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Review: Essence Winter? Wonderful! Collection

17. December 2015

// PR SAMPLE / BEAUTY / MAKE-UP //

Another post to bring you into the winter and Christmas moods! After yesterday’s Etude House Snowy Dessert Collection today it is all about the latest Christmas/Winter collection by Essence called “Winter? Wonderful!”, which was kindly sent to me for reviewing purpose.

Essence is a european drug store brand, which is easily available here in Germany, but also in many other countries around the world. Their brand philosophy is against animal testing and their products are really affordable, providing a reasonable quality. The new Essence Trend Edition “Winter? Wonderful!” is available from mid of December until January 2016 and will be perfect for those of you who love winter-themed products. The color range of these products reaches from white, grey and iceblue to warmer, nude shades like light pink and apricot. The key piece of the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Collection is definitely the eyeshadow palette, but also the four nail polishes from this collection have each different effects like “frosted”, “crystallized” or “iced”.

Let’s start off with two of the lip products from the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Collection: the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Tint & Oil No. 01 “if kisses were snowflakes” and the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Lip Balm! The Lip Balm comes in a clear plastic container, so you can see the bullet inside. The bullet looks like ice, since it is a clear balm with shimmering particles. It gives a soft, shimmery finish to the lips. The moisturizing property of the lip balm is okay, but not overwhelming. Nevertheless, if you are looking for a simple lip balm with shimmer particles this product might suit you. The Lip Balm retails for 1.99€. The Essence Winter? Wonderful! Tint & Oil caught my attention because recently oil tints are gaining more popularity. I was hoping for a tint similar to the Tonymoly Shaking tint Delight. No.01 is a light pink color, almost clear with a strawberry scent. It comes in a silver container with an included applicator. Compared to the Tonymoly Oil tint the Essence Tint & Oil is much more similar to a gloss, which means it is kind of sticky and not watery/oily. Unfortunately, I’m not a friend of sticky lip products, especially not during cold and windy seasons, so this one is not my cup of tea. The Tint & Oil is also available in another pink shade called “02 …I’d send you a blizzard”. They retail for 2.99 € each.

The Essence Winter? Wonderful! Eye & Inner Rim Pencil comes in two shades aswell: 01 cold as eyes and 02 eye candy. I will show you shade 01, a white highlighting pencil, which you can use under your eyes, in the inner corner of your eyes, or in the water-line. The pencil has a harder texture, which means it is good for precise lines, but not suited to be used for eyeshadow, since it is not creamy enough. The color payoff is nice and visible. It doesn’t come with an included sharpener, so make sure to have one at hands. The Essence Winter? Wonderful! Eye & Inner Rim Pencils retail for 1.99 €.

The last face makeup product I will show you is the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Eyeshadow Palette in “All Ice On Me!”. This palette comes with five different shades: white, grey, light pink, light brown and darker brown. The grey and the light brown color contain shimmer particles, whereas the other shades are matte. The packaging design of this eyeshadow palette is eye-catching, too, since it is illustrated with snow crystals all over. I really love the design of this palette!

The backside of the palette contains some description and how to use the eyeshadow palette. The palette doesn’t come with any applicator or brush. The color payoff of the colors is not very pigmented. Even with a primer the colors are very soft. The palette also creates some fall-off, when I’m using my brushes. I would say the colors are more suited for a very natural and soft eye makeup. It will be hard to create any bold makeup though. Also the shimmers are very soft and almost not visible when swatched. The palette retails for 3.79 €. Below you will find the swatches for all the face makeup products:

The Essence Winter? Wonderful! Nail Polishes are available in 4 different shades, plus one Top Coat. The nail polishes are available in 01 the frosted, 02 the semi matt, 03 the iced and 04 the crystallized. The top coat is an ice-topping called 01 a winter’s tale. Below, I used No.01 and No. 03 on my hands. 01 “the frosted” is a white matte nail polish which, which looks like sugar icing. With two coats of that nail polish you can achieve a nice opaque layer on your nails. It dries very quickly, so it is also super easy to apply in several layers. 03 “the iced” is a shimmery, rough effect nail polish. I used it on top of the white nail polish, but it can be used on its own, too. This one needs a bit longer to dry than the frosted nail polish, but they look both very pretty and winter-y on the nails. The nail polishes retail for 1.79 €. The top coat which I didn’t show retails for 1.99 €.

And in order to have nicely hydrated hands the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Hand Balm is ideal! The packaging of the tube is beautiful and fits perfect to the season. The balm feels nourishing but not too heavy. It absorbs fast into the skin and has a nice scent, too! It retails for 1.99 €. Last, but not least, the collection also includes two hair ties with an attached fake fur pompom! I bet it looks super cute on a ponytail. The hair tie is available in white and in pink/apricot and retails for 1.49 €.

How do you like the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Collection? What is your impression, or did you try any of the products already? My favourite is the frosted nail polish and the hand balm. But I also like the eyeshadow palette despite the natural pigmentation. The design of the collection is really pretty in my eyes, too!

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

Fell free to join my giveaway with Japan Candy Box, too! Did you see it already?

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asian cosmetics beauty beauty boxes Etude House PR Sample review

Etude House Pink Bird Box November “Snowy Dessert Collection”

16. December 2015

If you follow me on instagram or facebook you already know that I was offered to be part of the Etude House Pink Bird Program and I’m really honoured and happy to present to you my first Etude House Pink Bird Box today! The theme of Etude House November Pink Bird Box is “Snowy Dessert Collection”, which is the name of Etude House’s Christmas Collection 2015 on the same time, and as the name already reveals, this box contains products of that collection! If you are curious about some of Etude House’s newest product continue reading, but be aware that this post is picture-heavy :D

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 is having 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. Since I’m really a huge fan of Etude House I’ve always looked up to other bloggers who were part of the program in the past and read their posts of previous Etude House Pink Birds eagerly, and now, having a pink bird box in my own hands, makes me really proud and also ashamed, since some of the past pink birds are people I could call blogger-idols :D (please check out bloggers like for example HelloPrettyBird, MangoBeautyTips, or BeautyJunkie…there are many, many more of course!).

Opening the Etude House Pink Bird Box November was super exciting! I was so curious about the products of the Snowy Dessert Collection, but also about the other sample kit of the new Honey Cera skin care line, which was part of the Etude House Pink Bird Box, too. Inside the box there was also the Etude House magazine and some advertorial flyers of the two lines which are part of the box. The Etude House magazine is really cute and contains some how-to instructions and makeup tips. Are you interested in some pictures from the magazine? Let me know in the comments!

The products of my Etude House Pink Bird Box November were Etude House Snowy Dessert Play 101 Pencils in shade No. 71 and No. 73, Etude House Snowy Dessert Pudding Tint No.3 Grapefruit Tint, and Etude House Snowy Dessert Ginger Cookie Blusher. Moreover, there was a Honey Cera 4-in-1 Kit, containing the Etude House Honey Cera Nourishing & Elasticity Cream, the Etude House Honey Cera Priming Eye Serum and the Etude House Honey Cera Toner and Emulsion.

Let’s start off with the products from the Snowy Dessert Collection 2015: This collection is designed to remind you of all these tasty and lovely Christmas desserts, only here you cannot eat them, but instead use them for your next makeup. The collection contains 5 new and limited colors of the Etude House Play 101 Pencils (I reviewed some of their pencils in the past >>here<<), 5 colors of the Snowy Dessert Pudding Tints, the Snowy Dessert Ginger Cookie Blusher and Contour Maker, two different Snowy Dessert Hand Creams and two Snowy Dessert Scented Tablets. You can check out the whole collection on Etude House Online Shopping Mall.

I was most excited about the Etude House Snowy Dessert Ginger Cookie Blusher, because it was one of the products I was thinking about to buy, before I knew that I would receive the Pink Box. The packaging of this Blusher is really adorable and fits perfectly to Christmas. The Snowy Dessert Cookie Ginger Blusher comes in a cardboard packaging designed like an oven! This is so cute! I fell in love with this packaging at once!

The Snowy Dessert Ginger Cookie Blusher is a two-toned blusher with a bronze color. It has a sweet ginger bread man imprinted and I really hesitated to use my brush on this blusher, because I feared the cute ginger bread man would disappear. So far I’ve used this blush quite often but you still see the ginger bread man luckily!

The color of this blusher is very light and swatched on my hand you hardly see anything apart from a glowy, bronze shimmer. Nevertheless, when I applied it on my cheeks the color is more vibrant and visible, resulting in a brownish/ bronze color which is more than lovely for fall and winter season. The Snowy Desser Ginger Cookie Blusher contains 9 g of product and retails for 16.80 US$. It doesn’t come with a puff or a brush. Some pictures below I also will show you how my complete facial makeup looks like and how the color of this blusher turns out on my cheeks.

The Etude House Snowy Desser Pudding Tint in Shade 3 called Grapefruit Pudding comes in a cardboard box designed like those cake boxes you will receive at some bakeries. Another super adorable designed product! Once you open the cardboard box you will find the tint in a small jar together with a spoon/spatula.

The Snowy Dessert Pudding Tint has a pudding texture, as the name suggests, which also remind me a bit of some mousse or other desserts like that. Kind of a bouncy texture. The spatula has a soft plastic tip. You can use it like a spoon to scoop out the pudding tint. The spreading of the tint is better done with the backside of the spoon, or with a separate lip brush or your fingers. The color of the pudding tint is super vibrant and highly pigmented, but also can be blended in as soft gradient. As for the staying power of this lip tint the stain is visible quite a long time. It may be not as vibrant as when you apply it, but it doesn’t look bad either. If you have dry lips you should exfoliate your lips definitely in advance, otherwise the vibrant pink color will cling to every dry lip flake or wrinkle. The lip tint jar contains 5.5 g and retails for 10.40 US$.

The Etude House Snowy Dessert Play 101 Pencils, which I received in shade No.71 and No. 73 are both pencils with a shimmering finish. They come in a plastic box and have a stripe design. No. 71 is a light pink color, whereas No. 73 is a light pearly color.

Both shades are super pretty for the under-eye area or the inner corners of your eyes for highlighting. You can twist up the pencils and there is also a tiny sharpener included for sharpening the tip of the pencils. The texture of the product is a creamy type pencil, so it is also useable as eyeshadow for example. I love the shades, because they are really subtle and yet have such a pretty sparkle. Each pencil contains 0.5g and retails for 7.80 US$.

In the image below I used all the products I received from the Snowy Dessert Collection to create a makeup look. I used the Ginger Cookie Blusher on my cheeks, the Grapefruit Pudding Tint on my lips and I used the Play 101 Pencil shade No. 71 on my lid and shade No. 73 under my eyes for highlighting. I really like the combination of all the colors for this soft and yet fresh look. There are some discounted Snowy Dessert Makeup Sets available on Etude House which come with a Snowing in my Hand Snow Pen as gift!

Last but not least the Etude House Pink Bird Box November contained the Honey Cera 4-in-1 Kit. The new Etude House Honey Cera line contains honey as key ingredient for nourishing and moisturizing. Furthermore, it contains Royal Jelly and Ceramide. Royal Jelly has nourishing properties like the honey and Ceramide strengthens the skin barrier. Also, you will find extracts of the Helichrysum italicum or also called Italian Immortelle or Curry Plant in the Etude House Honey Cera Line. The purpose of this extract is soothing and moisturizing. Aim of this line is to make the skin plump and nourished and give it the “honey-look”. These ingredients are perfect for winter-time and for dry and rough skin types!

I cannot say anything about the long-term effects of this set since it is too few to make any conclusions, but from my first impression I really like this kit. The scent is a nice sweet and flowery scent, but nothing like honey as I imagined before. Unlike most other toners the Honey Cera Toner has a milky color, but the consistency is watery nevertheless. It absorbs quite fast without stickiness. The emulsion is a lightweight lotion, whereas the cream has a thick and nourishing consistency. The cream also leaves the skin a bit tacky afterwards, but definitively the nourishing and firming aspect is noticeable. The eye serum looks like a balm but is very light and doesn’t feel heavy. It feels nice under and above the eye. Toner and Emulsion contain 15ml each, the eye serum contains 4 ml and the cream contains 10 mg of product. If you order any of the Etude House Honey Cera products in fullsize you will reveive one of this kits with your order!

Finally, I’m at the end of my first Pink Bird Box review. Did you like the content of Etude House Pink Bird Box November? I really like the topic of the Christmas themed products and the winter-proof skincare items to combat dry winter skin. Which are your favourite products? Did you try any of the products already? Tell me about it in the comments below!

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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accessoires fashion jewelry PR Sample Soufeel

Review: Soufeel Jewelry Christmas Charms

11. December 2015

Did you buy all your Christmas gifts already? If not I will introduce you Christmas gift idea: how about some Christmas charms from Soufeel Jewelry? Remember my last review I did for their charms and bracelets? This time I have some new charms for you which fit perfectly to the upcoming Christmas season. Also, these charms are not only great as presents, but also as a Christmas themed jewelry idea for yourself.

Soufeel was founded in 2011 and works for the slogan “For Every Memorable Day”. They offer charms, beads, bracelets and other accessories. The products are made from925 sterling silver and the charms can fit Pandora or Chamilia bracelet, too, which makes them a nice and more affordable option for these bracelets in case you own one of these. Moreover, they have over 500 designs of charms, so there is quite a large variety to choose from.

Like last time the items arrived in a beautiful packaging, again! My Soufeel Jewelry came in a pretty gift box and a bag was included, too. Packed like that it looks like a beautiful present to myself. The Soufeel logo was printed on the gift box and the bag, too, and gives it some elegant vibe. My selected charms were separately packed in tiny plastic bags inside the gift box, but it just took seconds to arrange everything into the bracelet. This time I decided to try a the Soufeel Wine Red Leather Bracelet and I selected 5 Christmas charms from their selection. I think they really fit nicely to each other. The Sleigh and the Reindeer charms are a set and count as one charm, but they can be separated from each other.

Apart from the Sleigh and Reindeer charm I selected a Snowflake, a Snowman, a Christmas Bell and a Snow-covered Log Cabin Charm. But there are many more Christmas charms on Soufeel. They are also on sale right now, so if you like charms like that you should grab the chance and get them during the holiday sale. The clasp of the bracelet is easy to open and to close and stays closed tightly, so you won’t lose your charms. Since the bracelet is very simple with a woven structure it can be worn on its own, too, but of course you can vary it with different charms as well. Below you see a comparison to my previous silver bracelet:

I think the silver bracelet looks more festive, but the brown leather bracelet is better for everyday. Also, the hardness of the silver bracelet is perfect for adding many charms, whereas the leather bracelet looks best with one or only some few charms. But that is only my opinion. Of course everybody can decide on his or her own how many charms to wear :D The pendant-type charms also look great when worn as necklace by the way.

I can totally imagine that the variety at Soufeel offers charms for almost every taste and I can recommend you to take a look at their page in case you like charm bracelets. They also have a variety of special offers. When you spend $59 you will receive a pair of free earrings. For $79 purchase you get a free charm and for $99 you get a free sterling silver bracelet! Additionally, Soufeel offers free shipping worldwide with orders over $50 and 365-day return and exchange guarantee. They also have daily deals on some products and a sale selection.

I’m very happy with my Christmas bracelet and charms and I’m looking forward to the holidays and all the Christmas events to wear these pretty charms. If you are a friend of charms and bracelets I would definitively recommend you to take a look at the variety of jewelry Soufeel offers. If you want to take a look at their products Soufeel offers my readers the coupon code Laven5 and you can enjoy 5% off for any order.

Which of these is your favourite Christmas charm?

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

asian cosmetics beauty PR Sample review Wishtrend

Review: Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin Drop

7. December 2015

// PSR SAMPLE / SKINCARE / KBEAUTY //

I’ve mentioned a couple of times that I love including vitamin C serum in my skincare routine. I’ve tried a couple of them already, but Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin Drop was not on my list yet. I was very happy, that Wishtrend asked me whether I wanted to try this rather newly launched vitamin C serum because I’ve been very happy with all of the Klairs products I tried so far. Let’s see how the Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin C Serum performs!

Klairs is a Korean brand sold on Wishtrend. It is eco-friendly, claiming to produce products which are animal-testing-free, alcohol-free, paraben-free, and artificial-color-free. Their products address people with sensitive skin and people who want to moisturize their skin. I reviewed some of their products before, like the Klairs Illuminating Supple BB Cream or the Klairs Gentle Black Cleansing Combo, which both convinced me in their effects. I also did like the Klairs Klairs Supple Preparation Facial Toner, which by the way has been updated and improved recently to a larger volume and more moisturizing ingredients. But let us return to the Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin Drop for this post.

Klairs is known for very simple packaging design, reminding me of the brand Kiehl’s for example. compared to the other products the Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin C Serum has not just a simple black and white packaging but has imprinted a holographic illustration of the bottle on the cardboard box. I really love how colorful the packaging is, depending on where the light shines on it. And yet, the packaging design is clean like we are used to from this brand. The vitamin C serum comes in a clear, thick plastic bottle with a dropper…WAIT?! What? A clear bottle for a vitamin C serum?! But we know that vitamin C oxidizes with sunlight exposure. This is the reason while a serum like C20 is packed in a brown glass bottle! A closer look at the bottle reveals the sentence: “Hybrid Stabilization Technology”. It seems the ascorbic acid used in this serum is stabilized and thus not so prone towards oxidization according to Klairs. I know that ways to stabilize vitamin C are ferulic acid or vitamin E. Both of these are not included in the ingredient list as far as I can tell. Another way to have stabilized vitamin C is to use derivates. I see that the ingredient list contains also Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate, which is a stable and water-soluble derivate of ascorbic acid. Nevertheless, I still do not know how they manage to stabilize the ascorbic acid listed as the third ingredient in the list. The product description it is stated that you should keep the product cool, dry and avoid its exposure to sunlight.…okay, why don’t they just make the bottle darker then?! Maybe because of the content of only 5% of vitamin C the effect of whether vitamin C is still stable or already oxidized is too small to feel the difference? I don’t know to be honest. I would recommend you store it in a dark place or simply inside the cardboard box anyways…

Compared to 20 % vitamin C which you can find in OST C20 Vitamin C serum 5 % sounds like nothing. So what is the advantage of using a higher dose of vitamin C in your serum? Vitamin C is an antioxidant and thus can prevent our skin from aging too early and from sun-damage. A high concentration of Vitamin C doesn’t mean automatically that it is more effective concerning anti-aging. Normally, a high concentration of Vitamin C aims at a visible effect, because it tends to operate as a chemical peeling by loosening dead and old cells. This is not a bad effect and stimulates the skin to regenerate itself, but keep in mind that it won’t affect the inner cell layers of your skin which have to be aimed if you really want an anti-aging effect. I know that for many the C20 Vitamin C serum with its high concentration is to harsh on the skin. With 5 % vitamin C serum you won’t have any problems with using it on sensitive skin, but you also won’t have the effect of regenerating skin. The benefit of the Klairs lies much more in the combination of all the ingredients together. You can check out the ingredients on COSDNA. The second key ingredient of Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin Drop is that vitamin C is paired with Centella Asiatica extract. Centella Asiatica extract has various benefits since it has anti-bacterial, smoothing and soothing properties. Triterpenes are one of the key compounds within the Centella Asiatica extract. They stimulate the synthesis of collagen and fibronectin with the skin cells. One of the subgroups of the triterpenes (madesaddoside) has shown positive effects on wrinkles and sun-damaged skin in combination with vitamin C. Apart from these two key ingredients you will find a bunch of other plant extracts with different moisturizing and anti-bacterial properties, which round up the formula of this serum.

The included dropper makes it easy to use the product. The serum has a clear color and is slightly runnier than oil. Unlike the C20 serums, this vitamin C serum doesn’t feel like water either but has a similarity to light oil or ampoule. When you distribute it on your face it has a smooth feeling. Additionally, the serum also has kind of a warming effect on the skin. I was really surprised about the formula, because it really reminded me of facial oil first, but didn’t make the face look greasy. It gives your skin a nice glow though. The scent is a citrus-herbal-lavender scent to me, but it is not overpowering.

Since I didn’t use it for a long time yet, I cannot show you any long-term effects, but even if I could I think you would not see much of a difference because my skin has been in a good condition for quite a while now. I can say for sure that it is much milder than the C20 vitamin C serums, yet, on the other hand, I don’t think that you can call this a pure vitamin C serum because of the low concentration. The main reason why this serum is great and probably efficient for many is the combination of the ingredients and especially the combination of vitamin C with Centella Asiatica extract.

I’m really fond of Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin Drop because of the mild and pleasant formula and the benefits it combines by the combination of the two key ingredients vitamin C and Centella Asiatica. If you have sensitive skin I definitively recommend you this over the C20 serums, but if you are looking for a chemical peeling effect and quick renewing of your skin I still say that the C20 serums are better suited. I’d rather call the Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin C Serum not a pure Vitamin C serum. It is more a great combination serum of a bunch of great ingredients with nice long-term effects. You could call it a cell-renew serum or something like this, but it is totally worth a try! You can get the Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin Drop on Wishtrend for 23.00 US$. Don’t forget to check out the Wishtrend monthly vouchers in order to save some money on your order and get freebies. Also, if you are interested in Vitamin C serums, here is a list of my past reviews:

OST C20 Pure Vitamin C21.5 Advanced Serum

OST Original Pure Vitamin C20 Serum

Tunemakers VC3 Vitamin C Derivate

Maple Holistics Vitamin C Serum

Which is your favorite Vitamin C Serum so far?

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

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asian cosmetics beauty Perhaps Unicorn PR Sample review

Review: Perhaps Unicorn Facial Massage Stone

4. December 2015

Did you ever want to adopt a unicorn? I did so recently! I was contacted by Perhaps Unicorn whether I wanted to adopt one of their unicorns and now I’m the owner of The Love Unicorn! You are probably wondering what the heck I’m talking about, right?! Those of you who are interested in asian cosmetics for some time have probably stumbled upon facial massage tools every now and then. There are many different types, but most common are so-called massage stones shaped in a special curved way so you can use them perfectly along the shape of your face. And, if you look closely at the shape of these massage stones, you will see the resemblence it shares with a horn!

Perhaps Unicorn is a retailer of 100% handcrafted gemstones for facial massage, avoiding plastic and other material which can be harmful to the skin. Their Unicorn Facial Massagers are hand-crafted and polished, gentle on the skin, and just heavy enough to use. Furthermore the stones contain natural gemstone variations which makes each unicorn facial massage unique to you. Perhaps Unicorn is offering two different Unicorn Facial Massage Tools, the Love Unicorn made from Rose Quartz and the Lucky Unicorn made from Aventurin.

According to the description from Perhaps Unicorn it says:

“Rose quartz is referred to often as the “Love Stone.” It represents unconditional love and opens the heart chakra. Rose quartz allows you to attract all types of love into your life: self-love, family, platonic, romantic, and unconditional. Rose quartz has high energy, and this strong energy can enhance love in virtually any situation.”

My Love Unicorn came packed in a box made of recycled paper with the silhouette of a unicorn’s head printed on the lid. Inside the box there was a beautiful red velvet pouch with the same unicorn head symbol imprinted. You can use the pouch to store your massager safely. The massage stone is beautifully handcrafted and polished. It doesn’t have any sharp edges or other flaws. It is not heavy and has the perfect size to fit in my hand. The rose quartz and its pink color are really lovely.

But how do you use these kind of facial massage stones? The key term is ‘Gua Sha’, a traditional chinese massage technique to stimulate the blood and lymph circulation. Gua Sha is used as accupunctual massage all over the body using several differently shaped stones. You can however use the technique with the unicorn facial massager, since the design is practical and versatile and can be used for all parts of the face and certain parts of the body aswell. Before you start the massage you need to use a facial oil or massage cream on your face and neck. You can also use your favourite oil cleanser for example. Then your start to glide the facial massage stone over your skin with light pressure in specific directions. Below, I created a printable cheat sheet on how to use the facial massage stone on your face and which parts of the stone you have to use for which area of your face. You repeat the strokes up to five times and on both face-halfs. It should take you about 10-15 minutes. Afterwards, your face will feel warmer because of the increased blood circulation. Since you will stimulate the lymph circulation aswell, your skin will be less swollen, too, and appear thinner or more defined.

I really appreciate a good facial massage and these facial massage stones are perfect for that purpose! The packaging is super pretty aswell, and the idea of having adopted a unicorn is awesome! If you are now curious about Perhaps Unicorn, or you want to adobt a unicorn of your own just take a look at their web page! The Love Unicorn retails for 25 US$. You can use the code Berries10 for 10% discount on your purchase. Oh, and feel free to grab your cheat sheet on how to do a facial Gua Sha >>here<<!

Do you use facial massage tools?

Fell free to join my giveaway with Japan Candy Box, too! Did you see it already?

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

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asian cosmetics beauty beauty boxes Mishibox PR Sample

Unboxing: Mishibox November 2015

2. December 2015

And here is another unboxing, but this time I’m super excited to introduce to you my first ever Mishibox! Yeeeii! I was eagerly waiting for the moment Mishi Box would start shipping to europe and finally I’m able to try them on my own! This monthly Korean beauty subscription box is packed with with a combination of 4 – 6 deluxe-sized samples and full-sized Korean beauty products from a wide range of Korean brands. Today I present you the content of the Mishibox November 2015:

MISHIBOX is a U.S.-based online retailer providing a wide selection of Korean beauty products. Apart from their online store they also offer a monthly Korean beauty subscription service that delivers a combination of 4-6 deluxe-sized samples and full-sized Korean beauty products. This way they are trying to help you to discover your favorite Korean beauty products. Their aim is to make Korean beauty products easily accessible to everyone regardless of where you live or what language you speak. Mishi (pronounced “me-she”) is their bunny mascot! When I first discovered about Mishibox I directly subscribed for their newsletter, because they planned to deliver worldwide one day. When I received their Email that finally Mishibox was shipping to Germany aswell I was sooo happy! And here it is finally, my first Mishibox:

The pink box was filled with 6 products in total, 2 of these being sample sized products, one mini-sized product and 3 products in full-size. Each box comes with a product description card, which is very detailed and even reminds us how we can distinguish between expiration and manufactured date and were we can find the list of translated ingredients. I really like the effort they put into the box by translating all the ingredients for example. You can even participate in a Mishibox Selfie Contest in order to win something! So lovely!

The theme of the Mishibox November 2015 was snail mucin. Two of the full-sized products are using snail mucin in their ingredients list. The variety of different brands in this box is nice, too: we have known brands like Etude House, Tonymoly and Secret Key, but also less known brands like D’Ran and White Cat. The product types are also versatile. Although all the products are skin care items you will find a cleanser, a sheet mask, a cream, a toner and emulsion, and an eye cream. It’s almost a complete skin care routine! Below I will go into the details of each of the products. Nevertheless, I will do a full review once I’ve used the products for some time.

The main product for me was the D’Ran Wonder Snail Treatment Cream. This nutrience-rich and highly moisturizing cream is perfect for upcoming winter days. Snail mucin is the key ingredient here and it contains 10% of it. Some other nice ingredients of this cream are Glycerin, Silkworm Cocoon Extract, Niacinamide, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Panthenol, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (jojoba) Seed Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Camellia Sinensis Callus Culture Extract and Human Oligopeptide-1 (also called EGF). The jar comes with 100g of content in a beautiful jar, too. It retails for 43 US$ which is super expensive, but it makes me even more happy to find this in a 20 US$ subscription box! I’m looking forward to use this cream, especially since I already tried a product from D’Ran before and was happy with it. Other than the one product from the past, this brand is hardly known to me.

The second item containing snail mucin is the Secret Key Snail + EGF Repairing Eye Cream. This eye cream is supposed to be very popular and it comes in a typical eye cream type. Snail secretion filtrate and EGF are the key ingredients here aswell, but it also contains some plant and fruit extracts and even some fermented plant extract. The tube contains 30 g and retails for 17 US$.

I was very happy to spot a sheet mask from the new brand White Cat. I just recently reviewed their eye balm and this is now the second product I can try from this brand. There were three types of this sheet mask which were selected randomly for each Mishibox in November. I received the White Cat Charcoal Pore Tightening Mask, which is directed towards pore care as the name already suggests. The masks from White Cat are free from paraben, mineral oil, benzophenone, petrolatum, imidazolidinyl, urea, talc, silphate and BHT. and I’m still loving their logo with the white cat :D The White Cat sheet masks retail for 3 US$.

The Tonymoly Fresh Cleansing Tissues in Mishibox November 2015 are provided in a miniature size. These water-type facial cleansing tissues contain baking powder for removing makeup and I’m not sure whether I like that or not, since baking powder is usually drying on my skin. But it also contains 5 natural oil ingredients to moisturize and nourish the skin. I will definitively try these, but I’m not sure whether I will like them or not. :D This small packaging of 15 tissues retails for 5 US$.

The last two items in Mishibox November 2015 were the two sample sized bottles from Etude House Age Defense line: there is a bottle of the Age Defense Essential Softener and a bottle of the Age Defense Essential Emulsion. I love these kinds of miniature bottles, especially for travelling! I didn’t try any products from Etude House’s Age Defense line yet, so I’m curious about these, too!

My first impression of Mishibox and their subscription box is very positive. Although all the products in their November box were skin care products there for items for almost all skin care routine steps. The themed ingredient snail mucin was included by two full-sized products containing snail mucin. The variety of brands was well balanced with known and unknown Korean cosmetic brands. The total value of 68 US$ for a subscription box sold at 19.95 US$ is awesome! If you are interested in Mishibox you can use my referral ID and get a discount code for $5 USD off your order (min. $30 USD) for your first purchase. At the moment their box subscription is closed due to high demand, but you can put your name on the waiting list. Mishibox also has a product store where you can buy a specific product, too. Until 4ths of December they are having Blackfriday sales with up to 30% off by using the coupon BFSALE2015. Did you try Mishibox already? How do you like their subscription box? Did you know any of the products I received?

Fell free to join my giveaway with Japan Candy Box, too! Did you see it already?

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

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Unboxing: Japan Candy Box October 2015 and Giveaway

1. December 2015

Another unboxing of the Japanese sweets subscription box, Japan Candy Box ! This is the box for October 2015! This post will be picture heavy again, but at the end of the post you have the chance to win a Japan Candy Box, so it is worth continuing reading! ;) Let’s see what delicious sweets I’ve received this time:

Japan Candy Box is a Japanese sweets subscription box by Blippo. Apart from the Japan Candy Box they also have the Kawaii Box, which contains cute toy items, stationary, tiny plushies and so on. I’m very happy to be able to show you the Japan Candy Box October 2015! I love to try out sweets and food from different countries and one thing I especially love about Japanese products is the cute packaging design and the little details they include to make the product most enjoyable. Some of the product I knew already, but there were some new and also delicious discoveries, too!

First of all, this time I really liked the variety of products. It was well-balanced between buiscuits and other sweets. As with the pervious box a DIY Candy was included, which is also a nice thing. The first glance into the Japan Candy Box October 2015 already shows that it is fully packed! It looks super colorful with a variety of packaging designs. The Japan Candy Box contains 10 selected products from Japan. The box comes with a product card listing the names of the 10 products.

The first product I spotted were the Pocky Panda Cookie Sticks. First of all: I really like Pocky! Second, I ordered these Pocky sticks a while back and already did really like the taste. These are chocolate biscuits sticks covered with white chocolate and biscuit crumbles. Delicious!

The Puccho Awawawa Ball Candy in Awa-Grape taste are candy balls with grape taste covered in sherbet powder. The sherbet powder tingles as soon as you put it into your moth and dissolves. I do not like these kind of shwerbet powder sweets, so I could not eat more than one of these balls. The name “Awawawa” comes from the sound that you make when you eat these candy balls by the way :D

Coris Strawberry Whistle Candy reminded me of my childhood! We had these candies in the past too. You can blow through the hole in the candy and it will make a whistling sound. The packaging contains a small, cute box. Inside this box there was a adorable cat-shaped paper clip.

I love mango taste in sweets and I was super happy about the Puccho Mango Chewy Candy. The taste of these candies is nice and not too artificial. Unlike the most chewing candy there are small bits of candy and fruit inside the Mango Chewy Candy.

The Meiji Mini Candy Pack contains small candies which reminded me a bit of mints. The packaging is sweet! I had the Meiji Kotsubu Chocolates in my previous box and like that one there is a letter on the backside of the packaging. You can learn the English alphabet while eating these :D. Oh, and as I mentioned before, this box contained a Kracie Popin’ Cookin’ DIY Takoyaki Set. I didn’t try it out yet, but these DIY miniature food kits seem to be super fun!

Meiji Juice Gummies showed me again that I do not like grape taste in gummies. These are made with 100 % fruit juice with no artificial colors or flavors, but to me they taste super artificial! This is definitively not my cup of tea.

Spotting a small pack of Lotte Koala March Biscuits made me happy again! I love these cute biscuits and these stawberry filled Koala March Biscuits were so delightful! Unfortunately, the bag is so small :D

The next two items are also biscuits and both have an adorable packaging but were not known to me yet: The Bourbon Petit White Chocolate Stuffed Cookies were super delicious! These bite sized cookies are filled with white chocolate between the two biscuits! I ate them directly after I took the pictures for this post.

And the last product from Japan Candy Box October 2015 are the Takeda Tamago Boro Egg Cookies. These soft biscuits remind me of sponge finger biscuits and melt when inside your mouth. The packaging is soooo cute!

My impression on the Japan Candy Box for October 2015 is positive! I liked this box even better than the box I received in June, because it was more balanced between biscuits and candies. There were also new products for me which I didn’t know so far. If you are interested in your own Japan Candy Box you can make a monthly subscription for this box. You can choose between several options: either to order only one box, to order three boxes (3 months subscription), 6 boxes (6 months subscription) or 12 boxes (1 year subscription). Each box retails at 19.90 US$. For the 6 months and the 12 months subscription you pay a bit less per box. Now, if you have reading so far you’ll probably be curious for the giveaway. Here it is: You can win a Japan Candy Box of you own sponsored by Japan Candy Box. For entering the giveaway please take part with help of the Rafflecopter gadget below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway is open internationally! Good luck to everybody! ♥

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

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accessoires asian fashion fashion PR Sample Sammydress

Sammydress Fashion Review

28. November 2015

It’s been a long time since my last fashion post! I did so many beauty product reviews I hardly had time to spend on clothing :D Did you hear about Sammydress before? I could choose a couple of products from Sammydress for reviewing purpose recently and I was overwhelmed by the variety of clothing and fashion related items they offer. I never ordered there before, so I was really curious about the quality and the duration of delivery, especially since they sell their products for very affordable prices. I decided on a blouse, a belt and a shoulder bag to start with. Here is my impression:

Sammydress is a global online fashion retailer with a wide range of Women’s Clothing, Men and Women’s Shoes, Bags and Accessories, Casual Dresses, Special Occasion Dresses and Accessories, Wedding Dresses, Fashion Jewelry, Intimate Lingerie, Wigs, Cosplay Costumes, Men’s Clothing, Children’s Toys, Home & Living, Lifestyle Products and many more. The products are manufactured in China and thus they can provide affordable prices. They are shipping worldwide, too. Their online site is easy to navigate and very straightforward divided into the different topics of products they offer. Shipping took 12 days for the products to arrive at my doorstep.

Let’s start off with this amazing popcorn bag shaped shoulder bag: I saw this bag previously on another blog, but I could not remember which one (I think it was on Emi-Doll’s blog). The design of this bag is so unique, which is why I had to choose it in first place! I love these kind of extravagant, unique designed handbags! The bag comes with a chain shoulder strap, which can be removed if you don’t like it. I prefer shoulder bags, so I’m using it with the strap attached. The popcorn bag is available in black or red, and has a golden base color. The inside is made of canvas and can be closed by a string. It is large enough (14cm x 10cm x 21cm) to keep a phone, a small umbrella, a small book, and so on. During the transportation one side was bumped in a bit, but it could be brought back to shape easily. I really like this bag and at a discounted price of ~9 US$ during black Friday sales at the moment a total steal. Usually it retails for 25.83 US$.

Second item I chose was this rose flower buckled waist belt. The breach is made of two metal roses and the size is adjustable, too. Unfortunately, the adjustment is loose and you have to readjust every few second. You can fix it by using a clip or something, but I would sooner choose another belt, although the price of 7.09 US$ (sale price 2.55 US$) is really tempting. The belt looks beautiful once it is fixed, but it is not convenient to use after all.

The last item I selected is this Double Lace Collar Polka Dot Blouse in light brown. You can choose between so-called Coffee Brown and White on the page, but this one is neither Coffee Brown, nor White, it is more a sand/ camel brown color, but It is super pretty and looks cute. It also has a vintage style, which I really like and fits nice with trousers and with a shirt. It was very crinkled when I received it, but I could iron it at medium temperature and it was perfect again. On the advertorial picture the collar looks broader than it is in reality. Some of the seams are also not 100% accurate, but the price of 15.52 US$ (sale 8.18 US$) justifies these imperfections. The blouse is claimed to be one size, but I think it is best suited for people with size “S” or small. I have European size 36 and it fits just right at the shoulders. If you have broader shoulders it might be a bit tight for you already.

All in all, I love the blouse and I’ve been wearing it often already. The bag is super adorable, too! A pity the belt is not adjustable properly, because it looks pretty, too. Except for the minor imperfections like the seams and excess yarn I’m happy with the products from Sammydress. The quality is comparable to the products you can order from Taobao or Aliexpress for example. I can imagine to browse their store occasionally in the future, too. Oh, and Sammydress has Black Friday Sales at the moment (27th -30th November) with discounts up to 80 % on the whole site, so maybe you can make some good deals.

Did you know Sammydress before? what are your experiences?

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.sammydress.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: White Cat Super Berry Silky Eye Balm

24. November 2015

White Cat was absolutely a unknown Korean brand for me until I received the White Cat Super Berry Silky Eye Balm from BNTnews this month. This multifunctional eye balm can be used either before or after makeup and works as a primer, but also has anti-aging benefits and improves wrinkles and dark circles. It is useable on the rest of your face, too, for example on the T-zone or on your lips as lip balm. It seems to be really a nice multipurpose product in a super adorable packaging!

White Cat is a Korean brand using safe natural ingredients for all ages and preferences.Their products are designed to be natural friendly, hypo-allergenic and keep your skin healthy and beautiful. I really like that their official web page is also available in English. All their products seem to have a typical design in pink with leopard print all over. The logo displays a white cat, therefore the name, too. The packaging is really pretty and cute in my eyes.

The White Cat Super Berry Silky Eye Balm combines 12 berry ingredients: Chinese matrimony vines, raspberries, amqui berries, korean black raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, acai berries, bilberries, black currant, cranberries,blueberries, and raspberry vine. These berries are rich in antioxidants and therefore have great anti-wrinkle and anti-aging properties. They provide moisture and nutrition. White Cat also claims to uphold the principle of paraben-free, artificial scent free, and artificial color free. They do not use any of the 20 toxins used in cosmetics as announced by the Environmental Working Group (EWG). The other ingredients have been added to COSDNA and you will find that the list doesn’t contain any unsafe ingredients, but some minor irritants. If you know that you can react to any of the ingredients make sure to patch-test the product before. Half of the ingredients lists consist of the berry fruit extracts mentioned above, but you will also find titanium dioxide (UV protection), squalane (moisturizing), and beeswax (nourishing, emollient) inside this balm.

The White Cat Super Berry Silky Eye Balm comes in a cute pink jar containing 15 g, which is quite a lot for an eye cream. Since it also has a balm texture it feels like forever until I will use this up. On the other hand, if you also use this as a primer all over your face as it is also recommended on the official product page it might use up more quickly. The white balm texture has a super soft and silky touch. It has also a matte finish and because of that makes fine lines less visible. It feels very light on the skin, too, but still provides moisture. I liked using this during day time before my makeup, but it also can be used above the makeup. If you want to use it above your makeup you should be very careful with the amount, because otherwise it may be cakey. Just put on little by little in order to prevent this. Also, if you use this on your eyelid you also have to be more careful with the amount of balm, otherwise it will settle in your eye crease. The White Cat Super Berry Silky Eye Balm also is practically scentless. If you stick your nose into the jar you will recognize a faint berry/oil scent, but actually, you smell nothing if you use the product.

Below there is an image of the skin under my eyes without and with the White Cat Super Berry Silky Eye Cream. you can see how the balm blurrs the area under my eyes and makes the deeper lines less noticeable.

All in all, I’m happy about getting to know a new Korean brand. The packaging of the White Cat products and this White Cat Super Berry Silky Eye Balm is adorable and looks nice on the dressing table among all the other cute Korean products I have. I also do like the silky balm texture and that the balm appears to be matte while still being moisturizing. And of course, it is multi-functional, which is always a plus! All in all, I’m happy with the White Cat Super Berry Silky Eye Balm. Hopefully the White Cat products will be getting more popular and we will be able to try other products from this brand. Retail prize for the White Cat Super Berry Silky Eye Balm is 32000 Won, which is around 32 US$ depending on the exchange rates.

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, and Blair and check out their reviews for the August BNT Beauty Box. And visit BNTnews for the latest Korean news and trends:

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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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asian cosmetics beauty BNTnews PR Sample review

Review: BRTC The First Ampoule Essence

23. November 2015

Apart from the Black Friday Deals I shared today I still have a regular beauty product review for you! Here is the other product from BRTC I was able to try, the BRTC The First Ampoule Essence. Actually, I think the full name is 1st Essence Treatment The First Ampoule Essence, but anyways… Here we have a so called first essence, similar to the Missha Time Revolution First Treatment Essence. I received this essence together with the BRTC Aqua Rush Cream from BNTnews, so I also used them in combination. Similar to the Missha Time Revolution First Treatment Essence the key ingredient is ferment filtrate to moisturize, soften and brighten up your skin.

BRTC is a ‘derma-technology cosmetics brand’ from Korea. It stands for ‘Bio Remedies Therapeutic Cosmetics’. They have products which are dermatological tested and safe for a variety of skintypes. They have different product lines each targeting another skin concern. The BRTC The First Ampoule Essence is a skin booster containing 95.3% of fermented patented ingredients and is supposed to sooth irritated skin and make it healthy. Like most of these kind of essences this product comes in a frosted glass bottle. The design is simple, too. Actually, I have the feeling that all first essences I’ve seen so far look like that :D

The cardboard box containing the bottle has descriptions in English and Korean and in contrast to the BRTC Aqua Rush Cream they even listed the English ingredients. We have here a two different ferment extracts, one from galactomyces and the other from lactobacillus. apart from the fermented extracts we have a bunch of plant/flower extracts like chamomille, hyacinth, green tea and lavender. Allantoin (soothing properties) and niacinamide (brightening properties) are also included. Generally, the ingredients lists is pretty short as you can check on >>COSDNA<<.

The claims of the product are brightening, improving skin texture, nourishing, creating a protective film, improving skin elasticity and moisturizing. I did not use this product long enough to see if it improves my skin in terms of skin texture or elasticity, but it is definitively moisturizing. Also, similar to the Missha Time Revolution First Treatment Essence you will feel a kind of nourishing film on the skin after applying it. I used this in the same way like I did with the Missha First Essence: in the mornings and evening after cleansing, toning and using actives I pour a bit of the essence on my hands and pat it into my skin. It has a watery, scentless texture and also absorbs very fast. What I like about the bottle is, that it has a scale on the side where you can see how much you are using.

Since I didn’t use this long enough I cannot say anything about the long term effects of the BRTC The First Ampoule Essence. Compared to the Missha Time Revolution First Treatment Essence I think that this one shows less immediate results. After using the Essence from Missha I have the feeling my skin brightened up directly. Also it contains many smoothing and conditioning ingredients which make the skin super soft. The BRTC The First Ampoule Essence also makes the skin feel softer, but the effect is less drastic. I do like the frosted glass bottle though and I like the scaling on the side of the bottle. Since I do not have any negative remarks on the product itself, this essence is a good essence all in all, but I still have a bottle of COSRX Galactomyces Essence to review and I would like to compare all three essences (COSRX, Missha and BRTC) together. Until then, I hope this review is still helpful! The bottle contains 150 ml and is a bit pricey with 38000 Won retail price.

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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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