Product review : Loreal lip and eye make up remover

Packaging

Not very big. Easy to carry around.
Cap is tight and doesn't spill when I brought it to travel.

Smell

No smell at all which is good as I'm fear of fragrances or chemical that is a burden to my sensitive skin.

Applicator 

Use a cotton pad and pour the amount of make up remover desired.
I usually use 1 cotton for my foundation, and subsequently 1 cotton for both my eyes when I'm wearing light make up. Use 1 cotton for each eyes if u wear heavy make up

Texture

It's oil make up remover. Many feels that oil remover clogs up the pores which I couldn't determine whether it's true or not. But if you are afraid so, then just use it for your eyes and lips not your skin.

Ease of use
It removes make up very efficiently. Although nowadays people opt for other means of removing make up such as water based make up removal, the oil based one's are still the best make up removal. 

Pros and cons

+ removes make up and waterproof mascaras efficiently
+ no irritation to eyes, no burning sensation
- slight blurring of vision when it enters the eyes
- may clog pores

Summary

It's a good product for its price. I usually use this when I'm wearing thick make up as it removes nice and clean.
I'm currently trying out Shu uemura's make up removal that is much raved about as I usually put on only sunscreen not full foundation. Will blog about it soon.

Details

Size 125ml

Price rm 23.65

Made in Indonesia

Product review : Étude house Acne cleanser

Hey guys! Today I'm gonna introduce you to the best cleanser that I've ever used!!

Étude house acne foam cleanser~

Packaging

Comes in a large tube. It is quite hard to squeeze out coz the consistency is really thick.

Smell

Doesn't smell good. It's like sort of a medicine smell which I feel like my skin is treated every single time I use~

Applicator 

No applicator. Squeeze out about 1cm of the cleanser on your palm, mix with some water and rub into an even leather.

Texture

Bubbles:

Not much bubbles. Especially when your face is oily, the bubbles will just disappear right when it touches your face. Then you can either wash once more or add more cleanser. It feels like the cleanser reacts with the oil?? Not very sure.

After effect:

Although the bubbles are less, the cleansing effect is not reduced at all. It leaves the skin non oily, clean and dry without tightening of skin. It also controls sebum production! Usually my skin get really oily after around 2-3 hours. After using this, it lengthens the time before the skin becomes oily, around 4-5 hours?

Ingredient & Function

Salicylic acid

Non comodogenic. Which means it wouldn't cause pimples.

Summary

This product is great for those with oily skin. Introduced this to my friends and brother, they say it really worked in reducing sebum production. You know when you have oily skin, dust and whatever it is tends to stick onto your skin and into your pores. As time goes by, it forms black and white heads. And when these gets infected, it will cause inflammation and forms pimples. Therefore when you have less oily skin, you will have less pimples!

Pros cons

+ removes oil
+ cleanses skin thoroughly
+ decrease sebum secretion
- dries out skin
- not suitable for dry acne skin 

Details

Size 150ml

Price rm49

Made in korea

Ways to remove stubborn blackheads

When I was in secondary school, I had pimples and blackheads. I didnt know how to remove them so my mom ended up pressing them out for me.
As I had little knowledge about stuff like that, I just let my mom remove them every week. Before I know it, the pores on my nose became really huge and deep.
Coz of that, more dust and dirt which sticks on my oily nose tend to accumulate in the pores. And now, I have this what people known as "strawberry nose"

It's really depressing, even make up couldn't cover them.
I thought there was no way of returning the elasticity of the pores. I had tried many products including nose strips, pore minimizing toner and all but nothing seems to work.

Then only I realize, this is a battle of hardwork and patience. It can't be achieved in few days, but takes months of maintenance.
The trick is you havta show some effort on your face everyday, not just relying on nose strips during the weekend.
So now I'm gonna share the products that i use right now in attempt to remove the blackheads and return the pores to normal size.

1) Removing make up
Usually, I only apply sunblock and concealer on my face to college. I felt like there was no need in using a make up remover to remove my make up everyday as it is not thick.
This is where i was wrong. Even sunblock gets into the pores right? And sunblock is actually water resistant which means washing your face doesn't actually remove them.
Therefore, I suggest using make up remover every night before washing your face. You can use a water based make up remover so that it is not harsh on your face but cleanse relatively well.

eg: Bifesta make up remover which I reviewed here. I actually using the range for dull skin now. Not oily at all! Love it!

2) Cleansing
This is the easiest and most important part. Don't be lazy and wash only with water. Imagine all the dust which are on your face after a long day out! Therefore I make it a point to wash my face right after returning home from college.

The cleanser I recommend:

Etude house AC clinic daily Acne Foam Cleanser

My favourite cleanser! I use this when I had acne last time. It worked really well in controlling sebum production. On top of that, It doesn't dry up the skin or makes the skin tight after washing.
Love this a lot and had been recommending it to my friends and family with acne problem.
The only problem was, when your face is oily and you wash it with this, the bubbles miraculously disappear and you had to apply more to cleanse it.
I don't really know why, but even if the bubbles are gone, it still manage to leave the skin feeling clean after washing. But I do suggest adding extra cleanser to make sure the face is really clean.


Etude house Baking powder pore cleansing foam

Bought this the other day. I found this really good! It's now my 2nd favourite cleanser now. It has minute baking powder which dissolves in contact with water. As it is pore cleansing foam, I felt like it really gets in deep into the pores to remove the impurities. Plus, It creates rich foam which consist of really tiny bubbles that penetrates into the pores better.
It doesn't have the disappearing bubble problem therefore I use this after college when my face is really oily and the acne cleanser in the morning when it is not really oily.
Will do a review on this along with the acne cleanser when I have time.

3) Exfoliating
Choose a gently scrub for daily exfoliating. Cleansing is not enough as dead skin constantly build up.
I love exfoliating! It leaves the skin really smooth~ but remember only use daily scrub if you plan to exfoliate daily so that you wont over do it and injure your skin.

What I use for exfoliating are:

Olay PRO x

Got this in Taiwan for a relatively cheap price with free extra brush!

Favourite exfoliating agent! Use this everyday with my cleanser and occasionally with the exfoliating cleanser they provide which doubles the cleansing effect! It also massages the skin.

Ginvera marvel gel

Used this before I got the Olay PRO x. Doesn't remove dark spots, but it does remove make up residue. It is really mild and gentle therefore daily use is okay for the skin.

Etude house magic bubble peeling wash

Haven tried this, it was on sale the other day. Got it for less than half the price? :D

NRK Konjac mild peeling gel

This is actually sort of like the Ginvera marvel gel. But is like harder to rub off and might cause a little peeling if you rub too hard. So i suggest using this only once a week or something.

St Ives Bright skin apricot scrub

These are a little harsh for the skin. The granules are very huge. But great when you feel like your skin is really dirty and coated with dead skin.

Biore pore strips
Daiso Pore strips

Daiso pore strips has more adhesive property. Pore strips and great in removing black heads but only superficially.

Therefore I went to buy this:

Sexy Look blackhead pore set

 Got this in a buy 1 free 1 promotion in Taiwan :D

This is how it looks like:

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I know it looks ugly. lol~ nobody looks good in facial masks -.-

These are great as it is in a gel mask form which can adapt better to the skin and removes blackheads more effectively especially those areas of nose folds where nose strips always fail to remove. And it smell exactly like the strawberry yogurt I use to eat! Yum~
It even comes with softening serum and pore minimizing serum to close up the pores.

4) Toner
I'm still yet to find a good pore minimizing toner. Mean while still using Etude house wonder pore toner. You can read the review here.

Toner containing alcohol is good for minimizing the pores but not suitable for sensitive and dry skin. Prolonged used will coz thickening of skin too therefore daily exfoliation is crucial.

5) Make up base/ primer
To prevent make up residue clogging the pores, use a primer or make up base. There acts as a protective layer.
I using Rimmel fix and perfect pro primer which also smoothens my skin and makes foundation application much easier.

I'm still trying to minimize the pores and remove the blackheads. It takes time as the pores were already there for a long time. Hopefully this help you guys in choosing the correct products which suits you the most.

Thank for reading~~ xoxo!

Product review : Hada labo Arbutin whitening lotion

Hey guys! Today I'm gonna introduce to you all the awesome Hada labo Arbutin whitening lotion!
Exactly how awesome is it? Allow me to explain to you :)

Claims

1) Deep moisturising
2) Intensive repair
3) Double whitening 

Packaging

It comes in a simple transparent bottle. 

*The blue capped ones are the whitening range. There's another similar 1 which is whitening milk :)

Note: bought this from Japan therefore it's all Japanese words xD

Flip open the cap and there a small nozzle, ideal size coz your don't havta squeeze the container to get the content out, and it won't flow out too quickly either~ 

Smell

It is odourless. Actually it's a plus point for me coz sometimes I find products with nice fragrance quite artificial. Therefore less chemical -> better for sensitive skin!

Applicator 
No applicator is provided. Just flip the cap and pour a few drops on your palm. Just a few drops is enough for the whole face. Don't waste! I usually use about 3 drops in the morning and 4 drops for the night coz I can't stand the sticky feeling on my face especially going out under the hot sun!

reminder : Remember to apply on your neck too! How if the whitening effect really worked on you? Then you will have a white face and a dark neck -.-

Texture

Stickiness: 

If you put the correct amount, it won't be sticky. And of coz this is a lotion, not a toner. Usually to provide moisture there will sure be some amount of stickiness. If you are applying it under your make up then it shouldn't be a problem~

Moisturising effect:

Totally moisturises the skin! Especially when I put an extra drop at night. Only a drop extra and it acts like a moisturising coat for the whole night~

Glossy look:

If you are going to apply this and go out bare faced, this can be a little glossy and shiny on skin. It does give the healthy glow look but it also depends on your skin condition. So if you have oily skin, I suggest you apply this only at night. You don't wanna have shiny forehead do you?.... At least I don't xD

Ingredients & Functions

As usual, Hada Labo products always incorporate hyaluronic acid as their main component. Why? Coz hyaluronic acid retains moisture, which keeps skin hydrated and smooth for a longer time. 1g of HA is able to hold 6 litres of water!! Therefore effectively locks in moisture on skin.

Besides that, it has added Arbutin and vitamin C to help whiten the skin without irritation! This is definitely good news for those who are allergy to overly strong whitening ingredients like me! :D

It is also free of fragrance, mineral oil, alcohol and colourant! Who doesn't like natural product?!

 FYI: Arbutin is an extract from natural bearberry plant.

Claims achieved 

1) Deep moisturising: Moisturising effect totally achieved!

2) Intensive repair: I guess it somehow repairs my skin too coz my skin is so smooooth after using every single time.

3) Double whitening: Whitening effect is still yet to be seen. But I do feel that my skin is getting a little fairer day by day! Will update on that after few months :)

Additional Details

Size:

170ml 

Price:

Rm 49.90

Product of:

Japan ! <3

Pros cons

+ easy dispensing.

+ odourless, non irritant.

+ natural. Free of fragrance, mineral oil, alcohol and colourant.

+ absorbs instantly into skin leaving thin layer of moisture coating.

+ super duper moisturising!

+ has mild whitening effect.

+ price is relatively cheap coz you can use it for a long time.

- can look abit too glossy

Summary

Totally love this product! The moisturising effect is loooooveeeee! Although its actually for whitening, the moisturising effect is even better than Hada Labo super hyaluronic acid moisturising lotion! And a small bottle like that lasts forever!!


Here are some of the whitening products from Hada Labo:

So what do you think? Yay? Or nay?

Thanks for reading!! Xoxo~

Product review: Bifesta Age Care cleansing lotion

Have you heard of Bifesta?

Bifesta is a Japanese brand. Their products are mainly make up remover.

Had been dying to try this product and it was on 10% sales in Watson so I got it for my mom.

The amazing thing about this product is that, it is like a skin care range! There are different types of make up remover to suit different types of skin. For example the Age care (anti ageing) one which is suitable for my mom.

Claim 

To remove make up (water resistant and non water resistant) without fuss. 

Easy removal of make up without the need of cleansing the face after use :O

Which means this is non oily and you can just skip all the cleansing after removing make up and go straight to bed! (Unbelievable??!!)

Packaging

Comes in a plastic bottle with a pump and nozzle.

*reminder: be careful not to press to hard or too fast as it can spray to a rather far range.

Smell

Not much smell. It smell a little like my Étude house wonder pore toner though. xD

Applicator 

No applicator. Just pump some amount onto a cotton pad. Place the cotton pad onto the area of make up you wanna remove for around 10 secs and wipe it off. (If you are lazy you can just wipe it off without waiting. But be sure to be gentle as harsh rubbing will create wrinkles.)

Texture

Oiliness:

It is not oily at all. Very watery. Liquid consistency. It is water based! Some of you may think that: water based? No oil? Sure Canot remove water resistant make up or sure not very clean 1. I'll show you in a bit.

Moisturising effect:

Don't be surprised. This make up remover actually has moisturising effect to protect skin from wrinkles. But it's not sticky.

Efficacy

Here is a test I did to show the effectiveness of this make up remover on a super good water resistant Maybelline hypersharp liquid liner (*gonna do a review on it tmr).

 Few lines drawn using the eyeliner. 

The vertical lines are drawn with increase number of overlapping strokes while the horizontal lines are with increase thickness (as in I pressed harder)

Ready to see the result??

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 First swipe with Bifesta remover on a cotton pad

Lines are ALMOST gone! (remember this is a water resistant eye liner!)

And you can see that there are no residue or black smear trail at the end of the line. I swear I only swiped over once.

 Second swipe.

Some barely-seen residue left.

The skin around it is still clean. 

I used the same cotton pad and the same side of it and no residue (from the previous swipe) from the cotton was transferred or stained onto my skin!

Third swipe.

Eye liner is totally removed!

Skin is left moist without any oiliness.

Ease of application

Easy. Just put on a cotton pad and wipe your make up off!

Claims achieved 

Totally archived all the claims.

Pros cons

+ pump is convenient to use

+ remove (water resistant and non water resistant) make up easily

+ no need of cleansing after use
+ no smearing of residue anywhere around skin

+ relatively cheap and effective!

Details

Size:

300ml

Price:

Rm33.90

Made in:

Japan

Summary

It's a truly amazing product! I'm gonna buy the other type of it for myself and my sister to see whether it works the same!

Thanks for reading!! xoxo~

Product review : Biore bright face milk sunscreen

Do you know that sunscreen is really important? Especially living in a sunny country like Malaysia, sunscreen is a must! Not only to prevent you from getting dark, it also prevents dark spots and most importantly skin cancer!

We all know that UV light is harmful to our skin. But most of us are really lazy when it comes to applying sunscreen. All the fuss... the mess... the oiliness... and your sweat even turns white! How embarrassing!

But fear no more! Coz Biore is here to solve all these problems!

Claims

1) Non greasy
2) Brightens face
3) Light weight
4) Sun Protection
5) Covers pores
6) Act as make up base

Packaging
Comes in baby pink colour! <3 It's small and easy to carry around to reapply.

Small opening. Allows you to control the amount of sunscreen you want by squeezing the bottle.

Smell

The smell is a mixture of chemical smell + a tinge of typical sunblock smell + baby powder smell?
the chemical smell does irritate the nose a little but only for a sec. The baby powder smell does help to cover it a little.

Applicator 

No applicator available. Just dispense adequate amount for your face and neck on your palm.

*reminder : Apply sunscreen 30 minutes before sun exposure! Remember to apply on your neck too! Coz if not the colour of your face will be different from your neck.

Texture

Stickiness:
Totally not sticky at all! This is so amazing coz I hate putting on sunscreen as it is so sticky and it will leave white marks and grease on anything i hold on especially my phone! And it's not only non greasy, it somehow absorbs the amount of sebum produced by my skin too! Dont ask me how but it really keeps my face dry and fresh throughout the day.

Moisturising effect:
Nope. More like a drying effect. Plus point for people with oily skin! If you have dry skin and want a sunscreen  with moisturizing effect, you can try Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence Sunscreen.

Glossy look:

This sunscreen actually creates a matted look instead which is loooooooove!! I apply it under my make up as a make up base and it makes my make up stay on for a longer time~

Coverage & Colour
Coverage: It acts as a make up base. It actually covers up my pores and even out my skin tone. Coverage is of coz not comparable to foundation, but i can say it actually covers up around 30% of my blemishes. Quite impressive for a sunscreen.

Colour: It is actually a pink-beige tinted sunscreen. I can say that I'm quite fair in person, but even my skin looks a little too white when I apply this. Therefore not suitable for dark skin tone. Even so, your sweat wont turn whitish!

The left arm is WITH and right arm WITHOUT

See how good is the coverage? It evens out the skin tone! But the colour is really white even if it's only 1 coating.

Sun blocking efficiency

SPF is a measurement of how much protection the sunscreen offers from the UVB rays that cause sunburn. 
1 SPF(sun protection factor) lasts for 5 minutes. This sunscreen has a SPF of 50. Therefore  250 minutes = 4 hours+!! Which means you actually havta reapply only after 4 hours. 

PA is the amount of protection the sunscreen offers from the UVA rays that may cause long-term skin damage. 
PA+++ is the highest which means this sunscreen provides super good protection for your skin against UVA!

Ease of application

Easy to apply. absorbs into skin immediately! 

Claims achieved 

1) Non greasy: Totally not oily or sticky at all! Leaves skin dry and smooth.

2) Brightens face: The colour is abit white therefore brightens the skin tone.

3) Light weight: Super light weight. Very liquid consistency.

4) Sun Protection: High SPF and PA value.

5) Covers pores: Conceals pores for easier foundation application.

6) Act as make up base: Prepares the skin and serves as a barrier preventing make up from entering the pores.

Pros cons

+ Small bottle, easy to carry around
+ Easy dispensing, dispenses small amount at a time
+ Not sticky/ oily
+ Leaves skin dry and smooth
+ Conceals blemishes a little 
+ Lightens skin tone
+ High SPH and PA which means superb sun protection
+ Easy to apply

- Too white. Not suitable for dark skin tone

Additional Details

Size:
30ml

Price:
Rm 36.90 (approx)

Made in:
Japan!

Summary
Im totally in love with this product! and Im blessed that the only disadvantage of this sunscreen is not a problem for me. Uses it every single day with and without make up! Controls the oil secretion and keeps my skin dry + even out skin tone. Great product! Just bought Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery BB. Will do a review on it after trying :)

Thanks for reading!! xoxo~

Product review : Étude house wonder pore freshener

Do you have skin with large pores? Here comes étude house wonder pore freshener/toner to the rescue!

Claims

1) Deep cleanses pores

2) Maintains skin at ph 4.5

3) controls sebum production

4) Minimizes appearance of pores

5) Refines skin tone

6) Keeps elasticity of pores

7) Moisturizes skin in and out

Packaging

Comes in a really HUGE bottle. Not very convenient for travelling but they also have this tiny bottle which you can buy and bring it to travel. Love the packaging! The light blue colour feels so calm and refreshing~

Smell

It smells like.... Powder-chemical-ish -.- I don't know how to describe it but it's not really a strong smell and not like those fragrance smell either. It doesn't irritate me much, kinda like the smell after using it for a few times :P

Applicator 

It comes with a compressible pressure pump kinda thing. It's so cool that I got excited when I first saw it coz I've only seen these stuff on tv -.- call me ulu but this was one of the reason I bought this big ass bottle before reading any reviews about it. xD

Pump dispenses a sufficient amount of liquid in 1 pump therefore none goes to waste.

*reminder : usually I just need 1 pump and it's sufficient, I only use half of the cotton pad each time~

Texture

Stickiness:
Nope. Not sticky at all I would say. It's totally like water, absorbs into the skin right away.

Moisturising effect:

Moisturises a little. I've tried putting it on half of my face. At the end of the day, oil production of both sides are actually quite equal. But it did keep the face moist right after cleansing.

Glossy look:

It doesn't really give shine to the face. Great for day time use coz it doesn't create an oily look to the face.

Effect on skin

Non irritating. Doesn't cause pimples. Double cleanses the skin after cleanser.

Ease of application

Easy to apply. The pump is just so convenient!

Claims achieved 

1) Deep cleanses pores: maybe? I do see some make up residue on my cotton pad sometimes.

2) Maintains skin at ph 4.5: sorry, can't measure this.

3) Controls sebum production: not really. Both skin with and without it produces same amount of sebum.

4) Minimizes appearance of pores: this is the main purpose of it but I guess my pores are just too large to be minimised? Used it for about 1-2 months now. Large pores are not minimized. Small ones a little i guess. 

5) Refines skin tone: not really.

6) Keeps elasticity of pores: it does close up the pores a little when I use it right after cleansing.

7) Moisturizes skin in and out: just a little but good enough for the day.

Additional Details

Size:

500ml

Price:

Rm 79.90

Made in:

Korea

Pros cons

+ nice packaging

+ not sticky

+ light moisturising. Good for using during the day.

+ doesn't make skin look oily.

+ cool and useful pump.

+ can be used for.... Like.... forever.

- quite expensive, but price is cheap for such a big bottle.

- smell might be irritating for some.

- comes only in super large size

- doesn't really have any pore minimizing effect on skin 

Summary

I don't really see any effect that some bloggers raved about. Maybe it doesnt work for my type of skin? For me it's not very worth it coz it doesn't come in small sizes so I couldn't try it first before buying the big one. I guess it's great for those who are looking for a very light toner. Can be used on sensitive skin also coz it really doesn't irritate the skin at all.

Any suggestions on pore minimising products? Feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading~ xoxo!