Beauty Empties 22.0 | September

Another quarter of this year then we're entering the second decade of this century, I've been thinking a lot on so many variable things like where my life is going to be on the next one? Okay, too heavy so here we are at another empties post; featuring products that I've finished between July till this month of September! I'm going to talk about the sheet masks that I've used throughout this quarter on my next post so do stay tuned for that. 

Let's go to the cleansers, first!

Finally, I've finished that Bifesta Eye & Lip Makeup Remover after more than 12 months! I do know it's over the supposed PAO but I don't see any change; scent nor its consistency and my easily sensitised eyelids aren't reacting to it so I just kept on using it. Because I actually really like the product, I have repurchased another bottle for it!

I'm going to admit here that I didn't finished the makeup wipes above to remove my makeup as I've been using it a lot to remove swatches as I've did lots of makeup swatches the past few months. It's good and quite affordable but I already have others that I would prefer more.

For second water-based cleansers, I've finished that Heimish All Clean White Clay Foam but I didn't use the whole lot of it on my face because it's so drying so I've used it as body cleanser instead. Even so, I needed to moisturise my body afterwards as it turned out so no, I'm not going to repurchase the cleanser again.

I've finished my second tube of that THE FACE SHOP White Seed Exfoliating Foam around last month but this too, I've used up as body cleanser as it's too foamy and dried out my face afterwards. Won't be repurchasing again.

The third cleanser that I've finished is that pretty Fresh Soy Face Cleanser in its jumbo 200ml-sized tube and I love it very much indeed; used the the whole tube within 6 months and that's actually something! In fact, I'm into gel cleansers now because they don't dry out my skin unlike those high-pH cleansers at the very least. I'm already on my second jumbo tube - 20th anniversary version of the cleanser.

For special care category, I've used up both of Althea Real Fresh Skin Detoxer in Green Tea and Rose around last month and already opened my backups. They can a bit drying so I only take small amount of it usually in my morning skincare routine.

Now, let's go to first treatments and toners!

Finished the very first bottle of that LANEIGE Clear C Advanced Effector EX (3rd generation) and quite frankly, I don't really noticed the difference between this and the 2nd generation of the product. I always use this product as the first step after cleansing by pumping out at least 3 times and wipe my facial area outwards. I absolutely love this product as it helps maintaining my skin from being dull and it provides vitamins that help boosting the rest of my skincare. I still have another 2 bottles to finish before opening the new 4th generation bottle!

Technically, I didn't finished the whole bottle of that Heimish Refresh Water; my brother used half of it and I took the other half and poured into a tub to pre-soak some rounded Sephora pads. This exfoliating toner is kind of mild to me but I think it's good for beginners and as it's similar to Son&Park Beauty Water, I don't use this product everyday.

For hydrating toners, I've finished the first bottle of that LANEIGE Cream Skin Refiner that I've got for review on Beauty Memo by Hermo back in April and I have to say, I do love it, bought one bottle from LANEIGE Official Flagship store on Lazada and 5 more bottles from Althea as they were having sales at the time. I'm currently halfway through my second bottle as I'm so into layering it!

For essence-like toners, I've finished the Pyunkangyul Essence Toner which hydrates so well and I'm already on my second bottle in 200ml size. I love this especially for toner masks during midday. As for that Kayman Beauty Rosa Glow Treatment Essence, I really like it as it helps fading my acne scars so I've got another 2 bottles as they're having sale and I've already reviewed it on my Instagram so just scrolled down further or you can use #myrabeautyreviews for it.

Finished the first bottle of that Rejoice Hijab Perfection Perfume and its 3-in-1 Perfect Conditioning sister that I've got during their launching event back in April. Here to report that I've already bought another bottle of the shampoo along with its Cool sister but not the conditioner as I still have others to go through before getting a new one. Both shampoos are great and give long-lasting scents to my hair.

As for after-washing care, I've used up my first bottle of that Innisfree Camellia Essential Hair Oil Serum and gladly opened another bottle with new packaging as the brand changed their logo. No change made to the formula so all is good!

I guess that's all from me and I'll be seeing you guys on my next post that I've scheduled tomorrow! Annyeong~

Beauty Empties 20.0 | March

Welcome to the first Empties post of 2019 and like I've mentioned many times before; no matter how little or many products I have finished within the quarter of the year, I'm just grateful and giving myself pats on the shoulder for finishing them. My goal is to post and Empties post every 3 months, not only to just clear out my bin but also to track my skincare stash by updating my spreadsheet - yes, I would prefer to keep it tight so I won't or less buying new products that I haven't tried twice. Beginning 2018, I no longer believe in buying 2 products thinking it is good and therefore I'll be needing a backup for it. I have set a rule to only repurchase a certain product after consideration and full or mini review of it except the products that are on my HG list where I'll be buying them whenever I have extra budget to invest. Enough ranting, let's get to some products that I've finished from January till this month!

 

For skincare, I only finished 3 cleansers and a sunscreen. I recently finished my first tub of that Heimish All Clean Balm and now I'm on my second one! I do love it as it works better than the first cleansing balm I ever tried which was from Banila Co. That THE FACE SHOP White Seed Exfoliating Cleansing Foam is good for my evening routine although my skin is feeling more on drier side for months now so I actually used like a quarter of it for my face while the rest as my body cleanser and I'm currently on my second tube now; (I know) it is just one of those times I'm regretting buying backups. The same goes to that A'PIEU Deep Clean Foam Cleanser. I'm pretty sure the pH is high so I need to use pH adjusting toner whenever I used this in my cleansing routine. Won't be repurchasing for sure.

I've finished a tube of that best-selling sunscreen from THE FACE SHOP; Natural Sun Eco Power Long Lasting Sun Cream and even though it performed quite well as a long-wearing tone-up sunscreen, I've decided not to repurchase at least until 2022 as I just bought the full-sized of the upgraded version of the best tone-up sunscreen I've tried; Dr.G Brightening Sun Up now with SPF50+. Thank you, next!

For body care, I have finished the Soap & Glory The Scrub of Your Life although not really to be honest as I've tried a better one from The Body Shop but as for the The Righteous Butter, I think it's great but I am always into trying new body lotions; that is just the reality of it and the only one that I have repurchased over and over again would be from L'Occitane.

That empty container is actually a finished coffee body scrub from a local brand, @thepinkdiamond.co and I'm currently on my second tub of it. Not that it's amazing or anything but I don't feel like spending over RM100 getting coffee scrub from Sephora. It works well at smoothing out the dead skin cells and I love the smell of coffee so.

I also finished another tube of perfumed hand cream from THE FACE SHOP and this time it's the Rose Water scented. It's just a typical lightweight hand cream that runs like water to me so I have recently switched to thicker hand cream from a German brand that I bought from Watsons.

I guess that's all of it! I hope I can finish more products by the end of next quarter so I'll be seeing you guys on the next Empties post. Annyeong~

Skincare Routine | Water-Based Cleansers

As I talked about first cleansers on my previous post, today I'll be updating you guys on my current opened water-based cleansers that I use for my everyday morning and evening routines so let's get started!

For morning cleansers, they are usually lightweight, foamed up mildly, non-drying hence I'm back with another  tube of COSRX Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser! I've finished my first tube back in September and as I need a low pH cleanser in my current routine, I decided to open my back up. I know the name says Morning but I do actually use this for evening if I were to just stay at home all day long.

Another favourite of mine; THE FACE SHOP Rice Water Bright Cleansing Foam is coming back to my routine as it's going to expire next year (yes, at this point I'm going to say outright I'm going to stop buying backups as I do have a lot in my stash so no backup necessary) but I won't worry about finishing up this one as I'm sharing it with my brother. Of course, it's because we're sharing the whole bathroom.

A recent addition to my morning routine is the LANEIGE Fresh Calming Gel Cleanser. Now this is something that I've gotten myself the day when I had allergic reactions due to food poisoning; skin inflamed and itchiness was taking all over my skin so I rushed to LANEIGE counter in Imago, KK and gotten this cleanser because I remember trying its samples and quite liking it for its gentle and non-drying features. I've been using this a lot especially the past week.

Cleansers for my night routine are usually much intense compared to my morning cleansers as they need to remove the residue from the first cleansers as well. They are also high in pH therefore I'll be needing pH adjusting toner as a first step after cleansing. These cleansers can sometimes making my skin feel really dry at times so I usually follow up with hydrating toners. 

I've gotten that Dr.Jart+ Dermaclear Micro Foam along with its sister; the Micro Water because I'd like to see how they work together. This doesn't dry out my skin at all as it is mild and the foam isn't thick. I do think this cleanses well and I'd be sure to use it more to see its performance.

The same goes with Heimish All Clean White Clay Foam; I've gotten this as I want to use it with its cleansing balm sister. I haven't used this enough to tell how it really performs so I'll update on this cleanser later. 

The last but not least, Althea Bare Essentials Contour Cleanser that I've got from Althea Korea in Blogger Mail last month. Do check out yesterday's post on it but I'm going to say that I love the refreshing verbena scent!

Now, if you're skincare beginner, I bet you're confused as to why do I need so many different cleansers? It goes without saying that you won't be needing this many for a single person usage  and it's just that it's in my nature as someone who blogs about beauty, I just love trying different products within one period of time (in my case, 6 months) to see what works, what doesn't. I will say that it's important to listen to your skin's needs and make sure to maintain your skin barrier well so if you have rather sensitive skin, I'm definitely not recommending for you to juggle facial cleansers.

I guess that's all from me! Let me know your favourite cleansers in the comment section below and I'll see you guys on my next post. Annyeong~

Skincare Routine | First Cleansers

Hence my Round 12.0 of skincare has begun with more than 10 new products introduced (read: opened before they've gone expired) in this round so as per last Round 11.0, I'm going to start with first cleansers. 

For eye makeup removers, I'm down to the last quarter of the bottle of Bifesta Eye Makeup Remover. This is still working greatly at removing my eye makeup and I'd be sure to repurchase when I finally finished it. As for its sisters; Bifesta Cleansing Lotion BRIGHT UP, ENRICHED and MOIST, I'm alternating these three according to my skin condition of the day. On dry and sensitive days, I usually go for Moist or Enriched while Bright Up is for regular days.

I was merely using the travel-sized of B-Lab I Am Sorry Just Cleansing Pure Natural Cleansing Water and now I'm back with that huge 500ml version. This is great when I'm practicing my makeup as it literally removes everything that I have on my eyes and face also gentle enough even if I were to use it many times (many mistakes!) in a row. 

Among some new additions to my first cleansers is the Dr.Jart+ Dermaclear Micro Water that I first bought its travel-sized sister from SEPHORA aisle of terror i.e the aisle where its filled with travel-sized products, minis and deluxe samples. This cleansing water is one of Dr.Jart+ products that was featured many times in OnStyle's Get It Beauty program so that's the reason why I actually bought this from SEPHORA which is considerably expensive compared to getting them online but it actually comes with free refill so I'm good!

THE FACE SHOP Rice Water Bright Cleansing Water is the fourth bottle that I've repurchased and I do think I'd be still repurchasing this when I finished it. It works so well with my skin and doesn't irritate even on my sensitive skin days although your miles may vary with mine. As you guys might already know, this removes all my makeup and sunscreens.

I've received The SAEM Healing Tea Garden Tea Tree Cleansing Water to review that comes in Althea Box No. 40: 7-Step Korean Skincare back in February which I've done a quick review in the post so do check it out! 

You've probably noticed that I would prefer cleansing waters over micellar waters any day as the ones that I've tried actually dried out my skin so bad but feel free to suggest any hydrating micellar water. Still, for days when I'm using heavy foundations or cushion foundations, I'd prefer to use oil-based first cleansers like cleansing balm and oils. There isn't much of differences between these in terms of performances and I'd prefer to use damped cleansing sponge to emulsify and wipe off the residue at the same time only to proceed with second cleanser right after.

I've only gone through half of the bottle of that ARITAUM Apricot Seed Deep Cleansing Oil from my previous round of skincare and I do still like it especially the peachy scent! I'd be sure to finish this soon!

Now onto the more new additions; Heimish All Clean Balm which is a better replacement of my previous cleansing balmas not only this removes my makeup really well, it doesn't sting my eyes or making my eyes blurry while I was melting off my makeup as it emulsifies with water.

As for that FORENCOS V-Right New Tone Cleansing Balm is something I had picked while I was just browsing through some of their products while I was at Metrojaya, Suria Sabah. Unfortunately, the product was leaked and I've only noticed it after a week as I forgot to take it out from shopping bag (went for a quick trip with family that week) and as I can't return or exchange, opening the product was given at that point. Although some of its oil spilled, the balm still works great at melting my makeup so no worries!

That Natural Pacific Deep Cleansing Oil is another cleanser that was included in the Althea Box that I've mentioned above. I'm really into this cleanser these days as it's lightweight and so easy to rinse off! Again, I've done a quick review in the Blogger Mail post so do check it out!

Last but definitely not least is the Shu Uemura Anti/Oxi+ Cleansing Oil in travel-sized bottle that I've got as a GWP when I got some brow products from the brand recently. I love the scent for this as it's like herbal but most importantly it's slightly different texture; it's oily but lotion-like? I don't know but I'll be using this for several more times to really come up with a review but so far, so good!

I guess that's all from me! Do let me know if you have first cleansers that you want me to try by leaving comments down below. I'll see you guys on my next post, annyeong!