Friday 25 December 2015

Korean goodies: Real Collagen Nutrition Serum review



The Dewytree Real Collagen Nutrition Serum was the perfect product for me from the very first moment I saw it.
I loved the classy, luxurious-looking packaging, quite bulky, but lightweight, eqiupped with a pump.
I've noticed that no matter whether collagen products really do stimulate collagen production in human skin or not, they do have noticeable results on mine. I find them highly moisturising, but non-greasy and fast-absorbing. I feel this serum also tightens my pores and makes a good make-up base. It has very faint and refreshing scent, which doesn't interfere with anything. 
I also noticed that Dewytree is a Nature Recipe brand and I happen to like Narure Recipe a lot.


I was about to write an enthusiastic review of this product when all of a sudden it was no more. I'd kept using it on and off for approximately two months, but there were a couple of other serums going on at the same time in my bathroom and I sometimes skipped the serum overall, so I was utterly surprised when I discovered there was no more product inside the bottle. I can't explain this, I might have been abusing the product or the 50ml bottle was half-empty from the start. I tend to believe the latter. 

To conclude, this is an excellent product, but the milky plastic packaging prevented me from noticing how little low the product was running or how little there was in the first place. 


Sunday 20 December 2015

Estee Lauder Pure Color Envy Liquid Lip Potion #410 review & swatches


When I first heard about the new Estee Lauder liquid lipsticks called Liquid Lip Potions, I was super excited to try one out. There are quite a few claims behind this product. It's supposed to be a truly innovative hybrid which offers comfort and moisture, saturated colour, satin matte finish and staying power of up to 8 hours. 


So, let's see how it delivers and how different it is compared to other liquid lipsticks on the market.

So, first of all we need to mention the classy packaging, which is a classic tube in Estee Lauder's dark blue colour and the fairly unique, but not entirely novel on the make-up market curved applicator which makes it really easy to apply the product.
Secondly there's the nice, vanilla kind of scent, which isn't disturbing, but adds to the pleasure of using the product. 
So far so good, but from now on you're going to hear my rant about this product. 

Part of my dissatisfaction lies in the unlucky colour selection, but I did swatch this one in the shop and it looked like the perfect mauvey brown shade for autumn, but in spite of the product being relatively dark and swatching as if it was highly pigmented, it turned out to be my exact lip shade when applied. Not my lips but better kind of shade, it's just my lips and nothing more. This is actually the reason why I'm totally unable to tell how long it wears as it's blends with my lips so well that I don't notice it at all. 

Another thing is that this lipstick isn't all that comfortable to wear. It's rather thin and very lightweight, but I don't think it's very moisturising either, and mind you, my lips aren't dry or chapped. I can also say that even though I can't see this on my lips, I can feel it for the first 2-3 hours and my lips are comfortable with that, but some time later they start feeling extremelyparched and dry, which doesn't happen often even if I'm wearing a heavy duty matte lipstick. 

And then, there's this grainy-starchy texture and the bitter taste that I can sense when I touch my lips with the tip of my tongue. My advice is don't kiss anyone when wearing these lipsticks, unless you want to offer your partner a bitter kind of experience. 

This product never sets and moves around the lips and stains the glasses just like a traditional lip gloss would, however,the finish is on the satin side indeed. This is nowhere near your long-wearing, matte liquid lipstick.  I feel this product resembles Rimmel Apocalips Matte a lot, but it costs almost 10 times more.   


You might have guessed already. I'm not a fan of Estee Lauder Pure Color Envy Liquid  Lip Potion. Go and grab Rimmel Apocalips if you're looking for something saturated with colour and lighweight, but not necessarily long-lasting. If you're looking for a good liquid liostick, try other brands.

Saturday 19 December 2015

Korean goodies: Mizon Oh! Shy Glow On Shimmer Light liquid highlighter review


I have oily skin and theoretically I should stay away from all highlighters, but they look so good in photos and make every complexion look so fresh that i just cannot hep-l using them. 
I would never buy a Korean highlighter myself, just because I've already got more highlighters than I need and importing one from Korea seems like a nonsensical idea. 
The Mizon one I'm about to review came into my hands through a Memebox and I must say I was unsure whether to tag this as a Korean goodie or a great underdog of make-up, and finally went for the former just to be consistent in my posts.
   
Everything is perfect about Oh!Shy Glow on Simmer Light by Mizon. 
1. The packaging
Not only is the packaging cute and classy with its chess pawn design and its milky glass container, but it's also very practical. I do appreciate the fact that it comes with a rattle ball which helps stir the product and a brush applicator which can be used to apply the product directly onto the cheekbones, but I prefer to apply some to the back of my hand and then blend in with a fluffy brush or a sponge.
2. The shade
The shade is a lovely pink-undertoned pale pearl. Excellent for all fair-skinned gals.
3. The finish
This is a beautiful, super shimmery highlighter, which makes my complexion glow without any obvious sparkles or chunks of glitter.
4. Non-greasy
Even though this is a liquid highlighter, apart from the glow it naturally produces, this product has no tendency to stimulate oil production, look greasy or accentuate pores. 
5. Multi-purpose
This product can be used on its own over or under foundation and also mixed with a foundation of your choice. As I have said, this will not make your foundation more dewy, as this product isn't moisturising or oily or greasy, but it'll add glow to any matte foundation and prevent it from looking ageing or flat. 

This product is comparable to Benefit's High Beam, and even though High Beam is on a peachy side, while Oh!Shy is more pinky, I would call it a more a more affordable dupe of the Benefit product.



Thursday 17 December 2015

Korean goodies: Yadah Anti-Trouble Bubble Cleanser review


The Yadah Anti Trouble Bubble Cleanser is a product which doesn't target my skin issues, yet after using this for over a month I noticed less hormonal breakouts than normally and I think I can attribute this to my skin care.

This product comes with a pump which produces natural foam of very lightweight consistency. The foam has no scent and doesn't feel soapy. The insctructions say that you need to rinse straight after cleansing, but when left for some time on the face the product feels the same way as o2 cleansers do, seems to penetrate the pores and shift dirt and residues of make-up.

This is a gentle cleanser, which I've never used on its own, so I cannot say much about how effective that is, but when treated as the second step in my double cleansing process (the first one being a cleansing oil) this product works wonders removing traces of make-up as well as any greasy residue left after using the oil. 
I don't feel this is particularly drying, my oily skin has never felt tight and uncomfortable after using this product.

This is a very nice cleanser and the only reason why I won't repurchase is that I love Korean cleansers so much that I want to try out something new all the time.  


Tuesday 8 December 2015

Antipodes Kiwi Seed Oil Eye Cream review


I'm a big fan of eye creams, but I'm a very fussy user. I have dry undereye area, so I'm constantly on the lookout for something highly moisturising and thus preventing the ageing of my skin.

The Antipodes Kiwi Seed Oil Eye Cream attracted me with its natural, vegetal and herbal ingredients and the enthusiastic reviews of users on feelunique.com. What's more the price to quantity ratio was also encouraging. 
The cream comes in a simple, but nice dark glass tub. I know some people would prefer a tube, but I don't mind. 
The cream is lightweight, it applies like a dream, goes on smoothly with no tugging or pulling, and absorbs beautifully. It makes a great base for make-up which doesn't make my bottom lash mascara melt. 
It keeps my undreye moisturised for hours, but I haven't noticed any softening of my fine lines and no long-term effects whatsoever. The reason why I'm not going to repurchase is that the skin under my eyes starts feeling dry  towards the end of the day and I don't always have the opportunity to reapply. But if you're younger or your skin is not as quenched as mine, this might be a good option to take care of your skin and prevemt wrinkles from occuring.


Thursday 3 December 2015

Korean goodies: Blanc Doux Pinot Noir UV Shield & Tone -up Sensitive review


I first opened this Blanc Doux Pinot Noir UV Shield and Tone-up Sensitive SPF35 in the summer and it went straight back into the drawer. Two things about it made the product impossible to use back then. In the summer heat it was rather heavy and didn't feel mattifying enough for my oily skin and what's more it turned my face ghostly white as the cream's colour brings toothpaste to mind.

Although this product is technically a sunscreen, I fell in love with it when I used it instead of my moisturiser in mid November. Now that my complexion is way paler than it was in the summer, this cream doesn't look stark white on my skin, what's more in the cooler months, when my skin produces less sebum, this turned out to be rather mattifying.

This cream, which contains SPF35 and antioxidants that come from Pinot Noir wine is a perfect make-up base for winter months. I feel it evens out my skin tone and makes my pores smaller. There's noticeable white cast, but foundation covers everything and I don't think it looks unnatural on me.

I like the matte turquoise tube with its narrow nozzle, which reminds me of an ointment. I also like the fact that it isn't heavily scented, but still smells nice. 

It's a good cream and sunscreen for the palest of pale. It'll turn olive-toned complexions ashy. I don't think this will suit dry skin types, unless applied over a very good moisturiser.