EMPTIES: March 2017

From having a one quick glance over this month's empties I've concluded that stores here give me almost enough samples for me to live on :P

EDIT 10/4/2017 - forgot a few things so I added them on.

Sunscreen.  I think it's time I retire this sunscreen.  I used to use it thinking that the Watery Gel didn't suit my face because it dried me up pretty badly, but it turned out that that wasn't the case; my face was just trying to adjust to the retinoid I put on it. The Watery Gel works just fine now and I'm just going to stick to it and not this.  There's a lot more product for the same price in the Gel.

Facial Oil.  I used it up relatively quickly because I don't like it that much.  It just smelled a bit 'off', so I ended up putting it on my body too to use it up more quickly.

Body Scrub.  It's ok but it's a bit milder than what I'm used to in scrubs.  It's not bad but it didn't really wow me, so would probably not repurchase.

Hair Treatment.  Not much to say. I like the smell. I am not sure if I will buy the full size.

Makeup.  I enjoyed them while they lasted but probably won't buy either again.  Maybelline Fit Me concealer was considered holy grail by many, but it was just meh for me.  It's runny and doesn't provide enough coverage. I am loving their Age Rewind a lot more.

Hair Dye.  Yet another tub gone :D. I repurchased Rubine after this, because to be honest I'm struggling to see a difference. Will come back to this anyway.

Body Cream. I would not buy this, it's way too strongly perfumed and too thin to be really meaningfully moisturising.

Targeted Treatment. I have already bought a second tube because I took photos of myself on the first day of using it and on day 28 and I can tell that the loss of volume on my nasolabial fold and tear trough got shallower.

Essences.  I heard great things about the Benton essence but the samples I used are too small for me to be able to use for long enough to see any difference.  As for the Belif one, I don't know if it was just my eyes or using other products at the same time (like the Sulwhasoo sleeping mask everyday) but I felt like my skin was so glowy while using this.  However, I'm still not sure what it really is supposed to do.

Facial Cleansers.  I haven't used facial wipes in such a long time, but bought this one for travel.  I liked the other cleansers too, but won't repurchase the Innisfree ones because I discovered the importance of pH in cleansers, and through research found out that the pH of these Innisfree cleansers are too high.

Sheet Masks.  Used up fewer sheet masks this month than the previous two months, but still a bit more than I thought I would.  I guess I'd treat myself while I was in Sweden, considering how I used all the Hada Labo sheet masks I had. It does give a bit more of a luxurious feel than the cheaper masks, but I don't think it's enough that I'd pay so much extra for it.

Wash-Off Mask This was nice, and it was really good for my retinoid-dry skin at that time, but I wouldn't buy it on my own.

Face Creams.  I'm in love with the Honey Cera eye cream, and every other creams here did just fine. In fact I have the full size version of the Belif Moisturising Bomb.

HAULS: January 2017

This month's haul had a rapid head start, due to John Little at Plaza Singapura closing down and it had a closing down sale, but slowed down after that. Most of my purchases for this month were sheet masks, hydrators and tools that facilitate hydration such as DIY compressed sheet masks and peelable cotton pads to up my hydration game.  This is because there was a sudden drastic change in my skin type, and I'm talking about in the period of 1 month. It used to be massively combination-oily, to the point where I had to use two primers - pore smoothing and mattifying and tons of powder and even a setting spray and my face still oily enough at the end of the day that I'll soak up an entire sheet of blotting powder and now my face is so uncomfortably tight and dry that by the end of the day when I smile I see fine lines from dryness that never used to be there.  I turned 30 in that period, but I don't think hitting 30 would so instantly shrivel me up!  My main suspect is the retinyl palmitate that's in my Hada Labo Lotion and Milk, which I started to use at the beginning of this month.  I also wonder if starting to properly take care of my skin and actually focus on hydration is also making my skin balance itself out and stop producing so much oil? Never used to believe that.

MUJI Face Lotion Sheet - First time I'm using this!  In fact I wasn't even aware that this thing exists until earlier this month! It just looks so wondrous and expands upon contact with liquid and it just feels like magic!

MUJI Peelable Cotton - Ushering me into the new world of Japanese/ Chizu Saeki method of Japanese lotion masking.

BABY FOOT - bought it at the John Little closing down sale.

WATSON'S Red Wine Antioxidant Facial Mask

WATSON'S Black Pearl Smoothing Facial Mask

MY BEAUTY DIARY Antarctica Glycoproteins Mask

MY BEAUTY DIARY Alps Edelweiss Mask

HADA LABO Shirojyun Arbutin Milk -  I've tried the lotion many years ago (my mum gave me). I'm looking forward to try the milk.

HADA LABO Gokujyun Alpha Lotion

HADA LABO Gokujyun Alpha Milk - I accidentally bought two bottles. The bottles are bigger than the Hada Labo milks in other lines so I assumed this was a lotion.

MEISHOKU Declear Bright and Peel Facial Peeling Gel

Some DIY mask eye patches.

KIEHL'S Powerful-Strength Line-Reducing Concentrate - Second bottle!

KIEHL'S  Double Strength Deep Wrinkle Filler - Sigh, the un-glam reality of trying to turn back the clock.

KIEHL'S  Smoothing Oil-Infused Leave-In Treatment deluxe sample

KIEHL'S Powerful-Strength Line-Reducing Eye-Brightening Concentrate deluxe sample - Something I got to try to stave off having to buy another bottle of the Vitamin C eye serum, which I think is overpriced and the efficacy isn't worth the money.

KIEHL'S  Cilantro & Orange Extract Pollutant Defending Masque samples

KIEHL'S  Clearly corrective Dark Spot Solution samples

KIEHL'S Smoothing Oil-Infused Shampoo - MEH. I don't know why they keep plying me with these things. It smells nice but nah, no cigar.

KIEHL'S Smoothing Oil-Infused Conditioner samples - same as above.

KIEHL'S  Powerful Wrinkle Reducing Cream sample - I don't think I have that much wrinkles around my eyes yet but I guess it's nice.

KIEHL'S Pure Vitality Skin Renewing Cream samples 

KIEHL'S Damage Repairing & Rehydrating Conditioner samples - Just no.

KIEHL'S Damage Repairing & Rehydrating Leave-In Treatment - No...

KIEHL'S Damage Repairing & Rehydrating Shampoo - Your attempts at converting me hasn't worked Kiehl's, but I ain't gonna say no to free stuff!

HASK Argan Oil Repairing Deep Conditioner - My sister bought this for me for birthday/ Christmas.

HASK Macadamia Oil Moisturising Deep Conditioner - My sister bought this for me for birthday/ Christmas.

HASK Keratin Protein Smoothing Deep Conditioner - My sister bought this for me for birthday/ Christmas.

GARNIER Micellar Cleansing Water - The first time I ever used micellar water in my life! Wanted to know what the hype was all about!

ETUDE HOUSE 0.2 Therapy Air Mask - Collagen

ETUDE HOUSE 0.2 Therapy Air Mask - Hyaluronic Acid

ETUDE HOUSE 0.2 Therapy Air Mask - Green Tea

ETUDE HOUSE 0.2 Therapy Air Mask - Snail

ETUDE HOUSE 0.2 Therapy Air Mask - Manuka Honey - Got this on impulse because I won $8 at Etude House's spin the wheel thing.

ETUDE HOUSE Dr. Ampoule Dual Mask Sheet - Vital Care - Got this on impulse because I won $8 at Etude House's spin the wheel thing. The two-step care is SO unbelievably rich and nourishing and moisturising!

ETUDE HOUSE Moistfull Collagen Half & Half Cream - I couldn't resist the customizable moisturisation level - one can use either, mix or match or layer both, the last of which I have been doing a lot because my skin is so crazy dry these days. It's the best but also the driest it's ever been since I was a teen.

ETUDE HOUSE Moistfull Collagen Eye Cream - I love the bouncy textured eye cream.

ETUDE HOUSE sample freebies - Contains BB cream, cleansing foam, lip colour, toner, emulsion and water jelly cream (which is actually a gel).

ETUDE HOUSE sample freebies - a whole bunch of stuff I'm not really interested to try but hey, free stuff so YOLO.

PS Contour and Strobe Crayons - my sister bought me this from the UK for Christmas/ my birthday! It's so sweet of her! I didn't know Primark makes makeup now. Oh well!

OST Original Pure Vitamin C20 Serum - the cult beauty favourite!

ESSANO Rosehip Oil - It's the most trendy beauty product right now apparently.

WHITE FORMULA Sunscreen SPF 50+ PA+++ - Sunscreen is always essential! I'm trying out all the Asian sunscreens to see which I like best. So far I love them all! Such a pleasure to wear.

BIORE UV Perfect Spray SPF 50+ PA++++ -  Bought this out of curiosity...so far not terribly impressed.