Mini Review: Cover Girl Vitalist Healthy Elixir

Classic Ivory is a good color match for me, but I need a bit more coverage than this - red areas still show through. Just tested out a sample card.

Guerlain Lingerie de Peau - first impressions, Phoenix by Dawn Richards

Got a sample of Guerlain's Lingerie de Peau in 02 Beige Clair. I love the lightweight texture! It doesn't sink into pores and looks invisible, but smooths out my skin. However, it doesn't really cover my redness, so I still need a good concealer to take care of it. Since I am looking for something that will cover redness too, I don't think I'll purchase this, although the texture is really lovely.

Mini review: Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Even Finish Foundation SPF 15 (Sand 2) and Addiction Dewy Glow Foundation (#3)

Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Even Finish Foundation SPF 15 (Sand 2) 

- Emphasized dry patches of skin
- Not much coverage of reddish areas
- Definitely too pale for me
- a little itchyBecause of the poor coverage and bad color match, I won't bother to continue testing the sample.

Addiction Dewy Glow Foundation (#3)

- Some coverage of reddish areas
- A little pale on me
- a little itchy
I like a foundation to cover up red areas so I probably won't continue to test this one out.

mini-review: Natina light B.B Cream

Natina BB cream by Hangangsoo - a bit too pale for me to wear easily, although the texture is easy to spread.  Not much coverage either.

mini review: Hanskin Super Light Touch B.B. Cream

Meh.  It has a nice texture, with a bit of coverage, but it's too pale for me (I'm MAC NC20-25), and sinks into pores like crazy.

Nanoce BB moist cream

I could be wrong, but I think this Nanoce BB moist cream (no.2 healthy ochre) is breaking me out a bit.  Of course, it could be the Allie sunscreen that I'm testing out too, but I'm definitely seeing a few more pimples than normal.

It's too bad, as I rather like the coverage level of this cream.  It's definitely better than Hada Labo bb cream at covering up redness and dark circles.

foundation match: Esprique Precious

Esprique Precious Dramatic Veil Pact Moisture in OC-405 is a good match for my skin. The powder foundation is not bad too, but I don't think I'll be buying anything for a while. I have lots of foundations and bb creams to test!

missha bb creams

Missha bb creams are nice but they all seem to irritate my skin a bit - it gets a bit itchy when I wear them. A pity, as I had a nice little sampler set of the creams.

Givenchy's Radically No Surgetics (what is this English?) Age-Defying & Perfecting Foundation also had the same issue. #2 was a bit pale for me anyway.

need more pictures

Sorry that the blog has been pretty text-based lately. When things calm down a bit I'll post some cosmetic eye-candy.

By the way, Missha BB creams definitely irritate my skin a bit. They make it a bit itchy. I use oil cleansing and follow up with a toner (拭取る) but the irritation remains.

Angie, would you like to try it? It's a tube so it's quite sanitary. As a BB cream it seems average - not bad but not spectacular. Oil control is weak-to-average for me. Coverage is light-medium.

materialism: review: Legere's Water Drop BB cream

Legere's Water Drop BB cream
- light coverage

pros:
- light-weight feel; I don't really notice that I'm wearing it
- natural finish
cons:
- average to poor oil-control. I need to blot after a few hours
- I think I break out a little from this.

It's a big bottle and I use about a pearl-sized drop of it, so it's taking a while for me to use it up. I'm going to try out Missha's BB creams and see how they compare to this one.

Favorite products of 2010

It's been quite difficult to compile, but here is my list for 2010.

Aromatherapy Soothing Temple Balm by deserving Thyme - delightful, relaxing lavender and mint scent. Love this little balm.

Fancl cleansing oil still seems to work well for me. I'm still searching for good, reasonably priced facial waters (softeners) and moisturizers. Nothing seems to leave much of an impression on me. At this rate, I might go back to DHC Acerola Lotion and Q10 cream, but I wish the formulas had nicer scents! Ah well, I'm picky like that.

Old standby Inoui ID eyebrow pencil has not been supplanted yet (not that I've been looking): I still have one refill left, so this will probably last me through 2011 with no problems.

Kate Supersharp Liner was again my favorite liquid liner of the year. Reliable; I've been using the black brown version for more than a year and it still hasn't dried up! I'm rather impatient to start using my backup at this point.

SilkyGirl Funky Eyelights Eyeliner pencil: colorful and inexpensive, and I can set it with eyeshadow.

Canmake cream blush: the packaging is functional, the product is easy to use, and it's cheap. I can't comment on the lasting power as I haven't noticed, but it's useful for me!

MAC beauty powder: it doesn't show up at all if I swatch it on my hand, but on my cheeks it's wonderfully subtle yet contours and adds a sheer wash of color to my cheeks. Wonderfully easy to use! And huge; I wonder if I'll ever use it up.

美禅 Be-zen x Chigira Keiko lip treatment: a sparkly glossy treatment scented with lavender, it's soothing to wear. Cosme.com reviews point out that it doesn't last that long, and it's not that moisturizing, which I would have to agree with.

Dior addict lip polish: a light comfortable gloss that's easy to wear.

I stuck to old favorite Opera MyLash mascara. I plan to do more experimentation next year, as there are a lot of reasonably priced mascaras getting good reviews from bloggers.

I've been using bb creams on an almost daily basis, but mostly as tinted moisturizers as I don't skip any of my skin care steps, and have not found them particularly bad or good. I just have a lot of them and I'm trying to use them up.

Vera Wang Anniversary was a surprisingly easy-to-wear perfume. Drawn in by the promise of gardenia, I find the bottle gorgeous, the perfume pleasant, but in the end, not terribly memorable. Still, I will happily use this up, as I don't get sick of it.

Honorable mention:
YSL Golden Gloss is such a pretty, pretty gloss and very wearable. I love the scent too, but texture-wise it's a bit too sticky for my taste. As such, I probably won't repurchase, if I ever happen to finish this gloss.

bb cream

Ramen update - I still really like 赤のれん in Roppongi - Kyushu style straight noodles and thick pork broth soup. The pork slice was normal, but the soup and noodles were perfect. It's an old-school style restaurant - they've been around for a while. The side dishes are quite good too; we had an overdose of sliced green onions in sesame oil. Yum.

I've been using Legere's Water Drop BB cream on and off during vacation and on hot days.

It's quite nice - if I apply lightly it's natural but more polished - it evens my skin out a bit even though coverage is light. It holds up pretty well in hot and humid conditions.

BB creams are quite nice. I will probably hold off on buying a foundation until I use this up. This particular one is probably a tad dark for me so works well in the summer.

A lovely Biotherm lipstick from Cosmetic-candy.com is great for a sheer holographic shine. Perfect for a light non-makeup look.

food, beauty, music

* Wow, I'm liking Kelis's new song 22nd Century. She's sounding great live.

* I need to pick up more copies of Tina's maxi single (or is it a mini album?) Pride. Looking forward to seeing her live on the 24th! It's going to be awesome.

* Vacation planning takes a lot of time. I always end up spending too much money because of time constraints. Darn you Tokyo airports with limited flights!

* Drugstores are total time sinks for me. I step into one, and bam! I lose 1/2 an hour to an hour instantly. Ugh, infinitely entertaining.

* Tried Frijotles in Azabu-Juban, a burrito place. Nice and relaxing. I thought the fajita burritos were okay. They looked better than they tasted. The chile-corn salsa could have been more flavorful. They make the salsa chips on the premises, so they're great! But the guacamole is a bit bland. They're pretty generous with the chunks of avocado though.

* Tried a sample of Kanebo Doltier Selective Fluid in Ochre-C. I believe Doltier is one of Kanebo's older brands. The foundation seems light but I can feel that I'm wearing it. The coverage seems light-medium but you can layer it a bit. It covers my redness up somewhat - good around my nose but not so effective around my cheeks. The finish is very natural - not matte, not dewy, just very nice and natural. Not much seeping into wrinkles or dry spots so far.
I'm half-heartedly looking for a good liquid foundation, but powder foundation is pretty effective for me so I'm not in much of a hurry. I'll just finish all my samples and my existing foundations first. &Face has a very nice cream-to-powder foundation, but I'm not convinced that there aren't cheaper alternatives for me. It has good coverage though.

* I've started using my Ecotools portable brush set; so far I quite like it! The quality seems a bit more reliable than Essence of Beauty, although my Essence of Beauty taklon brushes are quite nice and soft. The Ecotools eyeshadow brushes are good for applying my shimmery summer shadows lightly.

mini review: bb cream, dhc makeup base

tried missha's bb cream today. The one in the brown packaging, No. 23.

My face feels a bit itchy so I'd like to take it off, but it's my only sunblock today, so I think I'll deal with it.

I'll probably toss the rest of the sample. I was hoping it'd be a nice alternative to foundation in this dry cold weather, but I hate stuff that makes my face itchy. When my skin recovers from this sample I'll try the Hanskin super bb cream sample I have. Then maybe I'll use up the fancl foundation I got from my roommate. In this dry air, powder foundation just isn't working well on my skin.

By the way, I've tried DHC's rose makeup base; it looks rather nice - brightens my skin - but my face feels a bit stiff afterwards and I can't really smile or yawn normally, so I'm keeping it around just for special occasions. I should probably just dump it; it's not like it even occurs to me to use it :P

materialisim: powder foundation mini reviews

Cle de Peau Teint Naturel Poudre (powder foundation) - full coverage, good oil control, good lasting ability, rather matte in finish (at first; it be comes more natural as my skin produces oil). I rather like this foundation, but it's so pricy! I'd rather give Guerlain's Parure Pearly White foundation a try at half the price (online). Still, when money is no object, this is a quality foundation that won't waste your time.

Coffret D'Or Lasting Power Pact UV (powder foundation) - my impression is of a normal foundation. Medium coverage, medium oil control, pretty good lasting ability.

Primavista Powder Foundation Long Keep - light to medium coverage. Pretty natural finish. Normal lasting ability, pretty good oil control. I am just not satisfied with the amount of coverage that this provides, so I won't be continuing to use this.

materialism: lunasol, primavista, cle de peau, guerlain, etc.

Lately it seems like shopping is on my brain.

Beware, below lies only ramblings on cosmetics.


After giving up for a while, I'm again seeking a good powder foundation. Over the winter I tried samples of Lunasol Skin Modelling Foundation and Primavista's winter foundation, but nothing stood out.

Color-wise Lunasol was quite nice, but in the end the coverage was only average and oil-control was only average. As a fall-back, it would be quite acceptable, but if I'm going to spend $40 or more on a foundation, I'd like something a little better.

Primavista's winter foundation was pretty poor on coverage and average on oil-control, so I forgot it immediately. The sample was a print on paper, so perhaps the sample formulation had issues to begin with.

However, I've heard good things about Coffret D'Or and Primavista's spring/summer foundations in terms of both coverage and oil-control so I'm looking forward to trying them.

I recently received a sample of Cle de Peau's powder foundation teint naturel poudre SPF 20 PA++ in ochre 20 (タンナチュレールプードルS オークル２０), which has impressive coverage, although I've come to realize that ochre 20 is a tad dark for me. The finish is rather matte so far. I'll see how the shine control fares over the course of this week. The coverage is quite nice - it covers up redness and some large cystic pimples without looking powdery or unnatural. It doesn't sink into pores much at all. There's some itchiness, but this might be the Elizabeth Arden face lotion I am using.

I did like Guerlain's pearly white powder foundation, which brightens the face and covers redness nicely, but the Cle de Peau may have better coverage, as one would expect, considering their target audience. It makes me wonder how the regular Shiseido powder foundation is; if it is almost as good as Cle de Peau, it may be a nice compromise in terms of price and functionality.

If I'm lucky, Coffret D'Or or Primavista will be almost as effective, as they are the least expensive options I am considering.

A Touch of Blusher also has reviews of Coffret D'Or and Primavista's winter offerings.

As a side note, I found Fresh Minerals' mineral foundation rather itchy, but I like the loose powder quite a bit. Nice, functional packaging too.