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Monday 12 November 2012

Shiseido White Lucent Review


The Shiseido White Lucent range - foam cleanser, softener, serum, moisturiser

Recently I purchased some items from Shiseido and recieved two GWP's (Gift with Purchases). I decided to choose the White Lucent pack for both of my GWP's which each contained one deluxe sample of the White Lucent foam cleanser, softener, serum, and moisturiser. Each one of these White Lucent deluxe sample packs lasts for about 2 weeks provided you are using it both day and night. So I had two lots - therefore giving me about one months supply. The Shiseido White Lucent range claims to 1) brighten the skins complexion 2) fade away discolouration/pigmentation/dark spots (sun spots, age spots, acne scarring) 3) and even the skin tone.

After one month of using the White Lucent range, I found that it did indeed brighten my skins complexion, the clarity of my skin was improved and I looked much less dull however it failed to fade away my pigmentation (caused by the sun exposure). I was quite disappointed as my pigmentation/sun spots has been a problem that I've wanted to fix for a while now. Ofcourse I did not expect these spots to completely disappear however atleast fade away a little - it didn't help much with this at all.

The one product I particularly loved in this range was the foam cleanser. It was quite gentle on the skin, gave my skin a nice squeaky clean feeling, instantly brightened my skin after every use, and I found that did not need to use that much of the product (only a pea size for each use) therefore lasted the longest out of all the products, 

Conclusion: If youre looking for a skincare range to help brighten your complexion and make your skin appear more translucent, then the Shiseido White Lucent range will definitely help. But if you're looking for a product that will visible reduce and fade your discolouration/pigmentation, then this product really isnt for you.

Below are some pictures that I took before and after using this range. Although these pictures are not indicative of how it brightened my skins complexion, you can tell that it didnt really fade away my pigmentation.



Wednesday 7 November 2012

DIY French Manicure


In this post I'll be doing a step by step process on how to achieve french nails. This is not to say that this is the most proper/professional way to do it, but it's the way I do it to achieve the best possible french nails for me. Back then, I use to always go to the professional nail salons to do my french nails because 1. I didn't know how to do it and 2. I couldn't be bothered doing it myself. I'm not sure if you guys have heard but recently the Australian Podiatry Association has tracked down many nail salons in Australia that have failed to reach adequate hygiene standards often due to not properly cleaning their nail instruments between each client use. These places are deemed hazardous in terms of contracting bacterial infections and even diseases (especially for those who have weak immune systems). After hearing about this, I started to take the initiative to learn how to do french nails myself. French nails are actually not that hard to achieve. I guess it just takes a little bit of practice :) Although my french nails are not as good as it is done professionally, I'd rather have peace of mind than a whole lot of fungal infections.


Below is a link to an article about Australian nail parlour's and their hygiene standards.




Step By Step French Manicure 

 


what you'll need:
1. Acentone free nail polish remover - Sally Hansen
2. Acetone nail polish remover - Sally Hansen
3. White nail polish (Secifically for doing french nails as the curve is better for applying to the tip of the nail) - Maybelline Salon Expert
4. Sheer pink nail polish - Essie in Mademoiselle from beautybay.com
5. Top coat - O.P.I
6. A little glass container to put in nail polish remover - ebay.com.au
7. A flat headed and curved brush - ebay.com.au
8. Cotton buds
9. Cotton pads

 Using your acetone free nail polish remover.. remove any existing nail polish or just use it to make a clean surface on your nail so it is ready for painting on the french nails.  

 

 After cleaning your nails, get your white nail polish and start painting the tips of your nails.


 It doesn't have to be precise as you'll be fixing the shape of it later on. Make sure you get the sides of the nails too.

 Repeat this procedure on the rest of your nails.

 It should look a bit tacky like this. Do a second coat if needed and let it dry.

 Pour a bit of acetone nail polish remover inside the glass container.


 You don't need too much. Just a little bit like the above picture is fine.

 With the acetone nail polish remover again, pour a little bit on to a cotton pad so that it is slightly damp.

 So to fix up the white bit of the nail polish all you need is the glass container with the acetone nail polish remover, the damp cotton pad with acetone nail polish remover, and a flat headed/rounded brush.

 Slightly dip the brush inside the acetone nail polish remover.

 Start removing the white nail polish to create a rounded/curved white area that fits with your nail shape. The reason why I use an acetone based nail polish remover for this part is that it removes the nail polish more easily therefore creating a sharper shape. However acetone is obviously a lot harsher on the nails than acetone free nail polish.  
 The shape you create should be nicely curved like the picture above.

 While creating your white tip shape, you should swipe your brush on the damp cotton pad every now and then so you can remove any excess nail polish which can build up into clumps and make it harder for you to create a nicer/sharper white tip shape.



 Continue to do this procedure for the rest of your nails.

 If you have any excess white nail polish next to your nails, use a cotton tip and dip it into the acetone nail polish remover..

..and start to swipe it off. Be careful not to take off the white nail polish from the nails.


 Your nails should look like this so far. You can keep it like this if you like but I prefer to add a bit of pinky tone to my french nails.

 Take your sheer pink nail polish and start coating your nails with it. Here I am using Essie - Mademoiselle. I find that this Essie nail polish gives just the right amount of pinky tinge and most importantly I find it doesn't streak like most sheer pink nail polishes do (I have used many brands and they have all streaked. Even OPI streaked for me).


 Do another coat if it is too sheer for you. Here I have done two coats.

 
 After your sheer pink nail polish dries, get your top coat and start coating all your nails with it to give a glossy finish and to prevent cracking nail polish.


 Finished Result:


Tuesday 6 November 2012

Drugstore Haul


I think I went a bit overboard at Chemist Warehouse and Priceline today! Some of these products I have already tried and just needed to restock again but with the other products, I bought them purely based on the good reviews. So I'm going to put some of these products to the test and hopefully I'll have a drugstore review/drugstore favourites post up soon. xx