Operation Use It Up

Here are the products that I finished up in June.

1. Nude Hydrating Water is a rose and vanilla water mist with prickly pear extract and probiotics to calm and refresh skin. I found the scent quite odd though, not exactly what I expected of a rose mist. This refreshes my skin without leaving it sticky but it is no longer available as Nude has undergone a revamp of its products and packaging.

2. For Beloved One Extreme Hydration Toner was more moisturising compared to the Nude lotion. Frequently, I would use just this and skip moisturiser if my skin is not feeling dehydrated. It does not leave any sticky feeling.

3. Suqqu Face Refresher R also does a good job of leaving the skin feeling refreshed and clean but it didn't seem special enough to warrant the £35/5250yen price tag for the regular 150ml version.

4. Cleansing Express Cleansing Lotion (Sebum) removes makeup quickly and effectively with just a few swipes of the cotton pad. It is also very easy on the pocket so replenishing it doesn't break the bank like Shu Uemura's cleansing oils. I usually follow it up with a face cleanser as I prefer a thoroughly cleansed feeling. It doesn't work that well with waterproof mascara so I use a separate eye makeup remover.

5. Shu Uemura High Performance Balancing Cleansing Oil whisks off all makeup in a jiffy. This is slightly thicker than the Fresh (pink) version but not as thick as the A/O (green) version. I also always follow this up with a face cleanser.

6. L'Oreal Gentle Eye Makeup Remover is a biphase remover that works effectively without irritating my eyes. An affordable staple that I don't stray from.

7. L'Oreal Smooth Intense Instant Smoothing Serum helps to keep my hair manageable and frizz-free. It absorbs quite quickly without making my hair look greasy.

8. Lush Snow Fairy shower gel is released only every holiday season. The sweet candy scent takes some getting used to. It also contains shimmer particles but these get rinsed off pretty much immediately.

9. Murad Vitalic Energizing Pomegranate Moisturizer SPF15 made my skin oil up within an hour so I won't be repurchasing this. The 30ml tube lasted over a month with daily use.

10. Phyto Phytodefrisant Botanical Hair Relaxing Balm is a clear, slighty watery gel that helps to tame the frizz without stickiness or stiffness. I don't think I'll repurchase this as I prefer the L'Oreal serum.

11. Three Balancing Emulsion (Enriching) has a strong scent of essential oils. It absorbs quite nicely and hydrates my skin without irritating it.

12. Paul & Joe Brightening Serum helps to hydrate my skin without making it feel sticky. I haven't used it long enough to notice any brightening effect though.

13. Lunasol Watery Makeup Base is exactly as the name suggests. The light watery texture is similar to RMK Makeup Base. It doesn't offer any coverage but helps to hydrate the skin and smoothen it for easier application of foundation. It also does not make my skin extra oily.

Can't believe half the year has already flown by just like that! Here's to a more productive second half :-)

Paul & Joe Beach Baby Haul and Elle Hong Kong

Paul & Joe is the only brand that I faithfully purchase from each season, thanks to the appeal of their quirky prints and designs. From the Beach Baby collection, I purchased the Pressed Powder UV, Hair & Body Mist, Blotting Paper and Eye Liner WP & Eye Crayon Duo 004 Las Palmas. The collection is no longer available on ASOS.com but you can still find it on BeautyBay which has marked down several of the items and offers free international shipping. If you are in the US, Beauty Habit also offers the collection, including some value sets that are not available on Beauty Bay.

The Pressed Powder UV comes in two shades, 003 Beach Baby and 004 Summer Sand. 003 Beach Baby was a good match for my MAC NC20 skintone. This is a finishing powder with a soft focus effect. The fine sparkles are not that visible when applied.


The Eye Liner & Crayon Duo felt a tad overpriced at £22. I experienced some tugging and stiffness with this, but once applied, it stayed on remarkably well, especially on the lower lashline.



The Hair & Body Mist is a charming sweet floral that is not too generic or cloying. The middle notes of neroli and rose come across the most clearly rather than the top notes of lavender, orange, bergamot and lemon. The scent is not very intense, so even spritzing it generously won't fill up the room.

The gift with purchase was a mini tote bag with a matching card case in a dolphin print. The gold dolphin charms add a lovely touch.

The card case is similar to the one released for the Manhattan collection from Fall 2011.


One advantage of shopping at Fenwicks in London is that the SA is usually very generous with samples. Aside from the usual skincare samples, she threw in a miniature 10ml bottle of their new Protecting Foundation Primer 01 that debuted in spring. Although Selfridges also has a Paul & Joe counter now in their Beauty Workshop area, there isn't a dedicated SA and I've never seen any GWP offered there as well.

Thanks to Yumeko, I learnt that the June issue of Elle Hong Kong was offering a Paul & Joe pouch in two designs. AhCapp very kindly helped to arrange a CP, and I received this pair of pouches earlier this week direct from Hong Kong. Although Kinokuniya in Singapore stocked the magazine, they did not include the pouches unfortunately.


These are very well-made and sturdy with a gold logo charm on the zipper pull. The material is vinyl on the outside with a polyester inner lining. Many thanks to AhCapp for helping me snag these for my collection of P&J accessories!

Integrate Fall 2013

Integrate will release its "Love Sweets" fall collection on 21 September in Japan. It includes:

1. Sweet Trick Eyes: In 6 variations, of which one is limited edition. (1260yen)

2. True Shining Gloss: One new shade and one limited edition shade (1260yen)

3. Kira Wink Gel Liner: Two limited edition shades (998yen)

4. Pure Big Eyes: One limited edition palette (1575yen)

5. Mineral Base: Extra large size (1260yen, 40g)

London Shopping Trip -

Earlier in June, I took a quick weekend trip to London. The timing was pretty fortuitous as the summer sales had just started with lots of good bargains to be had. & Other Stories is a new fashion label by H&M that just opened up on Regent Street. Decidedly more upscale with a classier, Zara-like vibe, it has its own beauty line encompassing both skincare and makeup.

I picked up four of the Eye Colours. Made in Italy, these paraben-free eyeshadows were pretty affordable at just £7 each for 2.8g, with a shelf life of 36 months. The clear plastic packaging is reminiscent of Shu Uemura's earlier cases, with the shade name printed on the front. The names are pretty quirky too. Below is Sarsenet Petrol.

Moreen Blue.

Sarsenet Petrol and Loden Green.

From Pixi in Carnaby Street, I got the Eye Glow Cube in Lucent Lid Light (£18), which contains 16 satin eyeshadows, two eyebase powders and two double-ended sponge applicators. After wearing these over the past two days, I was impressed by the silky textures, which have a soft pearl glimmer instead of flashy metallic shimmer and zero glitter.

The shades are also well-coordinated and easy to wear for daytime.

From RMK in Selfridges, I picked up two of the Ingenious W Powder Eyes and Sheer Powder Cheeks EX05 Orange Gold from the new summer collection.

Tempted by the nice gift with purchase of over £100, I also selected the Face Powder Brush. At £48, this was less than one-third the price of the outrageously expensive Suqqu face brush (£168) and rivals the latter in softness. There are reviews on Sweet Makeup Temptations, Delicate Hummingbird, The Non Blonde and Messy Wands.


This was the GWP.

Sleek just released their i-Candy collection for summer. I picked up only the i-Divine palette, plus the Lagoon palette from Ebay that was earlier released in April as part of the Aqua collection. I haven't tried these out yet.

Dainty Doll, started by Nicole Roberts of Girls Aloud for ladies with extremely fair skintones, seems to have quietly met its demise. Earlier this year, it was pulled from Boots and tons of stock ended up on discount websites like Fragrance Direct. I snagged these blushes off Ebay for just £3 each, down from the original retail price of £13.50. There's a documentary on Youtube on the creation of the brand that's quite interesting.

A tissue case and pouch custom-made with Japan-exclusive Hello Kitty Liberty prints by the wonderful Fushigi Shop. You can view the full fourth seasonal collection of Hello Kitty Liberty (Japan) prints on Liberty Japan. As adorable as these are, they are also incredibly expensive at 3150yen per meter.


The July issues of UK magazines came packed with generous beauty freebies, so I hauled an armload. To save on luggage space, I finished reading most of these over the weekend and junked them. I find most magazines these days to be rather vapid, so there was no point hanging on to them anyway.

This ModelCo Fibre LashXtend mascara was just alright and not quite worth the retail price of £16 as it takes quite a few strokes to build up the length. It's not as chock-full of fibres as Majolica's mascaras so it did not irritate my eyes.

Leighton Denny nailpolish duo worth £11.

Neal's Yard Power Berry Daily Moisturiser 50ml, supposedly worth £12.

Elemis Pro-Radiance Illuminating Flash Balm 15ml, worth £11.50.

Ciate mini caviar polish duo worth £10

All in all, it was a pretty productive weekend and I'm already missing London, despite the gloomy rainy weather and all.

Jill Stuart, Suqqu, Lunasol and NARS Fall Collections links

Kimura Naoki has close-up pics of the Jill Stuart fall collection, Cherubic Fresh, due out on 2 August in Japan. The collection includes two limited edition Velvet Crystal Eyes quads 06 Ophelia's Daisy and 07 Sweet Victorian, Layer Blush Compact 06 Old Rose, another new Mix Blush Compact N plus new lipglosses.

Sweet Makeup Temptations has swatches of the Suqqu fall collection due out on 9 August in Japan. Do also check out her amazing post on her visit to the famous brush makers such as Hakuhodo in Kumano, Japan.

Runatan has posted pics of the Lunasol fall collection pamphlet. Due out on 16 August in Japan, there are four color stories: Deep Bordeaux Velvet, Cool Olive Velvet, Dark Brown Velvet and Navy Black Velvet.

Kirei no Hone has pics of the new blush quads and palettes from the NARS fall press preview in Tokyo.

Below is the ad visual for the Les Merveilleuses by Ladurée fall collection. Details in this earlier post.

Les Merveilleuses by Ladurée will open its first free-standing store at LaFloret mall in Harajuku, Tokyo, this autumn on 23 August. These six box designs for their signature Face Color Rose Ladurée (Mini) (3360yen) will be available for the opening.

Anna Sui Fall 2013

Anna Sui will release the following for fall on 1 August:

1. Moisturising Mist: Tea rose-scented mist lotion (2100yen, 50g)

2. Foundation Kit: Choice of powder foundation shade, Powder Foundation Case 2013, Moisturising Foundation Primer 8ml and a pouch (4200yen)

3. Limited Beauty Mirror 2013: 12.3cm x 12.5cm (2625yen)

4. Limited Miniature Box: 13.9cm x 9.2cm x 9.9cm (3675yen)

5. Rose Ring Rouge: In 8 shades (3150yen, 1g)