Category Archives: Beauty Reviews

Koh Gen Do, Skincare infused makeup product reviews & swatches

Huge thanks to the wonderful team at Koh Gen Do, I was able to test these skincare infused makeup products. They sent over their famous Aqua Foundations, along with their Pressed Powder, Moisture Fit Concealer, and Makeup Color Base.

main pic

The Koh Gen Do Maifanshi Aqua Foundation has a total of 10 shades (see below shade swatches from their website). According to their website, The coveted Aqua Foundation, known for giving skin the same youthful glow you experience right after a facial, is redesigned for increased coverage, radiance, hydration and longevity. Formulated with signature Gloss Film Powder, the light-diffusing minerals brighten and minimize pores, while resisting sweat and oiliness. This breathable serum foundation contains weightless skin-conditioning emollients that improve the hydration and health of skin for a flawless and comfortable complexion all day.

koh gen do

They sent me two shades, 013 and 113. The shade 013 appears a little too pink for my yellow/warm skin tone. The shade 113, which is their lightest warm shade, seems to be a good match for my MAC’s NC15 skin tone. Below, you can see my arm swatches comparing to the MAC’s NC25 and NC15. I have mostly normal skin, sometimes dehydrated if I don’t consume enough water.

foundation swatch

For your reference, I have listed all of my other foundation shades here:

https://luvsummeikup.com/2017/05/12/list-of-my-foundation-shades/

The first day, I applied with a Kabuki foundation brush, it gave me a medium coverage with 2 layers of applications. I used the Makeup Color Base primer they sent me; it’s in the shade Lavender Pink. As you can see from below photo that I pulled up from their website, they have 3 other shades, which are Green, Yellow, and Pearl White. It might have been a better shade if they have sent me the yellow instead, because the Lavender Pink appeared to be too pink for me, and it made my skin tone half a shade to a shade paler. However, it did give my skin a smooth canvas; the foundation went on smoothly and gave a nice natural finish. I also set with the Pressed Powder; it’s the only shade available.

primer swatch

The powder is too white for me (below, you can see the swatches of the powder), it made my skin a shade lighter than it is; with the Lavender Pink base, I was almost 2 shades lighter. However, the powder sets the foundation pretty well; it gave me a matte finish, and the bronzer and highlighter went on smoothly. If I have the right Color Base shade, I think I would like this combination, because it lasted a good 7-8 hours. At the 8 hour mark, the makeup still looked fresh; I didn’t see any creasing or separation, not greasy either.

powder 1powder 2

On the second day, I applied with a round top Kabuki foundation brush again, this time I used the Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer, and then used the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffuse Light to set. This combination made my skin look quite dewy, and it slightly enhanced my pores around my nose. The foundation itself provided light to (buildable) medium coverage; it covered the redness on my cheeks but not my pimples. The bronzer and highlighter went on smoothly. I actually quite liked the natural look it gave me; it didn’t exaggerate pores, but didn’t diminish either. At the 5 hour mark though, the center of my face became a little greasy, as well as some separations around my nose, and the foundation came off my chin a little bit too. Hence, this wasn’t my favorite combination.

 

On the third day, I used a BeautyBlender to apply. This time I used the SmashBox Photo Finish Primerizer; it only gave a light medium coverage with 2 layers of applications. I set my face with BECCA Hydra-Mist Set & Refresh Powder; the bronzer and highlighter also went on smoothly. It gave my skin an extra smooth complexion, and a natural finish. My pores looked the smoothest with this combination; even my nose looked pore less. My skin still looked very fresh even after 8 hours of wear; no dry patches, no creasing, no greasiness. This is by far the best combination.

 

I also tried to wear this foundation with no primer and no powder. It gave me a light medium coverage with BeautyBlender, and medium coverage with a Kabuki foundation brush (2 layers). They both provided with natural finish; a little bit dewier using the BeautyBlender. I waited about 5 minutes before putting on bronzer and highlight; surprisingly, although it felt tacky, they blended on top of the foundation nicely. After 4 hours of wear, my skin became a little bit oily, especially around my nose area; however, there was no separation and still looked pretty good from a conversational distance.

 

According to their website, the Moisture Fit Concealer has 3 shades, which are 02, 03, and 04 (see photo below). They sent me the shade 03, which is darker than my NC15 skin tone. You can see swatches from below photo for shade comparison with the MAC foundations; so I can’t use it for my under eyes for brightening. I tried using it to cover my pimple scar, but the coverage is too light for that. However, when I used it on top of my cheeks after 1 layer of foundation, it enhanced the coverage by covering my redness on my cheeks.

concealers

Overall, I recommended the Aqua Foundation if you’re a fan of a natural finish, buildable to medium coverage foundation. I have been using this foundation since I received it 2 months ago, with the SmashBox Primerizer and BECCA Hydra-Mist; it lasts the longest with beautiful natural finish. I would use it with their Makeup Color Base too if I have the Yellow shade instead of Lavender Pink, since it does provide a nice smooth canvas.

 

Disclaimer: I received these products complimentary from Koh Gen Do; however, all of my opinions are 100% honest and my own.

https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-4067611469746392

Wet n Wild Mega Cushion Foundation SPF 15 Review & Swatches

Wet n Wild Mega Cushion Foundation SPF 15

On Ulta’s website, they described this cushion foundation as the match made in makeup heaven. Tap the cushion to add just the right amount of coverage or double tap to add more. It’s perfectly portable too, with an air tight, no mess compact that makes applying liquid foundation a breeze. Infused with coconut derivative, the luminous, lightweight, and buildable formula helps boost hydration and contains SPF 15 for added skin protection.

It has both chemical and physical sunscreen ingredients, which includes octinoxate, octisalate, titanium dioxide, and zinc oxide. It appears to have a slight white cast when I take flash photos; hence, I do not recommend using this if you plan on taking flash photos. I would prefer not to add any SPF if it’s just SPF15; anything under SPF30 will not help much with sun protection. It contains 0.52oz/15g of products; one thing I do no like about the packaging; they claimed to be an “air tight”, which isn’t true. The lid and divider don’t seem to close all the way, and it doesn’t have the snap closure sound either (or perhaps I got a defective one). This is a big concern to me for cushion foundations, because it seems to leak all the moisture in the cushion if it doesn’t close well, and it will dry out faster. My cushion was pretty much dried out after just a week or two of testing; and I did flip the cushion a few times to make sure I used every bit of product. Below, see photos of the packaging:

outside packaging

inside packaging

 

back packaging

According to the Wet n Wild’s website, it has total of 8 shades; I’m not impressed with the shade range because it doesn’t seem like it has anything in the tanned/dark side. I got the lightest shade Light Ivory, it has a neutral undertone. It is about half a shade too light for my MAC SFF NC15 skin tone (below, please see shade comparison to NC15), but the next shade up (Cream Ivory) is a shade too dark for me. After bronzer and full face of makeup, it matches pretty well anyway.

nc15

I generally have normal skin, sometimes dehydrated if I don’t consume enough water. For your reference, I have listed all of my other foundation shades here:

LuvSumMeiKup: List of my Foundation Shades

This cusion foundation does not seem to oxidase, it just dries down to a tiny bit darker, but no major difference. Below, please see fresh and dried swatches:

freshly swatched

 

For all of my Foundation Tests, I will start with no primer, no powder first just to see how it will hold up on its own. For cushion foundations, I will first go with foundation brush, then beauty blender, and then the cushion applicator it came with. Lastly, I will pick the best application tool, and add primer and powder to do a final test.

A) Using a foundation brush:

At 7:00am, I applied 2 layers and got medium coverage, I applied another layer (3 layers) for high medium coverage. It did not give me full coverage because I was still able to see slight redness peaking through. It gave me a natural finish on my normal skin. It did not set on its own; after 20 minutes, my skin still felt tacky. However, surprisingly the bronzer and highlighter went on ok. It did not diminish my pores, but did not exaggerate them either.

At the 4 hour mark (11:00am), nothing major has changed, except when I laid my hand on my chin, the foundation came off a little bit.

At the 8 hour mark (3:00pm), the area around my nose became a little bit shiny, and the foundation sunk in to my pores and gave me polka dot nose. After that, I had to powder and face mist my face because I had meeting to attend at work.

B) Using a BeautyBlender:

First application started at 7:00am. One layer using the BeautyBlender did not do much at all, just gave a layer of shine. After 2 layers, it somewhat balanced out my overall skin tone. It gave light medium coverage with 3 layers on, and a more dewy finish than using the the foundation brush. Again, it doesn’t really set, even after an hour, it still felt tacky to the touch. The bronzer and highlighter moved the foundation just a little bit, not as smooth as the brush application. For some reason it didn’t go on too smoothly on my nose; I tried blending it out but it just gave me separation, and it enhanced my pores.

At the 4 hour mark (11:00am), the coverage in the center of my face was about 30% gone, and not much product left on my chin, all of my redness peaked through. It left a dewier looking, and shinier nose.

At the 8 hour mark (3:00pm), nose area become too oily, coverage pretty much all gone. I could barely see any bronzer and highlighter left. In order not to walk out the office looking like a grease ball, I had to blot off the oil; after blotting, all the foundation were completely gone. I then reapplied light layer of foundation (yes, I have everything in my office for touch-up purposes) and powder just to look semi-decent for another few hours at work, and washed off my face as soon as I got home.

C) Using the Cushion Applicator that it came with:

At 7am, I only needed to apply 2 layers to get the same high medium coverage as using the brush with 3 layers. It gave a natural finish, bronzer and brush went on smoothly. Again, felt tacky to the touch even after 30 minutes. My nose area looked the best when using the cushion applicator, it gave an even coverage, and no polka dot nose and did not enhance my pores.

At the 4 hour mark (11:00am), the foundation started to sink in to small fine lines underneath my eyes, and caked up a little around my nose. Nothing really noticeable unless looking extremely close to the mirror.

At the 8 hour mark (3:00pm), the foundation sunk in to my pores even more, especially around my nose area; and my nose became shinier. Although the rest of my face (cheek, chin, and forehead) looked decent, but again I had to powder my nose a little and face mist because I had meetings to attend.

D) Last Test with Primer and Powder:

At 7:00am, I started my application using the Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer. I chose the foundation brush application, because the cushion application takes longer although they gave similar result. And I finished up with a light layer of Ben Nye Banana Powder; after applying the Banana Powder, the shade matched the rest of my body perfectly because it cancelled out that little pink tone in the foundation. After setting my face with the banana powder, it gave a velvety matte finish, and it smoothed out my pores; bronzer and highlighter went on seamlessly.

At the 4 hour mark (11:00am), nothing has changed since initial application. Pores still looked good and no shine on my nose; it still had the velvety matte look.

At the 8 hour mark (3:00pm), still going strong, except just tiny caked up around my nose but nothing too pronounced. From a conversation distance, it still looked velvety matte and flawless on my normal skin.

At the 12 hour mark (7:00pm), I was able to see a little bit of separation on my nose and chin when I looked super close-up using my 5x mirror, nothing major though. Overall, I wouldn’t mind wearing this everyday if I set it with powder. Sadly, it dried out too fast because of the imperfect packaging; because of that, I might not repurchase again.

Here’s the image of all 8 shades from Wet n Wild’s official website:

8 shades

L’Oreal Paris Infallible Pro Matte Les Chocolats Scented Liquid Lipstick Review and Lip Swatches

L’Oreal Paris Infallible Pro Matte Les Chocolats Scented Liquid Lipstick

On Ulta Beauty’s website, they describe the Infallible Pro Matte Les Chocolats Liquid Lipsticks as cult-favorite Pro Matte Liquid Lipstick that’s enhanced with an indulgent chocolate aroma, Infallible Pro Matte Liquid Lipstick Les Chocolats scented provides all day full, matte coverage. They’re the long wear liquid lipstick feels light for all day comfort, never sticky. They comes with a pro-sculpt applicator, shape and add dimension to lips. Claims to be Liquid Matte Lipstick, up to 16hr of longwear, chocolate Scented lipstick, and comfortable Wear.

So far, they have came out with six difference shades: Candy Man, Sweet Tooth, Does of Cocoa, Box O Chocolate, Bitter Sweet, and 70% Yum. I have the shades Candy Man, Does of Cocoa and Box O Chocolate; below, please find hand swatches of these three shades:

luvsummeikup all3swatches

They’re super pigmented and goes on smoothly with velvety matte finish; when first apply, it does feel somewhat sticky, it takes about 10 minutes to dry down. Once it’s dried down to matte finish, I don’t feel the stickiness anymore. I have tried million liquid lipsticks out there, they’re pretty much the only lip products I wear on a daily basis. These Infallible Pro Matte Les Chocolats Lipsticks are by far the longest lasting ones I’ve tried; they even lasted through my dental teeth cleaning appointment! They indeed lasted from the morning I applied, till end of the day when I removed with Makeup Cleansing Oil. That being said, they do tend to dry out my lips more than other liquid lipsticks; I have to really exfoliate my lips and put lip mask on the night before, if I’m planning on using them for the next day. I now only use them during the weekends, when I know I will be out all day; so that I don’t need to worry about touching up at all.

My favorite shade is Candy Man, here’s the lip swatch on my NC15 skin tone:

luvsummeikup candy man

And here’s the lip swatch for the shade, Box O Chocolate:

luvsummeikup box o chocolate

And here’s the lip swatch for the shade, Does of Cocoa:

luvsummeikup dose of cocoa

Below, please see swatches of all 6 shades (image credit to Target.com):

luvsummeikup target image

 

I also like how they all smell like delicious chocolate, but not overpowering; the smell goes away after application. I do wish they will come out with more shades in the future; I will be purchasing a lot more.

Kerstin Florian Makeup Product Swatches & Review

Kerstin Florian Luminizing CC Cream

To see the list of other foundation shades I usually wear, please visit this link:

LuvSumMeiKup: List of my Foundation Shades

Let me start off with the Luminizing CC Cream; it comes with 3 shades: Porcelain, Natural Beige, and Sand. Each tube comes with 1.7 fl oz of product, and it’s $46.00USD each. On Kerstin Florian’s website, it described as Lightweight, hydrating color corrector imparts a smooth, radiant, even-toned complexion. Plus these benefits to finish what your skincare starts • Enhances Tone & Clarity • Reduces Redness & Pigmentation • Refines Texture. Here are the shade comparison:

CC Cream

The top swatch is the MAC Studio Fix in shade NC15, which is my perfect shade. The Porcelain is a shade and a half too light for me; and the Natural Beige is about half a shade darker than my skin tone. However, since it’s a CC Cream and has sheer to light coverage, it looks fine after I blend it out. I apply two layers with my BeautyBlender for a sheer light coverage, just to cancel out my redness when I run errands during the weekend. I find this CC Cream does not really set; if I do not set it with a powder, it will transfer even after 2 hours of wear. It can add slightly more coverage if I apply it with a brush; however, it tends to slide around and leave brush marks when I apply with a brush. It does not last long, I would say up to 3 hours max if I set it with powder; however, it fades nicely on my skin, so I do not mind wearing it for errands. For everyday work, I would want at least medium coverage; so I use this as a primer to give my skin a healthy luminous base before applying foundation.

Kerstin Florian Skin Renewing Foundation

The Skin Renewing Foundation comes with 3 shades: Warm Beige, Vanilla, and Tawny. Each tube comes with 1.0 fl oz of product, and cost $48.00USD each. On Kerstin Florian’s website, it described as Long-wearing, soft-focus foundation provides smooth, buildable, skin-healthy coverage. PLUS these benefits to finish what your skincare starts • Minimizes Lines & Wrinkles • Attracts & Maintains Moisture • Boosts Firmness & Elasticity. Here are the shade comparison:

foundation.jpg

Again, the top swatch is the MAC Studio Fix in shade NC15; the lightest shade Vanilla is a shade too dark for me. However, after using a lighter shade powder, it can make it work. Same as the CC Cream, I like to apply this with my BeautyBlender; it gives a more skin-like natural look. This foundation gives a light to light-medium coverage when applying with my BeautyBlender. It can be a full-medium coverage if I apply with a brush and two layers. However, it tends to separate around my nose and forehead when I apply with a brush, right around the 3-4 hour marks. So what I have been doing is to apply the CC Cream as a primer using the BeautyBlender, then apply the Foundation using the same Blender, and set it with a powder for everyday look. It will cover my redness and even out my skin tone; this method lasts 5-6 hours without separation. But it does start to separate after 6 hours of wear; not too noticeable though, unless I look super close to the mirror. And, for days when I need even more coverage, I would apply their concealer; which I will talk about next.

Kerstin Florian Brightening Concealer

Their Brightening Concealer comes with 3 shades: Ivory, Beige, and Honey. It comes with 0.3 fl oz of product, and it’s $28.00USD each. On Kerstin Florian’s website, it described as Luminous age-defying concealer offers buildable coverage and lasting wear without settling or dehydrating. PLUS these benefits to finish what your skincare starts • Minimizes Fine Lines • Reduces Dark Circles • Combats Puffiness. Here are the shade comparison:

Concealer

Comparing to the MAC Studio Fix in shade NC15 on top, the lightest shade Ivory is about the same (if it’s not darker), so I cannot use it for brightening my under eye areas.  However, I can use it as all over face Concealer to cover redness and mild blemishes. I find it’s the best to apply with BeautyBlender as well; I tried blending it out using my concealer brush, but it gave intense brush marks on my skin. I do like the formula of this concealer though; it’s very creamy and hydrating. Just wish they would come out with lighter shade options, so that I can use it for my under eye areas.

I have been using these 3 products for the last few weeks; so far I’m enjoying it. They did not break me out, and they keep my normal but dehydrated skin hydrated all day.

L’Oreal RevitaLift Intensive Moisturizer Review

Thanks to @lorealusa @LOREALSKIN for sending me this L’Oreal RevitaLift Intensive Moisturizer, Triple Powder Intensive Anti-aging Day Cream to try out. This is a triple power intensive anti-aging day cream Moisturizer that claims to improve our skin in just 14 days. The #RevitaLiftChallenge claims to hydrate the skin and  improve skim texture in 1 week, then reduce wrinkles and firming the skin in 2 weeks; it’s recommended to use day and night for 14 days after cleansing and use sunscreen during the day.

111r

I had been using this as instructed and completed the 14 days challenge. I used it after cleansing and toning during the day, followed up with SPF50; then at night, I used it after makeup removal, cleansing, and toning. I did not use any other skincare products because I wanted to make sure that I see the result only this cream gives. Unfortunately, I did not see result in improving my pores nor skin texture, I don’t have wrinkles yet so I can’t say if it in fact improves wrinkles. As far as firming and appearance go, I did not see big difference in firming, but it did soften my skin overnight. And, it did hydrate my skin and kept it moisturized the entire night and day; perhaps I need to continue using it longer to see greater result. You only need a tiny bit for entire face, using too much might cause break-outs because it can get very heavy. It has Parfum/Fragrance as one of the ingredients, but it’s very light as it appears at the end of the list; it did not cause any allergic reaction to my skin, I also like the fresh smell of the cream. However, if you’re sensitive to Parfum/Fragrance, you might want to avoid this. I recommend this for Dry Skin Type; so far for me, it’s a nice moisturized cream for my Normal to Combo skin, when using it with thin layer.

FullSizeRender

Here is the ingredient list for your reference:

 

Aqua/Water, Glycerin, Isohexadecane, Isopropyl Isostearate, Hydroxypropyl Tetrahydropyrantriol, Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate, Propylene Glycol Nylon-12, Octyldodecanol, Cetyl Alcohol, Ammonium Polyacryldimethyltauramide/Ammonium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate, Behenyl Alcohol, Dimethicone, C13-14 Isoparaffin, PEG-100 Stearate, Stearic Acid, Stearyl Alcohol, Arachidyl Alcohol, Triethanolamine, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Glucoside, Sodium Hyaluronate, Palmitic Acid, Adenosine, Disodium EDTA, Disodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Capryloyl Salicylic Aid, Laureth-7, Polyacrylamide, Polyethylene, Methylisothiazolinone, Methylparaben, Phenoxyethanol, CI 15985/Yellow 6, CI 19140/Yellow 5, CI 77891/Titanium Dioxide, Mica, Linalool, Isoeugenol, Limonene, Citronellol, Benzyl Alcohol, Parfum/Fragrance.

Pur Cosmetics Product Reviews @purcosmetics

Pur Cosmetics Products Review

Pur Cosmetics sent me some of their newest products for me to try out a couple of weeks ago. I have been using them ever since, thought now it’s the time to give my in-depth reviews.

To see the list of other foundation shades I usually wear, please visit this link:

LuvSumMeiKup: List of my Foundation Shades

Pur Bare It All 12-Hour 4-In-1 Skin-Perfecting Foundation

Let me start with the Bare It All 12-Hour 4-In-1 Skin-Perfecting Foundation. It comes with 10 shades total; below are the swatches for the 9 shades, which I got from Pur’s website. I was not able to find a swatch for the shade Dark, so I had to use the image the of the product instead: 

tubesPur Cosmetics Bare It All

I wear MAC’s Pro Longwear Nourishing Waterproof Foundations in NC20-25; I have pink undertone for my face and light yellow for the rest of my body. And, my face is naturally 1 shade lighter than my neck, so looking for a “perfect” match has been quite difficult for me. The Bare It All foundation shade Porcelain is too light for me and Light is a hair too dark, so I have to mix both Porcelain and Light (1:1) to get my somewhat perfect shade.

Below, you can see the swatches in natural day light. I included the swatch of Pur’s Hydrafluid Water Serum Foundation in shade Light, which I will talk about in a minute:

swatch#1

I like how the Bare It All 12-Hour 4-In-1 Skin-Perfecting Foundation provides semi-Matte finish; it provides light to medium coverage, I can still see my redness with 1 layer but it covers them with 2 layers. I have Normal skin type, so most of the foundations should work on my skin. For this foundation though, I do need to well moisturize my skin and use a primer before applying; because when I wore this alone over just my sunscreen,  it emphasized my pores and laugh lines a little bit. If I don’t set this with a powder, it will last about 4 hours before I had the need to powder or blog my T-Zone area. If I set it with a powder right after application, it will last about 6 hours before it started looking a bit greasey on my nose; but it’s really mild and can definitely let it be without touch-ups for the entire work day. I like how it has skin care ingredients to help improving our skin overtime. And, it’s also cruelty, gluten, paraben free.

It does not oxidase on my skin. As you can see from the image below, no.1 in was after it’s been set for about 10min, and no.2 was freshly swatched (shade Light):

face

And below is the shade Light with MAC’s Pro Longwear NC25, in comparison, shade Light appears to have neutral undertone:

swatch

Pur Hydrafluid Water Serum Foundation

The Hydrafluid Water Serum Foundation claims to deliver Swiss Alps-sourced mineral water that goes deep into the skin to hydrate for lasting radiance. HydraFluid’s lightweight formula satisfies the desire for dewy, breathable, luminous-looking skin and a bare-looking but perfect complexion. This foundation only comes with 5 shades, the shade Light is the lightest shade that they offer:

Hydrafluid Water Serum Foundation

The shade Light is currently half a shade dark on my NC25 skin tone. And as you can see from the swatches below, the shade Light (far left) has neutral undertone compare to MAC’s NC25 (far right). Since my face has pink undertone, I always tend to go with foundations that provide yellow undertone to cancel out the mild redness. I have to use a lighter powder to set my face when using this foundation, or else it will look greasey after just a couple of hours; plus, using a lighter powder helps lighten up the shade a little bit to match better. I don’t think it is considered a Foundation as it doesn’t cover my mild redness, and it’s not build-able; I would consider this as BB/CC cream. The Foundation does fade on me at around 4-hour mark, but it fades nicely and doesn’t leave werid patches.  I do like to use this during a weekend when I just need to go out for a few hours (I always need to set it with a lighter powder though), it evens out my skin tone and blurs out my pores.

swatch#2

Pur On Point Lip Liners

Prime and line your pout with these lip perfecting liners. On Point glides on easily and locks lip color into place to prevent color from bleeding and feathering. The long-wear formula contains a plumping peptide that improves the appearance of lips for the look of a fuller, smoother pout. It has total of 10 shades:

liners

They sent me all 6 shades; the shades from left to right above are: See Thru (I did swatch it, but since it’s clear so it’s not showing up lol), Low Key, Teddy, Tutu, Power Trip, and Vamp. These liners are so creamy and pigmented, they did prevent my lipsticks from bleeding; when I used the liners alone by filling the lips, they last at least 4 hours on me without fading. The cool thing is they sharpen itself when twisting it in its cap; however, I also feel like it also wastes quite a lot of products by doing this every time I use them.

Pur Velvet Matte Liquid Lipsticks

They sent me 7 out of 10 shades of their Velvet Matte Liquid Lipsticks. I’m a huge fan of liquid lipsticks so I was extremely exciting to receive these in the mail. I have the shades Obsessed, Oh Bae, FBF, Innocent, Ever After, Addition, Dutty Wine:

liquid
These Velvet Matte Liquid Lipsticks provide high-pigmented lip colors in mousse-like texture, they glide on my lips so easily and smoothly, rich and creamy. They dry down to a Matte finish without over-drying my lips; it did take a good 2 minutes before they’re completely dried down though. Once they’re dried, they stayed on my lips for up to 6 hours without fading; unless I eat some greasy/oily food. Here’s the swatches of the remaining shades:

Velvet Matte Liquid Lipstick Pur Chrome Glaze High-Shine Lip Gloss

This lightweight, highly pigmented lip color utilizes gel technology to coat lips in vivid color and intense shine. The chrome-like gloss provides pigment without traveling or fading. They sent me all 6 shades: DIY, Smarty Pants, Squad, Heart Breaker, Arm Candy, and Rebel.

lipgloss

I am usually not a fan of lip glosses, but I don’t mind wearing these ones. Pur’s glosses provide high pigments and they are not sticky on the lips. It feels so lightweight and comfortable on. It does give intense shine, which sometimes I don’t prefer; what I do is to lightly blot off the excess with a tissue, it takes away the shine but leave a nice sheen. By doing this, the color lasts for a good 4 hours on mu lips without fading; I usually reapply after having lunch. 

That’s all the products that I have been testing out for Pur Cosmetics. Huge thanks to Pur for sending me these awesome products, I’m glad that I had the chance to try them out. Thanks everyone for stopping by my blog! Have an awesome week! 

BECCA First Light Filter Face Primer, Soft Light Blurring Setting Powder, Soft Kabuki Brush

Reviews on BECCA First Light Filter Face Primer, Soft Light Blurring Setting Powder, Soft Kabuki Brush

Thanks to BECCA and Influenster for sending these amazing products for me to test out. Especially the Filter Primer, it was already on my Shopping List before they sent it to me. They also sent me the Soft Light Blurring Powder and its matching Soft Kabuki Brush. 

 

becca

 

Let me start with the First Light Filter Face Primer since it was the most exciting item to me. I used this immediately after I received it and I have been using it everyday since then. I currently have normal to dry skin at the moment; this primer gives my skin a very nice sheen and a smooth surface before foundations. It blurs out my pores and hydrates my skin. I tend to use matte finish foundations a lot; after applying the foundations, I have a healthy glow and natural skin look because of this primer. I absolutely love this primer and I can now stay glowy the entire day!

primer

Now onto the Soft Light Blurring Setting Powder and its matching Soft Kabuki Brush. The Soft Light Blurring Setting Powder is not completely translucent, as you can see from the photo below. It does definitely set my makeup nicely and acts as a veil to blur my pores. It also gives my skin a natural and pore-less finish. This setting powder is infused with ceramic microspheres and it creates an even complexion. It has a light tint to it but doesn’t interact with my foundation colors and it’s an universally shade. I realized whenever I used this to set my makeup, my makeup last all day without being greasy. I usually get somewhat oily on my T-zoom towards the end of the day, but it doesn’t give me that when I wear this. It’s amazing!

The Soft Kabuki Brush on the other hand, is an ultra-soft, synthetic fiber kabuki brush that’s designed to provide full, flawless coverage. It’s also suppose to use for setting the face and for contouring, it will ensure seamless makeup application. However, I don’t find it working for contouring because of how soft the bristles are, plus the round top just doesn’t seem to work as a contour brush (to me). I tried using it on pressed powder and it doesn’t pick up the powder easily. I would recommend only using this for loose setting powders.

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Thanks for stopping by my blog! Hope you’re enjoying your week and will see you next time. Don’t forget to check out my Instagram Page for daily hauls and reviews.  

Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair!™ Deep Conditioning Mask

Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair!™ Deep Conditioning Mask

6weeks

I received this mask about 6 weeks ago from Briogeo and have been using it since. It is an intensive weekly treatment to restore essential hydration and enhance hair’s resilience and strength. It is formulated without parabens, sulfates and phthalates, also free of silicones, DEA, and artificial dyes. It is color-safe, which is good for my hair because I dye my hair to cover the greys regularly; this does conditions my hair nicely every time after I use it. I use it just about once a week and I wash my hair 2-3 times a week.

They suggest to apply the mask and leave on for five to ten minutes after shampooing, then rinse. That’s what I do on a regular basics; however, when I dye my hair, I like to leave it on for 30 minutes, with my hair wrapped in a towel for extra hydration. Sometimes when I feel like my hair is damaged from the sun after a vacation trip, I would use this mask in place of my hair conditioner for a week, the vitamin B, rosehip oil, argan oil, and collagen will transform my damaged hair back to healthy-looking hair.

I would highly recommend getting this mask, it totally beats all of my other hair masks.

Pharmaskincare® Skincare Products Review

I received this lovely package from Pharmaskincare about two months ago for review purposes. Pharmaskincare products are the unique result of modern biotechnology and dermatological research combined with centuries of scientific observation; they believe in making sure the ingredients are beneficial to beautiful skin, the blend of the ingredients works synergistically, and that the ingredient blend is balanced.

They sent me the Lightening Cleanser, A Peel Microepidermal Masque Stick, Anti-Age Serum Plus, and the Ph Parfait Vit a Retinol.

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My skin type: Normal to dry in the Winter, Normal to oily in the Summer. To clarify, I do patch test every new product before putting it on all over my face; however, it’s not guaranteed that a product works on my sensitive areas (pulse point, behind the ears, or neck), doesn’t cause reaction to my face.

Disclaimer: Skincare is very personal, it works for my skin doesn’t necessarily mean that it will work for your skin. Please do consult with your Dermatologist if you have skin issues. We should all know our own skin type and find out what we need before testing out the products.

 

Lightening Cleanser 7oz. for $47.00

This is how their website describes the product:

“Lightening Cleanser is the first step in the battle against hyper-pigmentation, patchy skin, and age spots. This active, cleansing formula is enhanced with Certified Organic Japanese Green Tea and Apple Fruit Extract. Both ingredients work to lighten dark spots while promoting healthy, youthful skin, and an even, toned complexion.”

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My thoughts:

This Cleanser has a very strong fragrance scent; if you’re allergic to fragrance, this might not be good for you. To me, scent usually doesn’t bother me as long as I don’t dislike the scents or it doesn’t irritate my skin. At the beginning, I only used this at night after removing my makeup since it’s a lightening cleanser, and used it without a cleansing device; then I started to have some breakouts after about a week. I thought it was because of other product that I was testing out, so I stopped using that product and continued with the Cleanser for another week; and of course, it broke me out even more. At that point, I stopped using all new products completely and went back with my trusted products; it took me almost two weeks before my skin was all cleared up. Then I decided to give it another try with my Foreo Mini, this time it did not break me out; hence, I continued using the cleanser with Foreo for another two weeks, and it never broke me out again. So it came to my conclusion that this Cleanser is way too gentle to remove leftover dirt and makeup on my face and that caused breakouts over time. As far as lightening goes, I haven’t noticed any difference, perhaps the cleanser doesn’t stay on my face long enough to do its magic. Now I do enjoy using this Cleanser, it foams up very nicely and extremely gentle on the skin. If you don’t have a cleansing device, I suggest you to only use this in the morning (when you have a bare face with minimum skincare products from the night before); please do make sure to put on enough sunscreen (I always use SPF40 and up) to protect your skin from the sun since lightening products can cause sensitivities from the sun. If you want to use this at night and you do wear makeup during the day, I highly recommend using this with a cleansing device.

*Photos below with bare face before and after using the Cleanser:

 

A Peel Microepidermal Masque Stick 1oz. for $55.00

This is how their website describes the product:

“The A Peel Microepidermal Masque Stick provides the benefits of a face mask without the mess. It is clean and quick, yet contains the most advanced bio-active skincare ingredients to beautify and regenerate skin affected by environmental stress. The Masque Stick helps nourish, restore, and diminish the appearance of existing lines and wrinkles caused by age, dryness, sun exposure, and environmental damage. It also works to smooth out acne scars and blemishes.”

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My thought:

I use this regularly, once a week for the past month. I don’t usually get pimples; but when I do, it would be around period time, where one or two would pop up on my chin. Besides the time that I broke out from the Cleanser, I would say that this mask does help minimizing the chance of getting pimples during period time. So far, I haven’t seen any pimple popping out, not even one during my last period. However, my skin doesn’t seem to like this mask if I use more than once a week; I tried twice a week and it dried out my skin badly, I had to do heavy moisturizing masks and a lot of facial oils to get my skin back to normal. After two months of using this mask, I find the base is getting really loose, perhaps I am too harsh when using it. Other than that, I would recommend this mask, it’s convenience to use and travel with, and it keeps my skin cleared.

*Photos below with bare face before and after using the Mask:

 

Anti-Age Serum Plus 0.33oz. for $70.00

This is how their website describes the product:

“Anti-Aging Serum is a highly effective and scientifically formulated serum that gently penetrates the top layer of skin to help repair tissue damage. Combining pure vitamins, hydrolyzed silk and yeast extract, this Serum works to promote collagen and elastin production. It helps tighten and smooth wrinkles, fine lines, and sagging skin to maintain youthful and vibrant skin.”

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My thoughts:

I started using this in the morning and at night; the serum provides hydrations to my skin and it absorbs quickly which I like. However, I noticed it made my foundation balls up every time after I used this serum. I did wait 5min to let the serum absorb completely, didn’t work; I tried different type of foundations, still the same. Hence, I ended up using this at night only and I did let this sit on my skin for at least 10min before the next step. Overall, I still do like this serum, just wish it doesn’t ball-up my foundation so that I can use this in the morning as well. Overall, it’s a good serum for hydration; although I finished the entire bottle, it doesn’t contain enough product for me to see major anti-aging result.

 

Ph Parfait Vit a Retinol 0.5oz. for $71.00

This is how their website describes the product:

“Ph Parfait Vit a Antioxidant Retinol System combines the powers of biological derivatives with soya plant and grape seed plant extracts to create an effective anti-aging system which is gentle enough for sensitive skin yet tough enough for skin damaged from the sun or premature aging. The balanced combination of natural and active products creates a powerful antioxidant formula which stimulates the production of collagen in facial skin to help with reversal of the thinning epidermis so skin will grow healthy, wrinkle-free and youthful in appearance. Ph Parfait Vit a Retinol will aid skin to be naturally moisturized while accelerating skin rejuvenation promoting even skin texture and clarity by reducing the appearance of blemishes and protecting skin from future breakouts. Fine lines and aging signs will be visibly reduced leaving skin looking and feeling younger.”

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My thoughts:

Since I have had bad reaction to retinol products before, I gave the Ph Parfait Vit a Retinol to a friend, she’s been using retinol products regularly. I did ask how she likes it and she said that it goes on to her skin smoothly, again, it doesn’t contain enough product in the bottle for her to see any result.

Thanks again to Pharmaskincare® for sending me these products! Image result for corgi smile

 

You may find more information from their website and Instagram:

https://pharmaskincare.com/

https://www.instagram.com/pharmaskincare/

Marc Jacobs Air Blush in 504

Marc Jacobs Air Blush in 504 Kink & Kisses

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I was sent this product by Influenster for review purposes; it’s very rare that I give 5-star rating but I can’t find anything to complain about this products.

I like how it’s infused with Japanese air powder and created using a process called soufflage; that makes it extremely lightweight and provides my skin a radiant silky finish. The duo gives convenience color mixing feature, you can customize whichever way you want and they blend effortlessly. I usually mix the light shades on the left for daytime look and the darker shades on the right for night time look; it lasted for a good 8hrs.

As per usual, I am a big fan their sleek and slim packaging; this palm-sized compact is modeled after a vintage cigarette case, though I wish it was after something else (I don’t want to “promote” anything related to cigarette).

 

The Air Blush Glow Duo in 504 Kink & Kisses is a beautiful pale petal/ peachy rose shades; I tried to take a better picture to show the differences from the left/right/mixed shades. below is the best I was able to get. A is the shades when I swatch from the left of the blush, B is from the right side, and C is when I mixed everything together; on my hand they didn’t show too much differences but showed differently on the face:

swatches

Overall I really do like this product and will recommend it. I might get more shades during the Sephora VIB sale coming up soon, along with brand new holiday 2016 collections!

Have an awesome weekend ahead lovelies! Thank you for stopping by! Image result for corgi smile