Shiseido Pureness Foaming Cleansing Fluid Review

I got this face wash at the Sephora FF sale and have been using it for about 2 weeks now. Shiseido skincare does not always agree with me, which is weird because it works amazingly well for my mother. Their white lucent line doesn't work for me at all. This Pureness line, however, is targeted at younger, acne-prone skintypes. I figured I would give this face wash a try since most foaming face washes feel too drying and harsh on me.

I have to say that this face wash is really nice. I have oily, acne-prone skin that gets very dehydrated and flaky during the wintertime. This face wash is a pearly liquid that foams up quickly and rinses off easily. It's great for my skintype and I think it's gentle enough for normal skin as well since it doesn't leave my skin feeling dry or tight - just soft and smooth. It is a little pricy at $21 but a little goes a long way (you only need one pump for your whole face) and it works so well that I would recommend this product.

lash haul!

Final exams suck.

So to relieve my stress, I hauled some lashes from madamemadeline.com. (my haul pic sucks). I've ordered from them numerous times and they've always been superfast. Their prices have slowly been rising on the Ardell lashes though. :(

I got the Ardell lashes in 103 because i'm obsessed with thick fluffy lashes and I can't find these in any stores. I also got some Elise lashes because they're made by the same people who make MAC and Shu lashes, and Elise lashes were on sale for only $2.50 each. The thing that sucks about Elise is that they don't put the # of the lashes on the box, and I threw away my receipt so I'm not sure which I got... but I'll try to look them up on website. One of the criss-cross ones has sparkles on the lash band... but you can't see it here. :( I'll try to post some FOTDs with these over winter break. :)

And here's a comparison pic of the Ardell 103s (top right) with the Ardell 101 (top left) and Andrea 33. It's a tiny bit longer and denser than the 101 and like a mini version of the Andrea 33.

MAC

Am I the only person who finds MAC's baroque boudoir collection ugly? I think the packaging is kind of nast. It looks like vines growing all over the lipgloss. No thank you!

The Face Shop

The Face Shop is another Korean boutique brand of skincare and makeup. A large percentage of their products are premised on using ingredients from flowers, so their products tend to be fairly heavily scented with flower scents.

This brand opened up a boutique in Koreatown (in Los Angeles) in the 6th Street Center Plaza (or whatever it's called... the newer one across the street from Bleu Cafe), which is why I started buying it, and I also purchased some more of its products in Korea. The consensus in Korea seems to be that this brand is not that popular, though, as most of the girls I talked to much preferred Skin Food over The Face Shop.

For what it's worth, though, here's my review on a few of their products.

This is the Flebeaute Collagenic rich Skin Toner and Emulsion:

I have a very sad story about this product. I started using samples of it and fell in love because they left my skin feeling very moist and soft, so of course I bought the full-size set for approximately $30 USD and I hate it! It feels sticky upon application and it's been breaking me out!! I have tiny pimples all over my face from this product. I don't know if it's because the product is too rich for me since it is marketed towards more mature skintypes, but I've never had such problems from using other lines targeted at more mature skintypes (like Shiseido's) so I think the product is just not compatible with me. So this line gets a thumbs-down.

The next product I got is "The Flower Loose Powder in NB23." Once again, I got suckered in because of the adorable packaging:
It looks like a giant peach and the puff is so cute! The powder itself is supposed to have flower-based ingredients, so it has a fairly strong floral scent, but it doesn't linger after application. It has a nice texture and is finely milled, and is a good match for my C3 skintone. It doesn't control oil as well as the Ben Nye powders I use but I really like this powder overall.

I also have their Recovery BB cream, which is the leftmost product here:

As most of you know, BB creams are all the rage in Korea because they're like skincare that also provides coverage and evens out your skintone. They were originally created for after-care for laser or burn patients, so they're meant to be very soothing. The variety of bb creams in Korea is mind-boggling but I got this one because it has SPF 25 and was attractively priced (about $15USD). I really like this product because it has a light gel-like texture. It looks whitish when it's first applied but kind of melds to my skintone, making it look really even while covering up most imperfections. I wear this on my "no-makeup" day when I still want to look presentable, and it always gets me compliments on my skin. This is a great bb cream for people who need a little more coverage.

The last product that I've tried from the line their Honey and Black Sugar scrub:

I really like this scrub. Like I mentioned in my post about Skin Food, I find this scrub preferable to Skin Food's scrub. It's very gentle and smells delicious - like brown sugar mixed with honey! I always get tempted to lick it off when I'm washing my face with it. The scrub particles are grainy and kind of "melt" as you scrub along - my only complaint is that sometimes I wish the scrubby particles would last longer because they melt kind of fast. Other than that, though, it's a great gentle scrub that gets the job done without being too abrasive.

Have any of you ladies tried/liked anything from The Face Shop? I'd love to hear!

are you a Sephora VIB?

I got the $20 off $35 purchase coupon today for being a Sephora VIB and of course I *had* to give in. I got the Too Faced neutral eye palette that I've been lusting after for months and a Clinique pencil sharpener, and got to use my beauty insider points for a mini deluxe sample of dior miss cherie perfume, which I love. So excited to get this soon! I'm going to go broke from all the crazy Internet hauling I've done lately, but I'm soooo excited. :D

Link to swatches of the palette from the always helpful Karlasugar: http://karlasugar.blogspot.com/search/label/Too%20Faced

How pathetic... I don't even know how to link things on here. I'm SO bad at technology!

RAVE for Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy!

I don't have too much time these days so this post is very bare with no photos or anything, but I just *had* to post to share my latest find with you guys. If you like vibrant eyeshadow, you MUST get Fyrinnae's pixie epoxy. They are an Internet-based site that sells loose eyeshadows an they made Pixie Epoxy so that you could get the effect of "foiling" your e/s (applying it wet) without going through the hassle of it. I use this primarily with pressed shadows, and it majorly intensifies all the colors, AND the BEST PART OF ALL - it keeps the glitter from my UD e/s ON MY EYELIDS! If you like glittery e/s, you MUST get this base! This is definitely a new HG for me.

I'm not affiliated with the website in any way. I'm just a new fan!

The Skin Food goodies!

The Skin Food is a hugely popular low-end skincare line in South Korea. I was just in Korea this a few months ago and all my cousins and friends who are in their early 20s swore by this line. The line is very cheap by American standards and has some really great products. It's also very easy to find in Korea because the boutiques are everywhere.

I have to admit that I'm a huge sucker for cute packaging which is part of the reason I LOVE Korean and Japanese beauty lines. They are just sooooo adorable to look at! Thankfully, with the Skin Food, their products are affordable and actually work well too! Another thing I love about this line is that they really take their name to heart. The products all smell DELICIOUS and live up to their names. I didn't get to try out too many products but just about all the ones I've tried have ended up being winners.

Below is a pic of the peach sake toner:

I got this because of the reviews that said it was good for oily, acne-prone skin, which pretty much sums mine up. I was worried it might smell alcoholic, but it just smells like tasty peaches. It has a pleasant toning effect that leaves my skin feeling tightened and toned but not uncomfortable at all. During the humid Korean summer, I would swipe this on my face to freshen up. It smells delicious and works great and costs only 9000won, which is around $8USD.

Next is The Skin Food's most popular product, their Black Sugar scrub:
They call it a mask, but everyone I know uses it primarily as a scrub. It's a knockoff of Fresh's brown sugar scrub but it's so wildly popular in Korea that a lot of Koreans think it's the original. I was personally kind of underwhelmed with this product (the only item that I don't love from this line, actually) because I felt that the scrubbing pieces were too sharp and that were scratching my skin. It smells delicious (like brown sugar) but I much prefer The Face Shop's black sugar scrub to this one (which I will be reviewing soon). This item is also very attractively priced, at only 7700won (approximately $7USD.) If you like a harsher scrub, you'd probably like this one.

Next is one of my favs - their Black Sesame Hot Mask:
This stuff is awesome! You apply it on your damp face and leave it on for about 10-15 minutes, then wash it off. It heats up and feels really nice on your skin, and leaves your skin feeling healthy and moist when you wash it off. This is another one of those masks I like to use when my skin is acting up or getting dry patches. It smells like toasted seeds (really warm and delicious). My only complaint is that it can get a bit drippy, which is really obnoxious, but I'm willing to put up with that for softer skin. This product is super cheap too, only 8600won, making it about $8USD.

The last product I got (which I use religiously) is their salmon brightening eye cream:

I got this cream because I need a nice basic eye cream that won't give me milia (heavier, richer eye creams all give me milia, which grosses me out). My friend raved about this one's ability to wipe out undereye circles, so I decided to give it a go. Honestly, I have not noticed that big of a difference in my undereye circles, but it is a nice, light eye cream that creates a good base for eye makeup and concealer. It's 17,000won (about $16 USD) and it's pretty big (30g), so it will last me a loooong time. All in all, I'm pretty satisfied with it because it moisturizes my eye area without giving me milia (ew).

All in all, if you can get your hands on some of this stuff, definitely try it out. At these prices, you can't go wrong - the products smell delicious, look adorable on your dresser, and actually work! Of course, the only problem with this line is that it's so hard to find in the US. Have any of you ladies tried anything else from this line? I'm dying to get my hands on some more!

(all photos from www.theskinfood.co.kr)