling sensation.

The Body Shop Warming Mineral Mask

• A muddy smell
• The consistency is quite thick like a usual clay mask
• A little difficult to spread evenly on skin because of its consistency
• A little bit drying after it is cleansed off, moisturiser is definitely required afterwards
• Tinkled a little (which I hate) but it's not like I have an allergic reaction since it did not cause any redness - not recommended for sensitive skin
• There is a warming sensation as this product is applied to a wet face, the warming sensation does last but not as warm as it was after 5-10 minutes
• No irritation afterwards
• Did not clog my pores
• Can be a little bit difficult to wash off the product
• Effectively cleansed my pores (blackheads) but result does not last for mroe than 2 days because the product does not really reduce my pore size other than clearing out the pores

Maybe this product is worth buying if you are interested in the warming technique. However, I would not purchase this again, but would not mind it if I can get it for free again^^"... I do not think this product is neccessary for me^^...

Mudd Hydrating Sea Mask (clay); Gentle Cleansing Peel-off mask

Mudd Hydrating Sea Mask:

• There wasn't a particular strong smell, so light that it did not even catch my attention
• Consistency is thick, like normal mud masks
• Since it is quite thick, needed a bit of work to spread the product
• It dried hard, so could not move any of my face muscles...
• Took a bit of time to rinse it off...
• Felt sooooo dry afterwards
• Left my skin felt like sqeaky
• No irritation
• Did not cause me to break-out
• Did not leave me looking like a grease ball
• Did not clog my pores
• Little bit of redness (i.e. around the nose)

Do I recommand this product to the others?
No... I think even people with oily skin would find this very drying... It's supposed to hydrate your skin!?

Mudd Gentle Cleansing Peel-off Mask:

• There wasn't a particular strong smell, very light
• Consistency is thick
• No irritation
• No smell
• Feels cool
• Did not clog my pores
• Does not really clear my pores... It did...nothing?
• Little drying afterwards

I think most peel-off masks are more or less the same that none of them really does a good job on my skin. I would not ever buy any peel-off mask ever again.

Kuan Yuan Lian Beadlike Grain Powder:

• It comes in a form of powder, all natural ingredient with no added chemicals/perfume/alcohol... Nothing that is not eatable
• It does exfoliate your skin a bit when you apply and rinse off the mask because of the grain in the product
• It can be a little messy during the mixing process
• Very little water is required to make this mask into a paste form
• It dries up quickly after application and it turns hard
• Whitening effect can be seen straight away after it is rinsed off and it does last of a couple of days
• Not irritation occurred
• It does clear your pores very well
• It feels fresh after the product is rinsed off
• The only thing is that be careful when you are rinsing the mask off as it can be scratchy if you are aggressive or not patient enough
• Always melt the product with water first before you start massaging the mask off
• Did not leave my skin too dry
• Did not cause any breakouts
• No clogging of pores

Do I recommend this?
Definitely except for dry or very sensitive skin. Very affordable, no added harmful substances and lives up to my expectation.

Boots Tea Tree + Witch Hazel Peel Off Face Mask

• Did not cause any breakouts
• Kind of did nothing to my skin, did not clear my skin, did not clear or reduce my blackheads, did not prevent me from breakouts, did not help my acne to heal faster, did nothing to my scar...etc.
• It really cannot get into your pores, I would see it with my own eyes, bubbles can be easily trapped in the product after applying to the skin especially where there is a pore
• A little cooling when you first applied it
• Takes ages to dry
• Very thick, like glue
• Can be peeled off easily
• Feels a tiny bit greasy after it is peeled off, I think it's because of the tea tree oil in it
• Did not block my pores
• Did not irritate my skin
• Not too strong a tea-tree/witch hazel smell, acceptable I think
• Did not dry my skin out

Do I recommend this?
No... what a waste of time and money... end of story

Oh my cheeks look radiant~

beautyuk Stripey Blusher Pink

beautyuk Striped Bronzer

If you are on a budget, these products are difinitely first choice for you. They were GBP2.99 each I got these, I believe that the price has gone up since. They do all kinds such as eyeshadows, nail polish, lipsticks, lipglosses, foundation...etc... But I am only into their Stripey Blusher and Striped Bronzer. Not the one-colour blushers and bronzers, I am not interested in those at all.

They are slightly shimmery if you look at them from a very short distance. However, they do not leave you looking like a glitter ball. Instead, make your skin looks glowy and radiant.

Pigmentation is good, one or two swipes can give you enough pigmentation. These are not as pigmented as those from the Body Shop or Barry M, you really do need a light hand for those products. Moreover, even though these products do not cost a lot, they are not powdery/chalky at all.

Staying power is amazing especially for the price. They stay for the whole day even if I wore it on a hot, humid summer day. These colours are great for all four seasons and very unicersal for all skin tones. The Stripey Blusher also comes in two other colour scheme: Purple and Orange.

Make-up............off!!

Kose Softymo Speedy Cleansing Oil

This cleansing oil really does impress me. It never fails to take off my face makeup. It does not irritate my eyes/skin, neither would it leave any oily residue behind after rinsing the product off. The consistency is a little bit to the thicker side but not too thick or runny. What does it smell like? I do not think there is any smell to it. However, do not let ANYcleansing oil get too close to your eyes. Otherwise, it can blur your vision if the oil gets into your eyes... Even though it's only temporary, it is never a good thing to let any foreign substances get into your eyes. Trust me, I have tried to use this to take off my eye makeup. It did a great job removing even any waterproof mascara but left me with a blurry vision for a minute. Well, it did not irritate my eyes but still it is not a good idea.

Kose Softymo Speedy Cleansing Liquid

I should have just stick with the pink one I mentioned above...

I ran out of the pink one and was thinking, 'maybe it is the time that I give other products a try...' I saw this blue one on the shelf and the term 'weak acid' caught my attention... 'OK, I will give it a go!'

REGRET!!!!!!!!!

When I first pumped it out I notice that the consistency is so different to the pink one. This one is runnier, even runnier than any heated cooking oil I would say...Then I could smell alcohol... I said to myself, 'NOOOOOOOOOO.............'

Yes, this one contains alcohol... Then I read the label carefully... FAIR ENOUGH... this is not cleansing OIL but it is a cleansing LIQUID... I hate any skincare products that contain added alcohol... (I think it is acceptable for those that contain alcohol produced from natural processes... e.g. Weleda products) I know, I know... alcohol is really good for dissolving and removing oil and dirt... But I do not like the smell of it, I do not like the feel of it, I do not like how it dry out my skin, and I do not like how the vapour and the alcohol itself can easily get into my eyes and sting my eyes like crazy. No way that I would use this to take off my eye makeup.

I DO NOT even like consuming alcohol, END OF STORY.

Botanics (Boots) Soothing Eye Make Up Remover All Skin Types

I must admit, this is the best (so far) make up remover I have ever tried, just like what all the others say. This one even beat the eye makeup remover lotion from Simple (I have blogged about this before of how much I like it). This product worth every single penny. This is so gentle, no offensive smell, no added alcohol and no over-powering perfume (Actually, I think this product contains no perfume at all). This is a lovely product. This is one of those 2-phase products that you have to shake really well before use. The only down side of this is that you will need to use cotton pads with this product whereas you only massage with your hands for those I mentioned above. It takes off everything with no effort. No irritation at all and if you do not rinse after using this product, it does, in some way moisturise your skin. But I would assume that everyone would wash their face afterwards anyway.

Pore... no... change...

The Body Shop
Seaweed
Pore Perfector

• A gel / lotion consistency
• Smells okay
• Very light
• No oily residue left behind after application
• Gets absorbed easily
• No, I did not see any results... It was supposed to make my pores look less visible/smaller as long as I keep using this product, but it did nothing...
• I do not recommand this

But everyone's skin response differently to different products, definitely recommand you asking for a free sample before buying. Remeber, this is a product by the Body Shop, they give out free samples all the time.

I also got told that once you've stopped using this product, your pores would go back to the state before you use this product, so it's one of those you have to keep buying. Even so, it took me about three months to finish one bottle but I did not find my pores appeared less visible/smaller within those three months at all. 

However, I do not regard buying this product as much as that I would if it is from some other brand. The Body Shop supports fairtrade, no animal testing and they also do a lot of other good work. My money has not been wasted in a way, but has gone to help this company to help the rest of the world. The only think I might not be happy about is that I have wasted the product itself, that someone else who finds this product brilliant could have bought it.

DEEP clean? Oh well...

Reason I bought this was I wanted to reduce the number of times I exfoliate my face over the winter, so that I won't dry out my skin. On top of that, I went for a cream wash because cream wash tends to be less drying than gel wash. I went for the cheapest cream wash I could found that at the same time has some properties in it - claims to contain salicylic acid, which can help prevent spots and breakouts. it says, 'cleans deep down to effectively remove dirt, oil and impurities without clogging pores', 'the tingling sensation tells you your skin has been thoroughly cleaned, leaving it cool, refreshed and really clear'. I bought this when it was half price in Wilkinson (so I only paid GBP1.xx for it :D). It was a gamble, really. I still remember the last time I tried a Clean & Clear product, how drying it was that was enough to put me off from this brand for years until now (that was when I was in year 7 I believe...). However, I guess Clean & Clear has improved their products a lot but still got a very long way to go. 

• non-drying
• really strong menthol but you can still open your eyes with no problems during cleansing / straight after rinsing, which is something I could never do back in the years, the last time I used a Clean & Clear product. 
• did not clog pores
• did not cause break outs
• did not prevent break outs completely either (these are not from the cleanser, it's because I've stopped using my antibiotics)
• so... kind of maintain my skin condition rather than improve
• did remove dirt and oil, but does not clean deeply enough I think. I still have many very visible blackheads after cleansing. When I applied a nose strip afterwards, I still ended up with millions of blackheads (Yes, blackheads is one of the major problems of my skin) just not as big. I would say... remove 40-50% of my blackheads.
• consistency is more to the lotion side than cream, and I need double a pea size to cover my entire face
• left my skin really soft and cool
• did not cause irritation
• maintained my skin condition in terms of oily T-zone, did not make me look shine-free completely but my T-zone did not look more oily

MIGHT get this again if no other cream washes (with some properties) are on sale during winter...

Not my first choice but at least it is non-drying, oil-free, maintained the condition with spots issue and did not leave me looking like a grease ball.

Shedding Shedding Shedding and Shedding...

Photo HERE

This is the QVS Duo Fibre Brush, costed me GBP6.99. I bought this back about 5 or 6 months ago, I had high hopes for this brush... But I have just binned this. 

That's why I don't have a photo but have to link you to other people's blog. 

Why did I bin this?

During the initial wash, it wouldn’t stop shedding and the dye kept coming off no matter how many time you rinse it. Way more than any of my other brushes. The fibres are not dense enough and therefore too flimsy to blend anything. Haven't said that, you probably wouldn't want to use this to apply liquid foundation (like you would do with other Duo Fibre Brushes to achieve an air-brush finish) with a stippling motion. Why? Because the end of the fibres are so spiky and hurts so much. 

I put it away and hoping this brush will impress me more when I reach for it again after a while?

But the fact that the fibres are too spiky does not change. However, I changed my way to use this brush. Recently I dig it out again and I used this brush with mousses products. I no longer use this as a stippling brush but I swirled the products on. Works fine this way, not amazing like the Kabuki brush with mousses products (this is the best combination), but does the job. 

Okay...

Onto the MAIN reason why I binned this...

I just went to wash this brush, like how I would wash any other brushes I own...

It WAS SHEDDING LIKE CRAZY!!! My palm was full of fibres, a hand full of fibres after a hand full of fibres. It's like it's never ending! Not to mention, the dye is still coming off no matter how long i rinse it for, together with hand full after hand full of fibres. It's horrible! 

The glue on this brush is just too weak... None of my other brushes do that and this is not the cheapest brush I've got! Even the one I hated so much didn't do this (it's one that only costs me GBP1.99, the fibres went wrong after I washed it and the fibres weren't soft enough, but NEVER SHED!). 

Losing half of the fibres of the brush, given that it was not that dense in the first place, and it's still shedding, I decided that no way I can use this brush every again. BYE BYE! 

Please tell me it's only because I got a defective one :(

Why is my opinion is so different to the others?

Simple
Spotless Skin
Triple Action Face Wash

When it says 'face wash', I immediately thought of a gel wash. Not until I went home and opened the cap... Oh... It's a gel scrub... It's got exfoliants in it... :'( Especially when they have another product called "Simple Spotless Skin Blackhead Eliminating Face Scrub", it made me more convi that the 'Face Wash' should not have got any exfoliants in it! 

So, so, so, so disappointed as the reason why I bought this was because I was looking for a gel wash or cream wash so that I won't be exoliating my face twice a day 7 days a week. Also, I've never liked the exfoliants Simple use in their products. The exfoliants've got very sharp edges and too big to clean your pores to my opinion. It hurts. 

On the back, it does not say it's got exfoliants in it either :(

Well, this product claims to contain Zinc PCA, Chamomile and Witch Hazel. 

I have tried their other products with Zinc PCA in it, which was a moisturiser. It really did do what it says - absorb excess oils. However, I don't find it as effective when it is in a face wash. I guess it's because rather than applying and leaving it on the skin, we rinse it off when it's in a face wash? My forehead started to get oily around mid-day, but it did not happen when it was in a face moisturiser.

Chamomile is often included in products for treating skin inflammation and eczema because it is supposed to be a skin soothing anti-irritant. Since I don't really suffer with this problem, I don't know if this product's got enough amount of this ingredient to make this work. :P

Witch Hazel is quite a well known ingredients in terms of spots fighting in this country (UK) and widely used. It is a natural ingredients from plants. it helps to shrink and contract blood vessels back to their normal size and this is why on the packaging, it says, "tone and tighten pores". Just to point out that, it did not say "decreases the size of pores". I don't notice any different with the size of my pores, nor did I really measured them ==". 

They've also pointed out that Phytosphingosine is included in the product, which is a natural antibacterial ingredient. Phytosphingosine is also known as the sphingolipid. Such ingredient is believed to protect cell surface against harmful environmental factors. 

Overall, I found this a waste of time. First, I expected this to be a gel wash and it turned out to be a gel exfoliating wash. Second, it did not help with my oily T-zone. Third, the exfoliants hurt. Fourth, it does not cleanse, I felt like I haven't cleanse my face after rinsing the product off. My blackheads kept building up and got worse. Fifth, it did not help my spots to heal faster nor did it stop me from breaking out. Acnes kept coming back together with millions of white little bumps around my cheeks, on my chin and forehead. Oh, and red bumps on my cheeks. 

Perhaps these are the only good things of this product:

• no perfume
• no added colour
• did not dry my skin out after wash
• did not irritate my skin/eyes (not like those with menthol)
• even though it does not contain perfume, it does not have a funny smell

Everyone's skin is different and how everyone's body response to different things different. This is definitely the case since... this product's got 8 out of 9 five-stars rating on the Boots product page, and the only one who did not give a five-star rating gave a four. But I am completely disappointed by this.