Archives for January 2013

Rebalancing, Resetting and Rebooting my skin with Clarins Lotus Facial Treatment Oil

January 31, 2013 Paris B 61 Comments

A fact I don’t advertise a lot is that I’ve been battling chronic dryness, peeling flaky skin and clogged pores on my face since December 2012. I don’t really want to talk about depressing things like weird breakouts and flaky skin especially when I don’t know the cause nor cure. I’m not sure what happened or what I used, but nothing in my regular repertoire seemed to help. One evening, at my wits end, I decided to do something drastic (by my standards).

On my dresser sits a bottle of Clarins Lotus Face Treatment Oil. Its been sitting there for months. I used it now and again but never really derived or noticed much benefit from it. In fact, I have a feeling it gave me clogged pores. You will notice that its the old packaging that comes without a dropper. By the side is a sample I got of the oil which comes in a miniature of the new packaging with a dropper. I believe the new packaging has been in place for about a year at least now.

clarins lotus treatment oil

The Clarins Lotus Face Treatment Oil is targeted for those with oily-combination skin and it is supposed to help “purify” the skin while keeping it hydrated. There are 3 versions of the Face Treatment Oil – Blue Orchid (anti aging and dehydrated skin), Santal (dry to extra-dry skin) and Lotus (Oily-combination skin). I was recommended Lotus because its the lightest of the 3 and because it would suit most.

As I said before, I used it off and on without much glowing success but this time, I decided I’d do something a little different. I’d use just this Lotus Oil. Nothing else. Lets see what it can do. I honestly did not have much hope, but I had nothing to lose. Incredibly, I started seeing results!

Tip: Use a Concealer Brush to apply concealer for a more natural finish

January 30, 2013 Paris B 61 Comments

concealer brush

I’d be the first to tell you that whenever I used to buy brush sets, the first brush I’d put aside and never use is the concealer brush. I had fingers. What need had I for a concealer brush? Just another fiddly item to use in the morning and to wash.

And then one day, I came across the poor unused concealer brushes I had and thought “Oh you poor dears, I’m sure you were made for a reason. Let’s see what you can do” Needless to say, I never looked back.

So, since I’m a convert to using concealer brushes, let me tell you why they are really quite a good idea and why although we have fingers that do a good job, the concealer brush helps it look better 🙂

Beauty Storage Options: Drawers from Muji solved my messy problem!

January 29, 2013 Paris B 77 Comments

You know the Chinese New Year is near when I start panicking and doing mega spring cleaning of my house at every opportunity. I feel like the White Rabbit sometimes – no time! no time! Because we have but a couple of weeks more to go before we welcome in the Lunar New Year and I’m not even done yet. Sigh… Last weekend saw me tackling the madness that was my dressing table and I knew without a doubt that I needed some decent storage.

Dom over at Belle Demoiselle had previously picked up one of the now very popular clear acrylic storage boxes once, and when I last picked her brains about it, waxed lyrical about it. I knew however that I couldn’t deal with clear boxes. My mess, ostensibly in the open? Erm, not quite what I had in mind. I wanted my clutter hidden away, but neatly. Did that make sense? haha…

beauty storage box muji drawers

So one day while at Pavilion KL, I wandered into Muji. The popular items people usually get from Muji are the clear acrylic drawers but I wanted something different and towards the back of the store, I came upon what I was looking for. This is the PP A4 3 Drawer Unit (view it at Muji here) which is a fairly large set of 3 stacked drawers made of polypropylene. It was opaque which was just how I wanted it – my organized mess could go in there and my dresser would finally look neat! Here’s a sampling of what I put in my drawers 🙂

Whether feeling (Pink) Happiness or Tender (Coral) you can find a Diorblush to suit your mood

January 28, 2013 Paris B 44 Comments

dior diorblush cherie bow tender coral pink happiness

Previously when I showed you the Dior Cherie Bow Spring 2013 collection, I told you that the stars of the collection to me, were the 2 limited edition Cherie Bow Edition Diorblushes. I stand by that statement wholeheartedly! 😀

On a side note, I realise we’ve been talking about blushes quite a bit in recent times. Can’t help talking about my first makeup love 😀 I just have a thing for them. Which explains why I had to have both of the Cherie Bow ones, the moment I laid eyes on them at the counter.

There were 2 blushes released in the Cherie Bow collection – 729 Pink Happiness and 659 Tender Coral. As the whole collection was quite pink overall, I was pleased to see the inclusion of a coral toned blush. It warmed up the collection.

I am a huge fan of the Diorblush, ever since I picked up one in Plaza Pink a few years ago. I like how there are 2 sides to the blush. One side being a matte, deeper shade and the other side, a slightly more shimmery lighter shade. Wear just one side if you like or as I do, blend them both for a glowy look on cheeks. Part of the reason I like the Diorblush I realised, is because they aren’t strong and pigmented, like Nars blushes. They are instead, soft and sheer and impart a soft glow to cheeks, not colour and I love that. Of the 2 here, I have a preference for one over the other so, lets see which catches my eye better 😉