Of all the face moisturisers I’ve used for years, I’ve finally found one that I truly love using and it is none other than the Vichy Aqualia Thermal Mat Hydrating Gel. It is quite a mouthful, but bear with me.

Previously I wrote a review on the essence from this same range, which is Vichy’s Aqualia Thermal Fortifying & Soothing Hydrating Concentrate. I absolutely love this essence and now I feel the same about the moisturiser too. I think this Aqualia Thermal range works for me and I’m planning on sticking to it for quite a long while

Some information about this moisturiser extracted from Vichy’s site:

For the first time, a mattifying ultrafresh moisturizer combines the cellular hydra-mist of mineral-rich Vichy Thermal Spa Water, to help soothe and visibly fortify the skin, and Diakalite sebo-absorbing microspheres that regulate excess sebum to intensely mattify skin.

Tested under dermatological control. Fully hydrated, skin regains the freshness and radiance of a healthy complexion. Visibly transformed, it is matte, shine-free and silky-soft.

I fully agree with what’s said above. I truly enjoy the matt, shine-free and silk-like feeling on the skin after applying this moisturiser. This feels more hydrating than the Normaderm Anti-Imperfection Hydrating Care which I use as a day moisturiser.

I use this Aqualia Thermal Mat Hydrating Gel at night as recommended by the lady at Vichy’s counter. Since I love how this works and feels on my skin, I sometimes also use it as a day moisturiser just to give my skin an extra boost of hydration, especially if I know I will be outdoors a lot.

This liquid moisturiser is not too thick in texture and applies and absorbs very easily. I pump a very small amount, pea-sized to be exact, and that amount is sufficient to cover my face and leave it moisturised throughout many hours. The scent is mild and quite pleasant. I actually find the scent to be a good pick-me-up in the mornings.

You can find Vichy’s products quite easily, mostly at Guardian and Watson outlets. This 50ml of moisturiser costs RM90 if my memory serves me right. I definitely give this product a thumbs up and would recommend you to go for it too.

Read more shopping and sales articles from Shopping & Sales Queen

My favourite moisturiser: Vichy’s Aqualia Thermal Mat Hydrating Gel

More posts like this:

• Thumbs up for Vichy’s Normaderm Anti-Imperfection Hydrating Care
• Why I love the Vichy Aqualia Thermal Fortifying & Soothing Hydrating Concentrate
• Review of Vichy’s Normaderm Total Pore Resurfacing Essence
• Lots of reviews coming up for Sukin and Vichy skincare products
• Review of an organic facial cleanser – Botani Olive Soothing Cleanser

It’s been quite a while since I last bought shoes. But this week alone, I’ve spotted 3 pairs that I like and out of the 3, I snatched up 2 of them already! My excuse reason is that I need new, decent shoes.

I actually need a pair of decent black shoes as my current one is giving me some problem with the fit. My favourite black pair of heels is about 2 years old now and I guess it’s about time for it to be worn out already.

So I bought 2 pairs in black and still eyeing one pair in baby pink. All the shoes I bought are peep toe heels because I absolutely love peep toes. I can’t explain why I like them, but they just catch my eye.

Aren’t these peep toe shoes just lovely and cute?

Most ladies tend to have all kinds of designs from pumps to peep-toe to open-toed sandals to wedges, etc. I am pretty stereotype in the kind of shoes I wear, just peep toe shoes for work, and wedges or Japanese slippers for casuals.

What about you? What kind of shoes do you fancy? And where do you normally shop for shoes? I don’t find that many great shoe stores around these days. I’ve stopped going to Vincci for years and I prefer small little shops with more unique designs and interestingly, more lasting shoes than Vincci!

Read more shopping and sales articles from Shopping & Sales Queen

Going crazy over shoes lately

More posts like this:

• Foam shoes might not make it against the conventional canvas shoes
• Paying for a pair of Crocs shoes is worth the money
• Don’t underestimate the comforts of foot gel cushions
• Are Clarks shoes worth buying for toddlers?
• Charles & Keith shoes

Previously I wrote about my experince using the Botani Olive Soothing Cleanser. Today’s post is also a review on another product from Botani, the Olive Repair Cream which I use as a body moisturiser.

I think I shall give a brief introduction regarding the brand. Botani’s products are organic and they come from Australia. It carries a line of skincare products as well as some bodycare products. To purchase this range of products in Malaysia, you can visit Nature In A Box. They carry other brands as well so you can check out other offerings while you’re there.

So let’s move on to the topic of the post, the Botani Olive Repair Cream.

This cream is suitable for sensitive, dry, mature and sun-damaged skin. It is claimed to be a non-greasy and non-clogging cream. Are these claims true? Read on to find out my experience.

Some of the major benefits of this cream caught my eye, and they include:

Softens fine lines, repairs and protects from harsh environmental elements

Gentle and effective treatment for eczema and psoriasis

Assists in healing scars

Assists in prevention of stretch marks

The above benefits were big enough to make me want to try out this product. However, I do not have eczema or psoriasis, so I won’t be able to say much about it. In terms of softening fine lines, assisting in healing scars and prevention of stretch marks, I guess I could put it to the test over long term use of this cream.

Having said that, I also think it’ll be hard for me to see any positive results in the area of preventing stretch marks. As it is, I do have them from my pregnancy some years ago and there was nothing that could’ve really prevented it nor is there anything that can make it go away now. Stretch marks, to me, is more deadly than putting on weight during pregnancy. At least with the weight matter, I can go for some recommended best weight loss pills and it might just work. But with stretch marks, I was told by my doctor that it can’t go away. It may lighten over time, but it will not disappear with the use of any kind of products.

Okay, enough sad story about stretch marks and let me get back on track about the use of the Botani Olive Repair Cream on my skin. I have pretty dry skin as I don’t often apply body lotion or moisturisers because I’m lazy. But since I got some of this cream, I thought I might as well put some to use and see if it can help my terribly dry skin.

The texture of the cream is quite thick and oily. The suggested application method is to use a small amount and pat it onto the skin using pressing movements. Since the texture is a little too oily for my liking, I found that this patting application doesn’t work well for it to be absorbed. So I apply it the way I always do, by rubbing it onto the skin. That way it absorbs faster.

The good thing though is that it doesn’t leave the skin feeling oily after application. So I’m quite happy with that as I was initially quite worried that it’ll leave an oily and slippery layer. So it is true to its claim that it is in fact non-greasy. The other claim about it being non-clogging, well that one I can’t prove it with any visible results just yet.

I find that the Olive Repair Cream helps to moisturise my dry skin well. I’ve not used it for long or many applications, so my skin is still a little dry.  I don’t expect the first few applications to help me be rid of this dry skin problem that I’ve had for so long. But I guess with continuous use of this cream, I should have an improved condition. This is provided I am hardworking enough to apply it diligently everyday!

So far I’ve no complaints with this cream. If you would like to give it a try for any of the benefits mentioned above, you may purchase it online from Nature In A Box. This 120g jar of cream retails at RM159.50. Quite an expensive cream, but if it works to serve one or more of the areas that you want to fix, it might just be worth the money.

Read more shopping and sales articles from Shopping & Sales Queen

Review of Botani Olive Repair Cream

More posts like this:

• Review of an organic facial cleanser – Botani Olive Soothing Cleanser
• How well does Sukin’s organic antioxidant eye serum work?
• Review of Sukin Foaming Facial Cleanser
• Lots of reviews coming up for Sukin and Vichy skincare products
• Sukin Organic Australian Skincare is now available in Malaysia!

I’ve owned laptops for years but I’ve never once bought a laptop bag. I’ve always used the ones that came with the notebook, ugly as they may be. The reason is because I use my notebook mostly at home. At the most I sometimes go out to coffee outlets and bring along the laptop to check my mails. So I didn’t need to spend that kind of money on a nicer looking bag.

But now that I have bitten the bullet and adopting a different lifestyle where the notebook will be on the go with me all the time, I decided that it’s time to get a bag for the notebook. I know exactly what I want in a laptop bag, so it wasn’t difficult and it didn’t take me long before I found just the one. I also don’t have expectations as high up as cell towers, so I pretty much bought the bag in less than half an hour of shopping for it.

I bought a Checker Plate bag, and not in the back pack form. I bought a more lady-like design as it can double up as my handbag too so that I need not carry too many bags with me. It’s kinda big, but then I think it’s practical and workable for me. How do you like my purchase as pictured below?

For this model, there are 2 colours available, brown and black. I chose the black one. It’s very roomy and has all the space I need for everything. I’m very happy with it. I paid RM199 for it. Considerably cheap for a computer bag?

It comes with lifetime warranty so let’s see how many times I will be going back to Checker Plate, as there are bound to be wear and tear along the way. At least with this lifetime warranty, it gives me some assurance that should I tear it in the next couple of months, I won’t need to throw it out completely.

It remains to be seen if carrying this over time will cause me strain on the shoulders since the straps are not very thick nor padded, and we’re talking about lugging around a 14-inch computer. But I really prefer to be carrying a computer bag like this than a back pack one. This is vanity talking!

Read more shopping and sales articles from Shopping & Sales Queen

First time buying a laptop bag

More posts like this:

• A new Lenovo toy!
• The search for a light-weight and small laptop
• Birthday present
• Convenient way for ladies to change handbags everyday
• Thomas Sabo has such a pretty fringed Pouchy!

I’ve always loved credit cards. Not because I spend a lot on them, I don’t max them out but I sure love having lots of different ones for different purposes. Some I use for discounts and privileges being offered, some I use for reward point collection because I’m eyeing some particular items from the reward catalogue, some I use for rebates on petrol, etc. That explains my need for a few credit cards.

But now that the government has introduced a tax on each credit card, it’s going to cost me a lot to maintain all those cards even though there are no annual fees on them. Before, they really were “free” but now the government’s going to make money out of me for having all these credit lines.

So instead of enjoying the discounts and privileges of using so many credit cards, I’m going to save myself the money by cutting them up. All my cards including supplementary cards will cost me about RM800. Yes, you saw it right, close to a thousand bucks a year to have credit cards!! That’s a lot of money and better spent on some other stuff which can give me something in return, like a term life insurance policy or even an investment in unit trust. Don’t you think?

In the next two months I’ll be busy “strategising” which cards need to go and at most I’ll maintain just two. It’ll be quite tough to decide which ones outdo the others in terms of which benefits are most crucial to me.

What about you? How many cards are you going to maintain for your shopping purposes?

Read more shopping and sales articles from Shopping & Sales Queen

Cut away those credit cards already!

More posts like this:

• A friendly community service message to online shoppers
• Got cheated by a StanChart credit card promoter