Recent Purchase: J.Cats Beauty Love Struck Glam Glow Powder in 111 Kitten Kisses

I saw this in Watsons in Bangkok recently and I immediately fell in love with it. Now, how cute is this, right?

J. Cats is an American drugstore brand that is not available in KL. It doesn't come with a drugstore price tag in Bangkok, in fact, it costs quite a bit in Bangkok. Still, I had to have it.

It looks soooo pretty. Now, think I'll ever use it?

Sephora's Black Card Sale

Yup, I went to the Sephora Black Card members' sale and this is all that I bought :)

I've been wanting to buy the Zoeva 317 Eye Liner brush for the longest time but prior to this, Zoeva was only available on the Luxola website and Zoeva was never on sale.

This time around though, the entire Sephora store and website are on 20% discount and I took the opportunity to purchase the Zoeva 317 Wing Eye Liner brush --- yay!

Kitty Cushion for Charity

I purchased this cute kitty cushion from FFF's fundraiser in IPC today :)

Soap & Glory Crazy Sexy Kohl Review

I saw this on the Boots website after Xmas while I was in London and seeing that it was on sale at half off, I just had to have it! So off I went to the nearest Boots outlet the very next morning and was thankful to have been able to snag one of the last few tins of the Crazy Sexy Kohl left on the shelf (and boy, were they going fast!!!).

Soap & Glory's Crazy Sexy Kohl is a set of 5 different colored kohl pencils (black, brown, blue, purple and green) packaged in an eyeliner pencil box, or to be more accurate, tin. 

I wanted to try the Smoulder Kohl before this but the normal retail price of £5 each too much to pay for a product that I wasn't sure if it was going to work out for me given my oily skin condition. However, at the half off price of £7 for the entire tin, each pencil costs around RM10, making the kit a steal, if you ask me. 

As it normally goes with me, I use my eyeliners up one by one and I have only tried using one of the Smoulder Kohls which is the Superblack one. I have read great reviews about this product and was interested in finding out how it would perform on my super oily skin in a super humid climate.

It goes on well and have been often compared to Urban Decay's 24/7 eyeliners by other reviewers in the blogosphere. It is super creamy and smooth and goes on without any tugging or pulling. The color payoff is also great.

When I first applied it on my lids, the color smudged and transfered onto my crease by the end of the day. I had to touch up at about lunch time as I didn't want it to look seriously like smoky eyes.

When applied on my waterline, the color lasted for about an hour and a half before travelling down to the skin beneath my lower lashes. Hmmm....I really wanted this product to work for me....

Determined to make it work, I later tried applying this eyeliner to my lids and then smudging it out with an eyeliner brush and it worked! This method makes the product last on my super oily eyelids for the entire day. Yay!

I love this product.

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Soap & Glory |Crazy Sexy Kohl
Made in the UK

£14.00 (Normal Retail Price), I got mine for £7.00 (Half Price After Xmas Sale at Boots, London)

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Earth Care | Feet for a Queen Rosemary Avocado Healing Foot Balm

I purchased that Earth Care Feet for a Queen Foot Balm the same time that I purchased the Earth Care Orange Tea Lip Balm (read about it here). I simply love the lemon grass scent of this balm. 

I have to be honest though that the texture of the balm of the tester that I tried is much different than the texture of balm that I purchased. The tester balm was super soft while the balm that I purchased is kinda hard. Hmmmm........

Getting the product out of the tin can get to be a tad of a challenge. I have now resorted to scraping a tiny bit of the balm off with my finger nail and applying it to where I want it on my feet. 

I normally apply this balm on my feet just before bed. I like the feel of the balm on my feet but is it making my feet smoother or improving the texture of my feet? Hmmmm.... I can't really say, to be honest.

I treat this more as a feet pampering product. Results? None that I can see nor feel the difference after using it almost daily for almost four weeks now.

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Earth Care Soaps | Feet for a Queen Foot Balm

30g

RM18.00

Purchased in the Christmas Stall in The Curve

Made locally with organic products

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D.I.Y. Coconut Lime Sugar Scrub

I often come across vendors who sell D.I.Y. organic scrubs in the shopping malls but as much as I love smelling them, I just can't justify paying RM30+ for what seems like just a cup of homemade scrub. 

So I decided to save some bucks and learn to make my own sugar scrub and after much research online (where I found loads of homemade beauty recipes) I decided to dive right in and make my own body scrub. 

These are the ingredients and cost of each item:

Coconut Oil                                RM16

Kaffir Lime Essential Oil            RM17.90

Coarse Sugar (1 kg)                  RM2.85

I only made 3/4 cups of scrub as I wanted to keep it fresh. I packed my homemade scrub into a recycled cranberry jar (I knew that all those jars that I have been saving would come in handy some day!) 

The smell of my Coconut Lime Sugar Scrub was simply lovely and the scrub left my skin feeling silky smooth. 

I still lots have of ingredients left to try out other scrub recipes :) Love!

Revlon Color Burst in Berry Smoothie Review

Okay, I admit, I'm probably the last person on the planet to get on the Revlon Lip Butter rave wagon but hey, better late than never, no?

Where I live, Revlon products seem to be on the steeper end of drugstore makeup products. So I was pleasantly surprised when I was in Tesco's last week and they were having a 75% off discount on Revlon Color Burst Lip Butters and since I had heard many good things about it on the Internet, I decided to purchase one and find out what they hype was all about. 

I only purchased one as I wasn't sure about the color payoff and there were no testers available :/

I picked what seemed to be a safe neutral colour --- Berry Smoothie.

I now get what the hype around this product is all about. The formula of this product is fantastic. It's really moisturising and not drying at all, something that I really love about it. 

I like how the cover of the lipstick reflects the color of the lipstick inside. This would be of tremendous help especially when looking through my stash of lippies!

The colour payoff of Berry Smoothie is not much on my lips. It takes a few swipes of the product for it to show up on my pigmented lips. It looks natural on me and I like it. Now I wish I had picked up more! Definitely a love!

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Revlon Color Burst Lip Butter | Berry Smoothie
2.55 g

Made in U.S.A.

Normal Retail Price: 34.80 (I got mine for RM8.70, 75% Off at Tesco)

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Catrice Better than False Lashes Mascara Review

I purchased the Catrice Better than False Lashes mascara a few days ago. The tube is gold in colour and there is a picture of the mascara wand on the tube which is helpful in assisting you when purchasing the product should there be no testers available. 

The wand is the brush type and is big. This mascara is of the drier formulation and I found that I needed at least two coats of this mascara for it to look like I had anything on my lashes. 

The outcome is natural but voluminous looking lashes. My lashes are separated and not clumpy with product. It also didn't sting my eyes, which is good. 

I wore it to work and found that it didn't smudge throughout the day. It's also easy to remove. 

And oh, did I mention that it is a super affordable mascara? 

 It's perfect for work.

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Catrice | Better than False Lashes
12 ml

Made in Italy

Normal Retail Price: 24.90 (I got mine for RM17.45, 30% Off)
Available  at selected Guardian outlets

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Soap & Glory | The Righteous Butter Review

The first time I smelt the scent of Soap & Glory's The Righteous Butter, I loved it. The second time around (and this was on the same day, mind you) that I smelt it, I thought that the smell was too strong (which explains why I never got around to buying it; the price is also pretty steep where I live for a body butter).

Then, I went to London and saw the Christmas gift limited edition of The Righteous Butter on sale after Christmas. The tub of The Righteous Butter is in a pretty pink tin drum designed to be hung on a Christmas tree. In fact, it was going at half price and I have to admit that I was pretty difficult for me to pass up the opportunity of trying it out but guess what --- I walked away from it since I thought that the scent is a tad too strong for my liking. At that time, there were many drums of The Righteous Butter on the shelve at the Soap & Glory section of half off products.

But at home, I found myself thinking about it and visiting the Boots website to look at it. I went back to Boots two days later and guess what? The shelve was empty!!! I searched Boots high and low and after some time of persistent searching, finally found one abandoned drum sitting on another shelf in the store, clearly having been discarded by another shopper. I quickly grabbed it, feeling lucky to find it.

The strong smell of The Righteous Butter doesn't last long, so that's okay with me. The texture is thick and feels wonderful when applied onto my skin right after a warm shower especially in winter when it is dry. Would I buy it again? I've yet to decide on that one as I find the scent a tad too strong for my liking.

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Soap & Glory |The Righteous Butter
200 ml

Made in the UK

£5.00 (Normal Retail Price), I got mine for £2.50 (Half Price After Xmas Sale at Boots, London)

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Rimmel London | Kate Matte Lipstick Review

I purchased this lippie while I was in London. It was part of my three for two purchase of Rimmel London products from Boots. I picked colour 170, a berry red shade, a colour that I don't already have and besides, it seems fitting to be seen in a berry red lipstick when I'm dressed in black on most days against the grey London sky.

Rimmel London is no longer a brand that is available in Malaysia. They used to be sold here a number of years ago but that is sadly no longer the case.

This is a matte lipstick that isn't as drying as I was expecting it to be which is a surprise to me. It lasts well throughout the day and is something that I really like about it since I'm really rubbish when it comes to touching up my face.

I simply love the berry red colour. I think of it as a so London color, don't ask me why, but that is what I think of it. This is my current favourite lipstick colour which I've been wearing almost every day ever since I got it. So yeah, this is another purchase that I'm pleased with.

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Rimmel London | Kate Matte Lipstick in 107
4g

Made in England

Normal Retail Price: £5.50 (I got mine as part of the three for two offer at Boots)
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Claire Organics | Kurokami Soap

Okay, so here I go again... yet ANOTHER beauty purchase!

I was browsing the Christmas stores in One Utama when I came across a stall by Claire Organics. Curious, I took a look at some of their products. I didn't buy anything then but made a mental note to research them online.

My research revealed that they had a product that was of interest to me --- the Kurokami soap for hair! According to the Claire Organics Facebook page Kurokami is supposed to be good for hair growth, darkening hair color and has anti-dandruff properties. The soap smells organically yummy (no other way to describe it!).

Hmmm..... so today, I went down to One Utama with only one thing in mind: to purchase the soap.

Ah, there is just something about browsing the Christmas Stalls that makes my just want to buy stuff....

Update:

The first time I used this soap somewhere in December 2015, my hair turned out stringy, limp and flat. Sheesh..... I stayed away from using this product for about a month before I decided to give it another go. I discovered that using a bar soap as a shampoo needs some work as it is not as easy to get a lather going.

The most recent attempt was on Jan 24, 2016 and made sure to use a lot of lather on my hair and I washed it a few times as I had an hair oil serum which I applied overnight. The result was not ideal but a lot better than my first try (Thank God!). 

Just thought that it might be helpful for you to know that in order to prolong the life of my soap, I cut it into smaller pieces and not use the entire bar. I also put the smaller pieces in a D.I.Y. mesh shower pouch which helps me in sudsing up the soap. I can hang it up to dry on the towel rack after my shower so that the soap can air dry and not melt away if left moist and damp in a soap dish.

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Claire Organics |Kurokami Bar Soap Shampoo
100 g

Made in Malaysia

RM22 

Available from: Xmas Kiosk in 1-Utama (this is where I purchased it), Opika and Tangs in 1-Utama

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Earth Care Soaps Green Tea Orange Moisturising Lip Balm

I love pampering products. I happened to come by this brand while I was browsing at the Christmas stalls in The Curve after work yesterday.

I came across the Earth Care Soaps stall and I just loved the array of skincare products that they had on display. As it turns out, the Earth Care Soaps stall had more than just soaps. They also had facial and body scrubs, lip scrubs, lip balms, carrier and essential oils, body oil blend, hair oil blend and balms.

I tried swatching one of the lip balms on the back of my hand and I fell in love with the texture that just melted into my skin. I was sold.

I picked the limited holiday edition Green Tea Orange lip balm as I love the orange scent. It smells just so yummy. I just love sniffing this product...

This lip balm is colorless and goes on smoothly. My lips feel moisturised with it on. The packaging allows the product to be swivelled up and back down after use.

This is an organic product and as it is with organic products, the shelf life is not very long. This lip balm expires in July 2016.

I applied it on my lips before going to bed last night and woke up this morning with soft, kissable lips :D. So yes, this is certainly a purchase that I am pleased with.

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Earth Care Soaps | Green Tea Orange Moisturising Lip Balm
RM12.00
Purchased in the Christmas Stall in The Curve
Made locally with organic products
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Essence Cookies & Cream Blush Cake Pop That's Top Review

I picked up the Essence Cookies & Cream blush at the same time that I purchased the Essence Cookies & Cream Hand Balm (you can read the review here).

There is only one blusher in this limited edition line and the shade is named Cake Pop That's Top.

I didn't need another blusher but the color was just hard for me to walk away from. I not only love the color but also the texture --- it's buttery soft and I just need to touch my brush a tad bit to get a lot of color payoff.

This is a shimmery sort of blusher but the shimmer particles are very fine and not noticeable. It just gives my cheeks a nice glow of color. 

I love this blusher and I'm glad that I purchased it :) 

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Essence Cookies & Cream Blush in Cake Pop That's Top

Normal Retail Price: RM15.85 (I got mine for RM11.10 @ 30% Off)

Made in Poland

Available in selected Watson's

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Essence Cookies & Cream Hand Balm Review

I saw the Essence Cookies & Cream Hand Balm while I was browsing the Essence stand last Thursday. This is part of the Cookies and Cream line which is limited edition. It was the only one on the shelf. It only took me one sniff of the product to know that I just had to have it. It smells sooo yummy!

The packaging is cute and the texture of the hand balm is very light and non-greasy after it sinks into your skin after about a minute after application. I definitely love this product for its scent hands down! :)

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Essence Cookies & Cream Hand Balm | 100 ml
Normal Retail Price: RM10.90 (I got mine at RM7.65 @ 30% off)
Made in Poland
Available at selected Watson's
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Soap & Glory Peaches and Clean 4 in 1 Wash Off Deep Cleansing Milk Review

I've been using this product for the past few months. To be quite honest, this is one product that I really didn't need but I bought it to pamper myself and besides,  I just love the smell of peaches. 

When I first got it, I tried just using this product and then rinsing it off with water. However, I felt like it didn't quite feel clean. I now use it after I remove my makeup with baby wipes. One pump is enough to remove the makeup residue off my face.

Would I repurchase it? Well, this was a treat purchase but for the price that I paid for it, I can probably get a comparable product for the fraction of the price.

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Soap & Glory Peaches and Clean 4 in 1 Wash Off Deep Cleansing Milk | 350 ml
RM90.00 
Made in the UK
Available in Sephora
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Treat: Essence Long Lasting Eye Liners

I caved in and purchased two Essence Long Lasting Eye Liners after reading so many good reviews about them. So far, my only Essence purchase are my Essence Lipstick and the Essence All About Matt! Fixing Loose Powder, both of which I love.

I got them in colors 18 Berry Merry, which is a purple, and 19 Hot Scorch which is a copper brown with glitters in it (something different from the normal brown that I usually have). 

The formula seemed soft when I swatched the testers at the store. I'm looking forward to testing them out to see how long they really last.   

Urban Decay Sheer Revolution Lipstick in Sheer Anarchy Review

It's been a looonngggggg time since I last purchased a branded lipstick. I think the last branded lipstick I had was the Dior lipstick which was purchased many years ago (I kid you not!). So yeah, this was certainly a long awaited treat in the branded lipstick department.

I purchased this lipstick in the last Sephora Black Card Members Sale in May as the whole store was 20% off and yes, it was an impulse purchase and certainly a splurge in my books!

I went there to purchase just the Stila Color Convertibles that I had been eyeing on but somehow, while browsing the stands, I came across the Urban Decay Sheer Revolution lipstick line and the rest, as they say, is history.   

I love, love, love this lipstick. It goes on smoothly and the formula is moisturising (matte dry lipsticks don't do it for me). 

Now that it's Ramadhan and I don't eat during the daylight hours, I actually discovered that this lipstick fades after about 4 to 5 hours. Before this, I thought it was due to eating and all that water sipping that I do throughout the work day. But hey, I'm not complaining as I love the formula.

The color, when it fades, stains to the reddish color. It doesn't look fuchsia at all.

Anarchy is a color that when I swatched it at the store, I just had to have it (yes, it was that bad!). It's a pretty fuchsia color. I've been using this lippie almost every day lately. It makes me feel good. *Love*

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Urban Decay Sheer Revolution Lipstick in Sheer Anarchy 

RM 85.00 (I purchased mine for RM 68.00 during Sephora's 20% off storewide sale in May)
2.8 g/ 0.09 oz

Made in USA

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Kipling Polka dot Print Wallet Review

I went to the Kipling Members Sale Preview last week in 1-Utama solely because my then wallet was disintegrating to the point that it was kinda embarrassing to be seen using it and I was looking for a replacement wallet.

The sale itself was mega crazy. There was barely any room to move in that tiny store!

I got this wallet for 40% the original price. It was still pricey after the discount but I desperately had to get a new wallet and let me tell you, I have been looking for a replacement wallet for a long time already and have yet to find something that I liked, until today, that is. 

I have since used this wallet a little over a week now and so far, I love it! It has two zippered compartments, one for cards and the other for cash and coins. I like that the zippers are in fuchsia which contrasts with the polka dot prints. It also feels  comfortable in my hand --- something that I find is important to me. 

Review: Stila Blooming Bright Convertible Color Trio

Sephora recently had a Black Card Members Sale with 20% discount storewide.

I saw the Stila Convertible Trio Sets (there are two to choose from) a few months back and put them on my wish list.

My wish list is one that I create in my head of things that I'd like to have but I'm not sure if it's something that would be something I would really use or just an impulse purchase. So when I see something, I normally don't purchase it immediately but instead wait a little bit to see how I would feel about it much later.

When I received the member's sale text message from Sephora, I  just had to go as I'd been eyeing the Stila Color Convertible Trio for quite some time and thought that I would drop by on the off chance that they might still have them.

I already own a full sized Stila Color Convertible in Magnolia which came  in the set that I purchased last Christmas and I love it and wear it everyday. Magnolia is not a bright color and is easy to use. It also gives my cheeks a lovely flush of color that looks natural.

So, I've been wanting to try out the other colors in the line but since I'm on a tight budget, I didn't want to purchase them at full price.

These are limited edition, I think. I thought that the small packaging would be ideal for me since very little is needed for each wear and I would prefer the color variety over the quatity of product. I've been using my Stila Color Convertible in Magnolia to work every day and I have yet to hit pan!

The Blooming Bright Convertible Color Trio is made up of the shades Lilium, Petunia and Hibiscus. These cute little sizes come with a mirror inside the compact!

At first, I found the colors difficult to blend out when applied using my fingers as the colors are quite bright. 

I later discovered a method of applying cream blushers online and decided to give it a try and I'm happy to say, it works! 

What's the method, you ask? Well, apply I these colors using a make up sponge and dab the color onto my cheeks. It gives me more control as to where I want the color to go and also the intensity of color that I want.

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Stila Blooming Bright Convertible Color Trio

RM 70.00 (I purchased mine for RM 56.00 during Sephora's 20% off storewide sale in May)
2 g/ 0.07 oz

Made in China

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Silky Girl Moisture Boost Lipcolor Balm Review

I'm always on the lookout for a good bargain. Guardian recently had a buy one get one free promotion and the Silky Girl Moisture Boost Lipcolor Balm was one of the items offered. I figured that it would be a good time to try out this product as I have been curious about this product but was not about to break the bank and pay the full price for it but since it was going at half price each, I thought, "Why not?".

So I purchased mine in Coral and Ruby. I've so far have only used the Coral one and I find that it doesn't feel as moisturising as my Essence lippie but it doesn't feel drying on the lips either. I was quite surprised to find that the colour lasts a lot longer than I expected since it is classified as a lip balm. I also like the bright  Coral color. By the way, the coral color is much brighter in life than in the photograph.

According to the Silky Girl website, this product doesn't contain fragrance, parabens, carmine and isn't tested on animals. So that ranks pretty high on my list.

I couldn't get any information on the amount of product that you get but by the looks of it, it seems to be less that your normal lipstick. That's kinda okay with me as I like to have the colour variety and one lip color lasts a mighty long time for me.

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Product: Silky Girl Moisture Boost Lipcolor Balm
Retail Price: RM20.90 (I purchased mine during the Buy 1 Get 1 Free Promotion at Guardian Pharmacy)
Product Amount: 3.2g
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