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Review: Too Cool For School Art Class by Rodin

5. May 2015

// PR SAMPLE / KBEAUTY / AFFILIATE LINKS //

I saved my favourite item from April’s BNTbox for last, and here it is, the Too Cool For School Art Class by Rodin contouring powder! If you have read my blog previously you will know that I’m a huge fan of the Korean design cosmetic brand Too Cool For School. They have the most creative packaging design and illustrations. When I saw this product I was absolutely in love from the first moment! ♥

Too Cool For School is a Korean brand, known for a unique packaging design. Their products are in the mid-pricey region and slightly more expansive than Etude House for example. The packaging design of the Too Cool For School Art class products is dedicted to the arts. I reviewed one of the art class cream blushes in the past, which came in a tube packaging, similar to the tubes painting colors are packed. Below you can see the georgeous packaging of the cardboard box of the Too Cool For School Art Class by Rodin contouring powder, or in french “créateur du contour”:

This contouring powder helps you to shade and sculpture you face, as if you were August Rodin himself. The french sculptor Rodin was the progenitor of modern sculpture and is the inspiration for this product from Too Cool For School. The powder comes in a usual compact, wrapped by transparent paper and labelled with a “by Rodin” sticker. Too Cool For School makes all efforts to show how much love for the detail they put into their products. ♥

The cardboard box has written Korean and English instructions on the backside, suggesting to either mix the three colors of this contouring powder or use them separately to shade the facial features like nose, cheeks and hairline. The inside of the cardbox reveals the story behind this product labelled “by Rodin”. I especially like the idea of giving some information about the concept of the design of a certain product by hiding them inside the cardboard packaging.

Let’s have a closer look at the contouring compact itself:

The compact has the same design like the cardboard packaging and looks super pretty on its own. The back of the compact displays the shelf-time of the product and the production date.

I was looking for a contouring powder for quite some time, but I had the feeling that the shades were either too dark or only came in one shade alone. This contouring powder contains three different shades, reaching from a light one, to a darker shade. The compact comes with a mirror in the lid which is protected from the fall-off powder by a transparent plastic sheet labelled with the word “artclass”.

The shades fit light to medium skintones and are not too yellow-y, neither too pink, which I like especially. The powder is very light and transparent, especially once blended into the skin. I needed a couple of swatches to make the colors show properly on the back of my hand. In order to have a natural contouring effect it is important to have not too pigmented shades, because it makes it easier to blend in. Also, if you are a contouring newby like me, you can make less mistakes in that way.

When I’m using the Too Cool For School Art Class By Rodin contouring powder I make use of all three shades. I use the darkest shades for accentuating the arch reaching from the beginning of the eyebrow to the bridge of my nose. I mix the darkest and the middle shade for contouring the nose and use the middle shade to blend it into the sides of my nose. I also mix the middle and the darkest shade for drawing a line at my cheekbones. For the hairline and trhe sides of my face and my jawline I mix all three shades and use them there. You can find some nice images on Too Cool For Schools official site were the areas you can use the powder are shown.

I’m totally happy with Too Cool For School Art Class By Rodin and my search for a contouring powder has finally ended! And I’m definitively recommending you this contouring powder, if you are looking for one and the shades in this palette suit your skintone. Too Cool For School Art Class By Rodin retails for 12800 Won at testerkorea, for 13.02 US$ at KoreaDepart, and for 21.01 US$ from W2Beauty.

This product was provided to me by BNTnews for reviewing. Don’t forget to visit the other BNTGirls Doris, Joanne, Alene and Bella and check out their reviews. And visit BNTnews for the latest Korean news and trends:

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And here is my rating for the Too Cool For School Art Class By Rodin:

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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asian cosmetics beauty BNTnews PR Sample review

Review: Isoi ACNI Dr. 1st Control Essence

4. May 2015

// PR SAMPLE / KBEAUTY / SKINCARE //

The trend in a lot of asian cosmetic products goes towards natural cosmetics and additative-free products, and I must admit that I observe myself to be more excited to try such products in favour of other products with no or less natural ingredients. One of the brands I heard good things about is the Korean famous natural brand Isoi, especially since I read some reviews about their Bulgarian Rose Line. Todays review is not about the Bulgarian Rose Line though, but about Isoi ACNI Dr. 1st Controll Essence from the ACNI Dr. line, which was kindly send to me by BNTnews. This essence cares troubled and irritated skin, delivers blemish care and treats oily skin.

As mentioned above, Isoi is a Korean brand which is focussed on natural ingredients and skinfriendly chemicals in their products. Thereby, the brand name Isoi stands for “I’m so intelligent”. The Isoi ACNI Dr. line is designed for acne prone people with oily skin. The products from this line help to care and relief troubled skin and prevent it from new breakouts. Therefore the design of this product line is very simply and rather medical. The cardboard packaging of the Isoi ACNI Dr. 1st Control Essence has simple blue and white colors. The name of the line is written inside a medical cross. All in all, the image of this product line is very clean.

Apart from the simple design the cardboard box contains Korean descriptions on the sides. It also displays a sign that this product doesn’t contain any harmful chemicals. It is free of parabens, synthetic colors and frangnances, PEGs, mineral oils, propylene glycol, silicones, EDTA and cinnamate. Since the product only contains natural preservatives it should be used up once opened within 6 months. The bottle of the essence contains 50 ml and when used day and night this should definitively be more than enough for this period of time.

I found the rest of the ingredients listed on COSDNA, but I’m not sure if this is the complete ingredients list. you can check out the ingredients >>here<<. Most ingredients listed here are natural plant extracts, like white willow extract, chestnut extract and bulgarian rose extracts. It also contains rosehip oil. I know that some people react to rose ingredients, so I thought I should point that out. According to KoreaDepart, which also lists the plant extracts within their product description, the essence also contains salicylic acid and triclosan, as chemical anti acne ingredients. In my previous review about the Mediheal PDF A.C-Defense Hydrogel mask I talked about triclosan. This antibacterial chemical is often used in cosmetics, but I wouldn’t consider it necessary nor healthy. It won’t be harmful when in low concentrations, but I think, since the brand image of Isoi is a natural one, they should not use this ingredient anyways.

The Isoi ACNI Dr. 1st Control Essence comes in a clear glass bottle with a pump. The protection cap of the pump and the pump itself are made of plastic. The essence itself has a white color, so you see how much product is left inside the bottle after using it for a while. The pump is easy to use. The first time you have to pump a couple of times before the product comes out of the pump. After that, it is super easy to use. One or two pumps are enough to get a good amount of essence for using it on your face.

Normally, I’m used to clear and very runny, almost watery essence, but this one has a white and almost creamy texture. It is kind of gel-type in its consistency, but when spread it feels and turns clear and watery. It feels smooth and leightweight on the skin and absorbs after a couple of seconds. Unlike the Konad’s Lila Lily Clear Spa Essence this one is not as sticky and feels nicer on the skin for me. It has a very light scent of roses, which is nice, too (if you like rose scent).

The Isoi ACNI Dr. 1st Control Essence is directed towards people with troubled and irritated skin in first place. Since my skin is not really troubled at the moment, I couldn’t observe any improvements of my skin. I didn’t have any problems with the product although designed for people with more oily skin, either. If you are looking for a essence for acne-prone skin you might want to give a try to the Isoi ACNI Dr. line. The ingredients of the essence look promising for people with irritated and troubled skin, since it contains not only anti-inflammatory and astringent ingredients, but also moisturizing ones. The Isoi ACNI Dr. 1st Control Essence retails for 30.92 US$ on KoreaDepart.

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And here is my rating for the Isoi ACNI Dr. 1st Control Essence:

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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asian cosmetics beauty BNTnews PR Sample review

Review: SNP Bird’s Nest Aqua Eye Patch

30. April 2015

// KBEAUTY / SKINCARE / PR SAMPLE //

Since my last sheet mask review about the Mediheal PDF A.C-Defense Hydro Nude Gel Mask, I am super excited for every mask product with hydrogel structure and the SNP Bird’s Nest Aqua Eye Patch totally satisfied my cravings for some good hydrogel product. This hydrogel eye patch comes not in single sachet packs for one time use like other eye patches, but in a jar perfect for daily use. Apart from the quantity, we have swiftlet nest extract as the key ingredient here. I tried sheet masks with bird’s nest extract in the past and I’ve been really liking them, which made me even more curious for these eye patches.

SNP is a Korean brand developed by dermatologists and focusing on the creation of functional cosmetics combined with the knowledge of scientific cosmetic research. You may have heard from this brand before, mainly because of their sheet masks. The SNP Bird’s Nest Aqua Eye Patch is an eye patch designed to treat dry eyes by delivering moisture and energy to the skin. It promotes the skin’s elasticity and firmness and eases fine lines around the eyes. Like almost all mask products it will provide a cooling sensation once applied, too. The eye patches come in a blue jar, which was delivered in a cardboard box of the same color. Both, the jar and the box display the illustration of a bird and its nest and thereby refer to the key ingredient: swiftlet nest extract! At first, this may be gross to hear, but similar to snail mucin, also bird’s nest extracts contain beneficial ingredients for the skin. Swiftlet nests contain sialic acid which is supposed to be 200 times more nourishing than royal jelly. The swiftlet nests are made from the saliva of the birds and therefore are rich in minerals like calcium, iron, potassium, and magnesium. Its vitamins help to recover tired skin. The proteins in the swiftlet nest extract contain EGF components that are beneficial for the skin, too.

The cardboard box of the SNP Bird’s Nest Aqua Eye Patch contains descriptions in Korean only. The ingredients are written in English though. According to COSDNA they are safe to use and various plant extracts are included in this product. Moreover, the eye patch essence contains hyaluronic acid and titanium dioxide, some of my favorite ingredients. Hyaluronic acid is great for moisturizing dry skin and titanium dioxide is a chemical sunscreen and gives UV protection.

The eye patches are dispatched in a simple plastic jar. They are made from hydrogel material and have (unlike the hydrogel mask I reviewed from Mediheal) a light blue color with shiny particles. When reading the ingredient lists you will see Sapphire Powder listed, which is probably responsible for the shimmering effect. The jar of eye patches also comes with a little plastic spatula to take out the patches as hygienically as possible. The jar contains 60 hydrogel patches in total and they can not only be used under the eye, but also for your smile lines for example.

In general, there is no rule whether to apply the patches with the narrow part at the inside of the eye or the outside. I have seen advertorial pictures showing it in that way or the other. I tried both but I feel more comfortable when the wide part is showing to my cheekbones. I feel I cover up most of my wrinkles in that way, haha. As you can see in the image below I have dark circles below my eyes and I’m having them since I can imagine. I tried brightening eye products, but most of the effects are short term, so I’m just living with the fact of having dark circles and use concealer when needed :D The patches are well covered with the gel-type essence and if you tilt the jar of the patches you will see that there is a lot of essence at the bottom jar. This prevents the patches from drying out. Using the spatula I’m taking out the patches, apply them under my eyes (or on my smile lines) and leave them there for around 20 minutes. You can see from the before and after pictures that the skin below my eyes looks relieved and moisturized. Some of the finer lines are less visible, too. Because of the cooling sensation, my blood circulation was promoted and the area under my eye looks a bit less dark (but this is only temporarily) and healthier. The scent of the patches is lightly fruity and pleasant, neither too strong.

Altogether, I love these eye patches! I’m keeping them in my bathroom and use them frequently, either in the morning as fresh up, or in the evening when I have the feeling that my skin around the eyes feels drier than usual. I even have used them in combination with a sheet mask for the whole face on top. It works great, too! Out of the five items I received for April from BNT this is one of my favorite products and I can recommend you to try it if you have the chance. The jar containing 60 patches retails for 16.66 US$ from Amazon.com.

Official Page |Tumblr | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter

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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Review & Giveaway: Amazingly Beautiful Body Moisturizer and Revitalizer

29. April 2015

A while ago I reviewed Beautiful A.M. Moisturizer and P.M. Revitalizer from the company Trusted Health Products and I really did like the facial oils for my daily skincare routine. Today I’m reviewing another product distributed by this company called Amazingly Beautiful Body Moisturizer and Revitalizer. This Body Moisturizer and Revitalizer is made of pure botanical oils, like the facial oils I reviewed before. And like last time I have a giveaway for my readers from US, Canada, Europe and Australia at the end of the post!

Trusted Health Products is a company dedicted to offer the “Purest and most Natural Products available anywhere in the world today”. Their products are GMO-free, 100% Pure & Natural, and have No Additives of any kind. Amazingly Beautiful Body Moisturizer and Revitalizer is a body oil , which claims to be the ultimative dry skin solution. Since I have dry skin myself I was really curious about that claim. You’ll find a detailled description for the product >>here<<. As you might have noticed, my version of this body moisturizing oil has another label and also another packaging. They changed the name recently and replaced the dropper bottle with a spraying bottle which is a great idea in my eyes. Nevertheless, the product is still the same, so the properties of this body oil didn’t have been changed. Here is the old bottle:

The new one comes with a new name and design, which fits better to the facial moisturizer:

You will find the directions and ingredients on the label of the brown glass bottle, too.

The oil itself is an orange colored, runny oil with a great smell of orange juice. It is as if you are cutting up a fresh orange and smells great and natural and not a bit artificially. The oil is leightweight and absorbs quickly into the skin and doesn’t make the skin feel heavy or greasy. This is a point I would love to stress, because I love how it absorbs!

What does this Amazingly Beautiful Body Moisturizer and Revitalizer promise to us users? Here is a list of the benefits this body oil claims:

-it decreases the appearance of spider veins and blemishes
-it smooths the appearance of rough and scaly areas
-it reduces the appearance of age spots, discoloration and sun spots
-it firms and tones skin’s appearance
– it makes the skin feel clean and conditioned – smooth like silk
– it can use as an underarm deodorant
– it feels like it moisturizes deep down – say goodbye to dry skin
– 100% pure botanical oils of almond, orange, lime, lemon, olive and avocado
– no preservatives, parabens, petroleum-based oils, GMOs, synthetic chemicals, artificial fragrances, colorings, or additives of any kind

These are a lot of promises, honestly! What I definitively can say, is that I love the short ingredient list consisting only of pure botanical oils. The scent is so natural and fruity, it makes your mouth water (if you love eating oranges at least). The fact that it has no additives is a huge plus, too. I can confirm that the skin feels smooth after using the oil and feels silky. Since the oil isn’t greasy and absorbs fast, the feeling of the skin is quickly noticeable. I say, that body oils always to a great deal in toning and firming the skin, too. I couldn’t observe any other huge changes of my skin, like decreased spider veins or blemishes, spots or discolorations, but my skin doesn’t have much of these problems anyways. The oil is nicely moisturizing, but I used additional moisturizers on super dry spots like ellbow and knee, because I didn’t have the feeling that this body oil was enough for these parts. Nevertheless, all in all, I am pretty amazed (:D) by the Amazingly Beautiful Body Moisturizer and Revitalizer, and giving the fact that the oil comes in a spraying bottle I love it even more. There is no better and easier way to put on body oil than with a spraying bottle! A bottle of this body oil contains 100 ml and retails for 39.97 US$.

Visit their Website!
Like Trusted Health Products on Facebook!

Now, let’s get to the fun part of this post: Trusted Health Products offers 1 bottle of Amazingly Beautiful Body Moisturizer and Revitalizer to 3 separate winners!

Here are the rules:

1. There is no shipping or handling costs for the giveaway winners.

2. The giveaways are for the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia only!

3. No cheating! I will check the entries, and in case of cheating, the entries will be deleted.

4. Eligibility Requirement: You – or anyone in your household – may win one bottle of Botanical Splash one time only. Previous winners please do not apply

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you don’t want to take part in the giveaway, or have a blog and are interested to try this product nevertheless: For a limited time, the manufacturer is willing to offer my readers one FREE bottle. They said they would love to have our readers try out Amazingly Beautiful Body Moisturizer And Revitalizer and agreed to send one bottle FREE if our readers would pay a minimal shipping and handling charge. This is a one-time only offer! Click here to get your FREE bottle now! (PLEASE NOTE: THIS OFFER IS FOR ANY PRODUCT REVIEW READER THAT WOULD LIKE TO TRY THE PRODUCT! IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH A GIVEAWAY ABOVE)

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.trustedhealthproducts.com/ which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

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asian cosmetics beauty BNTnews PR Sample review

Review: Konad Lila Lily Clear Spa Ellie Essence

28. April 2015

There are two main points that make me want to try a new skincare or beauty product. First, a cute or special packaging design, and second the ingredients, especially if they are strange like for example snail, donkey milk, or if they are mostly natural and plant derived. The Konad Lila Lily Clear Spa Ellie Essence has fulfilled both points. This clarifying essence has such a beautiful packaging design and it contains 70% of thermal water enriched in minerals as well as 9 other natural ingredients to clean the skin from troubles. Sounds like a promising product!

Konad is a Korean cosmetics and nailcare company, which is exporting worldwide. They have two branches, one focusing on nails, like uv gels and stamping nail art, the other branch is all about skincare and cosmetics which are natural, ecological and pure. Konad’s Lila Lily Clear Spa Ellie Essence is an example for the latter branch.

The first thing you notice about this product is the packaging. The essence bottle comes in a cardboard box and both have a green/blue color, reminding me of a under water scene. The colors are so calming and they reflect the image of a clear and pure environment. The bottle of the essence is made of glass and may be considered heavy, but I prefer glass bottles over plastic because it looks much more elegant. The packaging is really pretty all together!

The description on the cardboard box is also written in Korean and in English, which is great! You can also find the product description on Konad’s official page. The ingredients are listed there, too. I added them to COSDNA and you can look them up >>here<<. The essence contains 70% of Sulfur hot spring water, which is supposed to provide abundant mineral to the skin. Moreover, it contains nutrition from 10 kinds of natural ingredients: extracts of Tremella Fuciformis Berk, Asiatic Pennywort, Sulfur Hot Spring Water and Nacre Protein help relieve various skin troubles. Plankton extract prevents excessive sebum on the skin. Salicylic acid eliminates corneous tissues and dead cells, which reduces inflammation and read spots, and makes your skin smoother by chemically exfoliating the skin. Vitamin complexes and marine collagen provide moisture for the skin and helps to make the skin more elastic. Apart from all these beneficial ingredients I want to point out that this essence also contains PEG/PPG-17/6 copolymer as emollient, which is rated red in COSDNA (the same is for Salicylic acid).

The bottle of Konad’s Lila Lily Clear Spa Ellie Essence contains 50 ml of product, with a shelf life of 12 months after opening. The glass bottle has a metal cap with an attached pipette. In this way you are able to take out the essence hygienically and in small amounts. In order to suck up the product into the pipette you have to push the top of the cap. I discovered it never gets filled up completelly, no matter how slowly I release the bottom. Luckily, the amount which is sucked up after all is the exact and perfect amount to spread on the face (maybe that’s done on purpose?!).

The essence itself is a clear and runny liquid, but nothing like water, and neither completelly gel-like. I was not sure about the scent first, but after using the essence for some time I have come to the conclusion that the essence has a grapefruit scent. Since it contains alcohol, too, you will also notice a bit of that scent first, before the alcohol evaporates. The grapefruit scent doesn’t linger though, and since essence is mostly followed by other skincare steps it won’t be noticeable at the end anyways.

The essence can be used by all skintypes according to the manufacturer.After applying my beloved Klairs toner I put a small amount of essence into my palms and pat it into my skin. Afterwards, I continue to use serums and creams. I didn’t have any problems using it with my dry skin and I didn’t react to the essence negatively. It absorbs quite quickly, but it feels sticky. It doesn’t feel drying on the other hand, which I was really happy to see. I didn’t see any changes towards red skin or small troubles honestly. I didn’t use the essence over a long period of time, yet, there are other products containing BHAs and AHAs which work faster on troubled skin.

In the end, I’m not sure if I would repurchase this essence. I love the packaging design and the way the dropper makes it easy to apply the right amount of product to your skin. I also like the attempt of putting a bunch of natural and benefiacl ingredients into this essence. I’m not too fond of the stickiness of the product and in order to look over that point I would have wished a better effectiveness of the product as a whole on my skin. Since I didn’t see any significant changes I’m not sure if this additional skincare step is something worth adding. People with lots of troubled skin might love this more, than someone with a good skin condition, because probably the results can be seen quicker. I’m not sure about the price for this essence, but since Konad is distributing worldwide you might want to check the stores (if you have any information about the price, I would be happy to hear about it, so I can add it).

This product was provided to me by BNTnews for reviewing. Don’t forget to visit the other BNTGirls Doris, Joanne, Alene and Bella and check out their reviews. And visit BNTnews for the latest Korean news and trends:

Official Page |Tumblr | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter

And here is my rating for the Konad Lila Lily Clear Spa Ellie Essence:

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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asian cosmetics beauty review

Review: Etude House Dreaming Swan Veiling Pact Brush

27. April 2015

// KBEAUTY / MAKE UP //

It seems I’m addicted to buy at least one item per year from Etude Houses spring collections. This time I fell for the Etude House Dreaming Swan Veiling Pact Brush from the Dreaming Swan collection, a ballet inspired collection designed by Kerry Hess, a popular fashion illustrator.

Some words about Etude House to start with: 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 adoreable that you cannot keep yourself from impuls-buys – only because you saw the packaging…The new Dreaming Swan collection is fully dedicted to the topic of ballerinas, with light colors and a beautifully designed packaging. You will find pretty illustrations of ballerinas, ballerina shoes, tutus…The collection consists of lipsticks, eye and cheek blushers, powder pact, nail polish, cushion cases, cream multi shadows, a pouch and a powder brush. The latter is the one I’m showing here! Unfortunately, there was no brush set. would have totally loved that. The Etude House Dreaming Swan Veiling Pact Brush comes in a plastic packaging displaying one of the illustrations from the illustrator Kerry Hess. The backside of the packaging shows the Korean and English description.

You’ll find the full description of the product on the official Etude House page, too. The description says that the Veiling Pact Brush helps powder particles to be absorbed evenly and prevents smudging. Moreover the slightly cutted edged help to reach curved areas as well and more easily than other brushes. The brush is designed for powdery textures and comes with a brush bristle protector, which looks like a ballerina tutu. I would lie if I told you that the brush tutu is not the main reason why I bought this brush :D I think it makes a simple brush look so much more lovely ♥

The brush itself has a pink handle and a rosegold metal part. The bristles are super soft and pink colored, which a light coral hint at the tips. The bristles are cut slightly, which gives the brush a round shape. The bristles take up powder nicely, too. The pink design fits very good into the overall theme of the collection.

As a lover of cute and girly packaging of any items you will love this brush. I do already, although the packaging might be considered super girly or corny by some. I’m definitively not an brush expert, but as far as I can say it also does a good job in taking up the powder and in the application aswell. I bought my brush from W2Beauty for 13.86 US$. For my last order, including this brush and a lipstick from the same collection, I received a whole bunch of samples like sheet masks and even a travel size jar of the Laneige Waterbank Sleeping Cream. I couldn’t have been more satisfied with my purchase! ♥

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asian cosmetics beauty BNTnews PR Sample review

Review: MediHeal PDF A.C-Defense Hydro Nude Gel Mask

24. April 2015

// PR SAMPLE / KBEAUY / AFFILIATE LINKS //

What are your experiences with hydrogel masks? Everybody who is into asian cosmetics will have heard of sheet masks, the essence soaked cotton sheets for a quick at home spa treatment of your face. While sheet masks get slowly more attention also in the western world, hydrogel masks are still new to most people. I myself didn’t try a lot yet, so I’m happy to review the MediHeal PDF A.C-Defense Hydro Nude Gel Mask today, a premium mask pack that is supposed to sooth damaged and irritated skin in a gentle way.

MediHeal is a brand by L&P cosmetics, a Korean cosmetics manufacturer. Most of MediHeal’s products seem to be masks, but they seem to have other cosmetic products as well. The design of most of the MediHeal masks is simple and kind of medical looking, which illustrations of pipettes, capsules and all kind of other scientific containers. The MediHeal PDF A.C-Defense Hydro Nude Gel Mask (btw.: PDF means Pure Derma Factor) shows a filled pipette for example. Apart from this illustration the mask sachet is simple and in golden and blue colors.

This premium mask, as it is called, contains a doubled soothing technology compared to the precursor sheet mask called Mediheal P.D.F AC-Dressing Ampoule Mask. In this way it is better suited for sensitive skin, since the double soothing technology helps the skin to rest better while controlling sebum. If we have a look at the back side of the mask sachet we will find a lot of Korean description. But apart from the Korean writings you will also find the ingredients list and an illustration on how to use the sheet mask. I added the ingredients to COSDNA and you can have a closer look at them >>here<<. What I like about the ingredients are the huge amount of natural plant extracts. The key ingredients of this mask are salicylic acid and niacinamide. Unfortunately, there is also one ingredient which I do not like here, which is Triclosan. This antibacterial chemical is often used in cosmetics, but although I wouldn’t consider it necessary or healthy. Nevertheless, the concentration of Triclosan has to be quite low, since it is listed as penultimate ingredient in the list.

If you open the mask sachet you will find this hydrogel mask is divided into two pieces. There is one piece designed for the lower facial area (mouth and chin) and a second piece for the upper facial area (eyes, forehead, nose). Each of the two pieces is protected by two plastic foils (with other sheet masks you only have one…it made me a litle confused at first). The sheets have two sides, one side is structured with a net-like surface and one side is smooth. You are supposed to put the structured side on your face, so that the smooth side is lying on the outside. It is important to first apply the upper part of the hydrogel sheet mask and then the lower part, because otherwhise the lower part will keep sliding off your face, since this hydrogel sheet is soaked very extensively with the essence. The net-like structure of the sheet makes it stay on your skin and especially makes it fit perfectly on the skin. This mask should be left between 10-20 minutes on your skin.

As for the size of the MediHeal PDF A.C-Defense Hydro Nude Gel Mask, it does fit perfectly on my face, even the nose part, which usually comes a bit short for me with other sheet masks, covers all my nose. It almost doesn’t make any pleats and feels like a second skin, except is is super cooling when applying. It absolutelly feels soothing in that way while it is on your face. Below you can also see how my skin looks before and after using the mask:

As you can see my skin looks a bit tired and pale before I put the hydrogel mask. Afterwards, it seems the cooling effect has stimulated my blood circulation and my skin looks more lively. This hydrogel mask definitively delivers in terms of cooling, but it also has a soothing effect. One day I used it while my forehead was feeling itchy and after having applied the mask for 20 minutes my skin was relieved from the itchiness. Apart from the soothing properties, this mask also claims to be moisturizing. Indeed the hydrogel sheet is super soaked with the essence and there is also some amount of essence left in the sachet, which can be used on the neck etc, but after taking the mask off my face the skin didn’t feel moisturized. It was rather feeling dry and a bit tight. This is most likely because of the sebum controll effect the MediHeal PDF A.C-Defense Hydro Nude Gel Mask provides. In this point it may be better suited for oily skintypes. for dry skin, the amount of hyaluronic acid or other moisturizing ingredients is just too low, when looking for a moisturizing hydrogel mask.

In total, I discovered that I do really like hydrogel maks and I definitively want to try out more of them. The MediHeal PDF A.C-Defense Hydro Nude Gel Mask specifically works great for soothing and cooling, but it is too drying for dry skintypes. People with oily skin might want to try it, because of its sebum-controll abilities. You can find the MediHeal PDF A.C-Defense Hydro Nude Gel Mask and other masks from this brand at Koreadepart. Each mask retails for around 2.50 US$. On W2Beauty they are avaiable for 9.74 US$, which is quite expensive.

This product was provided to me by BNTnews for reviewing. Don’t forget to visit the other BNTGirls Doris, Joanne, Alene and Bella and check out their reviews. And visit BNTNews for the latest Korean news and trends:

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And here is my rating for the MediHeal PDF A.C-Defense Hydro Nude Gel Mask:

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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asian cosmetics beauty Born Pretty Store PR Sample review

Review: Nailart with double-ended Dotting Pen from Born Pretty Store

23. April 2015

// PR SAMPLE / BEAUTY / AFFILIATE LINKS //

Is is quite some time since I posted any nailart related content on my blog. Most of the time I have been too lazy to do any special nailart and just painted my nails in my favourite red nail polish colors :D Today I will show you a quick and simple nailart I did with an double-ended Dotting Pen I received from Born Pretty Store. It is super simple cherry blossom nailart and I’ve seen a lot of people doing that kind of nailart recently. My Mom said she saw it even lately on TV. So let’s start of with the Dotting Pens I used:

As mentioned above, I received this set of double-ended dotting pens from Born Pretty Store. Born Pretty Store is an asian based online store selling very affordable products, reaching from accessoires to make-up and beauty products. They have a super huge amount of all kinds of nailart products and tools. I reviewed water decalls from their store in the past and I have some water decall reviews prepared for the future, too. This 5 piece set of double-ended Dotting Tools I received consists of 5 pens with an brush ending and an dotting tool ending. They are suitable for nail art painting.

The brushes have different sized from brush size 2-10. The dotting tool side is all the similar size. The middle part of the brushes is made of the pens is in different colors and made of see-through hard plastic.All in all, these brushes look very cute and I like the fact that they have a brush ending and an dotting pen ending a lot.

How do these brushes perform? I used regular red, black, white and shiny pastel pink nailpolish. First I painted my nails red, than I used the brush for painting black branches across each nail. I used the dotting pen side to make white and pale pink dots around the branches representing the cherry blossoms….and here is the result:

What do you think? I’m not an expert at nailart but I liked these cherry blossom nails a lot. I finished off with an topcoat, so the nails looked nice for a couple of days. The dotting pen was also easy to use and gave nicer results as the bobby pin I usually took for making dots. And as I said before, I like how colorful the pens are :) You can get this 5Pcs/set Double-ended Dotting Pen for 7.52 US$ from Born Pretty Store. You can also use the promotional code KBX31 for 10 % discount on your order. They do offer free international shipping by the way.

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.bornprettystore.com/, which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

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asian cosmetics beauty review

Review: Shiseido Tsubaki Shampoo and Conditioner

20. April 2015

// HAIRCARE / AFFILIATE LINKS / BEAUTY //

Finally, after loving the Shiseido Tsubaki Shampoo and Conditioner for more than a year I decided to write a review for it. I bought the full size 500 ml pump bottles for both products and recently my refills for both arrived. I’ve used a different shampoo for the last 2 months while waiting for my refills and now that I can finally continue with my beloved Tsubaki shampoo I realized again how much I do love it and how much nicer my hair feels when using it. Actually, I’ve never used one shampoo brand for such a long time and have been so happy with it before!

Shiseido is one of the most famous high-end brands in the world. I think everybody knows this Japanese brand in some way. In Japan, Shiseido has a lot of sub-branches, which also vary in their price range. They have cheaper sub-branches and more expensive ones and also others with very cute designed products. The Shiseido Tsubaki haircare belongs to the more pricey products with a simple and mature design. There are five versions of the Tsubaki haircare products, the Shining range or now called Extra Moist (red), the Damage Care range (white), the Damage Care Rich Premiere range (orange), the Volume Touch range (purple) and the Head Spa range (golden, I don’t know if this is available for the renewed versions). I was quite undecided which line to choose first because my hair is thin, but frizzy and quite damaged and tends to split ends as well…I finally chose the red line because so many reviews were positive.

As I said, I took the risk and bought the full-sized bottles right away. Both the shampoo and the conditioner come in pump bottles, which I love! The cap with the pump attached can be removed and the bottles can be refilled if you want. You can also close and open the pump and so it can be used while traveling, too, if you want to carry 500 ml with you :D…

The two bottles came together as a value set and were packed in a plastic bag, typical packaging for Japanese products. The back side of the plastic bag contained some Japanese description and so does the back side of the bottles. The ingredients are listed on COSDNA >>here<< (shampoo) and >>here<< (conditioner). The key ingredients of the Tsubaki haircare are of course “Tsubaki” or also called Camellia japonica. The oil is used in haircare not only as an emollient but also for smoothening the hair and making it shiny and nice. Camellia japonica oil is rich in oleic and linoleic acid and therefore perfect for hair nourishment.

The design of the two pump bottles is elegant and the color of the bottles is really a pretty red color. And although the bottles look quite similar you can know blindly which is the shampoo and which is the conditioner by touching the top of the pump. Recently, they renewed the design of the bottles and the design of the bottles is less round but looks a bit more modern..I personally like the old design better. Although the material of the bottles is good quality plastic it doesn’t look cheap but really elegant. The shampoo has a semi-see-through bottle, so you know when it is time to buy a new refill.

The Shiseido Tsubaki Shampoo and Conditioner have both an amazing scent. It is flowery and lasts while sometime in your hair. The shampoo has a runny consistency. It has a light, shiny and milky/yellowish color and it is very efficient. I only need one to two pumps of the shampoo. When I still had my shorter hair one pump was enough. It creates nice and quite some foam while lathering it in your hair. Some reviews said that the shampoo is a bit drying. Compared to most European shampoos I didn’t have that feeling. In my opinion, my hair feels already detangled while using the shampoo, but the conditioner works even more wonders. After using the creamy conditioner the hair feels super soft and detangled. I can easily comb my hair and it feels so smooth and nice! As I said, the scent is so nice, too, and my hair feels better and less frizzy. I almost don’t have to straighten my bangs anymore ( I have naturally wavy hair usually) and all in all my hair feels so much better than with the European drugstore shampoos. The only downside is that it is not really a cheap product. But at least you can buy refills, which are a bit cheaper. Below you can see the 350 ml refills for both the shampoo and the conditioner. As you can see, the refills are from the new version of the red shampoo. I don’t know if they changed the formula, I didn’t notice any significant differences yet, but if I will do, I will update this post immediately.

All in all, these are great hair products! I can recommend the Shiseido Tsubaki Shampoo and Conditioner to everybody with dry and tangled and frizzy hair. The scent is nice, it makes the hair super soft and it nourishes the hair with Tsubaki oil. I bought my refills and the bottles on eBay, but the retailer is no longer available. The products are also available on Amazon.com though, starting from 16 US$ per bottle.

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beauty review Rossmann

Review: 007 For Women Eau de Parfum

17. April 2015

Hands up, who envys the beautiful women read and seen in James Bond movies and/or books? But don’t worry, recently we can at least smell like one of those beauties. 007 For Women Eau de Parfum was released earlier this year and I was lucky enough to receive a PR sample from Rossmann. I’m surprised that I really do like the scent, although I can be really picky about that. Even more, I fell in love with the velvet beauty case in which the perfume arrived at my doorstep!

007 For Women belongs to the James Bond Fragnances, as you might have guessed from its name. Three James Bond Fragnances for Men have been released so far and there is also one limited edition available, but I didn’t expect them starting to release women perfume, too. I was wrong! According to the product description this perfume “embodies the dangerously seductive nature of the Bond Woman. Conveying the mysterious allure of these enigmatic women, the scent is a modern interpretation of the mysterious oriental fragrances worn by women throughout the last century.”. Sounds promising!

The packaging design of the perfume bottle is black and elegant. The neck of the bottle is designed to look like a woman’s neck, the rosegold ring reminds of a necklace. The bottom part of the bottle is shaped like diamond crystal. The scent of the 007 For Women Eau de Parfum consists of these notes:

Top: Bergamot, Black Pepper, Rose Milk

Heart: Blackberry, Gardenia, Jasmine

Base: Black Vanilla, Cedarwood, White Musk

The scent is on the sweet and fruity side. Not as sweet as Thierry Mugler’s Angel for example, but there are some similarities in the ingredients like Bergamo and Vanilla. I think it is the Black Pepper giving this perfume a bit of spicey hint, as well as the White Musk. Compared to Angel it is much less intense and has not that super sweetness, but the similarities make it a possible alternative for daily wear.

All in all, I’m positively surprised by this perfume! If you like sweet perfumes, which are a bit more on the heavy sideand not sporty or fresh you will like this perfume, too. It is availablein different sizes, reaching from 30 to 100 ml, and what I like especially about it, it will be available for around 25 € for 50 ml in local drugstores…..By the way, do you have any ideas what I should use the beauty case for?

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.rossmann.de/, which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

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