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~

Beauty Empties 18.0 | September

Here are the products I've emptied throughout the past 3 months! Woohoo! You guys know what this mean, right? More room for new products but starting this month, I'm actually on low-buy probably until November because I do want to see what's in-store for the upcoming Year-End Sale. For now, let's go over these products that I've finished and I'll let you know whether I'd be repurchasing them (which means love 'em, need 'em) or tossing them out into the real bin. Let's get into it!

For cleansers, I am done with the Aritaum Apricot Seed Deep Cleansing Oil that I've got last year from Hermo. As much as I like its scent, I used this a lot to clean my air puffs instead of using it as first cleanser. This is a limited edition product and this brand is longer carried by the store. 

As for the two COSRX cleansers; Salicylic Acid Exfoliating Cleanser is a great second cleanser for my evening routine as it deeply cleansed my skin and I don't see excess dirt on my cotton pads whenever I'm using this particularly on days I'm wearing cushion foundation. Yes, will repurchase although not anytime soon as I still have other deep cleansing foams in my stash. I've been loving the Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser so much; I've finished this second tube and already bought my backup for it. It's gentle and doesn't dry out hence a perfect morning cleanser.

I've finished another bottle of that THE FACE SHOP The Therapy First Serum; technically half of it as I gave this half of it (100ml) to my mum (yes, we both are currently using The Therapy skincare line) as we both are really enjoying the product. It deeply hydrates the skin and making it soft and supple to touch. Already bought my backup for it.

Next product would be the 3 Seconds Starter Vita Complex from Holika Holika that I've gotten from Althea around early last year. I've got to admit that this product was among few that I've managed to finish the fastest and that would be less than 3 months as I've started using it back in July (although I actually opened it in May) to accompany my sheet masking session. It doesn't really help with brightening but I just feel my skin is soft and plump as I alternate this skincare booster with the first treatment serum I've mentioned above. I still have other products to try so I won't be repurchasing this.

Finished the Camu Camu Moisture Cream from Brillar I think around August and I was actually quite surprised finding myself loving a moisture cream; thinking it'll be thick and sticky but I was wrong. It feels nice on the skin and absorbed quite well. Still, seeing this product is no longer available on Althea, I won't be repurchasing this product.

Done with the first tub of LANEIGE Lip Sleeping Mask! I love it as it does what it claims, my lips feeling soft and supply the next morning and I surely regret the night I didn't apply before going to sleep. Already purchased my backup in Vanilla!

I'm sure that tub of COSRX One-Step Original Clear Pads will be the first of many repurchase in the future. Well, I already bought one together with its One-Step Moisture Up Pads sister. It works nicely as exfoliating toner and I've been using it a lot for midday routine where I remove my makeup, cleanse and use it as toner before doing my sheet mask. Love it!

Finally done with that Scrub 'Em and Leave 'Em body scrub from Soap & Glory together with its travel-sized version. I do like them especially for its scent and it does make my body feels smoother after using but I'm now off to try other products so not going to repurchase at least for now.

That cute Cotton Flower Bubble bath and Shower Gel from Sephora Collection is totally nice but they no longer carry this and revamped their whole Sephora Collection already so I guess I'll be getting the new ones to try.

Last but not least, I've finished another bottle of this Vanilla Eau de Toilette from The Body Shop. I actually been using this EDT for years; way before starting this blog actually so I sort of lost track to how many bottles that I've finished. It's lovely, definitely to my liking and yes, I'm sure I'll be repurchasing this.

I guess that's all for now! I sure hope you guys are enjoying posts like this and now, I'm off to throw out these emptied bottles of products so I'll be seeing you guys on my next post. Annyeong~

Body Care Routine | Body Lotions

After I started working over 2 years ago, I've spent roughly 12 to 14 hours a day in a full air-conditioned office so that was the time when my legs area became dry and flaky hence I've started piling on body lotions. I prefer those light in consistency however still provide ample moisture for my skin. For today's post under my Beauty Routine series where I'll be giving out my thoughts on line of products that I'm currently using in my body care routines I'll be talking about these products that I've actually love and repurchased several times. 

Soap & Glory The Righteous Butter. What I love the most is indeed the scent and how it moisturizes my skin well without being sticky or tacky feeling. One of the first few things I bought from SEPHORA back then and this has become a staple to my after-shower routine.

The Body Shop Atlas Mountain Rose Body Lotion. I decided to get the full-sized product when someone gifted to me a small size of it during the time I was obsessed with rose-scented body products. I do like this very much too though sometimes I feel this left a sticky feelings on me.

The Body Shop Almond Milk & Honey Soothing and Restoring Body Lotion is the new love that I found end of last year. I never knew that I actually love the honey scent so much! I thought it’s going to be all sticky and whatnot but not this one! It goes smoothly on my skin, absorbed well into it and again I just love it. I heard they're releasing Body Yogurt version of this so I actually am curious to see the texture and feel but for now this going to be staple for awhile.


I guess that's all from me, do let me know your favourite body lotion by leaving comments down below. Until next post, annyeong~

Body Care Routine | Body Scrubs

Whether you're working in an office or being outdoor all day long, body scrub is imperative as facial scrub; they need to be used once or twice weekly to get rid dead skin cells and improve absorption rate of products that being applied all over the skin. For today's post under my Beauty Routine series where I'll be giving out my thoughts on line of products i.e. body washed that I'm currently using in my body care routines so let's get into it!

Now, when it comes to body scrub, I’ve been repurchasing nothing but these from Soap & Glory. Of course, I love The Body Shop scents a lot but their scrubs just don’t get me hooked as much as Soap & Glory’s did. Soap & Glory Scrub ‘Em and Leave ‘Em is the first one I got from SEPHORA and I’ve been loving it ever since. It works well, I love the scent especially and it’s not abrasive for my skin and legs area.

Soap & Glory The Scrub of My Life is essentially for my shins and elbows; dry and rough skin area. It’s perfect for the job as this moisturises while scrubbing off the dead skin cells.


I got the Coffee Body Scrub from @thepinkdiamond.co as giveaway gift and I’ve been loving this as well. I love coffee and the scent for this is just perfect for me and most importantly, this works! I'll come up with a quick review soon to let you guys know my thoughts on this.


I guess that's all for now, I'll see you guys on my next post! Annyeong~

Beauty Empties 10.0 | September

Looking at the products that I've managed to finish for the past quarter is definitely making me proud of myself. Before becoming a blogger, I never really finished my skincare and most of the time, I just tossed out things I don't want to finish or just can't as they're already expired. 

I've managed to finish some makeup items and another round of skincare this time so without further ado, let's get right into it!

First, let's go to skincare!

I finished another round of skincare from Laneige that include a bottle of Bubble Cleanser, Skin Refiner, Emulsion, Original Essence, and a tub of Original Cream. I really like the bubble cleanser as it helps with lifting dead skin cells as I noticed less of that every time I swiped my face with toner after cleansing but it's important to note that if you're using similar cleanser, always put on sunscreen after your skincare steps. It feels like a deja vu as I did finished a round of this very skincare line which is White Plus Renew last year in October. 

Honestly, that Firming Sleeping Pack also from Laneige is not the first tub that I finished. It's probably the 3rd or 4th tub as I always have this product at my mum's place, my place and my friend's place. I know. I'm a huge fan of this product so I tend to do that a lot. haha I do love this mask more than the Water Sleeping Pack also from the brand and I'm so excited to know that they're finally upgrading the brand and including this mask into their Time Freeze line. Definitely will be purchasing the upgrade soon!

Beauty Haul | Sephora

Without realizing, January is about to end. WHAT? Feels like it's only been few days since we celebrated the New Year i.e. New Year shopping and to be honest, for beauty, I didn't really get a lot of things as all I've been doing throughout 2015 was finishing my beauty hauls from 2014. Yep! That much! ~not proud of it!

As I decided to be on No-Buy ban for skincare throughout the year, I started to get some makeup instead. Truth is, I'm not really that impressed with many things for Korean makeup items so for the past 2 years, I didn't really get much of stuffs apart from base products which not a lot of them actually being used throughout the time I own them as I'm quite tanned to begin with (talk about limited BB cream shades) so not a lot of Korean makeup items that are suitable to my skin tone.

Hence, begin my journey in Sephora. 

I first mentioned my first purchase from Sephora back in 2014 where I purchased several NYX products and boy, I've been doing lots of research on products available at the store since then. 

The thing about stuffs sold at Sephora is, it's easy to find reviews on YouTube and blogs. Though there are many other brands are not carried by Sephora Malaysia, there are still lots of products that are fun to try (which is awesome by the way) at the store and doing swatches on my lips, face and body are like a habit whenever I'm in Sephora. Do you know that you can actually bring (or just buy at the travel section) pots to sample the products like foundation and whatnot? Though I usually just ask any available makeup artist to just do a demo on me, have you done that personally? Let me know. 

So yeah~ here I want to talk about the stuffs I got for the past year (it's a long period, I know!) from Sephora Malaysia.

Marc Jacobs Le Marc Lip Creme in J'Adore | RM100

Though NARS is my first high-end makeup brand ever, I couldn't really get my hands on any of the products after I came back to Sabah and that's how Marc Jacobs came into the picture. Huh? Why so dramatic?? LOL But that's the ultimate truth. Why can't NARS have a pop-up store here in Imago? I really really in love with Le Marc lipstick formulation, totally comparable to my NARS Anita and as both came in black and sleek cases, I now love both of them equally. :D

Marc Jacobs (P)outliner in Prime Rose | RM85

After discovering lip liners from Essence, I kept asking myself, why in heaven did I get this? But honestly, Essence lip liners are quite drying my lips especially when I do that Kylie lips thing but I could totally replace my lipsticks and use this lip liner on my whole lips instead. It's quite buttery for me and not drying though I need to use a lot every time I wanna do whole lips thing so for now, I'm sticking to its original function as lip liner. It also can really go with any lipstick colour I have.