Wednesday 30 April 2014

♡ April Wishlist ♡


1. Etude House Skin Fit Foundation in Light Beige
2. Clarins Eye Contour Gel
3. Clarins Cleansing Vanity for Combination to Oily Skin
4. My Beauty Diary Oil Control Face Masks
5. 3CE Creamy Waterproof Eyeliner in Wow Pink
6. Illamasqua 'The Holy Trinity' face set
7. Innisfree Jeju Volcanic Pore Clay Mask
8. Innisfree Jeju Sudachi Soothing Mask

Thanks for reading!
xoxo

Wednesday 23 April 2014

♡ Skin Food Rice Mask & TONYMOLY Latte Art Cappuccino Scrub ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

I have decided to cheat a little here and put two review items into the same blog post instead of doing two (that probably would have been very short) individual posts. And if you're not okay with that... tough tits I'm doing it this way and saving on time and effort.

Skin Food Rice Mask Wash Off


Details; a wash off mask containing rice extract that moisturises skin and brightens tone. With its texture of ground rice, it leaves skin bright, soft and lustrous.


First impression; it does look like a completely smooth mask... until you actually touched it and there is, in fact, very tiny grains in the mixture. Honestly; I was expecting a coarse, large grained mask, like a nice, thick sugar scrub I suppose, instead of this fine grained mask but... it works wonders!

At first, I believed that this was a simple 'put on, wait a couple of minutes, wash off" kind of mask, until I read the instructions properly and learn that you should really leave it on for about 10-15 minutes. Oh, also the mixture is rather thick? Not thin and watery like other face masks you get sometimes. I only use this mask twice a week... three times maximum if my skin is seriously damaged and in need of some TLC because with this particular mask, I definitely loved how soft it did leave my skin after a couple of uses.

Pros;
↑↑ right consistency (not to thick, not to thin etc)
↑↑ actually make my skin feel a lot smoother / softer
↑↑ pricing range just right for the amount (Honestskin £5.24, Ebay £5.55)

Cons;
↑↑ the seal to prevent any spillages is a bit of a slippery bugger and I dislike it...
↑↑ not much of a fragrance

Overall Verdict; ★★★
I like this mask. I like this mask a lot because it does have the right consistency to me and it helps with the dryness of my skin in prominent places - for example, my cheeks and temples get bone dry by the end of the day. I also like how there are tiny granules of rice in the mask because sometimes I really dislike massive lumps of whatever the item was in the first place.  This mask has definitely become a part of my beauty regime and shall be repurchased in the future for sure.

TONYMOLY Latte Art Cappuccino Cream In Scrub

Details; for both massage and scrub that effectively exfoliates dead skin cells and impurities and delivers nutrition. Heating feeling that can be felt with change of colour and removes impurities of pores.


First impression; oh god the smell... the smell is simply divine because it, l i t e r a l l y, smells like sugary, black coffee and that smell is one of my most favourite scent in the entire world, after peach and light, floral scents. Ugh, I could have been a weirdo and actually eaten the mixture given the chance... but I didn't so we're all safe there.

This scrub is a little weird one... honestly I was expecting a lot more for the price but this is a diddly 85g pot but you do get a lot out of it. I've used this scrub twice since receiving it, and using only a 5p coin size each time it has barely made a dent in the pot (for my non UK readers / friends here is the size of a 5p coin compared to our other coins; http://www.primaryteaching.co.uk/prodimg/COIN_1_Zoom.jpg) Another thing, it felt like that this scrub didn't make a difference to my skin until I had finished the rest of my beauty regime and put on my face cream, where as with the Skin Food rice mask I could feel an immediate difference to my skin if that makes sense at all?

Pros;
↑↑ best scrub fragrance to date
↑↑ will last a long time despite the sizing of packaging
↑↑ cute packing design

Cons;
↑↑ disappointing sizing for the price (Honestskin £6.27, Ebay £6.77)
↑↑ didn't notice a difference straight away

Overall Verdict; ★★★
I'm on the fence for now with this product. I'm kind of hoping that it'll get better when I use it more in the future or that it'll start showing a difference after a few more uses? In a way, I'm not holding my breath but I will keep using it just to see if it will make a difference to my skin or not.
So that's it! Two product reviews for the price of one blog post. Lately, I haven't had as much motivation to do anything? Has anyone been having this problem as well? Ahhh hopefully I'll get out of this funk soon enough and I'll be back to my busy, head exploding self.

Also have you joined my giveaway yet?! Ahhh I'm so estatic from the amount of support / entries so far and yet there are still a couple more weeks to go before it closes! Unfortunately though, there have been a few people that cannot seem to be bothered to read to rules properly before entering and such... so naughty people hmph! Other than that... yeah!

Thanks for reading!
xoxo

Friday 11 April 2014

♡ Honest Skin Haul ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!


Now before you all wonder "Hey I thought you were doing a spending ban?" I am still doing that it's just that I ordered this with my last paycheque in March as I had run out of my usual beauty products and so thus that is why we are here. Plus also the packages arrived on the 1st of April so it was a nice beginning to my spending ban that's for sure!

I actually never heard of honestskin.com until someone (probably from the site) left a comment on one of my old posts and so... despite nagging feelings about scams and stuff... I decided to google and upon finding out that it is not indeed a scam site, I proceeded to see what was available and I was really was not disappointed at all. First off; the site was holding a 30% sale so how could you not purchase something at this point? Secondly; the site is extremely easy and straightforward to navigate around and find exactly what you're looking for, which for me is a good point because I get so frustrated when you cannot find the products you want and there is no organisation whatsoever (once bitten, twice shy moment) Thirdly; the payment method is quick, painless and the fact they just use paypal for an option, it is like angel noises for me. So overall this site is ringing on all levels and it is definitely a site I recommend for everyone.

Now, once you've decided all that you've purchased and go on for payment, on the page where it wants you to fill in all of your details, it has a section telling you when the next shipment shall be sent out. When I placed my order it was on the 14th of March and in that section it said that the next date wouldn't be until around the 4th of April... which made me a little agitated but it all worked out in the end as it in fact shipped out on the 19th of March, with a tracking number and everything at no extra cost which was a lovely surprise, and it arrived safely to me on my doorstep on the 1st of April - so no jokes happening there... /l a m e/

Everything came all wrapped up, all lovely and securely in bubble wrap so there were no damages to any of the products inside. 10 gold stars there.

It's Skin Rice Ceramide Moisture Toner, Emulsion & Cream

First impressions; there isn't anything special about this set... it's meant to help keep the moisture balance in your skin and even boost the moisture levels. Like a traditional toner > emulsion > cream kit it contains rice extracts and ceramide (which is a family of waxy lipid modules... google it) and honestly this has a really pungent smell. I also have combination skin so let's see if these products will either dry out my skin or make it extremely oily or hopefully do what it says on the packaging.

TONYMOLY Tomatox & Latte Art Cream-In Scrub

First impressions; I have such a thing for anything TONYMOLY at the moment as their packagings are beyond cute and these two products didn't disappoint in that end of the market for me. My favourite is definitely the scrub as it honestly smells like sugary coffee and despite the fact that it was a lot smaller than I thought it would be (especially for £7 I did think it would be double the size...) it's something I am looking forward to using the most. Also the Tomatox whitening cream I have heard so many positive things about it that it just seemed crazy not to purchase and the smell is really light and airy (if that can even be a thing?) and it doesn't feel all heavy and greasy when I tested it out on the back of my hand.

TONYMOLY Dear Me Balancing Lotion & Toner

First impressions; again it's the packaging... I couldn't resist the pastel pink and white picture online and these products are a re-purchase anyway so nur. I loved how smooth and soft the products made my skin feel and they lasted for aaagggeeesss last time as well so these, most certainly, had to become another investment. Plus as I have a line up of things to actually use, these have been stored into my 'emergency' box for future use.

ETUDE HOUSE Dear My Blooming Lipsticks in BE104 & RD302

First impressions; cute packaging again and the colours are a lot darker in person than they are on a computer screen that's for sure. I got my safe colours (nude and red) just in case and already I'm intrigued by them. I've heard mixed reviews about these lipsticks so I thought it was time to get a couple to see for myself what was happening. Also these have a pretty, non-waxy, smell to them which is always a bonus for me as I love sweet smelling things.

Innisfree No Sebum Mineral Powder

First impressions; sturdy and simple. As I needed a new pore powder and sadly my usual Baby Face Pore Powder was out of stock so I went with this one instead. Hopefully this will be just as good as my previous or hey, hopefully it'll be even better we'll just have to see.

Freebies

The only freebies I was expecting were a few beauty/make-up sample pieces that tends to arrive whenever I purchase anything Korean related and I was pleasantly surprised to find a few face masks inside my parcel that's for sure. I'm excited to try out the Skin Food Black Sugar Serum the most as I've been hearing good things about this particular product and line... so now I can try before (even thinking about) buying!

All in all I've been really impressed by this website and their services and I honestly (no pun intended) recommend it from the bottom of my heart. It's not one of the cheapest sites though when there isn't a sale on... I've noticed that the prices are closer to shop value than trying to be cheaper like other websites and ebay sellers. Mind you, certain products actually turn out to be cheaper on here than via other stores etc so if you do want to make a purchase, do have a shop around and find what is best for you. I will definitely purchase from Honest Skin again though as their services are to notch as well as having products that seem to be sold out on other places.

On that note; I just wanted to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who has already entered my giveaway! I am already overwhelmed and honoured to the people that decided to join in and also a big HELLO to all of my new followers! I will go through all the entries and check out everyone's blogs and other sites very soon I promise as well as noting down all of your kind suggestions for what to do in the future of this blog ヾ(*⌒ヮ⌒*)ゞ if you want to come and join along click HERE please thank you very very much wow so much over whelming happening I can't even ヽ( °◇°)ノ

Thanks for reading!
xoxo