Product Review: Colgate Wisps

Hi guys!

Ok, I know what you're thinking- toothbrushes are not a beauty product...

Wrong!

Having nice smelling white teeth enhances your beauty more than most things. And when people want to get close to you, you don't want to knock them dead (literally) with your bad breath.

Wisps (for those who don't know) are tiny disposable toothbrushes with a ball of breath freshener on them.

Aren't they cute?

These are perfect for after a dinner date, drinks at the club, or anywhere you need to ban the nasty breath.  But... do they work?

For me, yes!  For such a tiny amount of freshener they do pack a punch. I have the spearmint wisps (right in the picture) and within a few seconds of brushing my teeth, I feel a wave of mint.  They have a brush on one end to get rid of excess food, and a pick on the handle should something be stuck. They come in small blister packs but each brush is individually sealed with foil to keep them fresh when you need them.

However they do NOT replace regular brushing! You must keep brushing your teeth the regular way too.

Pros: very portable, no water needed, strong flavor (in spearmint at least), sanitary, discreet

Con: Somewhat expensive for what they are.

The cost is the main con of the wisp.  For a 4 pack of brushes, it will cost you between 3-5$ depending on your shop. They can (like everything else) always be found cheaper online!

They're not intended for daily use, as I said, but they are quite handy when needed!

Get the airbrush look... With a regular brush!

Hi everyone!

I am a huge advocate for airbrush foundation. I love the stuff, but sometimes airbrushing isn't practical or possible. Maybe you need a lot more coverage. Maybe you want to use the non-airbrush foundation you still have. 

You can do this with a stippling brush like the MAC 187 brush (which I have)

Ain't she a beauty?  The trick here is those white fibers. the black fibers give the brush fullness and keep the white ones evenly spaced which is crucial to the application process.

So how do I "stipple"? 


Stippling is a technique also used in painting, where you lightly dot on the color until you achieve the coverage or design you want.  With makeup it lets you apply liquid foundation without it looking like it (I have seen girls wearing liquid foundation and actually saw brush tracks in their skin, meaning it looked kinda like this in some places)

(A little exaggerated but this is what I mean by brush tracks)

Stippling foundation on allows you to create a light layer of color or more color when you need it. I have not made a video yet but I have found some good ones that show you how to stipple and what it looks like when you do.  The only real con I have about stippling is sometimes you need to use more liquid than you normally would, but not much more. 

Video links:   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cquw8OxbAA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX7yR4q1Lm0

                                                                                                                                            

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9TbAmtLC-8

I tried these methods for the first time today and I also really like the results! I will take pics of my skin with airbrush foundation and stippled foundation in the future. 

Have a great day and keep coming back!

More stuff for the boys!

Hi everyone!

This will be my second Gatsby facial cleanser review- this time I will be reviewing the anti-tightness formula.

Similar packaging to the other triple scrub, but a different blue.

I like this wash a bit better than the triple scrub because it doesn't dry my face out (hence the "anti-tightness" claim). Smells just like the other wash, which smells like Sprite or 7up soda. Rinses clean, a little goes a long way.  However I notice that it does not contain any salycilic acid or other acne medication which I would prefer it had. 

Pro: Smells good, non drying, clean rinsing, not expensive

Con: May be hard to find, no acne medication

If you are not really acne prone but want to try a new cleanser, give this one a try!

Product Review- Gatsby Triple Scrub Facial Wash

Hi everyone!

This blog is for the boys- I picked up some Men's facial cleansers from a Japanese brand called Gatsby. They had 4 different kinds and they were on sale at my Japanese store so I picked up one of each.  I also had a male friend of mine try them too to see if there really was a difference between how men's skin and women's skin react to it. 

Today I will review one of them- Gatsby Triple Scrub

Price: Normal Price: $7.99 Sale Price: $4.99

This particular version of it is very scrubby- lots of "sand" in the soap.  It's meant to scrub out the blackheads and impurities out of the skin and based on my uses of it and my friends, it seems to do the job.  I do see a reduction in blackheads on my face after using it.  I do feel like my skin is a little dried out after using it (that's what moisturizer is for I know) but it does to the job. I also noticed my friend's skin (which is oily and blackhead prone) improved a little bit as well after using it a few times. 

I love the smell too- it smells like lemon soda and doesn't leave a strong fragrance on the skin which a lot of people like. 

I give it a rating of 8/10 because of the dryness factor but otherwise I highly recommend it.

Product Review: Aloha Pink Wild and Breezy

Hi everyone!

Over the weekend I stopped into Victoria's Secret to buy some new unmentionables, and I decided to take a look at the fragrances they had too, since it had been a while being there and also being a while since I bought some new nice body stuff. 

I think most of Victoria's Secret body washes and fragrances are lovely but one just made me fall in love with it for every day use.

Aloha Pink in Wild n Breezy

The items in this picture that I have are the two on the right: the body spray and the 2 in 1 scrub.

According to the label the main scents in wild n breezy are red guava and pink passionflower. Either way it smells nice, fresh, clean, and not overly "girly" but feminine enough.

 The spray is pretty strong for not being a parfum/eau de toilette. It does fade after a while but that's a LONG while.

The body scrub is pretty amazing too.  I love the exfoliating effect, and it gets me clean and leaves my skin pretty soft for not using lotion (I intend on definitely getting the lotion of this scent!) and it leaves a decent but not overbearing fragrance on my skin.

The body spray goes for $15 each and the scrub goes for $12. However Victoria's Secret is having a special where any 2 are 22$ and 3 for 30$ I believe. 

MAC Quite Cute Haul #2

Hi everyone!!!!

I have successfully got the rest of the MAC Quite Cute collection aside from the two sold out lipsticks and one of the liners which seemed too dark/brownish for my tastes and didn't seem to go with the rest of the collection or most of my lipsticks. (Boldly Bare Liner)

And of course, I took pictures of the new haul as well as a final group picture!  I also picked up a special gift for a friend- from the MAC Wonder Woman collection- the shadow quad in Defiance. 

Clockwise from upper left: Wonder Woman Quad in Defiance, MAC shadow quad in Cutie, mineralize blush in giggly, sakura, and miss behave, plushglasses in Bubble Tea and Fashion Fanatic, and Lip Liner pencil in Naked Liner

And now out of the packaging:

Wonder Woman Quad closed and opened- Really shiny packaging! 

Closeup from left to right: Miss Behave, Giggly, Sakura

Cutie Quad- from upper left and clockwise: Moshi Moshi, Goody Goody Gum Drop, Azuki Bean, Boycrazy

Naked Liner- It shows up that exact color on the skin- great for nude/pale colors.

Fashion Fanatic (left) and Bubble Tea (right) Fashion Fanatic in the pictures looks identical to Girl <3 Boy but in person you can see it's got sparkle/glitter in it and it's lighter.  Bubble Tea looks like it would look great with the Viva Glam Gaga 2 Lipstick.

A final picture of the whole group:

I will be playing with these new toys and posting tips and tricks and swatches soon!  Stay tuned!

Dolly Wink Review 1 of 2- Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner

Hi everyone!!!

Today, I went to my local Japanese marketplace and came across Dolly Wink products which I have heard a lot about- They are a line of eyeliners, eyeshadows, and false eyelashes made by Japanese cosmetic company Koji with collaboration with famous Gyaru model Tsubasa Masuwaka

I picked up a set of top lashes and lower lashes and found the liquid liner too. This review is about the liner, the lashes are coming later (they look great on, by the way~!)

The liquid liner comes in two colors- brown and deep black, and also in waterproof/non waterproof form. I got the waterproof, since I am prone to my makeup wearing off during the day, especially my liner.


It comes in a very cute package, which in my opinion is a lot of package for a skinny eyeliner pen.

Front (In blue it says 'Waterproof')

Back (The sticker is the ingredients in English)

This is the pen itself. 

The end of the pen- the pen controls the amount of liner, no dipping, no taking out too much, etc.  The end is like a paintbrush, not a sponge type applicator (which I like better because you have more control over the thickness of the line)

The product on my hand- as you can see I was able to create thin, medium, and thick lines and it was quite easy and the black is very vibrant. No real need to go over it a second time.

The major drawback- This stuff isn't cheap!  The eyeliner alone ran me a cool $18.99. I'm sure it can be found somewhere on the internet for cheaper (but not much).  As far as I can tell, it's worth it especially if you're not that good at eyelining. If you are a super beginner at it, I would get the non waterproof version to correct mistakes easier.

I am currently working on my Quite Cute Haul #2, I had a little snafu with one of my blushes (there's a huge chunk broken off on it and it's never been opened so it's going back for a new one tomorrow) but it should be up tomorrow!

Have a great weekend!

MAC Quite Cute Haul #1

Hi guys!

I stopped by MAC last night and picked up my goodies- and ended up going home with a little more thanks to the Back 2 MAC program.  I had 12 empty eyeshadow containers that I had depotted and ended up getting two of the lipsticks for free!

In the end, here is what I came home with:

Clockwise from top: Lip Liner in In Synch, lipsticks in Play Time, Quite Cute and St. Germain, Plushglasses in I <3 U and Girl <3 Boy.

Here's what they look like outside of the package- I haven't done swatches yet, I will probably do that when I get more of the collection, and do swatches of the rest of my MAC stuff.

In Synch Lip Liner- Light pink, lighter than your lips, good for light pastel pinkish colors to go over it.

Couldn't get a great pic of it up close but you can see it's very light.

St. Germain Lipstick- Very bright blue/pink

Quite Cute Lipstick- Light bluish purple

Play Time Lipstick- A purply magenta color

I <3 U Plushglass- Light purple- would look good over Quite Cute or bare lips. Going to experiment with other color combinations too.

Girl <3 Boy Plushglass- Light pink- looks different (to me) than the swatch of it on the MAC website.

It looks a lot like the Viva Glam Gaga lipglass I have but there is a subtle difference between them.  Also Plushglasses feel interesting when you wear them.  They tingle a bit and have a nice vanilla smell.

That's it for now, I should be getting more Quite Cute soon!

MAC Quite Cute Haul #1 Preview

Hi guys!

I am beginning to get items from the Quite Cute collection from MAC that just came out.  This time, I will discuss the lipsticks.

From left: Playing Koi, Saint Germain, Candy Yum Yum, Quite Cute, Play Time

I originally wanted all of these, however, I am out of luck when it comes to Playing Koi and Candy Yum Yum.  The other three colors I do have on hold for me to pick up tomorrow at my MAC store.  If any of you are willing to part with a Playing Koi or Candy Yum Yum (for less than the scalpers on Ebay) let me know! 

I am so excited about getting these and I will do a swatch post when I get them tomorrow night.  I am also in progress of getting the rest of the collection- 4 Plushglasses (gloss), 3 blushes and an eyeshadow quad.  I'll keep you updated on this!

Have a great day everyone and stay tuned!

New MAC Collection- Quite Cute

Hi everyone!!!!

I just found out that MAC has released another limited edition- Quite Cute.

The collection photo- I love this style. 

I am particularly interested in this collection because from the looks of it, ALL of the colors are wearable on my skin tone.  They are mostly pastel pinks and corals, which are my favorite colors and go well with a lot of the fashion styles I like.

I do not own any of the collection YET. However I will try to get as much of it as I possibly can. Very rarely do I find a collection that I want EVERY product of.  Usually the limited editions have colors I cannot possibly wear in my skin tone without looking strange.

If and when I get any of these items I will definitely post about them and also give advice how to use them in different looks. 

Here's a list of the products and colors on MAC's website:

Quite Cute collection

That's it for now but have a wonderful weekend!

Aesthe Peptide Skincare Review

Hello everyone-

I was recently sent some samples of Aesthe Peptide Skincare to review.  Aesthe is a Korean brand specializing in anti-aging. I was sent their basic kit which consists of a cleanser, a toner, an emulsion, a day cream and a night cream.

The set looks like this: 

 

Clockwise from upper left: (Sorry for the bad picture) Cleanser, toner, emulsion, night cream, day cream

These products get most of their skin rejuvenating power by being made with special peptides, which are amino acids that signal to skin cells to renew themselves. As we get older, we have less of these in our cells.  Aesthe products created a special peptide called Dewtide which is powerful and water based.  Most of these products are not pore clogging (more on that later).  The packaging is very nice and simple, they come in a box with instructions in both English and Korean.  The products also smell nice, always a plus.

Now to review the individual products!

Step 1: Aesthe Mild Foam Cleanser

This is likely my favorite product of the bunch.  It is a very light, airy foam cleanser and a little goes a long way- 2 pumps max. It comes out like a mousse so you don't need to use a lot.  It is NOT an acne cleanser and contains no medicine or alcohol. It smells great and feels great while using it.  When I am done washing it and let it dry, my skin feels soft and moist, not dried out. 

Step 2: Peptide Toner

This is not like your average toner in the sense that it has more of a gel consistency than a liquid like most toners.  It contains peptides and also a little here goes a long way- 2-3 pumps per use. It feels good on the skin, again alcohol free and does not dry me out. 

Step 3: Peptide Emulsion

Think of this step as a lotion for your face. Also contains peptides and also like the other two, a little goes a long way.  It does not feel heavy on the skin at all and has a nice clean smell like the rest of the products.

Step 4: Day/Night Creams

This is where we get a little tricky with how I feel about it.  These creams are VERY thick, however you only need a really small amount worked into the skin.  This is a better product for drier, mature skin than for "younger" oily acne-prone skin.  You can get great results out of this set with or without it. Sometimes I use it sometimes I don't, depending on the heat and humidity of that day.  After a few minutes the heavy feeling does go away and the skin is silky soft. These creams are more of a protectant that a moisturizer (most of the moisture comes from the Emulsion). 

How did my skin look before and after using this?

Before, my skin tone was a little uneven, dark under eye circles with a little tiny bit of wrinkling under my eyes. After using this product for 2 weeks, my under eye area has been looking a little smoother and a little less dark. My skin tone has also improved and looks more even.  A friend of mine used this also like I have and she got similar results. Her skin (she is Asian) actually became slightly lighter. We both have softer skin as a result as well. 

Where can you get this?  There are two sites that sell these product in English (the rest are in Korean)

www.airbrushskincare.com

www.nuaveworld.com (This one has the cheaper price)

Enjoy and have a great day!