Berries in the Snow

asian cosmetics beauty beauty boxes Etude House PR Sample review

Etude House Pink Bird Box March “Color Flower Lesson Look At My Eyes & Pink Vital Water Serum”

16. April 2016

// PR SAMPLE / KBEAUTY //

Another month passed quickly and It seems like yesterday since the release of the Etude House Berry Delicious collection and they are releasing more limited products for spring! The theme of this month’s Etude House Pink Bird Box is: Color Flower Lesson Look At My Eyes & Pink Vital Water Serum.

First of all, some words about the Korean brand Etude House: Etude House is one of the best known Korean brands for cute packaging. If you are a lover of cute, girly and pink packaging, reminding you of being a child and the princess you always dreamt to be, THIS is your brand. Their packaging is usually so adorable that you cannot keep yourself from impuls-buys – only because you saw the packaging… Etude House has a blogger program called Pink Bird. Selected blogger will receive a monthly box for a defined period of time packed with selected products for reviewing purpose. I’m really proud and happy to be part of their Pink Bird program!

When I first opened the pink box I was surprised to see even more products inside than I expected. Apart from the Etude House Color Flower Lesson Look At My Eyes, consisting of 4 mono-eyeshadows, a palette for putting the eyeshadows, the Pink Vital Water Serum the pink bird box also contained a trial set of the Etude House Toning White C skincare range, which has been launched newly. I love trial sets of Korean products because they are perfect for travelling and usually contains all the basic products necessary, while not being at home.

And everything was as usually packed in a pink and princessy box…♥

First, I will start off with the Etude House Pink Vital Water Serum, which is part of the new Pink Vital skincare line. The product was collaborated with a popular Korean comedian , which is liked by many young people there at the moment.

The Pink Vital Water Serum is designed to vitalize and moisturizer the skin using peach water. It contains 75.45 % Pink Peach Water and has a water drop texture. If you read some of my previous reviews you might know that this is one of the textures I really like. The serum comes in a pink pump bottle and dispenses a good amount of the milky serum. I was surprised to see how watery it turned after I started to spread it. The serum doesn’t feel heavy or too rich but is light and refreshing – perfect for summer.

The ingredients are listed on the cardboard packaging of the serum, but also on Etude House’s official online store. According to COSDNA there are some minor irritants and acne triggers so be sure to check the ingredients before you start it and make a patch test ahead. Also, typically for a Etude House the serum is fragranced and you will notice the fragrance definitely. It is a nice scent to me, but if you are sensitive towards scents you should consider that point. The Etude House Pink Vital Water Serum retails for 20.40 US$ on Etude House.

So now let us take a look at the Etude House Toning White C travel kit containing the Etude House White C Toner, Emulsion, Cream and Sleeping Pack. As you can see the design of the new products has become much cleaner and simpler than it was in the past. From the cardboard packaging you will see the key properties of the skincare range which is symbolised with a small illustration, too. I really did like their packaging before, which was more playful but I like the easy available information of their new packaging design, too.

As I said before this trial kit consists of 4 travel sized products starting from the Etude House Toning White C Clear Toner and the Toning White C Radiance Emulsion. Both of these products come with 15 ml of product each. Then we have the Etude House Toning White C Tone Up Cream and the Toning White C Double Effect Sleeping Cream, which contain 10 ml each.

The cardboard box contains a short English and Korean description to each of the products in this kit, but you will find detailled information on each of the products on the Etude House page aswell.

Since toner and emulsion are the first products to use I’ll start off with these first: the Etude House Toning White C Clear Toner and the Etude House Toning White C Radiance Emulsion come in the typical tiny bottles made of hard plastic (the full size comes in regular bottles of course). For toner these tubes are usually fine because the liquid pours out easily, but I have a problem with emulsions to use out off them. Luckily the Etude House Toning White C Emulsion has a light and liquid texture so it is easier to use, too. The toner is also a light milky liquid (it looks almost clear in the image below…) instead of a clear one and both products absorb quickly after applying them. You can see the ingredients on the official Etude House store.

The Etude House Toning White C Toner Up Cream and the Double Effect Sleeping Mask are packed in small travels iced jars. The Tone Up Cream has a white cream consistency, which is not dense but rather reminds me of Yoghurt in ist texture- a bit whobbly. It feels light upon application and not greasy – more the moist kind of cream. The sleeping cream has a gel-texture with tiny bits of white. The bits melt off when the cream is rubbed in to the skin. According to the description the sleeping pack is “infused with the golden ratio of white moisturizing capsules and radiant whitening essence for brighter skin”. These must be the white bits in the sleeping cream. I didn’t notice any instant brightening (which I don’t expect anyways from any product!), but all the products from this skincare range contain niacinamide as key ingredient. There is also an essence available and sheet masks to complete your skincare routine. The toner retails for 21.60 US$, the emulsion for 21.60 US$, the cream for 28.80 US$, the sleeping cream for 18 US$.

Last but not least let’s take a look at the Etude House Color Flower Lesson Look At My Eyes limited Edition for spring 2016: I received four different eyeshadows of the Look At My Eyes mono eyeshadows and a eyeshadows palette. The packaging of these products is a girly and pink as we are used from Etude House.

There are 10 new eyeshadow colors available and two different eyeshadow palettes, one for 4 colors and a baby blue one for 8 colors. The palettes has a pretty flower design on the lid and comes with an eyeshadow applicator and a mirror inside.

In order to remove the Etude House Color Flower Lesson Look At My Eyes Single Eyeshadows from their container (or any other Look At My Eyes Eyeshadows from Etude House) you have to remove the sticker on the bottom of the eyeshadow container. It will reveal a small opening where you can push a needle through to push out the eyeshadow pan.

The four eyeshadows I received are all matte eyeshadows. The colors are PP509, PK008, BR421, and BR422. There are two brown shades BR421 and BR422, from which BR422 is the darkest shade. The color reminds me of cacao powder. BR421 is a more earthy brown color. PP509 is a light pastel purple color and PK008 is a girly pink shade. Without any primer all the four shades are very poorly pigmented and using one stroke they are barely visible. When using a primer on the other hand you will directly see the difference in pigmentation (see the swatches below). Still, like most Etude House eyeshadows they also create a good amount of fall-off when you use them. Nevertheless, I really like the heart-shaped imprint on the Etude House Eyeshadows…

I removed all the four colors I received from their containers and added them to the Etude House Flower Lesson Eyeshadow Palette and it looks very pretty to look at. What do you think? The eyeshadow palette retails for 7.80 US$ and the new Color Flower Lesson Look At My Eyes Single Eyeshadows retail for 4.60 US$ each.

My favorite pick from this month’s Etude House Pink Bird Box would be the Etude House Pink Vital Water Serum! I like how watery it feels upon application and you know, I love these kinds of water-drop textures…

For all the news about ETUDE HOUSE’s products, you can follow their global Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/etude.gl

or their official Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/etude_official

or their online shopping mall:

http://www.etudehouse.com/

Did you try any of the new products already? Tell me about it in the comments below! And if you like to read my previous reviews on Etude House Pink Bord Boxes click >>here<<.

Etude House Pink Bird

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Just as a short reminder: All products mentioned and reviewed on this blog are of my personal opinions. This product here was sent to me for reviewing purpose by http://www.etudehouse.com/ which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

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asian cosmetics beauty review Wishtrend

Review: CosRX Oil-Free Ultra Moisturizing Lotion

11. April 2016

//KBEAUTY / SKINCARE / AFFILIATE LINKS //

Everytime CosRX releases a new product the whole asian beauty lover community seems to be freaking out with joy and looking forward to get their hands on it as quickly as possible. And no doubt, most of the products I tried from this brand are worth to be repurchased and additionally are really budget-friendly. So, no wonder when the CosRX Oil-Free Ultra Moisturizing Lotion was launched a couple of weeks ago I was determined to buy it.

CosRX is an affordable Korean brand “offering good quality beauty items for 10 years”. The brand name is composed of Cos for cosmetics and RX for prescription. Brand like Ciracle and C20 (yes, the famous vitamin C serum) are also part of COSRX. One of the rather popular skincare lines from COSRX are the AHA/BHA skincare products. Their products feature key ingredients which show a visible effectively and a simple no-frills design. On top the prices of their products is affordable compared to similar products with the similar ingredients. I tried quite some CosRX products in the past and I will make a quick list of them at the end of the post (and I have still a bunch of products from this brand waiting to be tested, too!).

Going back to the CosRX Oil-Free Ultra Moisturizing Lotion, the name drew me in for two reasons: the first one is the part about ‘oil-free’. With summer approaching here (very slowly of course-today morning it is still 4°C…) the skin will be more oily that usual, even for my dry skin my T-zone gets shiny during summer. In order to avoid any additional greasyness an oil-free product is of course a perfect solution! The second part is the ‘Ultra Moisturizing’ which assumes that it still contains the moisture needed for my dry skin overall.

The packaging of the CosRX ist simple as usual, still the pump bottle has a frosted material, which makes it look elegant on the other side. The bottle cones in a cardboard box with detailed English and Korean descriptions, so the ingrediento are also listed on COSDNA.

I use this emulsion and I add a second moisturizing cream on top, or at night I pair it with a sleeping cream. The emulsion has a milky almost balm-like texture with a fresh citrus scent. It disolves like a gel and leaves a fresh and moist feeling and is not greasy, as expected. The key ingredient birch sap has skin conditioning properties and leaves the skin satin-like and smooth, but hyaluronic acid, panthenol, and some other ingredients act moisturizing. I need some pumps of this emulsion to satisfyingly cover my face. I can imagine that this amount of hydration is enough for normal and oily skintypes. I still need some more moisturizers oin top. I still hope that this will be suited to wear on its own in summer. The product is also mild and doesn’t irritate the skin. I had some irritations on my cheeks some weeks ago because of the cold weather and my hot showers, and many products seem to leave a light burning sensation, but the CosRX Oil-Free Ultra Moisturizing Lotion worked perfectly fine luckily.

The CosRX Oil-Free Ultra Moisturizing Lotion is a good emulsion which will be widely loved by oily and normal skintypes. If you like citrus scents you will like this product even more. The fresh scent and the hydration effect combined with no greasy feeling makes this product a perfect buy for summer-time. The bottle contains 100 ml and retails for 20 US$ from Wishtrend and Beautytap. I have included this emulsion tightly into my skincare routines and I’m happy my skin likes it although it is having some problems with irritations at the moment.

Don’t forget to check out my post for current discounts and coupon codes >>here<<!

Here are my other reviews of CosRX products:

COSRX Propolis Light Ampule

COSRX BHA Summer Pore Minish Serum

COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner

COSRX Acne Pimple Master Patch

Did you try the CosRX Oil-Free Ultra Moisturizing Lotion? Leave me a comment below :)

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Nu3 Insider Box März 2016

7. April 2016

Today's post will be about a PR Sample Box from Nu3. I decided to write the post in German since this shop is directed towards German customers. But if you want to know any details to any of the below products, please feel free to ask in the comments below. I'll be happy to answer your questions :)

Vor einigen Tagen erreichte mich meine erste Nu3 Insider Box. Vielleicht kennen manche von euch den Nu3 Online Shop für bessere Ernährung ja bereits. Sie bieten eine Reihe von Naturprodukten, Naturkost, Fitnessprodukte und vieles mehr dort an.

Die Nu3 Insider Box ist keine reguläre Subscription Box, sondern eine für Blogger kreierte PR-Sample Box vom online shop nu3. Man konnte unter verschiedenen Themen für die Nu3 Insider Box wählen und ich habe mich für die “Natural Beauty Box” entschieden. Die “Natural Beauty Box” enthält eine ausgewogene Mischung an Kosmetikprodukten und Naturkost bzw Beauty Foods. Schließlich kommt Schönheit ja bekanntermaßen von innen, von daher ist es auch wichtig gesunde Lebensmittel zu uns zu nehmen ;)

Enthalten waren in der Nu3 Insider Box März 2016 insgesamt 4 Produkte. Außerdem waren zwei Repeztkarten dabei, die einen dazu inspirieren die zwei Naturkostprodukte auszuprobieren.

Mir ist als erstes das Acai Pulver ins Auge gesprungen. Mittlerweile findet man so viele Rezepte in denen das Pulver verwendet wird und ich war zwar auch immer neugierig, aber getestet hatte ich es bisher noch nicht. Das dunkle Pulver sieht fast schwarz aus, färbt aber dunkelviolett, wenn man es zum Beispiel in Desserts oder Smoothies mischt. Ich hab es direkt in einem Mandelmilch-Erdbeer-Banane-Chiasamen Smoothie ausgetestet und muss sagen, dass die Farbe der Hammer ist. Wenn es jetzt wirklich auch so gesund ist, wie der Ruf der ganzen ‘Superfoods’, dann bin ich damit mehr als zufrieden. Das Pulver wird durch Gefriertrocknen hergestellt und ist ohne Zusatz von Konservierungsstoffen. Das zweite essbare Produkt aus der ‘Natural Beauty Box’ ist “Berry Burst”. Es handelt sich hierbei um Fruchtpulver von verschiedenen Früchten die mit Wasser vermischt werden und so einen Smoothie ergeben. Ich hab es direkt ausgetestet, allerdings muss ich sagen, dass mir weder die Konsistenz noch der Geschmack besonders gefallen hat. Ich denke da nehme ich doch lieber frisches Obst und Gemüse für meinen Shake. Man kann das Pulver allerdings auch dazu verwenden Joghurts und Desserts auszupeppen. Vielleicht wäre das die bessere Anwendung für das Pulver gewesen. Die Zutaten des “Berry Burst” stammen aus kontrolliert biologischem Anbau.

Kommen wir nun zu den Naturkosmetika: Zunächst einmal ist mir die große Tube der Lavera Regenerierenden Bodymilk Bio-Cranberry & Arganöl ins Auge gesprungen. Ich mag Lavera Produkte und deswegen habe ich mich besonders darüber gefreut. Die Bodymilk ist für trockene und anspruchsvolle Hauttypen geeignet und enthält Bio-Arganöl, Sonnenblumenöl und Sheabutter. Sie hat einen säuerlichen Cranberry Geruch, der mich allerdings auch an das orientalische Gewürz Sumac erinnert. Ich mag ihn sehr, weil ich bei dem Geruch immer an den Gewürzschrank bei meinen Eltern denken muss. Wie die meisten Naturkosmetika, die auf gewisse Inhaltsstoffe verzichten braucht diese Bodymilk etwas länger um einzuziehen, aber hinterlässt die Haut gepflegt und das reativ lange. Und sie krümmelt auch nicht, was daran liegt dass sie keine Silikone enthält. Das zweite Produkt aus dem Bereich der Naturkosmetik is die Organique Sensitive Haarmaske. Ich hatte bisher noch nichts von dieser Marke gehört, allerdings bin ich sehr angetan davon. Ich benutze die Maske entweder als Spülung oder als Haarkur/maske und sie macht meine trockenen und widerspenstigen Haare richtig geschmeidig und duftet dabei auch noch sehr gut (Magnolien). Die Verpackung, vor allem der Deckel, ist auch wirklich hübsch und etwas Vintage-mäßig angehaucht.

Die Produkte aus der Nu3 Insider Box März 2016 sind hier erhältlich:

nu3 Acai Pulver

nu3 Berry Burst

Lavera Regenerierenden Bodymilk Bio-Cranberry & Arganöl

Organique Sensitive Haarmaske

Was haltet ihr von den Produkten? Habt ihr irgendetwas davon schon einmal ausprobiert? Ich bin wirklich angetan von meiner ersten nu3 Insider Box und außer dem Berry Burst, der nicht so nach meinem Geschmack war, benutze ich alle übrigen Produkte oft und gerne.

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Just as a short reminder: All products mentioned and reviewed on this blog are of my personal opinions. This product here was sent to me for reviewing purpose by https://www.nu3.de which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

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asian cosmetics beauty Wishtrend

Wishtrend April 2016 Coupons

6. April 2016

Here are the coupon codes for April on Wishtrend! As usual I will summarize the coupons and benefits that you can use while shopping on one of my favorite online retailers for Korean beauty products: Wishtrend. If you don’t know them, but love Korean or Asian cosmetics and skin care products I can recommend you to check out their online shop, especially for one of my favorite products, e.g. the O.S.T. Vitamin C Serum. You’ll also find some products sold at Wishtrend on my Top 30 favorite asian cosmetics for 2015, like the Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin C serum or the ElishaCoy Moist Up Hyalurone Ampoule Toner. Also, they have listed brands like COSRX, Tosowoong and Mizon. You can find a list of all the products I reviewed from Wishtrend at the bottom of this post. Furthermore, they have really a great affiliate program for blogger and I can advice you to join it if you are one. Here are the Wishtrend coupon codes for April:

As usual, I’ll start off with the 5 Us$ referral coupon you can receive if you are a new customer. The principle is easy as this: If you use my invitation code 17939205 upon registration you’ll receive a 5 US$ voucher immediately. There will be a specific field in your registration form called “friends invitation program” where you can put the code mentioned above. This way new customers can get 5 US$ off, which is a great to save some money on your first order.

Second, there is also a 10% discount Wishtrend coupon available for April. Below, you’ll find the coupon code for this:

Coupon Code: WISHAF10OFF
Requirement 1: Shopping cart order must be 50 US$ and over to be able to use the 10% off coupon
Requirement 2: Coupon code cannot be combined with any other discount or voucher code.
Only valid until the end of April 2016

The second promotion code is a special gift: You will receive one free Klairs Be Clean Natural Facial Soap (value 10.90 US$) by using the code below.

Voucher Code: ACNESOOTHINGSOAP
All orders over 59 US$
Only valid until the end of April 2016

I also want to point out some new arrivals on Wishtrend. First, the Klairs Midnight Blue Calming Cream. I reviewed the cream already >>here<< and I can recommend you to try it. It is really a lovely cream and the people from Klairs did a good job here. The Klairs Midnight Blue Cream is a comforting moisture cream that provides the skin with intense, soothing hydration. It is formulated using revolutionary guaiazulene combining with Centella asiatica extract and various peptides to recover damaged skin cells from stress and stimulation.

The second product I spotted is this super adorable Delight18 I.U White Pang Cellapy Sun Cushion. It has brightening and UV protection properties and comes with a dog illustration on top. Similar to the Nakeup Face Waterking Cover Cushion it comes in a square cushion pact instead of the regular round ones.

I would advice you to check out their “Free Shipping Area”, so you don’t have to spend the saved money for shipping costs. They have quite some nice items available there, changing from time to time. At the moment they are providing the OST Vitamin C serum for 14.99 US$ in their free shipping zone, and my current vitamin C serum, the Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin Drop!

I did a couple of reviews on various Wishtrend products in the past. You might like to check these out, if you are interested in purchasing these:

COSRX Propolis Light Ampule

Klairs Midnight Blue Calming Cream

Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin C Serum

Chica y Chico Astazet 4.0

Delight 18 I.U Whitening Cream Glutathione

ElishaCoy Moist Up Hyalurone Ampoule Toner

Skinmiso Pore Corset Serum

Lailly 7 Seconds Make-Up Booster

Pongdang Mulbit Glow BB Cushion

COSRX BHA Summer Pore Minish Serum

COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner

I’m from Honey Mask

Boutique Bebe Hair Salon Protein Treatment

COSRX Acne Pimple Master Patch

ElsihaCoy Aloe & Lavender Mask Sheet

Berrisom My Lip Tint Pack and Lip Tint Cleanser

OST C20 Pure Vitamin C21.5 Advanced Serum

Confume Argan Treatment Oil

Pongdang Donkey Milk Emulsion

Klairs Rescue Moisture Kit Part 1 and 2

Berrisom My Lip Tint Pack

CareLab Powerful Pudding Mask

Klairs Gentle Black Deep Oil Cleanser and Sugar Facial Polish

Rojukiss Multi Vita Cleansing Powder

Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Sheet Mask

Damoae Therapy Shampoo and Tonic

Skinmiso Rice Foam Cleanser

Klairs Illuminating Supple BB Cream

O.S.T. Pure Vitamin C20 Serum

Wish Formula Panda Eye Essence Mask

ONL Saladit Essential Juice Sheet Masks

Do you have any favourite item from Wishtrend? What would you love to try from their products?

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asian fashion fashion PR Sample Romwe

Floral Pleated White Skirt by Romwe

2. April 2016

Do you remember my Spring Fashion Wishlist I made some weeks ago? I absolutely fell in love with the key piece of my wishlist, the Floral Pleated White Skirt and now it is part of my wardrobe, that’s to Romwe.

Romwe is an online fashion retailer with the saying “from runway to realway”, selling fashionable clothes for affordable prices. They ship internationally, and you will find very unique fashion items there from time to time. I spotted this floral pleated skirt why I was looking for some spring fashion inspirations and it was love at first sight. The skirt is available in two colors: in green and in white, and both are simply beautiful and fit perfectly with springtime with their cherry blossom print.

In the past I never wore any white clothes but while getting older I much more appreciate the color especially for the warmer seasons. I think that soft colors and floral prints also make you look younger and remind you of childhood. The skirt is A-shaped and made of polyester, which is nicely sewn at the borders. The shiny material looks elegant, and I guess that the skirt can make a nice evening robe as well, combined with a blouse for example. The material has a soft touch and doesn’t feel like cheap material. Since it is a thicker cloth it holds the A-line shape nicely.

The Floral Pleated White Skirt retails for 19.79 US$ at Romwe, which is a good price for the quality. It is available in two different sizes, S and M, and since it is no stretching material you should check the measurements before you select your size. I bought size M and it is a perfect fit for me. You can check out my Spring Wishlist for some of my other fashion inspirations from Romwe.

How do you like this skirt? What are your favorite items to wear in spring?

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Just as a short reminder: All products mentioned and reviewed on this blog are of my personal opinions. This product here was sent to me for reviewing purpose by http://www.romwe.com/ which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

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asian cosmetics beauty PR Sample review RosRoseShop

Review: Tosowoong Makeon Dual Shaking Lip Tint

31. March 2016

A while ago I received some products from Tosowoong Makeon from RoseRoseShop including these three Tososwoong Makeon Dual Shaking Lip Tint. These oil lip tints have also a plumping effect on the lips in addition to the stain. From my previous oil lip tint reviews you might remember that I absolutely love these kinds of tints, because they are not as drying as some of the water-based tints might be. Let’s see how these tints compare to the other oil tints I tried.

Makeon is the makeup brand of the Korean brand Tosowoong. The brand has been founded in 2004 and have the saying “to make beauty innovations”. Tosowoong is known for good and yet affordable skin care products, like the Tosowoong Syn-Ake Natural Pure Essence which I absolutely loved (yes, I’ve emptied it unfortunately :'(…). The packaging of their skin care lines is usually simple, and the ingredients lists are rather short and functional.

For Tosowoong Makeon there are some exceptions though, like the more popular items from this brand, the Tosowoong Makeon Princess Gel Pencil Eyeliner Pencil boxes which come with cute illustrations of various princesses (I will be reviewing one in future, too!). Also the Tosowoong Makeon Dual Shaking Lip Tint comes in a more vivid and colorful packaging. Each lip tint comes in a cardboard box showing the shades of the tints by the according font colors on the packaging.

Lip tints have been super popular in Korea for years and there has always been a huge amount of different lip tints by various brands. Mostly, you came across either water-based lip tints or milky-type lip tints. In contrast to lip gloss or lipstick the lip tints look much more natural and are not sticky. They are also perfect for creating the gradient lips which is also popular among Koreans. Many people have problems with lip tints, because they are not hydrating the lips, since they don’t have a butter or fat as basic ingredient like balm type products, and often when using a balm over the lip tint the staying power of the tint is reduced. The Tosowoong Makeon Dual Shaking Lip Tints are shaking type oil tints like the one I reviewed previously from Tonymoly.

You will see that there are two layers, an oil layer and a liquid layer, which are separated from each other when the bottles are kept untouched for a while. As soon as you shake the bottle the layers mix. The lip tints also comes with an angled applicator, which is easy to use if you are familiar with tints. There are three shades available: No.1 Orange Lip Tint, No.2 Vampire Lip Tint, and No.3 Blood Lip Tint.

As a quick warning for people who are sensitive towards minty spiciness, and spiciness in general: These lip tints are called “spicy gloss”, and it is not only a name but they really give your lips some spicy taste. The first time I tried these I was wondering about that tingling sensation on the lips and then about the spiciness it had, when tasted! It also has a scent of peppermint. If you do not like spicy food or anything similar don’t buy these! The mint and the spices have a plumping effect on the lips and make them appear more volume.

Below you will see how the swatches of the three tints look like on my hand and on my lips. At first the layers still seem to be separate, but as soon as you swiping over it they combine and for an even stain. In general I discovered that these are perfect for gradient lips and it is best to apply them on the inner parts of your lips first and blend it out lightly towards the edges. Don’t go to near towards the outer lines of your lips at first, because the product tends to bleed out a bit. This effect is stopped as soon as you dabb with a cotton swab or your fingers to make the gradient, for example. The first swatch below is directly after applying it with the applicator. The one below shows how even the tint turns once you rub over it.

All the three shades look really pretty and you can see clearly that the shades are distinct from one another (this was my minor complain for the oil tints from Beyond). If you blend them on your lips they will show the color but still look natural, even the orange shade, which is usually not my favorite shade. The tints also do not make the lips feel dry (they contain avocado oil), but have a soft oil feeling and cooling effect (peppermint) while applying, which dries of after a while leaving natural lips. The staying power is not as strong as the Tonymoly Shaking Tint Delight though. It disappears after some time, but can be reapplied without any clumping effects or flaking.

I do like the Tosowoong Makeon Dual Shaking Lip Tints and I also like all the three shades! I know that my warning about the spicy taste of this product might turn some of you away from this tint, but if you are not sensitive towards spiciness and you do not mind peppermint scent then you will probably really like these tints. They are really affordable and retail for ~ 5 US$ on RoseRoseShop. Anyhow, I still can say that I can advise you to test an oil based lip tint, if you had problems with water-based tints before, and this one might be a nice way to try them on a budget.

What is your opinion on oil-based lip tints?

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Just as a short reminder: All products mentioned and reviewed on this blog are of my personal opinions. This product here was sent to me for reviewing purpose by http://www.roseroseshop.com/ which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

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asian cosmetics beauty review Wishtrend

Review: COSRX Propolis Light Ampule

28. March 2016

// KBEAUTY / SKINCARE / AFFILIATE LINKS //

Happy Easter holidays everyone! Instead of easter eggs, I have a new review for you in my Easter basket…The COSRX Propolis Light Ampule is one of the products I’ve been using for a long time now, but I always was too busy to write the review. That does not mean that I do not like it- on the contrary! I really enjoyed and enjoy using this, especially since my cheeks have been extremely dry and reddened in the last weeks.

COSRX is an affordable Korean brand “offering good quality beauty items for 10 years”. The brand name is composed of COS for cosmetics and RX for prescription. Brands like Ciracle and C20 (yes, the famous vitamin C serum) are also part of COSRX. One of the rather popular skincare lines from COSRX is the AHA/BHA skincare products. I’ve been using the COSRX BHA Summer Pore Minish Serum and the COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner in the past and I really enjoyed using them, especially the toner.

The packaging design of all the COSRX products is simple and similar. They all come in a white cardboard box with a black area where the product name is written in. The rest of the cardboard box contains detailed descriptions in English and Korean. You can click on the image below to enlarge and read the description. The ingredients are listed on COSDNA and the list is remarkably short- it only contains what is needed, which makes me also very fond of the product.

The key product is Propolis Extract and it is in the first place of the list. Propolis is a resinous mixture collected from barks of trees by bees to seal their chambers with the larvae. Propolis has antibacterial and antifungal properties and thus protects the larva, but this also makes it useful in skin care, especially for troubled skin, but it also has skin conditioning properties and makes your skin feel smooth. You will also spot glycerin and hyaluronic acid as moisturizing ingredients, too. Also, the Cassa Obtusifolia Seed Extract has skin conditioning properties, as well as panthenol.

The COSRX Propolis Light Ampule is an ampoule (concentrated serum) and comes in a transparent glass bottle with an attached dropper to the cap. You will see that the ampoule has a light yellow color. It has a thicker fluid texture, no scent, and spreads easily with a moist texture. Ones it is rubbed in it absorbs quickly but leaves a light tackiness, which decreases after few minutes. The skin feels soft in the areas where the ampoule has been applied. According to the description, the ampoule can be either mixed with a BB cream or daily moisturizer or used on its own. Mostly, I used it during my nighttime routine, but it is also wearable during the daytime. Sometimes it made my bb cream/cushion foundation fade quicker than usual, but this happened mostly when I was in a hurry and had no time to wait for proper absorption. Compared to the ampoule I was using before from the Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program, this ampoule is much lighter and less heavy and therefore it fits to have it named “Light Ampule”.

The COSRX Propolis Light Ampule is perfect for anyone who never tried an ampoule before. It is light, has a moist texture and still gives the skin a nice glow. The ingredients are really nice and to the point and the price is affordable, too. You can buy this ampoule from Beautytap for 24 US$. I really like this ampoule and there are no negative points I can give this product, despite the simple packaging :D.

Don’t forget to check out my page for current coupons and discounts >>here<<!

Do you have a favorite ampoule? Leave me a comment below :)

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Asian Beauty Blogparty: Interview with Michele from “beautyfindsforme”

27. March 2016

As announced im my Asian Beauty Blogparty post I had the honour of interviewing one of our collaborating fellow beauty bloggers. I’m presenting you my interview with Michele from the blog Beautyfindsforme, formally known as Unboxing Beauty. I hope you enjoy reading it! By the way, if you click on her ID card below you will be able to read her interview with Deborah from Adoredee :)

1. Hello Michele! Please give a short introduction about you and your blog.

Hi, I am Michele and I live in the greater Boston area in the great state of Massachusetts, USA. I grew up outside of Detroit, Michigan and lived for years in the Los Angeles area, California. I work full-time outside of my home, as computer programmer/analyst and have a cat obsession. I have two old kitties and if you follow me on IG, I do post pics of them there!
I love sci-fi, horror and murder mysteries, huge fan of House of Cards, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Doctor Who and Star Wars. I am also a political junkie. None of these things you will find on my blog, other than a passing reference to pop culture! My blog is primarily a beauty blog ~ with more of a focus on skincare than makeup. I do unboxings (hence the name of my blog (Unboxing Beauty Finds for Me) of subscription boxes, but I have been doing in-depth product reviews now for over a year.

2. When did you try your first asian beauty product and what made you curious to try more?

The one that I remember leaving a huge impact on me and I took notice of it was Amore Pacific Treatment Enzyme Peel. It is still my bae and I always try and promote it. None of the other powder cleansers come close to it. I received a small sample of it through Sephora several years ago and when I tried it the first time, I then placed an order right away for the full sized item. I resisted the call of Asian skin care for a while after that and it wasn’t until Memebox Global (now defunct) that I really started to have fun with Asian beauty products.

taken from https://beautyfindsforme.wordpress.com

3. Since you do unboxings: Do you think that asian beauty boxes have a main role in the rising popularity of asian beauty products?

Memebox certainly had a huge hand in that, I believe. Before they shut down their global operations and shifted their Korean operations to USA (BAD BAD MOVE, MEMEBOX!!), it was very popular ~ I am a member on makeuptalk.com and our Memebox threads were huge and diverse in population. Now, I see other shops doing boxes, but I don’t think any of them will match the intensity and popularity that Memebox enjoyed its hey day.

4. Do you have a favorite subscription box and why?

Hmmm. No, not really. I try to be a bit diverse in my sub boxes, so there isn’t a lot of overlap for the most part. I will say I love getting items that are eco-friendly, organic and ones made from etsy vendors! I love handcrafted, artisan products

5. What are your favorite asian beauty brands and why?

I don’t have one favorite Asian beauty brand. I love the Amore Pacific family (Innisfree, Primera), as I have had a lot of luck with their items, CosRX and Goodal are also brands that I have had success with as well. I do love Melano (Japan) for their CC products.

taken from https://beautyfindsforme.wordpress.com

6. If you could choose one skincare and one makeup product, what would these be and why?

For skincare, Goodal Waterest Lasting Oil (original formula). It is moisturizing enough to use all over my face, day and night, but without leaving my skin feeling greasy. Makeup ~ only ONE??? I will have to go with Clinique High Impact Extreme Volume Mascara. I really need more than one (such as a powder for my oily skin), but I feel that a great mascara helps define my eyes, which are my best feature.

7. Do you love to keep your skincare routine simple or elaborate? How many steps do you incorporate in your routine?

It depends on how lazy I am or if I am in a hurry!! Cleansing is a no brainer, so I don’t really “include” that in my routine, as it is like breathing. After cleansing, I usually use a toner, serum(s), moisturizer, spot treatments, eye cream. Depending on what I am testing that month, I may have more steps. I usually have 2 or 3 products that fit in the serum, ampoule, essence category as I am a big fan of spot skin care routine, due to my oily skin and blemish hot spots. My day time vs night-time routine may or may not be the same ~ sometimes, it is very similar, with just a couple of extra products in the night-time routine, other times it is completely different!

8. What is your favorite part about blogging?

I love it when readers comment! Seriously, it means that someone took the time to read my post and appreciated it. I love comments and don’t get enough of them :)

9. How much time do you spend on a blog post?

TOO MUCH TIME. I spend hours on reviews, due taking photos, any skincare analysis (pH testing, skin digital analysis), writing down notes on texture, absorption, scent, color, etc. Then finding the ingredient list ~ it is getting easier, but with Asian beauty products, many ingredient lists I put together is either hand translated or I had to type them in manually. Picking out some interesting ingredients, researching it and then also making sure I put the ingredient list in cosDNA.com for public reference.
Even my unboxings are time-consuming, because I don’t just take a photo and put a one liner around it. So, for unboxings, which might include swatches, texture/scent impressions, ingredient list ~ about 3 hours. For reviews ~ depending on the type of review ~ which can be up to 30 hours.

10. Why did you start blogging at first place?

This is an easy one! Because I started purchasing subscription boxes, I wanted to keep track of products that worked for me and what didn’t ~ with the reasons why. I have a bad habit of not remembering what I have tried in the past, especially if it is a product that I didn’t have a strong feelings about, so I wanted to prevent purchasing something that I tried and didn’t like. At the same time, sometimes I would be thinking “oh what WAS the name of that product that I liked so much?” and would spend hours googling based on some obscure/vague term. I then realized that my friends might like reading my thoughts, as I was always sharing them (haha) and also, just because an item was not suitable for me, didn’t mean it wasn’t a good product for them. So, I decided to put together a blog quickly and the rest is history!

Thanks Michele, for answering my questions!

Also see the other interviews here:

Amy’s interview of Julie

Michele’s interview of Deborah (next weekend)

Deborah’s interview of Amy

Julie’s interview of Sophie (next weekend)

Sophie’s interview of me

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beauty Realash review

Teaser: Realash Eyelash Enhancer

25. March 2016

A couple of days ago I received a package from Realash containing their popular Realash Eyelash Enhancer and I’m really excited to tell you about this upcoming review. Since it takes time for lashes to grow I will simply show you a quick introduction and teaser for the product and how I’m going to test it in the next weeks and months.

Eyelash serums that promise to grow your lashes have been more and more available. The prices reach from very affordable drugstore brands to unbelievably expansive products…and although I would never generalize it, most of the reviews have shown that the more expansive products tend to work better and give visible results. Realash is also one of the more expansive products on the market, but I will give my best to review this product properly, so you know whether it is worth to spend your money on it or not.

I read a couple of reviews on the Realash Eyelash Enhancer and most of them were positive, which made me curious about this product. Apart from the Realash Eyelash Enhancer I also received the Realash Edge Eyeliner, which I will be reviewing aswell.

Apart from the eyelash serum and the eyeliner Realash also has some other skin care and makeup products designed for the eye area, like a brow conditioner, mascara, eye pencil, and a eye serum.

For the review of the Realash Eyelash Enhancer I will use the serum every night for 6 weeks and posting my before and after pictures of my lashes, to see whether there are any differences. Then I will continue use the serum for a total of 3 months and give a final conclusion on the product. Since lash growth phase needs around 30 days I won’t be expecting too much differences within the first weeks, but I hope that I can keep it up and use the serum consistently.

You can see my lashes before I started the use of the serum here. Luckily I have black hair, so it is easy to see my lashes even without mascara. I personally would love to have more dense lashes, so let’s see if the Realash serum does change this or not.

And finally, a last image of my lashes with mascara, eyeliner and a bit of eye shadow crayon. I hope that these images will help me and you to detect whether the serum affects my lash growth or not. I hope you will stay with me on this journey and hopefully I will not forget to use the serum regularly :D See you for the next review about my (hopefully longer and denser) lashes in 6 weeks! (In the mean time check out Realash and the before and after pictures of other testers they show on their product page!)

Here are the links to my two other posts about the progress of the Realash Eyelash enhancer:

After 6 weeks

After 3 months

The result was so convincing so I hope you will jump over to the other posts to convince yourself!

Just as a short reminder: All products mentioned and reviewed on this blog are of my personal opinions. This product here was sent to me for reviewing purpose by http://www.realash.com/ which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

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Review: Hwajin Cosmetics Homme Terrior All In One

23. March 2016

A rare occasion for me to review a skincare product for men! Actually, I did not only test it by myself, but forced my better half to apply it, although he rarely applies any skincare items. I received the Hwajin Cosmetics Homme Terrior All In One as last item for March from BNTnews and here are my boyfriend’s and my thoughts on it:

Hwajin Cosmetics is a Korean brand absolutely new to me, but it seems they have a range of skincare and household items. The Homme Terrior line is a skincare line designed for men as the name tells us. I also saw that other BNTgirls have received different items like BB cream etc from this line. When I first saw the bottle I thought of perfume or aftershave and I was really surprised to see that this product is actually a multipurpose lotion. It comes in a sturdy bottle in black with some golden details. I didn’t get any ingredients list of this product and it seems that it has launched just recently, because I didn’t find any pricing either. But thanks to BNTnews I have some information nevertheless.

Hwajin Cosmetics Homme Terrior All In One is designed for moisturizing, firming, nourishing and balancing the oiliness and moisture of the skin. Since men like to keep it simple it is really a good idea to name a product ‘All In One’ and give it all the skincare properties needed in one single and easy step. The lotion has compounds derived from resurrection plants, herbs, apricot kernels and others to soften and refresh the damaged and rough skin of men. A patented extract mixture from herbs and licorice soothes and moistens the skin. The key ingredients are:

Lemon extract: the rich vitamin C and the citric acid exfoliates and cleanses the skin

Bamboo extract: the antibacterial and antioxidant effect of the bamboo sap makes the skin moist and healthy

Herb extract: a mixture of extracts from rosemary, chamomile, green tea leaf, licorice, polygonum cuspidatum, centella asiatica and scutellaria

Iceberg water: the ultrapure water collected from Newfoundland, Canada

The ingredients sound really nice and also the texture of the lotion is promising. The Hwajin Cosmetics Homme Terrior All In One has a gel-type, milky consistency and feels moist upon application. It has a light scent, which is not heavy, but fresh and also not too “masculine” either. The lotion is very light and absorbs quickly into the skin without leaving a greasy stain or heavy feeling.

The Hwajin Cosmetics Homme Terrior All In One is a perfect product for lazy people, who want a simple one-step skincare routine. It is not designed for heavily moisturizing dry skin, but it gives a good amount of moisture and makes the skin feel softer- perfect for daily use. The design is sleek and in my opinion the bottle looks elegant aswell. This might work if your want to convince your boyfriend to take some care of his skin, too. Unfortunately, I do not know the retail price yet and neither any specific online store to get it from, but I will update if I have any news.

This product was provided to me by BNTnews for reviewing. Don’t forget to visit the other BNTGirls Kim, Bella, Mary, Celine,Alene,Joanne,Chermaine,Mitha, Blair and many more…check out their reviews for the March BNT Beauty Box. You can find my previous reviews for BNTnews >>here<<. And visit BNTnews for the latest Korean news and trends:

Official Page |Tumblr | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter

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Just as a short reminder: All products mentioned and reviewed on this blog are of my personal opinions. This product here was sent to me for reviewing purpose by http://www.bntnews.co.uk/ which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

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