"The cat is beauty and the beast, a baffling blend, a wicked feast.”
Again the Tony Moly packaging sucked me in. This time it’s the Tomatox Brightening mask. I love products that contain tomatoes (like the Burt’s Bees tomato toner) because they contain antioxidants and all that other good stuff. What’s good for the belly is good for the face no?
Here’s the amazingly awesome package. Nice thing about these is that you can recycle them as containers for other products when you travel as well!
Continue reading “You Say Tomato – TONYMOLY Tomatox Brightening Mask”
Sake is useful for making you beautiful…and not just by giving your date sake-goggles ladies, muahhahahah. If you’re unfamiliar, the legend of the famous SK-II brand has it that a scientist in 1970s-era Japan noticed the very soft and youthful hands of women working in a Japanese saké brewery. So now the sake beauty products proliferate.
Also there’s some research saying that the kojic acid in sake decreases your skin’s ability to form the melanin found in spots and freckles. This same type of acid helps your skin retain moisture. Sake yeast is also supposed to stimulate cell-regeneration. Lots of promising “scientific” claims!
Today I binged at Atlantic Square in Alhambra again and blew a bit of dough on experimental products, one of which is a face milky toner lotion by Kiku-Masamune. It’s NOT a beauty brand; it’s a sake brewery!
This milky toner is made from amino acids that are the product of the Japanese sake from this brewery. The 17 fl oz (500ml) bottle cost me $15 so it’s a LOT of product for the price. Great to use it as a cheap toning face mask. I bought those cotton sheet masks that you can use to create your own.
Continue reading “Sake to Me! Kiku-Masamune Sake Skin Care Lotion”
Laneige Multi Cleanser ($22 for 6 fl. oz.) makes many claims for a facial cleanser, but unfortunately it doesn’t live up to several of them.
First, it’s supposed to be for all skin types. Although it lathers up beautifully into a gentle-feeling cushiony cloud of dense foam (far denser than any typical cleanser; it’s similar to a Shiseido cleanser I tried many years ago), skin is left feeling clean. Too clean. After other cleansers, my fingers can still glide over my skin, but after Multi Cleanser, my fingers drag and skip over my skin. So it’s too harsh for dry skin. (Yet it’s strangely satisfying in the summer to feel all the oil stripped from your face.) Update: I tested the pH level to be 8, which explains the squeaky clean feeling. Also, the dense foam takes several extra splashes to rinse it from your hairline or (ew) nostrils.
Next, it makes four claims: Continue reading “Face Off: Laneige Multi Cleanser Review”
CAUTION: Latisse/bimatoprost/Careprost are prescription drugs. Consult your doctor regarding use. This post describes my personal experience and is not intended to provide medical advice or recommendations.
The prescription lash-growing drug Latisse by Allergan is notoriously expensive. The good news is that there is a cheaper version available. Latisse works because of the active ingredient bimatoprost. This same ingredient is found in the same concentration (0.03% bimatoprost) in Careprost, a generic version available outside of the U.S.
I use it by squeezing a drop into the lid, dipping a (clean dry) eyeliner brush into the lid, and then applying the product on the upper lashline. One drop is more than enough for both lashlines.
I apply it to a lashline that’s clean and free of any skincare products so that the product can absorb and also to avoid contaminating the brush and product. I go from the inner corner to just short of the outer corner because, in past experience, I think some dripped down the outer corner and caused some skin darkening. Gosh, that sounds bad, but it’s really not. I feel comfortable walking out without concealer and it’s easily covered up by a light concealer and looks like regular undereye darkening. Continue reading “Lash Sale: Latisse/Bimatoprost/Careprost Review + Before & After Pics”
In no particular order, below are my personal favorites that I’ve come across for keeping up with Korean beauty products and trends (good reviews and swatches, frequent posting, well produced). My method for discovering Korean beauty gurus on YouTube is quite haphazard, so I welcome your comments on your faves.
I did briefly consider posting everyone’s “My Love from Another Star”/Cheon Song Yi tutorials, but instead I picked some of my favorite videos spanning different looks and topics.
Updated March 2015
Jen used to live in Australia and teach children but is now a K-style reporter for Arirang TV in Korea. Blogger turned TV personality? An inspiration to us all.
Her TV segments (also in English) are assembled in a playlist under her username. For example, care to learn about men’s makeup?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdytMEOnJhU
So Young’s videos showcase a lot of the latest trends in makeup. Continue reading “Top Korean Beauty YouTube Channels”
Queen Helene probably wasn’t even a real Queen, but I won’t hold that against her (who is probably not even a real person.) Well, I guess she (the non-person) is the queen of facial masks considering the cult favorite Queen Helene Mint Julep mask. But this is not about that mask. It’s about the other one in the range of masks, and I just put it on tonight to shrink wrap my tired saggy skin and oil-oozing pores in this 99-degree LA weather.
This avocado grapefruit mask has the same primary ingredients as the mint julep mask. I just wanted to try something new. It smells a bit better than the mint julep mask, which leaves an after-smell which is a combination of dirt and sulfur (i.e: not entirely unlike fart.) Let’s be clear: the avocado grapefruit mask has the same sulfur smell, just much more faint. Continue reading “The Queen and I – Queen Helene Avocado & Grapefruit Facial Masque”
Hourglass No. 28 Lip Treatment Oil is the most expensive lip product I own. At $42 for 0.25 oz., it’s almost as expensive per ounce as La Mer’s lip balm (Hourglass: $168/oz. versus La Mer: $172/oz.). Containing 28 different oils and applied via a cold 24kt gold-plated tip, the oil feels plush and thick, not runny. It has a slightly herbal fragrance, but I don’t really notice it anymore.
Continue reading “Worth It? Hourglass No. 28 Lip Treatment Oil Review”
I love the luxurious feeling of a mask, any mask. Though empirical evidence on what masks can do vary greatly, there’s a therapeutic effect from this self-pampering ritual which is undeniable. I have at least 9-10 masks in my overfilled medicine cabinet and fridge (I leave a tofu face mask in the fridge for hot summer days like these)
The mask de l’heure is the Rare Earth Pore Cleansing Masque from Kiehl’s. The Kiehl’s store is insanely addictive because of its cute, homey, artisanal packaging and lovely combinations of natural ingredients (calendula toner please!) The price point of mostly $20-50 is also right there in my sweet spot.
This mud mask promises to shrink your pore and clarify your skin. And yep, it does tighten your skin and soak up oil like a napkin on greasy pizza. Look at the opaqueness:
Continue reading “Clear as Mud – Kiehl’s Rare Earth Pore Cleansing Masque”
Part 1 is here.
Ah, I bought too much in LA. Some are gifts. But let’s be real, most of it is for me.
First, I bought some cotton pads to remove eye makeup. After Costco stopped offering my favorite Denon cotton pads (cheap and didn’t disintegrate or shed lint), I’ve been trying out different drugstore offerings and some Asian ones that I had lying around. They’ve all been meh. Here’s hoping these are better. Continue reading “They See Me Haulin’ Part 2: Haul Revealed”
In LA, I shopped my way across the city for Asian beauty products. All for you! I’m sorry, I meant me. All for me. By no means is this list meant to be extensive. I only listed places that I already knew of or came across. I hope, however, that this is useful to someone interested in shopping for Asian makeup and skincare. My faves: Image, Beauty Tips, and Takashima–all in the San Gabriel Valley. Read on for info about stores there and in Koreatown and West LA. Some things to note:
SAN GABRIEL VALLEY–ATLANTIC SQUARE
1. Beauty Tips/Tips Beauty (Taiwanese, Korean, Japanese) 500 N. Atlantic Blvd., Suite 177, Monterey Park, CA 91754 The entrance is on Atlantic. Although small, it is crammed with products from Taiwanese, Korean, and Japanese brands, including brands that I didn’t see anywhere else. Also carries a healthy selection of American/Western brands, some of which are not commonly found in stores (such as Avene, La Roche Posay, Klorane, Eve Lom). Great for: Continue reading “They See Me Haulin’ Part 1: Shopping in LA”
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