My Basic Kikay Kit

A confession: I'm writing this blog at the office. Shhhhh! I actually need to finish my presentation material for next week but my brain is getting numb from equations and all these terms --de-gassing, terminal velocity, Schoepentoeter...Ugh.

So I'm taking a break and am letting my mind wander into lighter, more feel good things.

Blogging = Therapy

I took pics of my super basic Kikay Kit a few weeks ago but forgot to blog about it so here it is.

Everything I need to last me through the long working day are here. Actually, most of the items here my favorites. So this is essentially a My Favorite Things post, albeit cut to the very basics.

My kikay kit is housed in a Le SportSac Pouch. It's actually the pouch for my weekender bag but it works well as my Kikay Kit because it's very light and is big enough for my stuff.

Lioele Waterdrop Aqua Makeup: it's a light tinted moisturizer that's more watery than most bb creams. I don't actually reapply this at the office. But I bring it just in case the need arises. :-)

Benefit ChaCha Tint: I use it more as a lip tint than a cheek tint. It gives a very natural peachy sheen to the lips, and like most Benefit Tints, the colors lasts awhile ~ about 3 hours min. for me.

Benefit Dandelion Boxed Powder in its super bugbog box: my current favorite blush.It's a very light pink blush. What I love about it is that there's no way you'll screw up applying this blush. Since it's very light, it just gives a natural glow effect.

La Roche Posay Toleriane Ultra: A gentle anti-irritant which works well for my irritated skin. The temperature's dipped in Seoul and the heaters are humming along at our office. Dry hot air = dryer, sometimes red, irritated skin. This moisturizer works well to calm the redness.

BBW Tangelo-Orange Pocket Bac: No explanation needed ;-) Most Filipinas I know keep one hand sanitizer with them wherever they go.

Love&Toast Sugar Grapefruit Mini Perfume: I don't normally use this at the office. But just in case!

Love&Toast Sugar Grapefruit Hand Creme: For my dry hands. Also, I love the sweet candy scent!

Tony Moly Magic Lip Tint in Red Grape: In lieu of a vavavoom red lipstick, I use this instead. Same effect, more long lasting! And cheaper too :-)

Skinfood Peach Sake Silky Finish Powder : to combat the shine on my T-Zone. It is still to me the best oil-absorbing powder I've tried.


What about you, what's in your Kikay Kit?


P.S. Toothbrush, Toothpastes, Red Flag Day items are not shown as I am sure nobody's interested to see them :-)



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Our store carries the following items: Skinfood Peach Sake Silky Finish Powder, Tony Moly Lip Tints, Benefit ChaCha Tint.

I bought my latest batch of Love&Toast items from the Lotte Dutyfree Shop in Korea which is great because now I no longer need to pester someone in the US to buy them for me.

LaRoche Posay Toleriane Ultra can be bought from SkincareRX.com

BBW PocketBacs can be bought online at the Bath & BodyWorks US online web shop.

Scrub-a-Dub! TM and Happy Bath Body Scrubs

Body Scrubs are good for your skin. At least that’s what a search on google would yield. But really, what are body scrubs but mere exfoliants (the grains in the scrub) in a moisturizing base.

Sure, I can always exfoliate using my trusty Italy Towel and there’s the use of Body Milk and Moisturizing Soaps to give that smooth, velvety touch to the skin but sometimes all I want is the the feel of my hand slapping and scrubbing grainy, overwhelmingly fragrant goop all over my wet skin. Oh and the scent! I want the shower smelling like a scent bomb as silly me scrubs her way through relaxation while singing off-key to whatever tune comes to mind. Ah, shower bliss!

I reserve my scrub-a-dub indulgences on weekends. And today, with the gloomy rain and the winds, there is nothing as comforting and as timely as a good, long scrub-a-dub bath in the morning to set the pace of cocooning all day at my flat.

My current Scrub stash:

Happy Bath Natural Body Scrub (Soft Peeling)
Tony Moly Milky Vanilla Moisture Body Scrub Wash

The Happy Bath Natural Body Scrub has really fine grains. It reminds me of St. Ives’ Apricot Scrub (which is for the face). It smellls of milk and cereals with a faint perfumey scent. When I use this I am reminded of freshly laundered pillows with that telltale afterscent of Downy haha. Though the scent is not something I love, I scored this set on a BOGO (Buy 1 Get 1) sale a few months ago and it does moisturize so it does a good enough job for an inexpensive body scrub.

I use the Tony Moly Milky Vanilla Moisture Body Scrub more than the Happy Bath one just because of the delicious Vanilla scent. Its sweet , milky vanilla-y with a hint of coconut scent lingers in the bathroom hours after my scrub-a-dub session. The grains are a bit bigger and rougher, the texture akin to Skinfood’s Black Sugar Scrub. Is it moisturizing? I think so. I found that its scent is a perfect complement to the fragrance of my Burt’s Bees Milk & Honey Lotion.

Though I just buy my scrubs in shops, it does seem that body scrubs are kind of easy to make. A friend makes her own using Brown Sugar + Olive Oil + essential Oil (or vanilla extract) . Maybe one of these days, when I finally run out of scrubs, I’ll try mixing one too.

How about you? Do you use body scrubs too? What’s your favorite?

MY JUNE ROAD TESTS: SF, Kiehl’s, Tony Moly, Etude and Strawberry Milk Soap!

These are stuff I’m testing out now but haven’t found time to blog about. (A Crystal Clear Note: All items posted in this blog are bought personally by me with my own money. )

KIEHL’S ULTRA FACIAL TONER

I found a nice deal at an online sampler shop in Korea for this expensive toner . I have the travel version, not the full sizes. My comment so far: Nothing special, will not purchase the full size any time soon.



ETUDE PUT YOUR HANDS UP DEO MULTI-POWDER

It’s a Deo Powder you can use all over your body ~ pits, back, calves, wherever. It has a built-in puff applicator which makes using it very convenient. Just puff some and go. I used it on its own to the office, and I didn't sweat muchbut maybe because it’s pretty cold at the office. Will do a full roadtest during one of my weekend jogs to see if it can withstand this humid summer.



SKINFOOD GREEN TEA FOOT MIST

I needed something to combat the sweaty feet that summer brings. So far so good. Its smell is a bit astringent–like but bearable. I use this with Korean shoeliners.


LG SAY STRAWBERRY MILK SOAP

I wanted something yummy-smelling and LUSH-like (but not priced as prohibitively as LUSH) and saw these at the local grocery. In the shower, it really smells like strawberry milk and is pretty moisturizing. Sad thing is, the scent doesn’t really last. I will stock up on this though when I come to the Philippines and use it as a car freshener. (Do you also do this neat and cheap trick? Stashing a bar of fragrant soap in the car in lieu of an air freshener? It really works! My mother uses Happy Bath bar soaps for this but I think this Strawberry Milk Soap will be a nice yummy change of scent)

TONY MOLY MAXI POWER FOOT PEELING LIQUID

I have very high hopes for this! It's supposed to remove dead skin cells, relieve any itching, deodorize and refresh your feet. You soak your feet in the peeling solution with the accompanying plastic socks for about 1.5 hours, rinse the solution off and wait for your feet to peel on the fourth day. I used this for the first time last night so I guess my foot will start peeling on Wednesday. I have ugly brown feet so I hope this works! Will give feedback if this lives up to its promises.

MLBB - My El Cheapo Way

MLBB stands for My Lips But Better. It essentially describes a natural looking, “nude” look for your lips that highlights its natural coloring while giving it a bit of color.

What you want is a natural looking lip color that will suit your complexion.

Popular MLBB lipsticks are MAC’s Hug Me,/ Blankety, Bare Escentual’s Gingersnap, and Clinique Black Honey but these are pretty pricey brands that are really expensive in Seoul.

Truth is, it's more of a trial and error thing to find an MLBB shade that’s a right mix of beige and pink. So far, I am quite happy with my own MLBB look. I call it the El Cheapo MLBB because well, though I use two items to get this lip look, both items are pretty inexpensive, the two items totalling less than 500 pesos.

What I use to get my MLBB look:

Samsung Lava Lipstick in 77 (Nude Beige) + Tony Moly Berry Berry Magic Lip Tint in Strawberry.

The Lava lipstick is really pure beige but it is offset by the pinkish tones of the Berry Tint.
Bonus point for this tandem: An application of the Lava Lipstick + Magic Lip Tint lasts about four hours of full color and the color will not totally be erased even if you forget to touch up ☺

What about you, what's your fave My Lips But Better lippies?

PARDON MY LIPS! ~ Color Swatches of TONY MOLLY Berry Berry Magic Lip Tints~

I have naturally dark lips, so forgive me for the transgression of showing them bare to the world haha. But here is my promised swatches of the Tony Moly Berry Berry Magic Lip Tints. To read my rave on this tint, read my earlier post.

MY BARE LIPS




And now with the Magic Lip Tints!

TONY MOLY STRAWBERRY (Transparent to Pink)
A good tint for young girls and for that barely there, pink lips look

TONY MOLY GREEN APPLE ( Green to Magenta Red)
My personal favorite because I can use on its own to the office. It gives the best color match for my lips

TONY MOLY GRAPE (Dark Red to Red)
The dark red color doesn't really show up on my lips haha. Which is why this is my least favorite of the three. But I suppose for lighter lip colors this will have a nice red effect.

SWATCHES ON WHITE
From left: Strawberry, Green Apple, Grape


My fave of the three is still the Green Apple. How about you? Which one is your fave, your least fave?


P.S. For those asking, stocks of these will arrive at the shop on the 6th of June. Cheers!

Pretty Lips from Tony Moly

I have tried a number of products from Tony Moly : Dual Effects Intensive Sleeping Pack -- good but expensive; Party Lover BB Cream -- inexpensive but has a glossy finish which isn't really appropriate for office workers like me, plus a number of samplers from their Floria skincare line.

But hands down, my favorite Tony Moly product is this ultra-pretty and very inexpensive lip tint.

The Tony Moly Berry Berry Magic Lip Tint in Green Apple



Why do I love this? let me count the ways:


The Price: Very cheap! I think we sell this at a little over 200PHP at the shop. Of course I get it for a bit lower here in Seoul. :-) Just the perks of the trade, aight?


The Color: There are three variants of the Berry Berry Magic Tints:

Berry -- transparent lip gel which turns into light pink upon application
Green Apple -- green lip gel which turns into a reddish-magenta color
Grape -- deep purple lip gel which turns into a burgundy-ish shade of red

Among the three, I like the Green Apple shade most because the shade is so appropriate to use in the office. Like today, I didn't wear any lipstick at all, just this pretty lip tint and I was set. The finish on the lips isn't shimmery at all (For the record, I hate shimmery lip balms and tints as I've noticed that these do not have good staying power or good color pigments at all).


The Wear-off: Well, let me put it this way, I brushed my teeth after eating my breakfast at the office just about an hour ago, and my lips are still sporting that pretty reddish-pink tint.

What it can't do for you: This isn't exactly a moisturizing lip tint. This is a lip tint made to give your lips great and relatively long lasting color. It however will not help you with dry lips. For that, you're better of with Skinfood Shea Butter Lip Care Bar ( I love the one in Raspberry!).

Disclosure: The pics above are stock photos I got from the TM site. I was so excited publishing this (because I sooo love rediscovering this tint again!) that I wanted to publish the post now~while I am at the office haha!~ I will add actual photos of my own liptint and swatches later tonight :-)