Summer Holiday Haul!

This week I finally received some goodies in the mail that were slightly delayed by the summer holiday season, but I'm glad to have got them in my hot little hands at last.

If you're as interested in beauty products as I am, you're probably just as guilty of feeling the "I've got a package" thrill, so don't judge me for already opening the prettyandcute.com package-- I got it weeks ago, in fact 2 days after placing my order, so I was just waiting on the Korean package to arrive.

If you are wondering if that fabric is decorated with little green gremlins getting tanked at a kegger, you would be correct.  It was in my fabric stash and seemed ideally suited to a Canada Day/Independence Day-themed weekend, as I am pretty sure several of my neighbours are starting to resemble these little green guys after 4 days of partying.

Read on for the contents of my mega-haul!

Skin79 Orange Super Plus BB Cream Review

This week's review is of the many-named Skin79 Orange Vita Super Plus Triple Function Beblesh Balm Cream.  For the safety of your tongue muscles and the sanctity of anyone within spit-radius, do not attempt to say all that three times fast.  I've had this BB cream for ages, but summer is in full swing in Texas and since this BB cream was supposedly designed with oil control in mind, I decided to give it another try.

This is a bit of a "retro" BB cream that hails from the Glory Days of the Skin79 Hot Pink furor, when Skin79 started experimenting with some new formulations of BB cream.  Nowadays, there are so many brands and formulas of BB (and CC) creams that's it's hard to imagine a time when your choices were more limited!

The main points of the Orange BB was to provide more coverage than its Hot Pink predecessor, along with better oil control and meant for 'troubled' skin.  (That's polite Korean-speak for ACNE UP IN HERE!)  I've heard people describe it as being more "foundation-like" in its intent, but in my case I purchased it because it was recommended as the best match to an NC15 skin and I liked the high sun protection.

Read on for my thoughts on how this BB cream rates against the Hot Pink and my favourite Mizon Snail BB.

Weekly review: Sheet Mask Snippet -- My Beauty Diary Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Mask

Greetings, fellow summer weather sufferers!  This week's review is of a handy summertime-friendly sheet mask, the My Beauty Diary Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Mask.

My last sheet mask review was the My Beauty Diary Japanese Cherry Blossom sheet mask, and I wasn't happy with it (link) but the Hyaluronic Acid mask is quite decent by sheet mask standards.

Read on for the full details!

Lioele Waterdrop Sleeping Pack Review

This week we're going to review a "water drop" product, specifically the Lioele Waterdrop Sleeping Pack.  Sleeping packs are a sort of wash-off mask type that you apply before you sleep and wash off in the morning.

It's also a "water drop" type of product, which literally beads up into water droplets on your skin.  To be honest, I am not really sure what the point of having water drops form on the surface of your skin, because I don't see how that is supposed to help retain moisture inside your skin.  So it seems really gimmicky to me, but I promised myself I would test it in both winter and summer conditions before I made a decision.

So here's the review!

A quick note

Hi all, just wanted to post up a short message about what's going on.  I am in the middle of switching jobs, and so I'm currently in the position of having two bosses and two departments claiming my time.  I've been steadily prepping products for review but I'm so busy that I haven't had time to actually write the reviews yet.

Things should cool off after the first week of June, so look forward to reviews on a sleeping pack, an ultra hydrating mask, and a BB cream in the very near future!

So if you're worried I've pulled that "sudden blog burnout hiatus", never fear-- this is just temporary, and I'm impatient to get back to blogging again.

In the meantime, let me know what are your favourite summer products, and how you handle the effects of summer on your skin!   Temperatures are soaring above 100° (38C for us Celsius users) so I live in a constant state of miserable stickiness.  Either leave me a comment, or you can shoot me an email at catinacactus at gmail.com.

All the best,

-Cat

Mizon Pore Clearing Volcanic Mask Review

This week's review is one of your typical clay wash-off type masks, the Mizon Pore Clearing Volcanic Mask.

I can't say that I am a frequent user of clay masks, but I have used them from time to time.  As I continue to coax my skin back from a lifetime of congestion build-up, I am looking for treatment options to help clear my pores without irritating my skin too much and that can be easily added to my current routine.

Read on for the full details of this 'volcanic' clay mask.

Sheet Mask Snippet - My Beauty Diary Japanese Cherry Blossom + mini Haul

This week's review is the first of many sheet mask reviews, as there are so many of them out there it can be difficult to choose between them or judge their effectiveness.  Considering how comparatively short this week's review is, I have also included a mini haul from my usual ebay vendor, rubyruby76.

So first off is the sheet mask.  If you aren't familiar with them, they are a paper or cloth sheet that has been cut to form to the face (not necessarily your face, sadly, as they fit me terribly) and soaked in a solution which your face will slowly absorb as you wear it.   They are more convenient than wash-off masks as you only need to peel them off and pat your skin to absorb any remaining liquid, instead of messing around with washing it off and having to fuss with moisturizers afterward.

This review is of My Beauty Diary's Japanese Cherry Blossom Mask.  My Beauty Diary is a popular brand for face masks, so popular in fact that they're available from ... Wal-mart?!  *clap of thunder and faint smell of brimstone*  Either way, I actually prefer wash-off masks to sheet masks, even if the latter is more convenient.

So, keep that in mind as we review- everything is relative to that point!

Holika Holika Don't Worry Bee Care Calendula Toner Review

This week's review is of the "hydrating" style of toner prevalent in Asian skincare, as opposed to the "astringent" or cleansing type that we normally associate with "toner" in the west.  Infused with calendula flower petals and bee propolis, it's the adorably bee-decorated Holika Holika Bee Care Calendula Toner.

Note the flower petals at the bottom, continually infusing the toner with calendula goodness

I picked up this toner to experiment with adding toner into my skin care routine, because I was looking for ways to add extra hydration without making my skin greasy, which would lead to breakouts.  After reading about the difference in Asian toners vs western ones, I decided to give this one a try after reading up on the benefits of bee propolis and calendula.

Onward to the review!

Nature Republic Aloe Vera 92% Soothing Gel Review

This week's review was featured in last week's airless pump bottle Demo, so here's the review of the Nature Republic Aloe Vera 92% Soothing Gel, just in time for summer!

This product is meant to be an all-over gel for soothing and cooling skin that is hot from either irritation or from exposure to heat.  Aloe Vera was something we always had growing up when I was a kid, and in the event of a burn (or sunburn) my mother would break off a leaf and rub the cool slimy inside of the leaf on my skin for instant relief and to promote healing.

Read on for the review of this old-timey remedy in a new and refined form!

Weekly review, Beauty Tool Edition: Airless Pump Bottles

That's right.  This week instead of reviewing the products I put on my face, I'm reviewing the containers I put my products in.  It's not as simple as you'd think.  A lot of products come in jars or tubs, which are unhygenic, messy to get out the product, constantly exposed to air and air-borne bacteria, and take up space.

Plus, when you have as many products as I do in my winter line-up (mentioned here) and a tiny sink counter, you've got problems.  Things-shattering-on-the-floor, you-or-your-spouse-knocking-things-over, no-space-for-your-toothbrush problems.

I prefer things to be in pump bottles so I can easily control the amount of product dispensed, minimize air exposure, and most of all stay hygienic.   So, I started researching and eventually stumbled on these little beauties:

Refill-ready bottle on the left, unused one on the right

In this post:

• Product details
• Full Review and Demo on how to fill them
• Final Thoughts

Warning: this review contains a picture of the inside of my fridge.  Not for the pickle-phobic.  Just saying.

Mizon Multi Function Formula Snail Recovery Gel Cream Review

This week's review has been a long time coming, but here it is at last: my one, my only, my true beauty love: the Mizon Multi Function Formula Snail Recovery Gel Cream aka The Precious.

Snow White + Snail Gel = <3 4ever

You've heard me talk about it before, but like the mythical unicorn, it was always alluded to without details.  Well, the wait is over!  Let's do this!

Tonymoly Prestige Snail Lip Treatment Review

This week's review is of Tonymoly Prestige Snail Lip Treatment, which despite its impressive-sounding name, is an unremarkable product that makes a lot of fancy claims but is actually just a lip balm.

Reflective and chrome surfaces are a pain to photograph!

As you may know if you read my blog, I am snail-product obsessed.  So, I picked up this lip "treatment" expecting it to perform the same soothing miracles as my other snail products, but it turned out to be just another lip balm.  A nice one, but indistinguishable from any other regular lip balm, and unfortunately Tonymoly tucked some tiny lies into the product description that the ingredient list doesn't agree with.  Read on for all the gory details!

Skincare Discovery: Layering Multiple Products Part 2

In Part 1 we  talked about the techniques of layering skincare regardless of which products you use:

Part 1 contents:

• It's not always about the products you have, sometimes it's the way you use them
• Buy skincare, not makeup
• Application: pat, tap, or press to apply instead of rubbing
• Layer several different products, instead of an all-in-one product
• Layer 'fat over lean', like a oil painter

Onward to discussing products designed for layering so you avoid the pitfalls of over-moisturizing!

In this post:

• Sometimes more is more, when it comes to the number of products
• You can and should build your own custom lineup
• Examples of Brand lineups
• Example of a custom lineup

Skincare Discovery: Layering Multiple Products Part 1

This week in lieu of a review, I had planned to discuss a technique for applying moisturizer which had been completely alien to me called a "moisture bomb" or "skin bomb" or even "water bomb", although the latter is also used to describe specific products that are meant to accomplish the same effect.

*pat pat* Woooaaah moisture ~explosion~

However, I'll be posting about moisture bombs another day, because in order to understand why they are great, you first have to be familiar with how different the Asian skincare philosophy is from what we are used to, and it's made me a total convert because it's working better for me than anything else I've ever tried.

Part 1 contents (you are here!):

• It's not always about the products you have, sometimes it's the way you use them
• Buy skincare, not makeup
• Application: pat, tap, or press to apply instead of rubbing
• Layer several different products, instead of an all-in-one product
• Layer 'fat over lean', like a oil painter

Part 2 contents (link):

• Sometimes more is more, when it comes to the number of products
• You can and should build your own custom lineup
• Examples of Brand lineups
• Example of a custom lineup

Onward to discussing products designed for layering so you avoid the pitfalls of over-moisturizing!

Weekly Review: Tonymoly Catchu Wink Tony Tint in Cherry Pink

This week's review is of a simple little lip stain product: Tonymoly's adorably-named Cat Chu Wink (complete with winking kitty packaging) lip tint in #01 Cherry Pink.

I am not a cat person.  In fact, thanks to my allergies, I hate cats, because they have a sadistic affinity for anyone who will turn into a sneezing, swollen mess if they get within 5 feet, such as yours truly.  That being said, you cannot deny that the little cat face on this lip tint/stain is so cute it should come with a warning label. :3


Details:
Full product name: Tonymoly Cat Chu Wink Tony Tint #01 Cherry Pink
Purpose: A liquid lip stain, like Benetint.
Texture: Standard lip stain, very thin liquid which spreads easily and dries quickly.
Scent:  Very mild, vaguely fruity?
Quantity: 10ml and a little goes a long way.
Availability: I bought mine from ebay, it's also available several places online, and within the US it is available from prettyandcute although they were out of stock last I checked.
Price: Ranges from $4-10, so very affordable
Rating:  4/5 for better than typical stain dryness.
Repurchase: Definitely.  It's the longest-lasting and least drying lip stain I have tried.


Time for the full review, including pictures!

 But before we get to that stage, I would just like to give a shout-out to all those beauty bloggers who manage to take pictures of their lips without feeling like Quasimodo after you see how monstrous and uneven they are in close-range.   Read on if you dare!

ElishaCoy Skin Repairing Snail Cream and ElishaCoy Skin Repairing Snail Essence Review

This week's review is double feature of ElishaCoy Skin Repairing Snail Cream and the matching ElishaCoy Skin Repairing Snail Essence.  I'm doing both at the same time because I just want this duo of colossal failure out of my bathroom and out of sight/mind.

I had purchased them in in a set, because I had been searching for a snail filtrate cream to replace my Skin79 White Reviving cream, and I was looking for a serum to boost hydration on my skin.  Why not save $$ by getting them in a set?  I'm a committed proponent of having a wide range of moisturizer types to choose from, because with my nastily combination skin, it's easier for me to apply/layer different types of moisturizers in the areas with individual needs than use a one-size-fits-none general moisturizer.

I am going to warn you right now: I am highly disappointed with these products.  They were a complete let-down, and at their price they should have been amazing.  ElishaCoy is known for having high-quality products, and when I first researched this product, I was encouraged by the only review I could find at the time: Hope in a Blog's review of the cream.

She compared it to the Mizon Snail cream, and since I have been using the Mizon Snail Gel (reviewed) to great effect, her rave review of the EC compared to the Mizon left me with high hopes.  I'm glad it worked for her, because these products sure sucked for me.

Well, let's get this review over with!

Shiseido Perfect Whip Cleanser Review

This week's review is of the best cleanser sidekick for my Clarisonic, the Shiseido FT Sengansenka Perfect Whip Facial Wash.  This cleanser is unlike anything I had ever encountered in western skin care, and on its own it seems gimmicky and unremarkable, but when paired with my trusty Clarisonic, it's a match made in skincare heaven.  I've also included how to make Perfect Whip foam, using two different methods.

Shiseido is a very widely recognized Asian luxury brand, but this particular product is from their 'drug store' line of products, so they are affordable but still considered to be decent quality.  I wouldn't dare use conventional drug store skin care like Neutrogena, etc, on my face (cue skin rage) but I've heard good things about Shiseido's drug store products and certainly my skin likes the Perfect Whip just fine.

Details:

Full product name: Shiseido FT Sengansenka Perfect Whip Facial Wash

Purpose: A foaming cleanser with a unique foam formation that resembles a very thick, dense shaving cream more than your traditional foaming cleanser.  It creates a thick cushion of foam on the skin, and is supposedly to be very gentle on the skin.

Texture: Starts as a pearly ultra thick cream and looks like toothpaste out of the tube.  It's slick and stringy at first, but when water is added and agitated with fingers, brush, or foaming net, it whips into a giant cloud of dense, superfine foam which resists pressure.  Almost like a mousse texture.

Scent:  Medium.  It has a sort of chemical smell, like Clearasil, Neutrogena, etc, but with a pleasant fruity/floral scent on top. Doesn't linger after rinsing.

Packaging: A squeeze tube, so be careful as a little goes a long way.

Quantity: 5oz, which is a large amount considering how little you need.

Availability: I bought mine from Amazon, also available various places online.  If you happen to live in Japan, it will be easily available.

Price: With shipping, it came out to about $9 from the above seller.  Compare that to the $33 for the ElishaCoy All-In-One BB cleanser that also has a place in my beauty lineup, it's a steal.

Rating:  5/5!  9/22/14 Update:  I have since learned that any cleanser over 5.6 actually damages your skin (click here for full post including scientific sources) so sadly this previously loved cleanser is no longer something I can recommend.  

Repurchase: You bet.  I have had a Clarisonic for years, and have always been hunting for the perfect cleanser to pair it with-- this foam is it.  As this cleanser is a stratum corneum-wrecking nuclear pH level of 8, no.  Never again.  I miss you, Perfect Whip, but you're destroying my ability to fight off acne bacteria every time you touch my face.

Onward to the review of this strange, but brilliant, little product!

Fair Skin Friendly: BB cream swatches on NC15 skin

Instead of a review this week, I thought it would be helpful to swatch my BB cream collection compared to MAC's Studio Fix in NC15.  Although there are a lot of BB cream swatches out there, most swatchers had deeper skin tones than mine, which made finding a match difficult.

To help out other similarly fair ladies out there find the right BB cream for them, I swatched all the BB creams in my collection, ranging from those I only tried in sample sizes up to those I purchased in full-size and wear on a regular basis.  I have tried many others in sample sizes, but unfortunately I tossed them as soon as I realized they were the wrong shade for me, not realizing that I'd be blogging my adventures in skincare one day. **Update:  I have recently swatched even more bb creams which you can find here.

I will warn you that the light on a mid-afternoon on a chilly day in the desert in February isn't as conducive to taking photos as I had hoped, but I also included photos in the shade which made the contrast between the different BB creams more obvious.

As you can see in the photos below, I have swatched the MAC Studio Fix NC15 along my arm, so each BB cream swatch can be visually compared to it.  The below image in the sun (on the right) is the most colour-accurate of all the photos.

Click here for a full size of the swatches, unblended, in the shade and in the sun. 

Although the above image taken in direct sunlight provides a better idea of the differences in the BB creams when they are unblended, the picture below with blended swatches is unfortunately a little blown out by the sunlight reflecting off my pasty, pasty white skin.  For that reason, I will be using a close-up of the below image taken in the shade for the swatch breakdowns.

Click here for a full size of the swatches, blended, in the shade and in the sun.

Now for the detailed breakdown for the below close-up:

Weekly Review: ElishaCoy Moist Up Super Hyalurone Cream

This week's review is of the ElishaCoy Moist Up Super Hyalurone Cream, a product I purchased on a whim while buying Mizon's Snail Recovery Gel as my first foray into snail skincare goodness after my success with the Mizon Snail BB cream.

As you can see from the image above, I waited until I had emptied the jar before reviewing the Moist Up Hyalurone Cream, because I wanted to give it a chance to win me over, which in the end it did not. (Unlike the Snail Gel, which is angel dust in a tube an upcoming review. Edit: reviewed here!)

We will discuss how the Snail Gel makes me want to devolve into hoarding like Gollum on a bender another day, because this review is about Moist Up Cream, not about magical unicorn tears the Snail Gel.

But what if we RUNS OUT of the Preciousness again?!  

Actually that reminds me, I should check to see how much is left in my current tube.  I may need to indulge in a shopping frenzy.  We will return to your regularly scheduled blogging shortly.

[...]

Ok, now that I may or may not have preemptively ordered enough Snail Gel to last me 6 months, let's get on to this week's review!

Holika Holika Soda Pore Cleansing BB Deep Cleansing Oil Review

July 2014 Update:  After some discussion with other bloggers about cleansing oils, I have updated a few points in this review, marked with **

This week's review, much delayed by a paralysis of indecision on what to review next, is the Holika Holika Soda Pore Cleansing BB Deep Cleansing Oil, which I purchased in my mega-haul from pretty&cute.com

Like most of the items I purchase, there were not a lot of English reviews of this specific cleansing oil, but considering my overall faith in the Holika Holika brand, and the affordable price point, I figured I would give the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM) a shot.

OCM, if you haven't heard of it before, is cleaning your face with a blend of oils, usually specific ones with certain properties that lend themselves to this application, rather than smearing whatever you have in your kitchen onto your face.  OCM is something that I have been aware of, but have scrupulously avoided, for years-- primarily because I associated it with hippies who were fond of wearing patchouli and sandalwood in lieu of proper bathing, or trend addicts who were constantly latching onto every new "natural" beauty trend, up to and including cleaning their face with their own urine. (EURGH!)  Thus, OCM was something I was pretty skeptical of, and considering my skin clogs very easily, I was not willing to take the risk.

However, I had read someone describing how the oil loosened their blackheads to the point where it felt like "sesame seeds" under their fingers, and considering my ongoing quest to de-congest my skin, that sounded promising.  Plus, PBunnieP and her video on how to cleanse your face with oil convinced me to give it a try.  I noticed that the actual cleansing appeared to be from massage as opposite to the oil itself doing the "heavy lifting" and that it needed to be removed via emulsification to accomplish a proper clean, which made perfect sense to me.

**Update note #1:  'Emulsification' is a nebulous beauty term, and is casually used by many bloggers, including by PBunnieP in the link above, but more on that later.**

I have been using this product once a week for about 10 weeks, and it's one of those things that I'm glad I took the time to use for a while before reviewing it, because my opinion of it has drastically changed in that time.

Guest Review of Beauty Blender Sponge Dupe from LeCosemetique

This week's review of the Beauty Blender Sponge Dupe from lecosmetique.com is is brought to you by Guest Reviewer Courtney of San Francisco, who shares my interest in meticulously researching obscure beauty items.

Courtney and I have very different skin profiles, and she provides the following details about hers:

• Ethnicity: Asian (Japanese & Chinese)
• MAC skin tone: NC35-NC40
• Skin type: oily/combination, occasional acne, tans easily
• Concerns: wrinkles, dark circles and bags under eyes, uneven skin tone, scars, aging.

Read on for her fantastic review of a better quality dupe of these famous sponges:

Mizon Snail Repair Blemish Balm Review

This week's review is of the Mizon Snail BB cream, specifically their Multi Function Formula Snail Repair Blemish Balm with SPF32/PA++.  It's part of a line of snail-based beauty products from Mizon, which was a brand I had never heard of until I learned of their snail BB cream from beauty blogger PBunnieP and after her rave review, I had to try it myself.

2015 update: Wow, looking back at old photos from old cameras is painful. Everyone has to start somewhere, right?

Hold the phone, you did not just say SNAIL?!

Yep, I did.  More on that later.

That is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard of putting on my face!  I'm outta here.

You'd be missing out on something that has a near-miraculous effect on acne.

Snail filtrate (meaning it's harvested [cruelty-free] from a species of snail farmed just for this purpose, and then filtered) is famous for it's skincare benefits, which include speeding the healing process of any wound, which means it helps heal your acne more quickly and without scarring.  Seriously, just google it.

To me, that's huge.  As long as the little guys are not harmed, I'm all for anything that will help me combat the acne that continues to plague me right into my 30's.  It is also linked to various skin benefits and supposedly it has been clinically tested to confirm that it does in fact have chemicals in it that assist with regenerating the skin, as snails rely on healing abrasions, preventing infection, and quickly reducing inflammation so they are not compromised by whatever sharp nasty things they are gliding over.

Makes sense when you think about it that way, doesn't it?  It would be like dragging the inside of your lips over any and all surfaces; you wouldn't survive if you didn't have a way to keep the ensuing abrasions and contamination from killing you.

It's not even that exotic an idea anymore; it's been A Thing in the beauty world for quite a while, including Brazil, France, and of course Asia.

On to the review!

A tale of skin revenge and woe, or: Why you shouldn't leave your Clarisonic behind when vacationing

You know that terrible thing that happens to you when you vacation during the holidays with your family?  That insidious slothfulness that seeps into your days and nights that renders you into an unapologetic glutton, leading you into hedonistic consumption of 10 hour sleep marathons, clementines, unshelled almonds and hazelnuts, and you develop a sudden inability to refuse your mother-in-law's Christmas cookies?  Yeah.

I try to be fairly virtuous during Christmas and balance the flood of meat, desserts, and starchy side dishes with green leafy stuff because I'm too old to get away with treating my body like a garbage disposal without serious repercussions.  I'd like to claim some sort of moral superiority and tout a rigorous diet of spirulina, sprouted wheat gluten-free non-bread high-fibre something-or-other, my inability to drink anything but water or unsweetened tea, and my aversion to desserts.  But I am not gonna lie; I love spinach and I don't mind salad, but the rest of it is just not going to happen.

What does this have to do with beauty?  Well, I want you to be suitably warned before I unleash the full horror of my current skin condition on your unsuspecting eyes in my next review for the Mizon BB Cream Snail Repair Blemish Balm.  Because even though I am careful not to overeat during the holidays, my skin does not appreciate a diet full of sugar, refined carbs, and heavy fats.

Worse, I had a moment of extreme shortsightedness as I was packing and thought to myself: "It would be a pain to pack my Clarisonic brush, and it's only a 2 week vacation, I don't really need it" and if you are a Clarisonic user, you're probably cringing right now and wishing you could go back in time and slap the stupid out of me.

The good news is that I learned my Clarisonic does not cause a placebo effect brought on by an attempt to justify the price tag.  The bad news is my skin is a seething, congested, flaky, storm of furious break-outs and terrible skin tone.  All this just in time for a BB cream review where my naked skin will be on display in it's full mind-rending hideous glory!

Although I managed to undo two months of skin progress in two-and-a-half weeks, at least now I will be able to give photo evidence of the effectiveness of a few products I have en route, including some new snail-based beauty products.

Don't say I didn't warn you.