Skincare Review: Clarins Gentle Night Cream

Excuse the weird lightning, I was trying to take advantage of the last sun rays in my room x)

This has become my HG night cream. My skin has been causing me troubles since last year, although I've never had any acne problems until I was 21-22. So I tried using a more appropriate skincare regimen as well as eat a more balanced diet. It's great because at work we have a cafeteria with choices of 4 main dishes, as well as entrees and desserts. Although it's not the tastiest food it's a better incentive to eat balanced rather than when you go to the restaurant. And it's cheaper ;p

I've stumbled upon this cream by chance, and I'm glad I did. I was browsing through Lancôme's products in the department store when a saleswoman from Clarins approached me and convinced me to get this cream :p I used to be wary of Clarins as their products are usually heavily-scented and cause me breakouts. She gave me a sample of this and I went to buy the full-size bottle as soon as I was out of the sample product!

What their website says:

Gentle nights for sensitive skin: White Linen, Christophine and Hazelnut Oil prepare skin for a beautiful wake up call.The perfect nighttime partner to Gentle Day Cream which continuously helps balance skin. It optimizes the benefits of sleep to help restructure and replenish. Upon waking, skin is soothed, soft and radiant.

Apply in the evening using light, sweeping movements to clean, dry skin on the face and neck. For very sensitive skin, alternate with Skin Beauty Repair Concentrate.

-Vegetal complex based on Brown Linseed and Christophine: calms, soothes irritations.

-Liquorice extract: softens, soothes.

-Noctoferrine® (an exclusive Clarins protein): helps neutralize nocturnal free radicals.

-Hazelnut oil: no

This range was formulated specifically for sensitive skins and dermatologically tested. I tried the day cream as well but it didn't impress me much as it was too thick and not moisturizing enough in my opinion. However the night cream really delivers as I have been waking up with soft baby skin since I started using it. The gentle cream comes in a hygienic pump dispenser, and I usually use a little more than half a pump for my whole face and my neck. Be careful not to use too much as it might make your face slightly greasy.

This cream immediately soothes my skin upon application, and doesn't leave any greasy feeling if I don't use too much. The perfume is quite strong and will linger but it doesn't bother me too much and I like it (kind of floral? I suck at describing odours lol). It penetrates quickly and leaves your skin moisturized. I can't stop touching my face after I've used it, and my bf appreciates the baby skin too :)

I started using this cream as the weather got colder, I think it would be too rich for a warmer/more humid weather. It should be great for the drier colder winter nights though!

At 51.50€ for 50mL it's quite pricey, but I had a Sephora VIB 20% discount coupon and I thought this was definitely worth the splurge :) I might switch if I find something less expensive but for now I will definitely repurchase.

Ingredient List:

Shop Review: cosme-de.com

Cosme-de.com is a Hong Kong-based website selling cosmetics, from western high-end brands like Dior and Givenchy to eastern bestsellers like Laneige and MBD. Their selection can be quite limited depending on brands but I was looking for Skin79 BB Cream and Laneige Skincare so it was right on spot. Shipping is free internationally on all orders, so the price you see is what you get, although some items can't be ordered alone so you might have to buy at least two items. You get a $5 coupon on first registration.

I placed my order on Tuesday, September 28th, and received my package on Friday, October 8th (although I wasn't home so I had to pick it up this morning). You get a tracking number (typically RB*********HK) for the Hong Kong Post tracking service, so you can know the status of your order up until it leaves the country. My package took the plane on October 5th :)

Since it was my first time ordering I only bought two items, Skin79 The Oriental Gold BB Cream and Laneige Water Sleeping Pack_EX. Reviews coming up soon, but I've been using a sample of the BB Cream and I really like it.

Here is what my package looked like. Neatly packed and sealed :)

I got some My Beauty Diary blotting paper for free:

I was really pleased with my order, the items were shipped fast and were intact, with no damage at all. I will definitely order again :)

Makeup Review and FOTD: Bourjois Felt Tip Eye Liner in Black

Since I'm going to Asia soon I've been making a makeup wishlist of stuff I would like to buy (squeee hauls to come!). In the top 10 are Japanese felt tip eyeliners, Dolly Wink or K-Palette preferably. But last time I went to a drugstore I figured I should check out the eyeliners available here. The first eyeliner I ever bought was a Lancôme liquid eyeliner, unfortunately I can't remember the name and it's been discontinued. Anyway I did not like it, lasting power was just average and it flaked terribly, causing me to get dirt in my eye each time I removed it. Then I switched to MAC's Fluidline and did not venture into liquid eyeliners again. This year I've been getting into Japanese makeup, and seeing how felt tip pen eyeliners were so popular among the many brands, I put it on top of my wishlist.

On to the product:

Whoever is in charge of marketing and packaging at Bourjois should be raised, because I always get attracted to their products, more than Maybelline's or L'Oréal's, just by seeing the ads in beauty magazines and pretty packages. Yes, I'm a sheep, I own up to it!! But what really got me to buy this eyeliner was:

Being the makeup geek that I am, I totally squealed when I saw that and hurriedly went to the counter to pay. I thought, since this is made in Japan, they probably use the same manufacturer than Kosé or Kanebo, right? Riiiight?!! I couldn't wait to try it!!

What it looks like:

Swatch on my hand:

As you can see, the tip of the liner is quite fine, and not too stiff, so you can get a thinner line with a light pressure and a bigger line with more pressure. I like the tip a lot, I think it is a great balance of hard and soft, allowing you to create great winged lines without poking your eye. It dries almost instantly so it's easy to apply without smudging it all over your lid. It is also quite long-lasting, I wore it on Monday for about 12+hours outside on a hot sunny day (I sweat a lot, unfortunately =() and I only experienced minor smudging under my eye corner. On the picture above, I let the eyeliner dry for about 10 seconds and smudged it with my finger, it left no trace :)

On my eye:

Sorry it's a bit blurry, hopefully you can see the clean line I got with the liner :) Liquid eyeliner is harder to apply than pencil or gel eyeliner but since it's so long-lasting I think it's a much better payoff, also in terms of intensity. I'd rather spend a few more minutes in my bathroom in the morning and not worry about my eyeliner smudging or touching up the whole day :)

All in all I'm really satisfied with this product and I will definitely repurchase it, and now I'm expecting even more of the Japanese ones =)

FOTD:

- Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in #52

- Skin79 Diamond Collection Pearl BB Cream (highlighter)

- Lancôme Blush Subtil in #6 Pêche Intense

- Too Faced Shadow Insurance

- Bourjois Felt Tip Eyeliner in Black

- Sisley Eyebrow Liner in Châtain

- Dior Addict Gloss in #557 Denim Pink

Seen around Paris: Circle Lenses and Hello Kitty Makeup

I was walking the other day and went into a drugstore to check out the make up stalls. Quite unexpectedly I came upon this in the accessories section:

Circle lenses! This is the first time I have seen cosmetic lenses sold in a drugstore instead of an optician, and circle lenses to boot. Unfortunately the pictures were taken in a hurry on my camera phone because I didn't want the salespeople to notice me, so you can't really see the design properly, but there was a clear resemblance between the grey lenses and Geo Nudy Greys. The blue ones kind of look like EOS M201. Anyway, I'm calling them circle lenses because they all had a bold outer ring to give the eyes a dolly look.

I have never heard of the manufacturer, apparently these are made in Italy. All were plano, BC 8.6 and DIA 14.0mm. The water ratio is quite high (60%) because these were monthly lenses. The price was 11€ for daily lenses but I forgot to ask the price for the monthly ones. I will definitely go and check them out again, maybe try to get better pictures because I'm intrigued. I must admit I am skeptic about drugstore-sold contact lenses...

Hello Kitty makeup! I resisted the urge to pick up anything because I'm going to Malaysia and Singapore next week and I'm trying to save up for shopping :) But the nailpolishes had nice colors as well as the eye palettes so I'm really tempted!

Various NOTD

Konad plate m62 and N.Y.C Love Letters

Konad plates m19 and m36 and N.Y.C Love Letters

Konad plate m62 and OPI Lincoln Park After Dark

Skincare review: La Roche Posay Respectissime waterproof eye make up remover

I am surprised to see very few reviews of this product, because this is probably the first HG skincare product I ever discovered, before I even knew what HGs are actually!

Make up removing is an essential step in the skincare routine; make up residues will clog up pores, resulting in a bad skin condition, so you should always make sure your face is perfectly clean before going to bed. Being a daily user of waterproof eye liner and mascara, a good eye make up remover is important for me. I have tried lots of them, and always came back to this one, which was actually the first I ever tried.

Like most waterproof eye make up remover, this is a bi-phase formula, so you need to shake the bottle to mix the two liquids before applying on your eyes with a cotton pad. Pat gently the eye before swiping with the pad. Eyes are a sensitive area, so you want to avoid rubbing too hard. This product is great because it removes all kinds of make up effortlessly, including waterproof mascara. When you remove mascara, close your eye and put the cotton pad on the lashes where they reach your undereye area, and wait 1-2 seconds before swiping the pad downwards lightly, to avoid pulling on your lashes. Do the same thing this time with your eye open, put the cotton pad on the lashes over the browbone area and swipe upward. I have had some product accidentally touch my eye, but as it is a very gentle formula I did not feel anything. The product feels slightly oily but I have not experienced any breakouts with it, and usually I follow up with a face cleanser so it does not leave any residue. The formula is fragrance-free and paraben-free.

I've tried other eye make up removers, like the much hyped Lancôme Bi-facil, but although both brands are owned by L'Oréal I prefer the La Roche Posay by far, because I had trouble removing my eye-liner with Lancôme. And it is a much better value for the price, La Roche Posay retails at about €10 ($13) whereas the Lancôme one is about €18 ($23) for the same amount (125mL). You need very little product depending on how heavy your eye makeup is, but a bottle should last at least a couple of months. I wear eye-liner on a daily basis and I buy about 3 bottles a year.

KARA inspired tangerine smokey eye tutorial

Whoops big pictures overload! Next time I'll resize them smaller. The look was originally supposed to be inspired from the make up in the Lupin mv but it became like this. Enjoy!


Pictures from Newsen

Start off with a clean face, apply primer and/or base


Apply a gold orange eyeshadow. I used Urban Decay Baked. The glitter is from my eyeshadow base, a cream colored eyeshadow by Lancôme


Apply a black eyeshadow on the lower part of the lid and pack the color on the outer corner. Blend well.



Carefully line your upper and lower lash line, in a double wing shape like Goo Hara or a regular flick like Park Gyuri. I felt like doing the double wing.


Define your brows (I usually use a regular brown matte eyeshadow with an angled brush), apply some shimmery white eyeshadow or liner under your inner corner (I used MUFE Aqua Eyes in white 14L) and apply mascara (I used Lancôme Hypnôse but I brush a lot of it out because I don't like the look of mascara). Use fake eyelashes if you can, I know I can't :p


The final look:



Playing with my hat lol:



And finally, a little Photoshop fun:

The original:


The fake:


I'm going to New York with my mom on Sunday! It's been a few years since I've been there, can't wait to go!! (And I already have a few beauty and food stops planned haha)

Blog newbie + NOTD

Ok so I just found out that I chose the "moderate comments before publishing" option so I have to check the comments before allowing them. I'm so sorry I didn't notice I had three comments waiting for me since Feb 26!!! I'm such a noob at this blogging thing haha. I'm really happy to receive comments and I promise I will pay more attention in the future!!!

Off to the nails, nail art is my latest obsession and I'm starting to collect nailpolishes woo!! Nail art isn't so popular in France if you compare it to the US, and it's definitely not as popular as in Asia. Nail salons are pretty expensive (I know my mom paid about 40-50€ to get gel nails at a salon in Chinatown!) and people are not really creative with their nails, past the classic French manucure. I doubt I will ever see someone with rhinestones or ribbons on their nails. I love this though!! I read an issue of a Japanese nail magazine and fell in love with every design. I'm trying to emulate them but I have limited resources (for now!)

I used French drugstore brands. The red polish is from Les Cosmétiques, it's a gorgeous dark metallic red. I paired it with a transparent glittery polish from Debby Colorplay, which I bought because it looks somewhat like Nicole by O.P.I. Winter in Glitterland which Mona raved about. Like I said, girls around here don't really decorate their nails in fancy ways so I got a lot of questions and compliments for my nails :)

I'm holding my bottle of Biosilk Silk Therapy haha


With flash


Hmm glitter

The LOL party

I'm currently working on a tutorial for the KARA Lupin look but I'm waiting for proper lighting when I have time (it's currently snowing around here, so the lighting is meh).

Next week three epic parties are taking place, unfortunately because of classes I can only go to one of them. The theme for the party is Wild Animals, I'm thinking of using Michelle Phan's Tiger Eyes Tutorial to come up with something nice. I looove theme parties, they are a good excuse to go heavy handed on the make up and say it's to fit the theme :p

Last week one of my friends invited us to have dinner at her place. It all started well, we ate and discussed some things and others, and then we started drinking and having shots. Lol this could not end well. Actually it did, because we decided to go to some guy's birthday party. I did not even remotely know the guy but we figured three decently pretty girls can always find their place at any party lol. The theme of the party was "Face Disguise", it does not make much sense but we decided to paint our faces. My friends chose to draw a flower and a star on their faces and I ended up with the heart.

We had a hard time finding the place where the party was, we were asking people on the streets but we would always get different answers. While we were walking around, one of my friends kept saying "this is so LOL", thus the title of my entry ;) It turns out that we were looking for n°5 while the party was actually at n°2. We finally figured this out when a bunch of guys from the party started yelling at us from their balcony :p

The guys welcomed us enthusiastically but the three girls who were there just death-stared at us lol. I guess we were stealing the spotlight from them or something. The party was fun, we got to talk to a lot of people. I like to "branch out" of my usual social circle and talk to random strangers. But we left early because everyone was tired and I had classes the morning after. Can't wait for the next party!

Happy Face!


I wish I knew how to put on fake lashes like him


I need to buy this kind of glasses to bring at parties

Make-up review: Canmake Cream Cheek

I did a Yesstyle haul a little over a month ago and I was looking for something to complete my order to get free shipping. When browsing the beauty section I came across Canmake cream cheeks. Like I said in a previous post I'm looking for an equivalent (in terms of color and lasting power) of my Benefit Posietint. I didn't think about looking up swatches and instead trusted the colors on the pictures. I ordered #03 Strawberry Whip.

Canmake is a Japanese drugstore brand. The packaging is pretty simple but cute, made in transparent plastic. I was surprised when I first saw it because I expected it to be somewhat bigger. I apply the cream with a puff or a sponge.

It's a good pigmented shimmery cream blush, you need very little product to get a good coverage. The color is rosy pink with a hint of mauve, I like it a lot. It gives the rosy dolly cheeks that I like.

Unfortunaly the shimmery bits are too visible for my taste. I only use shimmery/glittery stuff on my eyes and usually for nights out, for everyday wear I prefer matte finishes. Lasting power is good but I keep getting glittery bits on my fingers.

Photoshopped the light to see the color:


Natural light:


See the shimmery/glittery bits, even without flash? Meh.

OOTD:


- Hearts argyle pullover dress: ZOO
- Lace Hem Underskirt: Tokyo Fashion
- Shoes: Minelli (My favourite shoes, they fierce up every outfit)
- Necklace: Bala Boosté
- Headband: bought at Parkson Grand

Circle Lenses Review: Geo Honey Wings

I decided to buy these after seeing a nice set of pictures in the Soompi Circle Lens Photobucket [link]. They don't look quite as shiny in real life but I managed to get the same effect in my pictures lol.

Comfort: 9/10. The left one stung my eye at first, but I think it's because my left eye is more sensitive than my right eye when it comes to lenses. However it was much more comfortable than my Nudies on first wear. I've worn them for 6 hours at most, and they feel like my regular clear lenses.

Design: 10/10. I like the design a lot. It gives you a soft brown honey look, very dolly but still natural, and the limbal ring is brown and softer looking than other lenses like Angel Brown or Barbie King Size. I think it blends well with my natural eye color, and I've worn them at a family gathering without anyone noticing.

Enlargement: 8/10. They are not printed as close to the edge as the Nudies so the enlargement effect isn't as visible. However they do enlarge my iris as you can see on the first picture. The softer limbal ring makes it less noticeable than the Angels as well.

Overall: 9/10. To me it is definitely an option to consider if you are looking for natural brown lenses with a bit of color change and dolly look. There are more natural looking lenses on the market (as in blending completely with your natural eye color), like EOS Max Pure Brown or Neo Dali Brown, but if you want a pop of honey in your eye color go check these out :).

Full Face:


FOTD:

- Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in 21 Light Beige (I use it as a concealer only)
- Canmake Cream Cheek #03 Strawberry Whip
- Too Faced Shadow Insurance
- Lancôme Color Focus Eyeshadow (a shimmery pastel green)
- Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Protest
- MUFE Aqua Eyes Eyeliner in white
- Majolica Majorca Lash Gorgeous Wing Mascara
- Dior Ultra-Gloss Reflect in 257 Organdi Pink

Make-up review: Posietint by Benefit

Some time ago I went to Sephora looking for a blush, and a vendor made me try the very famous Benetint. Benetint is a red cheek and lip stain, which gives you a natural red glow as if you'd just run in the cold. I was interested in the long lasting effect of the blush: I have dry skin so powder blushes don't last long on me unless I wear foundation, which I usually don't on an everyday basis. However Benetint's red color didn't look so great on me. When I heard about Benetint's little sister, Posietint, made for fairer skintones, I decided to give it a go.

I think I bought this back in October 2009. You can see the printing on the bottle peeled off at the bottom :p. Posietint is like Benetint a cheek and lip stain, except the color is pink and is more appropriate for fairer skintones. It comes with a brush applicator similar to what is used in nailpolishes. According to the little manual which comes with the bottle, you are supposed to brush three strokes on the cheek before smudging it to your skin. I find that one brush stroke on each cheek is enough for me, if I apply more I end up with a clown face. The color can be a bit scary when you first see it, it is really a very flashy pink, but once you smudge it, it comes out like a natural flush on your cheeks. I have been told that I look scary because I never blush, even in embarrassing situations, so with this I can look less stern and frendlier haha.

The first time you use it, be careful, it can be tricky because it sets pretty fast, so you have to smudge it right after you apply it with the brush, otherwise you might end up with a pink stroke mark on your cheek.

I had a hard time capturing the effect with my camera, but as you can see (or not) it gives a very natural and innocent look. I absolutely love this product. I have a very sensitive skin and never had any problem with this, and usually people don't notice I'm wearing anything on my skin. I'v been told I look fresh with this ^^

On the negative side, the packaging is awful. Like you can see in the picture the printing peels off, and I've had strange fuschia stains in my makeup bag which I can only blame on this (leak on the bottle maybe?). Now I always pack it in tissues if I have to bring it anywhere. Unlike Benetint, the bottle is opaque and you don't know how much you've used. I think I'm nearing the end because I have a hard time getting product on the brush.

The price is also a turnoff. It retails for 32€ at Sephora (about 44 USD), which is pretty expensive for a blush, and although I use it everyday, I'm already nearing the end after 4-5 months of use, I am not sure about other blushes but I doubt you hit pan that fast. I have been looking at other cheaper alternatives (currently using Etude House's Cherry Tint in Pink) and creme blushes.

All in all, a very good product for fair skins if you're looking for a long lasting natural blush. And can afford it. I am not sure how to use this if you wear foundation, I've never tried it.