Sunday, February 23, 2014

Review: Pond's Age Miracle BB Cream--My Drugstore BB Cream


A holy grail cosmetic for me must be come in reasonable price, and easily bought in a convenience store or a traditional market which are only 50 meters away from my house XD. Hahaha. Going to a department store is such a hassle for me because my son is not the one you can easily tame :D (emak2 rempong)

So my choice was decided on this Pond's BB Cream since it's widely store-sold with reasonable price. To be honest, when I first bought this red babe, I didn't know what a BB cream was. I thought it was an anti ageing day cream and surprised when it could even out my skin tone. And for a year later, I found out BB cream was actually wore as a foundation. Hehehehehe. This also happens years ago in hi school. I always ate at the same food court every day for almost 3 consecutive years. I just found out the second food court just a few months before graduating. Earth calling....
Maybe that was the reason I had no boyfriend back then (sigh).



This tube comes in a red nuance just like any other Pond's product under their anti-ageing series. The cap, oh the cap, I hate it. Why many manufacturers still produce this kind of cap? It's not practical at all. Flip cap please...?

And as for the shade, mine is Light. I don't know how many shade they launched, but this is the only one I find in stores. Even on their official website, the shade only comes in Light. No other. 

This BB cream has a sister though and it comes in Pond's Flawless White series. I tried it as well and will make the review soon!




The ingredients:




Wait.... No Paraben? I mean, really????


This is the application on my hand.





The coverage is kinda low-medium, low oil control, and medium staying power. My nose will get shinny after about 2 hours. You have to dab extra face primer before applying this cream for longer staying power. 

Sounds bad enough for you? No. On the contrary, for me this is the best BB cream ever!

A good BB cream for me doesn't have to be on the highest rank of staying power, oil control or whatsoever. Retouch your makeup once it runs out. Apply next layer if it has low coverage. It's all about tricks. But your skin reaction towards it is the most important aspect when choosing a cosmetic. No trick can be done here. And for the last 3 years since I have been using this, my skin reacts well. No purging reaction, like acnes, dark spots, red spots, etc. So I thinkI must say that I have found my holy grail BB cream! Yeay!


Okay, move on to the verdicts:
  • Easily store-bought
  • Matte finish
  • Only comes in one shade (maybe)
  • Low to medium coverage
  • Medium staying power
  • Low oil control
  • SPF 30 PA++ for UVA and UVB protection
  • Best for normal to dry skin type.
  • Price: around IDR90K, I forgot -_- (USD 10)
Buy it again? Of course!

That's all for now. I love reading any comments or suggestion. Please don't be hesitate! ^^



Note: Written based on my experience. Skin reactions my vary to others.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Rainbow On My Eyes

Yeay! My eye makeup tutorial is finally done! The theme this time is obviously based from rainbow color. Warning, there will be overload usage of pink shade in this page ^^


Okay, let's start!



1. Prime your eyes and draw your eyebrows.
2. Apply bright pink shade on your upper eyelids.
3. Apply dark purple shade on your outer eyelids.
4. Reapply your outter eyelids with black eyeshadow. This will create a dark purple shade.

Tip: You can combine step 3 and 4 if you have dark purple shade.


5. Line your upper eyelids with black eyeliner. Wing it a little.
6. Draw your lower waterline and lower lash line with white pencil.
7. Apply baby blue eyeshadow on your lower water line.
8. Using an angle brush, apply light green eyeshadow on your lower water line.


9. Last step. Put fake upper eye lashes, apply mascara, and curl your lashes. 
Retouch your eyeliner and eyeshadow. And you are done!

Final result:


Oh, in case you get annoyed by the low resolution pictures, here are some examples using a better camera. It was too much hassle taking all those selfies above using a real camera so I used my phone camera. My bad! 

Hope you can see it clearly. Please ignore all the reckless spots I have done!



Credits:
  • Etude eyebrow drawer
  • Inez gold powder shadow (to draw my eyebrow)
  • NYX eye primer
  • NYX white eye pencil
  • Itsdiva lashes
  • Etude Drawing Show Creamy Liner in Black
  • LA colors eyeshadow
  • Princess Universe Softlens (Andromeda)



That is all for now. Feel free to drop any comment or suggestion, or critics, or errrr... Anger? See you!




Thursday, February 13, 2014

Pink Outbursts...!

Okay, this is just a coincidence to talk about pink lipsticks in this pinkish themed month of February. Seriously. LOL.

Lately I've been craving about bold lipsticks. Oranges, pinks, reds, I tried them all. I just don't have the guts to wear black just yet tho'. Lime Crime, anyone? Hahahaha
Ok, enough chit chatting, I'm gonna share two bold pink lipsticks I wear lately. One is local Indonesian brand, and the other one is Korean.

SARIAYU L01 (LASEM)


I already have this fuchsia lipstick for a while and love the color. This shade is actually a part of 2013 Makeup Trend by Sariayu cosmetic line. On the picture above, the tube is transparent. Well, it was actually wrapped in a beautiful batik plastic and there was a batik pattern engraved on the stick. But I knocked them off, on purpose.

This is what it'll look like when it's brand new:


The texture of this lipstick is very creamy and soft, giving your lips that soft and creamy look. The fragrant reminded me of the pleasant aroma of bubble gums I chewed when I was a kid. Brings back memories. Anyway, here's the result on my lips. Sorry i had to edit this since my camera kinda soften the color, but this one's the closest shade to reality. This is what you'd call fuchsia, the best pink shade for dark complexion.
Maybe because of the bold color, it stayed on my lips quite long but it did leave marks on my coffee cup. 





Etude House Blooming Lips Talk PK 013


This is one of the most beautiful lipstick I've ever seen, the skin yet the flesh color, feel like biting it. PK 013 is a kinda barbie shade pink. Bold pink without making your face look like a middle aged woman. Will look great on fair complexion, tho' no one would forbid you to wear this if you have darker complexion. LOL. Too bad my camera, again, soften up the color, but the actual color is much more intense than the one in these photos. 

One thing I kinda regret from these series is that they stain even after wiping them with makeup remover. I have a few shades from the blooming series, and they all stain. And this shade stains even more than the rest of them.



This is how it looks like on my lips. Again, I had to edit the saturation because of you know what. I think this is the closest one to reality.


Compared to Sariayu lipstick with its creamy effect, this one has matte finishing.Totally. Both of them will stain your coffee cup but the difference is the texture. From the color I think I prefer this one, but considering the texture and the fragrant, Sariayu is way better than this.


This is the writer's face with both lipsticks for your comparison. She's someone kinda awkward posing in front of the camera. So this boring photo is all what you get. Sorryyyy..  | ^_^ |




Conclusion?

Etude:
- Barbie pink shade
- Matte texture. I got my lips dry from not wearing chap stick.
- Good for fair complexion
- Long lasting
- Stains your lips, very badly

Sariayu:
- Fuchsia color
- Creamy and soft
- Good for darker complexion
- Long Lasting
- Stains your lips, but not too much

That's all for now. Comments or suggestions would be much appreciated !

Review: Etude House Precious Mineral BB Cream Cotton Fit (Natural BeigeW13)

This Korean BB cream is perhaps a legend in asian BB cream history. This, and her sister--the Bright Fit serries--has become the most reviewed BB cream ever in asia. So I think a beauty blog is not complete without an article reviewing this baby hahaha, as for I am pretty curiuos why this cream has an enormous fame amongst all.

Doing some research, the difference between Bright Fit and Cotton Fit serries is the finishing result. Bright Fit for dewy result--definitely for dry skin type, and the other one for matte result, best for oily skin. Since I'm in love in matte finishing, so I chose the Cotton Fit series. My skin will look dewy after a few hours anyhow, thanks to my natural facial oil hahahaha.




This BB cream was bottled in a matte white tube embossed with blue letters and a big golden BB cream logo in the middle. The purplish blue cap comes in a pump shape which I adore since it's more hygienic.


This BB cream was actually launched in three shades:



N02 : light beige
W13  : natural beige
W24 : honey beige

Honey beige is perhaps the more suitable color for most Indonesian, altho' I think it would still look too fair.

Since my complexion usually works best with natural beige shade, so I chose shade W13. Comfort zone alert  ^_^


And this is the ingredients.


This is the result when I dabbed it on my hand:


I took these pictures with no filter, and to be honest I have a lot of scars on my hand. Cooking, fighting, gardening, fighting, fighting, fighting, etc. LOL. I put this cream to cover the scar my kid gave me months ago :) and as you can see on the bottom picture that this product gave me a pretty good coverage for quite a deep scar like that.

When I apply this on my face I was astonished by the result since it gave me the highest level of coverage compared to other BB creams I tried before. I only have to apply this once, and one layer is enough to cover all the dark and red spots on my face, I didn't think I have to put on some more eye concealer to cover my raccoon eyes. Amazing.


I stayed late quite often at night and that gave me a pretty heavy dark circles around my eyes. Again, these photos were taken with NO filter, and the AFTER picture on the right was me wearing merely the BB cream itself and those dark circles were just like... almost never there. 

I would definitely recommend this BB cream for you, oily skin type owners due to its matte finishing. For best matte result I suggest you to apply your favourite cake or loose powder after applying this cream. But if you want a more natural and dewy result, just leave the powder behind, and put on your cream blusher (or face tint) on your cheek bones. I know it is actually matte finishing, but your natural facial oil will slowly change the look from matte to dewy if you don't apply your powder afterwards.

Here's my conclusion:
Matte finishing
Good coverage
Best result on fair skin complexion :(
Best result for oily skin type
Good staying power
Don't break out
Pretty generous contain (60 g)
Price: IDR 165k in olshoppes and IDR 450K in official counters
(Approx. USD 17 or USD 45)


Hope you find this review resourceful enough. Don't hesitate to give any comment or suggestion. ^_^


Update:
Hi, I just want to give a review after using this cream for about 2 months, it gives me acnes. Everytime I use this, then the day after, an acne always come out. I don't know what's wrong. I mean, I always utterly doing my cleansing routines after each usage, that is makeup remover, cleansing milk, face wash, rinse with water for about 5 minutes, and face toner. But there's always an acne emergence afterwards. What a let down since this BB cream has a very good coverage and staying power. Compared to Tony Moly Luminous Aura BB cream and my HG Pond's Age Miracle, my skin reacts way better to those. 


Note: this is truly my experience and the result may vary to each individual.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Review: Rubotan vs My Darling--Liquid Liner Comparison

Back with my second eyeliner review, this time I'm gonna do a comparison again. Now it's all about liquid liner. I aimed to write this in Bahasa since one of the products is locally made, but nah, who knows some of you who don't speak Bahasa and live in this country would like to try? Heheh. But why these two? Because these liners are like the holy grail liners for most make up lovers but there's a big gap on their price range. Which one is better? Let's see.


MY DARLING LIQUID LINER (black)

It's been only a few years since the first time I use liquid liner. Drawing my eyelids is totally different from scratching my pencil and acrylic paint on my canvas, it's extremely difficult. Without my glasses or lenses I have to literally stick my cheeks on the mirror to draw the line precisely. What a hassle!

One of my friends suggested this liner. It was merely IDR 15K (it is now IDR 25K) on a local cosmetic shop at that time. At first she kinda belittled it, just like I did. So cheap! Would it burn? What if I got blind from cosmetic poisoning? Hahaha. But oh well, I needed some practice, so I don't mind. Little did I know that some other friends even bought them with lower prices!

Here's the tube


Well, it's coming out of my old collection. So it looks miserable. Sorryyyy.... This is my second item. The tube actually comes in black plastic with heart shaped dark red cap filled with golden letters and symbols. This even packed in a red box with BPOM registered number and its list of ingredients. Just google it. You'll find tons of Indonesian beauty bloggers reviewing this sweet thing.

Many complains the brush is too soft and the handle is too long, but for me those are one of the advantage of this product. The pointy brush tip and that long handle make it easier for me to draw exactly the precise line I wanted. I absolutely love the brush. The result is kinda matte look. And I have to warn you this will sting a bit, just a bit, the first time you apply it.

I've been using this for 2 or 3 years as my daily makeup routine, from 8 am to 10 pm. And for me this cheap liner is waterproof and doesn't smudge on my oily lids even after I took my Wudhu, in fact, it will turn to small flakes if you accidently rubbed your eyelids. So it won't make you look like a panda. This liner is also easily removed. Not bad. Not bad at all for IDR 25K.



RUBOTAN LIQUID LINER

For me this liquid liner is still a mistery. I've read a lot of reviews from local to international blogs. I even captured this liner used on some of the most prestigious runway shows like Jean Paul Gaultier. Even the famous makeup artists would recommend this oh-so-called holy grail liquid liner. But where this product come from. Japan. That's all. The ingredients? The company? The official website? Zero result. Maybe some of you would be so kind to give me more information about this?Japanese, hello.....


It comes in a glass bottle and a plastic white cap, doesn't look too convincing for a famous item. It looks like a nail polish to be honest. I bought this for IDR 140K through online shop. Some other shops would offer cheaper price but I bought from the seller I trust.

The brush is not very pointy, in my opinion, and the handle is too narrow. Maybe becoz I kinda used to the long and pointy brush of My Darling liner, I find this one a bit disturbing. Making the lining process a stressing one. Take a look at the brush comparison below:


See the big gap between them? Rubotan brush is not very applicable for me. The result on my eyelids was some kind of a curly line drawn by a shaking hand of a rookie beautician. LOL. Well, maybe it wasn't actually that bad. I just have to adjust my ability and get used to it first, by practicing a lot.

The Rubotan result is very black, and it has glossy effect. Very very vynil. I used this liner for a couple of times all day long and it didn't smudge at all!!!! Yaayy!!! As well as waterproof and no sting reaction on my eyes too.

What excite me more is this easily removed. I mean, you don't have to dab a makeup remover, instead, jus peel it off like a peel off mask, and it will me removed without leaving any mark. Oh, by the way, this is my favorite process :)



COMPARISON

 Let's see their performances


 
Pardon me for not providing the result on my eyes. I did try a few times and they all fail. So I provide this photo instead. The Rubotan finishing is glossy and My Darling is matte.




This is after I put this under tap water. They are waterproof as far as I can see.




I dab this with baby oil and cotton in one swipe. Still look pretty amazing.




This is after I wipe the baby oil a few times. Rubotan liner was still there while My Darling was barely. See? They don't smudge. They just turn to small flakes. You can even peel off the Rubotan with your bare hand, really.




CONCLUSION


Which one to choose? I would say both because they have their own goods and bads. My Darling eyeliner seemed to be easier to apply, at least for me. It does sting a bit but still okay for me. I would choose this for my casual look or when I use my home makeup. Well, I do makeup even when I don't go out :)
And as for Rubotan, I love its glossy finishing, it's the blackest black I've ever seen. But the brush is not very comfortable, and the formula is too dilute, make it harder to apply.

Rubotan:
- glossy effect
- too dilute
- very black
- narrow handle and the brush is not very pointy
- waterproof and smudgeproof
- peel-off removing
- price range IDR 110-150K

My Darling:
- matte effect
- long handle and nice pointy brush
- waterproof and smudgeproof, but not as good as Rubotan
- will be flaky if you rub it off
- sting your eyes
- price: approximately IDR 25K


Will I buy them again? Maybe. They're good but not perfect. I haven't found my holy grail eyeliner just yet -_-


Well, thank you for reading. Hope this review is useful for you :)


Review: Etude House Drawing Show Creamy Liner & Proof 10 Auto Pencil "a Comparison"

You ever seen a creature, a mixed blood between a raccoon and a panda? Well, that's me, when using eyeliners. Especially when I draw them on my under eyelids. I mean, my eyes are sensitive towards beautiful boy almost anything including the wind. So, yeah, I shed tears a lot, things get worse because I have such oily eyelids. So they wouldn't last long on my eye. I used to wear brown pencil eyeliner to soften the smudge effect up, but c'mon, brown pencil? What can it do?
I heard that Bobbi Brown eyeliners is the superhero regarding its water resistant and smudge proof ability. But it's expensive, nooo I'm a cheap skate.
So I decided to try out eyeliners from Etude House. I bought two kinds of their eyeliners just in case. Let me show you my experience when using these two:




Etude House Proof 10 Auto Pencil 




There are a few Proof 10 lines launched by EH and this is one of them. They claim this to be waterproof, smudge proof, and suitable for sensitive eyes. They come in five shades. Mine is BK801.


The pencil comes in a blue plastic body,  roll on type, equipped with a sharpener on the other side of the tip. It is quite pointy at the beginning but as you draw more, it'll turn to round shape which is a bit tricky to create a precise thin line. That's why it's equipped with a sharpener. But I prefer to just twist it up since sharpening will waste more product.



When I draw this, it didn't give the blackest black I wanted, maybe BK802 does better? I don't know. That shade was unavailable at the time I bought it. And when I apply my eyeshadow, this eyeliner looked even less pigmented, so I had to swipe more to get it more stand out than the shadow.

I will share the result later on. Let's move on to the other eye liner.

Etude House Drawing Show Creamy Liner




EH didn't claim this to be long lasting, but some reviews told it so. So I decided to buy this in BK802 shade. They actually comes in a few shades:


BK801 and BK802 are all black. But BK801 has a quick dry formula which will dry at its first stroke. Suitable for the experts. So I chose BK802.

This liner comes in a flirty triangle pink box. Inside it, you'll find the pot and a brush. They were set separately though, so I might keep the box to keep them together, just in case. Maybe they should have come in a combined set. 




The brush really did a great job for a precise line, thick or thin. I love the brush! The result also gives you a pretty dense black color. Much much more pigmented than the pencil.


Comparison

Okay, first let me show the result after I use this for about 8 hours. I draw different liners on each of my eyes. It was such a busy day, just look at my eye bags! LOL. I took this with my iPad though, sorry for the low resolution.



I live in a humid hot city, so oily eyelids is a definite case. The pencil liner faded faster than the gel one. Can you see it? But it sure did a better job regarding its smudge proof and water resistant ability. It actually smudged but juuuust a little. Maybe those with non-oily eyelids would love this. But for me it's just slightly better than my old ones.

And as for the gel liner? It smudged. Definitely smudged. I mean, a lot. But it stays longer than the pencil. So I guess these two has their own pluses and minuses.


Conclusion

EH Proof 10 Auto Pencil
  • Hard to get the precise line once the tip is no longer pointy
  • the color is not very pigmented, very natural look
  • does not sting
  • easily faded
  • but it's more smudge proof and water resistant 
  • price when I bought this: IDR 90K (USD 8-9). May vary.

EH Drawing Show Creamy Liner
  • the brush will give you a nice precise line
  • very pigmented. This is what you'd call: jet black!
  • does not sting
  • not easily faded
  • less smudge proof and water resistant
  • price when I bought this: IDR 13K (USD 13). May vary.

Considering my above experience, I guess my adventure on looking for the right eyeliner for me will still continue. Or maybe some of you had the same problem with me and already found your superhero eyeliner? Mind to share it with me? ^_^


Note: I write this based on my experience. Result my vary.





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.


Latest Post

First Impression: Evershine Moringa Series