Review: Missha Complexion Coordinating BB Cream in No. 2

BB creams was all the rage a few years ago and now this past year, we see a flood of CC creams on the market. Missha's M Perfect Cover BB Cream was the first I ever tried and I definitely jumped on when MisshaUS.com announced they have the Missha CC cream on their Facebook page! Of course there was a little false advertising, in my humble opinion, because it wasn't a CC cream, instead they called it their CC BB cream. (Confusing eh?) Well Missha launched the new Complexion Coordinating BB Cream .

Missha Complexion Coordinating BB Cream No. 2 - Flawless Complexion

Twist top packaging

Bulky packaging compared to the M Perfect Cover BB Cream despite the same content

Missha Complexion Coordinating BB Cream Facts

Review: Le Metier De Beaute True Colour Creme Eyeshadows in Champagne Shimmer & Starry Night

I've revealed the lovely September box of Le Metier De Beaute's Beauty Vault VIP here and now's the time for an official review and swatches after testing these beautiful cream shadows.

LMdB Creme Shadows Champagne Shimmer & Starry Night (with flash)

LMdB Creme Shadows Champagne Shimmer & Starry Night (natural light)

Review: Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips in Nude Eyes

The Urban Decay Naked palettes became a cult favorite as soon as it launched with everyone sorting out the "no makeup" makeup looks. Every cosmetic brand started making their own version of the "Naked" palette. I personally own the UD Naked palette as well, but I find myself not reaching for it as much as you'd think I would.  As a starter to makeup, I steer away from eyeshadow colors that are too pigmented and bold. And when I do use the Naked palette, I only use the shimmer/satin colors.

Here's a very affordable alternative for those who prefer shimmer/satin colors: the Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips in Nude Eyes.

Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips in Nude Eyes

The Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips in Nude Eyes retails about $10-$12 in drugstores. I got mine for around $5 with the CVS sale and ExtraBucks. It comes with 9 shades that goes from light to dark dramatic shades. There's not that much product at a mere 0.20oz for the entire palette.

The palette has a pink plastic package with a clear window and lace overlay on the entire palette. A little on the princess front, but might be a cute detail for some of you. 

The shades of Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips in Nude

The palette has a magnetic closure that isn't very strong, so I find myself accidentally opening it when putting it away in my vanity table. Comes with 1 sponge tip applicator that I actually do like. It's a thicker foam sponge.

The Box and instructions

This palette claims to be an all in one eye palette with your shadow and liner colors. I don't like how it advertises that it comes with 18 custom shades JUST because you can use the shadows wet or dry. But it does come with a quick instruction on how to put together the "nude eye" look.

From Left to Right: 3rd shade in Trio #1, 3rd shade in Trio #2, all 3 colors from Trio #3

Now for some swatches! I didn't attempt to swatch all 9 shades as the highlight colors in each trio are barely visible in a swatch. These swatches were done with my fingers and I've found that using any other eyeshadow brush gives the same effect. But surprisingly, the eyeshadow colors come out much more vivid when applied with the included sponge tip applicator. You can definitely use these eyeshadow colors as eyeliners to line your eyes.

Each of the shadows are shimmery (well its called shimmer strip for a reason), with glittery particles. If you enlarge the swatches image, you'll see how much glitter is really there. The darkest 2 shades in Trio #3 have the least glitters, you can barely notice them and they're the perfect liner colors! My favorite shadow is definitely the one in the middle of Trio #2. It's a beautiful taupe shadow with a hint of shimmer.

The shadows feel velvety under my fingers and there's definitely no fallout even if all you do is pat the shadows on your eyes with a shadow brush. These shadows does crease on my eyes though. I've tried using both Urban Decay Primer Potion and NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base under these eyeshadows and the creasing problem ceases.

I've definitely been reaching out to this Physician's Formulate Shimmer Strips a lot more than my UD Naked palette. I love that the colors are not too bold but still have the hint of color. I prefer shimmer shadows over matte ones because it highlights and opens my eyes to give a more alert effect.  Maybe I'll post a eye look later on. Let me know if any of you would be interested in a feature of how it looks on me. =)

Thanks for reading!

Influenster Sponsored - Beauty Blogger VoxBox

Here's a quick overview of the goodies (not to mention, they're freebies) from the Beauty Blogger VoxBox from Influenster. Influenster is a advertising/public relation company that offers free samples (and sometimes full size products) to specific target audience. It's free to sign up and you'll get your own VoxBox if you qualify! In the end, you're only obligated to fill out a short survey on your thoughts of each of the products they mail to you.

This time around, I was qualified for the Beauty Blogger VoxBox. And these were the goodies I received in the mail.

Influenster - Beauty Blogger VoxBox

Goody Simple Styles Spin Pin (full size - retails $7.29)
First thing I was excited to try were these Goody spin pins. I have the very stereotypical long and straight Asian hair and watching all those Taiwanese beauty shows have gotten me very into the whole wavy bohemian style updos. I've tried using bobby pins with hair ties and U shaped pins, but I couldn't achieve the effortless updos those models would sport! I was hoping this would be the answer to my prayers, but it fails to keep a bun to stay. =(  I think this would only work with textured hair.

Goody Spin Pins peeking under the bun

How the bun looks from the back, notice my hair loosing up on the bottom already.

Here's how it looked on me. These pretty much disappear into your hair, though I received brown ones instead of black, you can sort of see the metallic part of it sticking under my bun.  But it only took a few turns of my head before the spin pins start losing it's grip of my hair. Maybe if I have like another pair of them, it'll keep my bun a little more secure.

Bath & Body Works Mini Candles (retails $3.50)
I receive the scent in Pumpkin which I did NOT like. I just really dislike the heavy vanilla/cream baking scent. But I did utilize the coupon that was included to get myself THREE 3-Wick Bath & Body Works candles. I bought the popular Mahogany & Teakwood, Snowed In, and Sparkling Icicles. Mahogany & Teakwood was mostly a splurge because of so many people raving about it's scent being very close to Abercrombie's Fierce cologne. I loved Snowed In and Sparkling Icicles for it's very light and fresh scent.

EBOOST (1 packet sample)
I usually take Airborne when I feel the need to boost my immune system (especially when sick coworkers spread germs around the office). So I expected the Eboost to work the same way, but it also claims to be an energy booster. So it's probably a bad idea that I drank it at 12 midnight and now writing this post still at 2AM. Sigh.. It tastes like a very bitter Hi-C, I think I still prefer my Airborne.

NYC New York Color Individual Eyes Custom Compact (full size - retails $4.99)

I received the color in "Dark Shadows" (a limited edition), all of which were different shades of gray/silver. I don't own many shades of gray so this was interesting to play with. It comes with 4 shadows, a primer and an illuminator, with a double ended applicator so this is all you need to complete a full eye look. Three of the shadows are shimmery with a sheen while the last one has bigger glitter particles in it.

NYC New York Color IndividualEyes in Dark Shadows

Swatched on the under side of my arm. The four colors are a shimmer white, silver, charcoal gray and a black with glitter in it. The white and silver are not very pigmented and if you look closely they are quite a bit of fallout. I'm not sure why there would be a shimmer white in this palette when the illuminator looks exactly the same. The charcoal gray was my favorite. It's super buttery with great payout when it comes to color, the only thing I'll complain about is that the color looks so different in the pan. The black with silver glitter looked promising and looks exactly like Urban Decay's Oil Slick but you can see that the color payout is very poor, not even close to the charcoal gray.

NYC IndividualEyes on me

Here's how the shadows look on me! Please excuse the stray brow hairs. =)  A bit of a neutral look. The charcoal gray blended out very nicely. And you can sort of see the chunky glitter particles from the black shadow.

Kiss Ever Pro Lashes Starter Kit (full size - retails $5.99)

Now this little lash kit was a nice surprise. Just when Youtube gurus like Frmheadtotoe and Raeview started putting up their "How to apply false lashes", I wanted to try too! I've only had them on once during a studio photo shoot in Taiwan but that was with the help of a makeup artist. But I was sad that the lashes that came with this kit was so UNNATURAL looking especially for a "starter" kit.

Here's a close up of the lashes. They are a set of super dense full lashes. I can't imagine anyone naturally having a set of lashes like this. (thumbs up to you if you do, because I envy you!). The lashes were really soft and says they're made 100% of human hair (though that does sound a little gross). I was happy that even with me pulling and tugging at the lashes, none of the lashes fell out and the lashes kept its shape. It was good that as a kit it came with a mini tweezers and glue.

The glue in the kit smell, well like glue, and I was a little apprehensive of putting it so close to my eye, but I do like that the glue tip was a little slanted to prevent you from putting too much glue on the lashes.

I look so much more alert with the lashes now.

Can you see how long the lashes are?!

Here's how the lashes look paired w/ the same NYC IndividualEyes compact. Can you see how much more alert I look with the lashes! My eyes instantly look 2x bigger! The lashes were a little too long so I had to snip away at the end. I had a lot of trouble applying the lashes correctly on the inner corners of my eye. The band was a little too thick for me. It was a little difficult to bat my eyes. Overall I really like these lashes, but I'll probably try another style.

Not Your Mother's Smooth Moves Frizz Control Hair Cream  (sample size)

I'm too lazy to style my hair, I usually just leave it in a ponytail or just let it down. But with winter coming, my hair gets very frizzy from the cold and my scarves (especially if I tried to wash my hair in the morning). The Not Your Mother's Smooth Moves Frizz Control Hair Cream is made especially for straight hair. I put a nickel size amount on my palm and just apply directly to my still damp hair. It worked really well with controlling the frizziness of my hair after it dried completely. I can't say I'm a fan of the scent though. Because it contains coconut extracts, the coconut scent was REALLY strong. I'm so glad the scent dissipated once my hair dry. I'm not sure if I'll actually purchase the full size, my hair doesn't dry completely for a few hours and the moisture must be locking in the scent. I'll see how it goes with the rest of the winter.

That's it for my Influenster VoxBox! I'm very glad that they offered items like these for people to try. I think it's a good way to branch out to different products and brands that are out of your comfort zone without actually costing you anything but time to complete a survey. =)

Review: SKIN79 VIP Gold Collection Super+ Beblesh Balm (BB Cream)

(A Hurricane Sandy sweeping through East Coast post.)

The Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream has been the only BB cream that I've tried. There's so many BB creams out there now, but from what I've heard, the non-Korean ones are still not up to par. So I decided to branch out to the SKIN79 VIP Gold Collection Beblesh Balm from Jen (FrmHeadtoToe)'s recommendation.

Let's see if it's up to par as my beloved Missha Perfect Cover:

The Packaging

Ingredients

SKIN79 VIP Gold Collection Super+ Beblesh Balm Facts

Swatches: Winter vs. Summer Nails

Absolutely been way too long since my last post. I have so many ideas and things I want to write and review, it's overwhelming. I've been very distracted as of late. New secret relationships can really take a lot of your time! Plus I've been spending much of my every waking hour gathering items for Sims Social... such an addiction.

Anyway, not going to bore you all with the details. Here are some back logged nail pictures I found in my hard drive. A nice winter vs. summer nail juxtaposition collection.

Butter London's Lady Muck - 1 Coat

Here's a cool tone wintery nail color that I loved, Button London's Lady Muck, a murky blue-grey color. The color looks a little gloomy, so it'll probably be my winter choice, unfortunately not suitable in a professional work environment. This is one of my first Butter London polishes and they were super easy to apply and dry.This lasted longer than the Fairy Lights that I tried.

Zoya's MIA - 1 Coat

Here's a more work-friendly nail polish - Zoya's MIA. It's a neutral mauve pink that leans on the sheer side. Shown here with 1 coat only. Dries fast, but wears away from the tips without top coat pretty quickly. Doesn't last more than 1 day without the wearing off.

Essie's Muchi Muchi (2 coats) & Hello Kitty in Blueberry (1 coat)

One day I felt like being a little more "daring" and decided to paint my nails in 2 different colors. Essie's Muchi Muchi is a super sheer and needs at least 2 coats for opaqueness. But it's a classic baby pink that's perfect for spring so it's a keeper for me. Paired with the most gorgeous pacific blue color from Hello Kitty's Blueberry. The Hello Kitty nail polish was from my Sephora haul a year or so back. One coat, as you can see, is still very streaky. This polish will require 2 coats, but the color payoff is magnificent.

Revlon's Sheer Nude (1 coat), Milani's Nail Art in White Canvas, and Butter London's Tart with a Heart

Switching gears back to an office-friendly French manicure. This time I added a little bling to my normal French tip with Butter London's Tart with a Heart. This Butter London nail polish has a sheer pink base with multiple glitter particles in various shapes and colors, would probably look very weird alone (I haven't tried that yet), but looks really nice layered on top of a opaque color. I dotted my normal French tip with a toothpick, super easy, and super quick.

Revlon's Color Stay in Marmalade

Revlon came out with a new line of nail polish called ColorStay which claims to last up to 11 days as long as you use their top and base coat. I'm not too crazy for long lasting color for THAT long, but I was drawn to this bright orange coral in Maramalade. They are very pricey compare to the regular line, these run up to $11. They lasted quite a while on me, but as you can see, they also wear off pretty quickly at the tips. But overall, a perfect summer POP of color.

=)   That's it for the nails, hopefully my other reviews will be up soon!

Swatches: Del Sol, Zoya Pink Nail Polishes

Here's the two swatches of my new nail polish collection. Been having a crazy nail polish frenzy lately, I've bought so many yet have not really gotten a chance to try most of them.

Del Sol in Flirt (Pale Pink with Glitters)

Del Sol is what I'll call a tropical brand. I've only known about them after going on a few cruises to the Caribbeans. There is also one chain store located in the Quincy Market in Boston. They're actually a company that specializes in apparel that changes color under the sun (hence the name Del Sol). Their designs react to the sun's UV rays and transforms in color. Yup, even their nail polishes!

Del Sol nail polish indoors

Here I'm wearing the Del Sol nail polish in Flirt. It's a pale pink with lots of silver glitter. The glitter is very fine. I love how it gives off a slight shimmer this way. Perfect go to work color.

Del Sol in Flirt under the sunlight thru window

Difference in color between thumb and ring finger

Here you can sort of see a difference in color after I left my hand under the sunlight for a minute or so. Outdoors the colors are even more vibrant! I'll try to upload a picture of how my nails look outdoors. You can sort of see the difference in color between my thumb and ring finger.

Overall these are not great quality nail polishes. With only 1 coat and no top coat, my nails started chipping the next day. Very easy to apply and they dry fairly quickly. These nail polishes retail for $10 each. And they usually have a Buy 3 Get 1 Free sale in stores.  Pretty expensive for not so great nail polishes, but they are so fun to wear! These make a really nice staple to any summer outfit. So I don't mind purchasing more (I own like 8 of these already). I top it with my favorite Revlon Top Coat and it stays for almost a week. =) Good enough for me.

Next is the Zoya nail polish. I managed to get in on the 3 Free Zoya nail polish promotion a few weeks ago. All I had to pay was $6.95 for shipping and handling, still a very good deal since each of these polishes retail $8 each.

Zoya Nail Polish in Piper (ZP243)

Zoya Nail Polish in Piper is a warm neutral pink that's not really sheer. I had 2 coats on my index finger and only 1 coat on the rest of my hand.

With Direct Flash

With a Side Flash

Zoya claims to make the longest wear natural nail polish. And I think they really do live up to that claim. I didn't even apply a top coat on and I had no chips for 7 days! After that it started chipping a little but it wasn't too bad. The polish was easy to apply and dries quickly also. I think I've found a new love. =)

Swatches: Sephora, Creative, and Confetti Nail Polishes

Everybody's doing these fall nail of the days (NOTD) that I wanted to paint my nails with a fall color too! But I only have a limited collection of fall colors. Normally fall colors mean darker colors like your browns, blues, deep purples. No more french tips or pastels (which are the only colors I have). I managed to dig up some "fall" colors, but I hated how it looks on my hand! Haha, it makes my hands look old and wrinkly. =P

So just a quick review.

• Sephora Collection  Lacquer Nail Polish (the mini bottles) in L12 - Figue

The bottle is so small! Barely fits on my 3 fingers

 

Sephora Collection Lacquer Nail Polish in L12 - Figue

Got this Sephora Collection Lacquer Nail Polish in L12 - Figue a long time ago. I was trying to push it over the $50 mark for free shipping. This was $3 when I bought it and sephora.com currently still carries it. Described as being a deep plum, but I don't really see any sign of the plum, its deep alright. I'll say its more like a cherry-wood color. Being such a small bottle, the brush was also really small, but the polish was easily spreadable and doesn't streak. I could have just did it with 1 coat and it would have been fine, but I wanted to do 2 to see how much the color stands out.

Kind of pricey for such a small bottle, but its a cute bottle so I'll give it that much. Haha. It works just as well as the Sephora Multi Action Nail Polishes that I love. So I'll probably buy it for it's cuteness, lol..

• Creative Nail Design in #410 - Fedora

On my thumb and index finger

Creative Nail Design - #410 Fedora

Got this Creative Nail Design nail polish free from a beauty sample event. The smell of this polish was REALLY REALLY strong. I suggest you do your nails in private away from the men in your family who hates the smell of nail polish. This will definitely drive them nuts. =P  The brush was the standard Revlon nail polish. This polish was kind of streaky though. I definitely had to layer on a 2nd coat in order to make the color show.  I think these normally retail around $5. I won't be trying their other colors, I don't like that it streaks and I'm still a novice with nails.

How they look over all

Sooo overall, I dislike them both. Haha, makes my hand look so old! But between the two, I definitely like the Sephora Collection polish a lot more. It's in a nicer shade of deep cherry wood red. It looks really nice when I put my hands on my face. =P  because my face complexion is so pale, so I'll actually recommend to those who are paler than me (NC25 or lower).

• Confetti Nail Polish in Heartthrob

Confetti Nail Polish in Heartthrob

Very shimmery nude pink

I got this Confetti nail polish on sale at CVS for $1, it wasn't that big of  a deal, they normally retail for $1.99. Haha. I normally would never go for these cheap drugstore brands. To me it's like buying 99 cents store quality and I would definitely NOT want something like this on my nail that can possibly harm my nails. But I saw Holly from Hollyannaree using it and she got a really nice color, so I wanted to give it a try. I got it in Heartthrob which is a shimmery nude beige pink. Very nice for work. I really loved this nail polish! The brush was nicely sized, the polish was SUPER runny. So even after 1 layer, I can go over the nail polish again to smooth out all the streaks. By the time I was done with one hand, the nails already dried 90%! After top and base coat, this did not chip or wear off much, just slightly around my nail bed as my nails grow extremely fast. I want to try the other colors now. =D

Review: Missha M Shimmering Ball Blusher

I realize this is a very late post, especially considering I got it in my Feb Haul back in 2010. So here it is: the Missha M Shimmering Ball Blusher in No.1 Pastel Glow.

Missha M Shimmering Ball Blusher in Pastel Glow - $19.99

This blusher is a little different from normal powder blushes. The packaging is very cute. Instead of a powder pan, it has these little powder balls in a small bottled container. It comes with a lambswool brush as part of bottle's cap. There's another external cap to protect the brush. Very handy for traveling!

Now for the powder pearls. I got it in Pastel Glow so instead of a blusher, I use it more like a highlighter.

here are 5 different color pearls: in white, yellow, violet, blue and pink! According to their website: violet helps brighten the skin, the blue help reduce the appearance of yellow and dull skin tones, yellow helps reduces redness, pink creates an appearance of younger skin, and the white evens skin tone.  These color properties are generally followed for every makeup product. Not so sure about the yellow though, because usually green is used to reduce redness.

The brush is very soft! I just swirl it around the bottle and the brush will pick up enough for one use. I generally use it to highlight my T-zone (across the forehead and down my nose bridge) and add a quick swipe along my cheekbones to create a bit more dimension on my face. I like using this as a highlighter because it doesn't contain any shimmers or glitters, just a subtle brightness across my face. The powder is very fine, doesn't create any cakey-ness at all.

This actually reminds me of the Guerlain Meteorites Pearls that I've seen at Sephora, but I never actually use it. I didn't want to spend $56 on those pearls especially seeing it end up being a bunch of powder dust in the container at Sephora. So this is a nice dupe. There's a little bit of powder dust on the bottom of the Missha ball blusher container, but definitely not to the extent that I've seen at Sephora.

Really love this highlighter, I'm tempted to try out the others that's actually a cheek blush. =)

Review: Johnson & Johnson CLEAN & CLEAR Oil Control Film in Grapefruit

Yup you saw it right, it's the Clean & Clear oil control sheets in GRAPEFRUIT!!

Clean & Clear Blotting Sheets in Grapefruit still in package

I got these from my recent Sasa haul (haul details will be up very soon). These oil blotting sheets are the same exact blue Clean & Clear oil-absorbing sheets that you find in drugstores here in the U.S., but even better, they're scented! The grapefruit fragrance is actually pretty strong, I wasn't very fond of it at first. But after blotting with it, the aroma is quite refreshing. Oil absorbing capabilities and texture are the exact same as the blue sheets: sheets turn clear when you have excess oil and has a silky rubbery texture that don't rip while you blot away. Best of all, it comes in a pretty cute pink color. ^_^

Oil Control Film outside package

The blue sheets usually sell for around $5 but these scented pink ones are sold for $1.90 at sasa.com. These pink ones are distributed only in Asia-Pacific and not sold in the U.S..

On a personal note, I've been accumulating a lot of hauls that are just waiting to be advertised, hopefully I can post them up soon. Work has just been too crazy this summer!