It Doesn't Count When You're on Holiday

I've just come back from a week and a half in Hawaii, and surprisingly hauled more products over there than I anticipated. My bounty was at least double that of my previous holiday to Singapore/Malaysia, but I guess the shopping in the US is always a notch above other destinations. I tried to limit myself to things not yet released in Australia, or that potentially might never be, or items I've been eyeing that worked out to be a little cheaper. It did help that my trip coincided with the Sephora Beauty Insider Appreciation Event Sale, so I could get 10% off some of the stuff I bought (because after visiting the US in 2012 and again in 2015, I have an American profile). However, the horrid state of the Australian dollar did mean the savings were scant.

What I ended up getting (all prices in USD, multiply by 4.712% for tax and then 1.4 for AUD conversion):

• Kiehl's Lip Balm #1 in Pear ($9)
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Norvina palette ($42)
• Origins Bestsellers Best Skin Set ($29)
• Sunday Riley Flash Fix Kit ($28)
• Laline mini Body Souffle in Hawaii ($12.50)
• MAC Dazzleshadow Liquid in Rayon Rays and Not Afraid to Sparkle ($22 each)

I also repurchased a mini 50g tube of Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask ($12), a travel size MAC Fix+ ($12) and a travel size Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser in Nude ($24). 

I've wanted to try Sunday Riley Good Genes for forever, but at $154 for 30ml, forever had to wait. When I came across this Flash Fix Kit in Sephora, I had no cause for hesitation. At a relatively affordable $28 USD ($41 AUD), it contained 8ml of Good Genes and 30ml of Ceramic Slip Cleanser. The cleanser I could take or leave, as it seemed more targeted to oily/combination skin (and mine's more normal/dry), but I figured I was paying a pro rata amount to try Good Genes at a much more palatable price point. Engaging some basic maths: 8ml/30ml = 26.67%, multiplied by $154 AUD = exactly $41, the cost of the set. The cleanser was practically a bonus.

As excited as I was to try the set, Hawaii was probably not the best time and place to start. Good Genes is a lactic acid treatment and therefore you need to exercise extra caution in protecting your skin from the sun while using it. That didn't exactly click in my brain until the day after I tried it for the first time, then spent a day in full Hawaiian sunshine. Let's just say my skin didn't thank me for it. By necessity, I stayed far away from both Good Genes and Ceramic Slip for the rest of the trip. From my first impression, Good Genes is probably more potent than my skin is used to, so I'm not sure if it'll work for me. In terms of chemical exfoliation, I use Pixi Glow Tonic and have a 8ml tube of Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Framboos Glycolic Night Serum (plus a very old, completely neglected mini of Alpha-H Liquid Gold somewhere), so it's nothing new to me and I'm not lacking in options.

This Origins set was something I found hard to pass up due to the value proposition. At $29 USD ($43 AUD), it contains Plantscription Anti-Aging Power Serum (15ml), GinZing Energy-Boosting Gel Moisturiser (30ml), Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins Mega-Mushroom Relief & Resilience Soothing Treatment Lotion (100ml), Checks and Balances Frothy Face Wash (30ml) and Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask (15ml). The main appeal of Sephora to me are the minis and mini sets they come out with, so I spotted this one on the shelf and immediately picked it up.

I've been buying a lot of Origins lately (back in Sydney a few months prior, I'd purchased the limited edition Delete Dullness & Energise Gift Set for $64 which included High Potency Night-A-Mins Mineral-Enriched Renewal Cream (50ml), High Potency Night-A-Mins Skin Refining Oil (15ml), GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream (5ml) and GinZing Energy-Boosting Gel Moisturiser (30ml)). I think I'm going to take a break from Origins for the foreseeable future and either finish up everything I've purchased, and/or explore other brands. From what I've tried, their products look nice, perform decently enough, and are pleasant to use in terms of scent/texture, but the results on my skin haven't been transformative or anything.

The Kiehl's pear lip balm was something I intended to purchase in Australia, but never found it in stock. A colleague had it in her cosmetics bag, and I tried some and loved the authentic, juicy/watery scent, so I had put it on my mental wishlist to purchase. In the meantime, I'd bought the Lanolips pear lip balm as a substitute, but the scent was so disappointing to me that it only reinforced how much I wanted the Kiehl's. And yes, it's basically flavoured Vaseline (thin, borderline greasy and lightweight in feel), but a tube does last a long time and I have a lot of other thicker balms and lip treatments to even things out.

Laline is an Israeli body care/skin care brand that I first encountered while in San Francisco a few years ago, and I was sucked in by the "Hawaii exclusive" that they had for one of their body souffles. The scent is actually just their usual Ocean scent (with fragrance notes of sandalwood, cedarwood, jasmine and ginger), but the combination of not being available in Australia, the powder blue/gold seashell packaging and the rich but non-greasy texture was enough for me. I was debating buying the body scrub as well (they do a demonstration in store and your skin has never felt softer after), but I noticed my arm had broken out in little red dots after and the price was a little steep for me to pull the trigger.

I was undecided on whether to buy the Norvina palette by Anastasia Beverly Hills prior to my trip. When I first saw it, I was overcome with that familiar feeling of NEEDING it. But then I watched a few more YouTube videos where the reaction wasn't overwhelming positive, and my enthusiasm started to cool. Rationally, I knew the last thing I need is more eyeshadow (or ANY makeup for that matter), but a part of me still wanted to get at least one "big ticket" item while on holiday. So, Norvina it was.

First, the way it swatched in store impressed me. The colour that I thought would most draw me in (Soul) became the least appealing to me, as in person, I realised how unflattering it most likely would be when applied to the eyes. But what sealed the deal was the top row of shimmers that are so intense and dense feeling and smooth, they border on creams. You literally only need a light touch to deposit full pigment. I tried this palette the first time and stuck to the neutrals, with the matte Volatile blended over the lid, then pressed Dazzling over the centre of my lid with my finger and blended the edges, and it was the prettiest look I'd worn in a while. For me, the only slightly questionable colour is Drama as it had more of a gritty texture that needed a few passes with the finger to blend out smoothly in the swatch (reminded me a lot of the metallics in some Sleek i-Divine Eyeshadow Palettes). I also feel like I've seen that type of deep purply-brown in a lot of places and never use it. The same could be said for the golds/bronzes, but at least they're timeless staples.

(On a somewhat unrelated note, I'm starting to become convinced I am allergic to pinky/red shades. Every time I put them on my eyes, I get itchy, which invariably leads to swelling, redness, then dryness/scaliness the next day. Happened when I paired Love and Wild Child, happened when I tried the Natasha Denona Joya palette.)

l-r: Rayon Rays, Not Afraid to Sparkle

I've been drawn to the Stila Glitter & Glow Liquid Eyeshadows pretty much since they launched, but have yet to purchase one. I've deeply regretted passing on the set of 3 minis in Rose Gold Retro, Kitten Karma and Smoldering Satin. They've since released more sets, but with other, less appealing shades. When I saw MAC launched a new product called Dazzleshadow Liquid, it was clear these were their version of the Stila Glitter & Glow Liquid Eyeshadows.

I'd first seen Rayon Rays on makeup artist and earring aficionado Katie Jane Hughes, and it appeared the most "wearable" colour for my eyeshadow preferences, so that one was a no-brainer. But I also simply loved the iridescent glitter in Not Afraid to Sparkle (very reminiscent of Stila Perlina, which I was very tempted by but didn't buy), so why deny myself? At $22 USD ($32.25 AUD), they're barely $3 cheaper than the Stila shadows, but for some reason the MAC Dazzleshadow Liquid is priced at $40 in Australia, so the notion of "saving" a few dollars proved persuasive. To be honest, most of the shades were really eye-catching and pretty, especially under the bright department store lights. It was hard to narrow it down to just 2. I can't compare the MAC and Stila, but I suspect they're very similar in every respect, and any differences would come down to your preferred shades and packaging. I intend to wear these as a topper over powder eyeshadow, primarily for special occasions like parties/weddings for that extra festivity and sparkle, but equally on an ordinary Tuesday when you just feel like adding some glitter.

2014 Favourites: Skin Care

Time for the yearly roundup of best-loved products, and this time I'm dedicating an entire post to skin care (beauty favourites to follow). Some of these products I discovered this year, others were purchased the previous year but continued to serve me well throughout 2014. The funny thing about skin care is that unlike makeup, where I can usually tell straight away whether something will be a hit with me or not, it's not uncommon for me to develop a deeper appreciation or understanding of a product weeks or months after forming an initial lukewarm, or perhaps even slightly negative, opinion. Perhaps the key is continued use and the patience to stick with a routine that eventually pays off with results.

DHC Deep Cleansing Oil
Silky, slippery and nourishing, this olive-oil based cleanser gets absolutely everything off efficiently, while your face receives a relaxing massage every night when this is smoothed onto the skin in circular motions. When washed off, it doesn't leave any trace of greasy residue, nor does it feel drying.

Antipodes Joyous Protein-Rich Night Replenish Serum
A wonder product for dry skin, this can be worn alone before moisturiser as a serum, or mixed in with your regular cream for an extra hydrating, skin-loving boost. Lately, I've been slapping onto my face 3-4 drops of this with a small dollop of Nivea Soft before bedtime and waking up to smooth, soft and visibly rested skin. If you buy the 10ml size in the $20 Anti-Ageing Minis set (which also contains a 15ml tube of Avocado Pear Nourishing Night Cream), it's terrific value.

Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask
My go-to product to fix dry skin, stat. It's deliciously fruity and feels calming and instantly thirst-quenching, minimising any flaky patches and generally restoring moisture to the skin overnight. My only (slight) complaint is that it does feel a bit sticky and doesn't absorb entirely, especially when applied liberally, so there might be a bit of transfer on your pillow if you rest your cheek on it.

Emma Hardie Amazing Face Moringa Cleansing Balm
After initially not being all that enthused, I finally saw the light in February this year when I started using this as a morning cleanser. Now, it's hard to imagine being without what is undoubtedly the most luxurious skin care product I own. With a heavenly fragrance that demands to be inhaled deeply, this ultra-nourishing and skin-plumping balm wakes up the senses with its premium ingredients and pampering feel.

Omorovicza Queen Of Hungary Mist
Yes, it's an eye-watering £46 (or $91) for 100ml, and the main appeal might be the glamorous name and elegant packaging rather than what's inside. I wasn't completely convinced it was worth the price at first. But now? I'm leaning towards repurchasing when I run out (I'll definitely need a discount code though). Firstly, like all sprays (except Avene Thermal Spring Water, which I go through like toilet paper), it takes ages to be used up. I've had my bottle for 16 months and it's still about 50% full. Granted, I'm not religiously spritzing it every hour of every second, but I'm not exactly rationing it either. But more to the point, when I follow with this after an exfoliating toner, my skin loves the injection of hydration and suppleness. It feels properly prepped to receive and absorb the benefits of any serums/face oils/creams that are subsequently applied.

Pixi Glow Tonic
Along with the Emma Hardie and Omorovicza, this is yet another Caroline Hirons recommendation I simply had to take up. I remember the sheer joy of finding this in stock at the Pixi shop off Carnaby Street on my London holiday in September 2013, back when you couldn't purchase it online and it was notoriously difficult to get a hold of at the physical store. Although I've been alternating Glow Tonic with the excellent First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Pads for my post-cleanse exfoliating toner, I find the Pixi more economical and gentler, more hydrating. Consistent use helps to improve the texture of my skin and forms part of a more complete skin care routine when paired with a hydrating toner before moisturiser.

NUXE Rêve de Miel
I was a naysayer at first. Now the backup's already in my drawer, waiting to be utilised the second my existing tub is emptied. If you've never tried this before, then it probably won't be like anything you know. This is a weird thick paste with exfoliating BEADS. The trick is to apply a small amount and really work it into the lips, letting the heat of your skin almost melt the product so it starts to sink in. I use this every evening as an overnight lip treatment to banish dry, flaky lips, but also whenever my lips are calling out for some intensive repair.

Dove Triple Moisturising Deep Nourishing Body Wash
You know what? Forget about philosophy or Lush and all those fancy shower gels with their gourmand or oriental scents. This stuff is simply the best. While I love a bit of bathing in a foamy cloud of cookies or spice, most of the time, you just want to keep it simple. This is pristine, soapy goodness. The actual product and the way it feels on the skin is positively luxurious for something seemingly so pedestrian. It's lusciously thick, lathers like a dream, feels slick and intensely nourishing and washes off without leaving the skin feeling dry or slippery.

Grown Mandarin and Rosemary Leaf Body Cream
I never thought I would use up a 500ml bottle of body moisturiser, but 18 months later, here we are. Let this be a resounding testament to how good this stuff is. Dare I say it almost makes me look forward to moisturising my body after I step out of the shower? The formulation is perfection. It has a herbal, somewhat citrusy scent that isn't too heavy, and is the furthest thing from sugary and cloying. But best of all, this is a body cream that actually absorbs into the skin. There is no stickiness or dampness after you've applied it, which I find nothing short of a miracle given the deep hydration it provides.

Good Enough to Drink

So, it finally happened. I think I'm (actually, properly, seriously) getting into skin care. I blame it on Cherie's recent purchase of Hydraluron and her linking me to the gospel of skin care God Caroline Hirons. I've had a cursory browse though Caroline's blog a few times in the past, but never really immersed myself in it. But now that my willingness to venture into skin care has increased considerably, sometime last week I found myself reading it well into the early hours of the morning. The more I read, the more concerned I became about the multitude of skin care sins I was supposedly committing. For one, the mineral oil in Nivea Soft (something of a hero product to me), only splashing my face with water in the mornings, putting my face under the hot shower at night, never using a washcloth, my reliance on foaming cleansers, not having an exfoliating toner in my routine (or any kind of toner for that matter), the list goes on.

In an effort to overhaul my skin care routine, in a short period of time I've purchased a lot of new stuff. It's still a work in progress and I confess I don't really know what I'm doing, but hopefully my skin will thank me for it later. The first and most exciting purchase was the Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask. Not specifically recommended by Caroline (in fact, she's previously mentioned the high essential oils content may be an irritant for some), but I've seen it pop up on countless blogs and wanted a piece of the action.

It's winter in Australia and I noticed that my skin was becoming quite dry and flaky. Foundation wasn't sitting as nicely, especially around the edges of my nose. I needed a serious moisture boost and the Drink Up Intensive seemed to promise exactly that. It certainly wasn't cheap (I bought mine for $34 from Kit), but at least the tube was a relatively generous 100ml and due to the falling dollar, the price was basically the same as the UK (where this retails for £20).

The instructions suggest to use the mask "twice a week or as desired", massaging onto clean skin at bedtime and removing the excess with a tissue. I use it more as I would a rich moisturiser — it has a thick consistency but it sinks into the skin well enough that I don't need to remove any excess (or maybe I'm just not applying a thick enough layer?). It does leave the skin slightly sticky to touch, but nothing unbearable. I absolutely adore the fruity apricot/orange/rosewater scent, which I find both soothing and energising. It's probably my favourite aspect of using the mask. It really adheres to the skin overnight, so when I wake up in the morning and splash my face with water, I can still feel remnants of the product being washed off my face. I can't say that I wake up with visibly plumped, glowing skin, but I do think that it helps replenish and retain the skin's moisture overnight and gives you more hydrated skin the next morning.

The mask is said to contain a host of ingredients with the aim of quenching thirsty skin (Plant Glycerin, Hyaluronic Acid, Apricot Kernel Oil), building up a moisture "reservoir" (Avocado Oil, Mango Butters) and preventing moisture loss (Japanese Seaweed).

Ingredients (I couldn't find a list anywhere online): water\aqua\eau; rosa damascena (rose) flower water, myrtus communis (myrtle) leaf water, citrus aurantium amara (bitter orange) flower water, anthemis nobilis (chamomile) flower water • glycerin • cetyl alcohol • glyceryl polymethacrylate • dimethicone • peg-75 • peg-8 • glycereth-26 • sorbitan stearate • citrus aurantium amara (bitter orange) flower oil*, prunus amygdalus amara (bitter almond) kernel oil*, rosa damascena (rose) flower oil*, cinnamomum camphora (shiu/camphor leaf) oil*, citrus aurantium dulcis (sweet orange) oil*, prunus armeniaca (apricot) kernel oil*, osmanthus fragrans (osmanthus absolute) flower extract, ribes nigrum (blackcurrant) seed extract, linalool, limonene • aloe barbadensis leaf extract • cladosiphon okamuranus extract • oryza sativa (rice) extract • avena sativa (oat) kernel extract • olea europaea (olive) fruit extract • triticum vulgare (wheat bran) extract • peg-100 stearate • sucrose** • citrus aurantium dulcis (orange) peel wax • panthenol • pantethine • cetyl ethylhexanoate • mangifera indica (mango) seed butter • prunus armeniaca (apricot) kernel oil • persea gratissima (avocado) oil • butylene glycol • cetearyl alcohol • cocos nucifera (coconut) oil • punica granatum (pomegranate) sterols • tocopheryl acetate • oryzanol • bisabolol • caprylyl glycol • caffeine • hexylene glycol • sodium hyaluronate • dextrin • potassium carbomer • disodium edta • sodium dehydroacetate • phenoxyethanol
*essential oil
**organic sucrose (brown sugar)

Yes, I typed up that list from scratch, squinting to read the size 3 font at the back of the tube and doing my darndest to not misspell the gibberish scientific contents.

Overall, I'm really pleased with the addition of the Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask to my skin care cabinet. I've started to use some other products which also have helped to restore my skin's moisture levels, so at the moment I would use this mask at most twice a week. I can see this becoming a staple for winter, and for whenever my skin needs a good hydration hit (especially perfect the night before a long haul flight, as Chloé mentioned in her pre-flight skin care routine). The scent makes it an absolute pleasure to use.