St. Clare Sebum Treatment Set & Rosken Skin Repair Dry Skin Lotion

Hello!  ひさしぶり〜
I came back from my long vacation mid-January but never quite got around to updating my blog with the goodies! I've had some time to test out some of the products now so hopefully I'll be able to put up a few reviews here and there. Not all of the above items were purchased for myself, of course. About half  of them were gifts for friends :)

Some quick reviews:

St. Clare Sebum Treatment Set This was recommended by J as one of the best selling peel-off masks in Taiwan. I purchased the above for a friend, T, who loves anything that'll rip your pores clean, lol. E also purchased the men's version for himself (which I've had the opportunity to try out). Thankfully, the men's version didn't smell overwhelmingly like cologne. 
I really like that the treatment comes in three parts: the 1st step opens your pores using a serum, the 2nd step rips out all the white/black heads with a mask, and the 3rd step closes your pores with an essence. I like that they paid attention to the fact that open pores is a gateway for bacteria and provided a product that seals up your pores :)
The entire set is well packaged and even for a non-Chinese reader like me, was easy to figure out how to use thanks to the pictures. I can't say much about the results since I don't have many whiteheads or blackheads but it SURE did it great job of ripping off all of my facial fuzz! That was seriously painful... 

Rosken Skin Repair Dry Skin Lotion
E kindly picked up a bottle of this while we were in Singapore cause he saw how dry my feet were (we had been walking for two weeks at that point!) and because our hands were strangely super dry even in THAT humidity (Oh Singapore, I do not miss your heat). While in Singapore, I didn't think it was a great lotion. My cuticles were cracking more than ever and I didn't really like the consistency. I blame it on the Singapore weather because...
I'm back in California now and I JUST finished up the bottle. It's really nice for use in the office! My hands were always well moisturized after application. The lotion didn't seem overly greasy. I'd totally repurchase if I saw it available here. Which reminds me: In Singapore, I learned first hand that weather plays a HUGEEEE part in your skin care routine! Hah. I know, it's a no brainer. But more on that in a separate post.
Off to shower and test out the Nivea Extra Whitening lotion :)

How to Keep Looking Fresh on Flights

Image credit: Google

Ahh! I'm so excited!! My long-awaited vacation is almost here~ HELLO KITTY SWEETS CAFE, HERE I COME! Shopping galore and oh, the food! Don't even get me started with the food...


From the Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe site

What I'm not excited about, though, is having to sit in a plane for over 22 hours. Oh my gosh. I don't know how my bum is going to make it through. Bum aside since I don't think there's a single remedy for numb bums, what I can try to prevent is drying up (quite literally). Whether it's a short flight or a long flight, the cabin air does weird things to my hair and skin (I'm not alone in this, right??). My hair gets super frizzy and my skin dries up everywhere (especially under the eyes and on the lips). 

Since this'll be the longest flight I'll have taken to date, I've decided to put together a list of action items to attempt prior to boarding, while in flight, and after landing which will (hopefully) help to ease the discomforts of air travel and promote healthy skin. :)

Prior To Boarding

Hair: The evening before boarding, I'm planning on sleeping with a hydrating hair mask on and then washing it off in the morning. I think I'll take this opportunity to finally try out Wen's Sweet Almond Mint Hydrating Hair Mask. :)

Face: Before leaving for the airport, I'll give my skin one last cleanse and apply a facial oil, layer a nice moisturizing facial lotion or cream over that, and then top it off with some sunscreen.

Body: LOTION UP!

While In Flight

Face: I'm thinking of bringing a sheet mask but I don't know.. would that be too much? That or maybe I'll use an under eye sheet mask. And has anyone used facial mists? I've read differing opinions: some say the cabin air will absorb all that moisture so there's no point in using one while others absolutely rave about certain hydrating facial mists for long hauls. Hmm...

Lips: My go-to Burt's Bee's Pomegranate lip balm could never quite cut it in airplanes so I'm going to step it up and try Aquaphor, which I've heard and read raves about. My lips always got SOO dry during flights.

Body: Drink LOOOOTS of water.

After Landing

A nice shower, a face mask to rehydrate my skin, and some sleep will probably be good.

Please feel free to share your tips as I'm sure many of you have something good to share. :) Nothing to lose and plenty of time to experiment on this super long flight, lol.

Komenuka Bijin Facial Moisture Cream

I was originally enticed by Komenuka Bijin's Facial Moisture Cream due to the low number of very only, very simple ingredients: water, rice bran, rice oil, aloe, collagen, glycyrrhiza (licorice), and natural vitamin E. That's all. Also, my skin was going berserk at the time (random spots of dryness plus breakouts) and I hoped that a very simple moisturizer would help.

For $36 (although now see that the price has increased to $40 on their website), I was expecting a little more than 1.2 oz (35 grams) but I really did want to give a simple moisturizing cream a try. Honestly though, I don't have very much to say about this product. It's a simple product, with simple ingredients, thus acts like a simple moisturizer (at least it did with my skin). I didn't see anything different with my skin upon application or even after a few weeks of use. 

I don't plan on repurchasing since there are so many other moisturizers out there to try and this didn't do anything that great for that my skin. It's a good simple (albeit pricey!) moisturizer though for those who might need something like this. 

Scroll down for pictures of application:

Baby Foot Easy Pack Review

I purchased and tried out this Baby Foot Easy Pack sometime last year I believe. It was purchased from Mitsuwa, a local Japanese grocery store, for around $20.

The instructions on the packaging are quite straight forward which make the Baby Foot Easy Pack really easy to use.

Slip on the Baby Foot Easy Pack on.
Let your feet sit in the gel for about two hours. I took a nap :)
Wash off your feet. After a few days, your feet should start peeling.
A few weeks after that, the peeling process will be complete and you'll have "baby feet!"

There's not much to say about the product besides IT'S AWESOME! Okay foot shedding aside... oh my gosh, my feet hadn't been that soft since.. forever!! I couldn't stop touching my feet where my calluses used to be.. cause they were no more! Granted, you'll have to wear socks to sleep for a few weeks unless you want some major shedding up in there... And note that it may take more than 2-3 weeks to complete the whole foot shedding process. At the three week mark, I thought I was finished. Soooo~ I drew a bath for myself... I threw in some new bath salts I had just purchased, jumped in, and started to reeelax. Then I noticed white particles floating around my bathtub. I thought, "Huh... did the bath salts clump up...?"  GROSS, LOL. I immediately jumped up and started to triple wash my hair. Bathing in your own dead FOOT skin. Not cool. That aside, Baby Foot Easy Pack is a wonderful and highly effective product. I'm recommending it to anyone who needs a REAL foot exfoliation. It might be best practice to use it during the winter so you don't walk around freaking people out with peeling feet during the summer time, haha. ;)

Tony Moly Peach Anti-Aging Hand Cream Review

Cannot.. resist. cute. packaging! Ahh. Purchased this a while back from Sasa.com during a little spree I had. I usually like peach products and am always on the market for some new hand creams so I thought, what the heck, I'll give this a try. Plus, I've had some positive experiences with prior Tony Moly products. :)

Description from Yesstyle.com: This is a nourishing and moisturizing hand cream enriched with peach and apricot extracts, as well as adenosine, a potent anti-wrinkle ingredient, for softer, smoother and whiter hands. Hands feel comfortably soft immediately upon application, while regular use improves skin elasticity and gives hands a youthful look. Keep hand cream within reach to constantly moisturize hands. 

Upon opening the big ole' peach, you'll see a little cap placed over the cream to keep it from spreading all over the entire peach jar. I quite like that Tony Moly does this with their products because I'm a stickler for keeping my products clean and this really helps. Insignificant reason to some, I know, but I like it. :)

Cost: ~$7 USD on Sasa.com

I can't remember how long it took me to go through the whole container but I remember thinking that the scent was quite strong so I didn't use it regularly. Plus, the peach is actually quite large so it's not exactly convenient to throw into your purse. Also, the screw top cap doesn't make it very convenient to use so I usually left it at home.

Also, the description of the Peach Anti-Aging Hand Cream stated that it would whitening but I didn't see anything noticeably different in the shades of my hands.

Silly peach design.

I probably won't be purchasing this again due to the size of the peach which makes it not portable friendly. I have to give Tony Moly prop for the adorable packaging though. The design was able to even sucker me into buying the accompanying Tony Moly Mini Peach Lip Balm (see below)! Haha.

This peach lip balm is WAY perfumy. When I put it on my lips, all I can taste is the fragrance. Kind of nasty, in my opinion. I'm trying to go through it quickly. Perhaps after some time has passed, I'll get used to the taste, hah.

I'll definitely be trying out Tony Moly products when next get the chance. I just can't give up on their adorable packaging (big hint to skin care product packaging designers!!). These two peach products were absolutely adorable. They might not have delivered all they claimed to but they were quite cute. :)