Completed Items in November/December 2012 + Mini Reviews
Hi everyone! I can't believe it's almost the end of the year! I missed out on my monthly 5 favourite items post this month because I was so busy - buying presents, attending end of year parties and a lot of weddings. I am kind of feeling the pinch from all the celebrations and 'wedding bombs' and have not really been buying too much makeup.
Anyway, I finished a good number of items the last month! I'm pretty pleased because I think it's a good amount to throw out before the new year. As the Chinese saying goes, "if the old ones don't go, the new ones can't come!". :) Anyway, let's dig in to what I've finished this month!
1. Herbacin Wute Kamille Hand Cream
This hand cream claims to "contain no mineral oils, sodium chloride, colours or fragrances". Honestly, I cannot tell the difference between a hand cream that does contain versus one that doesnt. :P I do like it - it's a very light hand cream and absorbs quickly, leaving my hands nice and soft. It doesn't feel greasy at all (maybe that's the no mineral oils effect).
2. Daiso Detergent for Puff & Sponge
*Review Change* I've mentioned this previously - I used to really like it, but after using it for a few months, I find that my brushes feel a bit stiff and dry. I've now cut down on my usage of this detergent - I only use it to deep cleanse my foundation brushes about once a month, while using a gentler soap for regular cleaning and I feel that my brushes are thanking me for it.
3. John Frieda Frizz-Ease Straight Ahead Daily Conditioner
My HG hair brand. I love a lot of their hair products - not all, but most of them do wonders for my hair. I loved Frizz-Ease to bits when I was living overseas; now that I am back in SG, I use it on alternate days more as a treatment than a daily conditioner so it doesnt weigh down my hair too much. I love how it really does ease out my frizzes and gives me lovely straight hair for the day.
4. Guardian Wet Wipes
A feature every month - I cannot live without wet wipes. I use this to wipe my hands, to clean up the mess on the table and everything else that I can use it on.
5. Biore Cleansing Oil Cotton Sheets
Another regular item on my blog. This is one of my staples for the gym - I love the small packaging, and how quickly it removes waterproof mascara and all makeup. It doesn't sting my eyes and feels really soft on my skin.
6. Australis 3in1 Wipes
This brand recently caught my eye in Watsons and I decided to give it a go, and what better to start with than a face wipe? This only comes in a large size of 25 wipes, so it was a little bulky for my liking to bring to the gym. The first few wipes were wet but not very effective at removing makeup - and don't even think about getting rid of waterproof mascara at all. After opening it for a week, the next few pieces were dry and utterly useless. Will not repurchase.
7. SK-II Facial Treatment Gentle Cleanser
I've mentioned this before as well - I had another sample of this from my multiple beauty box subscriptions. I like that it cleans well yet doesnt dry out my skin, but it's not special enough to justify the price for me.
8. The Face Shop Arsainte Eco-Therapy Extreme Moisture Essential Cream
Got this in a swap. I was quite pleasantly surprised by this because a lot of The Face Shop products breaks my skin out - this one didn't. This had a rather light gel texture and left my skin feeling very hydrated and kind of like "drenched in water". However, I felt that it didn't absorb fast enough - my face still felt wet after a few minutes.
9. Shu Uemura Cleansing Beauty Oil Premium A/O Advanced Formula
This is the third type of cleansing beauty oil from Shu Uemura that I have tried - while I had liked the previous two, I didn't enjoy this. I could tell that it was a lot oilier than the previous two and I was really surprised, in a not so good way. My skin still felt oily after a good rinse, and I had to use my normal face wash after using this. Will not purchase.
10. SANA Soy Milk Lotion
To be honest, I have no clue what this was meant to be used for - curiousity got the better of me! I've tried using it as a toner, a lotion and just randomly splashing on my face to prep it for moisturiser, but it doesn't have any effect at all. Decided to throw it out since I have had it for more than 3 years and I have barely touched it. Will not repurchase.
11. My Scheming Mask
As mentioned last month, I have a huge fan of cloth masks, but really cannot tell the difference between the lower end ones. Will repurchase.
12. No7 Skin Illuminator
I grabbed this on holiday after hearing my favourite makeup artist Lisa Eldridge talk about it in a few of her videos. I do love the subtle glow that it gives me if I don't powder - I have very dry skin anyway, so powdering my face is not always a must. There are 2 tones of it - I chose the peachy one because my skintone is warmer and I think it's a good match. The one big complain I have is the packaging - it comes with a brush attached to it, which is not removable and I find it rather unhygienic. I have since cut open the tube and transferred the product into a squeeze tube. Will I repurchase? Maybe not - I find liquid highlighters more troublesome to apply and prefer powder ones.
13. Dior Diorskin Nude Skin Glowing Makeup in 020 Light Beige
I am cheating and adding this in - I think one sachet is too little to tell if I like the foundation or not. All I can say at the moment is that it's rather lightweight, not greasy and the coverage is fairly light. The colour matches me well. I will probably try to get more samples to test it out further. :P
14. Daiso Eyeshadow Quad
I've reviewed this before here - I am an eyeshadow snob so this stood out from my collection with its rather bad quality and I just wanted it gone. I know it's cheap, but there's no way I will use it anymore so out it goes.
That's it! 14 items! :D Ok, I kind of cheated this month - including incomplete items and satchets. :P But I really wanted to junk some of them so I thought it would be good to at least mention them if they are horrible so people will stay away from them. :)
I hope December has been a good month to all of you too! :)