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and it's only March...but I've fallen madly in love and it's that time of year where I throw away a lot of used and/or out of date makeup and replenish stocks.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

Etude House Skincare Haul

Hi Sweeties!

I've been thinking a lot about ageing lately, and I figured that it's about time that I started properly taking care of my skin.
I always seemed to try to keep a routine going, but always seem to fail for whatever reason.

I noticed that www.Etudehouse.com  just so happened to have an offer on a skincare bundle, and as a late Birthday present from me-to-me, I snapped one right up!

The bundle on special offer cost $50, which I think at the time was around £35, with free delivery.
It arrived within 2 weeks of ordering, although sadly I got hit by the customs demons, which was another £15 T_T so that means I didn't get as much of a deal as I had thought (this was the first time I've ever had a customs charge from anywhere) 

I am a massive EtudeHouse & genereal Korean cosmetic and skin care fan, as I really think they're the leaders atm for this, so I was super glad to get this delivery.

Here's what I picked up:

It's quite a good haul, right? There's only 1 thing that I feel is missing, and that's a good cleanser like their Baking Powder one (which I love but am running out of my current one)

Lets have a little look at them individually!

Wonder Pore Freshner

Wonder Pore Freshner is a toner product that boasts a 10 in 1 effect to deep cleanse, restore ph balance, even skin tone, aid elasticity, reduce pore size, control sebum, smooth skin texture etc.
( you get the idea, right?)

I've been using this twice a day since I got it, and I really like it! It's a little alcohol-ly in smell, but quite fresh, and has a a thin, watery consistency, which I also really like in a toner.
 You apply some to a cotton pad, and wipe from the middle of your face outwards to work effectively.

I found that it does take off more of the underlying dirt/grime that I had thought that I'd cleansed off! My skin does feel in better condition and is a lot less oily that it was! (I have combination-oily skin due to the contraceptive injection that plays havoc with my hormones at the moment) 

This really works well for me, though if you have a sensitive skin type, then the alcohol content probably isn't for you. 

Be Moistfull Collagen Cream

Ok, so this is something that I've had my eye on for a while!
The Moistfull Collagen Cream is a collagen infused moisturiser that's supposed to keep you looking youthful with a smooth and elastic skin. (Idk if that makes much grammatical sense, but hopefully it does!)

It's actually a pretty big tub, and comes with a little spatula to stop you dipping your fingers into the tub - pretty handy!
Again, this is something that I've been using since the day I got it, and find that my skin is smoother and more even in texture. You really only need a small amount of this, since it spreads a lot! I imagine that it'll take me a while to finish it! 

Face Blur

This is a primer type product, that gives you a photoshopped look - "blurring your skin" to it looks smooth and flawless.

It also has a built in brightener/whitener, that stops you looking so tired.

This is also a great product for me; I like to use a little of it on its own after moisturising to even my tone out then run off to work. The danger of applying too much is that I look liker a bit of a ghost - so unless it's going under makeup, I need to be kinda careful!

 Missing You Hand Cream

 

This is a super adorable Peach scented hand cream in a Panda shaped case!
I haven't tried this yet as I'm still getting through my current one, but it looks so cute!

Face Masks

I got 6 different types of face mask to try out with this bundle, and I'm quite excited to get a night off to treat myself to one of them!

They all have different properties, but the one I'm most interested in is the Snail mask - I've been hearing a lot about snails for skincare, so looking forward to seeing if it works!

Lipstalk Lipstick - Beige

I finally got another Dead My Wish Lipstick! This time I got one that's described as "beige" though I'm not really convinced it is beige - it has a slightly pinky tone to it, which I absolutely love, and as usual it glides on perfectly!

I wore this for my Valentines day look, which I'll be posting about soon, so please stay tuned for that!

Play 101 Pencil - 1 Black

 So to finish, I got another Play 101 pencil in Black - yay! I really love these things - for those of you that don't know, these pencils are super versatile! They can be used as eyeliner, eyeshadow, lip liner, lipstick, blush etc and come in around 50 different colours and shades - super useful, right?
They also blend really well and create some lovely effects.

I'm definitely going to be using these a lot more to create more smokey looks as I feel like I've been really lazy with makeup over the past while.


So this is everything that I got - again I totally wish that there was a cleanser with this, esp as I'm running low on my current one, but this is great value for money, and the Etude global site always has offers on, some of which are not to be missed.

So if you're looking to test out some Korean skincare and makeup, I'd definitely suggest you check them out!
If you have used these products before, what do you think of them? Let me know below!
Love,

           Kasumi x

Etude House Makeup Review pt. 3

Hi Sweethearts!

Finally finished doing my reviews of the Etude  House Makeup from my haul. I'll go some posts about the skin care products when I get round to using them too, but after this post I'd like to break it up just a little bit!

I've been having a little think about what to do with the purple etude house shadow, but in the end I went with my first thoughts on using it as part of a smokey eye look.

First thing's first - I wanted to see just how pigmented a colour this was compared to the mint. 

The tester at the top is the colour on bare, non primed skin - as you can see it's more pigmented than the mint as it's a darker colour, but it's still a bit sheer for my liking. The bottom test patch is the shadow applied on top of a base (in this case, white eyeliner pencil) which makes it a lot richer and brings the lovely purple shade right out.

It also has such a lovely shimmer to it & applied pretty easily took, catching the light really well for a light metallic finish.

The Look - Eyes:

I went for a dark smokey type look here, using the Etude purple shadow by itself in the middle of my lids, and blended with Rimmel Glameyes Black shadow at the corners, and blended upwards towards my browbone.

I highlighted my browbone using the Etude House Crystal Tear Powder that I got a while back from a friend. This stuff is super metallic/sparkly and comes as a loose powder that you really need just a tiny amount of! I like to use this on occassions that I want a super sparkly/shiny look, though it doesn't tend to show it at it's best on camera - you have to see it in person to appreciate it!

The changes between the black and purple shadows are really subtle since it's such a dark purple shadow, but for a nice smokey effect I think it works really well. For me, this is more of a night out type of makeup than for during the day - unless you're the kinda chick that rocks a smokey eye and edgy style on a day to day basis, like I used to!



Lips: 

For my lips, I wanted to give them a natural gloss, so road tested what has become a favourite gloss - the Dear my Crystal gloss from Etude House.

This is the cutest gloss! It's got little sparkles in it, so it shimmers in the light. The soft nudey pink colour blends to my lip colour well, and is super glossy and long lasting - I really adore this & want to get more of them!

Here it is on my lips:

So this concludes the Makeup review Section of my Etude House Haul....finally!

I really hope you all like the looks I've created with these wonderful products, and hopefully you'll stick around to listen to my other ramblings!

As always, any comments or questions are greatly appreciated, so feel free to leave me a message below!

Love,

Kasumi x

Etude House Review pt2 - Mint Choc Chip & Coral

Hey Sweethearts,

Finally getting round to part 2 of the Etude House Makeup & Skincare product reviews...trying to use them for different looks instead of just a swatch and a chat.

This time round, I created a mint-choc-chip cut eye makeup, and then teamed it with a coral lip. 

So, for this look I used these Etude items from my Haul:

Mint Green (left) 

Firstly, for this look I wanted to test out the Look at my Eyes eyeshadow in that lovely minty green.
When I first tried to apply this to my eyes without any primer or a base, I found that whilst it was easy to come onto the brush, it looked barely there on my eyes which is a little disappointing.
 The most that you could see was the shimmer, as the colour was pretty much non-existent.

However, I then decided to apply a good base to my lids to give the shadow something to stick to, and pressed it on. When I applied it to my eyes in this method, that lovely light, minty green shade came through really well and it lasted the entire day which is really pleasing. 

Brown (shade 50)

Next up, I wanted to see how well I could create a cut crease using the play101 pencils as a base.

For this, I wanted to complement the green with a brown tone, so used the brown play101 pencil to draw in my crease. This went on extremely well, and created a nice thick line for me to blend out to create the base of the cut crease. Where possible, I like to use an eyeliner or eyepencil of some description to create a nice sharp crease.

Thereafter I set the play 101 pencil with a couple of shades of brown eyeshadow (from the w7 palette in my previous postings) to add a little depth and shimmer. 

 

For my lips, I was so excited to Try out the Dear my Wish Lips-talk in the Coral coloured shade.

I've never really thought that I would suit a coral lipstick, but I was quite surprised by how much I like it! It's a really lovely shade, and much like the shade23 play101 pencil, this just glides on your lips in such a strong, lovely, smooth consistency! It really is a total joy to apply.

I found that this lasts really well throughout the day, and only needed 1 top up during the day,after eating! Definitely looking into getting some more of these in various shades...I think there will be tears when this runs out!


Final Look: 

Here is the look I came up with, what do you all think? Have you used any of these products?
Let me know in the comments below! 

Love,
          Kasumi x