I have some good and bad news for those of you who had been anxiously waiting for the opening of Sephora in Malaysia.
The Good News Is: Sephora is finally open in Kuala Lumpur – their Malaysian flagship store is located at Starhill, Jalan Bukit Bintang. And Sephora will also be opening a second branch in KLCC soon.
The Sephora flagship in Kuala Lumpur. You can't miss it. It's the Rem Koolhaas looking structure next to Starhill. I wish I know how to photoshop photos. The 3 teenage boys at the foreground is really distracting.
Ladies at Sephora on a frantic shopping spree while their menfolk walk around like lost zombies.
So what’s the bad news? The bad news is: Their product line up is probably 30% of what they have in Sephora USA. They didn’t even carry the Bliss line of products. : (
Huffy at the entrance of Sephora KL. I forced her to make the "V" sign btw. It's the Asian thing to do. She was half-hearted about it - as evidenced by the limp V sign.
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And what else didn’t they carry? Off the top of my head*:
- First Aid Beauty (skincare products)
- Kate Somerville (skincare products)
- Shaveworks ( ingrown hair products)
- Supergoop! (skincare products)
- T3 (hair styling equipment and products)
- Temptu ( airbrush makeup technology)
*These are products that Sephora USA carry that I have been really really been looking forward to seeing here in Kuala Lumpur.
They DO carry these product lines that are exclusive to Sephora KL:
- Clarisonic (a skincare tool)
- bareMinerals makeup
- Murad M.D skincare (well you can also get Murad at CN Spas but I never liked pesky spa salesgirls so I never go there…)
- Urban Decay cosmetics
- Too Faced cosmetics
- Oscar Blandi haircare products
- Smashbox cosmetics
- Sephora branded tools and products
Ladies, if you really want to make you clean your face properly at home - this is the brush to get.
The bareMinerals starter kit. The brand that started the whole mineral makeup craze a few years back.
Murad MD skincare line at Sephora. Don't you really love it when people don't hide their products behind glass shelving and display product pricing in plain sight?
Oscar Blandi haircare products at Sephora. Btw, if you have fine or limp hair like me, dry shampoo should be your best friend.
And to top it off, the prices are a bit on the high side. Anyway, I guess I should look at the bright side and thank the cosmetic powers that be for giving us Kuala Lumpur girls at least 5-10 new cosmetic and haircare product ranges to choose from.
Smashbox products on display. They really do have great makeup primers.
So is Sephora Kuala Lumpur worth the wait? I guess if you did not know the existence of all the other products they carry elsewhere (like in their Singapore and USA stores), and if you want convenience and expertise – the answer is definitely yes. Sephora offers a one-stop destination for beauty products and unlike at department store counters where you can’t even look at any product for longer than 5 seconds before getting harassed by a salesperson, here you can try on perfumes, makeup products etc. at your own leisure.
Sephora describes what each tool is for, so you don't get confused which brush/sponge/stick thingy is for what purpose. And if you still need more help, a Sephora associate is always around.
It is also refreshing to see products from brands like Clinique, SK-II, Dior, Make Up For Ever etcetera being out in the open for you to touch and feel on friendly shelves, and not behind glass displays or guarded counters. Sure there are Sephora salespeople around but tell them (nicely) that you want to just look around and try out products first, thank you very much – they would just leave you alone.
Isn't it lovely to be able to take your time to look, touch and sample products without a sales assistant hovering over you every second? This is the Make Up For Ever display at Sephora Kuala Lumpur.
So anyway, the fact that Sephora has landed on our shores is a good start. Hopefully they’ll expand their product lineup soon so I won’t have to go to Singapore to get my Bliss fix ; )
A Review on Colour Culture OPI Nail Spa
You should know that I love getting my nails done. I think its because my nails never give me grief. My skin might break out once in a while, my weight might fluctuate, and sometimes my feet just start to swell and I can’t seem to fit into my heels, but my nails – they’ve always been very well behaved. So manicures are my way of de-stressing.
I usually get my nails done at Creative Nails, but I wanted to try a new place so I decided to check Colour Culture out.
Colour Culture at Empire Mall, Subang Jaya. They're on the 1st floor.
Colour Culture is a chain of OPI nail salons in Malaysia - so they exclusively use OPI products. Which is always good. I’ve always liked OPI’s amazing range of products and nail colours so I was pleased with the colours they have.
The other thing I really liked about Colour Culture is that they have tv in their salons. Because seriously, do you know how boring waiting for your nails to dry can get? And you can’t read magazines because you don’t want to touch anything. For that alone, I give them extra bonus points.
They should make entertaining tv mandatory at all nail salons. Also notice that the wall is coloured and labeled in OPI nail polish shades.
I chose a basic manicure and pedicure which cost me about RM150. This is on the pricier side but maybe it’s because of the OPI products they use and the Astro subscription? ; )
Would I come back again? Other than the pricing, which is evened out by the good service (no pushing products and salon packages) and tv, I definitely would come back. The manicure and pedicure lasted more than 2 weeks so I didn’t feel too guilty about it.
The branch I went to was located at The Empire Mall, Subang Jaya , but they also have branches at Pavillion, Bangsar Village II, One Utama, Sunway Giza and Solaris Dutamas.
Is Using Hydroquinone Safe or Dangerous?
Using Hydroquinone 4% or HQ4 to gradually lighten skin had always been a hot topic – there are those who say it’s totally unsafe, and there are those who swear by their HQ. I think the best way to make a decision is to be informed. I’m going to lay out the facts about HQ and hopefully it will make you make an informed decision about whether or not to use Hydroquinone.
Sammy Sosa Before and After Skin Bleaching.
Hydroquinone Facts:
Fact 1: Hydroquinone 4% is SAFE to use and is Non-Cancerous
HQ 4% might cause redness or irritation, but only if you are allergic to it. There will always be someone who is allergic to HQ, just like there will always be someone allergic to aspirin, or nut products or even the sweat that their own body produces (me). Taken from Dr. Susan Taylor in her book Brown Skin.
The application of Hydroquinone on skin is in standard product concentrations is NOT harmful to humans. The use of hydroquinone in murine (mice) led to an actual decrease in murine hepatocellular carcinomas (cancerous liver tumors) but an increase in hepatic adenomas (benign liver tumors), suggesting protective effects of hydroquinone. The report also states that murine renal (kidney) tumors caused by use of hydroquinone do not appear relevant to humans after decades of widespread use, and murine leukemia has not been reproducible and would not be expected from small topical doses in humans as well. Taken from Dr.Jacob Levitt M.D, 2006 Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology,
There are over 100 scientific articles confirming topical Hydroquinone is safe for humans and no independent studies have proven otherwise. Taken from Dr. David J. Goldberg, clinical professor of dermatology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Fact 2: Most reported cases of so-called Hydroquinone horror stories are usually caused by human error.
The safest dose of hydroquinone is at 4% applied topically. Some users, in a desperate attempt to make themselves fairer, use dosages of up to 20% hydroquinone. This would of course cause a skin reaction.
There are people who would actually experience skin darkening when using HQ. This could be due sun exposure on areas exposed to HQ. If you are going to lighten your skin 4-5 shades lighter with HQ, you would need to protect your skin with at least an SPF50 at all times, and minimize sun exposure. This is a fact. If you don’t think you can avoid the sun and use sun protection religiously, don’t use HQ.
In some places, unscrupulous sellers would add mercury and steroids to HQ, without putting in on the label (if there is one). When victims suffer from a toxic reaction to these poisons, they would of course blame HQ. It is extremely important to get Hydroquinone from reputable sources only.
Anyway, I am neither an advocate or opponent of skin whitening. Some people like to tan, some people like to get lighter. It’s a personal choice. But whatever your preference is – safety should be your no.1 concern.
The Best RM30 I Have Spent On So Far In 2011: EH! Magazine’s Beauty Workshop.
Last Saturday Huffy and I attended EH! Magazine’s Make Me Gorgeous Workshop held at Paradox Bistro in Bandar Utama which was also sponsored by Victoria Jackson Makeup, Sally Hansen and Peek-A-Boo hair salon. There was also a brief introductory speech by Datin Ira from Positive Image Resources discussing what is the definition of beauty for the modern woman.
The very polished Datin Ira and Huffy. Sorry about the bad exposure. I'm still figuring out my new camera.
Although Huffy and I consider ourselves “beauty pros” but this workshop shows that you there is always something new to learn in the fast-changing world of beauty.
Me gawking at how flawless Victoria Jackson Makeup's foundation looked.
There were 4 sessions – the beauty talk from Datin Eda, a glamorous but down-to-earth image consultant who reminded us that beauty is not just about hair,makeup and clothes but also inner beauty. She spoke about her days as a tomboy growing up in a Felda estate and how she ended up to become… Datin Eda. I found her refreshing and funny, and the speech was a great way to warm up the attendees.
Next, we have the Victoria Jackson makeup artists who introduced us to Victoria Jackson’s makeup (which will be launching in major department stores soon) and the Victoria Jackson’s version of the natural makeup look. I loved the foundation and under-eye concealer they gave us as it looked and felt really natural when applied. Looking at each other after our foundation application, we all suddenly looked like we had flawless skin..lol. Can’t wait to get my hands on the products when they finally launch in KL.
The gorgeous makeup products from Victoria Jackson Makeup that we got to play with.
The second session was from Peek-A-Boo hair salon, who taught us how to properly blow dry, curl and flat-iron our hair ( the 3 basic hairstyling skills all beauty junkies should learn). The hairstylists also taught Huffy a fabulous trick- how to use a flat-iron to CURL hair! You read that right – we got to learn how to use a flat-iron to curl our hair…and it was easier than using a curling iron. The salon also brought along a plethora of Kerastase products for us to try out and use.
The third and session was by the Sally Hansen people who taught us how to do a manicure at home – filing our nail into an oval, square or squoval shape, applying polish and how to choose various products for common nail problems like yellow nails, brittle nails or nails that just won’t grow We also got to learn how to apply nail polish on our own nails. I’m sad to report that this is the only part of the workshop where Huffy and I failed miserably. We picked gorgeous colors ( Huffy picked a brilliant aquamarine while I picked a vampy dark red shade) but somehow both of us managed to smudge the polish on all ALL our nails. Sigh.
Anyway, the 8-hour long workshop also came with free lunch, snacks and a Sally Hansen goody bag for all participants. And the price for all this? RM30 per person – I think the value of what was given was 10 times that. So thank you EH! Magazine for a lovely Saturday well spent. If only all workshops were this fun.
Who Really Owns SkinWhitening.org?
I know I’ve been posting a bit too much about skin whitening lately. Trust me, I’m not obsessed about skin whitening (anymore) as I’ve pretty much resolved my skin issues a few years back but I came across this particular website thanks to a reader who asked me about the product recommendations on said site.
So I went to the site and it looked legit enough on the surface. However, I have a few issues with the site that I hope someone from the site would care to comment on.
Issue 1: Their Free “Skin Lightening Report” is badly written and inaccurate.
This ebook was obviously ghostwritten by someone who does not speak English as a primary tongue and was poorly researched/edited. Clumsy sentence constructions abound and inaccurate/unsupported facts can be found liberally in this ebook. There are too many to list but one particular claim really got to me:
…anal bleaching is opted by many women to de-pigment the darken [sic] area around the anus, due to careless hygiene of women.
Really? Are you saying that the large majority of women who are plagued with pigmentation in the area surrounding their private areas are just dirty? Please. This poorly written book undermines the legitimacy of Skincare.org and the product reviews and recommendations that they give.
Issue 2: No Background Information on Site Owners.
Clumsy sentences and inaccurate facts aside, I also find it really weird I can find no background information or short biographical information on “Melanie” and “Kelly” , the two cosmetic scientists who are the supposed owners of the site. Not even their last names are listed here. Which is really strange don’t you think?
Issue 3: Unsubstantiated Media Claims.
Furthermore, the site claims to have been featured on Esquire, USA Today, Yahoo! and InformationWeek etc, but I can find no such media clippings on the site or on the web to back up the claims. Don’t you think it’s weird for a website to claim to have been in the media yet deciding to omit posting said media clippings on its website?
Anyway, I have written to Skincare.org asking them about the issues above. If they do respond, I’ll be sure to update this post – but until then, it’s still caveat emptor for you guys who are going to trust Skincare.org product reviews/recommendations since I can’t really verify the history or background of the owners.
Reader Question: What Are Effective Ways To Whiten Skin Using Methods Other Than Injections?
About a couple of weeks ago, I received an email from a reader asking me how to whiten her Fitzpatrick IV skin to Fitzpatrick II. To know more about the Fitzpatrick scale please click here.
I’m actually working on an ebook right now about skin lightening and hyperpigmentation, and I hope to get that out ASAP but until then here’s a brief guideline on how to lighten your skin safely and effectively:
Step 1: Always Wear Sunscreen
The No.1 cause of skin darkening is UV rays. So the FIRST thing you have got to do is invest in at least an SPF30 sunscreen. I use Neutrogena’s sunscreen in SPF30 on my body and SPF50 on my face everyday. Do not skip sunblock ever. You need to stop melanin production in your skin to start lightening. Furthermore, if you lighten your skin using products and you don’t wear sunscreen, you are going to negate the effectiveness of your skin lightening cream. You must use sunscreen/sunblock that blocks both UVA and UVB rays.
Step 2: Exfoliate Your Skin
Stopping melanin production is one thing, but now you have to reverse the darkening that has happened so you need to exfoliate your skin. Skin darkening will happen to anyone who is a Fitzpatrick II onwards who have spent time in the sun without sunscreen (which is everyone who grew up where the sun shines) Here’s a big tip on how to exfoliate – stop using skin scrubs or that loofah. Manual exfoliation doesn’t really do anything other than scrub the top most layer of skin – and frankly it can be abrasive. Invest in chemical based exfoliators – i.e those that contain AHAs or BHAs. I’m a big fan of chemical exfoliators because they not only exfoliate to the deeper levels of the epidermis (where melanin is produced) effectively yet gently, but they also rebuild the collagen bundles in your skin resulting in firmer skin. My favourite all over body exfoliator is a product called Carotein Cream. This is by far, is the most effective (and affordable) exfoliating cream in the market. And it works. I have really dark South Indian friends who managed to lighten 4 shades using this cream alone. Another method of exfoliation is using chemical peels. You can actually peel your skin at home using at-home peels. My favorite at home peel is a Lactic Acid peel which comes in concentrations of 30% to 80%.
Step 3: Suppressing melanin production
If you have been dilligently following Steps 1 & 2, chances are after about 6 weeks, you should notice a lightening of your skin of up to two shades lighter. It won’t happen over night because your skin takes about 4-6 weeks to completely renew itself. However, if you really want to amp it up you can try skin lightening creams such as those that contain hydroquinone (no more than 4%) , kojic acid or arbutin. And some of you might ask- isn’t HQ dangerous? the short answer is No. HQ is dangerous in high concentrations. I don’t recommend anyone to use it at concentrations higher than 4% HQ. If you have started with Step 1 and Step 2, 4% HQ is more than sufficient for skin lightening.
Note: Skin lightening is actually a very lengthy and complicated topic and I’m sorry that my time management skills are so horrible right now I can’t finish the ebook on time. FYI, I was a Fitzpatrick IV and now I’m a Fitzpatrick II. To get effective (and affordable products for skin lightening is possible but you really need to do your research. After about a decade of trial and error, I’ve managed to find great products (which I will discuss in the ebook).
Hope this helps : )
Thanks for visiting our blog! This blog is updated regularly by Heidi & I, two sisters living in Kuala Lumpur.