Empties For Second Half '16

My current skin condition is back to my old self (serious chin acne) suddenly without warning, I was happy a few months back that I could finally focus on eliminate the scars, redness and wrinkles after the acne condition improved, however, now that I have the serious chin acne back, I am now fighting pimples instead of other skin conditions. I  didn't change the routine when my chin acne got worse, after that, I changed my products trying to improve it, still NG. Currently I try to sleep earlier and eat less oily food, it is not working for my face, but who knows, maybe my body is getting better. 

empties for 2nd half 2016

A. Avalon Organics -Hand & Body Lotion (Olive & Grape Seed)

Well, the body lotion smells nice, much nicer than the germanium version from the same brand. I applied this after bath and the moisturizing property is ok. I didn't feel itchy from dryness when I was using this. 

B. Cosmoderm Vitamin E Cream 1000 I.U. With Rosehip Oil
I came across this cream because I was searching for rosehip oil at an online store and the search result came back with this. I didn't buy this initially, but when I saw this in Guardian Pharmacy one day, I decided to give it a try. When I started to use this on my face, although the pimples didn't reduce, at least the swelling reduced a bit and I applied this diligently until it finished. Well, I think the cream is not stable enough, it's easy to dry out. When I opened the tub, some cream left on the cover already dried out. After the cream volume getting lesser and lesser as I was using it, the cream that remained underneath become harder and harder. Finally, some cream left inside the tub and I stopped using it. Before I dispose the bottle, I opened the cover and noticed that the cream turned into oil already. Since it didn't solve the pimples problem, going to find other product.

C. Loshi Moisture Skin Cream - Horse Oil
Horse oil. Mmmm, I had bashahi (raw horse meat) before in Japan, but I never used any skin care made using horse oil before. I bought this with high hope too and sadly, it didn't improve my acne condition, so I used this instead on my feed. It is really good with the rough skin, my feet become smoother with this.

D. Loshi Moisture Skin Cream - Hatomugi
I wasn't thinking properly when I bought this. Actually I bought this few days after I bought the horse oil cream, before I even start to use the horse oil cream. I bought this because in the Navermatome, it mentions that Hatomugi ハトムギ is a good moisturizer and can help for pimples issue. However, this is not compatible with my face. I applied this on my feet too. Hahaha!

E. Holika Holika The Moment Hand Cream - Cottom Bebe
It's ok, not a bad hand cream.

F. Thayers Witch Hazel with Aloe Vera
Not an expensive toner, but not going to repurchase.

G. Naruko NRK All-In-One High Potency Moisturizer
For a moisturizer, it is too light. Finally, I used it after toner and used another moisturizer after that. Not going to repurchase.

H. Petitfee - Gold & EGF Eye Patch
It's not something that I imagined before I bought this. Partly due to I didn't do any research on this before I ordered this. When I saw the packaging, I thought that it is something like eye cream. I don't know why I ignored the "eye patch" printed on the packaging. It's something like gel patch and when it's on the skin, I felt it's quite cooling, ok, but I don't like the scent.

the shape of the eye patch inside the tub

I. Nivea Creme

I used this on everywhere, my lips, my body, my feet. And I noticed something, it's not suitable on feet because after applied pressure, the cream will become liquid like and it's not suitable on something that will touch the floor. 

J. Nivea Intensive Body Milk Lotion
I tried many other brands, but I always go back to this lotion. It's good and cheap.

K. Exuviance Night Renewal Hydragel
It's expensive and didn't improve my chin acne. I really hope that it works! Actually I used it before and it's not working much. Haiz! It's like doing the same thing over and over and hoping for a different result.

L. Exuviance Calming Serum
This one was introduced by the beautician from the salon to reduce redness, not working as well. But the texture is quite good. 

Next, finally I decided to dispose the one that I kept for a long time and will not use products.

dispose

M. Some bathing products

It's gift from some purchases and it's few years old. Into the bin it goes.

N. Daiso Exfoliator Cream for Elbow and Knee

I bought it because it's only 100 yen and I have never use something like exfoliator for my legs. I tried to use it a few times, not a good exfoliator and it's difficult to use. After keeping it for so long, I think it has expired. I don't dare to use it anymore. 

O. Naruko Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid (Black Spots and Lines Defying Night Gelly)

I am a big fan of Naruko night gelly. But this one really threw me off guard. Other night gelly from Naruko will only form a thin film on the skin and nothing else. For this night gelly, when I opened the cover, a layer of white precipitates already formed on the tub edge, I thought it's the plastic tub residue. So, I happily used this when the Naruko Rose and Botanic Night Gelly finished, to my surprise, after few hours, many white stuffs formed on my face, it's easy to clean off, but it's very weird. I tried to google this product, but people give nothing but praises and no one mentioned the weird white thingy at all. Initially, I suspected that the online shop I bought from was selling fake Naruko. So, I stopped buying Naruko product from the store. After that, I only bought Naruko products from Watsons although the discount was not so great.

P. D Program Deep Cleansing Oil

Never used it before, bought this because it's part of the items on the trial set of the Shiseido D Program.

Q. D Program Moist Care Lotion

It's part of the items from the trail set, however, before I finished this, I already bought the full bottle. It was meant for use during travel, but I never remembered to bring it out. Now it's covered with dust. So, bye bye too.

I forgot the R when I edited the photo.

S. The Face Shop Mango Seed Moisturizer 

There's no English word on the packaging, but I guessed it's moisturizer based on the texture.

T. The Face Ship Mango Seed Toner

I guessed this is a toner. For the Mango Seed toner and moisturizer, I only used it before I applied clay mask. And then I got lazy and these 2 free gifts were left gathering dust. I think it's also expired.

U. Curel Makeup Cleansing Gel

This's also a part of the Curel trial set that I bought. I used up all the other items and I tried to use this makeup cleansing gel, but I didn't do makeup, so I felt that it's a really wasted step, after a few times, give up.

V. Exuviance Matte Perfection
Bought this under recommendation from the beautician from the beauty salon. She kept mentioning that I needed to control the oiliness of my face, however, I finished one bottle of it and the face still remain the same. And I bought a second bottle (this one) before I finished the first one. After awhile, I feel tired with it and stopped using this. The texture changed, so time to toss it.

Overall, the biggest change was I stopped using sunscreen after my chin acne got worse. The chin acne still remain the same and I become lazy, so I only applied sunscreen if I knew that I would be out of the building during the day. If I stayed at home or office only, I didn't apply it. 

The Best Of Me by Nicholas Sparks

Last year, I read mainly on fantasy and  I got bored, so I read something more relaxing. A love story from Nicholas Sparks. It is a very light reading, the font is big and the story line is very easy to follow. I read this book for a few pages every night until I fall asleep. 

Well, for me, the story was not so entertaining or engaging enough, so I spent quite some time to finish this. Hahaha, this is a milder, more grown up version of Romeo and Juliet.

The story talks about Dawson and Amanda, the former came from a family of crimes, while the latter came from an established family. Both families were long time resident of the same area. When they met and fall in love, no one thought that their relationship will work. While Amanda defied her parents to meet with with Dawson. Dawson seek sanctuary with an old mechanic, Tuck. Dawson worked with Tuck and stayed with him. 

So basically Tuck was the one who witnessed their love story. Then, one day Dawson met with an accident and caused the death of a doctor. He went to prison for that and after out of the prison, worked in oil industry and sent money to the doctor's family as a way to say sorry. Then, Dawson had an accident in work place and he felt that "someone with black hair" saved him. But he couldn't find out what or who he was. 

While Amanda continued with the journey her parents planned for her, went to college, met a guy, married the guy and became a mother. Amanda occasionally visited Tuck to know where Dawson is. 

Then one day, Tuck died and his lawyer requested both Dawson and Amanda to come back to their hometown for Tuck. Tuck had requested both of them to scattered his ashes to be with his dead wife. One of the reasons was Tuck wanted both Dawson and Amanda to meet and maybe rekindled their loves? (* I don't understand this part)

So, Dawson flew back to his hometown and didn't plan to meet with his family, and his own family members still wanted to hurt him. Dawson met with Amanda and they were flirting. But, after finishing Tuck's wishes, they decided that family was more important, so Amanda returned to her family.

Back to Dawson's family, they wanted to kill him but somehow Dawson escaped. One of Dawson's cousins had a girlfriend who worked in a bar and one of her admirer was the son of the doctor whose death was caused by Dawson. After Amanda decided to go back to her family, Dawson was stopped by a black haired man (ghost of the doctor) and he went to the bar just in time to save the doctor's son from his own cousin. Dawson was killed.

The story didn't end there, somehow Amanda's son was involved in an accident at the same time and needed a heart transplant, guess who was the donor? It was Dawson's heart. Hahaha, hence the name "The best of me". 

Well, this is not a book that will become the next "1984", but it is an ok book to pass time. Happy reading!

The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks

**I finished this book last year, and finally typed it out today on Chinese New Year Eve. Happy Chinese New Year too!

Shiseido Aqualabel Moisture Lotion R & Thayers Alcohol Free Witch Hazel with Aloe Vera

Shiseido Aqualabel Moisture Lotion (R) and Thayers  Alcohol Free Witch Hazel with Aloe Vera are two very different kind of toners. For one thing, Aqualabel Moisture Lotion was made in Japan and the Thayers Witch Hazel Toner was made in USA, and on the label, it specified that "with only American Ingredients". Kind of funny, I think. 

Shiseido Aqualabel Moisture Lotion (R) is called アクアレーベルモイスチャー ローションR （しっとり）化粧水 in Japanese, until now I couldn't understand why toner is called 化粧水 in Japanese, from the kanji, maybe it was meant to be used before any cosmetic is applied to the face. Anyway, for me, before I buy any Japanese skin care products, I will look for the word "しっとり", which means moisture. For Thayers toner, I bought this because I read a lot of good reviews for the witch hazel toners. Plus, it was in discount when I browsed the online store, so I bought my first Thayers product then. 

Shiseido Aqualabel Moisture Lotion (R) and Thayers Alcohol Free Witch Hazel with Aloe Vera

By the time I took the photo, the Aqualabel Moisture Lotion R is finished, I used it until the final drop. This lotion R is good enough for me, I think it is quite moisturizing for me. However, although I didn't like the smell, I didn't hate the smell either. I used this by dropping a few drops (the instruction mentions around the size of 500 yen coin, so it is slightly bigger than the old version of Malaysian 50 cents) of the liquid to the cotton pad and after that, applied to my face. I didn't feel stickiness on my face after I used this, so I guess it's all right. 

Shiseido Aqualabel Moisture Lotion (R)

For the Thayers Witch Hazel Toner, number one thing that I noticed was the texture of the toner, it is so fluid. The second thing was the smell, I really dislike the smell. I still use it though because although it didn't improve my skin, it didn't make it worse. In terms of ingredients, I think the most interesting item is the un-distilled witch hazel. On the label, it even mentions that "THAYER'S proprietary Certified Organic Witch Hazel (derived from the bark) is not distilled, thereby maintaining all the beneficial natural tannins. Assay of hamamelitannin shows that Witch Hazel bark extract is 21 times richer in hamamelitannin than the leaf extract and 87 times richer than the stem extract (Resource: Vennat, Bl, "Tannins from hamamelis virginiana" Planta Medica 54(1988):454-437)". Hahaha, extract from a peer reviewed journal. I am not sure what is the use of hamamelitannin, but it certainly didn't make miracles on my skin. Too bad, I was hoping it can help tighten pores. Like the Aqualabel Lotion R, I applied this with cotton pad. I never tried to use with only hands though. I used this very generously to finish it fast, still I took nearly six months to use it up.  

Thayers Alcohol Free Witch Hazel with Aloe Vera

In terms of packaging, both plastic bottles were very sturdy. For the opening nozzle of the two toners, the opening of the Thayers is smaller than the Aqualabel's opening. It might be due to the viscosity of the toners, the Thayers has lower viscosity than the Aqualabel Lotion R, hence the smaller opening, since it is easy to flow like water. The Aqualabel has a bigger opening but still ok, it has higher viscosity, so I didn't face the issue of over dispense of the lotion. 

nozzle size of the bottles

As far as cost is concerned, Thayers is cheaper by volume wise. However, I think it will be in my not going to repurchase list. For the Aqualabel Moisture Lotion R, if it's in discount, maybe I will repurchase, there are so many selections outside!

Empties For First Half '16

The time flies, so fast and I am reviewing the empties for first half of 2016. Actually, I grew tired of keeping the empty bottles, so after collecting some, I took photos and discarded the bottles, tubes, etc. 

The empties were mostly repeated items. 

Empties by March 2016

1. Guardian Ultra-Hydrating Velvety Rose Hand Cream 

Well, although it's just a 40ml tube, I felt that it's very difficult to finish this. When I kept this at home, the volume barely changes, it only started to decrease after I brought this to office and applied every working day. I used this not only on my hands, but on my legs as well, a portion of the skin on my leg is scaly and sometimes, I would feel itchy on that portion, so I would apply hand cream on my legs during office time, hahaha! A moisturised skin can contribute to a job well done too, an itchy leg can really mess with the mind, cannot concentrate on the work. 

2. Exuviance Hydrating Eye Complex

My first eye skin care was Etude House Vanilla Moist Eye's Cream, I think it made the skin under my eyes more wrinkly. Maybe my method was wrong. This Exuviance Hydrating Eye Complex was my second eye skin care. Truth to be told, I don't think that it helps me to stay young too (around my eyes). I couldn't see the effect after I applied this, maybe I am growing older and it only helps to maintain the skin. Or again, my method is wrong or I applied too little because I felt that it's quite expensive, it's RM190 for 15g (I bought it a few years ago, it must be more expensive nowadays). Anyway, luckily I finished it around this time, it will expire on July 2016.

Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie

A children's book by Salman Rushdie. At first, I thought it would be like the Arabian Nights, it's not and it's actually set in a modern world, surprise!

In the story, Luka was the young son of a story teller, Rashid, The Shah of Blah. Unlike the "Big Fish" where the son didn't believe the father's stories, Luka believed and embraced the stories his father told him. They had a very good father and son bond. As a teenager, Luka went to school, played games and upset with his left handed hand. The way the mother comforted Luka was a very good word play. She said "maybe you are correct to believe that the left way around is the right way, and the rest of us are not right, but wrong. Let your hands take you where they will. Just keep them busy, that's all. Go left by all means, but don't dawdle; do not be left behind." Hahaha, left and right, wrong and right used beautifully. Initially, I thought the author wanted to highlight Luka was different from other kids from the left handed point of view. Then, at the final part of the story, I realized that it's a foreshadowed plot. 

Luka and the Fire of Life

In the story, Luka cursed the not ethical circus owner who abused animals and somehow the curse worked. The circus animals stopped obeying the owner and a fire destroyed the tent. The owner of the circus, Aag fled. Then, two animals from the circus showed up at Luka's house. They're a dog named "bear" and a bear named "dog". So, the dog and bear stayed with the family after Luka's father agreed to it.