Maiko Oil Blotting Sheets

*Scheduled post

So, my awesome mom picked up some more blotting sheets for me to try (after she saw my post on the blotting sheets before.. haha! isn't she so cute?).

Here's my thoughts on one of the 3 that she bought for me...

She bought these at Marukai (I believe), kind of like Mitsuwa but with a membership.

Overall packaging... comes in a plastic sleeve. My mom wrote the price, haha! She's so cute x3

$4.38 for a pack of 100, not bad!

Front of the package.. cute :)

The whole packet comes in a little plastic jewel case, kinda like a CD.

The writing on the back, for those of you who can read. I can't read it either, so don't worry! LOL.

I think every 10 sheets is separated by a white sheet.

One of the actual blotting sheets.

My face felt SUPER oily this morning... I didn't use any skincare/moisturizers before I slept (just toner) because my luggage was still in the car.. and it was cold.. and I was tired. Haha. Anywayyy, so it took just about 3 sheets for my face to feel "normal". I don't know if this is a typical result since I wasn't using my normal skincare, but, hey! They do work.

PRICE: Unit pricing is a little over $.04 per sheet! That's pretty darn good :)

EFFECTIVENESS: They work well. I imagine using about 2 sheets per time I use them, even on a good day, but then again I have super oily skin.

PACKAGING: Very good! I don't know if I would carry it around in the plastic "CD" case with me all the time, but it's a nice touch.

OVERALL: They work (obviously) BUT don't go out of your way to find them.

Tatcha Aburatorigami (review)

A couple months ago, I was lucky enough to win a packet of TATCHA Aburatorigami from Phyllis over at MakeUpForLife.

I've always preferred using Japanese-brand blotting sheets because it just seems to work the best for me. I've given a few a try.. some by NuSkin (which work pretty well, but is kind of hard to get a hold of).. Shiseido (sent to me as a gift).. and the CVS brand ones (equal to clean and clear??) that seem so popular.

If I had to rank them by how well they worked, I'd probably say Tatcha/misc Japanese brands, NuSkin, CVS, then Shiseido. But hey, my face is a total oil slick ;P

I took pics of the sheet as I used it (prepare to be grossed out--possibly--the bf was grossed out when I was taking pics of it and asked why in the world people would want to see a used blotting sheet, hahahah). I've been meaning to do a comparison but I kept forgetting! Sorry! So you'll just have to wait... maybe I'll post more of these things as I go ;) haha.

The unused sheet.. yes, it has little gold flecks in it (supposedly helps with the blotting powers). The other misc Japanese brands I've tried also have this quality--

Whoops. Found the little packet. The brand is called Hiyori and the sheets have more of a gold/beige tone to it, so maybe the gold is more ingrained in it. I happen to have the purple pack--I don't know what the differences are (gah! need to up my Japanese-reading-skills!). I bought mine in JP for 500YEN in Kamakura, if you were wondering -- but I'm sure they can be found all over JP.

Just the nose and around the nose area...

Getting in the forehead area

All done blotting, and the sheet is almost entirely translucent! Ugh! ;P

PRICE-WISE
The price may be a little steep.. $12 for a packet of 30, or $30 for a packet of 90 (technically 3 packs). That works out to be either $0.40 each or $0.33 each. But hey, they always have free shipping! And if you're into appearances, the packet is quite cute in my opinion... and the sheets themselves look the most luxurious. If you're impatient with waiting for shipping, you just might be lucky enough to have a retailer near you that sells them -- they have a list of retailers on their website.

CVS is $5.99 (at drugstore.com) for 50 sheets = $0.12/ea

Shiseido comes in at $17.00 for 100 sheets = $0.17/ea

And.... of course I can't find a price for the NuSkin ones (sorry!) = N/A

Hyori comes in at 500YEN for... gah, no idea how many. It doesn't say on the package!

However... I think you get what you pay for!

It seems like the CVS ones work their best in really oily spots... because whenever I blot, it seems to work in patches. Shiseido.. I don't know. It just doesn't really seem to work for me; I use them and still feel a little slick; maybe it's a mental thing because I don't see the oil on the sheet after I blot. I remember the NuSkin ones working well but of course I can't find those anywhere (hey mom! I know you're reading this.. go buy me some more NuSkin blotting sheets! haha).

And you can SEE how well the Tatcha ones work!

The Hyori ones work well but hey, they're located in Japan and their website isn't exactly English-customer-friendly. I'm not sure if any websites like SaSa/etc carry them, but I can't seem to find them... especially since Hyori is also a popular Korean singer/actress, haha! Maybe if you had a hook up in Asia (specifically Japan), you could get your hands on some. But, I also remember them not being cheap either.... quality, man! Quality!

REPURCHASE?

If I had a few extra bucks laying around, I would definitely shell them out to get me another few packets of TATCHA Aburatorigami!

However... if you're on a budget, the CVS ones will work just as well, perhaps you just have to be more patient than I am xD I hear SaSa carries a grapefruit scented Clean and Clear one -- check out Mayaari's blogpost for more info! I found my C&C blot sheets at my local CVS (buuuuut I did snag the CVS brand ones... because if I spent $10 in CVS products, I would get $3 ECB... hahaha). Thooouuuugh I hear they're quite popular, so you may have trouble finding them, haha.

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I wanted to take a second and thank all of you lovely readers ^__^ I noticed I just broke 200! Thank you thank you! I'm waiting to get a little bit of money, but I do want to have a series of small giveaways. I'm thinking they're going to be more existing-comment based (aka to the LOYAL readers)... I know there are people out there who just follow people in hopes of gaining readers themselves.. and people who comment on giveaways just to get free stuff--!

Anyway.. to you loyal readers/commenters.. thank you! Keep your eye out for the details in my future posts (; I doooo like observant people!

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Disclaimer; TATCHA sent me this packet for my own use, expecting no review or anything. I won it through a contest from another website (MakeUpForLife.Net) who also has no expectations of a review. These comments are my honest opinion.