[Haul] April 2013

Face Products

Lancome Visionnaire

This product really enhanced the condition of my skin: it minimized the acne scars, the number of acnes, and the tone of my skin. Once applied, it really hydrates my skin. This is the second (or third) repurchase and I am satisfied. 

The Face Shop Face It Aura Color Control CC Cream 02 Natural Beige

Unlike any other CC Cream, this is a CC Cream with medium coverage CC Cream that is buildable to slightly heavier coverage with dewy glow. It feels more like a BB Cream than a CC Cream.

Osèque High-End Touch SPF34 PA++ 21 Light Beige 

Osèque High-End Touch foundation gives sheer coverage with dewy finish. It feels heavy.

(From top to bottom) Sigma Tapered Kabuki - F86, Large Angled Contour - F40, 

Tapered Blending - E40, Short Shader - E20, Eyeliner - E05 

Tapered Kabuki - F86 is my most favourite brush above all. It is very densely-created brush, perfect for applying under-eye concealer and highlighting. Large Angled Contour - F40 is good for countering, but I also use it to apply blushes too. Tapered Blending - E40 was my least favourite brush above all. Although it feels and blends better than MAC 224 brush, it sheds a lot. Short Shader - E20 is perfect to apply and to blend on highlighters on the inner tear duct and on the lower lash line. Eyeliner - E05 works great to apply (but not to blend on) inner tear duct and lower lash line.

Lip Products

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain 045 Romantic

I purchased this product after purchasing the same product in different shade (001 Honey). This product runs smoothly with a glossy finish. It gives the purest blood red shade with very evident red stain.

Covergirl Lipperfection Jumbo Gloss Balm 215 Watermelon Twist & 245 Ruby Twist

(Top) 245 Ruby Twist (Below) 215 Watermelon Twist

Both give sheer to medium coverage. While it is very wet and quite similar to Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain, this product is not a lip stain; therefore, it does not transfer onto the lips. It also does not transfer. Please keep in mind that Watermelon Twist is quite vibrant and may make your teeth appear yellow.

L'Oreal Colour Caress Wet Shine Stain in 188 Coral Tattoo & 193 Eternally Nude

I fairly enjoyed using 193 Eternally Nude and thus bought 188 Coral Tattoo too. Both are fairly pigmented and wet. With an interesting-shaped applicator, the product glides on smoothly with it. 

MAC Mineralize Rich Lipstick Elegant Accent

It is a vibrant cool-toned pinkish coral shade with a glossy finish.

Nails

Deborah Lippman Rehydrating Base Coat

It is pretty hard to determine whether this product is really capable of hydrating my nails. However, I still favour this base coat anyways since it does not transfer nail polish colours onto my nails. It also makes my nail polishes to become less brittle. 

Butter London Fiver

This is the light pastel mint-green shade. Because it does not have neon shade within it, it really looks great even in yellow-toned skin: it does not make your skin appear to look yellower. It lasts around 6-8 days without chipping and peeling off. After that, almost all fingers chipped.

That is it for my haul! Don't forget to follow me on my blog and on Twitter :)

xoxo
C. 

[Revlon] Colorburst Lip Butter in 001 Pink Truffle

Size: 

Price: C$9.99+tax
Type: N/A

Availability
This product can be purchased at your local drugstores. 

Ingredients

Container/Packaging

The packaging of this product looks quite cheap; the squared plastic cap contributes mostly (or entirely) to this inexpensive impression. However, the lip butter without the cap actually looks quite nice. With REVLON-engraved black plastic bottom, the metal container actually looks very high-end.

Product
It is a balm-textured lipstick with muted pink/mauve shade that has a slight tint of brown. While this sounds quite overwhelming for some, this is one of the colours that can work for everyone for every occasion. It is, indeed, a very sophisticated and elegant colour that can never look overdone. 


If you are looking for a medium to fully opaque coverage, thick texture and glossy finish, Pink Truffle is one of the rare ones that has such qualities from Revlon's lip butters.  


Other than the colour, the texture is another thing to praise about. It glides across the lips and leaves them more moisturized than any high-end and drugstore lipsticks ever tried. 


The only downfall to this lip butter (other than its packaging) would be its short wear time. It needs a reapplication every 2-3 hours. 

Scent

It has a very minor vanilla scent that is almost unnoticeable.

Would I Recommend This Product? 
YES. I already own two of this shade: one at home and another for my make-up bag just in case. As you may know, I have feathering problem and hardening on my right side of the bottom lips since I peel the feathering ever so often. However, I am fairly satisfied with this lipstick and I definitely look forward to seeing more range of coral shades!

Pictures

xoxo
cynthia.

[Review] Jack Black Lip Balm in Natural Mint & Shea Butter

Size: 7g (.25 oz)

Price: C$7.50 + tax

Availability
This product can be purchased at Sephora (Canada).

Ingredients

 

Container/Packaging

Since this product is intended for men, it appears to be very "male-intended-product-like". It comes in a navy blue tube with a black twist-top cap. The applicator is turned slightly around from the tube (which seems to ease the application).

Product
*PLEASE NOTE THAT THE PRODUCT THAT I'M REVIEWING IS NOT JACK BLACK INTENSE THERAPY LIP BALM SPF25 BUT JACK BLACK LIP BALM IN NATURAL MINT & SHEA BUTTER*
This product, just like Jack Black Lip Balm in Lemon & Chamomile (to see the review for Lemon & Chamomile, please click here), comes in a gel texture (thicker constancy compared to lip gloss) which doesn't give a glossy finish but a semi-matte-looking texture just like other lip balms.

While Jack Black claims that mint "freshens breath" and Shea butter "conditions and moisturizes the lips, keeping them soft and supple", there is definitely a noticeable, minty, cooling effect. The effect fades away after few minutes but keeps the lips conditioned and moisturized.

Scent

It contains a cooling minty scent which may be irritating for some. 

Would I Recommend This Product? 
As a Jack Black lip balm lover who, even before finishing the first Jack Black lip balm, purchased six of their lip balms, it is truly the best lip balm available in the market. I previously expressed my anger towards this product after first couple of experiences and impressions, but it was my misunderstanding. I totally recommend this product.

Pictures

[Review] Rosebud Perfume Co. Smith's Mocha Rose Lip Balm with Vanilla

As many of those who visited my blog may know, I'm pretty generous with many of the products that I reviewed. I mostly provide a review about what I love and what I constantly use but I'm about to review something that I thought I would never hate and that's a product with chocolaty scent. So here it is: Smith's Mocha Rose Lip Balm with Vanilla.

Weight: 14.2g (=0.5oz)

Price: CA$7.00 + tax

Design/Packaging

Rosbud Perfume Co. didn't make any fancy packaging for the lip balm but wrapped it around with transparent plastic.

This lip balm comes in an opaque white tube format with a rounded rosebud crest in the middle. The lid is a milk chocolate shaded plastic which, from its colour combination, pretty much explains itself as a mocha rose lip balm.

Product


Even before observing the actual product, one aspect that was the most detectable was its scent (which can be synonymous to the word "odour" in this case). Although the label of the product has the word "Mocha Rose" in bold (while the word "Vanilla" comes in a tiny-sized font), the lip balm possesses such a strong and intrusive vanilla scent that it instantly gives nausea (at least to me). Its taste is even worse.


The lip balm comes in clear strawberry juice shade and, performance wise, there's no doubt that this is an amazing product. Within 10-15 minutes of the application, it gifted chapped and flaked surfaces with emollient smoothness even when wiped off.


However, I cannot give any opinion on its consistency since I refuse to apply this product on my lips again (I'm not too picky about scents but  I really refuse to reapply this product on my lips and will return this product).





As I said, I believe I was pretty generous with many products that I've reviewed; however, this lip balm was something that I really had to get it off of my lips because of the overpowering scent that made me sick.

I know that this is an incomplete review since I cannot inform you with its lasting power and performance in detail but I just don't want to continue with a product that will make me sick. I really hope that you understand.

xoxo
cynthia.

[Review] Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15

I haven't tried any product by Fresh. Should I add any excuse to that, I have very acne-prone skin and therefore I'm very cautious when it comes to applying any product that may cause an unfortunate outcome. For lips, however, I don't really have such problem. 

The reason why I tried this is because I had to give up my JBLB to my brother who loved it so much and Sephora wasn't carrying JBLB. Therefore, I decided to give Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment a try.

Weight: 4.3g (0.15oz)

Price: CA$26.00 + tax

Packaging

Sugar lip balm treatment comes in a box where a dark burgundy container that is shaped like a screw-top lipstick. It feels quite heavy and sturdy but only contains 4.3g of the actual product.


Product

FSLT looks very close to Vaseline in lipstick version: with its opaquely pastel lemon shade. As seen from the comparison picture to the iPhone3gs, it also doesn't really contain much product.

Its citrus scent is not as powerful as JBLB but quite pleasing indeed. The scent is almost unnoticeable after the actual application of the product. However, it tastes quite horrible.

Just to mention some downfall, this lip treatment on both edges of my lips began to dry up a bit within an hour or so although most of the surface still felt smooth. It is very slightly and almost unnoticeably sticky.

To give my personal experience with this product, I began to experience flaking after two to three hours of application and failed to give a "treatment" that I was actually looking for when purchasing $26 + tax product. Moreover, I never experienced a noticeable enhancement of my lips. Therefore, I really don't experience such with my JBLB so I returned this product after two to three weeks of trial.


If you liked this review and want more from this blog, subscribe to my blog or to twitter @CDistrict900212 which will both be available on the top right-hand side of the column of this blog. Thank you so much for your support and I'll talk to you all later!

xoxo
cynthia.

[Bobbi Brown] Pot Rouge for Lips and Cheeks in Cabo Coral

I usually don't purchase Bobbi Brown products. There was the time when I fell into the pool of vanity where I thought that only the high-end make-up products have long consistency, excellent quality, and a great range of colours (which was partially true). Furthermore, they were perfect attractions for the ones who 1) have fallen into the pool of vanity like myself 2) can actually afford these extravaganzas. However, I came to realize that I shouldn't purchase what I cannot afford and what is not worth its price. Therefore, I consider as many positive and aspects as possible before purchasing high-end products. 

But I'm trying to talk about one of my numerous success from the high-end brand experience and here's an example: Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge for Lips and Cheeks in Cabo Coral. 

Design 

The Pot Rouge jar reminds me of Chanel Illusion D'ombre. They are about the same size (although Pot Rouge comes in a 5cm jar in diameter) and both have the logo on the black plastic lid. Pot Rouge comes in a transparent jar. 

Product 

It is a gorgeously light peachy coral shade (honestly looks more peachy to me) which falls into the warm-tone category. The colour in the jar is quite overpowering but it is gradually buildable. 

Its texture appears to be very hard wax-like but it melts, sticks and glows gorgeously on the cheeks, giving a dewy finish. However, the formula definitely is thick and dry for the lips, requiring an application of lip balm before using Cabo Coral. 

Moreover, it has a distinguishably awful scent (and taste) that may be recognizable but undefinable. It is undetectable once applied around the cheekbone but strongly detectable once applied to the lips. 

Personal advice

If you really want to apply it to the lips, Scrubbing the lips using lip scrub and applying generous amount of lip balm is recommended. Keep your lip balm handy at all time since it is very dry for the lips. 

xoxo

cynthia.

[Collective Haul] Yesstyle, eBay, Ardene, Sephora, Urban Decay, Jack Black, and Biotherm

Ardene

Beret is my current obsession I bought this Burgundy beret and another from Forever21.

They are so chic but also totally necessary when you are trying to live in Canada :P

Yesstyle

I made a few purchases from Yesstyle.com (of which I highly regret).

They had  some Korean clothes that I've seen back in August that 

Koreans have sold (or are still selling) in stores or online.

The website costs twice as much and I really wish I didn't make these purchases.

 I really wish I checked the website more thoroughly so that I can realize this fact but

the realization hit me AFTER I made these purchases so...ugh.

Plus, they advertize about FREE SHIPPING with $150 or more

and guess what.... I had to pay $64 dollars per FedEx box, 

which cost me $130~140 just for getting these shipped.

Ugh.

eBay

NO INFRINGEMENT INTENDED

I forgot to take a picture of this dress but this is what I bought.

And it came with a pair of earrings like so. I don't like the earrings but

I'm totally satisfied with the dress. It's amazing.

NO INFRINGEMENT INTENDED

I also bought this one but this really emphasizes your chest area and

......i'm not getting into this.

Sephora

I know that there was a F&F sale back in November but I really had NO TIME

so I hit Sephora right after when I received that $20 (or was it $15?) coupon.

NAKED PALETTE 

I know NAKED2 was coming but as soon as I saw Frmheadtotoe's review,

I decidedly bought this one (it's my first NAKED palette FYI) and 

I'm perfectly proud. I'm not planning on purchasing NAKED2 anyway.

Biotherm 24h Deep Hydration Replenishing Gel

This is my second bottle and I absolutely love it! 

I had a second thought of purchasing a Clinique one,

but I still prefer this one over Clinique. For sure.

(Clinique one feels slightly sticky and it feels 100% dried,

leaving your skin smooth. Definitely leaning towards the pricier side.)

Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm in Lemon & Chamomile

This is my current obsession since the moment of my purchase.

I really didn't want to try the tester one since I don't trust what other people 

have done to it (they might have tried it after a slice of greasy pizza or.. whatever)

so I purchased it, really without thinking. $7.50 + tax for 7g lip balm is horrifying but

it's worth every penny you spend. I've been using this every single day (about two to

 three weeks now....?) but I love it soooooo much. This is my holy grail for now on.

Duty Free

This is what I apply after my Biotherm Aquasource 24h hydration replenishing gel and

I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT I'VE NEVER REVIEWED ABOUT THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll review about this product asap. This is one of the permanent items on my skincare routine that I can never forget about. I asked my mom to purchase this because these

are U$150 for two as a combined set. I love this so much.

I also bought a 88 palette from BHcosmetics but they sent me the matte one instead of shimmer one so I have to return it. I'll take a picture of it later when the shimmer one comes back.

And I guess that's all for my collective haul :(

I hope it was helpful and I'll talk to you guys later :D

xoxo

cynthia.