Happy New Year! Plus updates on Jurlique and Clarins

I blogged recently about my trials with sensitive skin. This is a quick update on how it's going with the Jurlique products I'm using and a recent Clarins sunscreen which I bought.

I'm happy to report: my skin seems to be loving the Jurlique products. Yes, even the Chamomile mist which was rather stinging on my skin in the beginning. I realised I may have been spraying too much at too close range. After one week of using the Rebalancing Sensitivity range (excluding the mask), my skin is clear, smooth, the red flushes are gone and so are my signature red cheeks. I've also noticed an improvement in the tiny capillaries which I used to have here and there on both cheeks.

Happiness :)

However, I realised Clarins is definitely out for me. I had a minor scare yesterday. My skin was stinging, there were tiny pimple like bumps on various parts of my face and my facial skin was flushed. This, after using the sunscreen for 2 days and a healthy dose of sun, walking out of the office for lunch and back. I had to soothe it all down with the Soothing Herbal Recovery Gel again last night. This morning things were back to normal.

So far, skincare which has worked for me:

• Jurlique sensitive skin range


• Skin Food Aloe BB Cream SPF 20 PA


• Bellewave Gentle Cleansing Milk and Refreshing Lotion

Here's to a beautiful 2009. Wishing you a year filled with love, joy and peace. May it be your best year yet!

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Now playing: Armik - Lovers In Madrid
via FoxyTunes

Some favourites

Was on leave today and couldn't resist the 20% discount at Kinokuniya. Before I got to the store however, I was waylaid by the "bling" at Watson's again. LOL.

These are from Majolica Majorca. The SA was really helpful and friendly. Yes, for a 'drugstore' brand, there's actually an SA who bothered to come up to me and talk to me abt the relative merits of the colours and functions of the cosmetics. I already like this brand to begin with. Now, the brownie points just keep adding up.

Ok, to review this: I've to put this in context. I'm a relatively newcomer to the makeup scene and I don't usually wear makeup even for work. But there've been a spate of weddings to attend recently and some other occasions. Was putting on eye makeup for a close friend's wedding dinner recently and had the inspiration to do a smoky look using my Kose makeup coffret. Sorry no photos as I was rushing that night. I thot the look came out pretty well overall but realised I need some eyeliners!

So back to Majolica. I bought the SV802 - a smoky glittery grey and BR606 - a nice brown which I feel will go well with the brown Eye Fantasist in my Kose coffret. The pencils were really soft and easy to draw. Just a gentle swipe across the back of my hand and there was a well defined line of colour. I'll learn to do colour swatches next time.

I also got the Christmas limited edition BR799. It was the "limited edition" that got me ;) Plus I liked the purplish tones of the palette. A nice change from my Kose brown and beige.

As for this, it's an old standby from Ettusais. It gets rid of my pimples in double quick time, calms and soothes the red spots and doesn't irritate my sensitive skin. Double thumbs up for a great product :)


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Listening to: 萧敬腾 - 原谅我
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Sasa

I was on my way to a dinner appointment and couldn't resist popping into the Sasa along the way. It's one of those places where I never get bored browsing. There's always new stuff in store and you never know when they may have discounts on some products ;)

I had been reading some good reviews on Koji. So I made sure to keep an eye out for that brand while scanning the eyelash curler corner. And there it was. There were 2 sizes - one No. 73 and the other No. 70. I chose No. 70 since the blurb said it's specially formulated for Asian eyes. That's how I choose lots of stuff ;)

Also got 2 lip balms.

Aloe lip balm by Silk Whitia. It has a faint aloe fragrance and the balm goes on smoothly. I really like the colour too. A pastel green for the tube and even paler shade of green for the balm.

Mentholatum Lip Pure which is made from natural beeswax and is suitable even for the most delicate skin. It was available in 2 flavours. I chose the Bergamot one.


Have been looking for a reliable sunscreen for some time. Was rather excited when I read the blurb for this Clarins one. There were no testers available for this, so it was a leap of faith so to speak, that the product will deliver what the blurb promised. Boy was I glad when I tried it out at home. It left no sticky residue, there was a faint floral fragrance (really nice! *thumbs up*) and best of all, my sensitive skin took to it really well.


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Now playing: Ken Promo - Ken Promo - Ken Promo
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Merry Christmas!! and it's raining presents

Lovely lovely Christmas.

We had a gift exchange in the office on Christmas Eve. Some weeks ago, we drew names of the colleague whom we were to buy a gift for. As were my custom, I also took some time to get gifts for all the people in my dept. My dept's pretty small, 14, excluding me, so I had quite an initially stressful but ultimately enjoyable time shopping for presents for each and everyone of them. Plus some colleagues who weren't in my dept but have also become frens.

To my surprise, some of my colleagues got me presents too. Ooh, I love pressies :) On top of the ones I got from work, my siblings gave me pressies too. Love my presents :) See more photos of them here.

Merry Christmas everyone! And a blessed and healthy 2009 ahead.

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Now playing: Avalon - Joy (To The World)
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Sensitive skin

Tested the Jurlique Rebalancing Sensitivity Set on my skin last night and again this morning. This was my regime after cleansing:

Night
Chamomile Soothing Mist
Soothing Herbal Recovery Gel
Biodynamic Beauty Night Lotion
Bio-essence 24K eye contour gel

Day
Chamomile Soothing Mist
Soothing Herbal Recovery Gel
Soothing Day Care Lotion

It stings! *weep*

I was surprised to feel a stinging in the region of my cheekbones a few mins after completing my night regime. Oops.

This morning, I tried again. Except this time, I wanted to isolate the cause of the stinging, so I paused for some time between each step. The stinging came after I sprayed the Chamomile Mist :( It continued after I applied the Soothing Herbal Recovery Gel. Went on after I applied the Soothing Day Care Lotion.

I felt a little better after applying my SkinFood Aloe Sun BB Cream SPF 20 PA - Shade 1. Then horrors. While looking at myself in the mirror, a few mins ago, I saw some tiny little bumps on my skin and 2 noticeable pimples. Oops. Double oops.

I'll try again tonight and tomorrow morning, this time excluding the Chamomile Mist.

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Listening to: U2 - I've Got You Under My Skin
via FoxyTunes

Spoilt by Jurlique

Yes, the Jurlique counter here in Sg. The story goes like this...

Thanks much to Karen's post on sensitive skin. I'm actually quite a late-comer to the sensitive skin scene in a sense. All my life, I've known that my skin (esp on my face) gets flushed easily. But I've long accepted it as part and parcel of life, so didn't think too much abt it. It's only in recent years, with the advent of some pigmentation, fine lines and such that I really woke up and decided I needed to do something.

And after reading this post, I learnt even more. This being a slow day, I went searching online for skincare products which may be beneficial for sensitive skins. Was told Jurlique don't ship here *boo-hoo* :~(

So, decided to put my lunch hr to good use again ;) I went down to Tangs Orchard just now and headed straight towards the Jurlique counter. I had to circle the ground level beauty dept for a bit though. The counter was right behind the escalators, where Stila used to be, round the corner from Benefit.

Approached the counter. There was a chirpy SA there who looked me in the eye, smiled and asked, "Can I help you?".

"Yes, pls. I'm looking for the sensitive skin care range"

She showed me the specific cleanser, toning mist, moisturiser and then asked me a pretty good question - is there any specific product or skincare step I had in mind. Of course, I was after the Soothing Herbal Recovery Gel and day and night moisturisers. I also asked abt sunscreen. AND the prices.

AND "Do you have any samples?"

Surprise, surprise. She does! After some deliberation and discussion, I bought the sensitive skin introductory set retailing at $110. It goes for AUD$59 at the online store. Oh well.



I asked for some samples of the night cream (she readily gave me 2 packs of it). Also tried the sunscreen which felt wonderfully moisturising on the back of my hand and had a lovely lavender scent. As I was paying, the SA popped by the cashier again and added 2 sample packs of their makeup removal cleanser. AND I got a $10 voucher which I can use on any next purchase of Jurlique products for $100 and above. Wow. *Double thumbs up*

That was a good experience.

Since I was in the area, I thot I'd pop by L'Occitane, Kiehl's and HABA to do some comparisions on their sunscreens. At L'Occitane, I tried their Daily UV Veil Face/Eyes SPF30. For Kiehl's, I tried a sunscreen under its Dry Skin category, whose name I forgot. At HABA, it was the UV cut milk. Anyway. The textures of the sunscreens were light and smooth, all 3 of them. They spread easily and was quickly absorbed into my skin. What I had reservations about though were the chemical sunscreen smell which lingered on after the product had been absorbed. I guess I was still fascinated by the lavender scent of the Jurlique sunscreen. It was a faint sweet lavender and NO chemical smell at all.

Anyone has friends in Australia or travelling to Australia soon?

More photos here

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Listening to: 福山雅治 - 東京
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It's all in the eyes

I was at Watson's this afternoon. Fast becoming one of my favourite haunts, esp the cosmetics section. I'm into eye make up recently. Spent quite a bit of time just poring over the mascaras and eyeshadows. Whoo-eee :)

In the end, I bought:

Fiber-wig mascara Christmas limited edition by Deja Vu. The pink tube and かわいい　phone charm (not shown) was the clincher.

Curly extension mascara by Maybelline. The marketing tagline screams, "No. 1 in Japan". And it's pink. So. But the blurb says it's smudge proof and is perfect for first time users of mascara, so I guess that applies to me. Still a novice at makeup this bean.

A Four Shiny Eyes palette by CANMAKE. I *heart* this brand. It's cheap, the textures are great, the colours are lovely. I've yet to dislike anything I bought from this brand tho I can't use them fast enough before the expiry date. Then again, that's cos I use makeup only on rare occasions, not that the products expire fast. This is a purple coloured palette with gun metal shimmer shadow on the right most, then purple, a lighter lilac and finally the white highlight colour. A bold choice for me, since I've not used purple ever ;) See how things go...

Revlon 3D Extreme Mascara. I've used this before. It's good *thumbs up* Easy to apply, rather smudge proof though I tend to rub my eyes. Bought this in black.

Watsons has a 10% discount promo now for users of AMEX credit cards, so there's another 10% on top of whatever store discounts they may have. Total spending today: $68.30

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Now playing: 王若琳 - For No Reason
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A|X sale!

It's the lead up to Christmas and the Christmas mood is all in the air. Esp in the office, among my colleagues. We've taken to lunching out almost everyday last week ;) And spending our lunch hrs in the shopping malls. LOL.

So, on Thurs, we went to Taka. Boy, I really got the urge to shop, shop, shop, wat with the Christmas carols, the signs plastered all around, screaming "SALE!". It's hello consumerism, goodbye dollar bills. Hee.



After getting some Christmas gifts, I had 10mins before regrouping with my colleagues. I couldn't resist dashing into A|X (one of my favourite brands - when it's on sale). I was 5 mins late in meeting my colleagues but I got this nice bubble denim skirt and a wool cardi which is in the wash now. Will try to post pics of that when it's back.

Total shopping costs for the 2 pieces = $200. Whew.

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Now playing: Hillsong - Lord Of Lords
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Menya Shinchan

Brought my dad to Menya Shinchan for his birthday dinner. It is a small, unpretentious, hole-in-the-wall type of ramen shop where the service is efficient and friendly and the focus is on the artisan noodles. And it's really good noodles. The shop owner used to be a head honcho at some Japanese firm who really loved his noodles. So much so, he gave it all up to set up this shop and make the noodles on premise himself.

There's nothing much on the menu except for ramen. There're several flavours but just 2 soup bases - one pork bone broth, the other, seafood broth. And different type of noodles to go with the different soup bases. There's a smoother, thinner noodles for the pork bone broth; a thicker, chewier one for the seafood broth. Yum ;)

Do give it a try if you're ever in the neighbourhood or am just in the mood for some authentic ラメン :)

Menya Shinchan
30 Robertson Quay #01-05,
Tel: 6732-0114

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Now playing: Yo-Yo Ma; John Williams: Recording Arts Orchestra Of Los Angeles - Williams (J): American Collection Theme
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Cosmeceuticals

Cosmeceuticals are my latest craze ;P I was at the Guardian store in Suntec City last week and came across this Australian brand, Skin Doctors Cosmeceuticals. Blurbs and packaging do it for me ;) This brand had the right amount of scientific sounding descriptions and the packaging was just right too - not too medical, not too cosmetic brand.

I took some time to decide (a few days in fact) before finally going back to the store yesterday. There was some discount on at Guardian, so I got the Supermoist Face at $70.95. Used it last night and also in my AM regime this morning. Hope it works *fingers crossed*

There's this other brand which I would loooooove to try if I could. Check it out at Ultraceuticals.com. The Vitamin C range looks really good! Anyone knows of an outlet in Sg?

Post-script:
Have been meaning to update on the results of the Bio-Essence 24K Bio-Gold eye contour lifting serum and mask. I think it's quite good! :) Have been disturbed on and off when I look at my eyebags in the mirror. After using the serum AM and PM for the past week, there is a noticeable difference in the puffiness when I wake up in the morning. For the price, I think it's quite a good buy :) Yippee! Something that works!

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Listening to: 五月天 - 天使
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Muji Specials

So I was wandering around Bugis today. It's sort of my favourite shopping haunt nowadays. It's got tons of things to see ;)

Anyway, I popped into Muji, this being one of the places where there's always something new and interesting to look at. There were some racks of Muji specials - tops and bottoms which were discounted at 30%. Of course I went and looked carefully through the stacks of clothes ;P These were what I bought.


I tried this voile top on and loved it so much, I bought the white AND the peach coloured one. LOL.




Checks being the in-thing this season, I couldn't resist this. Plus, it covered everything that was supposed to be covered and only revealed flattering bits like the forearms, collarbones....


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Now playing: Lívia Rév - Magin: Miniature Polonaises - Nostalgie Du Pays
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Kose makeup coffret

In a moment of madness last Sat, I decided I needed some eye makeup NOW.

Was wandering around Isetan Katong, trying to decide which beauty counter to approach. Somehow, I just find them rather intimidating. Having heard so much about Lunasol, I was actually looking for the Kanebo counter but there wasn't any in the store. Anna Sui??? Finally made my way to the Kose counter and asked the SA if she had any limited edition eye makeup items.

I had already made up my mind to buy something, so when she showed me this Fantasist makeup collection, I thot ok, this is it. Then she showed me the shimmery eye colours and I'm like, where's the cashier? LOL.


The whole set costs SGD$69 and contains a glitter mascara, two Fantasist eye colours, a powder blush and a lip colour. I started panicking a little after I paid up tho. My brain spoke up, $69 within 5 mins?! That's when the rationalising starts and hey, with the sizes of the items and the number of items I got and....

At the end of the day, I think it's a good buy. Love the shimmery colours of the eye Fantasist. The texture and colour of the rouge Fantasist reminds me of the lipstick those Tokyo Takashimaya girls had on ;) Ahhh, Tokyo...




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Now playing: Lívia Rév - Bartók: For Children - #32 Andante
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Amazing Watsons

Bought these at Watsons over lunchtime. It so happened the Watsons near my workplace was having 20% off these 2 products. Whoo hoo!

This Bio-Essence 24K Bio-Gold eye contour lifting serum is something new to me. According to the advertising blurb on the packaging, this contains REAL gold flakes. When absorbed, it's supposed to do all sorts of good for my eye bags.


Similarly for the eye mask. It contains ginseng and is, I quote, "an intensive treatment mask targeted to treat sagging, puffy eye bags". No eye bags without surgery???

I'm using the eye mask as I type this. Hope this works *fingers crossed*

PS: Gosh. Having this blog is gd. It's a pictorial account book. I've bought so much over the span of 3 days!


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Now playing: Michael Bublé - You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby
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Birthday presents from the office

We've started celebrating birthdays in my dept. So it goes on a quarterly basis with a cake for all the birthday stars within that quarter to share and a gift each. These are the things my colleagues got me for my birthday this month.

Sake bath set from The Face Shop. This set consists of a shower lotion, a gel scrub, a body lotion and a shower puff.

Next is a kimmidoll coin purse in pastel pink. They said it's very me ;)

Also received a limited edition White Wine Lifting Mask from The Face Shop in the same package.

Very touched and grateful :)


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Listening to: 宇多田ヒカル - First Love
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Birthday presents

Very blessed to receive many calls, smses, FB posts, superpokes. Thanks all! Received these presents from a dear friend and my sis.

A vast collection of juice recipes.

TIGI Catwalk Curls Rock! shampoo and conditioner. In extra large size *beam*



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Listening to: Hillsong United - Saviour King
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Buying spree

Inspired by Karen, I went on a shopping spree too. Hiaks.

Robinson's and Watson's are both having 20% discount sales now, so what better time to shop for toiletries and cosmetics? Being an avid label and ingredients reader, I was bought over by the supposedly natural ingredients and claims to be suitable for sensitive skin of these 2 brands.

Bought this at Robinson's. Had quite a gd experience with its Moisture Booster and Moisture Glow while I was sweltering under the mighty Egyptian sun last month. Realised I needed something for my lips too even though I'm now back on the little red dot.

It's the same sun isn't it?

Was quite excited by this new range at Watson's. It has a very 可愛い pastel pink packaging and, according to the blurb on the packaging, it's specially formulated for dry sensitive skins with the faint aroma of roses.

Can't wait to try it out.


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Listening to: Luther Vandross - Superstar
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