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 - Dr. Ampoule Review (Lifting Care)

Hi Sweethearts,

Sorry that this weeks' post is a little late, I'm been rushed off my feet at the moment! >.<

After rushing around, I felt like I was definitely in need of some "me-time" and so I decided to kick back and relax with the Etude House Dr. Ampoule facemask - lifting care.

Little bit about this:

This is from the Korean Brand Etude House (http://www.etudehouse.com) that I absolutely adore, from their Dr. Ampoule range of mask sheets.

These come in a few different types, such as brightening, time , essential, vital, and the one I'm trying out: Lifting care.
 This mask sheet is said to make your skin firmer and more youthful, with the concentrated ampoules, it's supposed to be super effective.

These can be bought on etudehouse.com for $3.50 each, which at the moment is around £2.23 - so these aren't bank breaking at all! 

Here is my before face - (apologies for the super tired, "I need a break" look) >.<

How to use the mask: 

Ok, so this is a 2 step face mask, which is something that I've never experienced before but fun to try out!

STEP 1: The first step is to open & apply part 1, which is the lifting ampoule. This has quite a gel-like texture, and absorbs quite quickly into your skin to do it's job effectively.

Not too sure how well you'll see this in the picture, but I have just applied the ampoule. 

STEP 2: The second step is to apply the mask sheet (part 2) onto your face, having just applied the ampoule in step 1.

The Mask sheet fitted my face pretty ok, considering that this is a Korean product and my face shape is different to Korean Facial structure, I was quite happy with the fit.

The mask sheet was packed full of product, it was pretty slippery to unfold but I'd much rather lots of product instead of too little - because of this, it adhered really well!
It also had a lovely fresh, clean scent to it, that helped wake me up a little bit.

Result: 

So, after 20mins (pack suggests 15-20) chill time on my sofa, it was time to take the mask sheet off.
 Unlike other masks, the instructions on this told me not to remove the excess product, but instead leave it to soak into my skin.

This is how my face looks afterwards.

(Please excuse my hair, it's currently undergoing a change which I'll be blogging about next week.)

I don't know how much of a physical difference you can see, but there definitely is a little bit from the first time application.
My skin does feel firmer and tighter, which I'm really pleased about, and I had no issues or reactions at all with the ingredients

It's definitely a product that I'm going to use again, and I'd also like to test out the other masks in Dr. Ampoule range.


Have any of you used these masks? What did you think?
What type of masks do you like to use?

As usual, leave me comments below!

Love,

           Kasumi x

Etude House - Korean Cosmetics Haul!

Hi Sweethearts,

Sorry for the delay in getting this blog post to you - I've been hard at work lately and feeling really tired so haven't been able to focus properly to sit and write, sorry! >.<

I got a wonderful parcel from my super lovely and pretty friend Sah, who had been back in Korea and picked me up a surprise mix of Korean Cosmetics from Etude House! 

Those that know me personally, know all too well that I wax lyrical about Etude House, and get ridiculously excited every time I get some new products from them.

The reason?

The products are FABULOUS! Seriously, the quality of their products is amazing, especially given the extremely budget friendly price tags - and the packaging is ADORABLE!
    Etude wants to give ladies the Princess experience, and make applying makeup fun again, and not so much like a daily chore, and they've definitely got that down to a tee!

( C'mon girly girls - all the packaging is pink, cute and super feminine...what's not to love?)


I've recorded an un-boxing video to complement this post, which will be going live on my YouTube Channel later on in the week, once I've finished editing/clipping & removing all the terrible bloopers!
This is more of a general, show&tell, haul post, but I'll be going into details about the products with example looks that I've created using them over the next few posts - so please stick around for that!

So, let's get to it! 

Here is the package that arrived for me (I tore out the addresses, so no dodgy mail sending opportunities folks!) and I was SO EXCITED when the Postman arrived with it - I ended up running to the door with a yoghurt in one hand and the spoon in my mouth frantically trying to sign the electronic pad.

 I received this on a Thursday, but didn't have any time to record a video until Sunday, so I faced the super hard challenge of not opening it for a few days...I'm not quite sure how I managed it! >.<'

Packaging:

This is where the magic starts to happen! Sah also included the Bag that Etude pack your items in when you buy in store - and it's so cute!!!! It's an Etude House, House Bag...and it's pink & white!

One day I'll definitely travel to go into a real, physical Etude Store as they look just like their packaging!  Have a look at some of their stores on their story page:

http://www.etudehouse.com/index.php/brand/etudestory.html

I mean, seriously? How can you not find this utterly irresistible? 

Inside the Box:

The first thing I saw inside the box, was a cute Blue Rose, that I ended up clipping onto my jumper (sadly I didn't take a photo, but you can see it in the video) - it now lives on my living room table ^_^


Next up are these awesome looking Pomegranate Face Masks!
I haven't gotten round to trying these yet, but I'm looking forward to trying them out when I get some "me" time. Pomegranate is really great for you, and these masks are the cotton sheet variety which means they won't be a nightmare to get off (unlike other masks I've tried) which is even better!

This is the 2nd type of Face Mask that I got - Dr. Ampoule Dual Mask Sheet.

This is a 2 part face mask, where you first apply a serum to your face before applying the mask.
There are a few variants of this, but this one is the "Lifting Care" mask which I am really interested in trying out. I'm in my mid 20's, so I should really be paying more attention to my skin and doing my best to prevent the age related sagging/wrinkles that are already making an appearance. Unfortunately I'm really lazy with keeping up a proper routine, so I'm hoping these new products will give me the motivation I need to keep myself in check!

The last Skincare product from the box is the Baking Powder BB Deep Cleansing Foam.
 This one was actually a free gift that came with everything, so plus points for a freebie!

I've been looking for a cleanser to try and deal with my skin and properly remove makeup, so this looks promising. It's meant to be designed to remove BB cream from what I know, which is pretty hard to remove at times, so hopefully this will take off my inch thick makeup and shrink my pores a little.

Onto the Makeup Section!

First up on the makeup front is this adorable Dear My Wish Liptalk lipstick in a Coral colour (See top of box - OR201) 

This looks super adorable in its' pink container with a little bow in the middle where it opens! This is totally princessy and right up my street. Before I discovered Etude House, I didn't think such cute makeup was available - I definitely fell in love at first sight!
 I have a look in mind that will fit perfectly with this, so please stay tuned for it.

Also from the "Dear My" range is the Crystal Gloss in shade CPK001 which is a lovely sparkly pink colour.

I'm a huge lipgloss fan, so this is a perfect addition to my collection. From previous experience, I've found Etude's glosses to be great quality and lovely coloured, so I believe this will be no exception.
 Layering lipsticks and glosses is something that I like doing quite a lot, so it will be interesting to try this out and see how it goes.

Following on from the Lip specific products, this is the Sweet Recipe All Over Colour Cupcake in OR202 - Peach Sugar Cake.

This is ridiculously cute! Packaged in a mini cake box, the all over colour is in a cupcake decorated tin that's easy enough to pop into your purse and take with you.

 I absolutely love multi-purpose products, and I've had my eye on this for a long time now. As it says on the packaging, it's an all-over colour - so you can use it as a blusher (which is mainly why I picked it) a lip balm, or eyeshadow. It's pretty much the whole package.
 I've given this a little try, and it's defintely fast becoming something I'm going to use most days. It's a light creamy product, much like a good lip balm, but blends really well and feels completely weightless. I had wondered if it would be sticky, but it's absolutely perfect and gives me a wonderfully natural glow.  

These are the Play 101 Pencils, which I first heard about from a friend in Korea last year.
Play 101 Pencils are much like the All-over colour Cupcake, in that these can be used across your entire face/makeup look.
They can be your eyeliner, eyebrow pencil, blusher, lipliner, lipstick, eyeshadow - the choice is yours!
I will go on about these in a specific post, because after trying these I am completely in love. Seriously, these things are absolutely AMAZING!
 With 50 different colours/textures to choose from, you'll never be bored or out of inspiration!
I got these 3 in the photo below, 2 of which I intend on fusing together on my lips, after seeing a look on the main Korean Etude site, and a black as I had ran out of my last black liner pencil
Some of these products, whilst versatile, are slightly more geared towards certain elements of your makeup look, but they can still be used anywhere.

Having sampled these briefly because I couldn't help myself, I can honestly say that I need to collect all 50!

Lastly, I got a couple of eyeshadows from the Look At My Eyes range.

On the left is the from the Jewel Range, in shade GR705 which is a cool, minty green pearly shade.
The right hand side is also from the Jewel range, the shadow sparkly and a deep purple - shade: PP505.
 What's really sweet about these single shadows, is that the pressed shadow itself has little heart details on it! I tested out the mint one, and wow it's sparkly! It does require you to prime your eyes with either a primer, concealer, white eyepencil etc to give it something to adhere too and allow the colour to really pop, but they're such pretty colours and only a couple of pounds each so it's well worth experimenting with different colours.(there are loads to choose from!)

Final Thoughts: 

Phew! -_-' That was quite a lot to go through, right?

I am actually so grateful to my lovely friend for bringing me these back - I'm so excited to take some time to pamper myself and try out some really sweet new looks with my goodies!

Please stay tuned & subscribe to my YouTube Channel for the Unboxing video of me going through this for the first time - expect squealing, bouncing around and general excitement. (I get a bit over excited and sound like a small child...I promise I can be mature sometimes >.<)

I hope this little haul run-down has been good reading for you all, and maybe you've seen something you'd like for yourself? Please also stick around for the looks I create with my new supplies, including more in depth details about the products!

What products do you like best? Have you tried Etude? Let me know in the comments!

Love,

           Kasumi x