Review: Lip Pencils

     After trying out mirenesse's lip color pencil, I finally gave those previously ignored lip pencils another look.

Overall impressions:

mireness- absolutely smooth, and highly pigmented. Slight vanilla scent.
BITE- slighty drying, which is expected of matte pencils
NARS- the satin formula is not drying

One odd thing to note is the lid for BITE's Madeira. It tapers at the top, causing the lid to slip off the pencil easily.

Madeira is basically what I would use for a nude color. It tones down my heavily pigmented lips.

NARS's Biscayne Park is also a nude-ish color. It is, however a bit on the warm side. I don't think this is a color that I will be wearing a lot. It would work excellent for one of those photoshoots where you are looking for a more natural look (but not completely nude)

BITE Cava- a lipstick that has a hint of lilac in it. It makes me look like a zombie (grayed out) or someone who just rose from the dead. On someone else with the right skin tone, it could look stunning.

mirenesse's Glossy Kiss in Quick kiss is definitely a head turning color. It's so bright someone would spot you from across the room. Love the formula, will be looking for another color.

BITE Pomegranate- another one of those colors that would let someone spot you from across the room. This almost seemed too bright, so I hesitated and bought Tannin as well. Tannin is cooler and slightly darker. I wore Pomegranate to go out with friends- the other bloggers were right, you will HAVE to get this shade. Be careful though. Since this is an intense red, it can get pretty messy. Pull out all the tricks in your bag to keep this one on. It wore off as I was eating, and made me look like a crazy clown. After a couple hours, it also becomes a bit drying. 

Try them out and tell me how you like them!

P.S. Have you looked and just stared at yourself in the mirror lately? I did that, and was surprised with how different I look. Almost don't recognize myself anymore.

Laneige Haul! Sleeping Masks and Intensive Cream

With this order, I finally satisfied my curiosity regarding whether GMarket only has one box size or not. It seems like no matter how much I ordered, the box size stayed this same. Today, I can finally tell you that they do have other box sizes!! This box is maybe 1/5 the size of the normal box. My seller just decided to stack the three, bubble wrap around, and tape over the exposed boxes. Maybe they were running a little low on supply.

Packaging is very nice looking.

Laneige Firming Mask- This product also returns to normal form after you take a chunk out of it. Some people were using that as an advertising method saying, it would conform to your face and make it firm that way... something like that. Comes with a spatula. Unfortunately there is nowhere to store it, except in the plastic. This product has a distinctly floral scent. Kind of common in asian toiletries, but this has a lighter, less perfumey scent. It contains their trademark Sleepscent. You might think that it's supposed to help knock you out, but it doesn't. The box has a snowflake on the outside, lol. When I opened it, it sounded like I was breaking a seal, so that's good.

It is slightly sticky after application, but so much better than the one by Holika Holika. This is the more grown up version, and I can see myself using it more often. This must be washed off the next morning.

Laneige Water Sleeping Pack EX- A gel type of product which is very cooling. Also contains Sleepscent, but this is a different scent from the Firming Pack. Hard to describe, but it's not really that floral. If you smell long and hard enough, you can maybe detect something woody and fruity. The directions tell you to sniff it for a few seconds to help relax. The suggested massage is so funny. This seems like something good for hot summer nights.

CONCLUSION: If I had tried them out before, I'd have picked the Firming Pack, and Holika Holika's White Wine (just because it smells so good). Holika Holika's seem like something for a teenage sleepover. Laneige's seems like products that are a little bit more serious.

Laneige Water Bank Intensive Cream- Really like this product. It lends a velvety texture to my extremely dry skin. The cream is very thick, but once you warm it up in your hands it becomes easier to apply. There are strange little dot clumps in there but you can't feel them once you apply the product. Not greasy at all. Also comes with a spatula, but there's nowhere to store it so I'm not sure where it's gone. They should make a groove in the lid where you can store the spatula or something. This one also has this interesting seal on top that you pull out.

I would buy this product again. At least there is some immediate relief for my dry skin. The Etude House Total Age-Repair Emulsion that I've been using for over a year has not done anything for me. I've only kept with it because it was so expensive ~$17 and such a big bottle. Managed to finish off most of it! Funny thing is that Laneige and Etude House are both under the same company. Laneige is supposed to be more higher end than Etude House though, we'll see.

Holika Holika Wine Therapy Sleeping Masks

Today I'm bringing you into the land of sleeping masks! You've all heard how a little wine is good for you, and it has been used previously in facial masks. Holika Holika has taken that and made this sleeping mask.

The interesting purple box is just some more uninteresting cotton pads.

The packaging is made to look like wine barrels.

Red Wine- Contains 10% red wine. Jelly type of texture. If you make a hole in it, the jelly quickly reforms back to a smooth surface. This smells sooo yummy- you just want to eat it. It comes with a clear spatula (not pictured) for those of you who may be germ conscious. It is sticky after applied which makes it less than ideal. When you wash it off the next morning, there is a film like substance that comes off.

White Wine- Contains 10% white wine. Supposed to brighten your skin. Lotion type of texture. Smells even better than the Red Wine. This one doesn't leave as sticky of a residue, and it doesn't feel like anything's coming off when you wash the next morning.

Overall, these are interesting products probably best used as a novelty item. I didn't see any immediate changes from using this product. The main thing is that they smell really delicious.

Check out the Sleeping Packs from Laneige that I've reviewed HERE as well.

Review: Eglips Lolly Flower and Real Color Lipsticks + Tint

Hihi! Hope you've all been well. We've just gone through a hurricane. While the power was out, I was super bored and had nothing else to do but make swatches. Lucky you!(Most people have had a week off from work due to no power/ lack of gas).

Today I bring you Eglips/ eglips lipsticks. These always rank as one of first items when you sort the cosmetics by Bestsellers on GMarket. Even after searching the whole internet, there are a very limited number of reviews/ swatches. I'm happy to say that they are well worth the purchase!

They gave me this sunscreen extra, can't wait to try it out (when the sun comes up...). It says non-chemical sunscreen, so there probably won't be a rash.

The Lolly Flower line of lipsticks are extremely moisturizing and yet are able to deposit visible color.

No.25 Brilliant Mandarine- I appreciate the slight pink added to this orange color. It really makes it more wearable. These lipsticks are a lot more moisturizing than the Etude House Miss Tangerine line, and therefore, the finish is a lot more flattering.

No.17 Ylang Ylang Peach- It almost appears neon pink in the tube. Even though it's "peach", this is a pinker color than No.25 Brilliant Mandarine. Like all other scary colored Korean lipsticks, this applies to a much more wearable color. Still very eye catching though. This is dryer than the other two Lolly Flower lipsticks.

No.56 Deep Mir- This is (no surprise) my favorite of the Lolly Flower bunch. It is another fuchsia colored lipstick. For some reason these never photograph very well. It is much more intense in color in real life. It is more pink than lavender when compared with Etude House's LUCIDarling #5, and less brown than the Etude House's Dear My Blooming lipstick that I recently reviewed. I will have to do a comparison swatch of all three sometime.

Now for Eglips Real Color Lipstick in #09 Christine. LOVE. Christine looks kind of yellow in the tube, so I was worried, but applied it looks like my lip color a hint on the pinker side. This one works well as a nude for work (for me). It also has more of a moisturizing balm quality to it, and less color pigmentation compared to the Lolly Flower. I had also planned on purchasing Vanessa, but that one sold out.

The lipstick packaging is kind of cheap looking, very little girl lipstick (Even more than Etude House's). Still at ~$5 each, you really can't complain! Would definitely order again in a heartbeat.

Onto the tint. In photos it seems like the tint makes your lips into a soft pink. It kind of does that here too in my swatches. In reality, it's quite an intense hot pink color. The good thing is that the tint actually does tint your lips, so you don't have to worry about having naked lips after the color wears off. The tint is a gel applied with a doe-foot applicator. Unfortunately, it seems it must have something that I'm allergic to (like the Revlon Just Bitten lip stains) because my lips become slightly itchy. You have to really be careful to apply evenly or you will get streaks- as demonstrated in the swatches. Not really a fan of this product.

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Unrelated Note: I finally got around to ordering photo prints. 1311 photos *faints*. Luckily Snapfish has a coupon for 50% off and free shipping. It seems frivolous to print out photos in the digital age when things look so much better on a computer screen anyways, but there's something quite nostalgic about flipping through photos. Plus, if anyone decides to steal my laptop again, at least I'll have hardcopies (... unless they decide to steal those too...).

Etude House Bubble Hair Coloring: No.4 Wine Red

I recently reviewed Etude House's No.7 Mocha Pink Bubble Hair Color. That time the dyeing experience was wonderful, but the color was less than wonderful. This time, the dyeing experience was puzzling, but the color is tolerable.

The way the Mocha Pink was fading was very unattractive. There were strange streaks in my hair and the back had a darker patch. I decided to try the Wine Red out. As Tabitha says on Tabitha's Salon Takeover- Color removes color. Hopefully this does something for my hair color.

Last time I said the bottle doesn't fit in the hole that the box has. This is an illustration of what I meant.

The color is a bit darker than last time (I'm scared!).

The dye turned purple! A promising color.

I must have done something wrong mixing the color this time. The bubbles were very runny- barely any bubbles. Last time I said I had the best application yet. This time was the messiest application yet. Dye was splashed all over my bathroom. I was thinking "Good thing it didn't get on the white towels", looked closer and yep, saw dye on the towels -___-. If you wash it off quickly, it comes off.

Don't be fooled, the dye stains very orange. My floor can attest to that.

The results? Well I didn't put the dye on too long this time. Maybe 15-20 minutes? Then I tried my best to get as much dye out as possible. I even shampooed this time. Huh. The shampoo made my hair silkier immediately. The hair must have been so damaged that anything added makes your hair feel nicer. Then I used the Sebatian conditioner which stripped out more color. Finally, I finished with the silk treatment in the box. Wow, it really makes it so much silkier. 

Haha, oops, guess I didn't cover everything well (no bubbles, couldn't really treat it like shampooing experience), because some areas along my part (~.5cm) are undyed.

Before:

After Dyeing:

At least it's not so dark this time =), and there is a reddish sheen. If I left it on longer, there would probably been a more intense red color.

'Til next time!

Review: Zoya Limited Edition Gilty Pleasures Set

It finally arrived today!! Along with a cute little bottle of Remover+. This is perfect because I've always wanted to try it, but since I buy when there's promos, this is never included.

The set comes in a plastic sealed box. It looks like how you would see it in a store or something, lol.

After you take off the outer paper box, the gift box is inside. Mine has a few scratches, but I'm not too upset. They'd be there sooner or later anyways.

The box closes via magnet, which is quite nifty. The set comes with a little pamphlet on the set and what other colors you can pair it with. Truthfully, I wish they would let you pick which other two colors you wanted to put in the set. There is a swatch of Purity, Frida, and Gilty that I thought would be cute for Easter.

Apologies for the messy swatches, had to do them with non-dominate hand since hangnails have resulted in me being declawed. >_<

Raven: A black with silver shimmer. I was afraid there would be too much silver, making this a more gray color, but that isn't the case at all. The silver shimmers are barely noticeable.

Purity: It reminds me of heavy cream. That's the first thing I thought of when I opened this. It is pretty opaque, but there are some bare spots which can be concealed with a second coat.

Both Raven and Purity are actually quite thick formula wise for some reason. I put Zoya's Gaia on top of Purity (long been saying that I needed an opaque basecoat under Gaia), but the effect is barely noticeable.

Below (left to right): Raven, Purity, Purity+ Gaia

Below: Closeup of Raven.

Below: Closeup of Purity + Gaia

Gilty on top of Raven doesn't look that impressive in the photo, but in real life it is quite stunning. This is one of the cases where photos don't do the swatch justice. The effect is elegant and ornate. It works as a more chic version of Halloween colors too. White looks good on some people, I am not one of those people, lol.

Remover+ works pretty well. It smells slightly of lavender? I used it to clean up after making a mess with superglue (broke camera and had to fix it T-T).

What other colors would be good under Gilty? Drop some ideas below!