Review: Origins Mega-Mushroom Skin Relief Eye Serum

I got a sample of this Origins Mega-Mushroom Skin Relief Eye Serum a while ago and have been using it twice daily for a month. It's only 5ml but it lasts a long time! The full size is 15ml, comes in a pump bottle and is really pricy at 45 USD.

Pros:
It's a lightweight fluid creamy serum which absorbs easily and is very moisturizing without the greasiness of some other eye creams. It does brighten and tighten, but doesn't do much for fine lines. It's pretty good if you're in the under-30 age group, but if you're older, you want stronger stuff.

Cons:
Really pricy, I wouldn't buy it if it was free. And it has come bad reviews online, mostly people who suffered sensitivity problems with symptoms like red itchy skin or watery eyes.

Verdict:
A good basic eye cream, but on the pricey side. Worth a try. Do get a sample before committing to avoid sensitivity issues.

Rating: 7/10

--------
Sorry I've been gone for weeks, I was repairing my laptop, etc etc. I hate doing tech stuff and I'd been procrastinating with backing up my hard drive and stuff.
Anyway here are some food pictures from Kuala Lumpur! The shopping was ok - you can find cheap, lower quality clothes for young people, but the high quality labels are more expensive than in Singapore or the US. The watch I bought for 100 bucks in the US, cost 200 bucks in KL. Crazy.


Secret Recipe white chocolate macademia cake


The indoor coaster at Times Square


Fish head noodle soup




Unagi with onsen tamago, matcha latte
I went to Chinatown's Tak Po for dimsum. My friend highly recommended it. It's affordable because the portions are huge. Not as great as I expected though. The yam puff isn't that great, but I like the egg tart. I want to try the mango thingy and congee next, they're supposed to be good, but I was stuffed and the mango thingy is only available on weekends.



Siew Mai


Prawn fritters? I forgot


Egg tarts!


Har Gow


Carrot Cake


Yam Puffs
This is lunch at Megabites at NUS and brownies from Munchy Monkey or something like that. The portions are huge and I was stuffed, and I found it so amusing that the brownie look the same as the photo on the menu, because usually the photos on menus look nicer. I have to say though, this is nothing compared to NTU food.




And lastly, Daim cake and a sparkling pear 'cider' from IKEA. The pear drink was good! And I like the Daim cake except I was too stuffed to enjoy it.



I'm so sad that the Youth Olympics are over. I wanted to watch the gymnastics live but obviously I didn't manage to. I did, however, go to a restaurant (which was presumably one of the sponsors) that gave away cute Merly and Lyo wet napkins!




Till next time!

Review: Vichy + Neutrogena cleansers + Marina Bay Sands Singapore!

I decided to do some reviews of cleansers I used over in the US! Look at the photos and you can see the messy room. (Someone else's fault. Lol.)


Vichy Normaderm Deep Cleansing Gel
This contains salicylic acid, glycolic acid and witch hazel for problem skin. It's a rather thick gel which doesn't foam as easily as I would have liked. I find it pretty moisturizing, surprisingly. I don't like how it doesn't foam properly, so it doesn't make my skin feel clean and sometimes I have to cleanse twice. It leaves a slight filmy afterfeel on my skin, and it didn't really help to clear up existing blemishes, though it prevented new zits from appearing. Plus, it is expensive, as with all Vichy products!

However, it might be good for people with dry, acne-prone skin who might prefer a more gentle approach to clearing up their blemishes. I find this cleanser quite gentle for one that contains salicylic acid. (I personally don't find moisturizing important in cleansers, and I don't mind harsher cleansers as I feel I can always replenish it with a good moisturizer.)

Rating: 5/10



Neutrogena Hydro Boost Mousse Cleanser
This is supposed to be good for dry, sensitive skin. I remember it's slightly expensive, about S$20, but still cheaper than the Vichy. The scent is light and clean and quite pleasant to me. I love the mousse - it is dense and soft and cushiony. Cleansing power is average and therefore I used it as my morning cleanser. I doubt it'd work as well as an evening cleanser since it is mild and doesn't deep-cleanse. (I prefer deep cleansers to clear my skin of gunk in the evening.)

However, I loved using it in the US, when the air was very dry compare to humid Singapore - this cleanser really helped maintain the moisture in my skin. I would definitely recommend this.

Rating: 8/10



Vichy Purete Thermale One Step Cleanser
I bought this without checking reviews online first. BIG MISTAKE. The Vichy website has this categorized under "All Except Acne-Prone Skin", and boy, were they correct. This really gives me zits!!! The description is "This convenient 3 in 1 cleanser includes cleansing milk, toning lotion and eye make-up remover in a lightweight, non-greasy formula."

It's non-greasy, but it's still a heavy cream-gel that clogs my pores and leaves a film on my face. I practise double-cleansing with this cleanser as the first step, but this is so difficult to remove even using a deep-cleanser! I rub this all over my face, use cotton to remove it, follow with a deep cleanser, then toner, and I always find residue on the cotton when I'm swiping toner on my face. Horrible.

I seriously doubt this would be good for any other type of skin. Seriously, even if you have dry, non-acne-prone skin, this cleanser would still leave a film on your skin and clog your pores!!! I would never ever repurchase it.

Rating: 0/10

--------
Today I went to Marina Bay Sands after having lunch with my 2 friends who have already started work. Pretty boring, but I liked taking photos with Leo and Merly!



The Sampan ride, so much cheaper than the Venetian Gondola ride in Vegas.


Double-helix bridge




Leo and Merly!!!




Creepy huge puppets at the bayside

To end, a Thai lunch with my friends the other day after watching Inception. The best movie ever!!! (Super confusing though.) It's great going out with those people who are already working because I get to know what's going to happen when I start work... Not looking forward to it. :(

Review: Revlon Age Defying Moisturizing Concealer, Age Defying Spa Concealer

In the US, I went crazy at Walmart and bought a whole tonne of stuff, mostly stuff I'd remembered reading good reviews about on MakeupAlley. But this one, I just picked up because it looked promising, and it apparently 'hydrates like an eye cream' (sounds amazing huh), plus it has SPF 25!!! It is so difficult finding eye products with SPF, and SPF 25 is really high (my Estee Lauder eye cream only has SPF 15). So I just grabbed it and put it in my trolley along with a whole bunch of other stuff.

I bought it in Medium (because I got a tan), and I just realized that I have the Age Defying Spa Concealer in Light-Medium I bought a couple of months ago, so I can do a comparison! Both of them come in 4 colours - from left: Light, Light-Medium, Medium and Medium-Deep.


The Light-Medium was pretty good for when I was NC25, except I wasn't thrilled with how it was slightly chalky. Now I'm about NC35, the Medium's good, especially since it has strong yellow undertones which is great for Asian skintones.





From left: Revlon Age Defying Spa Concealer (Light Medium), Revlon Age Defying Moisturizing Concealer (Medium)
As you can see, they don't look very different in texture or colour at first, but when blended out, the Spa Concealer is obviously much lighter.

Revlon Age Defying Spa Concealer
+ Illuminates and brightens
+ Not cakey, very subtle
- Brush is a little annoying sometimes when product doesn't dispense well, might be a little unsanitary
- Coverage isn't that great

Overall, good for slight brightening, not for people with serious dark circles. I would prefer L'oreal's Touche Eclat over this one, because it's cheaper and has slightly better coverage, and better shade options that suit me (more yellow undertones).

Rating: 8/10

Revlon Age Defying Moisturizing Concealer
+ Great coverage without being cakey
+ Lovely creamy consistency, moisturizing
+ SPF 25
+ Tube packaging is easy to use
+ Looks really natural

Bottom line: The best concealer I've ever tried!!! Other tube concealers I've tried are the really popular ZA Concealer Perfection (which is raved about for the great coverage), but this beats it hands down. ZA's has great pigmentation and a little goes a long way, but it has no SPF, is slightly cakey and can look powdery. This one, on the other hand, is a dream to blend, not cakey at all. Of course, it's more expensive, but it's so worth it!

Rating: 10/10

I am so happy I have found the perfect perfect concealer. I will never buy any other ever again! (I'm serious) I'm thinking that the only thing that can be improved would be to use them together. Like for Bobbi Brown, you have to use concealer first, then the tinted eye brightener over it. Perhaps I'll try using the Moisturizing Concealer first, and the Spa Concealer over it for more illumination.

One thing to note: As far as I know, there are only 2 shades of the Spa Concealer available in Singapore - Light and Light Medium. I don't know if the Moisturizing Concealer's out yet. I do hope they bring it in!

--------
I had dinner at Tajimaya at Vivocity the other night because my sister got promoted again! Ended with dessert at Bakerzin.

I loved the garlic rice, though it was a tad salty. I hate eggplant, but the eggplant here was great. And of course the wagyu karubi was yummy. I wasn't too crazy about barbecuing the stuff myself though. (And I never quite know how to take photos of food when we're barbequing, because plates of raw food look unappetizing, but when we're done barbecuing, the food looks weird too because we don't plate them) The warm chocolate cake at Bakerzin was awesome too, tasted like oranges.

The things that made me sure I was back in Singapore was all the Chinese waitresses who can't speak English, and the managers who say "Welcome" and "Thank you, have a good evening" looking really fierce with nary a smile on their faces. Can't blame them though, we don't practice tipping in Singapore, and I didn't really like smiling either. In the past.

I don't know, I do feel the US has changed me, if just a little bit. Yesterday I had lunch with a friend who's working 7 days a week (which is something I used to do), and suddenly I remembered something my friend Josh (who is American) said. One day when I was complaining about how much I wanted hours and how I needed money, he was like, "But you haven't done anything fun today!!!" I guess what I'm aiming for right now, is more of a work-life balance. Still slightly more skewed to work, but that's better than pure work, right? (:

Till next time!

Back to Singapore!!!

Back from my hiatus (due to lack of access to the Internet). Apologies!

In the past 3 months, I've been to Chicago, Niagara Falls, Washington, New York, LA, Vegas, San Francisco. And I arrived home just in time for convocation!!! I've now officially graduated!!! Yay!

Still super jet-lagged and still in the midst of unpacking (so much stuff!) but I bought lots of wonderful stuff home, so look out for more of my regular posts! (:

Love, Fiona

USA 8th week

I can't believe we're leaving Cedar Point in just 2 more weeks...
Saltwater taffy.
Lee's fried chicken.

No Hours, SADNESS

So a bunch of us got transferred because the hours were so bad last week, I only made like 12 hours... Jia and DM got transferred to other food places, but JK and I are staying... JK will probably never be transferred cos they want guys... Moldovian girls are staying but 2 of them are bad in English so they will probably wanna get transferred... Don't know why I'm staying but I like the people, but today I got zero hours again, super sad, if it remains the same I might wanna change to sweeps, they have the cutest yellow overall shorts uniform.




Million dollar photo up there (((: