Operation Use It Up

The first month of the year has already flown by so quickly! Managed to clear out another bunch of beauty products from my stash this month. I've been trying to use up the dozens of samples that I've accumulated in an effort to de-clutter.


1. Garnier Fructis Color Resist Shampoo: This worked well with my dry hair and didn't make my scalp itch like the Essential Damage Care Rich Premier Shampoo did. I can't say how well it does in retaining the vibrancy of colored hair as my hair had already lost much of the red color from my last color job in October.

2. L'Occitane Citrus Verbena Shampoo: I love the refreshing verbena scent. It does contain sulfates but it didn't leave my hair excessively dry or tangled. It feels light enough to be used as a daily shampoo.

3. Nivea Color Protect Conditioner: This worked well enough for leaving my hair detangled but I still need to use a serum in the mornings to get rid of frizziness. Again, I can't say how well it protects hair color.

4. Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater Bath & Shower Gel: I adore the lush, romantic rose scent of this entire line. Would definitely re-purchase except that I still have tons of other C&E bodycare products to use up.

5. Lancome Bi-Facil Double Action Eye Makeup Remover: This takes off eyeshadows usually in just one or two swipes of the cotton pad but with more stubborn mascaras like Anna Sui Perfect Mascara, it requires quite a bit more effort. It doesn't sting my eyes.

6. Perricone MD Citrus Face Wash: This works up a mild lather and cleanses well without stripping the skin or making it feel tight. However, I didn't quite like the scent.

7. Bifesta Moist Cleansing Lotion: Bifesta is the new brand name for Cleansing Express, which is made by Mandom. This is an excellent and very affordable alternative to cleansing oils if you are averse to oil in your skincare products. It removes makeup quickly and thoroughly, although I still prefer to use a separate eye makeup remover. I usually still follow up with a gentle face cleanser out of habit although this is a cleanser and toner in one.

8. H2O+ Clearwater Shower & Bath Gel: This lathers up lightly and doesn't dry out my skin. The light fresh scent doesn't linger strongly on the skin. I don't like this enough to want to repurchase it.

9. BareMinerals Purifying Facial Cleanser: This feels gentle on the skin and cleanses well without leaving it dry and flaky.

10. Cosme Decorte AQ Gentle Pure Washing Foam: This is a very watery, mild cleanser that doesn't strip the skin but it stung my eyes incredibly badly so I would not re-purchase this.

11. Kenzoki Melts On Contact Face Gel: This leaves my skin feeling hydrated and soft without being overly-greasy. The scent is also very soothing and calming.

12. Cosme Decorte Moisture Liposome: My skin just drinks up Moisture Liposome, which works well for prepping the skin before applying foundation. It is very expensive though, so I may not re-purchase it for awhile.

13. Chanel Hydra Beauty Serum: Like most Chanel skincare products, I find this too heavily fragranced and not exceptional in terms of its performance.

14. K-Palette Real Lasting Eyebrow: This is the only makeup product that I regularly use up every three months. It is super easy to use and gentler on the skin than most eyebrow pencils. This is the old version without the eyebrow powder.

Bare Escentuals

Sephora Singapore is offering complimentary "make-unders" and samples of Bare Escentuals bareMinerals foundation from now till 23 July.

Théma'kits

Une initiative sympa chez Sephora US, qui pourrait séduire toutes celles qui ont toujours envie de découvrir de nouveaux produits, de tester sur elle un échantillon avant d'acheter un produit... Ces kits sont en fait comme des pochettes surprises pour grandes filles ! Ici, point de bonbons ou de jouets mais du make-up, du soin, du parfum... Chaque kit tourne autour d'un thème et propose une petite dizaine de produits - en format voyage - autour de celui-ci. Un concept sympa, d'autant que le prix de vente (40$ le coffret parfum, 25$ les deux autres) n'est pas trop excessif .

D'autant que ce que l'on trouve à l'intérieur est plutôt qualitatif, avec les nouveautés ou les best-sellers des plus grandes marques. Korres, Bare escentuals, Too Faced, benefit, Smashbox... pour le kit sur le make-up estival ; Murad, Shiseido, Clarins... pour le kit solaire ; Yves Saint Laurent, Calvin Klein, Gucci, Givenchy, Bvlgari... pour le kit parfums : le casting est plutôt sympa.

Je ne sais pas si ce genre d'actions serait envisageable en France où l'on a parfois l'impression que la concurrence entre les marques est si féroce qu'elles n'aimeraient pas spécialement se mélanger les unes aux autres...

BareMinerals Matte Foundation

Received an email from Sephora offering a free 10-day sample of the new bareMinerals Matte SPF15 Foundation for the first 500 customers. All I had to do was print out this email photo and bring it to the store.

I picked up my sample at the Ion store. The SA informed that there was a choice of three shades so I just asked for the lightest shade, which was Fairly Light. The sample pack comes with a small brush too.

The brush is quite soft, although definitely not the softest that I have tried.


I haven't tried out the foundation yet so I can't say how well it works. I was surprised at the paltry amount of product though as it does not look like it can last 10 days to me! But it's a free sample so one should not complain :-)

The instructions on the famous "swirl, tap and buff" method.

Sephora & Tokyo Haul!

A friend who vacationed in New York and Tokyo was kind enough to help me pick up some goodies on her trip :-)

Clean fragrances cost a bomb at the Sephore stores in Singapore so I asked for the Clean coffret which has Simply Soap, Shower Fresh, Warm Cotton and the original Clean eau de parfum, all in 30ml sizes. This has a retail value of US$152 but the set costs US$65. I also picked up the Josie Maran Mini Argan Stick (US$6) which is supposed to be an ultra-hydrating balm for skin and hair. This brand is currently not available in Singapore.

I love the minty freshness of Bare Escentuals Buxom Lipgloss so I decided to get the deluxe set, Babes About Town (US$39) which includes 4 mini lip glosses and 4 lip sticks. Bare Escentuals also cost much more in Singapore compared to the US and I haven't seen this set available here yet.


I found Cover Girl's Lash Blast mascara to be average but decided to give the new Lash Blast Length mascara a try anyway, as the brush looked like it would be more suitable for my sparse lashes. The Outlast Lip Stain has also gotten some pretty good reviews so I got this in #420 Sassy Mauve.

From Japan, I got the new Integrate Forming Cheeks (Jewel Box) in Red Coral (1575yen). This is mostly a shimmery highlighter rather than a blush.


My first purchase from the spring collections is Esprique Precious Symphonic Fit Eyes F4 (3675yen) which is a gorgeous palette of light pastel blue, teal, metallic silver and smoky grey. It took me a long time to decide which palette to get as I was worried that the pink/purple would be too boring, the green looked like a million other green palettes I already have and the blue might be too loud for every day wear. But when I saw the F4 palette in real life, I was extremely pleased with it!



From Love Clover , I picked the Lipdolce Cafe #5261 Raspberry Sorbet (1680yen) and Loose Pot Cheek #5134 (1680yen).



And finally, a Paul & Joe Sister handkerchief (1050yen)! :-)