Bio-essence Birdnest Bio Energy Firm & Brighten Eye Cream SPF 15

Few months back, I found fine lines under my eye! Only on my right eye though and only one or maybe two lines at most  (oblivious self kicks in), some days the lines are not there but the some days rarely happen anyway!! Sigh, reality reality. Usually the lines doesn't bother me until i put on concealer and the concealer starts to cake into the lines which emphasized the lines further.  Worst of all - a lot of websites stated.....fine lines is the first sign of aging. I am only 35!!!!!

 

As we age, we lose collagen and can't replenish it fast enough to give our face back the plump look we once have. Smoking, laughing and smiling, squinting and sun exposure can all cause fine lines. I don't smoke and squint but I laugh and smile a lot and won't stop laughing just because of a few fine lines so the only thing I can manage within my mean is SUN EXPOSURE. Then I realized, I smeared my face with SPF 28++ but I have not been apply any SPF lotion to my eyes area since I started skincare routine. Hmm...20 years of neglecting my eyes! If you are one of those who applied your daily SPF face lotion on your eyes, it might have helped somehow but most of us will know that the eyes area are super delicate so it's best to use a separate eye cream with SPF because your day lotion might be too rich for your eyes thus causing milia seeds. 

So I search the Internet for some SPF eye cream - too expensive or not available in Singapore etc. I saw some were selling at SGD$70 a tube for 15ml. Gulp.....I am not sure I want to spend this much on a SPF eye cream. I rather spend it on a good night eye cream. I only want a eye cream with SPF and my sun exposure is minimal so I don't need a SPF 50 eye cream and I am not sure if it will cause breakout. After a week of searching, I found one at Watson going on promotion for SGD$26 (usual price SGD$33) with SPF15 and it's from Bio-essence.

 

The eye cream felt more like gel than cream and is lightly scented. The eye cream came with a funny applicator which was supposed to help you massage the cream into the eye cream which I tried on day one and it took forever to get the cream to be absorbed into my skin and I only have a 10 minute day routine and I used 2 minutes to massage the eyes and the cream was still all over the place. Messy! Good if you have spare time as I am sure the applicator will help with blood circulations thus lighten dark circles. On day 2, i squeezed a pea sized amount on my hand and used my ring finger to apply it on my eye areas which was so much better. But if you thinking of applying concealer immediately after the cream, may I suggest you wait as like any other stuff you put on your face, you have to wait a minute at least for it to set it and absorb by your skin before you proceed to put another stuff on. Rushing through will do no justice to your skincare products. The cream has a matte silky finishing and my concealer glided on easily.

I have only been using this eye cream for a week and I am not expecting miracle of having my lines removed but I will like to put a stop to more lines, at least buy some time. This cream is more of a preventive measures than cure. And I am sure a lot of ladies out there have also neglected this important routine and it can be easily incorporated into your daily routine just by replacing an eye cream with SPF. I have seen one at Shisedo with SPF 25 selling at SGD$44 after I bought my Bio-essence *sulk*. Both at 15ml but Shisedo has higher SPF.

2 out of 5 for Bio-essence eye cream with SPF15. I really need it just for the SPF protection. The firming and brightening part has yet to wow me. Maybe I should really use the funny applicator again...when i have the time.

Another BB Cream.....

 

I was given the Biotherm BB White D-Tox in my Bella Box and i was about to give it away as you all know i have lost complete hope in the BB cream but still i decided to give it a try before i send it off. Errr...well, In fact, i used it twice because i am really love it but it just didnt quite work out for me.

What the Biotherm BB White D-tox can do for your skin - Biotherm 1^st dual-action transparency revealer Hydrating BB Cream. An instant, complexion-correcting action for all skin tone. The ultra-fine tinted texture enriched with mineral pigments instantly corrects dyschromia for transparency and lets skin breathes, for a unified and brightened complexion. It's oil-free, 24hours hydrating formula infuses skin with freshness and comfort all day long. Dermatologically and allergy tested, non-comedogenic.

As seen in the pic below, my left side of the face is brighten and especially the dark circle which i didnt even use concealer. Definitely a time saver since i can skip the concealer but its a shame the shade is again too light for my slightly tanned skin. This BB cream is pretty lightweight so you can slowly layer on and it doesnt leave you with streaky face. I agreed with the oil free part because my face only shined slightly after 6 hours and i didnt even use my Laura Mercier finishing powder to set it. I didnt get breakout when i removed it so this is one BB cream that i would recommend.

I would like to keep this BB Cream but i have to admit this is definitely a BB cream for people with fairer skin tone. Sigh....i hope they come out with different color tones soon. Its selling at SGD$70.

4 out of 5 for this product.



Oh Bella Bella....

I have finally received my Bella Box after a long 2 weeks wait (it was both mine and speedpost's fault). But the long wait was all worthwhile becos they upgraded the Summer June box with 8 items instead of the usual 5 items. My hands were trembling when I opened them cos receipent won't know what is inside the box until we open it. And I just love the suspense.

My hubby rolled his eyes when I told him about Bella Box cos he was thinking I must've paid a bomb for it which of cos I didn't. I paid S$15 for my June box with 8 generous size samples to test. Which is a good thing cos don't you just hate it when you rushed to buy the newest/ expensive products on the market and realised it does nothing for u. Or those miserable small satchets of their products which you have to squeeze out every single bits for 1 use which is not even good enough to see any results.

Then, Bella Box might just be your solution - No more wasting of money on full size bottles products and no more wandering moments at drugstores. Now this is something my hubby will definitely approve! Easy on his pockets and endless products for me to try and write.

Bella box has revised their pricing for July onwards at S$19.95 and hopefully they will bring us more new products so that we can try and buy with confidence.

Silky Girl Funky Eyelights Pencil

Love love summer except the heat....cos this is the time you will feel cheery and go adventurous with colors. I love colors on my face but i dont want to go OTT and become 60's disco queen. I love the blue eyeshadow on Ginnifer Goodwin and decided to try out on myself using my Silky Girl Funky Eyelights Pencil which can be bought from Watson's and it is reasonably priced at S$8.90. Perfect price for that "i wana feel pretty and pamper myself" moment, which happens to me on a weekly basis. Lol.

It looks creamy but it dries to a matte finishing after blending it a little. It glides on easy and i dont have to drag my eye lids at all. There is some shimmer in the color and i felt my eyes brighten up when i am wearing the blue color. Pretty long lasting cos when i came home that night, the color was still there. But it can be easily clean off with any cleansing lotion but not with a facial wash alone which i tried and a tint of color was still there.

It is good for lazy days when you want to wear some color on ur eyes but dont have the luxury of wearing powder eye shadows which i find tricky to blend especially when you are in a mad rush and the colors always fall onto my eyebags area which sucks cos you are already in a mad rush and you have to clean up the mess.

5 out of 5. Value for money, i must say!! Only complaint is....there are only 5 colors to choose from.

Vitamin C Serum

Hands up if you feel frustrated when the IT product that everyone is raving about didn't exactly work for you. Every month, we spent tons of money trying to find a serum, night cream, miracle food blah blah blah to give us a more youthful skin and vitamin C serum might be just the solution for you.

I was introduced to a vitamin C serum recently when i was at Kiehl's and i decided to read more about it. I didn't realize the importance of vitamin C and it's benefits to our skin until reading it.

Extracted from a website "Vitamin C is the only antioxidant that is proven to stimulate the production of collagen. Collagen is the substance that binds cells together giving you a more youthful appearance. Collagen is dependent upon Vitamin C to help restore skin tone and fight wrinkles. When Vitamin C is properly delivered into skin cells it has the ability to reduce wrinkles and improve your skins tone and texture. Vitamin C accelerates healing, reduces inflammation, and strengthens the skin barrier giving you a more radiant, youthful appearance."

Usually wrinkle starts to form in our early 30's and this is when the collagen cells start to fall apart and causes wrinkles in adulthood. So if we can continue to generate collagen with the help of vitamin C, we can keep the wrinkles at bay for a while until another super product appears. Ladies in your 20's, start using NOW.

Not alot of companies sell vitamin c serum in Singapore. I have seen them at sasa, body shop and kiehl's. Before buying, remember to compare the quantity and concentration of vitamin c. I realized that Bodyshop is selling theirs at S$45.90 for 10ml with a 5% vitamin c (sounds afforable). Kiehl's selling theirs at S$132 for 50ml with 10.5% vitamin c. Work your calculator and you will find Kiehl's is actually more value for money except you have to fork out a big sum first. But the good news is they give free sample at Kiehl's, remember? So try it out and see if it works before committing.

Personally, I rather apply the serum on my face because I don't know how many oranges I need to consume before a small percentage of it goes to my face.

Laura Mercier Mineral Finishing Powder #1

Make up these days are mostly reserved for weekends when i can spend more time dolling up without having a impatient child who walks into the room every few minutes to ask when we can go....Err, wait....actually weekends are not any better cos my husband and my child will join hands to hasten me.

Usually i am out of the house with my SPF28 moisturizer but it can be abit shiny for my liking so i have been on the look out for a powder that would combat the shine and control my T-Zone. I have tried 2 way cake but i would prefer something lighter to allow my skin to breathe and fool proof cos i dont like i want other mothers to think that i have been up since 5am piling on make up when i send Ray to school. I want shine free skin that other mothers will go - Wow...that woman has wonderful skin. Ok ok, enough of the daydream.



This powder is super fine and seriously a little goes a long way.  The downside is you have to pour some powder onto the cover then use a powder puff to pick the powder up and the powder puff is not included (got mine from Faceshop). This powder is recommended to use for: -

Ideal for setting other mineral formulas and liquid foundation

Prolongs the wear of makeup, protects the skin, controls sebum production and visually minimizes pores for a fresh look

When using with other mineral formulas - Apply Mineral Primer or Mineral Foundation Primer and Mineral Powder SPF 15

Wet with Mineral Finishing Powder by blending onto the skin with the Face Brush

Combat shine throughout the day by applying Mineral Finishing Powder in areas where needed

I must say this really combat shine well but provides little coverage. If u are thinking of hiding your pimple scars or dark circles, you have to cover up with your concealer first. My T Zone didnt shine about 6 hours after having my make up on and the make up was still fresh.  Usually my blusher color will slipped by then but it survived this time round.

But i didnt like the feeling of the powder on my side of the face cause it was a little too drying as i can feel my face itched a little. I would definitely use it on my T Zone to combat the shine.

Bought mine from Laura Mercier US website at abt SGD$45 (after discount and plus shipping to door). Would be  more worthwhile if bunk purchase is being done because they packed 3 powder in a huge box. Sephora is selling at SGD$55 i think.

4 out of 5. Perfect for the hot hot humid weather.....

Clinique Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Balm

How many times have you try on a lip balm that either is so artificially smelling and waxy that it irks you? Or one that has so much glitter that it dries your lips instead of moisturing it? Or do you wish for a lip balm with double duty to stretch your dollar in this gloomy economy?

I have been using clinique lip balm for about few months and what I like about this chubby stick is that it has mango and shea butter in it which is very important for dry lips like mine and yet provide just a subtle shade with sheen. Also, I dont have to prep my lips with a lip balm first before using a lipstick since this lip balm are two products merged into one.

There are 16 shades but i think only 8 colours are available in Singapore to choose from and mine is 02 whole lotta honey. I think i got mine at SGD$23 or $26.

As usual, this is fragrance free so you will even forget that you are wearing lip balm. It looks like a giant color pencil thus application is easy, just remove the cover and draw. So...Mommies, remember to keep them out of sight from your little ones. Virtually mistake proof application even without the use of a mirror.

4.5 out of 5 for this product. It is a life saviour to my dry lips.