Review: H2O+ Night Oasis Oxygenating Rejuvenator

9:15:00 PM mandy 10 Comments

Product Description (from website):
- Powerful formula eliminates impurities that slow down cell metabolism, accelerating cellular respiration that accelerates the repair of tired skin
- Crithmum Maritumum, a marine botanical, supplies oxygen-rich nourishment to refresh tired, dull complexions
- Scientifically formulated with marine-sourced nutrients to minimize the look of fine lines and stimulate healthy cell growth

Ingredients (from website):
Water (Aqua), Butylene Glycol, Cyclopentasiloxane, Sodium Chloride, PEG-18/18 Dimethicone, Dimethicone, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Phenoxyethanol, Laminaria Cloustoni Extract, Crithmum Maritimum Extract, Methylparaben, Hydrolyzed Ulva Lactuca Extract, Sea Salt (Maris Sal), Disodium EDTA, Fragrance (Parfum), Tocopheryl Acetate, Ethylparaben, Butylparaben, Linalool, Propylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Phospholipids, Propylene Glycol, Ulva Lactuca Extract, Undaria Pinnatifida Extract, Blue 1 (CI 42090), Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower Extract, Coriandrum Sativum (Coriander) Fruit/Leaf Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Retinyl Palmitate

Directions:
From website & jar: After cleansing, massage into face and neck.
What I did: Similar to the Face Oasis Hydrating Treatment, I like to get the product and dab it around my face. Then I would pat it in and let sink it into my skin by itself.

Packaging:
Comes in a square jar. However, the product is only contained in a small portion of the square jar itself so it wastes a lot of extra packaging. It has 1.7fl oz or 50mL of product. Like what I’ve said about other jarred products, it doesn’t bother me that it’s in a jar so much because of germs but more because I don’t like getting products under my nails. But nothing Q-tips doesn’t solve. =P

Price:
H2O+ website or store
1.7 fl oz / 50 mL for USD$36

Prositives:
-Absorbs quickly (I like to pat it in)
-Feels light
-Helped me through the harsh winter winds and allergy season
-Didn't break me out
-Lasted me quite some time (a few months using it nightly). Unlike the Face Oasis Hydrating Treatment, this Night Oasis Oxygenating Rejuvenator was of a thicker consistency..similar to cream but more gel like...if that makes sense. So I didn’t grab as much product as I did with thinner consistency gel moisturizers.

Negatives:
-Can be difficult to get for some. There aren’t too many store locations.
-On the pricey side.
-Like other H2O+ products, the scent needs a bit getting used to. Smells very sea-watery.
-Leaves a bit of a residue on my hands after applying (But I find with a lot of other products so I’m probably just being too picky =X Nothing tissues or water can’t take care of). But on the face, once this sinks it I couldn’t even tell I had anything on my face.
-It is called night oasis so I assume it’s for night use only. This didn't bother me much since I bought it in a gift set and there was another moisturizer I could use for mornings. But for those tight on money and such and want a moisturizer for morning and night I’m not sure if this is alright to use in the morning.
-Has silicones and parabens
-Has salt and sea salt in it o_O;; This might not be too good for dry skin? I’m not sure if there’s enough salt in here to dry skin out though…It didn’t for me so just a heads-up for others.

Note:
I’m not sure how well the minimizing fine lines part work because I don't those yet (I hope..)
Also, I didn’t particularly pay much attention to the anti-dullness and tiredness properties it claims because I was more interested in its moisturizing abilities =X So I can’t vouch for those specific claims!

Repurchase?:
Maybe. It is only a night time product so unless I don’t find anything better this coming winter and my skin is in desperate need I will go to this since I know it worked for me before.

Rating:
4/5

Recommend?:
Maybe. I did like this product. However, I wasn’t really aware of the salt that it contained. I think it might be a problem for some skin types but I’m not too sure. It worked pretty well for me but everyone’s skin is different. Unless you Google more about salt in skincare (I haven’t heard much about it yet..) before you make the purchase it might be safer to stay away from it just in case since it isn’t a particularly low-priced product.

Disclaimer: I purchased this product with my own money. I am not affiliated with the company or any other sites mentioned above. These are just my opinions so please research more about a product before buying it. I'm just trying to share the experiences I get from using certain product. I'm not endorsing it or anything. If anything this is for my own memory of what I liked and what I didn't like. Also...my skin is my skin...your skin is your skin, please don't blame me if the product doesn't work for you. Appropriate credits mentioned wherever I copied and pasted from the brand's website.

Korea Day 2011 at Central Park

7:16:00 PM mandy 3 Comments

After I saw some food bloggers' sharing their Korea Day experiences last year and hearing it would become an annual event I was very excited for it to come again this year. I bookmarked it to leave a note and actually forgot about it since..until I saw allkpop's notice for the event last month. This was my first excuse all summer to go out into the city with my friends hehe :X Finally after it being postponed due to the heat last month, it was finally held last Monday. Thankfully it didn't rain like the forecast said it would!

It was really fun. And probably like everyone else I enjoyed the food they had. The only thing I regret is not being able to stay for the performances. Unfortunately, best friend had to leave early and my other friend that came with us had a bad foot and didn't want to stay too long either. So we left just before the performances. After seeing the youtube clips, they didn't seem too bad. It would have been entertaining to see and great to enjoy the atmosphere it brought. Congrats to the winner!

I didn't take too many pictures and they're not of great quality since they're from my phone (I brought along my DSLR and I forgot my batteries...hah)...Sorry! Here are the few that I did manage to get though :]


Mixing of the gigantic bibimbap!






Making dduk!! We got some to taste too not only for show :D
It was interesting to see the rice turn into the sticky dduk!
The hammer/mallet must have been very heavy..a couple of girls went up to try and they seemed to have a hard time swinging and hitting the dduk. But kudos to them for trying!


The winners of the first round of mandu making contest.
The little boy was so adorable! :P


I forgot what the name for this was but they were popping the rice.
It looks just like popcorn but the color is much lighter and the taste is much sweeter than popcorn.
Every time this mechanism went off it startled everyone. It gave a loud boom and let out a big poof of smoke!

Even though I must have heard it a handful of times since I got to the event it still scared me xD I mentioned this to my dad when I got home and he seemed to know what I was talking about..maybe it's not just a Korean thing?

A cute dog that we saw walking around with his owner at the event.
He/she reminded me of Spudgy from eatyourkimchi :P

July 2011 Collective Purchase

7:35:00 PM mandy 5 Comments

Sorry for the late post! =X

This may be the smallest haul (if it even is considered a haul heh...) yet..probably ever to appear on my blog. I didn't go out much last month so I didn't end up buying much of anything all month. Even this purchase was placed in June, it just happened to arrive in July. I must say I'm very proud of myself for not spending a lot last month. Hopefully, this will last a while! Must shop my stash for a few months hehe xD

When best friend noticed that Sasa FINALLY stocked up on the essential hair masks in June, we hurriedly asked our friend who was also ordering from Sasa (coincidentally) to add our lemmings on. I've been wanting to try these out for so long but no other store (in-store or online) seemed to stock these except for Sasa...

It finally came after I think a couple weeks..much slower since the order didn't rack up enough for expedited delivery like last time :P

L to R:Essential Ultra Honey & Shea Butter Rich Premier Hair Mask and Essential Ultra Honey & Shea Butter Nuance Airy Hair mask

I've only tried the nuance airy version a couple of times and I'm really liking it so far. It's a bit messy and I am not used to hair masks (my first ones!) but I can handle it.

Has anyone tried either or both? Which one do you like better? I still haven't figured out what the difference really is between the two..hehe

Review: H2O+ Face Oasis Hydrating Treatment

11:20:00 PM mandy 3 Comments

Product Description (from website):
- Rapidly plumps and restores depleted skin, helping to distribute vital daily moisture
- Scientifically formulated oil free moisturizer with marine-sourced nutrients to minimize the look of fine lines and stimulate healthy cell growth
- Sea-derived essential minerals work synergistically with Sea Mineral Complex, scientifically advanced delivery system to ensure vital nutrients are rapidly absorbed at the cellular level

Ingredients (from website):
Water (Aqua), Propylene Glycol, Glycerin, Glycereth-7, Glycosaminoglycans, Dimethicone, PEG-12 Dimethicone, Carbomer, Triethanolamine, Imidazolidinyl Urea, Phospholipids, Panthenol, Fragrance (Parfum), Trisodium EDTA, Zinc PCA, Benzophenone-4, Linalool, Sea Salt (Maris Sal), Undaria Pinnatifida Extract, Ulva Lactuca Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Blue 1 (CI 42090), Methylchlorisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Crithmum Maritimum Extract, Algae Extract, Retinyl Palmitate, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate

Directions:
From website: After cleansing, massage gently into damp face and neck. For dryer skin, spread a thin layer over face, like a mask, and allow 5 minutes to absorb. Massage in excess.
From bottle: As a moisturizer: Apply to cleansed skin A.M./P.M.
As a mask: Spread a thin layer over face and neck. Allow to absorb 5 minutes. Massage in excess.
What I did: I lik to get the product and dab it around my face. Then I would pat it in and let sink it by itself.

Packaging:
Comes in a frosted plastic(?) jar. It has 1.7fl oz or 50mL of product. It doesn’t really bother me that it comes in a jar instead of a pump bottle or tube. I’ve read somewhere that there is probably a reason why the companies put it into jars or something similar. The only gripe I had was I wish they provided some kind of spatula or such. When the jar was fuller I was able to get it out with my fingers without getting anything under my nails but as I was getting towards the end that was inevitable and I had to start using Q-tips.

Price:
H2O+ website or store
1.7 fl oz / 50 mL for USD$34

Prositives:
-Light
-Moisturizes/hydrates (?) well. It helped my skin a lot through the winter and allergy season. I would usually have a lot of dry spots and such throughout the day but my skin was actually pretty normal when I used it.
-Has multiple uses as a moisturizer and as a mask (though I've never applied enough for it to be a mask).
-Can be used day and night.
-Didn't break me out.
-Doesn't make me any more oily than I already am.

Negatives:
-Can be difficult to get for some. There aren’t too many store locations.
-On the pricey side. But I’d say this is mid-ranged since there are a ton of other brands that are more expensive.
-Scent needs a bit getting used to. I think like with the other H2O+ products I've tried, they try to give it the sea water smell.
-Leaves a bit of a residue on my hands after applying (But I find with a lot of other products so I’m probably just being too picky =X Nothing tissues or water can’t take care of)
-I found that I used a lot more of this product at each application because of how light it is. But that's just how I am. With thicker products, I use less and with lighter, products I use more. But if you could control yourself better than I do, it'll probably last a lot longer than it did for me.
-Takes a little longer than other moisturizers to sink in (but then again I pat rather than massage it in)
-Has silicones and fragrance (for those who are sensitive/allergic)

Note:
I’m not sure how well the minimizing fine lines part work because I don't those yet (I hope..)

Repurchase?:
Yes but not right now. If I my skin doesn’t work well with whatever I am trying next winter or allergy season and I will probably buy this to use since I know it works. But as of right now I would like to continue to try new products and search for an HQ :]

Rating:
4/5

Recommend?:
Yes. It is a bit pricey but it does work well (for me at least). I just hope to find a product that does what this does and maybe a bit more natural and less –cones and fragrances and such. If such a product exists =P

Disclaimer: I purchased this product with my own money. I am not affiliated with the company or any other sites mentioned above. These are just my opinions so please research more about a product before buying it. I'm just trying to share the experiences I get from using a certain product. I'm not endorsing it or anything. If anything this is for my own memory of what I liked and what I didn't like. Also...my skin is my skin...your skin is your skin, please don't blame me if the product doesn't work for you. Appropriate credits mentioned wherever I copied and pasted from the brand's website.

Commitment

9:40:00 PM mandy 8 Comments

As 2011 began and probably even in 2010 there were quite a few bloggers and youtubers that I followed who were talking about weight loss and working out and such. Some were giving their tid bits on how they kept fit while others were sharing how they were really trying to shed those pounds.

When summer came around I decided to try my best to not lose interest in working out and trying to lose the weight that I've accumulated over the years.
I must say it wasn't extremely successful nor a complete failure.
I did end up going to the gym more than usual but whatever I did..I never seemed to be able to get the same soreness I felt before. I was probably going too easy on myself and just making an excuse to work less since I made the effort to go to the gym. (terrible yes but saying and doing are so difference and the latter being very difficult..especially committing)

Once it came that time of the month, working out went out the window =.=

But while I was watching dramas (hehe..I'm a drama addict :X) I became motivated again. Specifically in three of them.
One where a girl lost a lot of weight through dieting and working out, jumping rope.
One where a stunt woman trained/worked out through also jumping rope. and
One where there was just a lot of action scenes in general.

They're strange influences. But I'm the type of person who gets inspired quite a lot by watching others :P

So in the last two days I've been trying to jump rope again. I didn't count exactly how many I did but I did quite a few sets of 100 or so jumps. It isn't much but I'm hoping I can build up and improve my stamina and such (I can't run on the treadmill for longer than 5mins hehe..>__>;;)

For the first time in a while my calves and legs actually felt a bit sore. It doesn't feel great but it's awesome to know that it is working..right?

With the nagging of my younger brother I also played the Wii (my lazy person's excuse for moving around :X). Maybe because I don't usually use my arms often but afterwards they were very very sore. Does this happen to anyone else? Could doing a few of those Wii Sports games everyday help me on my journey? Or is that hoping for too much out of a gaming system? Nevertheless..it did make me break out quite a sweat haha :D

With the rest of the month, as the title of this post says..
I'm going to try to commit towards these little exercises and with going to the gym.
I just hope I don't make more excuses too soon.

I'm not confident enough to share any numbers yet but believe me..they need working on :X

How does everyone else stay fit? Please do share.
Exercise wise, eating wise, I'm open for anything. ^__^