Neutrogena Wave Power Cleanser

I saw this thingamajig being reviewed on You Tube about 6 months ago and was instantly drawn to how it worked and whether it would be effective so I hopped on to Drugstore.com and put in my order via a spree.

It so small and cute and best of all it vibrates! Wink wink!! I stumbled upon this little image when I was looking for one of the whole set in the box as I opened mine without taking a picture....

The Neutrogena Wave Power Cleanser as it is called is a gently vibrating tool with a round pad that is pre-soaked with facial foam and attached to the head of the device. You attach the slightly abrasive pad to the head, wet the pad slightly and switch it on then gently massage it all over your face in a circular motion.

 Focus on the areas that are rougher - in my case, on my forehead and chin. Keep adding water to the pad as it dries so you get a good lather. You will feel a slight tingly sensation as the solution works on your skin. I also feel incredibly relaxed as I am using this due to the vibration on my face!

We all know that exfoliation is key to revealing and maintaining clear skin and the Wave is an affordable tool that can assist in this process. This product/device will help in unclogging pores and this in turn will allow your skincare lotions and potions to sink deeply into the epidermis thus receiving the total and full benefit of it. Other benefits of deep exfoliation are also the fact that your moisturizer will be absorbed better and your foundation will also glide on easily and not be patchy.

Whats there to love about my new gadget? Plenty!

• I control how much pressure I use when I exfoliate with this product. This is really important for those with sensitive skin and the amount of pressure you use with this product can be controlled. Gentle circular motions is what I use on most of my face but areas such as my chin and forehead, I tend to press a little more.
• It is ergonomically designed as it fits into the palm of my hand and its rounded design with its rubberized textured grip on the sides means I can hold it comfortably without the fear of it slipping. It is also ultra light.
• Comes with a velcro top which makes the circular pad stick fast. 
• The pad also comes pre-soaked with a foaming wash which is convenient - and I like the fresh and non overpowering smell of it. Once you begin exfoliating your face with this, the solution on the pad gives a sort of tingly feeling which I really like. 
• It can be used in the shower and there is no fear of getting it wet. 
• Skin feels much softer and brighter after use.
• The kit comes with one AA battery and a two week supply of the disposable cleansing pads. How nice is that!! I hate it when I rip open a product to use and have to immediately go out and buy batteries as well as refills of the thing, so this was great in that I was able to use it from the word go!

• It comes in pink, turquoise, or apple-green color and since I bought it online, I was not able to specify what color I wanted. Of course you already know that I would have so chosen pink!!
• I like that this is convenient and small and that I don’t have to deal with many fiddly bits before I can use it. You just switch it on (which is a small button on the bottom of the gadget) and go.

 Here is a section of my cheek after a few minutes of using the Wave. As you can see, there is a small amount of foam.

Neutrogena claims that this device is clinically proven superior to manual cleansing in three ways:

1. 100% of women showed significantly deeper pore cleansing from its penetrating cool foam

2. Its massaging, vibrating action opens pores to remove dirt, oil, and makeup and stimulates the skin’s surface

3. You’ll see immediate softer, smoother skin after just one use

 I experienced a deeper pore clansing in the form of fresh feeling and clean skin right after cleansing with this product and my skin did feel smoother and softer after one use. However, if you have sensitive skin, I would not suggest that you use this everyday - as the package says you can - you might aggravate your skin. I use it about once or twice at the most per week and that is enough for me.

My only gripe about this product is the fact that the cleansing pads are for single use only which seems wasteful to me. But for hygenic reasons, it is best to discard it after each use. I may try using a regular cotton pad and a drop of my own cleanser to see if it is as effective although I doubt it.

The good news is that a few months after I purchased this for USD7.99, I spied it at our very own Guardian Pharmacy for around RM 50 plus! They sold out pretty quickly but the cleansing pads were readily available at the Neutrogena counters. If you want a deep cleanse and an at home exfoliator then this will be right up your alley!

LUSH - Snow Fairy LE Christmas Shower Gel

I have a friend who smells sort of bubble gummy/candy flossey all the time! I ventured to ask her if she made candy floss on the side because she smelled so divine as if she worked in Santa's kitchen! By the way, if you are a cosmetic junkie there is NO shame in asking when you see (or in this case smell) something awesome even if it is a complete stranger!

Back to my friend.....she told me that the smell in question was her shower gel and it was from a company called Lush. Now I had read about Lush and all their handmade goodies and was about to get another friend from the US to help me ship it over. As luck would have it, this friend of mine was an Australian working in Malaysia and her contract allowed her to fly back every two weeks. She was generous enough to bring back a small bottle from her private stash for me to try out in October. I was sold! And put in my Christmas order for several large bottles of the pink stuff pronto!

The shower gel in question is called Snow Fairy and is only sold for a limited period during the Christmas season which means.....it sells out pretty quickly and you need some good grabbing skills to get them off the shelves and into your shopping basket in two seconds flat before it is all gone!

Snow Fairy just brings out the child in you and as much as my two little girls are averse to anything pink (!), I on the other hand embrace all things pink with gusto!! The smell!! Oh how shall I describe this without doing it serious injustice? Well, it smells of sweet candy and when it has had time to mix with your natural body oils, it smells like you but better! Can you imagine that? I just love it and on the days I shower with this, I refuse to tarnish it's sweet goodness with any perfume.

Here is a list of what goes into this sweet concoction:-

As you can plainly see, the ingredients include Iridescent Glitter!! Yes, glitter.... please don't be alarmed, this washes off in the shower and can hardly be noticable once you lather it up. But totally divine to look at in the bottle. I may have mentioned this is a past post but when I was growing up, I never had the opportunity to use fancy soaps so I guess the child in me goes into overdrive at the sight of these little things! In fact I do have a whole stash of Lush soaps courtesy of my friend AKC (thanks man!) who insisted I tried out all her fave's as well.  

Two Funerals, A Wedding Anniversary and A Family Reunion!

A lot has happened since I last blogged as as the title suggests, I had way too much to deal with and lost a little of my spunk along the way!

Tragically, a young cousin and an old uncle passed away within a month of each other and I thought I would never get over the first death when the second one came along! This threw me into a deep state of sadness which I could not overcome for a while. I did not want to do anything and my mind felt like it was in a state of nothingness. It was just blank and I was going through the motions.....

My husband came to the rescue by just being there for me and allowing me to cry whenever I needed to. What I would do without him I really do not know......it also helped that I had friends whom I could count on, thanks PPS!

I was back and raring to go soon enough and looked forward to spending some time with my beloved on our 11th wedding anniversary. We dressed up and spent an evening wining, dining and sharing our wonderful year together. I assure you ladies, it gets better as the years roll by! (at least for me it did)

The icing on the cake after the tragedies, was reconnecting with a lost branch of our family tree on my mum's side. After 26 years, my family and I met with some long lost nieces/nephews/cousins! What a blessing indeed it was for me to discover that I had 5 older cousins (when all along I was the eldest!) and to meet up at my place on Christmas day was a double blessing indeed!

So all in all, in the last months that I have been missing, what I really missed was writing and testing products and playing with make-up! I may have lost some members of my family but God gave me more than I lost by way of my new-found relatives. It was amazing to see each one of them and best of all.....I have connections in Singapore which means I would be able to get products from there not found in Malaysia to review for you my dear readers!

I pray that each and every one of you has a blessed year in 2011! Thank you for your loyal support. 

Coty Airspun Face Powder

Did you ever watch your mom/elder sister/aunts put on their makeup when you were much younger? My earliest memories of cosmetics were watching my aunts put on their makeup. They were heavily into Indian Classical dance and when there was show, they would sit in front of an old wooden dresser with a worn out mirror and put on their makeup. I would be perched on a big old bed in their room and just stare at their images in the mirror. The memories of my childhood were somehow jolted to life when I came across this product online one day because I distinctly remembered seeing something like this on their dresser. (Its been around since 1935, my friends!) It looked so retro and reminded me for some reason of them and that memory in their room.....They are not around for me to actually verify that it was indeed the same powder they used but I just thought I'd share that with you.

Back to Coty Powder, which is not available here but easily purchased online and is relatively cheap. I bought Coty Airspun Face Powder in Translucent Extra Coverage for RM 38!

Coty Powder is a finely milled loose powder which you use to set make up and it does so very nicely. The color says translucent but it does have a tiny bit of color which does not bother me as it blends very nicely with my foundation . This one is also and Extra Coverage powder which is buildable and you can add on which is something I have not tried to do as I believe the coverage from my foundation is sufficient. I use my favorite Eco Tools Kabuki brush to pick up the powder and dispense all over my face.

I was pleased to note that this powder helps with controlling oil as my face still looks matte at midday which is nice.

The packaging has also changed very much for the better as previously Coty was sold in a stiff, round cardboard container and did not come with a sifter. Oh the horror of all that powder flying about as you open the thing! However, they have revamped the packaging recently and it is now housed perfectly in a plastic container with a sifter and a puff (which is totally useless, so don't even bother). I must say, since I discovered the kabuki brush, I have not used puffs to apply my powders at all.

It has a smell which I cannot explain but since a small amount is applied on the face, I don't smell it and it does not bother me.

The back of the packaging says that this powder will smooth out fine lines and  blemishes. Please take that with a pinch of salt as you will need to apply and build the coverage until that happens.

There is plenty of powder in there that it will take ages to get through it so if you are looking for value, then this could be something you consider purchasing.

NYX Eyeshadow Base

There are many Eyeshadow Bases around but this one is the best IMHO. I purchased it for the sake of trying and not really expecting it to blow my socks off but this one came out a real gem!

I put it to the test one day when I needed to take my look from the office to dinner with a group of friends with nary a minute in the middle for touch ups. I put on my make up at 7am that morning and came home at 9pm and went straight to the mirror to have a look at how my eye make up looked. Having oily lids, I sometimes see creasing as early as noon and its not pretty! BUT on that fateful day, at 9pm I looked and looked and looked and WOW!!!! my lids looked as fresh as when I put on my make up that morning! Thats 14 hours that this base held my eyeshadow together my friends!

How can this be, I asked the eyeshadow Gods.....and the reply was: NYX eyeshadow base!

The color that I chose was ESB 03 which goes on a little light as you can see below but does help with making any eye color you apply on it just that little bit brighter.

Let me tell you that a very little bit goes a long way. Just pick up a little of the product with your ring finger and apply all over the lids up to the brow bone, wait about thirty seconds for it to set (well, I like to anyway but if you dont have time....go ahead) and you are good to go with putting on your eyeshadow.

Now this puppy is part of my daily staple. I spend long hours in the office some days and I am confident enough not to be checking my eyes for that awful line in my eyelid crease that gives my oily skin away!

Go online now and buy it!

Chanel Vitalumiere Satin Smoothing Fluid Foundation with SPF15

I have been lemming this beauty for a while now so when things were a little slow in the office one day, I put my lunch hour to good use by stopping by a Chanel counter to check this out. I was a little apprehensive about whether they would carry a shade that would work for my skin tone, however I was delighted to find a shade that matched my skin perfectly which is 50 Naturel. I ran all the way to the cashier to pay for my new 'toy'! 

This is the product explanation of Vitalumiere on the website:- " Delivers a young, radiant look. Lines, wrinkles and imperfections seem to be erased. Ultra-gliding fluid provides buildable coverage. SPF 15 UV protection; nut extract guards against free radicals" Now who does not want all that?

Whats not to love about this product? Nothing at all, in fact I love it so much its been the only foundation I have been using for a while now. The pump bottle is super efficient in dispensing just the right amount of product for a light to medium coverage and on the odd day that I do notice some extra redness on my cheeks, I use a bit more.

Its wonderful to note that the foundation glides on and blends easily and it does not feel heavy on the face. You get a lovely dewy finish which lasts all day long and looks as fresh at the end of the day as when you first applied it in the morning. Unlike some foundations, my face did not get very oily towards the end of the day which makes me love this foundation all the more.

Here is the back of my hand with a little bit of the foundation on it...see how it matches quite nicely?

 And here is a picture of the foundation smoothed out on my skin!

If I were asked what I don't like about this product, I would not be able to provide an answer because I like the pump bottle, I love the product and the dewy finish, I love that there is a color that suits my skin, heck, I even love the slight whiff of an unexplainable smell that it has!!

For those of you who want to know what goes into making this beauty, here is a list of the ingredients:-

You know something dear readers, I think this may be my HG foundation!!!!

NYX Jumbo Pencils

Oh the raves about these little things I tell you! Of course I just HAD to investigate!

Hence, I present to you these:-

From left to right:- Milk, Pure Gold, Purple Velvet, Orange and Black Bean.

The must have colors are Milk and Black Bean. Milk used as a base so lighter colors applied on it pop and Black Bean as a base for smoky looks.

What you notice first is that these are not your regular slimline pencils. These are the Sumo Wrestlers of the pencil world and hence the name "Jumbo" Eye Pencils! For the relatively cheap price (less than 15 ringgits) I was all excited at the amount of product that I got!

The best part is that these pencils apply so very smoothly and are dreamy creamy which makes it so super blendable. Because it is creamy though, there can be a tendency to overuse. So exercise caution when using as a little goes a very long way.

On the downside.....because of the Jumbo-ness, it is not ideal for using to precisely line the eyes. You will most likely end up with an uneven line. (You can tell that I tried to do it right?) 

You will also need to invest in a sharpener that is big enough to accomodate the larger girth that this pencil has but this is not difficult as these sharpeners are easily found. You know when I am sharpening my lip liners, I always mourn the fact that a lot (a LOT!) of product is wasted from the sharpening....I hate that which is why I was delighted to come across many video's online on de-potting (yes! de-potting) the Eye Pencil without changing the quality or consistency of the product. I may give it a go and report back later with my findings.