[Review] Nature Republic Nature Origin Cushion CC Cover

Hello there! :)

Today I'm going to show you another cushion compact which I'm using now, and share my own personal review on it. Without further due, let's get started~!

Nature Republic Nature Origin Cushion CC Cover 01 Light Beige SPF50+ PA+++
네이처리퍼블릭 네이처 오리진 쿠션 씨씨 커버 01 라이트베이지 SPF50+ PA+++

When cushion compact launched and got popularized all around the world, I was still suspicious with it. "Is it that good?" "Maybe people just go with the flow, that's it."

Thence earlier this February when I visited Korea, we went to Lotte Duty Free Departmental Store. Since it's tax duty-free, I felt like there's an urge to buy something, like at least one item, to say that "I've been here" (shopaholic blood flowing within, please don't feel obliged, alright girls?)

I went around and try find my target. As I approached to one of my favourite brands, Nature Republic, something caught my eye. It's the newly-launched Nature Republic Ginseng Royal Silk Whitening & Wrinkle Care promo set (I will post it in the near future, stay tuned!) 

Just like any other salesperson you find anywhere, the girl asked me whether I would add-on in order to get a better price offer. Throughout the trip, I been thinking whether to buy a cushion compact since it claims to be more moisturizing than normal BB cream products (it is very dry during winter time in Korea, no kidding) That's when I let my guard down.

1 plus 1 with a cushion casing

It comes in two (2) refill packs and one (1) casing in the packaging. Honestly, I couldn't recall how much I bought it for :/ I didn't bring enough Korean Won for that trip, so had to pay via card, whereby they charged me on USD. I checked on Gmarket today, and the above product costs around RM75 to RM85.

After opened one of the refill packs, you can find a container filled with CC solution and a sponge applicator. Everything is in white, which I really like the color and design. Next, place the container into the casing.

Then remove the lid protector. Whala, here you go! I was so excited, and tried it on the next day in my hotel room. Surprisingly the coverage is above my expectation (but of course, it's not perfect coverage). There is this natural glow finished-look which transform you to a Korean star instantly :D And with the applicator, it's easier to put on foundation now! You just have to "dab dab dab" using the applicator all over onto your face. Since it's so convenient, I use it for daily wear and during times when I need to rush due to lack of time.

Tip #1 :: Flip the sponge which soaked in BB/CC solution with a pair of tweezers after certain period of time :: You should get a good amount of BB/CC solution again after the flip :: The theory is just what similar to flipping your mattress ::

It's been 5 months since I bought this product, and I've just only finished my first pack. I still have another refill pack untouched. Usage wise, I guess it's quite a good deal. Alright, time to sum it up!

Overall ratings:

Price         ★★★★★

Durability ★★★☆☆

Coverage  ★★★☆☆

I would not recommend this when you have an oily skin, or even in a hot day. Seriously, you will look super oily (yikes) You definitely want to avoid that.

Would I repurchase? Well I don't think I will in the short term, since I would like to explore cushion compacts from other brands. But I would definitely recommend it to my friends and family, if they are interested. It worth the price afterall.

Do lemme know your thoughts about this product review or share your experience with me in the comment box below.

Cheers!^^

[Review] Missha The Style Under Eye Brightener

I'm gonna end this month's product review with another concealer products. At the very end of this post, I'm gonna give an overall review to all my concealer items and rank which concealer product I like the most (at the moment). So please read until the end :)

Missha The Style Under Eye Brightener

I bought this online at Althea.kr at RM15. Honestly, I wonder at that time, how come liquid concealer could sell at such a price? That's widely affordable price! Geeee... Could it be too good to be true? I do not have much idea how to use it when I added it into my online shopping cart, but for the price, I'm willing to give it a try. Let's find out~

This is the first liquid tip concealer that I've ever purchased (The Saem's Cover Perfection Tip Concealer was the second). The only shade they have on the website was Light Beige. 

Before this, I read articles and watch youtube tutorials on how to conceal dark circles. As the product claims to be "under eye brightener", I tried it on and hope it does the trick. Apparently the shade is not what I expected from what it-called "Light Beige". It is more yellowish than I thought. Shade like this, I would rather name it "Natural Beige" as it is definitely a No. 23. Quite disappointing actually.

After applying it on my dark circles, I guess it does conceal part of it. However, it doesn't really conceal well for my freckles. Applicator wise, it is really handy with the tip-handle. There is a saying in Chinese, "一分钱一分货" (you get what you pay for). Not much to say, let's move on.

Overall ratings:

Price         ★★★★★☆

Durability ★★★☆☆

Coverage  ★★☆☆☆

Finally, it's the time to reveal to you my favourite concealer items at the moment! :D

The first 3 products are liquid-type and the 4th is stick-type concealer. 

I prefer The Saem the most, because I really like the color (Clear Beige) and it has the best coverage among the four. 

Missha would be my second favourite as it is not that bad actually. Remember I shared about color-correcting make-up skills? Yellow offsets purple; it works well to conceal dark purple eye circles. So I will keep it in my make-up box. 

This Benefit's product I have in hand is a stay-put primer for concealers and eyeshadows actually. In fact, I find the solution is too dilute for concealer, causing its color not that concentrate and appealing as the others (as you can see from the photo above).

As for the stick concealer, I would say it is a total fail for me. First, the color doesn't match my skin (it was recommended by the salesgirl in the store); second, its texture is too dry; third, it is not smooth enough to blend into the base/foundation. I'm trying to find a way to finish it up and not to throw it away. I'm still trying...........

Do lemme know your thoughts about this product review or share your experience with me in the comment box below.

Cheers!^^

[Review] W.Lab Black Kill 3-Step Nose Pack

W.Lab Black Kill 3-Step Nose Pack

Having troubles with blackheads or whiteheads? Me either :/ And I'm sure that people like you and me would really fancy with these kind of stuffs above (comment below if you agree :D) But how can we know, identify or differentiate which product is what it claims? o.o Somebody has to give it a try anyway...

Let me put it upfront to you. I was having great expectation on this product, especially reading the testimonies uploaded on the online shopping website (which obvious not unbiased, I should know), so I'm quite disappointed with it actually :/

So this gonna to be a brief one.

 

As you see, it comes in a strip with dotted lines which ease you in tearing the pieces apart. Theoretically, you should remove most of the blackheads/whiteheads after these three useful steps.

Step 1

Apply the first nose patch which suppose to enlarge the pores, so that serum can be pulled out easily on the next step. The first nose patch is rather damped and I already forgot how it smells like. It just sits comfortably, like facial mask. After 10~15 mins, then remove it. By then, I spotted quite some whiteheads are coming out, but reality somehow didn't meet the expectation.

Step 2

The second nose patch is like a cellophane tape. I think this kind of nose patch can be easily found in Watson or Guardian which you stick the sticky side of the patch on your nose, then you have to pad some water on the other side of the patch, and wait until it dries off, tear it off. It is supposed to pull off all the blackheads/whiteheads we gathered just now. It really gives you the pleasure while pulling off the nose patch. Sometimes when I get a lot of them stucked on the patch, I feel so satisfied :D Feels like "my nose is super duper clean now!" Well, I didn't get that while putting on this, so... maybe I wasn't having much blackheads/whiteheads then IDK

Step 3

Finally the last step. I opened it up, it is damped as the first one. It is supposed to tighten the pores and act as a coolant. It really gives the cooling effect, but too bad the first two weren't that promising.

Coming to the price. I bought it on Althea for RM7/pack. If you ask me, I wouldn't repurchase it. Meanwhile, I am using The Face Shop's New Zealand Volcanic Clay Black Head Clay Nose Pack. Nevertheless, I will try to look out for other products that works better on me.

Do lemme know your thoughts about this product review or share your experience with me in the comment box below.

Cheers!^^

[Tutorial] Basic Concealing Make-Up #1 + First Impression to Etude House Big Cover Cushion Concealers

This is a continuation of my last post when we talked about concealer. Now I'm going to share with you the very...very basic of concealing face flaws. (I'm not an expert here, merely sharing with you how I do concealing). Have fun! :)

Last week I shared about Etude House Big Cover Cushion Concealer. I bought 2 out of 6 available colors, Mint and Illuminate respectively. And today I'm going to apply these 2 products in my tutorial. (check out my previous post here)

Okay, first thing first. You have to go through all your skin care routine before applying make-up. As you can see, I have this redness around my nose area, chin and a bit on my cheeks (circled in purple). (Heard that is caused by heat or something, but I'm not sure how and why hmm..).

I also mentioned about color-correcting make-up in my previous post. Basically it's about contra one color with another. Please refer to the picture below. For example, I have redness spots which I wish to conceal. Take the opposite color of Red to complement it, which we should get Green. Now let's take another example. Most of us Asians have Yellowish-toned skin. So what color is best to conceal yellowness? (refer to the picture below again) Yes yes, you've got it right. It's Purple!

So now I'm going to try on Etude House Big Cover Cushion Concealer - Mint and see if it could do some magic. Give it a few clicks until you see the formula coming out from the sponge-head applicator. I'm going to blend the formula in with a mini beauty blender on one side of my face (as picture below), so that we will be able to see if there's any difference. ;)

Tip #1 :: Avoid and/or minimize hands touching your face while applying make-up reduce irritation :: Plus, beauty blender comes in handy and even does the job better ::

And here you go. Any difference? Disclaimer: I did not apply any filter on any of these pictures here. By first look, you might see no big difference from the picture. In fact, it does. Check out the area around my nose where less redness is seen.

The Saem Cover Perfection Tip Concealer SPF28/PA++ #01 Clear Beige

To cover dark circles, I'm using The Saem Cover Perfection Tip Concealer #01 Clear Beige. (will write a separate review on this item later) And again, I'm going to apply it just on the right side of my face. I'm using the same mini beauty blender again to blend the liquid concealer nice and fit.

Okay, the contrast is quite obvious now. Though it is not perfectly covered, marks of dark circles have been concealed tremendously. By applying foundation/BB cream that has average coverage power, you should be able to conceal them easily now.


Tip #2 :: Save time and effort to create flawless look with a good concealer. :: 


Since our topic today is about concealer, I'm gonna skip some of the steps here (apply foundation/BB cream and draw your brow)...

Finally, we are at our last step of tutorial today. Well, technically we can't consider this step as "concealing", but rather "strobing" (and I wonder why Etude House included Illuminate into this Big Cover Cushion Concealer product line). A new make-up term which is another word for "highlighting". If you have been catching the trend, you must have come across this saying, "strobing is the new contouring".

While contouring you use darker shades on the side of your cheeks to make your face looks smaller and more defined; strobing is when you highlight the spots that catch light that would and should enhance your natural features: cheekbones, along temples, nose bridge, below brow bone, eye corners and above cupid's bow. Again, blend in the product with separate beauty blender until it fades into the rest of your skin.


Tip #3 :: Apply the highlighter on the back of your hands then only apply it onto your face where you can control the amount. :: 


I never tried strobing before. This is totally new to me (>_<). As strongly recommended by Taiwanese Youtuber HelloCatie, I bought my first strobing instrument a.k.a. the Illuminate. Said it should give natural dewy glow, I was so persuaded to buy it. Now take a look of my finished-look :)

Yay or nay? :/

So is it a YAY or NAY? o.o You'll be the judge :)

Overall the outcome turns out okay. However, these two Etude House Cushion Concealers didn't give a WOW-impression. For me, I would prefer the Mint more than the Illuminate, considering the functionality and its outcome is more visible. 

**Quick rating**

✓ Affordable price

✓ Moist and mild formula

✖ Average coverage

✖ Low functionality of the sponge-head applicator (literally no point and can get very messy)

Ratings: ★★★☆☆

Anyway, I won't strongly recommend you to purchase it, but you can try it for fun. It's not that bad thou :)

Do lemme know your thoughts about this product review or share your experience with me in the comment box below.

Cheers!^^

[Singapore] 151208-11 Singapore->Malacca->Singapore : Star Cruise Experience (part 1)

This should be written and posted long ago yet I haven't had the time until now.

Hope you enjoy the reading! :)

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Travelling is fun. Throughout the trip, we make memories and collect new experience. But human gets confused lots of the times. I had never been on a cruise before this, and I really wanted to go. However, when the time gets nearer, I became anxious about being grounded on a big ship for 3D2N. What if the ship drowned? I can't swim. What if suffered from sea sickness? It would be the worst trip ever... Thousands of thoughts went through my mind, and I just have to suppress and try to convince myself "It will be alright". Least assured, it was an enjoyable sail :)

So let's start the journey~! :)
Our sail will start from Singapore, all the way North to Malacca, then back again to Singapore. But first we have to fly over to Merlion's hometown.

Flight meal

Now travelling has become easier with the help of websites/apps. They will help you filter your choice and preference, provide you every option under your fingertips. If you are a travel-amateur (like me), Singapore is a good start to plan a short trip. It is well-developed, road signs everywhere, you won't get yourself lost here anyway.

This is the second time we booked our stay in Singapore via AirAsiaGo.com. We stayed in Lavender Hotel which is near to Lavender MRT Station on the last trip. A bit of change, we decided to stay in Porcelain Hotel which is near to Chinatown MRT Station this time. It is located in Chinatown street. As you can see (picture below), porcelain white exterior design, isn't it lovely and classic?

The street where we stayed for one night

Across the street, we found an interesting pet cafe where they posted lots of adorable cats framed-pictures on the side of the wall. They are just way too cute :3

It becomes tricky when it comes to food. We aren't picky, but we really need recommendations as we weren't sure which stall/restaurant makes good food. So that's when dad will tell us to observe the crowd. The bigger the crowd they have in one place, meaning people like the food there :p (what a great tip, dad)

Dinner is served

Obviously what we can get from Chinatown street is Chinese food (of course!). This restaurant was so packed that night, dad suggested we should check it out. Honestly, by reading at the menu, we do not know what to order (although it is written in Chinese and English). Everything is so unfamiliar to us. At the end, we ordered a tofu-dish, a potato-dish cooked with beef and a soup. Ta-da! An authentic Chinese meal is served. All I can say is "I'm SOOOOOO satisfied" :9

After that, we had a walk 2-3 streets down the road. I really enjoy taking a casual walk like this, ONLY when I'm in other countries (LOL). There is a Chinese-saying, "外国的月亮总是比较圆" (The moon always looks more beautiful in other countries). Well, probably that's it :) By the way, the Korean ice-blended melon dessert ("bing-su") is yummy but quite expensive. I wouldn't recommend you to try it.

Good night, Chinatown!

Stay tuned for part 2! :D

[Review] Etude House Big Cover Cushion Concealer SPF30 / PA++ Mint & Illuminate

I admit that I am not a good writer >_< Please bear with me~

Side note. After watching so many YouTubers doing GRWM ("Get Ready With Me") make-up videos, I really wanted to try out. In fact, I did last week, but sadly it didn't turn out well ;____; My phone memory burst to the MAXX when I'm only halfway through the process... Anyway, just a trial to see if it works. Guess you have to bear with me and all these writings for the moment heh :D

For the following weeks, we will be covering on this item --> concealer. Today our star will be Etude House Big Cover Cushion Concealer. 

Etude House Big Cover Cushion Concealer

For those who have heard of Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles Treatment Concealer, I think you can pretty much relate to this product here. Unfortunately, previous mentioned Maybelline product has yet to be introduced into Malaysia market (which I think it's kinda awful to feel leaving behind the trend).

Hence, I try to find a product which is similar to Maybelline's yet available for purchase. It's been quite a while from my last purchase on Gmarket. Coincidentally, Gmarket was having an International Shipping Fee promotion during whole June 2016, which it only costs 5,000 won (about RM17++) for every shipment, regardless of the shipment weight. Super duper cheap!

Then I came about a product review from one of my favourite YouTubers (@HelloCatie) on this Etude House concealer cushion series. I felt in love right on the spot, and swear I'm gonna get my hands on them :D (I'm so serious about this)

Let's start by checking their colors! :D

There are a choice of 6 in this series. As you can see, first 3 colors are more on color-correction (a trending make-up technique, mostly popular in Western countries). And the latter 3 colors are the traditional concealer color tones you can get in any Korean cosmetic stores.

I heard of color-correcting make-up technique before, but not really certain how it functions. Unfortunately, as Peach Pink was out-of-stock during that time, I only managed to get two colors, Mint and Illuminate. I have redness skin issue, so I am pretty looking forward to see how Mint will turn out on my face. Meanwhile, as Catie has gave a BIG thumbs up for the natural glow from the Illuminate, I would like to give it a try.

As you can see from the photo above, its design is more like an automatic-pencil. All you have to do is to click the button on one end, and the formula will come out from the cushion end. You should get the formula within 10 clicks.

Above: Mint
Below: Illuminate

The formula itself is rather light and non-sticky. It is a liquid-type concealer, you can be assured that it is quite moisture. In terms of smell/scent, you wouldn't miss the powder-like scent which reminds me of baby powder. Not to say unpleasant, it's just unexpected. (we are talking about cosmetic right? not baby product ._.)

Well I am going to share how these products look on my face with a self make-up tutorial next week. Till then I will talk about first impression. So stay tune! :D

Check out Hello Catie's video here. :)


Do lemme know your thoughts about this product review or share your experience with me in the comment box below.

Cheers!^^