Hada Labo Super Moisturising Cleansing Oil

I've bee through my fair share of cleansing oils - MAC, Shu Uemura, DHC, Fancl, Sana. Hada Labo's oil intrigued me because of its claim to contain olive oil and no mineral oil. Since the price point was well below the brands mentioned above except Sana, I though it couldn't hurt.



Appearance

The oil is a clear liquid, it only appears yellow because of the bottle's colour

Texture

It has a normal viscosity unlike some other cleansing oils I've tried such as DHC which are extra thick in consistency. I like the normal consistency more because it feels easier to spread out and emulsify the makeup on my face.

Efficacy

In terms of effectiveness, I felt that the oil removed my foundation and sunscreen quite easily, without drying out my skin.

Pricing
The cost is one of the cheaper olive oil based, mineral oil-free cleansing oils I have tried. I purchased this on vacation in Malaysia for approximately RM 42-ish, which translates to about USD 14.

Availability

Online is your best bet if you are purchasing from North America. I've shipped with www.adambeauty.com more times than I can remember over the past 6 years, and never have problems. Navigation is usually the issue as the site sorts by parent beauty company which isn't intuitive to those not in those regions. Hada Labo is under the Mentholatum Company brand. You may also find it in some Asian beauty supply stores if they stock the Hada Labo brand.

Daiso Face Net

While I was in Asia, I had the chance to stop by Daiso and picked up quite a few random beauty tools. One of my most used purchases is the face net. Daiso carries quite a few options in terms of size, with a larger size having the capacity to produce more foam. I picked a combo pack of one medium and one small - shown below is the medium size from the package:




Here's how it works in four steps:

1. Dampen the face net, then dispense some face wash on the net on the palm of your hand.
2. Work the product into the net in a scrubbing motion.
3. Once there is lots of lather or enough for your liking, squeeze the lather into your palm by pulling the net through your index and middle fingers.
4. Apply and have fun :)

Overall, I felt the net really helped create foam more easily from a smaller amount of product. I used it with the Marcelle Essentials Foaming Gel cleanser, and ended up cutting the product I used by almost half. It differs depending on your product though, I couldn't cut as much product with the Green Beaver Grapefruit cleanser for example, probably because it's not meant to foam much to begin with.

Also I've heard that using this foaming method is meant to reduce the need for you to rub your face while cleansing thus reducing the odds of wrinkles. For me it doesn't help though, because my face tends to get dry and flaky so I exfoliate more often even when I'm using the net. I would say I use it more for the luxurious feeling of the foam :)

August with Annabelle

Hey guys! It's been a while, I have lots to catch up on in the blogosphere, and to update on as well. Firstly, I finished grad school, and spent the last 2 months visiting my family in Asia, as well as traveling to some other areas (Hong Kong, Beijing).

Surprisingly, I didn't shop as much as I would have in the past. Trying to be more disciplined about my collection and not buy something that I will only use once. I went through my traincase the other day, and there are just too many things I have that fall into that category.

But anyway, I think these days I'm definitely more discerning about what I like and don't like, which is good for you readers since it means more thorough reviews than ever! :)


Today I wanted to share with you 2 products from the Annabelle Summer collection, the Biggy Bronzer and Hawaiian Hues eyeshadow palette. Both retail for $12.95.

The Biggy Bronzer is just as its name says, quite big ;)



I am loving the wave pattern on the surface. This is not just a flat pattern but the powder surface itself is actually curved, a nice touch of luxe-ness in my opinion.




The powder is very finely milled and gives an amazing glow to my cheekbones. It's not an "out there" type of glow but a subtle sheen.

The colours are a gradient of pinkish brown shades. They are subtle enough that they should flatter any skin undertone. Considering my skin has a fairly pronounced yellow undertone it worked well.






Considering how subtle the shades are, I think it would serve as a highlighter for those with darker skintones. On me, it adds some colour if I use a normal brush with the darker stripes, but in this picture I had used a fan duo fibre brush just to get a highlighting effect.

Overall, I would recommend the biggy Bronzer as a solid addition to anyone if they lack a Bronzer or one in the more pinkish end of the spectrum.




The Hawaiian Hues palette has a nice collection of summer shades, ranging from copper and neutrals to summer brights.




I am not too keen on the packaging for the palette, as it was more of a generic plastic common to most drugstore products. Each eyeshadow strip was also quite thin, and if you like using your own eyeshadow brushes instead of the provided applicators, then it may be tricky to swirl your brush in the pan to pick up colour.




Swatches in the same order as the palette, from left to right:







Some colours are done better than others. The colours I found with good pigment and texture are the copper, brown, silver-grey. The rest, especially the yellow shade on the right were more powdery, coarser textured, and only had mediocre colour payoff.


Overall, I felt that the Hawaiian Hues palette was somewhat lacking in quality colours. If you are just starting out in makeup and want to play around with a wide variety of colours, this could be worth a look, but you may outgrow it fast as you become more adventurous with bright colours (or realize that you just prefer neutrals).