Review: Hada Labo Whitening Lotion (NEW nano formula)

Hada Labo lovers out there who love their products will be thrilled to know that Hada Labo Whitening range has a new nano formula for its Whitening Lotion. Let's just cut the chase and see what is Hada Labo Whitening Lotion with new nano formula is all about!

For busy ladies out there who wants speed in application of whitening products, you will be happy to know that Hada Labo Whitening Lotion provides moisture, brightening and natural fairness in just 1 bottle. In addition, it is also free of fragrance, oil, colour and alcohol which makes it perfect for anyone with sensitive skin.

The 3 main ingredients in Hada Labo Whitening Lotion are:-

1) Natural Bearberry (Arbutin) that fades brown spots and blemishes. It can help to prevent future spots with regular use, thereby giving an even toned natural fairness

2) Triple Hyaluronic acid formula which hydrates your skin from surface to deep within. Skin becomes smoother to reflect light better

3) Vitamin C which increases the glow of your skin

Hada Labo Whitening Lotion is extremely light and watery which really makes your skin feels properly moistened. It spreads very quickly over the skin surface and gets absorbed very easily as well. The skin surface does not feels sticky after application at all.

As the time frame for usage is less than a month, it's hard to assess the whitening effect so this post is really a inital-feel review.

Hada Labo Whitening Lotion is retailing at $22.90 at Watsons, Guardian Pharmacy, Sasa and major supermarkets and departmental stores. if you would like to try out a sample before committing to a full-sized bottle, you will be glad to know that you can visit hadalabo.com.sg for free samples. :)

Disclosure: The product in this review is sent by the company for my review and consideration. All opinions stated are my own honest views and no compensation is received for this review.

Review: Mentholatum Deep Moist

For one reason or another, I have always been plagued with chapped lips and I can't seem to find a lip balm that I am happy with the texture of taste. When I was sponsored with Mentholatum Deep Moist for review, I immediately say yes and hope it would be something I like. :)

Mentholatum Deep Moist is enriched with the following ingredients:-

1) Hyaluronic acid (premium ingredient that forms a smooth, moisture locking shield for softer, smoother lips.  It can hold 1000X its weight in water, or 6 litres of water with just 1g!)

2) Shea Butter (heals the skin, and gives a soft, pleasant texture to the lip balm)

3) Jojoba oil (provides pro-longed, whole day hydration to the lips)

Other than the ingredients above, another success of Deep Moist is its ergonomic packaging design (oval shaped tube) which seems to fit to the corner of the lips better than the standard roundish tube.

After using Mentholatum Deep Moist for close to 2 weeks, my lips are not as dry as before but the essence is consistency in application. There was 1 day that my lips were extremely chapped that I felt slight pain on my lower lips. I applied Mentholatum Deep Moist liberally over my chapped lips and head off to bed in my air-conditioned room. I woke up with soft, moistened lips once again the next morning!

With regards to the ergonomic oval shaped tube of lip balm, I was actually not so used to the shape as I prefer the usual roundish tube. Nonetheless, it is not difficult to apply this balm and reach all corners of my lips with the product.

Mentholatum Deep Moist is easily available in Guardian Pharmacy and Watson's so do head over if you are interested to try it out. :)

Disclosure: The product in this review is sent by the company for my review and consideration. All opinions stated are my own honest views and no compensation is received for this review.

L'oreal Shine Caresse in Bella and Lolita

Many have told me that L'oreal Shine Caresse are affordable dupe of YSL Glossy Stains and that has certainly got me curious. However, retailing at $18.90 (if I remember correctly) is still not exactly a price I would like to pay considering it is a drugstore brand. Thus, when Watson's is having 20% sale on L'oreal brand of products, I took this opportunity to try L'oreal Shin Caresse.

Housed in a plastic golden tube with a portion of see through clear plastic, you will be able to tell the shade you are applying. I doubt it is able to indicate the amount left in the tube like YSL Glossy Stains but for me who hardly finishes her lip products, this is not part of the consideration, haha. So here we have Bella on the left above and Lolita on the right.

Bella (left), Lolita (right)

In terms of initial look and feel of L'oreal Shine Caresse, it is definitely a dupe to YSL Glossy Stains. The staying power is also comparable to YSL Glossy Stains and it leaves a light stain on my lips after breakfast and lunch. The only difference that I can feel is that my lips feels drier than if I apply YSL Glossy Stains.

For ladies who are keen about YSL Glossy Stains but unwilling to part $40 for 1 can seriously consider L'oreal Shine Caresse. Considering both brands are under the same company, the quality would not differ much.

Dior Nude Tan Paradise Duo in Coral Glow (comparison included)

If you recall from my early post here, I have mentioned previously that I had my eyes set on Coral Glow instead of Pink Glow initially. The only reason why I decided to get Pink Glow was because Coral Glow is not coming to our shores. However, I couldnt get pass the fact that my original choice is not available here in Singapore and thus decided to order it online via Nordstrom. So here I am the proud owner of both Nude Tan Paradise Duo! I will be show-casing Coral Glow in the post and will be comparing against Pink Glow as well.

As the name states it all, Coral Glow is a beautiful orangey coral shade as compared to its peachy pinkish sister, Pink Glow.

For ladies who are concerned that the orangey coral shade might turns out too orangey or muddy, I do not feel so when I did the swatches. In fact, I kind of like how it reminds me of beach gals who had that healthy sun-kissed look while playing beach volleyball. :) Texture and pigmentation is indeed top-notch. As the pigmentation and texture of Coral Glow is intense and smooth, do take note to lightly apply the colours on and slowly build up to the intensity that you desire.

Now comes the question...... Coral Glow or Pink Glow??? Let's take a look from the pan. They both look pretty close doesn't it? But if you slowly observe, you can see that Pink Glow on the left looks pinkier and Coral Glow on the right looks more orangey and coral. I do not see any difference in the 2 bronzer shades on the left side of the pan.

Pink Glow (left), Coral Glow (right)

From the swatches below, the difference between Pink and Coral Glow starts to show up more. Other than the 2 bronzer shades which look almost identical (in fact, I think they are), the stronger orange peach tone in Coral Glow (top row) stands out against the pink tone of Pink Glow (bottom row).

More comparison below:-

Coral Glow (top row), Pink Glow (bottom row)

Coral Glow (top row), Pink Glow (bottom row)

Do you need both? I think no because once it's applied on the cheeks, the difference could almost be negligible. The choice to make is whether you like orange undertone better or pink undertone better. My choice still stands with Coral Glow but I am glad I had both to satisfy my own curiosity on which is my preference.

I hereby end this post with a simple look that I had with Coral Glow on. I had it on very lightly (which seems almost non-existent, so sorry!) but hey, I had a good hair day, haha.

Chantecaille Tiger in the Wild

Thanks for lovely lady, J who was doing her spring cleaning, I managed to purchase Chantecaille Tiger in the Wild from her. Chantecaille is a brand that is new to me and I have never tried any product from them so thought this might be a good idea for me to give it a try.

Housed in a dark gun-metal shade of metal case, it does look kind of classy but is a terrible finger print magnet though. It even comes in a pouch to keep it from getting scratched.

Tiger in the Wild palette comes with 3 eyes shades and 1 cheek shade. Each pan comes with a tiger embossing which is in line with the name of the palette.

Before we get to the swatches of this palette, I really got to rant a bit. For a brand like Chantecaille which sells their palette easily S$100 and above, I wish they could do better on the quality of the packaging. While trying out this palette, I noticed the pan for the light beige shade and blush shade to be loose! No, it's not dropping out yet but I am able to turn it clockwise or anti-clockwise. This is definitely a first time for me!

So anyway, over with the ranting, let's get back to the swatches.

The light beige shade is indeed very light and I really like the taupe shade on the top right hand corner of the palette (then again, I am a taupe lover, haha!). Both the light beige and taupe shade are shimmery and satiny which is lovely but I find the blush shade quite common and dupeable. The darkest shade was one that gives me a pleasant surprise. It looks like black in the pan but when swatched turned into a deep purplish-black shade.

The texture is not the best in the world since Burberry and Le Metier de Beaute win hands down, but it is not difficult to apply and blend and I also did not experience any fallouts.

One of the advantage of Tiger in the Wild Palette is that it incorporates eyeshadows and blush in a palette which is very travel-friendly. The neutral shades are suitable for daily use (for work) and for that special night out with a smokey look, depending on your application. However, the disappointment is the quality of the packaging. Having a loose pan that turns is not cool. :(

Le Metier de Beaute Blush Kaleidoscope

Another item on Project Swap with Jacq is Le Metier de Beaute Blush Kaleidoscope. If there is only 1 blush that you would like to get, this has to be it.

Le Metier de Beaute Kaleidoscope range of products are not new to beauty lovers out there because it comes in different shades that you can use it on its own or layer with and create your own shade that you love. Definitely a winner there!

Blush Kaleidoscope comes in 4 shades in this kit: 2 matte (top row) and 2 shimmery (bottom row). The 2 pics on the left are more peachy and the 2 pictures on the right are more pinkish.

The swatch below is in order of the pic above (top row left, right and bottom row left, right). As you can see below, this blush is really pigmented (especially the 2 matte shades on the left). I only have 1 word to describe: GORGEOUS!

I decided to pair the layer the 2 peachy shades and the 2 pinkish shade to see how it would turn out. the effect came out softer as the shimmery effect of the shimmery shade softens the strong matte look (the 2 shades on the right).

I layer ALL the shades in the extreme left swatch above the effect came out different once again. This blush kaleidoscope will indeed give you multiple surprises depending on how you mix and match the shades. :)

The texture of Le Metier de Beaute is extremely smooth and it's also finely-milled. I do not face any difficulties picking up the pigment on my blush brush and application and blending is also a breeze. Even though Le Metier de Beaute Kaleidoscope usually doesn't come cheap, considering you can get X number of combinations to play around, coupled with excellent quality of the product, it is definitely an investment well spent! Now I am considering getting it for myself already!

Dior Addict Extreme in 643 Diablotine

Even since my first Dior Addict lipstick some time back, I have not gone back to Dior in grabbing a second Dior Addict lipstick because I am just not sure if I like the sheer pigmentation of Dior Addict lipsticks despite them feeling moisturising and glossy. Despite the launch of Dior Addict Extreme (which is more pigmented), no shades caught my eyes long enough to make me cave in and part with my money. However, seeing Dior Addict Extreme in 643 Diablotine is like love at first sight for me, I HAVE to get it!!!

Diablotine is a gorgeous coral pink shade that is just so perfect for summer. For me who hardly wear much makeup to work (being the lazy lazy me), this shade is just perfect to perk me up.

The texture is creamy and despite me not putting any lipbalm before application, it does not emphasize on the lines on my naturally dry lips. After 2 meals and some drinks and coffee, Diablotine stayed on my lips like a light stain which is just perfect (since I am too lazy for touch up in office).

For ladies who would like to try a stronger shade away from your usual pinks and nudes, I strongly recommend Diablotine. You can sweep it gently on your lips to get a light stained look for go stronger on your application to get a more intense shade. below is how I look with just a gentle application and I love it!