Monday, February 27, 2012

Skinfood Red Orange Sun Pact SPF 50+ PA +++

For some reason, I just adore SkinFood’s red orange series. The combination of orange and rose-gold colored packaging is just appealing! Plus… it has SPF of 50 and PA+++. Good for me! Red orange series feature regular powder compact, facial spray and gel textured BB cream (which I also purchased, but haven’t tried).




I adore the outer design, and also the inner design! The compact features large mirror and puff anddd…. A plastic layer (not that flimsy film, but window-like clear hard plastic) to separate the puff and the powder. Ahh… hygiene comes first when it goes to powders! I love love love this design!


Skinfood says this clear pact (means compact powder, really) will give me bright and lively skin, plus it has sebum absorbing property. Okay… this powder is not really clear- I have to blend properly if I don’t want to look ashy and powdery. So, absolutely not for deeper toned beauties! And dry, flaky skin patch, beware! This will accentuate those pesky flaky, dry patches! It has ultra light orange scent-nothing too strong. I can only detect the scent if I sniff the powder compact very closely.
I used this as touch-up powder in the middle of the day, and need to blot and re-apply after appox 2hours. i say this compact doesnt give oil control as much as i wanted it to.

bottomline...
i dont like this as much-excecpt for the genius compact design. the powder is too bright at times, and  it doesnt control oily skin as much. this, might be treasure for very fair ladies with normal skin.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Etude House Wannabe Perfumed Syrup Nails


Part of the lovely and chic Wannabe collection from winter 2011! To be honest, the whole Wannabe theme made me purchased this one. If they were sold as single polish-I wont be so interested in these!

From Wannabe collection, I also got the Style Making Kit make up palette, Lipsticks and Lumiball Highlighter.

The kit come with 3 matchy polish- glam pearl (for base color), sparkling silver (middle color) and bling bling rose (tip color). This set is meant to make the famous gradation style nail color. Very easy to use and make!


All three colors are has clear base. Glam Pearl has clear base with hologram tiny glitter and silvery-pearly shimmer. Sparkling Silver is silver glitter with round rose gold big glitter suspended in clear base. Bling Bling Rose is silver glitter and medium silver hologram glitter in blue-pink clear base. I don’t think these are available as single polish in Etude’s permanent collection


I made these nails by applying Glam Pearl all over my nail, then Sparkling Silver in the middle-top part of my nails and Bling Bling Rose on tips of my nails. No need to be very precise like making French manicures here- the base colors and glitters blend nicely to make pretty gradation effect. Top coat is necessary to make my nails feel smooth without glitter particles poking out. 

I adore the girly-breezy look it created on my nails…


Drying time is average, nothing to shout about. Too bad these chipped easily-even with my favorite Poshe base and Seche top coat! On 1st day of use, I can see chips already-even though not so visible-as the whole clear glitter thing makes it look normal. 

I don’t get the ‘perfumed’ part though… I can smell sweetish scent, but very vague. And I cant say I like this ‘perfume ‘ so much…

Bottomline…
Nice kit for those lazy days. Unfortunately, it chipped so easily. If you can get it at retail-it is worth it, but not if you need to pay jacked up prices.

Banila co. Very Kissy Lip Plump in Envy


Banila co. is Korean brand- I’ve stalked this brand for its always chic seasonal make up collections. When I finally manage to purchase some products from Banila co., I grabbed this one along. 

I’m not sure from which seasonal release is this gloss (or is it part of their permanent collection?). Banila seems to have a few lips plumping product. Very Kissy is in gloss form.


Envy is blue toned clear pink with silver and gold fine glitter. Swatched on my hand, this appear like a normal clear gloss with silver and gold shimmer. Not very disco-ball, but still shimmery. Applied on lips, it looks clear and glossy-the shimmer is not really visible unless I looked closely. 

I can say this gloss is pretty heavily scented – sweetened fruit scent. When applied, it gives tingling feeling on lips- feels like mint flavored lipgloss, only much stronger tingle. It does have light minty flavor, but nothing to make me want lick my lips all the time. Kinda surprising, Since the fragrance is sweetened fruits, I was expecting sweet taste.




Even though it looks like a clear gloss, it does give my lips stained look after a while. Magenta-pink kind of stain, very subtle, but I noticed it right away. This lip swatch is taken after 1-2 hour wearing the gloss…see the difference in color. It is not as glossy actually, since I just realize the color change (and took picture subsequently) when I re apply the gloss after all my snacks and tea sipping. 



Bottomline,
Definitely not for sensitive lips- it is heavily fragranced and stings a little. For me, it is not very worth it- as it doesn’t plump my lips very much.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

SkinFood – Good Afternoon Peach Green Tea BB cream SPF20 PA+ in #2

I love tea and I love mattifying, oil controlling creams and powders! This one has both! Perfect!
Skinfood is Korean brand I adore for its natural-themed products & packaging. This BB cream is one of their extensive Good Afternoon series: Berry Berry for skin revitalizing, Apple cinnamon for brightening, rose lemon for hydration, peach green tea for mattifying and oil controlling and honey black tea for moisturizing and glow. 

Each type of cream comes in two shades: 1 Light beige and 2 Natural Beige. As you can see in my swatch, even the natural beige is pretty light. I don’t think this will suit darker skin toned ladies. Coverage is medium, the creamy BB blends nicely on my skin. I usually use my bb cream as foundation-after moisturizer and before make up.
It has slight fruity-apricot scent. Very light, it pretty much disappears after application.  My skin does look wonderfully fresh and matte after application- the coverage is medium-light on me. It stays fresh and i only need to blot my T zone after 3- 4 hours, that's slighty less frequent than my usual blotting.

bottomline...
Wonderful addition to my BB cream collection, I do think this purchase is money well spent. it might not be suitable for those with dry skin and surely wont be suitable for those with deeper skin tone.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Therapind Oil Bar

Lip balm is the last thing on my mind when I spotted this in Sasa Taipei. It thought it is some kind of aromatherapy solid fragrance or massage bar. After some research in the internet, I just realized, I picked up a lip balm!







I liked the packaging-very pretty! The blue one I picked (recalled a few other colors), has minty flavor and scent. It glides easily on my lips and leaves fresh minty-tingle feeling. Too bad, it is not very moisturizing and I have to re apply every hour or so.
Bottomline… I wont purchase any of these again. Prefer my eos lipbalm…

Etude House – Wannabe Color Lips in #3 So Chic Beige & #2 So Hot Pink

Cant deny it… the main reason I got this lippie is that pretty illustration by Annika Wester and the cute pink Eiffel tower in the matte black tube! These lippies are part of Wannabe collection –released for winter 2011, this collection is pretty extensive - includes Lumi-Ball (highlighter, reviewed here), face palette, nail polish set and many more.
I wont go about too much on the packaging. It is pretty and cute. I like the tube very much-unlike past Etude House tubes, this one is black and matte, still made of plastic-but doesn’t feel cheap at all.

So Chic Beige is nude beige with orange undertones with satin finish. I love the color, as it is still in the nude category-yet it doesn’t make me look overly washed out. Good pigmentation, I can cover my lips nicely and evenly with single swipe here. Of course, I need to even the pigment out by closing my lips of a while- but nothing too severe that it need lip brush. The nice thing is, the color doesn’t gather on my lip lines-it doesn’t make my lips look too dried or wrinkly. I do recommend prepping your lips well before applying on this one-as creamy nudes tend to snuck under dried lip and make your un-scrubbed, un-prepped lips look older and drier than they actually are.
There’s 3 colors of lippies in Wannabe collection- nude beige, magenta pink and crème red. I got the nude & magenta for myself.
No fragrance no taste here. It is creamy and glides easily on my lips. Since it is creamy, the pigment got transferred to my cup rim very easily. I got about 1-2 hours of wear, with lots of snacking and tea sipping in between. I have to say, it is not the most moisturizing lipstick Etude House has to offer, I feel the edge of my lips getting dried after the pigment is gone. Thankfully, no chapping or peeling caused by this cute baby. 


#2 So Hot Pink
So Hot Pink is indeed hot. It is loud crème magenta-pink, color I currently love. Single swipe will give you semi-sheer look, suitable for those not so keen on loud colors or office wear. Double swipe will give full coverage & brilliant color. In this lip swatch, I’m wearing 2 swipes. With this, I got 2-3 hours of full coverage brilliant wear, similar with So Chic Beige-So Hot Pink transfers heavily on my tea cup rim. The slight glossy look disappears and it leave bright lovely stain on my lips. The stain still look lovely and even for hours more and after lunch! Unless I am in the mood of full coverage color, I don’t have to touch up this lipstick for a long time.
Texture and other things are similar with So Chic Beige, except the tube has princess girl illustration instead of Eiffel Tower.
Bottomline,
Lovely addition in my cute make up section! I love the beige tone & bright poppy pink too! Too bad, it is not as moisturizing as I hoped it would be.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Sexy Look x Hello Kitty Fruity Rose Fragrance

I saw her bow and whisker… and I grabbed her with me. Yes, Hello Kitty creams and stuff never failed to tempt me. This time, Hello Kitty is collaborating with Sexy Look, a Taiwanese brand of skincare & cosmetics. 
From the size of the tub, seems like this pretty beige tube is hand cream, however, I am using it for pretty much everything. The white thick creamy lotion is easily absorbed and makes my after-bath skin feel comfortable and well moisturized.
As the tub says, the fragrance is sweet fruity rose. Somehow there’s a tinge of artificial-ness in the scent. But that doesn’t really bother me, as the cream is not too heavily fragranced. It kinda reminds me of Kose Heavenly Rose hand cream scent.
Bottomline…
Grab this cream if you happen to see it in your nearest store! The cute factor is just too tempting! But to actually get it via internet, shipped it etc..too much hassle.
I got mine from 7-11 convenience store in Taiwan.