Review ★ Shu Uemura Fresh Pore Clarifying Cleansing Oil

Hello err'body!

I have brought myself to splurge on one of the Shu Uemura cleansing oils after reading a lot of reviews that rave about how awesome they are. They come in 150mL and 450mL bottles (~$30-45, $67-90, respectively). I've been using it for about 3-4 weeks now, and I haven't broken out yet.

Description
(all descriptions taken from shuuemura-usa.com)
For combination, oily, and/or acne-prone skin. A lightweight cleansing oil that leaves the skin clean, fresh, and refined. Wash away pore concerns that lead to black heads with their innovative natural origin system for superb cleansing. Effectively remove make-up and impurities inside pores while maintain the skin's necessary moisture level. Empowered with Sakura Complex, this cleansing oil minimizes pores by eliminating excess sebum and visibly smoothes the skin's surface.

There's a bunch of other ones for different skin types, or for all skin types.
★ Whitefficient clear brightening gentle cleansing oil (blue) - For dull skin complexion. It brightens your skin, and evens out your skin tone.
★ Cleansing beauty oil premium a/o advanced formula (green) - For aging skin.
★ Ultim8 sublime beauty cleansing oil (dark orange) - For all skin conditions. Softens, conditions, hydrates, and nourishes your skin.
★ High performance balancing cleansing oil advanced formula (yellow) - For all skin conditions.
★ Cleansing beauty oil premium a/i (yellow) - For dry & sensitive skin. Improves texture of skin by moisturizing and nourishing.

You might be thinking that it is ridiculous to use oil as a cleanser, because people generally try to remove traces of excess oil. However, do not be alarmed! These cleansing oils will not make your face oily, or cause you to break out (I haven't read any reviews where people claimed that they broke out). I have combination skin (with some dry patches e ve) and my face didn't feel slimy or oily after washing it off. The cleanser is also very lightweight and thin.

I've been using Murad cleansing wipes, and an eye make-up remover to remove my make-up after night classes or going out with friends. Although people recommend using an actual cleanser to remove make-up, I find that the wipes do a much better job than some of the cleansers I've used. Admittedly, I am also really lazy 8D. Your vision will get cloudy if you get it in your eyes though, although that's better than the pain that comes with getting cleanser in them LOL.

I couldn't think of another way to show how well it works, but I hope this will suffice LOL. On the far left, I have concealer (Maybelline Age Rewind) and eyeliner (Dollywink liquid & pencil eyeliner) on the back of my hand. The middle picture is the product of rubbing some of the cleansing oil over the make-up. Lastly, the far right shows no trace of make-up or oily film, after washing the oil off with warm water.

This cleansing oil eliminates the use of the wipes & eye make-up remover. It removes all of my make-up (including waterproof mascara, BB creams, etc.) very well. I use toner afterwards, and there's never any make-up residue left on the cotton ball :D. A little goes a long way, and I've used it sparingly because it is on the expensive side.

Pros
+ Removes all traces of make-up
+ Does not leave any oily residue after washing it off
+ Pores are noticeably smaller
+ Skin feels soft
+ It is lightly scented

Cons
- Expensive. $36 CAD for 150ml/$72 CAD (I'm guestimating OTL) for 450ml is steep; but it is a high quality product.

Rating: ★★★★★

Where to purchase? I purchased mine from Sephora for $36 (before tax, but I used the VIB coupon on my purchase). You can also buy them from a department store counter, the Shu Uemura website, e-bay, amazon, etc.

Would I repurchase? Yes, somewhere in the long run when my wallet will not cry over it. There are also cheaper alternatives that are well reviewed on Sasa, and ones sold by e-bay sellers.

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Review ★ It's Skin Babyface Blushers

I couldn't find a lot of reviews on the babyface blushers, so I thought I'd do one for the people who are interested in them! It's Skin isn't uber popular, but their packaging is cute nonetheless. I know a lot of people love the macaron lip balms though (they smell really good, and they're moisturizing too).

These are the ones I bought:

★ #3 Romantic Rose

★ #4 Sweet Peach

They also come in:

★ #1 Lovely Pink

★ #2 Pure Lavender

It comes with a soft puff with a ribbon. I don't use the puffs so I just store them somewhere else and use a brush instead. If you opt for using a brush too, you will have to have a small one to be able to pick up the product, since a bigger brush probably won't fit into the container. The blush has the same face as the packaging, which fades away after a few uses.

I swiped them 2-3 times

The texture of the blushes is soft, and powdery. The colour goes on sheer, but it's buildable. I think that's a good quality in a blush, because it's better to start with a little and build up to the opacity you want, rather than trying to fix it if the blush comes off too red/orange/pink. It's important to avoid applying too much blush so you don't look like a clown, since blush is supposed to give off that natural looking flush.

The blushes have a subtle shimmer to them, but it's not as much as some of Benefit's blushes. Romantic Rose is a great colour for fair-medium skin tones, whereas Lovely Pink is geared towards people who are very fair-fair. Lovely Peach appears more like a light beige, but it can be used to warm up the colour of your cheeks if you are on the fairer side. It kind of looks like a light bronzer/foundation colour. I've never seen a swatch for Pure Lavender; but, I would assume it's good for fair/cool skin tones judging from the opinions on high-end purple blushes. Most purple blushes appear as a cool mauve-pink when applied. As usual, this would also be more appropriate for people with a fair complexion (since many Korean face products are geared towards people who are fair to medium in terms of skin colour).

Pros
+ Colour is buildable
+ Subtle shimmer adds a healthy glow
+ Cute packaging
+ Long-lasting (it stayed on my face until I removed my make-up, so maybe about ~6hrs)
+ Small packaging is makes it convenient for traveling or carrying it in your make-up bag/purse/handbag.

Cons
+ You have to hold the puff by the ribbon, which might be kind of difficult. Most face make-up applicators usually have a band which you slide your fingers under.
+ Not a lot of product due to its size

Rating: ★★★★☆

Where to purchase? The colours are listed separately at $6.99 USD each (#1 Lovely Pink, #2 Pure Lavender, #3 Romantic Rose, #4 Sweet Peach)

Would I repurchase? I'll be purchasing other blushes before considering whether or not to repurchase, since I haven't really tried out many blushes. But I would recommend this product to anyone who is looking for a cheap blush with cute packaging.

& for readers: Do you call it blush, or blusher? 
I know people call it blush or blusher in different places, so I was wondering which term do you guys use 8D.

Review ★ Etude House Sweet Recipe Cupcake All Over Colour

Second instalment of reviews from my haul! The All Over Colours are from the Sweet Recipe collection which has plenty of dessert themed cosmetics with uber cute packaging!

Description
(Paraphrased the item description on e-bay, link will be at the end in the where to purchase part)
The Etude House Sweet Recipe Cupcake All Over Colour has 5 vibrant colours which you can use multiple ways. It can be used as a blush, eyeshadow, and/or lip colour.

As you can see, they come in a box that kind of resembles a cupcake take-out box. Like most of Etude House's other products, the product packaging is also adorable :D. Etude House has other lip and perfume products that come in different tins based on their theme (there's a bee lip balm, hello kitty perfume tin, 'dear girls' lip balm, etc.), but the cupcake ones are by far the most aesthetically pleasing.

These are the ones I bought:
★ PK002 - Strawberry Chiffon Cake
★ OR202 - Peach Sugar Cake

They also come in:
★ PK001 - Blueberry Cheesecake
★ RD301 - Raspberry Mousse Cake
★ OR201 - Orange Choux Cake

Left: PK002, right: OR202

Top: Blended out

Natural lip colour (with lip balm) -> OR202 -> PK002 (with flash)

Both of them have a peach scent that smells really good. They just make me feel like eating a piece of cake or something sweet :9.

The colours go on lighter than the solid colour in the tin, so PK002 and OR202 are more nudy shades.

Lip colour: I recommend using a chap stick/lip balm before applying this since it's not moisturizing, and it will emphasize chapped lips or fine lines. Although it goes on sheer, you can build the colour so that it is more opaque. I would not recommend to use this product in the winter months (if you have winter anyways LOL). These colours are a good base for putting on a lip tint or lip stick for the gradient lip colour style.

Blush: I recommend PK001 & PK002 if you skin is cool-toned, and OR201 & OR202 if your skin is warm-toned. I think RD301 is good for any skin tone. It doesn't really matter which colours you use if you have a neutral skin tone~ However, RD301 would probably show up best if you are not pale. The colour goes on smooth on top of my face make-up. It has a semi-matte finish (which is also the reason why it's not great as a lip colour) that lasts for around 4 hours.

Eyeshadow: Personally, I won't be using this as an eyeshadow. But I recommend you use a primer under it because it will crease. It can be a nice base colour before you apply darker shades or different colours to add dimension.

Pros
+ Multifunctional
+ Cute packaging
+ It smells awesome
+ It's not sticky
+ Colour is buildable

Cons
- It's not hygienic to keep dipping your fingers in it. I would recommend you use a lip brush or a q-tip.
- Emphasizes chapped lips/sinks into lines

Rating: ★★★★

Where to purchase? I purchased mine from f2plus1 for $8.30 CAD ($7.99 US). They usually sell for around $7-9. Here is the link for the item :3.

Would I repurchase? No. It's main selling point is the adorable packaging, and that it is multifunctional. However, some people use lipsticks as a blush (and it's viable as an eyeshadow too), so the multi-functionality is not anything new, or specific to this product. If you use a lipstick as a blush, remember to wipe the top of the bullet before applying it.

Review ★ Lioele l'cret miracle magic lipsticks

Here's the first instalment of reviews from my Korean cosmetics haul ^^!

Description:
(taken from lioeletexas.com, some of it was paraphrased to avoid a huge wall of text)
Lioele L'cret Miracle Magic Lipstick is a hypoallergenic, long-lasting, waterproof mood lipstick with SPF14. The lipstick is paraben-free, lasts for at least 12 hours, is non-transferable, and kiss-proof.

The product contains natural oils/oil complexes (castor seed oil, orange oil, lavender oil, rosa canina flower oil, olive oil, sweet almond oil, coconut oil, and seabuckthorn oil). to protect your lips, keep them moisturized and smooth, and maintain their elasticity. These lipsticks act as a lip balm, lip stick, lip treatment, lip tint, and UV protectant. They are also supposed to change colour based on your individual mood and pH levels.

The lipsticks either comes in a circular diamond or square package. The diamond packaging is the one that is mostly advertised on the information provided on most websites, although they do show the square one a few times.

These are the ones I bought:
★ 02 Elegant Purple -> Soft Pink
★ 03 Lush Green -> Azalea Pink
★ 05 Fresh Orange/Fanta Orange -> Peach Pink

They also come in:
★ 01 Sexy Red -> Classic Red
★ 04 Neat/Refreshing Yellow -> Red Coral

Elegant Purple has a strong flowery scent, which resembles hand soap, Fresh Orange has a more muted flowery scent, and Lush Green smells citrusy. The green one is definitely my favourite, because I'm a fan of fruity scents, and it's a nice colour. I wasn't really expecting anything spectacular, since lipstick quality is sort of generic (except for the higher end ones like YSL); but, I was pretty blown away by how pigmented and shiny it was after a few swipes.

Elegant Purple -> Lush Green -> Fresh Orange

Elegant Purple -> Lush Green -> Fresh Orange
The Elegant Purple & Lush Green appear darker sometimes.

I was hoping that Elegant Purple would be more of a baby pink, rather than a cooler version of the Lush Green.

A lot of brands advertise that their lipsticks stay on for 12 hours, but that usually isn't the case. I wouldn't say that's the case for these ones either LOL; but the colour does last for around 4-6 hours due to the staining effect. The shininess does fade with eating and/or drinking, just like any other lipstick. Or when your skin absorbs the oils from the lipstick after a few hours. These lipsticks don't require many applications throughout the day either!

I've read some reviews prior to purchasing them, because it's important to know whether it's a good product before spending money on it aha. From what I gathered for the ones I did not purchase: the Sexy Red is more cool-toned & fuchsia like its bullet colour, and the Refreshing/Neat Yellow isn't as pigmented as the others (noted on the comparison chart above). I don't think the other ones have any problems with them ^^. The red, green, and purple ones are the most popular ones.

Lastly, you will have to use a good make-up remover to get rid of the stain.

Pros
+ Pigmented
+ Long-lasting
+ Moisturizing - good for those people who like tinted lip balms :D
+ SPF 14 to keep your lips protected from UV rays
+ Smooth application

Cons
- Price variation. On some websites it's ~$18-20 (suggested retail price), and on others it's $10-12. Maybe the ones with the diamond packaging cost more (they don't tell you which packaging you'll get though), or the sellers buy it in bulk and get a discount so they sell it for cheaper? I don't know, there isn't anything wrong with the cheaper ones though.
- Elegant Purple's scent is a tad strong for my liking.

Rating
+ Lush Green - ★★★★★
+ Fresh Orange - ★★★★★
+ Elegant Purple - ★★★☆

Where to purchase? I purchased mine from f2plus1 on ebay for $8.30 CAD ($7.99 USD). That's pretty cheap for a lipstick, right? Here is the link if you're interested in it!

Would I repurchase? I'd repurchase Lush Green, because I like the colour and the scent.