Review:Little Twin Stars X Sophie Monk Body Lotion (Whitening)

My recent holiday in Sunny Malaysia left my skin ravaged by the merciless sun. This, of course led to a frenzied trip to the pharmacy in search of remedies.

I spotted this adorable tube (together with the Mentholatham Whitening Hand Veil, which I will review later), and, tossed it, albeit unceremoniously, into my shopping basket at the pharmacy.

Little Twin Stars X Sophie Monk Body Lotion (Whitening)

 Needless to say, I was attracted to the packaging, but more importantly, printed on the tube, loosely translated from Chinese, was  "diamond brightening whitening body lotion".  The ingredient list also stated goodies like sodium hyaluronate, diamond extract, and tourmaline extract as the first 3 ingredients. The lotion claims to 'nourish, hydrate, soften, refine, smooth, and prevent dryness' Just what my poor skin was in dire need of.

But did it deliver? Let's see!

Pros:
-Left skin smooth, well hydrated and protected, even throughout the next day. My dry, cracked feet, interestingly, showed no signs of dryness even after a day of walking in slippers.
-Skin feels visibly softer. Again, attested to by my horribly neglected feet. Soles were visibly softer, and dry skin on the foot came off easily with scrubbing. Cuticles look less ravaged.
- Patchiness on toes and elbow areas from sun exposure are also almost gone with about a week's worth of daily use.
-Non irritating (for my finicky skin, at least)

Cons:
-Can take awhile to absorb. But no biggie if you apply less and add more only where needed. Once absorbed, skin does not feel oily any more.
-Whitening effect not pronounced. I did see fading of the patchiness due to sun exposure, but the less 'damaged' areas didn't seem to fade as fast. Maybe it needs a little more time to work. Ok, I am being impatient, it's only a week...
-Lacks SPF

Verdict:
I am in two minds about repurchasing this. Definitely, pocket friendly- I found this retailing at around SGD5 when it was on discount. It works well enough that I would want to keep it in my arsenal of body lotions. My   only real gripe would be that it lacks SPF--which means that I have to layer on another SPF product if I were to use it during the day. The hot, humid tropical weather in Singapore does not bode well for layering of products. Perhaps I will reserve this product for night time use, and use my faithful Nivea for daytime.

*Yes, I do know this is not a new product, but I thought I would review it since I didn't find many reviews for this little gem.

More coming up soon. Till then, take care, my beauties!