Christmas Gift Guide & Best of 2009 : Smooth as fresh snow

Paris B 2 Comments

skincare_picks

What the… ??

Skin as smooth as fresh snow is what I’m going for 🙂

Skincare is always a tricky thing to get as gifts. Well, unless you already know what your friends are using and what their concerns are and what they are allergic to! Here are my picks for the best of skincare in 2009 – available in department stores and pharmacies.

For acne prone skin or oily skin:-

  • I like the Vichy Pore Refining Essence from Vichy Laboratoires – it works so well for me to reduce pores.
  • Cellnique Skin Action Serum gel is great for melting black and whiteheads and reducing spots.
  • Kiehl’s Rare Earth pore refining masque helps get rid of oil, and leaves skin feeling smooth.

For anti-aging or older skin:-

  • For a touch of luxury, I’d get Elemis – the Marine Recovery cream which is crazy awesome but it is only found at selected spas for now – notably at Mandara Spas in and around Kuala Lumpur (I know of Renaissance Hotel and Sheraton Imperial Hotel).
  • Not quite luxury but still in the expensive range of skincare is Lancome Primordiale Nuit which is an amazing night cream I like too and have for years.
  • Dior Capture XP Nuit overnight recovery serum seems to be working well for me now that I’m nearly done with the bottle!

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Ask & Answer : What is your favourite sunscreen or sunblock?

Paris B 25 Comments

ask us!

I blather on about sunscreens so much that reader Jessica thought it might be a good time to pick my brains on what is THE sunscreen for her 😀 Here’s her request:-

Hi PB!! I know what a big fan you are of sunscreen so hope this question’s easy to solve 😉
I am currently in search for THE sunscreen as I am getting more and more aware of how bad UV can be for the skin. Problem is, most sunscreen (be it for the face or body) can be a litle too sticky and some of them have scents which are overwhelming!
So, PB (and fellow readers), can you please recommend some of the possible sunscreen products which are of good quality, not sticky (mattifying effect is the key word!), easily absorbed and without any of those plasticky scent??
Thanks much!!

Well Jessica, I detest sunscreens that have strong plasticky scents too. I grew up with the smell of Coppertone sunscreen invading my nostrils almost everyday while my mom slapped it on me. This was in the days before we had more choices available in the market. Then it was Banana Boat sunscreens, both of which I now detest with a passion. Its a personal thing – brings back memories of swimming lessons 🙂 I do however thank her for her foresight in protecting my skin from those harmful UV rays when it was not in vogue to!

However, because we are all different and our skins can tolerate different levels of chemicals or products and we all have different requirements and preferences, I’m afraid there is no THE sunscreen I can recommend. I can however tell you which are the ones I have tried and which I like to use.
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Review : Neutrogena Deep Clean Cleansing Lotion Makeup Remover takes everything off!

Paris B 44 Comments

Neutrogena Cleansinng Lotion

Some of you might remember my musing about how a discount can affect my purchasing patterns when I picked up the Neutrogena Deep Clean Cleansing Lotion Makeup Remover. Irrational as it was, I love it when an impulse purchase like that turns out to be a good buy. Better yet, its a bargain good buy!

The Neutrogena Deep Clean Cleansing Lotion is a true blue winner for me. I have combination-dry skin where I’m oily on the forehead, nose and chin and dry on the cheeks. Quite a common affliction in this hot and humid tropical climate we live in.

The Neutrogena Cleansing Lotion boasts that it removes all makeup, even waterproof mascara. So, I put it to the test. I’d use a piece of cotton with some cleansing lotion to clean my eye area and waterproof mascara. It cleans off eyeshadow and liner well enough but takes a bit of wiping for waterproof mascara to be fully cleaned off. So I prefer to use a dedicated eye makeup remover instead like my L’oreal Eye and Lip makeup remover. I also found that if I got the lotion into my eyes, it stings! I hate that 😛

It comes into its own when used on the face. For the face, I’d squirt 2-3 pumps of cleansing lotion into my palm, rub my hands together and then massage the lotion all over my face. I’m prepared to be generous with its use because its not bank-breaking after all.

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Quick Views : Revlon Lip Tints, Silkygirl BB Cream, Revlon Spa Concealer Pen, Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Sunscreen

Paris B 24 Comments

While trawling Guardian Pharmacy recently, I came across some new cosmetics I’d not been aware of so of course, I had to take a look 🙂 These are not full reviews just preliminary views so feel free to let me know your thoughts if you own them.

Revlon Lip Tints

Revlon Lip Tints

When I saw these I was excited. I hoped it would be like the discontinued MAC Lip Conditioners. They have the same lip balm packaging and “lip tint” seemed to indicate something light. Unfortunately, it swatches quite thick and has a strong sweet smell. I’m not sure if its a lipstick or a lip balm… I may not quite like MAC but I loved their lip conditioners. Boo to MAC for discontinuing them.

The 4 colours available in Revlon’s Lip Tints look very pretty though – Deep Berry, Berry, Pink and Rosy. Promotional Price of RM26.88.

Silkygirl Magic BB Cream

Silkygirl BB Cream

When even Silkygirl jumps on the BB Cream bandwagon, you know that its a big thing. Silkygirl BB Creams come in 2 shades – Natural (yellow tones) and Radiant (pink tones)  and like all BB Creams are supposed to be moisturizer, foundation and sunscreen in one. I’m afraid BB Creams are not my thing but if they are yours these might be worth taking a look especially at RM29.90 a tube (retail).

For the uninitiated, BB Creams, also known as Blemish Balms are found predominantly in Korean cosmetics and have been likened to tinted moisturizer. Some claim it helps their skin – I did not experience any benefits after trying Etude House and Missha.

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