My Clarisonic Mia has arrived!

I was so excited yesterday when my Clarisonic Mia came in the mail yesterday afternoon. I had already purchased an adaptor for it to be used in Australia, since I purchased it from the US. I left it to charge overnight, but before that I did play around and tested it out a bit. It was working even though it hadn't be charged yet. On the box and on the Clarisonic website, it states that the initial charge should be for anywhere between 18 to 24 hours. However, I had it charged since 3-4PM in the afternoon yesterday and it had finished charging by 9-10AM today, so it was much less than I had expected it to be.

If you haven't heard what a Clarisonic is and what it does, it essentially is a sonic skin cleansing system (sort of like an electric toothbrush, but for your face). It claims to do all sorts of things like cleanse your skin 6x better than manual cleansing and helps reduce oily and dry patches and blemishes, reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and is ideal for all types of skin including very sensitive skin.

The Clarisonic Mia is the smallest version in the Clarisonic family which is ideal for travelling, and differs from the rest by only having one speed. It came with a travel-size refreshing gel cleanser from Clarisonic, which I will not use, because I have read numerous reviews from different people stating how bad they thought the cleanser was. The Mia also came with the pLink charger for international use and a sensitive brush head.

I will do an extensive review most likely after a month or several weeks of using it, just so I can see and tell you if it's really worth the money and if it really works.

The Clarisonic Mia in white is now available in Australia at Myer and David Jones stores (as the website claims) but you can read more about it on the Australian website. Visit Clarisonic Australia.

Bottom Line: I'm really happy that my Clarisonic is here and I can use it, and will do an extensive review in the next several weeks.

The beauty holiday wishlist!

I love creating wish-lists when it comes to special ocassions such as birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas. Not that I expect to get these things as presents (because I will end up buying them for myself eventually) but just so I can always prioritise the things I want and the things I need.  In a way, they are gifts to myself! This is my holiday wish-list this year, and I've found myself to be surprisingly less high maintenance with beauty related products than I was last year.  So here's the list:

1. The Clarisonic Mia in blue RRP $179AU. The Clarisonic Mia is a facial brush cleansing system that vibrates to cleanse the skin more effectively than manual cleansing. I think that the Mia is only out in white in Australia at the moment or is due to officially be in all Myer and David Jones stores by December 2011. I have spoken to Clarisonic Australia before and they have told me that the Mia was released a couple of months ago in Australia but I have never seen it in store or on their online stockists. I'm not sure if it's out in the other major cities, but so far I have not heard anything.

Luckily for me, I ordered mine online last week from a US website kissandmakeupny. I'm glad I have satisfied this wish early enough so I would be able to order it from online, or else I would have had to wait for the Mia to come out in Australia with the appropriate Australian adaptor, and like other US online stores they may not allow international shipping for the device any more. (I will post a first impressions and extensive review after I receive and test out the Mia for a few weeks)


2. Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage in SC-3, RRP $49AU. Thanks to Lisa Eldrige, this little number has been on my wishlist for the longest time, but I never seem to make the leap of buying it. However, this holiday I am determined to get my hands on it. It is a heavy-duty concealer meant for all over face to conceal discolourations, redness and blemishes, although you can use it for under eyes, since I don't have problems with bad dark circles (thanks to my Jurlique Herbal Recovery eye cream) I won't be using it for that and just sticking to a illuminating pen eye concealer.

3. Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet in 37, L'Exuberante, RRP $52AU. I came across this lipstick just because I was showing one of my best friends' a colour of a lipstick similar to it that I was planning to wear to a party. I tried on this lipstick and absolutely fell in love with the colour, texture and finish! It is a velvety-matte finish but is non-drying and acts as a long-lasting stain of the colour. So although it is a bright hot fushia lipstick, it is not very high-maintenance at all, which is why I absolutely love it!

4. Trish McEvoy Voyager Collection, RRP $85US. I'm a frequent online shopper. I just can't help myself but look at pretty things and want to buy them constantly. I definitely fell in love with this travel palette set after reading Sabrina's from thebeautylookbook post about it. It doesn't look very small in the picture but it as Sabrina describes it is so small it can fit into the tiniest purses! It comes with 8 eye shadows including neutrals and darks, a bronzer, a blush, a lipgloss, the medium concealer and 4 brushes (1 face brush, 2 double ended eye brushes and one lip/concealer brush) all compact in a silver quilted case! Definitely would be most handy to take on holidays and small business trips.

5. Trish McEvoy Ultimate Beauty Organizer, RRP $85US. I've been in need of a travelling beauty case to fit ALL of my essentials in. I usually carry a small makeup case and then either my full-sized products or have them squeezed into travel bottles if I really need to. But they are always separate and scattered all over the place in my bag. Which if I were really on holiday, would not be so good. I find it really hard to come by effective beauty product organizers, just because Australia does not have as big market for it as maybe the US or Asia does. I especially love Trish McEvoy's beauty organizing cases and palettes. If I were to splurge on some, they would definitely be from her line.



Bottom Line: There's probably more to this list than I can think of at this moment. But these items are definitely my high-end beauty wants and needs for this holiday. What is on your beauty wish-list this holiday?

Jurlique Herbal Recovery Eye Cream review, photos and swatches

The Herbal Recovery Eye Cream was not something that I initially wanted or ever thought about getting. Yes, you can never have too many eye creams but I did not intentionally buy this product. It was actually given to me in a gift with purchase set from Jurlique if you had purchased any two of their face products. I had bought the Herbal Blemish cream (after using my sister's repetitively and really enjoying it) and also the Daily Exfoliating Cream (which I thought I would use a lot, but I have barely touched it). 

I was pretty thrilled with this set. I obviously haven't opened the Balancing Day Care Cream or the Love Balm, I have way too many face creams and lip balms in action at the moment, so perhaps after I finish those I will do reviews of them also. As a gift with purchase set, this is very good value for money in my opinion. The Balancing Day Care Cream 40mL/1.4oz. RRP is $50AUD, the Herbal Eye Recovery Eye Cream retails for $52AUD and the Love Balm retails for $15AUD, so all up the value of this set is $117. 

Now to the main point of this post. The Herbal Recovery Eye Cream is a light-weight, hydrating eye cream with anti-aging, anti-puffiness and brightening effects. Its main ingredients include: arnica, eyebright, cucumber, safflower oleosomes, soybean and chamomile; all which work together to deeply hydrate, reduce puffiness and calm the skin around the eye area. This is definitely hands down, my most favourite eye cream that I have used so far, although I am not quite sure about the anti-aging part, it is a very good basic hydrating and brightening eye-cream. 

A couples of weeks ago, I was cramming for my final exams, which were all in the first week and in consecutive days, and I struggled to sleep for 5 days in a row. Usually when I'm in those situations, my face becomes extremely pale and the purple/blue under my eyes are really emphasised, no eye cream has really helped  before. However, this time I used the Herbal Recovery Eye Cream in the morning and night everyday, and it made me look like I always had at least 8 hours of sleep the night before. To me that was putting this eye cream through the ultimate test and it definitely passed.

Again it is a light-weight formula, which normally people would think that it wouldn't hydrate that well, since other eye creams are usually much thicker in consistency than face creams. But this makes it easier for the skin to absorb the product without it taking more than a couple of minutes, unlike other eye creams that may just sit on your skin and not do anything for you. As the name describes, it has a herbal (flower) scent, which I find pleasant since I enjoy using natural/organic products when I can, but if you aren't into that, then this eye cream is probably not for you. 

Bottom Line: I really love this eye cream and I would definitely purchase it if I don't come across something better. It hydrates, brightens and reduces puffiness, and since using it I have not needed to use any under-eye concealers. It has become a staple in my skincare routine.