KOSE Clear Plus Moisture Cleansing Liquid

I have had this KOSE Clear Plus Moisture Cleansing Liquid sitting around in my bathroom drawer for quite a while. I have used Japanese drugstore branded skincare lines before but went to highend then back to local drugstore brands like Clean & Clear. I just recently finished my supply of Clean & Clear products so I decided to open up my cupboard and finish the things I had gotten the past year. I got this item as a new product at Sasa at a very cheap price so it was gone pretty quickly. It probably on surfaced on the site for about 2 weeks or so. I haven't seen any other online retailers selling this product either. The KOSE Clear Plus Moisture Cleansing Liquid comes in 2 different types, a much lighter version and the version I will be reviewing today which is a heavier one. Both cleansers are oil based and have properties to clean the face with or without makeup.


The KOSE Clear Plus Moisture Cleansing Liquid(heavier one) comes in a milky white liquid that does not sud up(oil base). It glides on your hand as you pump it out of the bottle. It honestly reminds me of a brand that I'm very familiar with: Cetaphil! It almost is comparable to it! It is very gentle, unscented and it also removes most of my makeup. It removes pretty much everything except for eyemakeup which I would highly recommend using another product for that area. I like this face wash but I don't like it because it doesn't have the usual sudsing action so it is pretty weird if you haven't used these types of cleansers before. As for moisturizing, it's alright. I haven't seen much of a difference in my skin to say it's doing a fab job at keeping my face moisturized. I would only recommend this one if you're looking for something along the lines of Cetaphil-style cleansers.
Pros: Smells good, great concept, soft skin in the morning, fairly cheap
Cons: Sticky, mess on pillows/covers, not much of difference

Mascara Monday: MAJOLICA MAJORCA Lash Gorgeous Wing BR777

Here is the latest from MJ! MAJOLICA MAJORCA Lash Gorgeous Wing BR777 is the most recent edition of the Lash Gorgeous Wing. They have just released another mascara but until that one, this one is the newest one. This time MJ decided to release a golden brown just for Christmas 2008. I really enjoyed the original Lash Gorgeous Wing so I automatically knew I had to try the golden brown one!


Here is my uncurled, plain, short, sparse and straight eyelash. And my cool new SANA curler! Loving it!


I had originally thought the brown would be more of a light brow brown but it actually is really goldish. It almost reminds me of light cardboard colour. It really wasn`t what I was looking for. Normally, I would find brown to be more of a natural colour on lashes but it just looks quite alien-ish on mine. The results of the mascara are pretty much the same as the other Lash Gorgeous Wing with the little lengthening fibers. It`s just only the colour that really puts me off. It`s just not natural for me!

Pros: Super smudgeproof, water-proof, fibres, lengthening, natural looking
Cons: Odd golden brown colour

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Shiseido Hello Kitty Hadasui Skin Water

Hadasui Skin Water is a mineral beauty water that is sprayed on the face, body or hair to rehydrate. The one I have is a collaboration with Hello Kitty with the original Shiseido FT Hadasui Water. This Hadasui water uses water from the foot of Mt. Fuji in Japan with some added herb essences. It is 100% all natural so it's almost like pure water but just with added nutrients. It's almost comparable to the Evian water sprays that can be found in some stores during the summer. I did actually buy this one for the Hello Kitty-ness and for work. Working with ovens every single day makes my skin so dry so I like having this around to spray my face. It's a hydrating water spray that is very light-weight and easy to use. The product description also says it has a grapefruit scent but I find it very alcohol scented even though there is no alcohol content whatsoever.

Pros: Moisturizing, light-weight, easy to use, refreshing, all natural
Cons: horrible alcohol scent

O'slee Clear Spa Sleeping Mask

I'm not really familiar with the brand O'slee but it has come out with quite a number of good sleeping masks. I've never used a sleeping mask before but I found the price wasn't so bad to try this so I did. This one is specifically called the Clear Spa Sleeping Mask. It has four important components to the mask which are purifying, hydrating, relaxing and more anti-oxidants. It purifies to make the skin more absorbent to nutrients and moisture. It also has a rose scent to it so that when you apply it at night, you can relax with the calming scent while drifting off to sleep. The way a sleeping mask works is very simple: wash face, apply a small quarter size on the face(a thin layer) and sleep! Rinse in the morning and then you're ready to go! That sounded real cool but in reality, it's kind of icky. The gel does take quite a while to sink into the skin which makes me confined to sleeping on my back(I'm a side sleeper) and I found it extremely sticky even after in the morning so it is very appropriate to wash the face. The results aren't good nor bad. I skin does feel very soft and the I did get very good sleep too from the rose scent but the confined sleeping position really bothered me.

Pros: Smells good, great concept, soft skin in the morning, fairly cheap
Cons: Sticky, mess on pillows/covers, not much of difference

Belated Christmas Haul!

Christmas is long over but I'm still in the midst of enjoying my new goodies! To be honest, I don't really celebrate Christmas anymore and I don't even race to the Boxing Day sales either. This year's presents were real great and most of them are very useful so I decided to make a special goodies/haul post! I only got a couple of beauty related things and the rest were more to do with my occupation. Mind you, most of these things I got after Christmas. Might be a boring post! Ha!

First off! Beauty-related items! I didn't get much from online shops because I didn't want to wait forever for things to come and there just wasn't much that I really wanted. Instead I decided to hit up a long time favorite shop of mine: MAC!


I decided to pick up the two Highlight Powders from the new Dame Edna collection. I don't really like Dame Edna but I have a thing for these powders/blushes/bronzers/highlighters. The packaging is as great as the Heatherette one so I just had to have them! I couldn't decide which colour as they are both sheer-ish so I got them both.

This one is What a Dame! and it is a pearlish gold kind of highlighter. Since it's pretty sheer and has a gold kind of finish, it is perferct for making a glowy face. Very nice! The only real thing I have with these highlighters is that the sparkly finish that you see in the pictures are totally gone within the first swipe. I wish it was throughout.


The other one is called Spetacle! which is quite almost like a coral orange with slight tint of red. I don't like using the velvet applicator but a brush so it's somewhat perfect for a light tinted blush. Blends pretty well with the ones I have. Something to put under my MSFs from MAC as well. Same issue with the shimmer layer on the top as the other highlighter.

Now I couldn't get everything from MAC as I have decided that I really only like their lipsticks, lipglosses and blushes. So I decided to turn to another brand I really like which is Bobbi Brown. I don't really own much from BB but I do like flipping through her books and looking at her looks. I find them really natural and very relatable for everyday occasions. So when her Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual came out, I had to get it! It's not that I couldn't just read this stuff online but it's more of a nice reference book to have. She teaches real well in her books and it never falls short on Asians which is awesome!

I took some pictures of the manual so you can see how nice it is!

She goes through everything from skincare to makeup to looks to becoming a makeup artist. I find her real thorough with every single aspect for correcting skin problems especially when it comes to undereye. Here's a picture of the blush page that really catches my eye every single time. I really like the colour she chose for that girl on the left! And the coolest thing is that she even did bronzer on a light skinned Asian lady. It's done tastefully that it isn't too bronze or too orange either.

There is also a specific page for lining the single lids. I don't have a single lid but this page just shows the diversity in this manual and that she really has everyone in mind. Sadly I find that dramatic eyeliner look very ugly looking. It looks more like drooping eye to me.

And finally! This is the back page of the book and it's so nice. A whole two pages of lots and lots of blush. Maybe that's her favorite product too!

Since I was already at Chapters(bookstore), I decided to spend some hard earned cash on myself and buy some books that I really like. I actually have one more book that I bought but forgot to take a photo of. That one is Giada De Laurentiis' Every Italian. Now, you must be thinking.. Martha Stewart?! Believe it or not, her book teaches the very simplest but the most basic things. I have a couple of these "references" cookbooks and they all teach the same thing as Martha but I think it's very nice to have. It's a great housewarming gift too! The other one I want to talk about is the INDULGE book. It's a dessert book written by the pastry chef at The French Laundry which is the restaurant that inspired the Disney movie Ratatouille. It is an awesome-beyond-awesome book! The pictures are beautiful and the recipes are super easy to follow. Restaurant quality yet homecook level instructions! I already made the panacotta recipe already!

The last of my purchases was on Boxing Day. I actually decided to go to the mall on sheer boredom. I was bored sitting at home so I just wanted to go out and actually see the sales. I went into the normal stores that I like and saw that COACH is indeed really good during sales! Basically they bring out the old collections and sell them half price! It's almost like shopping at the outlets that you have to drive to the border. The line and swarm of people(ladies and gentlemen!) was so much that I only browsed quickly to snatch up a bag and two cute makeup bags. Everything in total costed the price of the one cosmetic bag alone! What a steal!

So that's what I got for Christmas!

AQUAJUJU AQUAMOIST Hyaluronic Acid Gel Cream

New Year but not new product from AQUAMOIST! It's been quite a few months that I've been using the face creams from this brand. I honestly really love them a lot! All season round, they always have one suitable for moisture. The one I've been using most recently to survive the winter and holidays was the AQUAJUJU AQUAMOIST Hyaluronic Acid Gel Cream. This one is really the most basic one out of all the ones I've talked about. It's only a lighter gel type version with no collagen, no aloe vera nor vitamin C. However, simple does not mean it's not good. It's really great! It still sinks in real fast and keeps my skin from drying up with rough patches all over. It still has that weird funky smell but only 2 small drops is all it takes to cover your face which is a great dollar value! The gel cream is slightly lighter in texture compared to the collagen(red) one but heavier than the vitamin C one(blue). Where as the Aloe Vera one is the most thick of them all. Since this one is also outstanding like the rest, I do highly recommend this one to people who want to try it. Not saying you have to try this one first but it's pretty basic so you can get the feel of the product.

Pros: Same award-winning formula. Moisture-full! Most basic. Moderate heavy cream.
Cons: None!

Mascara Monday: MAJOLICA MAJORCA Lash Gorgeous Wing

Oh I'm slowly catching up with the MJ releases! This is from the recent Fall 2008 collection and it is the first of the fibre mascaras from MJ. This one is called MAJOLICA MAJORCA Lash Gorgeous Wing. They released it with only one colour available but now in the most recent collection there is brown. I have the first one which is the signature dark black. Like most fibre mascaras there are lots and lots of fibres that come out of a tube that stick to the ends of your lashes to lengthen. I've taken a close up of the fibres so you can be able to see them!


Here is my uncurled, plain, short, sparse and straight eyelash.


FINALLY! MJ has decided to release a mascara with a normal brush! I'm so tired of those comb ones because it takes much more required skill. I also find brushes tend to be more gentle on the lashes and application process. I love the brush! The fibres thing is also not a problem for me either. I like that it lengthens a little but in small doses. It does clump but not like loads and loads of mascara piled on. It honestly really looks very natural! I like this mascara so much that I don't even mind the clumping because I really like the result that it has on my lashes.

Pros: Super smudgeproof, water-proof, fibres, lengthening, natural looking
Cons: A bit clumpy, 1 colour

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Laneige Girl Lip Coloring Lipstick

This is going to be probably one of my very first beauty product from Korea reviewed here. I don't really like to buy products from Korean lines and this is only because I have had a bad experience with it and with a famous brand too. Surprisingly the brand is the one I'm reviewing from today. It was one of the Laneige correcting bases and it made me break out. When I bought it, the whole correcting base thing was IN and it was fairly cheap at my local Sasa store in Hong Kong. Oh well, I guess that was me being very unlucky. Anyways, the Laneige Girl Lip Coloring Lipstick that I will be talking about today is also none other than a discounted item as well! I think it's the pricey and unfamiliarity of the Korean market that causes me to only buy the discounted items. Maybe that is why I suffered in my past with the base.


Prior to buying the Laneige Girl Lip Coloring Lipstick, I have never heard of the line except for the major brand Laneige which is pretty much popular for their skincare lines. I don't see much information about the actual "Girl" side of the brand but I'm just assuming it is the more youthful line that didn't do so well. They have commercials on youtube and they look really poppy kiddy type. I chose the only colour available which was 7[6057] which is pretty much a colour I would stay far far away if I had seen it in person. Upon opening it, the lipstick is a very scary blue grape magenta with slight shimmer. It scared me quite a bit. But to my surprise after swatching it on the back on my hand, it goes on real sheer with just a punch of colour.


It's really not that bad as I thought/described it. It's actually pretty wearable for a more "adventurous" day in your life. I like the texture too because it's not thick like lipstick and not too thin like a lip balm. The shimmer is also hardly there as well which makes me wonder why I was so scared in the first place. I would probably not purchase this again even with a cheaper price tag(even already more discounted) but it's nice to have. But as mentioned, it is indeed no longer being sold so this review is just for reference in case one of you girls do happen to see one and want to try it.

Pros: Easy and smooth texture, natural with a punch, sheer, cheap
Cons: Discontinued

Mascara Monday: MAJOLICA MAJORCA Lash Enamel Glamour Neo

I think it's about time to update Mascara Mondays! I've actually had this review lying around for sometime but hadn't really put it up. I'm continuing on with the MJ line and this I will be talking about the MAJOLICA MAJORCA Lash Enamel Glamour Neo or the one with "Hope my lashes are full and smooth." As the title and cute description on the tube says, the mascara is intended for voluminous lashes. Lots of volume but clean volume, it promises! Well, let's see if it does what it says!


Here is my uncurled, plain, short, sparse and straight eye.


Honestly, there is a bit clumping as you can see. The lengthening factor is actually surprisingly there even though it is a volume boosting mascara. If only the volume part would've came out! As usual this mascara is also very waterproof and does not budge even with a day's sweat and tearing. I guess that's the greatest thing about MJ mascaras, that they live true to their word when it comes to waterproof. I think they are still working on the little kinks here and there within every single release of their mascaras. It's like the MJ evolution! So in conclusion, I do not find this mascara of a wow-must-get item. It did not work for me.

Pros: Waterproof, smudgeproof, lengthening(slightly)
Cons: No volume, clumps a bit, average mascara

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KOKURYUDO 黑龍堂 World Esthetic Mask - Italy

Wow! It's been quite some time that I've purchased the collection of KOKURYUDO 黑龍堂 World Esthetic Masks! These days I'm really trying to save money and and while doing that, try to save my ever-forever drying skin. I'm have to say that my skin is suffering real bad from this winter even though it isn't really that cold. I also largely suspect my job has a part in this too. I face 380-460 degrees oven every single day and that is a requirement for my lovely job. As you can probably have guessed: I am a baker! Lots of fun! So I've decided to dig out all those masks that I have hiding in my bathroom cupboard and try them out.


The KOKURYUDO 黑龍堂 World Esthetic Masks come in a range of 4 masks that are for 4 different skin results and funny enough, they are from 4 different countries! The more moisturizing one of the bunch is the Italy one which I will be talking about today. It is thick grey clay mask which apparently has some rose extracts in it. To sooth, inject and seal in the moisture. Honestly, I really like clay masks and this one went on smoothly which no hassle. The only set back is it was quite hard to wash off even with warm water. It took quite a couple of minutes to wash the major parts and some more minutes to take care of the edges of the face. The results as usual are great. My skin felt instantly smoother and a bit moister than usual. This has to be one of the few clay masks that I've actually enjoyed a lot even though washing was a pain. I am considering repurchasing this before it disappears off the shelves!


Here are the rest of the masks from the line. There is a Hawaii, Korea and Bali one too. Have you missed Bali? Check Bali out here!