february 2015 empties

This month flew by so quickly! I don't have many empties to share, but let's get right to it.

The Face Shop Rice Water Bright Cleansing Cream. This was a so-so makeup remover. I find that the best way to use this is to tissue it off rather than rinse, but even then you do have to follow up with another cleanser to get all the residue off. I never felt like my makeup came off completely with this--especially not waterproof makeup--so this is a skip for me. I'm currently using the Banila Co. Clean it Zero cleansing balm, which I'm loving so look out for a review of that soon!

h2O+ Deep Sleep Recovery Cream. My sister gave me a sample of this and I loved it. It's really light but very moisturizing and I wake up with supple, soft skin the next morning. It's a bit pricey so I don't think I'll run out and purchase the full size, but if I ever feel like splurging on skincare...

Biore Aqua Rich Watery Essence Sunscreen. This is the sunscreen of all sunscreens. I love how lightweight it is, how quickly it absorbs into the skin, and the SPF of 50. It also wears well under makeup! I already have 3 back up tubes of this. A definite must have, especially as we're moving into warmer weather.

msh Love Liner Mascara. This mascara smells like strawberries! The curl and length that it gives you isn't really impressive, but it's a great everyday mascara. What I liked about it is that I never needed to use a primer with it and it doesn't flake or smudge throughout the day, even on my oily lids. This is probably due to the fact that this is a tubing mascara, so you can remove it easily with warm water. So while it's oil-proof, if you're prone to crying, this is probably not the best mascara for you.

Lancome Bi-facil Eye Makeup Remover. I have several trial size bottles of these because I bought my mom and mother-in-law gifts from Lancome for my wedding. It's a good eye makeup remover; I'm not that keen on the rose smell, and I do feel like my Mandom remover gets off the Japanese mascara more easily, but I don't mind using these bottles up. I won't purchase it full size, as it is quite pricey, and my Mandom remover does the same thing for less.

Did you finish any products this month? Any standouts?

another impulse buy: baublebar

BaubleBar had a flash sale this past weekend, and I just couldn't resist this adorable ring tree.

How cute is that? I have a super cute ring holder already in a cat shape (from Japan) and a giraffe jewelry holder from Anthropologie, but it's getting a little crazy as you can see from these pictures:

 

I'm thinking about just having my engagement and wedding rings on the cat and putting my other rings on the elephant!

How do you organize your jewelry?

daiso silicone makeup brush cleaner

I was browsing Daiso when I stumbled upon this Daiso egg laundry board. Doesn't it look just like those silicone brush cleaners? For $1.50, I couldn't resist. I picked it up and put it to the test.

It works like a charm. I wet the brush, pour a little bit of Daiso's makeup brush and sponge detergent onto it, then swirl it around the egg under running water, and watch the makeup melt away!

If you have a Daiso nearby, I would definitely recommend picking this up. At $1.50, you can't go wrong!

impulse buy: it cosmetics

I got a $25 discount code from It Cosmetics for filling out a survey recently, and I knew I wanted to purchase a brush from them, since I've heard so many good things about the quality about their brushes! Imagine my surprise when I was browsing their site today and found this:

Needless to say, I jumped on this--with my $25 discount, I paid roughly $10 for 7 brushes! I can't wait for these to come in and will let you know my thoughts after I've played with them.

Have you made any impulse buys recently?

my valentine's make up look

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! This is how my Valentine's Day look turned out, based on my previous post. The only thing I ended up not using was the Revlon crayon--I went with a gradient lip instead using the Benefit Benetint. I felt like having a brighter lip instead of the pinky nude.

Hope you're all having a lovely Valentine's Day!

Products used:

1) Base: The Face Shop CC Cream in no. 2
2) Cheeks: Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Rose
3) Lips: Benefit Benetint
4) Eyes: Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette in Booty Call, Chopper, and Tease
5) Eyes: Heroine Make Long and Curl Mascara
6) Eyes: MSH Love Liner in Rich Black
7) Under eye: IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer
8) Brows: Lioele Auto Eyebrow #3 Gray Black

What did you wear this Valentine's Day?

valentine's day makeup

I don't usually "celebrate" Valentine's Day, but my husband surprised me by letting me know that he made reservations at a Japanese restaurant for dinner that day! Here's what I'm planning on wearing, beauty-wise:

1. Base: The Face Shop CC Cream in no. 2
2. Cheeks: Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Rose
3. Lips: Revlon ColorBurst Lacquer Balm in Demure
4. Eyes: Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette in Booty Call, Chopper, and Tease
5. Eyes: Heroine Make Long and Curl Mascara
6. Eyes: MSH Love Liner in Rich Black
7. Under eye: IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer

I love soft and sweet makeup, so I'm keeping it simple: a bright and radiant complexion with softly defined eyes and pink lips. The CC cream has a surprising amount of coverage, and isn't too dewy, while brightening your skin. The shimmer brick gives a subtle hint of color and a lovely sheen that brings life back to your face.

I have extremely oily eyelids, but these Japanese mascara and eyeliner simply do not budge on me! The under eye concealer by IT cosmetics is one of the most pigmented that I've used, and I only use it on special occasions. Finally, the finishing touch is a hint of pink shimmer on the lips.

What are you wearing this Valentine's Day?

hada labo tokyo hydrating facial cleanser review

In my search for a new cleanser, I picked up the Hada Labo Tokyo Hydrating Facial Cleanser based on reviews from the Asian Beauty subreddit. This is the American version of the famous Hada Labo line in Japan, and while I would've loved to pick up the Japanese version, I live next to a Walgreens, so off to Walgreens I went.

Here's the packaging. It's quite different from the Japanese packaging, which is less frou frou, and more blue. And white. Definitely no pink.

Ingredients list!

This is a foaming cleanser, but I find that it doesn't foam too much, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I expected a little more foam, but considering my last cleanser was called Perfect Whip, I guess my expectations were too high?

It's a good cleanser; I like that it has no fragrance, and it cleans thoroughly without making my skin feel tight. I do miss the foam, but this cleanser supposedly has a pH level of 5.5, which is much better for your skin than the aforementioned Perfect Whip (pH level: 9). To be honest, I haven't seen much difference on my skin between using this and my previous cleanser, but science doesn't lie (hopefully?), so I'll update if anything changes!

Product: Hada Labo Tokyo Hydrating Facial Cleanser
Price: $11.99 USD (but watch for Ulta and Walgreen sales!)

january 2015 empties

I love reading about empties, because most of the time, the reviews for those products are so much more accurate than if you've used the products for a couple of days. I finished some products this month and here are some mini reviews/thoughts for you.

• Perfect Whip Foam Cleanser. If you read my post about pH and cleansers, then you'll know that I will not be repurchasing this cleanser. I loved it because it was affordable and my skin felt so clean, but after I found out it was destroying my acid mantle (your skin's natural barrier) with its pH level of 9. Your skin is naturally acidic (4.5-5.5 pH), so I'm on the lookout for a cleanser with a similar pH level!

• ROC Multi-Correxion 5-in-1 Eye Cream. Also will not be repurchasing. It's fine; it's moisturizing and wears well under makeup, but it's heavily fragranced (not a fan), and I didn't see any improvement in terms of what it promised. At least my eye area didn't get worse? I confess, I'm always on the hunt for a good eye cream, so recommendations would be appreciated! I recently bought the Mizon Snail Eye Repair Cream based on rave reviews, so hopefully that one will work well.

• Urban Decay Primer Potion. This stuff is pure magic. I have extremely oily eyelids and if I use any sort of mascara (waterproof or not), pencil or gel eyeliner, I WILL have raccoon eyes, unless I use this primer. I will definitely repurchase in the future, but I have to use up another primer first--I heard great things about the Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer, which is supposed to be a dupe. I'll review it after I've used it for a while!

• Nivea A Kiss of Shimmer Lip Balm. I bought this while I was at Target one day just on a whim because it had an SPF of 4 (it's really hard to find lip balms with SPF!). I don't really like the color; the shimmer was much too frosty, but it was moisturizing and did it's job. Will not repurchase.

• Maybelline Baby Lips in Peach Kiss. Everyone loves the Baby Lips, but I'm just not a fan. It's moisturizing upon first application, but leaves my lips incredibly dry after it fades. Will not repurchase or try other colors.

• Skin79 Hot Pink Super BB Cream. If you can get over the slight gray tone to this BB cream, I would absolutely recommend it. It's creamy, blends and wears well throughout the day, and has medium coverage that doesn't look cakey. I liked the gray tone, simply because it neutralized my yellow tones a bit and brightened my skin tone. As for the things that it promises in terms of wrinkle care, brightening, etc...didn't really results. I don't rely on BB creams for skincare, so it didn't bother me. I also tried the gold version, which is slightly more moisturizing, so if you have dry skin, I would go with that one. I would repurchase this except I have a tone of BB creams to go through, so I will wait until I finish a few. Yay for product hoarding?

What have you finished recently?