Wishlist #1

1. Tarte Glamazon Pure Performance 12-Hour Lipsticks

2. Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation

3. Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser

4. Emma Hardie Amazing Face Natural Lift and Sculpt Moringa Cleansing Balm

5. RMS Beauty Living Luminizer

I've wanted to try the Tarte lipsticks ever since I first heard about them. I've only heard amazing things so I have high expectations when I get my hands on some! The Urban Decay foundation is one I've been coveting since its release and I really would love to try it, though I'm not sure what to expect since I've never tried their foundations before. The Liz Earle cleanser and the Emma Hardie cleansing balm are two products I've heard endless things about since I started blogging so of course I would love to try them. Lastly, the RMS Beauty Living Luminizer is something I've been obsessed with since I heard about it on Messy Wands. I wish I knew where I could get some for myself!

September 2012 Empties

I've decided to make this type of post a regular monthly feature on my blog. So every month, in addition to my favorite products of the month, I'll also show you guys what I've used up as a way for you guys to know that I really do use my makeup and also for my own personal record.

I used up more products than I expected to during the month of September, which was a really pleasant surprise for me. I feel like I buy so much, my products just kind of accumulate and then it becomes difficult for me to use things up. This month, however, I managed to use up:

Philip B Scent of Sante Fe Balancing Shampoo

LUSH Yummy Yummy Yummy Shower Cream Wash

Dr. Wu AcneCur Pore Refining Serum with Evermat

Moroccanoil Moisture Repair Shampoo

Neutrogena Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes

Jill Stuart Sugar Lip Scrub

Agnes b. Volum'Up Curl Mascara

Crazylibellule and the Poppies Vanilla Fruit Sorbet & Shanghaijava Ananas Imperial Perfume Sticks

The reason I was able to use up two shampoos is that I've been using them in conjunction with one another for a while. I use them alternatively, the Moroccanoil shampoo helps my hair feel less dry and I think also prevents it from getting split ends, especially when used with the accompanying conditioner from the same line. The Philip B shampoo gives my hair a lot of volume, on the other hand, and flat hair does not suit me, so this really helps me maintain volume without having to use like twenty products on my hair. 

As for the serum, I don't think it really did much for me. I did notice my pores were less noticeable after using it but it didn't do much to help my acne. I suppose it helped fade some of the hyperpigmentation, actually, but since I break out so much the hyperpigmentation isn't as much of an issue for me right now because more pimples pop up in their space. The LUSH body wash was used up extremely quickly because I feel like I needed so much to wash my entire body, so I kind of regret buying this. I've loved the Neutrogena towelettes for a while, I first tried them over the summer when I was at summer school and they were a much more convenient option than using my cleansing oil. 

The lip scrub wasn't very effective, the sugar granules were very large but dissolved really quickly, so the scrub didn't really have time to do anything for me. The mascara was a sample I received with my purchases of Agnes b. items (which I have reviewed) and I'm glad I didn't buy the full size because it was really clumpy on me, but I used it up anyway so it wouldn't be wasted. The perfume sticks are ones I've had for a while and finally used up this month! While I like the conveniency of these sticks (they're so portable and easy to use for touching up) I don't like the way they apply because I feel like they leave a sticky residue and don't last that long on me because they rub off. They smelled really yummy and I got so many compliments when I wore them, but I wish they were in a different type of packaging because I didn't really enjoy them in stick form. 

Those are all the products I used up during the month of September! Have you done a similar post to this? If so, leave the link below! If not, I'd still love to hear in a comment what you've used up this month!

Japan Day 1: Recap + Haul!

I'm very happy to say that I'm now officially on fall break and I'm so lucky to be spending it in Tokyo, Japan! Of course, I won't get to spend the whole week here since I have to go back to Hong Kong and prepare for my first time taking the SAT - wish me luck! Japan isn't very conducive to studying, but it IS extremely encouraging of eating and shopping :) I just wanted to share a few things with you guys from today.

My family and I arrived in Tokyo quite late, it was around five o'clock by the time we reached the hotel and about six when we had all freshened up and started to head out for dinner. We're staying at the Peninsula which is an absolutely gorgeous hotel - I'll try to get some photos to post tomorrow. It's also very conveniently located near Ginza, which is a district here in Tokyo known for its little boutiques and large shopping malls.

 

We had a really lovely sushi dinner and walked around for a little bit before heading into Lumine, one of the larger shopping malls in Ginza. Japan's streets are really unique, at least in my opinion. The back alleys don't seem like alleys at all, and everything here is so pristine and just has a very Japanese feel to it, I think. The culture is infused in so many different things and places, it's really such a calming experience to just walk around and look. At Lumine, I ducked into Skin Food and LUSH and bought some really nice things that I've been wanting to try!

LUSH came out with a makeup line just a short while ago and since I first heard about it I'd been dying to try the lip colors and the eyeliner! I've heard so much about their gold liquid liner so it was the first thing I picked up when we were there. I also had my eye on this bright pink lipstick so I got that too! I love the packaging, it's so quirky and reminds me a lot of a science lab which I think is really cute.
I also got the Argan Oil from Skin Food, which I haven't really heard much about but I absolutely love argan oil and it seems to be the only thing that works to hydrate my dry ends, so hopefully this works out as well as my beloved Moroccanoil.

I got really caught up in the skincare area of Skin Food so I also bought their Black Sugar Mask, which the lady at the counter recommended to even out my rough, problematic skin. It smells delicious and feels really nice on the skin, not too abrasive but not so gentle that I can't feel it doing anything, so that's really nice. I also bought the Black Raspberry Su Serum, which she also recommended to me, and it felt really nice and smooth on my hand and sunk in quite quickly, so I have high expectations for this. But in addition to skincare I also bought a cream eyeshadow palette from them, which has three colors inside that I picked myself, and their All Over Muffin Cake Finish in #4. It's a really pretty pink and white baked powder and when I swatched it in the store it turned out to be a really gorgeous highlight color! I'm very excited to try this out on my face.

That's all I wanted to say for now! I'll have reviews of all these products up soon hopefully, and I'll be sure to keep you guys updated on my next few days here. I have so much I want to share with all of you and I hope you enjoy reading these! Hope you're having a fabulous weekend so far :)

Neutrogena Deep Hydrating Mask

A few weeks ago I was looking for some sheet masks to try out, having heard many good things about them from both friends and the online beauty community. Since my skin has been suffering some dryness and flaking lately, I decided to pick up a box of Neutrogena Deep Hydrating Masks at the recommendation of my friend. 

Each box comes with 5 sheets of individually packaged sheet masks. Neutrogena claims that the masks are an intensive facial treatment that replenishes and restores moisture in order to achieve deeply hydrated and bouncy skin. It also boldly claims that "each mask instantly boosts skin's moisture level 12 times with a penetrating Vitamin C formula". 

While I can't speak to the claim that it boosts your moisture level 12 times (I'm not even sure I know how to measure that!) these definitely do leave your skin feeling hydrated and fresh. The sheet mask fit my face almost perfectly and I had no trouble keeping it on for 15 minutes. I actually left it on a little longer and when I removed it and massaged the excess fluid into my skin, it left my face feeling very smooth and totally got rid of my dry patches! This is also a very gentle mask, and I know that my friend's younger sister (who is thirteen years old) also uses them with good results. 

I got these for a relatively cheap price. One box was about $90HKD (equivalent to about $12USD), so each mask alone is only $18HKD (a little over $2USD). In my opinion, that's an amazing deal for such a great product! I highly recommend these for those with dry, parched skin, or even just for those who feel like they could use a bit of moisture back. 

Have you tried these masks? What other hydrating masks are you a fan of?