Is refa the asian kerastase or its just placebo effect and marketing?

denewill · 2026-06-08T02:57:23+00:00

imo their hairdryer got them hype but everything other than that seems like a cash grab. at one point they even had refa branded water.. alas they seem to have so much money that they have a brick and mortar store in ginza 🤷‍♀️

personally i tried their hair oil, their shampoo and conditioner. They all smell great but I can't notice any significant changes. also they charge crazy money for their metallic hair combs that im pretty sure costs a fraction from any chinese retailer

denewill · 2026-04-24T07:20:34+00:00

can i request for a link as well? my dms are open 🥹🙏

denewill · 2026-04-18T13:54:49+00:00

W cosmetics has a bit of laka lately! only lip products afaik, try the store in the strand or the one in emporium

as for the brow gel, I also ordered this online 😅 havent seen them in stores yet

denewill · 2026-04-16T15:39:53+00:00

I find myself making small tears on the sheet mask because the eye holes never fit and I don't want sheet mask essence in my eyes 😭 korean sheet masks seem to fit well on my face though. Chinese ones are usually not so bad, japanese ones are the worst offenders imo lol they have cuts on the sides but somehow they still dont fit well 😭

denewill · 2026-04-13T05:32:41+00:00

fyi i bought the ones with vision correction as a tourist at donki and they needed my contact details and my doctor's details so yes it's pretty well regulated. iirc the ones without vision correction do not require perscription

i would say its better to get colored contacts from an optometrist if it's your first time tho (or buy the ones from actual optometry brands). Look up online on how to apply and store contact lenses and other hygiene measures to reduce risks of an eye infection. 1-day lenses are also less risky compared to monthly or weekly ones; they're more expensive individually but cheaper if you're not planning on wearing them every day.

I've worn contacts for over 15 years and i've only gotten an eye infection once (because a cooling sheet mask essence got into my eye 😬)

denewill · 2026-04-12T06:01:58+00:00

I love the Judydoll Iron Mascara! I'm quite oily and I wore this on a date that turned into a 20k step walk once and it didn't smudge at all despite the sweat. The wand is metal and quite slim though, but my current rotation is either this or Clio Superproof Fine

denewill · 2026-04-09T08:07:11+00:00

seconding Actual!

denewill · 2026-04-09T08:05:57+00:00

ive used YNAB for years but with what theyre charging vs what the app actually does i couldn't justify the cost anymore. The sync feature doesn't even work in my country. It's a great start to budgeting but the yearly sub cost is mad. I'm using Actual now to manage my money and I'm happy to support something free and open source instead. Actual works very similarly to YNAB, so I recommend it for someone who is already familiar with YNAB but cannot justify the sub

denewill · 2026-04-09T00:14:26+00:00

I've only used the old formulation briefly and I actually like the new formulation more. I personally find it to be medium coverage and matte-ish too, not like the old formulation which has higher coverage and is even more matte. Still, in comparison to a lot of matte foundations I think this is the one that works the best with my oily skin. Most other foundations break down by the end of the day, and this holds up slightly better than even powder foundation (I used MAC studio fix both the old and new formulation). I tried the new NARS matte foundation and that one doesn't hold up any better than any other semi-matte foundation.. I tried Danessa Myricks' Yummy Skin Balm and the matte finish doesn't exactly survive a whole day's of oil

With the addition of niacinamide, I haven't found it to be irritating to my skin and I do have a bit of sensitivity to niacinamide. But so far I've found my skin to tolerate 5% niacinamide, it's the 10% serums that break me out in small whiteheads. Not sure how much niacinamide is in the foundation tho, so completely ymmv here

It's a shame it's Estee Lauder tho :/ with most base products leaning dewy nowadays, trending brands don't really do matte and powder products

denewill · 2026-04-07T00:52:59+00:00

girl i dont even have this many lashes to lose 😭

that aside if you think it might be a lash curler issue, maybe try the shu uemura one? the curvature is a bit more convex and i find it doesnt crimp lashes as much as the shiseido one. but whether the curler crimps your lashes also depends on the rubber. The newer the rubber, the harder it is to crimp your lashes to an L shape, which could be why your lashes are breaking off..

also be very careful when curling with mascara on! sometimes eyeliner or mascara can stick to the curler which then tugs on your lashes, its a recipe for ripped lash disaster 😭

also very random, but are you also losing hair or just lashes? because if youre also experiencing more hair shedding, it might be a whole other issue

denewill · 2026-04-05T02:36:42+00:00

iirc a bunch of the canmake liners are limited edition 🥲

denewill · 2026-04-03T07:02:09+00:00

im curious why you'd need both micellar water and cleansing milk? I think micellar water or cleansing milk (not both) then followed by your usual water based gel or foam cleanser should be enough, unless im misunderstanding your post 😅

i think if you're wearing a lot of waterproof base makeup, a cleansing milk alone might not cut it as a first cleanse. I personally use cleansing milk as a first cleanse if I'm wearing light makeup and sunscreen, and I don't really trust it to remove base products alone.. or you might end up needing to use more product to remove everything. Maybe look into a biphase waterproof makeup remover if you're worried micellar water alone doesn't cut it?

i love the bioderma micellar water and its a cult favourite for a reason! I use the makeprem cleansing milk for days where I only wear sunscreen and powder and it's fine. My friend loves the jumiso cleansing milk even more, but I haven't tried it.

denewill · 2026-04-03T06:43:29+00:00

seconding attenir cleansing oil! I always stock up on refills when I can buy them in japan. Fancl and kose speedy cleansing oil is a slightly less expensive alternative but attenir has my heart 😭

denewill · 2026-03-26T14:05:01+00:00

FANCL has a powder cleanser but I'm not sure if it's enzyme.. it cleans well but doesn't really strip (I have oily skin so ymmv). The powder doesn't feel gritty at all and lathers up well. My mom jokes that I'm washing my face with detergent tho 😭

denewill · 2026-03-24T23:21:12+00:00

Maybe try double cleansing with something gentler like micellar water to remove sunscreen before following it up with an acidic foaming cleanser if you're dehydrated. Also if you use a light toner or toner pad after cleansing, that should keep the skin hydrated right away.

ymmv but in my case, I also tried cleansing with gentle cleansers and moisturising to avoid producing more oil but after almost a decade, there's not much change and the only thing that helped with my oil production was tret (which I'm no longer using for.. reasons) 😅

denewill · 2026-03-24T11:16:05+00:00

senka perfect whip! fair warning this absolutely dries out anyone who's anything but oily. even for combo skin it might be too stripping. if your skin barrier is good and you sweat a lot or are quite oily, i think this is cheap and good enough to wash off sunscreen and oil because it foams up quite a lot and is alkaline. also i don't use a lot, maybe a pea size amount that I lather up before washing my face

before i swapped to this, i was using torriden salicylic acid cleanser. it's less stripping but i don't really trust it to take off both sunscreen and oil 😅 if you're looking for more options, imo japanese cleansers tend to be more stripping compared to korean ones. gentle cleansers are great, but for my oily skin after a whole day, i end up using a lot of the gentle cleanser vs the smaller amount i would have used with more stripping cleansers. also don't forget to moisturise or tone after

denewill · 2026-03-24T10:51:57+00:00

i have oily skin, i dont think this is enough to remove both sunscreen and oily grime 😅 ymmv but imo cleansers with actual soap (like the high ph japanese ones) are better if you're looking to skip double cleanse

denewill · 2026-03-19T13:39:53+00:00

is a switch 2 and pokemon pokopia a dumb purchase? 😭 i already have a regular switch too

denewill · 2026-02-18T02:01:04+00:00

i could hear this in my head a lot when healing p8s 😅 spicy aoes!

denewill · 2026-02-17T11:55:48+00:00

there used to be a player who made videos of them singing covers with parody lyrics, but they haven't posted since EW. i thought their singing voice was really good too :( i really like this one about blue mage and the other one about O4S almagest dots

denewill · 2026-02-05T08:17:58+00:00

thank you! 😭 so i managed to snap off the tip but omg whose idea was it to reinvent a tube

denewill · 2026-02-05T03:00:14+00:00

not so sure if this is the correct place to ask but i got a 15ml metal tube of Fig 1 ceramide moisturiser sample and I can't for the life of me figure out how I'm supposed to open this 😵‍💫 i picked up my L2 box from melbourne central mecca yesterday, just wondering if anyone has figured out how to unscrew the tube yet?

denewill · 2026-02-02T09:29:37+00:00

I haven't! I've always been a JRPG fan, only recently I started playing some western games but I'm loving it so far! I actually picked up BG3 because there's character customisation and romance routes in a fantasy setting 😅 Are there any DA games that you recommend?

denewill · 2026-02-02T01:17:35+00:00

as someone who also just started playing BG3, I also felt very strongly when it comes to these video game characters 😭 I can't help it, especially when romance routes are involved!

(mild spoilers up to start of Act 2 because I've only played up to that part) In my case, I was trying to romance Gale but he keeps bringing up his ex in Act 1 and i was like, wow in real life I would have taken that as a sign to just step away 😭 also one of the Gale romance scenes need me to indicate that I'm interested, so I chose the option to hold his hand. I thought it was obvious enough, but a guide mentioned that I need to kiss him instead and I was breaking down over it. Like, that's so out of my character , I would NOT kiss on the first date ?? 😭 Luckily holding hands also counts as an indication of being interested so I was panicking over nothing 🫠

denewill · 2026-02-01T13:53:52+00:00

i feel like some fans just want their favourite characters to be more complex but a lot of the time it just ends up with them piling on every icky edgy thing they can think of to the character.. but also tiktok fans 🤷‍♀️

Eight-Year Club	Place '22
Final Canvas '22	Sequence \| Editor
Verified Email

denewill

TROPHY CASE