Oh Looky: Cosrx

A sudden popular brand recommended by many beauty enthusiasts spark the curiosity in me to get and try Cosrx.  After finishing them all I can ask is, WHY?

Kindly read Oh Looky before proceeding to read, thanks.

Cosrx AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner
After reading some articles, all I know is that AHA and BHA are acids that can be use as chemical exfoliants to remove dead skin cells, blackheads and whiteheads. blah blah blah it sounds good, reviews are all positive (not sure now) let's give this brand a try.

and it's all Hair Products

Just a quick post with most of the stuff that I use on my hair while drinking a cup of tea and a donut, a combo that is comforting in this gloomy rainy weather (it's not summer here anymore).

Watsons Revitalizing Treatment Shampoo
I like the honey variant better mainly because of the smell:  this one has more like a baby powder scent...it's as if the shampoo is sprinkled with some powder.  I like getting these shampoos from Watsons because they are big, they works just fine and most importantly, CHEAP!

Hair Fix Hair Treatment Deep Repair
It seems like I'm sensitive with sensitive nowadays because I hate the smell of this one, it's like a pomade and it's so strong it can last two days on my hair, what a bummer.  But aside from the smell, this hair treatment is really good as it moisturizes my hair making it shiny and bouncy and I also like the fact that it's in sachet instead of tub...it means I can try other variants (this one is argan oil & aloe vera) or other hair treatments from other brands without spending too much hehehe.

Herbal Essences Hello Hydration
I remember hating Clairol products before because it makes my hair stiff, frizzy and tangled and it's a good thing that they improved a LOT!  This is probably one of my favorite conditioners to date:  it's light as if my hair absorbs it real quick, it's easy to rinse, it has a nice light smell (nothing too strong and I hope the girls who wanted to sway their hair on the train would use this instead of the overpowering flower smell (I think more overpowering than the powerpuff girls) from other conditioner brands) and gives the right amount of moisture (nothing greasy).  It hit all the necessary basics!

Loreal Total Repair Night Essence
An impulse buy cause by the sudden change of hairstyle from shoulder length to the unexpected pixie hair.  I'm thinking that if my hair is less damage, it'll grow way way faster and hair products are my desperate cry.  I'm not a fan of "leave on" hair products and this is no exception because it does nothing.  I don't feel that it's helping my hair and it just makes my hair shiny for a short period of time (I put this at night after a bath, wake up with a shiny hair and wouldn't wash it for the shininess' sake by midday, my hair feels heavy and greasy).  A waste for me, I should have just gotten a hair treatment mask...but most of the part I think it's me not use to using "leave on" products fault.

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April 2014 Haul: Hooray for Free Stuff

This April I ate lots of chocolates courtesy of my brother (who also gave me some other free stuff) and I'm so happy and fluffy at the same time (I think I gain like a kilo from eating chocolates for a week).

My friends also gave me other stuff:  a former colleague gave me a Deep Cleansing Hand Soap from Bath & Body Works (plus candies too) as pasalubong and our friend KB also gave me a Collagen Food Supplement, sachets of Rotenyu Meguri which I thought was a scrub (it's not) and Egyptian Magic Cream which I love and so happy to receive.

I also got a cute manicure set from the local department store; SM, which surprised me when I'm already paying because it's at 50% off, passport holder to protect my unused passport (I really should book a flight soon) and a pair of slippers that is not so comfortable at first but is now a massage on my feet after a long day of walking.

And I cannot believe that I fell in love with the shirt because fruit on my tees are not my cup of tea but the mint color and the orange just go so well and I also got pants that are so comfortable and both are cheap!

And last batch of this haul consist of mochi, teas and a brow gel.  I got the Royal Family Mochi in Red Bean and Green Tea and I said to myself "these mochis will be perfect for my tea time) but it turns out that they go well with Coke too =) The teas are for me to sleep well at night but they seem to not helping me at the moment.  And lastly a brow gel from Essence to...I really don't know why I bought it :P

Thanks for reading. Till then. Bye!

They Hate Me = I Hate Them: Drugstore Products That Just Won't Work

Well, for me.  Some of the products here works okay with other people but it seems like my skin and scalp are brats these days that the most behaved part of my body is surprisingly my face.

Affordable and readily available are two major characteristics why I always roam around department or grocery stores.  Most of the time, the products that I buy works just fine but in this batch, everything seems bad to me.

Asian Secrets Lulur Body Scrub with Seaweed Extract and Vitamin E - P137 (around $3.20)
Surprise?  I know there are a lot of gals loving this scrub but it did a great deal of a damage to my skin.  After using this twice, I find myself scratching every part of my body and small itchy reddish bumps (like acne/pimples) started to appear.  There are three probable reasons for this shocking effect:  first is that the whitening ingredient in this scrub is just too much for my skin, second is probably an allergic reaction to the seaweed extract and third might be because of the small beads; polyethelene (a type of plastic), that acts as the scrub irritated my skin.

Olay Regenerist Cleanser - deluxe sample from the Olay Regenerist Specialty Cleanser Set
This one also has polyethelene that after just using it for a day, a few numbers of mini bumps appeared on my face.  I gave it another chance after a week but the result is still the same.  I also hate how this one smells like plastic.

Lorys Deep Moisturizing Hair Cream - P185 (around $4.30)
It's great that this hair mask can be use as an intensive mask and an everyday conditioner.  A week has passed of using it and my hair still feel damaged and became stiffer (but a bit straighter) than before.  I thought I can live with it and maybe after a few more weeks my hair would finally be less damaged and moisturized.  Rather, I found myself scratching my scalp intensively after some days so I finally gave up and decided to kick this hair mask out of the shower.

Essence Mosaic Compact Powder - P229 (around $5.30)
My first ever compact that I should have a bit of some kind of sentimental feeling with it but I find this too glittery.  I'm aware that there are parts of this compact that have glitters on it but when I swatched it before purchasing, the glitters look subtle, sheen and nice.  For the first few swirls, this compact actually looks good but as I swirl deeper, I find the glitters getting bigger (which I hate) and it also started to make my face itchy.  I heard a lot of good thing about Essence's translucent powder though which is what I planned to buy in the first place but it was (and still) out of stock.

Common denominator of these products: making me itchy!

Thanks for reading. Till then. Bye!

Missha Super Aqua Water Supply Essence

When I started "building" my skincare routine, I remember saving the "leftover" from the mask sheets that I used and used it as my everyday essence.  After that, I don't remember having a "proper" essence (I remember having a first essence but it's not really a full legit essence more of like a fusion of toner and essence) and only used samples if my memory serves me right.  And if you noticed (I just noticed it too) I use the "used" to much and " in this paragraph, I don't know why.

So here's my very first "proper", full sized essence eversince I started to be "maarte", the Missha Super Aqua Water Supply Essence.

Missha Super Aqua Water Supply Essence
40ml
online regular price around $12 in korean shops/around $30 on non-korean shops
got it for around P600 around $14.50

If M&M melts in your mouth, this one melts in the skin and it's as if providing the much needed water to a thirsty land making my skin feeling refresh and hydrated.  I couldn't believe how this essence made my skin soft and supple overnight that when I woke up the next morning, I couldn't stop pinching my cheeks.

It says in the description that it's a fresh moisturizing essence to enhance skin's moisture level while leaving a fresh feeling of softness on the skin which I already observed on my first day of application and still experiencing it up to now and I regret that I didn't take advantage of the 50% off sale of Missha last December (I asked Bae Lu for the discounted price and she said it's P330 or around $8 only which I think is one of the cheapest yet effective essence that I know and I only ordered it for a friend...I really should have get another one for myself but I guess I was attracted to the design of Missha's Misa essence, I really don't know what I was thinking last December).

the essence

The "secret" of this essence is that instead of purified water, this essence contains 100% Ice Plant Water which is rich in minerals and Active Water (Blue Lagoon Water, Mineral Water, Damask Rose Water) that provides moisture to dry skin and enhances skin's moisture level.  I don't know anything about these kinds of water, they are just in the description of the product's box but it seems that their claims are true.

It also says in  the description that it's oil-free and I don't feel any greasiness when I apply this, it just melts and sinks into my skin.

hooray for english description

Missha forgot to put c on direction

Aside from the nice fresh moisturizing effect, I also like the scent of this essence:  it's like a subtle combination of the fresh ocean and the scent of a freshly showered and powdered baby.  I also didn't experience any allergic reaction while using it although it didn't says in the packaging that it's dermatologically tested.

the pump is much appreciated

For the packaging, I like the blue frosted glass part but hate the plastic cap not because of the plastic material but because of it's not so tight grip to the bottle (I pick the cap of the products when I used them so there are many times that the bottle of this one just drops on the floor, to my relief it's not yet broken up to now).

ingredients

Overall, I love this essence that I bought the rest of the products from this line/series. It's a perfect starter to those who have normal to dry skin because it's simply moisturizing leaving the skin fresh and soft and because of it's oil free and non greasy formula, those with oily or combi skin type might also be okay to use this as their essence-moisturizer (but better try a sample first to make sure, okies?).

Thanks for reading. Till then. Bye!

Shopping Again, Spending Problem?

It's official, I have a spending problem.  Week by week I buy stuff out of a whim and pre-order Korean goodies without any hesitation.  This week is no exception because after spending thousands on baking stiff, I also bought some items that are relatively cheap but when put together gave a big hollow on my wallet.  I must impose a shopping ban for at least a month  after I pay my online orders and the only exceptions for the ban are black pants for work and ingredients for baking.

Well, shopping is still fun so here are the items from my latest haul.

for cleaning the face

I currently have a konjac sponge from TonyMoly so I have mixed feeling when I saw a similar one in Landmark at P59.75 (around $1.25).  Hay, most korean stores sell it for P120 to P200.  My sister also got curious and bought one for herself and love her first impression when she used it (ahahah she looked like a kid).  The sponge is a back-up, there's 2 in a pack so tig-isa kami ni ate (it's weird to call her ate (older sister)).  From Watsons, I got a peeling gel again as a back-up (that's one of my problem, I'm afraid to not have a spare).  And then, some make-up.

I can't believe I'm buying make-up

I really don't know what to do with the 3D compact and just bought it for experiment, maybe I can use it as a bronzer or highlighter.  Got it on sale for only P60 (around $1.50).  Then got an all over color stick which is really cheap and something for my brows which is a first, never used a product for my brows before but I think it's time to groom them.

scar fighters

For the body I got two stuff from Zenutrients.  Finally, this brand is expanding.  Hope that I would get good results from these two because if yes, then I'll be an avid buyer of their body lotions, body butter and other things to keep my body healthy and well moisturize.

hooray fro mint shoes!!!!

Alas, Mint Green Shoes!!!  I also want an oxford style shoes from Matthews but it's hard to pair it with my clothes since I'm not really a fashionista so the mint green shoes won.

Next, are some whatnots.

I'm in search for a good drugstore conditioners since my last organicone made my scalp very itchy So I'm trying Syoss this time, good thing they have mini bottles.

tame my hair Syoss, I beg you

I can't resist not to stock some hand soaps because they are dirt cheap as in P75 for 2 (san ka pa?).  Cotton pads from Saizen because I'm running out of cotton pads.  2 boxes for P88 which is expensive pala when compared to Watsons *sigh*.

never imagined that I'll be buying these stuffs, my collage self will be shock

Sorry, I haven't made any post/product reviews for the past few days.  I have 5 pending but there's something wrong with my body and I don't what it is but I'm always out of energy.

Thanks for reading. Till then. Bye!

Testing plus a Mini Haul

Just installed blogger again on my ipod and it's somehow working though putting pictures in place is a bit hard. Anyway, I'll just share some items that I bought for the past 3 weeks of April and all of them are from Watsons.

First is this compact powder; a first for me to have, from Essence which is a brand new in the Philippines. This is just an impulse buy but I needed a powder that can settle my bb cream plus the sales lady was really nice to me. The finished is also great so although I have a loose powder to buy in mind, I got this and would like to go back to try some eyeliner or an eyebrow pencil.

essence mosaic compact powder

Next is something for my hair since it's now beginning to become unruly because of it's length (it's now on my shoulders and I do not have plans to have a haircut). Got this Pure Beauty Essence at a sweet deal.

Pure Beauty Treatment Essence Water

Surprisingly, Bifesta is cheaper in Watsons so even if I got around 3 toners I still grab one. I got the moist this time.

Bifesta Moist Cleansing Lotion

Thanks for reading. Till then. Bye!