A Little Facial Pampering

I went to my local Japanese store the other day. Because everything is so cheap there ($2 each to be exact!), I always find myself unable to leave without picking up a few items. This is the result of my trip there...

There's always the worry that drugstore/dollar store items will be of cheap quality, but I find that Japanese made products are usually quite good. As we all know, people in Asia, Japan, Korea and the likes put a lot of emphasis on having great skin. As a result, they've put their time into developing quality products. Not everything from a drugstore may turn out to be a great product, of course, but if you look, sometimes you can find a few gems for a really good price.

I picked up the Natural Pack Face Mask and Clean-Up Nose Strips. I thought these looked interesting the first time I saw them, so I looked them up but couldn't find any information about them. I'm not sure what the brand is because it's in Japanese, so it's hard to look them up. I bought it because my sister has used it before and recommended them to me.

This mask is pure black in colour. I'm not going to show you what this looks like on, 'cause this mask looks freaky! Haha :P It seems to work just like any other clay mask to purify and declog your skin. This mask is unique because once dry, you can peel it right off. And when you do that, it actually pulls out your whiteheads/blackheads at the same time! You can see the yucky stuff that's been on your face stuck on the mask after. I find that I do have to use a generous amount for it to work properly. For $2, I can see myself repurchasing!

These nose strips are just like the Biore nose strips I've used before. I haven't used these myself, but my sister has. She says they work alright for stripping away surface blackheads, but don't do anything for deeper bigger blackheads. I think it helps if you prep your pores with a warm cloth beforehand.

I also found these two mirrors - one for my school bag and one for my purse.

Isn't this one cute?! 

I love the detailing on this black mirror.

The pink one is just a simple mirror I throw into my school bag. I really like how both of these mirrors come with a handle. It lets me hold up the mirrors easily and prevent me from getting my fingerprints all over the mirror itself. Love these two designs!

Lastly, I got two different exfoliator scrubs/brushes to try out.

I leave this one in the shower and use it whenever I feel like I need the extra exfoliation. 

The bristles are surprisingly soft and my face does seem to feel softer after using it. 

This pink scrub is my favourite! It's made of soft rubber and you just slip it between your fingers and scrub away in circles on your face. I use it daily along with my cleanser and I feel like it really helps make my skin extra clean (and soft!). Definitely a new-found favourite product! :)

It's interesting that I saw something just like this when I was browsing through a magazine...

. 

L'Oreal calls this scrub a "Super Soft Scrublet". It's trademarked and everything, which I find funny, because haven't people in Asia been using this little thing forever?! 

The "scrublet" comes with their new
L'Oreal Go 360 Clean Deep Facial Cleanser.  It's advertised to give you "smaller pores & cleaner skin". I haven't seen it in stores here yet, but I think it's a neat idea. Now that they're introducing this, maybe these types of scrubs will be more easily available to people who are interested in it and didn't know where to buy one before! :)

That's it for now! 

Thank you so much for following my blog and for all your lovely comments!! 

I've slacked off a bit in the last week but I'm looking forward to posting more frequently.
Got lots I want to share with everyone. :)
Otherwise, you can always find me on Twitter for quick updates.
I'm on there pretty much everyday. 

Hope y'all have a great week!! :)

♥ Anita

Drugstore Goodies

This is a collective haul of some stuff I picked up over the last month.
I took advantage of the after-holiday sales and managed to find some great deals. I noticed that some of the sales in the recent weeks were even better than the sales during Black Friday (as seen in my last haul) or Boxing Day (for those of you in Canada). When we're talking about 70-80% off discounts..
who can resist?! I picked up a few things I've been wanting to try.


L'oreal Telescopic Explosion
L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black

Annabelle Smudgeliner
I believe these are only available in Canada.

It comes with a brush on one end for smudging.


These pencil liners are quite pigmented,
and similar to Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil.
It looks really nice applied on the lower lashline to give it a bit of colour.

Japanese/Korean false lashes
I haven't tried the ones on top before.
The XL criss-cross ones on the bottom are my favourite kinds.

Hard Candy Baked Blush

Hard Candy Kal-Eye-Descope Baked Eyeshadow Duo (x3)
I'm a sucker for cute packaging and I love the packaging for these. Their products remind me of Too Faced products.


Hard Candy Baked Eyeshadow Duo

Love Bug

Swatch of Love Bug.

Hard Candy Baked Eyeshadow Duo

Blind Date

Swatch of Blind Date.

Hard Candy Baked Eyeshadow Duo

Rock n Roll

Swatch of Rock n Roll.

Hard Candy Blush Crush Baked Blush

Honeymoon

Swatch of Honeymoon
My crappy camera doesn't show its true appearance, but this is a very pretty colour with a soft shimmery finish. It reminds me of MAC MSF blushes. This one is great to use as a highlighter.

Swatches of all the eyeshadow duos & blush together.
I really like these Hard Candy products.
For drugstore products, I'm surprised by their pigmentation, texture and even their packaging. I would purchase these again if I can get my hands on some of the other colours.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear
I've been obsessed with nail polishes lately and found these two.

Gunmetal

I love this colour. It's the perfect shade of metallic dark blue.

Strobe Light
I like the name for this one. A girl can't have too many sparkly nail polishes so I figured I couldn't go wrong getting this one as well ;)

And lastly... TADA!

I finally picked up another set of these infamous drawers.

I was so happy to find this one b/c unlike most I've seen, this one comes with 4 drawers instead of just simply 3.

Having an extra set of drawers sure comes in handy. I love it! :D

Thanks for reading! :)

Until next time,

♥ Anita

Favourite - Aveeno Skin Brightening Daily Scrub

I noticed my face was starting to look kind of dull after the holidays! Must have been all the late nights and cold weather and early mornings since school started!! So I thought it was the perfect time to dig out one of my favourite scrubs.

Aveeno Skin Brightening Daily Scrub.

What it claims to do:

*click on images to enlarge*

"Helps to improve skin tone, texture, and clarify to reveal brighter, more radiant skin. This unique formula combines smooth, round microbeads with moisture-rich soy extracts to gently exfoliate and remove complexion-dulling impurities while you cleanse. Good for everyday use and gentle enough for sensitive skin. Leaves skin feeling cleaner, smoother and radiantly healthy."

Some of its ingredients:

What it actually does:

This scrub has a pleasant scent to it that helps make me feel

refreshed so it's something I enjoy using in the mornings

to help wake me up. The microbeads in it

are smaller in size that other scrubs I've used,

which is what makes this a gentler scrub than others and is

possible to be used on a daily basis if you enjoy

the exfoliating effect it gives. After I use this,

my skin feels much softer to touch.

and I notice my face has a slight glow to it...

pretty much what it's described to do! I find my moisturizer

and makeup goes on really smoothly after I use this scrub.

Unlike most scrubs, the microbeads are barely visible.

But you definitely feel them once applied to your face!

I think this is by far one of my favourite scrubs.

It's one of the few products that actually

seems to deliver results for what it claims to do.

It's cheap and easy to find, so that's always a plus.

And because I have oily, acne-prone skin I can't really use anything too abrasive on my face especially if I have breakouts at the moment.. so I love how this scrub is gentle but just as effective in exfoliating my face as other scrubs. I've been using this everyday for just a little over a week and

it's definitely helped to whip my skin back into shape!

Thanks for reading :)

♥ Anita

My Favourite Hair Fixer Uppers for Drab Hair.. to FAB Hair

I don't know about everyone else.. but I feel like I've been stuck in holiday mode! In fact, I seem to be stuck in the last decade still -- I keep writing 2009 on all my notes. Time to get with the program huh?? =P School is back in full swing now and I have to say I'm having the hardest time getting up in the mornings. After sleeping in ALL winter break, getting up again at 7:00am is HARD. Seriously hard... On those mornings when I'm in a rush rush rush and don't got a lot of time to fix up my hair, this has been my lifesaver :D

Open Sundaes

Chocolate Shake Hair Powder
That's right, chocolate powder for my hair!


It comes in a container made to look like that for cocoa powder, with the sifter and all.

What this chocolate hair powder looks like.
Doesn't it look like chocolate powder?!
Well, it not only looks but SMELLS just like chocolate powder! If you gave this to someone, I'm not sure they can tell the difference. I can't stop sniffing my hair after I use this. It just smells sooo good!!

What you do with the powder is massage a small amount into your roots and it will absorb the excess oils there. You will gradually feel your hair gaining some volume again as the chocolate powder dries up whatever grease is in your hair.

The active ingredient in this powder is good ol' corn starch!

I love this stuff, it works like a charm and makes me smell delicious like chocolate cake <3

They have a lot of other cute products available on their site.

I think Lush lovers will actually enjoy these products a lot.

Cotton Candy Cupcake Bubble Bomb

Strawberry Shortcake Frothing Bubble Bath Mix

Bon Bon Bath Melts

You can get all of these products online at

www.opensundaes.com

An alternative product I use is...

Baby Powder

Back in highschool, when I couldn't afford anything else, this is what I used.  It's cheap and smells great. If you don't like baby powder smell, there are unscented versions. Plus it also comes in a convenient travel size container with a sifter.

I liked using this after gym class in high school, 'cause we never had time to shower after class and most of the time, we still had HALF A DAY of classes to sit through before we could go home and shower... I know, gross right?! I don't know how I would've survived without this stuff. On the days when I'm in a rush now or wake up late for class, this stuff has been my lifesaver. Definitely a must-have hair product for me! 

The active ingredient in baby powder is talc,
which is comparable to corn starch.


Recently, I discovered another hair fixer upper to use from Lush.

Lush Candy Fluff Dusting Powder

"Dusting this fluffy powder all over leaves you twinkling, smelling sweet and feeling pretty. Tiny gold and iridescent sparkles sprinkle all over your skin while cornstarch absorbs moisture and leaves you feeling silky to the touch. "

Source: Lush.ca
This product isn't actually sold as a hair product but looking at the ingredients, I noticed it's featured ingredient is actually corn starch. I thought, why not try it out?? So I did.. and it worked perfectly well! This also smells absolutely HEAVENLY!! <3 And it doesn't matter if I accidently spill some onto my hands, shoulders, neck, whatever.. it leaves a pretty sparkle on your skin :)

Of course, if you don't have any of the above products handy...

Image source: donreycorp.com
...you can obviously just use corn starch itself!
I'm sure you'll be able to find this lying around somewhere in your house. This will definitely work just as well in putting some OOMPH! back into your hair. Plus, it's cheap ;)

Thanks so much for dropping by and reading!

Coming up, I'll have a couple of hauls left over from the holidays and also a bunch of TAGS that I was lucky to be tagged with by some lovely girls. <3

Until next time,
take care!
♥ Anita