Garnier Radiance and Dark Spot Tissue Mask Review

As you may or may not know, I am a HUGE sheet mask fan and have been using them for years! I find them super effective in healing damaged skin and great for maintaining a beautiful complexion.

I recently had the opportunity to try out Garnier's Radiance and Dark Spot Tissue Mask, and I absolutely loved it!  The price is relatively cheap ($16/ 6 sheets) compared to other sheet masks, and the result, I dare say, is better than most! I would definitely recommended to my friends. Continue reading to see my in depth review of the mask.



While clay mask is widely used in North America, sheet mask is truly an Asian thing. It can be difficult to get your hands on sheet masks in North America, which is why I am super excited when Garnier announced the launch of their Radiance and Dark Spot Tissue Mask!

But of course, not all masks are created equal and I have certainly seen my fair share of bad masks. I usually judge sheet masks based on three factors:

The Sheet
Sheet mask works by saturating a absorbent cotton sheet with serum, The sheet is then applied to one's face. The sheet should be thin enough and flexible enough so that it closely adheres to your face for maximum serum exposure, but thick enough so that it absorbs plenty of serum. When applied to the face, the sheet should not feel like it is about to fall off of your face for a minimal of 20 minutes, good sheets can last for hours.

The Serum
Serum is the key ingredient that give you that beautiful skin you want. Serum will start to dry up once it is out of the packaging. Even though most sheet mask manufacture tells you to apply the mask for 10-20 minutes, sheet mask pros will tell you to wear it for 1 hr or until it dries up. Good masks will have plenty of serum for your face to soak up.

The Result
A product that does not deliver result is simply a piece of garbage.

The Garnier Experience

The Sheet
I as actually quite pleased with the quality of the sheet. It was super thin, thinner then most of the masks I have used, and thus did a good job adhering to my skin. Best the sheet was a tad small and did not cover 100% of my face, which is understandable because westerners do tend to have a much small face than Asians (or maybe I just have a big face). The face cut out did not match my face too perfectly either.

The Serum
I wore the mask for about 1 hour and it was still moist by the end. There are certainly other masks that held a lot more serum, or had serum evaporated at a slower rate. But the mask did have a good amount of serum absorbed in it.

The Result
The result is actually pretty spectacular. The mask promises to treat dark spot and it certainly delivered. I was able to see visibly whitened dark spots after simply one treatment. While I LOVE how immediately effective it is, I am slightly concerned about it at the same time. Either they had a major break through on treating dark spots, or there had to be a lot of chemicals for it to be that effective! But I mean chemical is in everything we use, at least this one is effective!

Overall, I think The Garnier Radiance and Dark Spot Tissue Mask is a pretty good product, definitely one of the better sheet masks I have used. I never really liked Garnier products in the past, but it has consistently produced a number of great products recently (i.e. their BB Cream is pretty great too), so good job Garnier!

Elle Beauty Box Fall 2013 Review

I was so excited when I came home on Friday and saw a pink box on my door step! I was even more excited when I realize it was the first ever Elle Beauty Box! 

Earlier in the month I received an email asking me to sign up for a chance to win a free beauty box. I signed up even though I knew I probably would not win it... Guess I was wrong!

Rumor has it that Elle magazine wanted to partner up with an existing beauty subscription company (i.e. Luxe Box)  to do a beauty box, like how Lou Lou magazine partnered with Loose Button to create the Lou Lou box upgrade, but I guess that did not quite work out. This beauty box is completely free, and all it asks in return is to log on to their website and review the products.

You can probably imagine how excited I was to receive free beauty products. I ran upstairs and ripped the box open.

There were five products in the box:
CoverGirl's  Clump Crusher by LashBlast Mascara (Full size) $10
CoverGirl Outlast Stay Brilliant Nail Gloss (3.5 ml) $2
Crest 3D white 2-Hour Express Whitestrip (one strip) $11
Vidal Sassoon Restoring Repair Shampoo and Conditioner (50 ml each) ($0.7)
Gillette Venue & Olay Razor (2 buy one get one free coupons)

The total worth of the box is approximately $24 dollars (I was surprised at how expensive Crest 3D white 2-Hour Express Whitestrip were). Although they are all drugstore products, I do personally use products from the brands they have sent, so none of them will be wasted, and it is super good value considering it is free!

"CoverGirl Clump Crusher by LashBlast Mascara delivers super-volumized and beautiful separated lashes. We love it because there is nothing sexier than the perfect eye flutter. Flirting lessons not included"

I am most excited about the mascara, not only is it full size, I have heard great reviews about it. You will know if you have read my favourt beauty products blog LINK that I am a big fan of Maybelline mascaras, but I heard that the Clump Crusher mascara is comparable in result to Mayelline's Falsies mascara! Since I just finished a tube, what a great time to try out something new.

 "Are you ready for your stunning closeup? If not, Don;t worry: Crest 3D White 2 Hour Express Whitestrips to the rescue. We love it because who doe snot want a read carper smile like a Hollywood Knockout? Perfect for all those kiss-kiss moments."

 I am still hesitant to use whitening strips since  my horrible experience with the Crest 3D WhiteStrips Professional Effects LINK, and now this one promises results in two hours? I will probably keep this for those really important moments when I am willing to suffer a little bit for a better simile... I really do not think my teeth is yellow enough to be doing whitening yet...

 "The Gillette Venue & Olay Razor in Sugerberry boosts you shave with fie blades and a scented moisture bar. It's a match made in skin heaven! We love it because a girl's game should always be runway-ready. A beauty-kit essential."

 I really do not think coupons can be considered an item....especially if it is buy one and get one free. I do love Venus razors though! This will be out to good  use when the time comes.

 "This Vidal Sassoon Restoring Repair Shampoo and Conditioner duo repairs and protects against future damage. We love it because your hair looks healthy and maintain its envy-inducing style."

I love mini shampoo and conditioners, great to bring on trips! but I am not too, too ecstatic towards shampoo samples... I have a ton to go through before I can get to this one.

"High-gloss colour that lasts a week-no topcoat needed! CoverGirl Outlast Stay Brilliant Nail Gloss rocks. We love it because there are 27 brilliant shades, but Sangria is a limited-edition, which makes us feel special."

I would love this nail polish soooo much if I did not already have so many nail polishes, plus, red is not really a Autumn colour... I love the idea of not needing top coat..I would totally commit to the line if it delivers the result it promises!

I will try some of these products out in the next few weeks so stay tuned for a review blog!

I hope Elle will continue with the Beauty box, and hopefully keep it free! I assume they will be sending out seasonal boxes and not monthly ones since they called this one the fall box. Be sure to watch out for the next sign up and get your own Elle Beauty Box.

Stay Beautiful~

Loose Button Luxe Box Fall 2013 SPOILER!!

Sept 22 update:

My prediction came true!

There are three more Luxe Box upgrades this season plus one add on!

Now that all the upgrades are revealed, the regular box will just be a combination of the products. I have to say, Loose Button has really out done itself this season, I love all of the boxes, especially the Minimalist box.

Cannot wait to get the products! 

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ORIGINAL POST:
I was wondering why I have received soooo few emails from Loose Button lately because according to the schedule, they are suppose to send out their fall Luxe Box by the end of September, which is 2 weeks away. I checked my account this morning, and saw the next shipping date is October 23! Now, has it always been like that or has our boxes been pushed back a month????

Wondering why it's taking so long? Loose Button is putting together a few more box upgrades! (I cannot tell you my sources, but I am 99% sure it is the case).

Box upgrades are really goods if you want to make sure you get the bang for your buck! They are typically really high valued boxes.

Loose Button probably made so much money from box upgrades last season that they want to do it again this month, but wasn't able to put everything together fast enough.

They have already put out the LouLou Box upgrade last month :

As for product spoilers, everyone will be getting an eye-shadow brush by Loose Button!! This is just based on past behaviours. I mean a Loose Button foundation brush was in the wedding box upgrade last season and it turned up in everyone's boxes. I think once all the box upgrades are released, the regular box will just be a combination of the products from the box upgrades.

As much as I love Luxe Box, Loose Button is kind of getting on my nervous with how late they are shipping out their boxes. I mean last month there was a problem with their boxes so I received my nearly a month late, the month before it was shipped out late for a week and this month they just pushed it back a month. I mean I do not need the products urgently or anything, but it would be nice to receive my products when it was promised.

For now I will just wait patiently to see what other upgrades are available and hope my box arrives on time.

Stay beautiful~

[Experiment] Acne Scar/Dark Spot Treatment- First Check-In

It has been five days since I first started on my lemon experiment, and it's time to check-in on the result, let you guys know some unrealized benefits, and minor procedural adjustments.

Click Here for the original experiment set up.

I have been applying lemon juice onto my face every night for the past five days, unfortunately, I have yet to observe any visible results. Even if there is any improvement, it is probably too minor and too gradual to be observable by the naked eye. Maybe one day I will wake up and see that all my dark spots are gone... and I would realize the amazing-ness of lemon juice. But so far, nothing yet.... but I mean, even with high end skin care products, you need to give it a few weeks or month for it to show visible improvement.

Even though there was no observable improvements in the scar/dark spot area, I did find that lemon juice is surprisingly good at zapping away pimples. The result is even better than some of the acne treatment products out there. Remember those two giant pimples on my forehead in my previous POST, their size was significantly reduced one day after lemon juice was applied, and they were completely gone by the second day. Normally it would take 5-7 days for a pimple that size to heal. The same thing happened to a few other pimples, so now, I kind of use lemon juice as a acne treatment.

And now for the minor procedural improvement part, remember how I squeezed the juice of half a lemon into a bottle so that it's convenient to use? Well, scratch that plan. This is an experiment, I am learning from it as well, and I can admit to faults. But do not worry though, there are no harmful effects.

Contrary to what I thought, the effectiveness of lemon juice greatly reduces a few hours after it is squeezed due to oxidation. So even though it did not spoil, it is less effective. Four days after I squeezed the lemon juice, it is hardly acidic, and it smells a little like lemonade, and I know lemonade does not help the skin. So the new plan is that I will freshly cut a slice of lemon every night and rub it onto my skin, it is a little more work and less convenient, but hey, what's a little work for better skin?

Will check in again in a few days, stay beautiful~

Acne Scar/Dark Spot Treatment Using Lemon- An experiment

Not going to lie, I have acne. Although the problem is not so significant today, I have a number of scars left from traumatic acne cases from my younger years. Even today, one or two acne would pop up leaving hateful dark spots on my face....  ughh!!!

I have looked into a number of scar & dark spot treatment products in the market, and from my research, none of them seem to work very well. while I was reading reviews, I came across a number of home DIY scar treatments, one of them being lemon! (There was also one using onion, but I did not like the idea of having a onion smell to my face) 

I then went to Makeup Alley, a consumer review site, to read people's reviews, and I was very surprised to find that lemon for dark spot/ scar treatment had a 4.0/4.0 review score. Here is the LINK, read it for yourselves.

So, I have decided to try the lemon treatment for myself.

I took this picture today of me with absolutely no makeup on. I recently got two huge pimples on my forehead and a few more on my chin, which prompted me to seek out dark spot treatments.

Apparently, high concentration of vitamin C, antioxidant and  critic acid found in lemon works wonders for treating dark spots and scars, though long term use is needed.

Starting today, I will apply lemon juice onto my skin every night (I will make adjustments if see fit), and I will blog on my progress and my thoughts on the experiment.

Like a legit lab report, I have written out the purpose and stuff...

Purpose: To test out the effectiveness of lemon on the treatment of scar and dark spot

Hypothesis: Through continual use of lemon juice, dark spots will lightened and scars will be minimized

Material: lemon (preferably organic), cotton pad, container, funnel

Method: 

 Obtain a large lemon, one that has a lot of lemon juice~

Wash the lemon so that none of the bacteria on the skin gets onto the flesh once cut, and then cut the lemon into halves or quarters for easy squeezing and maximum juice obtainment!!

 Squeeze the juice into a bowl first, and then transfer it into a smaller bottle using a funnel. I only squeezed half a lemon because even though lemon is highly acidic and do not get bad very fast, I want to use it up relatively fast while it's still relatively fresh. You can always use the other half of the lemon for a lemonade or any other desserts.

And lastly, saturate a cotton pad with lemon juice and wipe it all over your face. Leave on overnight and rinse your face in the morning.

NOTE: never expose your skin to sun light after applying lemon juice, therefore, do not do this during day time as lemon juice will react with UV ray and darken your skin! (if you have to, apply lots of sunscreen)

I have applied the lemon juice onto my face today already. It was a little tingly for the first 10 seconds, and now my face just feels a little tight, like after applying egg white to your face. Although my sources tell me to leave it on overnight, I am still skeptical about it because there is still other stuff like sugar in lemon.... hope I do not get any major acne tomorrow or ruin my face somehow.

I Will keep you guys updated. Stay beautiful~

Favourt Beauty Products [September 2013]- part 1

I am quite a minimalist when it comes to makeup products, But I absolutely fear that bad make up is going to mess up my skin, either breakouts, premature aging or looking like a hot mess, so here are a few products that are my personally favourts~ hope it will help you in making your choices.

Concealer: The Body Shop- Flawless Skin Protecting Concealer - shade 01, $10



It has been awhile since I have used a concealer, but this is the one that I used in the past. Because it is in the form of a stick, it is quite firm and tugs on my skin if it is directly applied. A little trick I use is that I rub the concealer onto my finger so that the temperature of my finger melts the concealer. It makes for an easier application and better coverage.

The concealer is quite long wear, great coverage and never give my skin any problems. But the there are so few colours offered that none of them quite match my skin tone >.<

BB Cream: Garnier BB Cream Miracle Skin Perfector for Combination to Oily Skin - Medium/Light



I really love the coverage of this BB cream, I have read and viewed many positive reviews of this product and I decided to try it out for myself. What I found with most other BB creams, including Stila's Stay All Day 10 in 1 BB cream, is that the coverage is way too shear!
Garnier's BB cream has medium coverage, plus it feels light weight, which is great for summer. It is also very long lasting~ The only downside to the BB cream is that it only has three shade, so needless to say it does not match my skin tone perfectly, and this BB cream have an weird orange undertone to it... As for its claim to minimize pores and hydrating factors, I really doubt its effectiveness, for I have observed no such benefits.

Foundation: Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24H-$45

A tad expensive, I agree, I can only recommend to use it sparingly . I mainly use this foundation during the winter months because despite its great coverage and wide variety of colour choices, it does feel heavy on my skin, plus, it's expensive >.< And as it promises, it does lasts for a long time.

Pressed Powder: Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder $8



I have been using this pressed powder for the longest time, although it does not keep my skin matte for very long, it does a good job setting my bb cream/foundation, plus, no breakouts~ It is a very basic press powder that's nothing too special but relatively cheap... I should have my eyes set on Revlon's Nearly Naked Powder as my next target.

Eye Liner

Gel eyeliner- Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner $27



This is perhaps the best gel eyeliner out there in the market. The formula glides easily, stays on all day long without smudging even a little bit and it is easy to remove! The finish is also very natural, well, as natural as eyeliner can ever dream to be. Gel liner is by far my favourt kind of eyeliner, it does not smudge like pencil liner and it does not have the harshness of liquid liner.

Gel eyeliner brush: Bobbi Brown Ultra Fine Eyeliner Brush: $30



Wow, it is certainly expensive to use gel eyeliner, since you have to get a brush for it.  But Bobbi Brown eyeliner brush is just amazing!!! I would recommend it to anyone! Although it is a little expensive, I figured why would I buy something that's second best and delivers sub par result. I loved it immediately when I used it in the store, it is so easy to control and it creates a such fine line. It is also super easy to clean~

Pencil eyeliner: Cover Girl Perfect Point Plus Eyeliner $8


I would not say that the eyeliner draws the finest or the most precious line, but the smudger tip blends everything and give a very nice mini smoky eye look. I also use the smudger tip to wing out the end to get a soft cat eye look. Unfortunately this eyeliner do smudge... so I generally do not use it during the summer since sweat just adds to the smudging problem.

Mascara: Maybelline One by One Volume Express $12




I love, love this mascara! I have used a lot of mascaras, from Lancome's mascara Hypnose to Cover girl, and none of them compares to this one. It does not clump AT ALL! It's buildable, and it adds length and volume! But because it is a water proof mascara, it is a little difficult to remove....

Another mascara that's comparable in performance is Maybelline Lash Stiletto ($8) It does a great job lengthening the lash, but it does not add as much volume as One by One Volume Express. It is not waterproof, but it does not smudge too much and it's easier to remove. The first time I used this mascara, my friends were so impressed with the look that they asked me what brand of mascara I used!



uhhhh... this post is taking me forever to finish, so this will be it for part 1, stay tuned for part 2

Stay Beautiful