Same Same But Different?

Remember when I said that the Konjac sponges might come in different densities? Well, I'd just like to illustrate that with the 2 sponges from 2 different brands.

From Left: Dry Charcoal Konjac Sponge (Pink Package from Watsons)
& a moist Aloe Konjac Sponge (Konjac Care; Star King from SaSa)

The Charcoal Sponge is completely dried up like a prune in the above photo, but when moist it will expand to the same size as the Star King Aloe Sponge and look like this:



From Left: Moist Charcoal Konjac Sponge & moist Aloe Konjac Sponge

 

If you can tell, the Charcoal Sponge is slightly more porous than the Aloe Sponge. I'm not sure if it's because of the additional 'ingredients' that make the Aloe Sponge feel firmer and more spongy. It also doesn't give the 'omg so clean but so hydrated' feeling that the Charcoal Sponge imparts. Visually, it looks like the net-like structure of the konjac fibers is more concentrated on the Aloe Sponge thus the less 'contour-friendly' feeling.

 

I haven't opened the other sponges yet but I believe that the ones with additives (tomato, cucumber etc) from Star King are all of the firmer variety. Personally, the softer Charcoal Konjac sponge appeals to me more for the texture and the cleaner, more hydrated feeling. Just a little comparison for your reference~ =)

If you noticed, I received 2 Yamamoto Farm Konjac Sponges at the Watsons sale from my Collagen box sets, very lucky 'cos I was about to buy them online~ The sponges I have been using are made in China but I've been looking to get the Japanese ones for comparison. ^^

Have you tried the Konjac sponges from different countries yet? How do they measure up against each other?

Lazy Lazy Lazy Day Out...

Dropped by Luxola for the Edward Bess Open House last week...since it was just a quick run downtown I couldn't be bothered to dress properly..yes LAZY I know~ So I decided to go for a pyjama look, not too far from the truth since I got up quite late that day =P

The Husband was kind enough to drive me down and sat quietly through the session while I ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the makeup~



heart-shaped shadow in the car~


This was one of the few times I tied my hair. I have a big face so I ALWAYS want my hair down to hide it but...it's been SO HOT this couple of days I did a side ponytail with my new hair-thingy from H&M =)



Pyramid studs! I LOVE STUDS!!

One Great Thing in a Little Squishy Package~

Ever thought that you could actually get by WITHOUT cleansers? No more foaming soaps, gels, milks or creams? As it turns out, you can. Well, almost anyway. If you wear makeup regularly, you'll still need your usual makeup removers + cleansers to completely clean up but in all other situations, this sponge will do the trick!

Konjac Sponge Specimen A - Looks like a rock but cleanses oh so gently~

This is~~~ A Konjac Sponge~

You may have heard of Konjac sponges some time ago (maybe a year or two?) when it first swept through the beauty market but the hype died down quite soon and I've not heard much of it since. This is very common in Japan (and I'm sure in Korea and China as well) and retails for a few hundred yen at Matsumoto Kiyoshi. I regret not picking this up when it was always in my face. I'd put it down as pure hype then, an unfortunate characteristic of many Japanese beauty products.

Why Edward Bess, what a nice Glow you have!

I was browsing Luxola last week~~ Luxola, by the way, is an online cosmetics and skincare store that stocks the likes of Dr Jart, Estelle & Thild, Korres, Edward Bess and Petronille Cosmeceuticals just to name a few. They were having a pretty sweet 25% store-wide discount just before the weekend and I had to grab something. Something, anything. Com'on it was 25%!

Needless to say:

I once told a friend that I am my own best enabler *sigh* so true..