Review: Clinique All About Eyes

Hello there! How you guys been doing? It’s been almost weeks since I last blogged on a daily basis. Been busy for the past few days with work organizing an anniversary event. Now that it’s over, I think I can sit down properly and blog what I had been missing out. Anyways, it’s rare that you see me blogging at this hour especially when it’s a Sunday afternoon. I had been “home-ridden” since I came home from work yesterday in the middle of the day. I got a little bit sick yesterday so I requested an early day and came home.

Decided to stay home today to charge up the battery which had been draining away from me in the past weeks organizing the anniversary event. Decided to take another day off the week after next to enjoy my 26th birthday. It felt like I had just celebrated my 25th not long ago and 26th is just around the corner. *sob* My 25th was celebrated in Miri but I don’t think I will be going anywhere this year. Planned to have a short trip to Kota Kinabalu (KK) to celebrate my 26th but I am sort of dry right now with my Prada, Longchamp and a Sony NEX-3N purchases.

Anyways, not gonna continue on making you feeling bored. Here comes a review which I intended to do today – Clinique All About Eyes.

Bought myself a sample sized tub of Clinique All About Eyes from BestBuy World Malaysia like two months along with a few other skincare purchases. I got Clinique All About Eyes Serum as well but the review will come in another day. There are two versions of this eye cream – normal and rich. I preferred the normal version albeit I had never tried the rich version. I personally believed that the rich version may be a little bit oily for my eye areas. I don’t think I would like seeing milia seeds forming around them.

Clinique All About Eyes is formulated to minimize the appearance of dark circles and de-puff eye bags. The texture of the eye cream is creamy. Just like majority of other Clinique products, this eye cream is practically fragrance-less. At least, I couldn’t pick out any scent. If you are not a huge fan of eye cream with overwhelming scent, this eye cream may be the one for you. When I first tried the texture of this eye cream after I got the product, I thought it might be too oily for my eye areas.

Surprisingly, it got absorbed very fast and leaving a soft and matte feeling afterwards. Application was easy due to it’s smooth texture. I had been using this eye cream for about one and a half month and I still have half a pot left. Mind you, this is only a sample size not full size. So, you can roughly estimate how long a full size pot can lasts even if used on daily basis.

Speaking of effectiveness, I can feel and see that my eye areas had been moisturized ever since I started using this eye cream. Lucky for me, I do not have a serious case of dark circles as well as eye bags like some of my friends have. *touchwood* So, I couldn’t really vouch for the product effectiveness when it comes to dark circles or eye bags. But I can for sure vouch that this is not the right product for you if you are looking for an eye cream which could reduce the appearance of fine lines or wrinkles. I could still see the fine lines around my eyes albeit been using this products for about one and a half month.

I have a reader who once commented asking me which brand would be the best when it comes to reducing the appearance of fine lines. As far as I could tell, I think the best ones in the market right now are the ones from Estee Lauder and Lancome. I have yet tried any of the two brands which I had just mentioned. But my mom had been using the eye creams from Estee Lauder and it seems to be working on her.

So, here it is what I think of Clinique All About Eyes in a nutshell:

Pros:
1. Smooth texture, application makes super easy.
2. Absorbs onto the skin real well.
3. Leaves the eye areas feeling smooth and matte.
4. Can see and feel that my eye areas became much more moisturized nowadays.
5. Practically fragrance-less to me.

Cons:
1. Not working on fine lines or wrinkles.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Price: RM23 (5ml)

Repurchase? Maybe? I am never a stickler with skincare products anyways. LOL!

Today’s Breakfast #9

It’s been a while since I last did Today’s Breakfast post. So, here’s one now.

Picture was taken with Sony NEX-3N.

Fried Rice with long beans and Bee Cheng Hiang Bak Kwa

Review: Biotherm Aquasource 24h Deep Hydration Replenishing Gel

This is actually a way long overdue skincare product review blog entry. I should have done it like more than a month ago but procrastination is what I do best most of the time. LOL! As I mentioned earlier on my previous post, I get to try one of my colleagues’ latest toy – Sony NEX-3N. The more I fiddled with it, the more I liked it. So, I took the opportunity to try a few shots with some of the skincare products which I have yet reviewed.

They are not as professional looking as the shots taken by the professional beauty bloggers, but I am trying my best here. So, give me some more time and I’ll brush up my skill eventually. LOL!

Anyways, here comes my review on Biotherm Aquasource 24h Deep Hydration Replenishing Gel.

This is only a sample size tub of 15ml which Andrea and Patrick got for me from the BA at Biotherm Singapore last year when they got me my birthday presents. I had been a sucker with finishing sample sized products, never mind full size products. But I am trying to clear my sample size products as much as possible.

The texture is like what as stated on the product – gelish in texture. Hence, making it suitable for user like me who happened to have an oily skin. The shine level on my face had reduced quite drastically ever since I started using Artistry Intensive Skincare Renewing Peel. I can now use skincare products which is in the form of cream as long as I watch out the dosage that I am using.

Albeit the texture is in gel form, it doesn’t leave a plastic layer feeling on my skin after application like some other product does. The scent was refreshing but I find it tad bit strong for my liking. I couldn’t pick out what exactly it smelled like, but probably marine. If I accidentally slabbed too much of the product on my face, it does sting a bit on certain parts of my face especially on the areas above my lips and below my nose. But they go away quickly. So, no biggie.

The product does leave my skin feeling hydrated and plump looking. The product gets absorbed onto my skin pretty quickly too. And what’s best is that it doesn’t breakout on my skin. I thought the mild stinging that I felt once in a while might cause breakouts but surprisingly, it didn’t.

Pros:
1. Refreshing scent.
2. Doesn’t break out on my sensitive skin.
3. Gel texture, hence suitable for users with oily skin.
4. Skin felt hydrated and looked plump as well.
5. Gets absorbed onto the skin quick enough.

Cons:
1. Scent was pretty strong in my opinion.
2. Stung a bit on the area above my lips if I accidentally slabbed too much of the product on my face.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Price: To be updated soon

Repurchase? Maybe, but not so soon.

Dinner @ Patisserie Cake Shop

I left office quite late today as I was playing away with one of my colleagues’ latest gadget. She just bought a brand new Sony NEX-3N. I am usually not a huge fan of Sony cameras but this one impressed me well enough to the extent that I am considering getting one for myself too. It took me quite some time to get used to it but eventually I got the hang of it. My colleague was kind enough to let me bring it home and play with it.

I drove to Supa Save, Beribi after work this evening because I accidentally left my Baiduri Bank debit card at the cashier counter on last Friday night. And I did not realize that my card had been missing until the next Monday morning when one of the customer service representatives from Baiduri Bank gave me a call. LOL! How careless of me. Walked to Patisserie Cake Shop for dinner and took the opportunity to play with the camera again.

Below is one of the shots that I am impressed and satisfied with …

Capturing the details of my Longchamp Le Pliage Tote

Anyways, here comes the picture of what I had for dinner tonight. It was also taken with Sony NEX-3N.

Grilled Chicken Ham With Cheese| B$4.00

I would prefer my sandwiches to be well toasted. I don’t think it was toasted well enough compared to the ones which I was being served on my first visit to Patisserie Cake Shop with Kaylie. I may not have the same sandwich but they were from the same range. The fries were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Patisserie Cake Shop
Unit 10, Block D,
Traders Inn,
Kampung Mata-Mata, Gadong,
Bandar Seri Begawan,
Brunei Darussalam.
Tel: +673-2425618

Review: Ximply Chriz Cafe

Kaylie and I were supposed to have breakfast together at Golden Coffee after she had sent Kevin off to work but I was being told to attend a Company’s event for this morning. So, the both of us only met up after lunch so that I could pass over some facial sheet masks which I couldn’t finish using. Been wanting to try Ximply Chriz Cafe since I found out from another reader.

Both Kaylie and I went separately as Kaylie was still at Fun Han Shao Korean BBQ when I was done with my pedicure at AMO Salon, Batu Bersurat. The cafe was packed with patrons when I arrived and there was no single table vacant. Luckily for me, there was a group of patrons sitting at the back of the cafe just happened to be leaving a short while after I stepped into the cafe.

If you are wondering where Ximply Chriz Cafe is located, it’s located on the same block as Excapade Sushi, Regent Square and next to SKINC. The cafe had been opened since July 24th and they only started serving hot food not long ago. The current business operating hours is from 10:00a.m. until 6:00p.m. Business hours will be from 8:00a.m. until 9:00p.m. next month (not sure when is the exact date) when the cafe is not that shorthanded anymore.

Anyways, food pictures ahead …

I did not have a proper lunch before I went for pedicure at AMO Salon. I ordered before Kaylie arrived. I asked one of the waiter if they serve Chai Latte seeing that they used Chai Latte as the password of their wireless Internet connection. The lady owner happened to walk nearby my table overheard my query to one of her staffs came to tell me that they don’t serve Chai Latte despite the password to their wireless Internet connection is Chai Latte.

As a matter of fact, she personally told me that Chai Latte is a very tricky drink and it’s somehow a little bit hard to make. She suggested that I try Affogato instead if I wanted to try something new.

Affogato | B$4.80

Affogato is a coffee based beverage whereby you will get a scoop of vanilla ice-cream topped with a single shot espresso. If you want your ice-cream to taste extremely coffee-ish, pour the entire single shot espresso into the ice-cream. Or you can pour them little by little until you get the taste that you desired. Basically, it’s like tasting coffee flavored ice-cream. But nevertheless, it’s still very good. Even Kaylie agreed so.

Mushroom Soup

Complimentary when you order a hot food. This was completely home and freshly made. Liked the texture of the soup. The texture was creamy and pretty smooth. You can still taste chunks of mushroom bits in the soup. Flavoring was adequately done.

Chicken Parmagiana | B$12.50

According to Wikipedia, Chicken Parmagiana is a common food served at Australian pubs. Not surprising as the owners just returned to Brunei from Melbourne not long ago before they established this food business. Chicken Parmagiana consisted of a deep fried breaded chicken breast topped with tomato based Neapolitan sauce with cheese along with a side dish of sauteed mushroom.

I think the dish was not bad as the portion of cheese was super generous. The chicken breast fillet was thick and it doesn’t taste dry. Loved the sauteed mushroom!

Chocolate Delight | B$5.50

Kaylie’s choice of dessert. It’s like a chocolate mousse cake with a layer of chocolate sponge inside and nuts as the base of the desserts. According to Kaylie, it was good.

Fruit Tart | B$3.80

I had been seeing this particular dessert on my Instagram every now and then. So, I thought it must be very good. And indeed it was! What I loved the most of the tart was the pastry. It tasted a little bit sweet and it wasn’t dry or oily like some other pastries which I had previously tasted. It was pretty crunchy as well. The custard filling was mildly sweetened as well. Both grapes and the mangoes slices were naturally sweet. If there is by any chance of you stopping by Ximply Chriz Cafe for dessert, I would highly recommend you to try their Fruit Tart albeit it’s nothing special compared to some other desserts that they are serving.

Overall Rating: 9 out of 10

Verdict: Liked the ambiance of the place. It looked and felt cozy. I would suggest you calling in for reservation if you are going in big groups because they might not be able to accommodate too many people at once if the place is packed with patrons. Customer service was superb. The lady owner would walk around the cafe to check if the customers are comfortable and happy with the food.

Ximply Chriz Cafe
Unit 8, Block B,
Regent Square,
Bandar Seri Begawan,
Brunei Darussalam.
Tel: +673-2234918