Product Review: ISANA Automatic Face Cleaning Brush

One small kid, several jobs, several blogs, lots of things to do in just 24 days. My mother always used to say that regardless how busy you are, you should never neglect your face. You better wake up at 5am twice the week to have a mask than spend one month or more completely neglecting yourself. I was not necessarily a well-behaved kid, listening to what my mother say, but her face was always good looking, regardless the age and the life hardships and illnesses she went through. 

In her memory, I am trying to keep up with my self-care, beauty rituals, either by using a face mask - twice the week, or by trying to get some treatments - once in a while - or practicing some healthy beauty tips. Of course nothing compares to the professional knowledge of a beauty practician, but as for now, my investments are better done in other areas therefore I am doing a lot of things by myself, using beauticians' advices and family lessons.

Face cleansing is very important as it is the basis of a healthy skin. It eliminates those dead cells and add a healthy touch to your face. I religiously remove my makeup every day, but in the last year I feel that I need some more serious treatment, which includes deep peeling and a treatment to add more vitality to my skin.

Therefore, when once I've seen ISANA Face Cleaning Brush, I decided to go for it in a second. As it costs under 15$ -  with batteries included - it does not include a high investment risk. It comes in a box, with a small bag to keep the product between uses, with three different brushes: silicon, normal and smooth. The product is small so it does not take too much storage space. The instruction booklet is written in a couple of languages - among which Hungarian, Turkish, German and Polish, but - unfortunatelly - no English. 

I am using it for already one month and very happy with the result. My skin looks healthier and I feel less guilty for not taking time off for my beauty routine. I have a small beauty parlor in my home and I can happily live with that.

The normal and silicone brush applies to all types of skin, while the smooth one is recommended for special types. I have a normal type of skin and I happily and successfully used the three of them. It works. The normal brush is recommended for intensive cleaning, the smooth one for gentle cleaning, while the silicon is good for peeling and deep cleaning. 

You can use it in several ways. Either on a wet skin or after using special face cleaning products, applied either directly on the brush or on the face. 

The automatic system has two speeds and a cycle lasts around 60 seconds. Every minutes it stops automatically. I personally used it for maximum 3 cycles. More than that it might provoke iritation or hurt. I've used it through circular movements on the cheeks, forehead, nase and chin. A couple of seconds - less than 30 - for each of this side is enough. 

After you are done, you can apply your usual daily creams. 

The brushes should be cleaned following every use and dried with a clean cloth. You need to be careful to not use it close to the eyes and, as in the case of all such products, keep them away from children. 

It is very easy to use - practically I do it early in the morning, with one hand, while the other hand is busy preparing the coffee and the breakfast. It makes it a good beauty care product for the time when too busy for scheduling an appointment at the beauty salon.  

Sephora arrived to Berlin!

When you spend a lot of time abroad and generally on the road, you get acquainted with great brands and products and you would love to have them at home too. One of my biggest frustrations of beauty shopping in Germany - I know, very first world problems - is that I couldn't shop from Sephora, the store I started to buy my make-up as a rebel teenager. Their products were maybe always a bit over my daily budget, but it was always a great investment. In Germany, you have Douglas which is very top notch, without the middle range offer aimed at middle class, young customers. It was something I was missing, and apparently not only me.

This year, everything changed as Sephora, the chain with 2,300 stores in 33 countries added Germany on their shopping map. In the last months, the 1969-founded French store, opened its stores in the Galeria Kaufhof stores from Munchen, Bonn, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf, big German cities with a high concentration of wealth, expat community and tourists. The latest add is the store in Alexanderplatz, inaugurated the 9th of November, considered the biggest in Germany.

The problem with Galeria Kaufhof in Alexanderplatz is that it is always very busy, and as the store is not independent, meaning part of the big hall hosting other beauty stores, it doesn't provide the best identity branding, if not for the typical brand name placed in various corners. What a connoisseur would know for sure though, is that you can find here brands not available in Germany before, such as Marc Jacobs Beauty, Too Faced, Becca and Huda Beauty, in addition to the products created by Sephora itself. 

If you are looking for the best presents, here is the best place to find excellent choices. This pinky agenda on the top is more than it shows: it hides a 2018 daily agenda, plus some gorgeous make-up sets. An excellent present for any modern woman!

My longest stop was at the colourful cute corner of the Korean House, with products that I will definitely be testing in the next months. 

Therefore, I can only welcome the newest Sephora store, looking forward to more awesome beauty opportunities, that I can't wait to share with my other modern women readers.

Everyday Ingredients of Mitomo Masks

In the last weeks, I continued testing a new batch of Mitomo masks. After experiencing the positive effects of some very special ingredients, like horse oil, for instance, or the face sheets with hyaluron or other basic ingredients that are becoming so popular lately, this time most of the products included everyday substances.

A special note on the design of each package: as a regular user of beauty products, especially face masks, I noticed a stereotypical disregard to the way in which the masks are presented. In Europe you have generally some glowing woman face smiling from a shining package where you have a lot of written details about the products. This batch of masks from Mitomo, do have a lot of written details too, but inserted among well chosen inspired images of the ingredients. It is not only about entincing the customer to buy it, but offering a product tailored according to the highest quality standards.

Back to my experience with the masks now. This time, I decided to use them at the beginning of the day, as I started to have very early mornings due to the shortening of the light hours. Shortly before being awake, I decided to start applying a mask while for the next 20 minutes I keep myself busy checking the latest social media updates and planning the rest of the day. It was my own meditation moment to open the morning. 

Each of the sheet has 25 gr. and is heavily soaked into liquid. It works for all skin types and I personally did not experience any negative effects. As usual, the masks were kept in the fridge overnight, for a refreshing effect in addition to the nourishing.

I started with Camellia Essence Mask, using camellia flower, an ingredient of the Japanese cuisine or drinks. What I did not know is that there is camellia oil which is rich in vitamins such as A, B, D and E or nourishing Omega 3, 6 and 9, having a higher concentration of antioxidants than almost any other botanically derived oil.

The green tea doesn't neet too much introduction as an excellent product for both the food and beauty industry. As a face mask, it has a deep cleansing effect, eliminating any blemishes or rashes and red spots. After applying the Green Tea Essence Mask, the skin looked well hydrated and youthful, ready to cope with an overwhelming busy day.

The Rice Leaven Essence Mask may smell a little bit compared to the previous too which are fragrance free, but this highly moistured sheet mask is the perfect antidote to a tired face. After 30 minutes of applying it - I wanted to treat my face with an extra 10 minutes of morning care - the good nutrition mix of ingredients - rice protein, SOD, beta glucon, Vitamin B, among many others - my face went through a radical lift and it looked perfectly rested. 

Another good remedy for a tired skin was the Soy Bean Essence Mask, as soy has amazing natural effects, reducing irritation, improving considerably the skin texture, building the useful resources of collagen and fighting efficiently the damage produced by sun. 

Many of the masks do have, besides the beautifying effect, clear healing and skin care effects. By using face sheets, the chances of increasing the efficiency of the product, as the substance stays longer on the skin are higher. The Tea Tree Essence Mask by Mitomo is recommended especially if you are trying to offer a special protection to your skin. The tea tree has antiseptic and anti-fungal benefits, reducing the risk and effects of infection. It helps considerably against skin infections, burns or rashes and it is recommended to use it especially during the summer when some of us might forget the use a proper skin cream. It has a smooth Tiger balm smell but it worked perfectly deep into the skin tissues and my face looked regenerated and fresh, after only 20 minutes.

The most exotic ingredient of this batch of masks is Sake Essence Mask. I am not a big fan of sake drink, but I may acknowledge its benefits for the skin, such as moisturizing - due to the high concentration of glycerol and amino acids. What I did not know either is that you can also add some drops of sake to your bath water, with a better moisturizing and heat-retention effects. At least I have one more serious reason to reconsider my opinions on sake.

Meanwhile, my next batch of Mitomo masks are quietly waiting in my fridge to be tested in the next days. Stay tunned for more reviews!

Disclaimer: Masks offered generously by Mitomo to test, but opinions are, as usual, my own

Skin spa from L'Oréal

Source: L'Oréal

I haven't tried too many skin oils because I just prefer to use the right product at the right moment. Right now, after three weeks spent in a relatively polluted part of the world and with a different temperature heights I am back to the chilly yet hot once in a while climate of Berlin. The first victim of such changes is the skin and thus, decided that I should pay more attention and care to it.

Thus, my decision to give my skin a spa for a week with Luxurious oils from L'Oréal Paris. It is available in Germany at any Douglas or Rossmann store, for prices starting with 15 EUR. I used 5 drops each time, in the morning and for the night. The recommendation is to use less for the day, but somehow I decided that I need more soothening. I applied the oil on the entire skin, plus the neck. In the evening treatment, I did a bit of extra massage. 

The overall experience was from good to excellent. It is well absorbed by the skin and I haven't developed any allergy. The skin looked revigorated and shining. The first minutes after applying, the skin is a bit too greasy, but maybe I was too excited about the products and overdid the recommended dosis.

L'Oréal aimed to offer a real spa feeling to the skin, with a mixture of many fragrances among which: olive fruit oil, jojoba seed oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, rosemary, cucumber fruit extract, turmeric root extract, jasmine extract, orange peel, lemon. Unfortunately, the predominant fragrance is lavender, which I fancy the least, so for me, was not the happiest olphactive experience.

The general impression about this product is very good, with a good value for money and visible effects on skin. Recommended, especially if you like the lavender smell.

Beauty review: In Dusch Body Milk with Honey by Nivea

Source: www.nivea.de

I used to be a big fan of Nivea products a couple of years back as our holiday house was close to a factory of the company and as kids, we used to spy a lot around the premices, trying to imagine how to beauty creams are made. I especially liked their hand creams and skin care products, but once in a while I also liked to try their shower creams.

A couple of days ago I discovered a lot of samples of In Dusch Body Milk with Honey and decided to test it for 3 days. 

What I really like about it is that are made for busy people. My shower ritual is to apply the shower gel and after drying to use my special body milk but this takes time usually. With this body milk, after you use the shower gel, with the skin wet, you apply it and keep showering and dry the body. 

I used a 10 ml. sample every time and it was enough. It is free of silicone and artificial substances. It has a strong smell of honey and milk, but on the skin it goes as a natural fragrance. After using it twice for almost a week, the skin looks smooth and fine at touch. It works for both normal - my skin - and dry.

As there are many more In Dusch products, most probably will be tempted to try more samples soon.

In Germany, it is available for 4.49 Euro in most Rossmann and DM stores.