EMPTIES: April 2017

A LOT of full sized empties this month! Which is not surprising considered it's been many months since I started to really use full size products.

Face Cream: I vacillated between wanting to repurchase this and not and decided that yes, I will repurchase this, but not soon since I want to try out other face creams first. This is good as a basic face cream.

 Hand Cream: Sure, why not!

Vitamin C: I've noticed that my complexion is a lot more radiant and even, with freckles and PIH faded after using this. I will definitely repurchase this after my current Kiehl's has run out. It's also the fraction of the price of Kiehl's.

 Hair Serum: pretty good. I don't have any complaints. I might repurchase this but I want to try out other brands first.

Foaming Cleanser: I would not repurchase this because the pH is too high.

Makeup: This mascara lasted A LONG TIME. I bought this when I was in Sweden in September and I only finished this in mid-April!? So 7 months! I don't think anyone should be using mascara for this long though.

 Hydrating Toner: Maybe.

 Body Scrub: It's a good basic body scrub. No complaints. This is a repurchase and I will buy again.

 Sheet Masks: My face doesn't seem so dry this month so I haven't been using sheet masks as much. Also I've been using the Lumene gel mask which replaced a lot of the sheet masks.

 Shampoo: Will not repurchase.

 Body Moisturiser: Will definitely not repurchase the Queen Helene Cocoa Butter creme on the right, but maybe for the other two.

 Body Wash: Will not repurchase since the perfume is too strong.

 Hair Mask: Will repurchase this.

Sunscreen: I will repurchase both and in fact have the Biore watery gel stockpiled.

HAULS: April 2017

I guess I am in a stockpiling mode this month since I am moving to Sweden next month and everything shown here won't be available there.  Especially important are the Asian sunscreens, which are 1000x more cosmetically elegant than their western counterparts, and hydrating toners which is much harder to find a western equivalent of. Once you use Asian sunscreens, you'll not want to go back to greasy, white, sticky sort of western sunscreens again.  I bought this much skin/hydrating toner because I plan to lotion/ DIY sheet mask regularly (or even do a 3- or 7- skin method) once I'm there. I don't want to  bring so many sheet masks there since I'm starting to realise how much waste conventional sheet masking produces, and I'm trying to be a more conscious consumer.

A lot of these products came from Koreadepart.  The reason I used them is because I currently live in their "fixed-cost" zone, meaning that if I buy a certain amount then shipping is free, so I bought enough to get free shipping via EMS.  The prices are so much cheaper than getting the exact same products in brick-and-mortar stores in Singapore.  Shipping is quick, too. I placed order on 20th April, shipped 26th April and arrived on the afternoon of 28th April. Will definitely purchase again!

HADA LABO Gokujyun Hydrating Perfect Gel is marketed as multi-functional.  Here in Singapore, the product is marketed as 3-in-1; essence, moisturiser and sleeping mask. On the Hada Labo USA website however, it's marketed as 5-in-1; lotion, milk, cream, serum and mask.  One has to wonder why Hada Labo even bother to produce other products in that line? Might as well just produce this and be done with it. 

HADA LABO Super Hyaluronic Acid Premium Hydrating Lotion  OMG IT FINALLY CAME TO SINGAPORE! I did not hesitate to grab it the minute I saw them on the shelves of pharmacies here. I saw the glowing (heh) reviews on Fifty Shades of Snail blog and was kind of sad that it wasn't in Singapore considering how it's been out for quite a few years in Japan now and contemplated buying it and the milk online.

HADA LABO Super Hyaluronic Acid Premium Hydrating Milk

HADA LABO Super Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Lotion and Gokujyun Hydrating Perfect Gel Bought these for my boyfriend to see if he likes them.  If not then I'm happy to use them.

SULWHASOO Overnight Vitalising Mask EX My second purchase! I don't wanna be without it.

INNISFREE Orchid Skin

INNISFREE Green Tea Balancing Skin

INNISFREE Jeju Lava Seawater Skin

INNISFREE The Green Tea Seed Serum

INNISFREE Special Care Mask (hand) I love these masks so much

BELIF Manology 101 Smart Recharger For my boyfriend because it's his favourite.

DAISO Makeup Brush Cleaner Not makeup nor skincare but closely related!  One of the Youtube beauty blogger raves about a Daiso brush cleaner. I'm not sure if this is the same one but I bought this just to see what it's about.

SEPHORA Sugar Body Scrub My body scrub for the month.

MUJI Anti-Aging Pre Lotion It was on discount so I'm buying just to test it out.  First time buying Muji skincare.

MAC Lipstick in Velvet Teddy I'm trying to phase out MAC because the brand is tested on animals but I had 6 MAC empties, so I exchanged them for this one.

BIORE Aqua Rich Smooth Watery Gel SPF 50+ PA++++ When Biore phased out this for their reformulated 2017 version I had to round up all of these that were in stores! I heard that their new formula is very bad in terms of sun protection. I think I bought enough to last me a couple of years esp in Swedish sun.

 

BIORE UV Anti-Pollution Body Care Serum Extra Moist SPF 50+ PA++++ Their new sunscreen, which is also a lot cheaper than their Aqua Rich series, also in a much larger tube (150 ml vs. 90 g).  It also gives nearly the same weightless feel. To be honest, if I knew about this I probably wouldn't have panic-bought all those Aqua Rich gels :/. Oh well! No regrets as I'm going to use them all anyway.