My Holiday Haul

I did quite alot of shopping for beauty products during my trip to Asia. I mainly bought things I couldn't find in the UK, such as whitening products and Korean/Japanese brands.

First up is the Diorsnow White Reveal Makeup UV Base in Beige:

I was looking for a UV lotion that could double up as a very light tinted moisturiser. The base has a very light, watery consistency, and provides a slight touch of colour.

I also got Olay's White Radiance Brightening Serum. I haven't got round to using this yet, as my skin is super-sensitive at the moment. I don't want to put too many things on my skin until it's calmed down. Can't wait to try this though!

Sunsilk has partnered with 7 famous haircare expects to including Yuko Yamashita (creator of the Yuko straightening process) and Thomas Taw (a damaged hair expert). I bought their sunsil hairmasks. One for reconstructing damaged hair, and one for silky smooth hair.

I bought this Canmake Loose Cheek Powder in 02. This powder is not very pigmented, but it gives a pretty and natural look. My sister tried it, and loved it so much that I bought her one of her own.

Now onto the Korean brands. I came across this brand in KL. I've never heard of it before, but am not liking the name much, Baviphat. Some of their products look very similar in style to Benefit.

I bought their Apple Magic Lip Tint. The tint is a VERY subtle cherry colour (sorry, I didn't but up a lip swatch as the colour is too subtle), but the smell is gorgeous and apple-like! The lovely sales assistant gave me lots of face mask samples that come in the same cute packaging as this lip tint.

From Skinfood, I bought their Gold Caviar Serum, and Sugar Hand Cream. The hand cream smells divine (like sugarcane and citrus). I ended up buying a few for family and friends.

I noticed that Etude House has arrived in Malaysia since my last visit. I bought a blush. I don't know the name as it's written in korean, but I do know the colour is 02.

It comes with a cute little puff with a pink bow on top.

The colour is a gorgeous peachy-pink.

I also bought Etude House's Precious Mineral Brightener. It's meant to 'rejuvenate' the complexion (bascially, a highlighter).

I bought it for its pretty, pearly colours:

Now, onto my favourite product of the entire holiday haul. The Face Shop's Peeling Day in White Jewel. It's a facial exfoliator which gave me amazing results. My face feels transformed, alot clearer and more radiant. I'm now using it very sparingly as I don't want to run out!

Also from The Face Shop is The Skin BB cream. I've not used this much, so cannot comment on it at this moment!

And from one of my favourite skincare brands, SKII, I bought the Facial Treatment Clear Lotion and the new Cellumination Essence.

The Cellumination Essence is great! And i can really see a difference in my skin when used together with a previously bought SKII treatment essence.

In Malaysia my husband and I, together with my family, went on a beach holiday at a cute little private island called Pangkor Laut. From a gift shop at the resort, I found this lovely makeup case with little pink elephants on it!

That's my holiday haul, please feel free to request any reviews on these products!

Skinfood BB cream review

This review was done quite some time ago before I went on a self imposed foundation diet. Before I start, I'll very briefly explain what a BB cream is for those who've not heard of it before.

A BB (blemish balm) cream is a product which combines foundation, concealer, moisturizer, SPF, anti-ageing, anti-acne, and whitening treatments in one. It was originally developed in Germany by dermatologists to soothe the skin of patients who have undergone laser surgery. Korean companies then made this product widely available, and soon BB creams became hugely popular in Asia.

This all happened around 3 years ago. Nowadays there are so many brands of BB creams. I started revisiting my interest in BB creams whilst trying to find the perfect alternative to foundation. I've tried some of the most popular brands (Skin79, Dr Jart, Missha, L'egere and Skin Food) and am reviewing one of my favourite brands today -Skinfood.

I've tried both the Skinfood Gingko BB cream and Mushroom multi care BB cream

Skinfood Gingko BB cream

This BB cream is formulated with ginkgo and green tea extracts. It has a slight herbal smell which I quite like. The coverage is sheer and the texture of the cream is fairly thick. A major downpoint of BB creams is that they are usually only available in 1 or 2 colours. I have this BB cream in Shade 1.

(shade1-for fair skin with yellow undertone, shade2-for slightly darker skin with pink undertone)

It's one of my favourtie BB creams due to its sheer coverage, and the fact that it doesn't really irritate my skin. It also gave my skin a dewy look, which is what I look for in foundations. I would like it alot more if it included an SPF.

Though I like this BB cream alot, I find that I hardly ever wear it. In general I do not find that BB creams improve my skintone overtime.

Skinfood Mushroom Multi Care BB cream SPF20

This BB cream contains aloe and mushroom extract. The consistency is similar to the Gingko cream, but it provides a much higher coverage. What I like best about this BB cream is actually the scent. It smells divine... It's quite a strong scent which exactly smell like mushrooms. I can't quite pinpoint the scent.. I'd probably describe it as ever so slightly medicinal (but in a good way!). I have to say that not everyone likes this scent though.

I don't have a pic of it on my face, but here it is on my hand. (Shade 1)

It spreads relatively easily to provide medium coverage. If too much is applied, it does have a tendancy to look slightly cakey.

All in all, I quite like the BB creams. However, I generally find that BB creams do not live up to their massive hype, and would really only ever wear them when my skin needs some coverage and don't want to wear foundation.