Hi guys, how's everything so far?

I hate to say this but September literally flew by. I've been trying new stuff this month but not many made it here.

1. Cyber Color Essence UV Liquid Foundation

Did a full review for this foundation - click the title to read about it. I find myself enjoying this liquid foundation a lot this month because it is so light for the hot, hazy weather. The colour matches my skintone well. Hence, this is something I reach for a lot for work. The lasting power is not fantastic though.


$55.90, Sasa Outlets

2. The Face Shop Lovely Mix Design Eyebrow #4

A very very worth-the-money product. This is a crayon twist up packaging with a spoolie attached to the other end. I like this spoolie more than Etude House's as it feels much softer and less harsh on my skin. The angled tip makes shaping eyebrows really easy and the colour goes well with my hair and make. Lasting power is pretty good; doesn't smudge but it will rub off a bit over time.


$7.90, The Face Shop Outlets

3. Skin Food Black Sugar Mask Wash-off

Say real one I bought this because so many people are raving about it online. However, I don't really enjoy it in particular until the last month. It makes my skin so clean and smooth after use. I typically use it once a week but I up to twice per week last month thanks to the haze跟dust loll. Not drying despite exfoliating more regularly :D


$10, SkinFood (Korea)

4. Essential CC Oil

I like this for the light texture, the smell and the shine and smoothness it gives. The review is quite recent so I shall not repeat again.


$11.90, major stores

5. Essential Night Care Milk

Again click the link above for the review if you are interested, it is quite comprehensive. In short, hair is more manageable after use!


$11.90, major stores




What products do you enjoy this month? Tell me about them too ^^

Hi I am back with yet another (two) Essential new products. Are you excited too?
I've wrote so much for them; here's some if you are new around here!

Essential sleeping hair mask + Day serum
Essential volumising series




The sleeping hair mask is one of my favourite hair care products and my sister approves of it as well. Thank you Essential and Samplestore for sending this over for me to try. :)


P/S, just wanna say sorry first because this batch's of photos turned out a bit more blur than usual! My camera is failing me? And blogger scale down the quality of my photos (anyone knows how to solve this?) so it is erm bad.

Promises:

Ingredients:

How I use it:

Packaging

The new sleeping hair mask is now called 'Night Care Milk'. Pump dispenser makes it easy to use but there can be some wastage at the end. Fret not, just store the bottle upside down when the time comes and pour it out when needed. The new packaging is bigger than the previous one.

Scent

Essential products always smell good. The smell lingers longer than other Essential products on me, not sure why.

Consistency

Not a fan of cream products but this is not as bad as I thought it will be. Not greasy on hair!

On hair

Let me summarise all the points I wish to point out here.

1. It is not sticky nor oily on my hair but it leaves an oily feeling on my hands. Not a big issue as I can wash my hands after use.

2. Hair is moisturised and super soft~ I touch my hair too much after using this. This is because Essential Night Care Milk contains hair supplement oil, smilier to hair's natural oil.

3. Not a product that will give you shiny hair. Anyway, it is meant for night time use so this is not that important to me as well.

Ingredients

Essential is not using parabens as preservatives but BHT, Phenoxylethanol... Even after researching, I am still not very sure... Is BHT a good replacement? I guess I will leave all that ingredient discussion to another post. Thus, I will keep this portion as it is until I am confident and knowledgeable enough to comment. I have included a snapshot of the ingredient list above - you can check them out if you want to.
PS, feel free to reach me if you are interested to discuss anything about cosmetic chemistry. I am all ears.

Manageable Hair

I feel that I wake up with nicer hair these days. Not sure whether it is really doing its job or its all psychological. But definitely less styling needed (though I don't really bother that much hahaha) as my hair is more manageable in the morning now.

Here, for you.

Before using Essential Night care milk

After using Essential Night Care Milk (The next morning)

Pardon my sleepy face. It is very early that day @_@


Honestly, this is not a good comparison as my hair was messy and ugly (in before photo) because I went to bed with semi-dry hair, but well you get the drift. The latter was taken when I have the luxury to shower and dry my hair completely before zzz (and of course treated with Essential night hair milk)

The Verdict

So far I am loving what I see. If I am not wrong Essential Night Care Cream is a replacement for the previous Essential hair sleeping mask I have been talking about all the time, please correct me if I am wrong. Pillow friction arises from sleeping and this nasty thing can do a lot of damage to your hair. Been there, done that. Hence, it is very important to use something that can give sufficient protection to your hair. I have not come across any other similar product so far, do let me know if you know of any though!

And if you know me well enough, you will know I am super lazy, and clueless, when it comes to styling my hair. Most of the time I will just part my fringe according to how I feel that day, finger comb through my hair and off I go. Thus, this bottle of lazybum saver is so important to me - at least my mane looks more presentable now.


Essential included a very informative paragraph in the press release so I thought it will be nice to share with all of you.



What is Pillow Friction?
- When you toss and turn at night, there is friction between your hair and the pillow, causing the cuticles to be misaligned
- Misaligned cuticles creates frizz, resulting in the fabulous lion’s mane the next morning
- Washing your hair will ‘reset’ the mane, which is why many women have no choice but to wash and blow dry their hair in the morning before going to work

o These women may not have the habit of bathing in the morning and is only doing so just so to fix their hair
o They would rather have more time for their beauty sleep than go through this hassle and routine of washing and blow-drying in the morning

Rating: 9.5/10
Repurchase

Next up is.....

make up for your hair.


Essential, you are doing this right ^^



Don't get me wrong, I am not talking about the hair mascaras or hair chalks etc, I am talking about the new Essential CC oil. Ok... it's not really make up for hair lol. It just sounds like CC cream (aka lighter/more natural version of BB cream). Essential named it CC oil because it is 1 product, protection against 5 stress factors - blow drying, combing, dryness, breakage and split ends.

FYI

Essential CC oil

Promises:

Ingredients:

Ingredients for CC oil

How I use it:

Packaging

Essential CC oil comes in a clear plastic bottle with a pump dispenser. Again nothing to complain about the packaging. It is also a good size to carry around; thus it can be reapplied anytime anywhere when needed.

Scent

Fresh floral, does not linger too long nor come out too strong on me. Different people react to the same thing differently - I have friends who smell like walking Essential products.

Consistency

More fluid and light compared to many brands out there in the market. Perhaps so, it is absorbed the moment I spread it on my hair. Thus, I find myself pumping slightly more when I am using the Essential Hair CC Oil. Just saying.

Ingredients

As above.

On hair

1. Moisturised, soft ends. The effect is better than the night hair cream. That awesome hair supplement oil~

2. Not excellent in controlling frizz.

3. Does not make hair nor hands greasy after use.

4. Absorbed very very quickly

The Verdict

CC oil is very light and does not leave an oily film on my hands after use. I personally feel that it a bit too light for my hair (read use 5-6 pumps each time). Other than that, I am pretty much loving this hair oil. It is the everyday stress on le hair that leads to long term damage. Who would have thought harmless act like combing can stress your hair?

It makes my hair more moisturised and soft than the night hair cream. My hair ends are nicer too. However, the night hair cream is better at taming and managing my hair.

Rating: 9.5/10
Repurchase

Conclusion is, you need both of them together to achieve pretty, manageable hair. I don't style my hair on a day to day basis, in fact I only bother if I've something really important/CNY/date. Thus, this is really great for me as the night care milk makes sure I wake up with decent hair (read: if you want fabulous hair you still need to style ah) and the CC oil ensures my hair is in good shape throughout the day. They do not make my hair extra greasy but don't use it continuously if you don't have the habit of washing your hair daily.







PS, cannot open zip files so the official photos are screenshots :x
PS/S, lost the photos I took for stress brothers! I also too stress!
PS/S/S, will update the broken links tomorrow or the day after. I have others things to settle right now~

Green Tea or Coffee? Size 6 or 7? It's okay there is always green tea latte and size 6.5. However, we don't always have the third option, like



The problem is my roots/scalp is oily by the end of the day but my ends are too dry to use a 'deep' cleansing shampoo daily. So I'm constantly choosing between oily scalp or dry ends. Hands up if you're facing the same issue! HELLO COMRADES! :):)


Thankfully, Essential saw what we girls (and guys) are battling and they came up with TWO haircare range meant for COMBINATION HAIR. 

Yup you saw that right - COMBINATION HAIR.


Combination hair is where hair condition is not uniform from root to tip. People with combination hair usually have oily roots and dry ends. We are not familiar with this term because no other haircare brand has talked about it but this thing is real.


Essential is a popular haircare brand from Japan and I'm confident to say it has won the hearts of many here.


Essential now comes in 4 variants:
1. Nourishing Breakage Defense (orange) – for weak & damaged hair
2. Moisturizing Frizz Free (pink) – for dull & rough hair
3. Light Finish Volumizing (yellow) – for flat and limp hair *suitable for combination hair*
4. Deep Cleansing Care (blue) – for oily scalp & dry ends *suitable for combination hair*


All of which are repackaged and reformulated; I have been using a couple of them and things are looking good!

So which range should you choose?
This table here can help you decide! Very easy.



So let's get started on my current haircare routine and reviews of Essential goodness I was sent.












Packaging


Available in both 200 mL and 750 mL. 200 mL comes in a snap-bottle whereas 750 mL comes in a pump bottle. Nothing to love or hate!








Cleansing properties


Essentials light finish volumising shampoo does a wonderful job in keeping my hair clean and oil-free after a long day. I will wake up with super itchy scalp in the past if I did not wash my hair for a day.:( However, I don't experience anything like that anymore ever since I switched to this shampoo. Awesome, isn't it!






Smooth hair


With microfine All Smooth Essence incorporated in the formula, the shampoo promises smooth tresses, wet or dry. It is not a woah my hair is so silky smooth I don't need anything else anymore for me. I am not particularly bothered by this though, continue to read to find out why!








Smell


It is refreshing to pick up a different scent from essential products. Not the usual overpowering sweet scent. It is less powdery and smells lighter, still great on your hair but not as strong as the old one.



Consistency

Consistency of Kao Essential light volumising shampoo

Very runny and lathers well. I love the consistency because it is so light! In my opinion, shampoos should make you feel 'burden-free', not 'weigh-down',








Volumising effect

Did not notice any volumising effect/airy effects as claimed.









The Verdict

Essentials light volumising shampoo takes care of my scalp and ends - BEST OF BOTH WORLDS! It is hard to find something that suits one with two problems (oily scalp, dry ends) and I would say Essential did a remarkable job. Plus 1. does not irritate my scalp, 2. not too drying for my ends (still a tiny tiny bit) and 3. keeps my scalp/roots oil-free after a long day. Hence, Light finish volumising shampoo is combination-hair approved, by me that is! :D

Rating: 9/10
REPURCHASING 

If you are looking for a new shampoo or feel like your current one is not working very well for you, Time to switch to the NEW Essential.

If you are keen to try, hop over to their facebook page to get a free trial sent to you!!

Treating your hair after a wash is essential. It restores the moisture stripped off your hair from cleaning, which is inevitable, and repairs the damage you have done from chemical treatments like rebonding, perm or colour or even daily UV damage.

I will then reach for a conditioner on a day to day basis to restore some moisture and keep my locks nice and healthy.




Packaging


Similar to the shampoo



Consistency


Thicker than the shampoo but still very light in general.








Smell

Similar to the shampoo





Effect

Smoother hair immediately after rinsing off. It is a daily care product so you will not get the commercial hair with this.




The verdict

Great for day to day maintenance and this suits my hair well. I pair this with Essential light finish volumising shampoo and everything is solved, including the tiny tiny dryness I feel right after shampooing. It is quick and very convenient to use.

Rating: 8.5/10

On days I feel like pampering my hair a little more but do not have a lot of time, I would opt for my trusty treatment.


Packaging


Same old pink squeeze tube but prettier. Squeeze tube > tub, any day.








Smell


Similar to the light finish range.









Consistency


Thicker but not difficult to slather on. It doesn't drip all over as well, provided you squeeze out the additional water.




Fast absorption


I will apply this, leave it while I wash my body and face then rinse it off. The whole process takes less than 5 minutes but I really feel a difference after that.









Effect


Really manageable and smooth hair after rinsing!









The verdict 

Go try it. Enough said.

Rating: 10/10

Sometimes each strand seems to have a life on its own - poking out in all directions. Dull, unmanageable and sad.




This is when I will do a intensive treatment mask.




Packaging


Tub, which is not my favourite thing because the product always get trapped under my nails.








Smell


Similar to the light finish range.








Consistency


Thick. Not to difficult to work with. I advice you to keep it off your back because the rich cream might irritate your skin or give you back acne.




Effect



See it for yourself. There is still some frizz here and there but definitely less than before.









7 day manageable hair


Hair is smoother, even without any leave-on treatment. Whether the effect is from this or the previous two options I've introduced, I am not entirely sure.










The verdict 

Not bad for frizz management.

Rating: 8.5/10

Here comes the million dollar question: WHATS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ALL THE OPTIONS?




Consistency of conditioner and treatment is very similar while it is thicker for mask. Effect wise I would say it is mask > treatment > conditioner.



My personal favourite is the treatment as it is easy to use, does not need all the time in the world to do some magic to your hair and it is really affordable. Hmm actually essential products are always pocket-friendly, don't you think so?




I typically use this around 3-4 times per week and I replaced my conditioner with it after my perm/colouring. Well, it works for me! *flips hair* Then once every two weeks or so I will treat myself to a more intensive mask.




I will use Essential Sleeping Treatment Mask (click link for full review) or L'oreal Mystic Oil, sleeping treatment mask at night and oil in the morning, if I'm not too lazy. Nowadays I don't use anything because the treatment step leaves my hair so soft and nice. My Sis loves them too, especially the Essential sleeping treatment mask. We finished it up quite some time ago.


I hardly style my hair, I don't even comb it very often, so I don't use styling products.