kbeauty Archive | Page 29 of 44 | Berries in the Snow

Review: Laneige Water Bank Essence

21. February 2015

// KBEAUTY / SKINCARE / AFFILIATE LINKS //

This review was in my draft for quite a long time and it is only a short one, nevertheless I would like to share it with you, since I know that some might be interested in products from the Laneige Water Bank line. This review is about a deluxe sample from Laneige’s Water Bank Essence. I reviewed the Laneige Water Bank Eye Gel a while back and it is one of my favourite eye creams in terms of hydration so far.

Laneige is a Korean brand, part of the Amore Pacific Group. The brand name comes from the french word for snow which is “la neige”. The brand name reflects the beauty of young women between 24 and 32 years by focusing on water as source of life. Therefore the products design is more mature and clean, reflecting the image of moisture obtained through water. I’m only showing pictures of the sample sized product, but the full-sized Water Bank Essence comes in a blue glass bottle and looks exactly like that mature and clean product. The deluxe sample has a simple plastic packaging in light blue and doesn’t look anything special.

Although it is a sample product it comes in a pump dispenser like the full-sized product. The deluxe sample contains 15 ml in contrast to the 60 ml full-sized bottle. I’m always very happy about pump dispensers, since it makes the application always more easier and it is more hygienic, too. I needed two pumps from this essence each time I used it on my face. This essence can be used in the morning and in the evening after cleansing and before using your regular moisturizer and it is supposed to give your skin more and long-lasting hydration for the whole day.

The sample product doesn’t come with much description. The back side of the product contains some information in Korean, but other than this there are no more details here. You can find an English description on Laneige’s official US homepage >>here<<. Note, the essence is called serum here…I don’t know why. Also, if you buy this from Korean suppliers, there are two versions, the Water Bank Essence and the Water Bank Essence EX. The latter is the improved version of this essence and doesn’t contain alcohol as second ingredient, so I would recommend you to use the new version. The main ingredients for this moisturizing essence are Hydro Ion Mineral Water, Quinoa extract, Olive Squalane and Tilandsia Extract. You can find a list of both the Water Bank Essence and the Water Bank Essence EX ingredients >>here<<.

The Laneige Water Bank Essence is a milky, runny liquid, which can be spread easily and gives your skin a light moisturized feeling and a velvet-y finish. I really liked how the essence makes the skin feel on its own. If it absorbs it is not sticky. Moreover, it has the typical fresh and nice Laneige scent, which I liked for all the products I tried from this brand. If you have dry skin like I do I would not only rely on this essence for moisture, but also add some cream afterwards. All in all, this is a solid and nice essence and I would love to try the full-sized product in future. The downside is, that it is more expensive brand than regular drug store brands, but I say it is definitively worth a try. 60 ml retail for 46.01 US$ at W2Beauty for example. If you use my affiliate link or enter the code 088505 in the registration form you’ll receive a 5 US$ voucher, which can be used immediately for purchases over 30 US$. What is your favourite essence at the moment? Did you try any products from the Laneige Water Bank Line?

6 Comments

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Review: Dueba Crystal.i Blue Circle Lenses

19. February 2015

// PR SAMPLE / FASHION / BEAUTY //

My last circle lens review has been ages ago, but here it is finally! A pair of lenses was send to me kindly by Lensvillage, the Dueba Crystal.i Blue Circle Lenses. I reviewed the grey ones of these before >>here<<, so if you are curious check out the review I did back then. I wear my regular contact lenses a lot, so my eyes are in general used to wear contact lenses. Some words about my eyes in advance: My prescription is -0.25 and -0.5, which is why I choose plano lenses mostly, because these small steps of prescription are usually not available for fashion lenses. Also, my eyes have astigmatism, which is the reason that lenses which are not adjusted to my base curve might feel uncomfortable more quickly than for normal eyes.

It seems Dueba Lenses are distributed under various names, which is why the vial in which the contact lenses arrived are called “Belita” instead of Dueba. The vials are labelled in blue and pink and look like most of the contact lens vials. I received my lenses together with a buisness card from Lensvillage and a contact lens case shaped like two animals. I guess these are fish, am I right? I love these animal lens cases and I have collected quite some different ones since I first tried circle lenses.

The prescription of the lenses is written on the lid of each vial, so will know which one is for which eye in case you have eyes with different prescription.

The label of the vial also contains the description of the lenses. These Dueba Crystal.i Grey Circle Lenses are also available in other colors like blue, green, brown, pink and violet. Here are the properties for the lenses:

Diameter : 14.2 mm
Water Content : 38%
Base Curve : 8.6 mm
Life Span : 1 Year Disposal

You can already see the color and the design of the lenses in he vial but it is more clear when you remove them from the vial and put them into your lens case. Also, keep in mind to add fresh contact lens solution and soak the lenses in the solution over night before using the lenses.

Here are some details about the Dueba Crystal.i Grey Circle Lenses:

Design:

The design is very simply and only consists of black and grey dots. It is nothing special, but looks nice with dark eyes, although I’d wish that it blended in more towards the inner part. I think they will look even better on lighter brown eyes, because the blue will look brighter, too. With dark brown eyes the blue is quite dark.

Comfort:

These lenses were a bit uncomfortable, because after one hour I discovered that my eyes feel dried. But when using eye drops you can extend the wearing time. Actually, I felt that these were not sitting right on my eyes but moved around. I guess it is because of the base curve of the lenses. It might be that if you have normal eyes you will find these lenses more comfy than I did.

Enlargement:

Enlargement is clearly visible. It is not enourmous like with the Princess Mimi Bambi Series, but it clearly makes the eyes stand out.

Shipping:

Shipping was quick since it came with FeDex this time. If you get standard shipping it will take 3-4 weeks. This is not the fastest shipping I experienced with standard shipping, but neither the slowest. The lenses were packed securely in bubble wrap plastic and they came with a cute animal shape lens case ♥.

Below you will find some pictures on how the lenses look on my eyes. I was lucky that day, because I had good natural light, since the sun was shining :)

In the flash picture above you will probably notice that the lenses didn’t fit properly on my eyes and moved around. Have a look at my pupils and you’ll see what I mean :D

All in all, I still preferr more comfortable lenses for my eyes. I had good experience with Geo lenses so far, for example. Still, these are nice and affordable lenses. You can buy these lenses at Lensvillage for US$ 19.50 >>here<<.

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

6 Comments

asian cosmetics beauty review

Review: Etude House Missing U! Hand Cream Pink Dolphin

16. February 2015

Here is a quick review of the well-known Etude House Missing U! Hand Cream in Pink Dolphin. I received this item as part of a MeMeBox and I was very delighted to see this product at this time. In first place, the packaging was absolutely lovely and I wanted to try one of Etude House’s hand creams anyway.

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…Also here, the packaging design looks lovely. The Etude House Missing U! Hand Creams are no regular tube hand creams, but they are packed in a container. There are four different types, each shaped like a specific animal. The hand cream I’m showing here is supposed to be a pink dolphin, although I thought it is a duck or something like this. The other animals available are a seal, a penguin and a panda. Each of them has another scent symbolized by a flower held by the animal. The Etude House Missing U! Pink Dolphin shows a rose shaped flower.

Apart from the container even the cardboard box is beautifully designed and displays an island and palms and ocean. The description is in Korean and English. The cardboard box is made from recycled paper and is printed with soy ink, too. The ingredients are mainly shea butter, herbal extracts and olive oil in order to provide moisture to your hands. The full ingredients list is also displayed on the cardboard box and you can have a look at it on Etude House Global site too. According to COSDNA the hand cream contains safe ingredients.

I really do like the container of the Etude House Missing U! Hand Cream, but I musst say that the volume of it, being only 30 ml is quite few compared to drugstore tube hand creams. The hand cream has a shelf life of 12 months after opening. On the bottom of the container you’ll find the production date of the cream.

Etude House Missing U! Hand Cream is a cream type hand cream. It has a light structure and feels watery upon application. The cream has a rose scent which is lovely.

Each of these Etude House Missing U! Hand Creams retail at 4.50 US$ on the official Etude House store. I personally think the price is quite expansive for a hand cream of this volume, but it is most likely a result of the cute container. Actually, after emptying this container you can still use it for either other creams or anything else you want…or just as decoration.

8 Comments

asian cosmetics beauty PR Sample review Wishtrend

Review: Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit Part 2

10. February 2015

A while ago Wishtrend send me the Klairs Moisture Rescue Set for reviewing purpose, which contained a skincare routine in form of four products from the brand Klairs. As you might have seen from my previous reviews of this brand I really do like their products and this is why I’m really happy to be able to review these items for you. I devided this post into two parts and they gonna be picture-heavy. Yesterday I posted Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit Part 1 about the Klairs Supple Preparation Facial Toner and the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Serum. Todays review will be on Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit Part 2 and I will talk about the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Sheet Mask and the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Cream.

Klairs is a Korean brand sold on Wishtrend. It is eco-friendly, claimimg to produce products which are animal-testing-free, alcohol-free, paraben-free, and articial-color-free. Their products adress people with sensitive skin and people who want to moisturize their skin. I reviewed the Klairs Illuminating Supple BB Cream and the Klairs Gentle Black Cleansing Combo before, which both convinced me in their effects. I was interested in this Rescue Moisture Set especially, because as you know, my skin tends to become drier in winter as it is right now. This set consists with everything you need for a solid skincare routine, starting with toner, serum and moisturizer. The mask sheets on top are a great addition for days you want to treat yourself with extra moisture.

After the toner and the serum application I talked about yesterday we arrive at the most important step in your skincare routine. At least in my opinion a good daily and nighttime moisturizer is the important step I would never miss. The Klairs Rescue Moisture Kit comes also with a moisturizing cream for your skincare routine, the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Cream. This cream is available from Wishtrend for quite some time, and in contrast to the former versions, the new version of this moisturizing cream contains more product for the same price. The volume changed from 45 ml to 50 ml, which is nice. The Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Cream is a rich moisturizing cream for normal and dry skintypes. It is designed to give immediate and long-term hydration for a radiant complexion.

The cream is targeting people who:

– need a moisturizer for your dry skin.
– want a moisturizer cream that reduce’s the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and dry rough skin texture.
– want your skin to deliver a soft and glowing appearance
– want the best face moisturizer that will cure skin peeling and flaking.
– want to relieve the feeling of tight itchy dry skin.
– want a moisturizing that has a creamy texture that absorbs evenly into the skin, leaving the skin feeling smooth to touch.
– need a creamy moisturizer to serve as a better, more hydrating base for makeup.

Typically for Klairs products, the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Cream comes in a cardboard box made of recycled paper. The box contains a detailled description Korean, but it also mentions some of the points which are important for Klairs products in English, like that the product is alcohol-free, artificial color-free, artificial fragnance-free, paraben-free, no animal testing and respect the enviroment.

The cream itself comes in a jar made of sturdy brown colored plastic. You can see the product through the jar. The design fits to the other Klairs products and I like its simplicity. Unfortunately, the cream doesn’t come with a spatula. The ingredients are listed on Wishtrend and according to COSDNA this cream doesn’t contain any red flagged ingredients. Most of them are green or yellow flagged. There are some ingredients which can be irritating to some people, so please be sure to check the ingredients if you know that you are sensitive to special ingredients. The cream contains Glycerine and Hyaluronic Acid as main moisturizing ingredients, but also a lot of plant extracts. Moreover it contains yeast derived Beta-Glucan, like the other Klairs products I described in the first part of the Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit.

The label of the jar contains some shorter description, mostly in Korean. Like the other products it also lists an official webpage and an email address for contacting in case of questions etc. I like this idea especially. It even lists a phone number!

Below the lid of the jar you’ll find a plastic cover protecting the product from dirt. The production and expiration date is printed on the bottom of the jar.

The expiration date is in two years, but th shelf-life for the cream after opening is 12 months. The Klairs Rich Moist soothing cream is a cream type moisturizer. The cream has a rich and creamy structure, but melts easily into the skin once distributed. It has a herbal and refreshing scent and feels cooling upon application. Normally, I don’t like herbal scented product, but I must admit that I do like the scent here, maybe also because the product feels refreshing and cooling on the skin. After the cream absorbs it leaves the skin smooth and gives it a moisturizing glow, but no greasyness. I also would say, that despite the fact that the skin looks more glowy the finish of the cream is on the matte side, maybe a bit silky.

All together, this cream is my favourite from all the products I tested in this Moisture Rescue Kit. I love the finish of the cream and I love the refreshing effect of it. It provides a good amount of moisture for my dry skin, but it is not too much and can also be combined with a second lighter moisturizer like an emulsion if you need more hydration. Also, makeup application afterwards is no problem, since this cream provides a good canvas for other products, too. The jar retails for 23.99 US$ on Wishtrend and I think that it is a normal price for a lot of Korean moisturizing creams. I would not mind a larger volume nevertheless and a spatula. :D

So, apart from the regular skincare routine steps, like toner, serum and moisturizer, the Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit also came with a couple of sheet masks from Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Sheet Mask. I reviewed these sheet masks previously >>here<<. I think that this moisturizing sheet mask is a perfect masks for using multiple times a week, maybe some of your prefer even a daily use of hydrating masks and this one is definitively a good choice then.

Similar to the other products of Klairs, the design is simple and contains a lot of text. Here, all the text is written in English on the front side of the sheet mask sachet. The back side contains the description in Korean, but the ingredients are listed in English. You can also check the ingredients on COSDNA. Similar to the toner and the serum it contains one red flagged ingredient, which is the preservative Methylisothiazolinone. The key ingredient of this mask is hyaluronic acid, which is the second ingredient in the list. Apart from this a couple of plant extracts are also part of the ingredients for this mask. It also shows in some images how to use the mask. This sheet mask is an essence type sheet mask made of 100% cotton. It feels very smooth upon application, is soaked well with the essence without being too dripping. It is a refreshing and hydrating mask and you can boost the effect by putting the sheet mask into the fridge before using it, so it has a cooling effect, too.

I think that this mask is a good every-day mask. It fullfils all the expectations you have for a moisturizing mask. The scent is pleasant and not too strong either. It is also affordable and retails for 1.99 US$ on Wishtrend. If you buy 10 masks you’ll even get 3 for free additionally, and if you buy 20 masks you will get 10 for free. So if you are a daily sheet mask user you can even safe some money here.

I hope you liked the two posts about the Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit. I tried to put as much helpful information as possible :) I made a post about the promotions from Wishtrend for February >>here<<. Also, keep in mind their friend-referral program: You can receive a 5 Us$ referral coupon if you use my invitation code 17939205 upon registration and you’ll receive this 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 safe 5 US$ which is a great possibility to safe some money. If you did not, please check out the first part of the review about the Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit >>here<<. Below you will find some other reviews on Klairs products which I did before:

Klairs Gentle Black Deep Oil Cleanser and Sugar Facial Polish

Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Sheet Mask

Klairs Illuminating Supple BB Cream

2 Comments

asian cosmetics beauty PR Sample review Wishtrend

Review: Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit Part 1

9. February 2015

A while ago Wishtrend send me the Klairs Moisture Rescue Set for reviewing purpose, which contained a skincare routine in form of four products from the brand Klairs. As you might have seen from my previous reviews of this brand I really do like their products and this is why I’m really happy to be able to review these items for you. I devided this post into two parts and they gonna be picture-heavy. Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit Part 1 will talk about the Klairs Supple Preparation Facial Toner and the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Serum. Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit Part 2 will be about the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Sheet Mask and the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Cream.

Usually, the first step after cleansing your face is to balance the pH of the skin and helping it to keep moisture by using a toner. This is different from western astringent toners, which tend to be an additional cleansing step here. By giving the skin moisture and an adequate pH it helps other products of your skincare routine to be more effective, too. The Klairs Supple Preparation Facial Toner claims exactly to have this fuction. It is supposed to be a good start for your facial skincare routine. According to the very throout description from Wishtrend this toner is designed for people who

– need a facial toner that re-hydrates and refreshes skin.
– prefer an alcohol free toner that neutralize skin surface impurities such as excess sebum.
– want a gentle yet effective toner for everyday use.
– have sensitive skin and need products that are free from chemicals and harsh ingredients.

It sounds like a good toner for almost everybody according to the description. The packaging of this toner fits perfectly to all the other products from the Klairs range. It is a simple and yet vintage-like design, focussing on few decorations but a lot of text on the packaging. If you have several Klairs products together they look quite pretty together in the bathroom. The Klairs Supple Facial Prepation Toner comes in a hard plastic bottle. The plastic is brown, but you can see through it in order to check the amount remaining in the bottle.

The labels contain a clear description in Korean and English. The ingredients are also listed in English. You can also find the ingredients in the product description on Wishtrend. The ingredients can also be checked via COSDNA. Mostly they are green flagged, but there is also one red flagged preservative included (but in a small quantity, as it is almost the last ingredient on the list). Apart from this it contains a couple of plant extracts and hyaluronic acid as moisturizing ingredient. Moreover the key ingredients are phyto-oligo and Betaglucan for antiinflammatory effects. The pH of the toner has a weak acidity and lies at 5.

The bottle has a regular drop dispensing opening which is closed by a white plastic lid. Although the bottle is of hard plastic you can lightly press it and make the toner come out more easily. The toner itself is transparent and a bit less runny than water. It feels thicker than water, too, but I wouldn’t call it geltype, yet. It feels refreshing on the skin and has a light scent which is a mixture between herbal and flowery scent. After it absorbs the scent is not noticeable anymore. Also, it doesn’t leave stickyness or greasyness on your skin.

All in all, I like this toner. The pH it provides is perfect for other products to be effective. It feels also quite moisturizing, refreshing and isn’t sticky or greasy. I would say it is a perfect toner for everyday use. What I don’t like about the toner is the higher price compared to other toners. The 150 ml bottle retails for 21.99 US$ on Wishtrend. It still lasts for quite some time I have to admit though (I’m using it for almost three weeks and I’ve only used 1/5ths of the amount). The opening is easy to use. I directly applied it on my hands, but you can also use it with a cotton pad. Alöl in all, I’m totally happy about having this toner in my skincare routine at the moment!

The next step in my skincare routine using the Klairs Moisture Rescue set is the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Serum, a serum designed to boost the moisture level of your skin and give your skin a healthy and moisturized glow. This serum is designed for people who

– have sensitive skin that needs a calming, soothing serum lotion for sensitive skin.
– have dry, dehydrated skin that needs deep long-lasting moisturize.
– want to smooth and reduce redness and irritation on your skin.
– want to cure your skin constant flaking and peeling.
– want to smooth out fine dehydration lines.
– want to prevent the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

We have here a very basic serum focusing on moisturizing properties, perfect for dry skintypes. On the other hand this serum is designed to have soothing properties, too, so people with irritated skin are addressed aswell. Also here the design fits to all the Klairs products, having a lot of text on their packaging instead of cute or colorful illustration.

The serum is delivered in a cardboard box, unlike the serum, which was only packed in plastic. The cardboard box made of recycled paper contains descriptions in Korean and English. You can also find a detailled description on Wishtrend.

The serum comes in a pump-type bottle made from brown see-through plastic. The pump comes with a protective cap, too. The serum is clear and more of a gel-type consistency than the toner. It has the same scent as the toner, which is a mix between herbal and flowery scents. The ingredients are listed on COSDNA and a lot of vegetable plant ingredients are part of it. also Hyaloronic Acid is the second ingredient in the list, providing moisture. Phyto-Oligo is also listed as main ingredients here. The lists also contains two red-flagged ingredients which are Triethanol amine and the same preservative used in the toner called Methylchloroisothiazolinone. If you know that you react to those two ingredients I would advice you to not use these two products or be careful and make a skin reaction test before. I didn’t have any negative reactions on my skin while using any of the products from the Klairs range yet. After using the serum on the skin it feels almost creamy rubbing it into the skin. It feels moist and hydrating, but it also leaves the skin noticably softer. Also here I didn’t experience any stickiness after it fully absorbed into the skin.

Also for the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Serum I can say that I was positively surprised how I liked the serum. The feeling of it on the skin was nice and also the point that it wasn’t sticky. This made the application of other products afterwards and of any makeup much easier. I also do like the pump -type bottle. What I don’t like is the small amount of only 50 ml. I used up more than 1/3rd of the bottle already within the three weeks of use. The price on the other hand is relatively normal for a serum. The bottle retails for 22.99 US$ on Wishtrend. The serum is available with free shipping right now!

Both these products are nice products. If I had to choose which one I would by myself from the two mentioned I would choose the toner propably, but only in order to buy a serum with other properties, like anti-aging, etc. I also made a post about the promotions from Wishtrend for February >>here<<. Also, keep in mind their friend-referral program: You can receive a 5 Us$ referral coupon if you use my invitation code 17939205 upon registration and you’ll receive this 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 safe 5 US$ which is a great possibility to safe some money. I’ll try to do the post about the second part of the Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit about the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Sheet Mask and the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Cream as soon as possible and I hope this review was helpful for you, too. See my other Klairs product reviews here:

Klairs Gentle Black Deep Oil Cleanser and Sugar Facial Polish

Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Sheet Mask

Klairs Illuminating Supple BB Cream

Do you have any favourite product from Klairs? What are your experiences?

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Wishtrend February 2015 Promotions

3. February 2015

We have February, which means there are new promotions and gifts for our shopping experience at Wishtrend. If you don’t know Wishtrend, but love korean or asian cosmetics and skincare products I can recommend you to check out their online shop, especially for one of my favourite products, the O.S.T. Vitamin C Serum (they recently upgraded this serum and I’ll be reviewing it in future). You’ll also find some products sold at Wishtrend on my Top 20 favourite product list for 2014, like the Klairs Gentle Black Deep Cleansing Oil. Here are the coupon codes for February:

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 coupon available for February. Below, you’ll find the coupon code for this:

Coupon Code: WISHFEB2015
Requirement 1: Shopping cart order must be 55 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 February 2015

The second promotion code is a special gift you will receive by using the code below. The voucher is only valid on any orders at Wishtrend! You will receive in addition to the free samples you’ll normally get a free COSRX Acne Pimple Patch’s.

Voucher Code: WISHGIFTFEB2015
ANY ORDER
Until the end of February 2015

This patch was newly introduced on Wishtrend and I was curious to try it out. I never tried out any anti-pimple patches. Did you?

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. 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:

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?

asian cosmetics beauty review

Review: A’Pieu Apple Acid Visible Peeling Gel

30. January 2015

// KBEAUTY / SKINCARE / AFFILIATE LINKS //

Did you like my review about the Meishoku Peeling Jelly? Then you might be interested in A’Pieu Apple Acid Visible Peeling Gel, too. Similar to the product by Meishuku this peeling gel works with apple acid extract and other fruit extracts to chemically exfoliate your skin.

First of all, some words about the Korean brand A’Pieu: The name comes from french language and is supposed to mean “basic”. The brand is targeting a younger audience and providing the elemantary steps and products for your skincare routine in the 20s…but I think you can also use it in your 30s or whenever you want :D The packaging of their products is cute and adorable, without being to princess-y, like Etude House, for example. Here, the packaging of the A’Pieu Apple Acid Visible Peeling Gel is rather simple, but by having some apples printed on the front it gives it a bit of a cute twist. The peeling gel comes in a simple tube containing 100 ml.

The backside of the tube contains Korean description only, which makes it difficult to understand the directions or know more about the ingredients. Like most peeling gels it is supposed to be used on the dry and clean face. After massaging the gel into the face it will form crumbs/ agglomerated product which help to create a peeling effect. This product uses apple acid and other fruit extracts for chemical exfoliation. These fruit derived acids are also known as AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids). They exfoliate old keratin off your skin, which becomes smoother this way. This has the effect of a brightened up dull complexion, too. It also helps to free blocked pores and to help dry and flaky skin to get smooth again. The crumbs you get with these peeling gels are no dead skin cells, it is just the way the formula of peeling gels work. The result of these peeling gels are therefore not correlated with the amount of peeling crumbs while using. You will feel the effect in the smoothness of your skin after using such peeling gels.

The A’Pieu Apple Acid Visible Peeling Gel has a gel type and milky formula. The color is a very light green and it has the scent of green apples. I would have preferred sweet apple scent instead of green apple scent, but I know there are some lovers for this type of scent. The product itself feels a bit grainy on the skin when you massage it and soon enough it forms some peeling crumbs.

After using and washing the peeling crumbs of the skin feels softened and clear and the product does a good job in general. Comparing it to the Peeling Jelly from Meishoku I like the one from A’Pieu less. I had the feeling that the Meishoku Peeling Jelly was less drying and also more convenient to use since it could be used on wet face, too. I also did like the scent more. But if you want to try an affordable peeling jelly or it is your first time using AHAs in your skincare the A’Pieu Apple Acid Visible Peeling Gel is a nice product. It retails for 15.61 US$ at W2Bauty.

What is your favourite chemical peeling product?

10 Comments

asian cosmetics beauty review

Review: Skinfood Rose Shake Point Make-up Remover

30. January 2015

// KBEAUTY / SKINCARE //

After I fell in love with the Skinfood Rose Essence Soft Cream Blusher I had no choice, but trying out other products from the Skinfood Milky Rose collection. I bought the Skinfood Rose Shake Point Make-up Remover from the same line and I’ve been using it for quite some time. This is also one of the items which were mentioned in the previous guestpost by Chie here. Here is my impression of this make-up remover:

Skinfood is one of these brands which are competing with Etude House in terms of design– in my opinion at least. It is a Korean brand with vintage appearing design of their products which occupied my heart very quickly. The products are using the beneficial effects of ingredients, which are familiar to us in terms of “food” like vegetables and fruits. Their motto “Food that is good for your health, is also good for your skin.” reflects this brands’ ideology nicely. Their spring make-up collection of 2014 was called “Milky Rose”and the design of the products offered within this collection is beautifully selected, showing vintage-style rose drawings and pastell pink packaging. The design is really beautifully chosen and fits perfect for a spring collection. Apart from the Skinfood Rose Shake Poinr Make-up Remover liptints, nailpolish, blusher and a make-up fixer were offered.

As you can see, the make-up remover from this line is no exception and has a beautifully designed packaging with rose printing. The Skinfood Rose Shake Point Make-up Remover comes in a hard plastic bottle which has a transparent pink color. You can see the two phased removing liwuid through the bottle and it appears in a soft pink color. The Skinfood logo, the little angel, is engraved into the plastic bottle.

The backside of the bottle shows the description of the product in Korean and English. It also has the production and expiration date printed there. The bottle contains 160 ml make-up remover. The main ingredient of this product is Rosa Centifolia Flower Water. The scent of the Skinfood Rose Shake Point Make-up Remover is therefore a nice rose scent as I expected and it is one of the reasons I love this product. Apart from the scent Rosa Centifolia Flower Water is a great ingredient with lots of benefits. The obtained water from these flowers contains the etheral oils and lots of beneficial substances. Also, the pH of rose water is lower than pH7. I meassured the pH of the Skinfood Rose Shake Point Make-up Remover and it lies between 5-6. Also, the rose water has soothing and astringent properties, which makes it a good product for sensitive skin.

The remover is a two phased liquid. The instruction says to shake it before using it. Once you shake it, the phases combine to a milky fluid.

Since the cap has a small hole for dispensing you can use it easily on a cotton pad. I would have preferred if it came with a pump bottle, because that’s even more convenient, but since you have to shake it before using it it is only a minor comment.

I used a selection of various make-up products on my arm and wiped it away with a soaked cotton pad and as you can see it removes all the products easily. The product on the right is mascara, and when I removed the mascara it was not fully dried yet. This leads me to my only complaint about the Skinfood Rose Shake Point Make-up Remover, since it does have problems to remove dried fibertype mascaras with one cotton pad only. I didn’t have any problems removing eyeliner, eyeshadow, lipsticks, but it needs some extra wipes for mascara.

Although this product shows some weakness in removing some stubborn mascaras I still love and recommend this to 1. rose scent lovers and 2. people with sensitive skin. This remover makes the skin feel soft after using it and it didn’t feel any irritating, neither did I feel that my skin is feeling dried. It is available at testerkorea for 6900 Won (around 7 US$) which is affordable, too. I really like and use this almost every day before cleansing my face :)

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advertorial beauty

How To Winterize Your Nails

27. January 2015

As you know, here in Germany we are in the midth of winter, which means we have a cold and mostly rainy weather here. You’ll feel such changes during the seasons also on your skin, as it feels drier than usual. And it is not only the skin, but also your hair and nails. Julep, a beauty company for cosmetics, nail color, and skincare, shared their nailcare tips with me and I wanted to share them with you and add some of my own tips on how to winterize your nails, since I really liked the idea of writing a post like this (

So, what are specific nail care advices in order to winterize your nails? First of all, you should not neglate your nails during winter, even if you wear gloves and closed shoes you should still think of your nails. Most important is, to regulary clip and shape your nails. I usually don’t have very long nails and in winter I prefer shorter nails anyways, because of wearing gloves for example. When I’m having long nails they tend to break easily, because they get stuck into the wool of the gloves sometimes. Another very important point is to remove the loose skin and cuticles, if you have any. You can prevent this by moisturizing your hands as often as possible and also using hand or finger masks on a regular basis. I reviewed a nail/finger maks some time ago, which I really liked for this purpose. You can check out my review on Etude House Help My Finger Nail Finger Pack here. Here is a list of some helpful tips on how to winterize your nails:

Recently, I discovered some Korean handcreams which I really like and love to use often in these colder days. Below you’ll see my two favourite hand creams, the Etude House Missing U hand cream, which comes in an adorable container and smells of roses, and the Shib Jang Ceng Chun Ji Heang hand cream, which was part of the MeMeBox Oriental Medicine. The latter contains ginseng extracts, shea butter and olive oil and feels really nourishing. If you feel your nails are still dry desprite using hand creams, I can recommend you to use nail oil. I bought one from a local drug store from the brand p2. It is called One Drop Fitness Oil and contains soy, sweet almond and sunflower oil for deep nourishment and hydration.

Even though it might be that we wear gloves I use nail polish from time to time. My best tip for you in cold seasons is to use a nail polish drier. It reduces the time of your nail polish to dry largely. I discovered the Etude House Help My Finger Quick Drop Drier some time ago and it belongs to my favourite items now.

Here are some color inspirations for your winterized nails. You can get these specific colors from Julep. I never tried their nail polishes, but I’ve read positive reviews about them. I really do like the colors Joanne and Shari, because they look like they go well with almost every style. In general, I think you never can go wrong with a classic red nail polish for every season of the year. In the image above I used Etude House Play nail polish in shade 52.

What are your winterizing nail care advices?

Just as a short reminder: This is an advertorial post for http://www.julep.com/. I wasn't paid for this post and I'm sharing my honest opinion throughout this post.

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asian cosmetics beauty review

Review: A’Pieu Creamy Butter Shadow

24. January 2015

// KBEAUTY / MAKE UP / AFFILIATE LINKS //

After I tried the Innisfree Eyeshadow Stick I was curious for more creamy eyeshadows. Originally I planned to buy the Innisfree Mineral Single Cream Shadow, but them I came acroos the A’Pieu Creamy Butter Shadow and I fell for the beautiful packaging design of these cream eyeshadows. Although I’m not a daily eyeshadow wearing person I directly bought two shades from this :D Here is my impression:

First of all, some words about the Korean brand A’Pieu: The name comes from french language and is supposed to mean “basic”. (I didn’t know a word like this in french though and I didn’t find any proper translation. Did anybody else have a look for that?:D) The brand is targeting a younger audience and providing the elemantary steps and products for your skincare routine in the 20s…but I think you can also use it in your 30s or whenever you want :D The packaging of their products is cute and adorable, without being to princess-y, like Etude House, for example. The A’Pieu Creamy Butter Shadows have also a beautiful packaging, which has a vintage flair and looks absolutely adorable. These cream eyeshadow pots are available in five different shades. I chose two of them being No.4 Cranberry Kiss and No.5 French Cocoa.

The cardboard box contains a lot of description, but it is all in Korean unfortunately, except the name of the shade. The eyeshadows have a shelf life of 12 months after openeing. The main ingredients are mango powder, marine collagen, licorice extract and ruby powder.

Inside the cardboard box you’ll find these super pretty jars.

The jars are made of clear hard plastic and a screw-type lid which looks like tin (proberly also plastic). The packaging looks sturdy and of good quality. Although so simple I really love it. It looks classy and elegant on the same time ♥

The cream eyeshadows in the jars look solid and at first glance and not creamy at all, but the formula melts away once you dab your finger onto it. It feels very soft and smooth. The formula is designed to be used with your fingers, so the cream eyeshadow gets the right temperature and blends into your skin properly.

The A’Pieu Creamy Butter Shadows have a good pigmentation. They are easy to blend, but you can also build up the color and make it more intense. Since it is a cream eyeshadow you won’t have any problems with fall-off, either. These eyeshadows have a glossy and pearly finish and are longlasting, too.

I love these two eyeshadows and I love how easy they are to apply ♥. The packaging is beautiful, too, and if you are an eyeshadow lover I can recommend you to try these. If you are an eyeshadow beginner you should try these, too, because of the easy apllication with your fingers. Or try the Innisfree Eyeshadow Stick! The A’Pieu Creamy Butter Shadow retails for 12.51 US$ at W2Bauty.

Did you try any of the eyeshadows from A’Pieu? Which one is your favourite?

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