*Milk; Clarins Extra-Firming Lip & Contour Care

Extra-Firming Lip & Contour Gentle Exfoliator: A natural, plant-based exfoliator to help women achieve lips that are fuller, healthier-looking and more beautifully defined.

Retail price: $23 USD for 0.7 Oz. (20 ml)

Extra-Firming Lip & Contour Balm: A lip balm that replenishes, nourishes and softens lips with natural plant extracts while helping to smooth lines and wrinkles. Fuller and more beautifully defined.

Retail price: $37.50 USD for 0.45 Oz. (15 ml)

The exfoliator:


The exfoliator contains sugar granules which help rid of the dead skin. The sugar tends to melt and loses its effectiveness when applied with the fingers, therefore I use a cotton bud to gently massage the lips.

Unfortunately, the product itself contains more of the waxy substance that binds everything together rather than the sugar particples making it impossible to get a proper exfoliation. When I squeeze more product out of the tube in hopes of getting more sugar granules, I just get even more wax, leaving my lips feeling extremely greasy.




It will eventually get rid of all the dry flakes after massaging it in for at least 2~3 minutes (which is quite tiresome!), but for the price it truly underperforms. I bought this duo new and sealed off of eBay but it did not come with the boxes so I don't have the full ingredients list for you. Perhaps the exfoliator contains 'firming' properties, but I don't think it makes much of a difference since it stays on the lips for a few minutes before rinsing it off again.


The lip balm:



The lip balm on the other hand is extremely luxurious! It has a thicker consistency and leaves a protective film on the lips which I enjoy. I prefer thicker feeling lip balms over the light, watery kinds. The thicker consistency may be less desirable when you want to put any lipstick or lipgloss on top, but it is definitely a good nighttime lip treatment.

As far as the 'firming' claim, I have not seen any big improvements in terms of treating my lip lines, but then again I have not been using it every single night as I'm supposed to. (Can you tell I'm laaazy?)



Before (left) & after with the lip balm applied on top (right)

The verdict: There are many easy and cheap alternatives to lip exfoliators, such as using some Vaseline and an old toothbrush or simply using a damp face cloth. Lip exfoliators may be a bit more gentle than a toothbrush and a tad more effective than a face cloth, but the Clarins lip exfoliator was a disappointment considering the price.

The lip balm is worth investing in if you have extra money to spend or if your lips need some TLC, but not a must have. It moisturizes well and feels very soft and luxurious. The jar is surprisingly big and will last you for at least a year so it is definitely not bad for the price.

The exfoliator:
The lip balm:

Read more »

*Milk; back from London! (Haul)

First post of the year! I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. ♥ I wish each and every one of you the best in 2010 and may it be filled with joy, laughter and many many happy memories!

Please forgive us for neglecting our blog these past few days, but some of you may already know that Tiffany and I went to London with 2 other friends and we only got back two days ago. The trip was great! We stayed there for 4 days and 3 nights and did tons and tons of shopping. I spent the last couple of days resting and sorting out my luggage. haha ~

Anyway, I will keep this post short because I still don't feel coherent enough to write a proper entry. And of course I bought some loads of beauty products while being in London so I took some photos of the things that I bought. If you want a review on any of the products, feel free to leave a comment.


MAAAAAAC! I also bought another 187 brush because it is my favorite brush to apply my foundation with and it was only £29 (~$47 USD) compared to the whopping €45 (~$65 USD) they charge in the Netherlands.


Paint Pot in 'Bare Study', Eyeshadows in 'Hypnotizing' (left) and 'Ploof!' (right).


'Bare Study' (top), 'Ploof!' (middle), 'Hypnotizing' (bottom).


A close up on the lashes. They are in #33. ♥ I also got the Duo Lash Adhesive to go with it.


And of course I had to get some skincare items as well since I'm such a skincare freak. Both Tiffany and I got the Korres 'Guava Butter Duo To Go' set because Fuzkittie talked about it in her videos and on her blog and we wanted to try out the lip butter as well. Such a great deal! ♥♥♥ The funny thing was that we both didn't bring a proper handcream and our hands got reaaally dry from the wind. We went into a department store to put on handcream from the tester tubes! HAHAHA.

Tiffany and I got so excited when we found the Simple 'Replenishing Rich Moisturiser' at Boots because Yumeko raved about it on her blog. Apparantly, it works perfectly as an eye cream! I was also able to pick up 2 Origins products at the airport. The two things I got were the 'Eye Doctor' and 'Spot Remover'. We don't have Origins here so I was really happy.

I ran out of my Lancome 'Tonique Confort' so decided to try out the Clarins Camomille toner and so far so good! I also got the Clinique 'Liquid Facial Soap' (Which I forgot in the bathroom D:) in extra mild which I plan to use after my cleansing oil to make sure everything, including the cleansing oil, is washed off.


I simply had to stock up on mascaras. hehe Also got the Clarins 'Double Fix Mascara'!


A ton of nail polishes~


We could only find the mini version of the Batiste Dry Shampoo. Good thing they also sell it on asos.com so we can always order the full sized version if we like it. The other items are the Aussie 'Miracle Hair Insurance Leave-in-conditioner', the Cargo 'OneBase' concealer and the Paul & Joe 'Lip Lacquer' in shade 02.


Some travel containers from Primark and Muji. Love the tubes because I can use it for my Nars 'Sheer Glow' foundation which doesn't come with a pump.


Palettes! I really wanted the Sleek 'Storm' palette but it was sold out. Tiffany and I were able to get our hands on the last few palettes.


The Sleek 'Original' palette.


And the 'Sunset' palette.


Can you believe I got this Dior travel palette for only £20? Such a great deal! I was so lucky because they only had one left.

Unfortunataly I didn't get to buy a lot of clothing because the stores were sooo crowded. Anyway, I had a great time in London but now it is time to save up some money because a lot of damage has been done to my bank account. I do have a few more things coming in the mail which I ordered before my trip to London so stay tuned for that!

Read more »

*cookiie; somewhat big haul post (part 1)

Recently, I've been buying a lot of stuff online. It's either because I just recently got so into make up and other beauty products or because school started again. Maybe I'm buying myself stuff out of stress? Haha, I don't know, but I'm trying to restrain myself a little so that I won't end up being broke all the time.

So what did I get? Honestly, I haven't received everything yet, but I'll post a part 2 later when I do. My stuff came in from different places and packages, so read on to see from where it is.


How it arrived.
The first one came from StrawberryNet.com; I bought two Soft Cream Eye Colours and one Double Fix' Mascara from Clarins. Buying these 3 products gave me 5% discount (general offer) and a free Stila Eye Shadow Pan in 'Chinchina' (special offer for first-time buyers). It is my first buy here but I really like it already. They also have an Ebay store, but the prices there are a bit different, there are less products for sale compared to the website and it's just less organized. If you want to try buying something there, then I'm definitely suggesting to buy it at the website, also because of the special offers and such. Anyways, here are some pictures~


Very safely packed inside! All the products are nicely wrapped with gift paper.


The packaging.


The actual products.
The mascara is great for a smudge-proof application after you've applied a non-waterproof mascara. The cream eyeshadows are really nice and quite shimmery; I will put out swatches and a short review about it later. :)

The next package came from Jess. When I saw that she was selling her MAC 109 brush for €20 only, I just had to jump on it.


Mail from Austria!


A little note and lots of samples! ♥




Aand the brush. It's sooo soft and fluffy, I love it.
That's it for now (I actually also bought some paper facial masks and the Shills blackhead mask; I will provide pictures later when I review/post about them), come back later for part 2 if you liked this post!

Read more »

*Milk; Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch (review)

I've been meaning to write a haul post but the majority of the things hasn't arrived yet. Hopefully it will arrive soon cause I ran out of some skincare products and foundation. I feel desperate!

One of the items I bought in the past couple of weeks is the 'Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch' make up base. I decided to buy it after reading a lot of good reviews on the Sephora website.



Description

Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch

This modern, magic makeup base with innovative line-filling technology instantly banishes lines, wrinkles, and enlarged pores with acacia micro pearls to reveal a complexion that's near perfect.

Apply over your daytime moisturizer, concentrating on areas that are finely lined or less than smooth. Can also be mixed with foundation.

The product

The make up base is like pink and has a soft, almost mousse like texture. It may seem thick in the jar, but once applied to the face; it melts right into the skin. I love how smooth this makes my skin feel, but I still have my doubts whether or not this is my HG primer.

In terms of making my foundation last longer, I still think my 'MAC Prep + Prime SPF50' does a better job. I've never tried the 'MAC Line Filler Base', but the 'Clarins Instant Smooth Perfect Touch' does an amazing job at smoothing out the complexion. The pores around my nose look less noticable when I apply this. When using this, make sure you allow it to settle for about 1 ~ 2 minutes.

Another thing that I like is that even though this primer does not have any color correcting properties, it still gives my skin an extra glow. My skin looks a lot more luminous than with any other primer that I own. ♥





The verdict

I absolutely don't regret buying this product even though it retails for $30 USD for only 15ml of product. A little definitely goes a long way. This would no doubt be my HG primer if only it had some kind of SPF in it. Also, I find that it does not make my foundation adhere better to my skin. So would I repurchase it? Yes, I would. It makes my complexion look absolutely radiant! If you have any kind of fine lines, enlarged pores or dry patches on your face, I would highly recommend this product to you.

Rating: 4.5/5

Read more »