"The cat is beauty and the beast, a baffling blend, a wicked feast.”
Now that it’s the tail end of 2014, it’s the purrfect oppurrtunity to cat-alog our purrsonal furvorites and best discoveries of the year.
*Post spawnsored by Miss Roxy, BeautyandtheCat’s resident bundle of holiday cheer.*
We met up in the San Gabriel Valley (you know, the other valley in LA) for some major hauling of Asian cosmetics.
We hit up our old favorites (see this post), including (not in that post) Maneki Neko in the Santa Anita Mall, Takashima in Arcadia, and Art Land in the San Gabriel Superstore.
But what’s the biggest development on the shopping front? The Amore store in the Focus/99 Ranch Plaza in San Gabriel is now an Aritaum. I REPEAT, WE HAVE AN ARITAUM.
Continue reading “Deck the Hauls: Aritaum in San Gabriel + Hauls”
In this month’s Allure, the editor’s letter mentioned the SkinBetter app. The free app–a venture between Allure/Conde Nast and Canfield Scientific (update: Canfield Scientific is also the developer of the more-advanced VISIA analyzer)–is supposed to be all sorts of patented techy goodness and analyzes the condition of your skin using your camera phone, some algorithms, and a comparison system. Gimmick or the real deal?
NOTE: PocketDerm has rebranded itself as Curology and eliminated the distinction between “Anti-Aging” and “Acne” goals. All ingredients are now fair game for inclusion in your Curology prescription–regardless of whether they’re anti-aging or acne.
I just finished my fourth week of PocketDerm Anti-Aging. To recap, my personalized formula is 0.08% tretinoin, 4% niacinamide, and 5% vitamin C. I’m currently applying about 2 pumps’ worth almost every night (at least 5 nights a week). My skin is generally smooth and has remained clear, and, after I clear off the flakes, I really like the way my skin looks. Occasionally, skin texture feels rougher in spots due to peeling skin. So far, I haven’t noticed any improvement in hyperpigmentation or fine lines, but I’m not expecting to see results this soon anyway.
The most obvious evidence that the tretinoin is working: the peeling!
Continue reading “Flake It Off: PocketDerm Anti-Aging Review–Weeks 1 to 4”
I love cake–just not in my makeup.
Unfortunately, Dr.Jart Bounce Beauty Balm (0.4 oz. for $48) is nothing but cake. I don’t see any bouncy, dewy action–only matte, flat, moisture-sucking, and cakey patchiness. Continue reading “Cake Mania: Dr.Jart+ Bounce Beauty Balm in 01 Light – Review”
My girlfriends brought me a precious haul from Japan/Taiwan which includes a few super awesome face masks like this one below:
Continue reading “Have you Herb? – L’HERBOFLORE Marine Collagen Resilience Lift Mask”
After a night of socializing with coworkers (which involved coffee Patron shots) I did not want sluggish (pun intended) skin the next morning. Yah I have 6:30AM Barre class in the dead cold of winter (cuz I wanna be skinny more than I want sleep.) So of course I reached for my trusty snail extract product: the newly purchased Nature Republic Snail 1,000 Hydrogel Mask Sheet. What’s the “1,000”? It means the mask contains 1,000mg of snail mucin. They coulda just said 1g but I digress…
Continue reading “The Daily Snail – Nature Republic Snail Solution 1,000 Hydrogel Mask Sheet”
Asian cosmetics companies are really into fermentation. I guess the acidity and yeast of various fermented stuff is good for skin. Hey, any process that makes wine is good as far as I’m concerned. My latest acquisition (to add to the already massive mask collection) is the SANA fermented soy milk sheet mask.
Continue reading “Soy Meets Girl – SANA Nameraka Honpo Essence Sheet Mask”
PocketDerm sounds like something out of The Jetsons.
Okay, that last step isn’t guaranteed by PocketDerm, but the concept is that your skin will at least improve with access to prescription-strength active ingredients.
NOTE: PocketDerm has rebranded itself as Curology and eliminated the distinction between “Anti-Aging” and “Acne” goals. All ingredients are now fair game for inclusion in your Curology prescription–regardless of whether they’re anti-aging or acne.
Continue reading “d-URL-matology: PocketDerm Anti-Aging Review–Getting Started”
Blackheads: they’re gross and they happen to almost everyone. Well I’m about to introduce you to a potential gamechanger–something more effective than the normal clay masks and nose strip that I’ve tried recently.
The Elizavecca Milky Piggy Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask ($20 for 100 ml) wins for both Cutest Name and Most Matter-of-Fact Name. Because really, it is exactly a clay mask that bubbles up with carbonation.
Continue reading “Pigging Out: Elizavecca Milky Piggy Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask Review”
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