Tips & Tricks : Saving money when buying makeup.

On this very post, I am going to share my money saving tips and tricks when it comes to makeup shopping or how I save money when buying makeup products.

Couponing is not a thing in Malaysia nor big clearance discounts. When I was in Moscow, I had the luxury to get high end makeup at a much discounted price during seasonal clearance or 50% off storewide sales. 

Since being back here in Malaysia this has not been an option, so, I have found myself searching high and low for other methods and ways to save money or get money back through my shopping addiction. 

The first tip is a no brainer, that is participate in sales. Sephora has a biyearly 20% off storewide and sitewide, this is the best time to stock up or fulfill your wishlist. Even other e-commerce websites like Hermo.my do always have sales going around, do often check their website to keep track of sales. The last big sale they did was a 70% off L'oreal, Maybelline products. Doesn't that sound so tempting? So, do check on the website daily or subscribe to their e-letters if you can't bother but I recommend you to check in daily and click on attendance to collect points. 500 points is RM5 off! Starting this year Qoo10.com.my (one of the places I shop for K-beauty) always have coupons to be claimed on the website which is going to give you discounts when purchasing from the website.

Find cheaper options online.Like for K-beauty, the markup prices in stores can be astronomical. Do look around on online websites for cheaper prices. I often purchase my K-beauty from Qoo10, Hermo.my, Ebay and Roseroseshop.
Another tip, is to shop on UK websites, UK websites are very international customer friendly, they ship almost to everywhere. The good thing when you shop from UK websites, when you are outside the UK and European Region, you get VAT excluded. That is as good as shopping from the duty free.

This tip is from me and you are going to thank me. Shop on Carousell. You never know what treasures you might come across. Carousell is a platform to sell or buy preloved or brand new stuffs. I have encountered a few sellers who sold their brand new untouched luxury brand makeup products for more than 50% off market price. You can also get preloved makeup products and the prices are way cheaper than market price. Ofcourse it's not for germophobes or fussy buyers but certain products spraying or dipping in alcohol will do the job. I am very careful when I buy preloved products, I usually go for foundations or if it's others, it's either swatched once and never used or used once and never. Look at the pictures provided carefully or ask for extra pictures if in doubt.
I have bought a few gems from the site. Also, becareful when shopping on the site, do read the description thoroughly and if there's any unanswered question, do not hesitate to contact the seller and enquire. And, check on the seller's feedbacks!

I hope I don't get backfired by this because I know it is shady but buy tester units. Sometimes you just wanna try that luxury brand so badly but you just don't have enough money to spare or you just don't want to spend that huge amount of money on that particular makeup. This is when tester units will do the job. Much lower than market price, exactly the same product.

Also in Guardian or Watsons, never buy anything in full price.Wait for discounts or sales. It will come. 

Shopback.my. At first I thought this website is a dud bit after trying it myself it works and I got my cashbacks. It is sort of like the Ebates of Malaysia. You have to click on the websites you wish you to shop on the shopback page and if you shop using the particular page, you will get cashback. The referral links won't bring you to any sketchy websites. It will bring you to the official page of the website you wish to shop.
Sometimes, they do have some promotion like higher percentage of cashbacks and they will advertise any sales going on on online shopping sites.


Hope my tips and tricks is going to help you all to save money when buying makeup.

Also, I am not sponsored in any shape or form to mention the websites I have mentioned in my post. 

Around Malaysia : Day 2 : Ipoh : Sunway Tambun at night

The second day in Ipoh, we ended our night with a hot spring bath in Sunway Lost World of Tambun.
They had some sort of promotion going on that time, it was like buy 1 free 1 for the hot spring bath at night.
I was really excited as I never tried a hot spring bath before eventhough I visited Iceland and never went to the Blue Lagoon or there's so many hot springs just across the mountains near my house.

I did not take as many pictures during our hot spring session because I thought it won't be really polite to take pictures of people bathing in hot spring and we looked like we were ran over by the train at the end of the day.

The hot springs.
There are many temperatures for the spring ranging from 39-45 degrees. I kinda forgot on the temperatures available but there were 5-6 pools available. So there's enough space for everyone.
Different temperatures for different people. Different people? More like different human adaptation.

At first the spring water just felt too hot for us but after adaptation, we found it really relaxing. It's like being wrap in warm cotton wool.
I did tried the hottest spring but I felt it's still too hot for me. Guess I couldn't adapt to that temperature.

Aftermath of hot spring. I guess I did not look too bad with my wet hair and makeup into hot spring.
I would not have done any makeup if haven't I came to the hot spring from somewhere in the day.

That's how we ended our second day in Ipoh.

The next day I woke up really sore and tired as if I have hiked 12km the day before. Is this the effect of a hot spring bath? 

What I Wore : April - May

I wanted to call this post a lookbook but since Malaysia has only one season which is summer and also summer. It would not make sense to call it a spring or summer lookbook and it's lame to call it a Malaysian lookbook.

This is my first time doing a fashion post.
My fashion style is pretty much a mix, I don't even know how to describe it. I enjoy girly florals, ruffles, ripped jeans, formal shirts.. Basically things that goes with me and flatters me.

Look 1
Top : My mum's old top which she bought in Hong Kong circa 1995
Jeans : My mum's old H&M jeans which I cut the bottoms
Shoes : H&M
Bag : Vincci

Look 2
Top : Zara (past season)
Jeans : H&M ( My mum's old jeans which I cut the bottoms)
Belt : MNG
Shoes : Bootleg Adidas from Chinatown (My sis')

Look 3
Dress : Thrifted
Shoes : H&M
Bag : Vincci

Look 4
Top : Dressing Paula
Jeans : MNG
Shoes : Zara (click here)
Bag : Charles & Keith

Look 5
Dress : Thrifted Vintage
Bag : Forever 21

Look 6
Top : Thrifted from Carousell (Zara inspired)
Jeans : H&M (click here)
Bag : Bought from Carousell (click here)
Shoe : H&M (click here)

My skincare pick from the drugstore

I am pretty much a skincare junkie and I believe you don't need to spend that RM500 on a Lancome Genefique or Advanced Repair to have great skin. Some drugstore products work as well if not even better than what you see in the counters or departmental store.
Here I am introduce the treasures I have found in the dtugstore.

1) Bio-Essence Face Lifting Cream.

I have been using this cream eversince I first bought it.
This cream promises to lift facial contours, firm sagging skin, reduce double skin, contratcs pores & refines skin, reduces appearance of aging lines, reduce visible fine lines and wrinkles, deeply nourishes and moisturizes skin and shapes V shape. That's a whole lot of claim.
I have notice that my skin has been really moisturized, firmer and smile lines diminished ever since I used this cream. It's not a miracle cream of any sort but I find it to be an effective cream if you are looking for a very nourishing cream that helps to firms the face.
I really like the tingly tight feeling after applying this cream. It is as if the cream is working its magic.

2) Hada Labo Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Lotion

This has been a God sent to me. I suffer from dry skin and patches from time to time.
This simple lotion has kept my skin hydrated and supple.
This product is a one trick pony, all it does is keeping the skin hydrated with hyaluronic acid.
It does not contain alcohol, colorant, fragrance or mineral oil. So, it's great for those with sensitive skin.
By the way, I use the light version because I like how it feels lighter and I find it to absorb faster into my skin. It's just a personal preference.

3) Eucerin Dermopurifier Toner

This is one of the most moisturizing toner I have used from the drugstore. This toner contains 2% lactic acid which is quite little and lactic acid is the mildest of the AHA group, so sensitive skin folks need not to worry. The lactic acid helps to slightly exfoliate and unclog pores and retain moisture since it is also a humectant.
It feels a little sticky after application but it will go away.

4) Garnier Skin Naturals Aqua Defense Non Stop Intensive Hydrating Essence

If you are looking for a lightweight moisturizer. Look no further, this is the moisturizer for you. This moisturizer has a gel like finish which makes it really light and absorbs into the skin easily. I used to use this moisturizer as my daytime moisturizer before I bought the Kanebo to try out. I recommend this moisturizer for oily skin folks.
Among the drugstore moisturizer, this is one of the cheapest and it definitely a bang for the buck.

5) Senka Perfect Whip Facial Cleanser

My favourite cleanser from the drugstore and probably the only cleanser I will use from the drugstore besides Eucerin or Avene (those pharmaceutical brand). I like how this cleanser foams up into a dense and thick whipcream-like texture, it is just so satisfying.
This cleanser does not stripe my face's natural oils off and it doesn't leave an unpleasant tight feeling afterwards.
The downside to this cleanser is the pH. It's a high pH cleanser instead of an acidic one. So far I haven't experienced any negative effect on my face so I have not stop using it. Just love the texture too much to let it go.
I would stop using it when I do find a low pH cleanser I love.

6) Biore Makeup Remover for Eye and Lip

Is this counted as skincare? I would assume so since makeup removing is a part of cleansing. I love to use this for removing stubborn masacara and liquid lipstick. It does the job, it does not sting my eyes or make my vision cloudy after applying it to my eyes.

That's my recommendations for the drugstore, I know there might be more gems out in the drugstore but I have yet to try them all.
There's a few items that I am interested to try out too, one being the Dr. Morita Snail Mucin and Hyaluronic Acid moisturizers. They have been highly raved in the Malaysian beauty community. 

Around Malaysia : Cameron Highlands

This was a spontaneous trip. Since we were at Ipoh, we thought why not drive up to Cameron Highlands since it takes only an hour to get up there.
We drove up to Cameron via Brinchang which is the less dangerous route to take and the nearest from Ipoh.

We went up the highlands late in the afternoon so we ended up not doing much at the highlands. All we did was visit the tea planatation.

It took about 30-45 minutes to drive into the tea plantation from Brinchang. It's much nearer if you are coming in from Tanah Rata.

We visited the cafe to grab some drinks and desserts. We were lucky that we managed the cafe because we were there an hour before the closing time.

There are a good selection of tea or infused tea drinks and also cakes and pastries.
The cakes are made infused with the tea from the plantation. It's quite unique and special to them.

We ordered iced milk tea, strawberry tart and boh tea infused cotton cheese cake.

I do not know if it's tastebuds trciking me but I can't taste or even smell the tea in the cheese cake. It's like a regular cotton cake. Even the cheese tasted so faint.
It was disappointing.

Nothing we ordered was notable.

Walking down to the plantation from the cafe to get some pictures but the view here isn't so great because there are trees blocking the view of the valley of tea.

It's too far to walk into the plantation for great view and it isn't safe to walk into the deeper parts of the plantation since you do not know if there are any creepers hiding in the bushes.

While driving out from the plantation, I did manage to stop the car by at the side to catch a great picture.

This portion is a few minutes drive from the cafe area , the view is much more magnificent without any distractions. Just purely tea valley.

Actually it was about to rain, I am glad I managed to get this shot before the rain started pouring. We got a few drops of rain on us but nothing major.
We left as fast as we could to counter the dark clouds but unfortunately the clouds got to us before we managed to arrive on flat land.
We had to drive through the rain through the slopes and sharp turnings down the Ipoh. It was really scary experience but glad we had a professional driver with us.

We managed to arrive back to Ipoh safely at the end of the day.

Roseroseshop haul

I picked up a few items from Roseroseshop few months ago. I just completely forgot to blog about them.

I got these three items. Definitely cut down a lot.
I had to convince myself not to overbuy.
Korean cosmetics brand are very good at attracting hopeless people like us with all the cute and pretty packaging. It's very dangerous for my bank account.

Etude House Bling Me Prism Liquid Lip
This is a limited edition from Etude House's last year summer collection.

PK 001 Star in Pink

It is a wearable bright neon pink.

Etude House Dreaming Swan Eye & Cheek

When I saw the preview of this collection, I wanted the whole collection badly but in the end, I was late in placing my order because I can't seem to find a seller who carries this line. This collection sold like hot cakes in Korea, I would understand it would be very difficult for sellers to even get stocks.

Anyway, I am happy that I managed to get something from the collection.
Look at the packaging, it's so pretty.

The shade I have got is Jete Pink.
It is a soft pink shade. This shade is very flattering on fair skintones, it can never be over done.

The last item is from Missha.
If you are familiar with the messaging app LINE, I am sure you know where this bear is from.
So, Missha had a LINE collaboration and they had quite a few items in this collaboration.

This is the Missha LINE friends tension blusher.
The shade I have bought is VL01. It is a lilac shade. I personally like lilac shades because it brightens up yellow skintone.

The packaging is so cute but what really made me got it is that it is a tension blusher. A tension cushion blusher is different from a cushion blush in the way instead of the product being soaked in a sponge, the cream product sits under a netting. I haven't tried any product like this before, so I am really intrigued. Even though I know it might end up being one of those gimmicky products.
Please prove me wrong Missha. 

Beauty and consumerism.

With the constant releases and introducing of new beauty launches and trends and glorifying of them by beauty youtubers or "gurus", it can be said that the beauty world has taken a tremendous step in the promotion of consumerism.

Beauty world is not like the beauty world we used to know. Where brands will only be releasing their latest collection every season and Vogue magazine will be the front liner in filtering and introducing the products in their publishes. As opposed to what we see now. New releases every week.
Beauty youtuber and "guru" hyping high and low on new products before they are even launched to create the great hype. Also that "limited edition" trick that has been overused that you don't even know which is limited edition and which isn't.

When I  first started following youtube, I was one of those girls who got swept along the wave, I caught on every hype and I was spending big money on items that youtubers rave and hype about, but as time goes by, I find everything to be really overwhelming and suffocating.
Trends changes and new beauty releases come out so fast that you can't catch up with it and also, you do not have the disposable income to be hoping on every single "trendy" product.
Beauty launches are getting more and more gimmicky and some launches are the same old things over and over again.
How much innovation and creativity can be put into a launch when the turnover is lightning fast. Every few weeks there are new launches, new releases.

With this trend of consumerism, it's definitely great for companies, they are earning the big bucks.

But for us, the consuming end, we end up with truck load of untouched or barely used makeup product because they are not 'trendy' anymore, they are something you would not reach out on a daily basis, you have the similar shade or they are just not practical for everyday use.

If you take your time and slowly calculate through the amount of barely used/untouched makeup, the amount of money spent is large and imagine how much money you would have saved if you practice smart consumerism and not get swept by trend or hype.
Also, imagine how much waste we had produced.
Take a moment and imagine what if there are a million of girls like you with the same amount of barely touched/ untouched makeup. That mountain of waste, how many gallons of waste will that be equivalent to. 

I was going through my vanity and I was woken up by the fact that I have so many items but how many of these items I actually use or will reach out to? I myself know that I would only probably use 10% of the items I own.
The rest? "beautiful trash". That's what I call them.

I know it's very contraindicating for me to do a post as such, since I do do and post a lot of haul. Mindless haul post I would say.
Haul post that I have been posting are my past haul that I have saved in my draft for ages and forgetting to post them.
I have been cutting down massively on my hauls and I have been controlling my purchases.
I am really thriving to be a smart consumer. Purchase things that I really need or really love. I do not want materialistic items to overtake my life and drown me in.