Nuxe - The Marriage of High Rigor & A Touch of Poetry

Ever since I was introduced to Nuxe Nuxellence Jeunesse, I've fallen hard for this French lady. A natural beauty, sensual and classy - she is the perfect epitome of Beauty by Nature.

Nuxe very kindly provided full size products, inclusive of the Nuxellence Jeunesse (click to read my review) from their blogger launch.

So grab some snacks and coffee as this will be a lengthy post.

The 5 products given was a full range of skincare, inclusive of eye and lip cream, pre-essence, serum, face cream and the oh-so-famous multi-purpose oil. I will describe and review each product.

But before I start, I just want to state this: All Nuxe products has their signature floral scent to it however, as they use different flowers for different products, so the scents differs from each product. However, the scents for all their facecare range do fade off after a couple of minutes after application so it doesn't quite bother me. If you are not sure whether you will like the scent, do try out their testers before you commit to a full-size.

First up: Nuxuriance® Yeux et Lèvres

Or translated to Eye & Lip Global Anti-Aging Cream

Self explanatory picture of the eye and lip cream

(L-R) One teeny pump, spreaded out and blended.

Verdict: I never noticed this when I was using it but when I was taking photos for my review, I realized that the eye cream has a slight golden shimmer, which is more evident when I spread the product. Do click on the picture and you'll see what I mean. 

Ryan - Nuxe's regional trainer's application method was to apply the cream in a U-shape. Starting from the inner corner of your eyes, moving to the outer corner and ending at your temples. He mentioned that it's not necessary for you to apply on your eyelids, but your eyelids do age and end up looking like crepe if you do not take care (especially removal of eye makeup, rubbing your eyes, straining at the computer screen etc) so I do apply it on to my eyelids too.

Texture is thick but not sticky and absorption is almost immediate. My eye area doesn't have that tacky feel and with the use of my usual primer, my eye makeup stays all day long. I think the shimmer it meant to help brighten up your eye area but it disappears upon application. Further plus point is that it doesn't gives me oil seeds around my eye area. 

Would definitely recommend it!

                                            

Next up - Sérum Merveillance®

Translated: Visible Expression Line Serum

L-R: The serum, spread out and blended into the skin.

Verdict: Thick texture not easily absorbed into my skin. I concentrate on my forehead, laugh lines by my nose and lips and my neck. Nothing to dislike about the serum as it doesn't break me out nor make my oily skin any oilier. If I applied this at night, I wake up with a slight sheen on my forehead but it doesn't matter to me because I wash up before going to work. Then again, I always wake up with oily skin (regardless of products).

Crème Nirvanesque®

First Expression Lines Cream

L-R : The Cream, spread out and blended into my skin.

Verdict: This cream has my favourite floral scent. It's not as strong as any of the products mentioned above and I personally wished that the scent of this cream lingers after application. It's a softer, more feminine and sweet scent. 

It looks a tad thick in the bottle and felt quite thick when I was smearing this on my face but it absorbs beautifully, without any tackiness! Nuxe, how is it possible that you have something that's for anti-aging but not rich and sticky??? *mindblown*

This is meant to be applied on areas of your face where you can notice the beginnings of fines lines. Obviously, with my lack of sun protection knowledge and bad health habits, my wrinkles are no longer under the fine lines category >.<

I am already thinking of getting another jar when this runs out. 

And last but not least!!! The HG product everyone has been raving about - Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse 

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse - the Limited Edition packaging for their 20th anniversary (150ml bottle) and their miniature travel size, too cute!

This is probably the worst shot of the Limited Edition bottle you have ever seen. As you can see, half the bottle of oil is gone so it's proof that i've used it for a while. And I think it was the oil that made the sticker peel :(

L-R- The oil, spread out and blended.

Verdict:

This oil was applied after all my eye cream, serum and the first expression line cream.The image above shows the product in various stages and in the final picture (blended into my skin), it leave no shiny sheen that most people are afraid of. 

Lots of people shy away from products when they see anything with the word oil on the product name. Let me tell you, this dry oil is magic! 

Upon spritzing on to my skin, it dried almost immediately! I had to be fast when applying otherwise it would dry very quickly and I will have to spritz more on to my skin. Upon drying, the oil leaves a very delicate floral scent that lasts the whole day. Usually, scents like these will end up as a migraine that progressively gets worse as the day wears on but this scent didn't do that to me! 

It lasted throughout a long day at work (approximately 10 hours), my skin was still lightly scented and not dry even though I was in an aircond room the whole day. 

I would probably need 4 spritzes per fat leg of mine and 3 spritzes for both my arms.

Overall, I am totally in love with all of the Nuxe products that were provided for review. The only gripe I had was the sticker on the oil bottle. I think it's just me, but i feel that a different print on the bottle itself with slightly more flowers or motives would have enhanced the 'collectabl-ity'of the bottle whereby I might even consider keeping it on my dresser because it's prettier. My sticker is going to be pretty much gone when I finish using the bottle, and then I won't remember that it was a Limited Edition 20th anniversary bottle. 

Nuxe products can be found exclusively in all Sa Sa Malaysia outlets.

Nuxe - Where Nature Meets Luxury In Beauty

I was invited to the exclusive Nuxe blogger event 3 weeks ago for the launch of their latest product - Nuxellence Jeunesse. The event was held at BSC's Sa Sa outlet.

Nuxe specially flew in their Regional Education Manager from Hong Kong - Mr. Ryan Lau. Whilst he looks fierce in person, he is actually very soft spoken and funny!

For examples, after introducing and explaining the star product, he explained a few of their other best-sellers and one of them was the Nuxuriance® Eyes and Lips Global Anti-aging Cream. Another blogger asked whether we should apply on our eyelids as a lot of brands have different application methods.

His reply: "No, you only apply beneath your eyes and massage in a U-shape motion, starting from the inner corner of your eyes and ending at your temples. If you have any dark shadows on your eyelids, it's your EYESHADOW!" 

Hahaha! Ok, I find it quite funny *awkward moment*

On to the review!!

The lady.

Is she such a beauty? The lovely bronzey skin, with a slim lines and clear print - she is the epitome of luxury.

After much research, it has discovered that our cells de-charge, just like our handphones and in the heart of the cells, mitochondria supply the cells with the energy to function properly. As it is more vulnerable than cellular DNA mitochondria DNA weakens over time AKA as we age. The function of the mitochondria detoriate and the cells decharge themselves daily.

The Nuxe laboratory identified 3 flower extracts which demonstrated their activity on the repair of the mitochondria DNA. 

The combination of the active ingredients in these 3 flowers increase the repair of damaged mitochondria  DNA up to 43%!

After just 28 days, wrinkles and fine lines appear diminished, the skin is plumper while the complexion is much more even-toned!

Ryan explained that Nuxe Jeunesse is a pre-serum (like an essence) - to be applied after toner and before your serums to make sure your skin absorbs the most of your serums!

The inner diva (beauty, mind you) in me practically sang out loud when I first popped open the NUXE makeup bag I received from the event.

I received FIVE full-sized products, alongside with the star product - Nuxellence Jeunesse.

Twist-to-pop-up-nozzle.

Being a sucker for packaging, and a newbie at that too, my inner diva sang again at the sight of the twist top dispenser for this gorgeous lady. 

No more digging in with your fingers and creating a nice lovely bed for bacteria; no cap will slip through your fingers, bounce on the floor and create a nice big crack for bacteria to sneak through!

One pump gives me sufficient product to spread all over my face and another half pump will go to my neck.

It comes out as a nude color product but after spreading out, it's practically second skin.

Here, I've placed Benefit Porefessional next to it for color comparison as they both are nude color products but is clear upon application.

Sorry about the lighting in the last picture, my camera decided to make me fairer, but nonetheless, after blending it out on my skin, it's practically invisible, but of course, more moisturized and the lines are diminished :) 

After testing it for 3 weeks, here are my thoughts:

Pros:
The packaging. 'nuff said.

It smells absolutely amazing. Like walking into a florist, it smells like fresh flowers.
Lovely texture that absorbs with no stickiness.
Doesn't clog pores.
87% ingredients of natural origin.

My skins feels absolutely smoother.

My complexion is brighter.

No parabens.
Suitable for ALL skin types.

Cons: Maybe some people will be turned off by the smell. 

The only thing is, I never know which way to twist the nozzle up (which I'm pretty sure it's my inner blonde acting out).

Nuxe Jeunesse can be found exclusively at all Sa Sa Malaysia outlets.

Retail price is RM180 for 50ml.

Bestie Twin Nails

Saw a whole bunch of posts with the #bestietwinnails. So I've decided to do something with my friend.

A whole lot of messages later, we finally decided on our favourite mutual color - teal/turquoise, with white and gold studs.

This was my first version and as much as I liked everything, the ring finger was just off, and my friend didn't have purple as part of her manicure.

Freehanded the lines on my pointer *smug moment*

Probably the white bit on my ring finger was just too wide but this ring finger was just off. Tried a gradient with white, turquoise and purple but my gradient skills still leave much to be desired :(

                        

We went home to change ONLY the ring finger and after 9361462 messages to update each other, we finally decided on a gradient. LOL.

This was the final image I posted on ig.

Colors used in this manicure:
OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
Bloop White Polish
Elianto Turquoise in #27
Deborah Lippman Nasty Girl (for the purple lines)
Seche Vite topcoat (which shrunk my nails bahhhh)
2mm gold studs from Born Pretty Store.

It was super fun doing this and I can't wait to do it again.

Till next time!

[Product Review] Neesya and My Quest For Brighter Skin

Brighter and clearer skin is one of my neverending quests.

From puberty, I have had oily skin, pimples and then after I started using makeup, no one taught me to double cleanse, use toner and all that jazz. I learnt it the painful way. I went through a bout of really bad skin, with cystic pimples all along my jawline no thanks to a psycho ex.

And then a friend introduced me to Korean skincare earlier this year and I was using this cream that made my skin considerably less oily and it shrunk most of the pores on my cheeks too! Save for the little scars and sunspots I managed to accumulate over time, I can now gladly say my skin is is pretty good condition :D minus the occasional hormonal spots and enlarged pores on my cheeks.

Cynthia most kindly invited me to the launch of Neesya Skincare in Subang Parade a gazillion weeks ago and I ended up being horribly late and I had to navigate the mall, which I haven't been in more than a decade :p

I received 3 products from the event and I've been testing them for a while. 

The brightening trio. L-R:

Lumi°™ Brightening Enzymatic Refiner (75ml)RM 35.00

LumiScience°™ Illuminating Essence (65ml) RM 79.00

Lumi°™ Brightening Overnight Mask (75ml) RM 59.00

First up: Brightening Enzymatic Refiner:

This gel has a rather thick and cloudy appearance. Lightly scented, a medium layer is recommended on cleansed face and left on for 5-10 minutes. DO NOT EXCEED RECOMMENDED TIME!

I used this after my shower and cleansing my face. So while this was drying on my skin, I applied lotion to my body and cuticle oils on my toes, taking the time to massage in.

                

Just out of the tube and spreaded out.

Upon squeezing it out from the tube, it has a slight soothing fragrance and a gel-like texture. As a refiner (as per the name on the tube), there's no peeling action or scubby bits in the formula. It's just.... a gel. Hahaha...

It becomes transparent upon application however, areas that were too thick, still had the same cloudy white color :p. It felt kind of cooling, like mint, but it was not unpleasant.

I left it on for about 5-ish minutes and wet my fingertips to gently massage the semi-dry gel in circular motions. It had become very thick after 5 minutes so I had to wet my fingertips a few more times to be able to massage without dragging at my skin. I then used a wet towel to wipe off the residue.

I felt my skin was most definitely smoother, it was as if I had done a scrub as my skin looks brighter! If only my skin looks like that permanently!

After wiping down with toner, it's time for the Neesya Illuminating Essence.

A transparent thick liquid, this has the same light pleasant scent and silky texture. It first feels sticky when you pat it on your skin but a couple more patting motions and it's all fully absorbed in to your skin. It doesn't leave my skin feeling sticky or tacky, nor does it make it extra oily. With brightening/whitening products, I have heard that some of them can leave one's skin very dry but of course, with my combination skin, I didn't experience any dry skin at all.

I have paired it in several ways. After cleansing my face and my toner:

1. Before my serums

2. Before my Neesya Brightening Overnight sleeping mask

3. Mixing in with my Laneige sleeping mask

I personally feel, with my Laneige sleeping mask, I find the best results when I mix the recommended 4 drops into my dollop of jelly mask. 

With my Neesya Brightening Overnight Mask, the result was even more spectacular! I woke up to find a pimple scar turn from a slight dark red to a pink-er tone! Talk about magic!

             

 It's also slightly cloudy and has the same light scent as mentioned in the previous products. 

Texture-wise, it's a little more runny than the Enzymatic Refiner and I think I actually squeezed a little too much as my face was rather tacky after massaging it in but I left it as such since I did not manage to do any masks the whole of last week. It has a very slight tingling and cooling sensation after I've washed my hands but not the bad kind of tingle. 

The second time I used it, after spreading out, you can barely see or feel it on your skin as you can see in my above picture :D

As a lazy girl, I totally am digging the Overnight Mask as it saves me time. I'm not a fan of wash-off masks since the application already puts me off so sheet masks and overnight masks are my favourite. One single application has given me pretty good results so I hope with regular application, it will help reduce my scars.

I included the Illuminating Essence in my daily skincare routine and I personally feel that it has helped to lighten some of my 'new-er' sun spots acquired during my most recent diving trip in Langkawi.

Here's a makeup-less face to scare the bejesus out of your living soul if you're reading this at night. Sorry for the image being so blur, I took this in the morning, right after I washed off the Overnight Mask and I think my phone is still snoozing. It wouldn't focus properly. 

That's the angry looking pimple scar on my cheek and some sunspots way further up. 

I'm going to attempt to do the whole routime at least twice a week for another month or so and then we will see the effects. Let's just hope I am diligent enough to stay to my routine.

Neesya products are very affordable, considering that each time, you only use a 10 cent size of the essence and the old 50 cent size for the refiner and overnight mask. Neesya products can be found in Subang Parade and The Mines Shopping Mall. 

For more information, do visit their website or their Facebook page.

Happy weekend!

Work-appropriate NOTD

A really old picture of my then NOTD.
Bloop polish as base
Glitter polish on accent nail is from Korea.

The Mythical L'Oreal Hair Do

So mythical, it's magical!

As part of the little job perks, I was invited by L'Oreal Professionnel for a totally Mythic Hair Makeover and the the viewing of Jonathan Liang's collection at KLFW 2013.

I was there with Eugein of HotPinkyRoom. Have you seen her baby?

                    

She's sooooo cute and adorable. And Eugein is one of those hot mamas who looks super young, slim and pretty. *jealous*

OK, back to my mythical hair makeover - Upon being seated, one of the staffs immediately  handed me a drink menu and I choose a nice hot cup of green tea to soothe my ruffled senses from the KL jam.

Of course, there has to be a pre-makeover picture. I had pinned and tied my hair up in my usual ponytail as I was out the whole day today - Clarins launch in the AM, SaSa launch in the afternoon and finally, this.

 

Phew. Life is tough as a vainpot.

*photo courtesy of Eugein*  

And the Mythic Hair Treatment began!

Here I am, having my day-old hair washed by Elaine- my hairstylist of the day, using the Mythical Oil Shampoo.

Elaine is damn freaking awesome and I like her because she's not the super chatty type where they won't stop talking to the customer or their colleagues :D She's also very thorough when she was washing my hair and she gave me awesome hair, which you all have seen on my instagram and facebook. 

She first washed my hair with the  Mythic Oil Shampoo. It has a very light refreshing scent and I couldn't help inhaling deeply throughout the process. I was then ushered to rinse my hair and she used the Mythic Oil conditioner to soften my hair (which kinda resembles hay on a bad day)

  I always wonder how do they wrap my hair in that towel. It's so short, but yet they can wrap it snugly and it doesn't pull at my hair.

 Elaine towel dried my hair and applied the Mythic Oil on my damp hair. I assume it's for better adsorption :p Next time I ask ok? She then began to blow dry my hair. Can you see the nice and soft flyaway curls on my side? Ahhh, If only my hair was like this everyday *dreaming*

 
And here's the final result! Elaine blew dried my hair with a large round brush and the hot air; she also gave me gorgeous voluminous curlss. On a normal day with shampoo and conditioner, I would have a ton of flyaway hair but the Mythic Hair Oil gave me commercial-worthy shine and smoothed every little bit of hair down without weighing down and making me look like an oil slick.

With the L'Oreal team - Audra from VenuzBuzz.com and Eugein

Once we were all done, we were ushered to Ben's for dinner a couple doors away. 

I also had a bowl of tomato soup that was a tad less creamy for my taste. Sorry, no picture because my one and only picture was blur. Ben's has one of the most awesome Toasties - plenty of soft oozy cheese on warm and fluffy toasted bread. That's my complimentary bottle of Mythic Oil in the matching gorgeous black and gold paper bag in the background.

We also had a few moments of fame while cameras flashed and we gave our million megawatt smiles (L-R) Audra, me, Eugein and Wendy from 惡魔婷婷

And then we were ushered to the fashion show - FRONT ROW SEATS FTW! 

Being the typical klutz, I kicked over Audra's beer and it spilled all over the carpet. Good thing they had black carpets, for which the beer magically disappeared.

With Tissot kickstarting the show and being so kind as to provide us with a very pretty boy for eye candy *wipes drool daintily with tissue*

Eye candy from Tissot

  Obviously, I didn't manage to capture most of the outfits which were shown that night and I'm no fashionista myself, but I do like the designs as there were elements of surprise in each outfit - a little cutout at the back, swallow tails and

And Tinie, she is soooooo gorgeous. I couldn't take my eyes off her every time she appeared on the runway and she modeled every outfit perfectly. 

OK, you can close this window now because I am just going to to post shameless camwhore selfies of me with my almost-perfect hair (almost-perfect because of the horrifyingly ugly roots). Seriously, I will never have any events/dinners/functions to attend when I have perfectly colored hair. The invites only come when their roots are horrendously long and impossible to cover up. Doesn't help that my hair grows incredibly fast. 

Still in the salon. No, I didn't filter this. My phone camera likes to add filters on it's own. But this picture got me thinking whether I should lighten my hair color this much :p 

And with Eugein. OMG, she's a mom. I can't imagine if I ever gave birth. People will be able to feel the vibrations on the ground when I start walking. Like a mile away. FML.


And right after the fashion show. See my fugly hair roots? But the shine was awesome!

Thank you so much  to the generous and wonderful team from L'Oreal Professionnel for allowing to experience the Mythic Hair Makeover and my first ever front row fashion show, Miko Galere and the most gorgeous hair makeover and of course VanityTrove Malaysia ;)

Till then, toodles~

Denesy Velvet Manicure Swatches & Review

Together with the Saxby polishes mentioned in my last post, I received 2 Denesy Velvet manicures set for review.

I received two sets: #02 White and #7, a Granny Smith Green. In each pack, you will receive a bottle of base color, a brush and 2 matching bottles of the velvet powder.

This is how the packaging looks like.

The set comes sealed in plastic and once you flip them around, you will see the numbers at the bottom.

On the back of the box are application directions. Very straightforward and simple. 

I first started with the base polishes, 2 coats each and about a couple mins to dry in between. The polish brushes were fairly decent, easy to control and not too bushy. Polish wise, the white was a little thick but nothing a couple drops of thinner could not handle. Green was slightly more sheer and I had to do 3 thin coats instead of 2.

 Flocking powder #07 on a sheet of paper. 

After I had applied the second coat of white and third coat of green, instead of following the directions on the box, I poured out the flocking powder on a piece of paper and rolled nail with my still wet polish on it. Waited for about 30 seconds and used my finger pads to press down the flocking powder.

I had to pay a little more attention to my edges as my nails are quite curved and om my first attempt, it was pretty obvious I missed the sides.

After that, I used the brush to brush off any excess powder and voilà! Velvet nails!!

I tried doing polka dots and a french nail on my pinkie but the results for the polka dots aren't too obvious. Pardon the horrible pics, but the camera wasn't playing nice that day.

Do remember to make sure that your base polishes are opaque as the flocking powder will not cover the streaks nicely (as seen in my index and middle finger).

The flocking powder stayed on for a couple of days and I had to remove them as I had wedding dinner to attend.

I loved touching the surface but my boyfriend weren't too pleased about it. He likes smooth nails and matchy matchy colors. Hahaha.

Overall, these are a good buy if you're interested to try out the velvet nails look as they definitely won't break your bank account. 

Denesy Velvet Manicure is available at all SaSa Malaysia outlets and retails for RM21.90 each. Find out more from their website and following them at social media links below:

Website: www.sasa.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SaSaMalaysia
Blog: www.blog.sasa.my
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SaSaMsia

Disclaimer: These polishes were sent to me for my review however this does not affect my judgement in any way. All feedback and opinions are based on my personal and honest opinion.