My Beauty Junction

Beauty and makeup blog by a beauty box and nail art addict.

[mybeautyjunction]

Pale gold eye makeup look with Balm Voyage palette

It has been a while since I picked up the Balm Voyage eyeshadow palette from theBalm, reviewed here. With irresistibly cute packaging and a nice range of colours, this palette is one of my favourite discoveries this year. I am not a fan of yellow gold; I prefer white gold for jewellery and rose gold for makeup. I also prefer brighter eyeshadows. But having vowed to step outside my comfort zone this year, I decided to choose paler gold shades from the Balm Voyage palette, and, as you can see, they have thoroughly washed me out. I kept the EOTD very un-smoky; perhaps lashings of deeper eyeshadow in the outer crease would have helped. The eyeshadows in the Balm Voyage palette are named after airplane seats! I used C1, D3 and B4 for this look. D3 is a dusty gold rather than a bright yellow shade. It went all over my eyelids. The pearly ivory of C1 went into the inner corners, where you can see it stand out by a mile on my medium skintone, especially against my nose. Finally, I used B4, which is a shimmery brown, on the outer crease - just a little - to avoid the wholly pasty look.

The eyeshadows went above Kat von D High Voltage Eye Primer. I went with the Bourjois Erasable Eyeliner for this look. Not a very tight line as I was in a hurry. I lined the lower waterline with D1 eyeshadow from the Balm Voyage palette, using a wet brush. That is actually my favourite part about this look. Not my best look, and too pale for my skintone, but I would have tried it out sometime anyway. I finished with Chanel's Le Volume de Chanel mascara. All photographs are in natural light. I've just realised that the reflection of my arms holding the camera is showing up in my eyes! This is my submission to the Smoky Eye Friday link-up hosted by Leticia of Cosmetics Aficionado. Do check out the other smoky eye looks below.

An InLinkz Link-up

via Blogger http://ift.tt/1gXwdxZ

[mybeautyjunction]

Memebox Global Edition 9 unboxing, review: Korean beauty box

 There is going to be a veritable unboxing fest on this blog over the next 10 days, though I will take breaks for smoky eye looks, a tropical manicure and other posts. It never rains, but it pours, and I have received six beauty boxes this week alone, of which you have seen two so far. And I expect another two to show up next week. Today, it is the turn of Memebox Global Edition 9 to be unboxed. For those who haven't heard of Memebox before, they are a Korean beauty box that ships worldwide. The boxes are always jam-packed and you can order whichever box you like before it sells out (in seconds, sometimes - yes, really), from us.memebox.com. The Global Edition Memeboxes come for $23 each with international tracked shipping for $7.99, though you get regular discount codes, such as $5 off for Easter, or $3 off for just signing up. The good news is that Memebox now ships to more countries, thanks to a bit of work by some of us. If your country has not been included yet, please sign the petition here. Even if your country is included, please sign it anyway to support beauty box addicts across the world - we need 100 signatures to tell Memebox to ship everywhere!

Here is what I received in my Memebox Global Edition 9 beauty box from Korea.

Kerasys Oriental Premium Shampoo 200ml

Luna Wonder Essential BB Founde 15ml in N*dy Beige

Jaminkyung Gokmul Care Creamy Cleansing Masque 100ml

25cc Hair Booster 25ml

Savia Magic Count Down 7 Days EGF and Multi-Peptide 5ml

Elle Girl I say Tint You Say Gloss 5ml in Vocal Red

Botanic Hill BOH Moist and Radiant Youth Ampoule Essence set

There are four full-sized products in this box, and the rest of them are more than generous! A quick look at each: One would think that 200ml is a full-sized bottle, but it turns out the Kerasys Oriental Premium Shampoo actually comes full-sized in a whopping 600ml bottle which supposedly costs an even more whopping $90. Despite the camellia seed oil, ginseng, the hydrolysed wheat protein and the wool keratin, I'm afraid it contains SLS, which I have been trying to avoid. I will have a think about whether I want to try this out or not once I get over the beauty-box-overload week.

Luna Wonder Essential BB "Founde" comes in shade #21 or N*dy Beige. That would obviously be too pale for me, so I am not bothering to open the seal and am popping it into one of my "unused products for sale boxes. Memebox tells me they cannot customise shades for people (some of you must have seen that message on my Facebook page). Ah well, this is just one product; I have others to play with. And anyway, I prefer proper foundation to BB creams. The packaging reminds you of NARS, doesn't it?

I am really excited about the Jaminkyung Gokmul Care Creamy Cleansing Masque. They have sent me a full-size 100ml jar. This is a multi-functional mask, cleanser, scrub, blackhead remover and odd-job man, according to the write-up. It contains rice grains which are brilliant for oily skin without being drying and comes with a spatula. The smell is incredibly pungent, but I am willing to sacrifice olfactory appeal for the sake of my skin! I will give it a whirl as a scrub and a mask over the weekend and review it after a decent four- to six-week run.

The 25cc Hair Booster is another full-sized product. You know those giant syringes that feature in comedy routines, where they are actually full of tranquilisers for elephants, but the poor bloke accidentally gets a shot in his... erm... bottom? This syringe looks exactly like one of those! It measures 22cm, so you can imagine. You're supposed to apply the product on cleansed, damp hair and leave it on for three minutes, before rinsing it off, and it is

"absolutely the best hair care system that will nourish your hair from the scalp and repair damaged hair and increase strength against breakage". 

Their words, not mine. There is enough for two uses, I think - my hair reaches till my low-back. I will let you know if this actually does what it says. And, I absolutely intend to keep the syringe afterwards!

The Savia Magic Count Down 7 Days EGF and Multi-Peptide is another full-sized product, despite being just 5ml. It is supposed to help achieve healthier and trouble-free skin in seven days. It contains lecithin, green tea, pine and mugwort extracts. There is enough for seven days, so I will kick off a trial shortly.

The Elle Girl I say Tint You Say Gloss is also full-sized. I have got Vocal Red, which is the kind of red you see from the moon with the n@ked eye, though it dries to a slightly more subtle shade. The formula is fabulous and it is more of a glossy-stain than a mere "tint" or gloss. And that cute packaging! It transfers, though. I'll do a detailed swatch and review soon, but we need to get more beauty boxes out of the way first!

Finally, here's the Botanic Hill BOH Moist and Radiant Youth Ampoule Essence. One of these is a vial and the other is a tube. This is an anti-ageing treatment, which, according to the product card, combines "ampoule" (@#$%^&* - pardon my French), essence and oil all at once. At the risk of sounding like an an@l-retentive grammar-nazi from the British Commonwealth (or just a journalist?), how do you combine an "ampoule" (which is a glass vial) with essence and oil? I need to get over the "ampoule" part of it and before giving it a try! Just nit-picking; you know me.

Which reminds me - I forgot to show you the product cards. Here they are, please click to enlarge:

Bottom Line What a box! What. A. Box! The total value exceeds $140, according to the product card, but that is of no consequence if you get products you cannot use - look at the generous sizes in there! And I can use everything except for the BB Cream, because the shade is definitely too light, though I am on the fence about SLS. I am particularly pleased to get the Gokmul cleansing masque and that cool hair syringe, and the lip colour is growing on me every second. Once again, a huge hit from Memebox - you can see previous boxes here. Six days left to enter my international makeup giveaway!

via Blogger http://ift.tt/1iRDAuN

[mybeautyjunction]

Lip Factory beauty box April 2014 unboxing, review

Lip Factory is a US-based beauty box that ships worldwide. For $32 a month - $22 within the US - you get five or six full-sized makeup products. To subscribe, please use the reference number 385650 to get 50 points (which you can redeem against boxes or products later) and hit lipfactoryinc.com. I have been a subscriber since June 2013 and have received some absolute gems in my previous Lip Factory boxes (click here to view them all). Now for the April 2014 box. The theme is "Lip Factory Welcomes Spring". You've got to love the artwork on all their product cards. I keep them all and use them as bookmarks after a little tweaking. The Easter break meant that my box was just a little later than usual. This month's box has a total value of $55.99.

Here are the contents of my April 2014 spring special Lip Factory Box.

Packaging of the April 2014 Lip Factory Box

They have changed the packaging - the cute little black box is gone! Instead, what you have is the regular external cardboard box and just plain black tissue inside, sealed with a logo-sticker. Boo! I loved the li'l black box! However, this reduces our collective carbon footprint, so I shall endeavour to reconcile myself and store away all the black boxes I have.

Products received in my April 2014 Lip Factory Box

Color Club Nail Polish in Peace Out Purple

Be A Bombshell Eye Crayon in Black Jack

Be A Bombshell Eye Shadow in Beauty Queen

Jesse's Girl Kohl Eyeliner in Grape Expectations

OFRA Lipstick in Berry S3xy

NYX Butter Gloss in Strawberry Parfait

Before we look at each of these, I should tell you I listed the products according to how much I liked them. And, I. Hate. Lipgloss. Please click on the pictures to enlarge them. If there is a list of things that could drive me maniacally genocidal, lip gloss would probably top that list. Don't ask me why or tell me to "at least try it", long history of mutual dislike there, and it will never be resolved, so any experiments will be futile. Give me a cotton pad, a Q-tip, a bit of tissue, but never send me lip gloss. I only ever wear lipstick, though I am slowly giving lip stains a chance. For months, Lip Factory's customer service has been amazing, with me receiving something else in lieu of lip gloss, but in March and April, I have received gloss. It looks like they can no longer accommodate my preferences, which is a huge gamechanger for me. Anyway, I'll email them about this once again and see what happens.

Here is a quick look at each product. 

The Color Club Nail Polish in Peace Out Purple is probably my favourite product in this box. It is a very bright neon-purple and is my first polish from the brand. It is just in time - I am doing a neon mani in two weeks' time and this will come in handy then, before being shunted to "nail art supplies" rather than regular base colours.

You can never have too many black eyeliners/pencils. The Be A Bombshell Eye Crayon in Black Jack is a nicely pigmented, creamy stick that you can use as eyeliner, kohl, or as an eyeshadow - it will smoke out many an eye look well.

Be A Bombshell eyeshadow in Beauty Queen is a stunning medium metallic blue that is dying for a place on my lids. It screams "me" and will feature in at least one eye look soon. I discovered Be A Bombshell Cosmetics through Lip Factory and really like everything from the brand so far.

Jesse's Girl Kohl Eyeliner in Grape Expectations is in keeping with the purple theme of the April 2014 Lip Factory box. It applies smoothly and is a very pretty, non-glittery shade which I will use in an eye look soon.

This is where it all begins to unravel. Next up is the Ofra lipstick in Berry S3xy. I am not a fan of Ofra, though I'll take a lipstick over a gloss any day. The shade is the vampiest, deepest and darkest brownish-maroon I have ever seen in my life; it is much deeper than what you can see in the photograph - the flash has wreaked havoc on the really deep colour. I haven't even bothered to swatch, but will dispose of it soon. Nope, no point at all in giving this a try either. By now, you know what suits you and what you are comfortable with. Since when is this a spring colour? And I have "dusty-pinks, dusty roses, corals, medium peaches and neutrals only" on my beauty profile. I also have "no bubblegum pinks, reds, berries, very pale shades or anything remotely vampy or deep" in there, but this time, my beauty profile seems to have gone for a toss. Don't get me wrong. Every brand has its fans and its place. But the whole idea of a beauty box is to try new things. Not to get "ole NYX", which is easily available. I paid for NYX in a beauty box? What next? Will we see Cetaphil, a la Glamabox January 2014? Worse, this is a lip gloss, and you know exactly what gloss does for me, unless you skipped a certain paragraph in this post. To be dumped unopened.

Bottom Line(s) I really like the nail polish, the Be A Bombshell products and the eyeliner, but the other two products are a real dampener. This month, I find that Lip Factory has not introduced any new brands - every company has been featured time and again. And, for a spring box, that vampy berry lipstick is a travesty. I have been a huge fan of Lip Factory, but after months of consecutive fabulous boxes, the March and April boxes have not wowed me. March was particularly bad - I was only able to salvage two lip balms from the entire box and the rest of it was dumped/sold/given away before I even photographed the box. This month, too, I have received a lip gloss. I can't keep these, I just cannot. I am probably jaded or even spoiled after some really standout boxes featuring Manic Panic, ColorU, Medusa, Teeez, 29 Cosmetics, MeMeMe, NCLA, Befine, Bodyography, Michael Marcus, ModelCo and so on, and this is still great when you look at the fare dished out by the domestic boxes here (foil sachets, expired products, perfume vials, really tiny samples, glosses, lack of or disdain for customisation, and far more all-over-the-place brands, though one of them sends out NYX ad nauseam and Ofra as well). Just a week left to enter my international makeup giveaway.

via Blogger http://ift.tt/1iLBpcd

[mybeautyjunction]

Free skin care beauty box from HQHair unboxing, review

Some days ago, HQHair.com, one of my favourite online shopping destinations for makeup, had an irresistible offer - a free beauty box as a gift with purchase, containing their editors' picks from high-end brands, if you buy for £45 from their website. Who can possibly resist a free beauty box, especially a beauty box addict such as yours truly? I was going to get myself the full-sized GlamGlow YouthMud Tinglexfoliate Treatment anyway, after loving the sample, so I ordered the pack and the GlamGlow Brightmud Eye Treatment (will review after using). HQHair ships worldwide and has express shipping with full tracking, so my order arrived within a week - just after the Easter break - and I didn't pay customs'duties for this. Best of all, HQHair - and their sister website LookFantastic - have similar offers from time to time. I got the entire Real Techniques Core Collection free once, and several other goodies.

Here is my free Editors' Picks skin care beauty box from HQHair.com.

The silver grey external box is somewhat battered in the post. Inside, I received:

Redken Iron Shape 11 Finishing Thermal Spray

Nuxe Creme Fraiche 24Hr Soothing and Moisturising Cream

Cowshed Knackered Cow Relaxing Bath and Shower Gel

Phyto Paris Ultra-Repairing Hair Mask

Caudalie Premiere Cru La Creme Riche

Is that all, you ask? Hold on - only one of those is a foil sachet. Here is a quick look at each product. The Redken Iron Shape 11 Finishing Thermal Spray is a decent 50ml bottle. You are supposed to spray it on dry hair, and then flat-iron or curl the hair. I stopped heat-styling and blow-drying about a year ago after extreme damage, but it is good to have a bottle by, in case I need some style and hold for a night out.

Who doesn't adore Nuxe, the French luxury bath, body and skin care brand? I absolutely cannot do without the Nuxe Multi-purpose Dry Oil reviewed here, and have a large stock of other Nuxe must-haves, from Micellar Water for makeup removal, to the hand cream. I received the Nuxe 24Hr Soothing and Moisturising Cream in this box. Feelunique had sent me a one-time sachet sample of this back when their packages used to arrive safely, and I had loved it. This is a travel-sized tube and goes straight into my travel bag. And did I tell you Nuxe never uses parabens?

I have been dying to try out Cowshed products but keep hauling other brands. Now I have no excuses - they've sent me the Cowshed Knackered Cow Relaxing Bath and Shower Gel. And this is no foil sachet, but a decent 10ml pouch. This contains lavender and eucalyptus essential oils and no parabens, sulphates, mineral oil or petrolatum and is vegetarian. I know I am going back to HQHair.com and buying quite a few Cowshed products, especially the shampoos.

The story is the same with Phyto Paris - the Ultra-Repairing Hair Mask is my first product  from the brand. This contains phytokeratine and is meant for weakened, damaged hair. After using sulphate-shampoos every single day for more than 15 years, you should see my straw-hair to believe how badly off it is. This is a 12ml sample, which should be enough for one use on my hair. Again, no parabens, and everything is of natural origin.

Finally, here is the Caudalie La Creme Riche, which is for deep wrinkles, dark spots and firmness, and provides nutrition to the skin. I do have a few acne spots, and I hope this works on them. No parabens here either - for that matter, no SLS, phtalates, mineral oils, phenoxylethanol or any animal derivatives.

Sorry about the embarrassingly appalling photographs. I was trying something new with my lightbox by placing the light on the side instead of above, and it bombed. Ah well, my photography mantra has always been "Points, shoots and leaves" but as long as you can tell the lipstick apart from the eyeliner, I'm pleased. Bottom Line HQHair.com should consider selling regular beauty boxes! I would subscribe without batting an eyelid. Every brand they sent out is high-end and entirely paraben-free. I can use everything they sent me. And four of these products have natural ingredients. I would not like sachets in beauty boxes that I pay for, but this box was absolutely free. And, I love the brands they picked. I have to go buy a large sack of Cowshed products from HQHair soon, when they have another offer like this. Right now, they have a free full-sized CID Cosmetics primer when you spend 50 quid on site.... Disclaimer: Gift with purchase, not PR sample. Just eight days left to enter my giveaway - click here.

via Blogger http://ift.tt/1rjUqDr

[mybeautyjunction]

I need help from each of you: Petition to Memebox to restore shipping worldwide

Dearest reader (yes, you), I am not mentioning you by name because I'll be here for a while dropping names, and there is important work to be done. I'll tell you what it is, and how you alone can help me out. Since mid-2013, My Beauty Junction has been a blog devoted especially to finding beauty boxes that ship worldwide. You can see my unboxing posts and beauty box reviews here. Some of you must have read my posts on Memebox, a Korean beauty box that offers great value for money. You are looking at previous Memebox photos in this post. My blog has sent them several customers from within and outside my country, and more than 60 boxes have been pre-ordered by customers from my country alone (that I know of, lol). There has been neither postal delay nor customs hassle till date, as far as Memebox delivery is concerned. On March 31, Memebox stopped shipping worldwide, and restricted themselves to the US, Japan and Canada. I received this news with disappointment, but Memebox promised to ship worldwide again soon. Read on to find out what went wrong. On April 19, Memebox said here that they would ship to 31 countries - Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hongkong, Hungary, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the U.S. Since that date, Memebox has been very generous to customers from these countries, with vouchers and welcome-back discounts, not to mention release of several special edition boxes. Which is fine, but why have many countries with paying customers been ignored? I can tell you that Memebox has loyal customers from India, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico and so on. The whole of Latin America and Africa, and South Asia, the Middle East and South East Asia (in fact all of Asia except for Japan, China, Taiwan and Singapore) have been struck off their list for no reason, without any explanation. This, despite many happy customers who have preordered boxes until October 2014. Why this discrimination against some countries alone? Why is our money of any less value than that of the customers from those 31 countries? They have shipped worldwide and delivered their boxes to all the countries left out before, so why leave them out at all now? Either ship to all countries or ship to none! Since Memebox was shipping worldwide before with no hassles, there really is no excuse, especially when customers are prepared to pay the shipping charges. Incidentally, Memebox is shipping preorders to all these countries till October 2014, so it really does not make sense for them to leave out orders from our countries.

I have emailed Memebox several times and commented on their Facebook page and tweeted them, but there are no results so far. If anyone wants to email them, the address is [email protected] - do give it a shot as well, apart from the two things mentioned below. I have heard back from Memebox saying they will "discuss the issue with their team". I want to influence that discussion in favour of all developing countries as well, in all continents. Hence, I seek your help. This post is not intended to be resentful or bitter. I love Memebox and want nothing better than for them to reinstate shipping to all countries. That alone is my intention. Therefore, I have a petition up on Change.org., which you can view here. Will you please sign this petition and support many disappointed beauty box fans and Korean beauty addicts around the world? The petition is to restore shipping worldwide, including to India, Malaysia, Israel, Mexico and other countries. Also, could you please go here and leave a comment asking Memebox to ship to all countries asap? It would mean the world to me if you did. I thank you VERY much personally for your support. You people are brilliant. Love, Renu

via Blogger http://ift.tt/1kTtwlN

[mybeautyjunction]

Too Faced 3 Way Lash Lining Tool review, swatches, photos

A black eyeliner is a must in everyone's kitty. As a rule, I prefer liquid eyeliner - it is gentler on the skin, easier to remove and easier to correct bloopers, which I always run the risk of making. But I don't like felt-tipped liners as a rule, because they tend to dry out very quickly, even if I seal them tightly and store them upside-down. However, you know that I am a sucker for anything gimmicky innovative, and that I am a huge fan of Too Faced, so when I saw the 3 Way Lash Lining Tool in Sephora in December, I picked up one for myself, attracted by the rather gimmicky applicator, which you will see in a minute.

Here is my review of the Too Faced 3 Way Lash Lining Tool.

Packaging and formula of the Too Faced 3 Way Lash Lining Tool

The external box is black with gold, pink and white design/writing.

To my surprise, methylparaben is listed among the ingredients. I have not seen parabens in other Too Faced products before.

Though liquid, the formula is not at all runny and is very quick-drying. It is also quite lightweight on the eye. You will see the pigmentation for yourself below. Staying power is very good - this eyeliner lasts on me through the work-day and does not flake off or smudge. I cannot speak for whether it smudges if you cry. It is easy enough to remove with a cleansing wipe.

How the Too Faced 3 Way Lash Lining Tool works

The felt-tip applicator is shaped like a trident, which makes it easy to create multiple dots.

What you do with that "prong" is, either create dots among your lashes, thereby giving a thicker and fuller appearance to the lash-line. This works for the upper eyelid for me, while lashes are too sparse on my lower lashline for the dots to look natural.

You can also create a really tight line with this tool by holding the prong parallel to the lids. You can use it at an angle to create a really thick line as well. The three-dots method is the most time-consuming; I love using this as an eyeliner, since the product is really smooth and the formula easy to work with. It is also not as easy to create bloopers with this tool, a welcome feature for klutzes like me. Here are the swatches of the Too Faced 3 Way Lash Lining Tool. Dotting, three separate lines - though I doubt anyone would actually want to do that - and lines of varying thickness.

These are a couple of eye makeup looks I have done with this - slightly thicker and thin respectively, with dotting between the lashes in both cases.

Bottom Line I love this eyeliner; it works smoothly for me in one swipe. I don't bother with the three-dots method unless I have enough time on my hands. I also create fewer bloopers with this eyeliner. I can't remember how much I paid for it three months ago, but on Sephora.com, the Too Faced 3 Way Lash Lining Tool costs $22. You can pick it up from any Sephora that carries Too Faced, or from BeautyBay, LookFantastic, or any other online store that carries Too Faced and ships worldwide. Only nine days left to enter my international giveaway.

via Blogger http://ift.tt/1eTjW2d