[Etude House] CC Cream - Glow

By: K

Ughh sorry about the resoultion. Left: One pump, Right: blended out.
One pump is A LOT.

Yay I see a bigger difference than the Tony Moly CC cream :)

After I bought this product I found out that "Silky" was more suitable for oily skin types. Oopsies.

This product does even out and brighten my skin somewhat, after looking at the photos. Unfortunately it makes me an oil ball after a few hours (I'm sure anyone who has been stalking reviews of this has seen the oil tests). This will give a white cast if you use flash photography.

The texture is pretty thick and feels thick on my face. I ran my fingers over my skin after using it and it feels like what my skin feels like after I apply a sunscreen (namely the Nivea SPF 50 waterproof one). In fact, it feels thicker than my BB cream while making less of a difference on my face :I 

On a side note, I like using this as a subtle highlighter. :)

Note: I don't go over skincare benefits cause I don't believe in makeup as a skincare product haha :P Also I'm not putting coverage as a factor because this is a CC cream.

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Pros:
✓ Evens out skin tone

✓ Brightens skin
✓ Gives glowy finish (as promised)
✓ Travel friendly - has pump mechanism

✓ Affordable - USD$14 on cosmetic.jolse.com

Cons:
✗✗ Quite thick and oily - bad for those with oily skin

✗ Gives white cast if you use flash photography

Overall: 3.6/5 

(still prefer my BB cream over this)

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By J

here's beautiful me using K's amazing eye enhancing technology

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Pros:

J My skin glowsssss (it's much more obvious than the Tony Moly one reviewed here
J My skin tone is a little more even I think. 
J Hygienic since it has the pump <-  I typo-ed "pimp" the first time LOL
J Moisturising for my cheeks and for some reason I find it less oily on my forehead than the Tony Moly one

Cons:

L I find this harder to blend than the Tony Moly one as it's a bit thicker
L It contains shimmer, subtle, but if you aren't a shimmer fan you might be a bit annoyed

Overall: 4/5
I like that it gives a better glow than the [TM] one, but the textures just a little too thick for a higher mark

Buy of the Day :D

By J

So while I hit the supermarket today, I also went by the 'local' jewellery place there called Diva. It mainly stocks stuff for preteens all the way to the elderly ladies (or men if they like sparkly things).

I've been wanting to pick up some cute jewellery and they were having a sale. There was a lot I wanted to get but I've been spending a lot lately so I only got one thing... ;n;

I'm not sad really :D

I found such a good piece that I'm actually super stoked :DD

I saw this other set of rings, three for $5, which I originally was going to buy, until I came across this: 

They're pretty aren't they? O:
They came in a set of 5 as stackable rings. They're about the size of midi rings, but they fit well on the regular places of rings, except the smallest two, which I can wear on my pinkies a bit loose, or as midi rings.

So pretty *O* I really love the one with the large black "stone" and the sparkly halo around it!

The pearl one is another favourite of mine! :D The funny two 'diamond' antler one above it is a bit weird; you can't really wear it on its own but it looks good with the pearly one.

Yayyyyyy~ let's deck out my hand :D
They have a decent weight so they don't feel cheap or anything c:
Oh, the crown one and the little "diamond" one on my ring finger (in between the two eternity style ones) are ones I already owned. They go nicely with the new ones eh? *U*


And the thing that made me the happiest.....

it only costed $3. Three bucks.
:DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

So what nice finds or buys have you guys made lately? :D

Maybelline Color Whisper

By J

Back story: 
I've always had (and kind of still have) really chapped lips. Most lipsticks were out for my because they emphasise the level of chapped-ness (for me, boss level) and dry them out.
I'd been eyeing these for a while but they're a little hard to find in NZ and always expensive :x

Item detail:
Colour: Rose of Attraction.

According to the Maybelline Website, this is

• a weightless and translucent gel with pure coloured pigments suspended within
• a formula without heavy waxes or oils
• 'just a kiss of shine'

Despite what the maybelline website shows (which is this coral-ly pale pink), it's a bright, neutral-cool, medium pink containing shimmer.

Regular packaging. Funny story. When I bought this I couldn't see the colour inside the tube so I had to guesstimate the colour by imagining it without the lid. Biggest brain overload ever.

Colour and number located on the bottom. (Rose of Attraction)

Silver tube looks pretty eh? The little knob near the base makes the lid click in place.

As close as I could get the colour to real life. Can you see the tiny flecks of shimmer in there?

c:
My skin is so dry :c but lips look pretty so I've got that going for me.
(If you get that reference you're awesome :D)

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Pros
J Moisturising; it hid my chapped lips in Winter better than the Revlon lip butters 
J Bright colour without being BAM IN YOUR FACE
J Its neutral-ish tone means it works well for a lot of skin tones
J The gel texture is nice and light 
J Colour can be built up but it won't get to an opaque state
J A bit of shimmer (if it's your thing)
J Stays on your lips well provided you don't eat (just reapply)
J The packaging is quite sturdy and doesn't look cheap (if that sort of thing matters to you)

Cons

L The moisture just sort of 'sits' on your lips, so this isn't a replacement for lipbalm!

L The packaging makes it hard for you to tell the colour of the actual bullet

L Because it's a bit sheer, this works better for people with naturally pale lips

L The glitter stays on your lips after the colour has been rubbed off

L It's pretty expensive in NZ (I bought mine for $12-15, and that was on sale :c)

L Colour range available in NZ is only 1/3 of the range available in the States (really, NZ?)

Overall: 4.5/5 (the product itself I like very much. I can overcome the small issues lol)

I bought this from one of the parallel importers sales, so I can't really direct you to any place, sorry D;

[TONY MOLY] Auto Eyebrow Party Lover - Grey

By: K

Pencil (with twist mechanism)

Spool

ABOVE: Swatches, from left to right using increasing strength. The rightmost swatch was the darkest colour I could achieve.

The picture on the right is of me rubbing with all my strength after a few minutes of letting it sit. It doesn't stay well (even more so when I apply it to my eyebrows because I'm oily there).

A thing to note though is that the staying power is okay as long as you don't rub it.

( :c I'm so eyebrowless)
This pencil creates natural looking eyebrows.




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Pros:
✓ Can create soft to bold looking eyebrows
✓ Travel friendly - no need for sharpening
✓ Comes with spool
Cons:
✗✗✗ Not smudge-proof - comes off easily

Overall: 3/5 (still looking for that perfect eyebrow pencil D:)

I got this from cosmetic-love.com for USD$7.20 but they don't seem to stock it anymore. I guess it's not a really good eyebrow pencil anyway. Then again, what am I expecting at that price xD

[Etude House] Surprise Essence Concealer

By: J

Back story:
So for the longest time I've had these dark eye circles that make me look like I've been punched in the eyes, especially when I'm tired.

My undereye area is a little dry so some stick concealers get a little cakey there, so I knew I needed something liquid or 'creamy' (but man, false advertisements everywhere).

I was debating between the Skinfood salmon one, the Etude House surprise concealer kit and this one. I was actually going to get the kit, but at the very last second my stingy side went super-saiyan mode and so... I got the Surprise Essence Concealer.

Item detail:
Liquid form in a bottle/tube. 6g. Bought for $6.28.

Comes sealed. 

A pear shaped applicator? Please teach me the real name guys ):

o__o

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Pros
✓ Moisturising 
✓ Buildable coverage, medium to medium-full
✓ Only need a small amount
✓ Lasts about 5 hours without setting powder, after that it wears off a little
✓ Doesn't accentuate lines
✓ Applies a little orange, so it counteracts the blue
✓ Packaging feels sturdy/won't break if you take on travel

Cons
✗ Tube and applicator means you can't use every last drop
✗  Doesn't completely counteract my blue/purple shadows (going to keep looking for that perfect concealer)
✗  It lasts longer for under the eye than blemishes 
✗  Only has two shades, only suitable for up to medium skin tones
✗  Have to be careful how you replace the applicator, or some product may squish out around the rim 

Overall: 3.8/5

Bought from http://cosmetic.jolse.com/ for $6.28. It's under $6 if you wait for their week sales :D

[TONYMOLY] Luminous Pure Aura CC Cream SPF30 PA++

By: J

So I've been looking for something more moisturising for my skin during the winter time, as my cheeks get really dry );
Prior to trying this CC cream out I was using a BB lotion for Etude House, which was supposed to be pretty moisturising, but for my Sahara desert cheeks it wasn't really making any difference.
K suggested for me to try CC cream instead, as its properties are supposed to be better.
I actually looked around for quite a while first and it ended up being a toss up between the Etude House shiny one and this one. So without further ado, here's the beaut.

If it counts for anything, the packaging is really nice; nice and clean looking, vaguely 'luminous'. The bottle comes with a pump that's pretty easy to control.

Another good thing is that the cap is opaque, so if you get any cream on the inside it doesn't look messy or gross. (Not like that happened with my previous BB cream or anything :D)

Left: CC cream with black colour capsules. Right: CC cream blended out.

So the cream comes out white, and the little capsules in the cream are supposed to release the colour and adjust to your skin tone.

It does blend out to a fair skin tone (which is awesome as I'm pretty fair). I'm doubtful of its ability to adjust to a dark skin tone though, so be aware!

The 7 properties it's supposed to have are:

 - sun protection SPF30 PA++

 - whitening
 - anti wrinkle

 - natural glow

 - moisturizing

 - makeup base

 - primer

On the left is my 'lovely' bare face, and on the right is with one layer of CC cream applied. 

The blur is because I took the photos in a distracting environment and in pjs... lol.

SPF30 PA++: it gives you a ghost face in photography so I'm assuming there's a good amount of sunscreen.

whitening: It gives does whiten upon application but not in the long term (hard to tell as I'm quite fair, so I'll be passing it onto K so she can give it a shot!)

anti wrinkle: I don't have wrinkles or fine lines so I can't vouch for anything

natural glow: YAY. I glow. Can you see on the right picture? It gives a nice healthy glow.

moisturizing: Yes and no. It oils up my forehead (I'm talking about 6+hrs of wear though) and does moisturise my  cheeks a little, but it's not as moisturising as I'd like it.

makeup base/primer: I've put this under BB cream before and it adds a really nice glow to my skin.

As a CC cream, it does adjust my skin tone. If you look on the left photo, there's a little discolouration on my cheeks and uneveness to my skin tone, but it's barely noticeable on the right! :D

As for coverage though, it doesn't do much. My punched-in-the-eye dark circles are still out there for everyone to see (but cc creams ain't for that so it's okay!)

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Pros

✓ It does most of the things it says it does (whitens, moisturises, gives a glow, decent base)

✓ It lasts about 5-8+ hours before oiling up to point of requiring blotting.

✓ Evens out your skin tone

✓ Hygienic packaging

✓ No weird smells

Cons

✗ Lacks coverage (use concealer peeps)

✗ Might feel heavy if you live in hot humid places

Overall: 4/5

I got this from http://cosmetic.jolse.com/ during their weekly sales, for about $15USD for 50ml. You can get it even cheaper from ebay, but I was buying more stuff from the site and they give combo freebies :D

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By: K

I borrowed this from J so I could review this too xD

Note: My eyes are not actually that large. They have just been enhanced with ground-breaking technology.

The difference with it on in photos is abysmal; I'd rather wear no makeup. In person, I can see a subtle difference when the light hits my face but it's VERY hard to tell. This would be an okay base though or you could mix it in with a bb cream to make it lighter.

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Pros

✓ Convenient packaging
✓ Moisturising
✓ Doesn't leave a white cast (unlike the Etude House CC cream I have)
✓ Quite light - may not be good for super oily skin

Cons

✗ Lacks coverage - which is okay 'cause CC creams weren't made for that purpose

✗✗✗ No noticeable difference in evening out skin tone

Overall: 3/5

[Etude House] Fresh Cherry Tint in Cherry Red (RD301)

By: K

I'm gonna go ahead and be typical in saying that the design of this bottle is really cute! Comes with a stick applicator which is nice but it sorta picks up too much product which makes it hard to apply it evenly. I don't have a lip brush (really should invest in one xD;) so I use my fingers to dab it on.

Here are some swatches showing one and two sheer layers applied and finally washing and rubbing my lips with just water to test the staying power.

The colour of this tint is nothing like the bottle or the poster promoting this product. Nevertheless I'm glad cause this pinkish colour is a lot more natural. Colour is buildable so add more layers to pump up the vibrancy.

The tint has a nice cherry scent. Scent is not much of a huge deal to me though, the product just doesn't have to smell bad.

As for the feel, like most tints this one will make your lips dry after a while so smack on some lip balm before using this!

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Pros

✓ Nice colour (even though it looks nothing like the packaging)

✓ Good staying power

✓ Nice scent

✓ Inexpensive (USD$7.09, see site below) 

Cons

✗ drying (easily fixed with lip balm)

Overall: 4/5 

J purchased this for me from cosmetic-love.com but their prices have gone up now so both of us have jumped ship to a cheaper site called cosmetic.jolse.com.