Bits & Pieces! (Etude House/Stila/Skinfood/Mentholatum)

This morning I was awaken by the doorbell. My dear mail man had stuffed a few morning gifts in the mailbox for me ;D

Needless to say, no matter how often I receive things in the mail, they never fail to excite little old me ;)

Here lies my...

Etude House Aloha Cocktail Syrup Nails in #2 Sunshine Bronze

Stila Lip Glaze Stick in Vanilla

Skinfood Pomegranate Scalp Care Tonic

Mentholatum Medicated XD Lip balm

Cocktail Syrup Nail set! This is the limited edition summer nail kit from Etude House. You guys might be familiar with the Spring edition Miss Tangerine nail set. This Aloha set also comes in a pink kit called #1 Rose Cocktail. But I like this one more for the summer~ I think I'll be collecting all of their gradation sets in the future!

It's like the darker version of Miss Tangerine nail set, which I regret not buying!

Stila Lip Glaze Stick in Vanilla. I love the consistency of this "lip stick". It's glossy and smooth and very hydrating, yet it's not even close to sticky! I think I will be trying a few more of their sticks because I love the convenience and the formula so much ^^ The vanilla shade is essentially a slightly shimmery, moist gloss over the lips with no pigment. Kind of reminds me of YSL Candy Sheer Volupte in Lush Coconut ;D

Boring lip balms? I think not! I stumbled upon these when I was in Japan and my lips just happened to be extremely chapped (had a terrible cold). I grabbed the closest thing and this has become one of my stables! This is literally the only lip balm that immediately heals my lips and makes them soft and plump, and I am a total lip essence / balm / whatever junkie! Even the BF notices by the way ;)

I've always been troubled by the fact that I have relative thin hair and I tend to lose a bit more hair in the Summer. It just recently occurred to me that maybe I should be pampering my scalp a little. I was choosing between the this and the Yanagiya collagen medicated hair essence, but ended up with this one. I tried it on today and it is extremely minty and tingling on the scalp. Great for the summer~ Needless to say though, this one really requires some testing out to review and give results. I will have to be patient to wait and see ^^

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-