September Favourites

Already October, and not only does that mean Halloween is coming up but also exams. This month, I have not had all that much time to slap some on my face, so I've been more focused on evening out my skintone so that I could go out minus some colour. A smooth fresh face was what I was going for the majority of September, and these products have really helped me reach that goal.

I was hoping for that fresh and away, but very natural looking face, so there are two face bases this month and one matte bronzer that I used as a contour to add a bit of depth. And a newly discovered, natural looking mascara too. And what good face wouldn't be complete without some good skincare products, I have one cleanser and two, I guess you could call them, moisturizers this month to add to the mix.

MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC30
I know that this really isn't a natural foundation, but it's a newbie to me this month and also a winner. I recently got rematched and it was decided that NC30 was the best match for me, I'm still a bit of an in-betweener, but I am quite tan on the rest of my body, so this one would help to match my paler face. Good lord, I love the effect of this baby on the skin. This is the fullest coverage foundation that I have, yet it doesn't look cakey. I will say, though, that you can tell you are wearing makeup when you use this, but if you blend with care and use sparingly, it's pretty versatile.

Maybelline Dream Pure BB Cream in Medium
After seeing the Westerner's take on BB creams, it seems that most are just glorified tinted moisturisers. But I saw this in Priceline and it was on sale, and it looked cute... And don't judge me, okay? When I first applied this, I was pretty let down. It was very much on the pinkier side, and didn't have much coverage at all. But here is where Maybelline steps up, and to my surprise, this acted like a real BB does, slowly adjusting to our skin and I think maybe improving it a bit? I did get the one for oily skin, it has a small percentage of salicylic acid in it, but I am quite impressed. The lasting power on this is even okay, it won't last all day if you push it, but maybe a uni day or so.

MAC Bronzing Powder in Matte Bronze
I featured this product in a previous post about breaking out old favoured products, and I am so glad I put this one back in rotation. I really do love this bronzer, so much. It's subtle, but not too subtle, it's matte and it really lasts - on your face and in the pan! There's not much more to say about it, but I think this is really an underrated product. Go get you some.

Maybelline  Full 'n Soft mascara
I think this may actually make it to a favourite mascara status. I've never been too chuffed about mascaras, simply because my lashes are quite straight and relatively short and sparse. But this one. Ooh. It's quite the goopy formula, but it is black and won't leave clumps. It gives a really natural look, yet somehow, the definition and curl is amazing, giving that "oh, my lashes are just naturally luscious" look. The only downside is that this does tend to smudge on me, but nowhere near as much as Revlon Grow Luscious or Benefit Bad Gal. I might pick up the waterproof net time and give it a go. 

Tony Moly Broccoli Sprout Cleansing Cream
I have been using this every single night since I got it. At the end of the day when I want to remove my makeup and cleanse my face, I just get a scoop of this and rub it all around my cheeks, eyes, lips. Rinse off with water and then follow up with a cleanser. It really helps to dissolve and break down any gunk that has collected on my face, whether or not I put it there myself, and I think that the creaminess has helped to moisturise my skin some and make it smoother. You definitely need a cleanser to follow this one up though, lest you want the oiliness to stay and clog your pores, but used correctly, a definite winner.

Indeed Laboratories Hydraluron
I was quite skeptical when I first started using this. You apply it after your cleanser and toner and before you moisturise and it is meant to help your skin retain the moisture better due to the hyaluronic acid content. I didn't think I even really needed this, but now my face cries out for it when I've left it too long to apply moisturizer after cleansing. It really helps especially around my mouth and chin area, and also my forehead which will  tend to need the most moisture, and I think it really does work if you give it a bit of time. 

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo
I was also skeptical of this baby. I've seen it on a number of blogs and heard it mentioned by a number of beauty gurus, but it seems like it has a lot to live up to. This is meant to be pretty much a skin saviour, in that it moisturises, reduced congestion and any other imperfections in your skin too. It's taken a while for me to realise, but I think that this product has actually been helping my skin quite a bit. I rarely get a spot anymore, and if I do, it's usually a blocked pore or hormonal acne. I will say, that the scent of this is quite soapy, maybe a tad over-powering, and it may sting a bit on your face, but if you can get past that it absorbs in nicely and makes your skin fresh.

And there we have my favourites for the month of September, the calm before the storm. Might as well get the skin prepared with a tried and true arsenal to look fresh and perky, even when not feeling it. Although, with Halloween being perfectly placed at the end of the month, a few ghastly undereye circles won't be minded.

Sasa Haul

God, don't you just love it when a package you ordered arrives when you're in the midst of a big spending/haul ban? Well, not necessarily a ban per sé, more like I don't really have the allocation of funds for a self-absorbed hauling. I originally went browsing on Sasa searching for raved about mascaras as I thought it was a bit pricey to splurge on the YSL Baby Doll Mascara in this moment of college-student-poorness (pre-spending and -haul ban, mind), and what caught my eye was the KOJI Lash Specialist Volume mascara. And, of course, I went through the "clearance" section and "new" section like I usually do whereby I spotted another interesting mascara by FITS called Megaholic Wax Curl Keeper WP and the cute Suki Moisturize CC Cream. 

It had been a while since my last Sasa purchase, so I had a couple items still waiting in my favourites until I gave in and put them in my cart such as the Tony Moly Broccoli Sprout Cleansing Cream and also waiting until a previous favourite came back in stock like the Skin Food Peach Sake Toner. Well I guess the stars aligned, because this "casual browsing" was turning more and more into "confirm payment".

Tony Moly Broccoli Sprout Cleansing Cream

Does Tony Moly not have the cutest packaging ever? Mind you, it's also pretty ridiculously large and sometimes inconvenient... or misleading like their Egg Pore series which, considering the size of the packaging, is mostly empty. This product, however, is pretty damn weighty at 200ml and packed to the brim. I purchased this as, well, a cleansing cream as the name implies, to remove the makeup off my face before I do a full cleanse. 

Skin Food Peach Sake Toner

I love their entire Peach Sake line. It smells wonderful and works wonderfully too. This was my favourite toner, and when I sadly finished it, I went back to Sasa to repurchase and it was no longer available, neither on other sites - so hard to find! Luck was on my side, however, what timing I would check Sasa after such a long period and it be back on the site. 

Suki Moisturize CC Cream in Shade 01

I've never actually heard of the brand Suki and searching around the interwebs for the review of this product were not too helpful. Simply because there weren't many at all! It wasn't all that expensive, and I'm very much in love with the idea of a CC cream and I really quite liked the shape of the bottle... So here's hoping that my faith was not misplaced in this mildly adventurous product.

FITS Megaholic Wax Curl Keeper WP mascara

Good god, can you say ridiculous packaging? Do you see in the picture where the mascara is? And next to it? That's a big flipping piece of plastic packaging attached. But it's cute, and thin, so maybe forgiveable. Honestly, what grabbed my attention was not really the goofy cute illustration of the woman with bazongas and ridiculous mutant eyelashes, but that it's a wax mascara. I mean, I know mascaras have wax in them, so it made me curious why the wax in this one was so important. Oh and the "WP" in the name is for waterproof.

KOJI Lash Specialist Volume mascara

KOJI has never let me down, despite not having a heap of products by them. So this mascara intrigued me what with the numbers (apparently a 4.3mm is the size of the brush?) and the unusual square brush. So what the hey, might as well test another mascara out, nevermind the other mascaras I have that I still need to try. But again, look at the ridiculous packaging. And the brush wand itself is like, two thirds of the entire mascara. That's not what I mind so much, just something to keep in mind. Expectations of what you'll get and what not.

I've ordered from Sasa a buttload of times (to use the medical term). My packages have always arrived in a timely manner and each product well handled (comes in a box with packing peanuts and products are wrapped in bubblewrap). I've even made it to VIP status, giving me a discount on each purchase I make (as well as VIP-only specials). And yeah. I guess Sasa is a nice starting point for those interested in (mostly) Asian skincare and makeup, everything ships nicely and in a timely manner and, in my experience, I've never had anything go wrong or any issues. So here's hoping the products themselves are just as good.