Wicked Wednesday: 5 Skincare Tips You Need to Know

 
I recently stumbled upon this blog by a Singaporean skincare guru (Sesame) and now I'm an avid reader. Although the blog is mainly aimed at Asian women, most of her tips and advice can be applied to everyone. You can check her blog out here.

If you cannot be bothered reading pages worth of knowledge, here are 5 skincare tips that I have picked up from reading her blog. Unfortunately, I cannot write too much on them because she considers it as copying. So if you need further elaboration, just click on the link and it will take you to the article and explains the skincare tips.

1. Apart from Michelle Phan, she is the only other person that I've come across who says that it's okay to not wash your face in the morning. It is imperative that we do before we sleep but it's okay if you don't in the morning. If you do, please do so very gently. See why here. 

2. Wash your face after (not before) shampooing your hair. Article here.

3. Using a separate towel for your face. Avoid using your body towel for your face. See her explanation here.

4. Facial oil (ie rosehip oil) may be good for you but you may want to keep it well away from your eyes. Find out more here. 

5. Sesame has a number of tips on applying moisturisers and my favourite one is this: apply moisturiser to damp skin straight after cleansing.


Have you heard of these skincare tips before?

Triple S: Bobbi Brown Creamy Matte Lip Color Review + Swatches

I've been excited about these matte lipsticks since an MUA from Bobbi Brown told me about them. That was back in July. It was a long wait but it was well worth it! I received these lipsticks last month when they were released and have been loving them!

Bobbi Brown Creamy Matte Lip Color  
Claims: Highly pigmented formula that provides intense moisturisation on the lips due to soft waxes and emollients. It is designed to slightly soften with the warmth of the lips and forms a film to provide up to eight hours wear.
RRP: AUD$44

Packaging: 5 out of 5

Review: I'm really sorry ladies but I will be doing a lot of raving in this review! I will do my best to be concise. First off, these lipsticks are very creamy. It glides on with very little resistance but at the same time, it lays down a lot of product. It is highly pigmented and so usually I swipe it across my lips only once. It truly is long lasting. I went out to dinner with my friends wearing this lipstick in True Pink. Even though some came off as I ate, when I checked my lips after the meal, most of it was still intact. It stayed on all night. With my other lipsticks, most of it comes off when I eat, leaving only a rim of colour around my mouth afterwards. 

The packaging is simply luxurious. Although it may not seem obvious in these photos but these lipsticks come in very high quality plastic tubes. The packaging is what I would like to describe as an "all-rounder". It looks simple enough to be an everyday item. At the same time it can be glamorous or elegant. You can pull this lipstick out from any kind of bag in any type of event! The only downside that I can think of is that it feels heavier than other (drugstore/pharmacy) lipsticks. However, once you have it in your bag, you will not notice the weight at all. That is if you're not carrying around 20 of those... Anyway, I can't wait to get more of these gems; I am already eyeing the colour in Pink Lily!

Now on with the swatches! 

Natural light

In the shade

 Below we have Calypso on my lips. I can only describe it as a very fun orangey-pink. I think this would look even more amazing with a bit of gold lipgloss/eyeshadow dabbed onto the centre of the lips.

 Here we have True Pink on my lips. I'd like to think that it's a very neutral pink. It's not too dark or too light. It may have a teeny tiny bit of mauve in it. 

This is the only (relatively) close-up shot of me with True Pink on my lips at the dinner with my friends. Can you tell?

 What's your favourite matte lipstick? Have you tried Bobbi Brown's? 

Please remember that although these lipsticks were sent to me, these opinions are 100% my own! It does not matter whether I receive a product from a company or bought it myself, if I love the product I will rave about it. If I don't, I usually don't bother writing a review on it unless I deem it necessary. This is to clear up any confusion.

Wicked Wednesday: Skinvitals Hydraflex Eyes Review + Demo

Hey everyone! Hope you're having a good week so far. I have another review for you today.

Skinvitals Hydraflex Eyes  
Claims: Soothing eye mask that targets the entire eye area to reduce the appearance of dark circles and bags under your eyes. Replenish and rejuvenate the skin, as well as even out the skin tone and restore clarity.
RRP: AUD$14.99

Packaging: 5 out of 5

Review: Although this is the only eye mask I've tried and I can't make any comparisons, I have to say that I really like it. The instructions for applying this product are easy to comprehend and carry out. There is no rinsing or washing required afterwards. I found that after using this mask, my eye area feel soft smooth and hydrated. The dark circles under my eyes became less prominent. My whole eye area looks a bit brighter and more awake. Perhaps the slight cooling sensation is a factor. It just made me feel freshened up. 

This product is a little bit expensive (approx. $5 per cloth mask) but I have to say that they do give you your money's worth. They pack each mask with loads of serum (explained in the next paragraph). Also, the packaging is appealing and I can't find any fault with it, hence the 5 out of 5. To sum it up, I think this is a really nice eye mask. If you're like me and you've been lazy with routinely applying eye creams, this is how we can cheat our way to bright eyes for the day/night! 

Now on with the demo! 

Each mask comes in their own little packet. As you can see, it says 8mL. My guess is they are referring to the amount of serum that the cloth mask is holding, which is a lot! The mask was soaking with serum when I removed it from the packaging (they're really generous with it!). Application instructions are found both at the back of the box and the back of the packets. 

So there I am relaxing with this eye mask on. It covers a very large area of my face so I was essentially giving my eye area and the top of my cheeks a bit of a treat. After 15 minutes, I remove and throw the mask into the bin. It seems like a waste but I guess you can choose to put the mask on a little longer if you like. 

  
Then, I grabbed a tissue and patted away the excess serum. You may choose to massage and push more serum into your skin if you like. However, I felt that there was so much serum on my skin that there was no way my skin was going to absorb all of it! Please excuse my uneven eyelids in this photo.

And there you have it: bright eyes! And for the record, the "bags" under my eyes are from me smiling. For more products and stockist, you can check out their website here. 

Have you tried any of Skinvitals masks? Which one(s) do you like or would like to try? Please do share in the comments below!

Triple S: What's in My Purse/Wallet?

I don't know about you but I refer to "mini money-holding bags for women" as purses. I realise that Americans call them wallets and purses mean handbags to them. For me, wallets are "mini money-holding bags for men". What do you call them? For the purposes, of this blog entry, I will refer to these bags as purses.

Anyway, I just thought I'd do something fun and different today. I've poured all the contents out of my purse (and arranged them neatly) to show you what I carry around with me every day. I have actually left out one item but I will get to that later. 

 
So here are (almost) all the things that I have in my purse every day:

- Money
- USB (You might find it strange but it so handy! My friends are always giving me stuff like music, photos, etc. This way, I never run into the risk of forgetting to bring my USB.)
- Band-aids
- Eye drops (My eyes get irritated a lot and often when I am not at home.)
- Bobby pins
- Rubber hair tie
- Cards

I usually carry this many cards around with me. Some are very useful and others are hardly ever touched. I am not going to name any of the cards. Oh, and in case you're wondering, my purse is from Charles Berkeley. I bought it in Malaysia a couple of years back.

  Normally, I would keep a blister or corn patch in my purse because there's this one toes that has suffered a lot of abrasion and never fully recovered. I love these patches they help keep the agony at bay, particularly when I am wearing heels. I use Compeed because they are quite good. I only wish they weren't so expensive. I have tried a cheaper brand/version but it is just not good enough. If you do know of a good and cheaper one, do let me know! 

I hope this post has been fun and interesting for you. I plan on doing something like What's in My Shoe Closet next, since I have had one or two requests. Hopefully, I will get around to it!

What do you have in your purse/wallet?  

Big Birthday Giveaway CLOSED

I very recently turned __insert age__ and to celebrate, I am throwing another giveaway on this blog! And believe me, the prizes are AWESOME. So please pay attention to maximise your chances of winning!

But first up, what will you win? These:

And these (only if you are an Australian resident, due to shipping regulations):

Oh goody! How?

Make sure you:
1. are 18 years or older to enter. If you are under 18, please make sure you have a parent's consent.
2. are a follower of this blog (via Google Friend Connect).
3. fill out and submit the form below: you will gain one entry for this giveaway!

This giveaway is open internationally.

Want to gain more entries? Here are two ways:
 - Leave a comment on the blog posts I publish for the next 4 weeks (13th of Nov till 9th of Dec, 2012). Your first comment for every blog post will become an entry to the giveway. You're looking at 8+ entries!
Note: leaving a comment on this post does NOT count as an entry. 

- Link this post on the sidebar of your blog with the banner/image below and you will gain 5 extra entries! This will only apply if you are a legitimate blogger. The 5 extra entries will not be awarded if you link this post to a blog created just for the purposes of giveways and competitions.

You are allowed to do both options to maximise your chances of winning!

Banner/image

Competition closes on the 10th of Dec. The winner will be chosen through random.org and announced on the 11th of Dec. Good luck!