karmicdreaming.

I haven’t used conventional shampoo in quite a long time- a few years- but I got my hands on a number of Japanese hair products and wanted to give them a try.  My favorite of the bunch is Kao Asience Inner Rich Shampoo.  It’s also the one I expected to like the least, since it’s formulated for thick, coarse Asian hair and contains sulfates (ALS rather than SLS).  I was sure this shampoo would cause breakage while leaving my hair limp and greasy.  To my surprise, not only did it leave my hair shiny and full of body, I finished the bottle and am contemplating ordering more.

My hair is baby fine, and has lots of follicles (thick) but since each individual hair is fine, it typically looks thin and flat.  My scalp is oily and my ends tend to dry out quickly.  SLS causes my hair to break and split, and also irritates my scalp and causes flakes.  Switching to sulfate-free shampoo bars solved these issues.  I approached this shampoo carefully, as ALS is also a sulfate and I was unsure how my hair and scalp would react to it.

The first thing I noticed was the fragrance.  It’s a rather generic fruity floral, reminiscent of Aussie products.  I don’t hate it, but it’s not a stand out for me either.  The texture of the shampoo is a bit more liquidy than most American shampoos.  It’s not runny by any means, but it’s not so thick.  I like this texture better, since I was able to easily pour only what I needed without squeezing and having a huge glop come out.  The shampoo itself is a pearlescent color, so nothing out of the ordinary there.  It created lots of suds and washed away cleanly.

Asience Inner Rich contains lots of ingredients that are great for hair.  The press reads:

• Contains natural essences of soy and pearl protein, which revitalize hair that has lost protein
• Camellia oil and ginseng extract help the hair retain moisture, and restore suppleness within the hair follicle. Camellia oil in particular has long been used in Asia to nourish the hair and skin, as it is an extremely well absorbed and natural oil extract from the camellia flower.
• Eucalyptus extract protects hair and restores lost shine, while rice germ oil strengthens and moisturizes

It also contains Royal Jelly extract from bees, so vegans would want to give this a pass.

After drying, my hair does feel healthy and looks shiny.  It doesn’t feel dry or brittle, and my scalp doesn’t feel overly stripped or oily, as some moisturizing shampoos  leave it.  My hair has body and bounce, and my bangs- the first place to start looking oily- are fantastic until my next shower.  It doesn’t cause any issues with my scalp either.

I am surprised at how well this shampoo works for my non-Asian, non-coarse hair.  Kao Asience makes two other lines besides Inner Rich, Shine Therapy and Nature Smooth.  Nature Smooth is designed specifically to work with an oily scalp, so I might try that one before purchasing another bottle of Inner Rich.  I love how this shampoo works for me and will repurchase if Nature Smooth does not work well.  I purchased my bottle from Sasa.com, but it’s also easily found on EBay and Amazon.  Information about the Kao Asience line in English can be found at Kao Malaysia here.

All of you have probably already heard about Team Pink Eye Project, which is being run by my friends Frances Danger and Rebecca Storevik, so I’ll keep my recap short.  TPE is raising money for Susan G. Komen For The Cure.  There are a lot of lovely sponsors and bloggers involved, and the great thing for you, dear reader, is the giveaways!  Every Friday in October, a group of bloggers will be posting pink looks, and there will be a number of giveaways.  To be eligible for that week’s giveaways, just make sure that you’ve donated a minimum of $5 to Team Pink Eye.   (Just click on Frances’ name, then Donate on the right hand side.)  It’s a great way to win some fantastic prizes, enjoy some pretty pink looks, and most importantly, help out a good cause.  Six women in my family have died of breast cancer, so this is a cause that’s dear to my heart.  If you can afford to help out, please do, and don’t forget to visit the wonderful sponsors who are donating to the cause.  There’s a full list of them at the Team Pink Eye blog.

Today is my turn for a look, and keep reading because I’m also hosting a giveaway!

Products used:

Eyes

Evil Shades Spectrum Pot in Vitrum
Persephone Minerals shadows in Eternal Chibi Moon, Moon Crystal Power, Sailor Chibi Moon, and Pink Sugar Heart Attack
Kiss Me Heroine Make Smooth Liquid Eyeliner
Revlon Fantasy Lengths Lashes in Intensifying
L’Oreal Voluminous  Mascara in Blackest Black
Silk Naturals Brow Powder in Deep Brunette

Face

Lancome Teint Idole Ultra in Buff 4 (C)
MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NW20
Detrivore Cosmetics Blush in Poison
Everyday Minerals Blush in Email Me (to contour)
Aromaleigh Ultra-Resolution Finishing Powder in English Rose

Lips

Morgana Cryptoria vegan lipstick  in Valentine

Also, one lucky person will win a $25 gift card to Silk Naturals, through Team Pink Eye!  To be eligible for this, and other TPE giveaways this week, be sure to donate at least $5 to Susan G. Komen For The Cure through Team Pink Eye.  Comment here with the name that you donated under (donations can be made using an alias, but TPE needs to be able to match the donation to the commenter for the entry to count).  This giveaway will remain open until 10pm CST on Sunday night.  Frances and Rebecca will tally up the entries and winners will be chosen via random.org.  Winners will be announced Monday.  A big thank you to Karen of Silk Naturals for her generosity, and don’t forget to visit the Team Pink Eye Project blog to see what other giveaways are happening this week.

So this gorgeous little thing is what I was supposed to be buying when I bought the bubble oil instead.  Meet my new love, Kose Softymo Deep Cleansing Oil.  It has ousted my previous love, DHC Deep Cleansing Oil, because that is $12 for a little bottle, and this is $10.49 for a huge bottle, plus it feels almost the same.  Softymo is just a little thinner, and I’m OK with that.

What’s a cleansing oil?  Since answers like “a pump bottle of awesomeness” don’t go into much detail, I’ll explain.  Cleansing oils are based on the chemical principle that “like dissolves like”.  The best way to dissolve oil is WITH oil.  I know it sounds counter intuitive, especially if you have oily, acne-prone skin and have been told that oils are the devil all your life.  But it works, honest to cheeseburgers.   As I mentioned in the bubble oil review, all those little dried bits of sebum plugging up pores are easily removed with a oil massage.  After a while the oil starts feeling slightly gritty under your fingertips, like little pieces of sand.  Of course, this effect is lessened over time as the pores become unclogged, but I still get at least one or two little bits every day.  For every plug, that’s one less pimple to deal with later.

The oil massage can be done with any type of oil.  What makes cleansing oils in particular so great is that when water is added, it emulsifies, turning a milky white color, before rinsing away cleanly.  Anyone’s who ever tried the OCM (oil cleansing method) knows the worst part is trying to wipe off/steam off/wash off all that oil.  Cleansing oils bypass that step neatly.  It is also the best base makeup remover ever.

The proper way to use a cleansing oil is to pump out a bit into your dry palm, rub it between both hands, and start massaging your dry, still made up face.  Be sure to get all the areas where makeup is lurking around the nose (and any piercings).  Massage for as long as you want, I usually do about 1.5 to 2 minutes, and then wet your hands with water and continue massaging.  The oil will turn whitish as the water joins it and will thin out.  Rinse and watch all the makeup disappear.  I follow my cleansing oil with a wash using my favorite face cleanser.  The two together keep my skin soft and free of acne.  Cleansing oil can be used with eye makeup as well, although I still use a conventional eye makeup remover for the worst of it and clean up the excess with my cleansing oil, just so I’m not smearing mascara all over the place.

Cleansing oil has been around for a long time, although it’s primarily an Asian phenomenon.  Shu Uemura has a popular (wonderful) line of oils, although they’re too pricey for my tastes, as does DHC and Origins.  This Kose Softymo oil is as nice as any I’ve ever used, and is significantly cheaper.  The pump top delivers just the right amount- one pump takes care of my whole face without being drippy, and it removes everything I have on.  I did test it with pancake-style white Halloween makeup (oh, the things I do for you!) and that took two pumps because that stuff was super-mega-thick, but it cleaned every last bit with no scrubbing.  There doesn’t seem to be a discernible scent, which I appreciate, and cleansing oils work well on all skin types, especially acne-prone ones.  As I mentioned earlier, this one is a bit thinner than others I have used, but it’s still thick enough not to be drippy and it glides easily across the skin.  This bottle is large enough, at 230ml, to last me for quite some time, but I’ll be sure to repurchase it when the time comes.  I bought this on Ebay for $10.49 and $3.99 shipping from seller babykula_318 (highly recommended by me, as this seller is in the States so shipping takes less than a week).

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This is what happens when you’re not fluent in the language a product label is written in.  You order the wrong damn thing.

These pictures are for Kose Softymo Speedy Cleansing Bubble Oil.  What I wanted was Kose Softymo Deep Cleansing Oil.  My thought process during the transaction went something like this: “Cleansing oil- check, softymo- yup, yellow- gotcha, price is good, yes, yes, uh-huh, click, click, done.”  And when the package arrived a week and a half later, I felt like an idiot.  Allow me to introduce to you the ONLY Softymo product I don’t love.

I dig cleansing oils for a few reasons, one of which is that it’s an OIL, and therefore helps remove all the nasty stuff from my pores.  You can literally feel the little dried plugs of sebum coming out.  This Softymo Bubble Oil is actually a foam, so while it’s hella good at removing my makeup, I don’t get the wonderful deep cleansing properties of an oil.  I like feeling those bits of grit under my fingertips, because for every little plug, that’s one less pimple I get to deal with.  I want more than just makeup removal from my cleansing oils.  I want a fresh, clean face with no blackheads or breakouts.  Cleansing oil helps me achieve that, and as good as the bubble oil was at removing my base makeup, it didn’t go above and beyond.

When the foam begins to break down, it turns into more of a liquid soap texture, gliding over the skin instead of into it.  My face was clear of makeup after rinsing, but the blackheads started appearing within days.  I had initially intended to use up this bottle before purchasing the (correct) Softymo Deep Cleansing Oil, but changed my mind once I saw the changes to my skin.  I ordered the correct bottle and my skin was back to normal quickly.  Now I use this every few days, more to keep from being wasteful than for any love of the product.

Kose Softymo Speedy Cleansing Bubble Oil comes in a (regrettably) large bottle, although each pump uses quite a lot of oil to create the dense foam it dispenses.  This bottle will be gone through more quickly than an equivalent size of cleansing oil.  The foam feels pretty nice on the skin at first, but as it begins to break down into liquid, instead of having the slip that an oil does, it feels slightly sticky and starts turning tacky.  The base of the product feels more like a soap than an oil, and it appears that this Speedy Cleansing Oil is meant to take the place of a makeup remover and a soap product.  To me, this is too much like combining shampoo and conditioner.  You just end up with one crappy product whose target audience is after convenience instead of results.

The bubble oil wasn’t particularly effective as a cleanser either.  It left a residue on my skin so it never felt really clean, and blackheads started appearing within days, confirming my suspicions.

I bought Kose Softymo Speedy Cleansing Bubble Oil from adambeauty for $14.00 plus $2 shipping.  Click for pictures.

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I’ve been doing a lot of neutral looks lately, so I wanted to add some more color.  I had mentioned to Jynx (of Spellbound By Jynx) in an email that I wanted to wear Compassion (a lovely teal) and possibly pair it with Third Eye (purple!), so today that’s what I did.  I think SbJ’s shadows are fantastic, as evidenced by the fact that I’ve worn them pretty much every day since receiving them.  Also, the new Sobe Botanticals Cheek & Lip Colors that I received are fantastic!  I have a swatch post of them already queued up, so keep an eye out for it.

Products Used

Face
Lancome Teint Idole Ultra in Buff 4 (c)
MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NW20
Skinfood Salmon Darkcircle Concealer Cream in #1
MAC Mineralize Blush in Hang Loose

Eyes
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Spellbound by Jynx Compassion
Spellbound by Jynx Third Eye
Spellbound by Jynx Snow Day
MAC Pearlglide Intense Eye Liner in Undercurrent
Majolica Majorca Lash Expander Frame Plus Mascara
Silk Naturals Brow Powder in Deep Brunette

Lips
Sobe Botanicals Cheek & Lip Color in Takes The Cake

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It’s insanely hot!

I am loving it!  Being a Florida girl in Wisconsin, it’s not often that I get to revel in the wonderfulness that is air so hot and humid you need to chew it before you can breathe it.  However, we’re in the midst of a heatwave (read: proper summer weather) and I finally, finally feel like I’m home.  Everyone around me is wilting and hating me when I wish aloud for another month of this.

As much as I love the “too damn hot” weather everyone else is grumbling about, it presents a challenge for makeup.  Here are my favorite makeup tips for humid summer weather and a look that showcases them.

1.  Lots of people will say to skip the foundation and powder on hot days.  This is a mistake if you have oily skin, as the shine will be blinding.  A good long-lasting, mattifying foundation (with primer), BB cream, or tinted moisturizer will be your BFF.  Apply it sheerly and it will cut down on the shine.  Be sure to get a formula that will not streak- otherwise, you really ARE better off skipping it.  Also- and this might be just my skin- I don’t wear powder foundations during hot weather.  Mineral foundations plus sweat equal a very uncomfortable mess.  I stick with long-wear liquids at times like this and powder it lightly to set.

2.  Don’t rely on foundation to cover imperfections in hot weather.  You’re going for a bare minimum with foundation so conceal, conceal, conceal!

3.  Keep eye makeup neutral and wear a waterproof mascara.  Conversely, wear an Asian mascara which is as good as waterproof.  I like lots of mascara and a little liquid liner for drama during hot weather, since I keep the shadow neutral in case of creasing.

4.  Primers are necessary in hot weather.  They don’t- or shouldn’t- add any weight and they will keep your face from melting the instant you step outside.  (Ha!  Old school shadow priest reference.)

5.  Lip stains are wonderful for this weather with a light balm or gloss on top.

I wish I had a great tip for hair, but mine falls even flatter during the summer and there’s not a thing anyone can do to stop it.  I pull it back in a bun and call it a day.

On to the look!  (I’m putting the pictures under a cut to try and speed up the main page loading time.  Let me know if you hate this and I’ll stop.)

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