monster attack! (product review: natio face mask)

BOO! Did we scare you? Hehe.

In case you were wondering, Malko In The City submitted our name to SaSa Malaysia recently to do a guest review on one of their products and, lucky us, we got chosen to be one of the lucky 20! Yay!

So, what was it?

Lo and behold, Natio's Clay and Plant Face Mask Purifier. We shan't bore you with the history behind the company and the origins of the product, but if you're interested to dig in further (i.e. do research), do have a read here.

Our thoughts on the product?

Texture was initially runny, but eventually turned out to be a nice creamy smooth consistency once you've squeezed a fair bit out. Glides easily on skin. Dries fairly quickly and easy to remove with water. Smells great too, almost lavender like (though there's no lavender in the list of ingredients) and reminds us of the spa (must be the aromatherapy scent, mmm!). The ingredients include sesame to nourish and restore lustre, lemon to cleanse and purify and Palma Rosa to soften and nourish. Doesn't that sound heavenly?

The product claims to help unclog and tighten pores, do wonders for tired skin, improving firmness and texture and a wonderful at-home treatment for all skin types.

Let's see if what it claims to do is true, shall we?
 

before - bare faced and looking extremely tired and sickly



upon application - tried very hard to maintain a wrinkle-free, crackless-mask facial expression!

whilst waiting, we tried different forms of relaxation - meditation, read magazines, napped, chores

tick, tock, tick, tock...

10 minutes later...

after

The verdict?

Malko.S:

The mask didn't do much in terms of unclogging and tightening pores, but it did leave my skin feeling a little soft and supple. Not too sure about doing wonders for my tired skin. My skin's too exhausted to see any improvement after one application. Unlike other clay masks I've tried, this mask doesn't really absorb the excess sebum. But I do like the immediate soft and supple feel. What I need is more sleep and regular spa visits :)

Malko.B:

I liked the scent of the mask, as mentioned above lavender like. I am more disturbed about the fact my bare face is all over the net now but I'm hoping the mask did some good :) The texture was a little too watery for my liking as I prefer to spread it out a little thick, but it did leave my skin very moisturized compared to others that I've used in the past. Doesn't leave my face feeling tight. I think this will be a winner for dry skin, for more oily/combination skin types like me you might want to opt for something which focus more on sebum control.


For those interested, the Natio Clay and Plant Face Mask Purifier is available at any SaSa store nationwide for RM 37 for a tube of 100 g.

Grab it whilst it's still hot!!

On a side note, thank you SaSa for giving us freebies!!!


Bisous,
Malko.S ♡ & Malko.B xx

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No Public Holiday for the Korean

Its wonderful living in Malaysia, you have different cultures blended into one nation you have that many public holidays. When I was working in Korea , public holidays were something we look forward to we mark it in our calendars. Compared to what we have here , so many public holidays my parents used to complained there are lesser days that I actually go to school than going to school LOL. But I work in an american company and support the Korean team, so I follow Korean public holidays. BOO!! :(

When my friends call me out for brunch on PH, a part of me just dies .. haha .. yeah, thats right! Bitter laugh !! Then again you have your wonderful people around you who makes your day by delivering dessert on your table , your crush wears black he looks so hot it makes your day  , free to wear anything *cheap thrills* , no traffic , get phone calls from buggers who love to rub it in your face .. yes I am jealous you're still in bed .. -_-

Green Tea jelly & Red Bean + Soy bean <3

Wo Ai Ni Pling Plong !! haha

But you know what else made my day ? The long anticipated wait .. hold on .. building up momentum .. *drumroll* .. WE got chosen to review NATIO !! Malko.S stumbled across their website and found out that Sasa Malaysia were looking for bloggers to review for Natio :) We honestly didn't think we will get it only because we are newbies to blogging and we haven't had much posts up yet. Inside we were thinking .. damn we are going to nail this !! What is there not to like about us ? DON'T ANSWER THAT lol The review will be up v.soon !

Before I go , I have to introduce you to this one. I bought this body butter a few months back and I'm already on my 2nd tub. Its Natio's coconut and shea body butter, Its very moisturizing and not sticky, the scent will immediately take you to a tropical beach vacation. Definitely worth my money. My victoria secret and bath and body works have been set aside for a few months because of this :) I think its a very good steal if you like Laura Mercier's Body cremes. I <3 their Vanilla Souffle.

Love Life. Malko. B xx

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All I Bought For Christmas is

All I want for Christmas is .. YOU!! okay I'm actually blushing and giggling in front of my laptop. NOT GOOD. I recently caught the 'Highschool-girl-crush' disease, so you can imagine how I'd be like. Not a very cool thing to do at this age but I really can't help it.lol.

Went on a bit of a spree , Christmas shopping for me , me .. and ME :)

Clarins Foundation

Calrins Foundation Brush

Clarins Extra-Firming Serum

Shaping Facial Lift Serum

You will probably soon see a Review on these products because they are AWESOME. The Shaping Facial Lift Serum was recommended by a friend and I could really see the results on her, so I went and bought it 3days ago :) I can already kind of see the lifting going on its almost a christmas miracle.lol 

Gotta love the Foundation too. The scent is not overwhelming, very light and fresh. The lasting power is amazing. I have a Combination + Dangerously Oily T-zone type skin, so by the end of the day the sebum would have eaten up any trace of make up left on my face leaving me looking like I just ran a few miles. I usually blend in the foundation with my fingers but the lady recommended me to use a brush as it saves the foundation a lot more and also causes less friction on your skin.

Oh I even got this : D

I better stop before I spend my last few days of 2010 grazing on grass. Going to be getting the picky parents some Christmas presents as well :) Wish I had a personal assistant to do these jobs for me .. haha- Not that I'm too busy for my loved ones ~ 

Merry Christmas Everyone !! Much Love ♡

Love Life. Love Malko B. xx

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Discovery of the Day

I have been and still is in a mad schedule, have no life of my own and indeed no time to look decent :(

Many are blessed with gorgeous hair that falls in place like you stepped out from a salon, dewy skin like you just stepped out from the shower. Unfortunately I am your reality bite people !!

Look Familiar ?

Despite the tiredness I never skip my daily routine of moisturizing. Skincare is almost like a religion to me and yes in time you will get to know the real Drug store addict = ME.

I have combination skin and very oily T-zone. Moisturizing with non-oily based products and hydrating products is a Must. The numerous amount of Hydrating products I have used throughout the years!! Most of them from high-end brands. None of them really met my needs. Most of them absorbed too fast and left my skin hanging dry or still too oily .. then .. this product was introduced to me by an air-stewardess friend (wo ai ni!!)

Etude House Collagen Moistfull Cream

Etude House is a Korean brand , they are a part of Amore-Pacific. This is a cheap-chiq line I would say, their concept is very princessy + pink + sugar&spice. There are one in every street in Korea and their stores are PINK! Their products are actually really good so don't get fooled by the PINK cover .

They have a wide range from the 'Moistfull' line but the one I bought is the Cream. It comes with 2 mini samples and the Cream comes with a spatula. It never really felt hygenic for me to dig my fingers into creams so I actually own a mini spatula for my creams which come in a tub so for them to have it as a package was just awe to the somes !! 

Yoghurt Creamy :)

Over a MILLION tubs sold in Korea

Scoop up a small amount and the moment u spread it onto your face, you will instantly feel your skin hydrated and soft like jelly. 
Bring on the Hydration !!

The Moistfull line contains the Baobab Tree extract which contains smoothes and supplies rich moisture to your skin.

This Cream is a ★★★★★ !!

P.S One more week and I am hitting town to PARTAY.

Love Life. Malko B. xx

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The Zero Calorie Make up

I get up at 5.30am to get to work and for me its a HUGE deal. To fit in all my beauty regime in such early morning is a mad rush!! 


Imagine having to put on toner+serum+moisturizer+primer+base+foundation .. and the list goes on .. in the process of waking up !! and I never leave the house bare faced.

Not that I have bad skin or people don't recognise me without make up on lol. Air conditioning+sunrays are just too stressful and that will just enlarge my pores to the size of moon craters .. Ouch ! Those of you who are born with nano-sized pores and flawless skin .. I ENVY YOU :(

How I would love to sleep in a little longer and look effortlessly au natural .. (not too natural please!) so TA-DA !! Introducing ............. *drum roll* ............ BB CREAM a.k.a Blemish Balm. 


BB cream was originally given to patients who just went through chemical peels, dermabrasions or acne problems because it gave them light coverage with protection and healing. Now the BB creams you commonly see in the market comes with many different functions such as anti-aging , whitening , sunscreen ...etc. Unlike foundation which has a more yellow base, BB creams have a grey tone base and is surprisingly very light in texture. It is the perfect product for women who find thick make up suffocating but still needs that make up effect.

The four products that I use (yes not One .. not Two but Four!) are :

1. Dr.Jart + - Detox Healing BB Cream

SPF 25/PA++ , Whitening , Anti-Wrinkle

Coverage ★★☆☆☆

Long Lasting ★★☆☆☆

Anti-oxidation ★★★★☆

2. Hanskin - Premium Super magic BB Cream

SPF 30/PA++ , Whitening , Anti-Wrinkle

Coverage ★★★★☆

Long Lasting ★★★★☆

Anti-oxidation ★★★☆☆

3. Mamonde - Total Solution BB Cream

SPF 20/PA++ , Moisturizer , Base , Foundation

Coverage Coverage ★★★☆☆

Long Lasting ★★★☆☆

Anti-oxidation ★★★★☆

4. Cyber Colours - 4 in 1 BB Cream

SPF 45/PA++ , Moisturizer , Whitening , Tint, Anti-aging

Coverage ★★★☆☆

Long Lasting ★★☆☆☆

Anti-oxidation ★★★☆☆

Make sure you use pressed powder after applying your BB as you can get a little too shiny.

Dewy Skin = Good .. Fry-egg-on-face-shiny = FAIL 

(L to R) Dr.Jart+ , Hanskin , Mamonde , Cyber Colours

Mamonde has more tint compared to the rest

The pictures are not very clear (crap camera booo!) but upon application Hanskin and Mamonde has the most creamiest texture and best coverage. Cyber Colour evens out your skin tone nicely but it didn't work well for me as I have reddish skin-tone :(  


Malko.S uses Cyber colour and according to her shes been getting compliments about her skin :)  Dr.Jart+ in the other hand was a bit disappointing for me. My friends in Korea were raving about this BB and something about the word 'Detox' just made me want to buy it !! Yes !! I can be  a bit of an impulse shopper lol. But it didn't last me half a day and really didn't live up to its reputation.


Well Hope this entry helped a little in choosing the right BB cream for you. The Ones you can easily find in the market like Skin79 is very good too ! 


☆ Sunscreen Knowledge
SPF (Sun Protection Factor UVB) measures the length of time a product protects against skin reddening (sunburn) from UV (Ultra Violet) radiation, compared to how long it takes to redden without protection. If, for example, it takes 30 minutes without protection for you to begin reddening, using SPF-20 sunscreen prevents you from reddening 20 times longer. An SPF-18 blocks 95% of UV rays, while an SPF-30 blocks only 1.6 percent more UV rays. Keep in mind that SPF is only a measure of UVB rays.

PA (Protection Grade UVA) is the expression for UVA Protection, based on the Persistent Pigment Darkening (PPD) test method.

            * PA+              UVA Protection

            * PA++            Considerable UVA Protection

            * PA+++         Greatest UVA Protection

Love Life. Malko. B xx

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