Rohto HADALABO Gokujyun Hyaluronic Acid Milk Lotion 140ml- Review

Rohto Hadalabo "Gokujyun" line basically means "ultra moisturising". It's a new drugstore line introduced in around 2010, which became a quick massive hit , especially with their hyaluronic acid toner in the same line (they actually plastic seal the bottles and on it says "1 bottle sold every 4 seconds!".

It's 140ml in a semi hard plastic bottle with flip up top, for around 22AUD online in most places.

After removing the plastic wrap outside: 

Ingredient list etc, anyway the main featured ingredient list is Hyaluronic Acid, this line is meant to be about simplistic skincare with low irritants.

Flip up top, unfortuantely you get a lot of lotion sort of stuck on the cap at times.

Here it is on the skin, it's a runny lotion without being too liquidy.

Spreaded out:

Absorbs in about 30 seconds, leaves the skin moisturised.

This is meant to be a face moisturiser I think, overall, however because of the 140ml size it easily doubles as a body moisturiser. I found it too nourishing and rich for my face and gives me slight congestion, (however a lot of moisturisers does that to me just because my skin is so sensitive and easily congested). Then I started using this as a body moisturiser and it's really quite lovely.

Minimally scented, easy to spread and massage in, and leaves my skin just the right amount of hydration. It's not as awesome as my Kiehl's creme de corp but Kiehl's is a lot pricier in AUD RRP terms.

You can buy this online in a lot of places =)

Overall rating 4/5 (as a daily body moisturiser as opposed to face lotion).

YSL Nail Touch Vernis Nail Lacquer Brush Pen #003 Pink Touch swatch/ review

Honestly ever since the success of the YSL touche eclat pens, YSL keeps on trying to replicate that across all the products, There's a pen version of the foundation, a pen version of the lipglosses, now there's even a pen version of their nail lacquer.

I bought this out of pure curiosity, and for once YSL disappoints me. The product is a tiny 4ml in a clicky pen like the YSL touch eclat size, the polish is housed in the plastic tube on the back of the pen- the plastic tube is semi transparent so you can see the color inside.

They RRP for a whopping 26USD- I'm assuming the cost relates to the brush holder itself. I don't think the polish are refillable either.

Here are the total 6 shades available:

I bought #003 Pink Touch

swatch on YSL website is this:

Here's the back of the tube where you can see the color, it's clearly a bit lighter than the website swatch for #003 pink touch:

The brush tip:

After a few clicks, you can see the polish oozing out from the brush tip:

It's a total pain to apply- hard to control the amount on the bristle, hard to control how it applies on the nails.

In addition, it dries quite slowly so when I try to apply the second coat, I find it sort of goops up with the first coat making it look quite uneven.  This was my best effort after 2 coats. I suppose on the nails where it's applied properly, it's a nice french color and makes my nails look quite pretty. It also enhances the white of your nail tip due to the color base. I would really call #003 Pink Touch as a baby ivory pink nude french color.

Overall 1/5. Really unimpressed with the size to price (4ml for $26USD??). While I paid less I still think it's ridiculous pricing and packaging. The color is at best an average ivory pink french shade.

Guerlain Kiss Kiss Baby Nourishing Lip Balm #261 Rosy Nude swatch/review

Guerlain Kiss Kiss Baby Nourishing Lip balm are really just sheer lipsticks that is rather moisturising. While it's called a lip balm, I don't think it's as nourishing as a normal lipbalm, but at the same time the consistency is unique and different to a normal lipstick and a lot of other sheer lipsticks. It just glides on so easily over the lips.

I love this when my lips are slightly chapped too, it seems to glide on and conceal and dryness and very soon you get a kissable looking pink lips.

Not to mention how it's housed in the Guerlain packaging with the silver tube with bamboo like segment design. So pretty!

I have #261 Rosy Nude, which swatches as a light rose pink, however on the lips it's a neutral pink rose, much like how the lipbalm itself looks in the tube:

Sorry for the poor swatch- it's showing as a sheerish red, but reallyit's more a rosy pink.

Here it is on my lips- seriously my lips were really dry today but with this, any dryness is easily masked underneath. #261 Rosy Nude is also such a pretty color, simply swipe on and you get those perfect natural looking pink lips.

Overall 5/5. The lipbalms are lightly scented, I don't think it's as strong as a lot of other Guerlain products and I rather like the scent.  I get 3 hours wear out of this and it wears off quite evenly.

Aveeno Daily Moisturising Lotion (green bottle) with oatmeal review

Aveeno Daily Moisurising Lotion is found in a lot of drugstores in Australia (priceline) and in Asia/ USA. They are marketed as a mild moisturising lotion for the body with collodial oatmeal (which is meant to be great for people with sensitive, easily irritated skin or eczema).

I get occassional eczema when the weather changes, and sometimes my skin gets really dry in winter from all the heaters and cold winds and it just feels itchy and uncomfortable. Other than that the skin on my body is in pretty good condition.

I bought the largest size in Priceline for about 10.99AUD , it's 354ml- honestly I think the size has reduced since my last purchase (and same with the price- I used to pay about 13-14AUD for the largest bottle).

Back of bottle with ingredient list. I bought the green bottle which is fragrance free (there's also a blue bottle which has menthol so it's cooling on application).

Comes in a pump bottle design- you can push the pump in, twist and lock it for travelling.

What it looks like on the skin: it's a white light cream, I wouldn't call it moisturising "lotion"- in summer when it's warmer the consistency does seem softer than during winter right now, however it is still a light cream as opposed to a runny lotion.

It feels velvety on the skin- it spreads quickly, a light massage and it sinks right in, and dries very quickly.

 My skin still feel adequately moisturised for 24 hours after using this. This is easily the 4th or 5th bottle I've gone through over the past 3 years.

It's especially good when I can sense my skin is getting some irritation or dryness. Other days I can freely use my other nicely fragranced body lotions. On troubled skin days, this is my default body moisturiser.

It does have a very light scent, a bit sweet vanilla oatmeal sort of scent. Goes away quickly so it will not interfere with any fragrances.

Overall 5/5.  The 354ml bottle lasts me anywhere between 3-4 months, using 3-4 times a week. Usually 1 full pump is enough for both legs, then extra pump for the arm and other parts of the body.

MEISHOKU, KUMALESS Brown Zone Concealer (Pink) for undereye swatch/ review

Meishoku KUMALESS Brown Zone Concealer is a Japanese drugstore brand, retails around 10-12USD. They are housed in a 12g squeeze tube with a fine nozzle. 

According to manufacturer, it's specially designed for the dark eye circles caused by poor blood circulation. The orange/pink concealer covers blue / brown eye circles, which help to hide fatigue looking. Infused with vitamin E, it helps to promote blood circulation, brighten and nourish eye areas to prevent dryness

My dark circles are probably closer to brown, so I chose the pink version above.

There's also a blue version (called "Blue Zone" on the tube) which is a orange toned concealer aimed at correcting blue eye circles. packaging is like this below:

 Here's my PINK version (called "Brown Zone")

.

Here's the swatch, on the right is the product blended out. You can see a small amount stretches for a bit.  

I have pretty bad dark circles, about 2 foundation shades deeper than rest of my face, partly hereditary partly because of lack of sleep, and partly because of a lot of hayfever/ allergy issues.

My overall verdict is this should be an undereye brightener (think YSL teint eclat), rather than eye concealer. it will conceal and reflect for those with really light circles, however if you use this one alone, it can look a bit ashy on top of real dark circles. This is best used almost as a primer before foundation (or both before and after), to give more coverage. Or layered with another more opaque undereye concealer. 

The brightening effect is good, because the pigments are very fine, it's not overly shimmery or fake looking- it's a very good undereye brightener for $12USD but it will not double as a concealer for anyone who has dark circles at least 1-2 foundation shades darker than their face.

Compared to YSL teint eclat radiant pen, the YSL ones are probably superior quality and really have their brightening / reflective technology surpassing this , however YSL also costs a lot more.

Rating: 4/5.

Bourjois Effect 3D Max Lipgloss #66 Peche Shiny swatch/ review

Bourjois Effect 3D Max Lipgloss was released in early 2011. It features an almost gel like consistency lipgloss, they remind me a lot of the pricey Armani lip shimmers. It's like a lipgloss but slightly gel consistency, but not too sticky on the lips, and while applying on the lips they can initially look a bit blotchy, after your lips warm the gloss up, it becomes a smooth, glaze like shine and doesn't sink in any liplines at all.

It comes in an hourgloss sort of looking tube, that's easy to hold and looks rather sleek for a drugstore brand. They are also available in Australia (in Priceline pharamcy), I think for 22AUD RRP.  However the packaging looks a bit different, mine is from Asia so it could be different?

(22AUD RRP is considered drugstore price in Australia unfortunatley, because everything is so overpriced. I think mine was from HK for about 10-13USD, which is a better price).

The lipgloss is made in Italy, at least in my version.

I got the shade #66 Peche Shiny, which is exactly what it is, a lightly shimmery peach, the shimmers are really subtle and pretty on the lips. It gives me those shiny baby peach lips.

Comes in a small silicone feel spatula applicator, which is used by a lot of Japanese brands in recent years. It's a thin and flexible spear-tip looking piece of silicone, it applies the right amount easily on the lips. Don't worry if it looks slightly uneven on application because as I said, the lipgloss melts into your lips after a few seconds.

Here's the swatch:

Indoor light:

Overall 5/5. They are unscented, doesn't have much taste. They layer on lipsticks very well too, and feels quite moisturising on my lips, and wears off evenly (without leaving just shimmers behind).  This really does remind me of Armani Lip shimmer #01 which is my HG baby pink- but this is the baby peach sister.

Essie Your Hut or Mine Nail Lacquer Polish swatch/ review

Essie Your Hut or Mine is from 2011 collection.

It's a medium creamy rose with a very subtle, fine shimmer- from a distance it is still creme looking.

On the nails it makes a rosy pink- very pretty, I didn't expect to like this color, but the finish and opacity is very impressive and high quality, surpassing a lot of the previous Essie polishes I've used before. It applies smoothly, the color is rich and luscious. It's such a gorgeous spring/summer rosy pink mid tone color. And the shimmer is subtle and beautiful.

This is about as dark as it can look under different lighting:

Here it is after 2 days, outdoor sunlight:

Overall 5/5. I stopped collecting as much Essie about 1 year ago because I found Essie releases a lot of similar shades (espeiclaly in the nude/ pink family), however this has rekindled my love for Essie!

Estee Lauder Cyber White Brilliant Cells Extra Intensive BB Cream (Creme) (Multi-action formula) review/swatch

It seems 2010 and 2011 are the year of the BB creams. Just about every single Asian brand has released a BB creme, now the Western brands are all jumping on the band wagon.

Personally I think BB cremes are just variations of tinted moisturisers or light foundation fluids, depending on how each cosmetic company markets it or formulates it.

Estee Lauder's Cyber White line is Asian exclusive, they are whitening lines which aims at brightening the skin, and occassionally the Cyber White line also makes base makeup. This BB creme is released in 2011. I know most searches say it's BB Cream but the product label says BB "Creme". Same thing.

 

It's housed in a pretty plastic white tube with a shiny mint green silver cap packaging. However the mint green cap will  get scratched easily and peel & chip in your makeup bag after a while.

The squeeze nozzle opening is very small, which is perfectly suited for dispensing the right amount.

Here it is on the skin, straight from tube on very left, blended out in middle, then completely blended on the right.

I've now blended the middle section as well- you can see the coverage is very light, because it doesn't cover the small freckle up the top. There is a light luminosity being picked up when you look closely though, while there are no visible shimmers to this product, there is a glow to it on application.

Under different lighting which is closer to the actual color, you can see it's like a very thin foundation or tinted moisturiser, it's very spreadable and soft on the skin, it's probably slightly pink toned rather than yellow. It melts into my pale skin, I generally wear the lightest or 2nd lightest foundations in most Asian brands.  Wears reasonably well for 5 hours, but I could do with a powder touch up by 5 hour mark for sure. It will not slide off my face or oxidise which is the typical problem I have with my liquid foundations.

However as mentioned, it offers very little coverage. If you are used to traditional foundations which will cover majority of blemishes or freckles completely, then this is not for you. You'd probably still be able to use this as a tinted makeup primer though. I generally apply this after a light primer (usually with shimmers), then press on some powder foundation lightly, or use pressed powder.

It then gives me a low coverage (but natural looking finish), my skin underneath can breathe through, and it's not mask-like.

Overall I quite like this BB cream, it's a generous 30ml which lasts plenty long, I usually use about 2 pea sized amount for the full face. I still use concealer no matter what foundation I use.

Suitable for those who prefers light coverage and a tinted moisturiser that gives you a breathable skin. I have not experienced congestion or irritation with this despite having super sensitive skin. It has a very light floral scent which dissipates quickly after application.

Overall 4/5. Thumbs up for the blendability and featherlight finish. However while I do love light foundations, this could offer slightly more coverage. It also does require a powder on top to set.