Cleansing Foods for Good Skin and Healthy Body

Note: I used to put prices as a service for those who wanted to know, but I'm feeling this exposes my spendings abit too much, so I'm no longer going to put in prices. ^__^ Inspired by bloggers and sites I've read online, I've been eliminating (actually more like reducing) some foods and eating some extra stuff to make my body more healthy, get rid of bloating and excess weight/water. It seems to have helped, so I'm sharing some here. Just remember, I'm no doctor or nutritionist, just sharing my personal experiences. :D Things I try to reduce/eliminate: Meat, processed starches and sugars. I read that processed starches like pasta, noodles and bread are worse than plain starches like rice or potato. Ofcourse, alot of diets tell you to eliminate carbohydrates all together, but I'm not really going to that extent. I've been eating this concoction of cereals for breakfast (I can't seem to digest plain oats), black beans (good for hair and skin, I think) and yam paste (just for the taste). It looks gross, but it's really yummy. Plus I imagine it helps eliminate all the bad stuff in my body. I tried to go raw, but it didn't really work out for me due to my lack of discipline. So I just include more raw stuff in my meals. I chuck all these vegetables and fruits into the blender, mix in some collagen and water, to make a smoothie. It helps that I've always liked vegetables. My husband likes to say I'm always eating grass. Definitely this was inspired by Beauty Box's post, "Should you drink juice or smoothies for great skin?" I haven't tried straining the pulp to get juice only though.

I've also been drinking this on days when I'm not drinking the Meiji Collagen. Good for skin! Always feel my skin is smoother, even though I've been told by doctor friends that drinking collagen only makes the stomach lining smoother, not the skin. :p

So far, I've been doing this properly for about 2-3 days and I've already felt my bloating reduced. My feet and stomach don't feel so swollen anymore. I hope I can continue this for a bit longer and maybe even reduce my weight too!!

I'm heading to the doctor's to review my medication, as it is part of the cause of my recent weight gain. I don't think it's good for me if it makes me gain so much weight in such a short time. Hopefully he'll give me something else, or maybe say I can get off the medicine soon. :D

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Review: DHC Camu Camu Whitening Set

Note: I used to put prices as a service for those who wanted to know, but I'm feeling this exposes my spendings abit too much, so I'm no longer going to put in prices. ^__^ I got this mini DHC Camu-Camu Whitening Trial set when I was in Japan in April (actually someone helped me buy it and I collected it from her when I arrived there, shhhh secret, don't want to trouble her too much in case others start asking her too, hehe.) Finally got round to trying it last week. There is no strong fragrance and it's not oily at all, being water-based. The Lotion and Essence feel watery and soothing while the cream is light enough to absorb quickly after application. I saw immediate whitening effect after application and was quite pleased with it. However, as with many products that give quick whitening, my skin didn't do too well after the second use. It started to dry out my skin, making it tight, bumpy and red. I think it'll be a great product for oilier and less sensitive skin. I didn't expect myself to have so many problems with DHC products, and I'm quite disappointed that 2 of the DHC product range I've tried so far, didn't do so well for me. Fortunately, there's something that worked, and I'll write about it in the next post. Ingredients from DHC Taiwan website:

DHC Camu Camu White Lotion

"Water, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Myrciaria Dubia Seed Extract, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Dipropylene Glycol, Potassium Hydroxide, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Citrate, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Caprylyl Glycol, Allantoin, Myrciaria Dubia Fruit Extract, Tocopherol, Citric Acid, Disodium EDTA, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Sodium Hyaluronate"

DHC Camu Camu White Essence

"Allantoin, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Behenyl Alcohol, Butylene Glycol, Cellulose Gum, Cetyl Alcohol, Citric Acid, Dequalinium Chloride, Dimethicone, Dipropylene Glycol, Disodium EDTA, Disodium Phosphate, Glycerin, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Hydrogenated Rapeseed Glycerides, Laureth-7, Myrciaria Dubia Fruit Extract, Myrciaria Dubia Seed Extract, Nylon-12, Phenoxyethanol, Polyacrylamide, Polysorbate 80, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Sodium Hyaluronate, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Methyl Stearoyl Taurate, Sorbitan Stearate, Water"

DHC Camu Camu White Cream "Water, Butylene Glycol, Dipropylene Glycol, Triethylhexanoin, Propylene Glycol Dicaprate, Glycerin, Cetyl Alcohol, Myrciaria Dubia Seed Extract, Ascorbyl Glucoside,Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Hydrogenated Palm Oil, Hydrogenated Rapeseed Glycerides, Behenyl Alcohol, Sorbitan Oleate, Dimethicone, Potassium Hydroxide, Polysorbate 80, Sodium Methyl Stearoyl Taurate, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Citrate, Hydrogenated Coconut Oil, Allantoin, Myrciaria Dubia Fruit Extract, Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid, Disodium EDTA, Saccharum Officinarum (Sugar Cane) Extract, Dequalinium Chloride" © Copyright. All rights reserved.

Sponsored Review: Revlon Fantasy Lengths Lashes

Note: I used to put prices as a service for those who wanted to know, but I'm feeling this exposes my spendings abit too much, so I'm no longer going to put in prices. ^__^ I received some Revlon Fantasy Lengths lashes and couldn't wait to try them out. Honestly, I don't use fake lashes and this is the first time I've tried. If I can do it, anyone can! I used one of the lashes, "Intensifying", that came with pre-applied adhesives. With these, the application is so easy and I did it very quickly. I didn't even use the application tool that was included in the package, because I didn't realise there was one until much later. Newbies who are fearful of messing up their makeup and fake lashes would probably find the tool very useful. The eye makeup you see here is not pristine, as the photos were taken at the end of the day. I applied the lashes without any problems and I must say they felt very natural, light and unobstrusive. I'm so sold on fake lashes! It makes my eye-of-the-day look so "professional". LOL! In this photo, I also added some digital lenses on my eyes, just to try it out.

The lash ends do tend to stick out, so I'd still need to look for a tube of glue to ensure they stay down. Otherwise, I'd say I love these lashes. I wish I don't have allergies to contact lenses so I can wear these lashes everyday.

I wondered if fake lashes will do well under spectacles and here's a photo. It actually doesn't look half that bad, don't you think so?

I have a few more others to try, so I'll be diligent and try some eye-of-the-day posts in the coming weeks.

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WINNERS Sponsored Contest: Enchant, Natural Herbal Korean Cosmetics

EDIT: YN, please contact me? I didn't keep your mailing address from the previous contest. :D Thank you to everyone for reading my blog and taking part in the contest. In the order that the answers were posted, here are the winners of the Sponsored Review & Contest: Enchant, Natural Herbal Korean Cosmetics, as drawn by the random org number generator.

• YN (October 6, 2009 2:04 PM),
• heather (October 7, 2009 9:32 AM) and
• cibicco (October 11, 2009 8:37 AM)

Congratulations! I'll contacting you for your addresses soon! :D

Review: Beauty Talk Idebenone Q10 Mask

Note: I used to put prices as a service for those who wanted to know, but I'm feeling this exposes my spendings abit too much, so I'm no longer going to put in prices. ^__^ Today's review features the Beauty Talk Idebenone Q10 Mask that I purchased from Sasa's atrium sale at Plaza Singapura last month. I almost overlooked this mask because it's an unknown brand to me but luckily, the SA introduced it to me. She told me that it's sold like hotcakes, with customers buying 20-30 pieces each time. Herself, she got a hundred as the price was so great and she loved the mask very much. I must say I was skeptical of her sales pitch, but the price was very attractive. It cost a fraction of the original retail price so I bought a few pieces to try. Cost aside, this mask turned out to be great and I like it very much. It's not a whitening mask but a hydrating one, and it seems my skin loves Q10 alot (I have a DHC Q10 cream that gives me the same hydrating-plumping effect). Here's the details on the back of the mask. It is high in hyaluronic acid, aloe, Q10 and this mysterious ingredient called Idebenone (this is the first time I've heard of it). The mask is like any sheet mask and has a high level of serum in it. My skin laps up the serum and when the mask is removed, my skin is plump and hydrated, much more than most other masks I've tried. Also, no side effects like stinging or redness. So overall, many thumbs up for this mask! I'm waiting for another sale to haul more of this! :D Finally, don't forget to join the competition. It ends this weekend. I'm heading out to collect my Impress IC skincare, where there's an extra discount for Kanebo products today at the Takashimaya sale. Will post more about that later. :D © Copyright. All rights reserved.

Sponsored Review & Contest: Enchant, Natural Herbal Korean Cosmetics (Comments Closed)

Note: I used to put prices as a service for those who wanted to know, but I'm feeling this exposes my spendings abit too much, so I'm no longer going to put in prices. ^__^ "Dermona and Enchant products are manufactured by Jung San Bio Technology Co. Ltd in Seoul, Korea, and represents the results of thousands of years of Oriental Herbal knowledge combined with modern herbal and cosmetic technologies. Established in 1980 by Mr Seong Nyoung Kim, he was looking for a product that would help eliminate some skin ailments that his family was experiencing. Unable to find any relief through western medical practices, he was reminded of how his Korean ancestors maintained soft, healthy skin without the aid of modern science. Mr Kim thereupon began to study and travel extensively to obtain more information about traditional Oriental remedies. His efforts culmitated in the discovery of a 17th Century manuscript entitled "Encyclopedia of Oriental Medicines and Practices." In this document he found many herbal compounding formulas that specifically helped to heal and maintain healthy skin."

Read on to find out more about Enchant and also to enter a contest to win a Herb Mild Foam Cleanser worth S$30.

Enchant

"Enchant is a revolutionary beauty product created to maintain healthy skin and to serve as an anti-aging device. By using renown traditional Korean herbs which speed up skin metabolism and circulation of blood, Enchant reinforces the skin's natural self protection process. Enchant reinforces the skin's natural self protection process. Enchant was designed for anyone who wants to maintain healthy smooth skin and to delay the natural aging process. Containing more than 30 all-natural ingredients such as Korean cherry extract, apricot stone and castor-oil, Enchant is able to use nature to improce the appearance of skin. The processing method is so special that it was given patent number 107305."

MF Natural Cleansing Oil

"Restoring and Balancing Nature's Intentions for the Skin

The natural ingredients efficiently remove all traces of makeup gently yet effectively as well as other types of pore clogging dirt while mainting the skin's natural sebum levels. The result is skin that is balanced, soft and comfortable.

Directions: Place 2-3 pumps of cleansing oil onto dry hands and gently massage oil onto a dry face with dry hands. Dampen hands, and emulsify oil by massagins a small amount of warm water on top of the oil. Rinse well with lukewarm water.

Main Ingredients: Apricot kennel oil, Complex active vitamins, Pine Resin oil, Camellia oil, Rice Bran oil

Net Contents: 210ml"

My Experience:

A very effective cleanser that removes all makeup including powder, eye-makeup, mascara and eyeliner. Rinses off clean. I still double-cleansed with a foaming cleanser as is my usual habit but some people might find it ok to just use this cleanser on its own. A tad less liquid than most other cleansers I've tried, the sticky consistency makes initial dry application slightly difficult, but after using water, the cleanser emulsifies efficiently making the massage process smooth and easy.

These do not take away the effectiveness of the product but I personally didn't take to the packaging, design and strong fragrance. I think it might be the smell of the Camellia that threw me off. It brings back strong memories of old ladies, I think it might be my strong personal association of the smell to my grandmother. The packaging also gives me an impression of a throw back to retro products.

MF Natural Multi BB Cream

"Soothing, Brightening and Protecting the Skin

The Natural Multiu BB (Blemish Balm) cream supplies sufficient nutrition from herbal ingredients to damaged skin caused by peeling, UV rays and other stresses and also revitalizes physiological functions. Furthermore, it has sedation, rejuvenation and spot-covering effects. The sedation effect allows for better moisture absorption from particular Korean herbal ingredients. The process rejuvenates tired sensitive skin caused by various stimulations. By using certain water proof characters from Liquid Mineral Technology and also complex herbal powders such as Lonicera flower and Coix seed, the cream not only absorbs sebum and sweat but covers skin spots naturally and maintains skin color. As result of its positive effects, BB Cream has become extremely popular in Korea and Japan as well.

Directions: For skin protection and natural-looking coverage, lightly pat a small amoutn of product over entire face in the final stage of basic skin toning. The cream is excellent for use as sun cream, makeup-base, or a foundation for natural -looking coverage.

Main Ingredients: Apricot Kernal, Mume fructus, Cypress, Pine Bud, Complex active vitamins,

Net Contents: 50ml"

My Experience:

The BB cream emerges from the tube in 2 layers, one watery and another creamy, though I was careful to shake the bottle thoroughly before pressing out the cream. However, it spread out nicely and mixed in together well upon application. The cream is on the dry side and provides a good coverage and a matte finish. Personally I prefer a glowy finish and sheer coverage, as you can see the BB cream accentuated most of my skin flaws, such as dryness, open pores (from aging) and creases. It's also abit too pink and pale for me, even though I do have slightly more pink undertones in my skin compared to most Asians. I think it'll be a good BB Cream for skin that requires good oil control and coverage.

While wearing this cream, I received alot of stares and second looks, I wonder if it's because I looked prettier than usual or is it because the cream is too light for me? LOL!!! Buahaha.

Contest

3 lucky readers will win a prize each of one Herb Mild Foam Cleanser (S$30) sponsored by Dermona.

1. Open to followers of my blog, who are Singaporean or have a Singapore address.
2. Leave a comment, remember to sign in with your blogger ID or leave an email, and provide all-correct answers to these two questions:
• Where are Enchant products manufactured?
• Name one Main Ingredient in MF Natural Cleansing Oil
3. Three winners will be drawn from all-correct entries using the Random.org random number generator.
4. Entries will close on 11 Oct 09, Sunday, 10pm Singapore time and the winners will be announced on 12 Oct 09, Monday, 10pm Singapore time.
5. Dermona will be sending the prizes to the winners, please understand that I did not review the Mild Cleansing Foam

You can find out more about Dermona and Enchant products, and get discounts and updates at the Dermona Facebook page. Good luck everyone! :D © Copyright. All rights reserved.

Here's to the Weekend Ahead!

Note: I used to put prices as a service for those who wanted to know, but I'm feeling this exposes my spendings abit too much, so I'm no longer going to put in prices. ^__^ Hi everyone, TGIF!!! Weekend ahead, woot! I stopped by Raffles City to check out the Luxasia sale and bought my all-time favourite old-time fragrance, L'air du Temps at a nice price. I'm using Anna Sui's Flight of Fancy for some time now but recently found it abit too sickly sweet and cloying. As I don't usually stock up on fragrances, I had no alternative, so it's great I found my old favourite at a great price at a time when I needed it. Don't ask me why, but I also picked up a YSL Whitening Essence and The YSL Radiant Brush Foundation, both at more than 50% off the retail price. As though I don't have enough base makeup already! And looks like I've not learnt my lesson and am still game to try new skincare products? Hard to resist all these interesting products available out there I guess? I hope the foundation shade no.4 isn't too dark for me.

While I was there, I saw that Robinson's was having another sale, so although I also already have tonnes of mask I couldn't resist getting more, as they seemed cheap enough to me to warrant trying.

I tried to look for the Kanebo counter at Robinsons but it's no longer there! Sad!! I hope I could wait patiently for a Takashimaya or BHG sale before stocking up on my trusty Kanebo products.

In response to my previous post, someone commented that whitening products can be drying and I agree with her.

That's why Kanebo was so great for me! Even when I trimmed down my skincare routine to just Kanebo products, I was doing really great, until I finished the products and started trying those darned DHC and Paul & Joe items.

Kanebo's skincare was the first whitening range of skincare that didn't aggravate my skin. It clarified my skin, made my freckles lighter (I think because of the melanin-inhibiting ingredients) and added glow (probably due to the moisturising and hydration ingredients). I'm definitely returning to using it!! (Not enough exclamation marks to represent my eagerness to return to Kanebo!!!!!)

Long-time readers will recall the post I made about how the skin-analysis machine proclaimed my melanine levels have dropped and my skin is in a normal-balanced state. Thank God I still have some sample size bottles and satchets I received as freebies and gift-with-purchases. I can use those before I find some time to get to the trusty Kanebo counters at either Takashimaya or BHG.

Oh yes, it just occured to me to get the ingredients list from the web, for the products I reviewed in my previous post! Why didn't I think of that earlier?

So here's the ingredients list for DHC Acerola Lotion from the DHC US website:

"water, butylene glycol, malpighia glabra (acerola) fruit extract, glycerin, aloe barbadensis leaf juice, yeast extract, hydroxyproline, placental protein, disodium ascorbyl sulfate, serine, allantoin, methylparaben, acetyl tyrosine, paeonia suffruticosa root extract, pueraria lobata root extract"

And what do you know? While I was at the website, I read that the lotion is for normal to oily skin! Gawsh, no wonder I am reacting badly to it! An SA actually said today that my skin looked alittle aggravated and allergic to something. I couldn't agree more with her. I need to stop using that lotion. Silly me for not finding out about the product before using it!

Here's the ingredient list for Paul & Joe Whitening Emulsion (I found it at this website, and it's a discontinued product anyway), and OH.MY.GAWD! Alcohol is the highest concentration in the list, after water. No wonder my skin reacted badly!!!!!!! (Again not enough exclamation marks to express my horror).

"Water (Aqua), Alcohol, Dipropylene Glycol, Neopentyl Glycol, Dicaprate, Butylene Glcyol, Dimethicone, Glycerin, C14-15 Dialkyl Carbonate, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Behenyl Alcohol, Aesculus Hippocastanium (Horse Chestnut) Seed Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Flower Water, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Fruit Extract, Crataegus Cuneata Fruit Extract, Hydrolyzed Lupine Protein, Lilium Candidum Bulb Extract, Rosa Multiflora Fruit Extract, Rosa Rugosa Flower Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Sambucus Nigra Flower Extract, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Leaf Exttract, Disodium Phosphate, Hydrogenated Rapeseed Glycerides, Lecithin, Phosphoric Acid, Polysorbate 80, Silica, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Mehtyl Stearoyl Taurate, Sorbitan Stearate, Triceteareth-4 Phosphate, Xanthan Gum, Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Alumina, Mica, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891). "

Freak me out! It says on that website that it functions with Bleaches & Lighteners!!! GREAT! No wonder my skin was peeling and going nuts!

This teaches me a great big lesson on the evils of complacency!!! Buahahaha. Time to stop using those 2 items and perhaps put them up on the sale blog? Hmm? Any interest? I mean, these 2 products did have great reviews elsewhere, so they do work for some people and you might be one of them. I'll be selling them cheap, cause I didn't pay too much for them anyway.

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Review: DHC Acerola Lotion & Paul & Joe Whitening Emulsion

Note: I used to put prices as a service for those who wanted to know, but I'm feeling this exposes my spendings abit too much, so I'm no longer going to put in prices. ^__^

I've been using DHC Acerola Lotion for almost a week and Paul & Joe Whitening Emulsion for about 2 weeks. I had heard and read alot of good reviews about these 2 items but I found them both to be less than ideal for my skin. This proves that skincare and makeup is all about finding your personal optimum levels based on your own skin and preferences. After some time of trying out things based on reviews, I find that it's best take the reviews together with knowledge of the reviewer's skintype and preferences.

My own skin is, as I have stated in my "Beauty Profile", aging/maturing, hence I find it is getting drier and requires much more help. On the other hand, I have hyper-reactive skin which doesn't do well with too strong or powerful ingredients. Hence, I think I can never say it enough, but when reading my reviews, do keep these considerations in mind. :D

The problems I faced with these 2 products sum up the above points. I found both items a bit harsh. Something in these 2 products made my skin turn red and bumpy. Unfortunately, I didn't behave like a good reviewer, I didn't look at the ingredients list nor did I keep the boxes! So you have to just base this reviews on my personal descriptions.

DHC Acerola Lotion dries out my skin quite abit and doesn't add the moisture or hydration that I have come to expect from lotions. I think it's probably a better product for oilier and younger skin that is more resilient?

Paul & Joe Whitening Emulsion is a product I picked up from a recent Prestige sale and I am told it's a discontinued item. While I love Paul & Joe makeup bases, I found Whitening Emulsion didn't do much for me. It doesn't give a deep-down moisturising and hydration for my skin. It functions well enough as a surface moisturiser, ie. it gives a surface boost and a layer to protect the skin but I personally found that it lacked a deep-down hydration that I need. After I use it in the morning, I find my base makeup doesn't apply smoothly. As such, it's to be expected that I won't find it moisturising enough for the night.

In terms of whitening, I didn't find it doing anything for me either. I also found my skin turning flakey and blotchy, I lost the glowy clarity that I achieved when I was using Kanebo's skincare. Again, I think this will function well for younger and oilier skin, like those other bloggers who reviewed this product and loved it. :D

After these 2 weeks of switching to something different, I'm considering if I should just go back to using Kanebo skincare and just forget about trying all the different skincare products and samples I picked up over the previous months from sales and from my travels? Would that defeat the purpose of a review blog?

Well, anyway, I'll be adding stuff to my sale blog, please do take a look at Beautification Stuff.

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