Lancome Maison Lancome

The biggest downside to our moving around is that my precious cosmetics are scattered among a few places. There are those I brought with us, those newly purchased sent to either our folks or our in-laws who were so kind to look after our mails and packages while we were away, and those packed up and stored in grandma's basement. 

But the big silver lining is I get to "discover" these forgotten items all over again now that I'm home, and among them some pretty limited edition Lancome blushes like this Maison Lancome Powder Blusher.

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

DHC Imperial Green Tea Shower Gel

It has been a while since I bought something from DHC, so I visited their USA online shop and found a few goodies, including this 250mL/8.4fl oz. bottle of the Imperial Green Tea Shower Gel. It was unfortunately being discontinued and was on sale, and since I've read that it smells amazing, I figured that was my excuse chance to try it before it's gone forever.

Kiss Mix Heart Cheeks Part II

Spotted this 05 Strawberry Pink, the newest addition to the Kiss Mix Heart Cheeks family and snapped it up along with the Mix Moon Highlights (will review soon).

Mix Heart Cheeks in 05 Strawberry Pink. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Boscia Soothing Cleansing Cream

Update Sunday, May 19, 2013.

So I learned the reason behind the "demand" that this cream cleanser is to be used with dry hands and face. Because it's actually a cream-to-oil cleanser.

As mentioned below this cream cleanser starts to dry up about 30 seconds into application. Usually, this is the cue for me to rinse my face before it becomes too tugging, not to mention my arms would get tired. Then one night, I was in a rebellious mood and stubbornly massaged on even though the cleanser became drier and drier. And then -poof!- the whole thing just melted and became oily and slippery. The first time this happened, I brushed it off as a fluke. But since then, I've been consistently replicating this cream-dries-poof-oil process with every use, so my only logical conclusion is that it's a cream-to-oil cleanser. It makes perfect sense now why the instructions say to start with dry hands and face.

While this cream cleanser is no longer "demanding," I now blame it for being misleading and confusing. Nowhere on the packaging or even Boscia USA's website explains fully the nature of the cleanser, that the users are to massage the cream cleanser into their skin until it completely dissolves into an oil, then rinse. This means unless you stumbled upon this fact accidentally like I did, you are using this cleanser incorrectly, like I was, up until my discovery. And this means if the cream cleanser hasn't been doing a good job cleansing your face, removing your makeup, etc., well, perhaps this is why!

Ha...

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Original post Friday, March 15, 2013.

I bought this Boscia Soothing Cleansing Cream during Boscia's Surprise Beauty Box Holiday 2012 promotion, wherein you get 5 full size products with every order of $75 or more. I ended up with 2 of these, having received the second for free as part of the Surprise Beauty Box.

Boscia's Surprise Beauty Box promotion was quite generous!

***Screencap from Boscia.

Coffret D'Or Smile Up Cheeks Part II

After caving in and buying Coffret D'Or Smile Up Cheeks 02 Peach and 03 Rose prior to leaving Japan, I told myself I would not put up with such bulk packaging anymore. And then they came out with these two limited editions 05 Coral Pink and 06 Red Rose last winter, which look different enough for me to break my vow and bought them despite the same packaging. For spring 2013, Coffret D'Or also released two other limited editions, 07 Rose Pink and 08 Peach Beige, but (thankfully?) these look like recycles of 02 Peach and 03 Rose, so I'm skipping them with glee ^.^' Phew.

Limited editions 05 Coral Pink and 06 Red Rose. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Caudalie VinoPerfect Radiance Serum

I have a few of these 10mL travel size bottles of Caudalie VinoPerfect Radiance Serum, accumulated from the Beauty Essentials from the Vine set below and bonuses from a few other Caudalie orders. I kept one to use and gave the rest to my mum ^.^

The Beauty Essentials from the Vine set includes 50mL Cleansing Water , this 10mL VinoPerfect Radiance Serum, 7mL Pulpe Vitaminee Eye and Lip Cream, and 10mL Vinosource Quenching Sorbet-Cream (now changed to Moisturizing Sorbet).

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

On a random weekend afternoon, after a random late lunch at Kippu's we hopped into our car and went on a random drive. Across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was really nice, especially when there was a lookout spot just on the other side of the bridge with a parking lot. So we joined the gazillion other tourists who lined up for the quick stop-in.

Crown & Crumpet Tea Room, San Francisco

This Crown & Crumpet Tea Room is pretty much right across the street from Japantown's Peace Plaza, on Post Street. I had no idea it was there because its window blinds are always drawn and closed. If it weren't for a cloudy afternoon, I would have never noticed the 3-tiered trays and teapots! I guess a south-facing store front has its drawbacks too... 

Anyway, doesn't this place look like Cath Kidston fantasy land? Hubby argued it was more the Japantown-effect, little does he know they luuurv Cath Kidston over there, so I still blame her ^.^

Shiseido The Skincare Instant Eye and Lip Makeup Remover

After getting so bored of my many a travel size bottles of Lancome Bi-Facil and Clinique Take the Day Off Makeup Remover for Lids, Lashes & Lips (*gasp* just realized I never reviewed this!), all I needed was an excuse to go buy a new makeup remover. Then came this Best of Shiseido Spring 2013 GWP and I ended up with this 125mL/4.2fl oz. bottle of Shiseido The Skincare Instant Eye and Lip Makeup Remover. See, I'm full of excuses ^.^

Shiseido The Skincare Extra Gentle Cleansing Foam

I bought this 125mL/4.7oz. full size tube of Shiseido The Skincare Extra Gentle Cleansing Foam along with a bottle of Instant Eye and Lip Makeup Remover (using right now, will review next) to get this Best of Shiseido Spring 2013 GWP. 

Of course I picked that Bio-Performance set with the pretty red glass bottle ^.^

Shiseido The Skincare Hydro-Balancing Softener

Almost done with this full size bottle of Shiseido The Skincare Hydro-Balancing Softener. I bought this to try when Shiseido was having a nice promotion last fall that came with a miniature Revitalizing Essence in an 8mL square red glass bottle. They had another similar promotion earlier this year and got me to buy a couple more things also. I'm a total sucker, I know -.-'

***Screencap from Shiseido USA.

Dr.Ci:Labo Enrich Lift Cleansing & Massage

I actually took a chance and bought the full sized tube of Dr.Ci:Labo Enrich Lift Cleansing & Massage before trying out the two 3g sample packets I got from the Gold Lift Sample Set. That was out of character for me, as I usually try out the sample/travel sizes first before buying the full size. That is, if I weren't sick of the product by the time I'm done with its samples.

Ahava Deadsea Water Mineral Body Lotion

Got this 40mL/1.3fl oz. deluxe sample tube of Ahava Deadsea Water Mineral Body Lotion from an Ulta Spring 2013 GWP and been using loads of it on this current trip. I had no idea what to expect with this, I only know I will need a body lotion of some kind because my skin is very dry.

The Ulta Spring 2013 GWP, which came with a variety of nice deluxe samples, which I will slowly get to ^.^

***Screencap from Ulta.com.

Lancome Genifique Youth Activating Concentrate

Via one promotion or another I got my hands on 2 of these 7mL sample bottles of Lancome Genifique Youth Activating Concentrate. Please note this is the older version, slowly being replaced with a newer, "Advanced Genifique" ^.^

L'Occitane Almond Shower Oil

I've been on a L'Occitane kick lately with some dozen of travel sized body washes lined up along the wall in my shower and body milk/lotions in my bath cabinet ^.^ One of my favorite is this Almond Shower Oil. This is a 75mL/2.5fl oz. travel size bottle from L'Occitane's Mystery Gift Event two years ago, and I finally got to it now along with the Almond Exfoliating Soap (will review soon). 

Dr.Ci:Labo Super Cleansing EX

After using up Elixir Superieur Makeup Cleansing Gel N in all of 3 tries, I moved on to the 2 packets, 3.5g each, of Dr.Ci:Labo Super Cleansing EX. These are samples from a free Super Moisture Sample Set I got while I was still in Japan. In fact, if you're interested they're still giving both the Gold Lift and Super Moisture Sets away for free (with free shipping!), one to each unique Japanese address.

Elixir Superieur Makeup Cleansing Gel N

Finally got around to try this Elixir Superieur Makeup Cleansing Gel N. This is the 8g tube from the Elixir Superieur Travel Kit that I picked up while in Nagoya late last summer. It's a gel-to-oil cleanser that is the first step (removing makeup/sunscreen) to the nightly double cleansing routine most Japanese women follow.

Caudalie Premier Cru The Eye Cream Part II

Along with the 15mL/0.5fl oz. deluxe sample tube of Caudalie Premier Cru The Cream, I also got a 7mL/0.2fl oz. of the Premier Cru The Eye Cream from Sephora. Caudalie has also reformulated this eye cream, and its ingredients as well as packaging differ slightly from the previous version. Interestingly enough, in addition to the three key ingredients grape resveratrol, viniferine, and grape polyphenols, the old version also had hyaluronic acid and the new version does not.

***Screencap from Sephora USA.

Caudalie Premier Cru The Cream Part II

Shortly after I posted the review for Caudalie Premier Cru The Cream below, Sephora started giving away deluxe sample GWP of both the newly updated cream as well as the eye cream. I guess Caudalie has reformulated both formulas as their ingredients, and packaging, slightly differ from the previous versions. That said, both the old and the new creams still contain the three key ingredients grape resveratrol, viniferine, and grape polyphenols.

***Screencap from Sephora USA.

Of course I jumped at the freebies, not only because I really enjoyed using the previous versions but also because I was curious how the new formulas differ. Given the advertised value of each deluxe sample tube is $46(!), I was expecting a slightly bigger tube than the itty bitty I had back in January, only to be shocked when the order arrived - each tube was huge! The Cream is a 15mL/0.5fl oz. deluxe sample tube, about less than a third of the 50mL full size while the Eye Cream is 7mL/0.2fl oz., just shy of half the 15mL full size! O.O