The Hand Cream Duo

I never see the need of Hand Cream until my fingers got busted by nasty frost-bite two years ago. Just a week before kanji final exam. Brilliant. I always got Jill Stuart Hand Cream on the go ever since, too scared to leave this out of trauma more than anything even if the weather in my country forbid frost bite even happening. But, eh, I guess fear drives us illogical more than anything, right? I mean, two of my fingers will never retain their actual color thanks to the blisters, and I spent almost 24 hours inside air conditioned room so my reason of carrying Hand Cream can be somehow justified.

Jill Stuart Tuberose & Rose Hand Cream; has never leave my bag ever since I stopped developing those nasty frost-bite blisters. I freaked out when I ran out of prescribed hand cream and almost went crazy because the other 'medicated' hand cream I bought ad Honki didn't work. Between spur of the moment and my long-time adoration for Jill Stuart kicking in, I purchased one of this and never see any reason to stop purchasing it despite it being unavailable in my country. Not only it smells good and has heavenly packaging, it works over any 'medicated' hand cream out there, that should count for something.

BEYOND Alice Dress Glow Hand Cream; now, this hand cream doesn't suppose to make your hand glow in the dark or anything. This is thicker in consistency than Jill Stuart but not as moisturizing. My hand always feel 'thirsty' 2 hours after first application which leads to second. I'm not sure if this is a good sign but at least it makes sure that I apply hand cream every 2 hours or so.

I alternate between this two based on my mood, yes, ssh, I know, but I'm a true mood-driven person that even I need it to tell me which hand cream to use. As of late I've been pulling Beyond's one more since I'm almost running out of Jill Stuart one.

What's your favorite hand cream? Do you have any special reason behind your purchase?

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The Blue Eyeshadows

Being a Virgo girl and sapphire as my birth stone, it is no strange that I lean toward this color in almost every aspect of my life from clothing to makeup. There are many ways to phrase this particular color from navy to royal blue, but I guess we should just spare the technicality and call them blue eyeshadows instead. This is not an easy color to pull but with the overwhelming amount of blue clothes I have, I figure that blue eyeshadows can come in handy.

Sephora Single Shadow in Fullmoon Romance; I admit this was more an impulsive purchase more than anything. Just a day before my graduation, I had this sudden urge to purchase and I didn't have any eye shadow to go with the dress I'm wearing for the ceremony. This works surprisingly well on my oily lids, I just hope it leans more toward rich blue than purple instead,

Jill Stuart Ribbon Couture Eyes in Indigo Tweed; a beautiful eyeshadow quad that sadly didn't perform as well as my previous Jill Stuart Eye shadow. A full review is coming soon because I have yet to try it out as much as I like to throw my cents on it. Regardless, this quad has the most stunning combination of blue, and just like any other Jill Stuart product, the shimmer only looked intimidating, they're subtle and beautiful in real life.

Do you have any blue eyeshadow? What's your favorite?

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Head over Heels for Laneige

To be honest, Laneige was totally out from my radar until last year when everyone on twitter were talking about it, especially the water sleeping mask which does wonder, especially for people with dry skin. I started to grow conscious over Laneige after that, unconsciously checking their product at Sephora Online Store or Sociolla. One important thing before buying something for me is what brand does it come from, which explains why I rarely buy what other people hyped up. Sure UD Naked is so popular but UD's 'aesthetic' is not exactly mine so I'm more than happy to let it go. Fortunately, Laneige's and mine seem to get along together and it was the last straw to my 'resistance'.

I ventured into Laneige when I was looking for a product that helps combating my white/blackheads. I was introduced into their Blackhead Melting Gel and immediately , I was converted into a Laneige believer. The second product I tried was their Ligt Balancing Emulsion. If you ever read about Korean 10 Steps skincare routine, emulsion equals to essence, but for my oily skin (and frankly, because I cannot care less about difference between essence and emulsion enough) this is enough as moisturizer. The result is visible in a month when I noticed my skin is brighter and acne scars fade faster. I got myself a couple of new items from Laneige as I mentioned in my previous post. So far I'm liking all of them but it's not enough to satisfy my Laneige cravings (obviously), I have my eyes on their BB Cushion Pore Control and Lip Sleeping Mask.

Have you tried any Laneige Products? What do you think about them?

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On MUFE Artist Shadow

It surprised me sometimes how very few people talked about Makeup Forever. Sure I've tried only a couple items from them but none of them let me down so far. Their eye shadows; Artist Shadow, are brilliant, it's not everyday you got a matte eye shadow formula that works. With my hooded eyelids, a good matte eye shadow is a must. After searching high and low for one that works (not too patchy, not too powdery, and pigmented enough), I can say MUFE do their eye shadow right.

I will not dive in full review right now (it's coming soon) but the three that I got; pink brown, chesnut, and ,espresso work like a dream. They work both with and without primer but they don't fare as much on my oily lids without. They crease after 5th hour mark but since I'm yet to find an eye shadow that last on my lids, that's saying something.

Have you tried any MUFE Artist shadow? What's your favorite matte eye shadow?

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This Skincare Routine Works

I decided that 2016 will be my 'Year of Skincare' so I tried to step up my skincare game by slowly incorporating new product to my regime at least 1 new product each month. For so long, my skincare routine only consist of double cleansing + toner + moisturizer. Starting last January, I began adding treatment product and you wouldn't believe the wonder it did to my skin.

Enter Kiehls' Blemish Control Daily Skin-clearing Treatment, it's supposed to clear any blemish and marks on my skin and I attest to you; this works. I suffer from hormonal acne (every period). It used to take 3-4 months until they fade (not completely), but this one shaved it to about 2 months or less. Now I even hesitate to take up concealer in fear of irritating the fading marks for everyday wear and settle with foundation-under eye concealer-powder only.

I also tried changing my way of using my favorite facial foam, Shiseido Senka Perfect Whip, which produced the most dense and cushion-y foam ever. I ditch the foaming net and go with my bare hand. It doesn't foam anymore but it feels very creamy and refreshing as opposed to the usual soft foam. I'm surprised with how I actually feel more cleansed compared to when I used it as dense and thick foam. To be honest, I cannot say if this small change really affect my skin at all but I can say the left side of my face feels smoother than ever.

Other staples in my routines are Shiseido Aqua Label Acne Care Toner and Laneige Balancing Emulsion Light. The first one had been my go to toner for a year. I started using Laneige for three months and noticed it had give a significant improvement to my skin as well. Excited to try more Laneige product since all of them had never broke me out before.

What's your current skincare routine? Have you altered your routine and find it working?

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New in March

We're almost halfway through May and look at how much new products I already have under my belt. It's truly frightening sometimes watching how my collection, which supposed to grow in snail-like pace, sometimes can fast-forward to "Two eyeshadows and a blush in a month!?". Now, dont' get me wrong, while for other beauty enthusiast two eyeshadows and a blush is a little, it's a lot for me. Unfinished product makes me insane while a sight of pan brings me joy. I'm easily guilt-tripped so even if the thought of my Muji drawer overflowing with pretty, dainty blushes excited me, the sight of the sole blush that I had been using throughout 2015 is not even showing a tinny-weenie peek of pan drove me mad. Please do forgive me.

However, March found me with a slew number of new products. Let's just pray (at least for my sake), that they're not growing in number by the time April began. I will try not to delve in too much about some products since full-on review should be coming later.

Bath and Body Works Mahogany Teakwood Concentrated Room Fragrance; my absolute favorite candle from BBW is their Mahogany Teakwood, and basically anything with wood in it, really. I've been putting myself off from buying candles despite how effortless they're in helping me overcoming my insomnia because they don't exactly come up cheap here, so this concentrated room fragrance is really a life saver. One spray and it filled my room with the most relaxing scent ever.

Laneige White Plus Skin Refiner; I meant to get their Power Essential Skin Refiner Light to go with my Balancing Emulsion Light but they're out of stock while my current toner/refiner is on the verge of running out. I'm complete paranoid when it comes to toner so I decided to go with whatever they had at the moment. I ended up with this one which is targeted for people with dull skin. This might not be what I had in mind but I do not regret it, especially with how I only have good experience with Laneige so far.

Kiko Long Lasting Stick in 05 Rosy Brown and 27 Burgundy; the highly coveted Kiko eyeshadow sticks are finally in my hand /insert sinister laugh here/. These are my first eyeshadow stick as well. With how many morning I find myself in the gym and going to office right after, I figured I need something more handy and practical for my eyes instead of carrying eyeshadow palette with extra brushes. So far they're as amazing as what people and their mothers said!

The Body Shop Shimmer Waves in Rose; this originally belong to Amez but she didn't use it as often so I /shamelessly/ asked it from her. Since my skin is deeper, this comes out as rose-toned highlighter than a bronzer as it has been marketed as. This gives me a nice subtle sheen that doesn't make my oily skin oilier. I still cannot say whether I 'love' it or not, I think I need more use to decide.

Laneige Power Essential Skin Refiner Light & Perfect Renew Firming Eye Cream (travel size); So I had successfully converted my mom into a Laneige believer. A trip to Laneige with my mom and her friend whose daughter is also a believer, ended up with a free travel size kit and a calendar. My favorite thing happened to be the calendar because the aesthetic is so gorgeous but I think nobody want to hear me raving about a calendar here. However since dad just bought her a skincare set from Estee Lauder (her one and only true love brand), she only picked the essence and serum, leaving me with eye cream and toner. Luckily, this is the exact toner I was looking for and I have no eye cream with me so I accepted them gratefully. I mean, what kind of good daughter refused skincare from their mother, right?

These are the new products I found myself with halfway through March. What have you bought so far?

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Addicted to Alice

Out of all fairy tale character, Alice from Lewis Carol's infamous Alice in Wonderland is definitely my favorite. My addiction to Alice began around my first year of junior high where I, quiet suddenly, fancy everything Alice related. There's something mysteriously charming about the whole story of Alice in Wonderland, it's curious, carries a little darkness in it but beautiful yet bizarre at the same time.I started collecting Alice-related things and while some of them had been lost together with time, I still keep some along with me.

Alice in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carol; this novel is quiet old already with its yellowing, dog-eared paper sbut I read it time to time when I was stuck or uninspired. It has peculiar smell of old book, and frankly speaking, I love it. They sell this bundled with a limited edition Alice Moleskin notebook but I'm still on the fence whether I should buy it or not. I mean; the notebook is so pretty.

Disney Alice in Wonderland 2014 Planner; this was the only planner I used back in 2014. I bought this at The Plaza, Shinjuku. They got another design in blue with White Rabbit instead of Alice. The inside is really pretty and colorful, I wish I could get another planner like this but alas, none was available in my country. Like other standard Japanese planner, it got subway map at the very back.

Alice Pencil Case; saw this at local book store and I cannot resist. They got two designs; this one and another one in black and red heart (like the card holder) but I got myself this one for the beautiful peachy pink color. Despite its small size, it actually fits a lot of things.

Alice Card Holder; I actually bought two of these, one for me and for my mom. Mom's is in similar design but with red spades on white instead of red heart on red like mine. They got whole series of Alice themed stationery, the last time I checked, they still got it in store. I'm keeping my eyes on the notebooks next.

Beyond Alice Dress Handcream; this birthday gift was mentioned on my February Favorite. Some friend is no stranger to my addiction with Alice. I wear this everyday to make sure my hand is soft enough since I spend a long time inside air conditioned room.

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My Morning 'Routine'

My morning routine consist of dragging myself awake at 4 am every morning before hitting the gym 2 hours later (if traffic allowed it), then spent about an hour there before collapsing at any empty chair in Starbucks with a venti Ice Earl Grey and a slice of wheat bread with sesame oil dressing (some fancy Starbucks pastry when budget allows). Then I will pull out my Jeeva Journal and some colorful pens before doodling writing down what I have to do for the day (scribbling how much money I've used for the treat today). Depending on how late I am, sometimes I have a full hour left to spend doing the most mundane of things like reading or scrolling down my twitter and instagram feeds. The other will left me with so little time to even fill in my journal before I scramble off and pray I can make it to the office on time. 

That was my morning 'routine'. As you can see, I'm not spared with luxuries to yawn and stretch in bed with so little time to waste (at least until I hit Starbucks). It's not what other people viewed as 'ideal morning' but for me this is the best I can have, for now, and seeing as I have little to complain about this routine, I don't think I'm willing to trade it for any other 'routine' for a while.

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To do March

My list of 'To do March' is not far from my 'To do February', in a sense that I need constant reminder to keep doing some things that's obviously working for myself (aside from how hard it is for me to keep a habit other than playing around with my nails) and I'm yet to fulfill some of them.

1. Shave at least 2 KGs since now I can gym every morning.
2. Keep a 'journal morning' to list down what do you have to do for the day.
3. Start budgeting for Japan Trip in May. Yes, I'm coming to you, Japan.
4. Buy a Starbucks Tumblr and get a card activated by April 9th if budget allow (God knows I'm addicted to Starbucks for its tea instead of their coffee like I had been in previous years).
5. Pick up baking again. A banana bread won't hurt for warming up.
6. Continue being consistent in blogging and instagramming.
7. Pick up this Pore Deep Cleansing Foam, Power Essential Skin Refiner Light from Laneige, or Midnight Recovery Serum, Blue Herbal Spot Treatment from Kiehls. 

8. Quote of the month; you are unlimited.

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February Favorites

I didn't buy anything beauty related this month but here are some of my Februay Favorites;

1. Beyond Alice Dress Handcream; a lovely birthday present from equally lovely Amez. This moisturizing hand cream is full-packed with musky scent, even though I usually avoid it, I actually quiet enjoy this one. It got absorbed to the skin quickly with minimum stickiness.

2. Too Faced Natural Eyes in Push-up; despite the love-hate relationship I have with this palette, I cannot deny the strong love I feel for Push-up. A lovely pinkish bronze with gold shimmer, I cannot stop using this as lid color for a whole month!

3. Kiehls Blemish Control Daily Skin-clearing Treatment; I purchased this back in January and after using it religiously for two months, I can say this actually works! My acne scars usually fade in four months or so, but after using this, in just two months, they're cleared enough that I don't need concealer to hide them.

4. The Body Shop Argan Oil for Body and Hair; my hair rescue. I started using argan oil for my hair since November last year. I used to suffer with serious dry, coarse hair, plus split-ends. This oil helps smoothing them and my hairdresser praised the lack of split-ends!

5. Itoen Powdered Green Tea; I shall shamelessly admit; I bought this back in May 2015. I was clearing my room when I found this stashed at the back of my wardrobe (please don't ask me why), been drinking this ever since.

6. Rude Love by f(x);the amount of time I listened to this while wiggling on my chair in a failed attempt of dancing was uncountable. I especially love Victoria's voice in this one.

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