Updates! Re-decorating and some recent buys!

Hi Sweethearts!

Do you know what? I always seem to start off by apologizing for the lack of updates - I'm really not good at sticking to things, so it's not surprising!
I feel like the busier I get, the less interesting my life is...not that it's terribly interesting to begin with! >.<

ANYWAY

Lately my home got rewired and a new bathroom fitted, so I took the time to redecorate - this was actually a really hard task for me as I'm a compulsive hoarder.
Like, no joke. I should have been on that hoarder programme on TV.
 I eventually worked up the courage to de-clutter so that I could have a lovely living space, and create my girl paradise room!
(it took a good few car loads over weeks and a full van load to take all the unnecessary items to the local skip....that says it all!)

I went for a really cutesy, girly vibe for my dressing room - the rest of the flat is my usual colour schemes or black,white,red & purple. >.< I'll always be a goth at heart!

I've still got some bits and bobs to do - ideally I'd like to give the floor another coat of paint at some point, and I'm looking at buying a wee white daybed to sit under the window for my chill out time! 

The dressing table that I picked up at Ikea is my favourite thing - I saved up hard for this beauty! 
I do need to invest in a chair/stool for it though, as I wasn't really fussed on the one that was shown with it - I fancy something a lot more padded for my dodgy spine. 

 
House aside, I finally got my hands on the Makeup Revolution Ilovemakeup choco palette in pink fizz - late to the party, I know! 
 I also picked up some lashes for 31p on ebay, absolute bargain! 

I also picked up a super nice belt from boohoo.com after a friend posted it up - I couldn't resist! I've been looking for a nice waist belt for the past while, and this will go perfect with a lot of things!

Ok, so £14 is a little pricey for a wee waist belt imo, but isn't it pretty???

That's all from me at the moment - I haven't had much of a chance to review items, or create looks due to the house being done up...my style has been "homeless chic" for the past month, but I'm looking forward to the warmer weather and being able to look more feminine!

Love,
           Kasumi x

First day of Spring look: Road testing Etude house Base Makeup

Hi Sweethearts,

I thought I'd do a quick little post about my first dabble with my new Etude house Products from my hauls!

This is going to be pretty brief since I didn't get any good WIP shots of putting on each product, but I hope to do a video look using all of them together to come up with something nice :)

Here's what I used:

Primer: 

For my Primer I used the Etude House FaceBlur - this is heralded as a great product, and to be honest I totally agree.

It goes on a like creamy colour with pinky tones through it, which gives a youthful glow to the face.
I do feel like it does improve the look of my skin tone on its own, and some times I just use the product as a stand alone item when I'm in a rush.
It also leaves a dewy finish to the skin - nothing mattifying here, ladies! 

 BB Cream:

This my new BB cream that I chose from their online store.

   This is quite a medium - full coverage product and is quite thick and very creamy to apply. I got this product in the lightest shade, which is beige no.2 and was pleasantly surprised that it matched my skintone extremely well! I had a moment of panic that it would be far too dark for me and I'd have wasted my money and time on it.

It leaves the skin with a lovely, healthy, glowy, dewy finish, much like the face blur, so again it's not a mattifying product - but you can do as I have done and lightly powdered over it to set it in place.

Whilst I love the effect it has on the skin, my only gripe with it is that it doesn't stay so well on my problem area - my nose. I do have issues with a lot of products not lasting well on the tip on my nose since it's quite a combination type area - sometimes its super oily, others its super dry ....I can't win with it. >.<
 You also kind of have to be careful if you tend to rub your face randomly like me - it may rub off if you do so, so I think giving it a good powder/"bake" is going to be very useful to keep it perfect for longer.

I wonder if a setting spray might help it a little, but then again it's a pretty dewy, moisturising product, so maybe its better to 'bake' it a little. 

Concealer

This was a fun thing to apply!
 I'm very used to western concealers where I have to use a fair amount when they're liquid types with the wand, so I tried to apply the same amount as usual on my first try with this product...big mistake!

Massive mistake!

Seriously, this is super deceptive - Asian concealers and bases tend to be more creamy and spreadable than the western counterparts....which I have learned the hard way!

If you're heavy on the concealer like me, whatever you use normally - half it! I only needed to dot a tiny amount in the problem zones, and padded it out with my ring finger. I really love this - it concealed really really well and only uses a little bit of product, so it doesn't feel 'cakey' like my usual concealer can do if I'm having a particularly heavy handed "oh god my eyes look like rings of black death" morning >.< 

Blush

 I was absolutely itching to play with this! I absolutely adore the Play101 range, and have been wanting to get one of the sticks to try out since they came out - I might end up getting a few more!

This is pretty handy in regards to application - dot it on your face and blend it out with your ring finger, or beauty blender, or brush, or whatever you choose to use.

It goes on a pretty vivid colour that may make people wonder what they've let themselves in for, but once you blend it in it tends to sink into your skin and create a light, really natural tint of colour. It will apply brighter for lips and eyes, but that's down to not blending/less blending compared to using it as a blush.

I really like it for giving my skin a natural, glowy tint - I'm pretty sure these products make me look more youthful....in fact, I'm convinced of it.

I always feel a bit "ho hum, I'm getting on a bit" when I put my makeup on, but the effect these give, it makes me feel lighter, brighter, fresher and younger - can't knock that, can we?


For the rest of the look I used my regular max factor pan stick for contouring (I want a play 101 one now instead) and my sleek cream highlighters (won't be parting with those)

For my eyes I used my 144 makeup revolution palette, with their golden lights highligher powder in the middle of the eye,
etude house crystal tear liner (which I cant stop buying), 
brown play 101 pencil for under eyes,
black play 101 pencil for my top waterline.
Maybelline Colossal Mascara
Rimmel Eyebrow pencil and w7 clear mascara

Lipwise, I used a combo of the lip tint and lipstick that came with my haul - but I'm going to do a separate post on the other items, and a more in depth look at the play 101 stick.

Hopefully you enjoyed this little run down of my simple little look, and if you have comments, questions etc, then you know what to do! Let me hear your thoughts!

Love,
         Kasumi x

Etude House Haul - I have an addiction....

Hi Sweethearts,

Life has been pretty hectic for me as of late - I've barely had a moment to even think for myself or relax, so blogging has sadly been neglected. Not to worry though, I'm writing up a couple of posts to tide myself over and going to make a conscious effort to making myself look acceptable at least once a week to give everyone something to read on a Sunday XD

(I really miss making Sunday blogposts as they're always a nice end to my week - though the last few Sundays have consisted of me being too tired to get out of bed until I have to leave the house for my weekly family visiting. I'll get back on it, though. >.<) 

Moving swiftly on, my wonderful lady buddy Sah of Reinka (check out her work - she's pretty fab!) made a trip back to S.Korea recently, and brought me back some goodies from my beloved Etude House! I know, this is my 2nd haul of the year from them, and it's only March...but I've fallen madly in love and it's that time of year where I throw away a lot of used and/or out of date makeup and replenish stocks. This time, I'm trying to convert the majority of my makeup to Korean items, as I seem to much prefer them to most of the products we get here. (I'll never give up my Makeup Revolution eyeshadows, or my sleek cream highlighters though! Everything else is up for negotiation.)

So, onto the haul! 

BOOM! Yesyesyes - can you feel my excitement yet?
I had many squeals of happiness when I picked it up from the post office, and all the shop customers at my work today were subjected to tales of how wonderful it all is haha!

I'm not entirely sure where to start with this post to be honest, since there are so many things here to gush over!

I think firstly I'll start where my last haul left off - at skincare! 

Baking Powder

Ok - here we go!

If you've followed my blog from the beginning then you'll know that I got a tester of the baking powder pore cleansing foam last year - safe to say that I really really like it!

Here we have a massive bottle of the cleansing foam, that works really well for my skin and smells lovely and citrus-y, using baking powder to cleanse the skin.

   On the right is the Baking powder wipes (oil type) that you use to remove your makeup - and boy does it do that really well! I used a wipe to see what it would do tonight, and I was shocked at how easy it took everything off - no scrubbing at my face like I usually have to do with makeup wipes!

Super impressed!

Face Mask Sheets

Got a couple of mask sheets from Tony Moly within the goodie bag which is a nice change! I've only ever tried their hand creams, and I really liked it so hopefully these will be equally as lovely!

Here we have another few masks from EtudeHouse- a green tea, couple of Tea Tree, and a honey one! I really love these masks and all the different types you can get - there's so many options it's insane!!! I look forward to trying out all of them ^_^

True Relief

This is a Trial sample pack of intense moisturising skincare that deals with calming down dry and sore skin. I feel like this might be pretty good for winter months and when it;s cold and windy here in Scotland - I do currently suffer from adult acne thanks to the contraceptive injection, and the face rub the doctors prescribed me tends to dry out my skin a lot, so this might come in handy!

Various Samples

Here are some various samples of different products - does anyone else like to take things like this on short breaks with them, or is it just me? I love collecting samples then using them whilst I'm away - it's so easy to transport and disposable!

The downside to this is that I'll end up loving a lot of them, and then be torn between what to buy next!

Moving on to the makeup....

Base:

 I've always wanted to try out the legendary Korean BB cream, but I've always been put off by the potential for them to be too dark for my skin. I did try western ones, and their lightest shade turned me into David Dickinsons' love child....not a good look!
 However after seeing this product in the Etude House online store, I went and looked on good old Youtube for some reviews and found some Western ladies using it on the lightest shade without any issues so decided that I'd bite the bullet and give it a go!

I'll be writing some review posts to let everyone know of my experiences with these products - so fingers crossed they go well!

As with the BB cream, I've also been in the market for a new concealer in my ever continuing quest to reduce the dark, deep set circles under my eyes that I've been burdened with since I was young.
I've colour corrected, I've used thicker concealers, lighter ones, brightening/whitening creams, being constantly hydrated, eating well, sleeping properly - nothing has really done the job well enough. I'm now considering having fillers/botox injections to the area to get rid of them for a while. If anyone has any information on under eye filler then I'd be really interested in having some advice.

That being said, I figured that I may as well try out a concealer from Korea since my current lot of concealers have come to the end of their lives - this one in particular has a few different versions of it. I picked the liquid tip, though they also have a stick version, and also a more expensive version with something or other else in it (currently slipped my mind, sorry! )- I may try that one next if this one doesn't work out.
 On first impressions that I tried out on my hand - its a really good consistency, light colour and has some good staying power once its dried. Wish me luck!

This is the new Play 101 sticks that Etude have brought out - from what I gather, they're replacements for the cupcake all-over colour that they used to do (which I loved) but it is a lot more user friendly in the stick format. As with other play 101 products, they're multi-use ie. you can use them for eyes, face, lips - anything really! They also brought out contouring and foundation tones of the sticks too which will work really nicely with the pencils.
  I have to confess, it was watching Etude x Pony videos that totally sold me on this - I absolutely love Pony's makeup style and watching her videos with these products is really inspiring for me.
(Check out  Pony Makeup on youtube)

Lips:

My Usual lip balm has ran out, and I'm slowly building my etude lip arson since I love their lip products so much - they're just so cutely designed and in such pretty shades! This  tint balm is just in the natural clear, but slightly pinky tone that going to hydrate my lips on a daily basis - I drink wayyyyy too much coffee every day at work to be able to keep lipstick looking immaculate, so a balm is going to suit me pretty well!

This is the latest edition to my lipstick collection - it's the dear my blooming lipstick - it's so pretty! This is in a pink shade, though it looks a little more red in photos - but take a little minute to appreciate how cute the packaging is! It even has a heart stamped into the lipstick!!!! (click the pictures to see it bigger)  ^_^

Bonus gift:

Bonus time!

So this is a surprise gift from my lovely friend, described only as "I know you said you don't really like these things, but trust me and try it." - this was definitely not what I was expecting!

To be perfectly honest, the first thing I asked was "is it edible?????????" because clearly the way my mind works is that anything that I should trust and try is definitely going to be some delicious, obscure food. Wrong!

However, how cool is this!!!! It's SAILOR MOON LIQUID EYELINER!

SAILOR FREAKING MOON!!! 

*notes that I should probably mention* I'm a ridiculously massive SailorMoon fangirl, and have been for the past 20 years now....oh jeez, that really makes me sounds old haha!

Anyway, I actually let our a squeal and tears of joy at this - because Sailor Moon is made of win!

I tend to steer well clear of pen style eyeliners, or generally pen type products in general as I find that they dry out really quickly and don't tend to last nearly as long, or they break easily etc etc etc so this is definitely going to be an interesting one!
 I've actually heard a lot of good things about this one though, and the brush tip is pretty nice - not too solid, but not flimsy either, and has a good tapered end.

 Definitely going to be trying this out for my next full look and posting my thoughts - but seriously it's Sailor Moon, and it's so adorable that that's probably going to outweigh any potential issues that I come across. Did I also mention that it's Sailor Moon??????? T_T
I may have a slight problem - my work room also has little sailor moon items dotted around, so that may well be a hint! Next may well be a Sailor Moon tattoo....probably. Definitely. Yup.

Final thoughts

I am actually so super excited to play around with everything! Like it's 2am UK time, and I'm considering spending the next while in front of the mirror trying things! I'm determined that I'll wait till morning to road test, then do a full blog post on Sunday when I'm not rushing to work and can actually plan an outfit for the day!

As always, any comments or questions? Leave them below! 


Love,

Kasumi x

L'oreal: Miss Manga vs. Miss Manga Punky (Review)

Hi Sweethearts,

I ventured into Superdrug recently to find myself a new mascara after my Eye inflammation - I wasn't going to take any chances on mascara.

Finally I decided to bite the bullet and try the L'Oreal Miss Manga Mascara...but was then confronted with about 4 different types!

What I bought:

So, I ended up buying both the Original Miss Manga & The Punky version, to pitt them against each other to see which I prefer, and if they are as interesting as they look.  (and it was 2 for £12 - usually £8.99 each, although superdrug has now reduced punky to £4.99)

The Wands:

Miss Manga:

Ok, so this is the wand for the original Miss Manga Mascara!

It is slightly more tapered than the mascara wands I'm used to, and shapewise it reminds me a little of a bud shape - much like some lip glosses.
 It's also quite bendy/flexible due to the indent (is that the right term?) on the stem of the wand - not that I think it makes much of a difference - although I tried to use this mascara whilst in the car, and the flexi bit made it harder to apply on the move!
Although, that being said,  makeup on the move isn't the easiest of tasks to begin with. >.<

Miss Manga Punky:

This is a totally different kind of wand from the original!

Whilst still tapered, this time, instead of the more common bristles, we've got short, hard plastic spikes that allow for a lot of product to go on at once.
 I usually very much dislike this sort of applicator, as I find it makes lashes clump together a lot...but this is exactly what Miss Manga Punky is supposed to do, so in that token it's fit for purpose!

Application: 

My eyes without mascara....and a very silly face, the theme of this post >.<

Here's a silly pic of my face without mascara! My lashes aren't super long, somewhere about average length I reckon, though not the darkest of things....seeing might be an issue. They tend to be a lot lighter at the tips, which makes them look shorter than they actually are.  -_-
 I do feel like my bottom lashes are more visible in real life than my top ones, so it's going to be interesting to see what I look like with these on!

Miss Manga:

This was quite a thick consistency product, but it applied alright - it wasn't too wet and dried pretty quickly!
It gave me a good length, and it added some extra volume, and it pretty much does as the promo shows.
The packaging says 'MEGA VOLUME' however, I don't really think it's terribly 'Mega' on the volume side if I'm honest. 

Miss Manga Punky:

Another quite thick product, but wow it is wet at the same time! I suppose this is to get your lashes to clump together, which it kind of did...and it took  longer to dry due to this! 
 According to the promo images, this mascara is supposed to give you a punky, super clumped together, spikey look - but you're not going to get that look from just applying it! 

Well, I didn't anyway...

 In order for my lashes to make spikes, I had to use some tweezers to press them together...so I find that misleading.

Both Products:
What I noticed with both products, as a side note, is that they have an unpleasant smell to them ...yes, I smelt them. Yes I did. 

I don't really think that there's a huge difference between my lashes if I'm totally honest, I did expect it to be a lot more dramatic.

Taking them off:

This is where it gets a bit interesting.

Miss Manga:

Ok, so this came off nice and easy, I really can't complain.

Miss Manga Punky:
Ugh. This took a while to come off! Because it dries hard and clumpy thanks to so much product going on your lashes, it takes a good bit to remove it - it will come off as a normal mascara, but also little clumps may stay stuck to your lashes, or it will come off in clumps too.
 It's wasn't fun to remove, so I wouldn't recommend you trying to wear this on a daily basis.

When water hits: 

Unfortunately the first time I tried these both, I'd just had word of a close family bereavement and so I was pretty teary.

On that note, HOLY HELL! I've never had mascaras that ran down my face, blackened pillows/bedding etc as much or as quickly as these products!

For the Miss Manga Punky that requires much effort to remove, it doesn't half spill down your face at the first sign of tears!

 I know they're not  'waterproof' mascaraa, but I didn't think they would react that easily! If I got caught out in the rain, I'd look like a complete wet weekend.

Which one would I choose to wear again?

Am I Punky or Angelic? (please excuse the hair)

For definite, the original Miss Manga wins hands down on this. 

I'm happy to keep on using the Miss Manga until it runs out, but I'll definitely be going back to my usual Maybelline Colossal, as I much prefer it and it's also a couple of quid cheaper!

I'd like to say that I'm disappointed by the Punky version, but I was apprehensive about it to begin with, so I just proved myself right unfortunately.  I'll use it as an alternative to bottom false lashes to use it up, which works fine, but wouldn't like to recommend it to anyone.

What do you guys think? Have you used either or these before? Do you like them? 
As usual, let me know in the comments below!

Love,
          Kasumi x

Lens Village Review - Gothic 3 Tones, EOS DollyEye Circle Lenses

Hi Sweethearts,

Hope you're all doing well!

I have a couple of things that I'm itching to post about, the first of which is a review of some new lenses that I got through last week from www.lensvillage.com
I've been looking for a more natural set of Circle lenses that will enhance my eyes, as I want to have a more mature, Onee-gyaru style going on. Big, cute colourful lenses just wouldn't work for that, as much as I adore them.

After a lot of browsing the LensVillage store, I finally settled on Gothic 3 Tones, from EOS - DollyEye, in Blue, to add a little extra oomph to my natural eye colour.

After ordering, the lenses arrived in just over a week, which is great considering that they're coming from Asia.

How they arrived:

Once again, my lenses came in perfect condition with a little card and super cute animal lens case to keep them in. They arrived securely wrapped in bubble wrap to avoid any bumps or damage in the post - but I haven't taken a photo this time round of that, though you can see this on my last lens village review here!

This is what the lenses look like in the case. Admittedly, they're not as bright as the stock image (unworn), but the real images of them on the site below were a perfect match to what I received - I'm happy that they aren't as bright as the stock type image, as they wouldn't look as nice that way.

Here are the specs for them:

Power Available : 0.00 to -10.00

Price: £14.60 (pair)

Life Span : 1 Year

Diameter : 14.5mm

Manufacturer : EOS

Origin : South Korea

Lenses is manufactured by EOS and labelled under DollyEye. 

They come in a choice of 9 different colours - that's really great news, as I'd like to try out a different colour of them too.
   Price wise, they're also very reasonable, considering that they can last up to a year if properly taken care of, and my monthly prescription lenses from the opticians are £15 per month! 

Here is a little selfie of my natural eyes before putting the lenses in! 

Putting the lenses in: 

I found these lenses to be really delicate and soft, which is great for me as they were super easy to put in and really comfortable to wear once the initial annoyance of poking myself in the eye was over with.
 I wore these all day (8hours) without any issues, so I'm very happy with that.

I also love the subtle difference that they make to my eyes - they're very natural and not "in your face" circle lenses, so these aren't for you if you want a massive change.

Here are my eyes & lenses in different situations: 

As you can see, they give a slight enlarging effect, but without the hard black ring around the edge, so they look a lot more natural and, for me, grown up.

I really like the subtle colour boost that comes from them - they have that "pop" without being overdone and I really love that.
These are the type of lenses I'm more comfortable wearing on a more regular basis, and with my Onee-Gyaru style, which I feel suits me a lot better.

Here are a few pics with the lenses in: 

...and a little picture of todays' outfit!

Dress: Primark (I got it on sale for £5)
Belt: Primark (came with another dress)
Jewellery set: Primark (£4)

Overall Verdict:

Look: 4/5 (only because the stock photo showed brighter, in reality they're pretty perfect)
Fit: 5/5
Comfort: 5/5
Service: 5/5

I really like these lenses for more subtle looks, and will be wearing them regularly, though I'm very tempted to try the other colours in this range!


So, what do you all think?  Do you prefer the more natural look circle lenses, or the really dolly, cute type?

Have you used these lenses before - let me know in the comments below!

Love, Kasumi x