Lotus Palace

Xmas 2011 - Lorac Bejeweled Day & Night Jewelry Box

2011-11-05T21:19:00.000+01:00

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Hi all =D I am temporarily back =X I didn´t pass that bad-ass exam early October so I got caught up in my study materials to prepare for my 2nd try this Monday (November 7th). And besides having 3 kids and a household and all I am stuck in the university a lot these days, too, so my blog had/has to stand behind, sorry! Will not blog a lot the next weeks as I firstly don´t have a lot of time and 2nd not really much new stuff to review =( A few reviews are set to be written though so please keep checking or subscribe.

Anyone checked out the Japanese Xmas collections yet? It´s really weird but so far NOTHING caught my fancy at all. Maybe I´ll get that Lunasol kit but other than that I feel rather underwhelmed with the stuff.

However I got couple of non-Asian Xmas palettes, my fave being the one from Lorac! I got myself a Myus.com shipping addy so I took chance of the Sephora 20% off sale last week and snatched up their huge value-for-money Bejeweled Day & Night Jewelry Box! It retails for US$56 (containing stuff worth US$415) but I got it for US$44.80 =)

I have never tried Lorac before but the positive youtube/online reviews convinced me I needed this gorgeous kit.

The Day & Night Jewelry Box contains:
-2 High-Shine Lip Glosses in Peach (Day) & Rose (Night)
-1 Bronzing Powder
-2 Eye Liner Pencils in Brown (Day) & Black (Night)
-1 Face Palette for Day featuring 16 Eye Shadows and 1 Blush
-1 Face Palette for Night featuring 16 Eye Shadows and 1 Blush
-Jewelry box with mirror, flip-top and 2 drawers in a silver glittery lace fabric

As you see there is a lipgloss, eyeliner and face palette each for day respectively night and the bronzer goes with both looks.

The top part contains the 2 lip glosses and the bronzer. The lip glosses come in 2 universally flattering shades, one being a soft peachy pink for the day look and the other one a beautiful muted rose shade to go with the night palette.
Both contain very fine pearly shimmer, show up very well and have a slick non-sticky texture. Staying power is quite good despite the creamy texture.
The glosses are full-sized and do not contain any fragrance or flavor.

The bronzer is really huge and features a beautiful light peachy tan shade with the softest satin glow throughout. It really gives that nice healthy sheen to my cheeks and is not too brown or muddy. Actually I can wear this as a natural blush or to contour my face (though for more tan ladies it might not work for contouring).

The eyeliner pencils are of good quality and quite soft and pigmented however the black one isn´t as smooth and dark as the brown one. The brown one definitely is a very deep nice color with great color pay-off. Overall nice quality pencils but nothing that special in my opinion.

The star product of the kit are definitely the 2 palettes. Each contains a whopping 16 pigmented, blendable and super smooth shades in matte, metallic and shimmery finishes. Together both palette contain actually a good amount of neutrals (more brown ones for day and the cooler more gray-toned ones for night) but there are also some nice colors like green, purple, teal, burgundy, gold etc...in my opinion both combos are wearable at any time of the day so both palettes are super versatile and wearable.

The day palette is particularly stunning with its array of rich metallic shades. The night palette has a few blacks and grays that look a bit too similar in my opinion and is in general a bit more matte/flat than the other palette.
Each palette also has a blush to go with the lip gloss (peach for day and rose for night). The blushes are also smooth and pigmented with a very soft glowy finish.

The staying power of all the products is really good. I applied my makeup at like 9 AM today and now (7 PM) the colors still look fresh (of course I reapplied the lip gloss several times during the day).

The jewelry box is really pretty however it sheds glitters like nothing else so I keep it in its cardbord box. The drawers are pretty small so you could only store really flat things inside.

What I really love about this kit is that all the contents are fully removable incl. the eyeshadow palettes so you can take them out of the box and use it for other things (unlike other kits like the Tarte jewelry box),

Overall I am totally thrilled with this gorgeous kit and can highly recommend grabbing one for yourself (or as a gift perhaps). The products are of high quality, the colors are universally flattering and wearable for all occasions.

Rating definitely a well deserved 5/5

Sorry for the long break...

2011-09-23T08:07:00.000+02:00

Hi there, sorry for my long break... came back from Egypt on September 10th and since then just incredibly busy with the school start and what keeps me "entertained" the most these days is the preparation for my very last exam... I am so happy to finish my studies finally (well, I have to attend 2 courses with 3 hours/each per week for one more term but those are a piece of cake hehe...oh and I have to write a 35-pages thesis which isn´t very hard either)....

So please accept my apologies for neglecting my blog these days but I am one of those non-multitasking-skilled people on this planet...when I do something intensely it´s hard to concentrate on other stuff during that time!
So please bear with me for another couple of weeks and I should be back to blogging =)

xoxo

LP - The USA edition: Plump Potion Needle-Free Plumping Lipstick in Pink Nude Potion, Rose Pink Potion and Mauveberry Potion

2011-09-04T22:02:00.002+02:00

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And another part of my Physicians Formula haul =) I got 3 of the lipsticks as the colors looked beautiful online and the price wasn´t high either (€5.92/each)... I am not much into plumping lip products as many of them are somewhat painful but I wanted these lippies nonetheless =)

The packaging is simple but quite fine looking in my opinion.. the lipsticks are a bit clunky but I actually like that as since they feel heavy they don´t have that cheap appearance.

The formula is actually very nice which I didn´t expect at all for some reason! The lipsticks are very soft and creamy and feel moisturizing and comfortable to wear. These lipsticks are actually so soft that 2 of them broke at the base after some time, maybe due to having them in my bag when I went out into the hot Egyptian weather....

These lipsticks have a slightly minty taste and feel slightly cool and tingly within 1-3 minutes after application. The feeling doesn´t last long and isn´t very strong to start with so it doesn´t bother me at all, on the contrary I like the slightly cooling feel =)
I can´t say if these lippies actually plump my lips but the shiny finish makes my lips look full anyways.

PF also lists this as "redefining your lip contour" and hydrating (e.g. it includes hyaluronic acid). You can read more about it here!

Pink Nude Potion: I totally detest this color. It´s a white with a pink tinge and looks totally gross on me =X

Rose Pink Potion: this on the other hand is an absolutely gorgeous gilded peach pink with a very nice almost metallic finish.

Mauveberry Potion: a deeper creamy pink with a glossy finish. Love this one, too!

Overall these are good lipsticks and totally unexpectedly a nice find at a very cheap price (I can get like 4-5 of these for the price of e.g. a Coffret d´Or lipstick). I may have some other Japanese lipsticks that are better but the PF ones are definitely worth getting!

Rating 4.5/5

Shiseido Anessa Perfect Hair Sunscreen

2011-09-04T20:58:00.000+02:00

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I´ve wanted a sun protection for my hair for the longest time (sounds like a weird product but it would help protect hair dye from fading etc.).
I finally settled on the one from Shiseido Anessa which I ordered from Adambeauty for US$21 (quite steep but anyways...)...

This product comes in a white 100ml spray bottle which dispenses the sunscreen as a very fine mist (which is a must in my opinion..). It offers UVA and UVB protection however no SPF or PA level seems to be listed on the package.
The Perfect Hair Sunscreen has a light creamy scent which is quite pleasant. What I love about this product is that it makes my hair super soft and smooth for an overall very nice feel.

To be very honest I have no idea how well this is protecting my hair from the sun? I dye my hair every 4-6 weeks anyway due to some stupid white hair so.... hmmmm....don´t know if this actually protects!

I just spray this on my dry hair and comb it through. This product is waterproof so it will only remove with shampoo which is a great thing!

Anyways, I love this product as it makes my hair so soft and lovely so would repurchase for that result alone.

Rating 4/5

Elizabeth Nude Bonbon OL Necessary Gloss in #2

2011-09-04T20:28:00.000+02:00

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I reviewed some of the Elizabeth lipglosses a while ago (older Nude Bonbon OL Style Glosses here and here and Pink Bonbon Glosses here) but seems the OL Style Gloss got a revamp and is now being called OL Necessary Gloss (at least that´s what Adambeauty lists it as)...btw an OL is an "office lady" so that should mean the gloss comes in natural colors suitable to wear to work.

The gloss tube comes now with a diamond pattern and retails for 600 Yen/each. There are 4 colors of which I chose #2 as it looked very pretty in the online swatch.

The applicator is a spatula-type which makes it easy to pile on the gloss.
The texture is very nice as it´s not thicky and not too thick, just the right texture to give a long-lasting and highly-glossy finish.
This gloss is unscented and pigmented enough to show up well.

#2 is a pretty semi-bright coral pink with only miniscule shimmer.

Overall a lovely gloss that comes in pretty colors and is very affordable (US$8 on Adambeauty.com).

Rating 5/5

Funny fake cosmetics =)

2011-09-01T01:07:00.000+02:00

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I actually just found these pics on my pc, I took them years ago here in Egypt... these are really hilarious fake cosmetics... Enjoy! =D

LP - The USA edition: Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Shadow & Liner palettes part 1

2011-08-31T18:32:00.000+02:00

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Until now I collected almost all of the Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips eyeshadow palettes (Custom Eye Enhancing Shadow & Liner) and will find the last few colors in my mailbox when I return to Austria next week =D

There were 5 collections, each containing 4 palettes for brown, hazel, blue and green eyes so until today there were 20 palettes released. So each palette is targeted to enhance a certain eye color but surely that can´t prevent me from trying all the colors hehe.
The collection were the classic one, smoky, pop, eye candy and bronzed. You can see the colors here.

Unfortunately when I received the palettes (in several batches) I took the pics mixed so I am not going to review them by collection which was to be perfect but instead you will find different collections mixed in each part. Sorry about that!

Western drugstore eyeshadows usually are of lower quality with a lack of pigment (at least that´s my experience) or maybe I should say used to be as the general quality seems to slowly improve. That being said not all Japanese drugstore brands are great, some are quite inconsistent like Kate (as they have good and really bad shadows)...

My friend Iris seemed to like her Shimmer Strips palettes in she used in this post so I felt assured I would like the palettes so I went ahead and placed my drugstore.com order =)

The Shimmer Strips palettes come in lucent bulky plastic cases that can scratch rather easily so I handle mine with a bit more care than some other palettes. Each palette has a sponge-tip applicator that´s not very useful for me and there is no mirror.
Packaging-wise these are rather simple but I still like them anyway =)
Each palette contains 9 eye shadows arranged in trios for 3 different looks: Natural, playful and dramatic. So usually the top 3 colors are the softest, the 2nd trio is the most colorful and the 3rd has the most dramatic/dark shades. The 3rd shadow in each trio is smaller as it´s supposed to be the liner shade thus should be used least. I mix and match the colors anyway so I usually ignore that trio-scheme but it might be useful for makeup beginners or in a rush or something.

As the name suggests all shadows are shimmery, though in various degrees of intensity. Some colors lean towards frosty, some to a softer slightly shimmery satin finish with the majority being quite shimmery. However none of the colors seems to contain any sort of rougher glitter like some Japanese brands so that´s really awesome for me =) I love shimmery/metallic shadows but don´t really care for glitter!

The amount of pigment varies among the palettes however no color is a dud as all show up on me when using my regular eye makeup brushes. Some colors are super pigmented, some are a bit sheer but as I said, all show up well on me.... which is actually something I didn´t expect from such inexpensive palettes.
The Shimmer Strips palettes blend very well and wear all day long over my Etude House Proof 10 base even here in the sweaty hot Egyptian weather which is always the best condition for me to test out the wearing power of makeup! (I am in Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast so humidity is rather high here, too!). I didn´t experience ANY kind of creasing or fading so I am absolutely impressed (the Proof 10 base is really good though!).

These shadows don´t irritate my eyes either and they are hypoallergenic, dermatologist tested, safe for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers and fragrance free.

Overall I am very impressed with these little palettes and think they are really value for money (RRP somewhere around US$11 but I know that many US drugstores offer rebates, sales etc.). I got them from drugstore.com for 20% off (so I paid around €6.50/each).

Rating 5/5

Here are the first some palettes, I will review all the other ones later on in part 2 (and possibly a part 3 as well).

-Smoky Green Eyes:

A nice combination of greens, grays, silvers etc.

-Classic Green Eyes:

The original palette for green eyes. Contains soft greens and plums. This palette is a bit sheerer than most others.

-Pop Green Eyes:

A very colorful and funny palette containing aquas, bright greens and purples.

-Green Eye Candy:

An array of purples (one side leaning towards pink, one towards a cool grape tone) and a fun bright lime green in the middle!

-Hazel Eye Candy:

One of my top fave palettes as it´s a taupey/pink combo.

-Classic Hazel Eyes:

A soft taupe/brown/dusty pink palette. This is one of the most neutral office-appropriate palettes, also the shimmer is more subdued in this particular palette.

-Classic Brown Eyes:

A very wearable purple/brown/peach palette.

-Smoky Brown Eyes:

This is one of the most pigmented palettes in my opinion. A pretty variety of silvers, browns and purple. The lighter silver shade is really metallic so I use it lightly =)

More palettes to be reviewed in part 2 soon =)
These palettes pair really nicely with the Custom Eye Enhancing Gel Cream Liners I reviewed here and here!

Canmake Bright Up Base SPF15 PA++ in 01 Beige Pink

2011-08-30T17:35:00.000+02:00

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Eid mubarak to all those who celebrate =)
I stopped by the Canmake "counter" in one of Hong Kong´s department stores when I was there so I picked up this Bright Up Base as it swatched really nicely.
You get a cute shiny pink box housing a simple light colored squeeze tube containing the Bright Up Base.

This is a makeup base which offer slight coverage to even out your skin and contains ingredients to keep your skin "happy".
Here are Canmake´s claims about this product!

This is a slick cream with a fair beige tint to it. What is a bit weird is that when applying it I get a sort of slightly grainy/scratchy feeling that I don´t like. I don´t know where this feeling comes from but it makes my skin feel slightly irritated.
This stuff is unscented and offers very light coverage to even out my skin. The finish is slightly shimmery but not too glittery in my opinion.

25g retail for 900 Yen so this is one of the more inexpensive Japanese beauty products. This product contains a SPF of 15 and PA++.

Overall this is a decent base but I don´t like the feel of this during application. After application the weird scratchy feeling is gone though.
I wouldn´t repurchase this as there are nicer cheap makeup bases (e.g. Media or Integrate) out there.

Rating 3.5/5

LP - The USA edition: Physicians Formula Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Blushes, Powder and Light Bronzer

2011-08-24T20:26:00.000+02:00

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Sorry for another non-Asian makeup post =) I am just so excited about my Physicians Formula stuff that I can´t stop posting hehe =D

I first stumbled across the Happy Booster products on Rouge Deluxe which is still my favorite blog to read =)
There are blushes, powders and bronzers in the Happy Booster range so I picked up both blushes (Natural and Rose), the powder in Translucent and the Light Bronzer.
All products come in cute pink metallic pink compacts with a clear flip-top cover and a brush and mirror stored below the blush pan. The blush cases are smaller than the powder and bronzers and also are a bit cheaper.
The brush looks quite cute (pink and red bristles!) however the quality is quite low, these will do in a rush though!

All products smell supposedly like violet but to me it´s more of a rose blend... The scent is not that strong but it´s there so if you dislike scent in your makeup you might not be fond of these blushes.
All 4 products have a silky and fineily milled texture and are nicely pigmented (except for the powder).

Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Blusher in Natural and Rose:

Certainly the blushes attracted me first with their super cute heart patterns and their beautiful slightly glowy finish.

These are quite pigmented and blend very well to a natural finish. These look shimmery at first but in fact these aren´t, they offer a pretty ethereal kinda glow but without shimmer, more of a pearl finish. Very pretty!

Natural is a reddish peach shade

Rose is a nice hot pink shade

Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Powder in Translucent:

At first I thought this would be only suitable as a highlighter however this is actually a really nice finishing powder for all over the face. It looks as cute as the other products with all the hearts, there is even a pink heart which can be used as a blush (it´s pigmented enough to show up for sure).

This gives a softly glowy finish without glitter...it doesn´t exactly make me look dewy but really glowy.

Gorgeous stuff just like the blushes, has become a daily staple.

Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Bronzer in Light Bronzer:

I am not much of a bronzer person even though I am so super pale. I like myself pale so I am not into faking a tan I naturally can´t achieve (I am only turning red if I don´t put on enough sun protection).

I got the bronzer mainly to use this as a contouring powder and since PF has lighter bronzers suitable for fair skin I thought I am going to try this one from the Happy Booster range because it´s so cute with the hearts design.
The Light Bronzer works great as a contouring powder as it´s subtle but still does the job well. I am not sure how it performs all over the face as I haven´t used it that way.

This has a pink heart just like the powder which can be used as a blusher.
This product has the same silky pearly finish like the other Happy Booster items.

Overall I totally love these 4 products, they are so pretty, give a gorgeous glowy finish and are affordable (I think I paid around €6.50/each for the blushes and €8-something for the powder/bronzer on drugstore.com).

Possible cons for some might be the scent and the crappy brushes but I don´t care for either.

Rating 5/5

LP - The USA edition: Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Gel Cream Liner part 2

2011-08-24T19:06:00.001+02:00

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This is just a quick review to complete my Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Gel Cream Liners review I wrote here. If I get more colors there will be another review of course =)

Please refer to the other review regarding texture etc.
I equally love these 2 colors to the other ones I reviewed before...creamy, easy to apply, absolutely budge-and smudgeproof.

The colors I received:

-Blue Eyes:
I don´t know why it took me longer to purchase this. The colors are a gorgeous deep antique bronze/khaki kinda color, a very gorgeous true royal ink blue and a black with lots of fine blue shimmer so it looks like a deep blue on me.

Using the brown respectively blue liners:

-Glam Hazel Eyes:
Contains a gorgeous metallic antique gold shade, a medium metallic purple and a black with loads of fine golden shimmer which definitely shows up on my eyes.

Here is also a closeup pic of the brush which I forgot last time:

Rating 5/5

Etude House Petit Darling Matte Eyeshadows in #1, 2 and 4

2011-08-24T18:12:00.000+02:00

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I didn´t own more than a handfull of matte eyeshadows as I just prefer shimmery shadows =) However recently I felt I wanted some matte shadows just for adding definition to my eyes without shimmer....maybe to make a shimmery colorful liner pop or something.

I found some very neutral and wearable colors in the Gmarket store of Etude House (etudegmark for those interested to check them out).
These shadows are really inexpensive (I want to say less than US$4/each?)... and come in cute little compacts.

The texture these eyeshadows sport is very silky and not chalky like you might expect from many matte eyeshadows. The color pay-off is decent, sheer to medium and buildable. These are a bit hard to blend but not to the extent of being un-blendable.

#1 is a pale cream shade which blends into my natural skin-tone so it´s almost invisible but still it brightens my eyes. Makes a great highlighter especially to counteract a shimmery lid color!
#2 is a creamy peachy beige shade great for crease-definition
#4 is a deep charcoal color good as a liner or crease-definition. Btw I don´t think this works well with the other 2 colors, I should have gotten #3 which is a deep brown shade

Overall these are nice little shadows to have around if you appreciate a matte natural eye look.

Rating 4/5

P.S. I am going to our beach house for the next 4 days or so so it´s highly possible I have no internet there. So probably no new posts until Sunday or Monday =(

LP - The USA edition: Physicians Formula Mineral Glow Pearls Blush in Natural Pearl and Rose Pearl

2011-08-22T23:51:00.000+02:00

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As I mentioned before one of the very few non-Asian brands I really like is Physicians Formula, a US drugstore brand. I used to collect a lot of their stuff around 6-7 years ago and have recently fallen in love again with their beautiful new offerings (like all the Shimmer Strips stuff!).

I got the Mineral Glow Pearls Blushes in Natural Pearl and Rose Pearl recently with my drugstore.com haul as they looked very pretty in swatches and youtube reviews.

These are the virtues of these pretty blushes:

These Mineral Glow Pearls are silky and pigmented and blend nicely while lasting very well (even here in Egypt where I sweat a lot).
The finish of these is a gorgeous candlelit glow, in bright sunlight you can see shimmer though (not huge glitter anyways).

The compacts these come in are quite bulky and tend to get scratched easily and the included brush is definitely craptastic (like pretty much all PF brushes, they should just leave them out to be honest) however I still like this kind of packaging for some weird reason...the included mirror is also a nice touch =)

These blushes are unscented and don´t irritate my skin at all.

Natural Pearl: A very pretty lighter peachy pink

Rose Pearl: A cool hot pink

Overall I absolutely adore these blushes and have been using them a lot in the past weeks. I am not sure about their retail price, on drugstore.com I paid €6.51/each plus shipping.

Rating 4.5/5

Hada Labo Air BB Cream SPF20 PA++

2011-08-22T23:14:00.001+02:00

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As always I couldn´t resist this new "BB cream" from Japan, this time from Hada Labo.
I got a tube in the lighter of the 2 available colors from Alphabeautyuk on eBay who states about this product:

"Features
1. A single tube gives you all-in-1 foundation performance plus skincare benefits from the Hada Labo series
2. It helps depress excessive sebum secretion, cover pores & small flaws, and even skintone.
3. It contains hyaluronic acid and collagen for skin nourishment
4. With effective whitening ingredients like arbutin and vitamic C derivatives
5. No fragrance, mineral oil-free. Alcohol-free. Preservative-free.
6. With SPF20 PA++ sunscreen support"

Sounds quite good but unfortunately this BB cream in its plain white tube is a total fail.
First off this stuff has nothing to do with a BB cream. This feels like a pure silicone cream which means it features this weird powdery feeling once you apply it. Furthermore this has zilch coverage, not even the least bit.

As you see on the swatch pic a bit below this stuff has a color like mustard but once applied it is so sheer that there is no color, no coverage, nothing.
I might give this the credit as a silicone makeup primer...it´s decent in this respect but it´s NOT a BB cream. Sorry, Hada Labo, by just writing "BB cream" on the tube it doesn´t morph into one!

This is unscented and I haven´t tried this long enough to determine if it would cause blemishes like many other silicone primers tend to do.

This was also on the pricier side at around US$20.
Rating 2/5

Etude House Apricot Stick in #1, 2, 3 and 8

2011-08-21T16:33:00.001+02:00

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The Apricot Stick lipsticks from Etude House caught my attention back in July when I placed a Gmarket order.
These are very cheap (like US$3 or so), come in an array of 8 bright colors, most of them in the red/bright pink/orangey color scheme.

The Apricot Sticks look like regular pencils from outside but when you remove the cap you just have to twist out regular lipbalm-like lipsticks tinted in the same color as their packaging.

These lippies have a nice unobtrusive fruity peachy scent (or apricot but to me this smells more like peach) and are quite pigmented (at least these are super-bright on my lips).
Wearing #2:

The colors I got are #1 (hot pink), #2 (bubblegum pink), #3 (reddish pink) and #8 (a very bright juicy red).

To be honest again I don´t like any of the colors. They are all super bright and have a slightly dull finish so they look uneven and weird and I just don´t feel comfortable wearing these colors. These are fun colors for younger girls or whoever can pull off brights (think many deeper skin-tones than mine) but for me these just don´t look really sophisticated or wearable.

Overall rating for me is 2/5 as these are cheap, look cute and smell nice but overall I dislike these but as I said, others might just love these!

Burberry Lip Cover Soft Satin Lipstick in No.04 Rosewood

2011-08-21T16:04:00.001+02:00

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I wasn´t particularly interested in Burberry cosmetics but actually bought some items from them for my mom when I was in Hong Kong.

My favorite ebay seller listed a really cute mini sample version of the famous No.04 Rosewood Lip Cover Soft Satin Lipstick so I thought it looked interesting enough to try this out.

The sample version looks pretty much like the full-size however it doesn´t have that cool magnetic closure for the cap but just a regular click-on cap.
I like the delicate Burberry pattern engraved on the tube and the lipstick itself, these are the kind of small touches making those Burberry makeup items feel more precious and special in my opinion.

The lipstick has a very nice creamy texture and feels very comfortable and pleasant to wear. The lasting power is really good for such a creamy lipstick and the satin finish is very pretty.
What I dislike is the strong perfumey scent. It´s the kind of typical lipstick scent (like ...hmmm... Nivea body lotion perhaps?) and it doesn´t fade so this is something that REALLY annoys me.

No.04 Rosewood is a very pretty rosy brown shade that should work with most skin-tones and makeup looks.

Overall a high-quality lipstick and it could be totally perfect if they left that nasty perfume out.

Rating 3/5, obviously due to the overwhelming scent.

Coffret d´Or Fast Beauty Foundation UV SPF33 PA++ BB Cream in 01 Bright Skin

2011-08-21T03:02:00.000+02:00

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Coffret d´Or whipped up their own kind of BB cream a few months ago so I picked up a tube when I was in Hong Kong.

The Fast Beauty UV Foundation BB comes in a silver squeeze tube...not really and kind of exciting packaging but it is convenient and hygienic.

This BB cream has a very smooth but not overly thick consistence and is very easy to spread evenly. It gives about medium coverage so it evens out my skin nicely and I don´t need another foundation.

This cream is unscented and doesn´t irritate my skin at all. This has an added sun protection of SPF33 and PA++.

01 is a yellow-toned light shade suitable for light but not for super pale skin-tones. For me it´s too yellow and dark but it blends in somewhat well.

Overall a nice Japanese BB cream but the color is a bit too yellow for my liking.
I don´t remember the price I paid for my 30g tube but I think this retails for around US$32 on Adambeauty.
There are 2 more colors available: Natural and Healthy.

Rating 3.5/5

LP - The USA edition: Physicians Formula Organic Wear Jumbo Lash Mascara in Ultra Black Organics

2011-08-19T02:40:00.000+02:00

If you see this post on another site than lotuspalace.blogspot.com it has been stolen and used without my permission. I only allow reposts with proper credits for my work (please contact me first!)!
The Organic Wear range from Physicians Formula is an all-natural range of products and the product that attracted me most as it seems to have some sort of cult following was the Jumbo Lash Mascara (I did get a few other products from the Organic Wear range as well though).

The product claims are here:

Quite impressive if you ask me. This is really a mascara that seems to be free of all the bad stuff and considering that mascara is worn so close to the eyes it should be mild stuff without harsh chemicals (that being said I know that some natural ingredients aren´t always better as some are prone to cause allergies or irritate)...

Anyways, I really like the bulky tube, it looks somehow nice!
The brush this mascara has is a flexible rubber brush and it´s HUGE. I mean really huge! It can be tricky to maneuver at first but actually I am now really fond of it.

This mascara is really great as it´s perfect in adding definition and separating my lashes, furthermore it can keep the curl really well. It´s not super lengthening or volumizing but still performs nicely in both ways. I like how my lashes stay soft and aren´t getting that "crunchy" or hard feeling of some other mascaras.
The color Ultra Black Organics is really a deep black, just what I wanted.

This is not a waterproof mascara and many reviewers complained that it smudges. I personally don´t have problems with smduging but I never had problems regarding that point with other washable mascaras. I have not worn this this mascara in "wet" circumstances like rain, crying, swimming etc but since it removes quite easily with just some water and cleansing oil I am sure it would run.
Doesn´t irritate my eyes at all and has a slightly "natural" smell, sort of slightly earthy or herbal.

Overall for being an organic mascara this performs really well and it´s a nice departure from my all-waterproof-but-hard-to-remove Japanese mascaras.

Retails for somewhere around US$10 but I know US drugstores hold sales frequently so you should be able to find it for some bucks off. I got mine from drugstore.com at 20% off recently (however the shipping is REALLY hefty so only worth if one gets a bunch of stuff). I recommend checking out Ebay if you are outside the USA and Canada.

Rating 4.5/5

Fall 2011: Maquillage Essence Glamorous Rouge in RS794

2011-08-19T01:22:00.000+02:00

If you see this post on another site than lotuspalace.blogspot.com it has been stolen and used without my permission. I only allow reposts with proper credits for my work (please contact me first!)!
I arrived to Egypt last week hence my lack of posts, sorry! I am quite busy with family duties and other stuff so posting is limited these days *sigh*
Anyways, I purchased one of the new Essence Glamorous Rouge lipglosses from Maquillage a few weeks ago and just wanted to do a quick review now.
I bought mine from Alphabeautyuk on eBay but I have also seen these on Adambeauty now.

The Essence Glamorous Rouge comes in a silvery rounded tube with a very nice slanted doe-foot applicator made of a very soft fuzzy material distributing the right amount of color.

The gloss is creamy and totally un-sticky while feeling moisturizing and just wonderfully pleasant to wear.
This unscented gloss wears very well for a decent amount of time before it needs to be reapplied.

The finish is glossy but not mirror-shine and the color shows up well as this product is relatively pigmented for a gloss (or liquid lipstick).

RS794 is a very pretty cool mauvey rose pink.

Overall I really love this stuff and will say it´s excellent like the majority of Maquillage lipsticks/glosses. I can´t find anything negative about this lovely product.

Rating 5/5

Summer 2011: Lunasol Full Glamour Liquid Lips EX-02 Coral Pink & Eye Pencil N EX-02 Blue Green

2011-08-04T17:04:00.000+02:00

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Lunasol released a pretty summer collection but nothing tickled my fancy. The main popular item were/are the summer palettes but they just looked a lot like the previous years´palettes Lunasol put out for summer so I skipped them.

I got one of the new Liquid Lips in EX-02 Coral Pink and the Eye Pencil in EX-02 Blue Green on eBay recently so time to review them before I forget =)

Both products come in Lunasol´s signature packaging/chocolate bronze metallic packaging.
The Liquid Lips is one of the nicest liquid lipsticks/creamy lipglosses I know and wears absolutely comfortably.

As I said above the texture is very creamy, not sticky or goopy and stays on decently. It feels quite moisturizing as my lips are very soft when this wears off.

EX-02 Coral Pink is a beautiful sheer color with fine shimmer. The name coral pink fits the color very well.

Rating 5/5

The Eye Pencil N EX-02 Blue Green is a fat pencil-shaped twist-up pen so it does not require sharpening.

It´s a creamy pencil with good pigment and fine shimmer. It blends nicely and looks really bright as it´s such a gorgeous teal shade. This cream eyeshadow/pencil wears well with minimal creasing but does fade a little over the day.

It´s a bit too thick to use this as a eyeliner but it´s a nice eyeshadow in my opinion.
EX-02 Blue Green is a nice sparkly teal.

Rating 4/5
Retail is around 2800 Yen for the lipgloss and around 2600 for the eye pencil. I believe Adambeauty has them up for grabs.

LP - The USA edition: Neutrogena Healthy Skin Brightening Eye Perfector SPF25 in 05 Fair

2011-07-31T16:04:00.000+02:00

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I am not so much a fan of most Neutrogena makeup (at least what I tried)... Well it´s not bad but nothing particularly impressed me. Anyway I purchased this Healthy Skin Brightening Eye Perfector SPF25 in 05 Fair on Drugstore.com as it was on sale and the color looked like it would suit me.

Here is what Neutrogena claims/tells us about this product:

This comes in a silver twist-click pen which is quite fat and has a brush applicator so the product just oozes onto the brush when you twist the bottom.

I have read/seen a few reviews for this product and some reviewers complained about the lack of pigment in this product. To me this is actually quite pigmented and it covers my minor dark shadows around my eyes and brightens them up instantly. I also like to use this on the rest of my face as a concealer and it does the job so well.

This is a very smooth and moisturizing cream which spreads easily so it makes the skin around my eyes look smoother and very even which was a really nice surprise to me.

The added sun protection of SPF25 is quite a nice bonus, too!
05 Fair is a very pale milky flesh color which works *perfectly* for me. Color-match-wise this might be the best concealer I have found in long time!

This seems to be unscented and cost me around €8 or so on Drugstore.com.
Overall great for someone with fair, normal-dry or dry skin and minor eye circles/other flaws to cover. For others this might make a nice highlighter as it seems to have a light pearly quality (nothing wild or shimmery though) but might not offer enough coverage for really dark circles.
This comes in a total of 4 shades so you might want to check out the other colors if the 05 Fair looks too light for you.

Rating 5/5 as this is perfect stuff for me =)

Elizabeth Nude Bon Bon Lip Care Essence

2011-07-31T15:15:00.000+02:00

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Elizabeth is a small Japanese brand that does have some nice products. I reviewed some of their lipglosses and nail colors before (though the latter weren´t that great).

The Lip Care Essence is a new product I believe, I just found it recently on Adambeauty.

It comes in a small tube with a clear plastic spatula applicator. The Lip Essence is a quite slick gloss which is not sticky at all and feels nicely moisturizing.
This gives a glossy finish and lasts decently on me.

The Lip Care Essence is neither scented nor flavored and retails for 600 Yen.

Adambeauty sells this for US$9 incl. shipping (however add US$2 per shipment for registered mail.
Overall a really good product and there is nothing bad I can say about it.

Rating 5/5

Etude House Golden Ratio Designing Conté

2011-07-31T13:37:00.000+02:00

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The Golden Ratio Designing Conté is a really interesting product, unlike anything else I have seen before.

The Golden Ratio line (which, as I understand, came out at least last fall so it´s not the most recent release) features products to contour and define one´s face to reach a most perfectly balanced facial ratio.

The Designing Conté is a duo of face "pencils" (as EH calls them) that look more like pastel chalks.
They are wrapped in plastic which should be only removed in half as not to stain your fingers everytime you use them.

I furthermore recommend to keep them in the box incl. padding and cover to prevent these pencils from crumbling or staining other things.
You get 2 colors, one is a shimmery light beige and the other one is a deep chocolate brown that´s matte.

The lighter shade should be used for highlighting the cheeks, forehead, ridge of brows etc. whereas the deeper color is intended to be used for defining the brows, hairline etc. Both could also be used as eyeshadows.
Both sticks have a densely pressed powder texture with a good color pay-off.
The lighter shade has a glowy/pearly finish and can be blended quite nicely. For me unfortunately the warm beige shade is too dark to be of use as a highlighter and I for contouring it´s too yellow on me so I can only use it as an eyeshadow and the color is just not perfect for me. More tan ladies can probably enjoy this stuff really well, though!

What´s interesting about the deeper color is that once applied it stays absolutely put so smudging or blending is next to impossible however this is probably the most perfect brow powder I have ever used. It´s dark, lasts perfectly, doesn´t crumble and doesn´t fade or smudge. I think the idea of using this to define one´s hairline is interesting but I am not really doing that :P
Applied with a thin angled brush this could also make a good eyeliner but I haven´t tried this yet.

The sticks aren´t scented and cost me 8000 Won (around US$7something). I got them from etudegmark on Gmarket (item 193822952). I am sorry but right now it seems this item is out of stock.

Rating 3.5/5... the darker stick alone totally gets 5/5 however the lighter color drags the rating down a bit.

LP - The USA edition: Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Gel Cream Liner

2011-07-30T21:53:00.001+02:00

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I used to be all into US cosmetics before I switched to Japanese/Korean ones =D That was like 6 or 7 years ago... Physicians Formula, even though partly a kind of gimmicky brand, used to be one of my faves back then =)
I am going to write reviews on some US products over the next weeks and I hope you´ll enjoy them just as the Asian cosmetics ones =)

Now I am all into Asian cosmetics as you know but recently I fell for a bunch of products from PF as they looked:
-so pretty!
-affordable
-according to reviews/youtube videos overall great quality

So I ordered a big bunch of items from the Shimmer Strips collection from Drugstore.com and even though the shipping turned out quite expensive it still was cheaper than getting the items I wanted from various eBay sellers.
Shipping via DHL to Austria was about the fastest I ever experienced.. the package left the USA on Thursday and by Friday noon I already could pick up the package from our local DHL office! That is faster than local mail lol.

The first item that caught my attention were the Custom Eye Enhancing Gel Cream Liners, sets of 3 gel liners per package designed to brighten up your eye color. So there are sets for green, brown, hazel and blue eyes. Of course rules are there to be broken so I got all the colors I liked (and I ordered some more and will review them next week or so). =)

The gel liners come in super pretty cubic little pots in stacks of 3. You can detach the liners from each other and rearrange them the way you like. Makes me play around with them like with Lego blocks :P The caps in each trio have different metallic colors so they can be found easily in your makeup drawer.

Each liner trio comes with a black shade with differently colored glitters. The difference isn´t really noticable though in my opinion so I wish not all trios would contain a black but anyway, I won´t complain =)

The texture of these liners all in all is absolutely divine...the liners are very pigmented, smooth and glide on like silk. Once they are applied and set they don´t budge or smudge and stay fresh all day long. Absolutely amazing, really!
Of course these don´t irritate my eyes and wear just comfortably.
The majority of the liners contain fine shimmer or have at least a slightly shiny finish.
Each liner trio comes with its own brush and actually it´s really nice and does the job very well!
Rating 5/5

The individual colors I got so far (couple more colors to follow soon in a separate review):

-Glam Green Eyes:

This was a special edition or new edition or something intended to be used with green eyes. It contains the sheerest liners and they are actually very suitable to be used for the lower inner eye lid (near the tear ducts) or to actually apply them as shimmery eyeshadows.

The colors are a metallic pale icy lilac, pale metallic greenish silver and a silvery deep gray (this is more different and a bit lighter than the other blacks in the other trios).

-Hazel Eyes:

This trio is made to brighten and enhance hazel eyes. The colors are a shimmery taupe (love this!!), a slightly shimmery pinkish purple and a black with slight pink shimmer. The pinkish purple is quite bright but pretty nonetheless.

-Brown Eyes:

This trio to enhance brown eyes is actually very similar to the one for hazel eyes however the colors are a bit deeper. There is a deep chocolate brown, a medium purple and a black with purple shimmer.

-Green Eyes:

This is the most fun trio in my opinion and is the trio for green eyes. The colors are a wonderful deep velvet moss green, a cool grape purple which looks almost blue and a black with green shimmer bits.

Here is an EOTD wearing the 2 fun colors from this trio (eyeshadows are from the PF Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Shadow & Liner palette in Pop Green Eyes, to be reviewed soon). I only slightly smudged the green liner on, it´s much more pigmented than it looks in the pic!

As I said I absolutely adore these liners and the colors are real fun and a nice departure from the safer Japanese gel liner colors =)
Retail price in the US is around US$11 but I think these can be found on sale often. I got mine from Drugstore.com (international site) for around €6.50 per trio.

The products are fragrance-free, paraben-free, dermatologist approved and safe for contact-lens wearers and sensitive eyes.

Update: Here is part 2 where I reviewed a few more colors!

PDC Pure Natural Natural Make UV Milk SPF23 PA++

2011-07-30T20:36:00.000+02:00

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PDC released a new tinted moisturizer/sun protection recently and since I always fall for those kind of things I ordered one.
The Pure Natural Make UV Milk SPF23 PA++ comes in a small simple white/blue bottle and has to be shaken prior to each use.

The product is quite liquid and spreads easily. It feels a little greasy at first but that feeling settles soon in my opinion.
This milk is tinted in a very fair yellowish shade which works great to brighten my skin and to use as a base for foundation however the coverage is so sheer a variety of skin tones should be able to use this. This seems to leave some sort of sheen on my skin but not really shimmer or glitter.

The sun protection level is fine for doing errands or just hanging out for an afternoon in the city but won´t work for heavy outdoor activities and I am not sure if it´s waterproof (probably not).

This stuff isn´t scented and doesn´t irritate my skin at all.

Overall this is a nice makeup base or a brighening sunscreen albeit the slightly greasy feel bugs me a little.

Rating 3.5/5

Gmarket haul (Etude House is generous with freebies again!) =D

2011-07-27T22:07:00.002+02:00

If you see this post on another site than lotuspalace.blogspot.com it has been stolen and used without my permission. I only allow reposts with proper credits for my work (please contact me first!)!
I got couple of gift certificates from Gmarket´s Top Blogger Event stuck on my account along with some shipping refunds from my last orders from February and I was in need of some black hair dye so I placed an order last Thursday and Friday =)

My order arrived already as of today as both sellers (etudegmark and 밀려오레) shipped super fast. As a matter of fact I first placed an order for 3 Etude House hair dyes, 2 from Somang and couple of cute stationery sets but the stationery was canceled Friday morning and I got my refund right away... Since I didn´t want to just receive a non-fun package of just a few hair dyes I did another Etude House haul as I noticed they had a cute new hair care range out! =D
Etude House was extremely generous with their free gifts this time around even though only a few were pictured in their "event". I got 3 packs of cotton pads, 2x q-tips, 3 hair mask samples (30ml each, quite generous!), 2 face washs (30ml each), some skincare sets from Moistfull and Moistfull Aloe, an eyebrow razor/mirror/lash comb, a makeup bag, 15 (!!) Moistfull sheet masks and an Acerola face gel (as it was a BOGOF (=1+1 free) offer!). Please note all these gifts arrived with 2 different orders but combined into 1 international shipment =)

These are the items I actually ordered:

Silk Scarf shampoo, conditioner and hair mask, 3 hair dyes in black, Acerola face gel and those interesting Golden Ratio face contouring chalks (or whatever you call them.

Overall this was the best experience with Etude House for long time as they used to be super generous with samples and freebies, then were getting REALLY stingy and now I got really a lot of nice and useful extras!
Totally recommend ordering now!