Beauty Product Review: Chanel Delight Summer 2012 nail polish

Rose gold is such a romantic color, don't you think?

I'm a little obsessed with rose gold and I am a little obsessed with nail polishes with a foil finish.  For some reason, I find it a bit harder to find metallic nail polishes that give the drier, matte finish.  I travel a lot for work and personal reasons, so I am always passing through the airport and tempted by duty free cosmetics (the best place to get high end cosmetics!)  Changi airport actually has one of the best selections and prices among international airports I've visited (I bet CDG in France would be great too).  I've amassed a Chanel nail polish collection and wanted to start reviewing them for you.

I loved the finish and easy consistency of this polish.  I was surprised to see that it actually resembled rose gold (initially I just thought it was champagne).  The peach and pink undertones are pretty fabulous.  Unfortunately my nails dried under my husband's usual super blast of air conditioning so excuse the small bubbles (direct blasts of air or a short drying time between coats leads to bubbles in your polish!)

Pros
- Polish goes on smoothly
- Drying time is relatively quick

Cons
- It's not cheap folks

Price
- $26 (or about $21 where I am depending on the exchange rate)

Beauty Product Review/Chic 'n Cheap Living Contest: Cure Gel (Gentle Exfoliator)

How do you renew your skin?

I love Cate Blanchett and her skin is remarkable - {Source}

My skin regime has varied over the years and included everything from Neutrogena facial soup to the Clinique 3-step system (both great gentle cleansers).  But I always had a cleanser, some type of exfoliant, and a moisturizer (now I'm moving onto serums).  My husband loves his St. Ives peach apricot scrub because he says the rough scrubbing beads make him feel really clean (really I think he just likes the smell!)  But if you exfoliate too much you can actually damage your skin because the beads are too abrasive (hence why sugar scrubs aren't really recommended for the face).

So I was intrigued and happy to try Cure Natural Aqua Gel via Ppali Beauty (the first official distributor in the US); the company found me and offered a bottle of the gel after I first mentioned Cure in my winter beauty essentials post. Cure is s top-selling Japanese beauty product that my cousin first discovered in Singapore (ahh the things one discovers when she is waiting around in a drugstore!)  It is an exfoliating gel with no scrubbing beads and removes .01 mm of dead skin only leaving healthy skin intact.

I used Cure roughly twice a week for a few weeks.  I would apply a little on my freshly washed face at night.  It is a little bizarre to see my top layers of old skin clump up and come off after using the gel.  You need to quickly rinse your face after using the gel to remove all these bits which are still on the surface of the skin.  But I used this after applying makeup a few times and felt that it also worked to get my makeup off more cleanly; generally I did feel like it exfoliated my skin.  Cure also states that one of its main benefits is to allow a user's existing beauty products (moisturizer or serum) to work better.  I can't vouch for this aspect because I only used Cure for a few weeks.  But I did find the exfoliating to be very gentle and easy.  It would make sense that my products will absorb into my skin more easily after using Cure.

Likes
- It does what it says - gentle exfoliating
- Gel felt clean and left no chemical residue

Dislikes
- Dead skin clumping is not cool - rinse quickly!

Cost
- $36

Now for the giveaway - get your own bottle of Cure and 10 sample packets for travel or to share with friends.  This giveaway is open worldwide  and will be open for 11 days (woohoo!)

Also please let me know if you are having trouble with the Rafflecopter widget - if so, I'll just have entries be in this post's comments.

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Beauty Product Review: Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser (for both ladies and men!)

I'm all about every day products that just work.

I'm surprised I haven't blogged about Cetaphil earlier because it is my go to cleanser and I've been using it for years!  It is a universal cleanser that is both great for daily face washing and for removing makeup; if I want to be extra thorough at removing makeup, I use a scrub or now Cure scrub less scrub (will blog about that later).  This is especially great for me since I live in the tropics most of the time and feel like I have to really clean my face but clean it gently.  It's also non-comodegenic and is recommended not only by dermatologists, but Allure and In style magazines.  A product that works well and is under $10 - sold!

Guys, I'm looking at you and hope you find this product useful (this isn't entirely a girly blog!)

Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser, Drugstore.com, $9.19

Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser (I have used both and find them effective), Drugstore.com, $9.59

Beauty Product Review: Zoya Trixie (semi-matte silver) nail polish

Zoya is one of my favorite nail polish manufacturers out there.  I love the immense range of shades and relatively natural (formaldehyde free) formulas.  Zoya also has some spectacular promotions once in a while (sign up for an account or like their Facebook page to learn about them) and I chose Trixie during their last promotion.

Trixie is an intense, silver color with a beautiful sparkling foil finish.  So it's not your usual glossy shade and intentionally leaves your nails a bit textured - it is imperfect in a perfect way.  The foil effect also somewhat mutes the otherwise intense silvery shade.  I loved the unique finish and shade - as an added bonus, the color didn't take long to dry.  Though the color was more suited for the weekend
(my office or at least my office wear is somewhat conservative), I am still rocking it on my toes and will definitely use this as a contrast shade.

Likes:
- goes on easily
- dries quickly
- has a unique textured finish

Dislikes:
- none so far!

Cost
-$8 online but sign up to get Zoya promotions

Beauty Product Review/CnCLiving Recommends: Shu Uemera / Shiseido Eyelash curler (and 20% off at Sephora)

I'll admit it.  I have pretty mediocre eyelashes.  They are an average length and average to less to average thickness (I'll attribute that to genetics - thanks dad!)  But a few years ago, I discovered the Shu Uemera eyelash curler and the heavens (or my eyes) opened up.  I use my eyelash curler every, single day!
Am I going to the office? Curl lashes
Am I heading to the gym? Curl lashes
Am I doing some grocery shopping?  Yep, gonna curl my lashes.

I find that a quick curl (which can be a bit funky to master because you may pinch your lid) really opens up your eyelashes and eyes.  Then an additional dab of mascara may really make your eyes pop.  It is truly a beauty product staple for me.

{Source}

I picked the Shu Uemera eyelash curler when I first saw it in In Style Magazine (it is a consistent beauty winner brand).  But I also mention the Shiseido because 1) Shu Uemera does not sell silicone pad refills so I use Shiseido ones which were slightly stiff at first but are great now and 2) Shiseido is listed on Sephora with decent reviews and on sale so it is worth a try.

Shiseido eyelash curler, Sephora, $15.20 after discount

Do you use an eyelash curler?  What do you think about it?

See my post here for the full details on how to get 20% off your purchase through Nov. 2 (I'm still shopping!)

Save!

- Go through Big Crumbs first and get an additional 5.6% cashback from your entire purchase!  Here is my invite if you need it!

Beauty Product Review: Benefit Benetint

I love having a natural (looking) blush on my face.  If I didn't have a pink glow, I'd just be stuck with my natural "does that girl ever get out?" paleness.  I tried a few blushes (power, cream, liquid) and like Benefit Benetint because it is super light, easy to use, fragrant (just a hint of roses) and provides double duty as a lip tint as well.  I like to use a few drops of Benetint on my lips after putting on lip balm for a natural, subtle color.  Then I place three drops on each cheek and rub it in.
Subtle makeup in 30 seconds?  I'm sold.

Benefit isn't super cheap but is worth the cost for me.  I can use it all year round for a great color and it feels nice and light.  But it only lasts a few hours so be mindful of this if you use it (this is fine for me).  Use your department store gift cards to get Benetint or wait for the Sephora Friends and Family sale (hmm probably coming up in November!)

Benefit Benetint, Macy's, $29

Save!

Go through Mr. Rebates first before making your purchase at Macy's

Beauty Product Review: Perricone MD Cold Plasma

There are so many beauty products that propose to do basically everything: moisturizing, reducing redness, tightness, etc.  But how do you choose?  I will pay for a good product, but with so many different products in the drug stores to the department stores, it can be overwhelming.

I wanted to share my opinion about one product - Perricone Cold Plasma.  I was fortunate enough to win a jar of this and was really intrigued about its effectiveness.  So I used it for a month and tried to determine if it was really worth $150.

At first whiff, I wasn't expecting much.  By whiff, I mean, it has a peculiar smell.  My husband thought it almost fishy.  Well not everything can smell like perfume and the more important thing is will it work?

I was initially hesitant also because it is of a thinner consistency (not as thick as a cream).  It definitely moisturized my skin and I saw small improvements in the fine lines in my forehead and redness/blotchiness of my cheeks.  But most impressively, I have sensitive skin that is also acne prone (great combination and I'm well past my teenage years, sigh) and not only did I not react to the cream, I found that I had fewer blemishes for a few weeks (last week was not so good due to other factors). 

This was only a short term review of the product, but it is actually a product I would continue to use (of course long term results are a different story).  I was impressed that I saw even small results in a short period of time.

I want you to get a chance to use this so be prepared to win your own in an upcoming giveaway!