Aromatherapy Associates Rose Skin Tonic review

I wrote about the Renewing Rose Cleanser from Aromatherapy Associates earlier on HERE, and I mentioned that thou will see better effects when using it together with the Rose Skin Tonic. Today I'm bringing you the review of the toner from the same (Hydrating) line.

Emptied Products in April

April went by in a breeze and I spent most of the time in sickness, ewww. It's not a very productive month in terms of empties but here's what I managed to finish:

Clarins White Plus Total Luminescent Pearl-to-Cream cleanser, Brightening Soft Aqua-Milk review

Clarins had been a keeper in my books ever since I tried their hero BB Cream. A while ago I've been given these two Clarins products to test, and today I'll be sharing my thoughts and verdicts with you: they are the Pearl-to-Cream Brightening Cleanser, and Brightening Soft Aqua-milk, both from the newly revamped White Plus Total Luminescent Line!

GLYCEL White Ice Sleeping Eye Mask, Whitening Toner and Whitening Cleansing Milk reviews

Today I'll be talking about whitening products from GLYCEL - a Swiss skincare brand. The brand had released the "White Ice Series" especially in Asia for women who are after white and radiant skin. I'm not big about whitening products but I admit I do have a few spots I like to "whiten", namely my under eyes and post-breakout dark spots (eeeek!).

The best things always came out of the blue

Two days ago, before I go for a shower, I get together the usual products which I was going to use during/after the shower, and this is what happened: these four product staples were all in aqua blue! Now, will you excuse me for the bad pun in the post title, that was completely random, but I decided a post would be on its way to introduce my shower time staples, and here we are. 

Attempting to curb my HAUL-iday madness - the very first Empties Post

Happy Holidays my lovlies! I was inspired the other day to do an Empties Post (after reading Beauty Reductionista's blog, Rouge Deluxe's, and many others), startled at the rate my beauty stash is growing, I decided a curb on the haul-iday madness (pardon me for the pun). Holiday is a a very good / bad time for good deals, depending on how you see it. Most brands would release value-saving makeup / skincare sets which entices you to buy because the sets are such a bargain. My soul fell weak in front of these holiday deals. That was when I embarked on keeping product empties on a monthly basis, and do a short review of each of them.

What to do with old toners?!?! + last week to enter giveaway

Are you confronted with the dilemma of "what to do with skincare products I don't love but don't hate either?" We all do. So what do you usually do with these products? Give them to your mom/sisters/friends? Or you leave them alone?

I have at least one bottle of toner which I don't like but I don't hate either, not to mention the deluxe samples of other toners, lol. (The blue bottle in the pic is my HG by the way!) So what do I do with the rest? I turn them into facial masks - read on!

*This method is suitable for toners that your skin don't have adverse reaction to. If you feel like the toner is breaking you out or causing allergy, you shouldn't try this method.*

There are those 'dehydrated and compressed' cloth-masks that come in the form of 'pills' (like the pills you eat when you're sick). These are widely available in the drugstores in Asia. When you soak them in any water/liquid, they will expand and unfold into a mask like this:

(image taken from this page on Muji.com) I believe you can find these in drugstores or in Sasa.

The idea is to soak the compressed mask 'pill' into the toner, soak it up fully. I usually use a few cotton pads instead of the mask pill, but they're the same. Anyways, you get the idea :)here I am using one cotton pad to demonstrate.
Pour the toner on it, pour A LOT :P
MUCH MORE toner is needed here! The idea is to soak the cotton pads and the 'pill' up!
Repeat the process if you're using a few cotton pads, or if you find the mask too dry. Repeat until you can literally squeeze the water from the mask, like this:
Next step: put the drenched cotton pads or unfolded mask onto your face. Any part of the face you like. I usually will pour more after I put these onto my face. Well, if that's a toner I don't love or hate, it'd better be used up quickly and effectively LOL Allow the cotton pads/mask to stay on your face for 10-15 minutes. If you feel like going for more, repeat the process. And most importantly: take a deep breath and relax...(I do this when I'm about to fall asleep in bed XD)
I found this method to be super economical - in a way that you don't need to spend extra money on buying face masks, cotton pads/dry mask pills come in bulk for a cheap price. It's also a good way to put your unloved products to use, instead of letting them go to waste. For those who travel a lot, it surely helps especially at times your skin needs an extra boost of hydration, not to mention all you need is the toner you're already using regularly and some extra cotton pads. You can use toners of different purposes, a 'hydrating' toner for times your skin is dry, a whitening toner if you feel like having a whitening essence booster, you could use anything, really.

I usually use separate toners for T-shape and U-shape part of the face, depending on the weather :) I have been following this practice for a few years and I love how you can pour, slap and fall asleep, haha! Hope this helps!

P.S. It's the last week to enter my giveaway!

Benefit x HONG KONG 5th Anniversary Limited Edition Kit!

YES!!! After landing in HK for 5 years (wow so long?), Benefit is celebrating its 5th anniversary in Hong Kong with this special limited edition kit that mirrors Hong Kong skyline <3 Products featured include (from left to right):

Dandelion face powder/blush, That Gal Primer, Woman Seeking Toner, PosieTint liquid blush, Dr.Feelgood face mattifying balm (primer).

Although I have ALL products in this kit (guilty...tsk tsk tsk), I"m very excited about this kit as the products adopt the skins of the major buildings/features in Hong Kong! I have to admit I can't figure out where that Chinese style temple is...(the one for Dr. Feelgood).

Good job at recreating the products with buildings :D!!

Source: Benefit Facebook Fan Page <3

Buh-byes and WELCOME TO...

Hi ladies! In this post I will be saying goodbyes to the products which I finished using and will be going to the bin. They are:

Benefit That Gal Primer
Benefit BadGal Blue Mascara
Clinique All About Eyes Rich (deluxe sample size)
Clinique Clarifying Lotion/Toner (travel size)


The Benefit primer is nothing special, I just like the smell of it and the pinkish tone (which really brightens up my complexion), but nothing more. I finished 2-3 tubes of this primer (coz it's really really tiny) and somehow I feel this product is more for winter, as I have the sticky feeling when applied in humid/warm weather. Since this primer does not have SPF, I tried applying sunscreen before hand and it didn't work with this primer, there were tiny particles (like the kind of suds you get from rubbing an eraser on a paper, eww) falling off my face. Therefore I prefer primers with high SPF. Bye-bye, That Gal Primer!

(oh and did I mention that my bf likes to play with this empty tube just because it sounds and looks like those machines you get your minced beef/pork from? lol)

Concerning the blue mascara, I was in the blue-eyed phase and I got this mascara brand new from a swap. I heard that blue mascara will enhance the contrast between the black and the white parts of your eye, it performed okay for this purpose. But this mascara weighed down my curled lashes (-.-) so I can't see any difference in terms of lengthening and volumizing. I won't be purchasing it in the future.

For the Clinique All About Eyes Rich eye cream, I finished 3 full size of this cream before, and this is a deluxe sample size I bring along for short trips. While I do not notice that much of a difference after use, but until I find the ultimate HG eye cream, I am settling on this one. This cream moisturizes the under eye area, and if you find the "All About Eyes Rich" formula a bit thick, you can try the watery formula called "All About Eyes" I think. I still have another deluxe sample size with me and I aim to empty this jar before I return to Hong Kong. Yay for more luggage space!

This clarifying lotion ( I prefer to call these toners) from Clinique has an overwhelming alcohol smell which makes me dizzy, I had to hold my breath while applying it with cotton puffs. I remembered the SA telling me to use cotton balls and pat on the skin, but anyhow, my skin felt cleaned (like sanitized kind of clean) after using. It works at clearing the dead skins on my face I believe, but due to the smell I won't be buying this formula. I also tried the toner without alcohol by Clinique, but I forgot how it was (like 3 years ago). Since then I switched to the CLEAR line from Orbis, the toner from this line was raved by many Japanese girls, because it has a special ingredient in it to help fading acne marks.

In this post I also wish to say a huge welcome to... Dior Addict Lip Glow with SPF 10! This is my first lipstick like thingy in my life, I don't really use lipsticks (thankgod my obsession with lipsticks hasn't started). This Lip Glow is more like a lip balm for me, only better, with SPF 10. I also noticed they claimed this lip balm will adjust into a shade that is unique on your lips according to body chemistry? This sounds like Smashbox's O-glow to me.

Please share your thoughts on this lip glow :)