Okay, let me get this one thing out of the way first—this is quite honestly the literal opposite of what you think a dry shampoo is. In fact, I used it and was quite confident that somehow Tsubaki had royally messed up in labelling this as a dry shampoo because dry, it is absolutely NOT. It’s definitely not what I normally consider to be a dry shampoo, which was why I was so intrigued by it in the first place. I mean, why is a dry shampoo a liquid in a squeezy narrow-tipped bottle in the first place? 

Tsubaki Dry Shampoo Review

Yup. 

When you use this, it’s going to make your hair wet—and yes, it’s supposed to.

I don’t really know why, but my train of thought was somehow this was powder suspended in liquid that would absorb the oil. Hilariously OFF on that one girl, but you tried.
So How Do I Use Tsubaki Dry Shampoo?

After about twenty minutes, I went to brush my teeth and saw my hair in the mirror. 


I think it works surprisingly well—my gripe with regular dry shampoos and other hair refreshing hacks is I’m often left with a still itchy, now slightly gunky scalp. Gross. The gunk comes from the powder absorbing the oil and staying on the skin, btw. With this, I get a really nice cooling sensation on my scalp (thanks to the menthol) and just that alone seems to calm down any itching from accumulating oils. I’ve also noticed that even if I only use this once a week (which is about average, considering how often I wash my hair after working out) my scalp is way less prone to being hella itchy, which happens to me a lot more in the tropics.

I have few highlighters in my rotation, and one that I find I reach more and more for lately is this Highlighting Shimmer Powder ($32) by Eleanor Dorn. It's a gorgeous champagne/white gold highlight that is PERFECT for getting that super glowed up look. It comes in a neat little square compact with Eleanor's branding and logo embossed in gold on top. There's also a mirror in the compact, which makes it pretty ideal for travel.
The formula itself is SUPER pigmented - I always get compliments whenever I wear to this to work or do a look with it on my snapchat. It's just so, so glowy and flattering. It's also very soft too, but not so soft that it crumbles. I use all my highlighters with the Eleanor Dorn #19 brush (which I know I've posted about so many times on here) but it's just so perfect for the job!
My only gripe is that the pan is pretty small for a highlighter. The pan is the same size as the ones in the Australis AC On Tour powder contour palette, and is easily dwarfed by my other highlighters. The weight of the item is not listed on the packaging or on the website either, so I'm not sure of how much product is actually in the pan.

The other two highlighters here are The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer and MAC Perfect Topping. MLM is very, very close in colour - it's just a touch darker and more gold. It's also slightly less soft, but it's still pigmented enough to create a gorgeous glow. Perfect Topping is much more pink and is quite different, but I thought it would be good to show the differences anyway.
I'm actually really bummed that the highlighter is so small, because it would otherwise be pretty much a holy grail for me - I just see myself going through it far too quickly at a pricepoint I can't justify. It's definitely one of my more luxury items in my collection. It gets a solid 3.7 from me.

What are your favourite highlighters?

Lexie xx

rating scale
1 - Terrible: Negative effects on skin.
2 - Mediocre: No change in skin/claims not met.
3 - Average: Performs as expected.
4 - Good: Would repurchase unless I try something better. 
5 - Amazing: Meets trifecta of perfect packaging, formula, & cost.

If there’s a product category that still sometimes confuses me, it’s facial mists. As a whole, they can do a lot of things, depending on the different ingredients used in the formula. Some are literally just cans of mineralized water, while some claim to add extra hydration to your skin thanks to ingredients such as hyaluronic acid. At the end of the day, we can all agree on one thing: regardless of ingredients, a face mist is incredibly refreshing on a hot summer’s day.

The million dollar question is - is it actually doing anything?

This is a question that I asked myself when I decided to buy and use the Innisfree Green Tea Mist. Not gonna lie, what piqued my interest in this in the first place was seeing a woman buying an entire basketful of the travel-sized cans at an Innisfree store. I mean, if she liked them so much that she wanted to buy every single can on the shop floor, it has to be good - right?

Innisfree Green Tea Mist Review

When it comes to the best face mist, Korean brands definitely have some stellar offerings - which is why I picked this up after seeing that very happy customer with her basketful of sprays. First things first, there are actually two types of Green Tea Mist from Innisfree. There’s the original, which is the one I’m writing about today, and the Green Tea Mist [Micro]. The Micro version apparently has a much finer spray, but I haven’t had a chance to try it yet; every single store tester of it has been empty, plus it’s a little more expensive than the original Green Tea Mist. The original Green Tea Mist comes in two sizes - 150ml for at home, and 50ml for on the go*.

When it comes to how fine the mist is, I’m not entirely sold that the Micro version is even necessary - this Korean face mist spray is already very fine, which I really like. Literally, it’s so fine that you can’t even feel it until you touch your face and it’s very, very damp. Or until it runs into your eyes because you’ve sprayed too much without realizing… Ahem. 

As I said, the mist is very fine and comfortable on the skin - plus it dispenses using a continuous spray, rather than a traditional spritzer. Continuous spray is both a good and bad thing; it can be easy to go overboard and spray too much (something I've done a few times!) but it also ensures that the product is misted evenly over the skin.

I decided to add this to my routine right after the serum/treatment step, as a way to prep my skin for my all time fave hydrator, Hada Labo Lotion. What I really like about this mist is that you can feel it leave a moisturized slip on your skin - something a little heavier, a little more substantial than just water.

Innisfree Green Tea Mist Ingredients List:

Water, Propanediol, Butylene Glycol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, 1,2-Hexanediol, PPG-13-Decyltetradeceth-24, Glyceryl Caprylate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Disodium EDTA, Fragrance/Parfum, Menthoxypropanediol, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Panthenol

I imagine this slightly more moisturizing texture, compared to other facial mists, would probably make this great for using while traveling. Plus, the small version is only 50ml, making it perfect for slipping into your travel bag for on-the-go hydration.

The instructions on the can say that it can be used over makeup, but my skin naturally does that super dewy effect anyway because I’m oily af. This face mist definitely leaves a visible sheen of moisture on the skin - so if you’re looking for a face spray for glowing skin, this is the one for you! When it comes to using this face mist for oily skin, I would stick to using it for skincare rather than as a setting spray.

Is there anything that I didn’t like about it?

For a product that is supposed to be part of a “Green Tea” line, its mildly disappointing to say the least when you realize that Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract is the second to last ingredient. Just the labelling of “Green Tea Mist” evokes the idea of the mist being majority green tea, no? This is my problem with the entire Green Tea line from Innisfree, but that’s a post for another time.

I also didn’t really appreciate the super strong added fragrance to the mist, either. This same smell is added to the entire Innisfree Green Tea line, which is such a bummer because it almost feels like you can only use a few select products from the line, instead of actually using them cohesively. You get used to it eventually, but my Innisfree products are definitely the most (and I think only!) fragrance-added products in my routine.

Did it make a difference though? I’m honestly not sure. It’s definitely nice and moisturizing to use, I’ll give it that - but I’m not sure if I’ll be repurchasing it for a permanent spot in my routine. I will be doing some travelling close to the end of the year though, and I think this would be a really nice little spritz to have in my travel kit.

Are face mists even necessary?

All skin care products are only as good as their ingredients and formula. I personally don’t think that face mists are as a whole unnecessary, but it’s good to look at them with a critical eye. Realistically, sometimes there isn't much difference between a ‘facial mist’ and a toner - that’s right, some of them are literally just toners in a spritz bottle.

This isn’t a bad thing, by the way - decanting into a spray bottle is a great way to get the most out of some toners. The Naturie Hatomugi Skin Conditioner* comes to mind as a toner that works really, really well as a face mist DIY hack, thanks to it’s super lightweight texture. Face mists aren’t unnecessary, but I think it’s worth buying your own refillable spray bottle and seeing which products you already have that might be amazing as a facial mist!

There used to be at time when I didn’t feel at ease unless I had backups of all the skincare that I had. I would feel a tinge of anxiety if I used up a product completely, and I didn’t have at least one tube of it waiting in the wings

Face wash backup? Check. 

Serum backup? Check. 

Sheet mask backup? Check.

And so on and so on for basically everything that I deemed ABSOLUTELY necessary - which, let’s be real, was basically every step in my entire routine.

But lately, I’ve found it’s a complete and total hassle to keep up with my backups, so I’ve stopped buying them - and guess what? 

I’ve never been happier with my skincare routine. 

I’ve also switched to a mostly one out-one in method (basically, only buying replacements) and I find that my attitude to skincare is overall way better and way more positive, instead of always anxious about “having enough.” I do buy new things sometimes, but mainly out of curiosity. I won't deny that I buy new things from time to time, but they're typically things I don't already have. For example, I would literally never buy a new cleanser because I already have a really great first cleanser and second cleanser, but I would try something new like a Face Mist or a new Sleeping Pack. But even then - I'm not as drawn to new products as I used to be.

Something that I found really helped me ease into this was completely avoiding any online shopping. I stopped shopping online for a bunch of reasons, but the main one was that in a way, I was deliberately making it hard for myself to access skincare. If I decided that I fell in love with a serum that was only in stock once a month and took three weeks to get to me from Korea, I felt more compelled to buy multiples of it, just to make sure that I had enough in my personal stash. 

So why else don’t I buy backups anymore?

1. It makes skincare too expensive

It’s just too easy of a trap to fall into - you really really like a product, and decide that you absolutely MUST have it accessible to you at all times, in the form of multiple tubes of it. When I shopped like this, you would think I was doomsday prepping with all of my skincare.

I get it, you really like this product, but if you know it’s always going to be available at this certain place or store - do you really need to buy an extra two every time? It all adds up, and I realized buying doubles all the time was making my skincare routine very, very expensive. 

2. It’s practically hoarding behaviour.

When it comes to 99% of your skincare routine, you KNOW that you will always be able to get it, wherever you get it from. C’mon, don’t lie - it’s 2010, you can literally order anything you want with just a few taps on your phone. Hello, instant gratification!

These days, if something is hard to get ahold of, I literally don’t bother (I’m looking at you, su:m37 Rose Cleansing stick. Remember all the rumours about it being discontinued?) 

To this day, I have no idea if it actually is discontinued, but to be honest - I don’t care. 

Feeling like something is exclusive or scarce because it’s ‘hard’ to buy is what fed that annoying, anxious feeling whenever I actually finished anything - and the thing is, when it comes to skincare, feeling anxious about NOT having something just isn’t necessary and is honestly one of the last emotions that I want to associate with it. No more FOMO!

3. It’s wasteful.

There was a time when I had SO many backups of cleanser, that a few of them expired before I even got the chance to crack them open. Major waste of both my money AND everything that went into making them. I felt guilty for weeks! To be honest, seeing like 30+ different products in a single shelfie makes me feel awkward and slightly anxious - when you purchase a product, you're directly responsible for that packaging into recycling or landfill, if you don't reuse it. This is the feeling I get when I shop and as a result I really don't buy anything that I don't need!

I just feel like it's a really simple equation - if you can consume less, than you waste less. I also was feeling a greater appreciation for the products that I had, because I know that I chose them for how well they work for me. It's like that spark-joy thing in the KonMari method!


So, there you have it - the three reasons why I don't have backups/multiples. I get that it's a really big change and not necessarily something that a lot of people would do, but it works for me!

Did you notice any habits of yours change last year? Let me know in the comments!

A xx

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about travelling, it’s that a tiny carry-on sized cosmetic bag will go a LONG way to making you feel fresh and new after a flight, or even as an in-flight pick me up. They're my travel skincare essentials. I’ve put together a short list of my picks that I absolutely refuse to travel without, and I hope this is helpful to you too.

The In-Flight Routine

First, there’s no point trying to put moisturiser on over dirty skin. Just thinking about it squicks me out. The best way to clean your face in an airplane bathroom is with a cotton pad and some micellar water. That’s right, put away the baby wipes!

But, the 100ml limit…

My favourite travel bottles to use for bringing all of this on board are some airless pump ones that I scored at Daiso.

They come in 15ml and 30ml sizes, and I’ve never had an issue with something being too thick to come through the pump, plus anything under 30ml won’t be a problem going through airport security.

However, it’s absolutely worth sanitizing them after every use, even if you plan to refill it with the same product - my travel pump of moisturiser recently spoiled because I didn’t clean it between refills!

I usually clean them by filling them with rubbing alcohol, letting it sit for a day or so then pumping all of the alcohol out so it cleans all of the mechanisms of the pump and container, then it’s ready for my next trip!

Freshen Yo’ Face

The best travel-hack I’ve heard for micellar water is popping a few cotton pads in a ziplock bag and adding enough micellar water to saturate them - this is best done with a CLEAN ziplock bag, obvi.

Or depending on the airline you’re taking, your flight attendants might hand out some lush steamed towels just before takeoff. I’ve never asked for another one mid-flight, but if you ask nicely you might get lucky!

Sheet Mask!

A bonus step that I might do on a particularly long-haul flight is whip out a sheet mask to really add a moisture punch to my skin. I recommend doing this after the lights have gone out and when most people will be sleeping to reduce the funny looks that you might get (but if you’re ballsy then by all means, go ahead!)

Then Moisturize…

Because airplanes are such dry environments, it’s important that you add moisture to your skin and make sure to keep it there. I usually take both a hyaluronic acid lotion plus a thicker moisturiser to help lock all that moisture in my skin. If I don’t take these steps, my skin becomes both drier and oilier, and both combined is an absolutely disgusting feeling.

I’ve found that while I’m definitely genetically oily, keeping my skin at an optimum level of hydration dramatically helps with excess oiliness. I don’t bring any actives on the plane because my priority is keeping it clean and hydrated - skipping your regular treatments for one night won’t hurt, IMO.

Nourish Your Lips

I always find my lips become extremely dry, peeling messes on airplanes, so I never travel without a tube of Papaw Ointment. I know it’s basically glorified fruity Vaseline, but I much prefer the texture and smell of Papaw. I also really appreciate the fact that it comes in tubes, I really hate sticking my fingers in tubs! It’s also great for adding a light layer on top of your moisturiser to stop your skin from drying out, and I know some people like to put it in their noses to stop dry noses and nosebleeds from happening.

The Extras

These remaining ones aren’t necessarily skincare, but they will make your travels slightly more comfortable: toothbrush + toothpaste, wet wipes (absolutely not for your face!), and hand sanitizer. Just brushing your teeth goes such a long way to make you feel fresher, and honestly I would hate to be stuck with smelly breath after eating plane food with no way to get rid of it. Skin friendly anti-bacterial wet wipes are great for freshening up yourself and wiping down your tray table and arm rests.

Also… Do I really need to explain the purpose of hand sanitizer?

Another thing I’ll never travel without, but have never had to use it yet is a change of clothes in my carry-on. Let’s say you arrive at your hotel at 9am, but check-in isn’t until 3pm - you’ve got everything you need, right in your carry-on for a quick freshen up before you’re ready to head out and explore your new city. Or maybe you need it even earlier than that - an irritating seat mate accidentally spills her orange juice all over your lap…

In any case, packing a full, mini-sized set of skincare plus these handy extras are guaranteed to come in handy on the road.

Happy travelling, babes!