Unlike - JuJu aquamoist

 

I have been trying my heart and soul out to like this JuJu Aquamoist series. This is just one of the product from JuJu Aquamoist that I try my best to like. oh no.. it didn't work out.

Let me present you another product that didn't work out for me.

 The serum...

I really tried. I read and reread the instruction and still cannot get it work for me.

 Reason for unlike:

1. It does not suit my skin. it leaves a very sticky feeling to my skin, no matter how thinly i spread it, before or after toner, morning or evening. The stickiness on my skin really irritates me. S tried so hard to attach my eye shield with tapes at night and he complain ' your face is so sticky and I can't attach the tapes on it' that's how bad it is

2. It does not work even it is in winter. Lets suppose that it moisturizes skin. So, if it is a gel moisturizer I suppose it works in summer better than winter? oh no.. get your blot paper out if you want to use this. I try to use this even in a UK summer weather (nice and dry and not hot at all) still. it just stick. Even in winter, it still sticks

3. Why not use it as gel mask? or apply another layer of moisturizer? i tried. still doesn't work. I don't want to feel like thousands of bees stick to my face if I use it as gel mask. 

So verdict:

stay away from it.

If you still want it, you are welcome to get it from me. I'm selling this for USD $5. Maximum use : 10 times (finger lightly dip in it)

Surviving British Summer - laneige power essential skin ex rules

 

 This summer is driving my absolutely up the wall. I am barely surviving because of the heat. i know it is nothing compare to Hong Kong, but still, my skin went riot and I need to change my routine completely.

I'll split this summer special skincare review bits by bits, I'll write a specific product I tried this summer (since the heatwave started) and review them.

First.. is my saviour.. without this. My skin will give me bums, pimples, etc. 

Laneige Power Essential Skin EX

What's this?

It is difficult to explain. I was given this my a friend and later pruchase it for a different purpose. My friend gave this when I asked her to CP me a toner. I bought this to use as a toner mask. But this summer, I am using this as a moisturiser. Can I just say this is multi-purpose then?

Price:

I paid around $160 HKD, which is £13.5/$20USD

Sasa.com selling this for $149.00, which is $19 USD

Yesstyle.com is selling this including International mail (to anywhere in the world) for USD $49.00

How to use:

put some on a cotton and whip your face with it.

Alternatively, buy some dry paper mask and soak the toner up and have a toner mask in the morning :)

My verdict:

As a toner mask, it works. i love the smell and the feel, and my face feels refreshing. It is rather cheap and doesn't hurt the bank. i started using this as a toner mask since 2007, when I was really poor and I can only afford toner mask (there's no My beauty diary masks available then..)

I only discover this as a moisturiser this summer because nothing works on me anymore. Anything I put on which is vaguely called 'moisturiser' (you name it... JuJu moisturising gel, Boots Vanishing Cream..) they just become oil and stick on my skin.. and S had lots of problem to put the eye shield on for me at night because my face is soo oily that the tapes does not stick.

So I need to seek another way to moisturize and thought I'll just put some 'thicker' texture toner  as moisturizer and hope the best. And this works.. skin immediately stop having red spots, pimples etc

Laneige is my summer saviour for now. I run out of IPSA metabolizer but don't want to spend money to haul IPSA to UK ($80 USDDDDDDD)... so I'm digging out everything I had and try again..

Will talk about the other products that work next post....

Cheap and Cheerful - Hong Kong Brand Choi Fung

We all been hauling like mad from Hong Kong sites such as Adambeauty and Gooddealer, who stocks just basically everything from East Asia. I always wonder, is there a local Hong Kong brand. Jennifer might shout at me on this, because she actually took me to see this brand last year when I met up with her, but I thought nothing much as first, I don't know it is a HK Brand, secondly, my head was still trying to understand why Korean brand is so cheap.

Anyway, introducing this Hong Kong local brand, the company who produces it is called Choi Fung. which started around just under 10 years ago and focus on supplying to larger quantites to facial salon etc. Their most famous product is actually Sugar cane shower, for 1L it is only (take a deep breath girls), $2 USD. no kidding, 2 USD for 1L


I want to focus on their skincare products as I picked up some to try on.

First, the Hydrating gel

What is this?

H20 Hydrating Gel


Volume:
150ml (yes, that 3 times our usual moisturising gel size)

Cost:
$150 (roughly $19 USD)

My verdict:
stock it up! according to site, it just contains everything. Kiwi extract, apple extract, Cactus extract, collagen, Hydraulic Acid, Vitamin B5

This is as comparable as H2O+ hydrating gel, which is cost $34 USD for just 50ml. THe texture is the same, absolutely the same. There's no scent to it.
Since there's so much in this 150ml, you're more than welcome to use it just like laneige sleeping mask, splash it on your face and use it as facial mask.
You can also use is as a makeup base to moisturise your face. Multi-purpose baby
I couldn't fault anything about this moisturizer. I nearly bought Dr Ci:Labo Aqua collegen gel, but the price and the 'dupe'-ness of this to h2o+ completely blows me away

the samples I got from buying in Choi Fung

Another product to review, but I'll keep it short as I had put it back to shelf. This is a cleansing oil that takes off makeup just like any other cleansing oil. i think I've been spoilt by Shu and Fancl for too long. After washing off the cleansing oil, a oily film remains on my skin and need to be washed away by another cleanser (in this case, I used Dove soap). The only good point is that it takes away my MM mascara, I soak the cleansing oil with cotton and take off my mascara without problem. Price wise: 200ml for $23, which is around $3USD

How to buy?

THis is the tricky part. They do not have any shop front on ground level meaning you need to know exactly where it is. We called these shops 'upstair shops'. You need to take the escalator in a certain building and walk into their outlet. so please check their website for their address in HK.
If you live in HK, you can take their free delivery offer as well

I am considering doing a group order from this company if anyone is interested. Just drop me a comment and I'll get back to you

Water Angel 5-in-1 moisturising gel review (Q10 Version)

Water Angel 5-in-1 moisturising gel review (Q10 Version)

So another rare find. I seems to have a taste looking for some awkward products that not many people use.

I found this again during my shopping in japan and has become my fave. I even hit the pan of this (not easy for me with moisturiser, I usually stopped halfway to find something else)

Reason for buying:

I was trying to look for a cheap alternative to the Dr Ci:Labo moisturiser, the gel one which Kathi reviewed. I seriously can't afford nearly 7000/8000 yen for that so I was constantly looking out for an alternative. I know there was an alternative and there's actually a few. On top of my head there was the Ju Ju Aqua moist gel which is a close alternative. But!! on the ju Ju packing, it doesn't mention it is 5-in1, including toning, moisturising, serum, base for foundation and whitening. But Water Angel does say it is a 5-in-1 moisturiser

sorry about the flash, I want to show you I have reach the pan there.

Price:

I clearly remembered it is only 1575 yen for 50 g (not even close to that 4000 yen as I put the link)

and roughly 3500 yen for 150 g (150 g!!!! love that size) that's rougly $40 for 150 g...

texture:

for all the moisturising gel I have tried, this is the lightest of all, including H2O aqua gel or Lancome hydra Zen. It is really light and quick to absorb.

It comes with no scent, and just very pale yellow-ish gel.

very light as you can see from my back of the hand

My verdict:

Absolutely love this and definitely a good replacement from the Dr Ci:Labo. It cost only 1/3 of the price of Dr Ci:Labo and do the same job, with same texture. I tried both on my hand when I was playing around in japan and see, they're nearly the same, except Dr Ci:Labo changed the colour of their gel according to which one you buy.

I just read their introduction on some of their rakuten listing, you can also use this on your body. And the Water comes from Shikoku, and various claim which I am lazy to translate (I blame dao for his attention seeking meow at this point)

My skin has less spots definitely from using this, and it seem with the combination for the Lamcome Gel Eclat my face has cleaned up a lot. I am trying to use less foundation to help the clear my skin as much as possible.

I definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a light water based moisturiser and defnitely for those who are looking for an alternative to the Dr:Ci labo star product.