Saturday 30 November 2013

[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


____________________________________________________________________

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


Sunday 24 November 2013

[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!)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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


************************************************************************************************************
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.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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!








------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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