mini review: Lip Balm SPF 15 by Kiehls

Summary: overpriced Vaseline? As a product, it's okay.

Pros: SPF 15, 15 ml of product.
Cons: so-so moisturizing, faint bad taste, looks like petrolatum, overpriced for so-so moisturizing, not fond of the slanted tip applicator. I guess I like stick lipbalms for better control in application.

This is such an apparently popular product that I was really expecting something more than Vaseline, but I should have paid more attention to the ingredient list and tested the product out. For twice the price I can get the Sugar Lip Balm by Fresh for fantastic packaging, a great scent, and great moisturizing properties all in a stick. Or for one fifth the price I can get the same product from Vaseline.

skincare and sunscreen

Since my skin has been freaking out lately, I haven't been using much on my face. It's down to salicylic acid for the breakouts, a bit of Avene thermal water as moisturizer, lip balm, and sunscreen. Unfortunately the sunscreen has been one of the reasons I've been breaking out, so I've been scrambling for other sunscreens to try.

It's kind of a pain. I think the DHC and Fancl cleansing oils leave my skin sensitive to other products. Perhaps they're just too harsh. I've been using them everyday as a makeup remover, but I will try getting a separate makeup remover and using the oils two or three times a week.

current lemmings

* L'Artisan Creme d'Ananas (body cream) - it's a good thing that they only appear to sell the fragrances in Japan, although I will check on the main store in Tokyo one day. 200ml for $80.
* Bourjois Effet 3D Nudes - I want either Brun Poetic 33 or Nude Energic 35; they look gorgeous. But I have way too many glosses at the moment. I'll have to use up two nude glosses before I can buy this one. It'll probably be a year at this rate.

Recurring but quiet lemmings (don't feel the urge to buy immediately, but have wanted for at least half a year):
* Shiseido &Face Washing powder - Fancl and DHC are probably just as good, but &Face is just luxurious. I'm still debating which washing powder to buy, as I'll need something for my upcoming trip. 70g for 2,625 yen. I think I'll buy whatever is available in the smallest size, which probably means DHC.
* Fresh lip balm - luxurious and wonderfully moisturizing. But I currently can't spend that much money on a lip balm ($22). Although I do want to try the infamous Prada lip balm.
* LUSH Honey I washed the Kids soap - it's really popular and I'd like to see if it's as wonderful as people say. We'll see. I like LUSH soaps like snowcake, which is great for winter; moisturizing and very fine lather. But I have 3 soaps in my bath at the moment, so there's really no room for more.
* 4711 cologne (the original) - I'm halfway through my current decant; It's a great spicy citrus.
* L'Occitane Amande Shower Gel - I love almond, and this gel smells delicately of almonds without sugar. It's important that the scent not be too sweet, otherwise it reminds me of marzipan and makes me hungry.
* Anna Sui Moisturizing Touch Up Stick - no longer found on the Victoria's Secret website, but still available at evecare.com. Should I buy it? Dilemmas. Maybe in July. I am over quota for June. If you include shipping, it's about as much as Fresh lip balm. Hrm...
* Yves Saint Laurent Golden Gloss - it just looks gorgeous. Pretty sparkle. Someday, haha.
* Awake Stardom lip gloss - again, it looks terribly pretty. Can you tell that I like gloss?
* L'Occitane Ruban d'Orange Shower Gel - the sweet orange is strangely addictive to me. I think the perfume is a little too simplistic but it's a very sunny fragrance. Plotting to buy it one of these days.

They have CB I Hate Perfume; Frederic Malle, and Serge Lutens in Isetan Shinjuku Men's building!!! I tried the library scent; very nice. I don't know where to start with the Frederic Malles. But I think I'll be visiting the Men's building a lot. The salespeople are going to think I'm crazy. And it's highly unlikely that I'll buy any full bottles, although the Blu Meditteraneo citrus sounds lovely.

Satisfied lemmings:
* Crazylibellule and The Poppies: purchased Les Divines Alcoves in "tout oublier" for my birthday. Being greedy, I want more. It's a lovely, quiet, Iris scent in adorable packaging. Currently carrying around in my purse.
* Bloom lip gloss - this is the most emollient lip gloss I've tried so far. Love it. Pout is a wonderfully flattering shade, so I've been wearing this to work for the past week.

Shift to skin care

So, I've finally recognized the wisdom of the Lipstick Page Forums Beauty Blog.

I went a little crazy over the past few months, in a "kid in a candy store" phase. I bought quite a few cosmetics which are great fun to play with (lipgloss, eyeshadow, blush). But now I'm noticing that my skin just isn't very clear at the moment, so I'm going to focus on improving that before dumping color cosmetics on top of it. Lipgloss and lipstick are about the only things I can wear easily at the moment. It's a good thing that those are the things I buy most often. In any case, I'm on a purchase freeze for anything other than skin care.

Some posts from the Lipstick Page blogs that I find particularly helpful:
The simplicity of skin: an excellent guide to skincare
Dain's exposition on Minimalism
Old School Dain Minimalism
A return to minimalism: Introduction
A return to Minimalism part 1
A return to Minimalism part 2

Despite all those posts on minimalism that I find compelling, I still want to buy more lip color. I don't know why, but I seem to get bored of everything fairly quickly. Everything that I've gotten lately looks lovely, but the novelty wears off and I want to try something new. Unhealthy or something.

Currently love:

• Korres Mint Tea body milk (lovely scent that lasts, good moisturizing products, organic?)
  
• DHC deep cleansing oil (I would love to try the Soft Touch Cleansing Oil but it can only be ordered from the website)
  
• Beauty Credit Double Moist Pomegranate Collagen (frankly, it's the scent that I adore. I think the moisturizing properties are average as they are unnoticeable to me, but I'll gladly keep buying this for the divine scent. The Q10 coenzyme cream has a marvelous light rose scent).
  

Thanks to a friend, I have been testing a few of Kiehl's products. The texture of their products is lovely! But I find the ingredient lists a little iffy (the Foaming Non-Detergent Washable Cleanser contains detergents). I'm going through Sodium PCA "Oil-Free" Moisturizer at the moment; lovely feel and quite moisturizing. However, it contains multiple parabens and alcohols, which I would like to stay away from.

Skinceuticals mask, AHA foaming face wash

Kind of busy, but have various mini-reviews to post anyway.

Skinceuticals mask mini-review: excellent. Lovely scent and texture. It only takes a small amount to cover my face; will take years to use up this jar. I keep it in the refrigerator and use once a week.

AHA foaming face wash mini-review: Smells faintly of chlorine. No noticeable foam. Haven't noticed any difference in my skin. It does remove makeup though.

mini reviews: Fruits & Passion, Caswell Massey, L'Occitane

- Fruits & Passion Fruity Deodorant in Pear-Linden: The pear linden smell is lovely, but I'm finding the deodorant to be a little too heavily perfumed. I catch whiffs of it at work. It's not quite complex enough to want to perfume myself with it. I sampled Solstis deodorant in the Manila store, and that smells lovely! Light and interesting and summery. I may buy that next.

I have not yet opened my little pot of Monoi Hand Butter but the gardenia scent is luxurious. I look forward to using it in winter. The jasmine lotions also smelled divine; that may be a future purchase if I ever get tired of gardenia and almond. Current objects of desire (and greed):
* Body Care Gift Set in Monoi
* Refreshing Ritual
(Fruits & Passion have a Canadian site too.)

- Caswell Massey Almond sampler kit: Not bad. The unscented lip balm is very moisturizing so I enjoy using it at night. A little too greasy for a repurchase though. The shower lotion and hand lotion are very nice, but a little too sweet like marzipan for my taste. Haven't tried the almond shampoo or bar soap yet. Someday I hope to find Crawford & Williams hand soap for sale somewhere! That is a perfect almond scent. L'Occitane's almond line is nice, but way too pricy in Japan for me to stomach buying.

- L'Occitane Almond shea butter soap: Meh. Not much of any scent, not to mention almond. But the soap itself seems like a very nice, high quality soap. I was annoyed when one saleslady in Omotesando told me that L'Occitane doesn't make almond soap, even though I knew they sold it in the Shinjuku shop. I guess they're no longer producing it, as I could only find a link to the milk and verbena scents.

I would like to try the Almond Shower oil sometime; now it comes in a nice travel size.

Shiseido Anessa town use sunscreen

There's a lot I could post about my trip to Manila (fun!), but I am being lazy so for now I'll just put a mini-review of Shiseido's Anessa town use sunscreen SPF 30 PA++, from Shiseido's Anessa line of suncreens and sun-protecting makeup.

I finally used up my little bottle of sunblock from last year (or 2 years ago), so thought I would give this popular sunscreen line a try. Sunblock in Japan is pretty expensive; I'd say twice as expensive as in the U.S., but Anessa and Kanebo's competitor Allie go for about $26 for 60 grams. Very expensive in my opinion. However, a friend of a friend buys a ton of Shiseido sunblock whenever she visits Japan, so I wanted to see if it was worth the price tag. Also, now is a good time to buy sunblock since it's on sale at certain drugstores. I picked up mine for 30% off. I would go back and buy more, but this tube may last me a year.

I'm very impressed so far. It has a pleasant, light rose scent (a Shiseido trademark, if I'm not mistaken), and feels very light. Apparently it's supposed to provide a nice base for your makeup, hee. I guess that's very important. It is also advertized as waterproof (although it is for everyday use as opposed to the beach, so I don't think it'll stand up too well to a swim). They recommend you remove the sunscreen with makeup remover. I enjoy applying it each morning, which is a plus (the power of fragrance and texture). I'd like to compare this sunscreen with much cheaper alternatives like Banana Boat Faces Plus and Coppertone Spectra, neither of which are available in Japan. Still, might as well take advantage of the local products.

I wonder if I should still look for a moisturizer.

In unrelated news, I was surprised to find Crest entered the dental products market here! Although they've only started with some motorized toothbrushes. No toothpaste.

Has anyone tried out Integrate, one of Shiseido's new cosmetic brands? Angelina Jolie is the spokesmodel, but I'm bothered by the peachy lipstick they put on her (I just looked at the website and the color looks much better. I think the printing job wasn't very good). The line itself seems pretty nice. The glosses and lipsticks are light but pretty, and they have a very tempting gloss in a lip crayon form! The line is very reasonably priced with lipsticks and lipglosses around $10. 1/3 of the price of Maquillage.

I just noticed that Shiseido has an eponymous suncare line also. I wonder if that's what the friend of a friend buys.

LUSH Angel on Bare Skin

I've been using LUSH 天使の優しさ for about 2 weeks now, about once a day. Although the name translates into Angel's gentleness/tenderness/kindness, I think it must be equivalent to the Angel on Bare Skin product in other countries.

Anyway, it's a clay-based facial cleanser/mild scrub. Personally, I don't think it's terribly effective as a scrub, but it does leave my skin feeling nice and soft. I'm not a fan of the clay-ish scent. It's bearable but not quite pleasant. I won't be buying more of this, as it doesn't seem to have any visible effect on my skin.

So far, I've only liked LUSH's body soaps and bath bombs.

good daily sunblock

I'm looking for a sunblock that's fairly light and I can use every day. Any recommendations?

I might try Paula's Choice Essential Non-Greasy Sunscreen SPF 15. Berta seemed to like it a lot. Right now I'm just using regular No-Ad sunblock. It works quite well, but is a little heavy.

allie sunblock

By Kanebo. It's apparently not for actual swimming, although it's labeled as waterproof. I'm rather disappointed, as it was ludicrously expensive at 1500 yen, and didn't seem to work at all.

Perhaps it's only meant for ladies who sweat delicately.

I don't like the Kanebo hand lotion I bought either. The scent is too strong, and it's quite greasy. I guess it's meant to be a strong moisturizer, which I don't like.

I really should have brought my No-Ad sunblock. Although slightly greasy, it's really effective. Damn. I think I should just wear a short wetsuit when swimming. I always burn my shoulders.

When swimming, I spent half the time thinking that I really want to buy some comfy flip flops. And a beach bag, for carrying towels and wet swimsuits and things. Laf. Total materialism.