Garnier Instant Fairness BB Moisturizer / BB Cream

Even when I was in Melaka, I remained a Watson fan. -_- Why is there always something in there for me to buy?!

Though I wasn't specifically looking out for a BB cream, somehow, this Garnier BB Cream struck me.

I have always preferred to go light on the application of foundation because I really dislike wacking a thick layer of "paint" over my face.

And so, my choices are always sheer coverage liquid foundations or BB creams that are light-weight on the skin - yet with buildable coverage, so I can easily add some more over areas which need more coverage.

The Product

This cost about 6 SGD. Claims to give instant fairness and all that. (Read it below!)

 

The first thing that caught my eye was the fact that this is a BB moisturizer and yet like a BB cream. Being a sucker for lightweight foundations, this was IT!

It was almost as if I did not process the fact that it focuses on "instant fairness". That part of the message only struck me after I bought this. But, the thing is, I DO NOT WANT to look "instantly fair"!

I cannot imagine why people would want to look fair on the face when the rest of the body remains the same shade. Aren't you gonna look like a reverse match stick?

And yet, I failed to recognize that "instant fairness" part and focused instead of the below 10 points which made me part with my 6 bucks. (it's still money ok!)

 

As if the 10 points ain't enough, it is:

UVA/UVB protection!

Oil-Free!

Won't clog pores!

OK - instantly sold.

 Testing begins...

It is indeed light-weight, with medium consistency in texture that is easily spreadable.

It doesn't "sip" into the "winkles" of the skin (lines on the inside of the wrist).

Some foundations do have great coverage but they totally amplify those lines on the inside of the wrist.
 Imagine all your wrinkles becoming more obvious - I don't think anyone wants that!

And now, the moment of truth.

I hate taking such close-ups of my own skin, it just reminds me of annoying orange. bleh.

Not gonna "extra-large" this picture.

My Verdict

I guess this picture speaks for itself. I didn't do any photoshop on this. 

It sure looks "instantly fairer" plus the other 10 points it promised to deliver. 

I mean, my pores are still there (obviously!) but, they ARE less visible. And the reddish pigments DID look less obvious. 

For a light-weight product that offers sheer coverage, I have to agree this Garnier one is pretty worth a try.

(Warning there was another Garnier BB cream which was targeted at oil control then, but when I tested it on my hand, I found the finishing a tad too thick for my liking, seems pretty much like it will amplify all the pores instead. So I dropped that - do make sure you TEST the product before buying it!)

To close this entry, for whatever reasons, I came back to Singapore and headed to Watsons again...

This time, I found this - I bet it is the exact same thing, but just in a different packaging  Just so you know which to try!

Experiencing GLAM GLOW - supermud & youthmud!

When people around me first talked about "Glam Glow" - I went like "Ok. The name already sounds like a marketing project - Product must be expensive and... so-so". -_-

And although they raved about it, and kept going on-and-on-and-on about it, I was unconvinced.

But. (There's a "but")

A kind colleague of mine decided to pass me some samples (just 1-time use) to test it out. And dang!

I was sold. *sigh* 

I am on a budget. Seriously!

There are 2 products here:
1. Supermud (white tub): In summary, it deals with pores, problem skin, blemishes, pimples, breakouts, zits, black & white heads, razor bumps, in-grown-hair!

2. Youthmud (black tub): In summary, this will give you an instant camera-ready, glowing skin - so it exfoliates dead skin cells to reveal radiant & younger-looking skin.

Well, my summaries are truly short & precise, but I have taken pictures of the products to give you a full-monty of the product, the ingredients, benefits ETC. (if you want to read!)

This is what happens when a dermatologist & chemist creates a product = theories, words, lab tests & recordings.

It's too precious to not indicate them in the product description, right? Or is it all about marketing? -_-
 

Let's talk about Glam Glow, Supermud!

 Read-it-yourself :P

It is alot of read isn't it? 

But, there is more!

 

TESTING BEGINS! 

 On cleansed face, take enough of the mud and apply it to the entire face. 

Although I read that you could do a spot-treatment on one-targeted treatment with this, I still went ahead for a full face treatment since I had combination skin with pores, black & white heads what-nots to deal with.

The texture was easily spreadable and there was this slight minty scent to it. (Must have been the Eucalyptus Leaf, Herbs and Peppermints there!)

The below images speaks for itself.

There was a slight tingly, stinging sensation upon application (must be the acid!), but it's definitely bearable & not overly painful, just very slightly.

It starts hardening in less than 5 mins, and you start seeing parts of your face looking like "volcano-man" with uneven grey tones all over.

Then the sensation becomes tight and the mask hardens showing random spots that looks as if the mud "dissolved" the black heads.

After 15 mins, wash it off. Contrary to how it looks, the mud was easily rinsed out by water and there was a nice soft touch to the skin. Unlike some other masks, which either leaves the skin feeling overly-cleansed with a tight sensation, or under-cleansed with a greasy sensation, this left a smooth, watery sensation over the entire face.

Unfortunately, I did not take an after-mask picture here, but the effect was "WO-WAH"! I could clearly see my skin glow!

At first, I was wondering how do/why would people comment about a glow after washing their skin? Isn't it a given?

Whenever the make-up and oil is all washed away at the end of the day, your skin is gonna look fresh and non-oily, isn't it?

BUT. This glow I am talking about is MORE THAN just that fresh, non-oily feeling. It was an overall radiance and balance that I have not seen in a while.

Best part was, when I woke up the next morning and still see that glow, without excess sebum spotted! #2 "WO-WAH!"

The make-up application was smooth and adhered so well! And the #3 "WO-WAH" was when I noticed how balanced my skin was (not shiny, not overly matt). I didn't have to blot my face till well-after lunch (usually I need blotting every 2 hours).

"WO-WAH!""WO-WAH!""WO-WAH!""WO-WAH!" was when random colleagues approach me as said, "Hey, did you do something? Your skin looks more radiant today."

No kidding.

And no exaggeration - remember? I am on a budget and I was suppose to be UNCONVINCED.

But, ironically, I was SO CONVINCED that I made a mental note to BUY IT. Mental note #2, take pictures!

Now, about Glam Glow Youthmud!

 Read somemore :P

 

TESTING BEGINS!

Similarly, on cleansed face, take enough of the mud and apply it to the entire face.

Youthmud is slightly less grey and has a more liquid & grainy consistency than Supermud. But it was also easily spreadable.

The scent was definitely stronger - minty too, but more intense (perhaps Lavender?)

Look that that amulet smack in the middle of my forehead?!

Upon application, there was a much stronger tingly, stinging sensation as compared to Supermud. And I thought acid was already the limit. It stings and kinda feels like tiny needles poking into your face - then slowly, the sensation turns into a minty-feeling (almost similar to when you pop a super "hot" mint into your mouth).

Again, it starts hardening in less than 5 mins, and in 10 mins, you are officially "ash-man".

As the mask hardens it tightens your skin.

After 15 mins, wash it off.

This time, I rinsed the mask out but applying just a little water in circular motion. It slowly dissolves to form sort of a grainy exfoliating wash. Though grainy, it was gentle on the skin and easily rinsed out.

Again, there was a nice soft touch to the skin. No over-cleansed feeling, NO under-cleansed feeling. Just right!

And there I have it.

This glow I was referring to!


This effect was similar to that of the Supermud on me. And I liked that it lasted well through till the next morning!

I just applied a thin layer of sleeping mask after each of this "test" and went to bed.


The not so best part for Youthmud (for me) was that, although make-up application was smooth and adhered well, the skin balance didn't last.

By the 3rd hour, I spotted rays of sunshine perform it's shiny magic on my "highly-favored" T-zone and I needed to BLOT. dang.

MY VERDICT!

With such a big mouthful of promise in its advertising message, I was pretty skeptical about this whole "Glam Glow" thing.

But, I am really glad to have tried it and learn how it DID work wonders for me - referring to the Supermud.

Though it WAS COSTLY ($92 SDG for 50ml, Supermud), I think it was well-worth the price (of course the plus point IS that it's proven clinically & scientifically.)

I heard Supermud was a miracle spot-treatment for zits, you just need to dot it on zits and leave it overnight and the zit diminishes by the next day. But I have yet to try it.

Next time, I will just apply it on targeted areas like the T-zone & U-zone instead as these ARE the key-shine areas).

Also, I heard colleagues of mine swearing by Youthmud instead (but they have more normal to dry skin).

Well, I guess different skin types require different attention, so buy, but buy wisely!

Cheers!

What you have doesn't make you who you are.
And what you don't, doesn't make you any less!
#cheokletquoted

3-Step Facial Treatment Mask by watsons Review

I have been a fan of Watson's for some time now - I ALWAYS have something to buy in there. Somehow. Even if I don't need something. *sigh*

So today I am going to review a particular mask which I recently bought from there. It's called 3-Step Facial Treatment by watsons. (made in Korea)

I didn't buy it because it was made in Korea. Promise.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

There are a total of 3of  types, Moisturizing, Anti-Spot & Sebum Control & Whitening. And because I have a problem with oil-control, I bought both the Moisturizing & Sebum Control ones (It was having a buy-1-get-1- offer, and they cost $20.90, if I calculate, it means about $2+ per per mask, which is not too bad)

The packaging looks pretty neat, and each box came with a total of 5 sets of masks.

I call them "sets" because there are 3 items in each set (which is also why I found it interesting!).

Step 1: Boosting Serum
Step 2: Melting Sheet - to stick on specific problem spots
Step 3: Mask Sheet

 Here is the purpose of each step!

Ingredients used:

Actual mask sheets:

MY EXPERIENCE

 

The serum was of a rather thick consistency - like that of a moisturizer actually - and it was plentiful.

The application was smooth and there was more than enough, so I rubbed the rest onto my neck and arms - Though it belongs to a "rich" serum category, the serum on its own felt pretty weightless when applied to the face. It was not greasy of anything like that.

Scent-wise was a pleasant light scent, nothing over-whelming.

The melting sheets were annoying! They look like thin sheets of "plastic" stickers and one would have thought it was easy to just peel it off the plastic backing. BUT dang! They aren't easy to peel off AT ALL.

These melting sheets are SOOOOO thin, you can hardly peel them off! I just gave up eventually and skipped that step for the first few applications.

And one fateful day, I managed to peel them off! So they it goes, stuck to my face! (They are meant to melt into your face - that's why the name!)

The sheet mask was of a good quality - thick, doesn't tear easily and has high adherence ability when applied on the face. It was completely soaked in that 25ml of mask serum so it felt really "powerful" if you get what I mean. (But. They aren't the best sheet masks I have seen cause there are those which are thinner, yet saturated in the mask essence and they glue on like jelly! I am referring to Leader's.)

When I removed the sheets, I felt there was a protective layer over my face and I pat what remnants of the serum into my face. It didn't feel light, nor oily. It was in between. After that, I applied a sleeping mask and went to bed.

Over all experience was good despite the annoying "melting sheets".

MY VERDICT

I like the fact that it is Paraben-free, Alcohol-free & Colorant-free and the fact it has a step 1 serum. Also the sheet mask being 25ml was also a plus to me. 

 

MOISTURIZING MASK
This IS indeed moisturizing - to the extent I felt it was too rich/nourishing for my combination skin.

I liked the effect when I took it off, but I didn't like the effect the morning after cause I felt my face was a little greasy with that ever-rich effect.  Make up application was smooth (well, cause the skin was well-hydrated), but within 2-3 hrs (as per usual), my T-zone friends came out to play and I looked shiny already.

I would still use it for after-laser treatment, or if my skin was abnormally dry.

It would be a good one for people with dry skin though!

SEBUM-CONTOL MASK
I am IMPRESSED with this! Everything felt the same from the serum's texture to the application of the mask sheets etc.

I liked the effect when I took it off, and I ALSO liked the effect the morning after cause I felt my face was less oily than usual! Surprise! Surprise!

Make up application was smooth (as per the effect of good masks) AND the fantastic part was - even after 3 hours - I didn't need to blot my face. It wasn't matt (how I wish!), but the "radiance" was fair enough for me and I felt my face being more balance in terms of sebum-secretion.

So yes! A good sebum-control mask that was worth the buy.

That's my verdict for tonight.

*Sweet*