Review: Rohto Shirochasou Face Wash

Hello!

I've been MIA for a bit of time now. I haven't been busy, just really lazy! (Is that better or worse? LOL) I CBA to open blogger sometimes. A couple of days ago, my fans friends gently reminded me of the reviews that I need to share with them.

I'd like to introduce you to the face wash I ordered online from Rakuten :)

If you're huge on Asian skin care products, you've probably already heard about Rohto laboratories. I think they're the bees knees. They always seem to offer lots of products that are very effective. Before I even knew of this product, my sister was already using Rohto Hada Labo Tamagohada face wash, which we used to wash our face with 2-3x daily. It was my first Japanese face wash, I think and I've always liked it. Shirochasou was also a gift from my sister when she came back from Japan a couple of months back.

My beat-up looking Shirochasou! I've been using this as my ONLY face wash for 4 months now.

This is my favorite face wash to date! I love love love it. And when I started worrying that my tube of face was was about to empty out, I searched high and low for an online shop that carried this product. Unfortunately, I had to depend on international online shops like Rakuten. I immediately bought 2 pieces!

Full Sized Rohto Shirochasou

What I like about this face wash:

It's perfect if you have oily skin and there's a lot of sebum production. It doesn't really dry out the skin. I noticed that somehow that my face immediately after washing still feels supple / silky to the touch.

Because I don't use foundation, bb/cc cream I always have the problem of removing the sunscreen I use daily. Here's how to know if your face still has sunscreen:

"If the water droplets on your skin look very round and bubble-like (like how water droplets look on a water-proof or oily surface), then you probably still have traces of sunscreen on your skin." ~ info by: Skincea 

After washing my face I do the water test and verify that I don't see round/bubble droplets!

It's so foamy! WARNING: Produces a lot of suds!!!! Don't squeeze out too much because you'd find yourself with more cream than you know what to do with!

Take a small amount first. Above is what I usually take to clean my face and my neck.

Washing my face is something I don't forget. I wash my face while taking a bath, after I go home from work, and another before I go to sleep. I've even proven that I just can't sleep without washing my face first! It icks me so bad that no matter how sleepy I am, I force myself to get up and wash!

I wanted to test the cleansing power of the Shirochasou foam. I wanted to get an eyeshadow or eyeliner but it turns out I actually don't have one! Ugh. But I did have a sharpie... So I went ahead and swiped the ink on my wrist.

I took some Shirochashou and gently applied it on the stain. Woah. I liked what I saw! Please remember this is actually a permanent marker hee hee hee.

So as far as cleaning goes it its really really good! My verdict for the Rohto Shirochasou face wash is:

!!!

Despite it not being sold locally, I would rather buy it cheaply from an international seller. PROTIP: It's best to buy 2-3 pieces in one go to save on shipping. Your bulk order will last you for at least 6-9months depending on frequency of usage.

Thanks for reading!

Happy labor day (to US people!) Happy normal day (to everyone else!)

Yanwaili Anti-Blemish Line - Refining & Moisturizing Cream

Bought this along with other stuff from my Sasa.com online purchase and I've had about 2 and a half weeks of usage experience, so I'm here to report it!

I have mixed feelings with this cream! But let me tell you my review may be clouded because of my staple night cream, Ponds. You see, I've used Ponds for quite a while now, and I've never looked back. Sorry if I keep on comparing Ponds, but there's nothing else to compare for me because that's my regular skin care cream.

FIRST AND FOREMOST: Read the caution part of any skin care product if it is there. You can tell from there the allergens that may be present in the product so you can avoid what's bad for you. Luckily, I'm not allergic I don't think I have any allergies to anything at all!

Don't forget to read the ingredients list. For this cream, we can see there are parabens in the list! Parabens are kind of a taboo in skincare, but for me, there is nothing singularly wrong about having Parabens in the ingredientst list because they act as "preservatives" that keep products from going bad doubly fast. I have read this info:

Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) concluded that parabens were safe as long as they did not constitute more than 25% of a product’s content.  Parabens are found in levels ranging from 0.01% to 0.3% in skincare products.  Additionally, the FDA has determined that parabens are safe for use in cosmetic products.

But! If you are still not comfortable with parabens in your skincare, then Yanwaili is not for you. But the good thing about it is that it has good ingredients when it comes to ANTI-BLEMISH:

Glycerel Stearate, Salicilic Acid, and Allantonin.

If you're a hard core anti-paraben person, or are pregnant, or pro-organic, then it's best to save your money and buy something else.

Now with this Yanwaili cream, you can see from the size that it's a bit smaller. My night cream is bigger and for almost the same price =__= It looks cuter though since Yanwaili looks really nice with the silver cap and white bottle jar. I like that the packaging looks nice and refreshing, you can never really mess up the green + white color combination.

I used this replacing my beloved Ponds cream for a while, but it's really not up to par.... Thus my separation anxiety from my favorite Ponds cream. Having Yanwaili didn't help as I thought it would nor did it change my heart into using this.

Consistency:
The very consistency of Yanwaili Cream above is very light, more liquid than cream, actually!

Smell:
If you could go back to the ingredients list, you will see FRAGRANCE branded there. But in my experience, there was very little to no fragrance at all. The Ponds cream I normally used had this calming floral fragrance that's not cloying, but I was okay with Yanwaili cream but I found it to smell too earthy. Maybe I'm too used to light fragrance now.

You can see above the actual cream when applied on the skin. It looks thicker there because I put a bit more than what I normally would apply on my face.

But it gets soaked in fast! See below

Actual Application:
Once I apply on my face, it is immediately absorbed. It felt very nice while applying though I get bothered by the earthy smell sometimes. I find that when I use Yanwaili, it leaves a very moisturized looking face. I really like how moisturizing this cream is.

But I don't know, I feel like this isn't for oily-faced or combination at all since it's very moisturizing and I oil up a lot because of this.

Repurchase:

I would not. I think that my Ponds cream wins versus this Yanwaili cream. I would continue using this until it runs out to get the maximum benefit of this anti-blemish product.

That's about it for the Yanwaili Cream... Stay tuned for more reviews from my Sasa.com Purchase.

Thank you for reading!

Nanny Rose's Sticks and Pulls: I HATE!

I have a problem with unwanted hair sometimes, especially if there is a stubborn regrowth on my legs. I try to keep my legs as smooth and soft as possible, so I always make sure to visit my favorite salon to ask for waxing services. I've been doing this for a year now, so it's safe to say I have tried almost every type of waxing: cold wax, hot wax, sugar wax and even that blue weird wax that take forever to pull away. I am naturally curious of the processes and how efficient salons are with waxing. I love the feeling of softness and complete smoothness afterward.

I wish they were my legs but no! :P

Aside from salon trips, I have also tried packaged waxes like the Strip It Natural Sugar Wax from http://stripit.multiply.com; I've ordered a bunch of them together with my friends in the past. Because of my good experience with pre-packaged DIY wax, I tried Nanny Rose's Sticks and Pulls. It is available in selected Watson's stores and was priced almost the same with Strip It's smaller jars.

Sticks and Pulls, taken from philstar.com

Mind that this post, as obvious from the title, is a rant. I absolutely did not like Nanny Rose' Sticks and Pulls AT ALL. It pretty much failed the moment I used it as a hot wax and did not deliver at all when I tried using it as a cold wax! SO MUCH FAIL I just couldn't believe it! And to think I really was looking forward to it too.

I wanted to love it since it's made from 50g of natural honey wax ingredient and had a 3 pcs of nice waxing cloth. BUT!!! The included "two wooden spatulas", as they'd like to call it to deceive us, are not at all what you would expect as a wooden spatula! They are stupid popsicle sticks. AND NOT EVEN THE STURDY KIND! Noooo... They gave me these brittle popsicle sticks in my package. These TWO broke one after the other when I tried to use it to stir cool the hot wax.

Also, THE PACKAGE DOES NOT TELL YOU HOW MANY MINUTES YOU POP IT IN THE MICROWAVE. WTF. Since I bought 3 of them, I got the first one and left it at a nominal 10 seconds, and when I opened the microwave, the wax was bubbling all over making a mess inside! I guess it was my fault that I FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS TO HEAT IT FOR 10 seconds?!?! IDK! Most of the wax was spilled inside my microwave, and it took so long to cool the remaining contents. Even after like 30-40 mins of cooling down, my finger was still hurting from testing and re-testing the temperature of the wax.

So I got another Sticks and Pulls package to use it as a cold wax and tried the almost impossible task of spreading it on a small area on my legs. Two popsicles broke. Those things are just trash, I tell you. Once I managed to do it, I covered the wax with the cloth and pulled it. Then I discovered that JUST A VERY SMALL AMOUNT of tiny hairs were stuck on the wax, and MOST OF THEM WERE STILL ON MY LEG! I had to pull and re-pull just to remove them, and I thought Thank goodness this was not on any other part of my body, I would be grimacing so bad if I had to pull more than twice on any other sensitive body part!

Because of all these MAJOR FAIL from Sticks and Pulls wax, I got my third box and, along with the 2 other opened wax jars, I THREW THEM IMMEDIATELY IN THE TRASH CAN. That's why there are no photos that I took because I threw them away that's how disappointed I am. The company now can be very happy now that they have wasted my money. I wish I used it to buy my favorite face wash or something, I would have been more satisfied!

Never repurchasing!

Please note that this review was made by testing on my own skin and my own capacity for use of the product mentioned above. It is not the intention of this blog to encourage nor dissuade you to test this product for yourself, as I was not paid nor coerced to do any of the two. The words are a reflection of my own experience alone. You may or may not have the same experience as I did. I would like you to note that this isn't even what anyone would consider a proper review, since there is no objectivity to the view above, no PROs or CONs to compare, nor there was any extolling of virtues and limitations of this product.

I will be doing a more proper review soon, with the goal of being objective and fair. See you then!

Skinfood Black Garlic Emulsion

Hey guys! Here's a quick personal review on a Skinfood product. I love this brand. I can't say it enough. I think that their line is awesome for the skin, and for my skin especially. I don't have a lot of problems with my skin except for it being really oily. Another complaint is it is sometimes generally dull. But otherwise, I have no major acne to treat, its still smooth and supple and with little to no lines (yet~!) so nothing really major.

That's why I like Skinfood, it helps me maintain the good thing I got going here and helps me with the little problems I might have without any side effects or has ingredients that may do damage. For my oily problem, they have the anti-sebum lines like their Tea Tree line and Peach Sake line (which is amazing for me btw~) and for dullness they have the brightening lines like Fresh Juice C line and the Whitening Tomato line. Skinfood it not at all harsh and they feel nutritious to the skin.

Nutrition is one of the main thing about the Skinfood Black Garlic Emulsion. I am almost done with the bottle, already half way through and I'm very sad that this has to go, but thankful for the good things that it has done for me.

It promotes blood circulation & revitalize fatigue skin. Water-based with non-greasy quick absorption.

Black garlic extract with antioxidant effect improved in the process of fermentation and maturation prevents skin aging. Also, the superb soothing effect gently protects the skin. This emulsion without the feeling of greasiness also contains the highly moisturizing honey extract that keeps your skin supple and moisturized.

I've been using this on and off for a few months now-- give or take 2 or 3. And yes, it does last for a 160ml bottle :)

In my own observation, I thought it at first too weak an emulsion. It's a little runny/watery especially when compared to Peach Sake Pore Minimizing Emulsion which is a tad thicker. At first I was a bit doubting because I always thought that the thicker the consistency, the more concentrated the good ingredients. I soon learned that Black Garlic Emulsion, on its own is pretty weak, and you need the Black Garlic Face Serum/Cream for it to work overtime.

But I've discovered a great way that my Black Garlic is most of use! And its soooooooooooooooooooooooo good at that job. Well, its simple really, and sometimes it gets overlooked! I promise you that your skin will be revitalized with the Black Garlic Emulsion just like the back portion promised

I do my job daily, staring at computer for a good part of 8 hours or more (LOL! I need a life yes?) and when I'm done I notice that I have like the oilies attacking me all over my face. Not only that but because of the radiation, it kinda looks dull and the dark spots more pronounced! Its true that computers really are bad for you, but I have a job to do so I have no choice :(

But at the end of the day, I wash my face with a mild face cleanser, just that, to take off the dirt and sebum altogether. And then, I take the Black Garlic Emulsion for good measure!





I take a dollar coin-sized dollop, and just spread it gently all over my face and neck.

annd............ VIOLA!

Your face is instantly revitalized like nobody's business. It firms up the skin for some reason too, I have noticed the ingredients in this product have a kind of firm-elastic effect. Not only that, but it just generally moisturizes the skin, so you have this clear, bright and totally smooth face.

So now you know why having my bottle on 50% now is bittersweet. It's a wonderful product. But I probably wont repurchase even if I do see it again on the shelves. WHY?! Well for one, it is FREAKING EXPENSIVE in Skinfood Store (you know how they jack the prices up soooo bad.) and second, I still have like 90% left on my Skinfood Peach Sake Emulsion, so that will also take me up some time to finish.

But I love my Black Garlic Emulsion. It is one of the skin care products that I can attest to have really helped me honestly in revitalizing my face.

HEY! SORRY FOR MAKING THIS TOO LONG! Ugh, so much for a "Quick Review" huh? LOL! Anyway, I hope somehow this post helps.

Thanks for reading guuuuys! ^___^

Bioré® Pore Perfect Shine Control Oil-Free Moisturizer

The first time I heard of the brand Bioré was when I was watching one of the youtube beauty gurus, Michelle Phan. She featured some great brands I haven't heard before like ROC and Queen Helene. I remembered that I saw a moisturizer, exfoliator, and deep cleansing wipes that were from Bioré on our department store (it was next to J/A/S/O/N/ and I love their organic line!). Since I needed a new moisturizer since the Clean and Clear Facial Moisturizer with Vitamin C and SPF 15 didn't work for me, I went ahead and bought 2 Bioré Shine Free Moisturizer.

Now I heard good things from Michelle Phan about this brand and I was ecstatic that at the first try I really really really REALLY love the product! From the first time I tried this out until now, it hasn't disappointed me! I used to hate putting on moisturizer before because it left weird streaks on my face and neck, and made me go gray all over. I had some hesitancy over purchasing moisturizers but I really can't do away with it. I need to keep my skin elastic and supple! Ugh to wrinkles and bad skin!

Its a great product to recommend, since I am in love with it. Its my staple moisturizer and it will take a LOT to have me switch to another one/another brand. My face has become smoother somehow, and it is especially smooth after every time I slather it on. It doesn't have SPF, brightening, whatever but it does its work to keep my face oil-free for at least 6 hours (I put it on in the morning before I start working and it lasts.)

Pros
1. Does not clog pores! Its really nice because its a very very light moisturizer.
2. Controls shine during the day very well. It dries matte and keeps the skin really smooth afterwards.
3. Hygenic because it has a pump. Plus points because it pumps easily and because of that you can have a little control on how much product goes out.
4. Readily available in beauty care aisles in malls.
5. VERY VERY AFFORDABLE! Its usual price is P265.00 ($6) and for a 50ml pump bottle thats a frikkin' steal. And then it went and got marked down at P84.50 ($2) just recently!!!!!!!!! I AM GOING TO HOARD! (I bought 2 at the first purchase.)

Cons
1. Weird smell especially when spreading it on the face. Its not that it smells totally bad, but I'm kind of used to the whole fruity/floral smell of my skincare stuff. For me the smell kind of reminds me of opening a boxful of books. It's not that it's rotten, but it smells like something very earthy.

I usually pump a coin-sized amount. This is for the face only. I spread it as evenly as I can on my forehead, temples, cheeks, nose, around my mouth, and my chin. Its very easy to work with since its almost watery.

Spread it all around. At first its kind of fluid like but give it time and more spreading motions and your skin will soak it all up!
There you go. Moisturized! But matte! I love it. If you can feel my arms its really smooth.

Step:
1. Moisturize (Bioré Moisturizer)
2. Cover (Skinfood Aloe BB Cream SPF 20 PA++)
3. Veil (Skinfood Buckwheat Loose Powder #23 - used Ellana retractable kabuki brush)

Its really so good that its my staple moisturizer. I always layer it on my face before the bb cream and it prevents me from getting oily. I don't agree with mixing moisturizer and foundation/bb cream, some people do this and it weirds me out. I guess because the moisturizer is supposed to seep in through the skin, whereas foundation and bb creams are supposed to be on the surface only. Putting moisturizer before helps my bb cream become more spreadable, since it glides so easy with the moisturizer on.

Hopefully this is helpful to Nikki she requested this as she's on the lookout for a moisturizer. Recommend her your own! Go to her site

Godiva Review and Happy Tags

We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be?
- Nelson Mandela, 1994 inaugural speech

Pretty pink lips here we go!
YES? NO? LOBSTER?

BREAKING NEWS FROM THE FRONT:

The GODIVA LICOWHITE I BLOGGED ABOUT is awesome because... it works. Or so I'd like to believe. After like 2 weeks, using it night after night, have finally paid off. I woke up this morning and went to the bathroom to wash the sleep off my face and I pleasantly noticed how my lips have turned a sprightly color. I took the picture above to show off my fat lips the nice hue to all you guys. No lipgloss/stick, just godiva licowhite I applied last night before I went to bed.

I like it because it has no smell, so I don't get turned off from using it (like Vaseline) and that I don't eat it off my lips (like Nivea Cherry-lol!) But what I love most about it is that it really moisturizes, yet it's not grease-heavy on the lips. It's an apply-it-on-and-forget-about-it kind of product.

***

I have been tagged by the ever-lovely Golden of Goldensdiary! Thanks soooo much! :D I really like tags. I like it because I can talk about... myself. HAHAHAH! Self-centered noh?

SIX THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY

1. Spending ME + BOOKS time. You know what, this past 3-day weekend have been such a great time to de-stress! I get to curl up with my book before I go to sleep, and reach for it beside my pillo when I wake up in the morning. I'm currently reading Atonement by Ian McEwan, South of the Border West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami, and Watchmen (DC Comics) by Alan Moore and I have a lot more books in my To-Be-Read pile which I am excited to read.

2. Buying and trying out Asian skin care products. I am absolutely in love with Asian skin care brands like Lioele, VOV, Beauty Credit, Skinfood, Etude, Samourai Girl. I love their cleansers, moisturizers, masks, serums, emulsions, etc etc. I've my eyes set on that Skinfood Black Garlic Emulsion at Frances' Beauty for a Living blogsale (just checked it--its already bought! naman! ). Maybe for now I have to settle with my trusty Celeteque oil-free toner. I love it and it does its job well.

3. Cosmetics with Cute packaging. I am a sucker for packaging. I'm the type of person who, on an impulse, would probably buy stuff because of the packaging. Or that because I wanted to keep the box. But if I can't but them then I'd just gush at them, like what I did when I'm at the Skinfood Store, or at La Core korean cosmetics shop

4. Watcing awesome movies with friends. Two nights straight we all watched two awesome movies: Orphan and District 9. We went home elated and discussing great scenes. The Orphan movie was very chilling. District 9 blew us away. The action never stopped and we were glued to the screen, barely eating our chips. And the whole thing with the District-9 aliens just about broke my heart.

5. Junk food. Chocolates. Ice cream. Cakes. And no matter how you grill me from eating all these crap I could never help myself. I love eating them all. One time we were out all over the city and my lunch and dinner consisted of 2 ice-cream sandwich and nothing more. I don't want to eat anything else except ice cream sandwiches for the rest of my life.

6. Internet and Videogames. Internet is, basically, my life an my diversion. It's fun working at home and taking it easy and still earn the same wages, at the same time being here in the internet is sweet! It's where I find my source of fun and distraction (sometimes more than I want it to distract me). As for videogames, well, I've been playing since I was 13, and I possibly will never grow out of this! I've played on Famicom, PS, PS2, Sega Dreamcast, XBOX, XBOX360, GameCube, Wii, PS3, even the handheld games and the PC (can't shake off my MMORPG addiction). Whenever I play videogames, it helps me forget about my troubles and simply focus on the linear but complex quest of going on a long adventure and saving the world from destruction.

Those are the six things that make me happy. Now, what's yours?

Unwanted Hair? ---"Strip It"!!

“Pretty is something you're born with. But beautiful, that's an equal opportunity adjective.”
-Anonymous

I ordered a trial pack of Strip it from Arlette and I just finished using it :D I can't believe how well the product works! I'm a first time user of cold wax, and I never imagined it would be as effective as warm wax!

I am used to just going to a salon to get the whole thing done. Some salon waxing services include P150 for underarm, P250 for the forearms, and P500 for the entire leg and etc... Well, a bit of waxing is probably the only vanity I indulge in even before. I tried doing the DIY Home sugaring myself, but more often than not I scald myself that I cry and yelp in pain. No matter what I do, I end up having irritated arms due to the hot wax.

I discovered STRIP IT and decided to order it 2 days ago, and today the package came in via Air21:

Trial Pack arrived! P160 for the Trial pack, added P15 for extra strip cloths (I knew I was gonna need it), and P106 for shipping! Just P281 for the whole thing.

150 grams of cold sugar wax right here! It's heavy for its size. Very compact. The cover is also sealed tight with that protective strip of clear plastic.


Setting up the items needed... Very sparse but it gets the job done! The instruction sheet is very well thought out. There are special tips there for the best waxing method. I'm so relieved I ordered another pack of sheets! There are only 5 strips that come with the trial pack. Added P15.00 to get a longer sheet that I can customize according to the size I want.


I cleaned my arms and made sure it was super duper dry... Added a little bit of baby powder to be sure. It won't work unless it can cling to the hair. I applied wax to my forearm and pressed lightly the strips. Then... I PULLED! *WOAH!* NO PAIN!!! YAY!!! XD

You can see the difference! The results are the same as when I go to the salon to get it done! All the hair's gone from that other side. The way the wax grips is so amazing, and not much redness and irritation, too! At first you may think it's hard to spread the wax, but it's like that for this reason!For a trial pack, that's surprising. I have a little more left over, so I'm thinking how to maximize it to depilate both of my lower legs.

I did it in under 30 minutes too! :D It's a great product! 10 snaps in a circle!

See the Difference: Lioele Beyond the Solution BB Cream

I'm tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. That's deep enough. What do you want—an adorable pancreas?
- Jean Kerr

I am super in love with this BB Cream! I believe I've found my perfect brand! Look and see the huge difference my face went through with just a tiny sample pack.

USING NORMAL ROOM LIGHTING:

Problem Skin: Bumpy, generally non-smooth, huge pores, off-tone

Applied a dash of Lioele Beyond the Solution BB Cream (comes in one shade only), and spread all over the face

Instantly my skin becomes even, lesser apparent pores, smooth-looking and smooth-feeling, gives off a non-cakey look, which is important in a bb cream, and has a very natural, dewy finish!

Added a teeny tiny bit of loose face powder to lessen the shine (My face is oily), and took the photo under bright morning lights near my window!

Oh my gosh, I look kind of pretty already HAHAHA!