July's farewelled products (and beauty diet update)

Okay, I'm getting straight into it this time.  Ready, set, go!

 

Skin care

 

69) La Clinica White Brilliant Intensive Correction Serum Stage 1 (10ml/0.35 fl.oz. sample size)* - I'm currently using the entire White Brilliant range so when I ran out of the full sized bottle last month I found this sample tube to keep up the routine.  Read my thoughts from last month's empties here.

 

70) Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Gentle Facial Cleansing Wipes (25 wipes)* - I received these in an Autumn/Winter care pack from Palmer's Australia and being the wipes fiend that I am, I got into them pretty much straight away.  They're alcohol free, enriched with cocoa butter and chamomile so they don't leave the skin feeling tight after cleansing but gently moisturised and are softly scented with white lily.

 

Hand and body care

 

71) Crabtree & Evelyn Pomegranate Argan & Grapeseed Hand Therapy (100g/3.5 oz.) - C & E hand creams are strongly scented yet they don't irritate my sensitive skin and they're super rich and moisturising so I enjoy using them.  The pomegranate scent actually smells like candy so my son loved it every time I put it on! I have several of the smaller tubes of C & E hand creams to get through so expect to see quite a few more over the coming months.

 

72) OPI Expert Touch Lacquer Remover (120ml/4 fl.oz) - And this appears for the sixth time in my empties posts this year.

 

73) Natio Natural Antibacterial Hand Wash (300ml/10.1 fl.oz) - This clear gel hand wash was freshly scented and gently effective without drying out my hands.  I bought it at a Natio warehouse sale last year and unfortunately haven't seen any since otherwise I would definitely repurchase it.

 

Cosmetics

 

 Now for this month's beauty diet update. I've had a very restrained month as I haven't bought anything to reward myself for the latest 4 empties although I am teetering very close to the edge of treating myself to an Hourglass lipstick! Sophie, Anissa, Norlin  are still in on it too.

 

74) Maybelline Dream Matte Powder (Medium) - Maybe I expected too much of this widely loved drugstore powder?  It wasn't the dreamy matte finish I'd imagined and it seemed like I was constantly re-powdering my shiny t-zone.

 

75) Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara (black) - I'm pretty sure this has been discontinued.  I didn't particularly love or hate this one. 

 

76) Za Perfect Fit Concealer (01) - One of the best concealers I've tried. The coverage is amazing and a little bit goes a very long way! This rich and creamy concealer is brightening and very opaque without creasing.  I will definitely be hunting this baby down when I go back to Japan next month.

 

77) Essence Glossy Lip Balm (Strawberry) - This gloss was strongly scented like strawberry candy and made my lips look super shiny with a slight pearly tint.  Honestly I only wore it around the house when my lips felt dry so I wouldn't repurchase it.

 

Fragrance

 

78) Victoria's Secret Amber Romance EDT (30ml) - A very cozy and warming creamy amber.  Had I known that I'd enjoy this scent so much I would have bought the range of body products too.  I will definitely repurchase from this range!  The fragrance notes are:  black cherry, crème anglaise, vanilla and sandalwood.

 

79) Tom Ford Champaca Absolute EDP (4ml sample) - Me and my Tom Ford samples, eh?  It's because the perfumes are so expensive that I indulge vicariously via the samples! This one's another heady unisex fragrance although it leans more toward the feminine end of the spectrum for me with its floral undertones - it reminds me a little of the one full sized bottle of Tom Ford I do own:  Black Orchid. Top notes are cognac, bergamot and dyer’s greenweed; middle notes are champaca, orchid, violet and jasmine; base notes are vanilla, amber, sandalwood and marron glace.

 

80) Plum Japonais EDP (.05 fl.oz/1.5ml) - I wish I owned a bottle of this slightly fruity, spicy stuff! It's certainly more uplifting than a lot of TF samples I've tried and the spicy plum scent evokes memories of childhood when my mother used to boil down autumn ripe plums into a rich spicy syrup. The notes are:  japanese plum, saffron, cinnamon, immortelle, plum blossom, camellia, agarwood (oud), amber, benzoin, fir and vanilla.

 

That's it for another month...

 

 

(Products marked * were provided for my consideration.  All comments and opinions are my own.)

 



The great Singapore vacation haul!

Spare time has been particularly scarce lately which explains why it's taken so long to get this post up.  Here I am apologising again *gulp*.

 

This picture post is another example of my tendency to shop til I drop when I'm overseas - and I didn't waste any opportunities in Singapore! As I said in my Hong Kong post, if I'd known better I probably would have bought some of these products over there rather than Singapore, particularly luxe brands such as Tom Ford and Chanel, but overall I think I fared pretty well  - helped along by the Great Singapore Sale bargains! As always you'll notice I bought a lot of nail polish so that's the logical place to start...

OPI

Left to Right:

A Butterfly Moment

A Definite Moust-Have
DS Magic
Tiffany Case

Three out of four bottles were bought on sale from the OPI Centre in Forum Shopping Mall and Tiffany Case was bought from a big Sasa sale occupying half the ground floor space of Plaza Singapura. Dare I say I might have my doubts about my Sasa buy because the labelling on the bottle base is missing the usual barcode and batch numbers.  We shall see...



 

China Glaze

Left to Right:

Fancy Pants

Glitter Goblin

Tree Hugger

 

These were all bought at the same big Sasa sale for 9.90SGD each.  I don't know if they're fake - I sincerely hope not!  I've worn Tree Hugger so far and while the formula was on the thick side it wore just as well as other China Glaze polishes I've tried.

 

Fuso

Left to Right (no names, just numbers):

75, 94, 56

 

Yes - from the same sale! Fuso polishes are super affordable at 3.30SGD and pretty good quality so these are like the Asian equivalent of Australian bargain brands like Ulta3.



Victoria's Secret

I've never tried anything from the VS fragrance and beauty range so I took advantage of the Great Singapore Sale bargains.  I got the makeup kit heavily reduced at around 22SGD.  Not bad for a blush, eye shadow duo, lip gloss, mascara and nail colour! In retrospect I should have taken more advantage and bought more products from the Amber Romance range as the store was running a 3 for 40SGD offer *sigh* - luggage space was a consideration.

 

Chanel

Left to Right:

Rouge Coco Shine - 467 Pygmalion

Nail Colour - 583 Taboo

Nail Colour - 667 Bel-Argus

 

The Chanel purchases were purely about me utterly spoiling myself! All choices were from the LE collections.  Initially I thought I'd already missed out on the highly sought out Taboo but was lucky enough to find it in stock at the ION Orchard Chanel boutique where I met up with Sophia, the Makeup Blogette.

 



Now for some bottle close ups because it makes me happy...

Tom Ford Lip Colors

Left to Right:

Spanish Pink
Forbidden Pink

I have such an obsession with Mr Ford's lipsticks!  I bought these two in the luxurious Tangs Beauty Hall before we flew to Hong Kong, not realising I'd find Tom Ford selling just that little bit cheaper over there. Oh well - I was happy to later find out Forbidden Pink is an Asian exclusive.  I now have a balanced little TF lipstick collection I think comprising bright fiery reds and softer pinks and corals. Knowing me I'm sure there'll be an occasion to treat myself again *winks*.

 

Sephora & Urban Decay

Clockwise from left:

UD - Naked Basics palette

UD - Naked Palette

Sephora - It's Time To Rock!

Sephora - Full Moon Party

Sephora - City Fog

 

 Feeling like one of the few in the beauty universe who doesn't own a Naked palette, the Urban Decay Naked (or preferably Naked 2) and Naked Basics palettes were always on my wish list.  I badly wanted to score Naked 2 but it was sold out EVERYWHERE(!) so the original Naked was my 'consolation' purchase. Seriously, I'm not complaining though!

The two Sephora brand polishes and mono eye shadow were the impulse buys I guess, after poring over all the shelves, and endless rows of stuff! I seem to be moving into a grey phase with eye shadow so City Fog seemed like a good choice for a matte grey to play with.


Penhaligon's

Sophia introduced me to the scented pleasures of Penhaligon's London boutique in ION Orchard during our brief but productive shopping session. Elizabethan Rose EDT was 50% off, and even though it's a rose scent at its core it doesn't surprise me at all to find the base notes include amber - the fragrance note I'm unconsciously, inevitably drawn to. On top of the discount I also received a sample vial of Peoneve EDP to be tempted by.

 

Drugstore buys (Watsons, Guardian & more Sasa)

Clockwise from top left:

ELF blush - Twinkle Pink

Silkygirl - Magic BB Cream (01 Natural)

Silkygirl - Magic BB Powder Foundation (01 Ivory)

Revlon - Lip Butter (027 Juicy Papaya)

Revlon - Lip Butter (063 Wild Watermelon)

Revlon - Super Lustrous Lipstick (415 Pink In The Afternoon)

Canmake - Cream Cheek (05)

NYX - Cream Blush (05 Glow)



These bits and pieces were accumulated throughout the 10 days we were in Singapore.  The Magic BB powder was actually a backup and I bought the BB cream to try as a cool weather alternative - I'm going to have to set up a supply network for these little drugstore stars!  I went a bit berserk with blush purchases but...they're only drugstore right? Besides I can only buy Canmake, NYX and ELF online in Melbourne (as far as I know).  I do love Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick and was forever searching for the Audrey Hepburn-pink shade Pink In The Afternoon so I pounced on that one - the Lip Butters were shades I'd long been tantalised by on US blogs but wasn't available in Australia. There! I think these are all accounted for!

 

 

Last minute duty free buys...

Left to Right:

Trio Dior Addict Gloss - Princess, Angelique, Diablotine

Chanel - Glossimer (149 Nakkar)

Chanel - Coco Noir EDP

Victoria's Secret - Secret Charm EDT

Victoria's Secret - Secret Charm Hand and Body Cream

 

A 50-50 split of planned and impulse buys on the way out of Singapore! The glosses were all impulse (Gah! I'm such a sucker for pretty...) but I'd always planned on buying a bottle of Coco Noir. I couldn't find any VS Amber Romance products in the store as I'd planned to make up the set so Secret Charm was my next best VS choice. 

 The glosses Left to Right:

Dior - 553 Princess

Dior - 223 Angelique

Dior - 643 Diablotine

Chanel - 149 Nakkar

 

That's enough for now!