Review - GlamGlow ThirstyMud Mask

Hello gorgeous!
How is your first week of 2016? Mine is a bit slow because it was still school holiday for my son. So, I was unable to do a lot of work because every time I touch my laptop, my son's radar catches it and he will start to cling on me hahaha

I'm glad that I could squeeze a little time to write about a review on GlamGlow ThirstyMud Mask today.
It's a sample review, the one that I got from Sociolla gift box, so it might not provide you with a comprehensive review since it's a one time trial only. But at least it can give you an insight on what you are going to experience when you use GlamGlow ThirstyMud Mask.

This mask claims to be able to hydrate, moisture, restore, replenish, and calm your skin.It sounds really interesting. I was glad that I got this sample because my skin is pretty dry lately and I would love some extra hydration to bring back the suppleness to my skin.

I never use GlamGlow before and only see some pictures of people apply it to their faces. And because they name all the mask with mud at the end, I was assuming that the mask would be mudlike consistency and color. But ThirstyMud doesn't. The texture is gel like and smells like a caramel pudding. The color is light caramel brown with some black specks in it. It smells so delicious I have to restrain myself from licking it hahahaha

I applied it using my fingers, smooth it out evenly on my face and neck area. One sachet is enough for one time thick application on my face. Please note that I have a small face, so if you consider that your face is wider or bigger, you might want to apply it thinly.

After the first few minutes,my face started to feel a tingling sensation like minty feel on my skin. I wonder if it is because of the ginger extract. Unlike other mask that will dry up as the time goes by up until 15-20 mins, GlamGlow ThirstyMud will not. It stayed gel-ish and just keep doing its job hydrating my skin. It is advised after the time is finished, you just wipe off the mask from your face and let the remains sit on your skin overnight. The next morning your will wake up with a not only hydrated skin, but also better texture and glow. 

On the picture, you can see my before and after applying GlamGlow ThirstyMud. My skin looks fresher and plumped a little bit compared to the before pic. My skin feel hydrated but not too much, it did not make my face looks puffy. Due to the hype from a lot of people said about this mask, I was actually expecting more from it. But it's just it. I did not feel anything else. I did not feel that my skin is replenished nor restored or even reach that glow that they promised. So, somehow I felt kind of bummed that this mask did not deliver a significant result on my skin. Then, I thought, I would leave the mask overnight after I wiped it away and use it as a sleeping mask. Who knows, it will work its magic throughout the night and when I woke up, my skin will experiencing a better result from it. But when I woke up, my skin was not really enjoying a significant result either. 

I still love SK-II Whitening Mask more for its instant brightening and glow that it gave me before. But then again, everybody has different skin and every skincare reacts differently, right? I supposed GlamGlow ThirstyMud works just okay for my skin. The tingling sensation was fun though hahaha

Will I buy the full size? I don't think so. Will I try the other GlamGlow Mask? I would love too! They still have other types of mask such as PowerMud, SuperMud, and YouthMud. 
How's your experience with GlamGlow Mask? Please do share it with me. Which GlamGlow series that's your favorite?

Cheers,
Stef

Sariayu Masker Ketan Hitam

Last week, I helped my in laws with their shop. The shop is located on the side of an extremely busy main street, so the dust and air pollution is really bad. Not to mention the hot weather lately, I felt my skin acted out a bit with some spots of redness here and there. I love facial mask and I believe we all need to spare a little time from our busy day to do one facial mask session at least once a week to nourish our skin. Lucky, I saved Masker Ketan Hitam  for the last one to try because a facial mask with antioxidant is exactly what I need to rejuvenate my skin. 

I still remember some old times when I was still living in my parent's house. We lived in a housing complex where you could find a lot of street food vendors going around the complex every day. On the weekends, my family usually will buy two kinds of food, Soto Ayam and Black Sticky Rice/Mung Bean Porridge. I am not a fan of soto, so usually I will choose the porridge. I would just eat the black sticky rice part and leave the mung bean for my mom or dad hahaha..

Anyone here like Black Sticky Rice porridge? Apparently Ketan Hitam or Black Sticky Rice can do as facial mask too. 

The mask color is light grey and it goes darker when I mixed it with the rose water. It doesn’t have weird smell but one thing for sure, it doesn’t smell like the black sticky rice porridge hahaha..

The texture and the consistency are smoother than Beras Putih but not as smooth as Beras Merah. It has black speckles in it which I assumed is the ground black sticky rice.  It did not dry as quickly as Beras Merah, the picture below was taken after 5 minutes application because I have to do something first. You can see the mask was not dry yet and there were only small dry spots on my face. 

It has the same cooling effect like Beras Merah and I’m starting to wonder if it’s actually the masks or the rose water that gives the cooling effect. The mask felt a bit balmy and hugged my face smoothly. I did not experience the tightness until the last minutes when the mask was getting really dry on my face.

Because it doesn’t dry quickly, I gave the mask 20 minutes before I cleaned them away. The mask claimed to be able to shrink pores but unfortunately it did not work on me. I did feel the mask moisturized my skin better than Beras Merah did. My skin felt plumped due to it and looked fresher.

So, which one is my favorite from those three masks?

I would say Masker Ketan Hitam is the winner because I like how the mask moistures my skin and it seemed to be able to calm my skin better than the other two. I am a bit disappointed with Beras Merah because in my opinion, it did not deliver what it claimed, which is to moisturize the skin.

Alrighty! This is the end of the trilogy review of Sariayu masks. It was a fun experience trying those masks. I don’t remember when the last time I used powder mask. Have you tried them now? Which one is your favorite?

Cheers,

Stef

Sariayu Masker Beras Putih

Happy Independence Day Indonesia!! It has been 70 years and I wish that our country will be able to keep on thriving for the best. I am hoping to see more and more development, not only in physically but also mentally. Let us all pray every day for the betterment of our country.

In the spirit of Independence Day, I will dedicate some of my blog posts in this month for reviewing and sharing my love for local Indonesian products.
Last month, I bought several face masks to try from Sariayu. I also bought a long time favorite product, Peeling Mundisari from Mustika Ratu, a face and body scrub that works wonders since I was a teenager. It has been a long time since I tried them and would love to share my experience with all of you.

The first product that I am going to review today is the Masker Beras Putih from Sariayu.
Sariayu is one of the prominent local beauty brands in Indonesia that was launched in 1977 by DR. Martha Tilaar, one of many inspiring women in Indonesia. Inspired by local wisdom and natural resources, they aim to make all women look completely beautiful in natural way.

Masker Beras Putih is a whitening face mask and contains lemon peel extract, known to its ability to brighten your complexion. I chose this one first to try as I am still in my effort to reduce the post acne spots on my face that suffered from a breakout a month ago.

The mask is in powder form and you have to mix it up with water or rose water and create a paste with it. I chose to mix it with rose water and bought myself a bottle of Sari Air Mawar Putih for this purpose. The rose water smells heavenly and so fresh. I put some of it in a little spray bottle and spritz it on my face if I needed a pick me up refreshment. 

Anyway, back to the mask. The powder is white with a little bit of yellow tinge.
The smell is a bit pungent but once you mix it with the rose water, it will not be that bad.
At first, I planned to only use half of the package because my face is small and I thought one package will be too much. But then I decided to pour the whole package to the plate and pamper my neck area too.
After the paste is formed, I applied the mask to my face. If you have a mask or foundation brush, you can apply it with that. I used my fingers to apply it because I don’t have either of them. As you can see, the application using fingers is a bit splotchy. I am pretty sure brush application will give more even and well distributed mask on your face hahaha..

My face felt cool when I applied the mask and I let it sit on my face for a good 15 mins. At the first 5-7 mins, I felt a stinging sensation on my face, I thought maybe because of the lemon peel extract. But afterwards, the feeling is gone and only leaves the cool sensation.

I cleaned my face with a warm damp face towel and did not use facial wash again afterwards. Make sure that you really clean your face because you don’t want the mask to clog your pore. I proceeded by applying my usual skincare routine.

Unlike my experience of SK II Whitening mask, the result was not that significant. Maybe because most of the ingredients are also natural, so it will take more time to show real results. I supposed regular usage will show better result. Even though it did not instantly make my face brighter but it did make my face looked fresher.

Have you tried one of those masks? The next one I’m going to review is the Red Rice Mask or Masker Beras Merah (of course I have to inline with the Red and White theme just like our flag hehehe). So, stay tune and thank you for reading, gorgeous!

To know more about Sariayu, you can check one of their social media:
Website :     www.sariayu.com
Facebook :  www.facebook.com/sariayu.MT
Twitter :       @sariayu_MT
Instagram :   @sariayu_MT

Cheers,
Stef

SK II Whitening Source Derm Revival Mask

I am a fan of SK II’s mask especially their Facial Treatment Mask. The mask can rejuvenate my dull skin in 20 minutes. It works wonderfully, so naturally I was also very excited to try on this mask. SK II Whitening Source Derm Revival Mask is a whitening and brightening mask that will give a brighter and diminishes your spots and skin’s imperfections. Each mask is soaked in rich gel serum that drenches your skin with the same amount of serum as one full bottle of Whitening Power Spots Specialist. Wowza, huh? 

When I opened the sachet, the mask is really soaked well, you can even squeeze it and put the gel serum into a bottle if you want hahaha.. I have one frugal tip that I got from a friend if you felt that such a shame to throw away the rest of the serum in the sachet. The tip is to squeeze the mask a little bit while you take it out from the sachet and then, after you put the mask on, immediately seal the sachet and put it inside a ziplock bag. Throw it into the fridge (not freezer) and you can soak any sheet face mask (Muji sells one) or even cotton pads in the serum and enjoy face mask part 2. Make sure that you use the rest of the serum within one week. 

After I cleansed and toned my skin, I put the mask on and put on 20 minutes timer. The mask felt cool and very hydrating even though its a whitening mask. The scent is similar to the whitening line SK II has and it is not a strong one, so you don’t have to worry being overwhelmed with the scent for 20 minutes of your mask time. The size of the mask is a bit big for me because I have a small face, so I have to fold some parts of the mask to keep it out of my hair. It happens with every sheet face mask I tried and this one is no exception. It cover and sat properly on my face. It was easy to put on and had proper size of holes for the eyes and mouth area. I hate it when I have to pout my mouth to fit it into the mask or wipe the serum off from my eyes because the hole is to small.

I usually try to meditate whenever I do my mask time. I like the quiet time when I put on my mask and definitely a great me time for unwinding and decompress your mind. If you wanted it to be more special, putting on some relaxing music can be an option too or maybe light up some scented candles for a maximum relaxation effect. 

Pardon the spooky masked face

When the alarm beeped, it is time to take off the mask. I massage my face and neck with the rest of the serum left on my face until it’s fully absorbed by my skin. The result is amazing! My skin felt hydrated yet brightened up instantly. As you could see on the before and after pictures, the redness on my face reduced. My skin looked plumped and lovely. For me, this is another SK II product to love and to splurge on if I had spare budget.

I would recommend this mask for you who need instant brightening effect or when you feel your skin so dull and need a brightening boost. I would say it would be perfect too to use before a big event, to even out and enhance your complexion so your make up will look fabulous. What is your favorite brightening and whitening mask? Share with me :)

Cheers,

Stef

Korea Haul

I have to be honest to you that my Cheon Song Yi obsession is not over yet, so naturally when my mom going to Korea last month,I asked her to snatch me some IOPE lipsticks. She helped me to get my hands on these Innisfree lipstick as well. And throw in some Etude House sheet masks for me.
Sulwhasoo Snowise BB cream has been my HG BB cream till date but unfortunately Sulwhasoo counter here has not yet have them. I was lucky that my dad able to get it at Incheon duty free few minutes before they have to board the plane hahaha

Oh how I wish I can go to South Korea and do make up shopping by myself there. I might need a leash to keep myself from getting crazy all over those shops.

I love Asia skincare and makeup. They seem to understand more about us,Asian people. In my experience, Asian brands are more accommodating in terms of texture,color,and ingredient. They understand more about our skin type and the weather of Asian countries. They also understand about our colors preferences too, such as our undertones (mine is yellow) or colors in makeup that fits us. Oh and don't forget about the packaging, some of Japanese and Korean cosmetics have to die for packaging. 

My favorite brands for Asian cosmetics are Sulwhasoo,SK II, Etude House, Innisfree, Iope, Laneige and of course Shu Uemura.
I would love to get my hands on Three, Addiction, and RMK since I heard many good things about them. A lot of beauty bloggers also raving about Suqqu eye quad and the makeup brushes. I better stop now because makeup wishlist will never stop,right? Hahaha

Will do review on these products in the future post. A good February indeed. Wishing all of you a lovely February!