Wednesday 23 April 2014

The Face Shop Herb Day 365 Cleansing Foam Review

I've updated my blog twice in one day and this is going to be the third. Wow.

It's been probably a little under two years since I've been using The Face Shop's Herb Day Cleansing Foam and I have to say, I really like this product. Smells good, feels good, tastes good. LOL not really. Tastes like soap because that's what it is!

Before I start going off about this great product, THIS IS NOT MEANT FOR DRY SKIN. It will get rid of any oil on your face and will make it squeaky clean so if you have dry skin and most likely combination skin, I wouldn't recommend it even if it says for all skin types. If you still persist on using this product, use a really rich moisturising cream to balance it out.

Now that that's out of the way, let's begin~ ^__^

Mmmmmm peaches
Firstly, before I say anything else, when it says foam it does not mean the light and fluffy kind of foam. This type of foam is more of a thick creamy consistency that only spreads well once wet or applied on wet skin.

Look at that packaging. Lovely. Just kidding. It's plain and is one of those things that would slip out of your sight even though you're staring right at it. However, that aside, this is an amazing product. So I purchased this product from Sasa, which is the same store as the place I got my Etude House BB Cream from except this product was purchased online. I was indeed looking for a nice face wash whilst on the website when I came across this. The only reason I bought it was that it was from The Face Shop and costed between AUD$5-10 (it was on sale but I don't quite remember the exact pricing). I wanted to purchase the lemon one but it turned out that it costed around AUD$12 which sucked, but hey. You gotta live with it. This was the cheapest one so I bought two bottles/tubes.

When it arrived, I was pretty excited because my current face wash at the time was pretty bad and didn't help my skin that much at all. The moment I washed this stuff off my face, there was no oil (which is what I wanted since my skin is VERY oily) and it left a very pleasant smell as well. I don't really know what peaches smell like, but the face wash smelt sweet. If you want to know how to use face wash, there are a set of instructions in both Korean and English (ermergerdddd):
"사용법: 적당량을 덜어 물로 거품을 충분히 내어 얼굴 전체에 마사지하듯 가볍게 문지르고 맑은 물로 충분히 행구어냅니다.
Directions: Massage over wet face and rinse off with lukewarm water." 
Great instructions. Very helpful as well.

I'm not sure whether this was a whitening face wash or anything as there was nothing in English that mentioned it (there was plenty of Korean text on the back of the bottle/tube but because my Korean understanding is very limited, I couldn't translate it) but my face has gotten whiter over the past year and a bit. I'm not sure whether it was because of the BB cream (which was in fact whitening), the face wash or a rice mask I was using. It could even be all three factors, I don't know. What I do know is that my complexion has improved greatly. Maybe it's just puberty finally passing but right now all that's left on my face are break outs and a couple of small pimples here and there. Early-mid last year there was so many pimples and a lot of them were swollen and gross. Great improvement and I'm really satisfied.

I also must warn you, when this bad boy gets in your eyes, it feel like your eyes are being attacked by...fire? It just burns a lot. The way I prevent this suffering is that because I use tissues to wipe my face, I don't open my eyes until I've thoroughly dried the eye area- especially the opening to your eyes.

This is a really great product in general and it's better if you wait for it to go on sale but if you're really desperate or impatient then by all means, don't let me stop you there.

Overall rating: ★★★★★
Origin: South Korea
Price: $9.70 (on www.sasa.com)

So yeah, thank you so much for reading this! If you have anything else you want to know about this product or any others I've reviewed, go ahead and ask :)

Tuesday 22 April 2014

Nature Republic Magic Remover Makeup Gel Review

HELLO EVERYONE <3 I am back with more beauty product reviews and today I am here with one of the best makeup removal products I've ever used!

Okay, so let me tell you a story. I was walking in a shopping centre in Malaysia earlier this year and in the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of an EXO poster. Yes, I know, I'm a little obsessed with them. I knew that it was a store called Nature Republic, as EXO were the 'faces' of the store at that moment of time. I decided to take a little peek inside and see what was available. Now being me, I'm very single minded. I stuck to really popular stores like Etude House or The Face Shop because let's face it, almost every Asian who knows of Korean culture shops there for cosmetics. Looking around, I saw this beautiful looking product:
Pretty packaging that caught my eye
I decided to buy it since there was a promotion (buy 2 and get 1 free) and I needed a new makeup remover. I tested it and the moment I squeezed some onto my hand an overwhelmingly nice fragrance hit me. I can't explain the exact smell of it, but it smelt so amazing I had to get it.

So thing is, if you've read my review on the L'oreal 24 Hour Gel Liner, it would have said something about how to remove it by using this liquid makeup remover. I really struggled to remove waterproof products with that remover but with this Nature Republic goodness, it takes a few gentle swipes to get rid of the stuff. There are instructions on the back of the bottle in both Korean and English:
"사용방법: 절을  적당량  화장솜에  묻혀  퍼지도록  하여  화장을 지울  부위에  약  5초간  올려둔  후  부드럽게닦아냅니다.  또는  화장을  지울  부위에  절을  편발라  부드럽게  마사지  하여  메이크업을  녹여낸  다음, 미온수로  깨끗이  씻어내고  찬물로  마무리해  줍니다. 
How to Use: Dispense an appropriate amount of gel onto a cotton ball, place over desired area for about 5 seconds and gently blot out the makeup."
Great stuff, Nature Republic. Great stuff.

Three basic everyday makeup products (from left to right): lipstick, mascara, gel eyeliner
As you can see from the collage above, the makeup remover is quite effective. The second picture shows the samples after a little more than a few gentle strokes with the remover. [The part of the gel liner that wasn't affected that much was the starting point of the line, meaning that that section of the line was thicker than everything else.] With a little more force, everything came off. Despite the light pink stain left by the lipstick, everything came off perfectly fine.

 Note: I didn't use the pencil liner because I couldn't find it but both the eye products used are waterproof and smudge-proof. 

The only thing I have to complain about it the pain you get if you get it in your eyes. If you've gotten soap in your eyes, it's the exact same feeling only a little worse. This stuff is pretty strong so when cleaning your eyes be careful not to get any in them because it may cause severe irritation.
"Cautions: For external use only. Avoid contact with eyes. Discontinue if signs of irritation or rash appear. Keep out of reach of children. Replace cap after use." 
Look at that, they even warn you LOL. But yeah, I think that overall product is very good and I definitely recommend it. One thing though: if you decide to just remove your makeup and not wash your face (which I hope you do wash it right after), your face will be left feeling sticky and all even if you leave it for a couple of minutes. Once that thing dries it's gonna feel funny on your face.

Overall rating ★★★★½
Origin: South Korea
Price: MYR$37.90

In my opinion, I believe that this is quite cheap considering I've seen makeup removers worth AUD$20. If you convert the price of this product into AUD it would turn out to be around $10 (give or take a couple of dollars). Like I said, it's a really good product and I would definitely recommend it.

Thank you so much for reading this review and I'm sorry my terminology and descriptions may be far from normal or common but I don't pay particular attention to a lot of makeup products so please excuse the awkward words~ ^^

Overdose [Luhan Edition]

More art to share~ ^___^

So the other day, I found a screencap of Luhan from the beginning scene in the 'Overdose' teaser and well, I decided to draw it because he just looked so damn fine.

The early stages of the painting
 Looking nice with that moustache Luhan ;) HAHA When I was painting his eyes and eyebrows, I felt like I was actually putting makeup on him. I also had that sudden realisation that Luhan had better makeup than I did and that's really sad, considering I'm a female.

Final product (with strange colour alterations)
I have no idea why, but the final product's colours are slightly off even though the actual file isn't like this so if you want to see a more accurate colouring of this head over to my DeviantArt page and if you enjoy my art, please be sure to spread the love; it'll mean so much if you did :)

So yeah! I've also done a couple more drawings that I haven't uploaded, mostly because I'm not satisfied with it but if you're interested to see let me know and I'll consider uploading it ^__^ That's it for now, thank you for all of your support if you've been following my blog (or at least reading this junk) and I hope you'll continue to do so.

Program used: Paint Tool Sai
Equipment: Wacom Bamboo Pen tablet, an old Windows computer
Reference picture: EXO's Overdose Music Video Teaser (Chinese Ver.)

Saturday 12 April 2014

EXO's Comeback + Leakages

The first thing I write about this year turns out to be a rant. Great.

So if you've been living under a rock for the past day or so, you wouldn't have noticed that EXO's teaser MVs were released yesterday. However, there was something else that was revealed- and it was not at all planned by SM Entertainment.

If you follow some K-POP pages such as Allkpop, there was a report that SM was pressing charges for the leakage of EXO's comeback song and dance practice video. WHY YOU PEOPLE LEAK EXO'S HARDWORK?! WHYYYYY D: I have to admit though, I tried looking for both of them and to my surprise, it's still up on the internet. I obviously won't link it but I have listened to the song. I was tempted to watch the dance practice but I decided not to since once the MV comes out the dance wouldn't have the same dynamics, I suppose.

So if you are one of those people who are spreading the videos/audios, STOP GIRL (in the name of love~). Seriously though, think of all their hard work. There's only 3 more days until their comeback showcase so please be patient and don't be like me! ;__; Also, try not to download any albums or songs. I know that "everyone does it" and what not, but believe me, you have no idea how much it means to them when you purchase their stuff. Not like I would know or anything >__> But support them as much as possible by buying their merchandise! If you can't afford it, it's okay. I understand. #lifeofapoorfangirl

I'm sorry for ranting but it's over (for now)~ I'll be posting a lot of my recent drawings soon since it's the holidays and I'm free for a bit so please look forward to it ^^