The arrival

Mimpi Murni’s lip balms arrived in a Pos Laju package. The package came in form of an envelope which was covered in brown wrapping paper with colorful dots on it. You can see from the picture above that there’s a sticker at the top right of the envelope. That’s Ms. Murni’s return address, in case the package wasn’t delivered. After tearing apart the envelope, I found in it a smaller wrapped package that was tied with a ribbon accompanied by a floral print pin-up button and a round printout of a girl who wears a pout on her face. Cute!

Now, I didn’t really know much about the product or the pretty girl behind it. In fact, I was rather surprised when I learned that she made the lip balms, like everything else on her website, by herself. Ms. Murni is an entrepreneur who makes and sells jewellery (mostly). She also conducts a workshop for people who are interested to learn the craft.

First impression

Moving on to the core subject: the lip balms. This is a fairly typical looking tube of lip gloss. The sticker around the (transparent) tube says ‘MIMPI’ along with the flavor of the balm and the ingredients at the bottom. It also states that the product is a ‘handmade lip balm’. All in all, it looks good for something made from home.

Ms. Murni has been kind enough to send me two different flavors of her lip balms: a French vanilla and a mango peach. So the first thing I did was to open them up and smell them, which is what I usually did with anything that claim to come with a flavor. If you don’t smell like it, or in some cases, taste like it, then you can’t really claim to have a flavor at all. Well, the lip balms passed that test of mine. The French vanilla lip balm smelled just like vanilla, and actually reminded me of McDonald’s vanilla sundae ice-cream. The mango peach one also has a strong sweet.

The scent is quite strong and you are able to still smell the scent for quite a while after applying it. At the beginning, I like the lingering smell. However, after a few times, I got tired of the smell constantly hitting my nose. So if you’re not a big fan of deodorized items, you might not like this. But if you are, then this is right up your alley then.

What is it made of?

These handmade lip balms are made with cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, castor bean oil, vitamin E oil, beeswax and flavoring. No worries about any artificial ingredients; they’re completely natural, and vegetarian too!

What is it like?

The stick is yellowish in color, for both flavors. It has a soft texture, although I feel that it is slightly softer than the typical lipstick or lip gloss stick. So be careful, don’t drop it off the floor, especially when the cap is removed. It also lends a soft, buttery feeling on the lips.

So, what’s the verdict?

I used them daily for about a week, and I cannot say they ‘healed’ my cracked lips. Having said that, the lip balm did keep my lips moist while I’m on them and it can last for about an hour or so. It does the job just fine. Better yet, it also provides a glossy look on your lips, so it’s like a two-in-one benefit. Now, if only they can also add color to my lips, then it will be really awesome.

Price: RM 15

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Disclosure: We received the soap as a review item.

PattyBelle has recently delivered a Bath and Beauty product that helps to accentuate the skin’s natural glow! Soaps were long eliminated by facial cleansers because of its strong alkaline level, harsh texture and excessive dehydration. However, not all soaps contain chemicals that damage the skin.

Soaps nowadays are newly formulated to suit different skin types and tackle skin problems such as blackheads, whiteheads, pimples and other impurities. Soapberry Misa Jade Soap, a natural cleanser made from soapberry pure extracts, pearl powder and plant extracts, does the opposite of what commercial soaps usually do – Soapberry Missa Jade Soap helps to replenish skin moisture and eliminate existing blemishes using natural ingredients!

Soap Facts

Soapberry, also called Wu Huan Zhi ( “無患子“ ) in Chinese, is the common name of sapindus, a kind of shrub that contains saponin, a natural surfactant. The seeds of soapberry are crushed to make soap. In the early years, the Chinese discovered the benefits of soapberry extracts, which were traditionally used for medical remediation and cleansing. Later, the soapberry soap was recognized for its natural beautifying properties and became a staple environmentally friendly beauty product among women. According to the review at PattyBelle, the Soapberry Misa Jade Soap was even included in Empress Dowager Cixi’s daily beauty ritual!

First Impression

The Soapberry Misa Jade Soap came in a dainty box and was nicely cling-wrapped to prevent skin contact before using. The soap emanated a pleasant flowery fragrance that was not too overwhelming for people who dislike pungent scents. I was initially sceptical to use soap on my face because it is perceived (and commonly misinterpreted!) to be damaging to the facial skin. However, I’d decided to give it a try after reading the beautifying benefits online. Maybe, this could be a solution to my oily skin and stubborn blackheads after all!

Experience with Soapberry Misa Jade Soap

The first grip on the soap felt a tad too oily but as soon as you rinse it with water, the soap lathers up easily. I caught a whiff of the soothing flowery fragrance and it felt therapeutic when the soap brushed my skin. For a person who has been using liquid cleanser for nearly 15 years, I found the squeaky after-feeling slightly uncomfortable but the irritation waned when I got used to it after a few days. Moreover, my face did not feel taut or dry; unlike commercial soaps that dehydrate the skin. The lingering soapberry fragrance after cleansing is rather refreshing too!

Results

I’d diligently used the soap twice a day, once in the morning and at night, for 14 days to measure its effectiveness on eliminating blemishes. For the first week, my skin texture still remained a little dry but some dark spots had faintly vanished. My T-zone face area became less oily but there were still sights of blackheads and sometimes, whiteheads. At the end of the product trial, the blemishes on my face became less apparent but the blackheads were still visible.

Verdict

Soapberry Misa Jade Soap is worth a try because it is made from natural ingredients and contains beautifying properties that tackles stubborn facial problems. The existence of glycerine in the soapberry soap is known to attract moisture to our skin, leaving it hydrated and soft. For young ladies with acne-prone or sensitive skin, fear not! The soap is gentle enough to be used on the face without clogging the pores.

During my experience of using the soapberry soap, I’ve stopped using my regular skin-care products. Although the instructions on the box did not clarify the need of using toner and moisturizer after cleansing, I still did so. To my relief, the soap did not react negatively to other skin care products and there were almost no breakouts during the 14 days. However, the results of using the soap will vary according to skin adaptability and usage duration. Remember to always test a new skin-care product on the back of your palm before using it on the face!

Pros: Natural beautifying properties, affordable, long product-span (3 years), lathers up easily, soothing fragrance.

Cons: Will leave ‘squeaky’ feeling after cleansing (but does not last long).

Caution: If your skin is showing signs of redness or swelling, stop using the product at once and seek medical attention.

Price: RM 20.50

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Disclosure: We received the soap as a review item.

I saw Amber Chia in a flowy pink low-back dress at the Ford’s Models audition in LOT 10 recently. The first thing that came into my mind was “How did she wear a bra?”. While Hollywood stars don’t think twice about going bra-less, you and I know that is not the case in Malaysia.

The next day, a revelation came: I walked into La Senza and I saw a silicon adhesive bra on the shelf. If I’m not mistaken, the retail price is at RM 256. The sales girl told me that it can be used a hundred times. So I was shocked when I saw Zen Zen Dream selling cotton adhesive bra for RM 14 !

To be very honest, as the price variation is so vast, I thought that the product must be of low-quality and might fall off if I were to wear them on. But then again, I know that most of the time we pay for the brand and other costs. Something that is more expensive is not necessarily better. So I contacted the owner of Zen Zen Dream, Chloe, and ask her if she like to sent us a self-adhesive cotton bra to be reviewed and she did.

How to use?

The instruction was not “just stick it on your chest!”. If you haven’t use one, it can be quite daunting. But after a while, you’ll get the grip but it will not be as easy as putting on the normal bra.

How to take care?

Unfortunately, you can’t throw it into the washing machine to spin and then hang it to dry. However, cleaning it is easy. Again, the instruction say it best.

How was it?

It didn’t fall off like I imagine it might be (I have a tendency to think of the worst-case scenario). In fact, it was rather sticky. The first time wearing it might feel a little odd, but it doesn’t take long to get used to it. When I do, I wonder why isn’t all bras are adhesive! The second time you wear it, you probably get so comfortable with it that you hardly notice that that you stick a bra on your chest!

Eventually, the bra will cease to be adhesive. The question is when. Unlike La Senza’s silicone bra, the packaging did not reveal the exact number of times it can be worn but merely mentions that “The better you care for your Belle Self-adhesive cotton Bra, the longer it will last”.

As I was in a rush,  I failed to follow the instruction thoroughly on the second wear. On the third wear, it was no longer as sticky as the first time. Then I thought to myself that I’ll be really pissed if I bought the silicone adhesive bra from La Senza and ruined it the second time I wear it.

Some important facts

1. The self-adhesive cotton bra is not intended to replace the normal daily bra

2. It it not recommended for women with sensitive skin

3. Do not use on open cuts, skin disorders, sun damaged or sun burned skin

4. Do not wear the adhesive bra for more than 6 hours at a time

5. Always choose the correct cup size

Overall thought on the adhesive-bra

I was so glad  I can finally wear my low-back, satin maxi dress that was left in the cupboard untouched. Discovering that adhesive bras are not only meant for celebrities and that they wouldn’t fall off, I was tempted to get more low-back dresses! The adhesive-bra is the solution to wearing low-back dresses to an event you’ll be for a few hours. Though it wish it could, but this particular adhesive-bra is not something you’ll like to wear everyday and it’s definitely not for an all-day event

Don’t worry about it falling of the first few wear, but worry about how well you can take care of it to ensure that its still sticky enough to wear. I believe this particular adhesive-bra is not designed to be worn as many times as the La Senza’s adhesive silicone bra. If you would like to try out adhesive-bra that you will wear only a few times, this is something for you.

A photograph of the feather headband from Beautiful Disaster

Fashionomy had featured Beautiful Disaster’s popular feather accessories in a few entries already. One day, as I was browsing Beautiful Disaster entire collection, a lot of questions which popped in my head. How will the feather headband look like on my head? Will it be too flamboyant? Will the feather fall off or shrink like the peacock feather earring I once had? Will the headband be too tight that it’ll hurt my head? So I thought I’ll just mail the creator behind Beautiful Disaster headband, Celine, and she generously send one of her headband over to be reviewed!

The feather headband

When you go to Beautiful Disaster website, you’ll see assorted of fanciful headbands amongst other things like bib necklace, feather hair clips and leggings. Beautiful Disaster is popular for it’s handmade, one-of-a-kind feather headband, we decided to choose just that.

The headband arrived in a sturdy box and was wrapped with soft pink paper to protect the headband. A lot of people reveal that one thing that hold them back from shopping online is that they are worried that the item that they receive doesn’t look like what they’ve seen online. Luckily, the headband look even better than I’ve expected. I think photographs cannot capture the soft texture of the feather and seeing the feathery headband makes me so excited! (I love headbands. Look at my collection I uploaded on Fashionomy’s Facebook)

As the whole point of a review is to talk about the experience with the headband, I wore it everywhere. Boy, it got me a lot of attention. Everybody told me it look great or that they like my headband and then ask me where to buy it. They are all pleasantly surprise to find that the expensive looking headband only cost RM 25. So I can safely say that if you love the limelight, get a feather headband. I assure you that you’ll be showered with compliments!

My main concern was that the headband would be too fragile to handle my abuse. I admit I’m not a person who takes good care of my things and I like that things I buy wouldn’t break so easily. I was also worried that the feather will fall off easily since the last experience I have with a feather earring.

After wearing it for a week or so, I can say that the hairband is sturdy enough for normal usage or even everyday wear. But this is not something you want to throw into your bag for it might ruin the delicate feather. It is also beautifully made; there are no excess glue sticking out of the headband or flimsy feather will will fall off every time you touch it.

One problem with feather headband in general is that it can potentially look a little too much and risk looking overdress. If you’re worried about that, I would suggest you to choose a feather headband that matches with your hair colour as much as possible. It shouldn’t contrast too much with your hair and should not have too many colours.

I think that should address some of the questions you may have and it’s time to gush about it! I love that the headband is handmade and that you can’t get the same one anywhere else! It’s perfect for parties, proms or any events where you’ll be expected to dress up. The colours are so vibrant, it’ll make you happy just by looking at it.

Overall

Generally, I love the feather headband! It seems like everyone else do too. It’s one of my favourite headgear now. I would personally pay RM 25 for a unique headband like this. Although I’m a little worried I will break it like how I break my many other headbands,  I’ve inspected the hairband and found out that I can buy another plain black headband and stick the feather back on it (the feathers are stuck on a piece of fabric)! Wear this to a party and I assure you’ll be shower with a lot of compliments (not to mention bombarded with a lot of questions). In short, Beautiful Disaster’s headband make head turns.

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If you’ll like to get your hands on one, visit Beautiful Disaster. Celine had just released a collection of new feather headbands. There are so many of them, you’ll be spoilt for choice!