Hi my dearies, I’m so looking forward to a quiet weekend at home before I fly off to New York. Lots of packing to do at BB Headquarters and prepping for my departure. Thank you so much for your thoughts on our most recent Beauty Debate. I always enjoy reading your opinions and floored that anyone would take the time to talk to me on a blog about these questions of mine!

Today, I bring you my favourites for February. I don’t always do these posts because I may not actually stick to any one product for more than a few days (except for skincare, but that’s a bit boring now). But, I found myself drawn to the same cosmetic products over and over last month so here’s my love list…

Front row from left to right:

Nanoce BB Skincare Pact SPF17 PA++ in Healthy Ocre is an absolute delight to use. I love how this pressed powder takes the unflattering shine from my face but yet “lets it breathe”, i.e. you can still see the skin peeking through, so it has a very natural, slightly dewy effect a couple of hours after application. It’s not a greasy mess at the end of the day though I do blot once or twice by the late afternoon or early evening but that’s normal for me for any loose or compact powder. And this shade suits my NC25 skintone like a glove. I think it’s even better than my much beloved Jill Stuart pressed powder which has a more powdery opaque finish.

And late in coming into my possession in February was the Maquillage Face Creator (3D) in 66 which is such a lovely light peachy shade. The highlight and contour shades are so soft and feminine as well that makes this a great everyday go-to blush palette. It’s not highly pigmented but I prefer it this way as I could work the colour in rather than pat my brush on the pan gingerly and hope for the best, e.g. Bobbi Brown and NARS. Don’t get me wrong, pigmented cosmetics are great, but for light makeup application, I think this is perfect.

Isn’t it gorgeous?

Back row from left to right:

I’m so finicky about perfumes that I surprised myself by wearing The Body Shop’s White Musk Libertine Eau De Toilette almost everyday. First off, I’m not a fan of TBS fragrances so this is even more unusual for me. Secondly, I always tire of perfumes even if I love them to death. I don’t tire of them like I don’t want to ever use them again, but I need to take short breaks like a couple of weeks, if I apply the same fragrance for, say a week. But the White Musk Libertine scent was so comforting, fresh and subtle, I could spritz it every single day. I had to stop myself from using it, in case I did get sick of it, but I’m still very much in love with it. Even more shockingly, it has notes of Turkish delight, baby orchid and Chantilly cream. I really dislike Turkish Delight, too! Goodness!

The next item I stubbornly stuck to was Badger’s After Sun Balm for my lips. It’s obviously not summer now but I liked the scent of this product the most among the few that are available in Japan. It is by far the most moisturizing balm I have ever tried — it’s no wonder because it is a powerhouse of olive oil, cocoa and shea butters, and several essential oils. It sits very well under lipsticks and it is not so rich that it would be hard for the lipstick to go on. In fact, I think it enhances whatever lipstick I’m using.

Lastly, the combo of MAC’s Lustre Hug Me lippie and Lancome’s coral Juicy Tube is a lovely soft nude lip look I’ve been sporting. I find it hard to wear nude lip colours but this is a dream team.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my February faves — what were yours?

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Yes, yet another post on lip products but I do go through phases where I focus on one type of product. Does that happen to you, too?

I didn’t realize that I accumulated a few lip butters over the past couple of months quite unintentionally. And I am just loving them this winter. My lips (and hands and legs and feet – argh, everywhere!) get so dry that I need more grunt in my lip care products.

Thanks to Brianna from The Sungirl Says, I got these two Revlon Lip Butters in Candy Apple (extreme left) and Lollipop (second from the left) from the US late last year when they debuted and everyone went bananas for them. I can totally see why — they feel rich on the lips, you don’t need a lip balm underneath, and there is so much pigmentation for the darker shades.

I read that the lighter shades can be very sheer and are more tinted lip balm-like so I chose the more dramatic looking ones and I’ve kept using them since the start of the year and just can’t stop! I hope that they will come to Japan soon because I can’t wait to try more shades. I also can’t wait to see if Japanese brands might pick up on the lip butter trend and come up with their own.

Then in Singapore I couldn’t resist grabbing some Korres goodies because they had a Chinese New Year sale going on. In addition to my bodycare products, I chose a stark red lip butter, that is called Rose, and what I like about this product is that it has SPF15, and is free from parabens, mineral oil, silicone, propylene glycol, and ethanolamine. It’s quite similar to Candy Apple and the double shade curse struck again…what can I say, I just like reds with a hint of orange.

The last lip butter on the far right is The Body Shop’s limited edition Chocomania Lip Butter. I also have the body butter which I haven’t broken into yet. I did wonder if I wanted to smell like chocolate but it’s more like shea butter infused with a chocolate aroma and the chocolate fragrance actually fades away faster than the shea. It’s just a yummy treat to slather on my lips before bed and I am contemplating stocking up on more since this is limited edition. This lip butter keeps my lips moisturized till morning, and since the air is as dry as a friggin’ desert in Tokyo, I would say this is a solid lip care product.

As a side note, I used to love The Body Shop a lot but I kind of got sick of smelling the same products again and again so I strayed over to Korres for my regular body care products. But I must say my interest got renewed by the Chocomania range and their White Musk Libertine collection. I do hesitate to talk about The Body Shop because it’s a brand while popular, is kind of uninteresting, but I like what I like eh?

The Chocomania lip butter doesn’t have any colour so I didn’t swatch it, but here are what Candy Apple (left), Lollipop (middle), and Korres’ Rose (right) look like. Rose is almost identical to Candy Apple but is on the sheerer side. Lollipop is this brilliant fuschia which I usually tone down with a nude lip gloss but would work for a night out on its own. I’ve been alternating between these three lately and my other lipsticks are feeling quite neglected.

Another lip butter I would like to try is the Yes To Carrots ones which show up with Revlon if you search for “lip butter” on Google. It’s such a quirky cute brand which I would like to get to know.

Have you ever tried Yes To Carrots? Are you also a lip butter fan?

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