Darphin Purifying Balm

Darphin is always a brand name I associated with Spas. As far as I know, they do have their own. I got a free treatment from one of my lovely friends, and that was the first time I encountered with their products. I bought this purifying balm mostly because the sales rep suggested it would be the best to improve my skin condition at that time. Oh yeah, before I forget, that was almost 2 years ago. That's how long it lasted for me, and some sort justified how much it cost.    

Reviews I read online most people have a love/hate relationship with it. A lot of them don't like it because it gave them break outs like crazy. If you are like me, having a acne prone skin, through my experience/ many many experiments, unclogging pores before applying the balm is a must-do thing to avoid break outs. What I did was just washed my face with a scrub in the shower, and applied a cleansing mask. I normally use it twice a week, overnight. Before apply to face, take out a half-penny size and warm it up in your palms. That's the way it was done in the spa. Really be-careful with the amount you use, because of its wax-like texture any excessive wouldn't get absorbed and causing break-outs.

Try or Skip Darphin Purifying Balm?
Em-mm... I say try. It is a great product if use right for pretty much all the skin types except if you have sensitive skin. The word on the "street" is that it does contains active ingredients which may cause allergic reaction, so you may try out a sample first or just go to a Darphin spa try out a treatment.
 

Neutrogena Wave

I finally get off my ass, decided to do some "work"...

My Neutrogena Wave, I bought it when it first came out, and used everyday for about 2 months with the regular pads when the exfoliating ones hadn't been on the market yet. It was amazing! I had oil skin with huge pores. After used it for couple months, people noticed my skin was radiant, and my pores were less noticeable. Then I discovered whenever I used oil control facial lotion/cream, my face was burning. My skin became really sensitive to anything I applied or just cold weather.  I started to have blemish and redness around my cheeks.

I stopped using Wave. Instead, I switched to a cleaning milk. Things slow went back to normal. I'm not gonna be the judge on whether it got anything to do the device, I'm not a dermatologist. I just wanna throw out something here, and this is just my theory. I think the Wave is a strong cleaning product, with daily use, it kinda "stripe off" my oil layers, aka the layers also protect skin. I would recommend 2-3 times a week, 3 minutes top, and use the exfoliating pad at least once.  FYI, don't leave it in the shower! This is the third one I got because the two previous got totally busted.

Try or Skip?
For the price I paid for, it is a very good product, and definitely worth trying.

Avène Thermal Spring Water

There was a time my skin suffered from blotch, peeling, and redness as a direct result of excessive cleaning which is something I have to talk about in another post. I "tortured" my own face into a super sensitive state. It was red, itchy, and dry but still with a massive oil production! I know, it was like a nightmare. I tried almost everything: soaked in toner, moisture mask, aloe..., nothing really worked until I started to use Avène Thermal Spring Water. It is not a miracle product. It just make sense. I tried to complicate things by adding so many products on my face, in fact all I needed was just back to basics! I started a simple routine with cleaning, applying toner, moisturizing and spraying on water whenever I felt dry. Few weeks later, my skin was back to normal.

What I found is that the spray water is not going to fix any major problems. If you got enlarged pores, acne or uneven skin tones, they still gonna be there. It just gently calms down your skin, and lays the basis to any further treatment.

Le Gourmet Burger

Last night, I had the misfortune to go to this unbelievable boring birthday party. We stopped by Le Gourmet Burger on Bishop St. beforehand. It's kind like a  "make your own burgers" place. They serve beef, chicken and veggie patties. You can choose additional toppings or you can go with the free ones which are tomatoes, lettuce and caramelized onions. For sides, they have salads and fries. I got a chicken burger with mushroom and a half pickle, and R had a beef one with cheese and fries, plus a coke, all for around $25. It tasted pretty good with the smoky flavor you get from the charcoal grill, but it was really small. I had to take some of his fries so I had enough to eat! The buns were the best part of the whole burger. Really fresh, and great tasting brioche buns.

It is a neat place with nice decor, but if you are looking for the best value for money like me, I won't put it as my first choice.

Turkish chicken legs

Last night for dinner, I made the grilled Turkish chicken legs using a recipe I found on Recipezaar. We loved how it turned out!

It didn't mention anything about marination in the recipe, but I did marinated the legs for about 3 hours anyway. Instead of the boneless chicken thighs, I only had skinless chicken legs in my fridge.:) It was super easy to prepare, and tasted really great! R thought it was a little sweet for him, so I am gonna add bit chilly powder next time.

Recipe link:
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Turkish-Chicken-Thighs-400-Winner-141961

Essie-Matte About You

Nowadays, apartment-hunting can literally be a profession. Maybe it already is? It took up most of my free time the last few days, and I still couldn't find an place to live!! But I still manage to do something fun on the side.:)

                                      

OPI France-Parlez Vous OPI? + essie Matte About You finish

I finally received my essie topcoat last Sunday, couldn't wait to put it on! Love this dark creamy lilac on its own, with the matte finish? It's magical!

I waited, waited, and they are here!!

When I heard Trans Design is liquidating its OPI inventory, I didn't have any choice but had to order some!! The shipping cost is always expensive with them, but I could track my package and I always received everything in great conditions. I would say a piece of mind is totally worth the money!  

Left-to-right: Don't Melbourne the Toast; Fair Dinkum Pinkum; Chapel of Love; Chocolate Moose; Bronzed to Perfection.

OPI Australia-Fair Dinkum Pinkum
My picture does no justice to this beautiful color! It is creamy pink with glitter. There are streaks with one coat because of the texture, as you can see in my picture.:) It looks great with two coats if apply right. The brush is the wide pro brush, so it may take a few practices to get used to. One more point, it works like a charm as a tip coat for a summer french manicure.

OPI Australia-Don't Melbourne the Toast
It is sort of a coral pink color with shimmer. I hope that helps. Not a easy color to describe, not easy to find a replacement either. That's what caught my eyes at a first glance. I guess I love these colors have a bit uniqueness in them.:) Under daylight, it is more on the coral side. In this picture, it is dark outside and it is more pink somehow.

Chapel of Love
I'm really happy with my purchase this time. All the colors turn out to e exactly what I wanted. I always wear neutral colors at work, but I would definitely wear this one. It is light pink color. Shimmering, not solid or creamy as in the picture. Love it!

Chocolate Moose
My hands are just so dry. :( It looks exactly like light chocolate milk!! Yummy!