Embryolisse Lait Creme Concentre: Worth all the hype?

Many of you stalkers of the beauty world would have already heard of this French moistursing cream: Embryolisse's Lait-Creme Concentre. Make up artists all over the world are fans, as are supermodels and new born babies. However is it really as good as people say?

Lait-Creme Concentre claims to 'accelerate cell renewal, reconstitutes the hydrolipidic film, and retains water in the skin' to leave skin smoothed, plumped and soft. It has been made with ingredients that have been carefully selected to not aggravate delicate skin. It also doesn't use parabens to preserve the product, which I'm sure will be of high interest to many of you chemical conscious readers :) It comes packaged in a metal tube which I'm not bothered about, but it may become pierced when you have to squeeze the life out of it to get the last drops out.

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The Magical Ingredients of Lait-Creme Concentre

Shea Butter

Rich in essential fatty acids

Contains vitamins A, D and E

Beeswax

Protects and softens skin.

Acts as a barrier to prevent water evaporating from skin.

Aloe Vera

Contains vitamins A, B and E, selenium (and anti-oxidant),

amino acids and essential fatty acids.

Soy proteins

Firms and moisturises skin by stimulating collagen fibres.

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The cream has multiple purposes; you can use it as a cleanser, face mask, after-sun lotion, shaving product for men and of course a moisturiser. I have only ever used it as a moisturiser as I'm not one to stay out in the sun, don't need to shave my face and I find it to be quite a waste to use this as a face mask if it means I need to wipe it off afterwards. I've also never used it to cleanse my skin. I prefer to massage my cleansing product over my skin to remove make up and dirt hence need something with slip and isn't absorbed easily. My skin just laps up the lait-creme concentre so it doesn't leave me enough time to properly cleanse my skin. 

The texture is smooth and silky and slightly runny. It is easy to spread and absorbs easily into the skin, leaving a satin finish on my skin. It also has a gentle and calming smell that I find really comforting. Embryolisse describes this as the smell of childhood. I really enjoy using this moisturiser during winter when my skin likes to be extra dry as it leaves my skin feeling soft and nourished without being overly greasy. I also use it when my skin is having an allergic reaction to something as this cream doesn't aggravate my skin any further and doesn't sting any open wounds I may have.

The smooth texture blends to a satiny finish that feels comforting on the skin.

I would describe this cream as a good moisturiser suited for people with dry and/or sensitive skin who wants a product that provides decent levels of moisture and can act as an anti-aging product. I don't think it would suit people with oily or acne prone skin as one of the top ingredients is mineral oil. I do find it a nice cream to use but to be honest I wouldn't say its a miracle cream that everyone should own. I can't remember how much I paid for this but it usually costs over £10 for 75ml tube.

Jia

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Tony Moly Bunny Petite Bunny Gloss Bars!

As a lipstick hoarder, I couldn't say no to these gloss bars from Tony Moly. I love lipsticks that add a noticeable wash of colour on my lips without that obvious I'm-wearing-lipstick look, hence these were perfect. They add a lovely bright pop of colour without leaving a shiny waxy film on your lips, just a slight shine as if you're wearing a lip balm.

I bought two different colours: Juicy Cherry and Juicy Orange. Their little faces always make me smile, too. The cherry gloss looks annoyed whereas the orange bar looks angry. What's not to love?! XD

The orange gloss bar is a vibrant warm orange that contains tiny particles of silver shimmer (you can just about see them in the picture below) but they aren't very visible when worn and the cherry gloss bar is a solid red-pink colour. They smell yummy, too! The orange reminds me of sherbet and the cherry like some other sweet whose name I cannot remember right now. It's a sweet smell though and that's the important bit XD

Swatches under flash and natural lighting. Don't think I need to label which is which. These were all just two swipes of colour. These gloss bars can provide sheer washes of colour but are buildable to quite a high intensity. I wore a couple of swipes of the orange gloss bar on the centre of my lips today, blended the colour outwards and achieved a lovely gradient lip.

As I mentioned earlier, these gloss bars are like a lip balm. They give a nice wash of moisture but aren't overly slippery. I do find the effect wears off after an hour or so, but the colour fades evenly so you can reapply the gloss bar or just a normal lip balm over it.

The gloss bars are dispensed by the usual twist-up mechanism, and its small diameter makes it easy to apply without going over your lipline accidentally. My cherry gloss balm does have a habit of not winding down fully though if I twist up too much product, so I have to push it down manually sometimes TT

And finally some lip swatches all taken by a window. The top picture is my bare lips just so you can compare colours. The middle is Juicy Cherry and the bottom is Juicy Orange. All swatches were two swipes of colour also.

I think I paid $79 HKD each for these gloss bars, which I think is a pretty good deal and would definitely repurchase them.

Jia

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Heat Jewel Hybrid Eyeliner in Cocoa Review

I picked up a liquid brown eyeliner in Hong Kong because I wanted to see if brown would look good on me, but didn't want to spend too much money in case I didn't like it. This seemed like the perfect choice as it was the cheapest one and looked super cute XD 

I can't read Japanese (but have included back and front views of the packaging in case anyone can read Japanese and would like to read it) but from the Sasa site it seems the eyeliner is highly water resistant, and contains hyaluronic acid, panthenol silk, aloe and honey extracts to hydrate the skin on your eyes and condition lashes. It also has a 0.1mm fine tip brush and the pen design allows you to use every last drop of eyeliner. The eyeliner is also easily removed with warm water. 

Handbags and jewels? How pretty! ^^

Anyone for a translation?

The pen itself is a chocolate brown colour with pretty gold accents. I really like the designs on the pen as I find it princessy and cute ^^

I've been using this eyeliner for a few months no and have found the pigmentation to still be the same as when it was new. I'm not sure how they measure the 0.1mm tip but as you can see, the brush really is quite fine. 

 The eyeliner pigment is also quite buildable. The stroke on the right side is just to show the pen can draw very narrow eyelines and the following three to show pigmentation. The second line consists of one stroke of liner, the third line has two strokes and the fourth line has three strokes. The colours looks the same but if you look carefully they do gradually get darker as you go to the right.

I then performed a rub test with my finger to show this eyeliner is quite amazing at staying put. Here I rubbed really hard once.

 Here I rubbed it a second time.

 And finally the liner had come off by the third rub.

I know you're probably thinking 'Only three rubs and it's all gone?!'.

I rubbed really hard on the liner! Something you would (hopefully) never do to the skin on your eye!

Whenever I use this to draw my eyelines, it looks almost the same by the end of the day as it did in the morning. There is sometimes a little fading at the outer corner of my eye and the liner at the inner corner has pretty much gone (my eyes water quite often but I can't tell anyway due to the way my eyelids are), but other than that my liner looks pretty much perfect.

Another thing I love about this pen is that if I make a mistake, I can use a damp cotton bud to easily correct the mistake. This makes me question why they say the eyeliner is water resistant though, but then again lots of Japanese cosmetics have the same claim of being water resistant but easily removed with warm water.

As I don't use this everyday, I can't say it makes an amazing difference to the quality of my lashes or the skin where I apply this eyeliner, but I think it's worth mentioning that this pen hasn't irritated my eyes, even when I'm wearing contact lenses.

I really love this liner pen because it's simple to use, allows me to easily create winged eyelines, stays put for most of the day and doesn't rub off or smudge when my eyelids get a little oily during the day. 

Although it isn't truly water proof, this slimline pen is easy enough to carry with you for touch ups.

I bought this for $79 HKD at Sasa, a brilliant deal if you ask me ^^

Jia

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Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence Water Base Review

I'm one of those people who wears sunscreen everyday, even if I'm just sitting at home. Nothing worse than premature aging and dark sunspots! I first heard about this sunscreen when a popular Youtube vlogger mentioned it and I decided to order it and try it out. My previous sunscreen was the Hada Labo UV Moist Emulsion (link here if you want to read it). It did a pretty good job but sometimes I did get a little annoyed with the layer of light oil left on my skin when first applied, hence I wanted to try this sunscreen that apparently left no sticky residue on skin at all.

I have to say, I'm very glad I purchased this! I absolutely love it! The sunscreen comes in the packaging below. It's a squeezy tube and you dispense the sunscreen via a nozzle. Very hygienic! The nozzle can get a little messy though so it may be wise to wipe it off every now and again. 

The sunscreen is pale cream in colour with a gel like consistency. It feels cool on the skin when first applied and blends in very easily.

As you can see, the sunscreen contains some 'gritty' bits. These don't actually feel gritty at all, it just blends right into your skin!

All that is left behind is velvety smooth skin,no trace of any stickiness or greasiness!

One of the reasons why I love this sunscreen, apart from how it leaves my skin smooth and non-sticky, is that it protects my skin from both UVA and UVB rays so I'm covered on the aging and sunburn part :D It also leaves no white cast on my skin at all which is always a thumbs up, nor has it caused any bad reactions on my skin, no breakouts or unsightly rashes ^^

I bought this from a Hong Kong based seller and all the writing on the packaging was in Japanese :( I did some searching around the internet though and found that the sunscreen also has whitening properties due to natural chamomile extracts and keeps skin soft and hydrated with hyaluronic acid and an essence mix consisting of lemon, orange and grapefruit. I used this sunscreen in Hong Kong and noticed I didn't actually get a tan, so I guess the sun protection and the whitening benefits work together to prevent my skin from tanning. As for hydrating my skin, I find that this alone is not enough for my dry cheeks but it may be suitable as a sole moisturiser for oilier skin types.

The sunscreen smells light and citrusy but I can detect hints of alcohol in the mix too. I found that alcohol is actually third on the list of ingredients (so high! o.O) which explains the smell and also explains why the sunscreen is able to leave a velvety feeling on the skin so quickly. I'm wondering if the alcohol actually counteracts the benefits of the hyaluronic acid? Either way, as alcohol is very drying, I always layer a good moisturiser under the sunscreen. 

This is a chemical sunscreen, with ethylhexyl methoxicinnamate as the active ingredient, but chemical sunscreens have been known to not fully protect skin from all UVA rays, so if you're out in strong sunshine you may want to consider a physical sunscreen for the day. Fun fact! The active ingredient also helps protect the product it has been added to from UV ray induced degradation! ^^

Overall, despite the high alcohol content, I still love this sunscreen for its high level of protection, how it leaves my skin feeling fresh, non-sticky and velvety and leaves no white cast. If they could lower the alcohol content though that would just be perfect :D Between this sunscreen and the Hada Labo one, I would prefer the former. One of my pet peeves is an oily layer that takes a while to absorb, especially if I have to wear my fringe out. 

This sunscreen is very affordable (around $79 HKD) and would definitely recommend it to everyone!

Jia

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GOSH Natural Touch Foundation Review in 34 Vanilla

Just like many other girls, I'm always on the search for the best foundation. To be honest I don't actually have a full checklist to mark the best foundation, as long as doesn't feel heavy and tacky on my skin and makes my skin look more even and luminous, then I'll like it. I've never bought a high end foundation as I get bored very quickly, so I can't justify spending over £20 on a bottle of foundation. 

Today's review is on GOSH's Natural Touch foundation, and I'm happy to say I like it! This foundation actually belongs to my sister but I found it the other day unused so I decided to give it a whirl.

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GOSH claims their foundation has a light, soft and effective texture, contains mineral pigments to unify skin tone and leaves your skin looking natural and perfect. It looks invisible on skin but still manages to give you a natural and flawless finish by diminishing facial imperfections. It contains organic sweet almond oil to moisturise and nourish skin while vitamins A and E help prevent damage from free radicals. The foundation also contains an SPF of 8.

I actually think this foundation lives up to its claims, I'm not entirely sure how the texture is 'effective' but I do like the creamy smoothness of the foundation and how easily it blends into my skin. Although the foundation appears a tad thicker than most liquid foundations, it still feels fresh and light on the skin. I applied the foundation using my flat top foundation brush by aDesign and it applied beautifully.

Creamy smooth!

Sorry for the pictures not being upright, stupid blogger wouldn't upload the rotated pictures for some reason TT

My left cheek! My skin is rather blotchy (I think its from sitting next to the fire too often) and has some light scarring from past blemishes. I still get the occasional blemish even in my 20s (there's a spot next to the mole on the right.)

My right cheek isn't any better XD I also have a number of freckles on top of my cheekbones on both sides.

My skin didn't feel heavy or greasy when I wore this throughout the day, and this was without setting it with powder. My skin normally feels a little oily by the end of the day but my skin looked and felt no different at the end of the day when wearing this foundation. My skin also felt soft to the touch and there was no tacky feeling from the time of application to removal. Also some foundations leave my dehydrated, combination skin feeling a little dry and tight and sometimes even itchy, but this one didn't cause any problems. One gripe is that it does smell a little weird, but at least I can't smell it once applied. 

The coverage with one layer was medium and even when I applied a little more to my under eye circles, it didn't look cakey or patchy, nor sunk into fine lines. I then applied a second layer for a little more coverage after letting the first layer set for a couple of minutes. The foundation still applied smoothly and the first layer was not disturbed. I mention this as some foundations, once set, are difficult to layer upon.

Left cheek again

After applying the foundation, my skin was significantly more even in colour and the blotchiness was hidden very well! The blemish next to the mole is still visible but no longer looks as red. It covered my freckles lightly and made them less obvious but they were still visible. When I first applied the foundation, I thought it looked a little mask-like but the texture melted quickly into my skin and looked like real skin. However I did find it clung to a dry patch between my eyebrows but a little rubbing with my finger and leaving it for a while seemed to solve the problem.

Right cheek again

I have this foundation in Vanilla, a yellow based shade suitable for fairer skin tones with yellow undertones. I believe this is the second lightest shade (I think Pearl is the lightest) but I find it a tad too yellow for my skin tone and is very slightly darker than my natural skin colour. I am thinking about purchasing this in Pearl as I really like this foundation. As for the SPF value, I never actually pay any attention to SPF in any foundations as I generally never wear a full face of foundation, but it's nice to know some protection is offered.

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So to summarise,

PROS

Lightweight, blendable foundation

Medium but buildable coverage

Doesn't irritate skin

Doesn't leave skin oily and tacky

CONS

Has an odd smell

Can cling to dry, flaky patches of skin

I would definitely repurchase this foundation as its one of the better ones I have used. Looking natural while still covering imperfections? Yes, please! 

Just a note, I have primarily dry skin with an oily-ish T-zone and my skin loves the moisture this foundation supplies, hence I'm not sure if this is the best foundation for oilier skins.

Thanks for reading!

Jia

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Mini Holiday - Bath!

This is the first time I'm writing a blog like this. I'll figured it might be nice to include small elements of the more interesting parts of my life to break up the reviews and beauty posts a little bit. The boyfriend and I decided on a mini holiday as a treat after having worked a lot over the Christmas period. We wanted to go somewhere with a significant amount of British history and Oxford and Bath were at the top of the list. As you've probably guessed we went with Bath as both of us had previously visited Oxford.

If you love British history and love taking pictures of monuments that represent a culture's diversity, Bath is definitely a lovely place to visit. The town centre consists of mainly buildings that follow a 'big brick' structure that really leaves you feeling as though you've stepped back in time a little. I think some of the buildings have been newly constructed but there are many others that are truly historical, such as the Bath Abbey Church and of course the Roman Baths.

One side of the Bath Abbey. Unfortunately I didn't exactly see the mini construction site
when I was taking the picture, but never mind.

The amazingly grand organ!

The Bath Abbey was very beautiful and interesting, there were tombstones all over the walls and floors, made me think if people are actually buried there, I never found out unfortunately ^^"

The Roman Baths was very interesting, to try and imagine how the Romans pampered themselves really is quite a difficult task! Maybe my imagination was running a little dry that day but I will always find it fascinating how archaeologists piece random bits of artifacts together to reconstruct what the buildings looked like so many years ago. Of course one of the things that imprinted itself most deeply into my memory was the waterfall that is bright ORANGE, no joke, it really is orange! Look below! The orange colour is caused by the deposition of the iron in the water. I actually thought it was painted orange!

ORANGE!

The outside pool itself is probably the main attraction, and with the steam rising off the surface of the water, I couldn't help but dip a finger in after seeing other people do it. The water was warm! WARM! Naturally warm water never ceases to amaze me XD

There are actually signs (albeit small inconspicuous signs) telling you not to do this, and yes please listen to them. The water is actually untreated so god knows what is dwelling within the giant pool. The warm temperature most probably allows a huge number of bacteria to thrive too. If that doesn't scare you, just take a look at this picture.

Disgusting, huh? XD

It had rained just before I took the picture above, a clear blue sky is always a beautiful thing to see ^^
I also loved the pool that many people had thrown coins into. It's not a wishing pool so there is no point to throwing in a coin, but I followed suit anyway. It looked so magical with the rippling surface of the water and green lighting though ^^

Looks like it belongs in a fairytale to me ^^

And of course, you get to sample the water at the end of the tour, filtered and safe to drink! It's also naturally warm, but I must warn you, it tastes like blood! I didn't take a photo of the tap, it wasn't very interesting to look at and I was concentrating on drink the water asap XD

If you visit the Roman Baths, you should definitely check out the Pump Room next door for high tea or a light meal. It's such a beautiful room! The decor adds an air of elegance and there is always music playing from a live band of classical musicians ^^ I had my favourite cream tea, as usual, at the Pump Room. There is just something quite decadent about it. Although the scones were a little too gluey for my liking, the clotted cream was to die for. The other half had carrot cake which was moist and delicious ^^ I didn't get any good shots of the room unfortunately; I'm not exactly one with a natural flair for photography, but take my word, it was a beautiful room! XD

Cream tea! *drools*

For the full Bath experience, you need to check out Sally Lunn! It's an extremely old house that incorparates a homely little restaurant  selling their famous Sally Lunn Bath bun, with a very small museum where you can look find the old foundations of the house, the kitchen (where I think Sally Lunn baked?) and stalagmites and stalactites that formed behind the kitchen! (If anyone's wondering, Sally Lunn was a French refugee who made this part bread, part bun and part cake bun using her brioche-making know how). I had the Sally Lunn Cream Tea both times we visited; instead of scones you get half a (huge) bun topped with butter with separate pots of clotted cream and jam! The other half tried the bun with cinnamon butter and clotted cream, also truly droolworthy! And he tried bread and butter pudding made with the Sally buns the second time round. It was delicious but the portion was a little small :( All members of staff are very polite and helpful too! I think I should stop selling Sally Lunn now but it is truly delightful ^^

Sally Lunn!
I have no idea what the red box is.

Sally Lunn cream tea. I wish I was eating it now :(

The very old kitchen found in the mini museum downstairs.

Just the left side of a sealed room showing the house foundations, different floor levels throughout history and a cellar doorway. It's so hard to imagine what things looked like back then!

The stalagmites and stalactites behind the kitchen! So long and thin! o.O 

And I've come to the end of my mini trip. I did visit the Holborne Museum, it's an art museum which is basically wasted on me because I have no idea how to appreciate art ^^" I'm more of a natural history museum type ^^ If you live in England and haven't been to Bath before, I highly recommend you give it a visit. Just simply walking around the narrow cobbly streets will give you an enriching experience that I would never get in the busy, bustling city that is my hometown.

Hope you had fun reading about my little excursion ^^

Jia

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1 Day Acuvue Define Lenses in Vivid Review

Long time no post! I cannot believe it's already halfway past January, where does the time go? *sigh*

Here is my second and final review for this particular series of lenses. This review will be shorter than the other one as I didn't see the point of photographing the box and blister packs of these lenses as they are the same as the lenses I reviewed anyway, bar the name and design of the lens. If you haven't read my other review yet, you can find it here.

The design of the lens is a tad simple, it consists of just a milky chocolate brown colour with lots of uneven spikes radiating the centre of the lens. However I find these lenses, much like the Natural Shine ones, are able to enhance your eyes in the most subtle way without being boring. These lenses look very natural indeed on my brown eyes, even more so than the Natural shine due to the colour being brown. The shade of brown is lighter than my natural eye colour, which creates a sort of milky halo that I find very pretty. The enlargement once again is minimal but still enough to make your eye subtley pop.

Sorry for the dodgy colouring! The colour is actually quite a bit darker!

With the other lenses, I had a problem with the sclera appearing through in some photographs. I have the same problem with these lenses too (you can see it very slightly on the photograph below) as both the Natural Shine and Vivid lenses share the same base curve and the ring design is quite narrow, but the degree to which you can see the sclera is not as severe with these lenses. I also have a problem with blurriness with these lenses due to the base curve,which really annoys me as I really love the effect these lenses give TT

I love how these lenses make my eyes look  naturally larger and 'vivid' :D

With one lens in and one lens out, the enlargment is more noticeable, but I'm sure you'll agree that these lenses are probably one of the most natural you will come across.

Not a severe o.O look, but still noticeable!

Comfort-wise, these are just like the Natural Shine lenses, the lenses are very soft (to the point where it can be a little frustrating sometimes to get the lens into a bowl shape on your finger) and hence very comfortable. However the base curve problem makes it difficult for my eyes to focus properly and hence can cause some discomfort.

My Verdict

Design: 2.5/5
A little boring but I like how the spikes help the colour blend into my natural eye colour.

Effect: 5/5
Sweet and natural is what I would use to describe how my eyes look with these lenses.

Enlargement: 3/5 
Little enlargement but still enough to make your eyes cuter and more dolly. Even though the diameter is the same at Natural Shine, I find these lenses give a slightly larger enlargement effect.

Comfort: 3/5
The base curve problem really annoys me, but remember if you don't have a problem with the 8.5 base curve, these will probably be the most comfortable lenses you'll ever wear.

I would repurchase if it wasn't for the base curve problem, but I don't think it's a wise idea for me to buy them again.

If you don't have the base curve problem, then I'll give you two thumbs up to try these lenses :D


Between Vivid and Natural Shine, I like both designs equally but each one has it's own special effect. Vivid has a more believable effect, creating cuter, rounder eyes.
Natural Shine however creates an air of mystery due to the grey limbal ring. Brown eyes don't have a grey limbal ring naturally (but if you know someone who does, let me know! I'd love to see! ^^), hence why it creates a more interesting effect.

Hope my review was useful

:)

Jia

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