Jessica's Japanese Beauty Haul! [Swatches]

My mom's friend has a daughter who lives in Japan, and she recently came to visit her father the States. Knowing how much I love everything Japanese and makeup-related, he asked me if I wanted her to bring anything over. I graciously requested Cure Natural Aqua Gel and K-Palette's 1 Day Tattoo Eyeliner after hearing great things about both of them. Turns out she got me a little more than that! Daww, how sweet! ^^

Skincare
Going in somewhat of an order from the picture, the first of the two skin care items I received was this Curel Foaming Wash for Sensitive Skin with Intensive Moisture Care (most of these products are completely in Japanese-- just trying to pull some English words from here lol). It comes out of the pump as a light foam and has no scent.

Next is my beloved Cure Natural Aqua Gel. It's apparently Japan's best selling exfoliant and it's safe and suitable for all skin types. What makes this exfoliant unique is that it has the consistency of a gel at first with no scrubby bits or anything. As you massage it on your face, a fine layer of dead skin cells on the surface of your face are sloughed off and "ball up". I used this last night, and my skin feels sooo smooth right now..

Left to right: Cure Natural Aqua Gel, Curél Foaming Wash

To BB creams/foundation!

Packaged in the plastic box with pretty black detailing is the AC AngelColor Perfect Keep Makeup Base. After some googling, I learned that this is a popular Japanese "base makeup", which is more like foundation than BB cream. It comes out of the tube with an opaque, yellow-gold tint.

Moving onward is the Kanebo Freshel White C Mineral BB Cream. I got a small sample tube, and according to the label it is "something OK!" and "No.1 something of 2010" (again, it's all in Japanese, but I'm assuming it's all good). It comes out of the tube with a more neutral tone than the AngelColor base makeup.

Nanoce BB Moist Cream is the last face product I got. It comes in a lovely pink tube with taupe-y accents. When swatched, it looks the least-yellow with a smidgen of a pink undertone.

Left to right: AC AngelColor Perfect Keep Makeup Base, Kanebo Freshel White C Mineral BB Cream, Nanocé BB Moist Cream

Makeup

Finally is K-Palette's 1 Day Tattoo Eyeliner. I've been eyeing this liquid eyeliner for a long time and here it is now! It's Japan's best selling eyeliner and has the ability to draw thick and the thinnest lines thanks to its pointy brush tip. However, the pigmentation isn't that great at first stroke. You might have to go over the line many times to get the intensity you want.

K-Palette's 1 Day Tattoo Eyeliner

So that's basically everything I got. Reviews on many of these products coming soon!

Love,

Jessica

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Melody's October Mini-haul! [Swatches]

Hey guys! Can you believe it's already November?! I know this is a few days late but here are the products I bought in the month of October.

• NYX blush in #06 Peach
• Wet n Wild Color Icon blusher in Pearlescent Pink
• L'Oreal HiP metallic eye shadow duo in Electrified (#510)
• L'Oreal extra intense liquid pencil eyeliner in Carbon Black
• L'Oreal Limited Edition Cockatoo's Mystery
• Revlon super lustrous lipstick #668 Primrose
• Escada Taj Sunset Eau de Toilette
• Ecotools blush brush

Quick Overview of the Products

The NYX Blush I bought was quite a disappointment. I've never had a problem with NYX's pigmentation; in fact, their products' pigmentation are excellent for their price. However, when I applied the blush, the color was barely noticeable on my cheeks. It took a few buffs until the color showed. I love the color, but it was just too sheer for my taste.

Unlike the NYX blush, the Wet n Wild Blusher was definitely not disappointing! This product is extremely pigmented and the color is beautiful. Be careful not to apply an overwhelming amount though! I advise you to dab the your brush into the blush rather than swirl the brush because it will grab a tremendous amount of product.

I also picked up L'Oreal Hip Metallic Eye Shadow in Electrified on my trip to Harmon's. The pigmentation is   amazing! I absolutely adore the colors; they are very wearable even as an everyday look (maybe not to school though). The shadows have a slight cream consistency and are very bendable. I originally thought the purple would be more purple, but it's actually leaning on the purple-brown side. However, I don't really mind because I think the duo looks great together either way.

Another L'Oreal product I bought was the Intense Liquid Pencil in Carbon Black. Originally, I had hope to find Milani Liquif'eye at Walgreen, but the store I went to didn't carry Milani. In desperate need of a liquid pencil eyeliner, I bought the L'Oreal one only to find out it wasn't water proof (I should have payed more attention to the labels). The eyeliner comes with a smudger which can come in handy in making the look softer. As the name suggests, the color is very black. When applying the eyeliner, I would wait a few seconds to let it dry so it doesn't smudge. However, because it is not waterproof, rubbing your eyes can easily mess up the look! So watch out for that.

Grey nail polish seems to be a trend this fall, so I bought L'Oreal's Cockatoo's Mystery on a whim. I love this color! The color is a medium grey and a hint of purple can be seen depending on the lighting. Two coats was enough for me to get an even look my nails. I would really recommend this nail polish!

The Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Primrose was an okay product. I found that it doesn't apply evenly on my lips, which was a disappointment because the color is very pretty. Although it claims to be moisturizing, I actually found it to dry out my lips rather quickly. However, the pigmentation and the lasting power is excellent.

I have always been a fan of Escada perfume. Therefore, I had to get the Taj Sunset before they took it off the market. I only found out recently that they change their perfume every summer (No wonder I can't find Rockin' Rio anywhere!) This perfume has a very summer citrus scent. The citrus scent is not overwhelming like oranges or lemons; it's really sweet. I can also smell mangoes, which are one of my favorite fruits! It is now my new favorite perfume and I absolutely adore it!

Without flash - From left to right: Revlon lipstick in Primrose, Wet n Wild blush in Pearlescent Pink, NYX blush in Peach, L'Oreal HiP eye shadow duo in Electrified

With flash

That is it for my October mini-haul! I will be doing a more indepth review for few of the products, so stay tuned!

Love,

Melody

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Nail Polish Haul! (Essie, Wet N Wild, and more!) [Swatches]

Just last week, I decided to stop by my local drugstore (Harmon Discount) to grab a new blush and bronzer. While I was there, I picked up a few different brands of nail polish, one of which I've never tried before, Wet N Wild's Wild Shine line. Overall, I have mixed feelings about each polish.

The names of the nail polishes from left to right are: Essie's Absolutely Shore, Revlon's Minted, Sally Hansen nailgrowth Miracle in Creamy Olive, Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Lacey Lilac, and Wet N Wild Tickled Pink, Blazed, and Sunny Side Up.

I am definitely in love with Essie's Absolutely Shore; the shade is not too dark and gives a pale minted color which I think is suitable for the chilly weather we've been getting here. The only problem I have with Essie is the thin formula they use for their polishes. I've experienced streaking problems before. Therefore, it's hard to fix a nail when you mess up. In addition, because it is thin, I recommend applying at least three to four layers to have the color evenly spread on your nails.

Unlike Essie, Revlon did have a thicker formula, so applying it was a lot quicker and easier; I only had to apply a maximum of two layers. Like the name implies, the color is very Minted, maybe a little greener than what I would have preferred.

The Sally Hansen Creamy Olive is indeed very creamy. At first, I though application would be smooth and easy because of its thick formula. However, the application brush proved to be a hassle to work with; the brush resembled an flat eye shading brush. Although it may have picked up an adequate amount of nail polish (maybe too much at times), it will take some practice to get use to the odd brush shape. The color is a little dark for what I would usually wear but it is definitely wearable.

From top to bottom: Absolutely Shore, Minted, Creamy Olive

 Originally, instead of purchasing Sally Hansen's Lacey Lilac, I was going to bring home Essie's Lilacism. However, after witnessing my friend's experience with the color (the color turned blue after few days of application), it deterred my attention. This color is absolutely adorable! The shade of purple mirrors a cute lavender color and is darker than Essie's Lilacism. Similarly, it has a thick formula but does not have the unusual brush tip like in the other nail polish. I only had to apply two coats which is always a plus!

Finally, the three Wet N Wild nail polishes I purchased were summer like colors (Oh how I miss summer!) The Tickled Pink is a very sugary pink, not as pastel as I thought it would be. I also purchased the color Blazed thinking it would resemble the color of a watermelon, but it came out redder than I thought it would. And last, the Sunny Side Up was disappointing for me; it was not as bright as what I had expected. The orange color actually seems a little dull. As for the name "Wild Shine", I don't really notice any drastic shininess than when my other nail polishes are applied. In addition, the polish had a very thin formula which definitely requires 3+ coats. Overall,  the colors are wearable but I personally am not in love with them.  Considering the price I bought them at ($0.89 for each), the saying "You get what you paid for" would be suitable here.

From top to bottom: Lacey Lilac, Tickled Pink, Sunny Side Up, Blazed, Minted

My favorite and recommended nail polishes out of my whole purchase would be Absolutely Shore and Lacey Lilac. Hope you guys enjoyed reading my first haul! :)

Love,
Melody

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