Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Review: The Body Shop Tea Tree Pore Minimiser

The name of this product is kinda odd, yet obvious, for me. The 'booth babe' told me this product would give a tremendous effect on reducing the appearance of your pores. Well, for me, that function kinda impossible. Reducing the look will only work if you use a lot of foundation and cake powder. But curiosity beat me. So after reading a lot of good reviews, I decided to buy this from their official online store. It was on sale! Sorry, booth babe! LOL. Please note that TBS only sell their products on the official counters and official online store. They won't guarantee the authenticity if you buy this from other sources.

I don't have problem with that shinny greasy face but this flat nose of mine--and still fully functioned as a breathing tool Alhamdulillah--does. And my forehead as well, which I usually wiped with my clothes tissue. Hehehe...

This is what the product looks like:


The packaging comes in green shade, TBS style, but I think the tube cap would have been better if it comes in pop-up style.


What comes outta the bottle was something non-sticky yellowish kinda cream with unique smell.


I've read some reviews that this has very awful smell which I didn't agree since I found it very refreshing. When you apply this to your face you'll feel a cool sensation on your skin so be careful when dabbing this near you eye area.

And one of the most important aspects, the ingredients. Hope you can read this clearly. Please reconsider purchasing/using if you are allergic to one of these:


Tea tree is commonly used as an antiseptic and I find this ingredient in many acne treatment products.
I apply this to all over my face and a more generous amount on the nose since it has the heaviest oil excess and I think it does a wonderful job on mattifying your skin. Usually, my nose gets shinny after half an hour in outdoor activity and 2 hours in indoor activity, but after I use this, the matte look spanned to 6 hours in outdoor. No touch up! Matte nose alert. LOL. I'm so happy I find this! 

Here's a few tips from me:
  • This product will do wonderful job on blemishes skin 
  • For those of you with dry skin problems, this will do no good for you 
  • For combination skin types, use this only on oil excess parts
  • I use this on my oily eyelids to make my eyeliner stay longer, but please do it very carefully
  • For best result, apply oil-free sunscreen and oil-free moisturizer BEFORE using this. The order is: SPF cream - moisturizer - TBS tea tree pore minimiser - foundation/BB cream
  • After applying this, do not dab your foundation/BB cream too hard with your fingers since the dried cream of this product will fall off

And so far, here's my verdicts:
  • Non sticky formula
  • Expensive (IDR 219K or USD 20 for 30 ml???)
  • Strong smell of tea tree (some of you might be annoyed by this)
  • Good oil control
  • Not for dry skin
  • The cream is too thick, you have to squeeze quite a lot to get enough
  • The dried cream will fall off if you dab your foundie too hard
  • Cool/mint sensation on your skin

Will I repurchase? Maybe... If I haven't found a cheaper product with equal effect yet!

Note: I use this on my normal-oily combination skin type. Results may vary to others.


Friday, January 31, 2014

Tutorial: How To Make Your Eyes Look Droopy

Warning!
This is not the tutorial for droopy eyes, but how to make your eyes look droopy. So this article is definitely for those fierce-eye babes/dudes out there, like me. Droopy eyes literally means lowering or drooping of the upper eyelid giving you sad looking eyes.

I have a fierce face, and that's becoz i have fierce eyes. For years and years and years I had always been faithful to the style 'cat wink' due to its sexiness. Little did I know that doing that would only make my face look more violent. Until I found this Gyaru eye make up on the internet.


The key to Gyaru eye make up is the upper eye liner striked lower than your real eye line and the lower liner striked lower that your real lower eye line, giving you a cute droopy look. When I tried it, I can see that my expression looked nicer and much cuter hehehe. Where was that fierce look go?

I have looked thru' many gyaru tutorials and combined them to make my very own version of errr... gyaru eye make up? Nah... I'm too embarrased to call this gyaru becoz I'm not one. Let's just say it's gyaru inspired eye make up. INSPIRED. LOL. Let's start!

You'll need these:
Black eye liner
White eye liner
Gold eye shadow
Silver eye shadow
3 pieces of dramatic upper eye lashes
1 piece of natural upper eye lashes
Light brown eyebrow drawer/pencil




  1. Start with a clean eye. After applying your fav base and cake powder, put eye shadow primer on all over your eye lids and lower eye area. Circle lenses are optional.
  2. Put silver or white eye shadow on your upper eye lid.
  3. Apply dark brown or black (depending on the intensity you want, the darker the more intense) on your crease and outer lid.
  4. Put on black eye liner on your upper eye lid like I did in the pic. Make sure to make it thicker in the middle. Strike the end a bit longer than your real eye line. Don't forget to color your tear duct as well.
  5. Apply gold powder eye shadow on your eyebrows and finish it with light brown or gold eyebrow drawer.
  6. Put silver/white eye shadow on your brow bone.

And you're done! If you wish for a very natural droopy eye look, stop now. But, if you want to test your limit more, follow the next steps:




7. Draw a line on your lower eyelid like I did in te pic. Make sure to use the easiest eyeliner type
    according to you since this part is a bit tricky. I use gel eye liner. Stop in the middle of your lower
    lid.
8. Fill the blank part with black eye liner or eye shadow.
9. Fill the other half of your lower lid white white pencil or silver eyeshadow. 


Once again. You can stop here if you think this look is dramatic enough. But if you wanna go a bit further, let's continue. LOL.






10. Pick your favorite fake eye lashes and put them as close as possible to your upper lash bed. Put
      mascara and curl your lashes.
11. Pick another fake eye lashes with a more natural look and cut it into half.
12. Glue that lashes close to your bottom lash bed. I suggest not to use fake eye lashes for lower 
      eye since you won't catch the dramatic look. Use upper fake eye lashes instead.


Okay. Is there any more way to make this look more... Errr... Dramatic? For me, this step has already reach my confidence limit. But... If you crave some more, okay, let me show it.






13. See the gap line between your upper and lower fake eye lashes? Fill it with another one! ^_^
14. Measure that gap length and cut another fake eye lashes.
15. Glue them to that gap and tadaaaa, you're done! Finally done! I couldn't think any more way to 
      upgrade the dramatic level of this look. LOL.

Tip: I do not sugget these last 3 steps since that lashes on the gap line won't move when you blink your eye. It will look weird. But the choice is up to you. Who am I to judge?

Final result:










Can you see that my eyes still look 'cute' and kind though I make a fierce face? No...? Oh, okay...  >_<




Here's a comparison for you to choose between natural or dramatic look. The key is on the fake eye lashes!

Have fun and good luck! ^0^


The tools I used for the eyebrows:
Inez powder eye shadow (aztec gold)
Etude color my brows (light brown)

And for the eyes:
NYX Single eye shadow (dark brown)
Inez powder shadow (sparkling silver)
Etude gel liner (black)
Etude proof 10 pencil (black)
NYX white pencil
Itsdiva eye lashes
Ageha softlens












Sunday, January 26, 2014

Review: Princess Universe Soft Lens Galaxy Edition--Andromeda (Pink)

Assalamualaikum,
I'm a huge fan of Marilyn Manson, Sarah Brightman, good cup of coffee, and soft lens! And since I meant this blog to be a beauty and fashion blog mainly, so I decided to do a soft lens review only LOL.

My eyes are sensitive to soft lens. So it was such a struggle for me to wear them. I had several eye irritations before caused by soft lens. Many people told me to wear glasses instead of soft lens because they were much safer. On the contrary, these eyes Allah gifted to me are, somehow, 'occupied' with special needs: Myopia and Astigmatism. With a VERY high diopter. Don't ask the number :)

To the people who suggested eye glasses, don't they know that wearing them can burden your ears it hurts? Don't they know the headache you had when wearing them? Don't they know that fake eyelashes would ridiculously stuck on the lens? Don't they know those glasses would drop when you're sweating heavily and your noses got slippery? Don't they know that no one notice when you wear pretty eye make up? You can't look pretty because my glasses are super thick! Sorry I got carried away :D

At first, it was hard for me to find the right soft lens for these special eyes of mine until I found these crazy color soft lenses:

 princess-universe










This is what they really looked like in actual light:




Specification:
Manufacturer  : Princess
Country : Korea
Dia : 15.00 mm
Power  : 0.00 to -15.00
Water content : 52 %
Thickness : 0.20  mm
Life Span : 12mos (with maximum care)
Color type  : Bright
Price  : Around IDR 140K/pair (USD 14)

See the bold red text above? Yup, besides their super bright colors, the power that span to -15.00 is another fun fact about this product, which is a bless for the people with very high diopter needs.
I got these babes from http://mygeolens.com/
This shop is awesome, I'm telling you. Nice customer service and quick delivery. You can buy soft lenses with different power for your left and right eyes. Actually I wanted the red ones, but since they were temporarily unavailable, I chose the cute sweety lunatic pinky ones instead. Unfortunately these series does not have prescriptioned lenses for Astigmatism. This shop have them tho' but in other series.

This is the front and back side of these lenses




The manufacturer claims that these had small pores and used Silicone Hydrogel material which made Oxygen delivered easily to your cornea so you will feel comfortable up to 12 hours of usage. For those of you who are still unsure about Silicone Hydrogel, you can check out this site http://www.allaboutvision.com/contacts/silicone-hydrogel.htm

When I first wore this, dang! It was super bright. Alhamdulillah Allah did not create pink as a natural eye color because some people would feel 'disturbed' seeing this. LOL. My first impression was that my pale face look even paler. There are many other pink soft lenses out there that look natural, but these are definitely not one of those. You have to balance it with heavy eye make up, at least wear bold upper eye liner, please, or else you'll be mistakenly presumed as a Pink Eye Syndrome victim :D

This is my 'pink eye' without make up




This is my 'pink eye' with heavy make up




Here's another application example, sorry can't show you the whole face because I did not wear my hijab.



See the difference?




I wear these in air-conditioned place (aka MALL :D). I was there for about 4 hours and didn't put any eye drop, it felt amazingly comfortable. First, I thought maybe because that was the first usage, any soft lens would felt comfortable on its first use. But I've been using these for about 3 months and they didn't feel less comfortable. Please note that I have very sensitive eyes. Of course I always rinse them carefully after each usage. I would like to share some tips about soft lenses usage some other time   :)

So far, this is my verdicts about these pinky babes:
  • very bright pink color
  • you have to combine it with heavy eye make up, at least bold upper liner
  • wide range of Myopia prescription choices (up to -15.00)
  • no Astigmatism prescription
  • medium comfort
  • not meant for natural look
  • please be self-confident when using it for daily uses
  • the pattern is too simple
  • low eye-enlargement 
Will I buy it? No, at least not for this color. I hunt for the red ones and I already have so many wishlist on my mind! ^_^
This is one of them: the monotone soft lens, Princess Mint.



See? Cute isn't it? LOL. I'll definitely have you one day!

Note: I write this based on my own experience. Result may vary to each individual.



Monday, January 20, 2014

Review Tony Moly Luminous Goddess Aura BB Cream

Assalaamu'alaikum
Yay! It's my first content of the blog. Finally I brave myself to publish something after neglecting this blog for a couple of weeks!
This lovely looking BB cream is what I'd like to review now. Why I chose this to be my first content? Becoz i just got it. No particular reason LOL.
After googling for some other reviews, I was craving to have this babe immediately and try it on, becoz unlike the other infamous Korean BB cream (I don't hafta mention the brand, no?), this one has fewer bad reviews. So I thought I would give it a shot.
Kay, here u go.



The box colour should be white with pink colour blushing from the bottom ot the box. And can you see that black round stamp over there? Yeah, it should be gold. Thanks to my low resolution camera, it turns out black. The bottle down here is made of plastic with pink and white combination.



This product claims that you'll gain moisture and radiant look, smoothness, firmness, as well as blemishes covers. And oh look, there's SPF 37 PA++ written on the packaging too. So this product gives both protection against UVA and UVB.
Aaannd... The ingredient. Well, uhm, the ingredient... I don't know. They're all written in native Korean. LOL.
Well, let's see what's inside.



This is what comes out of the bottle. Becareful, with just one light press will pump out a pretty large amount of the content. I did that for the first time and spoiled quite a mess :(
The shade only comes in one colour, similar to light to natural beige, which is ok for me since I have a light complexion. It smells nice too.




This is actully the picture of a scar on the back of my palm. Before and after applying, and under direct sunlight. Look how the cream conceal the scar, not completely concealed though but what can you expect from a BB cream? Foundation or concealer works best for this. 
I can see that this BBC gives a sheer glow on my hand. So it does gives you a moisture and radiant look as it promised.



This is someones's face (ok, it's mine) before n after the application. My bare face and my BB cream face. I use nothing but this cream only so ignore all those bags under my eyes and the bald eyebrows. Surprisingly, I love how this cream gives a matte look, unlike the one I got when applying this cream on the back of my hand. I think I can go out just like that without applying cake powder for an extremely sheer, natural look. Suitable for highschooler maybe (but I'm no highschooler Lol).



This is how it'll look after you apply some more makeup under direct sunlight. The left one with BB cream and cake powder, and the right one with full makeup on. I actually went to a wedding after this and this cream did the job quite well for a BB cream. It didn't break out and my nose started producing its natural oil mine after 2 to 3 hours.

So far, I love this BB cream and this is what i think:
It gives matte look
Only comes in one shade (I think it's more like light to natural beige)
Too pale for most Indonesian complexion
Medium coverage
Nice sheer fragrant
Medium oil control
The content is pretty generous (45 g is actually quite a lot)

Are those pros or cons? You decide! ^_^


Saturday, January 18, 2014

Review: Orange Lip Colors

Orange, orange, orange! This fun color have always been my last choice of all kinds of face coloring product, it doesn't look good on me. But, lately, pink and nude bore me. So lemme come outta my comfort zone for a while. 

So I'm gonna compare 4 kinds of orange lip colors that I just bought lately.




From left to right:
1. Etude blooming lips-talk OR 207
2. Etude blooming lips-talk OR 206
3. Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain 040
4. NYX Round Lipstick LSS 507

Here are the swatches



So lets begin comparing!

1. Etude Blooming Lips-Talk OR207





This is a pretty bold color. For those of you who seek out the bold look with orange lipstick without looking kinda weird, this one's the perfect shade. The texture is creamy and feels soft on my lips, and just like many other creamy textured lipsticks, this one doesn't stay too long on my lips. I had to re-apply them after a few hours. There's a sheer fragrant as well and will fade a moment after you apply it. The bad thing is, it stains once you wipe them even with make-up remover. But the shade is just too beautiful that it's forgiven ^_^
Price: IDR 270K in official counter (USD 27) or IDR 100K to IDR 120K in olshop (USD 10-12)


2. Etude Blooming Lips-Talk OR206



Pale. This is my impression when I recklessly put a generous amount to my lips, it made me look weird and clownish. Maybe because this color, for me, is the truest and purest orange shade. This is not the common shade people would wear as lip color. BUT.... When I wiped and reapplied it thinly, and added a little amount of peach lipgloss, the color suddenly changed into a very cute and innocent orange. It looked great! The pic above is my lips using this lipstick only though. Overall, the texture and its stay power, is almost likely to its sister above.
Price: IDR 270K in official counter (USD 27) or IDR 100K to IDR 120K in olshop (USD 10-12)


3. Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain 040



When I first saw this lipstick with its tempting juicy bold color packaging standing on the drug store counter, I fell in love. It looked like crayon! Open the cap, and you'll find the content color is exactly the same as the outter tube. But, applying it to my lips didn't end up as I expected from the look. It was sheer, the most natural shade among these four. That's why its called 'balm stain' LOL. Once you apply it, you'll feel a soothing mint sensation on your lips that will fade a few moments later. This product has glossy effect, poor stay power, and doesn't make lips dry--at least for me. 
Price: Around IDR 80K (approx. USD 8)


4. NYX Round Lipstick LSS 507



This is probably what you'd call Tangerine color. I took this photo under direct sunlight so it looked sheer but actually it was pretty bold with a touch of glittering shimmer, so this will definitely make your lips glow. NYX Round Lipstick is famous for its creamy and soft textured lipstick. So soft that the stick is easily broke. I also use a few shades of NYX Round Lipstick and they all broke T_T. The color is intense, you don't have to apply a couple of times to achieve bold result. The stay power is medium. For you gals with dark or tan complexion, this shade will surely have a great effect on you ^_^
Price: IDR 45K (approx. USD 5)


Overall, this is the summary:
1. Etude Blooming Lips-Talk OR 207
    - bold color
    - creamy texture
    - matte result
    - medium stay power
    - it stains your lips once you wipe it out
    - sheer fragrant
    - expensive

2. Etude Blooming Lips-Talk OR 206
    - weird (or funky?) color
    - creamy texture
    - matte result
    - medium stay power
    - it stains your lips once you wipe it out
    - sheer fragrant
    - expensive

3. Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain 040
    - sheer color
    - creamy texture
    - glossy effect
    - low stay power
    - minty sensation 
    - reasonable price

4. NYX Round Lipstick LSS507
    - bold tangerine color
    - creamy texture and it's soooo soft
    - shimmer effect
    - medium stay power
    - the stick is easily broken
    - will look good on dark complexion
    - cheap

will repurchase Etude OR207, maybe, as long as I haven't found the cuter orange lipstick, considering Etude is a pretty expensive brand in official counters, and I have to purchase it through online shop to get the cheaper one. It takes time, you know.
So which one is your favourite orange lipstick?

Notes: this article is written by my own opinion. Result my vary to each individual.

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