Friday, April 24, 2009

TNS Haul & Hippies

So, my exams are over and I am officially FREE! Best four-lettered word ever invented! Naturally, the end of exams calls for celebration. For frame of reference, celebration = shopping. Actually, everything = shopping. Fact.

In any event, as I was dead tired yesterday, due to the extremely innovative idea of my school to place all three of my papers on the same day, I wasn't in the mood to do much. I did, however, traipse around Ikano with my brother, where a sight I assumed was a hallucination brought about by lack of sleep greeted me. Hippies. Yes. "Real" hippies. Apparently, there are Earth day celebrations going on. Presumably, having a couple of hippies in a tent, doing handicrafts no less, inside a mall is an appropriate manner of celebration.

I kid you not:

Hippies

That LSD-induced plethora of colour is the tent they were in.

Anyway, on to more exciting aspects of my life. Retail therapy. I initially went out today to get an eye primer. That didn’t work out for 3 reasons:
1) They don’t have Urban Decay in Malaysia
2) They don’t have Too Faced in Malaysia
3) They don’t even have L’Oreal De-Crease in Malaysia!

I appear to be doomed to creasing eye shadow. Oh well.

Anyway, due to my disappointment, I needed to elevate my spirits, so I decide to go buy something I had been eyeing for awhile.

Basically, upon prior research, I found out that the best ingredients for a toner include rosewater and glycerin. Naturally, I began searching high and low for a toner of this nature, but wasn’t able to find one for about a month. Yes! A month! I know!

So, long story short, I finally found it in The Natural Source (TNS), where they were having an offer. Spend RM 100 and get something for RM 1. Although the accountant in my head was reproaching me in very harsh language, the female in me won out. I’m sure you agree that it makes sense too. If you don’t, you are wrong. And this is MY blog, so go away.

Sidelining: Recently I read a couple of reviews of some of the products from TNS, and they were not good. Nevertheless, since I don’t trust other people’s opinions, I shall find out for myself.

Now then, walking out the door, I was laden with the following:

TNSHaul

Yes, doesn’t it look lovely? The reason there are 2 toners is because another friend wanted one too. Let us inspect the items.

First up, the item that started it all. The Terra Firma Wild Desert Rose Water Gentle Facial Toner (RM 30):

TNSToner

It’s this pale pink liquid that resembles the MAC brush cleanser, which was quite disturbing, because I assumed it would smell similar. This is not the case. It actually has the very pleasant smell of roses…shocking isn’t it? Apparently this is supposed to “invigorate your face”. How exciting. The list of ingredients seems relatively harmless, although I’m not sure what a lot of it is.

Ingredients: Purified water (aqua), Cocamidopropyl, Betaine Glycerin, Polysorbate 20, Phospholipid PTC (cocamidopropyl pg-dimonium chloride phosphate), Benzyl alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Rose fragrance (parfum), Matricaria extract (chamomilla recutita), Simethicone, CI 14720, CI 42090

If I were a chemist, I’d be having a field day. Now, it says rose fragrance, which appears to be perfume, and I asked the salesperson, who said it was made from rose water, so I shall pretend I believe her for now. And since I’m assuming chamomilla means chamomile, I’m quite happy.

Next up is a facial scrub. I initially wanted their oatmeal scrub (because oatmeal is supposed to be good for blackheads) but I was informed that it was for aging skin (which I am happy to say the salesperson insisted I didn’t need, thereby appealing to my vanity). So I got the Daintree Naturopathic Skincare Tropical Sugar Can Antioxidant Facial Exfoliator (RM 65):

TNSExfoliator

It says on the packaging that it can be used daily, but it is advisable to only exfoliate your skin a maximum of twice a week. Moderation is the key to everything, apparently. Anyway, this product has a pretty nice smell. Not exactly sugar cane, but sweet-ish nonetheless. The ingredients here are even more babbly than those in the toner.

Ingredients: Aqua (Purified water), Microcrystalline wax, Sodium laureth sulfate (SLS), Glycerin, Cocamidopropyl betaine, Peg-7 glyceryl cocoate, Triethanolamine, Carbomer, Phenoxyethanol, Parfum, Saccharum officinarium (Sugar cane) extract, Xanthan gum, Methylchloroisothiazolinone (and) Methylisothiazolinone, Magnesium chloride, Magnesium nitrate, Tocopheryl acetate (Vitamin E), Ascorbyl palmitate, CI 19140 (Yellow 5), CI 42090 (Blue I).

Now, from the ingredients I did understand, this product should be pretty good because it has most of what you need to keep your face healthy. First there’s purified water. Who needs to drink it when you can put it on your face twice a week? Then there’s SLS which is good for acne, and glycerin which is good overall for something or the other. I believe it’s for lines or acne or something to that effect. Bottom line is that it’s good. And, Vitamin E is good for restoration. So really, this product should work. Should. We shall see.

Finally, we come to a debate-ably exciting purchase. The Camouflage Colour Skin Crayon in Plum (RM 24):

TNSCrayon

So, what exactly is a skin crayon? My first thought was to run around drawing on people as a child would. But no, I believe that might be considered assault. Further, it’s a deep red. Unless you are a lobster (in which case you shouldn’t be on the computer, but rather on my table with a side of butter), this colour will hardly “camouflage” you. Lies!

The true meaning of “skin crayon” appears to be that it is multi-purpose, i.e. lip liner, eyeliner, etc. And I have been looking for a red eyeliner for about 5 years now. Finally! Because I was so immensely excited, I didn’t realize how tiny this pencil is until I got home. It’s only about 10cm/3.7in long. That is TINY!

All that aside, in my excitement of finally finding a nice red eyeliner, I was determined to swatch mine. Upon touching my skin, this is what occurred:

TNSCrayonBroken

Anti-climax. Annoyed. Fuming.

Perseverance is the key, so I tapped off the broken bit and this is what it looks like:

TNSCrayonSwatch

I like. Except for the size and breaking parts.

They had a lot of fantastic colours, but because of their sizes, I don’t recommend them.

On that note, I shall end off with this:

PLACEBO!!! Their new album will be released on the 8th of June. I am uncontrollably excited. So much so that I am practically vibrating in a fixed position. They have released their first single, titled after the album: Battle for the Sun. The sound of this track is very similar to what their Black Market Music album sounds like, which is awesome beyond words! Happy!!! PLACEBO!!! <3

1 comment:

  1. if ur eyeliner is breaking off it means it is soft due to warm weather. stick it in the fridge for a few mins then use it and it won't break anymore:)

    ReplyDelete