Top Ten make-up/skin care items I *heart*

I have been unusually keen with blog posting recently. As you can also see I have been mucking around with background templates and what not. I am not really liking blogspot's templates and the fact that I cannot change the background, but I guess I'll get use to it soon enough. On to the topic at hand!

After digging through my mountains of make up and skin care products, I came up with this list of my top ten favs! The list is just personal opinions, so don't get all offended if you hate one of the items I have (lol)

Tenth Place - Too Faced retractable kabuki brush

 In tenth place it's my Too Faced Retractable Kabuki Brush. I have to admit I ordered the brush because I loved the packaging. It was on the expensive side ($33 CND), but totally worth it! The bristles are soooo soft and cruelty free! It can be used for everything (loose/pressed powder, blush, and bronzer). When I travel out or have to stay over night somewhere this is the only brush I bring (to keep my bags lighter). I don't really use it on normal days though, simply because the bristles are so packed and full it's pretty hard to clean, and I think we all know by now that I am super lazy!

Ninth Place - NYX Eyeshadows

I was too lazy to retake pictures, so these are taken with the jumbo pencils, but I only *heart* their eyeshadows. These are freaking cheap!($6.99 regular price, and I always buy them on sale) The colour pay off is great, and the texture is similar to MAC, but at half the price. Mind you the colour section kind of suck in Canada, and the colours are not as unique as MAC, but it's good enough for me. There's not particular colour that I am in love with, all of the colours looks great!

Eighth Place - My Beauty Diary, Apple Mask

Again, lazy to take new pictures, I am referring to the green box at the back, please ignore all the other products lol. So on the box it claims to be able to shrink pore size and moisturize the skin. Of all the My Diary masks I have used this is by far my favourite. I love the smell, the moisturizing effects are pretty noticeable, and I have also noted the size of my pores. Now I don't know if that's something psychological but I do think my pores have gotten smaller.

Seventh Place - Clarins Waterproof Eyeliner


Once this thing dries, it does not budge AT ALL! The colour shows up great, the only thing not so great is the price ($24CND). I can't really bare to buy another one just because of the price.

Sixth Place - Clinique Bronzer in Sunkissed


This is the second bronzer that I actually purchased on my own. Usually I just use the ones I get in gift with purchases. The first bronzer I ever got was NARS in Laguna, it was very dark, and I always felt that I was in drag after using it (lol). This bronzer does not give off too much colour, but give a sunkissed look to my face. It helps darken my BB cream (the one I mentioned in my previous post) and allows for more of a natural look (instead of stalk white)

Fifth Place - NARS Single Eyeshadow in Night Breed


I know I have already talked about an eyeshadow, but this one deserves its own place. This is my first dark eyeshadow, and the reason why I started buying all my darker shade shadows. It's currently the only shadow I have hit pan on. I normally use it for lining the eye, on occasions I would use it as a lid shadow, just look how sparkly it is!!! It's well with it's $26 dollar price tag.  

Fourth Place - Kiss Me Long and Curl Mascara


I love Love LOVE this mascara. It lengthens, volumizes, AND helps my curls stay in tack! The only thing I don't love Love LOVE about this mascara, is how HARD it is to remove. This was not one of my go to mascaras when I first got it. Although I loved the effect it had, but it was just too much of a pain to remove.

Third Place - Biotherm Age Fitness Night Cream

Please cut out the concealer on the right side (again lazy to retake pictures XD). After trying out a TON of different night creams (I've tried at lest 8 different department store brands, and countless drugstore brands), Biotherm was the only one that worked for me. The smell is strong for some people, but it's fine for me, I dislike Lancome more. After i started using this cream I always wake up with wonderfully smooth skin, what's even better is that I only need a small amount for the whole face. The jar can last me one year! It is a bit on the pricy side at $62 CND, and is the most I have ever paid for a night cream, but for me, it's well worth the price.

Second Place - NARS Blush

I don't think this warrants an explanation, from my blush-holism post everyone should know I LOOOOOOVEEEEEE NARS blushes. My current favourite one is the newly owned Mata Hari, a very pretty and girly pink. The colour pay of is great, and it's not overly expensive. I sooo want to collect them all (it's my pokemon lol)

Finally~~~ *drum rolls please!* In First Place ~DHC Cleansing Oil

Even though I just started using this, I am IN LOVE. It amazing that I can put it on greasy and with one splash of water the greasy feeling is GONE! And it seriously removes EVERYTHING, including my love/hate Kiss Me Mascara. I just CANNOT live without this thing ever again!


And here are some runner ups that didn't make it to the top ten, but I still *heart* them a lot, just a little less than the top ten (lol)

1. MAC Eyeshadows

As I have mentioned before, NYX shadows are very very similar to MAC in texture and colour pay off. MAC has more unique colour that look differently in different angles or different lighting. The only reason this didn't make it on to the list is it's price. Mind you MAC shadows, at $17.50CND a pop is pretty low for department store brand, but nothing compared to NYX's $6.99 with constant sales.

2. My Beauty Diary, Red Wine Mask

This is also a lazy picture, the red one on the very left is the one I am pointing out. The mask is suppose to moisturize and whiten. I can visibly see my face one shade lighter after I remove it. The only thing I didn't love about this mask was the smell. It kind of smells like grape juice that has been left out on the counter for a few hours.

3. Make-up Forever Aqua Liner


This is a tie with the Clarins eyeliner, but I didn't pick it because of the packaging. Clarins just looks so much more high end. Although I have more of the Make-up Forever liner (3).

4. Ardell Faux Lashes #124

Lastly is an item that I no longer own (had to throw it away). These particular pair are sooo natural looking, but it still has enough exaggeration to give a not overly done dramatic affect. I would like to buy a few more pairs of it, but I am scared that it'll give me rashes on my eyelid again (I had an allergic reaction to faux lashes, but not the Ardell brand).

Current skin care routine

I have had some major changes to my skin care routine, but this is my current one. I think I am at a point where most parts of my routine has stabilized, however, I am always looking for new and better things to try (not to mention cheaper). For the most part, though, I think I have found what works best with my skin.

1. Cleansing
This is one of the parts of my routine that is forever changing. For the most part I have not yet found a great foaming cleanser. The Clean & Clear cleanser (in purple) was given to me by a friend of mine, it didn't work for her. I had previously purchased it, it wasn't all that wonderful, but it was usable, I will be searching for something better after I empty this one.
The pink bottle is a DHC oil cleanser, it removes EVERYTHING, and I do mean EVERYTHING. Including waterproof mascara (which I cannot live without). This is supposedly the more mild version of their ever popular oil cleanser (which I have used samples of). I am going back to the regular version, as this mild one actually stings my eyes a little, and I don't see any difference in the ability to remove make up. Both versions of the DHC oil cleanser are wonderfully amazing. It goes on greasy like cooking oil, but with one splash of water, the skin becomes squeaky clean (and you can actually feel the squeaky-ness of it!)


2. Scrubbing
Also something I am still searching a HG for. Both these scrubs doubles as cleansing masks as well, however, I don't really see any results for using it as a mask. The pink tube is Kevin Beauty Maker (Taiwan brand), the consistency is a bit watery, but it smells great. The scrub granules (or whatever you call it) are fairly minuscule, I can barely feel any scrubbing with it. As a mask it doesn't do much either. The Garnier one had pretty good reviews on Make-up Alley, but was not good for my skin. It is SUPER drying. I can physically see my skin flake off after using it as a mask. As a scrub the granules are much larger and I can indeed feel the scrubbing action. I actually like the Garnier more the the Beauty Maker one (if I had to choose). Garnier one I can put it on as a mask, and when I am washing it off, it acts as a scrub. Whereas the Beauty Maker one, if I use it as a mask, the granules melts away with time, so there is not scrubbing benefits while washing it off (although it does not leave my skin super dry). I hardly use either of them, because Garnier is so drying and Beauty Maker is so useless.



3. Masking
I have quite a collection of masks (one of those addiction problems I have). These ones in the picture are the left over ones. The white tube in the back is Origins' Drink up. It's a moisturizing mask (as are most of these in the picture). I don't use it a lot because I don't really see any results with it. I purchased Origin's Clear Improvement (charcoal mask) a few months after I got the Drink up and I've already finished that one last year (that by the way was really good).

The black tube is a pore peeling gel. It smells kinda nasty (like glue), but it works wonders. The instruction says to apply the gel on the nose (I apply it to the chin and forehead as well), let dry than u rub it off. It rubs off like dried glue, but I can visibly see that my pores are smaller. Although I would not recommend it for people with skin that is not that elastic (i.e. if you are old-er)

The 3 little tubs in front is a brand call St. Clare (Taiwanese brand again). The green one has tea tree in it and suppose to prevent pimples and oily skin. Pink one is rose, suppose to brighten the face and moisturize. The purple one is lavender suppose to help with sleep and calms sensitive skin. These are call "good night masks" so you actually apply and sleep in them, than wash them off in the morning. I got them in a set (these are trial sizes) with a bar of hand made soap. The consistency is jelly like. They are definitely not wonder jelly, they didn't do much for my skin.

Last but not lest, the box of green in the back. These are sheet masks from My Beauty Diary (Taiwanese brand yet again), and these are in green apple. They have a bunch of "flavours" my favorite one is the apple and red wine. These are wonderful! I can see immediate results after taking them off, and I get these on sale so they are not too expensive either. The only thing I have against them is that the essence is a bit sticky, but I compensate that by using a toner. (also a word of warning, don't try the white pearl one, I got a bad reaction from it)



4. Day
I am not a big fan of using sunscreen on my face (cannot stand the greasy-ness of it) so all my day lotion must have SPF (my base make up also has SPF). I am currently using the Clarins Bright Plus. This is my 2nd time using this lotion, I loved it so much the first time so I thought I'd give it another try. This time the result wasn't as amazing though. The first time I tried it was 5 years ago, the bottle was made in frosted glass, and the price was $60. This time the bottle is in plastic and the price hiked to $65. It's not a terrible lotion, but definitely not worth the price. I have an Estee Lauder cyber white line SPF 50 (only available in Asia) as back up, so won't be looking for anymore until that's used up.

PRE is a local (Vancouver based) skin care line, short for Pure Radiant Energy. I use their toner. I use to use Kiehl's Calendula Herbal Extract toner, but it was wayy too pricy for my wallet, and then my friend introduced me to PRE. This 240ml bottle of toner is 16 dollars, compared to the Kiehl's 250ml bottle for 52 dollars (in Canada). But I still find that I use too much of it, and it's still costing quite a bit... I think I will skip the toner step once i finish this bottle and see how that goes.

The smaller jar is an eye cream, it's a Japanese brand call Ishizawa Labs. Suppose it's got urea and Hyaluronic acid in the formula and it's uber moisturizing, I am still in the process to see amazing results, but so far I like it better than the Kiehl's Avocado eye cream that I use to use (and still have)

The larger jar is another Taiwanese line, it's by the same creator as Beauty Maker, but it's call Vin Vin. It gas a jelly consistency, and works like an essence for day time. It's not too bad, and I love the cooling effect it has when applied.


5. Mid-day
On a normal day, I get home from work I will take off my make up right away, during this time and the time I take a shower and sleep, there's about a 4 to 5 hour gap. So between this time I will need something to keep my face moisturized. But since I'll be washing it off in 4 or 5 hrs, I refuse to pay over 20 dollars of this in between moisturizer. So I got this 9 dollar moisturizer from Garnier. Not the best moisturizer I've used (drug store or not), but good enough for the purpose.

6. Night
So this is probably the most important part of my skin care regiment. I also use the PRE toner at night (I just didn't put it in the line up). I start with the toner, than I put on the Vin Vin moisturizing serum (pink bottle), than I use the eye cream (same as the day time one), and move on to pimple spot treatment (the blue tube), this is DHC again it's got sulfur in it, which seems to work well on my skin (nothing else has worked this good). Then all over the face I use my Biotherm age fitness night cream. This is my 2nd jar of this stuff. It started out as a sample and then I just had to buy it. My skin has never been so smooth in the morning. But I pay a price for it ($62 CND). I have recently purchased another jar on HaulteLook for half off, and also got 2 bottles of Skin Vio line for my mom. Previous to this I was using Elizabeth Arden Good Night's Sleep, which did not do anything to help me sleep.


7. Body care
Lastly, the cheapest skin care I own, my body care items. I have been using St. Ives lotion for YEARS, it's the only lotion that's not sticky and is not overly greasy and yet moisturizes enough for me. For feet, I use vasline and special foot cream, because I have crazy rough feet! There's nothing much I can elaborate on for body care..hahaha