Review: Clarisonic MIA2 + New Skincare

If you read my haul post here before, I mentioned that I recently purchased the Clarisonic MIA2 last month adding to my skincare routine. I also explained that I've been dealing with far than perfect skin since teenager. I spent vigorous amount of time on Dermatologist visits and money towards prescription pills and creams for over 10 years. I'm pretty much done with that and took a leap with the Clarisonic.

My morning routine:

1. Wash face with Philosophy Purity.
2. Apply face with Clinique Clarifying Lotion 3 with cotton rounds to get rid of the dry flaky skin.
3. Moisturized face with Clinique Even Better SPF 20 cream and let it sink to skin.

and evening routine:

1. Wipe face withe make up remover wipes as much as you can. I got mine from Costco in bulk.
2. Wash face with Philosophy Purity in adjunct of the Clarisonic MIA2 for 1 minute and rinse with warm water.
3. Apply Retin-A Micro on problematic area. This needs doctor's prescription. 

Pretty simple, isn't? 

Now about the Clarisonic MIA2 review, I would have to say that this is one of the great investment I made for my skin care regime . If you do a quick research on reviews for this product, there are a handful of people to say that Clarisonic broke their skin out which is partially true. If you have a problematic skin to begin with (acne-prone and congested), you would most likely encounter a "purging phase" within the first 4 weeks of use. You will see a lot of red bumps coming out and this tells you that the Clarisonic is actually working deep to get the "gunk" out of your pores/skin that has been there forever. So, the Clarisonic is not the reason why you broke out, it's just helping your skin to get the "gunk" out faster. 

If you do encounter this, my suggestion would be using the Clarisonic only once a day  (either morning or evening) rather than twice a day. I was so excited when I got mine in the mail and I started using it twice a day on Normal speed and sometimes more than the suggested 1 minute per use instruction. All that made my skin flare up like nobody's business. Then after I read other people's review, I understand that I was not doing any good for my skin. I was literally over exfoliating my skin.  I quickly changed my routine to once a day in the evening on Low speed for no more than 1 minute. I am now in my fourth week and I can tell my skin is probably 90% better than where I was flared up on week 1. Old marks/blemishes are fading and the red bumps are almost completely gone and my overall skin texture is so soft. With this kind of progress, I'm pretty sure I will be clear in a matter of weeks now which is awesome!

My take on the comparison between the MIA2 and the regular Clarisonic Classic is the size, weight, and price. Both have the same size brush and different speeds. But the MIA2 is smaller and lighter and comes with a travel case so you can throw your MIA2 anytime you travel which is a plus for me. Another thing that you want to take into account is that you will need to change the head brush once every 3-4 months for about $20 per brush. Roughly about $5 per month which is NOTHING!

I am very happy overall with the purchase and whenever you decide on investing something in your skin care, I would encourage everyone to put this on top of your list! Hope this helps and good luck!

Clarisonic MIA2 is available in Sephora, Nordstrom, QVC, and Ulta.

Burrito Lens Wrap

I was dying to see this lens wrap at Photojojo.com. Sometimes I hate the most conventional things surrounding photography which equals to boring to me. But lately things are getting more interesting and creative such as this "Photorito Lens Wrap". Genius!









Source: Photojojo.com

Arm Party Arm Candy

You all probably been seeing all the Arm Party trending started several months ago. I'm not the kind of person who likes to stack on lots of jewelry at one time, but I've seen my amazing favorite bloggers wear them effortlessly. This video from the LEAF episodes is a quick on the how-tos if you're interested.

The Man Repeller

Song of Style

 Atlantic-Pacific
Bring those jewelries out the box! Good luck!

Current Beauty Essentials

These are my beauty essentials for basic and fail-proof everyday make-up. I do it religiously everyday that I don't have to think about it when I'm applying them on my face. It's like on auto pilot. With lots of practice, this can be done to less than 10 minutes.
Here's a quick step by step:

1. Apply MAC Studio Moisture Tint SPF 15 in Medium Dark with a foundation brush.
2. Apply MAC Select Moisture cover in NC30 as a concealer on the under eye circles and any other blemishes.
3. Apply MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Dark with a kabuki brush.
4. Fill-in eyebrows with an angled brush and a matte eye shadow from MAC Charcoal Brown.
5. Prime eyelid with Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion.
6. Swipe MAC Wedge eye shadow lightly all over the eye lids with any regular eye shadow brush.
7. Tight-line both eyes with Clinique Quickliner in Black Brown.
8. Apply Mascara - I have no favorites, but this is what I use this moment - Maybelline The Falsies Volum' Express in Black Drama.
9. Apply bronze on the lower cheeks with MAC Bronzing Powder in Matte Bronze.
10. Apply blush on the apple of the cheeks with MAC Sheertone Blush in Pinch O' Peach. 
11. Apply EOS Lipbalm on lip to prime and then Tarte LipSurgence lip tint in Perky to finish it off.

Spanakopita Burgers

If you've been following me on twitter, I got myself an electric indoor grill last month. Part of it is to extend my last year's resolution to this year which is to live a healthy lifestyle. I've been making small changes through out the year and I'd like to just carry over the progress towards this year. I think it's a pretty realistic goal that I'm confident I can keep up.

Today, I wanted to share this chicken burger patty recipe I did last week from Rachel Ray. It's very easy and taste delicious. I added a quarter cup of whole grain pasta and some red/yellow and green pepper to complete the meal. You can substitute ground chicken with turkey as well as red onion with the regular ones.

Good luck and enjoy!

New York Fairy Tale

I had such a busy week, so glad it's over. Today, one of my girlfriend asked me to come with her to look for a wedding dress. I love looking for beautiful dresses but this is essentially out of my expertise to say the least. I'm hoping that my other girlfriend (who is also coming with us) has more knowledge on this.
All in all wish me luck!

In the meantime, check out this editorial bridal for Harper's Bazaar Indonesia for November Edition taken place in New York City. This makes me smile from ear to ear.

Harper's Bazaar - November 2011 from PPF. on Vimeo.

Photo Source: PPF Photography

Weekend Bits

 


 An all day Indonesian get-together with tons of food. Way to ruin a diet. Consider it a cheat day. HA!

Fake That Lash

You know, I'm not a big mascara person. Out of all my make-ups, I always put the least attention to my mascaras. Part of the reason is I have very thin and short lashes to begin with. Thus far, I don't have any particular favorite mascara that I really like that I finished and repurchase. I wear it everyday but never put too much thought into the product itself. 

On special occasions (i.e.: Halloween, New Years, any sort of fancier parties) I sometimes wear false lashes to add drama into the eyes. Back then, the lashes sold in regular stores look very fake and it's almost impossible to wear it on a regular day unless you go to a make-up store like MAC and Shu Uemura for the more expensive kind. My favorite one is Ardell - Super affordable.

Nowadays, these lashes comes in more natural styles with different length and volume. They even sell false partial lashes to be applied on to the ends of your eyes to make it even more natural looking. One of my favorite blog Cupcakes and Cashmere made a step-by-step easy tutorial recently on how to a to apply partial false lash HERE. In the mean time, here's a video to apply a full false lashes. 

It's very simple, all you need is just practice. :)

This weekend supposedly going to be warmer than the past days this week which is nice. I got some pampering to do. Have a lovely weekend everyone..Ta-taah...

New In: Birthday and Xmas Haul

I mentioned this several times, that I don't officially celebrate Christmas, but Christmas here is getting more and more commercialized by the year. It's like everybody is celebrating Christmas with gifts and the sales in the stores are unbelievable. Not to mentioned the holiday parties and all.
Now, my birthday is only few days after Christmas, so it's usually very difficult to really celebrate since it falls between Christmas and New Years.

So in the past couple years, I usually picked up several things as gifts to myself throughout the holiday season taking advantage on the holiday sales to the fullest. At least that's how I justify it. :)

The first item is this House of Harlow earrings that I've been eyeing for a while. They are literally sold out if not backordered in different sites. I finally made the order to Nordstrom and ready to wait 2 weeks since they're backordered. I was glad to find that they shipped it sooner than what it was initially scheduled.

The second item is this suede nude pumps I got from shopbop. They're the Portney Sam Edelmans. I got them for half price during the holiday sale. Great staple for any wardrobe.

Next is the latest Clarisonic MIA 2. I've been having problems with my skin since I was like 13. Trust me, visiting Dermotologist has been a regular thing. Not to mention the money I spent on prescriptions. So, when I saw this on QVC (Yes, I do watch QVC sometimes) they had a special price around 10% less than the regular retail anywhere else, free shipping, and 4 easy payments. I was sold. I'm planning to do a separate review on this gadget in few weeks.

Michael Kors Watch.. I've been wanting a MK watch like forever. I think I had one on my wish list even last year this time around. I initially wanted the gold version but then I thought this Tortoise version actually looked better on my skin-tone and still get that hint of gold ring around the watch.

My current Chloe Love perfume is running low, so I started looking for another one to replace. After 3 separate trips to Sephora trying different perfumes, I was literally drawn to this one for obvious reasons. Coco Chanel Mademoiselle.

Happy New Year

If you've been following my twitter, I mentioned that I went to Time Square on New Years Eve. But, no we didn't stay until the ball drops. We tried but it gets way too crazy and we decided to get out around 7.30 pm. I ended up spending the count down in a bar on the lower east with my cousin and friends.
Good times as always.

Although, after 2 weekends back to back in the city, I was so glad to be back at home. So peaceful and quite. These are my plan to start the first week of 2012 - taking things easy, live a healthy life and do more things rather than just think or talk about it. I guess you can call that as a new year resolution if you will, but for me this is more to a continuity from what I had started last year.  On another note, I'm kinda done with the cold New Years for a while. Perhaps this coming year I could be somewhere warmer like Hawaii or Mexico or somewhere exotic. Let see if this turns true.

iPhone Photos Lately

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year celebration.

Bring it on 2012!!