Coming up reviews + samples

1. Mamonde BB Cream

2. Jadilla J Original BB Cream--my lovely friend Julia recommended trying this :)
3. Jadilla J SkinGuard BB Plus according to the reviews, and my coworkers, this will be way too dark for me
4. VOV Anti-Trouble BB Cream already tried, and no likee, please refer to my post for the full review
http://allthingsbbcream.blogspot.com/2010/02/vov-anti-trouble-bb-cream.html
5. Missha M Original BB Cream
I'm not buying this anymore because it does not have SPF, and Julia (&many other bloggers) tell me that it is pretty much a cheaper version of Missha Vita, which I plan to get. However, if there are enough requests for samples, I will get it just for you guys! Or if anyone want me to CP it, email me. :)
6. Missha M Vita BB Cream
7. Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream
8. Missha Shiny BB Cream
9. Missha Watery BB Cream
10. Hanskin Super Magic BB cream
this BB cream comes highly recommended, as it seem to have visible healing properties. Also, a coworker in Korea says this is the most popular!
11. some skin79 stuff
I got mixed reviews about this, so I'll test it at the counter before buying it. However, as always, if there are enough requests for samples or you want me to CP it, it's no problem.
so far, I am interested in:
Diamond Total SPF 37 PA++
Intense Classic the premium SPF30 PA++

In Korea :D

Girls, I'm still in Korea, and will be there for another week since the talk with the investors are not going as smoothly :(
However, I've found lot and lots of new cosmetics items and I think you will be pleasantly surprised by my haul pictures :D

Mamonde BB cream

Okay, sorry this has lots of Korean. I can't read either. My camera is broken right now, so I am making do with the photos I can find that does not have copyright. :)
Some of you may know, Mamonde is a line I LOVE. So naturally, when its very first BB cream came out, I bought it. I thought of this as a last resort. If I like nothing else, I can come to this and love it. This is how much I trust mamonde products.
However, this is nothing like I expected, even though it was still nice. When it came to me, the liquid and the cream separated in the tube. I don't know what happened. I shook it, and shook it, they did not miraculously come together. However, when I squeezed out a little cream, and a little water, mixing it on hand and applying it to my face, it was good.

My Quick Take: 

Coverage: Sheer, buildable up to sheer medium

Oil-control: 7ish hours? this is kind of sheer, so you can't really tell how long it lasted. 

Color: conservatively, would suit NC/NW 15 to NC/NW 30 skins. It has a slight pinkish grey undertone that fits most tones, and has no shimmer. This is lighter than most BB creams, and much easier to remove. 

Finish: very natural skin look

Special properties: very moisturizing, SPF 22

Overall: I guess this didn't start out good since the liquid and cream separated, but I imagine it should be good for people with good skin looking for a more basic tinted moisturizer type BB cream that can help maintain your skin. I just prefer something more balmy, more typical of BB cream. 

Samples:

5ml: $3 plus shipping (within $2)

Jadilla J Original BB cream review + samples

This is recommended by my lovely friend Julia. Even though she found her HG in the Jadilla J Whitening BB cream, she liked this one also, and thought I might as well. Well, it was interesting if nothing else. :)

No, it was actually a very decent BB cream, just very unusual in that it comes with a sponge applicator. My camera is broken, but I promise to take a picture of the applicator and post it up here. I am just going to briefly describe it here. Like most BB creams, this one comes in a squeezy tube, but in front of the opening of the tube, there is a sponge like thing with a whole in the middle. Theoretically, when you squeeze out the BB cream, it would be on the sponge, and you can apply it on your face with the sponge. This is supposed to be more convenient for those who are used to applying with a sponge. However, I find that I don't like this as I've always been a fingers person. It also seems that I use up much more product when using the sponge applicator (which happens with all sponge applicators anyway). Approximately 1.5 times the product I use when applying with fingers.
However if you don't like it,  you can easily take the sponge off.
Other than that, this BB cream seems pretty normal. So here comes the review.

My Quick Take:

Coverage: Sheer to medium. Very easy to blend and layerable. 

Oil-control: 8 hours without powder. I started oiling up around the nose on the sixth hour, but you can't really see it. 

Color: conservatively, would suit NC/NW 15 (or much fairer) to NC/NW 30 skins. This is the lightest BB cream I've tried so far. I actually really love the color. It has a sort of yellow undertone that looks like a foundation. When applied, it gives me the most wonderful color match. It's natural, it's my color, only better. 

Finish: slight glow, leaning more towards matte--a very natural matte. 

Special properties: Protecting, slightly moisturizing, evens skin-tone slight anti-aging, SPF 30

Overall: I like this BB cream, but I just know this is not my HG. First off, I am not crazy about the packaging. I much more prefer princessy ones :) However, packaging is not the most important as long as the BB cream is good. I can't find any obvious faults with the BB cream, but it just looks a little too matte for me. It looks natural enough that people could believe that you are not wearing makeup, but it does not give that also very natural and healthy glow that I love. It does brighten skin as good as any others though.

Samples:

5ml: $4 plus shipping (should be under $2)

email me for larger samples or even the whole tube if you want to try the sponge tube :) 


I am selling the whole bottle (95% left) for $20 plus $4 shipping if anyone's interested. I find that I love the glowy look too much to use it because this gives a natural matte finish. 




Update: I've found that this product is actually pretty good at healing whiteheads. When I put on the makeup on, there's some whiteheads, and when I take it off, the whiteheads are gone! 

VOV Anti-Trouble BB Cream Review

This BB cream came from the esteemed korean brand VOV, and was on sale, so I gleefully bought a tube of it in the lightest color. Anti-trouble also sounded quite appealing. Turns out, the product name accurately describes it if you remove the "anti"--trouble bb cream.

It wasn't quite that bad, considering I was sane enough to try it on the back of my ears first. The coverage was sheer medium, which is fine, and it gives a semi-matte finish that I am not very found of. It just don't look that natural. The oil-control was unbelievably good. The first time I tried this, it lasted 18 hours (with the coverage nearly gone), however, my ears did not oil up at all, which is not so normal for me, considering I used rich leave in conditioner on my hair that day. After I removed it, the area behind my ears was a bright red.

I thought that maybe I left it on for too long (although frankly, if a makeup causes strange reactions after a certain number of hours, one should not use it). The second time I tested it, I promptly washed it off after 6 hours, but I still had that redness.

I gave this to my friend Julia's young daughter, who was brave enough to do a whole face. She told me that she had dry patches surrounding where she has acne, and got red bumps under her nose, where she applied a lot considering the oil control. She has oily skin, by the way. She left it on for a whole school day, which is around 8 hours, and the coverage was somehow gone by midday.

I have not tried a full face of this yet, and I do not plan to. I am not selling samples of this because both me and Julia's daughter, Lucy had bad reactions. However, if anyone want samples or even the whole tube, which has 99% of product left, please comment or email me. :) I would advise against trying this unless you are very adventurous. I am sure that a BB cream from such a famous brand would work for some, but I am just not sure who.

someone's been shopping :)

Last time I went to Korea, I was so dazzled by the christmas special cosmetics that I bought a lot, so much that they can fit into my carry-on suitcase. So a coworker in Korea brought this package for me. :)

reviews coming up :) 

Laneige Snow Crystal Dual Base & Foundation, & White + Renew Foundation

I have used the base and foundation for some time now, and I have to say even though I am not sure it deserves HG status, I like them. I would give them 5 stars since I can find not much wrong with them.
The picture above is the base, which has a green, pink, and purple color, of which I chose the green. Green bases hides red skin, purple color hides yellow skin (while I think in truth makes skin unnaturally white), while pink brightens skin (or some claim they can change your undertone temporarily from warm to cool).
The green base offers zero coverage, but goes on very smoothly and is very easy to blend. It does cover red areas very effectively. I'm not sure about the oil control, since I've always used it with foundation, and together, they lat me 10+ hours. You might make it last longer with powder, a product I rarely use.

As you can see, it has a small cap on top, which contains cream highlighter, which I like to put under the arches of my brows. The quality is very good.

This is the original snow crystal dual foundation, with spf 22 PA+. It goes on similar to the base, and offers about medium coverage. On the top, there is also a small cap that you can fling open. It contains concealer, which matches the foundation flawlessly. By the way, the color match is very good on me as well. I think I chose the medium color.

Before I used up the snow crystal foundation, this came out. This is the white plus renew snow crystal duo foundation. I am planning on buying their skincare line white plus renew, so I bought the foundation. This is very similar to the original foundation, except that it has spf 41 PA++, and I've noticed that if I put on too much foundation, it doesn't cake, but makes my face looks whiter, but very natural. The cap on top contains highlighter instead of concealer. This lasts 10+ hours on me with the base, and without powder.
I have had no allergic reactions so far, but I still switched to BB creams. I am not sure why I switched when the base and foundation looks as natural on me, and also claims healing abilities. However, I think the healing abilities on BB cream are a little faster. :D

VOV Castledew colorshot lip gloss, tint and volume balm review

The three lippies on the left are color shot lip glosses, and the third one is a lip tint. Of the four, I love the fourth lip tint the most. When applied, the color is so natural on my lips, even though it is a bit drying. It can also double up as a cheek tint easily.
The three gloss colors are very good too. The first one is an innocent pink. It shows up the best with concealer under. The second is a berry color, which I really love since it looks very natural. The third one is more neutral compared to the first two. It looks good with dark green clothes.
The glosses are similar to mac lip glasses, very glossy, has a wet shine when applied excessively, and are very moisturizing.

Those are the tinted lip balms I bought. The packaging looks cute, right?

I think those the color #3 and #2. The #2 is actually very similar to the pink gloss. A little light for everyday wear, but gives an innocent pink when I apply concealer underneath.
However, I admit I much more prefer the #3. It is a little bright for a lip balm, but with my pink and rose clothes, it looks very natural. It gives me the lip color I have just after eating. :) However, this is slightly more sticky than I would like, but much more moisturizing than most tinted lip balms. I think it is even more moisturizing than some of my lip balms. This is very good for winter.

VOV Castledew blur shot review

This is also a part of my castledew haul. I was blown away by the cute packaging and the glowing reviews.

This is the color #1. This is a very good highlighter that looks very natural. It is a small circle of very fine shimmery powder surrounded by a pinkish light powder. I apply this by swirling my brush across the whole pact. If I want a little more shimmer, like on my nose, I just use the shimmery part. If I am looking for an ultra natural finish, I just use the outer ring of pinkish powder.

This is the color #3. The middle color #2 is a purplish highlighter. From experience, I know it will look unnaturally white, so I did not buy it. On my fair skin, this acts as a bronzer.
However, on my friend Julia who has slightly darker skin, NC 35ish, this is actually a natural highlighter. So it really depends on the skin tone.


Both compacts have a second layer under the powder. It contains a mini brush and a mirror.



Overall, I really love those products, but it seems I can't use highlighter very well. I've tried so many, highbeam by benefit, and most of the powders sold by U.S. brands, but unless I am very careful, I get the highlighter on the wrong places of my face 90% of my face, causing my face to look rounder or weird.

If anyone is interested, I am selling #1 at $7, since I used it 2x. I think I bought it at $11ish or so. I am selling #3 at $7 also, and I've used it 1x on myself and 1x on my friend Julia's face.

I used a newly washed brush both times (i wash my bobbi brown brushes once a day), so please don't worry about the hygiene.

VOV Volume Blusher review

This is a blush by VOV. Not quite the princessy castledew series, but this one looks quite elegant in its packaging, so I couldn't resist.

Another reason I couldn't resist is the marble finish of the blush. It looks so pretty, so I bought it. As you can see, it comes with a compact mirror but no applicators. A coworker in Korea actually gave me a small brush by VOV to use with this. Apparently something she got with another purchase. The small brush is very typical of included applicators meaning that it is unusable. :D

I only used this once, before realizing that the color may be a little red for me. I think the color is closest to benefit's benetint, but unfortunately, I am a posietint person, so... 

The finish is very glowy, since it seem to have very fine shimmers on the surface, but I imagine that the shimmers will go away by the 10th application. This lasted 6 hours flawlessly before I finally washed it off because I was self conscious about the reddish blush that does not look 100% natural on me, although my friends told me I look fine. :)

If anyone wants this, I will let it go for $6. I got it for $12, and used it 1x.  Sold 

VOV Castledew eyeshadow review

I did a huge haul recently of VOV castledew stuff, not because there was a sale going on, but because I just cannot resist the princessy packaging :)

The packaging actually looks more cute than it does in the picture. I am still waiting to get my new camera, so just bear with the poor quality pictures my three year old camera takes. As you can see, the packaging is mostly shiny metallic finish, with crystal like glass fringes surrounding it reflecting the light.

This is the inside. It comes with a huge mirror and two applicators. The colors are baked, which I vastly prefer over pressed eyeshadow (the type that is dominantly sold in the U.S.). Baked eyeshadow gives more control during application. If I want a sheer coat, I can just swipe my brush across it, but it is very layerable to a full coverage finish. Baked eyeshadow also tend to last longer on my oily lids without creasing than pressed shadows.

I love the colors. As you can see, it is designed such that the three colors lined vertically make good color trios, but I can mix and match as I wish, of course. I really like the brown color in the corner. It is a very good eyebrow color in a pinch, and lasts all day. Unlike most eyebrow colors I tried, this one does not have a reddish undertone, and when applied lightly, actually looks very natural. I think the color is very similar to the anastasia brow duo in medium ash.

Overall I really like it. I have only used all the colors 2x, and the brown color 5x. Since I've been getting into nude makeup (really natural makeup that enhances but is kind of invisible), so if anyone wants it, I can sell it for $10.