4.08.2016

My Foundation Collection and Review Part 1(Stila Aqua Glow Serum Foundation, Nars All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation, Mac Foundation, Chanel Perfection Lumiere Velvet)




Hello~! Today, I brought review of High-End Foundation review, Chanel Perfection Lumiere Velvet and Three Mac Foundations. Personally, I prefer foundation rather than tinted moisturizer, BB cream or CC cream as I want flawless coverage and enough wear time.

For the next post, I will give affordable Foundation review.


These are the base products that I have for my collection.
Among these products, today, I will give review for high end products.
★★★★★is for my favorite product
★is......for products that I regret buying or even using it...




First, 
Stila Aqua Glow Serum Foundation
★★★★ 


Stila is one of my favorite brand among cosmetics.
I love their eye shadow palette, liner, cream blusher,etc. There are a lot of many items that are really great.
This one is $45 for 30ml and I am using the shade 'Light'.

I am combination skin but more toward oily side. For me, it is really difficult to find foundation that looks dewy since I do not want to look like oily mess... So, it is a challenge to find the perfect foundation to make me enough dewy but not oily. Also, usually dewy foundation does not tend to stay long on my face.
Since I have to go to school and work, I do not want to touch up all the time. So, longevity of foundation is important for me, which is the reason why I prefer matte foundation.

I used this foundation for five days straight and this is really great for me. This foundation starts with natural finish to the little bit of glow as time passes. Also, the texture for this foundation is very light with medium to light coverage, it is good for everyday makeup. This one is not like 12 hour wear foundation but if you mix with Nars All day Luminous Weightless Foundation, it lasts great and love the finish of both combination.





Chanel Perfection Lumiere Velvet
★★★★ 


Chanel Perfection Lumiere Velvet is second skin formula that has very light texture and enough coverage for daily makeup. For me, I believe foundation should be not too thick since I use concealer for blemishes or acne scars. Foundation's whole purpose is to even out the face and this does that perfectly.

This is very similar with Bourjois CC cream with same texture, coverage and longevity. Considering the steep price of Chanel foundation, Bourjois CC cream is much more affordable choice, which is the reason why I recommend Bourjois CC cream than this foundation.

However, this foundation is a great one. If you want to try chanel foundation, try this one if you want velvet finish. If you want natural finish, try the aqua one.

It has SPF 15 with no apparant flash back giving this ★★★★!






나스 올데이 루미너스 웨이트리스 파운데이션
(Nars All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation)
★★★★
 


This is one of my favorite foundation and very versatile one. But why is this four star? Because it clings to dry patches and might be difficult to use in winter, a very dry season in Korea.

I use the shade Mont Blanc and is shade lighter than my skin tone. Texture of this is very watery and light but surprisingly, it has great coverage, making it easier to mix with other foundation that is shade darker or is not that a longwear product. I mix this with foundation that has nice finish like Chanel foundation to extend its usage.

This does not have any SPF, great for flash back.
In the promotion for this foundation, makeup artist say that you can cover your whole face with just a pump. I'm not sure whether that is the case since I need more than a pump to use it for my face.




Mac Studio Fix Fluid
★★★★


Classic Mac Foundation with matte and longwear formula. It has SPF of 15 and ranges from light shade to darker shade. As this one came out quite a while, it does not have light texture like foundations that came out recently in second skin texture. But this one is just a classic foundation texture, good for mixing with a drop of oil or moisturizer. It is a all rounder foundation costing $27.





Mac Pro Longwear Nourishing Waterproof Foundation
★★★ 


Because it has great coverage, people use this as concealer also. When you try this at back of your hand, it is quite natural and very nourishing feeling. However, when you try it in your face, for me, it is quite thick looking like a mask compared to other foundations that I love. That is why I use this mixing with other light foundation or face oil to thin it out. I also use beauty blender of buffing brush to thin it out.
Since this is not a cheap product($33), I wish it gives a better result. I can make it work, but I think with mac price and its potential of having a full lab, I wish it performs better rather than making me do more effort to make it work.






Mac Prep+Prime Beauty Balm Compact
★★
 

This one gives dewy skin finish and ok texture but it is not quite long wearing. It disappears on my face after two hour... Maybe... that is the reason why they came out with this on compact... So you can touch up every time carrying it around. If you have dry skin, it might be great for you. However, as I have combination towards oily side, it is not working for me personally.
This is $31 and SPF30.




This is the end of today's post!
I hope this was informative for you ;)
Next post will be about affordable foundation!
Hope you like it♥




4.06.2016

Review for Paula's Choice Clinical 1% Retinol Treatment for All Skin Types



Hello! Hope you had a lovely day~♥
Today, I brought review for 'Paula's Choice Clinical 1% Retinol Treatment'

This brand is also well known international brand for skin treatment.
Not to mention that one of my favorite youtuber, Wayne Goss(https://www.youtube.com/user/gossmakeupartist)
is also big fan of this brand as well.




Paula's Choice Clinical 1% Retinol Treatment(All Skin Types)
$55 in US


This is what they claim to do in the official site of Paula's Choice

Before moving on to any of review, let's examine the materials inside.


First, five main contents in this Treatment
  1. Water
  2. Dimethicone - to apply smoothly
  3. Glycerin - for holding mositure in your skin
  4. Butylene Glycol - preserving mositure in your skin
  5. Isononyl Isononanoate - skin conditioning ingredient
Secone, contents that are emphasized by the brand
  1. Retinol(Cell-communicating ingredient)
  2. Peptide-Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12 (cell-communicating ingredients)
  3. Vitamin C
Lastly, preservatives...
  1. Phenoxyethanol (preservative)- paraben kinds
  2. Benzoic Acid (preservative)



It says that
What it does:
Improve skin's firmness & elasticity
Smooths deep wrinkles & fine lines
Reduces dark spots; refines pores


I used this for two months and am able to give solid review of this products. 
For first to two weeks, I used this by mixing with just basic serum or essence for once in three days 
and now I raised the frequency to everyday usage, mixing with the serum.



Obviously, for the early period, my skin was not that great. But I expected this period since this is my first time using retinol skin care. I already heard the adapting period that is needed for retinol, so I did not expect any miracle right away. 
However, after using this product for a month, I felt the difference in my skin texture and my acne situation.

I have combination skin, oily in nose area, chin and part 
between my eye brows but dryness in my forehead and cheek.
After using this skincare, I noticed that big breakouts that happen regularly was significantly improved.
It did not disappear completely. I did not have any big breakouts, just had some small acnes  which is a huge improvement for me. Also, not just that, breakouts tend to fade away much quickly than before.

Since I am in mid 20s, I do not have any visible lines or deep wrinkles, which makes hard to see any firming action for certain. However, I felt firming sensation on my cheek area which was great for me.
I'm trying to persuade my mom to use this product as well since she is not using retinol in her skincare routine and this products is for wrinkles and widened pores with skin losing its elasticity.
I might review her experience in the near future ;)

For negative sides for this product
It might be up there in price for students to use this products as it is $55.
Also, you have to go through period for adapting to retinol products if you want to use it for the first time.
More importantly, you need to use sunscreen everyday!
I'm already in habit of using sunscreen daily for my skin protection.
However, if you are not, you need to be aware of this .
Also, for me, I found that the texture of this product is not thin enough to use and smooth it out with pea sized dosage that is recommended by the brand.


That's it for today~!
This review was not sponsored by any brand but my own thought and opinion.

4.05.2016

Review and Swatches for Etude Look at My Eyes Shadow - My own Palette



Today! I will show you swatches and brief review of Etude's Eye shadow.
10 shadows from Etude called 'Look at My Eye's Shadow' and 2 Mac eye shadows which are for bonus.
They sell these in individual cases but I depotted all of them and put in in this palette that is sold in Etude House.

Before showing the swatches and review, let me introduce to the brand 'Etude'
All of you are born as a princess.
Your own magical story has already begun.
Princess fantasy is now happening in your life.
Let your Pink out!!!

is there brand story ;)
This is very affordable cosmetics line in Korea with very girly packaging.
There are very good items here including their eye shadows.






This is the empty shadow case that are sold in Etude house.
This one is for 12 shadows.
I put my 10 etude eye shadows and 2 mac shadows that I use for daily basis in here.
Most of eye shadows from etude is very soft and smooth, blendable.



Smiley face is Mac shadows,
Yellow star is 'Look at My eyes Jewel Shadow'.
Heart is 'Bling me Prism Look at My eyes Shadow'.
Rest of the shadows are just plain 'Look at My eyes Shadow'

There are Korean names for each shade but for your convenience, 
I will write the name that you can use when you are searching for the shade.


Starting from the left,
GR707/ Expensive PInk/ RD301/ Soba

GR707 is green olive color with silver gold specs in it
Expensive Pink is one of mac's iconic shade that is in peachy pink color with gold specs in it.
RD301 is cool tone red shade with micro gold specs in it.
Soba is also one of my mac's favorite shade that is in neutral browny shade 
with little gold specs in it which is hardly visible.
It is perfect for everyday makeup.






BR403/ BR409/ BR401/ BR422
BR403 is cool tone deep browny shade with gold specs in it.
BR409 is Jewel shade and is not that pigmented.
Jewel shade in Etude is usually for the sparkles in it to accentuate the eyes.
it is deep browny shade with gold specs in it. 
BR401 is one of the most favorite shade in Etude for daily makeup.
It is netural brown shade in matte formula
BR422 is warm matte brown shade in matte formula.





BR402/ BE107/ PK010/ PK003
BR402 is also favorite shade that is really warm browny shade with gold micro glitter.
You can even foil this by using fix plus from mac.
I just use this on its own and is very pigmented.
BE107 is a different kind of shadow which is called 'Prism eyeshadow' in Etude line.
It somewhat similar to Expensive pink but less pigmented and more glitter.
If you want to put more peachy gold glitters in your eyelids, you will love this.
Lastly, PK003 is matte hot pink formula that is very pigmented and very blendable.





These are the swatches from the above on white paper with its Korean name.

This is the end for today!
I hope the information is very informative for you
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4.04.2016

Drugstore Haul(Stila Aqua Glow Serum Foundation & Concealer, Maybelline Vivid Matte Lipstick Violet Pink with Bobbi Brown Rich lip color Ibiza Pink swatch)




Hello! Everyone!
I hope you had lovely weekend ;)
I went in to LOHBs(similar to Boots or Drugstore in Korea) just to look around
But!  you know what happens when you go into the store....
You come out damaging your bank account...






These are the products that I bought
Everything is 10,000won(86.6$ worth)
I went there to try stila Aqua Glow Serum Foundation and concealer in the same line.
I also wanted to try Nivea sensitive postshave Balm but there wasn't any.
Maybe I should order it on the internet ;)
I just wanted to try as makeup primer and compare with other primers that I own.
'Nivea Postshave Balm for sensitive skin'
It is for man but it's already so popular among makeup gurus 
and youtubers for makeup primer

With it, I also bought Maybelline matte lipstick 
which is one of my favorite matte formula in the market



Stila Aqua Glow Serum Foundation
Stila Aqua Glow Serum Concealer

I also took a picture of its box packaging since it looks so luxury in gold packaging.
I bought it in LOHBs where they are giving 
black cushion foundation case and many puffs for you to DIY and use it.
I'm not sure whether I will use it or not. It looks nice and sleek but whether I will use pour all the foundation in that case...well...maybe?
I'm not sure....


I'm in the shade between NC25 and NC30 in mac range.
I chose the shade Light for foundation and Fair Light for the concealer.
I'm planning to use it on my face and review it for the first time tommorow!
I will upload the post quite soon as I give enough time to understand its pros and cons sufficiently.


If you buy more than 30,000won(26$ worth), LOHBs gives you free samples in a box which is called 'Moisture Dream Project' in Korean.
It contained on Nivea body lostion for all skin type and CAOLION Sleeping masks for your face.
They are famous for their natural mud mask but I did not try sleeping mask.
So, I'm thrilled to use it for the first time


There are five masks in total for each concerns such as pore care, white shine, calming functions,etc




Now..
This is the part where my impulsive purchase comes in.
Before going into anything, I just wanted to explain my usual shade in lipsticks.
They are usually warm tone peach pink or warm deep red color for occasion.
I never tried any neon pink or cool tone pink in my life.
But recently, I tried one of my mom's lipstick called Ibiza Pink in Bobbi Brown Rich Lip Color 
and I  love it♥
Naturally, I went out to find a dupe in drugstore for a much more affordable price line.
And I found this!



Maybelline Vivid Matte Violet Pink



Comparing the two side by side, Ibiza Pink is little bit warmer


You can see the difference in swatches on white paper.


BUT!!!
If you actually swatch it on your arm or your lips, there are no big difference in shade!


You can see that there are no visible difference.
They are both very pink but Ibiza Pink is little bit warmer and luster shade whereas maybelline lipstick in Violet Pink is in matte texture but very creamy

Maybelline matte lipstick is one of my favorite lipstick for daily makeup as it is very creamy and not drying.
I looks matte but on your lips, it is amazing! It does not emphasize or exaggerate the dry patches in your lips as well. It is perfect for everyday makeup .
Also, price is so affordable compare to Bobbi Brown Lipstick.
Bobbi Brown Lipsticks are also good in my opinion but if you have budget, go for maybelline one!
This is perfect color for spring~!


I'm planning to use all the products tomorrow.
Yes...I have the urge to wash off my face and use them right now...
But I'm trying to hold back this urge and do it properly tomorrow! ;)


This is the end for my today post!
Remember! Confident women are the ones who looks beautiful :)




4.01.2016

ELF Cosmetics(Golden Bronzer and Blush Palette in light shade) Review




Happy(?) April Fools Day!
I'm pretty sure that everyone got prank from your friends already.
Today, I will show you two products from elf cosmetics, their golden bronzer and blush palette.

Elf is one of well known drugstore brands from US, meaning Eyes, Lips and Face(ELF).
It is very affordable if you are in budget for makeup and has a quite large range of products.
Because it is really cheap(I do not mean this in wrong way), they have both amazing products to some....problematic items.
Among them, these are one of best sellers in their line, 'Bronzer' and 'Blush palette'.
I have this in golden bronzer and blush palette in light shade.







Packaging is very good compared to its cheap price.
Bronzer is just like Nars blush's packaging...(probably that might be their intention in the first place)
Blush palette is also very good for traveling as it contains many shades including warm bronzer shade.





These are the swatches that I did on white paper
the bottom swatches in bronzer is the shade that will come up when you deep your brush in every color.






Starting with the Blush Palette!
This one is 6$ which is very affordable and highly pigmented.
You only need small amount of it when you use this one.
The bottom right shade was cracked as I somehow dropped it hard...It's my fault... not the product :(
Since that one is my favorite shade...I just pushed the color in the case as fast as I can....




These are close shot swatches!

↑Upper part is on the paper
↓photo below is with my finger

Reddish shade in the bottom right is the only shade with little gold pearls in it
But it is not shimmery in any means.





I'm not sure if I can finish this and hit pans as I need only little amount of shades to use it for my skin.
Someday...maybe???
;)




Second product is Bronzer and this one is in the shade, Golden Bronzer.
This one has pearls in it. So if you want to have a sheen in your bronzer, you can use this as bronze topper which is my favorite way to use this over other matte bronzer. Or you can use this as highlighter by dipping your brush in the lighest shade in this or as eye shadow for natural glow in you lid.
This one is only 4$
I used this shade everyday when I went to Bali~!



As it has pearl in it, I took a picture in different angle for you to see ;)





These are the swatches for each color in the bronzer!
The bottom swatch is when you use every color in the pan!






Picture below is from actual Elf cosmetics site.
They are the same palette but in different shade.
I hope this is informative for you to choose what to buy for you skin tone.



This one is same palette in dark shade for people who have darker skin tones


This is also the one that I own for myself.


This is the shade, Cool Bronzer.
This is a matte bronzer which you can use it as both for bronzer
and contour as it is cool tone. 



That's the end for Elf cosmetics review for their bronzer and blush palette.
If you want other review! Please write in the comment section below.
All the opinions in this post is my own.

From BeautyCredit Guru~♥

Remeber!


Beauty can only exist when you are satisfied and confident!