Review: Eumora Skincare Soap

Item Reviewed: Eumora Soap

Price/pack size: S$50 for 1 bar (around 25g)

Available at: *there are many traders online. Unfortunately I forgot where I bought it from

Ingredients: Moor mud among others

Description:

EumorA facial bar is infused with HmA Factor  ,(Hydration MicroAlgae)  which is formulated and 100% imported from Europe.  It is further enhanced by Moor, a rare form of nutrient-rich peat created by the gradual transformation of herbs, plants & flowers which have been permanently submerged under water or underground.

Review:

First of all, I do know that this Eumora soap practices MLM, and quite frankly, I don’t really care about it. I am not interested to be a trader of this soap, so it doesn’t bother me that my money is being earned by someone else via MLM.

Ok, onto the actual review. The soap was sent out quite promptly from Malaysia, and the guy even called me to double check if I am in urgent need of the soap because he was mailing it out over the festive period last year end. Was impressed by the service. Not so because it was a Malaysian number and I had to pay roaming charges. =X

I have tried the soap for almost a month now and still have about 25% left. I reckon it can be used for another 2-3 weeks. Though the bar of soap is small, it lasts quite long because it lathers up easily. Just make sure to place the bar in a well ventilated area, without it sitting in a puddle of water (water causes soap to melt very quickly).

I don’t think the soap can fully replace your moisturizer though it says on the website that the bar of soap can replace your cleanser, toner and moisturizer and save you money in the long run (I don’t use toner anyway). It is important to moisturize your skin after using the soap because it dries your skin. I can feel my skin getting taut 3 minutes after rinsing. A few days without moisturizer, I saw my cheeks having some dehydration lines. Not attractive at all. However, if it peels due to excessive dryness, it only peels around the area with pimples, meaning healthy skin is not being shed off.

I think it dries my pimples and makes them come to a head faster, however, I am also on Diane-35 while using the soap. When my skin was a little sensitive and dry, I stopped using the soap for a while. When I was busy with work, I stopped using the soap as I didn’t have the time to let the lather sit on my skin for 5 minutes before rinsing off. I don’t really see a difference when I stopped using the soap, contrary to what some reviews have said – your skin becomes reliant on the soap and gets worse if you stop using it.

All in all, I think it’s a decent soap, and I like to use it as a mask (once or twice weekly) but I would think twice about using it as my daily facial cleanser. Not everyone can have the luxury of time and spend 5 minutes day and night, waiting for the lather to dry on the face before rinsing off. $50 for a bar of soap is not that attractive too.

Rating: 3/5

Would I buy again: NO

 

Review: Neutrogena Wave

Item Reviewed: Neutrogena Wave

Price/pack size:

Available at: Major retail outlets

Ingredients:

Description:

Clean up to* 10x deeper than traditional cleansers
Gentle vibrations open pores, so tingly foam can go 10x deeper to remove more dirt, oil and makeup than traditional cleansers.

Reveal softer skin in 1 use
Softly textured pads sweep away layers of dead skin cells, leaving you with softer, smoother-looking skin after just 1 use!

Gentle enough for daily use
That clean feeling you love will last even longer as your skin becomes less oily with continued daily use of the NEUTROGENA Wave™.

Review: I’m sorry for the late review, but er…. better than never right? I hesistated purchasing Wave for ages (first seeing it in Perth when I was over for a visit) but finally decided to take the plunge after I read Kimiko’s review.

Sad to say, I don’t share the same love. The Wave is yet another innovative product from Neutrogena but it was somehow yet another innovation just to use batteries (P&G also owns a battery brand). The Wave is only suitable if you use their refill pads which comes with cleanser, only activated when you wet the pad and switch on the device. That got me thinking: can the device still clean 10 times better than conventional cleansers if you did not use the refill pad? So what is the product that is working: the device itself or the cleanser pad?

I don’t like the cleanser pads because they’re scented and it gave me a filmy feeling after rinsing. You can’t use a cotton round on the device, hoping to use your own cleanser with it, because the cotton round will be a pain to remove after that. Trust me, because I’ve tried and failed.

I don’t know why I keep buying Neutrogena battery-operated devices because they always fail me. I’ve got the one that promises to do microdermabrasion on me (the name suddenly slipped my mind. Hints anyone?) and this Wave but they’re now just sitting in the bathroom doing nothing. Just taking up space.

Rating: 2/5

Would I buy again: NO

 

Haircessive

My work laptop has just gone kaput so lucky for you readers, I’ve got some time on my hands to keep blogging today.

My skin is kinda a wreck (thank you hormones… how I love you so… NOT!) and I’ve been growing sideways, but the only thing left that I really like about myself is my hair and my eyelashes! Hehehe… how not very humble of me. LOL

Anyway, I’ve seen some ladies with really bad hair, some of my colleagues too. So here’s how to treat your hair right, and with care!

Washing:

1. If you use styling products during the day, it is important to wash your hair with a clarifying shampoo at least once a week, more so if you have an oily scalp. Imagine all that gunk build up over the week. You’re going to end up with limp roots by the 3rd day.
2. Use your fingertips to gently massage the scalp while shampooing. It helps blood circulation and promote healthy hair growth.
3. If you live in a tropical, humid climate, wash your hair daily. No one appreciates the smell of an oily scalp. I like to use The Original Source’s mint shampoo. Feels really cool and clean on the scalp.

Conditioning:

1. Even if you have normal hair, use a light conditioner after rinsing out the shampoo. It helps soften your hair and protect it from the harsh UV rays during the day. It also helps prevent split ends.
2. For dry hair, you can use intensive treatment masks as a daily conditioner. Your hair will absorb the goodness and thank you for it.

Styling:

1. Do not ever use hair curling tongs or straighteners on damp hair. Your hair will be fried! Always use such devices on dry hair. You may wish to apply a leave-in conditioner or heat protectant to protect your hair as well.
2. Let your hair rest in between chemical processes. I have a colleague who did a re-perm few days after her first perm because she wasn’t satisfied with the initial result. Now her hair is super dry, wiry and damaged, even though it has been more than 6 months.

My top picks for:

Shampoo: Klorane (for prevention of hairloss), L’Oreal Professional Vitamino Colour (for fresh coloured hair)

Conditioner: Dove Shine Therapy conditioner

Intensive treatment: Shiseido Aquair Hair Pack

Leave-in: Kerastase Oleo Relax Serum

 

Food and your skin

Are you a believer of “your skin reflects your lifestyle”? You know how some girls party a lot, drink a lot and smoke a lot, and it all shows on their skin! Some may have nice complexions, but they look very dull… I think the partying causes that.

Or some girls break out after consuming too much chocolate, or insufficient fibre, or nuts, or dairy products (*sheepishly raises my hand on all counts, except for the nuts*)…

I love my dairy products but I have a dairy product allergy that causes me to break out in rashes and big cystic acne on my cheeks (where it scars most easily!). So I try my best to space out my dairy intake (sometimes, I sneak a mouthful or 2 of yogurt, or some milk) so my allergy flareup wouldn’t be that bad.

Sometimes when I feel that my skin is too congested, especially around the chin, I try to take more fruits and vegetables. But if that fails, I chew on a dairy-free acidophilus tablet to aid the digestive system. After a few days, I clear my internal system and my skin looks better!

 

Review: Follow Me O2 Renewal Gel

Item Reviewed: Follow Me UV White O2 Advanced Renewal Gel

Price/pack size: 60ml

Available at: Major retail outlets

Ingredients:

Description: Further infused with Grape Seed Extract and Retinol to enhance skin repair, collagen regeneration and keep wrinkles, acne, dull skin and blackheads away at bay.

Review: Whatever it is, even if you’re desperate to exfoliate your skin, DO NOT GET THIS PRODUCT!

Follow Me O2 Renewal Gel has got to be the worst skincare product I’ve ever purchased in 2009. It is supposed to be a gentle chemical exfoliant, something like Cure Miracle Gel and Ginvera Marvel Gel. However, it oddly felt like glue on my face and even SMELT like it.

Your face and hands must be completely dry, otherwise it is very hard to get the chemicals working to rub the dead skin cells off your skin. As my skin is pretty sensitive, I felt an immediate stinging sensation 10 seconds after I applied the gel to my face. My skin was slowly turning red and my nose hurt from the pungent alcohol/glue smell. I used it for 3 times before I gave up and used something else.

Finally, I found the best way to use up this useless product as it was taking up space on my vanity counter – to give my legs a good ’scrub down’. On my legs where skin is not sensitive, the product worked and made my legs super shiny and smooth. However, I wouldn’t buy it again. It certainly isn’t cheap enough for me to use it on my legs!

Rating: 1/5

Would I buy again: Definitely NO

 

I’m interested to know you!

 

$50 bar of soap

Some of you following me on Twitter would know that I did something silly and impulsive. I bought a bar of $50 soap online, touted to be a miracle soap, helping in eczema and pimples, amongst many other things.

I’ve been spending a lot of money and time on stuff to help my acne condition so this is one of those many things I’ve bought. I started using the soap on 9th Jan (after I finished my Fancl washing powder) and to date, though it didn’t help prevent new pimples from popping up, I think it has helped my blackheads to an extent.My skin has become  tighter and the pores on the sides of my nose (you know, the area below the eyes and next to the nose) are smaller. I hardly have blackheads now, and even if there are, they pop out easily with the blackhead extractor.

I know many have said it’s MLM, I shouldn’t buy it, but I don’t understand. I’m now looking for a solution for my acne. If it works, why not? It’s not like I’m getting sucked into the whole MLM she-bang and getting others to buy the soap, and me earning money in the process…

I’m almost done with my 25g bar of soap now, so I’ll only do a review when the bar’s gone. I also need to use it for a longer period of time to access its effectiveness.

 

Supre Spree

Hey girls!

I haven’t been clothes shopping for a while now, so I’m kinda interested to get some from Supre. Do drop me a comment or email me at madaboutsprees@gmail.com if you’re interested!

Cheers!

 

Review: Fancl Washing Powder

Item Reviewed: Fancl Washing Powder

Price/pack size:
S$26.00 50g x 1 bottle
S$48.50 50g x 2 bottles
S$15.00 25g x 1 bottle

Available at: All Fancl outlets
Please contact me via email (madaboutsprees@gmail.com) if you’re an international reader interested to buy.

Ingredients: (active ingredients) Moisture Retaining Amino Acid Cleansing Agent, Polyamino Acid, Amino Acid (Serine)

Description: Facial Washing Powder not only removes all impurities, gentle to your skin, its easier and faster to foam, creamier and denser than ever. Read more

Review: I’ve always thought washing powders (for face) were a hassle to use. I usually wash my face while in the shower and we all know that we have to keep the powders out of the shower to prevent clumping. But for the sake of beauty, I sacrificed that little bit of convenience. Then came the problem of knowing how to create foam properly. Luckily I kept the foaming ball – it was really easy to get a lot of foam with the unique foaming ball. I’ve also tried creating foam from soap using the ball and it works!

Anyway, though the normal Washing Powder is stated for normal-dry skin, I was still able to use it though I had normal-oily skin. I often suffer from dehydrated skin, as a result of too much air-conditioning (when I sleep at night, and in the office), so I thought the normal version would be a better fit and it was! In fact, sometimes, I think the washing powder is still a little drying for me – that’s when I alternate between my other cleansers just to give my skin a break.

Rating: 5/5

Would I buy again: Yes, in a heartbeat!!

 

The scoop on Dermedex

I recently had a reader contacting me regarding the purchase of Dermedex trial pack and upon checking, I was informed that the trial pack is not available anymore. Then all of a sudden, I recalled reading something about the products being recalled by HSA – due to some formula inconformity with our local regulations.

So happened that I came across the picture of the man who is the owner of Dermedex in a cosmetic industry magazine. I stared long and hard at the picture. The man was the same guy who irritated the hell out of my boss, myself and many others at an industry seminar sometime mid last year! The man kept challenging the authorities and claimed that our authorities are pro-EU and pro-US as the new regulations are modelled on the US and EU regulations. He asked why can’t we accept China-made products, to which the speaker (some guy who sits high on the regional association) answered that they are not anti-China. Products made in China will be accepted provided that they adhere to the law. Simple as that. Obviously this Dermedex guy is having many formulation problems or certification problems, otherwise he wouldn’t be very worked up and pissed off with the association!

After pieceing everything together, I think it’s a little dubious as to where his products actually come from and whether it is safe for us to use… just my thoughts on the whole issue. Which really is a pity because the products really did work for me when I was using it but the results were not really lasting, and the prices were just too high for me to continue using them.