Product Review : SANA Esteny The Massage Cool

Annyeong! I'm back from Korea and just seeing our new blog layout, I feel super motivated to blog~ It's so girly and soft now plus we spent an entire day doing it yesterday. I really love it! What do you all think xD

I'm gonna do a Korea trip post of course but because I have not finished compiling the piccies, those will have to wait awhile! In the mean time, here's something that I've been using for a little while after getting back form Korea.

Firstly when we go on overseas trip with a tour guide, there's always a whole lot of walking isn't it? Well I guess for most people, it's sitting in the bus till their butt hurts. Mine however involved climbing a lot of stairs, walking, and even climbing a mountain :/ I did some ski-ing too and that really made my entire body ache. So in a sense, despite enjoying my trip, I came back physically exhausted.

So when I received this product, I used it immediately!

Presenting SANA Esteny The Massage Cool~

Here's the back of the product but I can't read Japanese much at all. So here's the details of this product taken from SANA's Facebook :

"Esteny The Massage Cool: For Slimming Of Legs!! 

Gingers oil extract and Green Coffee formulated. Direct targeting on fats & poor circulation. With Cool-massaging-effect and refreshing aroma. 

A combination of skin-toning and helps swollen legs. Excellent for tired legs! Ginger extract and Green Coffee are combined. Cool feeling helps reverse blood circulation through legs.Non rinse-off type. Fresh apple & Ginger fragrance."

On the back of the product, it shows you how you should massage your legs.

"Before sleep, apply generous amount to legs. Work way up from sole to ankle and knee with massaging motion. After usage, rinse hand with water." - Directions from SANA's Facebook

So here's how the product looks like. A milky and very slightly blueish kinda gel. This is just to show you what the product looks like. If I'm lazy, I tend to use this sort of like a moisturizer :x A quick application before bed. However if I were to massage, I used A WHOLE LOT of this product. Why so? As it's a gel, it absorbs really quickly into the skin. If you wish to massage your legs, you must ensure that your legs are still "slippery" with the product so you wouldn't be tugging on your skin.

Although this product contains ginger oil, I couldn't detect it. It smells like... You know there's this powder that feels icy on the skin? We used to call it "snake powder". But for the record though guys use it more often than girls, I love that scent :x This smells like that with a hint of citrus.

My say on this product is that... This product is like yoko yoko for ladies. Here's a picture of it for those of you who don't know yoko yoko.

It has that cooling and very "shuang" feeling after application BUT it helps to moisturize the legs at the same time. It does soothe the leg ache but I have not really noticed any significant slimming effect. Why use this over yoko yoko? Because of the scent! I use this in the day before and it smells better than the herbal medicine smell that yoko yoko has. But TBH Idk if you should use this on anywhere else other than your legs. Better to follow instructions.

All in all, this is a nice product to have but it is not a must buy in my case... If you're one who likes to indulge and pamper yourself a lot, you could give this a try!

Texture : ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (Absorbs really quickly, but too quickly that it's a little hard to massage.)

Effectiveness : ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (Stars off for the slimming because I really did not see it.)

Scent : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (I find this scent really appealing to me though.)

Overall : ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (To splurge or not to splurge? I'll leave it up to you after reading the review!)

And goodbye for now my Domokies! Am off to my grandma house to have an early birthday celebration!

Cheers,
Domo

Disclaimer : This product was sent to be for reviewing purposes by SANA Singapore. It does not affect the honesty of my review in any way.

New layout + Quick update!

Hi Domokies, it's been a while~! I've been busy with work but we've finally managed to find some time to have a photoshoot, and change the layout. Tell us what you think about it and what we can improve on as well.

Domo returned from a family holiday in Korea recently. So stay tuned for an exciting travel log of her trip.
^ w ^ (Domo is seated beside me and she says "It's not that exciting, actually." and also "I've recently became a barrel again.")

As for myself, I have been sewing fat cats, working like a kami-sama and trying to grow eye bags. I've got a couple of DIY posts in the backlog that's way overdue, but fear not! Ghostbusters are here. (But fear furbies, they will be the cause of an apocalypse.) I mean, my new year resolution would be to blog more often, is what I'm trying to say.

Alas, the end of the world hath not befallen us, but the year draws to a close. For those thinking 'WTH have I been doing this year?!', take heart, for we are the survival of a (non-existent) zombie apocalypse.

Domo here, I think Cookie has gone nuts from editing the layout all day. She has short circuited or something.

Anyway, happy new year in advance (and a belated happy new year if you're reading this after 1 Jan). We wish everyone future zombie survivability and a good year ahead. Stay human! (I SAID 'HEALTHY'.)

Goodnight! (depending on your timezone)

Love,
Cookie, and Domo

Product Review : L'Oreal Youth Code Boosting Essence

Hello hello! I've been slacking today T^T But I saw this product on the Watsons sale and I simply HAVE to review it now.

This is a product that has been raved by plenty and mentioned as a dupe for a certain product.

Presenting...

The L'Oreal Youth Code Boosting Essence! (Usually mentioned as a dupe for the Lancome Genefique Youth Activator. I have not used that thus I am unable to provide a comparison.)

This is... In a sense, a serum for your serum. SERUMCEPTION. Okay not really unless you use two serums like me. Otherwise, take it as a primer for your facial cream. Of course it's also supposed to be a serum that provides you with the above effects as well.

Apologies in advance here as I'm honestly not a pro in this aspect and can only show you what L'Oreal says.

Here's the ingredients list for those of you who understand the various names above. (I only understand very basic ones)

So... Let us talk about the usage. It doesn't specifically mention how much you're supposed to use each time other than using this twice a day. This product looks like this.

A simple glass bottle with...

A dropper. When assisted by the SA, I was told that one drop would be sufficient for my entire face. That, I have found to be untrue as I have a fat face. Fat face needs more than one drop. The dropper only picks up a little amount of product each time and I have found that the best amount is just fully pumping out whatever the dropper can pick up. (Please do not strictly follow by this as sometimes it picks up slightly more as shown in the picture. Adjust accordingly to how fat your face is :P)

For the texture, it's amazing! It's a rather liquidy serum that spreads super easily on your face and absorbs a few seconds later. This will be a great product for the oily skin peeps as most products that have any anti aging properties at all are usually somewhat greasy, even if slightly. This absorbs like a dream and leaves skin feeling hydrated and plump.

Here's the product on my skin.

Huuhuu, don't be mistaken, this is just one drop!

Absorbs without leaving any hint of dewiness or oilyness on the skin. Perfect!

It's better if you have two hands to compare the before and after but my camera isn't the best so you'll have to either trust me / google for more reviews / go to watsons to try.

I've been using this for more than a month and it's safe to say that I adore this product. I'm not sure if my other skincare products have gotten better with the usage of this serum but this by itself is already doing a wonderful job. It's no wonder so many beauty bloggers love it! I also did not get clogged pores or any breakouts from this. My skin's really nice right now :3

Regarding the scent, it's a very mild floral scent that goes away shortly after application. Nothing much, acceptable to me.

I can't say that everyone would like this because well, everyone's different. I've yet to see a product that is 100% loved by people. This one usually retails for $39.90 if I'm not wrong but during the Watsons sale, this goes for just $29.90. One bottle will last you for about 3 months or so with daily usage as I'm only about 1/3 through with mine. (Alternatively if you're still not a Watsons member, Guardian will do too :) Use Passion card!)

***UPDATE***

I'm sad to say, this product is no longer of use to me. Initially, I had just finished my doctors medicine so I wasn't prone to breakouts at all. I also didn't know that this product was causing me to have oil seeds and zits till I was experimenting with another serum and realized my breakouts stopped. I have now stopped using it as it is not suitable for my skin. Ratings have been edited.

Texture : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (Almost instantly absorbed.)
Scent : ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (A pretty normal scent, nothing overwhelming. Just okay with it.)
Effectiveness : ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ (Works well with smoothness and plumping but broke me out :<)
Overall : ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ (If it didn't make me breakout, I would give it more stars.)

Love,
Domo