EMPTIES: TOP 10 EMPTIES PRODUCTS FROM 2018 - (HALF) 2019

I've made “Empties 2018 - (half) 2019” video and uploaded it on my Youtube Channel, but it might be too long to watch (unless you have so much spare time to watch). So, I made highlighted products that are really really good and worth to try on this blog post. 
Note that there is no particular order for this top 10 products

The best shampoo I’ve ever used. I used to use drug store shampoos since I was a kid. Since I came across the world of beauty on YouTube and got to know more about harmful ingredients in our toiletries, I started to pay attention to the ingredients whenever I bought beauty products. This shampoo lives up to its name, perfect hair day. Since I use this shampoo, my scalp is less oily, but not drying. The only problem with my hair is it easily break and this shampoo kinda minimizes it. I haven’t tried out the conditioner yet, but I probably going to try it out when I repurchase this shampoo. The scent is pretty nice, despite they don’t add artificial fragrance to it. This product is definitely worth to try. Find the most suitable formula for your hair.

My holy-grail product of all time! This product saves my skin on scorching hot days in Korea (41 degrees is not a joke). I didn’t get sunburn even though the sun is streaking right to my bones. The formula is ultra-light so it doesn’t feel greasy at all. Plus no white marks at all. I made a full review of this product on my “Sunscreen Battle” post and you can read it here.

The best finding I’ve ever found on the internet. Not many people reviewed this product even though it was that good. One Korean department store has this brand on it, so actually, it was that legit. I really liked this product and I’ve still remembered the texture and the scent of this product. Full review about this product is up on my blog, you can read it here.

This serum is my holy grail product on the list. I’ve used up two bottles of it and I have a good experience with it. Let me emphasize this again, this serum is not meant for specific problem tackling product. This serum is good for prep your skin, especially when you do the 7-steps Korean Skincare thing.

Ever since I used this product, my skin looks brighter and less red. It is one of my holy grail products if I could say. The ingredients are mostly natural extracts, so it is safe for all skin types. This product was made by Korean Midas’s hands in the world of beauty, Son Dae Sik and Park Tae Yoon. So, in one word, this product is LEGIT. This multi-purpose product can act as a toner or cleansing water. I haven’t tried it on waterproof mascara yet, but I guess it can work too!

This moisturizer is not the thick-type moisturizer like you used to know. This moisturizer is the typical Korean moisturizer. It is lightweight and watery. It is very good for oily and sensitive skin types because you don’t need to rub and the water portion is bigger than any other ingredients. The smell is quite calming, so it was very good for night time. I don’t use a moisturizer at day time, because it’s hot here in Indonesia, so I don’t layer lots of product on day time (But, when it’s winter, you probably need this regime!). I haven’t found any toxic ingredients on this product, where The Faceshop mostly use parabens on its products, so I might repurchase this thing again.

I found this brand thanks to Imjenim. What I love from this product is the wipes are soft and smell pretty good. Cucumber extract good for bloating and refreshing at the same time. They have several variants, but I haven’t tried it. Out of all the options they spread, I think I like this variant the best.

The cushion market in Korea is extremely fierce up until now. I’ve just tried 2 cushions from hundreds of options in the market and one of them is IOPE Air Cushion XP. Actually, I recommended this to my mom, but she didn’t see it good for her (but then, she bought another IOPE cushion though), so she gave it to me. I really liked this cushion because it is full coverage but not tacky. It also gives you the “Korean glow” like you see on the ads. I’m going to try another cushion next time I go to Korea, but definitely going to repurchase the refill for this cushion!

Too bad Skinfood has to close down. I really liked this foot scrub because it was that good. It smells good and really soften harden skin. I’m open to a new foot scrub because my foot is super ugly.

This eye cream is my first eye cream ever and I’ve finished two jars of it. I’ve reviewed this product on my blog, where you can read it here. I wrote that I couldn’t find the negativity of this product, it’s because I haven’t read the ingredients properly. Packaging and texture-wise it was all I needed for back then. Since I’m getting older, I tend to find more effective ingredients inside my skincare products. I’m so excited to try out “Avocado Eye Cream” from Kiehls because avocado helps with moisturizing, which will make our eyes less dry. Dryness might lead to show aging marks.

Wow! That’s pretty a lot. Well, those 10 products are my favorite products, but not all of them might not suitable for you. I’m so sad that Skinfood has to close down and I don’t have any foot scrub anymore. So, I’m open to new recommendations from you. Thank you so much for reading till this far and much more thanks if you finished watching my video too. I’ll see you soon! (I haven’t planned anything yet for my blog, but I will see you soon!)

Disclaimer: credit to Google Images for Innisfree, IOPE, Son and Park, Bobbi Brown, and Yesto photos.

BEAUTY: Sunscreen Battle!

For some part of the world, summer almost come to end. But, in Indonesia, specifically, it is going to be summer all year long. Whatever the season is, sun is going to shine brightly and spread it's UV spectrum. So, sunscreen, sunblock, sun moisturizer, and all of those name is still needed throughout the year. In this post, I'm going to post a sunscreen battle. 

The 'players' are Nivea Sun Whitening Face Cream SPF 50, Banila Co Hello, Sunny Sun Moisturizer SPF 35 PA++, and La Roche-Posay Ultra Light 50++.

The Packaging

 

Let's analyze from the outside, the packaging of course! Nivea has the regular Nivea kind of design. The blue and white logo, and the writing about the product. The packaging is a tube kind with orange plastic cap. Nothing special.

While for Banila Co, it is simply cute. White, pink, and orange, the color combination is just way too cute! Nothing too much on the packaging, they use different styles of fonts and a simple sun icon. Love it. It is also a tube, but it come with a pusher (?). So, the product won't came out too much. Very economic!

Lastly, the La Roche-Posay's packaging is way too boring and not inviting. If I went to a store and saw the packaging, I would not buy it. But since my brother who bought it and via online, I will try using it. The color palette is almost the same with the other two which are white and orange. There are a lot's of writing both in English and French. It is more plain than the Nivea's one. But the bottle is a little bit unique because it looks like the old phone, the one with antenna. It also an economic way to save the product inside.

But, the winner of packaging category is Banila Co.

The Price

I did not remember exactly the price for all the sunscreen. But roughly, Nivea and Banila Co have the drugstore price. While La Roche-Posay has the higher drugstore price but not in the high-end category.

So, the winner of price category are Nivea and Banila Co.

The Weight

Both Nivea and La Roche-Posay have 50ml per tube. While Banila Co only have 35ml worth of sunscreen.

So, the winner of weight category are Nivea and La Roche-Posay.

The Consistency

Into the main discussion... The consistency of a sunscreen is really important. It will effect the result of our makeup, also our comfortable level to conquer the sun *lol*, etc. Which means, it will effect all aspect of our life. 

Banila Co has a moisturizer texture. It has a white light-weight cream. Usually, in the morning I changed my moisturizer to this sunscreen. 

Nivea has a regular sunscreen texture. It is stated that this sunscreen is not sticky, but it feels tacky. Yuck! The texture is very thick and sticky. 

La Roche-Posay has the most light-weight from all of the sunscreen. It feels like putting water onto your face. It is very light-weight, not sticky, and does not feel tacky at all! The packaging wrote that this sunscreen is ULTRA LIGHT. And that is right! Super true.

So, the winner of consistency category is La Roche-Posay.

The SPF Spectrum

Both Nivea and La Roche-Posay have SPF 50, but with different PA level. La Roche-Posay only have 1 +, while Nivea have 2+.  While, the Banila Co has only SPF 35 PA++.

Even though Nivea has a better SPF, but it feels greasy and thick. So, I have to choose the winner is La Roche-Posay for the best SPF Spectrum.

The Ingredients

I've learned that to know the ingredients inside your beauty products is very important. It could save us from marketing scam and also skin cancer! You should be aware with Paraben, Perfume/ Fragrance, Alcohol, and the list goes on. But, the most important it should be free of Paraben. So, I will let you know which one is the best worth and safety product. 

Since Banila Co is a Korean Brand, I have a hard time to read and understand what is inside the product. They don't write the English translation like the other brands. Anyhow, I figured out some important facts. This product consist of "3 Super Fruit", which are KaKadu Plum, Acerola, and Acai Berry. Kakadu Plum functioned as a protection from stress. Acerola is rich of vitamin C so it works to protect the skin. While, Acai Berry works to improve skin texture and elastisity. But it also contains perfume inside. Well, can we just see the good side only? It has a lots of good natural extract inside this 30ml product. 

I threw away the box of my Nivea Sun which in result I didn't know the ingredients inside this product. But, I surf to their official website and I found it! There are a lots of chemical name that I don't really know by heart, but the good news is this product is Paraben free and no fragrance added! Good to know, Nivea. 

Lastly, the product that written it proudly that it does not contain any Paraben and Fragrance, La Roche-Posay. By far, this product really impressed me a lot! You can guess the winner, right? I choose La Roche-Posay as the best ingredients product.   

The Water Resistant Level

For water resistant level, La Roche-Posay has the longest one. Nivea also have a good one, but I have to mix it with BB Cream with low SPF, to make it less greasy. When I used the Nivea Sunblock only, I feel like want to clean my face all the time. 

Usually, I used the Banila Co sunscreen when I have to go out for a while and I have a lot indoor activities. Well, the product does not mention about water resistant, so this product has the lowest level of water resistant.

So, the best one goes to La Roche-Posay. 

The Smell

Well, smell or fragrance is one of the point to consider when we buy make-up, well at least for me. As it is stated that Banila Co has berry inside, so it has the best smell. La Roche-Posay has really drug smell. It smells like a prescription lotion you got from a dermatologist (even though I've never used those kind of products. lol). Nivea has the regular sunblock smell.

So, the best smell goes to Banila Co.

Overall

Well, if I have to choose from all of those 3 products, I will choose 2 of them. I will definitely repurchase Banila Co Sun Moisturizer (I've done that though). Because it works really good for morning moisturizer because it has SPF! Best invention evaaa. Unlike other moisturizer with SPF, this product has enough SPF, which is SPF 35. (Even though there are a lot of tinted moisturizer out there now, but I haven't tried it, so this is the best by far).

For the greater SPF product, I will like to repurchase La Roche Posay because of it's light weight texture. But since it is hard to find this brand in Indonesia (my brother who bought it from Australia), I might purchase a similar one later on.

I would like not to repurchase Nivea one just because it is very thick and greasy. I feel hot and greasy when I used that product. In other word, it is uncomfortable. I rather choose the light-weight one with the same SPF level. Even though, this product could be easily found all over Indonesia.

This review is waayyy far from perfect or great review, but I tried my best to share my experience from using those product. This is 100% my opinion and it might different from others' experience. Hope this is hopeful. :) Thank you so much for reading my review from the beginning to the end. I will try my best to improve my blog. :)

XOXO,