Heroine Make was founded back in 2005 in Japan. For some reason, Japanese refer “make” as make up hence the name Heroine Make. Heroine being “the girl who is youthful and loves beauty“. Since its launch, Heroine Make won numerous awards including the holy grail award in Japan – Cosme.’
To my entirely honest, I’ve seen these in Asian beauty shops for years but have not made the move to purchase because the anime packaging doesn’t float my boat. I guess in my recent overseas trip, I succumbed, no thanks to my enablers – Tina & Shizuka. I picked up two mascara, a liquid eyeliner (my usual make up staple) and a brow pencil.
Verdict:
- Smooth Liquid Liner: I am beyond obsessed with this. This probably took over my obsession with Dolly Wink liquid liner. It is easy to use, especially great with flicks and it is dark (not as dark as a gel) and never smudges.
- Quick Eyebrow – I didn’t like this twist pen eyebrow liner, it felt too harsh to skin and barely any colour came out despite me trying so hard. This is a no go.
- Volume & Curl Mascara + Long & Curl Mascara – You’ve got to give it to the Japanese to always deliver mascara that are smudge proof, weather proof and impossible to remove. Despite it being difficult to remove, I love this combination as they deliver long lasting curl and volume for my sparse lashes and never causing any issues – EVER even after a long 15 hr day. The formula is wet without being heavy and never leaves my lashes crunchy dry looking once the formula dries.
Approximately AUD$10 – 15
Available in Sasa or most Asian beauty stores
Our hair is filled with protein. That is what keeps it strong and healthy – the more damage you do to your hair, the more protein you need to fill up the damaged hair shafts. Most shampoo/conditioner/hair mask to a certain degree has protein in it to keep hair manageable and smooth.
L’Oreal Professional has been a long standing haircare brand that I believe in and actually spend my own coins for. I was introduced to this brand since I was 12 by my mom no less and she is a huge fan of it too. Over the years I have picked up her habit of ALWAYS having their hair care products in my bathroom – note keyword is always.
Bit on my hair, it is as damaged as hair could be – heat styling, bleached, battled and coloured as often as Taylor Swift swapping boyfriends. Beyond that, I naturally have oily scalp (the type you HAVE to wash errrday other wise it gets itchy), hair texture is fine and my hair is limp and straight by default. Over the years, I have developed a haircare routine (which includes a wardrobe of products) to cater to different hair needs and I am a firm believer of swapping shampoo + conditioner every 2 – 4 weeks.
While I do not have a scientific explanation to it but I always feel that once I swap my shampoo + conditioner over (to something new or something I haven’t used in a while) my hair just seems to accept the newly introduced prodz into my hair care routine better. In additional, when it comes to hair care products it is one of those things, you just know when it works.
Pro Keratin Refill hair care range is designed for dry and weak hair. This range is designed to repair, strengthen and protect weak/dull hair. There’s also an “in salon” treatment that you can request for when you head to your salon that carries L’Oreal Professional hair care products.
I recommend this to those with long hair or split end prone hair as long hair tend to be weaker. I use them when I feel that my hair needs intensive TLC and when I am punishing it with heaps of heat styling. The shampoo lathers effortlessly and the mask is great as an intensive weekly hair treatment and leaves hair baby smooth and manageable.
Highlight of the range for me has to be the Pro Keratin Blow Dry Thermo Cream, this dual action cream protects my hair from the hair dryer but also doubles as a leave in conditioner as well. Love it!
Pro Keratin Correcting Care Shampoo RRP AUD$$26
Pro Keratin Blow Dry Thermo Cream RRP AUD$26
Pro Keratin Correcting Care Masque RRP AUD$31
Call 1300 651 141 for stockist
It is no secret that I am a huge fan of lip products particularly lip balms and lipsticks. I love a bit of a fun colour on my lips but I have a bad habit of biting my lips and is prone to dry flaky lips if I don’t keep myself hydrated.
Skinceuticals Antioxidant Lip Repair is designed to restore moisture to lips to prevent dehydration and premature aging lips. Bit like a lip serum for the lips in my opinion. This clever little product combines powerful antioxidant protection and gently exfoliate lips by promoting collagen synthesis.
Star ingredients: Vitamin E, Silymarin, Botanical Emollients
Texture wise, this feels like a skincare product except that it feels very lightweight and doesn’t smell or taste like anything. I start by pumping a small pump onto my finger and massage all over clean and dry lips with my fingers. I usually apply this all over lips especially paying attention with my lip lines and the ring of my lips at the end of the day. Once applied, I pile on a rich lip balm like this one or this one so that all the goodness of the products are sealed and locked into my lips overnight.
Results wise: I didn’t see any immediate transformation or effect on my lips; however, the next morning I woke up to smoothed lips with no signs of dehydration and a dreamy base to work any lipstick on. Due to its gentle exfoliate ingredient, my lips is reborn overnight minus the stubborn dryness and no signs of irritation! I have been using this daily at night especially during the colder months to avoid environmental damage to the lips.
BONUS TIP: For extremely dry lips readers like moi, I occasionally get the swollen, sensitive, painful, peely and flaky lips drama. When this happens, I carefully rid all signs of lipstick/gloss/balm off lips with a cotton pad and gently massage wet lips with a wet toothbrush to get rid of any dead skin without further irritating lips. Once I am satisfied that I have scrub up most if not all of the dead skin cell, I pat my lips dry and apply a thick layer of this and wait for it to absorb into my lips. Then I reapply another layer and top it up with a rich nourishing lip balm to ensure my lips are 100% looked after.
EXTRA BONUS TIP: If you are using Accutane®, you’ll know the side effects is dryness around the lips area. You’ll be happy to hear that this works wonder on those stubborn dryness and doesn’t irritate skin! From what I heard this helps with cold sore prevention too. WIN!
RRP AUD$67.50
Currently 12% off on Adore Beauty as they are holding a Skinceutical Sale at the moment
With this time and age, we are all time poor and is constantly finding ways to find peace, calm and time saving methods. Well, lucky for us Olay has recently launched a serum and moisturiser combo – the latest Olay Total Effects 7 in 1 Cream + Serum Duo.
Olay Total Effects was first conceived over 10 years ago when an extensive survey discovered that women across the globe, despite their differing ethnicities and geographies, were concerned about similar signs of ageing.
The NEW Olay Total Effects Moisturiser + Serum Duo fights the seven signs of ageing by:
1. Line Minimisation: Reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
2. Tone Enhancement: Evens and balances skin tone
3. Age Spots Treatment: Reduces appearance of age spots
4. Gentle Exfoliation: Smoothes and evens skin texture
5. Nourishing Moisturisation: Soothes dry skin
6. Reduction of Dullness: Gives skin a healthy radiance
7. Pore Refinement: Minimises the appearance of pores
This week, five lucky winners will walk away with the new Olay Total Effects Moisturiser and Serum Duos with SPF 15 each. Each product is valued at RRP AUD$32.49.
How to win it:
Leave a comment below and tell me what is the most important skincare step for you?
Important notes:
- Competition ends 5:00 pm AEDST on 15th May, 2013
- Competition is open to all readers in Australia
- Winner(s) will be selected by skill and contacted via email, be sure to check your emails to respond with your postal address
- Should the winner(s) does not respond within 48 hours, the prize will be forfeited and another winner(s) will be chosen
- Each user can only send through their entry once, failing to do so – entries won’t be qualified for the competition.
Following my previous reviews on muk spa hair products, today I will be reviewing their latest muk Style Stick 230-IR – a new generation straightener.
The style stick is black (also comes in white), glossy and is quite light in weight. The straightener comes with adjustable heat settings 80°C – 210°C, extra long cords, handy sleep mode, tourmaline ceramic plates, 12 month guarantee and dual voltage – meaning you can use this worldwide.
Top: Infrared plates
Bottom: My preferred choice of heat
Primed my hair with muk spa Argan Oil Shine Spray (RRP AUD$34.95), always prime hair before all heat styling. I begin with spritzing hair generously and comb through to avoid any kinks. Be sure to test hair with the heat plates from low to high, do keep in mind if you hair is fragile or damaged then go easy on your hair.
Before and after – my hair is usually dead straight so straightening my hair is a foreign concept to me. Having said that, I am still mastering how to achieve the perfect loose curls, still clueless with that though.
With the muk Style Stick, it comes with infrared plates helps to heat hair from within to help styling easier and quicker. The curved plates helps to make curling effortlessly and the finish is surprisingly shiny! When this was demonstrated to me that it puts shine into hair rather than strips it from shine, I was doubtful but having tried it on myself, I am a convert now.
Overall, this is definitely a new generation straightener as compare to my old trusty ghd. Style Stick has more of an advantage in smoother to hair, easier to clamp and style and leaves hair smooth and shiny with no signs of damage.
RRP AUD$199.95
Available to purchase now
Woah, where did time go? The last time I did a post on top picks was back in December 2012 and now we are almost half way through 2013! Having said that, let’s play some catch up for 2013 top picks – 1st quarter edition.
Make up:
1) Lunasol Cheek Brush N - A blush that picks up colour and blends effortlessly is my type of blush.
2) Jill Stuart Gel Eyeliner in #01 Black Cat - The blackest gel eyeliner one can find, the pretty packaging doesn’t hurt either.
3) Chanel Le Blanc Light Mastering Whitening Compact Foundation SPF 25 - I haven’t been the biggest fan of powder foundation until I met Chanel. Cheesy but true.
4) Estee Lauder Pure Color Violet Underground Fall 2012 + Q&A with Tom Pecheux- Another winning palette from Estee Lauder. I find pinks on eyeshadow is a very feminine colour and I love it.
Skin care:
1) Creme De La Mer The Lip Balm - Soft and baby smooth lips minus the balmy grease. Perfect as a lip base.
2) L’Herboflore Facial Cloth Masks - HG Facial cloth mask!
3) Dermalogica Multivitamin Power Serum + Willow for Dermalogica - One of the most exciting launch in 2013, a powerful serum that also doesn’t leave skin oily.
4) RMK Cleansing Balm - Love a good cleansing balm and they will always have a soft spot in my heart. Apart from Clinique’s Take the Day off Balm, this is the only other balm that I love.
5) Chanel Masque Déstressant Pureté Purifying Cream Mask - For someone who has congestion prone skin, this was heaven sent and now I faithfully use this on a weekly basis to keep skin clear.
6) Kosmea Moisturising Lotion SPF 30+ - If you find most sunscreen that leaves your skin with a white cast annoying? You’ll never have that problem with this.
Nails:
1) Sally Hansen Nails Prep - This nail care routine is my current holy grail routine.
2) YSL La Laque Couture in #11 Rose Futuriste & #14 Violine Surrealiste - Purple and hot pink, the universal shades that look good on every girl’s digits.
3) Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour in #569 Emprise - A classic beige that doesn’t look washed out on my skin.
4) Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Part 1- Creamy, amazing colour choices to pick from and a smooth chip free finish for up to a week!
Others:
1) How to Create Your Ultimate Brow Shape At Home by Lien Davies - Finally, an ebook worth spending your pennies on. Lien aka my go-to brow guru aka the person who changed my outlook in make up and brows – definitely a must have if you are not lucky enough to be based in Sydney to visit Lien.
2) Liposonix Review Part 1 – Liposonix 101 - Within 4 weeks, I could see VISIBLE results, can’t wait to share my 12th week results.
3) Kerastase Cristalliste Shampoo & Conditioner - Finally a shampoo and conditioner combo great for fine hair and the pick packaging stands out in the shower.
4) Aurora Spa Kerstin Florian Signature Active AHA Results Facial - Despite the mini hick up, I would actually recommend going here for a good old facial.
I have been meaning to write this post for a very long time since the launch of L’Oreal Shine Caresse Lip Colour in the Australian market. Pretty much every single beauty blogger have also blogged about how similar the new lip colour is to YSL Glossy Stain. Personally, I agree that both shares some similarity but overall I don’t agree that one is replaceable of the other.
By quickly assembling these two lip colours, it looks from the packaging that both products seem to share similar colours but the actual products are not quite like each another.
In total, L’Oreal Shine Caresse Lip Colour is available in 8 shades - Lolita 101, Romy 102, Marilyn 103, Princess 200, Juliet 300, Eve 400, Milady 402, Bonnie 501.
The similarities:
- Packaging wise, both products appear to be quite similar in length and shape. One luxurious, one high street!
- Both application wand is similar.
- Colour range available is quite similar, the pinks, the reds and the violets. Although, YSL do have more colour offering in the market and each season there are also limited edition colours.
- Both appear to have a stain finish and will stain your lips (only applicable for brighter shades with L’Oreal’s)
One swipe for both
The differences:
- Loreal is affordable and YSL is luxurious; this is also reflected in the look and feel of the packaging.
- Loreal lip colour is sheer, YSL is pigmented especially for the lighter shades. See picture above. Both are similar colour and yet you can tell straight away the intensity is different. I won’t be able to achieve the same result even with multiple layers from Loreal’s to the one layer of YSL’s.
- Both lip colour/gloss are easy to apply but YSL has a creamy finish while Loreal has more of an oily finish.
- Both colours are long lasting (and this is only true for the more pigmented colours), the sheerer ones from Loreal didn’t stand a chance to last past a couple of sips in a mug.
- The main difference that nailed it in for me is that after 8 hour of wear, Loreal’s made my lips dry and pruney, amplifying the fine lines and worst of all, the pigments from Loreal lip colour seeped into the fine lines. As for the YSL, it doesn’t give me the same effect and doesn’t leave my lips dry and peely (this coming from someone who is prone to lip dryness).
End of the day, Loreal is recommended for people who don’t have dry lips and is looking for a sheer finish, preferably one without pigmented lips as the sheer colours won’t show up on darker lips like me. YSL is recommended for those who are prone to dry lips and have pigmented lips because the glossy stain really stain and deliver long lasting finish.
Today, I am sharing with you two of my recent purchase (actually not so recent I got them Dec/Jan?) from Chanel. I have long adored Chanel’s lip prodz, skincare, eyeshadow quads, nail polishes, eyeshadow pots but haven’t tried their liquid eyeliner and pencil eyeliner; hence I thought I should give it a go since I wear these products every single work day of my life.
Say hello to Chanel Liquid Eyeliner Intensity Definition #10 Noir and Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof Long Lasting Eyeliner #88 Noir Intense. Just to keep things simple I am going to call it liquid eyeliner and pencil eyeliner, you get the drill!
Soft, never draggy, especially brilliant on the waterline; this is classified as can’t live without product now.
Takes a while to get use to drawing flicks with liquid eye liner like these as it can get tricky at the corners of the eye when the tip of the brush is so fluid. A trick I always do is to try and drain as much liquid off the brush back into the pot as possible. Sometimes when it comes to drawing flicks I try and draw the liner on a tissue to take out additional liquid. Definitely needs some practising with this before mastering the tiny lines and perfect flicks.
Here’s a close up shot of the swatches, both in one clean swipe. As you can see the pencil eyeliner is the blackest you can get and is creamy and smooth to apply. The liquid eyeliner is also the blackest a liquid eyeliner can get. It is also waterproof and doesn’t come off with cleansing oil, yes you read that right, doesn’t come off with cleansing oil but slides right off with warm water. Amazing huh?
Ever since I got these two amazing combo in my paws I have been using them almost on a daily basis. Both are smudge proof and once mastered is super easy to apply. I love it!
