Empties: March 2017

I haven't been using makeup on a daily basis since mid last year and it's becoming even harder to finish or even hit pan on makeup items. Will try harder for next month!

Will just be listing down what I've already and also those which I plan to repurchase in the future.

Already Repurchased:

1. The Saem Snail Soothing Gel (sorry still no review, this is my super love!!!!)

2. Clarins Renew-Plus Body Serum

3. Clarins Contour Body Oil

4. Clarins Blue Orchid Face Oil

Planning to Repurchase (when I run out of a replacement):

1. Caudalie Grape Water

2. Naturie Skin Conditioning Gel

3. Fujiko Mayu Tint in Chocolat Brown

There wasn't any bad product in this lot, just that I decided not to repurchase some as I've plenty of replacements in my stash and they weren't exceptionally good. The Cosrx Centella Blemish Ampoule was handed over by my sister, I finished it within 2 weeks but I can't attest to the blemish fighting properties as my skin isn't problematic at the moment. It did however leave my skin smooth and I could apply other serums on top without any issues.

Wedding in about a month! Getting so excited yet nervous at the same time!!!

Empties- 14
Total Empties- 24

Of Lips & Mists

New lip products, most of them were actually bought pre-Christmas 2016 and sent to my address in KL. Now that I'm back, I can finally open the parcels. Can't resist the wine packaging from Labiotte, so great that they use wine pigments and skin/lipcare benefits in their products too. 

I've been so good (or bad?) with Chanel, in the past year and to date I've only picked up 2 lippies, a bronzer and 3 nail polishes. Been rather underwhelmed with their collection lately. Had a look at the upcoming Summer/Cruise beauty collection and nothing caught my eye. Been more interested in Coloupop lately LOL.

Also getting back into the habit of using a mist regularly. The esfolio Aloe Vera, Caudalie Grape Water and Pruvivi Organic Squalane Mist are already open. The rest are waiting in line to be used. Still have quite a number of products unphotographed but I've decided to just include them in the monthly "New-In" posts when I start to use the products.

The Son & Park has been on my beauty radar for a long while, I grabbed mine from Althea when they were having a 1+1 promo, same with the Whamisa Damask Rose Petal Mist. Such a good deal!

White Day in Japan

My first White Day celebration in Japan! Well, technically I'm not in Japan at the moment, I flew back to KL a few days ago (to start planning for our wedding!!). So Y* said I could open my gifts which were given by him and his boss and colleague before I left.

Everything is so pretty! And the truffles were sooo gooooodd! Especially the Speculoos flavoured one. It was a box of 18 and we errr polished it within 3 days. Valentine's and White Day in Japan is like a trap for consumers who can't resist packaging and chocolate. I found it so hard to resist the aisle and aisles of chocolate the few weeks leading to this day.

Not a fan of chocolate pastries and cakes but chocolate by itself, in a drink or mousse form- I love!

Thank you for the gifts!! I can forsee myself collecting more tins/boxes in the coming years LOL.

Review: JOLSE HaruHaru Sheet Mask

I recently received a bunch of HaruHaru masks from Jolse to review. These masks contain Mayu (horse oil) and come in 4 variants- Soothing, Moisture, Lifting and Vitality.

The illustration has a touch of dark humour which I find funny- the Soothing mask shows a lady catching her lover with another woman and the Moisture mask features the same lady (?) dunking a guy's head into water for some hydration. 

All the masks in the Haruharu line contain fermented horse fat, I tried the Soothing Mask first as I was experiencing skin redness from the cold winter. The scent reminded me of eucalyptus although it's not listed as one of the ingredients. It did help with my rosacea but I noticed tiny red bumps (which disappeared n the morning). There was a slight residue leftover after removing the masks which took a while to absorb, but once it did- supple skin!

I kept the masks on for 30 mins each night, and although they can be used nightly I would not recommend doing that for someone with combination skin as it might be too much. Drier skins would love it in my opinion.

On the second night, I went with the Moisture Mask. Main ingredients of the include Blueberry Extract, Hyaluronic Acid, Niacinamide and Mayu. This has a scent which I can't quite figure out, but it isn't offensive. As with the first mask, I was also left with supple skin and the same residue which took a while to absorb.

I wanted to continue for the 3rd night with another Haruharu mask but I had noticed little red bumps which weren't going away overnight. So I skipped it for one night and used it after my skin had calmed down. The Vitality mask showed the least improvement on my skin, perhaps it's because I've been getting enough sleep and rest so this might perform better on someone with dull skin or lacking sleep. It also contains Niacinamide and quite a number of different plant root extracts.

The last of the series is the Lifting mask, which I used on the next night. This has Aloe, Rose Water, Centella Asiatica and a number of fruit extracts. My face seemed a little more defined but nothing drastic. I also noticed a red bump on my cheek and this also leaves the same sheen which takes a while to absorb. I wore all of these masks for 30-40 minutes each.

After using these masks nightly, stopping and starting again, I am quite sure that my skin can't handle so much Mayu on a daily basis. However, it is a great mask for those with drier skins or during winter when our skin needs more hydration. 

Thank you Jolse for sending over these masks for me to try out!

New In: February 2017

Sakura season is looming, and many beauty brands are pushing out sakura themed products- either in terms of packaging or using the actual flower as an ingredient.

Such a pretty lot from last month's purchases. It's a coincidence that everything I picked up is pink.

Lux Luminique Sakura Dream is a limited edition only sold during this season, I enjoy using the Luminique range and the scent is quite nice so I bought it.
Canmake Transparent Finish Powder TL a lavender powder which I will be using to set my makeup during Part 1 of #MrMrsKomai (yes that's the hashtag we will be using!) and yes, I will be doing my own makeup too.
Cow brand Additive Free Cleansing Oil, I'm down to 1 unopened cleansing oil in my stash so I figured a backup is needed. Not really fussed with my cleansing oils, as long as they do the job well, affordable and is ok for sensitive skin, I'm happy to try it out.
DUP x Rola Eyelashes Fixer EX, as mentioned above I will be doing my own makeup so I picked up a bottle of eyelash glue. This has the "Cosme Award" sticker so it should be good. Pretty packaging! *buys them all*

The month of March will be a no-buy, except for masks which I use on a daily basis for #100daysofmasks. Check out my Instagram(xxenn) to see what what masks I've been using daily leading to my big day.

Empties: February 2017

Didn't manage to finish anything in January, so skipped straight to February. Haven't been finishing any makeup items lately so I was quite excited to hit pan and also throw out some very old lippies. There's even an item contributed by Y*!

Already have backups of the following:
Clarins Instant Eye Make-Up Remover
ClarinsMen Revitalizing Gel (for Y*)

I would consider repurchasing:
Moist, Diane Oil in Body Milk (review here)
Shiseido Fino Premium Touch

I also managed to finish up/hit pan/disposed of the following beauty items:
Isa Knox x Bambi Micro Foam Cushion Silk Cover- not bad! I still have a refill.
Sportsgirl Lipsticks in Bombshell and Fuschia Splash
Maybelline Lipstick/Gloss
Chanel Bronze Corail bronzer- I've hit pan!! Let's see how long it will take to finish it.

The 3 lip colours were thrown out because I finally found replacements, they are actually VERY VERY old but I kept them around to match with potential dupes.

That's all for February, aiming to live a more simplistic and hoard-free beauty life this year!

Empties- 10
Hit Pan- 1