Travels: Australian brands

There are some great skincare brands in Australia that I feel are quite up there with Clarins and Loccitane and their packaging are just as elegant as the many high-end products in Europe but with a bit of a quirky touch so it's a little less intimidating to use!


Mor
For all packaging-obsessed people out there, Mor is definitely a brand that should be inspected closer. Leaning ever so slightly towards baroque style packaging, this luxurious pampering brand is the Ladurée of bath and body products.

Jurlique

It's interesting to hear stories behind such brands like Jurlique because in a way, it's a representative of the Australian people. Founded by one of the researchers and developers of Dr. Hauschka, this German husband and wife team immigrated to South Australia and before long Jurlique was born. Although their price point is quite high-end one of their notable products would be their Herbal Recovery Gel.








Aesop
For a brand to be originated from my hometown of Melbourne, I have to give this brand a shout out! Their packaging is reminiscent to that of the bottles that you would find at the old apothekes in Europe. I was told that the reason for the dark glass containers was because their products contain no preservatives so they are supposed help prevent spoilage.









Leif
New to the scene, this Sydney based skincare brand came out of a design studio called Container, that specializes in beauty packaging. Their range is quite small as they are newly established and are only sold in Sydney but their packaging is very slick and understated (and not overly girly) - something I'm a huge fan of. Using ingredients unique to Australia, their products are natural and plant based that have a somewhat distinct Australian smell (so lots of eucalyptus and tea tree if you are a fan).

Empties no. 3

A.S.A.P. Daily Facial Cleanser with AHA
Lacura Multi-Intensiv serum (anti-aging)
Seba-Med Antischuppen shampoo
Sanex Lactoserum deodorant
The Face Shop intensive Retinol Essence eye cream

This has been a rather boring trash week as you can see but living in a new country means getting used to everyday products that you're going to have to use for the majority of your time there.

I never had any problems with dandruff before but the water here is a bit hard and I have heard from other expats that their hair has been falling out due to the water (eeek!). The Seba-Med Antischuppen shampoo was actually a medical shampoo against dandruff so I kind of thought it would work out well (being in Germany and all). It made my hair so squeaky clean that it left the roots extremely dry. I would not repurchase this again, I think it's just perhaps too harsh for my hair. Similarly, The Face Shop Intensive Retinol Essence Eye Cream is also another product I would not repurchase. Although it hydrated my eye area well, I wouldn't say it helped with the wrinkles around my eyes so perhaps this is more for preventative measures rather than combating wrinkles.

On the things I would repurchase (and have so) without hesitation would be the Sanex Lactoserum deodorant. I purchased a whole bunch of these in Indonesia at 8,000Rp (€0.60c) which was a stroke of luck because they don't sell them anymore over there. They are alcohol-free and are not meant to leave any white marks on clothes, I'm going to be sad when my stash runs out.

On the things that I would repurchase again but won't includes the serum and the face cleanser because although the Lacura Face Multi-Intensiv Serum is a great little product (a thick cream that gets easily absorbed into the skin) and one that I don't feel guilty about using on my neck and chest day and night, it has a really strong smell that is a little strong to wear at night time. On the opposite end the A.S.A.P. Daily Facial Cleanser with AHA is a product that I find no fault in yet the price tag is a little too hefty that I'm going to have to find another alternative at a lower cost.

P2 Summer Attack blush

P2 came out with a limited edition collection for the summer called Summer Attack. With it comes bronzing products and some very bright lipsticks, P2 also introduces a set of brushes specifically for bronzing products. Although the collection looked quite appealing, I really had no use for most of them and the brushes were not so good to be honest with you (the mini kabuki was a little bigger than a thumb and too compact to evenly distribute powder and the smudge stick that is supposed to be a beauty blender is a bit tough).

(Beach 'n Blush in Sunrise Glow) 

The one thing that did interest me was this "Beach 'n Blush" in the colour 010 Sunrise Glow. On the pan it is a beautiful warm apricot-pink colour and because it is on the matte side, it tends to look alot duller on the skin. I don't think it's a pigmentation problem because the more layer of it that I apply, it just stayed the same colour on the skin. Overall I'm quite happy with it as the blush creates a natural colour to the cheeks and warms the skin, perfect for summer!

Where: DM (€3.25 for 6gr)

Ebelin foundation/maske pinsel

I was in the market for a mask brush as I'm a bit obsessed with face masks lately and I've always hated having more product on my fingers than on my face. Ebelin is a drugstore brand specialising in brushes and other make-up applicators and while their brushes are pretty sturdy and of good quality overall some of the applicators are either not shaped well for what they are supposed to be used for (eg. their eyeshadow brush) or the brushes are too long and not dense enough to be able to spread the product effectively.

I'm really liking this mask brush however, as it is so soft yet densely packed to use. No hair fall-out with these synthetic brushes and the black dye on the tip of the brush doesn't really run when you wash it.

 

Where: DM (€3.95)

Marbert Super Booster Concentrate Serum

Karstadt was having a 15% off skincare and seeing as I was in the market for a new serum I thought I should take advantage of the sale. I was at the Marbert section of the isle and saw that they had this vitamin C booster serum which looked interesting but on the other side of the isle there was this miscellaneous stand of all the gift sets from all the beauty brands that the husband spotted and Marbert had this gift set of another one of their boosters. This gift set marks the 75 years anniversary so I'm guessing that it's only available this year.

First off I think the booster is really for mature skin because it is from their anti-aging range. The elegant silver and white packaging (the vitamin C one came in a fresh yellow and white tube) also points to the fact that it is for mature skin. I feel like I should be in my 60's or something to buy this product but ok so I bought it thinking that perhaps it would not work on my skin and that I should have bought the vitamin C one but after using it for almost two months I'm so impressed with this. It smooths out my skin and makes it a bit more elastic. I've read somewhere that two pumps is all you need to do your face and neck but I use like double the amount because it just gets absorbed into the skin so quickly.



The gift set also comes with this little anti-aging cream but I'm waiting until my day creams have finished before I open this up.


Where: Karstadt (€29.95 for 50ml) although this gift set was the same price

Sariayu Solusi UV Whitening Mask

I had a facial while in Bali last - it wasn't as luxurious as it sounds, it was just at a local little salon on a side street somewhere in Kuta. Basically, the husband needed a haircut (Indonesian salons normally take a while for a simple haircut regime so they do the whole, hair washing, hair massaging, haircut, hair washing, hair drying, styling) and instead of waiting around until he finished I thought I might just do a basic facial.

Many asian countries are obsessed with whitening products and Indonesia is no exception, it's quite difficult to buy a body cream without having some sort of whitening in it (in fact, I think I've ever found only one at Carrefour) so when I did the facial, the lady who was doing my facial instinctively used a whitening mask on me. I didn't really mind it this time because I got so tanned on my face and nowhere else on my body that it kind of evened out my skin tone overall. The husband also noticed that my face seemed brighter so when I was at the new mall on Jalan Kuta we managed to find a Martha Tilaar shop and I bought the same mask to take back with me. This Solusi UV Whitening range also comes with a whitening night and day cream as well as whitening lotions, cleansing foams etc etc - really the whole lot so, if your main goal was to make your face and body ghostly white, I think you can really achieve that look within a couple of weeks just by using this range.


I don't use this mask regularly because like I said, after one application, you can already see your face whitening up so I use it on days where I've been in the sun all day and my forehead and nose becomes darker than the rest of my face.

After coming back from a rather warm autumn trip in Australia, my forehead was noticeably darker than the rest of my face (especially my cheeks!) So like I mentioned, I really only use this mask for my forehead and sometimes my nose and after a few applications my face generally becomes evenly toned again. The consistency is quite liquid and runny so it takes no effort to apply. Once applied, it feels a little prickly on the face (not at all uncomfortable, just tingly really) and I guess that's when you know the product is working. After about 10 minutes or so it hardens and tightens the face and when it gets completely dry, that's when you wash your face. For about €2.20 it is quite a bargain and I'm kind of regretting the fact that I didn't get a backup of this one for the summertime.

Where: Martha Tilaar stores (28,800 Rp for 100g)

Annemarie Börlind Rosentau Cleansing Milk and Toner

I'm not going to lie, I bought these purely for the glass containers they came in as well as the fact that they contained roses in them. I'm not normally the cleanser and toner type because I always feel like unless my routine involves washing my face with water, I was not convinced that it would clean my face adequately but nonetheless I thought I should give this German brand a go.

I'm one of those people who will keep adding moisturiser or serums on more times than recommended until my face feels adequately moisturised, or at least, until I can see a bit of sheen from the cream. While both products in combination leaves my skin feeling plump and moisturised which I love, the fact that both products absorbs so quickly into the skin, this makes them (especially the toner) run out alot quicker than expected.

 

Cleansing Milk

Directions: Apply mornings and evenings to the dry skin and allow to work for 30 seconds. Remove with cosmetic sponges and rinse with warm water.

When I saw these rosy coloured products I expect to smell...roses - the darker, the stronger the smell and when I saw these cleansing milk I imagined it to be like a rose party on my face, but it was surprisingly not the case. When I had used cleansing milks in the past, they always just sat on the surface of my skin. This particular one seeps into the skin and moisturises it ever so slightly while it removes makeup at the same time.

Where: Mueller (€20.59 for 150ml) also available at Douglas, Karstadt and some Apotheke but can be a bit more pricier

Cleansing milk ingredients: aqua, sorbitol, caprylic/capric triglyceride, polyglyceryl-6 stearate, sorbitan stearate, glyceryl stearate, lauryl glucoside, stearic acid, capryloyl glycine, sucrose cocoate, sodium cocoyl glutamate, benzyl alcohol, arginine, p-anisic acid, xanthan gum, glycerin, citronellol, geraniol, alcohol, fragrance, ginkgo biloba leaf extract, panthenol, mica, persea gratissima (avocado) fruit extract, ascorbyl palmitate, hydrogenated palm glycerides citrate, tocopherol, CI 77491 (iron oxides), lecithin, humulus lupulus (hops) extract, achillea millefolium extract, cucumis sativus (cucumber) fruit extract, equisetum arvense extract, salvia officinalis (sage) leaf extract, rosa damascena flowers distillate, phenoxyethanol.


Toner
Directions: Apply mornings and evenings to cleansed skin.

I expected this to be like rose water to be honest, the heavily frosted glass encasing the toner made it harder to see just how thick in consistency it is. It feels almost like a serum than a toner and absorbs rather quickly into the skin.

Where: Mueller (€17.49 for 150ml) also available at Douglas, Karstadt and some Apotheke but can be a bit more pricier

Facial toner ingredients: aqua, alcohol, sorbitol, sodium pca, polyglyceryl-5 laurate, sodium lactate, glycerin, panthenol, chondrus crispus (carrageenan), glycine, urea, xanthan gum, allantoin, sodium ascorbyl phosphate, beta vulgaris (beet) root extract, glyceryl caprylate, persea gratissima (avocado) fruit extract, lactic acid, citronellol, ginkgo biloba leaf extract,  phytantriol, humulus lupulus (hops) extract, geraniol, rosa damascena flower distillate, achillea millefolium extract, cucumis sativus (cucumber) fruit extract, equisetum arvense extract, salvia officinalis (sage) leaf extract, fragrance, shellac, phenoxyethanol.

Necessary Necessities

Sometimes (okay most times) whenever I'm in a country that I'm familiar with, I always do price checks against the country that I'm currently living in as well as whether those products are available. This haul is also what the hubs commonly refers to as the "we have that here too" haul and it usually irritates immensely him as it adds additional luggage weight to which he thinks is completely unnecessary.

When in Australia I always buy the same things or brands that I'm familiar with.

Nad's wax 350g
Waxes are things that are rare in Germany as women tend to shave their legs as opposed to waxing. I'm rather clumsy with sharp objects and the thought of learning to shave with sharp blades in my hand is just asking for trouble. Although they sell Nair wax strips here, there are only face or bikini waxes and they come in a packet of about 4-5 strips (you know the ones I mean) so if I were to do one leg, I would need to buy several packets and they cost quite a bit. Lets face it, I don't really know when I will be able to go to Australia next so I bought two tubs and one usually lasts about a year.

Hammer and Arm toothpaste 120g
I know, I know...umm there are toothpaste here in Germany too... but, but do they have an enamel restoring one? and do they cost .95cents each? Yes I'm a cheapo when it comes to the essentials that I've got to use for the rest of my life and when they had a sale for this brand at Priceline that I had never used before, thought I should just buy a few.

Organic soaps
I usually buy these near the Queen Victoria Market (it's a kind of wholesale soap shop called Soapbox) or at flea markets from a guy who makes them for other brands. Soapbox is frickin' amazing and they have so many kinds of soaps (from something boring like lavender to more exotic ones like lemongrass or manuka honey) that smells heavenly. They are normally bigger than regular soaps (the size of maybe 2 regular soaps??) and most of the time use all natural ingredients.

Other
I also get other essentials when I run out of them in my stash and these include sunscreen for the body and face, after sun aloe vera gels and body moisturisers.

Really Australia, it's going to set me back how much?

I have never really invested a lot of money into make-up because living in Australia, things were just...too bloody expensive to be honest with you. Take a Clarins milk cleanser; a 400ml bottle can set you back about €23 in Germany whereas a smaller (200ml) bottle in Australia is around $40AUD (€30).

Another thing that is quite ridiculously priced are the Revlon Lip Butters. They retail for a whopping $21.95AUD which, for a drugstore lipstick is beyond ridiculous but what's more ridiculous is that the lip butters are the cheapest of the Revlon lipsticks.

So when I was in Singapore during a 3 hour transit on my way back to Germany I managed to pick up a few Revlon Lip Butters at the Singapore airport (as Revlon is not available in Germany).

(Tutti Frutti - Sweet Tart - Lollipop) 

Tutti Frutti 
After reading the reviews on this I was convinced that this would be the best suited for my skin tone but the orange on my lips was too orange and somehow made my skin look a little grey perhaps it's clashing too much with my skin. Maybe I can mix it with another lipstick colour to tone it down, it was a toss up between this one and "candy apple" so maybe I should have gotten that one instead??

Sweet Tart
A warm toned pink which is rather bright at first application and takes some time to get used (if you are not usually a bright lipstick wearer like myself) to but turns into a beautiful pink as it warms to the lips.

Lollipop
This is a cool toned pink/purple and of all the three, this one suited me the most. Although it is not as sheer as some of the other lip butters it does wear off easily, and when it does, it tends to noticeably settle within the lines of my lips.


Where: Singapore Changi airport, Watson ($9.30SG for 15ml)