First Aid Beauty: Ultra Repair Cream

If you've been following my blog for a while, you know by now that I have a combination to oily skin. But when I went to NYC, my skin dried out like nothing else. My l'Oréal gel moisturiser did not help at all, so I had to find a solution which hydrated my skin without making it burst out into oils.

I found the First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream at Sephora. I've heard about it onlline and it has gotten a lot of good reviews, so I thought I'd give a fair chance. If I didn't like it for my face, I could still use it for my body.

First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream

As soon as I opened it, I was surprised it looked like a thick cream. Yes, it would give back the moisture I need, but will it make me look shiny as well? Luckily it didn't. It's probably due to the cold weather I had there.

Back in Belgium, where it's not warm but not as cold in NYC as well, I tried this out on my skin.

I must say, this cream does absorbs fairly quick and well. I'm quite pleased with this product as I will be able to use a cream. Me! A cream! :)

It's fragrance free, free of parabens and it's safe for those with sensitive skin.

I bought a travel size as well in case I would like it. Turns out I kind of love it! I'm also bought the cleanser, which received good reviews as well. I'm excited to give that one a try and I'll keep you all posted on it!

NOTW: Dark Navy

As the title already explained itself, I'm going dark navy on the nails this week!

I bought this polish about a year ago and never got the chance to apply it. This week I decided it was time to experiment :)

I've never been a huge fan of blue nails on myself, because I happen to LOVE the color on other people. I just don't think it suits me. What do you think?

ELF - Dark Navy

This Dark Navy is a gorgeous ... you guessed it, a dark navy, haha! Actually it looks like a black but with a blue sheen over it. Pretty darn beautiful, I must say!

1 single coat does the job and I love the formula of ELF' polishes. They apply easily and the formula isn't too thick but not too thin either. The brush is just the right size. I go over my nails 2 times: left, right, and I'm done! 2 coats will do the job and the color stays for a good 5 to 6 days, which I don't mind, because on day 7 I'm changing my mani anyway.

If you haven't heard of ELF before, it stands for Eyes Lips Face. It's an online site that provides cheap make up. From eye shadow 'till nail polished. They pretty much have it all in their online shop for a very affordable price.

One of my favorite polishes happens to be by the brand ELF. Says enough on how you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Drugstore items can rock your worlds as well! :)

NOTW: Mango Madness

I love to switch my NOTW's between natural and bright colors.
Since I had me some nude nails last week, I like to share my fun bright NOTW today with you girls.

ELF - Mango Madness

I've never hidden my love for coral, so I just had to try out a coral polish by ELF.

The brand ELF might be cheap, but that doesn't take away the quality from this varnish.
Admitting that light colors may need a few more coats, but richer colors will only require 1 coat.

I bought the ones with the improved formula, so I can't compare it with the old versions. But one thing is for sure, I'm loving me some ELF!

Although it looks more orange in the bottle and it looks more bright in the picture, but it's less in-your-face in real life. A beautiful coral color to slap on the nails during the warmer months.

A beautiful color that takes me back to the summer time for a week :)

Review Clarins Lotus Face Treatment Oil

High end brands, they make you feel like a million dollars and they cause your wallet to want to jump out of your purse whenever you walk into a beauty shop.

I tend to use mostly drugstore items, but I have to confess... There are times I become a woos and I splurge.
Last summer I was walking through the beauty alley and I saw that some of the products of Clarins were on sale. Yes, I justified it because it was on sale.

I got myself the Clarins Lotus Face Treatment Oil.
It's a yellow oil that you put on your face to treat your skin. This is towards those with oily or combination skin. You may be thinking: Lily, I already have enough oils on my face going on and now you're saying to slather on some more oil? Really?!?

Yes. I'm telling you to treat your oily faces with oil. as crazy as it may sound, this actually works.

This product is made from 100% of pure plant extracts. All natural for those who are wondering :p

Clarins Lotus Face Treatment Oil

After cleansing my face I put 2 drops in my hands, rub it and press it into my skin. If you massage it well, this will sink into your skin. Just give it some time for the oil to do its work.

I do have to mention the rather medicinal scent to the product. For those who don't like heavily fragrances, this may not be your cup of tea. When massages into the skin you can still smell a subtle hint of the medicine.

I have been using this for a couple of months now, and I have noticed less blemishes and less oily skin.

Since you only need a few drops of this, I'm sure this bottle will last me quite a while.
I spent 24€ on this bottle, with discount. Normally I won't spend that much money on something I've never tried before, but ... once in a while won't hurt, right?

Let me know if you've tried this as well. What do you think about this oil fighter?

Review Avène mattifying fluid

Hi beautiful :)

Today I'll be reviewing a moisturiser from the brand Avène. If you haven't heard from this brand before, their products are based on the spring water. This makes sure that the soothing, anti-inflammatory and calming qualities from the water remains in the Avène products. It is mainly for those with sensitive skin who can't really cope with the overkill of chemical ingredients most brands add.

If you have heard from Avène, you're probably very known with the Thermal Spring Water Spray. This is one of their best selling products.

I'll be talking about the Mattifying Fluid, a face moisturiser that will hydrate and mattify your face, so it claims. This product is for people with normal to combination skin, and you all know I have more than enough oils on my face!

When I applied this for the very first time, I was happy with the results. It wasn't too matte and gave it a dewy finish. Unfortunately, this dewy finish became a lot more dewier than I wanted to. My face became quite oily after 3 to 4 hours.

I'm not sure whether my skin still needs to adapt to this products, but I have to admit I'm not very pleased with this moisturiser. I'll give this product another chance to proove me wrong, but so far... I ain't a happy blogger :(

To be continued...

Beauty meets food: Gonna boil myself a tea bag

Since I have Chinese roots, I was bound to drink tea each and every day when I was little. I have to admit that growing up, my tea liking had diminished, but that doesn't take away how healthy and yummy tea is. 

Next to that, you can also use a tea bag for beauty purposes. Keep on reading if you're wondering what a tea bag can do for you :)

• Face
• Skin: I like to use different face cleansing methods: scrub, foam cleanser, Clarisonic, ... To make sure my face doesn't get used to a certain way of cleansing, I like to have an occasional face steam. I like to boil some water in a large bowl and add some tea bags. I like to use mint tea (for the fragrance) or green tea (for its antioxidant properties). Put a towel over your head and bend over the bowl. The towel should act as a wall so the steam can't escape. The steam will open your pores and hydrate the skin. As soon as the steam is gone, take a handkerchief and dip it in the tea and rub it over your face. Your skin will feel silky smooth and clean.
• Eyes: Cool tea bags can be used to de-puff your swollen eyes. Press the teabag slightly on the eye for about 15 minutes. The tea's acid will de-puff the eyes and reduce the puffiness in the eye area.
• Body: In case you forgot to wear SPF when you were out in the sun and you got yourself a sunburn, a tea bag (green tea especially) can sooth the burn which takes the ache away.

As I already mentioned, a tea bag is used to drink tea. (Well d'uh?) Drinking tea is very healthy for the body. It's commonly known that tea contains antioxidants which is a great source for antioxidant nutrition.
To sum up just a few advantages from drinking tea are:

• it can reduce the risk of heart attack
• it might protect against a lot of cancers
• it might provide UV protection
• it can improve bone mineral density and strength
• it hydrates the body

Next to these 5, it has a lot more positive effects to the body than you think. The only thing I can say is that tea is VERY good for you. Just make sure you have actual tea such as green or black tea. Herbal tea is not a real tea!

This was my last blog post on the series beauty meets food. I hope you liked this serie and I surely hope you've learned something from it and tried it. See y'all soon!

Beauty meets food: I don't eat no ham 'n eggs

 
To egg or not to egg?
By eating eggs, you'll get some vitamin B, proteins and a whole lot of nutrients in your body. The feeling of being full will withhold you from gravitating towards snacks. Let's see what other things an egg can do for your body.

• Brain: Egg yolk contains vitamin B and choline. Choline is important for neurotransmitter function, cell membranes, liver function and lipid metabolism. Pregnant women, this one's for you: choline's supposedly to be good for you too because it stimulates the development of the baby's brain.
  If that wasn't enough good news, egg yolk helps to produce the happy hormones such as serotonin and dopamine. 
• Face:For those with hyper pigmentation here's a face mask you can easily make. Take some lemon juice and egg white, mix it up and apply to your face. The lemon juice will whiten the areas where you need it and the egg white will tighten those pores. Wash it off with cold water after letting it sit for about 15 minutes, et voilà, hello fresh face!
• Body: Haven't you noticed that a lot of sport athletes prefer eating eggs after a work out? That's because they need to take in their proteins. Egg whites can be absorbed entirely by the body.  
• Hair: Since you have some egg yolk left over from your face mask, use this to condition your hair. Egg yolk contains proteins to fight against hair loss, moisturizes and strengthens the hair.

How do you like your eggs? In your mouth or for beauty purposes? :)

Beauty meets food: Oh honey, honey, sugar sugar

Honey, just a delicious sweetener, or is that much more?


Let's go over some of the home remedies you can make with some honey:

• Hair: Have you been out a lot during the summer? Is your damaged from the UV rays, chlorine and the humidity? Well, let's pop out a honey mask to bring some shine and to take care of those split ends you have. Mix 1 cup of water with 2 table spoons of apple vinegar, 5 drops of rosemary oil and 1 tea spoon of that delicious honey. Leave it in for about 10 minutes, rinse it off and welcome back shiny hair!
• Face:
• Lips: Who doesn't dislike dry, chapped lips? Take some olive oil, brown sugar and a bit of honey, mix it up and scrub away! Your lips will be ready to be kissed like it has never been kissed before :)
• Scrub: Personally I like scrubs with bigger beeds in them, it makes me feel like my skin is actually being cleaned. But some of you prefer scrubs with the tiniest beeds. Instead of going out to the store and buying one, why not make one yourself? At least you're sure of what you're putting on your skin, right? Take your lip scrub, add some lemon juice and apply it to your face. This will get rid of the dead skin cells and it will leave your skin as smooth as a baby's bottom.
• Breakouts: Honey is antibacterial which will take on the impurities in your skin. Redness will reduce when honey is applied to sooth the inflammation.
• Body: 
• Throat: If you mix some pure honey with water (and maybe a tad of lemon juice), this can soothe a sore throat.
• Bath: Did you know that legend has it that Cleopatra loved taking milk&honey baths? Milk contains AHA (Alpha Hydroxy Acid) which can make the skin more firm and smooth. Honey contains enzymes will make the skin softer. Who needs fancy bath bombs if you can take a bath in Cleopatra style?
• Wax: Sometimes you just don't have the time to go to the beauty salon and get something waxed. You can make your own wax by mixing water, honey and brown sugar (lemon juice can be added if desired). Cook the sugar and water until it's caramelized, add the honey (and lemon juice) until it has reached it's boiling point. Set it aside and let it cool off before using it on your body.
• Scarves: Scarves, you're stuck with them for the rest of your life once they have appeared. Put on some raw honey, cover it with a bandage. Remove it the day afterwards and clean the skin.
• Sunburn: Although you should always wear sunblock before going out the door, a sunburn can always occur. Apply some honey to the sunburns to alleviate the pain.
• Moisturize: Add honey to some shea butter and you have just created your own moisturizer.

As to my first question... It's so much more than just a sweetener :)

Me against UV rays

Hi there everyone!

If you've read my last blog post, you know I'm whined over and over on UV rays and how it's important that you should protect your skin from any damage.

Today I'll be talking about a couple of items I've been using this year to protect myself from those evil rays!

First off, the face!
If you've read this blog for a while, you may know by now that I have a combination to oily skin type. In other words: the kind where you can fry your fish and chips in!
During the summer the oils decide to have a party in my face and stay there for a about the entire season.

Eucerin sun fluid mattifying face - SPF50

When applying a sunscreen on the face, the oils are dying to come out. That's why I've been on the look out for a mattifying sunscreen. Believe me, I never knew about its existence until I accidentally bumped into one when I was in the doctor's waiting room. It's the Eucerin sun fluid mattifying for the face.

Turns out this sample is a pretty darn good sunscreen for me :)

It leaves a semi-matte finish on my skin and it has a high SPF of 50. What more can my skin ask for?

And yes, I'm planning on getting a full size bottle!





Before discovering this baby, I actually did some research on a good sunscreen and I heard/read several good reviews on the following:

 

Shiseido Expert Sun Aging Protection Lotion - SPF30

The Shiseido sunscreen is known for its blue bottle and the orange cap. This sunscreen is meant to be applied for the face as well as the body. When going to the beach, I thought it would come in handy to get a 2 in 1 and one which is very water resistant and sand-proof.

It's a light, non-sticky sun protection lotion that will fight against the UVA and UVB rays. Don't give those wrinkles and sunburns any chance by protecting you against both rays!

I did try to apply this on my face, but my face became rather greasy after a few hours. I prefer this sunscreen for my body and will be using the Eucerin one for my face :)




And something you often forget to protect from UV rays as well: your hair!
I have black hair, but after getting a perm the sun damage has caused my hair to turn slightly dark brown. I must admit that I like the brownish hints of colour, but honestly... I know that the discoloration is merely a sign of sun damage.

Wella Professionals Lifetex vitamin shake

When going on a sunny holiday I make sure to bring along my hair protecting vitamin shake!
This is a vitamin shake that will nourish and protect your hair from sun damage. As you can see on the picture, it has a milk base and an oily base which you should shake up (hence the name vitamin shake) before spritzing it into your hair.

The milk base has sun protection ingredients, while the macadamia seed oil protects your from damage from the sun, sea and chlorine.

It gives a lot of moisture to the hair so the hair doesn't dry out. Do keep in mind that this shake contains a UV filter, to make sure it combats those UV rays!
 




These were my 3 essentials that I'll be rocking this summer.
Tell me, what are your must haves for the scorching hot season?

Fav BB cream

Hi everyone!

I'm back with another blog post, and today I want to talk to you beauties about my favorite BB cream!

The problem with BB creams for me is that these are mostly towards quite pale girls. Since I'm more a light-to-medium-kind of girl, I thought this BB cream was right up my alley!

Cantabile BB cream

It's by the Korean brand called Cantabile.
To be honest, I have never heard about this brand before my friend suggested this product to me. She was raving on how good it was and as a beauty blogger I couldn't restrain myself and I just had to get myself one and give this baby a try!


As you can see the packaging is quite ... ridiculous :)
Can you imagine how the meeting must have taken place: "Oh, let's put a BB cream on the market and let's put an Asian guy on the packaging!"
Please note that there's a quote 'It makes your skin sing'.




Anyway, back to the actual product, shall we?

This BB cream's official name is i.myss Cantabile BB Cream Magic Secret. Quite a mouth full huh? :)

It's a 50ml little tube and has SPF 25 PA++.
(Side note: SPF indicates UVB protection and PA+++ indicates UVA protection. Please keep in mind that both are important to keep your skin healthy looking!)

What I love about this product is that it comes out as a nude colors but applies translucent on the skin, yet covers the little blemishes...AWESOME!

I mostly slap on some of my Benefit Porefessional to smooth out the canvas to work on, then I go over with this baby!


The only downside is that this is only available in Korea, not really sure whether this is being sold in HK. You can find this online, and costs you about 15$ without shipping costs. Unless you have awesome friends who can go to Korea and get this for you :)

I've tried the Skin 79 (pink one) and the Missha BB cream, and I must say that I prefer this BB cream over the 2 more famous ones. Skin 79 and Missha were quite pale on me and I like it how the cream adjusts to my skin color. No fussing, just there to slap on your face without thinking about contouring, lovely!

What other BB creams have you given a shot?

NOTW: Fuchsia

Herro herro my beauties, and I'm back with another NOTW!

I have been dying to show you girls my love for this polish:

ELF: Fuchsia

As you can see it's a polish by ELF.
ELF stands for eyes lips face and is known for its cheap, yet qualitative make up goodies.

It's pretty dark rose in real life, although it shows a purple on the website...
It's opaque in 2 coats and has stayed put on my nails for almost an entire week o_O

Come on, you have to admit that for only 2,5€, that's a pretty darn good deal!

This polish is definitely my go to polish for winter 2012. Go ELF!

Clarisonic Mia

Thanks to technology people have been able to use an electric toothbrush instead of a regular one. It's supposed to clean more thoroughly and (hopefully) it does the job faster!

What about having an electric toothbrush for your face? I'm talking about the Clarisonic. This little thing has been a hype in the States for a LONG time, and it's still a favorite of many beauty guru's.
As soon as I saw it was on sale, I had to splurge on one. Most of the time I don't really invest in skin care but I was just to curious about this item that I had to try it.

I bought the blue Clarisonic Mia, which comes with a little international plug (handy for traveling). And I got the brush head for sensitive skin. You can also get brush heads for acne, delicate, normal skin or you can get body brushes as well. These Clarisonic Mia's are available in several colors as well, and with Spring they've launched a Spring collection with fun bright colors!

As you can see it comes with a charger, an international plug and a cleansing product.

Here's a clear picture of the cleansing product. I'll give this cleanser a try, but I've heard that this isn't that good of a product. Most people use the Clarisonic with Purity by Philosophy.

I'll have a go with it and keep you updated on whether I like it or not. Since I haven't been using it for a long time, I prefer not to write a review about it already.

To be continued...

Elf haul

Ask any beauty guru this question: what's the cheapest online make up brand you can get? That's right, ELF. This brand stands for eyes lips face and it's known for its quality and cheap make up goodies. You can easily get items for 1$, and for those who can't afford high end products this is a great brand to express your love for make up!
I've heard so much about ELF and since I got a discount for my bday, I decided to get myself a treat :)

I got 2 eye shadows, 4 nails polishes and 3 blushes:

ELF haul

The eye shadows I got were 1 powder and 1 creamy one. They're both neutrals, and both have a nude and a brown color.

both: Butter Pecan

Below you'll find the swatches of these eye shadows.

creamy nude - creamy brown - nude powder - brown powder

It's quite obvious that the only pigmented one is the powdery brown/bronzy one. The rest is quite sheer, which was quite disappointing. But could I get really disappointed for a 1€ make up item?

The creamy one is very sheer and in spite of good reviews I'm not sure whether I'll be able to use this since I already have oily eye lids. I think this product will just slip away from my eye lids! I'll give this a try with and without a primer, we'll see what the end result will be.

The powder eye shadow looks quite good, it makes a good natural eye look, so yay for this one!

Then I got 4 nail polishes for 10€ for 4:

Mango Madness, Fuchia, Dark Navy, Mint Cream

They all look like the website displayed them, except for Fuchsia. I expected something more purple-like, this one's more on the pink side. I tried Mint Cream and it'll probably be needing 3 coats to have an opaque color. I will try Mango Madness very soon, so pics will be coming up soon! Nevertheless, I like all colors and can't wait to give these a try!

Last but not least: blushes:

Candid Coral - Peachy Keen

These blushes were 4€, which is still peanuts for a blush. I had quite high expectations for these, but unfortunately these were very VERY sheer. It gives a nice sheen on your cheeks, but that's it. I prefer to have some color on my apples, but these are okay for those who like the subtle look.

Glow

This blush is probably the cheapest pigmented blush I own. I paid 1€ for it, yes you read it correctly: 1€!
Since I was quite let down by the pigmentation of the blushes above, I didn't have high hopes for the cheaper one, but man oh man...do I like this blush! (too bad it doesn't show up on the swatch below though, boo!)



Here's a swatch of the 3 blushes:

Candid Coral - Peachy Keen - Glow

I tried to photograph the swatches properly but since I don't have good lighting the colors aren't shown very well :(

You can see that Candid Coral has more of a yellow undertone, while Peachy Keen is more on the pink side.
Glow on the other hand is just very pink. It's a very lovely color, but you have to be easy on this one when applying it to the cheeks, because you can easily put too much of this product which will make you look like a clown (a pretty clown though!)

It all comes to this: don't let the price decide whether the product will do the job or not. A big thumbs up for ELF for making this available as well for those who are on a lower budget...hip hip hooray!