Update: Rounding Up July '10 + New Toys + Shu Uemura Tokyo Lash Bar 2010

I'm finally done with my assignments! I'd be jumping for joy if it wasn't for my final exams coming up in about 2 weeks. Oh crap.

On a lighter note, July has left me with many things to be happy about. Check out my new toys! Yes, I'm aware that they're not makeup. So, after 3 1/2 years, I got myself a new phone -- Nokia XpressMusic 5530. To the right is my Garmin which is quite the life-savior considering the fact that my sense of direction is almost non-existent. Last but not least, I have me an HP Mini Netbook. It has been increasing my productivity, somewhat. I can now harvest corn and feed my pigs wherever there's wifi! Yeah... kinda got hooked on Facebook's Frontierville.

Read on to see what some of my blogging friends have been up to in July and you so need to check out the Shu Uemura Tokyo Lash Bar 2010 lashes!

Great reads from July '10:

• ParisB of MyWomenStuff explains why she doesn't talk about BB creams
• Lipglosseater, Jenn, has to be the cutest masking alien ever!
  
• Expensive nail polishes do have some benefits, says Nikki (Askmewhats)
• You don't need steady hands to get sunset on your nails! Prettybeautiful shows us how
• Good creams need not be expensive -- Eli (So Loverly)
• Yani of RedLusciousLips shares her waxing experience at the Benefit Brow Bar

The Shu Uemura Neo-Tokyo Odyssey Lash Collection looks stunning on those adorable monkeys, don't they? I really wouldn't have mind having one of them! The monkey, I mean. As for the lashes, I'm still not too sure if they'll translate well on humans, as gorgeous as they are. Unless, of course, you're going for the Lady Gaga look. In that case, my favorite would be the disco ball looking Neo-Reflector (bottom right). Neo-Sparkle (bottom left) is probably the most wearable one out of the bunch but it's not the most unique. Cosmic Chain (top left) looks great on the monkey but check out Sazzy Falak's pic below and tell me they don't look strange.

Sazzy Falak was emcee for the night's event and see what I mean about the lashes not translating well on humans? Still, she is a beautiful girl, even more so in real life. One of the night's entertainment was a violinist that can model or a model that can play the violin really well.

Familiar? Quite obviously, this "Metal Mohawk" look was inspired by Avatar! Though, the artist, Surya, said that it was inspired by "Star Trek" and "Poison Ivy".

Besides the dramatic lashes, the show also featured a new collection of more natural/wearable lashes. The crazy futuristic outfits were designed by Joe Chia, 2nd Runner-up of the Malaysia Young Designer Competition 2009.

Artists with their models... See that model with the poofy hair and her tongue sticking out in the group pic? It took me a while to realize that it was Denise Keller (MTV Asia VJ), which explained why she kept making funny faces and couldn't keep still most of the time. Lol.

I got to take home a pair of lashes and I went for the natural ones. Shocker!


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Review: Hada Labo Tamagohada AHA/BHA Cleanser

Tamago = Egg
Hada = Skin

Having skin as smooth as the white of a hard boiled egg is a dream. Hada Labo 'Tamagohada' AHA/BHA Cleanser is a daily exfoliating cleanser -- just the thought of it made my skin shrivel from dryness. That was my primary concern.

How wrong I was to assume.
This cleanser proved its awesomeness during my busiest weeks.

Read on for the full review...

The cleanser smells lightly of BHA (salicylic acid). Go smell an aspirin and you'll get the idea. As the name indicates, this cleanser contains both AHA (alpha hydroxy acid) and BHA that act as chemical exfoliants. Don't jump out of your skin at the sight of the word "chemical". Chemical exfoliants are usually more gentle on the skin and exfoliates more evenly compared to physical exfoliants (eg. granules/grainy stuff) that can be coarse and painful.

As with all foamy cleanser, a pea size is more than enough. Long gone the days of dotting cleanser and lathering on thick. Ugh, now I can imagine why I had such clogged-up dry skin as a teenager.

Lather up the cleanser between wet palms and you'll get a decent amount of foam. The bubbles dissipates quickly but it's not a problem for me since I'm used to non-foamy cleansers. I concentrate on areas where I have more congestion such as my nose, forehead and chin. After rinsing, my skin feelt as smooth as an egg. Well, not exactly but it did feel pretty smooth! Immediately my skin looked brighter and my pores, smaller. While my skin felt drier than when I used Cetaphil or lotion cleansers, it didn't make my skin feel uncomfortably tight nor did it cause any flakiness. Over time, my skin tone did look better and the texture of my skin looked finer.

You're probably wondering by now, what makes this cleanser so awesome?

For the past two months, I've been completely swamped with work and school to the point that I barely had any energy left at the end of the day to spend 10 minutes on my usual skin care routine when all I want is to get in bed. For two months, there were no scrubbing or masking and some days, I couldn't even make it to the moisturizer. I'm not proud to say that for the duration, I even left out my sunscreen in the daytime. The only product that I did use every night was this cleanser.

My skin survived the two months despite the stress, insufficient sleep and little care. Almost no pimples, whiteheads were in control, no rash, no roughness and only minor dullness. I'm thinking that the exfoliation is so efficient that it allows my skin to function on its own. Not only did it decongested my skin, it prevented dead skin cell build-up, allowing my natural oils to come through. If it wasn't for this cleanser, heaven only knows what my skin would look like right now.

First we had the Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Moisturizing Lotion. Now, we have another winner from Hada Labo!

Note: Use a sunscreen if you're using this cleanser in the day and avoid using products that have high content of alcohol, glycolic acid or any other ingredient that are prone to irritating the skin.

Retails at Guardian pharmacy for RM17.90/50g and RM31.90/130g




* The product featured in this post was provided by Vibes Communications for review on Skin Deco

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Review: Shu Uemura Brow Atelier + Hard 9 Brow Pencil

I can't say enough how important eyebrows are in making or breaking your overall look. Having groomed brows is a lot more than keeping them clean and drawing them in. If the shape of your brows does not suit your features, it can be a total disaster. Then, you'd have to grow your brows out again which is an awfully awkward stage.

Some things are best left to the expert and I had the privllege of getting my brows shaped by Shu Uemura's Brow Artist, Lisa Yap, who is also an internationally accredited artist. She is supposedly gifted in eyebrow grooming.

Read on for my experience and a review of the one-of-a-kind Hard 9 Brow Pencil. Also in this post is a tutorial to show how I use this peculiar-looking pencil.


We were asked to grow out our brows for a month prior to the brow grooming at the Shu Uemura Brow Atelier in Mid Valley. Let's just say I wore a cap and my bangs down a lot for the entire month.

You can tell that my brows don't grow very thick but the hairs would stick out everywhere as they get longer. Since I already had a basic shape, Lisa trimmed and plucked the hairs to make my brows look more even and defined. I liked that she didn't go too thin so that I wouldn't look 20 years older when my brows are unfilled. Although Lisa doesn't use a razor for shaping, don't worry too much about the plucking. The plucking was virtually painless as she's very skilled and gentle with the tweezers.

After cleaning up my brows, she filled them in with the Shu Uemura Hard 9 Brow Pencil in 02 Seal Brown.

When it's brand new, the Hard 9 pencil looks like any old pencil but it has a harder core that allows Shu Uemura to use a very special technique to carve the pencil to resemble the shape of the 'naginata' Japanese sword. You can try this at home if you have the Hard 9 pencil (I wouldn't recommend doing this with regular pencils because the wood and core are different and you may hurt yourself) but there's a very high likelihood that you'd break a few tips before getting it right. Thankfully, Shu Uemura sharpens the pencil free of charge for as long you need your pencil sharpened.

Try drawing the pencil on the back of your hand and you'll get little to no color but draw on your brows and you'll get just enough color that wouldn't look unnatural. While it's not waterproof, I experience only minimal smudging with this pencil.

It's hard to explain how awesome this pencil unless you actually try it for yourself. As you maneuver the pencil, using different sides of for different sections of your brows, you'll know how easy this pencil is to use. It is now a staple for me.

I used to think that paying so much for a mere eyebrow pencil is not justifiable but I've only had to sharpen it after two months of using it despite the fact that I draw my brows almost everyday.

My brow routine is slightly different when I use this pencil:

1. Define the natural shape with short strokes following the direction of hair growth
2. Gradually extend the strokes to form the 'tail'. The slope of your 'tail' should be parallel with the slope of your eye
3. Shape the arch to make it look more rounded if you prefer
4. Comb the hairs in place and also remove excess color with a spoolie

Related Topic: "Eyebrows Are Sisters, Not Twins" -- eyebrow shaping guide

The only thing that I'm probably not too contented with is the color. 02 Seal Brown is the bestselling color, especially for Asians. Personally, I prefer my eyebrows to be lighter and perhaps, more brown than grey. I may consider getting the Hard 9 *bursts out laughing because of a corrupted mind* in 03 Brown when I'm done with Seal Brown, which could be years from now...

A little trick that I use to lighten my filled eyebrows is going over them with face powder. Simply take an eyebrow brush, dip it into some face powder and go over your brows with it. This lightens the color without lifting any chunks of it off compared to using a cotton bud.

You can get your brows trimmed at any Shue Uemura counters or outlets for RM30. Lisa's rate is RM50. The Hard 9 Brow Pencil retails for RM65.


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Review: Revlon ColorBurst Lipstick

I can't remember the last time a drugstore lipstick garnered this much hype!

Perhaps it's the Dior-esque pattern or the NARS matte feel or the Chanel way of branding on the lipstick. So packaging wise, the new Revlon ColorBrust Lipstick hits it out of the ballpark albeit a tad unoriginal.

You won't be needing my review to tell you that these lipsticks are a must-have since everyone's raving about them!
Read on anyway for my thoughts...

For those of us in Malaysia, we get only 8 out of 20 shades. Pretty upsetting, right? Nevertheless, we do have some of the more popular colors so it's forgivable. Out of the lot, two colors that stood out for me was 070 Soft Nude and 035 Blush.

070 Soft Nude: It's certainly great to see another nude drugstore lipstick since Rimmel's Nude Delight. Soft Nude is a warm milky peachy-pink color that looks awesome paired with heavier eye makeup in green, blue or purple. The color's pigmented but not very solid so you can gradually build up the color. The more layers you apply, the more nude your lips would look. It'll make a great option for nude newbies that are not too keen on going "hardcore" just yet.

035 Blush: This would be THE MyLipsButBetter color. It's a neutral rosy pink with a hint of mauve. A great choice if you're looking for something that you can wear daily and pair with any sort of makeup at all. It adds enough color to take away the paleness. I find Blush to give a better color pay-off in a swipe than soft Nude does.

If I were to be blindfolded and have someone applying this lipstick on me, I'd think that they were applying lip balm. That's how the texture felt. The lipstick feels slightly waxy and doesn't glide on smoothly though it applies color evenly. Granted, it does feel more comfortable and moisturizing compared to wearing regular lipstick.

I'm thinking that this lipstick applies a thin layer that molds to the creases of the lips while regular lipstick applies thickly and sort of sits on top of the skin. The upside is that this lipstick doesn't bleed easily but the downside would be the accentuated lines flaky bits. Since I don't have very smooth skin lips to begin with, I find the need to apply lipgloss over this lipstick.

Blush seems to be a color that works on everyone, except me. Probably because I don't have a typical lip color so a universal MLBB shade would still look kinda "off" on me. Well, it's not to say that the color didn't work because I actually do like it a lot and I'd wear it out often if it wasn't for the fact that I get stares. People would cock their heads to the side wondering what looked different about me. Blush is just a little too pink on me.

Soft Nude, on the other hand, looks spectacular when paired with smoky eyes. I love how the color matches closely to my skin color without washing me out. The texture could be better but hey, the color's still gorgeous.

Retails for RM39 at major healthcare stores. Available in 8 shades: Mauve, Plum, Fuchsia, Sienna, Blush, Soft Nude, Peach, and True Red.

Click on the links below to check out reviews by some of my blogging buddies:

• Shen reviews Blush, Fuchsia and True Red
• Nikki reviews Peach, Soft Rose, Plum and Carnation
• ParisB reviews Mauve, True Red and Blush
• Yani reviews Fuchsia
• The Recessionista reviews Raspberry and Soft Rose
  

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Review: Rene Furterer Myrrhea Anti-frizz Range

While I was well-exposed to high end cosmetics and can understand justifications for spending nine hundred bucks on a tub of cream, I truly could not comprehend the need for high end hair care when many people with great looking hair have happily used drugstore brands all their lives.

So, when I was first introduced to Rene Furterer, I had a swaku* moment; "Whoahhh... RM120 for CONDITIONER!".

Well, now that I've been briefed and actually tried the Myrrhea Anti-frizz Range for myself, Rene Furterer probably is worth its high price tag.

*Very unexposed person

First let me just list down the differences I felt between using a cheap hair care system and an expensive one:

• Less product build up. Hair doesn't feel heavy or look greasy
• No need for a lot of product to get the job done
• Less hair fallout
  
• Effect lasts longer
• No more flaky scalp
  

The Rene Furterer Myrrhea Anti-frizz range works by nourishing, moisturizing and protecting (from external aggressions) hair with avocado oil. The myrrh coats and tames the hair as well as neutralizes static electricity by creating a film around the hair (lacquered effect). Ingredients used in Rene Furterer are mostly natural and plant based.

All products have a musky scent that is supposedly inspired by Arabian fragrances. I'm fine with it but it's not the kind of scent that would make your significant other want to nuzzle in your hair unlike when you use say, Herbal Essences.

Myrrhea Anti-frizz Silkening Shampoo (RM85/150ml)

A rather peculiar shampoo, this is. It doesn't lather up with thick foam so you won't be able to do the whole sexy foamy hair under the waterfall thing and start blowing bubbles. Nevertheless, it cleans well and it's easy to rinse off. The after-wash feeling was a tad unusual because I was expecting the super slippery feel that I'd get with most shampoos but instead I got squeaky clean and not exactly silky.

Myrrhea Anti-frizz Silkening Mask (RM120/250ml)

Compared to the shampoo and serum, the conditioner comes in an uber huge tube. The consistency is creamy with a solid color. I'm not sure how to explain the differences but if you take a look at a drugstore brand conditioner you'll notice that it'll have this translucency in the color kinda how cheap body lotion would look like. Anyway, you won't need for the whole head but then again, I have short hair. The recommended way of using this conditioner is to apply onto towel-dried hair (or no dripping water will do), massage the scalp and work your way down to the tips, comb through, and leave on for about 5 minutes before rinsing. The conditioner moisturizes and tames my hair well that I'd still get the defrizzing effect even if I don't follow with the serum. It also works with regular shampoo.

Myrrhea Anti-frizz Silkening Fluid (RM140/125ml)

This would act as a styling product so you massage the serum into your hair before styling it and the myrrh coating will shape the hair and keep frizz at bay. It doesn't add greasiness to the hair or make it look wet. Your hair won't get lumped up or feel heavy either.

Before and After: The Rene Furterer consultant applied the Silkening Fluid and flat-ironed my hair so the shine's probably partly contributed by the straightening

However, after using the whole system for a few days, I did see quite spectacular results. In the pic, I only used the Silkening Fluid and brushed my hair after washing and conditioning with the Silkening Shampoo and Silkening Mask. Totally in love with the shine! The bits of hair sticking is inevitable because I have very layered hair but my hair usually looks twenty times frizzier after washing.

Another benefit that I gained from this range is that it gave my hair body. There'll be volume and curves in all the right places as opposed to just flattening my hair like most de-frizzing hair care would. However, if you do not have as much hair as I do (I have A LOT of hair), your hair may be weighed down with frequent use, which ParisB experienced. Nevertheless, using the range only occasionally will still garner you results.

Available from Rene Furterer Institute in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, Isetan KLCC and Hair Culture Mandarin Oriental Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

*Products featured in this post were provided by Alliance Cosmetics for consideration on Skin Deco


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