I'm finally on summer break! Which (hopefully!) means more free time to actually review all the stuff I've been buying over the past year.
A recent purchase I made was the Bite Beauty Bite Size Discovery Set, a set of five mini Luminous Creme lipsticks made by Bite Beauty. I was thinking about getting the Cuvée set but ultimately decided $72 was a pretty hefty price to pay.
The Bite Size Discovery Set comes in this adorable little tin with a mirror inside:
And when they say "bite size", they seriously mean "bite size".
The colors included are: Retsina, Musk, Shiraz, Fig, & Pomegranate
(shown in alphabetical order)
Here are some swatches on a piece of paper:
And now applied swatches!
Quite honestly, there isn't much of a difference between some of them but they're all pretty good for every day, casual wear.
Fig is a very natural-looking nude rose; Musk is a darker nude pink with some gold/brown undertones; Pomegranate is a fun cherry red; Retsina is a pretty light nude pink with light brown undertones; Shiraz is a subtle plum.
I really liked all of them except for Retsina - it was a bit too light for my taste.
As for lasting ability, they - like most other lipsticks - rub off pretty easily. The pigment comes off on food, drinks, and anything else you put your mouth to. Here are some photos of a blot test I did with a piece of paper:
While it may seem like the Pomegranate came off the easiest and Retsina the least, I think it's more that the bolder colors were easier to see. For the most part, they all come off fairly easily.
Bite Beauty advertises them as "long-lasting" and "moisture-rich". The pigmentation stays for awhile on your lips even while it comes off easily so I suppose that fulfills "lost-lasting" on some level.
As for "moisture-rich", it is an extremely creamy lipstick and it does slide on very well. However, don't mistake this for "moisturizing". I can't tell if they're drying out my lips but they definitely do not moisturize them.
Overall, I'm glad I bought this set!
It was $20 on Sephora.com, which was quite a deal for me because one full-sized Luxurious Creme lipstick is $24. I do wish they had a better variety of colors because the Luxurious Creme ones have a pretty wide range but I'm not complaining - they're great for a nice, classy look. Truly lip-hydrating, long-wearing lipsticks are hard to come by so these will just have to do for now. It's not a bad trade-off for the amazing pigmentation.
Unfortunately, Sephora is currently sold out of the Discovery Set BUT I hope the swatches might help you buy a full-sized lipstick :)
As you may or may not have figured out by now, I'm a sucker for 1) fruit-themed products and 2) products that promise to erase my pores.
This is what led me to try Skinfood's Fresh Apple Smooth Pore Cream, which I will be reviewing as a primer.
Despite being labeled a "cream", the function and consistency of this product is more like a primer and so I use it under my BB cream.
The tube is fairly small (30ml) and is used through squeezing.
The product promises to control sebum and tighten pores using fresh apple extract (for the sebum and pore tightening) and carbonated water (to "freshen" the skin).
It has a light, fresh scent that I kind of want to associate with apples because of the packaging but I'm not really sure.
It's a thick cream that has a slightly tacky texture to it. It's very smooth and goes on pretty easily.
This is about the amount I use on my entire face, with most of it ending up on my t-zone and cheeks:
Now, this is me before applying the pore cream:
And this is after:
If you can't see much of a difference, you're probably right.
Here's a gross close-up of my pores:
While some of the tiniest pores do seem to have been smoothed out, the majority of them are still there.
The "After" photo is brighter because of a slight difference in lighting, not any function of the cream.
Also, the thick creaminess of the product made me believe it would be moisturizing on some level but it is not. It doesn't dry out your face but it doesn't help dryness either.
In its defense, the cream does smooth out my skin a bit so that BB cream glides on/blends easier but I was expecting far more pore coverage than this. Oil control is also pretty good but not any better than the other primers I have.
Overall, I'll continue to use it occasionally because it smells nice, is a cute-looking product, and is a decent primer in terms of smoothness but I will be looking for a better primer that does more for my pores.
If big pores aren't a problem for you and you just want a creamy primer to smooth out your skin, you can find it on eBay for about $9-12 or at an actual Skinfood store for about $9.
REVIEW (x2!): Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer + Sephora Flashy Liner Waterproof (Black)
Today, you're getting double the review!
Fancy, right?
So, my cosmetics must-haves are basically BB cream and eyeliner. I only got into lip stuff recently but I've been wearing eyeliner regularly since around my junior year of high school. It's mostly because I like to make my mismatched eyelids less noticeable heh.
The problem is, I have pretty oily lids. This, combined with the fact that I take a lot of naps and yawn a lot, means I am in need of a really good eye primer.
I've tried samples of both Urban Decay's famous Eyeshadow Primer Potion and Tarte's Clean Slate 360 Creaseless 12-Hour Smoothing Eye Primer. Didn't do much for me - I still looked like a raccoon a couple hours later.
~So~ I decided to try this one by Etude House:
The Proof 10 Eye Primer is shaped a bit like a potion of some sort and comes with a doe foot applicator with a relatively long wand.
It has a tackier texture than most other eye primers I've tried. I find it a bit difficult sometimes to seamlessly blend it into my eye primer as it doesn't quite "soak" into the skin right away, for lack of better explanation.
When I apply it, I take the doe foot and swipe over my eyelid area:
From there, I just rub it in with my fingers, making sure I cover the space effectively.
Now, I don't really wear eye shadows so I don't own any ...
Thus, I can't really review how this primer works with eye shadows BUT I will review it alongside Sephora's Flashy Liner Waterproof in Black!
This liner is a standard pencil liner that has a somewhat creamier texture and goes on very smoothly. You have to sharpen it yourself and, as you can probably tell, it has to be sharpened pretty often.
Here are my eyes with ONLY the Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer rubbed in:
You might not be able to see it well but my eyelashes look a bit light, especially on the single-lidded eye. This is because the eye primer leaves some tinted residue sometimes. It kind of looks like I put powder on my lashes or something. If not blended well, streaks can also appear around your eye because of the tint.
These are my eyes after applying the Flashy Liner Waterproof:
Since it's a black liner, it's difficult to tell whether the color has been amplified or not but, from experience, I would say that the Proof 10 Eye Primer makes eye liners look deeper and bolder in color.
Also, the liner goes on far more smoothly with the primer on. Without the primer, I sometimes get drag marks and unintended smears just from the act of lining itself.
However, as you can see, there is still some slight immediate smudging, particularly on the bottom lid. This is a result of the liner not sticking well to my bottom lid.
Now, these are my lids approximately six hours later after a day out:
As you can see, the liner from the top lid has smudged, mostly onto my under-eye area but also around the border of the top lid as well.
Believe it or not, this is still the best eye primer I have ever used (yet!)
With other liners, it would get like this far quicker. It's not just because of the creaminess of this liner either. I've used the Proof 10 Eye Primer with Urban Decay's 24/7 Eyeliners as well as some drugstore brand eyeliners - same kind of smudging.
I'll probably keep this primer around but I do not think I'll be re-buying or anything. I have pretty oily lids that just can't be controlled, I guess. If you don't have particularly oily lids and just want an eye primer to boost colors, this might be a good buy because it retails for about $5.50 in Korea and you can find it on eBay for around $6-8, which is pretty reasonable.
Now, the Sephora Flashy Liner Waterproof is, as mentioned, a pretty creamy liner. It is easier to draw thick lines but it is not impossible to draw thinner ones. It's just difficult to sharpen it to a real point because the liner is so soft. Don't expect the contours and strokes that are more characteristic of a gel or liquid liner. Also, don't forget to sharpen it if it's dull - the wood part gets sharp and pokey and it hurts like fuck to stab your eye area with it :(
This is a relatively thin line by my standards.
I usually go a bit thicker (out-of-focus photo, sorry!):
Now, this liner is advertised as being waterproof. That's actually the main reason why I got it. I tend to tear up when I yawn and I yawn a lot so I need waterproof eye make-up. I have mixed feelings about the effectiveness of the waterproof function.
To test it, I licked one of my fingers and dragged it down the line I drew above a few seconds after creating it.
Not very convincing, ay?
But, at the same time, this stuff will not come off without an eye make-up remover made for waterproof make-up. Just your usual facial cleanser and/or water will not do it. Sometimes, I'll be sleeping over somewhere and I'll forget my eye make-up remover and spend quite awhile tugging at the skin around my eyelids, trying to get it off :(
It'll smudge and get messy but won't come off completely.
To me, that's like getting the disadvantages of a waterproof liner without even getting the advantages. If you just submerge yourself in water without touching your eyes, you'll probably be fine. If you're swimming, I think the damage will be minimal. However, RESIST the urge to wipe your eyes afterwards! It will smudge.
That being said, I chose this liner mostly to qualify for free shipping on Sephora.com. It's cheap at $8 and comes in various colors. The pigmentation is rich and there is a slight metallic sheen to it that lets you use it both casually in the day and out at night.
I haven't reviewed my set of Urban Decay's 24/7 liners but I would say the Sephora Flashy Liner Waterproof is of similar (if not equal) quality for a far more reasonable price because the 24/7 liners also smudge easily.
I probably won't re-buy but I use it frequently enough that I don't regret getting it!
Anyways, hope everyone's enjoying spring! I ordered some stuff and will try to upload soon.
