Always in an uber cold and drying air-conditioned room from 8am till 6pm, and staring at the PC non stop, imagine the oil that’s secreted that’s enough to fry 10 eggs! Ew! Gross!

And oil blotters? I can finish 1 box (1 box = 250 pieces in like a week, if I want to?)

No way am I letting my skin suffer!

So besides drinking water like a fish, literally, I switch my day moisturizer from Olay Total Effects to this!

Loreal Hydrafresh Aqua Gel!

I used the Aqua Essence before and had love it to bits! Click here if you want to have a read on it.

So what’s the difference?

Packaging, it’s the same. Same jar. Same big frosty heavy glass jar. 50ml. Same price too! Rm29.90.

But that’s all the similarities. They are both, quite different!

First, the colour.

This is a creamy whitish green, while Aqua Essence is a translucent green colour. Aqua Gel, albeit it’s name, it’s not very gel-like, it’s kinda like a cross between gel and cream, not as heavy as a cream, but not that light as a gel. Aqua Essence are all the way gel. As in gel. Scent wise, Aqua Gel smells more or less the same like Aqua Essence, but not as sharp. And Aqua Gel don’t sting your face as easily as Aqua Essence! Good thing!

I am too lazy to type, so I just snap pictures of the descriptions. I am fabulously lazy. LOL. But yet I get the info out to you people!

So, it works pretty well for me. Non sticky, lightweight, absorbs into my skin fast and left my skin pretty soft and nice. I did notice a reduce on oil production, though not that much, but a reduction is a good sign that my skin is drinking the goodies up! So far no break out for me, and I like how my skin look with it being soft and supple.

I usually use this for the day, as my skin requires the extra bost of hydration and during the nights when my skin is feeling fry and taut. Hardly happens though. Olay is usually used as my bedtime moisturizer as it can help to repair my skin. Tee hee. I am so clever.

So for hot humid days in Malaysia, or whever you are, remember to drink loads of water to keep yourself cool and well hydrated. Your body and skin will thank you for this!

p/s: You get flu/ colds much easier if you are not well hydrated, I notice. At least for me. Cough cough. Wheez wheez. Am sick actually for the past week. Tsk.

Take good care, peeps!

Am off for the weekends! ^_^

Loreal Hydrafresh Aqua Essence Gel

I dislike Loreal skincare line. It doesn’t work for my skin. >_<

But this is my 2nd jar.

There’s only one reason I re-purchase this when I said I dislike Loreal skincare and there are so many other moisturizers in the market.

I like it because it’s lightweight, doesn’t leave a greasy, sticky feeling on my skin after application. Even if I put a thick layer, it sinks into my skin almost immediately once I gently massage it in.

I have combination-oily skin, which I think because on the inside I am dehydrated. When I use this, my skin feels very supple and smooth to the touch, sebum secretion is cut down to almost half, and with Biore sunblock, face can go almost matte for half a day. But of course, as the day comes to an end, my face still goes oily, but I don’t mind. I’m immune to it. I’m lucky enough to have my face being in matte condition for half a day.

This moisturizer has a light refreshing scent, just like it’s green colour gel. It’s quite watery, which makes face massaging feels very good, because it’s easy to spread, it doesn’t tug at your skin. But do be careful, because it is easily absorb by the skin, you might need to use a slightly heavier amount of it for your face. I don’t quite mind it as it’s quite cheap and goes for sale quite often. And the faster I finish this, the faster I get to use new stuff!

Just my 2 cents to super-dry skin people: This may not be sufficient for you guys. I think it works best for people with normal to combination oily skin. I hope those with dry skin aren’t disappointed, but then you can always try, maybe I am wrong!

Do let me know what other nice lightweight hydrating moisturizers are out there! I could always use another brand!

p/s: as long as it’s not too expensive

I hated Loreal Pure Zone Toner. I don’t remember the exact name, because after using it, my face is sticky and oily, and after applying my moisturizer on it, it’s even worse! The oil control is purely crap!

The only stuff I have from Loreal is their Loreal Elseve Hair Mask and Loreal Hydrafresh Aqua Essence, which I will be reviewing soon.

I’ve always felt that other than Loreal’s range of haircare stuff, it’s cosmetics and skincare has failed me terribly, until I use the Loreal Hydrafresh Aqua Essence and Instant Freshness Toning Water.

So back to this post. Yes, this is a post on skincare again, unfortunately, because I’m an idiot for skincare and stuff. I strictly believe that no makeup will be able to salvage the most horrible skin and turn it into porcelain-like skin without heaping a pile of foundation and concealer and who-knows-what onto the face.

Therefore, skincare is always a top priority. Cosmetics are fun, but I hate the idea of piling stuff on the face to conceal things that you can actually avoid having on your face in the first place.

Loreal Hydrafresh Instant Freshness Toning Water

Another splendid drugstore item I would say. The price is slightly higher than Nivea’s Refreshing Toner, but that’s not the major issue here.

You see, I don’t really bother much with whitening stuff anymore as I think my skintone can only be this fair, and I have to accept it. I’ll never get porcelain-like skin like the Japanese or Koreans, because I have freckles, due to family genes and of course, my parents aren’t very fair to boot either, especially my dad. I can’t do much about skintones, but I definitely can prevent my skin from drying out or getting premature wrinkles in such a young age!

Therefore, I prefer skincare that’s moisturizing, yet light enough for my skin to absorb without turning it super oily. I used to think creams are better than gels or lotion, but then as I grew older, for combination-oily skin like me, creams are just too heavy, and instead of providing me adequate moisture, my skin is clogged and can’t breathe!

And I used to skip toner. Because it leaves a sticky film on my face and when I slab on moisturizer, my skin is so oily that I can fry an egg with it! But because my perception was changed because Nivea’s Refreshing Toner, I decided to try this out, since it says it rebalances the skin, which I assume it rebalances the skin’s sebum secretion and moisture level.

And I was not disappointed. Not even one bit.

It’s light, it’s fresh and leaves a nice feeling on the skin. You know it moisturizes your skin, but yet it doesn’t leaves a sticky film on your face, and preps the skin just nice for my next layer of moisturizer. I noticed the moisturizer goes on better on the skin with toner than without toner.

Oh, I do notice one thing, when my skin is extremely dry, if I put this on, my face stings a little. But if my face isn’t dry and is in it’s best condition, there’s no stinging feeling at all. I wonder why… But I suppose it’s a good measurement to know how my skin is doing, albeit the slight discomfort.

It’s definitely in my repurchase list. What’s there not to like?

Top left: Loreal Liss Extreme Shampoo
Top right: Joico Silk Result Shampoo and Conditioner (For thick and coarse hair)
Bottom: Loreal Elseve Anti Breakage Hair Mask

I’ll be reviewing one by one. This is going to be a long post!!

This shampoo is especially for maintaining straight, sleek and shiny hair. So for those who have curly hair or very coarse hair, this might not be suitable for you. However, for those who had rebonding, this might be nice for you, I used it after I did rebonding.

It’s texture is creamy-runny, but it’s a shampoo what do you expect? You don’t expect getting some heavy slob or anything like that right? The colour is a light lavender with a light hint of fragrance. Quite subtle, not strong at all. And I really don’t know how to describe the smell, not a flowery note neither a musky or fruity woody note.

When used, it doesn’t produce a lot of foam, especially if you used it in your first wash. I have this habit of washing my hair two or three times, in order to get rid of the dirt and grim. For your information, I was my hair once every other day. If I wash everyday, my hair would be too dry. Back to topic, so usually I wash my hair the first time with Loreal Elseve range of shampoo. Loreal Elseve rang of shampoos are one of the best drugstore brand that I’ve used for a long time! After rinsing, I use Loreal Liss Extreme. The first wash already got rid most of the dirt, so by second wash, more foam are produce. Rinsing out the shampoo is easy, and your hair is coated with a light fragrance that lingers for a while after drying. Hair is soft and smooth after usage. Me like!

I love this one! Very moisturizing! Texture is runny and is pinkish in colour. Fragrance is quite light, not very heavy. Everytime after I’m done with swimming and done with my first wash of hair, I always use this as my final wash. Hair is super soft and smooth, feels very moisturized, and don’t have that dry feeling on hair. *loves*

Of course, after swimming, you will need extra TLC on your hair, so I usually slab on some of this, and let it sit on while I wash my face and body, and then rinse it out. It smells a bit chemical like, funny though because the shampoo and conditioner from this range smells very mango like >_< Anyway, the smell isn't that horrible so I'm okay with it. It's beigy-white in colour, texture is creamy, but slightly to the watery side. Oh, it's quite easy to rinse out too! After rinsing, hair is even softer and smoother than using Joico Silk Result Shampoo! I love this very much because it's cheap and good albeit the smell.

I usually use this on days when I don’t go for swimming. Texture is creamier than Loreal Anti Breakage Mask and it’s beigy-white in colour. It’s highly moisturizing because you can feel the smoothness and softness right after you apply on your hair. It’s just right for normal daily use since I have slightly dry ends and thick hair. If you have fine limp hair or an oily scalp, you might want to avoid using too much of this, because of it’s moisturizing properties. A big heart from me!

Maybelline Lash Discovery

For Lash Discovery, the brush is really small and it reaches those tiny little corners nicely! Lengthening wise is so-so, nothing much to shout out. Volume I think it scores a zero from me, not that I really bother. I don’t fancy thick lashes as much as I love long lashes It’s definitely easy to remove because it is not waterproof, much to my dismay. I never like non- waterproof mascaras.

Loreal Panoramic Curl

Panoramic Curl is the only mascara that I got from Loreal. It has done a good job in curling my lashes and fanning them out nicely. Volume is a zero, while lengthening is so- so. It smudges badly on me, who can blame it? It wasn’t waterproof. >_<

I ditch these two mascaras after a few usage. Why? Because I bought them during a warehouse sale and it was near expiry date. I just bought them for fun and to test them out. Well, both are not the kind of stuff I would buy again because of the flaws they have and I still think there are better options out there.

Price: Not sure about the market price, but I got it for both during warehouse sales under RM25.