Friday, November 9, 2018

The Minimalism Project I: Beauty Expenses Part 2

This year, I am going to try very hard to be a minimalist in all aspects of my life. And this includes my skincare because this is really where all my pay check goes to. Heh. •͈ᴗ•͈ This section is a record of all my sins, along with their 'justifications', throughout the entire year as mentioned here.

The Minimalism Project: Beauty Expenses
Chapter 1: January - March
Chapter 2: April - June May
Chapter 3: July - September
Chapter 4: October - December

R.I.P
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November Diaries

Hi. So.. I have stopped writing about this project because I am weak and went completely out of control. ಥ_ಥ I have saved more than I did last year but I also bought a hell lot of products in the 2nd half of the year, which is really, really bad. ಥ_ಥ

There was one day when I got really fed up and decided to do up an Excel spreadsheet on all the brand new skincare products I own currently and it's like worth a fortune. A fortune with an expiry date. Hence, I'm going to try this again with more precautions taken.

  • Going completely cold turkey will definitely not work, so it's going to be a replacement-only-no-buy ban. I can only replace products that I have finished using or am left with 2 backups (Just because of delivery times.).
  • /r/MakeupRehab/ is my new best friend.
  • Every time I want to buy something, I will text Peiying immediately.
  • Unfollow Instagram accounts that do unboxing of any kind.
  • Focus all my energy on my other hobbies!
Okay, I can do this! Wish me luck! (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و ゙

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May Diaries
When term ended, I immediately paid a visit to Cindy so that she could fix Term 2 out of my face. Term 2 was just 3 months of a seemingly never-ending loop of work and home. But I guess that's adulthood? :\ Anyway, visiting Cindy usually means new skincare products (Yay! :D I trust her with my life.). I finished Dr. Grandel SOS Ampoules so I wanted to replenish that. These little glass bottles soothe irritated skin immediately and each time my face turns red, dry and splotchy from stress and fatigue, all I need is 1/3 of one ampoule to calm all that chaos down. I got the Beauty Date Ampoules and Time Out Ampoules too as part of a promotion.

Then, because I have been eyeing on Cezanne makeup in like forever (Ask Brandon!), I decided to get the Airy Touch Shadow in 03 (SGD17.90 before discount) and the Nose & Eyebrow Powder in 01 (SGD15.90 before discount) when Watsons had their 20% sale. The pigmentation for the eyeshadow is really light but I'll play with it some more before I blog about it in detail. On a side note, I'm sooo very glad that Cezanne is back on our shores! Does anyone else like this brand? Their powder foundi is top notch! (ؑ‷ᵕؑ̇‷)◞✧

Cost of sins: ~SG148

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April Diaries
Hello! ごめんね、このブログポストがちょっと遅かった。最近は超忙しいから。休みが欲しい〜 Anyway, here is my very small April haul. Really pleased with expenditure last month because it was the lowest ever and seriously, it should have been like this a long time ago. I kind of feel like there's an error but umm... Everything looks right? Heh. Keep it up, Char!

Right, back to the haul. Recently, I discovered another mole on my chin, so I have three now. Just like the Orion's Belt, which is really pretty in the night sky, but not on my face (People always think that I don't clean my mouth after eating.). And then, somehow, Facebook got to know about it and drew up this article for me and I freaked out a tad. I have diligently gone through tubes of La Roche-Posay Uvidea XL Aqua Fresh Gel, which is kind of an in-between-physical-and-chemical sunscreen. I really love it but there are still chemicals in it and the article made sense, so I decided to get the MooGoo Natural Sunscreen SPF 40 (AUD4.50 before discount). It contains 24.9% Zinc Oxide and it makes my skin feel so good after washing it off. Like legit soft and good. But the downside is that because of the high Zinc Oxide content, it makes you really white too. And when mixed with perspiration and sebum, no thanks to Singapore's weather, it's just not a very healthy look. ಥ_ಥ So I'm back to La Roche-Posay but I still use this every now and then, especially when I know I will be getting a lot of sun on that day.

This is my second pail of MooGoo Milk Wash. It's really gentle and moisturising for my sensitive skin. Initially, it felt a little weird because my face wasn't squeaky clean but I didn't encounter more clogged pores and in fact, it is very calming and soothing. The rest are all freebies. :D I have to go now but I will talk about the samples later on. またね!

Cost of sins: ~SG61

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Monday, April 30, 2018

The Minimalism Project I: Beauty Expenses Part 1

This year, I am going to try very hard to be a minimalist in all aspects of my life. And this includes my skincare because this is really where all my pay check goes to. Heh. •͈ᴗ•͈ This section is a record of all my sins, along with their 'justifications', throughout the entire year as mentioned here.

The Minimalism Project: Beauty Expenses
Chapter 1: January - March
Chapter 2: April - June May
Chapter 3: July - September
Chapter 4: October - December

R.I.P
↟↟↟

March Diaries
March failed terribly, in terms of this Minimalism Project. ಥ_ಥ Firstly, Naruko is pulling out of Singapore (Side note: I'm extremely upset about this. *mourns*) and I went a tad insane stocking up on my favourite masks, as well as getting new products to try (It was like 2 for the price of 1!). So expect tons of reviews on Naruko in the months to come! *excites* But... Yeah, I spent a whole lot. ): SGD552, in fact. )): I want to say that I'm not going to spend anymore but we all know that actions speak louder than words, so 頑張ります!*inserts flexed bicep emoji*

Anyway, on to the photos above. I visited my facial therapist at the start of the month for some pampering after a crazy February and got my favourite Skin Origin Cleansing Milk (SGD75 before discount) and Naturelle Bio Dermatique Glyco-Bio III (SGD88 before discount). The latter contains 12% Glycolic Acid and I got it mainly to get rid of scars and clogged pores on my back. It has been fading old scars really quickly and my clogged pores are a whole lot fewer. But it's pretty pricey, so now that my back's better, I'm going to alternate it with Pixi Beauty Glow Tonic, which has 5% Glycolic Acid.

Right above aforementioned items are Dejavu mascaras, which I got from Sasa with a 20% discount (SGD20 after discount). My current one takes a lot of rubbing to remove and well, I'm aging and really do not need to risk having more lines under my eyes. Though these don't give you falsies-like lashes, they are comfortable and wash off incredibly easy with warm water. I think I'm just going to stick with them for life now. These and the ones from Innisfree. ♥

The second photo shows my stash of Aura Cacia essential oils from iHerb. I have a couple of colleagues who are very into essential oils for their kids and in my quest to have the control to be zen whenever I want to, I kinda joined the club. Essential oils that can be bought in Singapore come mainly from 2 companies, Doterra and Young Living. I know Doterra oils can be ingested but both brands are crazy expensive. I wasn't really interested in taken them orally so I decided to get mine from iHerb. FYI, Aura Cacia's oils cannot be ingested. I put many drops of Lavender on Gran's pillow cases, blankets and cardigan at night to keep mosquitoes away and it has been so effective. Gran doesn't complain about them anymore. For me, I mix Chamomile or Lavender in my body lotion, and Peppermint is used when I get stomach upsets.

Not pictured are tubes of La Roche-Posay Circaplast Pro-Recovery Skincare (SGD18.34 after discount), which I have known since forever. I had my skin tags burned off during the March holidays and was spamming this magical gel on the wounds. Healed beautifully. Please, please, La Roche-Posay, please don't every discontinue this.

Cost of sins: ~SG840

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February Diaries
Okay, so I didn't think I would be updating this entry so soon (And at the start of the month some more. ಠ_ಠ) but January kinda ended on a really stressful note. It's actually going to be a stressful February too. Anyway, in between work on February 1st, I found some time to log onto BeautyFresh and got my NARS blushers in Deep Throat and Orgasm (SGD36.19 each, after a V-day discount of 23%). I have been going foundation-free for a year now but I wanted to add some happiness to my face. Lol. I have owned them both before, though I never actually hit pan on one. 😕 Side note, BeautyFresh's amazing. This is my 2nd order with them and it has been a wonderful shopping experience. Think: Smooth transactions, timely updates and quick deliveries.

Right after work ended and my afternoon appointment got cancelled, I headed down to the mall for more serious retail therapy. Sasa was having a private member sale and I got theBalm's DownBoy and CabanaBoy (SGD35 each but there was a 30% discount), Dejavu's Lasting-fine Brush Liquid Eyeliner (Espresso) (SGD5 during the sale) and Pink Lady's Double Eyelid Tape (S) (SGD4.50 each but it was a buy-1-free-1 deal.). I have been using my Benefit blush palette, Dandelion in particular but I couldn't stop thinking about DownBoy. The latter is just so much prettier to me. CabanaBoy is a winter-bitten kind of blush. It is very pigmented and very pretty!

Last night, I received my Laniege Two Tone Matte Lip Bar in No. 10 Soft Knit (SGD24.40, with shipping) parcel from Breezy Qoo10. I tried it earlier and it was pretty drying so I'm glad it came with complimentary trial sizes of the Lip Sleeping Mask and Lip & Eye Remover.

Okay, confession time. The Innisfree nail polishes (SGD4 each), Jovisa Eyelash Tonic (USD16.99) and Silk18 Natural Hair Conditioner (USD15.83, with shipping) were bought last month. Heh. Innisfree nail polishes are the absolute best. They go on smooth, dry fast and they dominate my nail polish collection. Amazon (ILU. ♡) has been my go-to scrolling page when I have some leisure time. I found the Jovisa eyelash serum at a much cheaper price and decided to get a Buzzfeed-featured conditioner to try.

Cost of sins: ~SGD215

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January Diaries
This is my backup of ICM Pharma's Acne Clear Pimple Treatment Cream (SGD6.20). It is my current pimple destroyer and it is so effective! Apply some on potential and existing pimples and they should be eliminated within a couple of days. I got the Acne Clear Lotion (SGD7.60) too for clogged pores on my back (Which my Sinseh said is the manifestation of 虛火, or otherwise known as Deficient Fire in TCM terminology.). It has the same active ingredients as the cream, but in slightly different proportions and sans Zinc Oxide. Though it's a lot easier to apply this on my back, it unfortunately doesn't work as fast. ٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶

The Centellase Ointment (SGD17+) was spotted on Guardian shelves during one of my window shopping trips. I love Centella Asiatica because of Cosrx and this has 10mg of it. Haven't tried this yet because I'm trying to finish up my Hiruscar but will report back as soon as I can. :D

Cost of sins: ~SGD31

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Wednesday, December 27, 2017

The Minimalism Project: 2018 Edition

The first time Dad increased my pocket money, 7-year old me went straight to the bookshop and spent it all on star-shaped stickers to give to Dad because... I really didn't need them? Lol. What even. Anyway, ever since then, I have just been spending money away. It was a way of relieving stress for me (Think: Retail BS therapy.) but then, I was spending on things which, again, I didn't need. Also, I'm a massive hoarder because 'just in case'. So, for the year 2018, I'm going to really make an attempt to cut out the frivolities in my life. It's a little ambitious for me to go on a year of no shopping. Hence, I'll be embarking on two little 'projects' here on my blog.

Beauty products make a large part of the furniture in my room, so naturally there's The Minimalism Project I: Beauty Expenses which will be a complete record of my sins. It's going to be a single entry which I'll keep updating whenever I buy a beauty product, whether it's a replacement or a new fixture.

And because I have bought way too many clothes to just throw them away and be Marie Kondo, The Minimalism Project II: Something 'New' Every Week will feature a piece of clothing which I have been saving for that (elusive) one special day. ( ಠ◡ಠ )

Wish me luck! x

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