Nothing excites me more than a new foundation release. Exactly a month ago, Shiseido released Synchro Skin Lasting Liquid Foundation, which is said to be a smart, modern matte, long-lasting foundation that synchronizes with each skin type.

When I heard that this foundation is matte, that is it! I was sold. I have not been using any Shiseido foundation for quite some time so I was not sure what differs this from the rest of the foundation clan within the brand. My last Shiseido foundation trial would be the Sheer and Perfect Foundation, which I like when I want a dewy, light coverage.

I have a love hate relationship with the bottle. I like that it is made from frosty glass bottle but it is so tall that it does not fit in my rotating organizer, to which I store all my foundation. Then there is this ombre cap. Yes it is pretty but I find myself constantly having problem matching the shape of the cap with the bottle lol. This is just my personal preference . I do like the higher nozzle tip placement as I can easily wipe the excess off after each use without the foundation leaking into the gap.

Now. The foundation itself are formulated with a technology called the Advanced Sensing Technology that is said to adapt to each skin and skin tone by recognizing the skin condition of the user. It smartly creates a dynamic synchronization with the skin, beautify it to give you a flawless natural look. It does not covers up your skin flaw but instead it draws out the skin’s natural vitality to reveal the natural beauty hidden underneath. This type of technology is not new in the market. When I first started using a 2-way power foundation more than 10 years ago, I was told the powder has the ability to adapt to the skin after a few minutes according to the blood flow and warmth of the face. Ever since then I have never heard of any brand or makeup product that does that. The Shiseido Synchro Skin Lasting Liquid Foundation would be the first after so many years!

I went for the hands-on workshop for this foundation launch as Shiseido wanted us to get the first hand try and to get our shade match. Why is this important? Well, it comes in 13 shades, which are broken down to three hues according to skin base. I have always been lucky with choosing the right foundation shade at the back of my hand as I am always matched with the lightest shade. For Shiseido foundation, I have been using their shade 100 Very Light Ivory and even that is slightly dark on my skin tone. So this time I went for Neutral 1. It looked fine at the workshop but outside? Admittedly it is too light on me LOL. Neutral 2 would suits me better. However I am not even a bit worried with light foundation. I always bronze and contour so I can easily balance it out with a bronzer . Issue solved!

Here is the Before and After. I was told that the foundation does not oxidize. I never quite believe that when it comes to foundation but I can safely tell you that this Shiseido Synchro Skin Lasting Liquid Foundation really does not oxidize at all. It is a medium coverage foundation, buildable to full coverage if you like. Now here comes the tricky part. The foundation looked sheer upon application. It does not seems to cover any of my skin flaw but when I took the below photo for the review, I was shocked. It is thick! Is my eyes doing some trick on me? I don’t know. That explains why I always end up with cakey makeup whenever I use this foundation. Hah! Mystery solved!

The foundation, as told by Shiseido during the workshop is best applied with fingers as the warmth from the fingers will melt the foundation down as you apply it so it goes on smoother and beautifully. Always start foundation application from the center of your face, smoothing towards the outer perimeter. That does not mean this foundation does not goes well with a brush or beauty blender. No. It works fine. Just use whichever method you like!

Synchro Skin Lasting Liquid Foundation also works well as concealer. I love it when brands came out with a foundation that doubles up as concealer. Some works, some don’t. This one works like a charm. The below Before and After photo as concealer is just a little foundation dab. I usually apply two thin layers as my dark eye circles are bad due to lack of sleep

The foundation and I had a love hate relationship. I have not been having luck with making it work for me for the first week. But that was purely my own mistake. I piled up too much so it was cakey! As I said before, it looked sheer on the skin at first. After a few minutes it is a different story. I keep on forgetting about the Advanced Sensing Technology that adapts to the skin condition. With this foundation, a little does goes a long way. You do not need much. It will intelligently transform to match with your skin. It is a semi-matte foundation so powder setting is not necessary for dry skin. If you have combination skin, you can always dust a little powder on the T-zone. I like to keep my skin matte all day long so I prefer to set it with powder.

Do I like the foundation now that I understand it better? That’s a yes! It is a foundation unlike others. I just have to bear in mind not to go too heavy handed. What appears on the mirror may not be the same in real. Did I mention the foundation will look even better when the face sebum peeks through a bit? Now you know

Disclaimer: Product was a press gift. This doesn’t affect my judgement in the review in any way.

The post Shiseido Synchro Skin Lasting Liquid Foundation: An Intelligent Foundation That Adapts To The Skin and Beautifies It appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona

No other brand than Shiseido that are with 140 years history of skin care innovation, with 20 years of research on skin immunity and conducted 400 formula trials that is able to came out with a pre-serum product named ULTIMUNE Power Infusing Concentrate. ULTIMUNE is the result and it now has 31 patents worldwide.

Shiseido ULTIMUNE is not just any topical skin care, it’s a new booster serum that supports the skin’s natural function to maximize its ability to fight against all skin damages. In short, ULTIMUNE is able to rejuvenate your skin’s immunity.

What is skin immunity?

Our body immune system defends us from any foreign invaders, so does the skin. Our skin too has its own immune system to fight against environmental aggressors, emotional stress and skin aging that wear down the skin’s strength in the long run. It’s simple to identify when the skin’s immune system is deteriorating. When the skin develops skin concerns that never seem to resolve no matter how you treat it, that is when your skin immunity is down.

A world first discovery

Shiseido spent 20 years researching on skin immunity. As of today, Shiseido remains the world’s first cosmetics brand focusing on study of Langerhans cells and successfully coming out with a complex that help to maintain the function of Langerhans cells. It is through these research that they found that the skin loses self-protecting ability with age. Shiseido then developed Ultimune Complex™ that directly approach and help the function of Langerhans cells that have been weakened by environmental factors, emotional stress and aging.

More on Langerhans cell

The Langerhans cell is the so-called commander-in-chief of the immune system in your body. The skin is the largest organ for a human as it is covering the entire body and it takes about 15% of the body weight, therefore the skin is also the first line of defense against any invading organisms that tries to enter into your body system. Langerhans cell is a rare cell, only found in the skin. It forms an intricate network covering the entire epidermis layer of the skin in order to detect foreign intruders from the outside and warning other cells to get ready for a fight with the immune functions. There are only 2-5% of all the cells in an epidermal layer are of the Langerhans variety. It is particularly indispensable.

How Shiseido ULTIMUNE help with skin immunity?

1. Smooth and supple skin – an indication that the skin is well recharged
2. Strong, trouble-resistant skin – shows that the skin’s natural power to fight against damage is working
3. Skin remains beautiful over time – indicating that the skin’s natural strength is maintaining its beauty

This is how the bottle looks like. I don’t have the real bottle with me so I’ll just have to make do with stock photo

Ingredients and scent description

Shiseido scientists had their attention to the astonishing power that keeps plants thriving regardless the external hazards. So they developed this unique botanical cocktail blend that includes Gingko Biloba Leaf Extract (a common anti-oxidant), Perilla and Wild Thyme (herbs from East and West), which are known for strong anti-bacteria properties. This cocktail blend of goodness is designed to maintain healthy looking skin surface.

The scent is green floral, both relaxing and energizing type of scent.

The post Beauty News: Shiseido ULTIMUNE Power Infusing Concentrate, world’s first pre-serum to rejuvenate natural skin immunity appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona

As I was composing my thoughts and gathering all the infos needed for this post, I feel content, relax and not forgetting to mention lazy. I partly blame it on the cloudy weather. There’s a pros and cons of working from home. One of it is not being able to dress up nicely and put on makeup. This might come as a surprise to you because I do put on makeup and sunscreen while working from home. If I don’t, I will just slather on a thick layer of sunscreen. Why? Because I’m on my notebook and I work under two fluorescent light the whole day.

No matter how high an SPF you use, there are tiny creases and furrows in the skin’s surface that until now, sun protection hasn’t been able to reach evenly. Shiseido managed to identified these little gaps between the layer of sun protection and the skin. It turns out covering every bit of the skin’s surface with sunscreen is surprisingly difficult to achieve. The solution? Shiseido’s patented leading edge UV protection technologies – SuperVeil-UV 360™.

Because the skin’s surface texture comes from its microscopic network of ridges and furrows, it can cause “gaps” in sunscreen application that will leave skin vulnerable and open to UV rays. What SuperVeil-UV 360™ technology do is to help to provide optimal sunscreen application over the skin’s intricate surface contours. Here’s a simple skin chart to help you understand better on how SuperVeil-UV 360™ can help to protect the skin surface from harmful UV rays.

ProfenseCEL™, a complex of Syzygium Jambos Leaf Extract, Sophora Angustifolia Root Extract and Saxifraga Sarmentosa extract found in Shiseido Suncare protection products as well as foundations. These concoction of ingredients is to help preventing wrinkles and spots by inhibiting UV-induced cellular damage, DNA damage and enzyme activity away from the skin.

I bet you already know this, Shiseido’s best-seller sunscreen protection product that is highly raved by everyone is none other than the Shiseido Perfect UV Protector SPF50+ PA++++. It is a water-resistant sun protection lotion, which means rain or sweat will not melt this sunscreen off and it provides reliable defense against UV rays as well as offering the skin advanced skincare benefits. This sunscren is formulated to suits both face and body and it is especially formulated for strong sunlight conditions like our Malaysia hot, sunny and humid weather.

You know how much I hate sticky-finishing sunscreen right? I suppose most of us do. Believe it or not, it is the main common reason why most people would not use sunscreen. No body can stand any kind of stickiness especially on the face. I’ve tested, rub, smell and swatch Shiseido Perfect UV Protector SPF50+ PA++++ and boy I was surprised. It is watery, quickly absorbed into the skin, finish off matte (yay!) and smell absolutely amazing. It may be white in color but fret not, the sunscreen goes on colorless on the skin. I actually swatched several time and I did not feel any stickiness or even tackiness on my hand thereafter. There and then I knew this will be great as makeup base. As it is water based, you can just remove it off with normal cleanser.

Did you managed to catch the Shiseido Volkswagen Beetle recently? They were making their rounds and the last stop is at Pavilion main entrance last weekend distributing Shiseido Perfect UV Protector SPF50+ PA++++

Have a great Thursday! It’s Fly-day tomorrow yay!

The post Shiseido Suncare now with SuperVeil-UV 360™ for an all around 360° sun protection appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona

Somewhere early or middle this year I redeemed a Shiseido The Perfect Whitening Kit 2013 from Isetan KLCC counter but I couldn’t recall where I get the info from. The only thing I remember is being excited about it and rushed to redeem the sample kit mainly because I was interested with the serum+ and of course the mask as well.

The Perfect Whitening Kit has been sitting in my stash drawer comfortably, up until a few days ago where I took it out while cleaning the drawer. I’ve ran out of whitening serum and this sample kit is just perfect :D. I give credit to counter brands that came out with such a nicely done and complete sample kit. This Shiseido one although comes in a simple cardboard leaftlet-like, at least they put in effort and not just giving the sample out as it is. I also managed to get this sample kit without any issue or whatsoever from the friendly BA. They are well aware of the sampling exercise and I was not badly treated at all eventhough I wasn’t buying anything.

On the cover is the star whitening serum from Shiseido which is the White Lucent Intensive Spot Targeting Serum+.

There is two main product included in the Shiseido The Perfect Whitening Kit 2013. Shiseido’s No. 1 Ultimate Whitening Pair – Intensive Spot Targeting Serum+ and Power Brightening Mask is said to be the ultimate pair for ultimately spotless white skin. Just like Shiseido’s tagline – Crush X Eject.

Shiseido gave out a generous 5ml tube of Intensive Spot Targeting Serum+ and a piece of Power Brightening Mask.

I’ve been using the Intensive Spot Targeting Serum+ for days now. It is so precious that I’m not using it as generous as I am on day to day basis. The serum is quite runny, doesn’t carry any heavy scent and not sticky after application. Before I started using the serum, my complexion was very dull. Maybe because I ran out of whitening / brightening serum that I wasn’t using any

Of all whitening serum I’ve used before, this particular one has got to be the fastest and powerful among all because the result was quite instant the next day. The only problem now is to fork out RM410 for a 30ml bottle *faint*

I remember Jennifer redeemed one as well. Perhaps she can refresh my mind on how we came about on the redemption :D…that if she recall

Kudos to brands that are generous in giving out sample kit whenever they want to focus a product or whenever they launched a new product because only through sampling new and existing users are able to try the product at the comfort of their home before buying. I’m a firm believer in trying before buying

The post Sampling Shiseido The Perfect Whitening Kit 2013 appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona