Hello everyone, I have been thinking for a while on where this blog is going and whether itās on the right platform. Tumblr is more of a visual blog instead of a written one so after some back and forth, I have decided to move the makeup review blog to Word Press under the blog name Makeup Mode. While I have very much enjoyed being on Tumblr and indeed my other art work blog is still on Tumblr I think for the sake of being on a platform that perhaps better presents my makeup review blog will be the best decision.
I have linked the address of the new blog above with the new blog name and I hope to provide you all with more interesting, informative and above all entertaining reviews of makeup and skincare products in the future!
Firstly happy Valentines everyone! Today we are talking about one of the classic loves from Korean skin care products. The Jeju volcanic pore clay mask is one of Innisfreeās most popular product. Itās so popular the brand has released two types of containers, the 100mL jar and the 200mL tub which is the monster in the photo.
This is what the inside looks like. The tub came with an additional hard plastic cover which I lost as I have had this tub for a VERY long time and the plastic cover was breaking apart anyways. The product is still fairly good after all that time.
The clay is still soft to the touch. I see some people online complaining about their product drying out before they finished them. Storage tips: screw the cap on as tight as you can each time you are finished with it, keep the additional plastic cover for as long as possible, store the tub upside down in a drawer or somewhere that doesnāt have a lot of air current going through and is never in direct sunlight.
I tend to use mine right after shower before I put anything else on my cleansed face. After about 10 minutes (as soon as I feel the mask is dry really) I wash it off then start my usual skin care routine of :toner, essence, face mask (some times) and face cream.
The directions on the tub itself suggests using it once or twice in a week, I try that only in the summer. In the winter months when the skin dries out more easily I try to dial back the amount of usage so itās more once every two weeks (or whenever I happen to remember).Ā
After washing the mask off my skin does feel more smooth. To be honest though I donāt see much difference being made to my pores or the blackheads on my nose. This is my personal experience but I have seen many positive reviews on this product online. Iām not sure if itās mostly hype and over-imagination. Itās a decent clay mask and does make the skin feel good. Whilst I cannot say much for itās pore-shrinking and blackheads-removing properties, itās price point isnāt high. I think I bought it for about 30 NZD and for a 200mL tub which Iām still trying to finish after about a year, I think thatās not shabby of a price.
To summarize: if you want a nice clay mask that certainly freshens up the skin at a non-expensive price, try this! If you want something thatās going to really show a difference in your pores/blackheads, please pass!
Laneige Two-tone tint Lip Bar and Mei King Two-tone lip bar review and comparison!
The two-tone lip bars from Laneige makes the Korean āgradient lipā easy to do for everyone. Is the surprise challenger Mei King the Chinese brand producing a decent knock-off and giving consumers a cheaper alternative?
Read and find out!
I bought 2 shades of Laneige Lip Bar and 1 of Mei King from Aliexpress where the brand has an official store account. This Mei King product is in the shade Embracing the Breeze (okay the name is tacky, their other lipstick names in Chinese are beautifully poetic though!) is currently on sale and is 8.12 NZD. The shades I bought from Laneige are No.2 Tangerine Slice and No. 7 Lollipop Red. These were on Yesstyle sale price of 24.20 NZD. First off the swatches on the inside of my arm.
This is Laneige Lollipop Red by itself.
And this is Laneige Tangerine Slice and Mei King Embracing the Breeze side by side for comparison. I would say in terms of pigments, the difference is honestly not noticeable. If we are saying Laneige pigment is 10 points, then Mei King comes in at a solid 9-9.5. Both feel very balm-y so they are both designed as lip balms and do well with keeping the lips feel hydrated. Their lasting powers are about the same too. I mean you have to reapply after eating a meal but drinking water should be fine. All of the lip bars transfer colour onto cups but itās expected, if your lip stick doesnāt transfer any colour then you should be worried as it usually means it contains heavy metals.
Now the lip swatches, let thee be pre-warned of dead lip cells and left over crust from a cold-sore episode that JUST passed also really unnecessary facial hairs anyone?
I do pat on my foundation onto my lips so the colour shows through without my natural lip colour influencing it. So this is Laneige Lollipop Red. I think the photo came out a bit more blue toned than in real life. The red from the lip bar is more true red than the fuchsia itās trying to be here.
Hereās Laneige Tangerine Slice, photo came out more peachy than the more orange-y look in real life but still pretty.
Hereās Mei King Embracing the Breeze. This came out a little bit more true to colour in real life but still not quite orange-y enough. In my mirror I could not tell apart the colours between the orange colours of Laneige and Mei King so honestly I feel like the two are interchangeable.
After rubbing with water, Mei King lip bar washed off more easily (on left) but both of them left a faint stain behind.
After using an oil based makeup remover, both lip stains disappeared without a trace...
Last impression: Honestly both brands of lip bars felt the same to me, both moisturizes well, have the exactly shape, colour and basically same style of packaging. If I had known Mei King brand a bit sooner I would have picked up more lip bars from them instead of Laneige purely because of the price difference I mean the price is like 1/3 of Laneige! The only edge Laneige has really is the slightly sturdier feel in the plastic packaging, I noticed the cap on the Mei King lip bar is a little bit looser than Laneige. That and Laneige has a wider shade range (>17? If counting the ones with the slanted shaped lip bars instead of the V?) and combination compared to Mei King (6) but Mei King does have all the commonly used shade combinations available. So if you want more value for money and unless you want to have a VERY specific shade/combination, I would recommend Mei King over Laneige any day of the week!
This is something I have been using every now and then, swung between loving and hating this and everything has come full circle (?). This is a rather unique makeup product I have to admit. I havenāt used anything else quite like this one!
KATE TOKYO is a Japanese brand (duh). Itās actually a brand under Kanebo Cosmetics along with LUNASOL and sensai etc. Above is the obligatory back shot. This tells you the colour I bought is 02 Natural, it has SPF30.PA+++. Itās a 15grams product. Claims to be a āmousse-to-powderā foundation that helps control oil and resists foundation fading/break down. It hides pores, blemishes and redness.
This is what the tub/pot looks like itself. Itās sleek and sturdy feel so itās definitely portable for travels or just throw into your bag for work etc.
Hereās what the inside looks like. This product is pretty much what it says, itās in a mousse form so itās not liquid-ish at all and is more like a paste. Its consistency reminds me a bit of clay-mask type of feel. Of course this is when itās inside the pot, once you get some out and apply it on your skin itās a TOTALLY different ball game. In my opinion this is what makes this product so different from every other foundation I have used. Once you spread the product out enough over your skin it becomes so so SO silky smooth like you have applied powder on your skin instead. I am not kidding and not on drugs I promise, this product somehow buffs the skin so it really feels like you have just sanded down your skin (if we are doing carpentry that is). I donāt know what kind of amazing Japanese technology is but we need more of it!
Say hello to my arm mole, this is just a comparison of without and with the mousse BB cream over it to give you an idea of the amount of coverage this product has. I would say this has fairly good coverage, itās not going to be an eraser for every imperfection but the average amount of redness and blemishes should be no problem for this guy!
Hereās a comparison just on the normal back of the hand skin. Itās obvious the shade is rather light even though I picked the second lightest shade (as I do for most Asian foundation products), my hand is naturally more tanned than my face but when I use this product on my face I get commented that I looked rather pale (sickly? Tired? It could be that too but I think itās mainly due to this light shade) so youāll want to pick a shade NEVERMIND I just realized they only have two shades so I already got the darkest shade! Well if youāre darker than the average Asian pale youāre out of luck! I sometimes do wish the Asian brands will cater to more skin tones! Missha the Korean brand is doing a lot better but in general, Asian cosmetic brands are rather excluding the deeper skin tones in their face products in general...
My other big gripe with this product (despite itās other amazing-ness) is how easy to make yourself look cakey with it. I used to apply with fingers by dotting the product all over my face and smoothing everything out with my palm. No matter how many times I try to spread the product out evenly and thoroughly it always ended up cakey and even though I wasnāt wearing a lot of makeup it made me look like I was. So for a long while I stopped using it on my face and was only using it for my hand (like a sunscreen hahahah). I feel like this product also has the potential to gather in wrinkle lines. Recently after I took up using flat foundation brushes I have been having better luck with applying this product. However it does take forever to spread the product out and blend everything into the skin for a more natural look. Iām going to be honest, it still makes me look pale and looks like I have heavier foundation on than if I used something more liquid-y despite this foundation probably FEELING like the lightest face product I have ever used, but with the brush itās a LOT better than applying with fingers and I havenāt tried it with sponges but given that sponges tend to make it easier to layer on makeup I would imagine the cakey makeup issue would be even worse.
As for longevity, it lasted 9 hours fine for me in my air conditioned laboratory work place. There was a LITTLE bit of oil around my nose by the end of the 9 hours but I was pretty impressed. I did do a fixing powder on top after application like I do for every BB cream/foundation I use. Not sure if it will hold the same under humid/sweaty conditions though.
This baby costed me something around 29NZD to get on eBay so at least itās not MAC price and if after reading everything I wrote you want to give it a try it wont break the bank. Iām going to go back to hopping back and forth over the fence on this one, it has so much potential in some areas and yet is being held back by other factors!
Essence: All about Matt! Fixing compact powder and The Velvets eyeshadow review
Today weāre reviewing two products from Essence which is the dirt-cheap economy brand you can find in most branches of Farmers department store in NZ!
The fixing powder is (I think) approximately 8NZD for 8grams of product, definitely less than 10NZD and I believe the eyeshadow costed about 3NZD for 2.8grams of product. Real economic products here!
The eyeshadow colour I have picked up is 05 Taupe Secret. Itās a very good everyday/work colour so itās fairly versatile because it can also be a eye crease gradient colour if you want to pull off some smokey eye looks. Both products are purely matt (****-ing duh! on the matt fixing powder).
Hereās a swatch of what they look like on skin, swatch was done with fingers. The taupe is a nice matt colour that is very soft and can be easily blended out. As with just about every powder eyeshadow, they wash off pretty easily with water and leaves behind a VEEERY faint barely-there stain. The lasting power of the eyeshadow is not bad. Without any so-called eyeshadow primer/concealer and just on top of a thin layer of BB cream, this colour lasted a good 9 hours (my typical work day hours) and although it faded slightly at the end, the pigment was still very much visible and come on this is 3 bucks, not saying it should be expected to melt off the face within 3 hours but you understand what I mean.
The fixing powder is white and blends away easily to a translucent finish. Personally I would have liked it if they added some SPF to the fixing powder (as living in NZ you really need all the SPF you can get from ANYWHERE) but for this price point, I will forgive. The powder definitely makes the face matt when it first goes on right after make up and for about 6 hours it looks okay (I have normal to oily skin and my workplace is well air conditioned due to the nature of my work [laboratory]) but towards 8-9 hours the oils do come out of my T-zone and chin and once that happens even when I try to put on more powder it only helps a little bit and the only true solution when that comes is oil absorbing paper (which I donāt really use because seriously who has time for that? I donāt meet anyone whoās not a colleague at work anyway).
Overall I believe the two items are decent in quality and VERY decent in price range. The packaging looks cheap and plastic-y for both because it suits the price range and so far they havenāt broke on me so Iām satisfied. If course if youāre looking for some nice looking makeup that you can display on your vanity or if you are looking for better quality stuff thatās a bit more pigmented or better milled powder then do look else where. These products are decent and by that I mean average, they perform their functions at a passable grade and no more. These guys are good if youāre just a beginner starting in makeup and donāt want to go for anything that have the slightest possibility of breaking the bank or if you JUST donāt want to break the bank and want something you can throw into your bag and carry on the go thatās fine too. Although for portability-sake please take care with them since their packaging isnāt going to be something I want to vouch for if you are going to be rough with them.
Mizon Natural Grain Rice Real Cleansing Foam review
Whooaaah Iām back from the dead! (Okay Iām being over-dramatic but I have not posted for like 1.8 years! Thatās just under two years! But I swear that for sure this time, Iām back with a vengeance and you shall see my update very consistently from now!) Without further ado because I donāt want to focus on my absence but instead I want to focus on MOAR reviews and content for you lovely people out there, letās dive right into this!
Today weāre reviewing Mizon Natural Grain Rice Real Cleansing Foam. That sure is a mouthful and a very quick look at Mizonās other products tells me they like to name their products very very specifically and lengthily if thatās a thing...as you can tell from my photo. This product is just about empty and Iāve used it as my normal/routine cleanser for a while.
Hereās what it looks like squeezing out of the tube straight. But as it IS a cleansing foam:
Ta-daaa! It does foam quite easily and quickly with wet hands. It glides on the skin smoothly. I didnāt notice any particular strong smell at all (because my nose only works 20% of the time though). It doesnāt irritate my skin, then again my skin isnāt considered āsensitiveā. The product claims it has fine rice bran to act as a very gentle exfoliator as well, I do feel the itty-bitty grainy feel when I first squeeze the product out and smooth it over my face but as I rub circles of it on my face I donāt feel a thing. It really feels like any other foam cleanser so I guess if you are expecting for a bit more exfoliation on its part...well donāt.
So as a cleanser how well does it CLEANS? Itās...decent. Like just about EVERY other foam cleanser out there, you cannot expect this to take off every bit of make up on your face if you are wearing anything more than tinted moisturizer. I donāt wear quite heavy make up, I usually have just BB cream, a blush, a powder and maybe an eyeliner. On days I want to look āprettyā rather than āpresentableā I would add light wash of eyeshadows and with just this cleanser Iām confident that residues will be found around my eyes and nose even if I use it to wash multiple times. This product is supposed to be a gentle cleanser, it is advertised as such and hence Iām not bitter about how it doesnāt take off 100% of my makeup when I use it. So my verdict is: this cleanser does what it says (other than the exfoliation part, I mean that part is pretty neither here or there.) itās a gentle foam cleanser.
Price point: On Yesstyle itās about $19NZD right now. I remember it being atad cheaper when I got it however the other websites I usually buy K-beauty things donāt have it in stock so...
For a decent foam cleanser which I think it ultimately comes down to in that category, I do believe thereās cheaper options. The K-beauty brands definitely donāt have a shortage in the āgentle foam cleanserā category and some of them are ~15NZD so I guess if you want to save that few dollars, you can shop around online and see what other Korean brands are offering. But if you want to try this out I guess it IS just a few dollars more. The product is 150mL so it is quite a decent size and should last you a while. Let me summarize the previous mumbo-jumbo and say: If youāre desperate to save dollars, donāt, if you are curious and have funds to satisfy that curiosity, do. Donāt expect this to be a miracle product (because itās not and it never was advertised as such so I have no idea why you would ever have that expectation in the first place...).
Dior Addict Lip Glow Color Riviver Balm in 001 Pink review
Itās been a long hiatus of some sort because Iāve been stupidly busy (and it hasnāt quite stopped) after going on a mini vacation out of the country (I say itās a vacation but I was doing work/assignment just about everyday, and then every other day I was busy been ill!) then straight after that I was moving to another city and another job. Aka I was busy been owned by LIFE for the past month or so. Iām still updating this blog though! Okay this product was something I have been eyeing on the internet for a while now. I have seen good reviews on it but just could not justify throwing down something like 54 NZD for a lip balm! But I finally went ahead and got it!
The packaging is pretty cute. Nothing else to say about it, itās not much different to every other lip balm packaging and thereās nothing special or unique to it with extra functions or what not. Itās all plastic so itās light but pretty solid and sturdy feeling.
Now Iām going to be very honest here, I didnāt do any swatches photo. Why? You may ask, and I shall answer with āWhy bother?ā The truth is this balm is so damn sheer. I donāt know why it even had the different pigment selection on the website because there was like ZERO colour when I swatched it on my arm and I thought it would look very stupid with me taking a photo of my arm with one swipe of slightly shiny area and nothing else for it. I also tried taking photos of my lips before and after applying the balm and it was exactly the same, my lips were exactly the same colour except being able to reflect more light after applying the lip balm. Bottom line is: this product is sheer, if youāre hoping to get ANY colour out of this lip balm Iām going to stop you there and tell you it is NOT happening. Itās just the way it is.
So in that sense, Iām disappointed this product is pretty much just sheer even though they make it seem like thereās multiple pigments for selection (like seriously why bother?!) but for just a lip balm itās not half bad. I think itās got a nice smell, not very strong. It sits on my lips comfortably, got decent lasting power (drinking water is fine, eating meals not quite). It does the job of hydrating and moisturizing my lips nicely so as a sheer lip balm I canāt really fault it other than the fact for a lip balm itās darn expensive. I can do my weekly grocery shopping with that kind of price you know?!
So if YOU would like a very sheer but nice lip balm and have some money to burn, do pick this up. Itās a nice lip balm, full stop.
Sorry for the low amount of post lately. I have and still am being super swamped by events in life in general and Iām also doing extra studies on top of working full time so I havenāt had a lot of time to myself lately! But the reviews must go on! This time we look at Shiseido purifying mask!
This is quite a popular clay mask from Shiseido. On Makeup alley this product is rated quite highly. This product was bought by my mother at a Big Bucket sale from years ago so I canāt remember the price for this but it was not expensive (since it was a sale). The packaging is great in that even in storage for so long it hasnāt dried out (or I canāt tell the difference). It is quite a big squeeze tube for 200mL and I can see how that may be a problem for convenience once the product has mostly been used. At this size itās also not travel friendly but worst case scenario you can just squeeze some into a smaller container for traveling etc.
The texture of this purifying mask is thick but spreadable clay type of feel. You donāt need to use a huge amount each time to have enough to cover the entire face area. I usually just have it on for 15 minutes max because any longer may risk drying out my skin.
Thatās how it looks like on the face. I usually pat the product on more evenly after spreading it very gently over a larger area. After washing off, my skin feels a definite softness and smoothness which wasnāt there before. My pores stay the same size though so this product perhaps isnāt aimed at minimizing pores. This product is enjoyable to use and convenient for most part, itās not too runny so it doesnāt cause any mess unless you really try for that kind of thing. Iāll rate it 3 out of 5 because I was expecting a little more out of this mask from all the hype reviews. Then again I have only used this a handful of times so maybe the effects are more visible with more frequent use?
LāOreal Infallible Eyeshadow in Pink Sapphire review
The LāOreal infallible eyeshadows line has always had good reviews. I picked up a few of the colours to try out. This shade is very easy-to-use either on its own or in combination with other colours!
You get 3.5g product in each of these little pots. They have a plastic stopper under the lid, I guess itās supposed to keep the eyeshadow from drying? But because the stopper doesnāt cover the entire opening (thereās a small gap around the stopper if you pull it over the shadow) so I have no clue if itās effective at all. The texture of this shadow is soft/buttery. It is powder based so if applying with eyeshadow brush, always tap off excess. While I wouldnāt say itās one of the most pigmented shadows out there, itās definitely pigmented. To get colour you wont have to work hard with your brush, but to pack on the colour I still suggest finger application (the quickest way!).
Right swatch time. Iām not 100% sure if the shadow had the wet application function in its advertisement but I tried it anyway. I think there was a minor difference but both dry and wet application shows that the shadow is quite pigmented and that itās super shimmery! Both swatch was a one swipe only.
While these shadows are cute in small pots, I wish LāOreal came out with these in a palette or something. Having shadows in individual pots no matter now small or light is extra hassle during travels and when you want to have a large selection of eyeshadows on the go. Other than that, the quality of the eyeshadow itself is very good. These are usually ~20-24 NZD in Farmers stores or other pharmacies. Because I never believe in overpriced Pharmacy makeup, I picked most of my Infallible eyeshadows up at Big Bucket sales that goes around New Zealand. Most of the more popular colours will not be available at those sales though so do keep that in mind!
Yet another item I use on a daily basis! I consider this to be my HG(holy grail) day to day eyeliner because itās easy to use, lasts long and does not smudge! I guess that was a short review...no?
Hereās a photo of lid-off pencil + the sharpener which comes off the end. To be honest though I have never used the sharpener because the normal width of the pencil is thin enough for me. However if you are going for the sharp cat eye winged lining then yeah youāll want something sharper.
Extreme close up (which actually is a tad blurry sorry) of pencil tip! This pencil twists up to extend more product (the less sharpening the better, because sharpening = wasted product).
Hereās the swatch on my arm. The shade is number 4 Dark Choco as mentioned in the first picture. It does have a bit of shimmer/sparkle but not overwhelming so itās appropriate even at work.
Each pencil contains 0.56g of product. As mentioned before it lasts long, is pigmented and does not smudge. I can wear this easily ~9 hours with it not really fading or smudging. This is my number one go-to daytime eyeliner! The price isnāt bad either, itās around 15-18 NZD on eBay. I donāt know if itās sold in stores anywhere in NZ.
I know the full on Japanese Kanjis on the bottle packaging is very intimidating! I think at one point I got the wrong product while trying to replace this after running out so yes Iāve totally been there. This I have to say is another skin product I use on a daily basis. I do consider it to be a HG (holy grail) product so let me outline what sort of things to expect from this name-is-too-long-for-its-own-good product!
The product comes in 170mL bottles, made in Japan, contains: arbutin and nano hyaluronic acid. This product is supposed to be used right after facial cleansing, itās supposed to act as a base for skin care and make up application. It claims to whiten the skin, improve the absorption of skin care products layered on after application of the lotion and/or make cosmetic products last longer on the face. Itās also a great moisturizer for the skin.
The packaging is smart; the plastic lid clicks open and shut to seal the liquid inside. Traveling with a bottle of this is no problem at all. The product itself really is just slightly milky liquid, same consistency as water so itās great for general spreading all over the face. You donāt need a lot to have enough to cover the entire facial area. I find this product to be great at hydrating skin; I use it immediately every time after I wash face so my skin doesnāt get dried out. The hydration also lasts for quite long and if you layer on another cream or something that will keep the skin hydrated even longer and thatās usually what I do for mornings. My skin has also never reacted badly to this product in any way; itās not harsh at all like some old Western brand toners I had previously used. It also doesnāt have much of a strong scent that I can tell. Ā I donāt know about the whitening part of the claim because I didnāt notice any specific whitening effect that I can attribute to this specific product.
This product is quite popular in Asia. Retails for just above 20 NZD I believe (unless you go to Japan and buy it in their cosmetic pharmacy stores, then itās about 17NZD? My memories and maths skills are not that reliable). Itās available online at likes of eBay as well if you cannot be bothered to go to a brick and mortar store in Auckland.
Missha Time Revolution The First Treatment Essence review
I have actually used this product for quite a long time. Iām just about at the end of my second bottle of this and as you can see the third bottle is still in its packaging (I ordered as I saw second bottle was running out).
Many people have claimed that this is the cheaper version of SK IIās essence and I honestly wouldnāt know because I never bought SK II anything because I never had that kind of money to splurge (I would rather buy other things hahah, hello Wii U). Anyway what I can tell you is just a straight out review of it as a product on its own.
This retails about 40-50NZD on eBay. You get 150mLs of product and that does last quite long. Since this product is basically the consistency of water, although I think at some point Missha suggests using cotton pads to apply, I never do because the product can get sucked into the cotton and be wasted. I never use sponges or cotton pads on any runny product because that = product wastage. I just pour about 5-6 drops onto the palm of my hand and use my other hand to dab and gently pat all over my face. This stuff is colourless and although a bit funky smelling, it fades away very quickly.
My one big gripe with this product is the packaging though! It is SUPER not travel-friendly that although itās something I use everyday at home, I NEVER bring with me on trips or holidays. When it first arrives thereās a white plastic stopper installed at the tip of the bottle opening. Why you ask? Because without it, the product leaks all over the show even with that pathetic excuse of a silver plastic lid. Standing it upright is the only way of storage in its original bottle! The plastic stopper I always throw away because it is un-hygenic, it is flimsy and canāt be put down on table tops in a way that will ensure no contamination of germs in the product if you decide to re-use the stopper. The only sure way to take this product while traveling is to pour it into a separate container or bottle. Why this packaging was not designed as a spray bottle is beyond me, especially with the product being the same consistency as water!
I have enjoyed using this product because I feel it did improve my skin overall, with evening out the pigment of my facial skin and a tiny bit of whitening/brightening. When I first started using it I did get a bit of break out but that could have been me changing up my skin routine around the same time. I have never had any problems with this product since that one time and Iām quite satisfied that this product. I do want to continue using this product in the future (hence the new bottle yay!) but I have just ordered another brand of skin serum from Snowberry (NZ Brand Yeessssss!) so Iāll be trying that out before I break open the new bottle!
I was running out of day-time cream. My old one was a Lancome cream which I thought was a tad too thick for morning skin anyway. So I tried to find a cream which isnāt going to overdo it in the morning before I put on my BB cream.
That made me discover Innisfree Green Tea Balancing Cream. This cream has a bit of green tea smell but it goes away quite quickly.
I believe this is around 30NZD on eBay for 50mL worth of product this is not expensive at all. The texture of this is also very smooth (easy to spread!) and light (exactly what I was looking for) but also moisturizing!
So far Iām really enjoying it! I recommend it to anyone wanting a nice, light moisturizer cream! I would totally pick this up again when I run out of it.
I was given this as a free gift in Hong Kong as part of shopping and spending way wayyy to much money in a Skinfood store in one of their many many malls. This isnāt even a sample, it is a whole product (we also had handfuls of samples which were totally another story) and this usually should be ringing alarm bells for your wallet because when people are willing to give out entire products to you as a gift it means you have literally just given them enough money to cover shop rent for a week.
This product contains 100mLs, it claims to have brightening and anti-wrinkle effects. It also talks about having grape cell extract and platinum. They have a mini paragraph on the back all about it which you can read if you want because besides from knowing platinum is the least reactive metal and the amount they have in there is probably near non-existent (because precious metal is precious) I really donāt have much to say about it.
The product itself is white/milky coloured with gel-like texture. So I have to say it glides over skin easily, it does give the skin a layer of sheen so itās not matte. This sleeping mask is different to the typical night creams as in the skin doesnāt really completely absorb it, rather it sits on top of the skin like a moisture layer and man do I feel that moisture layer (which is a good thing because itās supposed to be like that). Although I appreciate the moisture cover (especially when I was traveling in Japan with air condition in the hotel rooms) it is bad for people that likes to snuggle and bury their heads into their pillow/s (also me, donāt judge) because then that kind of rubs the mask off and makes the whole exercise rather pointless. The mask is supposed to be washed off the morning after application.
The packaging is convenient and hygienic because it dispenses product with a pump. At first the dispenser puts out more than you need though...so you need to try to control the pump by dispensing slowly. Other than that, I rather do like this system of packaging for sleeping masks! No screw lid is great!
Overall this product is enjoyable, it definitely moisturizes the skin over night under a protective layer. The packaging means itās fairly easy to use. I think it has improved my skin brightness by a tiny bit, canāt vouch for the anti-wrinkle claim since I canāt claim what I donāt have yet...
Some time ago I had purchased Revlon Colourburst Lip Butter and loved it so much because it was really pigmented and it wasnāt really drying my lips out. I saw Revlon Colourburst Lipstick at a sale and I was like oh yeah! Mine!
I mean the colour looks really nice and I thought it will suit me. But then I swatched it.
My gawd can the colour pay off be any worse? This is in good lighting, if itās slightly in the shade, all that you can see is an area where there seems to be a layer of glitter on my skin. WTF? I mean I know it says Pink sugar but the amount of glitter in this seems to be slightly overload and not to mention they do not adhere properly so if you do wear this on the lips, be prepared to have glitter all over your face by the end of the hour.
So that was a quick review, DO NOT go for Revlon Colourburst Lipsticks, at least in the lighter shade. I havenāt tried any darker colour shades but this has really put me off this line entirely and honestly the product itself looked a lot darker than the sticker at the bottom, had the swatch being resembling the colour of the lipstick at all then I think it would have been very wearable for me...sans the glitter because come on, only a selected range of people can pull that off without looking like youāre trying too hard.
After working through X-mas 2015 and spending some quality time with my parents for new years I hope everyone has had a good new years holiday! Iām back with more reviews on products you may be thinking of getting but want honest opinions on.
Right the Wet n Wild Comfort Zone palette has garnered good reviews. I decided to give them a try since the palette comes with eight colours and certainly will not break the bank. I have never actually seen these in stores but I got it off TradeMe soā¦what ever works.
The entire product is 8.5grams which works out about 1 gram per shade.
Hereās the swatches!
Thatās the left side of the palette above and the right side of the palette below.
Donāt they look amazing? Totally blew me away with the nice pigmentation and the nice buttery texture of each shade. The lasting power of the shadows are quite good and the anti-creasing is also not bad. They do fade a bit but I only noticed very slight creasing after 9 hour wear. The two ended applicator sponge and brush was kind of average I guess. The sponge tip is good for packing on the colours but the shadows are so pigmented even if you use a brush itās more than enough of an impact, and the brush is just a brush. The shape of the brush both as a whole and the tip end really doesnāt make it useful as an eyeshadow makeup tool so I never used it.
My nit-picks about this palette (now that we got the awesome pigmentation/lasting-power/not-really-creasing/dat-price-tag out of the way) are the lacking of two Mās: thereās no matte shades and no mirrors. Sometimes you just want to tone it down with a matte shade either for work or super formal occasion and although the eyeshadows in this palette doesnāt scream glitter but those shades are shimmery and all of them reflect when light shines on them. No mirrors means itās not travel friendly, not that the size of the palette is travel friendly either so this palette is more for staying home in front of the mirror to get the nice perfect look instead of the on-the-go touch-up anywhere anytime sort of palette.
Still, overall this palette has totally exceeded my expectations of eyeshadow quality and if you should need some shimmer-only shades (see pics above) in your eyeshadow collection, I suggest you snap one up immediately if you havenāt already!
This was recommended to me by a good friend. While I was in Japan, I picked up one compact and one refill because in New Zealand this is out of stock at every MAC counter except in Botany Auckland. MAC staff told me the company is re-packaging the Lightful powder foundation line so therefore thereās some serious stock shortage.
MACās official description for this product is: A long-wearing powder foundation that protects the skin with broad spectrum UVA/UVB SPF 25/PA+++. Suitable for all skin types. Offers medium to full coverage and a smooth, natural matte finish. Colour stays true and wears long. Comes with a dual-sided applicator with a sponge side to apply the foundation and a flocked āpuffā side to use the product as a finishing powder.
While I agree that itās long-wearing, this product definitely does not offer medium to full coverage, Iād say low to medium at best. It does have a matte finish that looks great though.
When I was at the MAC counter in Japan trying this product on, the MAC makeup artist told me to use the powder on top of their MAC Lightful C Tinted Cream (which she used on me before I got suckered into buying that tooā¦) but I found it works great on the BB creams I already have too. I found this powder foundation does not offer enough coverage as I would have liked when just worn on top of face primers so in my view a CC cream or BB cream underneath is a must unless you have perfect facial skin! The MAC makeup artist also told me to use a flat top foundation brush to dab into the powder and spread it evenly over the face so thatās what Iāve been doing (that puff that comes in the compact in the compartment under the powder has not been used once).
The product is 14g in a pan (for refills), I bought a compact too which has a nice mirror so although most of the time you probably will not need to but itās easy to do touch up during the day. Compact is not too big either nor particularly heavy so is definitely travel-friendly. No complaints over the packaging.
I find this product does give my face more of a glow and lasts quite long without the need for touch up. So itās proof there are some MAC products that are very good and then thereās some others that are rubbish. This is one of the good ones!
