Article & Review: Elf Zit Zapping Concealer in Fair

Today I’m going to do a review that has been a long time coming – I’ve had this handy little product for a month or so and it’s gotten a lot of use!

I purchased this elf Zit Zapping concealer from iHerb for around $3 US and for the price I cannot believe how good this stuff is. I bought the “fair” colour which is very, very pale, but as a super pale person that needs paler-than-a-sheet concealer to conceal some areas of my sheet-coloured face, this suits me just fine.

It has a slightly annoying applicator, but for the price you can’t really complain. In saying that, I’m almost always annoyed by Elf’s applicators. Nonetheless, I’ve been wiping this product onto a sanitized hand and working from the back of my hand when using this product to prevent the spread of bacteria. It’s important to be sanitary particularly when applying makeup to broken skin and acne, so I recommend you do this too!

The solution itself has a strong Tea Tree oil smell that fades after a minute or so. It contains Salicylic Acid, Tea Tree, and Camphor which means that it’s a little drying so I wouldn’t put it around your eye area. Despite this, it’s a fantastic concealer if you’re having a breakout, and I picked a day where I had a particularly nasty breakout on my chin to display the magic of this brightening, healing concealer.

From this close up, you might be able to see that I’ve broken out on my chin and that’s where I’ve used the elf Zit Zapping concealer. I broke out even worse than this a week or so ago and had to put on makeup for work on Saturday then an event on Saturday night. By Sunday evening my blemishes had almost healed and my face was less sensitive and grumpy.

All in all, this is a fantastic product for those days where your skin just isn’t happy with you. It’s not an all-over concealer, but it’s perfect for spot (pun?) applications in places that you don’t want to clog up with product to get a flawless overall look.

What do you think of this concealer? Have you given it a go? Let me know in the comments!

 

Article & Review: Jessup Brushes – Worth the Hype?

Friends; country(wo)men, lend me your ears. For some time now, I have been hearing a lot about the Jessup brushes from eBay. All over Auckland I have been hearing; “Have you heard about the new Jessup brushes?” “JESSUP BRUSHES ARE AMAZING,” “I hear that one time they were used by John Stamos on a plane and he thought they were pretty good brushes.” You get the gist.

As a beauty blogger and makeup artist, I felt as though it was my duty to order these and try them out. At less than the price of half a MAC brush in New Zealand, I could get an entire set of face and eye brushes from eBay – surely it was too good to be true?

Behold – these brushes. I am here to tell you that it wasn’t too good to be true. These brushes are the Real Deal and are a hell of a lot better than other brushes I’ve paid more $$$ for. They compare to my Sedona Lace brush, and while they lack the finesse of my MAC 217 and many of my Bdellium Tools brushes, they are still Very Very Good, and indeed, better than others I’ve used.

I’m not sure exactly what they’re made of but they feel synthetic and super soft. They are just as soft as my Real Techniques brushes and feel beautiful on the skin. One of the bigger face brushes I got compares to my Sedona Lace 480 – it’s a similar density, shape and size, and does a very good job! All of the brushes I received were similarly dense and soft, although the density isn’t quite as firm as some of my favourite face and eye brushes.

I also am really impressed with the eye brushes – this one in particular compares to my MAC 217 and one of my favourite Bdellium blending brushes as pictured below. Sometimes I have issues cleaning my Bdellium brushes because when I use some of the lower-quality products they tend to stain the white bristles. This won’t be as much of an issue with these brushes, however, as most of the bristles are black.

Overall, I cannot believe how many brushes you get for the price. I am also super amazed at the quality of these, and I know that I’m not the only one! I bought these off eBay here so just click the link if you want to get in on the Jessup action.

Have you heard of the Jessup brushes? Would you try them out? Let me know in the comments!

Article: My Skincare Routine (Every Other Day)

We’ve talked about this, dear reader. On Monday I revealed (!!!) my daily routine, and today is the day that I show you a little more of my skin(care).

These four products are little add-ons to the base routine, and I reach for them when my skin’s feeling a bit flatter than usual, or if I’m just looking to feel a bit more pampered.

7. Oasis Beauty Lips and Lashes
I’ve reviewed this before here and it has proved to be more than just a one-hit-wonder in my books. This is a curious product but it’s like a kind of uber-soothing eye cream that does great things for both your eyes and your lips. I have had a lot of compliments on my eyelashes and I think it’s because I put this on every second or third night. I neglected it a bit for a couple of weeks and I looked a lot more tired than usual too – I think it has brightened up my eye area and is wonderful and gentle to put on.

8. Now Solutions European Clay Powder
This stuff is good fun because you can use it as a base for a multitude of face masks. I mix it with a little Dr Bronner’s castille soap because the soap is jojoba and coconut oil-based but you could also mix it with any other kind of oil suitable for your face, or with water if your skin is oily. It’s great for drawing out impurities and it dries hard on your face. I use it when my skin is feeling a bit hormonal and pimply.

9. Korean/Taiwanese/Japanese Facial Sheet Masks
The one pictured is a My Beauty Diary mask but I am not mask-ist and like to use a wide range of different face masks. You can see some that I’ve reviewed by clicking here. I pretty much pick these up anywhere and everywhere, and while I bought the one pictured from a Japan Mart in Glenfield Mall, I’ve bought others from Missha and Cutie & Beautie. You can also get them from Amazon and of course, BeautyNetKorea.

10. Clarins Extra Firming Night Cream
I love Clarins but sadly it’s not really in my budget. I bought this travel size product from a little shop on Ponsonby Road down the Three Lamps end for a great price and I use it sparingly when my skin feels super tired and lustreless. It’s a little bit of luxury and I like to think it calms down my thinking wrinkles.

Have you used any of these products before? Have you got any recommendations for sheet masks? Let me know in the comments!

Article & Look: David Bowie

I decided to join the hoardes of people that aspire to appear in Google Image Searches of “David Bowie Makeup” recently by painting my beautiful model D’s face in what I’m going to call a Reverse Bowie.

She was a very good sport and let me do her hair in a very wild 80s kind of half up-half down style with a lot of volume at the top. We took inspiration from the cover of Bowie’s Aladdin Sane, as you might have already guessed!

To achieve this Ziggy Stardust-esque look, we used the Kryolan Aqua Colours which were fantastic to work with and would be great fun to do other colour-heavy face painting looks.

After the base was applied and the colour went on, we did a dark blue contour on her other cheek which you might be able to spot in these pictures. You could also pair this with a bolder red lip or try it with other colours – pink and teal perhaps!

Although it’s not your usual smoky-eye-and-a-bit-of-lippy, I thought I’d post this look up for a change – we had a great time putting it together.

What did you think of the Bowie look? Would you try this for a party? Let me know in the comments!

Article: My Skincare Routine

HALLOOOOOOO THERE! I am back from a wee blog hiatus with a brand new look for the blog. We’re back on track and I’ve got lots to share with you, starting with my skincare routine which a lot of you said you’d like to see!

My skincare routine has quite a few steps and this is likely to be because I’ve been heartily influenced by Korean methods – one of the first posts I read about this was Steph’s over at Misc Bliss and I strongly encourage you to have a read of her post here.

Here it is – the daily lineup in its full glory. There are a couple of other steps that feature regularly too but I’ll talk about those on Friday so stay tuned! This potentially frightening lineup comprises one of my favourite daily activities, which is of course, washing my face. I might sound like a madwoman but I feel like I’m pampering myself every time I get near my bathroom cupboard to reach for these guys.

1. ROAR Virgin Cold Pressed Coconut Oil
This is the best-priced cold pressed virgin coconut oil I’ve found and it is a wonderful product. I’m a sucker for good packaging and a great website too and the people at ROAR fulfil both of those briefs. (In typing this I thought of a terrible pun pertaining to brief-filling but we won’t go there). I spoke about coconut oil in this post and I’ll speak about it again – if I’ve got a lot of makeup on I’ll start by rubbing this stuff over my face then putting a hot flannel over my face for 20 seconds to steam all the crap out of my pores. If you haven’t done this before I urge you to give it a go ASAP – it’s amazing.

2. Innisfree Apple Juicy Lip & Eye Remover
Holy crap this stuff smells amazing. I read about it on another Korean beauty blog and had to have it. Once you get past the name (don’t worry, it won’t really remove your facial features), you won’t be able to put it down. It is like the best apple juice ever invented and I wish I could drink it. It’s extremely gentle and I use it to take off my eye makeup (not my eyes – important to differentiate). I soak a cotton pad in it and let it sit on my eye for five seconds or so, then wipe away my remaining eye makeup gently. It is less than $10 and is better than any other makeup remover I’ve ever used. Ever.

3. Dr Bronner’s Liquid Castille Soap in Rose
I was recommended this one by a friend who lives in Korea and since picking up my first bottle from ASOS I’ve never looked back. I think that it is essentially just coconut oil and jojoba (both great for your skin) but it froths up into this beautiful, fragrant, rose sherbert smelling wash. I also use as it a body wash and to clean my makeup brushes (thanks for the brush tip Lena!) but there are hundreds of other uses for it! You can pick up any of the liquid varieties for your face too so there’s a scent for everyone!

4. Reviva Labs Rosewater Facial Spray
You might have picked up by now that I’m pretty keen on anything that smells good – particularly rose scents and fruit scents. This Reviva Labs spray is cheap as chips (just under $7 US) and smells, as the name would suggest, like roses. It contains aloe and hyaluronic acid too which soothe and plump the skin respectively. I use it as a toner and it is outrageously gentle – in my opinion astringent toners should probably go back to the 80s or something – so it’s a goodie in my books.

5. Benton Snail Bee High Content Essence
I did a bit of raving about this stuff here, and for good reason. Benton is a great company, and I think that this essence is one of the main reasons my skin is so good. Korean skincare is all about layering up the moisture and using lots of gentle but active products and this essence does both of those things. In my experience it’s corrected some of my acne scarring while keeping my skin plump and hydrated. Recently the product was recalled by Benton, who sent me a replacement product and a refund which I was really stoked with. I would 999999999999 recommend, and even though it’s the most expensive product on this list it’s still really well-priced at less than $16 US.

6. Sukin Sensitive Facial Moisturizer
For ages I thought Sukin was an NZ company and was really proud of our little country in the South Pacific. Turns out it’s an Aussie company (but the product’s so good I can’t go past it)! I blogged about it here and it is one of my favourite skincare products OF ALL TIME. If you have normal to dry skin I would highly recommend that you stop screwing around and start slathering this on your skin morning and night. This is the final step in my day skincare routine and it locks in all the other moisture that’s gone onto my face – something crucial I’ve learnt from other Korean skincare enthusiasts.

I know it might seem like a lot but really we’re just getting warmed up here – I’m still searching for a good serum, and Friday’s post will include four of my every-other-day staples including treatments and products that are just as well priced as those listed above.

What did you all think of this post? Do you use any of these products? What’s your skincare routine? Let me know in the comments!

Review: Beauty Clinic MediHeal Tea Tree Sheet Mask

Before today, I’m pretty sure that most of my readers have not had the privilege of seeing my AMAZING Hannibal Lecter face-masked face. Today, dear reader, you shall become part of the privileged few to see my face with a sheet mask on.

The mask in question is this Tea Tree Healing Solution Essential Mask by Beauty Clinic. I picked this up from the Japanese Mart on the bottom level of Westfield Albany, and I’m sure you’d find more of these at similar places. If you don’t live on Auckland’s North Shore, you can also pick them up on Amazon and eBay.

I bought this mask in particular because a) I love sheet masks, b) I LOVE SHEET MASKS, c) I had a couple of pimples I wanted to clear up and d) SHEET MASKS FOR LIFEEEEEEEEE

The mask is pretty similar to most Korean sheet masks when you take it out of the packet – it’s very cold, looks like the top layer of a ghost’s face and smells quite herbal. This one contains witch hazel and tea tree, as well as a few different herbal extracts. It didn’t smell strongly and it felt very soothing on my face. Before applying this one, I double-cleansed my face and applied toner.

This is my glamorous self wearing a face mask. Sheet masks are funny things, and I can never smile properly while wearing one because it makes the mask bunch up and move around. This one feels wonderful on, and didn’t sting like other masks I’ve worn. I kept it on for around 20 minutes, and was very happy with the result.

Clean, clear, soft skin with minimized redness and more chilled-out pimples. I think my skin was actually better after using this mask, and I’m very pleased with it. I might even buy a box off Amazon when I get through the other six thousand face masks I have been hoarding.

Have you ever tried a Korean sheet mask? What do you think of sheet masks? Let me know in the comments!

Article & Haul: Korean Skincare Party!

Today, an interesting-looking parcel landed on our doorstep.

Jonny was confused by it. I was hugely excited. It was a parcel sent to me by the lovely Abby, who is living in Korea! She sent me a LOT of beautiful samples of Korean skincare, many of which I have been absolutely dying to try out.

Abby was so so generous and I cannot thank her enough. I am truly overwhelmed by this amazing little parcel – for me, this is more exciting than six BeautyJoint parcels or maybe even a MAC parcel. She also sent me the most gorgeous blue-based pink (my favourite kind of pink) Etude House lipstick which you can see at the bottom right of the above photo.

There are five different types of masks which I am very excited about (I love Korean sheet masks) as well as heaps of toners and creams, essences, emulsions and cleansers. There are also things like the “Milk Talk” below – I don’t even know what it does yet but the packaging is beautiful. I can’t wait to review them all!

I’m particularly ecstatic about trying the Etude House lipstick, the Innisfree Green Tea range, the Tony Moly mask, the Tony Moly Red Appletox Honey cream and the Etude House Milk Talk.

OIL CLEANSERS
The Face Shop Pore Clean Cleansing Oil with Cherryblossom
Innisfree Apple Juicy Cleansing Oil

SECOND CLEANSERS
Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Oil-Free Cleanser
Etude House Baking Powder BB Deep Cleansing Fom
Innisfree Calming Gel Cleanser
Etude House AC Clinic Daily Skin Care Kit

TONERS/SKINS
The Face Shop the Smim Toner
Innisfree Green Tea Pure Skin
Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Oil-Free Toner
Tony Moly Floria Whitening Petal Toner
Tony Moly Berianne Skin

MASKS
Tony Moly Floria Nutra-Energy Mask Sheet with Argan Oil
Beauty Factory 7 Days Aloe Mask
Etude House Pomegranate Natural Mask
Etude House Pearl Extract Natural Mask
Dewy Tree Honey Moist Black Sheet Mask

ESSENCES/SERUMS
The Face Shop Core Seed Purifying Essence
Innisfree The Green Tea Seed Serum
Innisfree Eco Science Wrinkle Spot Essence

EMULSIONS
The Face Shop The Smim Emulsion
Laneige Moisture Balancing Emulsion
Tony Moly Floria Whitening Emulsion

CREAMS/MOISTURISERS/LOTIONS
Tony Moly Berianne Lotion
Etude House Face Conditioning Cream
Tony Moly Red Appletox Honey Cream
Etude House Collagen Moistfull Cream
Innisfree The Minimum Moist Cream
Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Oil-Free Gel Cream
Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Mosturiser

OTHER
Laneige Moisture Power Essential Skin Refiner
Skinfood Watery Berry Sun Lotion
Innisfree Tangerine Blossom Perfumed Body Cleanser
Tony Moly Perfumed Body Classic Shower Gel
VedaCel Hairich Shampoo and Conditioner
Aquamoist
Etude House Milk Talk in Strawberry

MAKE UP
Tony Moly Live Aura Luminous Live Aura CC Cream
Etude House CC Cream Silky
Etude House Pore Ever Pore Primer Essence
Etude House Dear My Blooming Lips-talk in PK015

I will be reviewing each and every single one of these in the coming months so keep an eye out. If you have any from the list that you’re really curious about, let me know and I’ll review it sooner!

Have you used any of these products? Are there any favourites of yours in here? Let me know in the comments!

Haul & Review: Cutie & Beautie + Lioele Face Mask

As you know, I was sent a few samples from Cutie & Beautie and upon trialling them, discovered what might be the best BB cream in the entire world. When I bought the Lioele Triple the Solution BB Cream from Cutie & Beautie I also picked up this Lioele Essential Mask Sheet in the Red Ginseng variety. They kindly sent me the Skin79 Aloe Fresh Mask Sheet and a wee sample of the C.A.D. Oxygen Pore Cream by Lioele free of charge, which was a wonderful surprise!

I haven’t tried the Aloe Fresh mask sheet or the pore cream yet, and I think you already know how I feel about the Lioele BB Cream (I want to marry it) so today I’m going to do a quick review of the Red Ginseng Essential Mask.

This mask is designed to smooth and lift your skin, and I think it probably did that. I took some photos of my face in the mask but I honestly look like Hannibal Lecter so if you weren’t so lucky as to be privy to my Snapchats, you’ll have to email me for the photos. I read Sara’s review here and she has a few pictures for reference in her post.

The mask itself is cold and wet when you take it out of the sachet, but in a pleasant, refreshing way, not in a Labrador-nose kind of way. My skin was tired and a little dehydrated when I applied this mask, and I had a few blemishes. I didn’t notice any sensation while the mask was on apart from cooling.

After twenty minutes I took off the mask and checked my skin out in the mirror. It seemed noticeably plumper and more hydrated (probably to be expected) and I feel as though my forehead wrinkles had been smoothed out a little. My skin tone seemed less red and more even, and my pimples also looked smaller and less noticeable.

Overall, I was impressed with how it made my skin look and feel, and I’d definitely buy this one again. I felt very pampered wearing this, although I think I gave my fellow Snapchat users a little fright.

Have you tried out cotton face masks? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!

 

Article: To Chop or Not To Chop?

Dear reader, I need your help. I’ve been thinking about chopping my hair.

I was inspired by the lovely Amber over at Amber in Wonderland. She posted here about chopping hers and I absolutely love the result. Amber also posts over on NZGirl and if you aren’t following her you should definitely do so now!

Throughout my childhood I had a bob as pictured, which admittedly, was quite cute then. I think I started growing it after a terrible haircut around age ten and I haven’t looked back since.

Long, side-swept bangs like this are supposed to be super flattering on heart shaped faces, a la Reece Witherspoon. My face is heart shaped, and I have artfully photoshopped this next excellent picture to see if the cut would suit me.

What do you think? To chop or not to chop? Let me know in the comments!