Bobbi Brown Soothing Cleansing Oil: A Girl's Best Friend // 女孩的好朋友: Bobbi Brown舒緩卸妝潔面油

A few years ago, I used up a bottle of Bobbi Brown's old cleansing oil and thought nothing of it. Boy, was I stunned this time upon my learning that they have a new cleansing oil coming out in July.

幾年前，我用了Bobbi Brown的舊的卸妝油並沒有太多的想法。誰知話咁快新的 舒緩卸妝潔面油在7月份推出喇。

Monthly Favourites (Feb 2011) // 每月至愛產品

February has not been a very inspiring month. I didn't get to put on much makeup, didn't buy that much makeup, in general, it has been boring, haha! As you can probably see from the picture below, not many makeup products are being featured, but I figured I would do a monthly round-up post like this every month :P So here you go.

From left to right:

Carmex Healing Cream - my whole family has been swearing by this hand cream. I've never had chapped hands this winter, and I noticed my mom's hands are better than what they used to be during winter. This hand cream gets all the endorsement from my family! Mom even said this is going to run out soon, I said, it's not available in Hong Kong, haha!! This cream absorbs extremely quickly - the slippery feeling would disappear in 10 seconds max and your hands are good to go.

DHC Cleansing Oil - This is probably my 4th bottle of cleansing oil from DHC. Yes it is a tad bit more expensive than usual ones (Orbis, Fancl, etc) but the volume is slightly larger too! I've tried everything from Fancl, Bobbi Brown, Shu Uemura, Orbis, Dove, Jill Stuart...and I always come back to this. This removes makeup pretty well but I always use a separate eye makeup remover for mascaras. Got this when the local drugstore are having BOGOF, hope they'll do it again soon!

Clinique Butter Shine Lipstick in #Natural Gloss - Got this from a swap with a colleague during summer. At first I found this sheer (Clinique website says so too), but I've grown to LOVE this color. It's perfect for the MLBB (My Lips But Better) look, and the formula/texture is DIVINE. Hands down the smoothest and most buttery lipstick I've ever tried, period. This shade is no longer available in the existing lipstick range I believe.

Bare Escentuals Buxom Lips Lipgloss in #Zena - Received this from a giveaway I've won from Fruity Lashes. My first BE lipgloss and I'm addicted to the shade! This gloss gives my lips a cooling sensation that lasts for 2 hours minimum, and plumps my lips, making them look fuller! Sadly this shade is discontinued and I got this in a Bare Escentuals Kit. The size of this mini gloss is rather small, like 2ml and I can see myself going through this quickly.

Sara Happ The Lip Slip One Luxe Balm - Got this lip balm a year ago from a giveaway. It heals my chapped lips when I was freezing in European weather (-31 degrees in Sweden and Norway), I swear by this if you have chapped lips, one jar lasts forever (15 grams) and you only need a tiny tiny bit when applying because it blends and spreads like butter. I put this jar next to my bed so I get to use it before sleep every night and wakeup with hydrated lips ♥ This product is pretty difficult to get hold of but you can buy this here. I checked with a local retailer in Hong Kong and they only stock the lip scrub, boo!

從左至右：

Carmex Healing Cream - 整個冬天全家都在使用它. 香港沒有出售 Carmex的潤手霜, 只有護唇膏. 今個冬天我從未有爆擦既手出現過, 留意到媽媽用了這支hand cream之後對手好左好多, 佢同我講: 就快用晒喇! 我話: 香港無得賣呢 ~.~

DHC Cleansing Oil - 應該係我第4支黎喇, 雖然較貴, 但size都唔少. 用過好多隻 (Fancl, Bobbi Brown, Shu Uemura, Orbis, Jill Stuart), 始終覺得呢支最岩我. 早排見到買1送1.

Clinique Butter Shine Lipstick #Natural Gloss - 暑假時和同事swap番來, 全新的. 起初覺得唔出色, 但漸漸喜歡了它淡淡既顏色, 最岩造 "My lips but better" 既look. 最抵讚係佢既質感, 好滑, 好smooth, 好似搽牛油咁, 可惜呢隻顏色好似沒有得賣了.

Bare Escentuals Buxom Lips Lipgloss #Zena - 從Fruity Lashes收到既其中一份禮物, 我第一件Bare Escentuals (BE) 既妝品. 超喜歡這隻粉紅色, 搽完會有極度冰涼既感覺 (維持超過2小時都feel到), 令嘴唇更飽滿. 可惜#Zena係限定色, 這支又係迷你版.

Sara Happ The Lip Slip One Luxe Balm - 舊年去歐洲時我用黎發誓既lip balm! 係零下31度我既嘴唇無爆裂就係因為佢 ♥ 15 grams有排都用唔完. 我而家會擺佢係床邊, 臨訓前搽, 起身時嘴唇都好潤. 之前JOYCE有得賣的, 但現在好似只有lip scrub賣, 沒有這個了.

What are your favourite products in February? Share in the comments below :) and if you have done a post about it, feel free to drop the link to your post, I love knowing what others like to use!

Review: Dove Foam Cleansing Oil

I picked up this Dove cleansing oil during my last trip to a local drugstore chain. This product should have been released for a few months in Hong Kong by now. To be honest I wouldn't be interested to try it out in the first place since I'm using mid-end cleansing oils for 99% of the time. I got this because 1) my friend who's a beauty magazine editor told me she liked it; 2) I had to spend over a certain amount at that store for redeeming some points/voucher that sort of thing. Silly, isn't it :D?

I would give thumbs-up for the packaging in fact. It comes in a pump bottle, it looks very bright on my sink since it's yellow :) and it cheers me up when seeing it in the morning. The whole bottle is 155ml and is retailed at around 8 Euros.

The other thing I liked about this product is that you can use even when your hands are wet. Unlike typical cleansing oils which you must use your dry hands to apply (otherwise it will turn milky white and can't cleanse at all), so it means you can use it in your shower too! How convenient. Oh, and did I mention that this cleanser is NOT OILY AT ALL? Although it has the word 'oil' in its name, to me it's not straightly speaking an cleansing oil :) When I pumped the bottle, the foam came out and it felt sooooo light and just like you have rubbed a pea-sized facial cleanser with water. But you get this foam instantly from the pump.

To test-drive it, I apply blush on the back of my hand, indicated with a red circle:

And I pumped the foam on the area:

Spreading and rubbing it:
The foam is turning into a copper-ish color due to the color of the blush I applied (see above and below):
It lathers pretty well, and here's the area after rinsing and drying. Pretty clean, eh?
I've been using it for almost 1.5-2 weeks now, twice daily (one in the morning before my routine cleanser), and when I came home and remove my makeup, sometimes once per day, depending on whether I put on makeup that day. What I've noticed is that the inside of the bottle is 10% gone =.= how fast, lol.

It may have to do with the cold weather here now, after using it to remove my makeup, it leaves my skin a bit dry so I pat on my usual moisturizer afterwards. *EDIT* this can't remove waterproof mascara/liners well, but then I always use a separate eye makeup remover no matter which cleansing oil I use. Thought I should mention this here too.

Verdict: This isn't a bad cleanser, it's convenient, cheap for the amount of product it has, Fancl Cleansing oil is double the price and contains similar volume, same for Orbis, DHC. Yet, I estimate the bottle should be well gone after 1.5 months, 2 months maximum.

This is worth trying if you're into trying new products, or on a budget looking for a drugstore alternative (like me, wallet broken), or if you found yourself too lazy or in a rush in the morning, then this is definitely the product for you!

Review: Jill Stuart Cleansing Oil

$210 HKD/ 200ml

Jill Stuart Cleansing Oil has become one of my HG in the rack of cleansing oils I tried (they include: DHC, Fancl, Orbis, Shu, Bobbi Brown). My skin feels light and able to breathe when I cleaned my face with JS cleansing oil, but with Bobbi Brown's, it doesn't give me this feeling.

This product carries a strawberry smell, which is nice when you use it in mornings! I have a habit of using cleansing oils twice a day, one in the morning, just before I use my facial wash foam, and the second time when I go home and remove my makeup. Plus I don't find this product oily at all - with Fancl I do feel like I was drowning myself with oil on my face, plus my pores feel like they're suffocated by Fancl's cleansing oil.

My verdict is, this is a nice addition to your daily routine, and it's worth the penny.

Review: Bobbi Brown Cleansing Oil

Stay away from this cleansing oil from Bobbi Brown. The SAs claimed that this is not only a remover, but a cleanser, so I can skip using face wash after using this. This is SO WRONG. The moment I changed into using this, either for makeup removal or to wash face, I had those tiny little bumps on my forehead that won't go away. I have to stick to DHC, Orbis or Fancl from now on...but I still have a whole bottle of this!

There is one thing good about this bottle: minimalist design, product has fresh smell. But nothing more. You'd really wanna save your purse ($320HKD) to get something else nicer.

Review: DHC Cleansing Oil

After trying Fancl's Mild Cleansing Oil (MCO), Orbis Cleansing Liquid (Oil-free), and DHC, I concluded I should stick to my Orbis cleansing liquid, it's oil-free, does not smell like raw oil (unlike DHC), and packaging is minimalist.

So what about this DHC oil?
It's not made by pure olive-oil. And it smells (like unprocessed oils, raw oils, if it makes any sense). It does not leave my skin moisturized (but a bit drying) after washing with this. It's expensive !! It's also overrated I think. I think with this product my blackheads come back, pores seem larger, and breakouts seem more often, I'm not sure if it's the oil in this product or just environmental causes. But anyhow, I hope to finish this bottle ASAP and try out the Bobbi Brown Cleansing Oil !!!