Review: Sephora FACE Refreshing Toner - Normal Skin

Sephora FACE Refreshing Toner - Normal Skin

$10, Sephora.com

Active Ingredients: 

-Lemon Extract: Regenerating and hydrating properties.
-Lotus Extract: Astringent and toning properties.
-Pro-vitamin B5: Nourishing, softening, and anti-inflammatory.
-Glycerin: Prevents skin dryness.

Complete List of Ingredients: Aqua (Water), Sorbitol, Glycerin, Polysorbate 20, Phenoxyethanol, Parfum (Fragrance), Panthenol, Disodium EDTA, Chlorphenesin, Buteth-3, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Benzotriazolyl Butylphenol Sulfonate, Nelumbo Nucifera (Flower Extract), Tributyl Citrate, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Propylparaben, Methylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Ethylparaben, Butylparaben, CI 42090 (Blue 1).

Research Results:  

A global score of 7.5/10, obtained from a consumer test conducted on 60 women:
-Tones and refreshes the face and leaves the skin clear (93.3% said yes).
-Completes makeup removal by effectively removing the last traces of fluid makeup remover (90% said yes).

Pros:

• refreshing
• good price
• little goes a long way
• not over-drying
• pleasant smell
• lots of product
  

Cons:

•  leaves a sticky residue on my face

I haven't used this toner consistently but from the few times that I have used it I found it to be very refreshing.  The best things about this toner are that the smell's pleasant and not over-powering, and it only takes a little to go over alot. :) I can't say if it did anything to reduce the size of my pores, but it was definitely not too-drying. I do have to say though that there's an after-effect of stickiness on my face from the toner. :S I don't have an oily complexion, but after putting this on and letting the product air-dry, my face felt like it got a bit more sticky than when I had used other toners. Luckily Shiseido's matifying moisturizer fixes this problem like nothing. ;P

I think I'll give the FACE toner a few more tries and see how it goes, but after having great success with Shiseido's matifying moisturizer, I've been eyeing their Pureness Balancing Softener...but at $23, I'm still debating whether it's worthy of my wallet or not.

How's your experience with Sephora's FACE Refreshing Toner?

Parents' 25th Wedding Anniversary, Gifts

So recently my parents took a trip to Oahu for their 25th anniversary. They stayed at the Waikiki Mariott  for 2 nights and spent 3 days just cruising around Oahu with just each other. They even got a convertible sportscar as their rental car! lol! When we used to go to Oahu for the wrestling state championships when I was in high school, we had such a small team that we'd get a regular rental car...well, my dad, being the car fanatic that he is, was always like "OoOo they have a Cadillac for rent...let's get that!" So we did. haha. One year we had a Caddy Towncar, another year we had a luxury SUV...it was so long ago that I can't remember what it was...it was a Ford though, I know that. haha That thing was so huge that we couldn't even go in the parking structures cuz the narrow one-lane winding ramps were too narrow for us to drive through.

Oops, getting a little off track there. Well, anyways, when they went to Oahu, they did alot of shopping. They went aaall over and even stopped over at The Stupid Factory at Ala Moana to buy some presents for my sister and I (besides food from Shirokiya of course)! lol! Here's what they got me:

And this is on the back:

lol. I'm not a big fan of pink, but I love black and anything with wings on it, so it's perfect. (>_<)v They got my sisters similar PJs with other decisions on them like the "IT'S ALL ABOUT ME" one and the "You Rock You Rule" one.

And I had asked my mom to stop by Sephora (the only two Sephoras that are in Hawaii are on the same island...and that's not my island (ToT)). I asked her to pick up two things that I've been wanting to try out: Sephora's FACE Refreshing toner (per Erynn's suggestion) and the Shiseido Pureness Matifying Moisturizer Oil-Free.

I've been using the Shiseido Pureness Matifying Moisturizer almost everyday since I got it and I must say...I LOVE IT!! It really does matify my skin and it stays like that all day. It's so amazing. I've used the toner a few times but the sad thing is that when I went back over to the other side of the island for this past weekend, I took the toner with me but the lid must not have been screwed on tightly so over half the liquid spilled out!!! (ToT) I'm so sad. :( But it was only $10 so it's not toooo bad....but it's still sad to waste anything. :(

OH BTW!!!  Sephora is having a 20% off sale on their SALE ITEMS until Dec. 31st! Go check it out! You've got...3 days! :P

Aaand I guess I shall go post two short reviews that I did for these two products. :)

Review: Shiseido Pureness Matifying Moisturizer Oil-Free

Shiseido Pureness Matifying Moisturizer Oil-Free

$32, Sephora.com

Ingredients: Water, Cyclomethicone, Butylene Glycol, SD Alcohol 40-B, Glycerin, Silica, Xylitol, Pentaerythrityl Tetraoctanoate, PEG-6, PEG-32, Xanthan Gum, Magnesium Chloride, Peony Root Extract, Calcium Chloride, Eysenhardtia Polystachya (Palo Azul) Wood Extract, Rosemary Extract, Glyceryl Stearate Se, PEG-60 Glyceryl Isostearate, Carbomer, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Potassium Hydroxide, Trisodium EDTA, Tocopherol, Methylparaben, Phenoxyethanol, Benzoic Acid, Fragrance.

Pros:

• MATIFYING
  
• Takes LESS THAN a pea-sized amount
• Quick-absorbing
• Pleasant smell
• Oil-free
• Lightweight
  
• Very smoothing
• Softening
• Just the right amount of moisture
  

Cons:

•  Pricey
  

My thoughts: I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS MOISTURIZER!! Although it's a bit pricey and the bottle was smaller than I thought it was going to be, I totally understood why when I first used it. It took LESS than a pea-sized amount to evenly cover my face. At this rate this 1.6oz bottle will last me MONTHS. After just a few swipes it absorbed into my skin and my skin was left oil-free, smooth and soft. I don't have an oily complexion, but this gave me just the right matifying/moisturizing combination. This is hands-down my new HG moisturizer.