Operation Use It Up!

Just finished another batch of products!

1. Lush American Cream hair conditioner: This was not moisturising enough for my color-treated hair. Fortunately, this was just a small 100ml bottle that lasted about 10 uses for me.

2. Lancome Bi-Facil Eye Makeup Remover: Many ladies swear by this dual-phase non-oil eye makeup remover but it was not able to remove some waterproof mascaras completely for me.

3. Urban Decay Clean & Sober Oil-Free Makeup Remover: I received this as a GWP when Urban Decay was launched in Singapore earlier this year. One bottle lasted just over one month with daily use. I usually use three pumps on a cotton pad. It does remove foundation and other face makeup quite effectively but I still follow up with a foaming cleanser to make sure that I cleanse thoroughly. I tried using it to remove eye makeup but it stung my eyes and was not able to remove some waterproof mascaras completely.

4. DDF Sulfur Therapeutic Mask: I liked how this mask left my skin feeling very soft and clean. It dries quite fast in Singapore's weather and was easy to wash off. It did not completely prevent acne for me but still, I liked it. Despite containing sulfur, it does not have any odious sulfur smell.

5. John Masters Organics Zinc & Sage Shampoo with conditioner: The first time I used this, it kept reminding me of some dessert. It took a few washes before I realised that it smells like pulut hitam, which is a black glutinous rice dessert with coconut milk! It cleanses well but leaves my hair tangled and still in need of a heavy duty conditioner. I wouldn't re-purchase as the current Sala shampoo that I'm using leaves my hair soft and tangle-free even without conditioner.

6. Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Relaxing Balm: This worked quite well to keep my hair neat and tame stray flyaways but wasn't really anything special.

7. Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gio eau de parfum: This Mediterranean-inspired fragrance has notes of mint, calabrian lemon, brown sugar and Sicilian cedar. I found the mint note to be a bit too strong and clinical.

Operation Use It Up!

Managed to use up another batch of products in August :-) I have enough bodycare products to last me well into 2011, which is why I'm staying far far away from the ongoing Body Shop warehouse sale at Suntec!

1. RMK Creamy Soap N: This is the second deluxe sample tube that I've used up. Although it lathers well and leaves skin thoroughly cleansed, I would not purchase it as it stings the eyes.

2. Shu Uemura High Performance Cleansing Oil Fresh: A true classic, this literally just melts everything off.

3. DDF Glycolic 10% Toning Complex: I had high hopes for this in helping to prevent acne breakouts but it didn't really do wonders for me.

4. Essential Damage Care Rich Premier conditioner: This was excellent for softening and detangling my chemically-treated hair.

5. Cleansing Express Eye Makeup Remover: Very effective at removing eye makeup without stinging the eyes. The full size bottle lasted me about two months.

6. Body Shop Neroli Jasmine Shower Gel: Typical of Body Shop's shower gels, this has a soft floral scent and lathers very well. It can be a tad drying.

7. Body Shop Rich Plum Hand Wash: Love the rich fruity scent of this hand wash. If it is re-released for the holiday season this year, I'm definitely stocking up!

Skincare Haul

I received my haul from Kate Somerville and Nordstrom.com today, shipped via Borderlinx again.



Kate Somerville had a year-end special in which they were giving away their famous ExfoliKate (US$85) with purchases of US$200. while Nordstrom was offering an 18-piece GWP with any US$85 beauty purchase.

From Kate, I purchased the 9!! Kit (US$116), the Micro Glycolic Polisher (US$90) and EradiKate (US$22). Somerville is supposed to be the facialist to the stars in Los Angeles.




From Nordstrom, I got the Clinique Turnaround Radiance Peel (US$55), DDF Glycolic 10% Exfoliating Oil Control Gel (US$48), Sulfur Therapeutic Mask (US$38) and Glycolic 10% Toning Complex (US$35). It seems like many members of MUA swear by DDF skincare for combating acne so I was interested to try out some of its products.

I was also curious about the Clinique peel, which comes with 8 vials of a low-level (30%) glycolic peel and a tube of Calming Cream. Clinique will be launching the Turnaround' Instant Facial in Singapore in February but not the Radiance Peel.




The GWP that came with my Nordstrom order. The pouch is nothing special but the samples in it are pretty awesome with a good mix of fragrances, skincare and makeup products. It had Annick Goutal Gardenia Passion EDT (1.75ml), True Religion EDP (1.57ml), Viva La Juicy EDP, Prada Infusion D'Homme EDT, Philosophy Amazing Grace Perfumed Firming Body Emulsion 15ml, L'Occitane Ultra Rich Cream 8ml, Lancome Renergie MIcrolift Night 2g, Lancome Renergie Microlift Superior Lifting Cream SPF15 2g, Lippmann Stripper to go (lacquer remover finger mitt), ZO Skinhealthy Oclipse Sunscreen Primer SPF30 4ml, Elemis Papaya Enzyme Peel 3ml, Clinique High Impact Mascara, Laura Mercier Mulberry Lip Stain, Bare Escentuals Bare Minerals Face Color in Glee, Kinerase Extreme Lift Face 7ml and a pack of Shiseido cotton pads.



I love receiving perfume sample vials! Even though I already have too many to count, these are a great way to try out a fragrance without committing to the full size.



Bare Escentuals Bare Minerals Face Color in Glee (.02oz) which is a medium rosy pink which looks like it'd be a great everyday blush shade. The .03oz retails for US$18 normally so this alone makes the GWP quite valuable!



Laura Mercier Mulberry Lip Stain. This comes in a smaller pot than the normal retail size but the net weight is actually the same (0.21oz) which means the retail value is US$20. Another great value item! Hopefully, I'll actually get around to using it out of my mountain of lippies.



Once again, Borderlinx was very fast in despatching my package to me. I asked for the shipment to be released on Tuesday and on Friday morning, I received it! As I had a US$5 discount code, I paid only S$36.10 (US$23.92) for shipping, which I felt was very reasonable considering the number of items in my orders which came in two fairly sizeable boxes. With this shipment, I probably don't need to buy any more skincare for the rest of the year :-)