Product Review - Mario Badescu

After reading rave online reviews on this skincare line, and seeing their superlong list of celebrity clientele (including Jenifer Aniston, cast of 'The O.C., and cast of 'sex and the city'), I had to give it a try. Their products are moderately priced (around £9-£15 for a cleanser), which I found pleasantly surprising for a celebrity loved brand.


I bought the:
Orange cleansing soap
Aloe Lotion
Hyaluronic moisturizer SPF 15

This review is based on my personal opinion, and may not reflect those of others!


Orange Cleansing Soap - all skin types

In contradiction to its name, this is a soap free cleanser. It has a creamy consistency and has a pleasant 'old school' type soap smell.

Pros:

• Like the rest of the Mario Badescu skincare range, this product has a relatively short ingredients list. I like that they've kept things nice and simple!


• Really good at removing makeup


• Does not break out my sensitive skin (harsh products can cause me to break out in a rash)
  
• Left my face feeling fresh and clean
  

Cons:

• I found it hard to squeeze the product out of the bottle

All in all, a good product. Nothing terribly exciting, but it does the job. Gentle enough for my sensitive skin, yet thorougly cleanses

Aloe Lotion - normal to conbination, sensitive skin

A mild toner that soothes irritation while disinfecting and deep cleansing the skin

Pros:

• I found that it does indeed soothe my skin


• Removes all traces of cleanser


• Left skin feeling very fresh


• Amazingly short ingredients list (5 ingredients including aloe leaf juice and magnolia flower extract)

Cons:

• Sadly this short ingredients list includes alcohol (the jury's still out on whether alcohol containing toners are bad for the skin, but I generaly keep my skin away from alcohol based toners
• slight alcohol scent

Apart from the whole alcohol thing, this is a great toner. I really like how clean it makes my skin feel (though that's probably attributed to the alcohol). I would definately repurchase if it didn't contain the alcohol

Hyaluronic moisturizer SPF 15 - combination, dry & sensitive skin

A moisture retaining lotion with moderate sun protection. Spreadable, cream texture with a subtle neutral scent

Pros:

• Small, easy to carry bottle
• Long lasting, a little goes a long way!
• Contains SPF
• Did not cause my sensitive skin to break out

Cons:

• Contains mineral oil (may act as a comedogenic substance - could clog pores)

A good basic moisturizer gentle enough for my skin. I didn't find this amazingly spectacular and probably would not repurchase.

Overall I find these Mario Badescu products really good. I didn't find it amazing though, and did not fall in love with the products. As for the celebrity following, maybe I need to use these products for longer to see its true benefits.

lip swatches

whenever I'm shopping for makeup online, I like to check out how they look like on. So i thought I'll start putting some lip swatches up too. Here is a mini review of By Terry Gloss Delectation

L-R: 9 plum berry, 5 raspberry split

Product description:

• bursting with antioxidant, multi-protective, replenishing extracts of cherry pit oil, plum and strawberry butter
• guaruntee immediate hydration, volume and glow
  

my natural lip colur:

with 9 plum berry:
with 5 raspberry split:this is the colour *loved* by the sales assistants in space.nk. Everytime I'm in the store, I see them re-applying this. Somehow it looks alot more vibrant on them than it does on me in this pic.


I found both colours strong and vibrant. The consistency was pretty thick and long lasting, but not too sticky, and the taste was nice and subtly sweet.

I also found that they made my lips look fuller.

Cons: the price

Hope you found this review useful!

Order from Japan

My order from Japan arrived today! I ordered the products from Ichibankao, and it took less than a week to arrive.

I bought:

Suqqu loose powder, Natural
Suqqu cheek blend 03
Jill Stuart Mix blush, 07 Lovely Tulip

I reviewed all 3 at FuzKittie before ordering

Suqqu loose powder and cheek blend:

I really like Suqqu products. They are made in Japan, but you can find them in Selfridges, London. The cheek blend is a baby pink blush with a subtle peach highlighter. The blush powder is amazingly soft and blends onto the cheeks perfectly.

The loose powder in natural is a soft cream colour with a touch of pearl. It covers shine and pores well, and leaves the skin with a natural luminous finish. Love it!

I tested the loose powder and cheek blend on a bare face:


Jill Stuart blush, 07
The blush on my cheek: Using a mixture of all 4 colours gave a peachy pink colour that is more pigmented than my suqqu cheek blend

Wedding tea ceremony FOTD

My very first FOTD is the breakdown of the makeup I used for my wedding tea ceremony in KL. It's a really simple look which took me less than 10 mins to do, as I was running really late due to my hairdresser faffing around spraying my hair with shimmer

Face:
Estee Lauder Cyber White powder foundation, 01

Eyes:
Bobbi Brown creamy concealer, beige (had only 2 hours sleep the night before, so covered up my dark circles really well)
Bobbi Brown gel liner, black
Dior 5 couleur designer palette, smokey design

Cheeks:
Bobbi brown blush, pale pink & tawny (blended together with blush brush)

Lips:
Chanel aqualumiere, 94 lipari

My favourite scented candle

I bought this candle from Space NK a couple of days ago and am in love with it!




The candle is Mandarin Grapefruit by LifeNK, a blend of mandarin orange, grapefruit, gardenia, tiare blossom and water lily. The scent is gorgeous, really uplifting, and as you can guess from the description: citrus with a hint of floral. I've read that the candle is supposed to bring a sense of upbeat positivity which sounds far-fetched, but I find it actually does!

The best thing is that the scent lingers long after the candle is blown out. It's been 24 hours since I've used the candle, and my bathroom still smells amazing.

My First Post!

Hiya, welcome to my brand new blog. Recently, I realised I had way too many beauty products and may aswell put them to good use by writing and reviewing them in a beauty blog. I noticed that there weren't many asian beauty bloggers in the UK, so I thought i'd help fill this niche a little.

My passion with the cosmetic industry became most apparent prior to my wedding in June this year. Wanting to be sure I looked my best for the wedding, I went for regular facials and started to take my skincare more seriously. I also went to several cosmetic counters for wedding day makeup tips as I decided to do my own makeup (since no one knows my face more than me).

I don't think anyone in my family can understand my enthusiasm for beauty products. I didn't start wearing makeup until I was 17. Mainly because I wasn't very girly back then and didn't know a thing about makeup. My mother has never worn makeup, so didn't derive any tips from her. One day, whilst out shopping, a friend and I were approached by a rep from a modeling agency. The agency provided girls with valuable makeup lessons. I took the lessons, but never signed up with the agency as I figures my chances as a model were slim.

That was years ago. Now I'm 26, and a scientist. I submitted my PhD thesis on developmental genetics last month and am currently job hunting. Which leaves me lots of time to blog. I'll mainly be reviewing the products I have/will have. I'll also share with you my fave products (since most of my friends and family have no interest in makeup), the ones that I feel really make a difference.