Maybelline Eye Studio Color Plush Silk Eyeshadow Part II

Stopped by Target for last minute, i.e. panic, shopping and spotted this Maybelline Eye Studio Color Plush Silk Eyeshadow palettes 55 Smokey Night and 85 Gutsy Green. These are limited editions I'd seen before on Citrine's blog, but since that was way back in May and having had 3 months to go still in Japan, I thought it'd be gone forever by the time I make it home in late August. Of course I snatched them both off the shelf but only brought 55 Smokey Night with me to Taipei ^.^

And then just now I checked Drugstore.com and they have all 3 limited edition palettes, 95 Coral Oasis, 85 Gutsy Green, as well as this 55 Smokey Night for $6.99 each plus Buy 1 Get 1 Half Off. Very tempted to get 95 Coral Oasis too but I think I shall refrain as it looks a bit too warm for me.

Brought this quad with me to Taipei because I needed a liner palette but had no space for a bunch of pencils and have no patience or time to sit there and pick the colors out of the rainbow I have. So ultimately, not only I had been eyeing this palette for so long it was also a super convenient buy. I was totally excited and very much looked forward to using it.

55 Smokey Night. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

L'Occitane Aromachologie Relaxing Body Lotion

Finished the L'Occitane Plum Blossom Skin Moisture Gel and moved on the Aromachologie Relaxing Body Lotion from the L'Occitane French Travel Treasures Set.

French Travel Treasures Set is actually quite nice as it includes a wide variety of items and you get to try a little bit of a lot of things. I ended up giving many away though and only kept a few to myself, this  Aromachologie Relaxing Body Lotion included.

Ningxia Night Market, Taipei (寧夏夜市)

While my old college friend A. is in town to visit, she and her fiancé S. took us to Ningxia Night Market (寧夏夜市). Being only 2 rows up and down a short strip of road, it is a tiny night market in comparison to my local Shida Night Market, but I was told the locals go here to eat and else where to shop.

And indeed, the Ningxia Night Market was food, food, and more food. It was literally one food stall after another and we all walked up and down the whole place twice before we could make our decision on what to snack on. There were so many choices and everything looked equally delicious!

IsQueen Rice High Performance Eye Gel

After finishing up my sample of Bliss Fabulous Every Day Eye Cream (lasted me a month!), I moved on to another generous sample I had of IsQueen Rice High Performance Eye Gel. This came in a large square sachet that more than half filled my reusable mini 5mL jar of Lancome Secret de Vie from last year!

This is how much I have left after 2 weeks of generous daily use ^.^


This is a super light weight eye gel that is thicker in texture than Bliss but still absorbs quickly and leaves behind no traces of greasiness. I find it adequately moisturizing and, like Bliss, it keeps my sunscreen in the humidity and does not crease my eye makeup. It is scented with a soft and mild flowery powder fragrance that I actually enjoy.

***Picture from IsQueen HK.

That said, the weather has cooled within the past week and I'm now anxious to finish it up so I can move on to a more moisturizing eye gel. I have yet another nicely sized sample sachet of Komenuka Bijin Eye Moisture Jell lined up for a while now and I can't wait to get my hands on it ^.^ I know, I get bored way too easily.

SunPlay Super Block SPF50+ PA+++

Update Friday October 26, 2012

After moving home from Japan, I've experimented with this SunPlay Super Block again in the super dry weather while visiting my folks in the US of A. I have to say this sunscreen worked extremely well in a drier environment! It became very light and weightless in addition to making my makeup look pretty much flawless. The slight downer was that the slight white cast also became more noticeable due to the dryness of the weather and the brightness of the sun. Nothing a few fluff of setting powder couldn't correct though, and if you are living in a dry environment, this would make an excellent substitute for Allie at a fraction of the price. Really, it was no wonder why my mum loved this little red cap bottle so much!

With this confidence, I brought a few bottles with me to Taiwan, not being certain whether I would be able to find a supply of it here in Taipei. Well, turns out I was wrong on the former and correct on the latter. I was correct in that this sunscreen cannot be found here at all! I tried looking everywhere, Sasa included and still couldn't find even one bottle! 

However, I was unexpectedly wrong in that the humid Taiwanese weather (more humid than Japan, eeps!) turned this Mentholatum SunPlay Super Block super thick and heavy on my skin. Even after I skipped moisturizer altogether, Hadanomy AquaPlacenta Concentrated Mist included(!), it still felt as though I was walking around with a mask on. And yet with no moisturizers underneath and set with translucent powder, my t-zone still shined like an oil spill when I got to school! Through classes, I had to blot constantly to keep my nose shine-free. Not sure what happened there! :( So yeah, I had to stop using this and switched over to the Skin Aqua UV Sara Sara Essence, which I'd reviewed recently after having tested it in 3 different countries, Japan, US, and Taiwan ^.^

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Original post Friday, August 10, 2012

A year or so after my first Allie sunscreen, I made a convert out of my mum and she loved Allie's texture and finish after Lancome and Estee Lauder, among other things, failed her (and stung her eyes badly). Late last year, having had my sister lugged home several bottles on her move back, mum started to complain about how much they cost. So I went online and found this post recommending the Top 5 Japanese Sunscreens for Summer 2011. Since mum's concern was affordability, I decided to get her a couple of bottles of SunPlay Super Block SPF50+ PA+++ to try, after all, its retail price is a mere 398yen for a 27mL bottle (versus Allie's 1,470yen for 25mL or 2,940yen for 60mL) and I've seen it sold for even less, 298yen(!) at certain drugstores. 

By the way, there is also a Top 5 for Spring 2011 edition too and I have actually reviewed a few from both lists: obviously Allie (been using since 2008), Nivea Sun Protect Water Gel SPF30 PA++ (started using at my sister's recommendation since she's been using the Cool version on her face for a few years), most recently Allie Extra UV Gel Mineral Moist N SPF50+ PA+++ (best for winter use I decided), Skin Aqua UV Sara Sara Milk SPF50+ PA+++ (summer use only, definitely with moisturizer underneath as it is very drying with strong alcohol content, that said it's still much better than its alcohol-free sister UV Moisture Milk I tried a few years ago), and now this Mentholatum SunPlay Super Block SPF50+ PA+++. After this, I will probably move on to another item on the list, the Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence SPF50 PA+++, so check back later ^.^

Mentholatum SunPlay Super Block SPF50+ PA+++

Taipei Eats - Yongkang Street area (永康街, Picture heavy!)

I "stumbled" upon the greatness that is Yongkang Street (永康街) purely by accident. I read a little bit about Taipei prior to our arrival, but there were so much to absorb (still!) during the first couple of weeks I had forgotten everything I read (the internet is a godsend!). And then one afternoon while walking home from school, hubby and I ran into my Japanese classmate and she asked if we knew where Yongkang Street was. That weekend (Mid Autumn Festival), we consulted google to orient ourselves and headed straight there. Turns out the street is also a mere 15 minutes walk from our apartment, just like Shida Night Market ^.^

Lux White Impress Shower Milk

Just a short review here. Finished up the "courtesy" mini bottle of the Dove Body Wash Cucumber Green Tea that the landlord left in the apartment for us. I actually didn't like this localized version, as it smelled funky, nothing like cucumber or green tea, and was super drying despite the humidity. So I was glad to be rid of it and randomly picked up this Lux White Impress Shower Milk, also a localized product.

Another unfortunately meh body wash though. While it's a tad less drying than Dove, it's way too perfumy for my taste. It also has these sand-like beats in it and I'm not sure what their purpose is because there are too few of them to be exfoliating, but too many of them to not notice and just ignore. So really, they're kind of useless. I'm disappointed, but not really surprised. The mass produced body washes are really crappy nowadays and I think I'm becoming more of a hand-poured goats milk and essential oil soap bar girl.

Nivea Lip Care Balms

Before I left to Taipei, I picked up 2 of these Nivea A Kiss of Smoothness Hydrating Lip Care SPF 10 for hubby. I had just seen Citrine's post on the Kiss of Milk & Honey Soothing Lip Care and was rather curious, but I figured I already had an ample supply of balm tints I'd be bringing with me, and hubby is quite fussy and hates lip balms with any kind of scent or taste in it.

Nivea A Kiss of Smoothness Hydrating Lip Care SPF10. In Taiwan, they are called Hydro Care Lip Balm and in Japan, they get a bit confusing with 2 similar products, one in the same sky blue chubby round tube called Moisture Lip Unscented and one in a more classic chapstick twist up tube called Moisture Lip Water Type Unscented. 

Taipei Eats - Ximending area (西門町, Picture heavy!)

On a lovely afternoon a few weeks ago hubby and I decided to pay Ximending a visit, though not because it is dubbed the Shibuya and Harajuku of Taipei :P We were there to look for 2 very specific places, one is an ice cream shop and the other another dessert shop specializing in almond tofu. But of course the stroll around Ximending was nice too ^.^

The view outside of MRT Ximen Station (西門站), Exit 4. It was a gorgeous sunny but cooler day, just perfect to be wandering around in.

The Taipei city police station front (left) and back (right). Fancy!

Nivea Fruity Shine Lip Balm SPF10

Saw these Nivea A Kiss of Flavor on Citrine's Blog spring of last year and she had good things to say about the Strawberry Tinted Lip Care SPF4 (though not so much for the Cherry Tinted one from 2009). Fast forward a year and Nivea reformulated and repackaged these balms as A Kiss of "insert flavor" Fruity Lip Care SPF10. Here in Taiwan, they are called Fruity Shine Lip Balm SPF10. I thought they are localized products but nope, all are imported from Germany, same as the ones in the US, which makes the name variations even harder to understand. Can you get any more convoluted, Nivea? 

Nivea Fruity Shine Lip Balm SPF10 Pink Guava and Strawberry, with the Chinese descriptions taped over the original English. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

The outer packaging changed slightly as well, and they went from a chubby round tube with cap that's flat at the end to a "pudgier" tube with cap that's slanted at the end. The ones in Taiwan have the same new packaging. Flavor wise, there are only Cherry and Strawberry available in the US. In Taiwan, instead of Cherry they have Pink Guava, in addition to Strawberry. That said, the Nivea Taiwanese website no longer shows these 2 flavors, which makes me think perhaps they are being discontinued. From kuri I learned there is Pomegranate in Singapore, and for Japan, other than Strawberry there are also Pink Grapefruit and Peach, as shown on Nivea Japanese website. Garhh...want!!!

New US packaging (left 2 pictures) and Taiwan's Pink Guava and Strawberry (right picture), also in new packaging.

***Left 2 pictures from Nivea USA.