Review: Fancl Facial Washing Powder

I got a sample of Fancl's facial washing powder as a gift-with-purchase and just finished using it. The little sponge ball helps create foam and is an absolute necessity; I could never get the powder to foam up well enough without it, and without the foam, it doesn't cleanse properly.

It takes just 1 teaspoonful of powder, some water and the help of the foam ball to create dense fluffy foam.

Apparently the Facial Washing Powder comes with a 'perfect cleansing sensor' to remove dirt without leaving your skin dry. I do feel it cleanses thoroughly without stripping skin of moisture but for evening cleansing, it really needs to be used with a washcloth, muslin cloth or the Fancl facial washing puff to provide some physical exfoliation. I find it sufficient on its own in the mornings, but if you're always in a rush in the mornings, the additional few minutes it takes to create foam really wastes quite a bit of time.

Fancl Facial Washing Powder retails at $26 for a 50g bottle and $48.50 for 2 bottles. Slightly pricey for me but a full-size bottle lasts me almost 2 months. I might consider re-purchasing if not for all my other cleansers waiting to be used. :P A couple of years ago, I tried out the Facial Washing Powder (Light) which is supposed to be used for oily skin. I think the original version (the one I'm reviewing right now) is better though.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Skinfood Pineapple Peeling Gel

I was going to go jogging but it started raining. :( So here I am with another review!


Skinfood Pineapple Peeling Gel - I think it cost me about S$25 in Taiwan, but it should be cheaper on Gmarket and way more expensive in Singapore stores. It's this light exfoliating gel, kinda comparable to Cure Aqua Gel/Ginvera Marvel Gel in the sense that it doesn't really come with uniform scrubby exfoliating grains, but with little pieces of cellulose that rub off in pieces.

Like Cure/Ginvera, it's best used after cleansing and drying. Using on a wet or damp face reduces the exfoliating effect. Similar to Cure/Ginvera, I find I have to use quite a larger amount (as compared to conventional scrubs/exfoliators) so it's kinda pricey in a way.

You can see the little cellulose bits in the gel.

And when you scrub it off, it rubs off in pieces.

I find it a pretty gentle and effective exfoliator which can be used every day if you have normal skin. However it's not as gentle as Cure/Ginvera because I think the Skinfood gel contains pineapple extract which can sting my skin sometimes if I have an open zit or something. I feel Cure/Ginvera work as physical exfoliators while this one is both physical and chemical. It can also be slightly drying so I really need to moisturize well after use.

Rating: 7/10

Let me end off with some photos of cookies I made with my new oven, like, 2 months ago, when I ended a long engagement. According to a friend, it raised a furore when I posted it on Facebook (2 months late) cos they thought that I had so much time to bake and were jealous. Lol. There's nothing in my life to be jealous about, really. I've been quite down lately, thank God for friends or I would have given up a long time ago.



I bought the packaging from Daiso, is it cute? I baked the white chocolate chewy cookies for a friend who'd broken up with her bf but she didn't appear heartbroken after all so I gave the rest to my colleagues, lol!

I had a good Friday night out with friends and later I'm going out for some emotional support... I'm quite thankful for everyone who's been there for me, even if we're just hanging out or sending random texts throughout the week, it really helps me cope with all that... stuff.

Here's to a good week ahead (:

Review: SKII facial treatment essence; Biobeauty Skincology Advanced Hydrating Creme EX2

After working for 6 months and having not too much time to spend too much $ (on busy periods I still sacrifice sleep to shop online though, to counter boredom ^^), I've graduated to experimenting with higher-end skincare/make-up products. Today I'll be reviewing SKII's infamous miracle water and another hyaluronic acid product - I've been using these 2 products together and find they work quite well on my super-breakout-prone skin - calming and non-irritating.

BioBeauty Skincology Advanced Hydrating Creme EX2
This product can be purchased through Payeasy. It's the cream version of the BioBeauty Skincology Advanced Hydrating Serum II that I've previously reviewed. It's slightly more expensive than the serum. The serum is NT350 for 30ml while the creme is NT380 for 30g. The ingredients are simple and soothing - hyaluronic acid, vitamin A, C, B5, B3, aloe vera and soy protein. It has a light and refreshing gel texture that totally doesn't clog pores at all (very gentle, soothing, non-reactive and friendly to sensitive skin) - a very safe product. The only thing that kind of freaks me out is how opaque it is. Like, unnaturally plasticky white, don't you think? Apart from that, everything is peachy!

Oh, and I do dislike how cheap the packaging looks with the blue sticker. However, it is easily removed - without the blue sticker, it looks quite elegant and almost matches my SKII bottle with its white plastic cap and frosted glass jar.

Because it has a pretty light texture, it may not be moisturizing enough for people with really dry skin. I guess it'd work better for people with slightly dry to super oily skin. It doesn't make my face oil up any more than it usually does. When I'm in air-conditioning, I layer this quite a bit, so one jar lasts me a month or thereabouts.

Rating: 9/10


SKII Facial Treatment Essence
Moving on to the star product - SKII! This is cheaper at dutyfree so I get my sis to buy it for me. I think of this as the La Mer of Asia. At first I got kind of confused - this totally looks like toner, but it'd be way too wasteful to use it as such! (Especially since I finish a bottle of toner a month!) This is supposed to be used after toner, before moisturizer. When I use this, I avoid using acne treatments or moisturizers with too fancy ingredients (like lactic acid, salicylic acid, etc) just in case it counteracts with the treatment essence. (No scientific proof on this, anyone knows? Cos SKII is way too expensive for me to use it anyhow. I usually layer a light hyaluronic acid cream/essence over it.) I shake out about 5-6 drops and lightly pat it on my face, wait for it to absorb and layer moisturizer.

The thing about SKII essence is... it stinks. Literally. It smells weird. But bearable. (The scent is quite light.) I also find it gives me a slight glow the next morning and calms my skin down when I'm very stressed. It is not meant to be used as a moisturizer so you definitely need to layer one over it. It didn't work wonders for me straightaway, but after 7 days, I noticed my skin getting calmer. You definitely need to use it long-term to experience the effects. For the exorbitant price though, I expected more than that. Like, faster and more dramatic effects. :P

Rating: 9/10

Today's post is about almost HGs, but not quite there yet!

Midweek - I'm just about surviving... Friday is coming and I cannot wait. I can't wait to meet people and rant. It's fun to rant with people who are experiencing bad luck as well, but sometimes I wonder if we should hang out so much cos maybe the bad karma is recirculating amongst us. :P

Review: Sanctuary Warming Charcoal Detox Mask

Hi I'm back after a month again! Gosh, I've really been busy. Super stressed out. And I'm sick right now, the 4th time after 6 months of work. :( Anyway, today's review will be on this amazing mask I found, it's kinda pricy, either S$29.90 or S$39.90 I think. So worth it though! It's from The Sanctuary Day Spa in London and it contains charcoal and essential oils, it's one of those warming masks and I love how it heats up.

It comes in an elegant and slim little tube which makes it easier to squeeze out, cos it's more like a paste in consistency. I find I really need to shake the tube hard (which is kind of difficult) cos sometimes the essential oils settle at the bottom and you don't get a good mixture of charcoal and essential oil. Or if I store it upside down, the paste comes out really stiff cos all the essential oil is at the top.

It's a really lovely mask - I apply it and wash off after about 10 mins. It doesn't dry up - you can wash it off with warm water or with a washcloth as well. I love how sucks up the oil in my skin without drying it out. I kind of feel like the essential oils are conditioning my skin, which I love!

Rating: 8/10 (Love it except for priciness and consistency)


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That's all for today, I see I have some new followers and I'm kind of embarrassed cos I've been so busy. I haven't actually checked my personal email in 3 weeks, I have so many things to do, I work on weekends as well, even when I'm bored as hell and can't take it anymore, I'll go out and it makes me so tired. And if I have drinks, it really dehydrates and makes me feel so much worse. Once I almost fainted in the queue for a restaurant on Saturday night. So embarrassing!

I'll definitely continue blogging though... I don't want to lose whatever I enjoy doing. Till next time!

Thoughts and prayers for the people in Japan.

I only saw the news of the tsunami on Google on Friday when I was googling a client's address. Didn't realise how horrible it was till I had time on Saturday night to read the papers. And they didn't come up with a death toll at first because it was too early to tell so I didn't realise the severity of the disaster.

God bless.

FOTD: Momobella and Undercurrent

I've actually worn variations this look a couple of times, I like how beachy it looks because of turqoise-y eyeliner and coral blush. For this look, I'm using MAC Pearlglide in Undercurrent and Tokidoki blush in Momobella (from the Robbery palette).

Undercurrent is a seriously gorgeous seafoam-turqoise mix. Glittery and intense! Love it to pieces. It stays on my eyelid all day without a primer (which is quite a feat). But - it doesn't stay on my waterline at all. It's glittery which makes it unsafe for waterline use anyway, so. :(

And now, moving on to my absolute love - Momobella blush from Tokidoki's Robbery Palette. It's my ultimate favourite item of all time - I could repurchase the entire palette right now just to get a back-up of the blush. Seriously. It's one of those NARS-Orgasmism-ish colours, seriously gorgeous and natural and glowy! I can't capture the exact colour with my camera, so here you get 4 photos to judge. (First photo's most accurate, the others are more washed out but then you can see the peachy undertones and gold glitter.)




It's a mix of peachy and pinky, perfect natural colour with subtle gold glimmer that gives cheeks this super amazing glow. The glow is very natural, elegant and... expensive looking. You know some blushes look powdery and cheap? This one looks elegant, understated and expensive. It's not too pigmented and not too sheer - perfect with a regular blush brush. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

I use this blush every single day and it's crazy but it makes me feel so happy putting it on. Lol. Then again, I don't own NARS Orgasm so I can't compare. Do check out the Tokidoki Robbery palette though, it's further discounted to US$39 at Sephora!! (I bought it for $49, boo.)

Review: Eucerin DermoPurifyer

Hi all! Happy Lunar New Year! Been away for a long time because I've been swamped in work. Usually I reach home after 2am in the morning and I had to work weekends too, I was so tired! I still don't get to go home for dinner these days but anything is better than still being in the client's office at 2am in the morning.

Anyway, I discovered this brand, Eucerin, in the drugstore. It's slightly more expensive than your average drugstore brand (these cost around SGD$20+ compared to SGD$10+ for brands like Clean&Clear) but it's pretty worth it! I've been having troubled skin because of the late nights and these help keep my skin from breaking out.

Eucerin DermoPurifyer Cleanser
It's a clear gel cleanser, foams quite easily and washes off cleanly without residue. It contains salicylic acid to unclog pores and it's one of the most gentle cleansers I've used! I'd say even people with dry skin can try this. Other cleansers which contain salicylic acid made my skin dry in the long run, but this cleanser doesn't. While it's gentle at cleansing, it cleanses thoroughly without stripping skin of moisture.

Rating: 10/10 (Yes I'd repurchase forever if only I weren't so fickle-minded)

Eucerin DermoPurifyer Creme-Gel
This is a moisturizer for blemished skin, it has a strange texture - creme-gel is a nice way to describe it. It is thick like a cream but not at all greasy, hence creme-gel. Here's a swatch to let you see the texture -


The instructions say to massage it into face. Usually when I spread stuff on my face, I spread downwards so as not to clog my pores, but for this one, I really do massage it into my pores so that the lactic acid can get into my pores to exfoliate and get the debris out.


I find this moisturizer has good oil control. Also, the really good thing about this moisturizer is that it really does moisturize - it's one of the rare moisturizers made for blemish-prone, oily skin that doesn't dry my skin out. However, the heavy texture can get a little annoying sometimes - it can make my skin feel sticky after a long day, and when I apply powder on my face using a fluffy brush, I feel like it's gunking up my brush with the stickiness. Still, while it feels heavy, it leaves a matte texture which I like because my skin tends to get oily. Also, it doesn't clog my pores. And I really like the compact tube it comes in - slightly flat and reminds me of some BB cream tubes!

Rating: 9/10

Hopefully I'll get to blog soon this weekend. See you (: