Product Review : VOV Daily Fresh Mask in Ice Aloe, Sake Nori and Sakura Honey

Hello Domokies! Long time no review :/ But but I've been hardworking and taking piccies so I suppose more will be up soon~

For now, I'll be sharing several masks reviews with you, starring the Daily Fresh Masks from VOV. Do note that as I'm compiling 3 different masks reviews in one, it will be quite picture heavy.

First up, the VOV DFM in Ice Aloe.

Basically this is just supposed to be a hydrating and soothing mask. We all know the properties of Aloe by now don't we?

Here you can see how to use it. I personally leave my DFM masks on for 20 minutes. Do take note that this mask contains alchohol and fragrance so if you have sensitive skin you might wanna be more cautious. I did not experience any stinging sensation whatsoever and the fragrance was just a light floral scent.

The mask comes with the eye flap thingy so it's a bonus that you don't have to use a separate eye mask? The mask fits almost perfectly on my face, except for my bulbous nose :(

If you wanna continue surfing the web like me, you can always just fold the flap downwards like so.

Here's a picture of the serum from this mask. It is very thick and gel / jelly like. Upon contact with skin + rubbing / massaging, the gel like consistency becomes watery and absorbs fully into the skin without any sticky or oily residue.

L - Before / R - After

Skin felt soft and smooth after usage. The leftover essence was easily massaged into the skin and as mentioned earlier, no oily film or residue. No stickiness detected either. However, the skin around my cheeks felt a little tight. I am unable to explain why but my skin did not feel dry or agitated. Tight feeling disappeared after following up with my usual skincare routine.

Texture : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (Absorbs quickly)
Effectiveness : ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (It did what it was supposed to, just a star off for the weird tight feeling.)
Scent : ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (A very acceptable scent, neither extremely appealing to me nor overwhelming.)
Overall : ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (A decent mask for almost all skin types, not sure about those with sensitive skin though.)

Now for the Sake Nori Mask.

Basically a brightening mask!

*Not sure if this is true but I've once read that sake agitates those with sensitive skin. I however do not have that and thus am unable to confirm for you.

L - Before / R - After

I apologize that my pictures do not do this mask justice :/ If you can see, the lighting for both seems a little different and I am still working on it. This mask in reality made my complexion brighter, softer and smoother! If I'm not mistaken, my dark eye circles are a little less red / puffy? The serum for this mask is the same as the aloe once so I'm not going to repeat the picture. The absorption rate is also the same as the aloe one, with no sticky or oily feeling. The scent is also something floral... (What a relief cause I ain't no want my face smelling like sake :/)

Texture : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (Absorbs quickly)
Effectiveness : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (I love the brightening effect :D)
Scent : ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (Floral is too meh for me.)
Overall : ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (It's quite a good mask! Worth a shot.)

And lastly, the Sakura Honey one. I was most excited about this one due to the beautiful pink packaging!

Sooooo pretty and girly and appealing!

Mask shape is the same for all "flavors" in case you're wondering.

A different texture for the essence! This one is a little more runny than the previous two masks but still quite thick.

L - Before / R - After

Love this brightening and soothing mask! If you squint at the picture, you'll notice a little spot on my left cheek. It's alot less red after using this mask and face was brighter! I personally felt that this was even more moisturizing than the previous two masks as it took awhile longer to sink in and my face felt more... Nourished. I was hoping for a sweet honey kinda scent but sadly, this is once again floral. I have nothing against floral scents! I just prefer fruits~

Texture : ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (Absorbs well but takes a longer time to sink in completely.)
Effectiveness : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (Brightening as well as soothing.)
Scent : ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (Floral again...)
Overall : ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (Y)

SUMMARY

I've always loved the VOV masks even before I was sent these for reviewing. I'm however guilty of purchasing only the fruity ones like the Strawberry / Tomato / Grape(Am not sure if it's called grapes, forgot alr). I super heart the strawberry one in particular because it smells sweet and amazing~ Recommended if you're a fan of sweet fruity scents. I was also sent a pomegranate one to review but I didn't have time to use it till the 7th month and honestly I'm a lil afraid of taking pictures of myself in case something (someone) else shows up.

Out of these three I've reviewed, I'd recommend getting either the Sakura Honey or the Sake Nori one as they're more unique and they hydrate my skin as well. I prefer my masks to have a whitening / brightening effect as my complexion is always dull. The aloe one is probably more for people who want to soothe agitated skin only.

These are available at Watsons for $2 each and they come in 15 types! So choose according to your skin's needs :D

P.S. You can find their FB page HERE! Also, they'll be having a buy 5 get 1 free promotion at Watsons from 15-28 August!

Love,
Domo ❤

Disclaimer : These masks were sent to me for reviewing purposes by Essential Nature (Thank you!) but do not affect the honesty of the review in any way. Please remember that not everyone has the same skin so effects will vary.

Product Review : Kinohimitsu BB Drink

Hi my Domokies! Apparently my kick to Ringo has been unsuccessful because I'm back and she's not! She's still busy with work unfortunately but I've managed to date her for Glee the 3D movie! Mega excited and I can't wait to see Lea! She's my idol~ Her voice is absolutely incredible!

Must not let review post mutate into Gleeky post! I shall gleek out in another post so that those who are not interested in that aspect can sit out on it!

Today's post will be on...

The Kinohimitsu BB Drink!

6 bottles to consume for a period of 6 days :D

So what's this BB drink all about?

"The key to gorgeous looks is to have healthy, glowing skin. Kinohimitsu J’pan BB Drink is a functional, instant drink that helps restore your skin’s natural glow and clarity - not only on the face but the entire body, including the back, hands and legs.


Infused with hydrolysed bird’s nest, chicken cartilage (a source of hyaluronic acid) and fermented yeast (a source of co-enzyme Q10, CoQ10), Kinohimitsu J’pan BB Drink is a healthy and effective solution to nourish, hydrate and rejuvenate every single cell in your body by giving rich, healthful nutrients to promote a baby-like rosy complexion." - Taken from Kinohimitsu.

The ingredients list as usual! I was posed with a question some time ago with regards to the bird nest in this BB drink. Logically, if you wanted to drink bird nests, why should you get this instead of those normal bird nest drink?

Well the bird nest powder you see in the ingredients list isn't just like any other bird nest. It's HYDROLYZED bird nest.

"Hydrolyzed bird nest is a Japan-patented ingredient (Patent No.: JP2003-095961; JP2005-206547; JP2002-068988). Bird’s Nest is rich in Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF), sialic acid (200 times higher than royal jelly), amino acids and minerals which are essential to promote skin cell regeneration, enhance skin healing and promote youthful-looking skin. It is produced via an enzymatic process at a small molecule size for effective and optimum absorption without using any chemicals and bleaching agents." - Taken from Kinohimitsu.

I was also rather mystified at the presence of chicken cartilage in the ingredients list. I know what it is but I had no idea what its purpose was! Let me enlighten all of you now. Chicken cartilage is a source of Hyaluronic Acid!!! ━━Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||)━━ I did not know that either! Now we've all learnt something haven't we? If ya'all need a more elaborate explanation of what Hyaluronic acid is, drop by the Kinohimitsu website to take a look!

Okay I don't want to blabber on and on about the ingredients list when you can see more detailed information on their website. I'm sure that you can see for yourselves all the different goodies in the ingredients list.

Personally I prefer consuming this at night on an empty stomach because firstly, I think it'll absorb better. Secondly, all the collagen and bird nest can work its magic at night during the skin regenerating/recovery period! Lastly, I also think that BB drink + Sleep = The ultimate winning combo as you get your dosage of rest too. So yes, drink it at night, let your skin rest, recover and regenerate in your beauty sleep!

I wanted to pour it into a shot glass for a nicer picture but I lost it so a wine glass will have to do! I love mine chilled for a tasty treat before I head off to bed.

It took me a lot of courage to put this photo up. It's my defenseless, makeup-less, circle-lens-less face!!! And both the before and after shots are taken in the morning while I'm still groggy and giving this weird wonky smile + eyes. However for the sake of Domokie, here's my face. Don't scream :)

L - Before / R - After 6 days consumption

Say hello to my groggy face. Okay all wonkiness aside, if you look at the area between my nose and my mouth, you'll see a little acne scar there. And once you see that, compare the before and after picture and you'll know it's fading! Point proven, it does speed up the healing process of the skin :D Of course this effect came with daily consumption of the product. Another thing I noticed that was a lot more obvious was that my dry lips went poof! Finally, days when my lips aren't cracked or peeling~

If it weren't for the before and after pictures, I wouldn't have really noticed but as you can see, my after picture looks more radiant than that of the before. Although the lighting is slightly different, I look more awake in the after photo. I think it helps with reducing the yellow dull complexion for to really see the effects, you really have to stick to consuming this regularly.

In simple summarized terms, this product works for me. BUT, I have to drink a bottle a day for better results!

What does this product taste like? This is a really hard one to describe. Initially I was afraid it'd taste like cherry juice but I was hoping for it to be like your usual sweet bird nest drink. It turned out as something like no other. It's sweet, fruity with that slight hint of a medicinal taste you get with drinks that has collagen in it. For the strangest reasons, it actually tastes pretty appealing to me and like I've mentioned above, it's like tasty, healthy and non-fattening treat for me to enjoy before I head off to bed.

A box of 6 bottles costs $39.90 so it's about $6.65 per bottle. Honestly, I think it's kinda expensive. Yet at the same time, if you have a stable income, I think you should get this. You only need to consume a bottle a day for 6 days if you're a first time user. Afterwards, for maintenance, you can drink a bottle every three days so just scrimp about $2.20 a day and you can afford this drink! Cut down on your snacks and fizzy drinks, get this healthy one instead. I've seen this at various Watsons outlet and you can get it there so you can earn points with your member card ;)

I can't judge this like I would do with our normal rating system but if I had to give it stars, this will be FOUR stars. One off for the pricing but other than that I have nothing else to complain about this product!

P.S. It's now buy 2 get 1 free at Watsons!

P.S.S. Remember to like their FACEBOOK PAGE to know about more promotions, new launches and discounts!!!

Love,

Chiharu ❤

Disclaimer : This product was sent to me for reviewing purposes by Confirm Trading. This review is based on my own experience with this product and is absolutely honest. Take note that effects may vary with individual especially when we are of different ages.

Product Review : Vichy Thermal Spa Water

A few days ago, I blogged about the Vichy's Spa Water and 80th Anniversary workshop. I recommended ya'all to purchase THIS on Domokie's FB page.

Yes, that's the normal packaging for the Vichy Thermal Spa Water I tried at the workshop. And you all should know this. I used to think that such water spray thingies are like some kinda scam, it's like asking us to pay for a spray with water in it. Before I thought of such water sprays as scams, I bought a few and tested them out. To me, those were just water. I didn't see any effect at all so yes, for the rest of my life, I classified them as plain water.

However, after attending the Vichy workshop and trying it out...

I bought it!!! I bought the limited edition packaging one so it looks different from the first picture. Now the best thing to prove that I love and recommend a product is when I buy it after testing it. This is now my 神奇水, AKA my newly found Miracle water. Before I start babbling more, let's take a look at the usual, ingredients list!

Yea... Once again I recall my previous thinking of the plain water spray thing...

Not just the plain water you can get from your tap ;) I know the difference now, this water actually has heaps of minerals that our skin requires!

This water's actually from a Spring in a town called Vichy. Here's a continuation for the cool facts! Cool fact #3, the Spring from which this water is drawn from has been declared a public health spring in 1846! Vichy is like... A really really ancient and old grandparent. This miracle water is 100% natural of course, from the spring itself and EFFECTIVE at the same time! I myself have seen some strange special effects when using this so I'm about to share it.

This water is what I call, 万能. Super multi-purpose.

Ta-da! So many uses~ But I have one more to show you and that's my absolute favorite!

Also, I will not be telling you what Vichy says because for stats and info, you can ask from the BA working at the counter. Sharing my experience is a different thing.

My favorite way to use this is as a mask. You'll have to get your own compressed mask from SASA though.

There's no before picture but can you believe that this was taken at about 8pm, after 8 hours of work excluding travelling time? I've had my make up on since around 7am in the morning and it's been more than 12 hours. This is what sparked me to get this can of miracle water.

Also, I did not blot my face before taking this picture or prior to using the mask. It ALL magically DISAPPEARED. There was no cakiness, no nothing, except for my blush being somewhat eaten away. My face was super bright too. Catherine saw the difference too, so I swear you have to do it to witness it for yourself.

I did a mini test the next morning, I woke up with a mega greasy face and proceeded to spritz a good amount of this miracle water all over my face. I then waited for about 10-15 seconds before dabbing it off with a tissue. Guess what? I became shine free! I was super amazed so I told Ringo, which was why she suggested drinking this after eating a heavy meal to get rid of the oils. This water is sweet too =) It can be drunk but I don't think you'd wanna spend your money just to drink this. NOT that I intentionally spritz this in my mouth, I accidentally sprayed on too much one day and it trickled into my mouth =/

We were not sponsored the 150ml set, Ringo, Catherine and I bought a set each though. Our actions speak a lot louder than this post. I'm not sure if this limited packaging set is still available but I think the normal one is, so get one from your nearest Vichy counter today :) It is that good! Besides, it costs only 14.90 for two cans of this if I'm not wrong, so why not try it out once?

Effectiveness : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (Soothes, brightens, hydrates, miracle!)

Scent: No scent detected.

Texture: Like how your water would feel.

Overall: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (It's cheap, it works, sensitive skin can use it, so why not try it?)

Love,
Chiharu ❤

Disclaimer : I bought the 150ml twin pak myself.

Product Review : Hada Labo Firming + Lifting Lotion

Hello hello! What a terribly warm afternoon it is! I'm camping at home with a cup of very sour self-made lemon tea. I was intending to do a mask review but I realized the deadline for this is earlier!

Oh and before I begin, have you checked out our spree page HERE? We're bringing in for everyone products that aren't easily available in SG and at a way cheaper price too! There's even Hello Kitty!

Okay but let's proceed shall we, before I digress further and spam pictures of Hello Kitty. On an extremely warm afternoon similar to today, the postman came knocking on my door! I didn't see it coming and I was super excited. If the postman wouldn't give it to me I would've robbed it from her xD

I received something from...

The Sample Store!!! I swear I love TSS okay, especially Elfaine because she's just so adorable. Have you met her before? If you have, you're sure to know what I'm talking about! Nono, this post isn't about her though as much as I like her, it's about...

This beautiful red bottle! The Hada Labo Firming + Lifting Lotion. Before I confuse any one, this is not a moisturizer or cream. It's what we more commonly know as a toner. I must admit, I'm a proud owner of their regular Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Lotion and I actually stupidly thought it was a moisturizer before I realized my mistake. The previous one came in a white-ish bottle and I actually like this one more. It's such a rich vibrant shade of red, totally adds life to my messy table.

In the above picture, you can see the 3 key ingredients of this product. For collagen, I don't see a need to explain further! KNOWING WHAT COLLAGEN DOES FOR YOUR SKIN IS A MUST. So please research it yourself to imprint it in your head forever!!!

Now let me move on to the Retinol Vitamin A. I don't really want to throw all sorts of big words at my readers and confuse people, so let me try and summarize it in the simplest way possible. It's basically an ingredient that helps with anti aging and helps in maintaining the health of your skin. And why would our skin respond well to this particular ingredient? It's because the molecular structure of the Retinol Vitamin A is tiny enough to get into the lower layers of skin. So what's below? Collagen and elastin! This particular product is also proven to help with skin texture/tone/color, pigmentation, fine lines, winkles and... Our skin’s hydration level! See how this ingredient is significant now?

This product also contains the ever so familiar Sodium Hyaluronate. What is it? Sodium Hyaluronate, when applied topically, reaches deep into your dermis to combine with and maintain moisture. Quick fact: Sodium Hyaluronate (which has a smaller molecular size than Hyaluronic acid) can hold up to 1000 times its own weight in water. Directly copied from Ringo's post HERE.

Enough of the words!

I tried to capture the ingredients list but... Yea, it's not that easy to do on such a surface. But all yer sensitive babes have nothing to fear! This product is FOUR FREE. Wtbbq is four free?! Okay, I don't mean that as for free, it's really four free. Fragrance free, mineral oil free, alcohol free and colorants free! Geddit now? ;) Find out how you can try this out FOUR FREE later on in the post~~~

Here's what the product looks like. A slightly milky liquid.You don't have to use this with a cotton pad, just drip 2-3 drops onto your palm and pat gently onto your face.

Absorbs nicely and makes my skin less scaly! After my chunk of words above, if I say that this product doesn't do anything for me, I'd be lying through my teeth. So let me state my real life experience. Firstly, I've been breaking out during the time I tried this. And because I've been breaking out, I decided to let my skin rest. Yes it's my personal weird remedy for breakouts. I try to apply as little stuff on my skin as possible, even skincare.

So that was it in my skincare routine. Just this bottle of lotion and a pimple cream. Yes amazingly, my skin did not shrivel up and become a raisin. So I think that's the best way to prove hydration. I personally don't recommend doing it to yourself, what I feel is best for me does not mean it will be best for you. So please continue using your serum and moisturizer afterwards!!! However for first timers, do note that this will be a little sticky at first but it'll disappear once you finish patting it in. True to it's words, there's no scent at all.

My skin is definitely more plump after using this and skin that is more plump also leads to the skin being more firm and taut. I haven't really seen visible lifting effects yet so I'm guessing I need to use this bottle for a longer period of time before seeing that effect!

You can get this at Watsons for $25.90 OR alternatively, you can first try a sample of it HERE! Completely free~

Effectiveness (Firming + Lifting): ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (Firming yes, lifting not visible yet so one star off)

Hydration: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (Definitely hydrating but my skin isn't that deprived of moisture either)

Texture: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (A little bit stick at first but absorbs pretty quickly, requires quite a bit of patting)

Overall: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (It's worth a try, especially for sensitive skin!)

Regards.
Chiharu ❤

Disclaimer : This product was sent to me for reviewing purposes from TSS. This does not in any way affect my review!