rinnah's consumer views|a straight talking, tell-it-as-it-is consumer lifestyle blog

I’m pretty sure this lip conditioner has been around, for like… forever?

Anyway, I just had to snap up this oldie when I saw it selling in Bonjour Hong Kong for a mere HKD 18.00. (Which works out to about SGD 3.00 or MYR 7.50 thereabouts.) Do note that I got mine in the old packaging (dark blue tube) instead of the new packaging (gold tube shown below) which might account for the discounted price.

The lip conditioner looks like a lipstick. It’s housed in a very traditional looking lipstick tube and even shaped like a lipstick, which makes it easy as pie to apply. But if you ask me, it makes this lip conditioner look and feel rather aunty-ish.

There is no smell and no taste but it does feel rather oily to me if I slick too much on. It also feels like it will make your lipstick slip and slide if you use this underneath but it could well be a godsend for those lippies that dry out your lips. I tried it under my Revlon Colorburst lipgloss and it provided a comfortable base (even though lipglosses don’t really need bases).

I like that it has SPF 15 sun protection as most lipbalms don’t have any inbuilt sun protection at all. Better some than none!

While I wouldn’t say that I adore or love this lip conditioner, I find that I prefer it over my Vaseline Lip Therapy on days when my lips aren’t super cracked. I keep it in my office drawer for daily use and it’s one of those good-to-have-on-standby-but-not-essential kinda product to me.

Yes factors : SPF 15 protection, easy to apply because of lipstick form, does a good job of hydrating lips
No factors : Looks a bit old-fashioned, may be oily if too many layers are applied, pricey

Packaging : .13oz/3.8g

Recommended retail price : USD 16.50

Read other blogger reviews here :
Bun Bun
A Girl – Beauty Views
Jeweled Thumb

In the words of Barney Stinson, it was LEGEN… wait for it… DARY!!!

I truly didn’t imagine that a random conversation on Twitter with Paris B would become the epic event (in Beetrice’s words) that was My Women Stuff Readers Choice Awards.

There are more pictures of the event, so keep on reading after the jump! Read the rest of this entry »

I can’t believe it took me so long to get around to trying this product. Now, if I’d just bitten the bullet and got myself a sample or two of this baby, I wouldn’t have had to endure so many months of dry skin!

Image credit

Estee Lauder’s Hydrationist Moisture Barrier Fortifier is supposed to be an ultra-hydrating serum for all skin types and I picked up a travel sized version (7ml) of Hydrationist during my holiday in Hong Kong recently.

I had been battling awfully dry skin as a result of a long running eczema flare-up on my face and seriously, it is no fun going around with a face that’s covered with a red, irritated rash and dry peeling, flaking skin that makes me look as if I had permanent sunburn.

Enter Hydrationist.

To be absolutely sure that my skin wouldn’t feel overwhelmed when faced with a new product and especially a concentrated serum, I used this on its own with no other moisturiser.

With just one use, seventy percent of the minor flakies disappeared overnight, leaving just the really badly affected areas. With the dryness addressed, the redness and irritation in my skin started to reduce gradually.

By the second day (day and night use), only two stubborn dry patches near my eyes remained and my skin was almost back to normal.

On the third day, the area size of the dry patches near my eyes had shrunk by half and the rest of my face was back to normal.

By the fourth day, the dry patches around my eye area had improved so much you could barely see the dryness unless you looked up close and personal.

As if that wasn’t enough to sell me on the serum, Hydrationist also works on spots, because I had two tiny red hard pimples forming under my skin on my cheek (which was dry to begin with and the pimples had developed as the result of attempting to use a cream-based moisturiser to hydrate the area). After using Hydrationist, they softened and resolved by itself within 2 days. No popping involved!

What can I say? My skin adores Hydrationist! I’m never going without a bottle of this serum as long as they keep on manufacturing it.

I do have a minor gripe about the packaging though – the travel sized (7ml) version has no pump – it comes with a screw top cap that is secure for travel – but it makes it a bit harder to control the amount of product used each time. But I’d gladly put up with the hassle in order to keep this skin saver around.

Yes factors : Hydrates skin without feeling sticky or oily, works miracles on dry dehydrated skin
No factors : Expensive, not easy to control amount of serum used in the travel-sized version

Packaging : 50ml

Recommended Retail Price : MYR 210.00 (50ml)

Read other blogger reviews here :
Paris B

Ah Hong Kong! How I miss shopping there already… and I’ve only been back for a week.

Being a total newbie (it was my maiden trip to HK), I was totally unprepared for the bright lights and myriad stores. But I was lost the moment Kahani introduced me to Bonjour.

When she showed me the section on sample/travel sized products, I was completely sold on the concept and there was no turning back. The majority of the stuff you see in the picture below is from Bonjour, with a purchase each from Sasa, Harvey Nichols Beauty Hall and duty-free at Changi Terminal.

In no particular order, I came back with :
1. Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in Rose Perle
2. Steam Cream
3. Lanvin Marry Me perfume miniature
4. Talika Lipocils Expert eyelash serum
5. Lancome Hydra Zen Neocalm detoxifying moisturising multi-relief anti-stress gel essence
6. Lancome Hydra Zen extreme soothing moisturising cream-gel
7. Lancome Genifique Youth Activator serum
8. Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex serum
9. Estee Lauder Hydrationist Moisture Barrier Fortifier ultra-hydration serum
10. Dior Capture Totale One Essential skin boosting super serum
11. Diorsnow White Reveal essence
12. Shu Uemura UV Armor high protection face cream SPF 50
13. Shu Uemura Deepsea Hydrability moisturizing gel cream
14. Clarins Beauty Flash Balm
15. Kiehl’s Ultra Facial micro serum
16. Laniege Water Sleeping Pack_Ex
17. Guerlain Orchidee Imperiale exceptional complete care serum
18. Clinique Take The Day Off makeup remover

Whew! That’s a lot of miniature stuff, methinks!

And did you notice anything about the list above? It’s mostly skincare with a heavy slant towards hydrating stuff and anti-aging stuff.

I’ve been lemming quite a number of these serums for some time now, so yes, I am one very happy camper. Let’s hope that my sensitive/problematic skin takes kindly to me experimenting in the next few months!

How I wish I had access to these miniature pretties in Singapore or Malaysia all the time…

Read other blogger notes on shopping in Hong Kong here :
Kahani
Paris B

I can’t think of a better way to re-launch my reviews (and other consumer-related stuff) blog at this new domain than to blog about this year’s Estee Lauder Staff Sales. )

Firstly, I have to thank my fellow blogger Beetrice for the invite to the Estee Lauder Staff Sales. I didn’t know that I was holding on to a Willy Wonka Golden Ticket until I read about the good bargains, crazy queues, massive hordes of people and some near-obsessed females practically begging on different blogs/forums for an invite. Some of these coveted free but limited invites were also being sold for a nice sum (enough to feed my little Kelisa with one tank of petrol) before the event day.

I had originally planned to be there early, say around the ungodly hour of 6.30am, exactly one and a half hours before the doors were scheduled to open at 8.00am. Kiasu? Yes. I am female AND Malaysian after all. Haha. I was a bit late but all was good in the end because I arrived at exactly the same time as Beetrice, around 6.55am. The sight that greeted me was nothing short of amazing/shocking. I wonder at what time did these people start lining up?

Due to the overwhelming size of the crowd and possible crowd control issues, I’m glad that the organizers opened the doors early. Even though the sales was only supposed to begin at 8.00am, by around 7.30am they were already letting the people in. And, the lines moved quite rapidly and without incident, save for one or two people who tried to jump queue by hopping over the barricades. Ish. Malaysians never do learn, do they?

Didn’t manage to take any photos inside the Grand Ballroom because I was too busy trying to grab the stuff I wanted. *grin* Best-selling stuff went really quickly and there was limited stock too. Bobbi Brown sold out within half an hour and the better/popular skincare products for Clinique and Estee Lauder also finished quickly. I just managed to sneak one of the last few jars of Clinique’s Repairwear Contour firming cream for my mom. Needless to say, mom was quite happy with that and the two Clinique lippies that I gave her (the colors suited her better). As for me, I bagged myself a nice enough stash of 6 glosses (Clinique & M.A.C.), Estee Lauder’s Idealist skin refinisher and DKNY’s Be Delicious perfume. Let’s just say that the damage to my credit card was quite hefty. Hehe.

I think overall this year’s event was pretty well organized and I would go again next year if I managed to get an invite. When I left around 8.40am (approximately 1 hour after I got in), the queue to go in now stretched down the stairs and all the way out onto the street. Yikes!

Pictures and reviews of the products bought will be done as soon as I can draft ‘em!

Edit : Beetrice has also blogged about the sales (and her loot) here!