Best Make-up Remover

Hi everyone. Today's post will be about make up remover products. I've used a few brands and type and have discovered the best one. I will first talk about my favourite make up remover, I will then tell you a couple that works ok and at the end of the post, I will tell you a natural and very cheap method of removing make up.

There are cream, liquid and oil based make up removers (Gel also I think). I find the oil based ones are the best; they remove make up very quick and cleans very well.

This DHC Cleansing Oil was a sample from GlossyBox. This is one of the best make up remover I've ever used. I highly recommend this. Massage a few drops onto face and then rinse off with water; the make up is totally dissolved and the face is also cleansed. To see if my face was clean from make up, I then put some make up remover onto a cotton pad and wiped my face. There was nothing left. No need to cleanse your face with other cleanser after. Your face is oil free, smooth and nourished once rinsed off with water.

If you're thinking 'why would you clean your face with oil when its not good to have excess oil on your face? Water and oil don't mix so how can you clean off the product?'
Oils breaks down other oils. This product contains olive oil (and vitamin E) which bonds with and dissolves the oil on your face. People with oily skin are recommended to use oil based cleanser. This article might explain it better Elle- Oil Based Cleaners


Fullsize: 200ml- £18 approx

Garnier Oil Based Make Up remover

This is my second best make up remover but isn't as effective as DHC. I think its to do with the application method. With this you don't massage onto face, you pour some onto cotton pad and wipe face. Majority of the make up comes off immediately but because your wiping some parts of the face with the same cotton pad that has makeup residuals, your leaving those behind. Therefore, you have to use a few cotton pads until the make up is totally removed. Its more time consuming and you're using up quite a lot of cotton pads.
My cousin said this is the only one that removes her waterproof mascara and it is only £2.99.

Nivea Eye make up remover

This is average. I wouldn't buy it again. This is not oil based, just a normal liquid one. Its not really a gentle remover as you have to really rub your eyes and a use few cotton pads for the mascara to be fully removed. On the long term, you will be getting those fine lines under your eyes from all those rubbing and dragging motions on the eye.

Guys, I wanted to show you the worst make up remover I've bought but silly me I've thrown it away. Been trying to google it but can't find it. So no pictures to show you which one it is. I know it doesn't really help lol.  I remember I got it from Boots and it was called Simple, in a see-through bottle. Maybe they stopped producing that product as they knew it was rubbish so probably the reason I can't find it. It doesn't remove anything off your face, I wiped my face and eyes a couples of times with the product on the cotton pad but there was nothing. Anyways, no point talking about it when there's no picture to show lol.

Natural and cheap method of removing makeup
My cousin taught me this when she came to stay at my house (well parent's house) a few nights. I happen to run out of her favourite Garnier make up remover (the one above) and so she asked me if I have any olive oil. I grabbed a bottle from our kitchen and she told me to pour a few drops on to the cotton pad. She started wiping her face and eyes. The make up was removed.

So basically, all you need is OLIVE OIL. Remember the DHC contains olive oil and we all know that it is good for us in terms of health, skin. hair and many more. (if you don't know now you do).

The last 2012 Glossy box

Hi everyone. Its almost Christmas, its almost the end of 2012 and it the last GlossyBox of 2012. It came in a silvery box and really gives a Christmassy feel.

Starting from top left...

Lemon by Mary Greenwell perfume. 

It smells really old school and I don't smell any lemon scent. Don't like it at all.

Full size: 100ml- £90, 50ml- £60, Purse Spray £30 (way too expensive)

Rituals Magic Touch

A body cream that is combined with rice milk and fragrance of cherry blossom. Tried a little bit and it seems quite good. I like thick body creams, it works well on my skin. 

Fullsize: 200ml- £15, 70ml- £5

Ayuuri Moisturising Sandalwood Face Wash

Enriched with oil of sandalwood & vitamin E. My friend told me Ayuuri is a really good brand and its natural, look forward to try it then.

Fullsize: 200ml- £4.95

Seche Nail Lacquer

Not quite sure about the colour and I don't really wear nail polish either. My girl friends if you want it tell me.

Fullsize: 14ml- £9.95

Sleek Make up True Colour Lipstick- Cherry 790

I don't wear lipstick but have wanting to try though. This colour is too dark for me and don't think it would suit me either. The advantage of this is it contains vitamin E.

Fullsize: 3.5g- £4.99

GlossyBox Blusher- Glossy Pink

This is a bonus gift from GlossyBox. I like this pink, will definitely use it regularly.

Guest post by my cousin Colette- A review of Lipcote Lipstick Sealer

Hello people! About a month ago I asked my cousin to do a review of the Lipcote lipstick sealer that I gave to her. I thought for a change I want her to do me a review/ guest post. Enjoy.

Check her out Colie's Corner

Guest Post- Lipcote Lipstick Sealer Review

I promised my cousin weeks ago to write a review about the Lipcote Lipstick sealer she got from her monthly Glossy box, but she gave it to me instead since she's not a fan of using lipsticks.

I have recently been really into lipsticks so I was really excited to try this out! I have always been a bit skeptical towards lipstick primers because I think they are pricey and simply didn't want to buy anything expensive that turns out being really bad.

How the product looks like:

As you can see it's liquid and sort of reminds me of nail polish - the smell as well. According to the directions on the packaging (that I have already thrown away) for best result, after putting on lipstick you should gently pat your lips with a piece of tissue. Apply a thin layer of the Lipcote sealer on the outer lips and then fill the rest.

My Verdict:

I did not like it at all! Why?? I will keep it short by listing up the cons with this product:

- It smells AWFUL! As I mentioned earlier, it has a strong chemical smell.... like nail polish! It's far from pleasant to put anything stinky like that on your lips.... near your nose as well!

- It tastes really really bad. I guess the bad smell gave it away already. I personally think it is unavoidable to get bits of lip products in your mouth because you will taste it when you either lick your lips, drink or eat. So I don't understand why they didn't think about this issue when developing the product. Nail polish in your mouth? No thank you.

- It's not long lasting. I guess it works...ish? I'm not sure if it really works or if it's because I am so conscious about the smelly product on my lips that I become extra careful with not licking or rub my lips. Nevertheless, it wears off after only one or two hours!

- It leaves residuals on your lips that look like dead skin! This is a big no no. I noticed that after having a meal it left some residuals on my lips, unless I am extremely careful. And don't even think about wiping your mouth with a napkin, the product will peel of immediately.

-It made my lips dry. It might be only me because I get easily dry lips, this product made my lips feel even more dry!

Yep, I couldn't think of any pros.... the only pro is the fact that it was free because my cousin gave it to me haha. Anyways, I am planning to give it away or just throw it because I will never use it again.

New Blog about my Startup Life

Hi everyone,
I've started a new blog called The Startup Life Began at 24. This blog will only be about my life at UCL and anything I've done that is related to entrepreneurship, basically a diary for me to look back at. (more info about it here.) Oh, I don't think I've mentioned that I'm studying a master's degree in Technology Entrepreneurship at UCL. I absolutely love this course, it is so interesting. I have learnt so much about entrepreneurship. It is much better than my bachelor's degree which I chose because I went through clearing and didn't know what to study.

Am I thinking of having my own business? Yes, I know it's not going to be easy but that's my dream. I grew up from a family where most of my family members have their own business, maybe that's what influenced me. I have recently teamed up with 2 girls in my class working on a fashion/techie business idea- no its not designing, lol. Fingers crossed it will go well, if not, no biggie because that's just the beginning. Info and updates on this idea will be available on the new blog. =)

Anyways, I added a tab below the header and it takes you directly to it or just click here. I really hope you will enjoy it. Please feel free to leave a comment, suggestions, opinions, etc. I hope you will enjoy reading it =D Thank you!

Glossybox November- My very own special edition!

Hi everyone! I know I haven't blogged as often as I used to do. I have been so busy with university work; literally had assignments due every single week and on top of that we have lots of independent reading and  lots of group work during the week.

Anyways, back to the main topic. Yes, I've received this month's Glossybox and not only did I get good products I got TWO Glossyboxes for the price of ONE. Yes, I said two for the price of one. You must be wondering why. Glossybox wasn't doing a 'buy one get one free' month, their warehouse just made an error by sending someone else's Glossybox to my address. Now, don't start thinking that I just kept quiet and kept it to myself, lol. I actually e-mailed Glossybox about it and asked if they wanted to arrange someone to pick it up. But guess what they said? 'Please keep both of the boxes.' Yay!!! As soon as I saw that e-mail, I ripped it open. Lol.

Let me first show the products I got in MY Glossybox. Oh so sorry about the brightness of the picture, I know some are a bit dark.

Monu Firming Moisturiser Face Cream.

Last month I received another product of theirs-Monu Friming eye gel- its pretty good, so I'm looking forward to use it. It says it has sunscreen but doesn't indicate the Sun Protection Factor so I may need to apply an extra layer of sun screen of SPF 15/30. The size of the sample above is 20ml. 

The full size and price is, £18 for 50ml.

Crabtree &Evelyn, Himalayan Blue Hand Therapy.

This is a good size to put in my bag. It smells good but leaves the hands feeling a little greasy. If this is a sample size, it's pretty big. A couple of years ago, my Godmother bought  me a L'Occitane gift set as a souvenir from Hong Kong, inside was a hand cream also in an aluminium tube ( I think it's aluminium)but the size was half the size of this one. Didn't last me very long, probably like two weeks. 

The price and original size of Crabtree & Evelyn Hand cream, £14 for 100g.

Alison Claire Natural Beauty, Mango Body Butter

This is a new brand. Smells really nice of mango and I love how it comes with pump. It reminds me of The Body Shop's mango body moisturiser. I got a quarter of that product.

Price and original size, £15 for 200ml

Nails Inc, Kensington Caviar. 

This has won a Sunday Times Style Beauty Award. I'm not really a nail polish person, I tend to get my nails done at the nail shop. So it will be sitting in my room.  

£11-£12 for 10ml

Dermalogica, Daily Microfoliant

Its a rice based powder and apparently models love it. Last month, I received a Dermalogica gift set of 3 step day and night kit. And it was pretty good, so I'm looking forward in using this one.

Price and original size, £38.50 for 75g

The second box also had Dermologica microfoliant, Mango body butter and nail polish. But instead of the hand cream and Monu face cream, it had;

Dr. Jart+ BB Cream

My favourite! I've been wanting to try it since the day it launched in the UK. I didn't buy it because it was quite pricey and I already have too many BB creams. Out of all the BB creams I have, I only use Skin 79 Caviar-bought that from Hong Kong-and I only use it when I go out for certain occasions.  Yes, I sort of like collecting them. Lol.


Price and original size of Dr Jart, £18 for 50 ml.

This is a sample I got from Missha in Hong Kong, some BB Cream in a small sachet. So cheap! Dr. Jart came in a 15ml plastic tube and nice packing.

Wei Beauty, White Lotus Hydrating Face Treatment Pad

They just gave me 1 pad, should really give me a couple more to sample it properly. =p

Price and original size, £55 1 pack of 6 pads.

Interested in subscribing, click on the following link http://www.glossybox.co.uk/referal?CI=NjQyODY=

Guest Post by Sk:n Clinics: Tips To Slow Down The Onset Of Wrinkles

Hi everyone! Hope you're all doing well in this cold weather and can you believe that Christmas is just round the corner?

Anyway, today's post is a bit different. For those who have me on their Twitter and Facebook, do you remember that I mentioned about a skin care company requested to write a guest post on my blog ? Well here it is! The guest post is written by Sk:n Clinic giving tips on how to delay the appearances of wrinkles. I feel so honored that they chose my blog when there are so many other beauty blogs that are much better than mine. Maybe because I previously blogged about one of their products (Click here to read that review I previously wrote). Anyway, enjoy the article!

Source: Groupon.co.uk

Tips To Slow Down The Onset Of Wrinkles

The ageing process is inevitable. We are all going to get older and unless we have the resources to have cosmetic surgery performed on a regular basis, we are all going to see those age-related nasty little fellows known as wrinkles.

Wrinkles tell stories. They tell us what our face, neck and hands have been doing over the years, whether the diet has been deficient, whether sunscreen has been used and whether the owner of the wrinkles has been a smoker. Wrinkles, unfortunately, do not lie. But it is possible slow down the onset of wrinkles by making lifestyle changes that will stop potential wrinkles in their tracks, without resorting to seeing a dermatologist or cosmetic surgeon just yet.

Eat a Healthy Diet

A diet rich in vitamins and proteins is essential for smooth skin. Incorporate vitamin C rich foods into the diet, like oranges, blueberries and sweet potatoes. Oily fish like mackerel contains Essential Fatty Acids which help keep the skin plumped up, and nuts and seeds like walnuts, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds all possess skin boosting properties. Keep sugar intake to a minimum, drink plenty of pure fresh water and the skin will be well nourished from within.

Don’t Smoke!

Smoking has a hugely negative impact on the skin. It reduces oxygen supply to the facial skin leading to wrinkles forming and the act of puffing on the end of a cigarette creates vertical lines around the mouth.

Use Sunscreen

Even on dull days, harmful UV rays can damage the skin so wear a sunscreen of at least SPF30 during daylight hours and reapply every 2-3 hours if outdoors for long periods. Wearing sunglasses will protect both the eyes and the delicate skin around the eyes and will stop lines appearing from squinting from the sun’s rays.

Exercise

Exercising regularly gives skin a healthy glow and also helps beat stress, which can contribute to the formation of wrinkles. Just exercising for 30 minutes a day, four or five times a week, will prove beneficial to the health of skin.

Keep Skin Care Simple

Many of us are guilty of buying the latest anti-ageing cream with its promises of youthful skin and wrinkle reduction. If it doesn’t produce instant miracles, it ends up in the bathroom cabinet along with other half-used rejected creams. The truth of skincare is that a simple cleanser, moisturiser and sunscreen will be just as effective as those pots of promises and will cost considerably less. Exfoliate once a week to get rid of a build up of dead skin and debris and treat the skin gently. Use a heavier moisturiser in winter when cold weather and central heating add extra stress to facial skin and always go to bed with clean, moisturised skin. Getting at least 7 hours of good restful sleep will do more for skin than any expensive cream.


For more info about them check out their website: https://www.sknclinics.co.uk/

GlossyBox October Edition

Hi everyone, hope everyone is doing well and I would like to thank you for reading my blog. Today's blog will be about this month's Glossybox. I only got 4 products this time but I am quite happy with the sizes of the products.

Starting off with Anatomicals, it is a body scrub and has a nice scent of grapefruit. I got 75ml of the product and is probably the size of a standard hand cream tube. The original size is 200ml for £3.49.

This is the first time I've seen colour in the packaging of Dermalogica's products. This is a 3 step day and night kit; cleanse, tone and moisture. The cleanser is a foaming wash that intends to clear away dead skin cells and excess oil. The toner is the one in the middle, you spray the product directly onto the face and neck. The moisturiser contains SPF 15 which is a must-have feature for me. I think this is the actual size of the product and it is £12 per kit. That's the price I pay for each month's subscription for Glossy Box! So worth the money.

Skinetica is a solution to clear acne, spots, pimples and blemishes where apparently results can be seen in 2-3 days. But the instructions isn't very clear. It says 'Remove any make-up and moisturisers etc. Apply with a cotton pad..' Well I assume it means remove any make up or moisturiser when applying it but it would be clearer if it said, 'Apply on clean face', or 'apply on cleansed and toned face'.  Anyways, its 100ml for £6.99

And finally, Yves Rocher France moisturising cream lipstick. A rosy red. I always love the look of new and unused lipstick because it looks so smooth. I probably won't use it since I don't wear lipstick. Its quite pricey, £14.50.

Cheap beauty products from Poundworld

Hi everyone, thanks for reading my blog. It's been a while again. I went Poundworld the other day and discovered a few interesting products; they were copies of popular brands.

Anyone used or heard of Pedegg? Does this look familiar?

The one on the left is the real one.

Have you heard of the beauty brand Philosophy? Here in Poundworld they have, Possibility. Lol 

Below is Neutrogena Wave Duo, a face brush. The copy looks almost identical to the real one except its called 'timesbeauty', its double not duo and its purple. Lol! The instructions are the same but with a different model.

Neutrogena Wave Duo £9.99 but Poundworld version is only £1.99 

I think this Florida Sun cream is suppose to be a copy of Hawaiian Tropic sun tan oil. 

Also found a copy of St. Tropez self tanning product but in Poundworld they call it St.Moriz and its only £2.99.

I'm not sure if this perfume is suppose to be a copy of Victoria Beckham's brand, it's got VB on it. But VB here stands for Virtual Brand.

Found another interesting product, BB Cream for £1.99 by Pure, cheapest BB Cream ever. 

Glossy Box September Rising Star Edition

Hi everyone! Hope you're all good and had a good summer. It's been a while since I've blogged been so busy over the summer and still am now. I thought I'll take some time to blog to have a break from everything. I recieved my GlossyBox on Tuesday but didn't have time to look at the products properly until now.

The box was cute, it was designed by Maggie Li.

Had quite a few samples but this month the size wasn't as big as last month. It is proper sample sizes.

4 sachets of Rodial Snake serum and 5 minute facial 

Lady Gaga's fragrance, Fame. The reverse of the card above describes the ingredients as; 'Tears of belladonna, crushed heart of tiger Orchidea with a black veil of incense pulverized apricot and the combinative essences of saffron and honey drops.' Hmm interesting. It smells quite nice, its got a soft floral scent to it. Also it says that 'it's black like the soul of fame but invisible once airborne.' Sounds a little bit devilish. *shrugs*

L'oreal Professional Tecni Art (left- right) liss control; meant to control frizz making your hair smooth, the other is mousse that gives your hair volume.

Body shop Vitamin E Moisture Cream

That's it! Speak to you guys later! xxx

My Wedding gift to Melyssa and Ho Man by Gallery Gaia

Hi Everyone, I've waited so long for this day because I can finally show you the wedding gift I got for my friends- Melyssa and Ho Man. I had to wait they receive it first and then show it to you guys of course.

Art by Gallery Gaia

This pencil portrait is by the lovely Gaia from Gallery Gaia. It is amazing, I could not believe how much it looked like the original photo when I saw it.

If you're interested in getting a pencil portrait as a gift then check out her website for more info www.gallerygaia.com

Like her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/GalleryGaia) and follow her on Twitter @GalleryGaiaArt

Melyssa and Ho Man's wedding

Mr and Mrs Li (Left to right lol)

Hi Everyone! Hope you all had a great Bank Holiday weekend. I did. I went to a wedding with my boyfriend on Saturday; both the bride and groom were my university friends. It's always so nice to see someone get married, everyone's happy and smiling. Just so beautiful.

The wedding ceremony was held at a Catholic church. I was suppose to do a reading but didn't make it on time because we were stuck in a massive traffic jam. The journey was supposed to be 20 minutes but instead it was 1 hour plus. When we were parking up it was pouring down with heavy rain, so that delayed us from going in. We didn't have an umbrella, we waited in our car for 5 minutes. The Chinese says, if it's raining hard on the day you're celebrating something that means you're a very important/special person. Melyssa and Ho-Man were definitely the VIPs of the day. Anyways, my reading part was just finished when we walked in, it was read by the priest instead. Oh! And of course I did tell them I was going to be late.

Exchanging vows

Signing the marriage certificate

My outfit on the day:

Peplum dress from Boohoo. £20.

Shoes from Shoe Dazzle, £39.99

Karen Millen Clutch Box, £48- originally £80 I think.

The reception took place at Yi Ban restaurant in Royal Albert Docks. It had a nice view of the River Thames which made it a perfect venue for an occasion like this. Just before the reception we all gathered outside to release balloons and for the confetti.

Holding the balloon

Everyone getting ready

Kissy Kissy 

At the reception we waited for 2 hours for the food to come but it was worth the wait though. Because I was so hungry and I ate loads, lol. It was the same usual traditional  Chinese wedding meal, 13 courses. Starters; roast pork with jelly fish, shark fin soup, stir fried scallops with asparagus, deep fried stuff crab claws. Main course; lobster, turbo fish, stir fried abalone with Chinese mushrooms and pak choi, roast pigeon, glutinous rice and noodles. Dessert; yeung ji gum lo (sweet soup made with mango, grapefruit, jelly pearls and some milk I think), Chinese doughnuts ( I think that's what they're called) and fresh fruits. Sorry didn't take pictures, was too into the food.

The wedding cake and the champagne glasses

Newly wed couple cutting the cake.

I had a nice time and I can't wait when it's my turn. Lol. I will show you what gift I bought them later. 

Glossybox August- International Superstars

Hi Everyone! Have you got your Glossybox today? This month's edition is all about products from different countries, I think its products from Glossybox in other countries.

I am quite happy with my products and FINALLY no fragrance sample. But I probably get it next month. I got 6 sample products and a few of them are full size products.

DHC Deep Cleansing Oil from Japan

This is a make-up remover, can't wait to try this. £18.50/200ml. 

Alessandro Pro White from Germany

This is my first nail product from Glossybox. It gives your nail a polished shine and has an anti-yellowing formula. £7.85/ 10ml. 

All For Eve for The Eve Appeal Eve's Balm

 It doesn't indicate where it's from. A balm to nourish dry chapped skin. I like how it comes with a mirror so if I was to apply it on my face while I'm on the train or something I don't need to search for a mirror. But I'm not too keen on the scent, it smells a bit of lavender with those Chinese tiger balm. They gave me the full size and it is £4.95.

Vera Valenti from Spain.

 I actually googled which country the flag was lol. My geography is bad. I don't really like the colours in this mini eye shadow palette and sorry to say but looks kind of cheap. RRP £3.85

Swatch of the lipstick

Lipcote from UK

 A lipstick sealer. I rarely wear lipstick so this would probably just be laying around or hidden in my make-up box. £3.99/7ml.

Glossybox lipstick in Glossy pink

 £9.50/4g

Kardashian Kollection is coming to the UK!

Source from officalkourtneyk.celebuzz.com

Hi Everyone! How are you? If you're a fan of the Kardashian's or Dorothy Perkins then you probably already know this. The title says it all. The Kardashian Kollection is going to be available in over 250 Dorothy Perkins across the UK very soon. I am actually quite excited about it because I've always loved their collection; their style is so chic and feminine.

A couple of days ago, the Kardashian sisters were teasing their fans on Facebook with numerous statuses; Kim K said, 'The Olympics have been so incredible. Makes me wanna go back to London...if only I had a reason to a visit.. ;)', and 'Hey Khloe Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian, can you think of a reason to visit the UK? ;)'. 

Khloe K said, 'OMG Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian -- BEYOND excited! I wish we would tell everyone now...but not long until we can reveal the news!' Most fans including me thought she was pregnant.

Kourtney K said, 'Me too Kim Kardashian!! I can't wait to reveal the big news to our UK dolls! Lets just say we'll be seeing you soon.' When I read this, I thought they were going to open a DASH store in London which would still be awesome.

They also revealed that they will be launching their line in 12 other countries; Turkey, Kuwait, Singapore, Thailand, Israel, Qatar, Malaysia, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Source from Kimkardashian.celebuzz.com

Not quite sure what Kardashian Kollection is? The picture above shows some of the items that Kardashian Kollection features; lingerie, bags, all sort of clothing items, jewellery, shoes, they even do glasses. By the way, the offers and advertisement in that image is not for Dorothy Perkins, it's just a picture I found for an American department store, Sears.

Last year September, Kim K launched her shoe line Shoe Dazzle in the UK but closed down after about 3 months. I was gutted, lol. I hope this will last.