Etude House Beauty Shot Face Blur

Cameras are offering a beauty mode to make our skin appear smooth & flawless. Well, no need for that now because Etude House has introduced an all new Beauty Shot Face Blur SPF15/PA+ to recreate that soft-focus effect on our face for that flawless, beautiful radiance in real life!

Beauty Shot Face Blur has a lightweight texture that's pretty similar to a CC cream. The formula consists of Airy Skin Powder, that allows the skin to breathe comfortably. It also helps to smoothen the skin's texture by blurring out pores. Enhanced with Sebum Control Effect, it helps to control the production of sebum, giving you a satin-matte look! 

The key ingredients in this little bottle of photoshop (hehe) includes Airy Skin Powder, Baby Pixel Powder which has extremely fine particles to smooth out your skin texture; Cover Powder to correct skin blemishes lightly; and lastly Plate Powder and Amati Pearl which has fine glow particles for a bright and glowy complexion. 

With a nozzle pump, it dispenses the product easily. Pump out a small amount and apply a thin layer in a circular motion on your face, paying special attention to your concern areas with enlarged pores. I prefer to apply an additional light layer over these prominent areas!

Dispensing a small amount on my hand, and applying it to half of my hand to show you how it looks like!

It may appear light pink on first application, but after applying it in a circular motion, the color lightens out and blends extremely well onto my skin tone. I can hardly tell it's on! Definitely more of a primer than a CC cream, with very very minimal coverage.

I have enlarged pores near my nose, pretty bad, I know! So I was pretty excited to see if Beauty Shot Face Blur would help the presence of these pores.

The difference is minimal, but there is visible evening out of the skin tone, and filling in of the smaller pores. Because of the cream's light texture, it would not help to fill in the bigger pores.

However, with a bit of powder (applied light-handedly with a brush), it is definitely working its magic here! 

(Pssst... I'm wearing the new Color in Liquid Lips from Etude House in PK006, such a happy pink shade! More details to come about that later this month.)

I can have photoshop skin 'naturally'!!! It is a new addition in my routine and I reckon it's here to stay. I know I've said it wayyy too many times, but I am a huge fan of make-up that's light & natural, hence I don't usually put on much on a regular basis for work / errands. 

I only have on Beauty Shot Face Blur, powder that's very lightly brushed on, concealer, blusher, eyebrows filled in with a pencil, and lipstick! Ta-da, a look that's fuss free!

It feels light, and goes on very smoothly on my complexion, and works tremendously well for a primer, setting my make-up perfectly. 

However it is not to be confused with a miracle worker for enlarged pores!

All in all, I'm really happy with how it evens out my skin tones, and blurs out some pores for a better complexion. It works perfectly as a make-up primer that isn't too heavy for our skin! :)

Only $27.90 and available at all Etude House Singapore stores!

xx

[Sponsored Advertorial]

Etude House Wonder Pore Freshner

It's that time of the month again for... My Etude House review!

This September, Etude House is bringing to you a refreshed line of Wonder Pore with Wonder Pore Freshner, a toner that contains a patented blend of Mint Vinegar and Anti Pore-Dex Complex. The all new Wonder Pore Freshner now boasts of 10 in 1 benefits (up the previous 7). 

The new Wonder Pore Freshner now boasts 10 skincare solutions:

1. Removes leftover makeup 

2. Lightly acidifies skin to optimal pH 5.5 level

3. Controls sebum

4. Minimises pores

5. Treats uneven skin tone

6. Maintains skin elasticity

7. Hydrates skin

8. Smoothens skin texture

9. Gets rid of impurities and dead skin cells

10. Refreshes and cools the skin

I've received the Wonder Pore Freshner Kit which comes with 500ml of the Pore Freshner, and 50 cotton pads.

It is the essential Summer toner (Singapore is Summer all year round so it's perfect for our climate!) with Mint Vinegar, which prevents the widening of pores, tightens pores, sterilises and soothes pores with a strong astringent function beneficial to widened pores and skin without elasticity, and even helps with itchiness, inflammation and pimples! Mint Vinegar also removes and inhibits the growth of Demodex, which is one of the causes for enlarged pores. 

Another key ingredient is the Anti Pore-Dex Complex that is made from Pasqueflower, Western Dandelion, Chrysanthemum and Cypress Leaf extracts which deeply cleanses and purifies the pores to effectively remove the last traces of makeup. It also possesses a light acidifying quality which balances the skin and preps it for better absorption of your moisturiser in the following step!

Here's a look at the cotton pad. It's of a better quality than the usual ones I've used because it's slightly thicker, and I could separate more layers of the cotton.

I could generally tear it up into 4 pieces (with some layers still being quite thick), whilst I can only separate up to maximum 3 layers with my usual ones.

The Wonder Pore Freshner also comes with a push dispenser (is there a proper term for this?), which I absolutely love because it is a lot more convenient for me to dispense some toner on my cotton pad by just pressing it down!

The Pore Freshner is dispersed adequately on my cotton pad without any mess or spillage, yay!

Fun fact: Did you know that there are about 20,000 pores on the face? 

And each diameter of a pore is about 0.02-0.05mm.

That would mean a lot of pores to care for!

The Wonder Pore Freshner can also be complemented with other Wonder Pore products to tackle skin woes. New products from the Wonder Pore Line includes the Wonder Pore Facial Soap (available mid October) and Wonder Pore Modeling Ultra Clear (available 1st October). 

The Wonder Pore Line helps tremendously with sebum control, dead skin cell removal and the eradication of red pores, resulting in smoother and tighter skin. In our hot & humid climate, we are prone to producing a lot more oil, and constantly battling enlarged pores due to the excessive sebum production, so get cleaning, and make sure your pores are cleaned thoroughly with Etude House's Wonder Pore Freshner today!

The Wonder Pore Freshner Kit (500ml + 50 cotton pads) is now retailing at all Etude House stores for $32.

Etude House Play 101 Pencils (Part I)

Introducing the much raved series from Etude House : Play 101 Pencils!

I was extremely excited for it to reach our shores after watching Pony's videos on how she utilised these versatile pencils to create different make-up looks. These pencils can be used on our eyebrows, for eyeshadows, eyeliner, highlighter, blusher and lipstick! It's amazing how this can be used for so many different purposes, and it's definitely lightening our make-up/travel make-up pouch now! ;)

Etude House Singapore brings in 13 colors (out of the range of 50 colors available),

but fret not as we've gotten quite a bit of basic colors!

The entire list of amazing colors of the Play 101 Pencils (not all available in Singapore at the moment).

It's crazy but I wish I had them all!! :P

They come in different textures, of glossy, glitter, creamy, and matte. Despite the different textures, all the pencils are soft, so application of these must be gentle! 

Here is a guide to some of the make-up looks created with just the pencils, and frankly I was so hooked onto it even before it arrived, simply after watch the make-up tutorial videos. The possibilities are endless.

I'll be featuring 15, 20, 26, 28, 50 in my next post! I've been using them to create more comprehensive make-up looks when necessary, and I love how they aid in replacing my actual lipsticks, eyeshadows, etc and are so portable. The colors can be pretty pigmented too! *thumbs up*

My favourites are 20, 28 and 50 and they are best for even day-to-day make-up looks.

Now available at all Etude House Stores in Singapore for S$12 each.
Head on down to do a swatch test of the colors. I highly recommend it! ;)

Etude House Color Lips-Fit

I'm back with my Etude House feature of the month, and this April, it's all about the lips! Lips makes for an important feature of our face (besides the eyes), and a dab of color can do wonders to your entire look. For me, it helps me to look less pale and makes me look complete. I can do without falsies, eye make-up, but not the lips. Never the lips!

Etude House has released a revolutionary product called Color Lips-Fit. From a liquid type lipstick, upon application on your lips, it transforms to a powdery matte texture. Fitting your lips seamlessly, without any weight or uncomfortable feeling, tried & tested!

I've gotten the PK003, BE101 and WH901 to try.

PK003 is a girly pink, BE101 is an orangey beige, and WH901 is a clear gloss.
Guess which is my favourite? ;)

Here's the full range that Etude House offers. With the current K-trend, a lot of bold & strong colors are incorporated into this collection.

The applicator for the lipstick catches the product well but do dab sparingly on your lips to avoid too much product only on one side.

A swatch of the colors and the texture when I first take it out of the bottle and applied it on my arm. You can tell the texture looks like a normal tint lipstick from here.

A few seconds or minutes later... It turns into a powdery matte lightweight texture. How cool is that! ;)

(This picture is more true to color)

Swatched it on my lips as well, but not before applying the clear gloss (WH901) to my lips beneath. Do remember to shake the bottles well before use.

I find that the clear gloss works brilliantly beneath and over these Lips Fit Lipsticks! Especially for girls like me, whose lip lines are pretty obvious. I don't get dry lips very often, but they do appear chapped at times, hence a good lip moisturiser is needed to bring out the condition & color of my lips better. WH901 works wonders, really! I loveee it.

PK003 appears a tad more neon in real life, but it's a lovely K-Pink, which of course, stands for a bold girly pink that is all the rage now in Korea!

BE101 is a light orangey-beige, a very unique color that I slowly grew to love. You'll see why after I post the full face pictures ;) And yes, this is my favourite shade!

PK003 on my lips is a tad less subtle on camera and when I apply the clear gloss beneath, so it turns out a brilliant pink here, as shown in the pictures.

The BE101 in a full face shot. The BE101 just seems so flattering! It's such a unique shade of beige and I love it so much ;) Plus, it doesn't pale you out too.

 However, something to note is, this lipstick requires touching up! It transfers to your cups, utensils pretty easily. One way to touch up brilliantly is to wipe your lips entirely clean, and reapply from scratch. This way, you'll be able to wipe off any dead skin on your lips as well and do a nice smooth reapplication and you'll look as good as gold!

Head on down to all Etude House stores to swatch it for yourself this weekend! ;)

xx

Mary Kay CC Cream: A Review

I am a hugeee fan of foundations. If there are two make-up items that I'm extremely guilty of splurging on, it's foundations & liptsticks. I have tons of them at home and it has grown to quite a collection now! :P

I am very kindly sponsored the new CC Cream from Mary Kay! Well, I'm sure you've heard of BB creams, but what about the latest revolutionary CC creams? They have been raging on the markets recently, a while after BB creams were introduced. It may seem a little confusion trying to differentiate the two, but it boils down to very simple facts. 

CC creams are complexion corrector creams that simply colour corrects your skin tone. Like BB creams, CC creams come with a bit of sunscreen coverage, but in my opinion, CC solely corrects color. It does not provide sufficient coverage for blemishes, but it evens out the color on your entire face. Giving you quite a sheer-light finish, if you prefer light make-up.

Now that that's clarified, here's more about the Mary Kay CC Cream!

It boasts of SPF 15, providing minimal protection against the sunlight, and aims to give you the "easy out of the door option without that made-up look". It's light-weight, and slightly moisturizing, and acts very much like your tinted moisturiser.

With 8 benefits, it ensures that it's got you covered in one product. It brightens, protects, corrects with lightweight coverage, minimizes redness, conceals, hydrates, reduces visible signs of aging & defends. Wow, quite a handful huh, hehe! It works by dispensing via a pump tube, but at times it dispenses a little more than required.

Oil-free, fragrance-free, non-comedogenic, dermatologist-tested and tested for skin irritancy and allergy. Suitable for and tested on Asian skin. Also suitable for all skin types including acne-prone & sensitive skin.

I was given both Light-Medium & Medium-Deep shades to try, and the Light-Medium shade fits me like a charm. However, the Mary Kay CC Cream provides a really really sheer coverage, hence, you'll still have to add an extra step or two to cover your blemishes. 

Here's a swatch of the Light-Medium & Medium-Deep Shades:

Light-Medium has a slight pinkish undertone, while the Medium-Deep was slightly tanner / yellow.

Gonna show you how the Light-Medium color works on my skin tone ;)

Spreading the color out with my finger... 

It blends in REALLY WELL. I really can't tell where it starts/ends, haha! But yes, coverage is sheer, as you can tell. It's perfect for ladies who like their make-up light!

I've added on concealer & loose powder (light blusher & lipstick), to give that natural, not so made-up look.

It did really help to even out my skin tone and made me look healtier, but I still need my concealer for difficult spots!

Click on the link for more information about Mary Kay's CC Cream.

It's available in 4 shades, and retails at S$37.

To locate a consultant, call 62266888, or visit www.marykay.com.sg 

Thank you for sending over the CC Cream, it's been so fun experimenting to new foundations, something I really have a soft spot for! ;)

Etude House Every Month Cleansing Foam

Have you seen these new little babies around? :) 

Etude House introduces not 1 but 12 new facial cleansers! Termed as Every Month Cleansing Foam, it has 12 different types of facial cleansers for you to use a new set every month according to how the weather or your skin condition changes. Singapore might not have the luxury of having four seasons or drastic weather changes (okay we sorta do rain/shine haha), but we can adapt it to how our skin feels at different periods during the month (in need of moisture, calm relief etc).

A mild cleansing foam that washes away all impurities. Each cleansing foam has a different texture and of course different key ingredients to suit your needs. Gently massage over face with enough foam of this cleanser and rinse it thoroughly with lukewarm water, leaving your face especially clean & refreshed.

It also comes in a compact size of 100ml, which means it's GREAT for travelling junkies because it fits right into the cabin luggage (if you're travelling light), without all the hassle of squeezing it into smaller jars to bring along. I've always been fretting about my skincare when I travel, and now, no more with such cute compact sizes! Another good reason why it'll be good for frequent travellers, is because of the varying ingredients in each cleanser. If you travel to a country with a colder climate, you can chose to bring along something that's a little more moisturising to help your skin combat the dryness.

The Every Month Cleansing Foam I've gotten are:

1 - Avocado & Butter (Deep moisturizing)

Skin Types: Exhausted by cold wind, Dry skin

2 - Pomegranate & Berry (Firming)

Skin Types: Skin with loss of elasticity

3 - Apple & Tomato (Tone clarifying)

Skin Types: Dull and discolorated skin

5 - Green Tea (Fresh & clean)

Skin Types: Skin with excessive sebum 

7 - Aloe Vera (Soothing relief)

Skin Types: Irritated Skin 

Here's a little swatch I did with the cleansers. 

1, 3 are of a mild and moist pearl cream. 

5 is of a fresh cream texture. 

2 & 7 are of a moist gel texture.

There are four different textures in this series too!

I've also done a little test to see how much make-up it can remove. Though it's not touted as a 2 in 1 cleanser, it'll be good to see how much make-up it can remove! It'll also assure us that all our make-up will be completely removed by the time we are done with our make-up remover, and the cleansing step!

Here, I have on basic make-up that women would wear on a day-to-day basis. Hehe, okay maybe not all at one go, but here's what you'll have on if you have a full face of make-up. From top to bottom: Foundation, Concealer, Waterproof Eyeliner, Lipstick, Eyeshadow.

I applied 5 - Green Tea to the concoction of make-up on my hand. 5 - Green Tea was also the one that I've started using first to suit my skin's needs. It's gotten rather bad after I got back from my recent holiday *BOO* :(

Mix it all up and add a little water to make it foam!

TA-DAH. Here's the end result! Admittedly I was quite heavy handed and accidentally applied quite a bit more foundation & concealer to my hand. But all that's left on my hand is the imprint of the waterproof eyeliner, which you should really try to remove with your make-up remover first, and a few faint splotches of the concealer! Successfully removed 95% of my makeup with just the cleanser!

Always always double cleanse to make sure your face is free of make-up before bed! Unless of course your cleanser is a 2 in 1 step, but I always like to be sure. Better safe than sorry ;)

Here's the entire list of Etude House's Every Month Cleansing Foam for you!

1 JAN Avocado & Butter - Deep Moisturising

2 FEB Pomegranate & Berry - Firming

3 MAR Apple & Tomato - Tone Clarifying

4 APR Lemon & Garlic - Purifying

5 MAY Green Tea - Fresh & Clean

6 JUNE Tea Tree - Trouble Care

7 JULY Aloe Vera - Soothing Relief

8 AUG BlueBerry - Revitalising

9 SEP Rice - Richly Moist

10 OCT Green Vegetable - Clean Moisture

11 NOV Walnut - Smooth & Nourishing

12 Red Wine - Soft & Moist

Which ones are your favourite?
To suit my skin type, I think mine are Green Tea & Aloe Vera! :D

Also newly available in stores is the Milky You range consisting of a Make-up Remover, Facial Cleanser, One-Step Cleansing Foam (yes a make-up remover & cleanser all in one!) and Baby Milk Water (cleansing water). Can't wait to try them as well! :)

Say YAY to better skin and it really starts from within! 

It's important to have a proper cleansing system, so that your canvas is preen & good enough to have make-up on :)

x