Karen tagged me on beauty discoveries for skincare, makeup, haircare and favourite scents. Here goes nothing!

SKINCARE

What facial cleanser do you use?

Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser. It’s great for sensitive and troubled skin.

What toner do you use?
Clinique Clarifying Moisture Lotion No 3. A bottle takes a year to finish. But after I finish the bottle, I’m going back to a toner by Simple. I think it’s better for the skin.

What moisturizer do you use?
Day moisturiser: Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel
Night moisturiser: Clinique Moisture Surge Extra

How many times a day do you wash your face?
Twice a day, during my showers.

Do you use eye makeup remover? If so, what kind?

Payot Demaquillant Sensation Yeux Et Levres dual texture eye makeup remover. It was a gift and is the BEST eye makeup remover I’ve ever used. Easily removes waterproof mascara.

Is your skin oily, dry, or combination skin?
Combination. I have a really oily T-zone, but dry cheeks.

What is the best part about your skin?
My cheeks. It’s probably the only part of my face which is smooth :p

What are your skin problems?
Blackheads on my T-zone, clogged pores, and ever-growing amount of freckles despite how much sunscreen I use.

MAKEUP

What foundation do you use?

Liquid foundation – MAC Studio Fix Fluid SPF 15
Mineral foundation – Everyday Minerals

What powder do you use?
Estee Lauder Lucidity Translucent Loose Powder

What eyebrow pencil do you use?
A Kanebo Testimo eyebrow pencil. Quite expensive on the first purchase, but it lasts a long time. I’d just need to buy the refill everytime I’m out. I bought it over a year ago, and so far, I’m still on my first pencil.

What eyeliner do you use?
I’m still deciding between the indelible gel liner and Covergirl’s LineExact liquid eyeliner and which one I like more. Both are good but give me different (but good) results. For the lower lashline, I use Rimmel’s Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil.

What is your favorite eyeshadow?
I don’t have a particular favourite eyeshadow, although I really like the duo eyeshadows by NARS.

What mascara do you use?

Covergirl VolumeExact waterproof mascara. Doesn’t really give me that va-va-voom volume on my eyelashes but at least it gives me no clumps.

What are your favorite lipbalms/glosses/sticks?
Oh dear. This is a very tough question because I have so many! I like the lip gloss by Benefit and Nars. I love Softlips lip balm. They’re pretty much the only lip balms I’d use. I’m not really into lipsticks, but I’d have to say the ones by Maybelline are very good and moisturising.

HAIRCARE

Do you color your hair?
I used to. I’ve done red, copper, gold highlights, back to red, and just before I left for Australia, I dyed it back to dark brown to match my actual hair colour. My original hair colour actually makes me look younger.

What is your stylists name?
In Malaysia, that would be Esther from Bellitas Hair Salon in Penang. I’ve been her loyal customer ever since I was 15. She (and the rest of the girls) knows my hair inside out. I haven’t settled on one here in Melbourne yet. I’ve been wanting to try out Korean salons though.

What salon do you go to?
Bellitas Hair Salon in Malaysia. Over here, so far I’ve only been to Carmen, at Balwyn (as recommended by Geekchic).

What is your natural hair color?
Dark brown

What is your hair color now?
Back to dark brown. Whee!

Do you have straight or curly hair?
Well, wavy hair, to be precise. I have coarse, wiry and unmanageable hair.

Do you use a curling iron?
Nope. I want my hair straight, not curly. I don’t need extra curls. My coarse hair is naturally wavy.

A straightener?
Yep. I had to, ever since I got my haircut in April. The hair stylist gave me too much layers, which my hair couldn’t take. The volume is now twice as big, which simply look awful. Once it’s straightened, it looks much better.

What kind?

Remington T-Studio Nanosilver S8800. It’s the best flat iron I’ve ever used. It can also double as a curling iron since the ceramic plates are pretty narrow.

Do you use a blow dryer?
Yep. When left to dry naturally, my hair increases in volume. I use a Breville Avanti ionic hairdryer.

Do you use gel and if so, what kind?
Nope. Hair’s too long for gel.

Do you use mousse, and if so, what kind?
I used to, when I had permed hair. Yeah, what a big mistake that was. I don’t anymore. Have permed hair and/or use mousse, I mean.

What shampoo do you use?
Schwarzkopf Zero Fizz Shampoo

What conditioner do you use?
Schwarzkopf Zero Fizz Conditioner

Do you use leave in conditioner?

Yep. Shiseido Senscience Moisturising Mist and John Frieda’s Frizz-Ease hair serum.

SCENTS

What deodorant do you use?

Shiseido’s Ag+ Deodorant Powder Spray in Clear Soap. Great stuff, I tell you. Unfortunately, this is only available in Japan 🙁

What body wash do you use?
I’m currently using Johnson’s Dreamy Skin Creamy Bath cream.

Do you use a loofah, washcloth or soap to wash?
I use one of those mesh thingies to wash with when in the shower.

What perfumes do you use or like? Name five.

L’occitane Cherry Blossom (my wedding scent)
Elizabeth Arden’s 5th Avenue (I know a lot of people think it’s an “auntie” fragrance, but I love it because it smells good to me, and also it was the first perfume I used)
Clinique Happy Heart (the only perfume I have which I actually finished and am on my second bottle now)
Marc Jacobs Daisy (lemming for this one big time, but happy to just have the sample-sized bottle)
Estee Lauder Pure White Linen Light Breeze (I don’t have this one yet, ‘cos it’s too expensive to buy here. I go to the Estee Lauder counters everytime I go shopping just to squirt some on me and a perfume strip :p)

Do you always have to smell good?
Of course! Who doesn’t?

Tag! You’re it!
Beetrice
Paris
Nikki
Kahani & Syen

I first stumbled upon the Sohum boutique when I was at South Yarra meeting up with Geekchic for the first time. It’s such a pretty boutique and I fell in love with the Peony Roses Creme De La Creme. However, since I still have lots of body lotion leftover, I decided to get it for Geekchic instead, as a hello present.

About a month later, after I ran out of my night body moisturiser (oh yeah, I have day and night creams for my body as well. Light for the day, heavier for the night), I rushed excitedly back to Sohum, and bought this baby for meself :p

Description:

Premium emollients deliver maximum moisture to dull dry skin in need of intense nourishment. Macadamia nut, sesame and almond oils quench the skin, while shea butter and papaya extract absorb at a deeper level to condition the skin with a luminous glow.

The body cream comes in a 250ml/8.4oz glass jar. That’s quite a lot if you ask me. It’s rixh in texture, yet light and non-greasy to the touch. I love applying this at night after a hot shower. The shea butter in the cream keeps my dry skin properly moisturised, especially my snake-skin-like elbow and legs. This is great for the dry winter nights, and I wake up the next morning with soft skin. Mmmm.

Oh, and have I mentioned, I absolutely ADORE the scent? I have no idea peonies smell like, but this has a delicious scent of roses. This is quite surprising to me actually, since I never did like rose fragrances. It’s not overpowering, but smells utter lovely and decadent. My husband loves me in this when we go to bed. That’s all I’m sayin’ *wink wink*.

Sohum is actually a Melbourne-based cosmetics company. According to the makers of Sohum, Jenny Alex and Corey Griffiths, Sohum is a labour of love. Because of that, “love” has always appeared first and last on the ingredients list for each of its products. They believe it’s the most important ingredient. Well, I thought that was a pretty cute idea. Before checking the website out, when I first read the ingredients list and saw the word “love” in the beginning of the list, I was wondering if that was an alternative, jazzier word for something else! Y’know, like aqua is for water, parfum for fragrance, etc? So it’s LOVE love, not anything else. *doh* :p

I love the Peony Roses scent so much, that I actually bought the roll-on perfume too!

Sohum Body Creme de la Creme (AUD24.95) and other Sohum products are available at the Sohum boutique at Chapel Street, or at Myer and David Jones.

What I like about it: Rich (yet not greasy) moisturiser which is great for dry skin; lovely scent.

What I did not like about it: Nothing

September’s issue of Shop Till You Drop was awesome. Check out the freebies* I scored from the magazine.

A 1.2ml vial of Elizabeth Arden’s latest fragrance, Mediterranean Breeze and a free makeup lesson from Benefit, after which, you get a cute travel-sized tube of Benetint. The tiny Benetint even comes with a brush, just like the full-sized one. The perfume was lovely, and a perfect size for your purse.

I highly recommend going for the makeup lesson and Benetint from the Benefit counter at Chadstone’s Myer. The lady who attended to me, Mimi, was really nice, introduced me to a few Benefit products (I think I wanna get That Gal, High Beam and the yummy fragrance, Maybe Baby, now. Uh oh), and did a great job on the makeup tips and makeover. And never once did she pressure me to buy anything. That’s service, baby.

Quick, go grab an issue now! 😉

*Sorry, folks, Australian readers only.