[Weight Loss] Let's Do This Again :-)

DISCLAIMER: I'm (once again) faced with my weight being 70kg (154lb.). I don't mind being overweight but I just don't fit into my clothes in my closet anymore as I reach that weight. Also, I hate the feeling of my belly sitting top of leg. Therefore, I will start to tone my body through healthy meal plan (that does neither starve me to death nor drive me nuts) and exercise for a month. I NEVER starve to lose weight and I NEVER take pills. I EXERCISE. My goal is not to be 100lb but my goal is to reach as close as possible to my weight of my comfort zone which is around 63kg (138lb), the weight which I had a year ago.

Breakfast: 1 sweet potato & 500ml of water

Lunch: 1/2 bowl of lettuce with light Caesar salad dressing, one tangerine, one cherry tomato, two sweet potatoes. 1/2 cup of coffee

Snack: A sweet potato and 500ml of water

Dinner: 10 chicken breast sticks (cut up to the size of your pinkie), 1/2 bowl of lettuce with light Balsamic dressing, one cherry tomato, two sweet potatoes, 1 cup of Orange Blossom Full Leaf Tazo Tea


I didn't exercise because today was Victoria Day (My gym was closed).

[Review] Innisfree Green Tea Mineral Mist

 

Size: 150mL 

Price: 11,000WON (C$11.00)

Type: For All Skin Types

Availability
This product can be purchased online (look for a website that sells Asian cosmetic products).

Ingredients
Green tea water moisture, 4-free (artificial dyes, ethanol, animal material, mineral oil), Jeju green tea, mandarin, white lotus flower, camellia leaf, crinum & 50 multi-energy complex, 30 times upgrade of green tea's effective ingredient (the credit for the list of ingredients belongs to this website)

Container/Packaging

This mist comes in a white opaque metal bottle with pastel green designs. The cap needs to be opened to spray.

Product
Innisfree promotes this mist to be a "Jeju organic green tea [mosturizer with no ethanol that] instantly replenishes moisture to your [dry] skin". As they claim, it nails to "replenish moisture". It definitely hydrates and comes in two sizes, 50mL and 150mL, which can be a good option if one wants to bring it around. 

However, there are a few downfalls. First, the liquid particles do not get sprayed evenly. When sprayed about 3 times, however, it succeeds to fully spray onto the entire surface of your skin. It also irritates (my) eyes (I tried it a couple of times just to make sure but once the moisture runs down to my eyes, it irritates my eyes quite terribly).

Scent

It has a sweet minty scent.

Would I Recommend This Product? 
I'm not a huge fan of this mist as much as Koreans on the web do. However, I definitely recommend it since it is very moisturizing if it doesn't irritate his/her eyes. I don't spray it straight to my eyes but the mist particles seem to run down to my eyes and burn the heck out of them.

Pictures

(Sprayed once)

(Sprayed three times)

[Review] Bioderma Sensibio H2O / Crealine H2O Makeup Remover Cleanser

Size: 250mL 

Price: C$
Type: For Sensitive Skin

Availability
This product can be purchased at your local drugstores. 

Ingredients

Water (Aqua), PEG-6 caprylic/capric glycerides, cucumis sativus (cucumber), fruit extract, mannitol, xylitol, rhamnose, fructooligosaccharides, prypylene glycol, disodium edta, cetrimonium bromide.

Container/Packaging

A round translucent plastic bottle with a red cab on top.

Product
Made for sensitive skin, this Bioderma cleanser "gently cleanses and removes make-up from face and eyes". Bioderma continues to claim that its "soothing active ingredients prevent the skin feeling irritated". These claims have been found to be more than truth indeed. Soaked in the cotton pad, it cleanses and removes any make-up (even waterproof) very effectively without leaving any residue behind. It can even be used for your lips. 

Moreover, It has never irritated nor stung; indeed, it feels just like water too. Although I had to purchase a new cleansing water in order to experiment with other products, this cleanser is how in my holy grail list.  

This product is also oil-free and does not cause blemishes.

Scent

It has a very heavy metal scent that can be irritating for some; however, please note that this is because this cleanser is fragrance free.

Would I Recommend This Product? 
Yes. I've been penetrated with good cleansing products for the last few months but if I had to choose the best out of the best, this cleansing water would be my choice. The only downfall to this product was its cost; however, I would say that this product is definitely worth every penny. 

Pictures

[Review] Clean & Clear Oil Free Make-Up Dissolving Foaming Cleanser

Size: 177mL 

Price: C$9.99+tax
Type: N/A

Availability
This product can be purchased at your local drugstores. 

Ingredients

Water, Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Glycerin, Disodium Lauroamphodiacetate, Polysorbate 20, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, PEG-6 Caprylic, Hexylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, PPG-15 Stearyl Ether, CItric Aic, Isoceteth-20, Methylparaben, Tetrasodium EDTA, Xanthan Gum, Propylparaben, Ethylparaben, Camellia Sinesis Leaf Extract, Parfum.

Container/Packaging

A translucent light purple container with a pump on top that creates foams.

Product
Clean&Clear promotes this cleanser as "oil-free formula [that] gently and effectively dissolves makeup and deep cleans your skin in one easy step". The cleanser, indeed, is quite gentle and soft and dissolves waterproof makeup with 2-3 pumps. However, the foam the pump creates is not very soft and untightly formulated. Foam being untightly formulated sounds rather ridiculous but the foam itself feels very loose.


Yet, once you apply it onto your skin and massage it around your skin, it feels quite soft. It doesn't pull, irritate, and break out your skin (and your eyes too) at all. 


And most importantly, it leaves your skin smooth and moisturized without leaving any residue behind.

Scent

It includes parfum which has a noticeable Jasmine scent. However, it is not too overpowering. 

Would I Recommend This Product? 
Yes. This is the best make-up removing cleanser available in drugstores. I even think 9.99+tax is too little for such an amazing product. You have to pay Clean&Clear for providing this product at such low cost. 


It is also soft enough to use it for cleaning your brushes. It hasn't damaged by brushes.

Pictures

[Busker Busker] 여수밤바다 (Yeosu Night Sea)

This is my current favourite song of the moment!

Although I'm a Korean New Age junkie, Busker Busker totally robbed my heart :-)

xoxo

cynthia

[Thoughts On My Mind] Swedish Audience

I just seem to have quite a bit of Swedish audiences. They normally range around 20-30% of my viewership and I have no idea why that is so.......can someone help me figure out this question......?

xoxo
cynthia

[LOTD] Everyday Neutral Eye Makeup

I'm totally in love with this look. While your eyes still look accentuated, 

you can play with almost any shade of lipstick, whether vibrant or muted.

For a formal occasion, I tend to go with Revlon 001 Pink Truffle (review) and

Lancome Rouge in Love 230M Rendez-Vous or NARS Flamenco to party.

With Lancome Pale Lips, this look can even become nude.

Therefore, this look can be very versatile depending on your lip colour.

Please let me know what you think!

Products Used:

Primer: Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer 

Eyeshadows: TheBodyNeeds2.com Elegance,

Urban Decay Smog or MAC Roasted Chestnut (I pressed the pigment myself)

(I don't remember which shade I used on the outer corner!)

MAC Glitz & Blitz 

xoxo,

cynthia.

[Revlon] Colorburst Lip Butter in 001 Pink Truffle

Size: 

Price: C$9.99+tax
Type: N/A

Availability
This product can be purchased at your local drugstores. 

Ingredients

Container/Packaging

The packaging of this product looks quite cheap; the squared plastic cap contributes mostly (or entirely) to this inexpensive impression. However, the lip butter without the cap actually looks quite nice. With REVLON-engraved black plastic bottom, the metal container actually looks very high-end.

Product
It is a balm-textured lipstick with muted pink/mauve shade that has a slight tint of brown. While this sounds quite overwhelming for some, this is one of the colours that can work for everyone for every occasion. It is, indeed, a very sophisticated and elegant colour that can never look overdone. 


If you are looking for a medium to fully opaque coverage, thick texture and glossy finish, Pink Truffle is one of the rare ones that has such qualities from Revlon's lip butters.  


Other than the colour, the texture is another thing to praise about. It glides across the lips and leaves them more moisturized than any high-end and drugstore lipsticks ever tried. 


The only downfall to this lip butter (other than its packaging) would be its short wear time. It needs a reapplication every 2-3 hours. 

Scent

It has a very minor vanilla scent that is almost unnoticeable.

Would I Recommend This Product? 
YES. I already own two of this shade: one at home and another for my make-up bag just in case. As you may know, I have feathering problem and hardening on my right side of the bottom lips since I peel the feathering ever so often. However, I am fairly satisfied with this lipstick and I definitely look forward to seeing more range of coral shades!

Pictures

xoxo
cynthia.

[St. Ives] Naturally Clear Green Tea Cleanser Review

Size: 200mL

Price: C$3.49+tax (on sale; this is usually $7.09)
Type: For acne-prone skin

Availability
This product can be purchased at your local St. Ives stores and drugstores (ex. Shoppers Drug Mart). 

Ingredients

Active ingredient: Salicylic Acid 2%
Other ingredient: Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Glycerin, Cocomidopropyl Betaine, Propyle Glycol, Hydroxyethyl Urea, Disodium Laureth Sulfasuccinate, Epilobium Angustifolium Extract, Olea Europaea (olive) Leaf Extract, Ascophyllum Nodasum Extract, Afteramonos Ferment Extract, Yeast Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Sodium Hydraoxide, Menthyl Lactate, PEG-150 Distearate, Disodium EDTA, PPG-2 Methyl Ether, Phenethyl Alcohol, Methylisothiazolinone, Fragrance (Parfum), Green 5 (CI 61570), Yellow 5 (CI 19140), Red 33 (CI 17200), Red 4 (Cl 14700), Blue 1 (Cl42090)

Container/Packaging

It does not come with any packaging but the container itself has a 3cm-long tape to ensure the twist-top cap from coming off (or to ensure anybody from taking the product out although it looks quite unnecessary). The container, as I mentioned, has a twist-top cap with a pump.

Product
St. Ives claims that this cleanser, "with soothing green tea (extract), gently fights blemishes and allows skin to heal". For those who have acne-prone skin, this sounds rather interesting as it is "hypoallergenic, oil free, and non-comedogenic". Moreover, it's "formulated without parabens and phthalates", reducing much of the chance for the acne to form.


The product comes in a very thick lime-green liquid form. While it leaves the skin ever so slightly smooth, the cleanser, just like what all the breakout-preventing products do, causes the skin to dry out after use (products with salicylic acids do). Therefore, it requires some heavy hydration process.

Scent

It has a very nauseating melon scent which is quite overpowering and stays on for a long period of time. 

Would I Recommend This Product? 
YES. But:
1. This product is not meant to be a make-up remover (FYI).
2. I would not recommend using this product too frequently since it dries out your skin. I would use other types of gentle cleanser for most of the time and come back to use this product every 2-3 times a week. For some reason, if you need to use it everyday, I would recommend to use it at night (instead of morning), so that you can have some time to apply more products to hydrate your skin enough. If you are drying out your skin, your skin will get more oily and thus produce more blemishes. 
3. Do NOT expect a miracle out of this product; using am acne-preventing product does not mean you do not need to exfoliate anymore. You still need to exfoliate your skin to unclog your pores.
4. This is still a very strongly-scented cleanser although I'm fond of using scented products.

Pictures

New Haircut :D

I was trying to grow out my hair but I couldn't bear it anymore and got a haircut :(

....and I ended up looking more mature than I already am.... oh no.....

xoxo

cynthia :'(