Review: Skincare: The Natural Source Mayaltha Better Fuller Lips

Paris B Leave a Comment

I tried this once, when I was suffering from dry lips. I happened to be in The Natural Source store in Midvalley Megamall and in a fit of desperation, bought this. Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket Oh dear! I’m sorry, but I’m sad to say, this was a totally bum product for me.

According to the official website, this is what its supposed to do. In gist:

    • Firms and plumps your lips naturally and safely by stimulating your lips to produce their own collagen. This helps to re-densify the connective lip tissue, promoting fuller, younger, healthier looking lips.
    • After the first application, your lips will feel firmer, smoother and be better defined. With continued use, fine lines and wrinkles will be minimised and your lips will appear naturally fuller and healthier.
    • Hydrates and soothes lips.
    • Also acts as a lip-fix for lipstick application.

First of all, the texture. This product is a white colour cream. It feels rather waxy and goes on your lips white. So, you look rather ill for a while, until you rub it in. Even then, the waxy and pale look doesn’t go away. However, I noticed that it has a pink tint in it that is apparent if you wipe your fingers on a piece of tissue paper after that. Its odd that even though there’s a pink tint, it shows up as white on the lips.

Secondly, it does not feel nice. As I have mentioned before, it feels waxy and like a coating over my lips. I don’t like that.

Thirdly, it did nothing for my dry lips. It didn’t make it drier, but it didn’t make it more moisturised either. My lips just stayed as dry and flakey as ever. There was no plumping effect and my lips look the same now as it did before I used it. I even loyally used it twice a day, morning and night to no avail. Every morning, I’d still wake up to dry flakey lips.

Finally, the price. Its an astronomical RM125 for a little 30ml tube. Yes yes… I was suckered. But you don’t have to be!

[rating:0/5]

Review: Makeup: Clinique Colour Surge Buttershine lipstick

Paris B 1 Comment

Some time ago when the Clinique Buttershine lipsticks were first launched, I gave them a go at the Clinique counter. My first impression was a bad one, as my lips felt dry after applying this lipstick.

Now, I know this lipstick is more like a solid gloss. It is supposed to go on like butter and has a shine, hence the name. However, it felt dry to me and so I avoided this one for a long long time.

Then, a couple of weeks back, I stumbled on one for cheap, so I bought it on a whim to try. The colour is Berry Blush.

The case of this lipstick is very nice. Its a solid shiny metal with a bamboo design. Very appropriate for the coming Chinese New Year, I thought. The cover fits very well, so once its covered you can’t even tell which way is up! It just looks like a piece of solid metal bamboo which is really cool.

The texture of this lipstick is pretty much like gloss. It goes on smoothly and sheer and glossy. I found it melts a little if left in the heat for too long e.g. if you are travelling in a hot car. It maybe to do with the texture as my other lipsticks in the same bag did not melt as much.

There is no scent like all other Clinique products. This time, when I applied the lipstick, I did not feel any dryness. My lips felt moist, in fact, which is great!

The colour I got is Berry Blush. Its a nude berry shade which on my pigmented lips, hardly shows up. Its great for me because its my original lip colour, but better! My lips don’t look like I have thick lipstick on, and it looks natural, but shiny and smooth. The perfect my-lips-but-better look. If you like colour then this lipstick might not be for you because its very sheer. All it does is put a hint of colour on your lips. The darker or brighter shades may show up more but even then, its mostly sheer. Great for those days when you want some colour but don’t want to look too made up. And it lasts longer than a gloss too!

I don’t know how much this retails for, but I’d hazard a guess at about RM60 or so. Its available at all Clinique counters. I’m rather tempted to get more colours now!

Pros: Sheer, glossy, no scent, nice packaging

Cons: Sheer, melts easily

[rating:5/5]


Eye makeup: How To

Paris B 3 Comments

I’m no expert at doing eye makeup. When I started using eye makeup, it was all I could do to stop myself from looking like someone punched me in the eyes, because at that time, I had the strange notion that purple/plum eyeshadow was the way to go. Silly me! Now, I know I absolutely CANNOT wear purple/plum eyeshadow at all! It makes me look like I haven’t slept in 20 years, or like I got punched in the face.

So, I started experimenting and since I have fair asian colouring, I realised I look pretty good in green shades or pastel shades (sometimes). I’d just slap the colours on haphazardly but with enough experimentation, I have now slowly learnt to make sure that it actually emphasises my eyes instead of just screaming “LOOK! COLOUR!!” heh…

Here are 2 is one makeup tutorial off Youtube that I found quite useful for beginners or even if you just want to improve on your technique. Its done on an Asian model though, so it would be more helpful for Asian (Chinese) girls. Its also in Cantonese so those who understand Cantonese will have an advantage over the rest of us who don’t.

The eyes are the hardest part to do (for me) so, if you want to learn how to do eyes, just give these a watch and happy experimenting! (I think the video is visible now 🙂

 

Preservative free eye drops

Paris B Leave a Comment

If you are an avid blogger, or spend a lot of time on the computer, you’d notice that your eyes sometimes feel tired and dry. Its the same feeling if you have had the lasik procedure done on your eyes. A usual side effect is that of dry eyes, which can plague you for a short while or sometimes for much longer.

Instinctively, you’ll reach for the eye drops, everytime your eyes start feeling dry and tired, to refresh your eyes. Well, having read a bit online, and having had to use eye drops since my Lasik procedure, its recommended that you use preservative free eye drops where you can.

The eye membrane is very thin with lots of little blood capillaries and anything that goes in is practically absorbed immediately into your bloodstream. So, using preservative free eye drops are the recommended way as they are single use vials. So, you open one, use it up during the day and then throw it away after 24 hours to prevent contamination. I’m told that keeping an open vial in the fridge will prolong the life a little, but still, bear in mind that since it has no preservatives, its best not to tempt fate too much.

Presevative free eye drops come in large-ish boxes with individual clear tubes that are sealed. This is opposed to the normal eye drops that come in a single bottle. You twist off the top of a vial as you want to use it, and some are recloseable to a degree. As I said, its not meant to last you more than 24 hours, so try to use it up throughout the day.

The downside of these types of eye drops is that its not as portable as normal bottles with screw caps. However, I haven’t had any trouble transporting these single use vials around, even after reclosing them as the caps can fit in tightly.

So, its worth checking out these eye drops. Lots of brands have them. Just look in any pharmacy under the eye-drops section and keep a look out for the words “Preservative Free” on the box or label. Its your eyes and you only have a pair so its worth keeping them healthy!