May 2011 archive
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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.
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 ; )
Thanks for visiting our blog! This blog is updated regularly by Heidi & I, two sisters living in Kuala Lumpur.