June theme special - Eyebrow products

Due to the shortness and sparseness of my plucked brows, I've been filling them in for a long long time. I can leave the house without sunscreen or any makeup on but I do need my eyebrows!

Recently, I made these 2 purchases in June and thought I'll review them alongside the brow products currently in my stash.

1) IN2IT Waterproof Eyebrow Liner in WB03 ash brown, with a bevel tip. This product strangely still has the 'new' sticker on it, however the manufacture date is 071112 and expires on 071115. This item was purchased in Malaysia for just under RM$18. 

2) K Palette 1 day Tattoo Real Lasting Eyebrow 24h in 02. Manufacturing date: 06 2013.

My current go-to daily eyebrow product is ZA Everbrow in 03 Natural Grey. Before this, I was alternating between a cheap eyebrow pencil from Daiso Korea (see below) and the Integrate eyebrow palette in BR631 and applying it on with a synthetic angled brow brush. 

In the family, my brown shades are the Maybelline Define-A-Brow eyebrow pencil in 643 medium brown, Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil, Dark Brown 001 and ZA's Ever Brow in BR22 (old packaging). 

I'm by no means a beauty snob and I have 2 cheap eyebrow pencils in my stash to demonstrate so. Bilena Eyebrow Pencil in brown was purchased from Daiso and so was deco Olive Auto Eyebrow Pencil (however the Daiso store that deco Olive Auto Eyebrow Pencil came from was located in Korea).

Basically the shades in my eyebrow stash tend to be brown, greyish-browns and greys.

Left to Right
ZA Ever Brow in BR 22 - this brown leans red to me
Ever Bilena Eyebrow Pencil - this cheapie pencil is really difficult to apply/ draw as you may be able to tell by the residue still on my hand
Maybelline Define-A-Brow - the twisting mechanism is difficult
Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil - this dark brown leans just a little red on me, if my hair shade was warmer, it might be a great fit
IN2IT Waterproof Eyebrow Liner in WB03 ash brown - this come off as a soft greyish-brown
ZA New York everbrow in 03 Natural Grey - inspite its name, this shows up greyish-brown on me rather than just grey
K Palette 1 day Tattoo Real Lasting Eyebrow 24h in 02 - is a translucent grey on me
deco Olive Auto Eyebrow Pencil shows up as a greyish-black.
Last of all, the grey in the Integrate palette is a soft grey-brown, somwhere between IN2IT and ZA New York Everbrow in 03 Natural Grey

I do like the IN2IT eyebrow liner, it gives me an opportunity to draw soft thicker eyebrows a-la Korean drama queens as opposed to the classic slightly arched brows which I am prone to draw.

Disclaimer: I received no payment or no payment in kind for writing this blog post. Any opinions expressed are my own.

June theme series - Summer staples

June is my birthday month and to mark the month, I've decided to commit to weekly themed posts, which makes 5 since I intend to post them on Sundays. 

To kick off this series, please take a look at my summer staples. 

My makeup routine varies from day to day. It could be pure physical sunscreen with eyebrows one day or foundation, cream blusher and lip gloss with eyebrows over sunscreen the next day. Due to the great difference, I've chosen to omit most makeup items in this post. 

These are my haircare summer staples. I rotate them depending on the situation but most of them have been in play since last year. 

Left to Right

Goldwell Nice Balance Calming Milk, purchased from Ebay UK years ago. This product was introduced on Lady First, the Taiwanese beauty/shopping show and I remember spending quite a bit of effort to track down and buy the products used in that episode. I have the L'Oreal Professionel Techniart product from that episode too (somewhere).

Toni & Guy Cleanse Dry Shampoo. Quite frankly, I bought this when it was cheap. It's a typical dry shampoo spray.

Legitime Scalp Air Tonic. This Korean hair product was purchased after I used and liked their scalp shampoo. The interesting thing about this tonic is the blunt bristles at the top similar to scalp scrubbers. The product comes out of a central nozzle and you can instantly give your scalp a massage instead of rubbing product in with fingers.

Lucido Oil Control Tonic. This was introduced on Lady First either in a summer episode of 2012 or 2013. It's a cooling spray for the scalp and alcohol is high on the ingredient list. This and the Legitime are my favourite for oily roots and scalp.

(Top) Kracie Ichikami Hair Treatment Essence. I remember purchasing this years ago due to rave reviews and the supposedly sakura scent. I found reviews of this dating from 2010/2011 and this actual product has been discontinued, so my best guess is this bottle is at least 3 years old. Due to the size (100ml), I've only found that it's running low recently. I typically use it at least once a week to tame frizz on damp hair as a leave-in conditioner.

(Bottom) Utena Matomage Hair Styling Stick. Yet another product introduced by Lady First. This one was far more tricky to identify and buy than the others as it was introduced on the show as a Japanese product not available for sale in Taiwan at that time. The usual bloggers/forums who could usually identify products featured on Lady First were stumped as the presenters were very careful not to show the product name (their usual practise). Without the product name, it was simply a bright green container that the hairdresser was smearing over the celebrity's hair. This product tames my flyaway hairs very well especially when I pull my hair back in a ponytail/chignon. 

Left to Right

Coppertone Water Babies Pure & Simple SPF50 is my current go-to daily pure physical sunscreen. This was purchased from USA and not available in Singapore. 

Happy Bath Aqua Cooling Gel purchased from Korea. Happy Bath is actually a bodycare brand under the Amore Pacific group (Sulwhasoo, Laneige etc). I usually apply it immediately after a shower and it gives me a slight cooling feeling without stickiness.

(Top) Aqurea Moisturising Cream. This is basically a 10% urea cream and it's my fail-safe moisturing cream for body (I find the texture a tad too heavy for my face). It's unscented and I find that it calms skin down immediately (I've used it on children who had insect bites/irritated angry skin). I try to keep a tube in my bag so I can use it wherever I go to moisturise my hands after washing with hand soap or splashing my arms with water to keep them cool.

(Bottom) Daiso Everbilena Eyebrow coat. Purchased at Daiso at the price of S$2 for 6ml of product, this works very well.  It comes in a nail-polish/Benefit tint container and one uses the product by dabbing it on with the brush after you've used eyebrow powder/pencil. I personally find this to seal the eyebrow colour really well, yet it is easily removed by normal makeup removers (no special lip & eye makeup removers required).

(Top) Neutrogena makeup remover cleansing towelettes, not available for sale in Singapore. I carry this around when I have a long day out and at some point, I might want to redo/remove my makeup. It's gentle on the skin and I do prefer it over Watsons house brand makeup remover wipes or unscented baby wipes inspite of the difficulty in getting it and the price. 

(Bottom) Gatsby Facial Paper . I don't tend to use this on my face often as the second ingredient on the ingredient list is alcohol. However, it is great when your face is an oil slick and your neck is sticky from being outside for a long time. The piece shown here is my backup pack, I carry around half a pack in my bag daily. 

Technically, Singapore doesn't have a summer season but late May-July usually sees very high temperatures and humidity. One day it can be scorching hot and the next it could be raining cats and dogs. Most people try to escape indoors as much as possible and this is tricky as it means entering air-conditioned spaces from a typically hot/humid exterior. I use the above products in rotation whenever I see the need, typically on hot and wet days.     

Disclaimer: I received no payment or payment in kind for writing this blog post. Any opinions expressed are my own.

Naruko Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid Black Spots and Lines Defying Series

Naruko has just launched its latest range in Taiwan - the Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid Black Spots and Lines Defying Series.

Being the skincare guru Robin Niu is, this range has been making its rounds in the Taiwanese media.

The range has 7 products:

1) Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid Brightening Clay Mask & Cleanser in 1

2) Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid Black Spots and Lines Defying Lotion

3) Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid Black Spots and Lines Defying Moisturizer

4) Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid Black Spots and Lines Defying Serum

5) Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid Black Spots and Lines Defying Night Gelly

6) Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid Soothing Clarifying Mask

7) Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid Spots and Line Refining BB Cream (available in 2 shades)

Naruko had a previous series called the Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid range and it looks like items 6 (clarifying mask) and 7(BB cream) are retained in this new line-up.

Naruko has helpfully pointed out the differences between the previous series and this Black Spots and Lines Defying Series. This new series has incorporated ingredients such as B3 and Vitamins A, C and E which they say will fade spots.

Other than tweaks to the ingredients, they've also changed the packaging somewhat. Incorporating the shade of 'Tiffany blue', vibrant orange and white, the boxes look more adorable. Naruko packaging can be folded origami style into something else (e.g. pencil holder etc), so the pretty packaging will look good sitting on your table once transformed!

For now, the series is only available for sale in Taiwan. If you wish to purchase, your best bet is to either make a personal trip to Taiwan or utilise a Taiwan buying service and have items delivered to your home country. I am considering purchasing the night gelly since night gellies are Naruko's specialities via a buying service and will update with reviews if I do decide to get it in the end.

This range can be found here on the official Naruko Taiwan website. 

Disclaimer: I did not receive payment or payment in kind for writing this blog post. Any opinons expressed are my own.

Taiwanese luxury facial masks - For Beloved One vs Dr. Wu

During my Taiwan trip in March, I hauled back a ton of beauty products. Today's post is about 2 famous Taiwanese brands: For Beloved One and Dr. Wu.

Among those were 6 boxes of For Beloved One facial masks for N. I 'purchased' a single piece of the For Beloved One Extreme Hydration Extreme Mask from her to try out this brand. This brand first shot to fame with its Melasleep Whitening Bio-Cellulose Mask due to East Asian women's fascination with whitening. The brand founder is a former beauty editor who discovered the cellulose material while hanging out at her family's business.

Its Mandarin name is 寵愛之名, which to me translates far better to "To pamper oneself". Google Translate is up to par on this one, translating the chinese characters to "Beloved One", close enough to its official English name.

For the Extreme Hydration Bio-Cellulose Mask, the packaging states "Calmosensine Tornare Hydrergy Moist24". My web searches reveal nothing much about these ingredients, so I am unable to confirm the effectiveness of these ingredients. 

Ingredients list

The mask itself is sandwiched between a netted paper towel layer (A) and foil/paper layer (B). Instructions state that you take the middle piece and apply the wet side to your face. Figuring out which is the wet side is easy as the layers surrounding the mask itself are different. The side closer to layer A is the side meant to be applied on the face.

The mask felt cold and thick as I placed it on and adjusted it to my face contours. Being unaccustomed to the thickness of this mask, it felt as if someone had placed a single layer of 九层糕, nine layer kueh lapis (a Singaporean snack) on my face. I would believe that the amount of pressure exerted by the mask due to its thickness is not suitable for thin-skinned consumers or those who have slight cuts on their faces. 

After removing it, I followed the instructions to massage the excess into my neck, knees etc and went to bed after it had been absorbed. I felt my skin was not as dry as usual when I woke in the morning but could not tell any other visible effects. 

For Beloved One Bio-cellulose masks comes in 3 types: whitening, hydrating and anti-aging (launched in early 2013). For Beloved One can be found in Sasa and Watsons stores in Taiwan (retail price of NT$1170 for 3 pieces). In Singapore, For Beloved One can be found in Sephora stores. 

Dr. Wu is arguably the most famous Taiwanese cosmeceutical brand outside Taiwan. The brand has established itself in Singapore (available at Watsons) and HK (available at Mannings). Dr. Wu has also launched a Bio-Cellulose Mask meant for hydration. According to the packaging of both brands, the materials are similar - Bio-Cellulose.

Ingredients list

According to the instructions stated (above pic), it would seem that like For Beloved One, you would place a certain side onto your face. However when I opened the package, I saw a mask sandwiched between 2 pieces seemingly identical netted paper (A & B). 

The essence in Dr. Wu mask was far more runny compared to For Beloved One's viscous essence. The Dr. Wu mask dripped over the table top as I was removing it from its packaging. The mask itself felt like a thicker version of the typical paper masks I had been used to and did not give the impression of weighing down on the skin like For Beloved One. 

Due to the similarity of the layers (A and B), I couldn't tell which side was the 'essence-side' but since the mask felt like the typical paper facial mask, I just went ahead and placed the 'wetter' side (one side felt more moist to my fingertips) and adjusted to my face contours.

 (Layer A on the left, layer B on the right- they are identical to me!)

Like For Beloved One, I removed the mask, massaged the excess into other areas and went to sleep. Waking up in the morning, my skin felt more hydrated than if I had not used any creams before bedtime but not as moisturised as after For Beloved One. 

This mask was selling for NT$199 for 1 piece (the store information indicated that this was an 'introductory' price, meant for consumers to trial the mask). But the Taiwanese and HK beauty magazines have been showing this mask sold as a single piece since 2012 (my estimate, since I don't have many magazines released in 2011). I found my Dr. Wu products at Watsons in Taiwan (this mask retails for NT$1050 for 3 pcs). 

Disclaimer: I did not receive any payment or payment in kind for writing this blog post. Any opinions expressed are my own.

Beauty shopping - country:Taiwan

It was 2009 when I headed to Taipei for a holiday with my sis alone, 2 of us, without the distraction of family or friends. I had started to get interested in makeup by that time and Taipei was an excellent choice to go beauty shopping! To add to the fuel, I had discovered PJ's blog and more importantly, the beauty city guide on Taipei.

In a way, this blog post is a tribute to PJ's original post, the one which sparked it all off. Thanks, PJ!

I've decided to deviate from PJ's post format a little as I will be touching on some websites based in that country and how you can receive items as a tourist (as opposed to having a residential/ business address in the country).


Beauty shopping country: Taiwan
Cities/areas of reference: Taipei (mostly), Yilan, Hualien

Departmental stores in Taipei with extensive beauty departments:
1) Sogo Zhongxiao (closest mrt station: Zhongxiao Fuxing)
2) Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Xinyi (closest mrt station: Taipei City Hall). Do take note that Mitsukoshi Xinyi is split between 4 buildings (yes, 4 7-storey buildings!). Not all beauty brands are in each building, so please check the store directory before alighting from a taxi or starting to shop. But the buildings are linked together via sheltered walkways, so it is still fairly easy to get to the right building if you're looking for a particular brand in another building.
3) Shin Kong Mitsukoshi (closest mrt station: Taipei Main Station). This is in fact the original downtown Mitsukoshi (the Xinyi one is newer). If you're staying in the Ximending area or have decided not to venture to the Xinyi area for any reasons, you might want to check out this Mitsukoshi instead.


Countrywide
Drugstore chains in Taiwan (equivalent to USA's Walgreens/CVS and UK's Superdrug/Boots)
1) Watsons. This is, in fact, owned by a HK conglomerate and you will see Watsons stores everywhere in Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and HK. In my Taipei post trip blog entry, I found a 24-hr Watsons in the Zhongxiao Dunhua area, which is excellent for time squeezed travellers.

Updated 4 April 2013: Looking through my Watsons Taiwan receipts and thinking back, Watsons must be the king of pricing in drugstores in Taiwan.

One particular visit had the following price promotions:
a) Buy minimum of NTD588 on drugstore makeup and get NTD100 off the bill immediately (strangely, the definition of drugstore makeup was brands like ZA, Majolica Majorica, Integrate, KATE, 1028 Cosmetics but did not apply to brands like Solone)
b) Buy 1 piece for selected makeup/ skincare products, get the 2nd piece at 38% off (I tried buying a skincare lotion and getting the skincare essence at 38% off but no go. Only the moisturiser, essence and night cream from that particular skincare line were on 38% off the 2nd piece. You really needed to see the fine print to figure out the promotion applied for which products)
c) If total spend in store exceeds NTD2000, receive NTD200 in Watsons store vouchers (to be used another day).

This includes promotions (a) and (b), so you could buy toothpaste/shampoos etc to make up the balance. Their inhouse sales system must be very advanced to be able to keep track of all these promotions and reflect them properly on the bill.

2) Sasa (actually a HK company. They have made serious inroads into Taiwan in the past 2 years).

3) Cosmed

4) Mirada. But most Mandarin-speakers in Taiwan will know them by "Mei Hua Tai" (Not technically a drugstore, and they only have stores in the Taipei area). But by golly, what stores they are!

They may be drugstore in appearances but some of the brands stocked at the stores can be as pricey as the ones in departmental stores. In fact, some of the bigger Watsons stores I have been have a 'store-in-store' concept where the same departmental brand have a sales rep there to serve you.


Websites (multi-label/brand cosmetics)
1) www.payeasy.com.tw. Ships products locally (Taiwan) within 5-7 working days if they have stock(but personal experience says better to allocate more time for their delivery). They can deliver products to a convenience store of your choice (if you decide not to give them your hotel/accommodation address). You do not need Taiwanese identification (ID) to buy from this site. Non-taiwanese credit cards are accepted. Also ships selected product lines at different pricing internationally.
2) www.jpmon.com. Ships products locally within 3 working days if they have stock. Like payeasy, they can deliver products to a convenience store of your choice. You do not need Taiwanese ID to buy from this site. Non-taiwanese credit cards are accepted. Also ships internationally.
3) Yahoo Taiwan shopping. Various sellers, various sellers' ratings. Typically the major sellers will deliver products to a convenience store but at an added delivery fee. You do not need Taiwanese ID to buy from this site.
* special mention: www.naruko.com.tw. This is by Robin Niu, possibly the most famous skincare guru in Taiwan. He is known in the media and by fans as "牛尔老师" or Teacher Niu Er.This web-shop holds all his skincare lines; ampm, Naruko and NRK. Ships products locally within 4 working days if they have stock (but their website says longer). They can deliver products to a convenience store of your choice. You do not need Taiwanese ID to buy from this site. It is far easier to buy his products online than to buy from Watsons (it's exclusive to Watsons). I went to several stores in Hualien, Yilan and Taipei but did not manage to find the full range of his products anywhere. In the end, I gave up and ordered online. 


I have not included some web-shops as you need to have a Taiwanese identification number as part of the registration and verification process. As travellers, it could be difficult to order items online knowing that you will not know your room number at the hotel before checking into the hotel.

The Taiwanese online shopping experience takes this uncertainty away! I have picked up items from the convenience stores before and typically, the items are either stored behind the cashier or in a locked cupboard with the key only held by the staff. The staff would also typically ask you for your full name and contact number as a cross-check before releasing the products. I have found online shopping to be a joy in Taiwan and a boon for time-scarce travellers!

If you have any questions, do let me know and I will try my best to answer them.

Translated reviews on UNT BB cream

It's been such a long while since I blogged. Was extremely busy with my baby born in Oct 2010 who is now a toddler. It's been such a year!

I've only started catching up on my beauty reading and beauty shopping recently. Being a new parent was such a daunting thing and easily the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Harder than any 'job/career' I know.

I've always wanted to restart blogging especially after boring Mr Effort with beauty talk. And after reading a post from one of my fave beauty sites, I've decided to kick off with a translation for her and her readers.

UNT has launched a BB cream in December 2011. Please click to read hope-inablog's article.

Hope-inablog has also kindly provided 3 links for shade charts on UNT's BB cream. I'll like to briefly translate these 3 reviews for those who don't read traditional Chinese. This is not a word-for-word translation since there are so many apps, sites or software which can easily do a far better job of translating word for word.

1) Link 1 - Hannah's fashionlist

The post header reads "Unforgettable UNT BB cream" (to be nit-picking, it's more closely translated into "Once you use (UNT BB cream), you won't be able to forget it")

Hannah posts that the different shades are due to the poor lighting in her house. She apparently loves UNT nail polishes and skincare and has added the BB cream to her faves. In her comments on the BB cream itself, she says that her skin is prone to redness and the UNT BB cream makes the redness and spider veins disappear, evening out her skin tone.

2) Link 2 - Nini House
Post header - "With the UNT BB cream, I don't need any other (base coverage products)"
Nini has used the product for a week at the time of review. She reminds readers to use more strength for the first pump to ensure product to come out. She mentions that the BB cream feels sheer on the skin yet offers decent coverage. Without pressed powders, there is no detectable face 'shine' (skin does not appear oily). She also comments that on one of the days when she used the BB cream, it was drizzling but her base coverage due to the BB cream remain intact (she indicated that she usually uses sunscreen alongside the BB cream).

3) Link 3 - bobo888's blog
She starts off the post by saying that when she was in Korea, random Korean strangers have asked her on the base coverage she was using. She reminds readers that even although when using UNT BB cream with a lot of skin care properties, it is important to remove makeup effectively before bedtime. She jokes that she wanted to go back home after 12 (midnight) but someone told her "U still look very awake (presumably due to the BB cream)!"