As I mentioned, the month of July is full of travel and I’m saying hello from Daydream Island in the Whitsundays, which is a group of islands north of Brisbane in Australia. I’m totally digging my heels into the gorgeous white sandy beaches, turquoise waters, and gorgeous fresh fruit here.

Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of where I am…

I mentioned that I bought a Paul & Joe Protective Foundation Primer UV 02 a month back and after using it consistently for three weeks, I think it’s safe to say I’m a fan. Last winter, I found that my skin had many creases when I put on just liquid foundation and loose powder and read that a primer would help decrease the look of fine lines emphasized by foundation.

I chose this product because it was number one last year in its category on Japanese cosmetics ranking site, Cosme.

Yeah, I’m a sucker for ultra-girly packaging.

My thoughts: It has a thin liquid finish that sits well under my foundation and loose powder. My crease lines were reduced by 80 per cent so I’m very pleased with this product. Usually I have fine lines from my nose to my cheeks when I smile but with this primer, I don’t suffer from these at all. Yay.

The fragrance is a light rose scent which thankfully I love. I hate wearing makeup when I don’t take to the fragrance and it follows you every second of the day so it’s important to me what a product smells like.

Would I buy this again? YES! It’s affordable at 3,600JPY (USD37) and I only need a tiny bit daily so I can forsee this lasting for at least six months. Does anyone have positive reviews of other primers?

Here are the freebies that came with my purchase…

A small satchet of cleansing milk which I probably will use while travelling — I’m more of a cleansing oil girl so this doesn’t excite me very much.

Ooo, this one looks interesting: Protective Powder Compact Foundation. I’ve not tried it yet but will do so to see if this is something I would switch to.

Alrighty, time for me to head off to my couch again. We’re going to watch Avatar at the open-air cinema on the beach and munch on dinner from the pub next to it. Just gotta love being in an Aussie resort. Don’t forget to take part in our fabulous Summer Giveaway — you’ll get a chance to win a tin of Meiji Amino Collagen Apple & Ginger, a Vit C mask set (5 pieces), and a Hanayuki Gel Cream perfect for summer and has collagen essence!

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I’m always on the lookout for fabulous natural products that work so my curiosity was piqued when I read an entry on a rave about Trilogy’s Organic Rose Hip Oil. The blogger has gorgeous looking skin so I had to try it. Plus, I have a new found interest in different types of oils for skin and hair…

Sometimes I pass by Cosme Kitchen in Daikanyama so I popped in and saw this product on sale. To my delight, this treatment oil sits at second place in the Special Care category on Cosme, a beauty product ranking site based on ordinary Japanese women’s reviews. Sure enough, there was good feedback on Makeup Alley, too.

It has been two weeks since I used this rose hip oil on my face. I mainly used it at night and my skin would look refreshed and smooth in the morning. I had these tiny little bumps on my cheek area and those disappeared. I also tried using it in the day under makeup and it felt and looked fine, too.

Upon further research, this oil is made by an Australian company owned by a pair of sisters. Their story is delightful and you just feel this simple, yet elegant brand is for regular women, like you and me. It’s very affordable in Australia (AUD20 – 35; USD18 – 32) and the US (USD20 on Amazon), so I felt the pinch because I bought it for 3,990JPY (USD44) in Japan.

What I love about it too is that there’s no fragrance and just two small drops are enough for my face and neck. The applicator keeps things very hygienic and the best part is, it works well in dry to semi-dry weather.

Spring is just around the corner so it isn’t so drying but the tropical nature of my skin is so used to high humidity that it gets affected easily by dehydration.

Trilogy’s Organic Rose Hip Oil is definitely an HG product of mine.

Monoi oil by The Body Shop is my new HG moisturizer for winter. In a desperate hunt for a solution for extremely parched skin, I found this to be a miracle (you can read more about it here).

Makeup Alley reviewers also gave monoi oil the thumbs up as a great way to smooth frizzy hair out.

Perhaps it was my five-week hiatus in the tropics that made me sensitive to this winter season. I thought I nailed it after I bought a humidifier in 2008 but I felt dried out — inside and out.

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There’s a lovely natural beauty products store, Cosme Kitchen, just outside Daikanyama station. They carry a big range of products that use natural and/or organic ingredients which you know appeals very much to moi.

As the weather is turning colder and drier, I felt like getting something to pamper my skin and my gaze fell on Burt’s Bees Milk & Honey Body Lotion. The scent and texture were divine so I paid for it and made my way home.

If you ask me, I don’t think this concoction smells like milk or honey, but coconut with a bit of lemon and baby powder. The lotion is very liquidy and light but moisturizes well. Even my PJs smell gorgeous the following night after I slather this magical lotion all over.

I’m quite a scrouge when it comes to buying makeup but I definitely spend good money on body products. After a hard day’s work, there is nothing sweeter than engulfing myself in a cocoon of lush fragrance.

By the way, it’s also a recommendation by experts as a way to cut down on binge-eating. If you think that hoovering ice-cream, chocolate, or chips is a way to indulge yourself, why not splurge on yourself in a non-food way?

Since I have very long hair, conditioning it is serious business, and there are very few products that would impress me beyond the first couple of rinses.

I’m totally a fan of Kerastase, but it’s expensive to keep up, especially if you need a lot of it to make it work.

Since I was a teenager, I used oil on my hair to transform it from dull locks to mirror shiny tresses. Although I see some advice articles recommending a bit of oil to be smeared on after washing your hair, I prefer to oil my hair for at least half an hour and then shampoo it off. Normally, I would smooth some into my hair and tie it into a pony tail and then work out or run for an hour. The longer you leave in the oil, the more stunning your hair will look and feel.

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They are small and cute — what’s not to like? I sometimes squeeze my usual beauty essentials into travel-sized containers and tubes but nothing beats ready-made ones.

These Jurlique minis (left: Citrus Clarifying Mist; right: Clarifying Day Care Lotion) are great for my oily/combination skin in the super dry wintry air of Hokkaido. This Aussie brand, by the way, is white hot in Japan and Japanese women fight tooth and nail to get them cheaper outside of Japan.

Here are the Bliss minis I used in a Brisbane hotel.

They were not too bad at all in terms of quality. What I dread about hotel-branded toiletries is they use really cheap and nasty ingredients, which leave your skin and hair dried out and itchy.

The best minis I’ve spotted so far in my travels are hotels that stock L’Occitane and Bvlgari beauty products. They make your stay (and you) smell heavenly.

The excellent thing about the world of Aussie beauty products is you’ll find lots of natural ingredients that smell divine.

I wasn’t going to go crazy and haul back a bunch to Tokyo — limited luggage space. So I allowed myself one treat: The Body Collection Australia Mango & Shea Butter Body Exfoliating Polish.

It’s a creamy, fluid scrub with real bits of apricot shells that is not as gentle as plastic beads but not overly harsh.

The overall experience is a comforting shower regime that leaves skin a little smoother.

I think if you want something that has a more dramatic effect, you would need to reach for something like The Body Shop’s African Spa Salt Scrub.

I probably may not buy this tube again but it’s not because I don’t like it but I won’t be able to find it in Tokyo.

And there are way too many brands Down Under to try! Seriously, the huge chemists (or pharmacies) stock an incredible range of domestic brands that all look and sound like they could be good beauty companions for a beach holiday.

PS: I couldn’t spot any of the products in my Allure write-up. I think Australia probably gets new products quite a while after they are launched in the US. Boo. Oh and Sydney has rainy weather now so no beaching in bikinis till the sun comes out.

Allure is to beauty, like Vogue is to fashion, so each issue of Allure is like a fantastic buffet of beauty products to gobble up.

While I was browsing its online site recently, I spotted a few lovely affordable beauty buys I might want to get when I fly to Sydney for Christmas — and that’s just next week!

Some of these brands are available in Japan but I’m keen to check out these four Allure picks because they are either not sold here or they are more expensive.

Revlon ColorStay Soft & Smooth Lipcolor, $9.99.

L’Oréal Paris Liquid Liner Brush Tip Liquid Eyeliner ($7.99)

St. Ives Elements Microdermabrasion ($6.99)

Pantene Pro-V Restoratives Time Renewal Replenishing Mask

Actually I’m one who likes to travel with products that are familiar to me. I would squeeze all kinds of shampoo, conditioner, moisturizers into mini containers or if it’s a long trip, I’ll just take along the full size product. In this way, I wouldn’t have to go without the stuff I know that works.

But the boyfriend bought us Jetstar tickets and we are only allowed one large check-in suitcase (20kg) between us. EEP! What is a beauty junkie to do? Plus my shoes and bags?! I didn’t panic for long because Australia is chock full of awesome beauty products, so look out for incoming posts about what I find Down Under.

I can’t live without cream eye shadow. Perhaps it’s because I have very solid powder type eye shadows so they tend to look a bit rough, much like using a crayon on your eyelids.

I started using Paul & Joe Eye Gloss in yellow-gold and silver when I worked at a women’s magazine in Singapore four years ago. I sat next to the beauty writer and she always passed me stuff she didn’t want when she cleaned out her drawers.

Silly me used it on its own and found it too light, so I rubbed it over my eye shadow and I’ve been lovin’ that sheer shimmer effect ever since. Unfortunately, my Paul & Joe eye gloss is on its last legs and I think it’s prudent to get rid of such old makeup.

Before my flight from Singapore to Tokyo, I got this lil’ baby:

Clinique Quick Eyes Cream Shadow in 11 Glimmering Gold. Apparently, it’s great for those who wear contacts as it is not gloopy or contains dusty sparkles that irritate eyes.

When I tested it, it felt so powdery smooth even though it’s liquid. It’s sheer enough to use over other eye colours, but I think you could have a dramatic gold look if you apply more layers — brownie point for flexibility. My Paul & Joe one is really much more liquid and it is after all an eye gloss.

Since we’re talking about eye makeup, here’s a small plug on something on sale at Beauty Box — a limited edition Shu Uemura Eye Shadow in a pretty lilac shade with a gorgeous flower design on the powder palette itself.