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.


The top two lipsticks for Tan and Indian skin - Summer Edition

makeup
best lipstick shades for indian , tan , brown skin - mac lipsticks



Lipstick, now this is my area of expertise. My everyday look is pretty simple, I never actually wear any eyeshadow and only go for black liner and a statement lip color. Now this two specific lipsticks, I've been obsessed with this year. I know I wrote this article as a "Summer edition" but truly, I wore these all year long.


There are 3 products on the pictures but the ones I wanted to talk about the most were MAC's All Fired Up lipstick (on the left) and Limecrime's Velvetine in Suedeberry. Now, because I know how much controversy Limecrime has and how difficult it is to find these velvetines, I included MAC's Lady Danger which is a bit similar to Limecrime's Suedeberry.


These shades looks stunning on tan, Indian, brown skin but they would look equally as good on just about any skin tone as well. I'm a bit lighter that an NC42 and I'm matched to Barcelona in NARS foundation and these two are my go to lipstick shades and are also.. The shades I ALWAYS get compliments on.

I'm not kidding, I always get compliments on these two, even from those people who would never actually compliment my make up or the way I look. As you can see from the pictures, MAC's All Fired Up is nearing its death and that's because I'm kind of.. wearing it daily. I'm not joking when I say that I love this lipstick and that it particularly suits me well.

best lipstick shades for indian , tan , brown skin - mac lipsticks

MAC - All Fired Up 


All fired up is a pink fuschia with neutral to warm undertones in a matte (retro matte as MAC calls it) finish and is extremely pigmented. It lasts for ages, and that's why I love MAC's matte finishes and just matte finishes in general but : This specific lipstick is too drying. I always mix it with a bit of lip balm to make it comfortable to wear.

Limecrime - Suedeberry


Suedeberry is a peachy coral liquid lipstick which dries matte and velvety. This shade suits particularly well, tan complexions with warm undertones as it brings out that warmth and in my case, golden yellow of my skin (see here how my skin looks). Unfortunately, this specific shade in Limecrime's formula is a nightmare to apply. It doesn't apply evenly and patch up if you apply too much. It's really a shame that this shade is so hard to apply because I don't wear it as often as I could. (Limecrime's Red Velvet applies effortlessly in my case).

MAC - Lady Danger


I only got this recently because I wanted a lipstick close to Suedeberry and that I could use more frequently. However, Lady Danger is not a dupe for Suedeberry, they are similar but the shades are definitely not the same and looks rather different on the lips. As you can see from the pictures, Lady Danger has more red than Suedeberry does. In terms of application, it's easier to apply and is one of those MAC's best matte consistency.


Swatches

best lipstick shades for indian , tan , brown skin - mac lipsticks

From left to right : All Fired Up , Lady Danger, Suedeberry.

best lipstick shades for indian , tan , brown skin - mac lipsticks




What are your most used lipstick ? 

NARS Chronicles : Radiant Creamy Concealer - Ginger & Biscuit - Swatches & Review

makeup
My love story with NARS is still going strong. As of today, this brand is the make up brand I talk about the most on Wished Chronicles. Believe me, this isn't sponsored or anything, It's really a love story going strong here. After trying, the Sheer Glow foundation which perfectly matched my skin and had finally the right amount of warmth and yellow for my tan/indian skintone, I just had to try their famous Radiant Creamy concealer.




I only got Ginger at first, and after casting away my MAC's Pro longwear concealer, I finished my first round up of the Radiant Creamy Concealer. Mind you, I was scrapping the sides away to get the last bit of product it left. I still have half a bottle of the MAC concealer but I still went ahead and picked up another radiant creamy concealer and this time, with an extra shade : Biscuit.




What the brand says


Coveted by artists for its luxurious texture and luminous finish, new Radiant Creamy Concealer evens skin with lightweight medium to high buildable coverage. Enriched with hydrating, multi-action skincare benefits and light diffusing technology, it creates a softer, smoother complexion while instantly obscuring imperfections and diminishing fine lines and signs of fatigue.

  • Long wearing and crease-proof
  • Paraben-free, Alcohol free, Synthetic fragrance free, Non comedogenic

The packaging

The concealer comes in a wand type packaging with the classic black rubbery Nars packaging at the handle.


It comes with 6 ml/0.22 oz for a price point of 27€/29$ (us).



The packaging is also see-through, which lets you see how much product is left inside (you do will have to scrape the sides like I did for that) and the doe-foot applicator has a perfect flat side which allows you to apply the product easily on your skin.



 Swatches 

The formula is very creamy, just like the name says it and is very pigmented. A little goes a long way, and the coverage ranges from medium to full depending on the amount of product you use. The finish isn't matte but it's not dewy either, it's definitely light reflective and thus, has a natural finish. Even though, I'm all for the natural finish and don't like to powder my whole face, I do powder my under eyes to first, set the concealer and second, to get a matte finish. 



Ginger is a shade lighter than my skin tone and is similar to MAC's NC35 shade, I use it to brighten my under eyes and it works well for my tan/indian skin tone. Biscuit is supposedly my skintone shade, I did find that it was a tad too dark but nothing too noticeable. I bought it to spot conceal and cancel out my dark under eyes on days when putting a lighter shade would just turn the finish gray. (Read the review on Mac's orange corrector here).

If you want to compare with MAC's shades, Ginger would be the equivalent of an NC35 and Biscuit of an NC42. 

Below, is the comparison swatches with Nars' Lightweight foundation in Stromboli, and Sheer Glow foundation in Barcelona.



My thoughts

The product lasted for around 7 months of daily use and is extremely easy to apply and blend. I used a dry/wet beauty blender to blend the concealer in on most days or would even use my fingers. It's not thick if you don't over apply the product and it is fairly unnoticeable if, again, you use a fair amount of product.

The concealer claims to be crease-proof, now, if you do have fine lines, don't expect them to disappear, that's not what the product says it will do. If you do use a reasonable amount of product, it won't crease and will look really natural while covering everything you need to cover up. In term of longevity, it's not overly long lasting but it does last for around 7 or 8 hours if you powder.

Let's talk about the cons now :
This concealer is expensive. Nearly 30 bucks for a concealer is crazy in my book, granted there's more expensive but when you can buy less expensive and just as good elsewhere, it's worth checking other product out. The other concealer I own is MAC's pro longwear which is 20 bucks for 9 ml of product whereas NARS' concealer is only 6 ml of product. 

Why did I buy it again then ?

This concealer isn't phenomenal but it is great. I do think it's over priced but the consistency, application and shades are good enough to get my crazy self to spend this much for the Radiant Creamy Concealer.

In comparison with MAC's pro longwear concealer, it's indeed more expensive and is packed up with less product but, the pro longwear creases not matter how little product you apply and the packaging is horrendous. Though, as the name suggests it, MAC's prolong wear concealer is truly long lasting compared to the Radiant Creamy Concealer.




“My rule of thumb: lightness, transparency, and less is more.
Do not cover the complexion, enhance it.”
– François Nars


The reason why I love Nars products even more, is that I love François Nars' view on make up. For myself,  I share the idea that make up should only enhance your own beauty which is why I always go for the more natural look.

Buy yours now

Amazon - Nars (US) - Nars (fr) - Sephora (US) - Sephora (fr)

Other NARS reviews :


Etude House - Play 101 Pencils - 5, 11, 12, 21, 22 & 49 - Review & Swatches

makeup
That small hiatus took a bit longer than planned ! Finals madness over, I took the liberty of taking a couple of extra weeks to blow some steam off before coming back and going back to work. The semester's over but the student in me is going to start a summer job. Last year, was a summer job in one of the world's biggest bank in one of the world most renown avenue : Les Champs-Elysées. Well, for this year, we'll see where it goes, for now, I have a bunch of Etude House's 101 Pencils in action !



These pencils are pretty popular in the Asian Beauty community for being relatively cheap and multi-functional. As seen here (click on the picture to enlarge it), the finish of the pencils ranges from matte, creamy, glitter, glossy to shimmer. Depending on the finish of the pencils you can use them on your eyes as eyeshadow (glitter, shimmering, creamy) , as eyeliner (glitter, matte, creamy, shimmer), on your lips as lip liner (matte) or lipstick (glossy for instance). You can also use them as blush and some of the lighter creamy colors can be used as concealer for lighter skin tones. 

Having a few of those pencils in your makeup pouches are perfect for on-the-go touch-ups of basically, your whole face makeup !


I wanted to try them for a while and got them in this haul from Testerkorea.

The product






I have here :
- Shade #5 : A pearly gold color with a glitter finish
- Shade #11 : An orange coral with a creamy finish
- Shade #12 : A red with slightly orange undertones with a glossy finish
- Shade #21 : A red with a glossy finish
- Shade #22 : A darker shade of red with glossy finish
- Shade #49 : A dark shade of brown with a matte finish




Packaging

The pencils come in what I call the best packaging ever for pencils which is the automatic type : You only need to twist the bottom part to get the product out, no need for sharpeners and all that jazz anymore. BUT , remember about those different types of finishes ? Glossy and creamy finish tend to lose their shape and go flat as you apply them, for a more precise application , Etude House thought about including sharpeners at the bottom of each pencils.  
The end of the pencils are all colored with the shade of said pencil, making it easier for storage and grabbing the color you want. 
 

My thoughts

These pencils retail for approximately 7$ or less depending on where you get them, as I mentioned there's a broad range of colors and finishes, with that, you are bound to find a pencil that could work out for you. I love the fact that these pencils are multi functional, you can get the most out of them and you also get a good amount of product for the price.
The pigmentation of each of the pencils I bought was good, shade 5 which was a glitter finish needs a bit more swaps to get some color as the first swaps delivers glitter. You can see on the swatches below how pigmented are each of the pencils in one swap (left swatch of each color).
Etude House didn't say nor marketed anything about longevity, so these aren't supposed to be long lasting. Depending on the finish once again, they can last a long time like glitter finishes which are trickier to remove and matte finishes that tend to stay put. However, I do want to mention that I bought shade #49 Dark Brown as a eyeliner and waterline liner and I found that It didn't stay on pretty long, but I should also add that I have quite watery eyes so that wasn't surprising.
As for the blendability, you guessed it, it depends on the finishes once again. The #49 which is matte wasn't blendable at all, the glossy and creamy finish are easily blendable. I did succeed in blending the shade #11 (coral one) on my cheeks to use it as blush, it wasn't long lasting but it was pretty seamless and easy to use.



As an overall, the results you will get will depend on the finishes of each pencils, I do recommend these pencils because they are easy to find with a wide range of colors and finished (most of the K-Beauty e-shops carry these), not expensive, and quite easy to use.


Swatches

I took pictures of the swatch in both indoor and outdoor lighting :



I do want to mention that I got shade #5 as an inner eye corner highlighter, if you read my NYE post, you would know that I love highlighting with yellow/gold shades and well, the glitters were a bit too much for my taste. I usually go for a more natural looking makeup, so heads up : The glittery pencils are truly glittery, if you're not into that, I guess the shimmery finish would be lovely (should've grab one !).







MAC Studio Conceal and Correct Duo - Rich Yellow/Burnt Coral - Review & Swatches

makeup
And this time I'm bringing you Western make up again. I'm leaving my NARSissist self at the door and present you a brand new product from MAC Cosmetics : The Studio Conceal and Correct Duo in Rich Yellow/Burnt Coral.




What the brand says

A professional duo of two complementary corrector shades for customized skincare correction. Create your ideal skin tone in pairs of blendable shades in four new colour combinations: Light, Medium, Deep Medium and Dark. Fortified with shea butter and vitamins E and C, the correcting formula evens skin tone and visibly reduces the appearance of lines and wrinkles for up to eight hours.


The packaging

As you can see, the correctors come in a double ended product and each of them are 4 ml.

8ml of total products for 25$ (MAC US) / 25€ (MAC FR)



The applicators are standard doe-foot ones which make it easier to apply directly onto the skin.





Swatches



My thoughts

The ingredients such as shea butter make the product extremely creamy. This particularity makes it easier to blend without effort. Now, the reason why I got this product is because of the dark areas on my face. If you have brown/tan/indian or even olive skin chances are you have those darker areas in your face too. Thanks to my C20 serums, the darker areas around my mouth have greatly diminished so I don't have to to use this product on a daily basis on these areas. But, although I don't have a severe case of dark circles, they are still there and needs to be corrected ! If you are one of those people who likes to highlight their under-eye areas and you are using a lighter concealer shade (not pointing fingers, I do it myself !), you have to correct those dark circles before concealing, otherwise you'll get a gray finish after "concealing", and that doesn't look good at all ! 
With this product, orange cancels out those dark areas and works great on those blue,brown almost black dark circle and the yellow is great to cancel redness or can also be used as a brightener/highlighter on tan to deeper skin tones.

The correctors are crazily pigmented but the very fact that you can easily blend them makes it easier. In this case, a little goes a long way. However, I found that no matter what I did, used underneath my eyes, the product settled unto my fines lines. I was and still am, extremely annoyed so what I do is that I apply the burnt coral underneath the area where I have fines lines and then bring it up a bit when I blend. If you want to use the Rich Yellow as a highlighter, keep in mind that this product isn't meant to be used as such because it's actually a tad too thick to be used this way. I'd suggest using the prep and prime highlighters from MAC in Light Boost (which is really light but has a yellow tone and is lightweight as consistency) for that matters. 

Pros

  • Comes in different shades suitable for all skin colors
  • Highly pigmented
  • Easily blendable thanks to the creamy finish of the product
  • Doe-foot applicator

Cons

  • Creases
  • Expensive (but used sparingly, it would last a long time)

As an overall, I'm pretty disappointed with this product. The very fact that it creases put me off from using it ! As such, I wouldn't recommend it and I'm thinking that I should've gotten Armani's Master Corrector in peach instead, it's pricier but could be better in the long haul !



NARS Chronicles : All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation - Stromboli & Barcelona - Review and Swatches

makeup
 A little before the holidays, I fell upon the info that Nars was releasing a new liquid foundation for Spring 2015. Some Middle-East based blogger posted review articles on the foundation when they weren't supposed to and the news spread throughout the whole beauty word. The foundation was released at the beginning of January on Nars' official website and I was waiting for the foundation to be released in French Sephoras so that I could return my product if the shade wasn't matching.

Just before the holidays, they also released the powder version of this foundation , and I did a review of both shades right here.



30 ml for 43€ on sephora (fr) , Nars (fr)
30 ml/1 fl.oz for 48$ on sephora (us) , Nars (us)


What the brand says


Full, natural-looking coverage with unexpectedly weightless, 16-hour wear. Highly pigmented and perfectly balanced, this breakthrough formula builds and blends effortlessly with just one drop—the result of exclusive innovation uniquely designed to deliver long-wearing full coverage, weightlessly. Shake, pump and blend in sections for complete coverage that's completely natural looking.
Pure Innovation. Exclusively NARS.
Weightless Long-wear Technology delivers up to 16 hours of wear, while always feeling light-as-air. Featuring advanced flexible polymers and first-to-market treated pigments.
  • Advanced flexible polymers move with the skin, providing extraordinary breathability and comfort.
  • First-to-market treated pigments weightlessly deliver long-wearing, complete coverage without ever masking for perfected, natural-looking skin.
Even Tone Technology is designed to instantly neutralize redness and dullness, while working long-term to reduce the appearance of discoloration for more even, uniform skin.
  • Gold and green pigments in a perfect 4-to1 ratio optically manipulate how light reflects off skin's surface, evening the complexion for instant luminosity. Green pigments negate redness on contact, while gold combats dullness.
  • Scarlet Spiderling Root Extract helps reduce the appearance of discoloration and reveal brighter, more even skin over time.


Okay, if you were lazy to read all of this up, let me sum this up for you :
The claims are such : Weightless, Long-lasting up to 16 hours, full and natural coverage, only one drop is needed, Even tone technology : neutralizes redness, dullness, long term use of this foundation is supposed to reduce de the appearance of discoloration.

Packaging

make up



Nars is finally providing a pump with the new foundation (which wasn't the case with Sheer Glow/Matte). The bottle is a frosted glass giving you that sleek and quite expensive feel to it. The cap is as always, that rubbery material Nars seems to love so much. As you can see in the pictures (or not, I tried really hard to clean them), that rubber cap gets dirty pretty quickly and it's also quite hard to remove the stains.



I'm going to be nitpicking a bit with the pumps though, I'm noting the lack of stopper in the pumps compared to the pumps purchased for the Sheer Glows. Foundation pumps tend to get messy with time and use, and with the lack of a stopper, it's a bit trickier to clean them without pushing the pump.



Ingredients

Dimethicone, Water, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Glycerin, Boron Nitride, Propanediol, Adipic Acid/Neopentyl Glycol Crosspolymer, Peg-10 Dimethicone, Isostearic Acid, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Decyl Isostearate, Isododecane, Bis-Hydroxyethoxypropyl Dimethicone/Peg-2 Soyamine/Ipdi Copolymer, Isopropyl Titanium Triisostearate, Phenoxyethanol, Acrylates/Polytrimethylsiloxymethacrylate Copolymer, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Isostearyl Isostearate, Boerhavia Diffusa Root Extract, Ascorbic Acid, Retinyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Silica, Polysilicone-2, Tin Oxide, Tocopherol, [+/- (May Contain): Mica, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Iron Oxides (Ci 77491), Iron Oxides (Ci 77492), Iron Oxides (Ci 77499)]

As analyzed on Cosdna, the ingredients in bold are acne triggers irritant : Isostearyl Isostearate (Synthetic ester Emollient) is marked as 4 as an acne trigger. 

Nars do claim that this foundation is non comedogenic, oil-free , paraben free. 

How to use



Nars says it on the packaging but you really don't want to forget to shake the bottle really well before applying your foundation. As it comes in a serum consistency, the formula separate itself after a while and you can see it through the bottle as well, so remember to shake well before using.
François Nars' technique to apply foundation is always to fingers, the representative NARS makeup artists show videos with them using fingers to apply the foundation. However, I found that the Weightless foundation sets very quickly and is hard to blend when you use only your fingers. If you're used to dot your foundation all over the face, you won't be able to do that too, unless you blend with an incredible speed. 

I tried this foundation using a beauty blender once, it looks more natural but as always, you'll have to use the double amount of product and you're loosing that full coverage capacity. With the beauty blender, I found that the foundation was more comfortable to wear on my current dry skin.

The shades

 

 

 
After seeing the swatches, I was afraid that Barcelona would be too light for me. As it counterpart in Sheer Glow is the exact shade for me, Barcelona in this All Day Luminous Weightless foundation is a tad too dark. It's really slightly too dark but it's dark enough that my face look like I have a brown/tan cast all over it. I decided to go with the shade lighter, and do what I hate to do : Mix both shades to get the perfect shade.



Stromboli is from what I can tell a bit more yellow that it's counterpart in Sheer Glow. It's definitely too light for me, but as I just said, mixed with Barcelona, it brings back the yellow in my skin.

Here's the shade Barcelona in the Luminous Foundation (on top) compared to Barcelona in the Sheer Glow version (at the botom). I couldn't properly take a picture of the difference of both shades, they are both very similar but you can tell that the Luminous one is a bit darker and more peachy/almost brown undertones whereas the Sheer Glow one is more golden. The pictures are terrible and are most likely showing the exact opposite of what I'm saying, but here it is nonetheless :


My thoughts

Nars claims that the foundation suit any skin types but as I mentioned previously, my skin is pretty dry right now (it isn't currently dehydrated as I stated in previous articles though) and even with great preparation before the foundation, I found that it didn't work that well with my dry skin. It kind of accentuates the dry spots on my cheeks and looks obvious. Whereas, blended, the Sheer Glow looks extremely natural, I do find that this new foundation, doesn't look that natural. I do have to say, that it's because I'm used to the extreme natural finish the sheer glow currently gives me, but maybe it's because my skin is dry, but I do find this foundation noticeable. And you definitely do no want, anyone looking at you and being able to tell if you're wearing foundation or not. As a result, if you have a skin that is quite textured, you might want to test this foundation first, before purchasing it.
    As Nars was stating, one pump is really enough to cover your whole face, an extra half of it might be needed if you use a brush with it. It is full cover, but the brand succeeded in making the foundation non heavy and pretty much "weightless" on your skin. If you are like me, and you don't like full coverage foundation, you can sheer it out by applying less and blending it well. It dries semi-satin finish, it's not glowy or luminous as the sheer glow can be and as I said, isn't extremely natural looking as a finish. But it still looks like skin, it has the finish the Sheer Glow would have with a tiny amount of powder on.
    The one major flaw this foundation has, it settles into your fine lines ! Now, keep in mind that I'm only 20 years old, I do not have any wrinkles whatsoever but this foundation had the awful tendency to set into my laugh lines, my under-eyes fine lines, the corner of my nose and last but not least.. I might be frowning too much but it also settled into the lines on the forehead (I didn't know I had..) I get after I frowned. I only set my nose and forehead with some Banana powder but even with that, it has that awful tendency to highlight those areas and make me look older than I'm. In this case, if you're older or just have many fine lines, you might want to test the foundation first as well. It also settles into the pores of my nose, and let me tell you, it really looks bad after a few hours of wear.

As far as longevity goes, I'm that one student who can actually have 16 hours-long days sometimes. I wore this foundation a couple of times but I didn't get to test them out for more than 10 hours or so. It holds for the classic 10 hours but my nose would get shiny by mid-day (but that could be because of the primer, without primer, I noticed it would go on better). I'd also notice that the foundation gathers in some area and make it look so obvious that I'm actually wearing foundation. Lastly, the foundation didn't oxidize on me.



This foundation would probably be a great foundation for the summer time, when my skin goes back to normal type. As I can't give a proper review on that part, I might do a part 2 of this article to talk about how this foundation last up in summer on my non dry skin.


Quick sum up :
Don't forget to shake well and get your shades tested as the shades can run a little lighter/darker , more yellow or less compared to the Sheer Glow shades. If you have normal to oily skin, this foundation will probably look good on you. If you're struggling with fine lines and dry skin, the foundation might be looking less natural on you and could have a tendency to gather in some area and crease. Nars offer a large range of shades, so you could easily find your shade in the rage. Pumps are finally included and the packaging looks classy and sleek. Ingredients wise, dimethicone (sillicon) is at the top of the list, so sensitive skin should be aware of this. A few other components could also worsen acne.


Other NARS reviews :

Sheer Glow (Barcelona)
Audacious Lipsticks (Vera & Audrey)
Luminous Powder Foundation (Barcelona & Stromboli)



KIKO- Definition Waterproof Eyeliner - Review & Swatches

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Now, this eyeliner is the one I have a love-hate relationship with. For so many years, I've been looking for an actual waterproof eyeliner. You may think it's easy to find but let's add other characteristics to that : Liquid Waterproof eyeliner, matte finish, brush applicator.
I've came to realize that the best efficient , easy and most definitely fastest way to apply eyeliner for me is with a liquid liner. My go-to eye makeup look is a winged eyeliner and the main problem I have is that I have watery eyes which results in smudged eyeliner. At the end of the day, there would be no more winged eyeliner in the outer edge. A lot of companies do waterproof eyeliner but I've found that some of these eyeliners have a formula that would crumbles after wearing it for a while or just by rubbing your eyes. 

I've never been a huge fan of the brand Kiko and I rarely even go inside the store, but I'm glad I did find this.
It does everything I was looking for : Waterproof liquid eyeliner with a brush tip and settles down with a black matte finish and won't crumbles. 







Price : 6,90 €
Quantity : 4,5 ml / 0.15 fl.oz

The thing is that the formula isn't that great. Yes, the waterproof/tearproof/budgeproof is covered but I should have realized it when the tester in the store was covered in thick black liquid : The actual liquid is thick and stringy (It gets worse after you use it for a while).



The brush isn't really precise either, you either have the hands to do a decent job with a liquid eyeliner otherwise the application might be really hard. This is so waterproof that you honestly better not mess up otherwise you'll end up having to remove it with an actual oil-based or really good makeup remover. I actually don't use this all over my eyes, I only do my cat-eye/outer line with this and I do the rest of the line with a regular liquid eyeliner, otherwise I'd have the hardest time to remove the eyeliner. Last but not least, it takes a while to dry too (blame it on the thick consistency).


Here, the first line isn't dry yet but you can tell that the liquid is a true black. The striky lines can also give you a good idea about the "precision" the brush offers.



THE TESTS

Rubbed with water :
Nothing moved apart for the first line which wasn't dry enough. 



 With regular cream based makeup remover (Barbara Gould's Démaquillant Intégral) :



After rubbing it with the Barbara Gould makeup remover, some of the thinest lines are rubbing off but the whole thing is still there :



Rubbing it with a oil-based makeup remover (Klairs' Gentle Black Deep Oil Cleanser) :




After rubbing the eyeliner with the Klairs oil :



The eyliner is pretty much gone but there're still traces, so I suggest you double cleanse.


LET'S SUM-UP 

Pros

  • Waterproof/Tearproof
  • Doesn't smudge, nor crumbles
  • Cheap
  • True black
  • Matte finish 
  • Brush tip

Cons

  • The brush isn't precise
  • The formula is too thick
  • Takes a while to dry
  • Hard to remove (but that's pretty much the price of being truly waterproof)
  • Hard to get a hold of if you don't live in Europe (I believe the US only has 3 stores and Africa/Asia none).

As much as I swear at this product on the mornings when it just doesn't work, I'll re-purchase it because I haven't found a better liquid liner which meets my expectations like this one does, yet.

The NYE make up look

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I wasn't planning to do this blogpost, but hey, New Year's Eve make up is only one time in a year ! 



Prep - Skin Care

In the midst of studying for my upcoming -dreadful- exams , I got sick and I've been lacking a bit in my skincare layering (article to come) franzy. My skin isn't looking as fab as it could be, so I used a Tea Tree Mask from Innisfree featured in my last Testerkorea order to ease up the blemishes and break outs. I used this mask 2 days prior to NYE, and I suggest you don't start to experiment with new products the night before if you don't want to end up with a possible break out.




Primer

 


I've used the deluxe sizes primers I've got from Smashbox : I'm applying the Photo Finish (Oil Free version) all over my T-zone to prevent any excess shine and the Photo Finish Hydrating Under Eye Primer, to moisturize my under eye area. 
Tip : To keep your t-zone matte all though the night, set your primers with a mattifying setting powder. I'm using Innisfree's No Sebum powder to set my t-zone.

 The Eye make up 

 

(Missing on the picture are shades Blackout and Vanilla from UD's 15 Anniversary palette) 


 I don't wear eye shadows ever if I don't have a special occasion or party, so when I do wear some, I try to step it up a little here with a mix of drugstore and high end products :
I'm using Maybelline's Color Tattoo in 70 Mettalic Pomegranate all over my lid , a gorgeous plum cream eyeshadow with gold sparkles in it. Then, I also use a tiny amount of shade 05 - Pink Gold in the inner eye to highlight that area a bit.
With my trusty Naked 1 palette from Urban Decay, I pick Toasted and use it to define my crease and the outer part of the eyes with a dense blending brush. I then take the mattest and blackest black eyeshadow ever : Blackout from Urban Decay and use it to define my outer portion of the eye : Doing a V-shape in the outer part to intensify the eyelook and smoke it a bit. 
I go over my highlighted inner corners with my all-time favorite highlighting eye shadow : Urban Decay's Vanilla. 

Brows

I go over my brows with nearly finished NYX's eyebrow pencil in Dark Brown and because this bad boy is dying, I finished my brows with some dark eyeshadows from Smashbox's Full Exposure travel palette.

Eyeliner

I end the whole eye look, with a winged liner using the most waterproof liquid eyeliner ever : Kiko's Definition Waterproof Eyeliner. Lining my upper and lower waterline with UD's Perversion pencil eyeliner. Last but not least, I used my all-time favorite mascara : Benefit's They're Real . Now, is also the time to use falsies if you feel like it, I would've if I didn't rip the last pair I had. Time to order some ! 

The face make up


(Missing from the picture : MAC's Fix + powder)

Using NARS' Sheer Glow foundation in Barcelona with a F80 brush from Sigma, I buff it all over my face using circular motions. Mixing NARS' Radiant Creamy concealer in Ginger and MAC's Prep and Prime Highlighter in Bright Forecast, I apply it under my eye with a F86 brush to highlight this part of my face and end the application with a beauty blender for a more seamless application. I also extend MAC's highlighter on the bridge of my nose and center of my forehead to avoid having my undereyes as the only lighter part of the whole look. I set the whole thing with Ben Nye's Banana setting powder. I also set my T-Zone slightly (really just a tiny bit) dusting MAC's Fix + powder in NC42.


Taking The Balm's Bahama Mama bronzer, I contour my cheeks and nose for a more sculpted look.

My favorite step : Highlighter : I couldn't decide between my all-time favorite liquid highlighter or The Balm's Mary Lou-manizer, and I ended up going with the last thinking that I should get out of my confort zone. I used the highlighter on my cheekbones and browbones.


Lips

 

 


As I'm sporting a heavier eye look (although I can assure you it's not an overly dramatic smokey eye yet) , I went for a softer lip color mixing MAC's Taupe and a bit of MAC's All Fired Up.

Last but not least , to keep the whole thing fixed and loose the powdery finish : I used MAC's Fix + all over my face.




As you can see, I'm using mainly 3 brands because I tend to stick with my trusted product for big night outs like new year's eve. And this was the last post of 2014, let's meet again in 2015 !



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