[Review Preview] Let's Call It a "Vanity Fair"

I met my relatives last week and got some $$ from them, so I went to a "vanity fair" trip to Shinsegae Mall. Shinsegae Mall is a luxurious mall with Dior, Chanel, Cle de Peau, Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton, etc. 


I really couldn't buy much because I'm not a person of vanity (really?), but yes, I did buy some items :(

First, I bought two T-shirts from Raulph Lauren for my father and my brother as surprise gifts :) 


I also bought Dior Vernis 607 Blue Denim (Limited Edition) and Dior Addict Lip Polish Smoothing Lacquer 002 Smoothing Glow. I also got samples of Diorskin Nude in 020 Light Beige and Hydralife Youth Essential Concentrating Sorbet Essence :)


It was a weird experience since I NEVER bought a nail polish IN MY LIFE. I played piano for 15 years and that means my nails had to be short and light. Therefore, I never applied nail polishes to my nails. NEVER. But I came across Blue Denim and fell in love with the colour :) 


So stay tuned for the review :)


xoxo
Cynthia.

[TUTORIAL] Asian Semi-Smokey Eye Make-Up

Ladies, let's face it: Men do not like smokey eye make-up (although, of course, there are few exceptions). I'm not a fan of it either. I seriously believe that some look like Po from Kung Fu Panda.

Yes, you look like this guy right here (credit)

However, my boyfriend seemed to be a fan of smokey eye make-up (whoaaaaaaa? ohhhh my gawwwwwwd) and asked me to try it. And I did... using NYX's ES62A Deep Space and REMMEL's 700 Silver Moonlight.

So here I am (*blush*) with my semi-smokey eye make-up.

I know this is NOT what everyone was expecting but I seriously don't want to look like Po. I wanna look rather natural but still give some depths to the eyes.

Actually, this is why I call it "semi-smokey eye make-up". 

How-To's :

1) Apply an eye primer or powder all over the eyelids prior to eye make-up

    - to control and reduce oiliness.

2) Using REMMEL's 700 Silver Moonlight, apply it on the inner corners of your 

    eyes and blend it all the way to the centre of your eyes. Also, you can use 

    this eyeshadow or any highlighter highlight your brow bone.

    - for bigger and sparkly-looking eyes.

3) Use NYX's ES62A Deep Space and apply the shadow starting from the outer 

    corners of your eyes and work your way in to the centre of your eyes. Apply 

    it from the lower outer corners of your eyes and bring it towards the centre. 

    - to give dramatic depths to your eyes.

4) Use any fluffy brush to blend the border of where Moonlight and Deep Space meet. Brushing off any visible harsh line.

- to make this make-up looking more natural.

5) With a gel eyeliner (MAC's Blitz and Glitz), draw THIN lines unlike what smokey eye make-up usually requires. 

- to define your eyes w.o exaggeration and keep it natural.

6) Use very minimal amount of blush / shades (or none). This make-up's objective will be to focus on your eyes, not your cheeks.

- to keep the focus on the eyes.

7) Same goes for lips. Use a nude lipstick, so that the focus is on your eyes. And that is it for this tutorial! 


I really hope this tutorial helps! If you have any question or comment, please leave it below or follow me on twitter @CDistrict900212! Good luck with you all :-)

xoxo
Cynthia.

Problem with Layering...

Hey everyone! This posting is just to note that I'm perfectly aware of the layering problem I'm facing right now and I'll fix it asap! My Internet freezes every single moment I click on Design -> Width Layering. If anybody knows, please help me how to solve this problem :(

Otherwise, I apologize for the mis-layered pics !

xoxo
Cynthia.

AWWWW-MAZING KOREAN TUMBLER !

Hey everyone! I was going to write a BB cream review but thought this one was more worth it since I'm currently travelling in Korea!

I was actually looking for such tumbler FOREVER (or...anything with such design) but I never thought that I would find such tumbler in Starbucks! I was just there for green tea latte (I know, this sounds like a typical Asian...) and found this tumbler! I'm soooooo proud of myself!

I got it wrapped as a gift for myself! (feat. my proud left hand)

 

A man wrapped this for me but he nailed it better than what I can do...

....and... here it comes....!

(Bottom two pictures from Starbucks website)

TA-DA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This tumbler is very meaningful to me since this tumbler design is from Hunminjeongeum by King Sejong, the first Korean script 

with all verbal system of Korean language for the illiterate.

Starbucks website (here) explains that this 28 character-based writing system was dubbed "Hunminjeongeum" in 1446. This book is included in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 1997.

  

 

 Probably for cold beverages :( but I still love it! I'll bring it hither and thither!

But other than that, it is very Asianly-vintage and stylish!

Ohemgee, I have never seen a nicer tumbler before!

It contains no designs or pictures whatsoever,

but the letters themselves become the design!

How great is that :)?

This lovely thing only costs $12 (12000 WON)
so go purchase one for yourself and save the Earth!
(...and treat yourself to one free drink of any size!)

 

-

 

JUST A SIDE NOTE

I don't know how many of you can read Korean but Cyworld (one of the most famous Korean websites) has chosen the Korean version of this post (and slightly different) as "today's recommended post" :) thank you cyworld!

You can check this out at http://blog.cyworld.com/section/recommend/

[NYX] ES62A Deep Space

Whenever I buy an eyeshadow, I think of how well this eyeshadow can match with the other eyeshadows I have at home. This would not be different for most of you. However, I bought NYX ES62A Deep Space with no hesitation after trying it out.


NYX ES62A Deep Space is a greyish black eyeshadow. Now, I know there are many of you who are aware of the fact that shimmery eyeshadows may 
emphasize wrinkles or just afraid of trying out shimmery eyeshadows. However, this eyeshadow does not contain too much sparkles and succeeds to create a nice 3-D look that creates dramatic depths to your eyes.

I would say that this is not too highly-pigmented but I'll call it "somewhat pigmented" so that it is easy to build up on the shade (Good job, thumbs up, NYX!). That being said, if you are looking for high-pigmented eyeshadows, you might want to check out ES01 Black because this product is just pure BLACK.

(left) brushed once   (middle) brushed three times  

I want to suggest that this eyeshadow can create a great party and clubbing look but also a modest business look as well. Therefore, this one is definitely worth consideration to your wish-list.

cynthia.

http://benefitter.blogspot.com/

Random Pet Peeve List :)

1. I hate watching wrappers half-ripped off. It needs to be either fully ripped off or fully taped. No excuses.

2. I hate people who won't say "excuse me" or "sorry" when they accidentally hit me on my shoulder.

3. I also have this pet peeve about the people who slip into the swinging doors without opening it for those who are also trying to enter.

4. I went through several serious food poisonings that caused severe stomach aches, so this would be more like a phobia but I'm afraid of eating rotten food

5. I hate exercising but I exercised for 13 days straight now :)

6. I hate people asking me whether I'm Korean or not, when they clearly know that I'm Korean......asking me twice doesn't make me something else other than what I am :P

[Revlon] Kiss Me Coral: Sexy Lip Colour for Everyone

  

Hi everyone! I had a date with my boyfriend last month (before my trip to Korea) and realized that I forgot to put on a lipstick (shame!). I had 10-15 min. to run to a local drugstore and, Kiss Me Coral by Revlon was my choice.

What is with Coral Anyway?

Coral is still the "it" colour of the year. Celebrities still love it. Designers still make their debuts to the market with coral for their dresses and shoes. This colour works for everyone: the darker the shade of your face, the sexier it looks.

I definitely recommend Bobbi Brown's Cabo Coral and Coral Pink to check out. However, Revlon's 
Kiss Me Coral is still an inexpansive choice for a
coral lipstick.


Pros and Cons of Kiss Me Coral

Pros
- The colours of these lipsticks are b-e-a-utiful. Huge selections to make. Enough said.
- It lasts long too.
- Many say it bleeds into lines around lips (link), however, I don't have such problems although I have MANY fine lines.
- Excellent quality for its price.

Cons
- Revlon promotes that this lipstick contains an exclusive LiquiSilk formula of moisturizers and vitamins. However, I find it very matte. So this lipstick is not the best choice if you are having the same problem.

Overall ★★★★☆

If you have any question, please leave a comment below!

xoxo

Cynthia.

http://benefitter.blogspot.com/

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[Lancome] Tonique Comfort Review

Hi everyone! As I promised, I decided to upload my review on Lancome's Tonique Comfort Rehydrating Comforting Toner for Dry Skin.

Before I begin, here's some info about the toners that I've been using prior to purchasing Lancome. I've been using two types of toners from two different brands: LANEIGE's Power Essential Skin Refiner Sensitive (toner for sensitive skin) and Biotherm's Biosource Hydra-Mineral Lotion (toner for combination skin). However, I was really disappointed with both and thought it was the time to move on. So I planned on seeking for toners from other brands and thought of giving Lancome a try at Duty-Free D: (Yepppppppie!). 

The bottle has a beautiful rose-shaped pattern that is uniquely for Lancome.

(The picture is credit: Lancome. To find out, please click here for more info.)

The scent is flowery but it is really hard to explain exactly what it smells like. However, the scent is not irritating but fresh and gentle.

Other than the scent, my first impression was that it is too thick to call it toner but it is also too diluted to call it lotion. But whatever it is, it definitely does its job to hydrate your skin. It does not absorb into your skin right away but stays on your skin until your skin feels moisturized (If you are into quickly-absorbed toners, you will not be a huge of fan of this). Then, once the surface of your skin is hydrated, it works its way in and keeps it soft and fresh.

I've been saying in every post that my skin is very dry that it reaches to the point where it feels like it is torn apart if not moisturized with my standardized skincare routine (Toner--> Lotion-->Aquasource Deep Hydration Replenishing Gel-->Source Therapie 7 serum). It sometimes feels tight even when these steps are followed. However, I managed not to go through these steps with Tonique Comfort. 

After a week, the softness of my skin, along with the size of the visible pores, has improved. I'm only using Tonique Comfort and Source Therapy 7 Skin Perfection Catalyzing Serum right now and it feels soooooooo much smoother without the crazy steps (besides, I forgot to pack Deep Hydration Replenishing Gel on my way to Korea............OMG I can't wait to try it with Tonique Comfort). I'll still try other toners from different brands to find the best toner on Earth, but until then, Lancome's Tonique Comfort will be my holy grail.

If you have any question about this product, please leave a comment below or subscribe for more information!

xoxo
Cynthia.
http://benefitter.blogspot.com/ 
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________________________________________________________________________________

Links for the Products Mentioned Above

LANEIGE: Power Essential Skin Refiner Sensitive 
BIOTHERM: Biosource Hydra-Mineral Lotion
                  Source Therapy 7 Skin Perfection Catalyzing Serum
                           Deep Hydration Replenishing Gel (personal review)
Lancome: Tonique Comfort Rehydrating Comforting Toner
________________________________________________________________________________

[Review Preview] Lancome Duo Comfort Set

My skin type has changed from combination type (oily & dry) to oily type due to the weather condition in Korea (EXTREMELY humid, of course).

However, I'll still make a review on Lancome Duo Comfort Set which includes Galatee Comfort Comforting Cleansing Milk & Tonique Comfort Re-Hydrating Comforting Toner. This review will be posted on July 9th!

xoxo.
Cynthia.

[Miscellaneous] June Hits and Misses

Hey ladies and gens! I've been using a lot of drugstore products in order to share some thoughts about the ones that are easier for everyone to get hold of. I hope these thoughts help and please leave a comment below about what you think, in order to enhance the quality of the upcoming posts. Thank you!




MISS: Revlon's Moonlit Jewels

   

I bought Moonlit Jewels because I was thinking of creating a Californian sunset look and I thought I definitely needed all of those colours except for green. However, the colours were not what I was expecting; the orangish-red colour turned out to be orangish light brown and light peach turned out to be beige (due to our local drugstore's extra-bright lighting I guess...?). These palettes had no testers at all (and I can tell the reason why: the tape is sooooooooo freakin' sticky), so I'm not going to trust those palettes unless someone leaves one open. I didn't like those two colours at all :( Green and blue were better though. Overall, I think this was a miss. They are cream shadows but they don't seem to last very long. It was a horrible missssssssssssssss. 

HIT: Biotherm's Aquasource 24h Deep Hydration Replenishing Gel

I never tried using hydration gel but still had  the utmost trust for this item since I've seen many other bloggers praising the item. I DID visit Biotherm twice to test the product: the first visit was to test whether I get irritations or not & whether the product is mosturizing enough for my EXTRA dry skin. The second visit was to actually go and buy the product. Before I begin, I want to show you the pictures of the dramatic result that I got within minutes!

BEFORE (this picture came out a bit blurry...) 

AFTER

* COMPARE THE SIZE OF THE PORES & REDNESS, ESPECIALLY AROUND THE CENTRE OF THE PICTURE*

Do you see how the redness disappeared and the size of the pores are less visible? Trust me, I didn't photoshop those pictures and they are within taken from the same day, 1-5 minutes apart from one another. I suffered from the tightening of the skin around my mouth and forehead area before I used this product (it feels like my skin is dehydrated and even ripped apart), but I don't have that problem anymore. As you can tell, my skin feels hydrated, smooth with less visible pores. Overall, I would say that Deep Hydration Gel works AMAZING for dry to combination skin. It still works great for extra dry skin like mine but I didn't find it lasting for 24h as advertised :'( Yet I haven't found better one and I'll definitely stick with this one for sure. This product deserves an honour roll!


HIT: NYX's ES62A Deep Space

 My boyfriend has been asking me to do a smokey eye make-up, so I purhcased this greyish-black eyeshadow to encorporate the look along with Remmel's 700 Silver Moonlight (the next product I'm going to talk about).

This eyeshadow has gorgeous sparkles. Even if you are not a huge fan of sparkles, you may still like this one because the particles of the sparkles (unintended rhyme right there xD) are not too big to scare your men away from you but they still succeed to create a nice 3-D look that creates dramatic depths to your eyes (besides, why would a product be called "Deep Space" if it fails to conture?) You would definitely LOVE this one for maximizing your sexiness xD! One problem, though, would be the fact that it does not last quite as long as I would expect. If the surface of your eyes is oily, it would be a great idea to put on some eye primer before you begin to play with the eyeshadows. It was definitely a hit for me.

HIT: REMMEL's 700 Silver Moonlight

I was one of the people who thought drugstore make-up products are not worth their prices (sorry :P). However, after three-month-long trip from hither to fro, I finally found a product that has huge shimmer particles IN THE LOCAL DRUGSTORE! Hehehe :) 

The silver-coloured eyeshadow is Silver Moonlight and the black eyeshadow is Deep Space.

The sparkles would satisfy your need if you are a person who is comfortable with large sparkles (compare the size of the sparkles with Deep Space) and this eyeshadow lasts quite long. When you blend it out, it gives an highlighter effect, so you can put it in the corner of your eyes as well. I wasn't a huge fan of sparkles (and huge sparkles of course) but Silver Moonlight has taken my heart. ABSOLUTE HIT!

HIT: MAC's Blitz & Glitz 

    

This was my second time purchasing Blitz&Glitz. It is really fixed to your eyes once it is dry. As I said, my eyes are pretty oily but the corner of each waterline is the worst enemy; otherwise, B&G is PERFECT. I tried Bobbi Brown's and MAC's gel eyeliner and I think I would stick with this one for sure.

Please check out the link below for more details about Blitz&Glitz:

http://benefitter.blogspot.com/2011/06/mac-eye-liner-gel-blitz-glitz.html

It's already 4:38AM right now and I'm planning on a month and a half long trip to Korea (South, of course) so I rushed through the post but I hope this helps! Good luck everyone!

Cynthia.

http://benefitter.blogspot.com/

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