Makeup Withdrawal

Showing posts with label Cleanser. Show all posts

Be Creation Konjac Sponge

Saturday, November 12, 2011

About 10 months ago (jeez, I'm a bad blogger. So behind!) I made a purchase from Sasa and it included a konjac jelly sponge from Be Creation for about $7. I had no idea what it was, I think the 'jelly' part of the name made me hungry.
After I received it, I googled it and found a review on MUA about it. The reviewer's chief (and only) criticism was that this funny little sponge went moldy quickly. I found a solution for that, but first- let me describe the darn thing.
I bought the heart shaped one. It came semi-wet in a solution that I assumed inhibited bacterial growth. It's made out of konjac fibers (the same konjac that Asian jelly snacks are made of). You use it when it's wet and fully expanded.
When I use it, it feels absolutely wonderful, like thousands of bubbles are massaging my skin. It's so great to use with a cleanser to remove makeup, the heart shape makes it easy to use the point to clean around my nostrils and around my eyes. I love that it gently removed dead, dried skin from my cheeks with each use but it wasn't a harsh exfoliation like a scrub or washcloth.

Now the tricky part- keeping it from getting moldy. I poured some isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol, 91%) into a spray bottle. After every use, I washed it thoroughly with antibacterial soap and I wrapped a towel around the sponge and squeezed to get all the water out, then sprayed it down with alcohol, (making sure to saturate the middle of the sponge) which dehydrated it faster than letting it dry on its own. I then hung it in my room (better than the bathroom, which can be humid at times from showers) in a well ventilated area free from dust. I haven't had any issues with my konjac sponge going bad.
I lost my sponge in the move from Philly to MN, so my use of it wasn't continuous. I'd estimate with daily use, it would deteriorate and fall apart after about three months. I really like this sponge, and it's too bad that Sasa no longer carries it. I've seen some cheap ones on eBay, so I think I'll be ordering one from there shortly.

Product featured was purchased by me, for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

Kose Cosmeport Softymo Q10 Powder Wash

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Hello Readers!

I have a fascination with products that come in a different state of matter than they usually are sold. What do I mean by that? Astronaut ice cream, dry shampoos and cake mascara are all great examples of altered oddities, things that you can't easily find but I'm obsessed with none the less.

Today I want to talk about powdered face wash! My first encounter with powder face happened in the summer of 2007, when I was visiting family in China. I don't remember the brand that I used (or price, or even how effective it was. Heck, I'm not too sure why I'm bringing this up, but luckily I write this blog so I get to drop all the weird anecdotes I want!) but I was enthralled by the dry white powder sudsing up.

Fast foward to November, 2010 when I was making a Sasa order and saw that Kose made a powder wash. All sorts of bells and lights went off in my head and I eagerly added it to my cart. It was $10.20 for 75g of product. When the order got here, I have no shame in saying that as I tore into my package, this was the first goody that I tried.

It comes packaged in a bottle with an attached cap that lets you shake out as much as you want into your hand. The powder is very finely milled and has this faint...fishy? sour? meaty? (I can't really tell) odor. However, once I added water to it, I couldn't discern any scent from the sudsy mix at all.

Kose Powder Wash dissolves instantly and lathers quite nicely, a small sprinkling of the powder (shown in the pictures) is enough to wash my entire face. It rinses off easily however, it feels really soapy to me like I just scrubbed my face with a bar of Dial soap.
My face feels nice and clean, though maybe a tad bit dry. On the plus side, this cleanser doesn't break me out but I just don't like the results as much as I like other face washes. I didn't set this wash aside and forget about it though! I bring it with me all the time when I travel. It's lightweight compared to my liquid cleansers and I don't have to worry about TSA restrictions since it's a dry powder (I do worry that they'll think a powdery substance is suspicious and that I'll get tackled at the boarding gate because they think I'm smuggling cocaine...).

So what do you think about powder washes? Have you ever tried any?

Product featured was purchased by me, for my own use.

Kose Cosmeport Softymo Speedy Cleansing Oil

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Kinda hard to tell from this picture of the
packaging, but the refill is on the left and the
pump bottle is on the right.

Hello Readers!

I'm sick at home with the flu I was kind of at a loss about what to write about today. I mean, I was in no mood to swatch nail polish or to apply any makeup to my face, so I figured it was time to write a long overdue skincare review.

I stumbled upon this Kose Softymo Speedy Cleansing Oil (I have no idea what makes this cleansing oil 'Speedy') after browsing through Kathi from Lotus Palace's reviews (by the way, I really enjoy reading this blog. She mentions so many Asian products that I would have otherwise never heard of and never tried). It was $13 on Sasa.com for a 230ml (which is a little over 7.75 fluid oz.) and a refill satchel of 170ml. What a fantastic price! You get over 13.5 fluid oz in smart packaging- with the refill satchel, it means less packaging waste. Thumbs up for being efficient.

Not only is it really cheap, but it works amazingly well for me too. It's a big lighter than the Missha Perfect BB Deep Cleansing Oil, but I like the consistency because I find it easier to stroke over my skin. This oil cleanser is both scentless and is clear in color.

I usually spend about five minutes during which time I can literally see my makeup melt away and the gross hardened sebum plugs work themselves loose from my nose area. After that, I rinse my face with warm water (it amazes me to no end every single time I see cleansing oils emulsify into that white, milky color) and follow up with another cleanser- my Neutrogena Oil-Free Stress Control Power-Cream Wash, just to make sure that I've removed all traces of the oil cleanser.

I use two pumps of this oil cleanser each day, and the bottle plus the refill lasted me roughly five months.

Shipping on Sasa is $6. This product goes out of stock very quickly, so you might want to sign up for email updates that alert you when it comes back into stock.

I was so thrilled with this product that it made me want to try more Kose products! In fact, I'll be reviewing the Kose Softymo Q10 Powder Wash shortly.

Product was purchased by me, for my own use.