How I got on with Glamglow

Ok so I'm yet again super late to try the hype... I wasn't willing to shell out the full amount for the wonder product so many have talked about, so waited until I got it in a Topbox. Finally got around to trying it...

You've probably seen all over the blog-sphere by now what this looks like if you haven't yet tried it yourself... but in case not, this is what it looks like: mud-base with tea leaves on your face. You can visibly see the drying and you wash it off after it dries. 

My first impression when I washed...my cheeks felt as smooth as a baby's! And I have a baby at home to compare to... However, unfortunately it really didn't make my skin look any better other than making it feel smoother on touch. So darn it, this hype was over-hyped for me.

Now here's the thing, I then tried this on my mom who is in her late 50s, and woa, it really did amazing things for her! Her skin looked brighter, appeared to have less wrinkles, smoother, and the whole she-bang this thing advertised! This leaves me to think that overall this is a good product for those with more mature skin, but unfortunately just didn't do much for me.

Did this work for you? I'm writing this only after first impression, so if it's supposed to do more magic after a few uses please let me know and I will keep trying...

Face Atelier Ultra Blush - Tangerine

I'm sharing one of my all-time favorite blushes today. I love Face Atelier as a brand and many of their products (especially the foundation!), and have now come to love their blush. 

Their packaging is simple and functional, and that's all. No fuss.

This shade is called Tangerine, and as the name says is a orange-peach-corally shade.

 

A snapshot I took before I dug in to this beauty a year ago

You might be thinking, orange as a blush?! I am surprised too, but actually this is one of the most natural blushes I own. 

one swipe swatch on the right, same type of swatch blended out on the left

As you can you, it blends smoothly and translate to a natural warm corally-pink on the my skin. The effect is very similar to my Shiseido Color Stick in Peach Flush (click to see my review). The exception is that this FA blush is completely matte, whereas Shiseido is slightly shimmery.

Overall, a HG blush that hasn't left my bathroom daily-makeup pile since I got it! If you haven't tried any FA blushes yet I highly recommend it!

You can buy Face Atelier Blush for $26 CDN on their website.

NARS Loose Powder - Beach

Quickie review today. Nars makes amazing blushes, but their loose powder is merely "good", not terribly exciting. I have actually had this for a year now, and have been using it multiple times a week in various seasons/settings because I have been trying hard to love it more than I do.

 

I have the loose powder in shade "Beach", which is a yellow-tinted powder. It's quite transluscent though and doesn't appear overly yellow as some other powders can.

 

As you can see, it's not the most finely milled powder around, however it's not bad. It's sets makeup and banishes shine, but only for about 2-3 hrs or so on me before the shine is back this summer (I have combination skin in the summer).

In the winter, it keeps the shine at bay longer, however can cake up easily around my dry patches even with a very light application. It also makes the fine hairs on my face more obvious if I'm not careful about the application. Some setting spray helps with this but I imagine not everyone wants to take this extra step.  It also doesn't further even out the complexion for that "air-brushed" look that some other powders can help with, so whatever you did with your foundation/BB cream is what you got.

Overall, this is a solid powder for those of you with normal skin (no dry patches, not a lot of shine) to set makeup and mattify the T-zone.  I have used this on a friend before who had much better skin that me and had more of a yellow undertone and it looked very good on her. 

If you're like me though and have more problematic skin, it's useable but there are probably better options out there.

What's your favorite loose powder? Mine remains the BE Mineral Veil, though it's not the best for photography it's amazing in person. 

IOPE Air Cushion XP SPF50+ N21 Ice Vanilla

I first heard of this brand from Shopping Obsession Blog. I don't think I have actually bought a "real" Korean product before (ie. one that's not been specifically made for the North American market, so I'm not counting Dr. Jart+) and after this, I am impressed!

Mix of chemical and physical sunscreens

This was a bit of a random find, as I was browsing around Pacific Mall with my mom and passed by Amore, which is a Korean store that sells products by AmorePacific (though mainly I saw a lot of IOPE and Sulwhasoo).  The IOPE cushion was on their main display, and I remembered it being reviewed positively by Shopping Obsession Blog (see her review here), so on that memory and the help of the lovely saleslady I my first dip into Korean beauty! $45 CDN dip....

Refill cushion comes in the package, awesome!

There are actually 2 "lines" of this BB/CC cream-type product. One is "N", which is more natural sheer coverage and comes in 3 shades. The other is "C" which is more moderate coverage and was much more dewy-almost-shimmery when I swatched it in store. "C' comes in 2 shades. I chose "N" since I didn't want that much dewiness and didn't think I needed that high coverage. "C" also looked like it could cake up if I put too much on.

The packaging is like any plastic compact with a push-button-open mechanism, however it's super pretty as the white is infused with microglitter. It also feels nice and luxe when being held (yup I'm superficial like that...). 

Nice big mirror that's great for touch-ups on the go

It comes with a soft sponge for application, which the saleslady recommended to apply in dabbing/stippling motions rather than wiping. This takes longer but gives a nice smooth non-streaky finish. 

Product is sealed until you're ready to dive in...

Ooh plushy cushion...

 To get the product on the sponge, I just lightly dab it into the cushion part (the cushion is soaked in the product). Then I stipple it onto my face, starting in the centre areas where most of my redness/blotchiness resides.

Cushion product on the application sponge

The product is actually quite buildable and I can get medium coverage out of it before it starts to look cakey. It also blends beautiful with the stippling and really doesn't look like makeup on. Surprisingly, the finish on my face is demi-matte, similar to that of MUFE HD. Just enough subtle glow for a healthy look, but matte enough to not require powder!

Swatch with a couple of dabs of the sponge. Subtle but beautiful on the face!

 Without powder, this lasts well throughout the workday, but does start to look a bit blotchy by the very end of the night. If you have somewhere fancy to go after school/work I suggest bringing along the compact for touching up, or set it with powder before you head out.

Overall, I love love love this product! I think I am more keen on trying Korean products now... (thank you Shopping Obsession Blog ^_^). I also highly recommend the Amore store in Pac Mall, the ladies are really nice there and not snobby like some other sales people can be in Pac Mall...  They also gave me this IOPE skincare deluxe sample set below along with a few foil samples of Sulwhasoo skincare (not shown). All added to a great shopping experience as who doesn't like some GWP, especially when it came unexpected!

What are your favorite Korean products? Let me know also where you get them so I can go try!

Topbox August 2014

I haven't done a Topbox post in awhile, mostly as I had been getting prive boxes which weren't as exciting to post as the regular box to contribute to the "what was in your box" curiosity :) 

This time, I actually looked at spoilers prior to opening the package *gasp*. Busy-ness with my toddler prevented me from doing a day-of opening and posting is partially the reason but otherwise I may be over my want/need for surprise.

Click on to read my initial impressions of the loot!

Sephora Color-Proof Eyeliner in Matte Brown vs Benefit They're Real Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover

So I was testing out a new liner, and thought, "hey... why not test out that new remover too"!

The liner is a matte dark brown as the name would suggest. The eye swatch is one dip of the liner tip.




As you can see, the line is not great with one dip. With two dips however it makes a nice opaque line.


As with any other Sephora eyeliner, the tip is soft and comes to a nice point that allows you to make a sharp line and wing. See my other Sephora liner review to see a photo of the tip. 

 Now onto the remover 8-9 hrs later... As you can see, it's a thick/cream consistency.





Despite the thick consistency, the directions said to put it on a cotton pad like you would any liquid remover, and go at your eye as per usual. I hadsome concealer and neutral eyeshadow and blue mascara as well for removal.  From previous experience I knew the eyeliner would flake and be the most difficult to get off even with my beloved Lancome Bi-facil.

The result is the cotton pad on the right after one-go. The  process felt odd as the cream remover didn't absorb into the cotton as a liquid would, so it felt strange smearing a cream over my eye. Also not enough came off with the first go... this definitely is not comparable to Lancome's infamous Bi-facil remover, which removes any and all eye makeup in one cotton-pad-shot. Benefit got off maybe 60-70% of the stuff and with more wiping. 

What's worse than needing a second-go, is that it STUNG my eyes like mad and made my vision blurry for a good hour or so. Especially with removing mascara and eyeliner/tightliner, it's inevitable to get some of remover in the eye despite how careful I am. With Bi-facil, there is no stinging and only mild blurriness for a few seconds. The Benefit remover however made me seriously worry about my eyeball!

That said, when I went on to my second eye, I realized the Benefit remover is actually really awesome on a Q-tip, and can remove makeup in a very precise manner (yay for cleaning eyeshadow or eyeliner mistakes!). I was able to clean the eyeliner down to a neat thin line without trouble and no stinging (since I didn't get it in my eye that time). 


Conclusion:
1) the liner is good, color is a non-exciting matte brown which is good for more natural looks, just be aware of flaking when removing which is annoying. It is waterproof and non-smudgeable throughout the day as advertised which is great in the summer.

2) the remover one needs to be careful with... beware and only use it on a Q-tip to remove PRECISE areas. It's really good for this as the thick cream doesn't run like a liquid might off the Q-tip, and therefore won't remove more than you wanted. However, I do NOT recommend using this on a cotton pad for overall removal of the whole eye makeup or suffer the stinging and blurry vision!

Have you tried either of these products? Let me know what you thought of them!

Shiseido The Makeup Accentuating Color Stick (Multi-Use) - S2 Peach Flush - Swatch & Review

Woa that was a mouthful of a name...Regardless of the long name, the product is a simple color stick that can be used on cheeks or lips (hence "multi-use", though I suppose it's really "dual-use"... I wonder where else would I use it??). 

 

I actually have had this for awhile, but it disappeared into the bottom of my stash and I recently re-discovered it. Upon re-using, I now remember how awesome this product is and how much I love the formula.

I have this in Peach Flush, which as the name states, is a peachy-coral shade with a very small amount of shimmer that gives a nice glow but is really not noticeably shimmery. The color is easy to wear and pairs without any look without too much thinking, however what I love most is the formula. It goes on my cheeks butter smooth and blends super easily with fingers into what feels like nothing. I've tried cream blushes before that leaves a sticky feeling on my cheeks, but this doesn't! It's not powdery and really just feels like I'm not wearing anything. 

This swatch is only one swipe on the left, and on the right is the same amount blended. It gives a very soft natural flush to my complexion and doesn't really appear as if I'm wearing blush unless I put a lot on.

I don't really like this on my lips though, it is a bit drying but my lips are super-annoyingly sensitive, so it may be fine on yours. 

I should dig around in my piles more often... I've re-found a HG blush! What's also awesome is the amount of product, I actually cut 1/4 of it off before for a DIY tinted lip balm, and I still have tons left. It'll probably be a looong while before I run out of this thing.

Have you tried any multi-use sticks? What's your favorite?