I know I’m going to get a bit of flack when I confess how often I wash my hair — every single day. Even in winter and even if I’m sick. The only time I don’t wash my hair daily is when I want to work out the next morning and washing it at night doesn’t make sense because I would have to wash it again in the morning, nine hours later or something.

This habit comes from living in Singapore for most of my life where the weather is so hot and humid that people take showers twice a day and wash their hair daily. I asked Mr BB this question when we first started dating and he said, “Once a week.” I was flabbergasted and sort of grossed out, though he had really healthy-looking hair. He had shoulder length hair (he was a bit of a party boy then) and the most luscious curls. His hair never looked oily, too, nor did it ever smell bad. He reasoned, “You’ll dry out your hair if you wash it too often.” I do agree with that!

I once had the very unfortunate chance of meeting a hairdresser in Singapore who advised me to wash my hair twice a day to combat oily scalp. I think it was a mixture of embarrassment and desperation that I listened to her advice. No guesses what had happened — I had a very clean scalp but my tresses were so dry after a week of nuking my hair like that. That was a dumb move and I came to my senses a week later. Don’t you just hate it when a trusted professional gives such bad advice (on other note, I’ve had a hair stylist tell me I was balding so I would buy haircare for hair loss)?

I tried washing my hair every other day but I just couldn’t because my scalp gets pretty greasy the next day. I have tied my day-old hair into a pony tail hoping for a slick up-do but it just looks like a greasy up-do. I have toyed with the idea of just not washing my hair for one or two days and just push through with the habit till it sticks and my scalp produces less oil, but I haven’t had enough courage thus far…

Having said that, my scalp is a lot more balanced out after I switched to non-silicone haircare and the grease is noticeably less but I still endeavour to wash my hair daily.

How about you, dear reader — how often do you wash your hair?

Photo credit: here

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I’ve been on a natural kick lately (see previous post) where beauty products are concerned. Although having sensitive skin feels like a curse, I think it’s also a blessing because it taught me to really think about what I’m putting on myself and I try to avoid nasties like parabens, alcohol, colouring, and fragrance (well, heavily perfumed products that is, not naturally scented ones).

So when my lovely friend Daphne from Mekhala asked me to try some of their body and hair products, I couldn’t resist.

What’s unique about Mekhala is that they use rice in their products, besides the fact that they do not have any chemical additives.

You can instantly tell from their list of ingredients that their products are very natural because you can understand everything easily. For example, the ingredients list for the Black Rice Shampoo reads like this:

Distilled Water, Hom Nin Rice, Black Rice Extract, Kaffir Lime Extract, Aloe Vera, White Crane Flower Extract, Natural Glycerine, Jasmine Rice Extract

I felt that this shampoo cleaned well and left my hair smooth and shiny after using this everyday for two weeks. There was no residue problem with the Black Rice Conditioner so I know this is a quality product. I find that residue build-up tends to happen fairly quickly with standard drugstore conditioners and that is why I have completely stopped using such conditioners.

I was also pleasantly surprised that the shampoo lathered so much for a natural product but that was due to the kaffir lime extract, I believe, which has natural cleansing properties. Since I’m a fan of non-silicone haircare, this range wins two thumbs up from me. And did I mention it smells just divine? I can’t put my finger on it but it smells like brown sugar with a hint of caramel. It reminds me of Chinese desserts with rice flour balls in clear sweet soup and I love them!

The Young Rice Milk Body Lotion smells similar to the Black Rice range but is slightly less sweet and has subtle accents of floral notes which come from the moringa oil and moke flower extract, I think. This light moisturizer sinks right into the skin and your skin doesn’t feel greasy, but it is too light for winter and I would imagine this to be perfect for hot and humid weather in the summer, or a climate like Singapore’s.

Speaking of which, Mekhala is only available to customers in Singapore but you can email them directly to ask for a shipping quote if you are not from Singapore.

Now I’ve saved the most interesting product for last — the Coconut Soap which is a cinnamon and tumeric scrub and shaped like an open coconut, I might add! I am surprised that there is tumeric because I cannot detect it at all. It’s an extremely gentle scrub as the granules are tiny and quite soft so you can use this daily without feeling like you are exfoliating too much.

The lather is not a lot at all, compared to traditional soaps, but it leaves the skin feeling very clean and it smells just amazing — I keep smelling a pillowy scent that it’s probably from the cinnamon and coconut milk and makes me think of falling into a white fluffy bed.

Even if you are not one to spend more on your own body care products, I think their handmade soaps and beauty range would make great gifts.

Have you tried any good natural beauty products lately? Do share!

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In the depths of winter, my skin prefers oil as a moisturizer which could be a little scary for those who have oily skin, but fear not — you just need a teensy bit and your skin will thank you for it.

For a few years, I had been using Dessert Essence’s Organic Jojoba Oil which worked great but Rainy Days and Lattes wrote about Jason Natural Vitamin E Oil that not only helped her moisturize her skin but to get rid of pimples and discoloration. I got Mr BB to buy a bottle of this from Whole Foods on one of his New York trips because of this rave.

I think I was drawn to this product because I have dehydrated oily skin so I’m constantly on the hunt for products that have the grunt of a heavy moisturizer without breaking me out. So far, I have only good things to say about this product.

She also wrote another post on Trader’s Joe’s Jojoba Oil and felt it was less oily than the Jason’s Vitamin E Oil. But I must say that I think Jason Vitamin E Oil is less oily than Dessert Essence’s Jojoba Oil — we might be splitting hairs here, but my main point is, don’t be afraid of this vitamin E oil as it’s still pretty light.

I only use this at night after I wash my face, slap on a hydrating lotion, spread Clinique’s Anti-blemish Clearing Moisturizer on my T-zone, and then shake four drops out — three drops for my face and one for my neck.

In the morning, my skin just looks, smooth, bright and fresh, especially after washing it and I’m happy to have found my happy balance this winter. I would not use this in non-winter seasons, not even in autumn and spring because I did try Jason Natural Vitamin E Oil at the tail end of autumn and it was still a bit too heavy for my skin type.

Do I experience fewer pimples? Yes, actually. I find that I have fewer clogged pores if you would believe that. It could be also due to the cold and dry weather, but I have had bad breakouts and clogged pores using regular moisturizers in previous winters, so I really think the vitamin E oil has something to do with my clearer skin.

In terms of getting rid of discoloration, I haven’t seen any effects but I have only been using this for a month. But I have used a very heavy vitamin E oil from Fruit of the Earth, called Vitamin E Skincare Oil, that helps me get rid of eczema and some scars from sand flies so I do have faith that vitamin E oil will work on scars but it takes months and months.

Do you use oil on your skin? If so, what type of oil do you use? Or tell us what is your fave winter facial moisturizer.

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Like my cosmetic preferences, I like to mix it up with cheap and expensive products when it comes to perfumes too. I would say I’m a perfume fanatic who is picky about how I smell but that doesn’t mean I am a complete snob — there are times when I come across lovely fragrances at reasonable prices. And I’m also not too quick to write off celebrity perfumes if they are really good, e.g. Sarah Jessica Parker, Gwen Stefani, and Britney Spears, though I would hastily point out that these stars are backed by excellent perfume house Coty Inc. who knows what they are talking about. So now you know where I stand in the perfume world lol!

Today’s perfume was a surprise for me as I never thought much of the Escada scents and they churn out one every year so they all seem to smell more or less the same. Another similar perfume that plays on the same theme but tweaks each release just a little bit is Ferragamo’s Incanto series. They are not bad at all — sweet and fruity, but all kind of the same.

There’s a little story behind how I stumbled upon Escada’s Ocean Lounge…

I attended a charity event held by a friend of a friend and there were a ton of raffle prizes to be won. I actually nabbed a hair cut at a chic salon in Azabu Juban while my friend won three perfumes and a pair of Roberto Cavalli sunnies. She was kind enough to share her loot and passed me the Escada one since she didn’t like sweet scents. One woman’s cast-off is indeed another’s treasure…

Luckily, Escada Ocean Lounge gels very well with my skin chemistry and the luscious fruity top notes are not so citrus that make it yet another boring fruity floral and the dry down is quite full-bodied for such a fresh scent. Here are the list of notes (source): plum, pear nectar accord, strawberry meringue accord, violet petal sorbet, mimosa blossom, jasmine, amber, sheer vanilla, teak wood.

I don’t know about you but strawberry meringue accord sounds either very scary or very delicious, and in this case, it’s good. I’ve to warn you that it is very sweet, so those who like gourmand scents might be drawn this perfume more. Oddly, I enjoy wearing this in winter precisely because it’s got such a happy tropical vibe — it feels like, I may be donning a boring turtleneck but I’m rocking the beach from the inside…

Do you wear “out-of-season” scents? Or just tell us what you are sporting this winter!

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Tadaima (means I’m home, in Japanese)!

Although I’ve been back in Tokyo for a week, things at BB headquarters have been crazy busy behind the scenes and blogging was quite difficult but I’m back now.

Today, I’ll be doing a non-beauty post where I’ll be thinking about my Vietnam holiday which was also my honeymoon with Mr BB. Many people were puzzled that we would choose this as our lovey-dovey trip together. Honestly, we chose Vietnam out of practical reasons, i.e. it was close to Singapore; we had to use up our the return leg of our air ticket from Singapore to Tokyo; and I’d never been there. Mr BB had been to Ho Chi Minh briefly 20 years ago so we thought, “Why the heck not?”

Some friends didn’t think it was a very romantic destination and I think yes and no. It’s a developing country so creature comforts are hard to come by, but it was exotic and unknown to us so it made it a highly interesting choice. Thinking back on our past trips, we always had a great adventure together no matter where we were so the location was secondary.

Here’s my love list…

♥ Lots of great scenery, from rice padi fields, ancient ruins, to panoramic sea views, especially in Halong Bay.

♥ Delicious food. We didn’t just chow down on great Vietnamese dishes but also international ones, particularly in Hanoi which was quite the culinary hub. Faves include The Green Mango, Wild Rice, and KOTO.

♥ Not really caring about beauty stuff — this is almost like an anti-beauty point! Don’t get me wrong, I did wear makeup sometimes but I didn’t spend much time putting it on and I kept wearing the same look over and over again (e.g. I used Naked, Buck, and Sin eyeshadows from the Naked Palette almost every time). I also went without makeup for days on end.

♥ When I did return to slapping on makeup after a whole week without, Mr BB said, “You look better without makeup! The real you is not covered up.” Big aww.

♥ Spotted baguettes everywhere (and French menus!). Vietnamese food is mainly built on rice and noodles but colonial French influences are still alive in modern Vietnam.

♥ Tailored two winter jackets in Hoi An, the capital of custom tailoring in clothes manufacturing Vietnam. I loved the fact that I could make them exactly how I wanted (pockets, unobstrusive collars, no belt, knee length, well-lined) at a steal (USD100 – 160). I would recommend A Dong Silk but be really careful of fakes as there are shops all over Hoi An that copy famous reputable tailors.

♥ Just did nothing but read, eat, sleep at Jungle Beach, a bungalow resort 60km north of Nha Trang.

♥ Spent New Year’s Eve on the beach in front of a fire, sipping wine, and cuddling up with Mr BB.

♥ Met many wonderful people from all over the world as we made our way around Vietnam. We chatted with folks from different walks of life and they made our time there even more fun and interesting.

♥ Went on long hikes so I didn’t feel that guilty for stuffing my face.

♥ Lay in bed for a day at the Sheraton in Nha Trang just munching on chocolate and watching cable TV to recover from non-stop travelling.

♥ Just hanging out with my favouritest person in the world. ♥♥♥

Have you been to Vietnam? How did you like it? I’ll be back to blogging about beauty really soon!

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Do you remember the first installment of my Japanese Drugstore Hunt 2000JPY & Below: Lipgloss? Check it out if you haven’t and you can also read about why I’m doing this feature in more depth. Basically I’m featuring a bunch of affordable cosmetics (by category) from Japanese drugstores that are great to have in your collection.

Today’s category is blush and I’ve got both powder and cream to recommend.

From left to right: Canmake Cream Cheek 11, Canmake Cheek & Cheek 04, and Cezanne Lasting Cheek 04.

Canmake Cream Cheek 11; 609JPY: This is an all-time classic that anyone who is into Asian cosmetics would know. It actually surprises my Japanese friends that Canmake is so popular outside of Japan but I think I’m probably speaking to the wrong demographic. Canmake is a teen brand that has a huge following of young girls. It held the number one spot for cream blushes on Cosme at the time of writing — and it’s always in the top three at any given time. I would say give this a go as it’s a high quality cream blush that is pigmented and long-lasting. It doesn’t break me out so that says a lot too as I’ve got ultra-sensitive skin.

Canmake Cheek & Cheek 04; 714JPY: Another hugely popular item from Canmake is their duo powder blush. I’ve gotta admit that I didn’t like this product at all when I swatched it but so many bloggers were raving over it and it keeps holding a position in the top five of the powder blush category at Cosme. When I swatched it on my hand, I thought it was way too pink and bright and chalky, but curiosity got the better of me and I just bought it anyway. And guess what? It was pretty awesome on my cheeks. I used a big brush to blend it onto the apples of my cheeks and I got a lovely warm pink hue which wasn’t chalky at all. The finish looks matte, but upon closer inspection, there are teeny tiny sparkles which are seriously not noticeable unless someone puts their face right up to your cheek.

Cezanne Lasting Cheek 04; 504JPY: Even cheaper than the Canmake Cream Cheek, Cezanne has a pretty respectable cream blush as well. Canmake has an oilier finish while Cezanne has a drier finish but it still maintains a slight dewiness. It’s not as long-lasting as Canmake’s one but at such a low price, I can’t complain. It tends to get lighter as it oxidizes which is strange to me so the end result is more like a cheek stain than a blush eight hours after you put it on. This product is always hot on the heels of the Canmake Cream Cheek at Cosme.

The picture here are swatches of the Canmake (top) and Cezanne (bottom) cream blushes.

I’ve got another powder blush gem up my sleeve and it’s Love Clover‘s Four Colours Blend Cheek no. 3163; 1800JPY. The quad design with four squares of pinks and oranges remind me of my Jill Stuart Mixed Blush Compact 09 Little Bouquet. But the packaging is of course completely different. I love feminine, girly designs (I am secretly lusting after some Pixi, a Swedish cosmetics brand) so this drew me in immediately.

I didn’t swatch this as it’s quite light and you won’t be able to see it very well at all. The quality is definitely on the powdery side and I needed to put on three layers to get a more pigmented effect. This is indeed quite typical of cheaper drugstore blushes but it’s really not a big deal to me to put on more layers. Sometimes highly pigmented blushes are actually harder to work with as putting on too much is all too easy and harder to rectify.

Also, Love Clover is not available in regular drugstores but you can get it at Loft or the Plaza online shop.

I love the slight pearly shimmer it has on the cheeks and it’s such a fresh peachy shade that makes me think of the beach, waves, and coconut trees. Maybe I’m thinking too much about my holiday – haha! But it is very fresh-looking for days you need a perk-me-up and the gorgeous palette always makes me smile with pretty butterflies and a cute owl.

Do you have any other products or brands to recommend for drugstore blushes?

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In my Beauty Evolution video, I mentioned that I wear makeup almost everyday.

I guess I’ve been influenced by the culture here in Japan where women wear makeup everywhere — from the supermarket to yoga class. And it’s not va-va-voom makeup with false eye lashes, but most often than not, some base makeup, blush, eyeshadow, and lipgloss at least. So yeah, I wear makeup to my yoga class and to a tennis session or two. Gosh, listen to me — I’ve got this “when in Rome” attitude! But I draw the line at running though. For activities that involve heavy sweating, I think it is pointless to wear makeup.

Now it’s part of my routine to have brekkie, get changed out of my PJs, and put on some makeup. I try not to leave my PJs on even though I might be working at home because I’m one of those people who need to switch on their game by actually feeling like I’m in “game” mode. Although my office is literally three steps from the bedroom or bathroom, I think it’s so important to get dressed for work. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve remained in my PJs till mid-afternoon reading blogs when I’m supposed to be hard at work doing Beauty Box things, so I decided to stop the slothy behaviour and act like I’m the boss of me.

For days which I don’t have meetings or appointments, I would just spread on some of my DIY liquid mineral foundation, dust on some blush and face powder, plus some light eye makeup (I skip mascara), just in case I need to pop out to run some spontaneous errands (e.g. buy ice-cream for Mr BB) or receive inventory or packing materials that float through my apartment a few times a week.

Before you recoil in horror, I do give my skin a rest day or two, usually on the weekend when I’m just watching TV and being lazy. I do find that my oily skin behaves better when I have some base makeup on to control the oil. It does feel uncomfortable when my face gets oily and my glasses slip and slide, so I just feel better overall when I pat on some BB cream or a light base and put on my contacts.

How about you, my dear readers — how often do you wear makeup?

Hello my lovelies, I thought I would do an in-depth review of the Missha Signature Real Complete BB Cream SPF25PA++ that was in my Top 10 Asian Cosmetics In 2011 list.

I was inspired by beauty bloggers Winnie and Jamilla who said great things about this Missha BB cream.

I’ve always hesitated from buying Korean BB creams (although I’m such a BB cream freak) because of their grey undertones and overly rich formulas. But Winnie and Jamilla have similar colouring to mine so I took a chance and got a tube in shade No.23. I’m an NC25 so this fits me to a tee.

The strangest thing about this BB cream (and some Korean BB creams, I heard) is that it may look grey but when you put it on your face, it oxidizes very quickly and looks more like your skin tone. But I must add that the grey cast in this BB cream is quite mild compared to other Korean brands.

What also drew me to this product is that it says it is hypoallergenic (also fragrance-free) and has healing benefits which I thought would be great for my sensitive skin. the ingredients list looks awfully long for something that is supposed to be gentle on the skin, but after using this consistently for a couple of months now, I can declare that my skin loves it. No reactions at all — just a dewy natural finish with medium to full coverage.

I’m not sure if this BB cream would take to humid weather well. I wore this at in autumn when it was still quite humid in Tokyo and I thought my skin did look a bit weird and cakey at the end of the day. But this BB cream works like a dream in winter and it’s one of my favourite BB creams ever.

It comes with a pump (very hygenic!), and although it is in a tube form, you can’t squeeze the hard casing at all, so it retains its shape. For 2800JPY (USD36), you get 45g of product and I feel like it is a lot for a BB cream compared to many Japanese BB creams. I like the fact that I could easily go to a Missha shop in Shibuya because many other Korean brands are not available in Japan and I like swatching base makeup first, rather than guessing from online pictures which are not reliable.

Have you tried Missha BB creams before? What do you think of them?

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If you have long hair like me, you would appreciate a good quality shower cap when you travel. I know hotels usually stock a token shower cap but those are quite hopeless in my opinion!

I want my shower cap to have a comfortable but firm grip and it shouldn’t tear. My hair is long and thick so when it’s all bunched up in a flimsy hotel shower cap, it would sag and the cap wouldn’t cover my head completely due to the weak elastic band — it just becomes a mess.

So, I always bring my own shower cap when I travel. I love this cute pink polka dotted one I got from my local Tomod’s drugstore and I always take it with me. I actually don’t use a shower cap to keep my hair dry but I use it when I condition my hair. My skin is quite sensitive so I prefer to bundle up my hair in a shower cap as I condition it.

It’s a small thing, but I like to have products that work, even if I’m just on holiday and can put up with slight inconveniences temporarily.

Do you bother with bringing your own shower cap when you’re travelling?

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One of the gripes I have about living in Japan is the lack of affordable good creamy nail polish. You can find lots of shimmery and pearly nail polishes at the drugstore, but creamy, not so much. How I wish Essie and OPI are at reasonable prices here. Essie costs 1890JPY (USD24) and OPI is 2000JPY (USD26) in Tokyo — exorbitant, right?

So I turn to cheaper alternatives like Paul & Joe which is 1500JPY (USD19) per bottle. Jill Stuart is also similarly priced but they only seem to have very shimmery or glittery polish. RMK is another option but somehow their colour range right now doesn’t appeal.

I love this warm light beige colour in 28 that has the right hint of pink and it’s great as an everyday nail polish.

The quality of Paul & Joe is not the best unfortunately. It’s quite runny and I needed three coats to get a fully opaque finish. Now this is quite substandard where nail polish goes — I think two coats is a sign of a good polish. I’ve read other reviews that said the same thing (e.g.:London Makeup Girl) and it took quite a long time to dry. In terms of chipping, it took three days for nicks to appear, which is the same as Essie and OPI for me.

But it is still better than a couple of drugstore brands that I’ve tried here (Majolica Majorca, Visee, and Canmake) which chip or the tips fade the very next day. The Paul & Joe one doesn’t lose colour at all in the three days before it chipped.

My conclusion is that this is something very pretty to have but don’t bang on any high performance from this nail polish. I think Paul & Joe has very lovely shades and it’s probably the only thing going for its nail range — oh, and the bottle of course because it’s so girly and sweet to have on your vanity table.

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