Product Must-Haves: Stuff I’m loving right now!

Being a blogger gives me opportunities to try different products, but some products are “classics” for me and items I keep going back to. Here are some of my recent favorites!

Chanel Joues Constraste blushers

The texture of these are amazing: smooth, soft, pigmented and multi-faceted. I love the the glow that Chanel Joues Constrate blushers give me, I also love that rose scent that these have. Being in Canada, I only have access to the international formula of Joues Constraste which are baked, but judging from the online comparisons between these and the US formula (which are pressed), I find that these blushes have more of a glow and the colour is not as flat. I highly recommend these blushes, and more so the international formula, if you can get your hands on them!

NARS Eyeshadow Duos

I love the texture of these, so smooth and finely milled. I currently only have one in Kuala Lumpur, but I definitely want more (there just haven’t been any colour combinations where I love both colours… *sad face*).

Ombre Perlees de Chanel eyeshadow palette

Gorgeous colours, amazing texture. If only it wasn’t limited edition! I used this almost every day for a whole month, and it still looks untouched. My favourite shade to use is the peachy pink that is 2nd from the left. It is a beautiful base colour for any colour to layer on!

Nail Polish! In particular Jill Stuart, Chanel and Dior

I recently tried drugstore polish again which reminded me of why I stopped buying drugstore polish and went for the high-end stuff. High end polish (with the exception of Mimosa… which is like, an anomaly), applies smoothly, dries quickly and has a high-shine, beautiful finish.

Dior Top Coat

I LOVE this. It is a staple in my manicure regime because it dries everything down so quickly! Usually nails are dry in about 10 seconds after applying this top coat, which is a very light, almost watery liquid. It is also very high-shine on the first day, but slowly becomes duller, so I usually apply another high-shine top coat on top of this.

Zoya Remove+ 3-in-1 Formula

This is the most effective nail polish remover I’ve ever used. I usually cheap out on polish remover but Christine and Anita managed to convince me to buy one of these when we first tried them at Shi-Nail. This is especially effective at removing glittery polish. It gets everything off cleanly and with a fresh scent too. I also love the easy-to-use press pump that doesn’t waste product.

Biore UV Moist Face Milk

My HG sunscreen that is light and milky, but dries down almost immediately after application. It is nondrying, and doesn’t feel like you have anything on. I love that it has SPF 50 and PA+++ for the perfect sun protection. (not my photo, found on Google)

AmorePacific Treatment Cleansing Oil, Treatment Enzyme Peel & Treatment Cleansing Foam

The perfect trio to get squeaky clean skin, I alternate between the Enzyme Peel and Cleansing Foam to clean my skin after the oil. Both peel and foam foam up amazingly, using just a little bit of product. The oil is thicker than most oils I’ve used, cleanses really well and never gets into my eyes. There is no residue left on the skin, yet skin is never dry or tight. Highly recommend!

Shaved ice

Not much to say about that, perfect for that hot summer day…

What are your must-haves right now?

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My favourites for 2010

Overall favourite discoveries

• AmorePacific Treatment Enzyme Peel
• NARS Aqua Gel Hydrator
• Clarisonic

Skincare

• Makeup remover: Jill Stuart Cleansing Oil (thanks to Miss Asiyakei for the sample!)
• Cleanser: AmorePacific Treatment Enzyme Peel
• Exfoliator: Clarisonic
• Toner/Lotion: n/a
• Serum/Essence: Diorsnow White Reveal Essence (2 years in a row!)
• Moisturizer: NARS Aqua Gel Hydrator
• Cleansing Mask: Cellnique Advanced Bio Renewal Mask
• Moisturizing Mask: My Beauty Diary Southern France Apricot Mask
• Lip balm: Maquillage Lip Essence EX
• Sunscreen: Biore Moist Face Milk SPF 50+ PA+++

Hair & Body

• Shampoo: Lush Rehab Shampoo
• Conditioner: n/a
• Body Lotion: Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater Body Lotion
• Hand Cream: Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater Hand Therapy

Makeup

• Face Primer: n/a
• Foundation: Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation
• Powder: Jill Stuart Moist Silk Powder Foundation
• Blush: Rock & Republic Contrived Pressed Blush in Call Me
• Eyeshadow primer: Urban Decay Primer Potion
• Eyeshadow: Dior 5-Colour Eyeshadow palettes
• Eyeliner: Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Black Ink
• Mascara: Clinique High Impact Curling Mascara
• Lipstick: Guerlain Rouge G lipstick in any shade!
• Lip gloss: n/a
• Nail polish: Dior Vernis
• Tools: MAC 226 brush, Sonia Kashuk Powder Brush

Review/Swatch: Biotherm White Detox Corrective Make-up Base (my HG!) in Green

I recently did a mini haul of my HG makeup primer as well as one my favourite night creams. I purchased the White Detox Corrective Make-up Base in the anti-redness (green) and brightening (white) formulae. The one that I already have is purple, which is anti-sallowness.

I really love the formula of this primer because it goes on smooth and easy to spread, but not oily/greasy and does a really good job at keeping my foundation fresh all day. It claims to contain peony extract, which means there should be some skincare going on when you’re using it. There is silicone in it, but you can’t really feel the silicone, unlike some other primers like Smashbox Photo Finish primer (too greasy for me).

Today, I tested out the one with an anti-redness effect because I have some redness in my cheeks which I want to neutralize. It comes out of the tube quite thick, but it is still easy to spread out.

I applied it to my right cheek (please excuse my messy hair). You can see that there is some difference between the two sides. The one with the base is a little bit less pink but not fully neutralized. Originally I was worried that it would turn out too green, which means I won’t be able to wear it on my forehead because it would make it look green, but the colour disappears once its blended into the skin, which is good.

Ingredients list to the side (click to enlarge). I still really like the formula of this primer and will continue using it. You can also use it as a daily sunscreen because it has SPF 25 and PA++ in it. Overall I would recommend it to everyone because it is the best base I’ve tried so far that is not too expensive (at about $40-45ish for 30mL).

My score? ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

Top all around picks for 2009 ❤

Here is a list of all of the HG products that I have found this year! They’re not necessarily products that were released this year, but just products I found this year that really works for me. Of course in the future, there may be other products that may replace these ones, but so far, they’re the ones that have worked the best.

Do you have any recommendations? Let me know! I’m always happy to try out new things ^___^

Skincare products

Cleanser – Clinique Liquid Facial Soap

Exfoliator – Lancome Exfoliant Confort

Toner – Lancome Tonique Radiance

Moisturizer – ~H20+ Face Oasis Hydrating Gel

Serum – Diorsnow White Reveal Essence

Cleansing Mask – MAC Volcanic Ash Thermal Mask

Moisturizing Mask – My Beauty Diary Mask in Q10

Cosmetics: Face

Foundation – Diorskin Nude Natural Glow Hydrating Makeup (below wearing shade 020, I’m a MAC NC25-30)

Powder – n/a (still on the lookout for a good one. The current one I am using is Chanel Poudre Universelle Natural Finish Powder, but it doesn’t really do much for me… If you have one to recommend, please let me know!)

Concealer – Dior Skinflash Radiance Booster Pen

Blush – DiorBlush in 733 English Rose

Highlighter – Diorskin Shimmer Star

Cosmetics: Eye

Primer – Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Eyeshadow – Dior 5-colour Iridescent Eyeshadow (below, wearing 859 Graphic Lights from Summer 2009)

Eyeliner – MAC Penultimate Liquid Eyeliner in Rapidblack (above)

Mascara – Diorshow Iconic

Honorary Mention – Clarins Double Fix’ Mascara

Cosmetics: Lips

Lipstick – Anna Sui Lipstick G & S

Lipgloss – MAC Lustreglass

Tools/Body care:

Nail Polish – Dior Vernis (below wearing 782 Silver Purple)

Hand Cream – Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater Hand Therapy

Body Lotion – Fruits & Passion Mango Evasion Quenching Body Butter

Fragrance – Dior Addict 2 EDT

Brushes – MAC 226, MAC 208, Dior foundation brush, Dior blush brush

My Favourite Product of 2009: Diorsnow White Reveal Essence ❤

I don’t think I’ve ever found a whitening essence that actually worked in such a short amount of time, but I think I’ve finally found one.

The Diorsnow White Reveal Essence is the most expensive product I’ve ever purchased for myself at $130CAD+tax ($145.60) for 50mL, that is pretty much $3 per mL. I used this product for about 3 months before doing this review.

I use this after cleansing and toning my skin. The serum is a near translucent gooey gel that applies very easily and absorbs very quickly. The immediate result is very smooth skin, which makes applying moisturizer easily. I moisturized with H20+ Face Oasis Moisturizing Gel which has no whitening properties.

I noticed effects after about a week of use. I am very “picky” so I have a lot of acne scars on my skin, but after a week of using this, I could notice a very distinct difference: most of the scars had visibly lightened.

After about a month of use, my skin became brighter and more even. Because I made the mistake of only applying this to my face and not my neck (because it was so expensive! Didn’t want to “waste” it on my neck, lol), after two months of use, my face had evidently become lighter than my neck. Oops. After I started to use this on my neck as well, it became a lot more even; thank goodness.

Anyways, I really recommend this to everyone who is looking for brighter/whiter skin. Even though it is expensive, it is very effective and I feel its worth every dollar. Its better to spend lots of money on one product that works than waste money on products that don’t work.

Just a warning though, this product does have a distinct fragrance that lasts for a little while. I normally like scents in my skincare products so I thought it was quite relaxing, but not everyone is a fan.

You can buy this at all Holt Renfrew locations and select the Bay locations. In the states, I believe Saks in NYC carries this line (it costs $115 in the states). It is an Asia-exclusive line so it may be harder to find if you don’t live near a city that has an abundance of Asian people. You can also find it on StrawberryNet.

My score? (lost a heart for being so expensive) ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤