♡ May Wishlist ♡

1. My Beauty Diary Pore Refine and Tighten Face Masks

2. Tartan Print Jersey Dress

3. Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' Ursula Pop! Funko

4. Disney's 'Sleeping Beauty' Aurora Pop! Funko

5. Etude House Dear Darling Lip Tints (all colours)

6. Illamasaqua 'I'm The One' Boxset

7. Palty Hair Dye in 'Chiffon Peach'

Thanks for reading!
xoxo

♡ MCM London Expo Weekend ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

After, what feels like, an extremely long (as well as being extremely stressful) weekend... London MCM Expo is over again until the end of October. Despite the massive crowds on Saturday, the stalls inside the main halls were planned out better than previous times. 

Friday was the better day out of the two - even though I purchased a weekend ticket, I only went on the Friday and Saturday with Sapphire as it turned out cheaper that way. Friday was better because we could turn up over an hour after opening, walk straight through to get our wristbands without waiting and then walk around the halls whilst browse stalls and such without being pushed/elbowed out of the way and actually stop and look at the things around us where as on Saturday it felt like Mission Impossible trying to worm our way through the crowds to get to where we wanted... oh and the heat. The heat was physically impossible to bear... I honestly thought at a couple of moments I was about to faint but I managed... with the help of a lot of drinks! Also on the Friday, Sapphire and I went into Westfield's first (as my doughnut of a best friend forgot her make-up) and we ate some lunch at Umai - chicken karaage hirata bun with Dragonball Z lemonade! And for dinner, we decided on sushi from Wasabi - score!

As many of you may know, I don't cosplay. I have never cosplayed in my life but I am thinking about doing a couple in the future... shhh. And like an idiot, I didn't have any outfit pictures taken but I did manage to have some taken of my make-up over the course of the weekend;

left to right; Friday, Saturday and Sunday make-up/wigs

I actually didn't take many pictures of things at the expo... I only took pictures of figures really as there were so many lovely ones on display that I got distracted by what I actually wanted to take pictures of... d'oh. But hey, some pictures are better than no pictures to be honest!

Other than being with Sapphire the whole weekend, I got to see loads of friends again whom I haven't met up with since either the last expo or even longer than that! I found out that my college friend, Ben, was attending on the Saturday and as I hadn't seen him for over five years at that point, he was an obvious choice to meet up with! It was amazing to hang out with people who can make me laugh until I cry and can accept my sheer craziness... I don't quite know what I'll do without them in all honesty.

Expo Haul;

Kuroshitsuji Movie Book from Japan Centre, Notebooks from Art Box, SHO-BI Romantic Minnie False Eyelashes and Dollywink Liquid Eyeliner from unknown stall

Sakura Hatsune Miku Nendroid from Good Smile Company, Disney Ariel and Maleficent Pop! Funko from unknown stall

Rum Raisin Kitkat box, heap of different flavoured Puccho's, Milky sweets and Hello Kitty sweets from Sushi Noms and a Princess Celestia plushies thanks to my best friend!

On the Sunday, Sapphire and I met up with Sharan for the afternoon and mooched around Central London / Camden for a while. It was wonderful to just chill out and relax a little bit whilst enjoying the smoking hot weather. I swear, all weekend, all we did was walk everywhere and we could really feel it in our legs at the end of the day. I also believe that I've bummed up my dodgy ankle once again... sobs internally.

We went and ate at The Blue Kitchen located in Camden High Street - halfway between Camden Town tube station and Mornington Crescent tube station. It was such an amazing place with it's blues/jazz feeling to the decor and the comfy leather booths and the size of the portions... fml we were all so full at the end of it that I think all three of us rolled towards the tube station! Oh and we also had cake and bubble tea... normally when I go out with Sharan, we'll literally eat until the cows come home but I think because of the weather on Sunday, we all felt a little out of sorts?

And finally, just to finish off this blog post... what would complete it but with a few pictures of myself and Sapphire. I want to say we're sorry for the last one but in reality... we're not! Did anyone else go to expo at all? Is anyone planning on going in October? I haven't quite decided yet if I want to go or not as the next event in Hyper Japan in July - is anyone planning going there? Ahhh there is just too many things to think of sometimes...

Thanks for reading!
xoxo

♡ Etude House Dear My Blooming Lipstick in in BE104 & RD302 ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

I want to apologise in advance to anyone who follow me on bloglovin' and you see old, random posts popping up in the feed at all! I'm have a good clean out / sort out of posts and making everything the same (finally) and sometimes bloglovin' (as I've noticed) will publish those posts onto my feed for some strange reason... so again, apologies!

With Etude House lip products... I tend to be on the fence with them. Sometimes I find certain items on the "good" side of the fence yet with others, they are either "meh" or "not worth it" side of the fence, it all depends on the product. At first glance; these lipsticks reminded me of wax crayons, you know like Crayola crayons you used as a child to colour in pictures? The colour is extremely pigmented in the lipstick form hence why it just reminds me of that. The second thing I noticed was the delicious aroma the lipsticks carried off, it was in between a vanilla and floral scent... kind of like sugar flowers you get on top of cakes for decoration.

I think my personal favourite thing about these lipsticks is the fact the pigmentation doesn't stop at the tube. Sometimes you get lipsticks that looks amazing in front of you but once you put it one your lips... it's turns into a faded, exasperated kind of look which doesn't look good at all for a first swipe. The colour of these lipsticks really popped out to the point that I didn't need to wear a concealer base, which is major brownie points to me. I also loved how creamy the texture of the lipstick is and it turned out easier to glide onto my lips without the help of a lip brush. Oh, and it did define all my nooks, crannies and lines on my lips but not to the point where it makes my imperfections the focal point of peoples gaze. And one final point, the colour lasted a good 2-3 hours without a touch up, even after the usual drinking, eating and nibbling on other objects like pencils/pen which is a habit I really need to quit...

BE104 Colour

RD302 Colour

I had to take these particular pictures on my Google Nexus tablet as they weren't coming out quite right on my digital camera but, the pictures do give the colours enough justice it deserves etc.

Pros;

↑↑ extremely pigmented colour in the tube and on lips
↑↑ purse friendly (between £3-£6 if you look around on sites)
↑↑ lovely fragrance
↑↑ colour lasts a good amount of time with obstacles
↑↑ cute outer packaging

Cons;
↑↑ easily melts if left somewhere hot hot hot (i.e. direct sunlight or on a radiator)

Overall Verdict; ★★★★★

This particular line of lipsticks from Etude House is by far my favourite, it's even beaten the Minnie Mouse x Etude House line. I'm definitely going to invest in some other colours as well as the 'Pink Talk' variation line of the Dear My Blooming Lips etc. I think the colours I'm intrigued to see how they turn out the most are the orange/coral versions? I've wanted to try that particular colour range for a while now but haven't had the courage until now!

Thanks for reading!
xoxo

♡ Etude House CC Cream in Silky ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

I think I have been distracted on and off from this review a few too many times over the past couple of days but alas my attention is finally on it!

Details; skin care with eight-in-one multi-functions, CC cream has both skin care and make-up effects.

Now, first things first, I must admit that I was rather sceptical about this CC cream as I've had bad luck with Etude House's BB cream. What with the fact that even their lightest shade turned out too dark for my skin tone as well as making my skin break out and turn it towards the more oily side of my combination skin... you can see why I felt the way I felt about it. But, seeing so many good reviews about their CC cream, I had decided to suck it up and try it out and wow... just wow.

With liquid make-up containers... the pump is a cleanlier and more hygienic way to get your desired make-up out of the packaging as well as giving you the right amount to cover your face. I only needed three pumps of this to cover my face and neck, which for the price of this ($13 from honestskin.com), this is something that will be used sparingly and as little as often.

I do apologise for this next part... normally I don't do a 'before and after' picture section but the only way to show the difference with a base/foundation/bb cream was this way!

Left; before, Right; after

As you can see on the left; I have dark circles under my eyes, a few active acne and redness in my cheeks and on the right, there is only the CC cream. It made such a difference already with the fact it covered the acne and old scars and concealed my dark circles. Yes my red cheeks are still slightly showing but they're not as red as in the first picture. I even used a tiny bit on my lips (which are extremely pigmented as you can tell) and it helped tone them down as well... score!

Pros;
↑↑ good, hygienic packaging that helps with the right amount you need
↑↑ creamy consistency that isn't too watery
↑↑ three pumps is enough to cover entire face and neck
↑↑ doesn't dry out skin / leave a caked effect
↑↑ doesn't feel heavy on skin

Cons;
↑↑ the pump took a while to activate and dispense the make-up
↑↑ pricing...

Overall Verdict; ★★★★★
I believe this is the first time I've given an Etude House face make-up product five out of five... but it really does deserve it. Despite the pricing, this is a nifty little thing to have in my make-up collection and it makes a change from my usual green bases underneath my BB cream. The fact that it is extremely lightweight is a massive plus and it does, indeed, make my skin feel silky. A great investment and I'm definitely considering buying the glow version just to see the differences between the two.

Left; taken on a Nexus tablet, Right; taken by my digital camera

Both of these pictures were taken in the same spot in my room in front of my window... both edited with the same programme and with the same exposure details. It's amazing what different devices produce. Oh and this is full make-up and the BB cream used is Missha's Perfect Cover BB Cream in No. 13.

Thanks for reading!
xoxo

♡ Current Skin Care Routine / Products ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

I was having a conversation with a friend a few weeks ago about Korean beauty/cosmetic products, skin care routines and what are the best products I use for my kind of skin (combination) and we were having a really long chat about it... until we were distracted by Sons of Anarchy! It wasn't until the other day, when I remembered about our conversation, that I thought that maybe it was a good idea as a post filler in between review posts and other ones I do have planned, but haven't gotten around to preparing and getting the things for etc.

Now first things first, I actually tend to swap products after a couple of months because I've found out that using a certain product over and over again can break me out and make my skin turn either extremely oily or dry to the point my skin feels like sandpaper. It's extremely frustrating trying to find a certain brand / product that won't do this to my skin and I am still on the search for it... sighs. So for now, here are the products until the next cycle of change.

DAILY;

Etude House I'm Blooming Cleansing Water; I love love love this stuff for some reason. It's just like any watery toner but it smells absolutely gorgeous! It also helps control my oily spots and gets rid of the days worth of dirt from work and other activities and if I don't break out by the end of this bottle, this most definitely will be a repurchase if it doesn't get discontinued.
Etude House Dear Girls Moisturiser; eh. This isn't the best of moisturisers as it's rather thick and you need a lot to get a good coverage. It has helped tone down old acne scars though as it's a whitening type of moisturiser so that is a plus. I'm also mixing this with my rice ceramide moisturiser from The Face Shop that I purchased in my haul from last month and that helps lower the usage and give an even cover.

EVERY TWO/THREE DAYS;

L'Oreal Skin Perfection Cleansing Oil; as a person with combination skin I honestly believed that an oil cleanser was the WORSE possible product for my skin and boy was I extremely wrong! This little gem is extremely helpful and you only need to use a pea size amount each time! I tend to use this every three days just in case my skin does turn towards the more oily side of the combination but it's something I am glad I invested it and is amazing value for the size (£8 for 150ml which is cheap here)
SKIN FOOD Rice Wash Off Mask; as you know from the previous post, I love this little gem of a face mask and again, using only every couple of days, it really helps get rid of dead skin cells and the leftover grot and dirt that the toner didn't catch.
Along Came Betty Clearly Perfect Skin Tone Corrector; another superstore brand gem I stumbled upon a while ago but only recently started using and it's so lovely I really can't even. There is red algae extract in this face serum and it helps dull down pigmentation marks and give your skin a healthy glow at the end of the day. And the fact you don't need to use a massive amount helps as well! As far as I know this brand is only sold at Tesco's within the UK... boo.

WEEKLY;

Baviphat Strawberry Toxifying Mask; this is such a good little face mask pack. I actually find this better for my skin than my usual face cloth masks I use as it sticks to my face better and (obviously) doesn't peel off like the cloth mask does. I also like how it does help tighten the pores on my face, especially around my nose area those litte (well not really) buggers. I use this when I'm having a lovely long soak in a bubble bath reading a good book.
Along Came Betty Pore Goodness Sake Cleansing Mask; I use this little beaut the day before the Baviphat mask as this product actually makes my skin feel incredibly soft and helps get rid of all the dirt and other bits and pieces left over from a hard working week and basically stops it all clogging up my poor pores etc. I love this product so much and it smells divine as well! Ugh I need to get some more soon as I'm running low on this in particular...

So that is it! There isn't much left to talk about my routine really as I've kind of babbled on above... oh well! I hope you find this little blog filler post interesting! What product intrigues you the most?

Thanks for reading!
xoxo