Beauty! Product reviews & new purchase

Recently, I've hardly written any beauty related posts, because, lets face it, I am in China, life is a little different right now, and, really, I haven't really tried anything new product-wise since I've been living here! Actually, I am still living out of the same suitcase I was living out of since the end of March! Still haven't received my household goods... I'm quickly running out of must-haves and am crossing my fingers we will get our shipment any day now!

As far as fashion goes, I keep meaning to make sure to have my camera with me, that way you can see why I haven't felt the need to run out and go shopping.. LOL! China has been good on the wallet in that respect.;) The 80s is alive & well here! Full body denim jumpsuits, crazy pattern matching, short jean shorts with thigh high socks and stilettos, shirts with English sayings that we can't quite figure out the meaning of (Chinglish at its best perhaps!). Its interesting to say the least. But, don't get me wrong, you still have Chinese girls that step out of cars and you can't help but look because they are dressed so well and look so glamorous! And then you have the 60 year old man I pass everyday on my way home from class, wearing the same green glittered shirt everyday, with the same message "Nobody seems to know how to shine the knob." Note to self: take more pictures.

But, really, there are some seriously adorable boutiques nearby that look very promising & I can't wait to visit.

Anyway, I DO have a couple of reviews for you.

First review is about MD Skincare's Correct and Perfect Spot Treatment.


I bought this at Ulta before I left for China. I was really looking for a spot treatment for the occasional breakout/blemish that did not use salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide. Salicylic acid does nothing for me, and the problem with BP is that I recently discovered I was (suddenly) by all appearances allergic to it. I decided to purchase MD Skincare's Correct and Perfect Spot Treatment because it is sulfur based and does not use SA or BP. I have discovered that sulfur treatments are much less drying and more gentle on skin than BP or SA treatments.

While I am not blown away by this product, I do feel that it does something - reduces blemishes as well as the amount of time a breakout will last. Compared to DDF's Benzoyl Peroxide Gel with Tea Tree Oil (which as far as I am concerned is completely amazing even though I am now allergic to it and can no longer use it), I think the DDF is a much more effective treatment, but believe that the MD Skincare Perfect & Correct Spot Treatment is a viable alternative especially if you are allergic to either BP or SA or those treatments are too harsh for you or otherwise just don't work. This sulfur treatment is very gentle on my skin, has not dried me out at all, and works, albeit not as fast or as well as the DDF BP Gel.

If you are not allergic to benzoyl peroxide and have problems with breakouts, whether it is occasional or more often, I personally found DDF Benzoyl Peroxide Gel with Tea Tree Oil as well as DDF Acne Pumice Scrub (also with BP) to be extremely effective in clearing up skin & maintaining clear skin. You do have to moisturize well and make sure to wear sunscreen when using products with BP.



I think you can be more sensitive to certain things at certain times in life, so as soon as my shipment arrives from the U.S. I am definitely going to re-try the DDF products I just recommended - I loved them that much, they were definitely clear-skin holy grail products for me, and I am hoping the allergy was just a passing sensitivity because of all the stress I had going on!

Pretty early on when I had first started blogging, I made a post raving about La Roche Posay Anthelios SX Daily Moisturizer with SPF 15, available at CVS. I had started using it a couple months before I blogged about it, and I just want to come back and say that I still believe everything I said in that review, & this daily moisturizer is still what I use everyday. Also, I am still on the SAME bottle I first bought - I have yet to run out despite using it everyday since January-ish.


If you are looking for a daily moisturizer with SPF, this one is amazing. I used it on a very sunny day while hiking the Great Wall for hours, and didn't turn the slightest bit pink.

And finally, my newest purchase. Before I left for China I bought the Foley + Corinna Disco City Clutch.

I thought it would be the perfect cross-body bag for traveling. While I love the bag, after a few weeks living in China I realized its just not big enough for everyday use. Its an awesome purse, totally adorable, but much better suited to a night out than for travel. It barely holds sunglasses, a cell phone, a couple lip glosses and a very small wallet if you are lucky.


I quickly realized that it wasn't well suited for the type of travel situations I wanted it for, so I began searching for another cross-body bag. I ended up purchasing a bag made by The Sak. It was the first time I had ever purchased this brand, generally speaking, its not really my style but for what I want the bag for, I think I made the right decision!

The Sak Silverlake Leather Flap ....yes, I have shorts on, which I BTW totally love, on sale right now for $30 at J.Crew.com - the 3 inch chinos, so much cuter than chino shorts I bought from there last year!


Back to the bag... quickly: I love it. The leather is really nice, very soft, comfy & not heavy, the bag is the perfect size, roomy but not too large, is well organized inside with a zippered pocket as well as two separate areas for other items, the outside has two pockets, and the flap itself has zippered pocket. If you are looking for a cross body bag for travel, this is an awesome bag!

OK now that I got those reviews out of the way, I can get started on my post about being scammed!

Hopefully some of this info is helpful to one of you!

Steph