Review: Palty Eyebrow Mascara

Apologies for the laziness!

It is once again Final Exam time, the perfect time to put aside the books and do make up reviews (:

This will be a quick review on Palty's brow mascara in Light Brown. This is something I've always wanted to try, and I have tried it long enough to make a decent review for you guys.
Here's a little FYI: I have kept my hair a natural to light brown shade with Asian hair dyes such as Palty and Prettia, etc., for a few years. Therefore I really needed something to turn my eyebrows from black (my natural hair color) to a lighter, more naturally brownish shade in order to match my hair. Black eyebrows and brown hair tend to make you look "fierce". I recently went back to black and am in love with it. Nevertheless, this little gadget is definitely handy to have.The brow mascara is essentially in your typical mascara applicator form. The difference, however, is that the applicator is much smaller and thinner.

Compared with Too Faced Lash Injection (travel size, godly mascara).

The texture of the product is more liquid than your typical lash mascara, resembling a cream. There are gold sparkles that are very visible even when applied to your brows. I don't know how I feel about this but, it coats your brows with an iridescent golden glow.

Please excuse my un-groomed eyebrows! My eyebrows are naturally sparse and deadly straight (the Asian eyelash texture). The first is a before photo, and the latter an after shot. Unfortunately you probably can't see a large difference, but in person you can definitely tell the difference as well as the golden shimmer particles. Keep in mind that I have not used any eyebrow pencils, which is why you can't see a drastic difference yet. I recommend:1) Groom and trim your eyebrows.2) Fill in your eyebrows with a light brown or taupe brow pencil prior to using the product.
3) Brush Palty's eyebrow mascara through gently, it tends to stick to the skin if we're not careful!
4) Wait for it to dry and gently brush through any clumps.

Now the wows and uh-ohs.

Wows

• Successfully lightens my brows
  
• Small, convenient packaging

Uh-ohs

• Creamy texture a little too runny for my taste
• Tends to smudge along the skin, almost impossible to remove then :(
• Difficult to accomplish even coverage
• Horrible smell! (But then again, it doesn't smell once you've applied it)

Rating: 3/5

The product does what it is supposed to do, but that's about all. For the ladies who plan to engage in a long-term relationship with lighter colored/bleached hair, I suggest you seek more permanent methods to dye your eyebrows with professionals (do not use the hair dye itself, too risky!).

Please keep in mind that the colors run slightly darker when actually applied. If you have any questions please leave a comment and I will do my best to help!

Upcoming Reviews

So here's a little update due to the overwhelming guilt of not updating recently.

I've recently purchased two things that I want to do a review on separately. Most people might be familiar with these already, it is eyebrow mascara and another BB cream!

If you don't know what the eyebrow mascara is, it is simply a tinted mascara for your... eyebrows. When we dye our hair a different color than our natural hair color, we are sometimes tempted to dye our eyebrows with leftover dyes as well. But do not do that! You may have gotten lucky, but you'll never know when your facial skin will react to the chemicals.

That's why we have eyebrow mascaras from myriad brands. It coats our eyebrows with a different color so that our hair color will match with it. It is also temporary and removable with water or eye make up remover.

The specific one I purchased is Palty eyebrow color in Light Brown. And I have been using it for quite a while, so I can give a fairly decent review on it ASAP.

The next item up is SHILLS Limited Edition Cherry Blossom BB Cream. Be careful when buying this online, because the cheaper ones (priced around $6 USD) are counterfeits. Be nice to your skin! Because SHILLS is a Taiwanese brand, try to look for sellers from Taiwan specifically to minimize your chance of getting imitations. I am a sucker for limited editions, plus it was cherry blossom! I just couldn't resist. Due to the hype around it, I finally got my hands on one. After doing a fake and real comparison, I can safely say that I was able to grab a real one. This was purchased on eBay (same with the mascara) for around $11 for 50mL, which is a very good price. The seller is ct_taiwan.

So these reviews will be coming up very soon! Check back to see if you're interested :)

Etude House Fresh Cherry Tint Review

Along with the Lioele Beyond Solution BB Cream (see previous review), I also grabbed myself an Etude House Fresh Cherry Tint. This is a subtle, natural lip tint that's slightly liquid in consistency. Unlike the Benetint lip stain, this formula is not runny but slightly creamy, yet not to the extent of being a gloss. It comes in 3 different shades (#1 Cherry red, #2 Cherry pink, #3 Cherry peach), which I picked #3 in Cherry Peach. I find peachy pink colors to work best for my skin tone :).

The bottle may look orange, but fear not, the product is not that concentrated in color! There is 9.5g worth of product in the little bottle and lasts for a fair amount of time.

Shot of the applicator. The tint itself is a warm coral/peach pink and is slightly sheer when applied. The tint IS buildable, and the more you layer it, the more concentrated and vibrant the color. The tint comes with a fluffy doe foot applicator, which is a huge dilemma. While I love the soft texture and smooth application, the "foot" does end up absorbing most of the tint.

Photo is taken in natural lighting. Here you can see the extent of the tint's peachiness. Very warm and lovely, IMO :). The texture is very milky and gives a nice cooling sensation when applied, unlike regular lip gloss (I detest the gooey feeling of glosses, yuck).

Naked lips! Please excuse the huge, screen blocking godzilla pimple, it's a new semester and it's killing my skin right off the bat.

After applying one layer of the tint you can see, it gives off a very natural and subtle stain, and is very close to the advertised photos.

The photo was taken immediately after the application. But as time passes, the tint begins to sink into your lips and darken into a stain. I wanted to take a photo but my camera decided to kill itself :(.

Because my lips are often dry, I have a problem with most lip stains and tints. It tends to exaggerate the lines and dry areas. Sadly, the longer you have the tint on for, the drier it becomes, so it's a good idea to have lip balm handy. You can also finish it with a thin layer of gloss, but I rarely do that because I dislike the greasiness.

On the other hand, the staypower of this tint is incredible! The swatch I placed on my hand now leaves an inky stain that's almost impossible to rub off.

Because of its runny consistency, I've tried it as a cheek tint as well. And not surprisingly, it works really well! Great if you like a natural flush of color.

Summary:

Raves

- Milky, slightly creamy texture and gives off a cooling sensation
- Very natural tint that is buildable
- Nice staypower, even after eating
- Sweet, fruity scent that's very subtle
- Small, convenient bottle packaging makes it travel-worthy
- Can be used as a cheek tint :)

Rants

- A bit difficult to spread evenly due to its runniness, so fingers are needed to help spread evenly, this is partly because of the doe foot applicator and how absorbent it is
- A little drying, but can be fixed with a balm
- A little product doesn't exactly go a long way. Product won't last exceptionally long like Benetint because of the applicator and creamier consistency.

So all in all, the Etude House Fresh Cherry Tint deserves a 4/5. My next target is the Etude House Dear Darling Lip Tint in berry red. Hopefully I'll get my hands on it for a review. Thanks for reading! -3-

Lioele Beyond Solution BB Cream Review

First review, thought I'd bring up an eyecandy ;)

I'd call this BB cream an eyecandy because of the adorable pink, girly packaging. I have to admit it's one of the reasons I picked this over the infamous MISSHA. I purchased the Lioele Beyond Solution BB Cream from a South Korean seller on eBay. Buying cosmetics on eBay is quite risky as there are countless counterfeits that we need to watch out for, but we'll save the lecture for later blogs. But as far as I know, I have yet to see complaints on fake Lioele BB creams, so I can safely assume for now that they have not gotten to it yet!

So I purchased the Lioele BB Cream for approximately $14 USD with free shipping. IMO, I find the price to be acceptable because it is a 50ml package. I purchased this a few months back and can no longer find the outer package. So the picture features the tube itself in all its naked glory!

50ml

Packaging

pros:
- Super cute!
- comes in a hygienic pump
- Not too big and not too small

Cons:
- Pump doesn't allow user control of how much you want to squeeze out
- The cap is rather form-fitting to the nozzle, as you can see the cream tends to linger on the inside of the cap. Very messy :(

Swatches

Photos are taken under labeled lighting conditions. My hands are slightly darker because of the accidental summer tans. IMO, Lioele has a neutral mix of both pink and yellow undertones and doesn't exactly lean to either side. It is not as fair as some other BB creams I've tried, but once you spread it out, it does become lighter.

Spreading

Blended

The consistency of this BB cream is not too thick. It is slightly thicker than the consistency of lotions. It is also quite easy to blend.

As you can see, there is a very faint gray cast present with flash. But it is more of a "brightening" cast rather than a ghostly one like many other BB creams.

This BB cream gives a semi-matte finish. While I usually prefer dewy finishes, if you are one of those people who dislike being shiny with those micro-glitters, this is a good cream. Speaking of shiny, I find that the oil control of this BB cream is mediocre. I have oily t-zone which starts to reveal itself after 1-2 hours of application. It tends to make my t-zone oilier than it is.

Coverage-wise, I would say it is medium to heavy. It works to cover any blemishes, redness, and scars, so I can skip the concealer. What I dislike is the heavy, caked on effect it gives, which defeats the entire purpose of BB creams (for me anyway :p). That's why I like to mix in a dab of moisturizer to relieve the heavy feeling.

Summary:

Pros:
- Affordable price
- Pump package for hygiene
- Very good coverage
- Not too thick in consistency, creamy
- Easy to spread and blend
- Brightens and gives a healthy look

Cons:
- Pump nozzle makes a mess on the cap
- Can't really control how much you squeeze out
- Very cakey, heavy look
- The scent is slightly over-powering, and lingers for quite a while
- Oil control is mediocre
- Tends to oxidize and darken by the end of the day
- Others can notice that you have make-up on, because it is quite unnatural

So in summary, I don't think I will be buying this again. Mainly because of its unnatural and cakey finish, but also because I want to try others. If you are looking for a flawless looking finish from a distance or in photos, this may be the cream for you. But if you are looking for the natural, no-make up look, you may have to move on :(

Hopefully this helped you!

Mandatory introduction post :D

Hey bloggies!

Although my blog has been set up back in January, I thought maybe it's a good idea to actually USE it. Take this as an introductory post, and if you need to know more about me, follow to see what becomes of this blog!

I'm a horse and a Capricorn. According to two distinct Zodiac of course ;). So I am easy going and quite the sentimentalist. I love the little things in life, which basically turns every frown upside down :). Call it self-comfort if you will, but we all need some of that, right?

I initially created this blog as a diary, but I am also interested in setting up reviews in hopes that it will benefit other people! (Because I know I've plowed through countless reviews for the sake of not buying the wrong things). So to contribute to a crazy semester, I've decided to open up this blog to test the waters. I will be hosting a variety of cosmetic, fashion, shopping reviews to inform and help others compare products. And if you're really adventurous (not really), you'll also be peeking into my life.

So that was a lie, my life is as wholesomely bland as it can get for a college student. You'll be better off just reading my reviews, which is probably what you're here for in the first place. So here's to a fresh start for my blog. And I hope to make friends with each and every one of my readers and fellow bloggers (:

Cheers!
Ai