Each Dashing Diva Magic Press PressOn gel nail takes just three seconds to put on or remove, which makes this the goto for timepressed women and special occasions.
Not everyone wants to wear nail colours or nail art all the time. Some people prefer short, clean nails. Also, some jobs – like that of a chef or nurse – do not allow fancy nails. And then there are some who can’t get a last-minute appointment at a nail salon.
This is why Dashing Diva’s Magic Press Press-On Gel-Manicures have become the solution for them. First, its paste-on gel nails come in many designs, from understated geometric patterns to delicate pastels with subtle nail art and crystal embellished ones.
Second, each design comes in a handy box with 30 tips in 12 sizes – narrower and shorter for a better fit for Asian nails. All of them are soft, curved and gelled, and come with a non-toxic adhesive that makes sticking them on as easy and quick as one-two-three, wherever and whenever you want – in the office, the car, even on the plane. With these artificial nails, a chipped or peeling nail can be replaced with another one in a jiffy.
Also included in each box: an alcohol pad to clean and prep nails; a mini nail file to shape or neaten; and a wooden stick to remove the press-ons after.
Dashing Diva has added eight new designs to its Mass line, six to its Petite line for kids, and three to its Pedicure line for its Spring collection. This brings the total number of designs to 169 across the brand’s six lines (Mass, Premium and Signature for fingernails, Pedicure and Premium Pedicure for toenails, and Petite); $16.90-$25.90 a box.
Matte 2.0
Chanel’s latest matte foundations, Le Teint Ultra Ultrawear Flawless Fluid Foundation, and Compact Foundation, are made with twoinone powder that diffuses and reflects light so complexions look radiant yet matte. $85 each – SW
Cheap and Darn Good
Product 1: $19.90 Tsubaki Premium Repair Mask makes even bleached hair five times softer and more manageable. And unlike most hair masks, it requires zero waiting time – rinse it off right after application.
Product 2: Senka Perfect Aqua Rich Luminous Moist Mask for skin is either $2 a sheet or $13.90 for a box of seven. It takes 15 minutes to moisturise skin for the whole day.
Make Sweat Work for, Not Against, You
Anessa was developed by Shiseido in 1992 as a specialised sunscreen brand. It was the first in the world to display the PA indication for UVA protection, and it created products for children and sensitive skin. Its latest is not a sunscreen, though it has UVA and UVB protection. Perfect BB Base Beauty Booster SPF50+/PA++++, resembling a tinted moisturiser, works with perspiration to make makeup look good all day. It has powders that absorb sweat and speed up evaporation to make you feel less sticky. It’s designed to bond with perspiration – liquid prevents the product from thinning and breaking down – so the more you perspire, the smoother the makeup, and the better the UV protection. In two shades, $30.90 each.
The Ingredient: Tranexamic Acid
A man-made amino acid, it is commonly used in surgery to prevent prolonged bleeding. It has also been used to treat chronic hives, from as far back as the ’70s. At the time, doctors noticed that the dark skin patches caused by melasma on patients with hives became lighter, and their skin smoother, when they were treated with tranexamic acid. So it was prescribed orally for melasma. It was later found that the amino acid also inhibits melanin production when applied directly on skin. Shiseido created its own version, m-tranexamic acid, in 2002 for its brightening skincare. Now, Skinceuticals uses tranexamic acid for its brightening serum, Discoloration Defense ($159). Kojic acid and niacinamide in the serum further reduce melanin production. Local aesthetic clinic, SW1 Clinic, also has a tranexamic acid + vitamin C serum, the oil-free SW1 White Plasma Whitening & Illuminating Serum ($104.86). – SW
