Just a short shoutout to Daphne, who very kindly sent me these facial masks for review, all the way from Singapore to Australia.

Thanks, babes. I’ll get to ’em soonest. That’s a lot of masks I get to use :p

Stay tuned for reviews!

When I heard that Reese Witherspoon became an ambassador for Avon, I was pretty excited. This may come as a surprise to you, but I’m a big fan of Reese Witherspoon, from when she did Cruel Intentions, to Legally Blonde, Just Like Heaven and many others. When I saw an Avon advertisement on the Avon Pro-To-Go lipsticks with her on the background, wearing the pretty pink lippie, I was admittedly sold. I know, pathetic, right?

Description:

Pro-to-Go is a creamy, moisturizing, highly-pigmented formula that also contains SPF 15. It glides on smooth, the texture is light, the color is even a little bit shiny, and the one-hand application packaging is fabulous!
Slide: Slide up button to raise lid…and lipstick.
Glide: Glide on color for beautiful lips.
Hide: Slide down button…see lid close.

Another reason I was interested in the Pro-To-Go lipsticks was the interesting concept of the way the lipsticks are encased. There is no cap on the tube of lipstick. You don’t turn the lipstick in a screw-like method to bring it up. Instead, you slide the thingy on the side of the lipstick, glide it upwards, and voila! Lipstick out.

I bought two colours from the Pro-To-Go range – Cherry Glisten (that’s the colour Reese Witherspoon was wearing in the ad), and Intimate Nude. The colours were quite pretty. I especially liked the Intimate Nude, which is, as the name suggests, a nude lipstick. The Cherry Glisten is a tad bright for me to be worn during the day though, but a lovely colour on evenings out. The Pro-To-Go lipsticks come in 15 shades.

Next, let’s talk about the texture and staying-on power. This is where the lipsticks disappoint me. They don’t last long; definitely have to be reapplied after meals or even a drink. Even though the description of the lipsticks mentioned that they were moisturising, I found them drying on the lips. That is, unfortunately, a big boo boo for me, as far as lipsticks go. I normally wear lip balm before applying lipstick or even lip gloss, and my lips still felt dry with the Pro-To-Go. Kinda reminded me of the matte lipsticks I used to wear when I was in secondary school, and matte lippies were all in the rage.

Oh well, my bad for falling for a product purely based on advertising. As cute as the lipsticks are, I didn’t like them on my lips, and I don’t think I’ll repurchase. Thank goodness I got these on sale on the MAD Minerals website at USD5.50 each (normal price per lipstick is USD9).

If you would still like to give ’em a go (who knows, it might work for you. These are just my personal take on the lippies anyway :p), do check them out at MAD Minerals. At the time of writing, the sales are still on on the Pro-To-Go lipsticks.

What I like about it: Cute way of housing a lippie. Slide and glide, slide and glide!

What I did not like about it: Not such a moisturising lipstick as it claims to be.

For the past week, I’ve been having problems with my skin. I had a lot of reddish, dry bumps on my chin, which was spreading to the right cheek. They certainly were not pimples. Initially I thought I was having shingles, as I was feeling under the weather during that time (when I had chicken pox in 2003, I was given steroids as meds, but the doctor said in taking those, I would be highly susceptible to contracting shingles). The husband checked the bumps, and ruled out shingles. He thought it could be facial warts (eeeuuuww).

The red bumps were itchy and dry and was spreading to the cheek. To relieve the itchiness and in hopes to get rid of the red bumps, I tried a tea tree ointment. In 5 days, the bumps were gone. The area is still dry with flaky skin, but at least the bumps were going away. I’m now keeping the dry area sufficiently moisturised, and I reckon the flaky bits should go away in a bit.

So when things go wrong with you skin,

1. Stop using makeup. If you need light coverage, use a light, tinted moisturiser. If you really, really have to use makeup, use mineral makeup, but sparingly. But I’d still recommend you not to until your skin clears up.
2. Keep your skincare routine as simple as possible. Stop using serums and/or your night cream for a while. Keep it as light and simple as possible. It’s also good to not use toner on the affected areas, as certain toners can be drying to the skin, especially alcohol-based toner.
3. Use a very gentle cleanser on your face, nothing dry or moisture-stripping. I highly recommend Cetaphil. It cleanses your skin very gently.
4. If you’re having a flare-up of pimples, do give tea-tree oil a go. I don’t recommend using pure tea tree oil unless it’s directed by your dermatologist. You wouldn’t want something so strong on your skin, at least, not on your face. Try an ointment or gel instead. It’s less concentrated, but still does the job.
5. Keep your hands as clean as possible. Do keep a bottle of hand sanitiser on your dresser. I normally use this before I apply makeup. Bear in mind though, if you’re one to use a lot of hand sanitisers, remember to use hand cream as well. Hand sanitisers contain alcohol and can be very drying to the skin.

Right now, I’m looking for a good Vitamin E cream to apply on the area because the bumps and flaky skin were giving my skin slight blemishes and discolouration. Any suggestions? 🙂