2015 Beauty Favorites

Beauty
Today's a round up of my ultimate beauty favorites in 2015. I don't have a whole lot because I wanted to truly chose the products I used the most this past year and the ones I can't "live without".



NAILS



2015 was the year of soft pink and nude colors for my nails. I didn't wear much of my nail polishes displayed in my DIY Nail Polish Rack because as much as it's awesome, the racks are next to my windows and the sun doesn't play nice with polishes.
Most of my nail polishes became tacky and so, I went to Sephora and bought these two :

Chanel - Nail Colour 491 Rose Confidentiel 

This one might be my favorite Chanel nail polish, even more than the famous Rouge Noir from the brand. Rose Confidentiel compliments especially my skin color and stays on for days without chipping. If you have tan/brown/Indian skin, you might want to give this one a try. I guarantee it'll look good ! 

OPI - Tickle my France-y

Perfect nude for tan skin, it's not a warm undertone but neutral which is something I never go for as it doesn't particularly suit my skin tone but this one works. It might be because my hands are noticeably darker than the rest of my body and thus, less yellow and warm. Tickle My France-y is the perfect nude and go-with-everything color.

SKINCARE




A L'Orientale - Argan Oil 

Argan oil is a staple in my skincare routine, my skin is weirdly both dehydrated and dry at some times and I use this oil as a moisturizer/locking product at the end of my skincare routine.
Read this article to know why I love using Argan Oil : My favorite natural ingredients for beauty purposes 

OST - C20 Vitamin C Serum


If you've been reading my articles this past year, I've been raving and raving about this one over and over again. But this Vitamin C serum truly changed my skin for the best and I can only recommend it to everyone and anyone wiling to give this inexpensive and effective serum a try. 
Full Review : Here and Here for the new version.

Cosrx - Ultimate moisturizing Honey overnight mask


I know this product is described as a mask but I use it as a moisturizer day and night without fail. This product helped my skin tremendously and is now a holy grail in my routine. I'll do a review as soon as a I get my new jar because I love this so much that it's almost finished.
This mask can be used as a mask, a cream (as I do) or a wash-off mask as described here on Wishtrend.

Whamisa - Organic Flower Toner Deep Rich


Another holy grail in my routine, after reading Skin and Tonics raving review about this hydrating toner, I jumped on it in the hopes that it would help my disrupt skin barrier after a terrible try at chemical exfoliation. Needless to say, it did and amazingly well : This toner is watery, light and full of natural fermented ingredients (along with my fav Argan Oil) and provides the ultimate boost in moisture for your skin. 

Klairs - Gentle Black Deep Cleansing Oil


I've been using this oil all year long after failing with Banila Co's Clean It Zero. This Klairs has the decency of not breaking me out and removing my makeup at the first step of my double cleansing method (ie : oil cleansing first and foam cleansing/micellair water cleansing) to fully remove every trace of makeup off of my face.

Read the full review here


MAKE UP



MAC- All Fired Up

You can tell from the non-existent bullet but this lipstick was hands down my most worn lipstick in 2015. All Fired Up is part of MAC's retro matte collection a.k.a the ultra drying and stiff lipstick formula from MAC. It's my all time favorite shade from them (surpassing Viva Glam I, my teenage years love). I described and did a whole article about this article in My Top Two lipsticks for Tan and Indian Skin.

Dose of Colors - Kiss of Life

I instagramed how much I wanted the Dose of Colors liquid lipstick, I've wanted this shade for so long and the reason why I never got to get it was because it was hard to fork out 30€ for a liquid lipstick. As always, I needed a reason for this purchase and I got it as an early birthday gift from myself. I thought this shade would the perfect dupe/duplicate for Mac's All Fired up but it wasn't, I was bummed out but the color is beautiful.
I'll do a full article on all of my liquid lipsticks soon, so I'll talk more about this liquid lipstick then, but hey, if it is in my 2015 favorites.. you can guess whether I like it or not !

Giorgio Armani - Master Corrector - Peach

My under eye lover during all of this year. Armani is a luxury brand and I did have to fork out to get this corrector but I've wanted for a long time and I can say that this corrector is perfect for me. It's completely liquid (not creamy and thick like Mac's Studio Conceal and Correct Duo), lightweight, easy to blend and it doesn't crease on my undereyes ! In mac Mac corrector reviews, I talked about how it creased like cray but this Armani Master Corrector doesn't crease and is lightweight.
However, I believe there are only two shades a pinky one and this peach one. The peach shade is pretty light, if you're even slightly darker than me you won't be able to use this corrector. On days when I haven't slept much and when my dark circles are pretty prominent this corrector isn't enough and I end up using my MAC corrector instead.
TL:DR : Expensive but really amazing peach corrector, however, it wouldn't work for darker skin tone if you're darker than an NC40.

The Balm - Mary-Lou Manizer  Highlighter

A well-known highlighter from The Balm, a.k.a my 2015 self birthday gift, yes I do give myself beauty birthday gifts because as you may have guessed, it's my only way to justify some purchases. Mary-Lou Manizer is a pearly highlighter complimenting my skin tone. However, I must say that since the start of 2016, I've received the well-known and popular Champagne Pop from Becca x Jaclyn Hill and... Mary-Lou has a strong competitor !

Etude House - Play 101 Pencil in #49

I did a full on review on these pencils from Etude House, and this particular one was my ride or ride of 2015. I used it everyday without fail on my lower lash line to give it a little more definition, the dark brown shade looks more natural than a stark black pencil. On days when I didn't have the time or the strength to do my signature winged eyeliner, I smudged this pencil around the area of my upper lash line and it would look really good ! This pencil is easy, really easy to blend and thus, easy to use, it's not long lasting but it does a pretty good job for the price !

Full Review here

Swatches


Mary-Lou Manizer, Mac's All Fired Up, Dose of Colors - Kiss of Life, Etude House - 101 Pencil #49

TOOLS



Beauty Blender - Pro version (black)


In my March wishlist, I talked briefly about how I wanted this tool. Everyone knows what it is, everyone uses it but yet, I refrained myself from getting one for years. I've always thought that it wouldn't be worth 20 bucks and that It must be the same as my Kiko dupe I've had for a couple of years. On a whim, I decided to buy it and boy.. I was wrong ! This sponge is magical, someone could really tell me "I told you so" and I wouldn't say anything !
If you never tried this sponge and you use a dupe, I urge you to try this. If you want to blend in your concealer or the famous under eye highlight (I use a lighter concealer and the yellow shade of the Mac corrector on top) without any extra texture or cakyness, if you want it to make it look ultra natural, use this and you'll be amazed with the result. I never tried to use it to put on foundation because I'm pretty content with my Sigma F80 brush, but this Beauty Blender sponge is a must-have !

Spring Facial Hair Removal tool

I've had this for years and bought it really cheap for 1€ from a Chinese website. I use to remove my upper lip hair, it's easy almost painless and quick to do. Most often than not, I chicken out from threading that area, it's super painful with threading but this Asian tool is re-usable, easy and not gimicky ! Since then, Tweezerman are selling one as well, theirs is 20 bucks and Asian one is merely a dollar.. Choose what you want and try it !


Bonus : 2015 Music Favorites




After thinking about it.. I'll be also doing a 2015 Beauty Flops article, I've had some and I thought that it would be interesting, especially you were thinking on picking up these products !


What you need to know before and after buying a new product

Beauty


I didn't think about this post until my friend was texting me about how he was going to buy some product based on how popular the brand was. That's when I had the thought that a lot of people might be thinking like him, buying stuff because of the marketing surrounding the product and the brand.

There are few things you need to do before purchasing that shiny new product and a few other steps to take after buying it. To avoid any mishaps , unnecessary products, stuff that are not meant for your skin, that will break you out etc..





Steps before buying

1) Read

It has become the standard to read product reviews before buying any type of beauty product. However, a nice marketing and ad campaign can sometimes easily ruin our self control !

Read a lot of reviews, preferably from people who have the same skin type and skin issues/need as you do. Try to find a nicely balanced review : if the blog post is only rewriting what the manufacturer marketed , it won't give you a constructive opinion of the product.

If you can't find it on a blog, Reddit is the way to go : you can find a lot of people opinions fairly easily. Also, check out comments on Youtube reviews, some might be helpful !
A list of Beauty related Reddit I tend to visit : Asian Beauty - Brown Beauty - Skincare Addiction - Makeup Addiction



2) Ingredients

Not matter how great the product seems to be, if the ingredients is a whole load of crap or if the marketed star ingredient is at the end of the list, you might want to pass on the product. 
You can search up product ingredients on Cosdna, however, it's not always accurate, and all of the warnings won't specifically apply. It's not because an ingredient can be an acne trigger that it will break you out !

Cross checking the ingredients with products that have already worked for you and products that didn't is another way to know if a certain product could work out for you. I use an Ingredient Checking Spreadsheet macro made by the great Melubbeauty : that you can find here.

Eventually , dress up a list of ingredients that you know you want to avoid or go for. Keeping that list in the notes of your phone could help you when you're shopping in a drugstore.

2) Checking the pH when shopping for cleansers

The issue with pH and cleansers has its lovers and detractors but eventually : a cleanser with a high pH could lead to a weaker skin barrier and your skin getting drier in a result. I don't have the actual knowledge to address and explain this step, but the "perfect" (again, highly simplifying here) pH of your cleanser would be around 5. You can read Snow's article on Why the pH of your cleansers matter here.


3) Get samples !

Before splurging on a product that might not work for you, you might want to get samples. A lot of Asian Beauty shops offer a large variety of samples to try.
Moreover, even if you don't get the fancy packaging, samples can sometimes be more economical than getting a full size product. Check out the Asian Beauty list of shops here.


Steps after buying

4) Patch test

Even if you have been always lucky you don't know when that luck might run out ! Always patch test : you should test your new product on a certain area of your face before applying it all over your face. Try to patch test for a sufficient amount of time, ideally 2 or 3 weeks depending on how your skin works and how it reacts to new products.
Why patch testing ? You can prevent an allergic reaction or a break-out, this way, if your skin does react to the product, the damage will be restricted to the area where you tested the product. Better break out in one area rather than your whole face !

5) One product at a time

Always test one product at a time and introduce only one product at a time as well. If you introduce several products at the same time and you break out, you won't be able to know which one break you out in the end. Patience is key, it's easy to get excited with a new huge haul of beauty products but your skin is worth more than that !

6) Breaking out ? Purging ?

If you do end up breaking out, whether you followed the last few steps or not you should go back to the routine you had before breaking out/adding new products. If you aren't sure what broke you out : Keep it simple and let your skin calm down with a simple routine : Cleanser , moisturizer, sunscreen. I would also add a trusty spot treatment in this simplified routine to fight the break out. 

However, a break out is different from purging : you can't purge from a moisturizing cream or a foundation, if you do get pimples from those type of products you might want to stop using them. To know precisely if you are breaking out or purging, reading this article from Skinacea might be helpful.

Lastly, don't mistake a break out from something else : I personally tend to break out when I eat spicy food both my stomach and skin can't handle it and especially salty food just doesn't do it for me (Another reason to throw the junk food out of the window !). Of course, it won't be the same for everybody, some people don't break from food, others break out from different things.


Before buying other products :

Keep track of what you already have. This advice actually applies for almost every thing but, do you really need another sleeping mask ? Don't you already have this lipstick color ? Do you really need another nude nail polish ?
It's fairly easy to get overwhelmed with a whole bunch of products, and if you follow step 5 carefully, you won't even be able to try and test all of the product for a long time.

Don't buy too much at a time. Again, the more you buy at a time, the more you're tempted to try everything all at once. 

Honestly, I'm guilty to a lot of these issues : I tend to stack products, test them before patch testing them and even accumulating a whole bunch of creams and cleansers that I don't even end up using after all because I'm not sure if they were breaking me out (hence why you should patch test one product at a time diligently). But I've been working and on it and I've started to be more conscious about my skincare/beauty routine and ways.
 
Are you read to buy some Asian beauty products now ? Check out my list of dedicated shops here !

This post is going to be posted on January 1st, so : Happy New Years ;) - Dini


Beauty Trip : Shopstyle's Sanctuary for Paris Fashion Week

Beauty

Brace yourselves Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm debuting my face on this blog today. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have already seen how I look there but this is a first time on Wished Chronicles. 
I was invited by Shopstyle to their Sanctuary, where they offered yoga classes, make-up and hair sessions and special master classes. The Sanctuary was located in a beautiful Parisian loft, very near to where I used to live on campus (as a matter of fact, the loft was the building behind my campus, talk about a coincidence !).



I'm not a Fashion blogger by any means and I was really excited to go to this blogger event mainly for the beauty spots and Oh my Cream's master class. However, I won't be able to talk about it as the brand cancelled the master class the day I went to the Sanctuary. Great luck I have ! 



Located in the first floor, my friend and I went to get our hair done by 365c. If there's anything I can't handle and am overwhelmed with in the beauty world : it is hair. I'd say I'm good at make-up but hair, I can't manage and I'm always sporting the same old hair style if we can call it that way.


 My friend (here with the princess-like-long-hair) chose the Taffetas style.



And I went for a hairstyle from last year's collection and I can't remember the name but you'll see me sporting this intricate hairstyle throughout this post. 

 


Heading over to the make-up bar, the brand was Bionike an Italian skincare and make-up brand with an "allergen-free philosophy" meaning that they only offer products with no preservatives, fragrances, gluten and nickel tested. This brand positions themselves as great for the skin and are sold in French pharmacies. I got a gift bag from them and I've already started to use one of their product which entered my skincare routine. I'll keep you guys posted but make sure to check this brand out when shopping in our pharmacies !


The nail bar was animated by the brand MARiNHO Paris specialized in semi-permanent manucures without any acids, solvant or animal-tested products. I was looking forward to get my nails done but unfortunately, the line was too long and I couldn't get mine done.




We chilled a bit after getting our hair & make-up done, brace yourself for some blogger-worthy pictures !




Last but not least, the event was sponsored by various Fashion brand and The Sanctuary offered bloggers a full wardrobe to try on clothes and get shot by the photograph.


A bathtub filled with popcorn ? Yes please !


I didn't try anything but my friend knocked herself out and was looking absolutely stunning :

 


That day was also the day I debuted my new glasses sent by Glasseshop. Uni started again and the Business Student that I'm was in need of new glasses to get myself productive. I might as well add that I've always had great eyesight but it has gone worse because of my extensive use of electronic devices. Please be careful, with your devices and buy a blue light filtering screen protector for your smartphone for example, I'm already annoyed with my geeky self. Because of this, I have to use glasses when driving during the night and get scolded by my ophthalmologist (really though !).

These are the Hancock Wayfarer in Black/Yellow 

 This shop offers a variety of prescription glasses as well as sunglasses for a very little price point. Based in China, these cheap glasses are actually really great quality. I was a bit worried about the quality of these glasses as glasses here in France cost at least a 250€ but these one retails for only 35,95$. A perfect opportunity for any student budgets, these might not be branded but they offer every styles, colors and types.


 I kinda threw my ugly Vogue glasses away and I've been using these ever since I received them while, I don't see any difference in terms of quality.  The glasses came 3 weeks after it was shipped out in a simple plastic case with the cleaning cloth associated.
If you are interested, Glasseshop is having a "First Pair of Glasses Free" campaign where  all the new customers can have a first pair of free glasses except shipping and handling fee. And, as always because I can't share an offer without a promo code : with GSHOT50 you can get 50% off on any eyeglasses and sunglasses with free lenses.



And we're done with this post ! Next week, a review about a special and effective Korean sleeping mask will be posted ! Until then, take care and I'll leave you with a shot of the wonderful cupcakes from The Sanctuary !



This product was sent for review purposes  by Glassesshop, all thoughts are genuine and my own, refer to my full disclosure and review policy for more information.


Where to shop Asian Beauty products / Où acheter des produits de beauté asiatiques

Beauty





Do you want to quench your Asian Beauty thirst ? This post will help you with that, with a list of e-shops I've hauled from along with other decent and well-known businesses, I've yet to shop at.  See how I said 'yet' ? That's just showing my love for Asian Beauty is far from being over !



Une petite présentation d'e-shops s'impose si vous voulez pouvoir vous procurer des produits de beauté asiatique. Je vous présenterais non seulement, la liste des sites que j'ai pu tester mais aussi d'autres que je n'ai pas eu l'occasion de tester mais qui restent assez connu et sûre. Pour ceux qui désirent commander via un site français, la liste de quelques e-shop français est également au programme !

E-shops I've shopped at 

 

Testerkorea


Based in Beauty Brands Shipping Link
Korea Korean, Japanese Extensive choice of brands available By Weight Link

TesterKorea was the first shop I hauled at and they offer an extensive choice of brands. They also have a "want section" where you can request a certain brand or product you want to buy and they will stock it for you. However, for a few months now, Testerkorea has been experiencing some issues with late processing of orders. Great choice and price point (you might want to check the prices from time to time as they tend to fluctuate) but the service can sometimes be deceiving.


Roseroseshop


Based in		 Beauty Brands Shipping Link
Korea Korean Extensive choice of brands available By Weight but FREE shipping available on Mizon and Banila Co products Link

Roseroseshop is a great shop where processing is fast and prices are interesting. Brands like Mizon and Banila Co are shipped for free (tracking fee is added though) whereas all the other brands are sold with the "shipping by weight system". You might want to check your cart as you add items as the shipping fee can double to triple depending on the weight of the product you want to buy. I highly recommend this shop.


Wishtrend


Based in		 Beauty Brands Shipping Link
Korea Korean Cosrx,Klairs,C20,Skinmiso etc.. Free over 69$+ Free Shipping on all of the items in the Free Shipping Zone Link

Do I still have to present Wishtrend ? This is where I buy the majority of my Cosrx products and of course, my beloved Vitamin C Serum, that one you knew I was going to mention !  There are promo codes every month available so that you can get the most out of your order, check out the sidebar for the monthly codes. You can also use 033450111 to get instantly 5$ off of your first order by writing this code in the "friends invitation program" box in the registration form.

 

W2beauty


Based in Beauty Brands Shipping Link
Korea Korean Extensive choice of brands available Free Shipping with 2,5$ for tracking fee Link
The shipping is free with an additional tracking fee but the prices are slightly higher to compensate for the shipping. W2beauty has a great choice of product and adds more than 200 new products each week. I also want to note that, the shipping was the fastest I've had with standard shipping from Korea. It usually takes 3 weeks to reach Paris, but it only took one week with free shipping nonetheless ! It might have been my luck but that was pretty nice.


Jolse


Based in Beauty Brands Shipping Link
Korea Korean Extensive choice of brands available Free Shipping Link
Really nice service and websites. They usually have new products and collections up on their website as soon as it hits the Korean shelves. You can get free samples even if you order only one item. The shipping is free without tracking and is 2,5$ with tracking, EMS (express shipping) is also available.

 

Ichibankao



Based in		 Beauty Brands Shipping Link
Japan Japanese Dolly Wink, Hada Labo, Bioré, Heroine Make etc.. Free without tracking, possibility to pay for tracking shipping and EMS Link

Don't be alarmed by the outdated design (I know I would) but Ichibankao is a legit e-shop selling various Japanese brands. The website isn't really easy to navigate through but you get used to it as you browse the website.


Official E-shops

Official e-shops are also available for you to shop at. Innisfree and Etude House are under the same company and both send orders through EMS with the exact amount of your order.

Innisfree
They constantly have great offers like 1+1 and you can get your first order with free shipping regardless of the amount.
Etude House
The same goes for Etude House.


Concernant, Innisfree et Etude House, il est très intéressant d'acheter chez eux avec leur nombreuses offres mais veuillez à acheter en dessous de la valeur taxable par la douane. En effet, Innisfree et Etude House font partie de la même marque mère et envois les colis en EMS (express) tout en affichant la valeur exacte de votre commande. Le colis passe ensuite chez Chronopost à son arrivée en France et si votre colis à une valeur supérieur de 45€ il me semble, la Douane ET Chronopost se chargeront de vous taxer. Ps : Les produits gratuits (comme dans le cas des offres 1+1 sont considérés comme payés et donc également taxable !

Missha
Missha has stores all over the world, you can check out if your country has one.


Français : Vous pouvez commander sur le Missha Allemand pour recevoir vos produits en France. Missha offre également des échantillons à acheter sur le site, jetez y un coup d'oeil !



Ünt
Taïwanese skincare at its finest, I've heard great things about Ünt but never tried anything. Their EX White Laserwave and Acne Med lines are pretty popular. You might want to check them out ! They seem to be shipping all over the world, check out here if your country is a part of it.

 Page française de la marque Taïwanaise Ünt, je n'ai jamais testé de produit de cette marque mais j'en ai entendu grand bien.

Other trustworthy E-Shops

 All of these shops are deemed trustworthy by my fellow beauty bloggers :
iBuyBeauti - Korean Beauty - Based in Korea 

Adambeauty - Japanese Beauty - Based in Hong Kong

Memebox - Korean Beauty - Based in US/China/Korea and only ships there

Peachandlily - Korean Beauty - Based in US

Yesstyle - Korean/Japanese/Taiwanese Beauty - Based in Hong Kong

Glow Recipe - Natural Korean Beauty - Based in US

Korea Depart - Korean Beauty - Based in Korea

Cosmetic Love - Korean Beauty - Based in Korea

E-shops français


Si vous préférez commander sur des sites français ou désirez tout simplement recevoir vos produit plus rapidement, voici une liste d'e-shop français. Je n'ai pour l'instant commandé que chez Peaux d'Anges qui est un e-shop avec un super service et une bonne sélection de produits. Himawari qui commercialise aussi bien sur Beautyst que sur leur propre e-shop, propose une sélection de marques Coréenne avec la particularité d'avoir les frais de ports gratuit !

Himawari
Peaux d'Anges
Ma BB Crème
Ds World Asia

Buy directly from Korean Shops :

If you can't find your favorite brands in this lit of e-shops or you would just rather buy directly from Korean Brands shops, this list is for you :

Avecko - Korean Product buying service. Avecko buys the product from Korean brands/shops and ships it to you (just like Shipito in the US if you know that), here is a complete guide to how to buy from Avecko on /r/Asian Beauty.

Buy directly from Japanese Shops :

Rakuten - You can find your favorite Japanese products for cheaper on Rakuten than your regular e-shops of Amazon. Here is a complete guide on how to buy from Rakuten and how to request SAL shipping on /r/Asian Beauty.


Disclosure

Wished Chronicles is a PR friendly blog and contains affiliate links. All opinions expressed are genuine and purely my own.
Read the full disclosure and review policy here.