Friday, January 31, 2014

Etude House Chocolate Kiss Review

Happy Lunar New Year everyone! :)

It's been a crazy hectic period for Lace & Ebony during Chinese New Year with lots of exclusively manufactured pieces to launch over the month. Plus lots of other lovely new arrivals specially for Chinese New Year. I must say, I am really in love with the new designs (L&E Label, and non) and I hope that every customer that has purchased it will love it as much too. Kinda glad that the holiday season is over and I can get a good rest. It's been a long time coming!

A happy news to start my 2014, I'm extremely thankful to be blessed with an opportunity to be one of Etude House Ambassador Bloggers! I can't express how happy I am to be given this chance to work with one of my favourite brands, ever. I am already a fan of their products to begin with, and having this chance to try their new products monthly is really exciting! Btw, they have new innovation products every month, so do check out their ever expanding product range!

Introducing Etude House Chocolate Kiss range which is here specially for Valentine's Day. 

1) Perfumed Spray ($13.90)
2) Nail Polishes (with a nail sticker) ($12)
3) A set of Perfumed Hand Cream (Lily, Cherry Blossom, Rose) ($17)
4) Perfumed Lip Set (Peach Kiss & Pink Kiss) ($16 each)





Chocolate Kiss Perfumed Spray:
A light refreshing fragrance that can be spritz on your hair and body, leaving a light and floral aroma. It works great when you would like to catch a refresher, or after this Chinese New Year steamboats/bbqs!



Chocolate Kiss Nail sets: First Kiss (L) & Mint Chocolate (R) 
(Each comes with a nail sticker on their own)




A range of vibrant colors that goes on smoothly on your nails. The colors are slightly more true to the product pictures than the ones on my nails. Brighter & lovelier in real life. I especially love the Pink & Mint! Only the Yellow & Chocolate Brown color required a second coat to make the color even.

The nail art stickers are so cute & spunky! It'll help you to create a playful set of nails ;)




Chocolate Kiss Hand Cream in Lily, Cherry Blossom & Rose. 
It comes as a set of three and are miniature enough to fit in your make-up pouch! It comes in really handy for me because I'm especially a fan of hand creams that smell really good. I love how the smells can be therapeutic and at the same time, your hands become softer and well moisturised. My favourite smell is the Cherry Blossom!


Chocolate Kiss Lip Set in Pink Kiss (L) and Peach Kiss (R).


Lip Tint in the Pink Kiss set


Lip Essence in the Pink Kiss Set

Lip Tint in the Peach Kiss set


Lip Essence in the Peach Kiss set

Color swatch of the Perfumed Lip sets: 
(Top - Bottom)
Peach Lip Tint
Peach Lip Essence
Pink Lip Tint
Pink Lip Essence

My favourite is of course the Pink Kiss Set. Primarily because of how well Pink goes with my skin tone. However, I'll find myself reaching out for the Peach Kiss set when I don on a playful & colorful outfit, looking for a fresher look. It's a peach-pink color and it would be really easy to match with asian skin tones as well.

The lip tints are perfumed and they smell delightful! It's great knowing that you can moisturise your lips and look good at the same time. Tint for the color & moisture (it feels a lot like a lip balm), and essence for the shine.


I've used the Pink Kiss set here and it gives me a natural pink color on my lips & knowing that it wouldn't dry it out makes me more confident knowing that I would not face people having dry & chapped lips. It works great with every outfit and gives me a feminine aura with the pink. Loooove it :)

It makes for a great Valentine's Day little gift for yourself! Who says girls needs to be pampered by the boys? We can pamper ourselves all the same with a little beauty therapy to doll yourself up!


Etude House Chocolate Kiss range is now retailing at all Etude House stores.


xx

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Etude House Shining Dream Set Review

[Advertorial Review]

*waves frantically* HELLLO!

Sorry I've been neglecting this space a little but I'm back with a review of my new favourite makeup! It's now incorporated into my makeup routine and I know for sure I'll wear this during the upcoming Chinese New Year! ;)

I've been a Korean Skincare/Makeup fan for quite a while now and I can really see the benefits on me, so much of my skincare & makeup routine consists of 75% Korean, and 90% Asian products. Haha! I've recently added more to my collection and I'm terribly guilty because I've been splurging a lot on myself, heh.

The thing about Korean makeup is that it emphasises a lot on natural makeup, simpler coverage. It doesn't do too heavy a coverage and I think that's good enough for me considering that my skin clogs up a lot and it needs to breathe!


So today, I'm here to blog about Etude House's Shining Dream The Very Best Set.

Of course with a such a name, it can only mean that it features Etude House's best selling products!

This set includes: 
Precious Mineral BB Cream Bright Fit (W13 Natural Beige) & Dream On Powder (01 Light Beige). 


Cannot emphasis on how much I love Etude House's packaging design. It's filling my makeup collection up with pretty colors!


Disclaimer: I realllyyyyy do not have the best skin/features/face. 
So please bear with all the blemishes and flaws that I have! :( 


I start off with my bare face and only my brows drawn.





I use a pea size amount for my entire face. You really don't want to get too much product on too!


With BB Cream on! I like to use my fingers for application rather than a sponge/brush.


Next step, the Dream On Powder!




It comes with a cute puff that you can use! You can only stick one finger in though haha! I prefer not to use the puff because the powder is slightly too light for me, hence, using a brush and tapping away excess powder, helps me to spread a minimal layer on my skin evenly.


You can use a huge fluffy brush or a blusher brush to powder all over your face.

Add a little blusher and concealer (and falsies for me, if I'm going on a date/somewhere nice) and ta-da! You are ready! :)

It took me less than 5 minutes to put on the BB cream & powder, so it's really not that much of a hassle for busy women!




I like the nice overall glow it gives to my face, and most importantly, the Dream On Powder helps to mattify oily faces! My face does oil up after a couple of hours, but the powder helps to extend it by a couple more hours so I get oilier after 4 - 5 hours? Plus after that, it's minimal blotting! Considering that I don't work in an air-conditioned room or office too.

A hugeee plus point for me because I don't like how oily my face can get sometimes, and this helps your foundation to stay all day. I had a 11am - 1am day yesterday, and yes that's 14 hours. Considering that I didn't touch up at all, my foundation did not run, or cake, but minimally disappeared because I blotted twice.




Here's how I look with more even lighting! My face is naturally slightly fairer than my body (sigh! Any good whitening cream for body to recommend?), so I really had to use a minimal amount to ensure that I don't make my face too fair.




 My hands are about 1 shade darker than my face, so I usually test for shades on my neck for a better match to my face.


Dream On Powder is actually a light beige-pink shade! Very very pretty and would look especially good on fair ladies.

More about the products I used here:
Precious Mineral BB Cream (Bright Fit):
Formulated with Pearl powder
UV Protection (SPF 30)
Whitening, Anti-Wrinkle
Antioxidant moisture care

Dream On Powder:
Bright & powdery finish
Sebum & sweat resistant powder


With that said, I would really recommend Shining Dream Set to anyone who's looking for a new foundation! It has become my new favourite, honestly. With a light BB cream that benefits your skin, and a loose powder that helps to keep oily skin at bay (at least for a bit longer), it's a set that is rebranded with smaller than the normal full size products, and very portable too! 

It provides a medium coverage so you still have to dab on a bit of concealer, but it makes for a good everyday makeup routine because the coverage does not feel heavy and uncomfortable on your skin for everyday usage. Plus, the loose powder really really keeps sebum at bay. A winner for me!

xx

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Etude House I Need You Alphabet Masks

[ADVERTORIAL]


Etude House introduced a new range of masks last year called A-Z Masks.
Their new masks spans 27 different types and ranges from A - Z & ♥ !

Cozycot very generously sponsored 6 masks spelling E . T . U . D . E & ♥ for me to review & try.

I was more than delighted to try because after realising that the old masks at Etude House were clearing out, the usual ones I used were no longer in stock. Before I knew it, out came this amazing range of 27 different types! Hahaha, frankly I might try them all someday to see which are my favourites. So many to choose from!!

I usually use my masks before bed time because it's less fuss-free. Slap on a mask after my bath and lie on the bed to read or play with my phone for 20 minutes before taking it off and go to sleep. It is important to take off your masks after 20 minutes because they will dry up if you go to bed with it.

For this review, I chose to use it during the day so I can show you how the mask looks like when it's on, without battling the low lightings that come with nightfall. I decided to try on Dandelion! :)




After bathing, I slapped on the mask after putting on my toner. Which explains the fuzzy messy semi-dried hair, hahaha. 

The mask fitted me well (I can't expect it to be perfect because everyone's face shape is different), and to be honest, it was one of the few that really did so. It's a huge improvement from the past Etude House's masks. I've had them, so I know the comparisons, and the new A-Z masks didn't have too much outstanding areas that goes onto your hair, neck, etc. It doesn't drip excessively on you too, which is really good because if I am lying down, I don't want it to drip all over my bed! 




The masks are not too thick, and comes packed with sufficient essence to rejuvenate your skin! After 20 minutes, remove the mask and gently pat the remaning essence all over your face, to ensure that they are well absorbed.

The Dandelion mask helped with Revitalising, something I really need after being intensely stressed with work at the moment. After patting in the excess essence, I felt that my face was a little bit fairer, and definitely more plumped up with all the moisture it took in. Masks are definitely for maintenance, so I'm not expecting instant results! Slapping a mask on, twice or thrice a week really helps to keep my skin more moisturized, hence keeping oily skin at bay, plus, it helps my makeup adhere better to my skin, which is very important since I'm always doing photoshoots!

Here's a brief overview of the other masks and what they do:

E (Elder Flower) - Soothing & Moisturizing
This mask sheet contains Elder Flower extract (Sambucus Nigra Flower Extract), known to be used in Europe's folk remedies, soothing and moisturizing irritated skin from the environment or stress, delivering comfortable and smooth skin.

T (Tea Tree) - Trouble Care
This mask sheet contains extract from the clean herb, Tea Tree, with soothing properties on sensitive and troubled skin to provide a fresh, clean complexion.

U (Unpolished Rice) - Firming & Nourishing
This mask sheet contains nutrition-packed Unpolished Rice extract (Oryza Sativa (Rice) Extract), delivering a clean, healthy complexion with its rich nutrition.

D (Dandelion) - Revitalising
This mask sheet contains dandelion extract (Taraxacum Officinale (Dandelion) Extract), the flower that symbolizes life, energizing and revitalizing delicate skin with its touch.

- 5 Berry Complex
This mask sheet contains 5 kinds of sweet berry extracts (Blueberry, Acai berry, Raspberry, Blackberry, Strawberry) full of antioxidants and vitamins for a lovely complexion.





Retailing only at $1.90, it makes for a good maintenance mask to have on every now & then!

Which is your favourite out of all 27 masks? :)