Dear Althea, All I Want For Christmas Is... A Little Bit Of Everything

It's the most wonderful time of the year and all I want for Christmas is a little bit of everything from Althea.

That's not true. 

I actually want everything from Althea, but rules and good manners dictate that I shouldn't abuse Santa Althea's generousity. Also, the rules say clearly that my Christmas Wish List has to fit into one Christmas Box (but then you never said how big the box can be!)

So, I present my wishlist in the form of a familiar Christmas story that I'm completely ruining (or improving!) to make my wishlist. Hope this brings joy to someone. :)

A Christmas Carol: An Althea WishList 

The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. He carried his own low temperature always about him; he iced his office in the dog-dags; and didn't thaw it one degree at Christmas. But perhaps he's just hadn't had the luxury of trying out the Herb Warm Pack, which will surely keep even the chilliest of hearts warm with the seven kinds of medical herb components.

Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, “My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come to see me?” No beggars implored him to bestow a W-Lab Silk Remedy 5% Capsule Hair Pack to conquer their severely damaged hair. 

no children asked him for the Mizon Acence Blemist Spot Solution Serum to soothe their irritated skin without the added stickieness, to be used after toners and essenses/emulsions. 

Or the Monstory Greenman Trouble Care Mask to say goodbye to their skin troubles with the mugwart prescription, which looks like a lot of fun to try and do, not that fun is something Scrooge is acquianted with in the least. 

No man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to purchase the Natural Pacitif Fresh Herb Origin Serum as a skin anti-oxidation barrier to prevent skin degeneration, with sour anti-aging elements, wrinkle treatment function and vegetable preservatives, because they can see from his wrinkles and blemishes that he does not use any face serums, or if he used skincare products at all.

No one as inquired of the place to purchase some footcare products like the Skinfood Mint Sparking Foot Scrub to provide clean but soft exfoliation and get rid of foot ordor.

'

Or Tony Moly Shiny Foot Moisture Cream to smoothen and moisten their feet after.

No one has asked any of those of Scrooge. Even the blind men’s dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, “No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!" His eyes probably just needs some eye care, for even the most evil of eyes will be soothed by the Skinfood Salmon Brightening Eye Cream.

But what did Scrooge care! It was the very thing he liked. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was what the knowing ones call “nuts” to Scrooge.

Speaking of nuts, the 1st Collaboration of Package with Hapooooom has to many 'o's it's nuts and I would really love one if it could fit into the extra large Christmas Althea Box for me. ^^

I could go on forever, as is the thing with wishlists for things I want, but I can't tell if the box is full already. Maybe it is overflowing already, but I'm sure Santa Little Helpers can work their magic and just fit everything in (with brute force if necessary). Just squish the boxes, smash the containers, fold the masks and make everything fit. Muahaha. ^^

Fingers crossed Santa picked me, cause I've been... good? Well, at the very least I've been decent this year!

[Review] LS Cosmetic Premium Oriental Herbal Mask Pack: Chaga Mushroom Mask Pack & Agaricus Mask Pack

Price: RM20 for 16 pieces

(About $4.50)

Verdict: 4/10 for Chaga, 7/10 for Agaricus

Repurchase: No

Price & Shop

I purchased these sheet masks from Iqueen's shop in Shopee mainly because Iqueen.my ships by weight to Sarawak regardless of how much I purchase whereas Shopee gets me free shipping for purchases RM25 and above. It's a no-brainer, really. 

Shipping via Iqueen's Shopee store is spectacular. It took about two days to arrive, which is awesome. The price seems to have gone up to RM28.98 now, which I think might have something to do with the expiry date no longer being February of next year. The reason I got my masks for so cheap was probably (100%) because it was expiring within 3 months of purchase. XD Still, these masks were super cute and super cheap, so I don't regret the purchase. I kinda knew there was a 'buuuut' somewhere when shopee sold 8 of these masks for only RM10 since I've seen these on Guardian stores for about RM8 per piece (I think?). 

Fit & Ingredients

The fit of both masks were identically decent. The material of the mask clings nicely to my skin for a good 30 minutes. They're both somewhat tea-stained though (a little yellow-brownish?) which was worrying for me in the beginning, but I realized that it's just the essense. Speaking of which, the essense is a little slimy and gel-like, which I prefer to dripping, watery essenses. 

Ingredients for Chaga Mushroom Mask Pack (From Shopee): 

Water, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Propylene Glycol, Niacinamide, Alcohol, Inonotus Obliquus (Mushroom) Extract, Angelica Gigas Root Extract, Astragalus Membranaceus Root Extract, Ophiopogon Japonicus Root Extract, Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, Angelica Dahurica Root Extract, Lycium Chinense Fruit Extract, Lactobacillus/Soybean Ferment Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Betaine, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Panthenol, Rosa Centifolia Flower Water, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Extract, Carbomer, Adenosine, Disodium EDTA, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Flavor

Inonotus Obliquus (Mushroom) Extract an antacid while adenosine is good for wrinkle-care, according to the back of the mask. Popylparaben registered a 7 on safety on cosdna but everything else seems fine. 

Ingredients for Agaricus Mask Pack

Oddly enough, there's no ingredients on this mask pack. I couldn't find ingredients online either, but I found that beautius stocks it for $3.30 per piece and they highlighted the efficacy of agaricus:

Agaricus Blazeii Extract improve your skin elasticity.  Lessen skin irritants and supply moisture help your skin more beautiful. Beta-glucan, polylsaccharide in agaricus mushrooms, creates interferon which activates immune cells in the human body. It not only activates cells but also affects the digestive organs and the endocrine system, with excellent effects to treat different types of dermatitis.

Sounds magical! Also, @.@ so expensive!

Performance For Chaga Mushroom Mask Pack

The Chaga Mushroom anti-wrinkle Effect masks deals with wrinkles with anti-oxidant, chaga extract and adenosisne to keep skin healthy. The mask has a pretty heavy scent that was... confusing. It's perfumy I suppose, but not in a mushroomy or nice way. 

I only used one of these because I acutally bought this mostly for my mom. I tried one in order to review it and it ended up being a bad decision. My skin doesn't really like this. Instead of calming my skin, it made my breakouts angrier and my cc's even larger. I can't be certain, but it might've caused a few cc's on it's own, which is disappointing. I'm not quite sure what's causing cc's on my skin, but I have a suspicion it's actually niacinamide. 😢My mom really enjoys this though and since it's aimed for wrinkles, it's probbaly not for my skin anyways! 

Performance For Agaricus Mask Pack

The Agaricus Mask Pack aims to improve skin elasticity and lessen skin irritants as well as supply moisture. The scent for this mask is so much more tolerable. In fact, it's pretty negligible. The essense and mask material is identical, even down to the tea-stained color of the mask. 

Thankfully, this sheet mask is definitely better for me compared to the Chaga. It was hydrating and cooling with a slight calming effect on my breakouts. In terms of plumping and moisturising, it's just... meh. Both essenses didn't dry sticky though, which is a plus for it. Unfortunately, it didn't really awe me as much as I had hoped. 

I got these masks mostly because of the packaging and I don't really regret the purchases. It makes me happy everytime I take one out to use. ^^ I won't be repurchasing any more of these LS Cosmetic Masks to try though, since it really doesn't have much going for it apart from the gorgeous packaing and that's satisfied for me. ^^

Price: RM20 for 16 pieces

(About $4.50)

Verdict: 4/10 for Chaga, 7/10 for Agaricus

Repurchase: No

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[Review] Malaysia Subscription Box: Cubecrate December Box

Price: RM35

(Given a free in exchange for an honest review by cubecrate.com) 

Verdict: 10/10

Repurchase: NA

This month's Cubecrate subscription box is expectedly Christmas-themed and it's gorgeous. I'm so in love with the theme of the month and everything that's included in the box. If you're uncertain about what Cubecrate is, it's a surprise subscription box that costs RM35 per month and includes a variety of locally sourced products ranging from beauty to decor and handmade items that you wouldn't think to try out on your own. For three months, the subscription is RM90, so it's cheaper to buy more, as is the case with most things online. :)

Subscribe With Cubecrate Here.

Disclaimer: I received this box in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own, as usual. ^^ You can also check out: 

October's Box

November's Box

December's Box

This month's box arrived on the 15th December, which is really early, in my opinion, but just perfect. They've packed such a beautiful, luxurious box for December that it really feels like Christmas came early! ^^ First thing's first, Cubebrate's box has a new look, which I'm totally on board with. Instead of their usual slightly oversized box, this box is much smaller and much more to scale compared to the items included in the box. That means the items aren't banging around in the box and risk getting broken during delivery. So the items are all snuggled safely inside the boxes. ^^

December's box is overflowing with goodies and the box is really jammed packed with items that are well-thought-out and Christmas themed. It's all quite lovely. 

Oishi Tea: Lemon Honey Tea

Like I mentioned, this month's box has so many goodies I'm not sure where to start, so I'll begin with what's now a monthly staple: Oishi Malaysia Green Tea. This month, I was sent honey lemon green tea, which didn't disappoint. As usual. ^^ Cubecrate is slowly turning me into an Oishi fan at this point. I watered this down though, since it is a little sweet for my buds. :) 

Cubecrate 2017 Calender Designed by Moodoodles

I love this calender so much. It's a 2017 calendar that's designed by Moodoodles. The design is simple and sweet, with the front and back covers designed with a giant fat... cat? I'm not so sure. ^^ The calender inside is nondescript though, which is a tad disappointing considering how beautiful her art is. I did a little stalking and found that Moodoodles does a bunch of beautiful Word Arts that're available for sale on her Facebook and Instagram page.

Tatoos by Taratats 

This is an interesting addition to the box. It's a temporary tattoo by Taratats. From the pamplet: "Taras is a revolutionary idea making metallic temporary tattoos the new age must have accessory." That's a bold new idea! XD The tattoo is supposed to last from 4-6 days, depending on how well you applied it and where. The instructions are easy enough and it works exactly how those cute temporary tattoos I used as a kid works, by wetting the tattoo and putting it face down on the skin for 20-30seconds. 

I'm not a paritcular big fan on the designs provided though, if only because I'm not good with coming up with cool designs, so I'm not sure what I can do with these. XD Still, it'll be fun to play with! 

Fraiche Designer Delectables Snackable Granola 

Next is a Snackablesfdd sample pack of granola choco-gingersnap, another handcrafted guilt-free snack. Fraiche Designer Delectables is a team of two sisters who use only fresh and high quality ingredients to create their snacks. I had this with milk and the ginger aroma was actually a little over-bearing for my liking. I still finished it regardless though, cause it's healthy and it's lunch. XD

Beyond Beauty Voucher & JE Botanicals Body & Room Spray

 There's a voucher for Beyond Beauty that's just an extra for me, since it's unlikely that I'll make a trip to kl just to use the voucher seeing as there's no Beyond Beauty in Kuching. 

There's actually also a tiny spray that's a Christmas themed room and body spray by J & E Botanicals that I failed to take a picture of. >< I'm sorry. It smells like how you would expect Christmas to smell like, cinnamon, spice, and everything nice. The tube's cap came loose during transit, which is more of a design flaw of the bottle. There's a little less than half of the product left by the time it got to me. On the plus side, the entire package smells delightful!

 Candle Nuts By Nadia

This month's candle by CandleNuts by Nadia is such an improvement from last month's box, where we saw a tiny candle (here). They boasts to be the first handpoured candle in Malaysia that uses palm wax as their wax source. True to it's claims, there was much less soot produced with this candle compared to the other candles I've tried. 

The candle doesn't seemed to be named, but it smells sweet and mildly fruity. Maybe it's candy-cane? :) The last candle from her  that I used, while tiny, managed to keep my house smelling delightful for hours after. 

 Stick Wit Me Sticker

There's also a Stickwitme Christmas Wreath sticker that can be used to personalize bags and accessories. It's leather and designed to adhere permanently, so I'll have to be certain where I want this forever. 

Glitter Angel Chrismas Ornament

Last but not least is a glitter angel christmas ornament from cubecrate, which is so glittery it's making everything it touches shimmer. Honestly, the glitter goes everywhere, so do be careful with this. XD 

Overall Impression

As you can probably tell, I'm incredibly pleased by this month's box, not just because there were so many items in the box, but because it's so Christmas-y. Everything seemed to be well-thought out instead of just a bunch of items thrown together. My favorite item is probably the calendar by @moodoodles. It's such a beautiful, practicle, and useful item.

In terms of getting your money's worth, this month is definitely worth RM35. This month's box definitely deserves a 10 out of 10.

I also do quick, short reviews on my instagram so if you're up for it, do follow me here too! :D https://www.instagram.com/peachy_amy/
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[Review] Demeter x Moomi Cushion Perfume: Icelandic Aurora Scent

Price: NA

Verdict: 9/10

Repurchase: No.

Price & Shop

I won this from 0.8L Malaysia's instagram share and win contest and like last time with the Innisfree Clay Mask that I won, I received it within a month of winning.  I reviewed it briefly on my instagram account too. :) You can also buy this from ebay for about $24... which is pretty ridiculous in my opinion. 

Demeter is a fragrance company that specializes in unique scents. It's original mission was to capture the beautiful smells of the garden and nature in wearable form, with fragrances such as Dirt, Grass, And Tomato. They've since gotten waaaay side-tracked with fragrances like sweet baby (one of the refill packs given), pizza, play-doh, and clean soap (anothe refill pack). They're now known for their catalog of unexpected and interesting scents. Who would like to smell like play-doh? D= 

Directions

I couldn't find the ingredients of the cushion, but they do promise to keep all fragrances completely natural. The brand also doesn't use artificial color of parabens. 

There were no instructions with the cushion perfume, but it wasn't exactly rocket science. Basically, you just dab the tiny cushion on the cushion and transfer the perfume to your hand or neck or basically whereever you wanted to smell nice (wink?). These are good for touchups and are non-intrusive as compared to touching up spray perfumes. 

Packaging, Fragrance & Performance

The tiny cushion pack is actually surprisingly sturdy. The cushion puff is inside the pact and is seperate from the cushion, which soaked up 2.5g of product. The mini cushion puff is so tiny that I worry about dropping it accidentally and breaking my heart in the process because it's so cute and how am I supposed to replace such cuteness? T.T Actually, that's a valid question. How am I supposed to replace this? 

The fragrance for this Demeter cushion perfume is Icelandic Aurora, which is fresh and cooling. It boasts to be long lasting and cooling with no sticky residue. I tried this on my hand and it's definitely not sticky. The scent is pleasant but as is the fact with most perfumes, my nose stopped picking up the fragrance after a while so I'm not so certain about the long-lasting promise. The scent does fade completely after about three hours though, so maybe it's not  The refill packs are clean soap, baby powder, fuzzy navel, white musk, and sweet baby respectively and it looks to be 2.5g of product per refill pack. I suppose once this fragrance is used up, I have to wash everything and refill the pack with a different fragrance. Cool. ^^ 

I've never heard of cushion perfumes before and I was super intrigued by this. It turned out to be very simple and just soo.... unnecessary really. Why in the world would anyone need a cushion perfume? Other than for novelty and cuteness factor of course, and this is really super cute.

 Pros & Cons

Pros

• Super adorable packaging
• Fresh, pleasant scent
• Convenient for travelling (and okay for airplane travel since it's not a spray perfume).

Cons

• Very little product (2.5g will not last you long at all)
• It's super small, so chances of dropping the puff is quite high. T.T 
• Expensive

Price: NA

Verdict: 9/10

Repurchase: No.

I also do quick, short reviews on my instagram so if you're up for it, do follow me here too! :D https://www.instagram.com/peachy_amy/
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[Review] Skinfood Beauty In A Food Mask Sheet Review: Bird's Nest and Snail Review

Price: 10,000won for 20 pieces

(About RM40 or ~$10)

Verdict: 0/10

Repurchase: Hell no.

Price & Shop

I bought these Skinfood Masks from a Homeplus Market in Busan, Korea. Busan, Korea! Ahhh. It still marvels me a little that I can cross that off my bucket list. I've been to Korea! ^^ Anyways, there was a deal for buy ten get ten free, which was how I ended up with twenty of these Skinfood Beauty In A Food Mask Sheets. It's odd, but these masks were inside a market where they sold erm... vegetable and other groceries. Mini-stores like Skinfood, It's Skin, Innisfree, ect, do have individual counters though, so payment has to be made at the counters. 

Fit & Ingredients

The fitting of this mask wasn't very good, as evident by the way I had to snip off the middle of the mask to get my nose moisturized. I don't know why I even bothered. More on that later. It didn't smell horrible, which, sadly, was the only thing going for it. The essence is creamy and white, which is odd, but not unheard of. The Saem masks have creamy essences as well. The texture of the mask was cotton, I believe, but they weren't very good at keeping the moisture in the cotton, which was a shame. 

I found the ingredients of the Bird's Nest on cosdna but not the snail. Nothing too scary. For some reason there's... cholesterol in these though... which makes me feel... fat? I don't know what to feel. There's also alcohol and shea butter for those of you sensitive to those. 

Performance

I tried their wash-off masks, so admittedly, I had high hopes for these masks. After leaving the mask on for ~15 minutes, my skin was left with a sticky finish that was uncomfortable enough for me to wash off the extra residue with water. One look in the mirror was enough to let me know that my skin wasn't moisturized at all, which was just ridiculous. Even the horrible Elizavecca masks that I've tried were at least a little bit moisturizing. These masks sat on my face and did absolutely nothing. They weren't irritating, which was good, but neither of these masks did anything for my skin. I'm massively disappointed. What a waste. 

Price: 10,000won for 20 pieces

(About RM40 or ~$10)

Verdict: 0/10

Repurchase: Hell no.

[Review] Malaysia Subscription Box: Cubecrate November Box

Price: RM35

(Given a free in exchange for an honest review by cubecrate.com) 

Verdict: 7/10

Repurchase: NA

It's no secret that I'm all for surprises. Cubecrate is one of the few surprise subscription boxes available in Malaysia. For a price of RM35 per box, cubecrate sends you a variety of local products ranging from beauty to decor and handmade items that you wouldn't think to try out on your own. For three months, the subscription is RM90, so it's cheaper to buy more, as is with most things online. XD

Subscribe With Cubecrate Here.

Disclaimer: I received this box in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own, as usual. ^^ 

November's Box

I'm a little lost on November's Box's theme. It could be Autumn, judging from the leaves in the corner of the description paper, which I really enjoy reading cause it gives me some insight on the items I received. The box arrived with  the familiar sight of Oishi Green Tea, a pleasant, slightly sweet tea brewed from 100% organic tea leaves. Flavor of the month is Lychee Green Tea, which I'm normally not a big fan of, but this is pretty nice! 

There was a handpoured candle by CandleNuts By Nadia. This boasts to be the first handpoured candle in Malaysia that uses palm wax as their wax source. True to it's claims, there was much less soot produced with this candle compared to the other candles I've tried. This particular candle was for calming, which kinda worked since it helped calm me down during a power outtage earlier last week. It smelled pretty nice too, nothing too overwhelming and left a lingering scent in my house for a while. ^^ The candle burned for a little more than an hour with still some life left to it. 

The granola snack pacakge is from Alys The Bakerland. This is founded by Alyson, who aims to provide healthier breakfast granola. It boasts to be 100% natural with organic ingredients as well as no artificial flavoring or coloring. I particularly enjoy that thie 50g pack came with nutritional facts as well as a list of it's contents: almonds, cashew nuts, pumpkin seeds, raisins and granola. Yum! I haven't tried this out yet, but judging from the list of ingredients, it promises to be yummy! 

There was also a coupon for RM10 off RM100 for Posie Style, which I'm not a fan of, at all. It will go unused for me. I don't think it's fair to offer a coupon code for a store as an individual item instead of an add on for the box, since I doubt everyone will be able to make use of the coupon, especially since it's asking people to spend more. Posie Online Fashion Store was founded in August 2016, so still a baby by all rights and seems to be selling exclusively from Facebook for now. While I'm a huge fan of dresses, I'm not confident that I can judge how well a dress would fit on me in person. 

There's also a mini notebook directly from cubecrate, which is a sweet add-on. This month's box is a little lackluster compared to last month's Halloween-themed parcel. In terms of value for money, I don't think this particular box is worth the asking price of RM35. I hope next month's box will pick things up. I wasn't keen on the Oishi green tea in the beginning, but now find myself looking forward to each month's flavor. XD 

Price: RM35

(Given a free in exchange for an honest review by cubecrate.com) 

Verdict: 7/10

Repurchase: NA

[Review] Malaysia Subscription Box: Cubecrate October Box

Price: RM35

(Given a free in exchange for an honest review by cubecrate.com) 

Verdict: 10/10

Repurchase: NA

It's no secret that I'm all for surprises. Cubecrate is one of the few surprise subscription boxes available in Malaysia. For a price of RM35 per box, cubecrate sends you a variety of local products ranging from beauty to decor and handmade items that you wouldn't think to try out on your own. For three months, the subscription is RM90, so it's cheaper to buy more, as is with most things online. XD

Subscribe With Cubecrate Here.

Disclaimer: I received this box in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own, as usual. ^^ 

October's Box

October's Box was Halloween Themed and featured the Oishi Green Tea. Love is, Ilsa Soap Wagon and Stickwithme. There are all Malaysian-based companies or new startups that have flown under my radar completely and I'm pretty happy to be introduced to them. 

The Oishi Green Tea flavor of the month is Lemon Ice Tea, which I'm a huge fan of. ^^ Oishi green tea seems to be a common theme in Cubecrate boxes. It was also present in last month's box but a different flavor. I'm looking forward to November's to see what flavor it'll be! ^^ 

In addition to the green tea, there's also a handmade soap from Ilsa Soap Wagon. These handmade soaps are made in small batches to ensure the quality of each soap. I'm not sure what this particular soap is made of but I pH-tested this and it sits at about a pH of 8-9, which is too high to be a facial wash, but should work plenty well as hand-soaps. It's not too stripping, but not super gentle either, so use with caution. 

I have yet to make myself open this adorable skull bubble bar to use because it's so adorable. It's also wrapped ina layer of plastic that I think will keep it fresh for a while yet. It's pretty small and is designed to compliment bath bombs or used on its own for a soft, foamy experience. It's from LoveIs, which is also available in The Cubez Store, Sungei Wang Plaza. The bath and body products sold are locally handcrafted with ingredients from all over the world. Instructions said to crumble the bubble bar under running water, soak and pat dry. I love that the ingredients are all given. CostDNA didn't show any of them as acne/irritants, but I wouldn't use this as a face soap. In fact, I don't know if I'll ever use it at all. >< It's too pretty! 

The last item in the box is a StickWitMe sticker pack. It's super cute, which seems to be the theme with this month's box. XD Maybe I just think Halloween is cute. These stickers are apparently made of leather and can be used as decorative stickers on bags. ^^ 

Overall Impression:

I'm quite impressed with this month's box. It managed to introduce me to not one, but two local soap startups that I had fun learning more about in addition to a sticker store. RM35 is a fair price for this month's box seeing as how the stickers and soaps aren't cheap if bought on their own and it's worth supporting these local brands. I'll rate the box at 10/10. ^^ 

[Review] Neogen Dermalogy Sur Medic Hydro-Hyaluronic Mask

Price: NA 

(Given a free in exchange for an honest review by Amabie.com) 

Verdict: 7/10

Repurchase: No

Fit & Texture

The fit of this mask isn't very good. The mask is made of cotton, which is apparently hypoallergenic, non-irritating and holds a good amount of serum. The serum was actually dripping the entire time I was wearing this, but the mask itself is so soaked in serum that it wasn't really a problem. That said, there's 23g of mask in this sheet, which is fairly standard.

Ingredients

Ingredients: Water, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Alcohol Denat, niacinamide, Trehalose, Sodium Hyaluronate, Phytosqualane, Laminaria Japonica Extract, Undaria Pinnatifida Extract, Phaseolus Radiatus Extract, Etula Platyphylla Japonica Bark Extract, Rumex Crispus Root Extract, Adenosine, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Dimethicone, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Disodium EDTA, Xanthan Gum, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Tromethamine, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance

Running the ingredients through cosdna shows the Alcohol Denat as a possible irritant (5). It also contains Butylene Glycol. Other potential irritants are xanthan gum and fragrance. I know some people's skin react badly to niacinamide, so be careful with that. 

Performance

This is an intensive hydrating solution, hyaluronic mask is a dual function, brightening and anti-wrinkled treatment that penetrates deep into dry, flaky skin plumping up rich moisture while building a hydro-coating barrier to keep skin's moisture balance.

The mask tingled while I was having it on, but there was no redness and it wasn't really too uncomfortable. Sort of like having a tea tree mask on even thogh there's really no tea tree in the ingredient list. Despite the mild tingling, I kept this on for about 20 minutes before removing it. Even though I wasn't a fan of the fit, it was actually fairly comfortable to have on, which came as a surprise for me. The eyeholes were a little too small, but that just meant the area around my eyes got plenty of moisture too, which is a good thing. 

It left my face with a sticky finish. It wasn't particularly brightening, but was very moisturizing. My skin wasn't too dry to begin with, but the area around my nose has gotten quite flaky and irritated from having the flu and blowing my nose for more than a week and this mask really helped calmed the irritation there. I'm fairly pleased with the effect of the mask overall despite the sticky finish!

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Moisturizing

Cons

• Tingles a little
• Leaves a sticky finish
• Not brightening

Verdict: 7/10

Repurchase: No

[Review] Bourjois Rouge Edition Souffle de Velvet Liquid Lipstick

Price: NA

(Received as a review item from Bourjois Malaysia)

Verdict: 8/10
Repurchase: No

Product and Packaging

The Bourjois' Rouge Edition Souffle de Velvet Liquid Lipstick is sure a mouthful. It's really such ridiculously long name that tries to tell you what to expect for the lipstick, but doesn't really succeed all that much. Rouge means red powder or cream used in cosmetics, and souffle can either mean a low murmuring sound heard through a stethoscope or a light, spongy baked dish made from adding flavored egg yolks to beaten (fluffy) egg whites. Judging from the name, I'll be getting a red lipstick that applies like cake, which is exciting, to say the very least! 

I quite like the packaging of the lipstick. It's weird, but I'm not a fan of cylindrical lipsticks all that much, possibly because it's everywhere and that tends to be boring. The vivid color of the casing is actually quite misleading, seeing as the product itself isn't actually so vivid a color. The one here is in Shade 07 Plum Plum Pidou.  It promises to last for 10 hours, providing hydrating while adding a light veil of color to the lips with the soft, velvety texture providing balm comfort. 

Ingredients and Directions

I couldn't find the ingredients for this on their own website, which is a travesty but I managed to get a list of the ingredients on superdrug.com here: 

Dimethicone,Aqua (Water),Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer,Jojoba Esters,Butyl Acrylate/Hydroxypropyl Dimethicone Acrylate Copolymer,Butylene Glycol,Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Wax,Saccharide Isomerate,Phenoxyethanol,Acacia Decurrens Flower Wax,Polyglycerin-3,Parfum (Fragrance),Citric Acid,Sodium Citrate,Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone,Linalool,Citronellol,Geraniol,[+/- (May Contain):Mica,Ci 12085 (Red 36),Ci 15850 (Red 6),Ci 15850 (Red 7 Lake),Ci 15985 (Yellow 6 Lake),Ci 17200 (Red 33 Lake),Ci 19140 (Yellow 5 Lake),Ci 42090 (Blue 1 Lake),Ci 45410 (Red 28 Lake),Ci 45380 (Red 22 Lake),Ci 73360 (Red 30 Lake),Ci 75470 (Carmine),Ci 77163 (Bismuth Oxychloride),Ci 77491, Ci 77492, Ci 77499 (Iron Oxides),Ci 77742 (Manganese Violet),Ci 77891 (Titanium Dioxide)].

I ran this through cosdna and one of the things that really grabbed my attention was the amount of fragrances that showed 5-7 on safety. There are four fragrances present, Alpha-isomethyl ionone, Linalool, Citronellol and Geraniol, with the first three reading as 5 on safety while the last read as 7. Geraniol is an alcohol and is the primary part of rose oil, palmarosa oil, and citronella oil. It's present in a number of essential oils though and has a rose-like scent, which probably explains why this smells nice. :) 

This can either be applied useing your fingertips for a softer look or the applicator to build up coverage.

First Impressions

The shade for #Plum Plum Pidou is pinkish rather than plum or red. It applies shimmery but as you spread it, it dries to a matte finish. I was worried it would be too vivid, but it was actually a very natural coverage. 

It applies very smoothly (almost gliding) on my lips and dries matte, but wasn't overly so. There's still a slight shimmer to it. It wasn't drying by any means. Upon application, it was slightly oily, but not unpleasantly so, like a mousse. It's balmy texture gives my lips hydration with a hint of color and smells pleasantly sweet but not too overwhelmingly so. 

Overall, I'm very happy with this! The color is a tad too light though, but I've been using this together with the Rire by applying the Rire lipsticks first, which dries really matte, then using this as a second layer. 

The reason why I wouldn't be getting any other colors is because I believe this is a good shade for me. In addition, I did some research online and it seems the color difference between the different shades of Bourjois Rouge Edition isn't that extreme. That is to say, if you have one, you have them all since the colors are all so similar. 

Pros:

• Applies easily (can be used on the go) 
• Possible to layer over other colors 
• Smells delightful
• Gives a natural color to lips

Cons:

• Stains. No matter what I do, the lipstick doesn't stick to my lips very well and tend to stain everything, so the staying power isn't all that impressive either. 
• I tried to layer this, but the color tends to sit over one another and just doesn't look very nice, so while it's possible to apply a layer of this over other lipsticks, it's not possible to layer this by itself. 

Price: NA

(Received as a review item from Bourjois Malaysia)

Verdict: 8/10
Repurchase: No