LIA SAYS: Olive oil

Olive oil has many beauty benefits that people might overlook, so I decided to do a quick post on the uses of it.

Use it on:
1.your lashes to help it grow longer

2. dry ends of your hair to moisturize and reduce frizz

3.  dry skin (on elbows, knees, feet etc)

4. chapped lips to curb the dryness

5. your cuticles for extra moisture

6. your face as a makeup remover (it works even for waterproof makeup)

Hope this was useful! :)

Current Favourite Candles: Yankee Candles

These are my newest Yankee candles and I love the way they smell! These three that I picked out are the more summery scents I think. From left, Dift Away, Bahama Breeze and Sun & Sand.

Drift Away has a fresh, clean scent that is kind of calming I guess. Bahama Breeze has a sweet fruity scent that smells quite yummy, somewhat like a fruity summer drink. Sun & Sand is also a sweet smelling candle, but it's sweetness is a little more subtle than Bahama Breeze; it has a refreshing summer feel to it too.

Taupe nails

I haven't posted a nail post for a long time so here's a quick one! 

This is a pretty taupe colour from OPI called Barefoot in Barcelona. I'm also using a 2-in-1 top and base coat from Silkygirl. I love how this nail colour is so neutral as that it can go with any style and outfit. :)

Loreal Lucent Magique BB Cream

This bb cream from Loreal has a special formulation, its their Lucent Magique BB Cream that supposedly blends to match any skin tone.

It starts off white and its got little beads in it, which you're supposed to rub into your skin and the bb cream will change colour to match your shade.

As you can see, this bb cream matches the shade of my arm really well. This bb cream has a more neutral undertone which suits many skin tones. It claims to be skin illuminating and it has an SPF of 20.

However, this doesn't match every skin tone as it claims; it looks a tad too light for tanner skin and I highly doubt it'll match those with deeper skin tones either. Also, it takes a a long time to blend.

This won't be suitable for people with dry and flaky skin because the beads in it could cause micro-exfoliation and cause your skin to become more flaky. For those with normal to oily skin, this is good since it doesn't oil up throughout the day.

In terms of coverage, this was a complete letdown. It has a super super light coverage which basically means it doesnt cover up anything at all, and it barely does anything to even out my skin tone.

For the price of SGD$20+, this is one of the high-end drugstore bb creams and for this product, I think its not worth the money. I was really disappointed with this especially since this product has so many big claims that it didn't live up to.

OOTD #6

My tanktop is from American Eagle Outfitters and I absolutely love the tribal-ish print! I also have on my favourite black jeggings from Uniqlo which is so comfy and easy to wear. I'm taking a cardigan along with me in case it gets a little chilly.

This is a beaded chunky bracelet from Talisman, and I like how the coloured beads are able to brighten up any outfit instantly.

These are some braided bracelets from Cotton On and they've got some really cute pendants on it.

I also have on some simple black sandals but I don't have a picture for that, hope you don't mind; its pretty boring! Anyway, hope you girls enjoyed this ootd! :)

Current Favourite Lip Balm: Maybeline Baby Lips

This is the Maybelline Baby Lips in Mixed Berry. True to its name, it smells really sweet and fruity, and I absolutely love the scent.

It is very moisturizing and comfortable on the lips. The colour is very sheer though, so for those who want more colour on the lips, you can top it off with another lip gloss or lipstick.

 You can get it at most drugstores at around SGD$6, and even cheaper online. For the price, I'm quite happy with this product and I definitely recommend checking it out!

Batiste Dry Shampoo

This is the Batiste Dry Shampoo in the scent Blush. It comes in a spray can and your supposed to spray it on your hair, particularly at the roots. This works by absorbing the oil in your hair and to me, it feels kind of like a super fine powder. Its slightly white-ish but the colour will be gone once your rub the dry shampoo into your hair.

I love how it smells, it has a powdery and subtly sweet scent to it. 

I think this would be really handy for people with hair that becomes oily by the middle of the day, or for those who washes their hair on alternate days and need a pick-me-up in between washes. This is perfect for the Singapore climate where its sunny and humid, which causes my hair to turn limp and oily quite quickly.

A small can of this retails at Watsons for SGD$3.90 and the full sized is about SGD$9 I think. Its quite affordable and a great product as well.

Current Favourite skincare product: Superdrug Tea Tree Facial Scrub

This is a tea tree facial scrub from Superdrug that contains natural tea tree and peppermint oils. It has a fresh, minty scent and it leaves a minty feel on the skin after washing. I find this a great wake-me-up scrub in the mornings.

But of course, its not a good idea to use a scrub everyday unless its a really mild one (which this isn't). I'd say this particular scrub should be used around once a week as its very abrasive and it might dry out or even irritate the skin if used too often.

As you can see from the picture, it has abrasive beads in it and the beads are quite coarse. As a result, this scrub is very exfoliating and it does a great job at removing dead skin cells, leaving softer and smoother skin.

We don't have an actual Superdrug store here in Singapore but this scrub is sold at Watsons, which is one of the major local drugstores here. It costs just SGD$2 for the small size.

EVERbiLENA blush

This is a blush colour by a brand called EVERbiLENA. I have never heard of the brand before but I picked this up because the colour looked really pretty.

Its a light and slightly peachy pink colour in the pan, and I thought it'll make a great everyday blush colour. Unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed by the product because the colour is quite different from what is seen in the pan. It looks like a warmer, peach shade but shows up as a frosty pink with a cooler undertone in the swatch.

Also, the colour payoff is really disappointing.

If you can even see the swatch on my arm, this blush has awful pigmentation. It is already a very concentrated swatch and yet the colour is not all that obvious.

It'll work for those who only want an extremely extremely subtle blush colour I think. Otherwise, I'd say it'll be better to use it with another blush with more pigmentation for the colour to show up.

I don't recommend this product but if you're interested, its sold at Daiso for SGD$2.

Floral spring nails

This is a vintage-y floral design that would be great for spring. Many bloggers and youtubers have done this and I think its really pretty so I decided to recreate it myself.

I used a 2-in-1 top and base coat from Silkygirl, with the mint green base from Arezia in the colour 832. For the flowers, I used a pastel pink from The Face Shop in PK109, a coral colour from Revlon in 093 Tropical Temptation, and a green which is OPI Mermaid's Tears.

To create the flowers, you have to first dot a pink circle on your nails, using the nail polish brush or a toothpick/ bobby pin/ dotting tool for more precision. Next, I used a toothpick (you can use a bobby pin or a dotting tool as well.) to draw three small strokes with the coral nail polish. Draw 2 strokes along the edges of the pink circle and 1 stroke at the center of the circle. Finally just dot some leaves on with a green nail polish and you're done!

Current Favourite Candle: Crabtree & Evelyn Lavender

This is the Lavender candle from Crabtree & Evelyn that my mum bought and I love the scent of this!

It supposedly has the scent of lavender enhanced with violet, tonka bean, lemon leaf, and soft musk. To be honest all I can smell is just the lavender, with perhaps a tinge of musk. But I love the scent anyways!

It has an approximate burning time of 40 hours and it has a non-toxic and clean- burning cotton wick. Keep in mind that you shouldn't burn it for more than 3 hours at a time, as stated on the instructions.

The Lavender scent has calming and relaxing properties and its great for stress-relief. Just lit the candle and enjoy the fragrance after a long day! It takes about 15 minutes for the scent to diffuse throughout my room and it lingers for about another 30-45 minutes after blowing out the candle.

Because of its calming effect, this is suitable for those who find it difficult to fall asleep, but just remember to blow out the candle before you turn in!

I think it costs about SGD$35-40 in local stores, and it is a tad expensive, but I do recommend it for those who would like to pamper yourself and splurge a little.:)

http://www.pcfallon.com/p-10677-crabtree-evelyn-lavender-poured-candle.aspx?utm_source=pricegrabber&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=pricegrabber 

LIA SAYS: Chemicals in your products?

In recent years, the topic of parabens, sulphates and other chemicals in beauty products have been a subject of heated debate. Parabens, sulphates, silicone.. the list goes on. The more common ones are listed here: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/health/science/toxics/dirty-dozen-cosmetic-chemicals/ For a more comprehensive (and longer) list, check out this website: http://www.natural-skincare-authority.com/cosmetic-chemicals.html

The question is: are these chemicals really that harmful?

According to scientific research, yes. Some of these chemicals are even said to be carcinogens which may cause cancer. But, that is assuming your body is taking these chemicals in in large amounts, which it probably isn't. Take a look at the ingredients list, some of the most common parabens, methyl-paraben and propyl-paraben (typically used to extend a product's shelf life) are usually one of the last ingredients listed, which means that they constitute just a tiny amount of whatever product you are using. 

Of course, the amount of chemicals in our body would accumulate with time, but personally, I'm not too overly concerned about buying strictly paraben-free/ sulphate-free products because I don't use that many beauty products (less than 10, including shampoo, lotions etc) in a single day anyway. 

And, if you think about it, even if products like soap/ shower gels contain such chemicals, we only put them on our skin for a few minutes at most; I highly doubt our skin would absorb a large amount, if any, of those chemicals. 

So perhaps we should be more concerned about products that are going to stay on our skin for a long period of time. Sunblock would be one such example, and there are also debates on the harmfulness of titanium dioxide, which is a common ingredient in sunblock. Again, I would like to ask you to look at the ingredients list; you would find that titanium dioxide, more often than not, is not the main ingredient in sunblock- only a small amount is used. Besides, it is part of the SPF that we need to protect our skin against UV rays, and the latter could most definitely cause cancer.

Most importantly, there are many other chemicals out there which are used in cosmetics and beauty products, that are not even tested at all! Those other products might even be more harmful than the ones which are currently being debated; so really, there's no sure way to know exactly how harmful is a product. If you're using a product that claims to be paraben-free for instance, you'll never know if the company is substituting the parabens with more harmful chemicals.

As for organic products, well, I'm not loaded, so I can't afford to only stick to only organic stuff, which are mostly quite pricey. Also, the selection of organic products seems to be quite limited as well. 

Basically, I just try to keep my daily routine a simple as possible, and as I've mentioned before, I don't put on makeup everyday, and if I do, I tend to only put on some BB cream/ concealer and nothing else. And while I won't go out of my way to get a chemical-free/ organic product, its nice to know that certain products commercially available are supposedly less toxic.

I personally feel that as long as you don't use an excessive amount of products, i.e. don't slather on 10 different night creams before you go to bed, you should be in good hands, and your health shouldn't be affected by the use of cosmetics. Although, if the product has those harmful chemicals listed at the top of the ingredients list, then you should probably think twice about buying it.

So yes, I'm kind of undecided on this issue- I do think that these chemicals are harmful, but I don't think there's enough information to suggest the need to completely stop using products with even just a tiny amount of chemicals in them.

Nivea Creme

This is the Nivea Creme moisturizer and its said to be the most sold moisturizer worldwide.

It has a slightly hard, but creamy consistency, and it can be a little difficult to blend and spread out on the skin. I do find it to be quite moisturizing but it annoys me that it is kind of stiff and difficult to blend out.

It has a pleasant scent that reminds me of baby powder, and its a slightly sweet smell that isn't very strong.

60ml retails at SGD$2 at Watsons and Guardian, which is quite cheap I think. I would recommend giving this a go since its really affordable and it does a decent job at moisturizing the skin as well.

http://sg.pureherbalcure.com/nivea-cream.html

Welcos Hand Essence

On the left is the Avocado Hand Essence and on the right is the Blueberry Hand Essence. Their scents are really light and subtle, and they do kind of remind me of avocado and blueberry.

In terms of moisturizing benefits, they work quite well and they absorb fast too! And at about SGD$5 per tube, they're really affordable. 

The only downside is that parabens are listed as the second ingredient, meaning that they contain a large amount of parabens in it. I'm normally not too concerned with the presence of chemicals in products but this just has a lot more parabens in it than other products I've tried. Most other products I've used only have parabens listed as the last few ingredients and only have a very small amount of parabens in them, whereas this one has parabens as one of the top ingredients.

So I think they are okay as a normal hand cream but I would not really recommend it because it has a much higher paraben content than other hand creams I've tried.

http://welcos.com/eng/product/product_brand_list.asp?curpage=2&curblack=1&pnx1=1&pnx2=2&SQL_TMP=

Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede Lipsticks

These are the Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede Lipsticks that were recently released.

Here are three of my favourites. From top, Private Viewing, Socialite, High Heels.

They have good pigmentation with medium coverage that is quite buildable. They're also meant to be "food-proof, which isn;t entirely true but it does stay on for an impressive amount of time even when food is consumed. It barely transfers on to glasses and cups but might start to fade a little if oily food is consumed.

These lipsticks are supposed to have great moisturizing abilities as well. When swatched and when first applied to lips, the lipsticks feel creamy and moisturizing but it would start to dry up after a few hours. While the pigmentation does stay on, it would start to feel kind of 'tight' on the lips.

For people with dry lips, I've also heard that it might start to kind of 'crack' when the lipstick starts to dry up.  It generally feels quite uncomfortable and this is really a disappointment since they had managed to come up with such a long-lasting line of lipsticks with such gorgeous colours.

The lipsticks cost SGD$19.90 each and they're sold at most drugstores like Watsons and Guardian. The price seems pretty reasonable if it weren't for the fact that these lipsticks were so uncomfortable. Of course, you can get it much cheaper online.

I wouldn't really recommend these lipsticks especially if you are looking for a more natural-feeling lipstick or if you have very dry lips. If you do purchase it, it'll be a good idea to moisturize your lips well prior to putting these lipsticks on.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-REVLON-COLORSTAY-ULTIMATE-SUEDE-LIPSTICK-YOU-CHOOSE-YOUR-COLOR-/271087278347