Charlotte Tilbury Bar Of Gold Palette - review

I've never been a huge fan of highlighter, I always felt like it looked glittery and just too much for every day. But when I saw this palette from Charlotte Tilbury, and I saw a lot of pictures and other reviews saying it looked wet on the skin and didn't look unnatural or glittery, I had to get it.

The packaging is beautiful and very sturdy so it'll be good to travel with, plus these highlighters will work as eye shadow as well.

The colors are beautiful and will work for a lot of different skin tones, The darkest shade in the palette is way too dark for me to use as highlight on my cheeks BUT, it makes the most beautiful golden eye shadow!

as you can hopefully see in the above picture the highlight gives a natural glow to the skin, and makes it look so luminous, fresh and dewy. In the picture I'm wearing a bb cream and some bronzer for a natural glowing summer look.

In some light it can look like there is small specks of glitter in the formula, but I find that I'm the only one who notices since I'm studying my face close up.

I use this palette every day and I love it so much! I would recommend it, if your in need of a super lux highlight palette and you want to treat yourself!

~Kira

pigmentation removal and eyelid tightning (no surgery!)

For the longest time I've had this huge patch of pigmentation on my forehead, that's very stubborn, and I have hard time fading with vitamin c, and when I finally get it to fade, it takes just a few days of sunny weather and boom! it's back in full force. I wear SPF 50 every day, and it still comes back. So I did some research and a clinique in my town had this new technology, that uses plasma pen fibroblast to burn the pigmentation away - at least that's how I understood it. I also noticed the place did the same kinda technique on the eyelids to tighten them, and since I have hooded eyes I decided to get that too, and rip a week out of my calendar for healing.WARNING - I will post pictures of the healing process, so if scabs and swelling isn't your thing, don't read any further.

DAY 0: before treatment

here you see my pigmentation on my forehead, and my hooded eyes. my eyelids are uneven and one is more hooded than the other. The pigmentation on my forehead is very dark in real life, and I've been told a few time that I have dirt on my face, even though it's just the darkness of the pigmentation showing.

DAY 1:

this is taken about 15-20 minutes after the treatment, i got home around 10 in the morning, the lady used a plasma pen to make small dots all over my forehead, and a bit bigger dots on my eyelids. I did get numbing cream on, but honestly it still hurt a lot, and since the plasma pen is essentially burning your skin, it does smell horribly, and the smell will stay for the first day, at least it did for both me and my sister who had her eyes done also. At this point my skin felt tight and raw, but there was no swelling.

Just about four hours later I looked like this. My eyelids were so tight i couldn't open them fully, and swelling had started at my lash line, making i even harder to open my eyes. My forehead was still sore but it didn't bother me too much.
They lady at the clinique had given me a cream to put on 3 times a day, and told me to put something cold over the areas for 20 minutes every one and a half hours, to keep the swelling down as much as possible.

7-ish hours later (around 10 at night) and I was looking pretty much like I did before getting the treatment done, the areas were still sore but the swelling went down and the cream (that does contain some color) moisturized my skin pretty well. I went to bed, with my bed tilted as much as possible and extra pillows to have my head up at much as I could.

DAY 2:

And I woke up like this. My whole eye area was very swollen, much worse than my sister, because the swelling from my forehead affected my eye area as well. I tried putting on something cold to get the swelling down, but I stayed like this all day, nothing really helped. The scabs were thicker than the day before, might also be some leftover cream since I was told I can not wash the cream away, so it kinda cakes up a lot. 

DAY 3:

24 hours later the swelling was down a bit, but my under eyes are still very puffy, which is very visible (to me at least) between my eyes, which is almost so swollen that my nose bridge looked flat.
At this point you can tell the scabs are getting even thicker, and they felt more itchy. My eyes started to be very sore in the crease, and it hurt to blink and more my eyes around.

DAY 4:

At this point my forehead felt super itchy and i put on a lot of cream to make the area more moist. However the cream stings the eyes horribly! It doesn't sting right away, but one wrong move and you're crying. This was also the day where my scabs started to crack, and I could tell the peeling was not far away.

Day 5:

The picture was taken right after I got out of bed, and i tried to remove at much as the cream from my eyes as possible. The cream can stay wet on my forehead for hours, but for some reason it dries quickly on my eyes and cakes up, making it hard to fully open my eyes, and it hurt a lot cause the scabs were rubbing on the red sore skin underneath. As I hope you can tell this was the day it all fell off. I had a few bits peel off in the morning and a little during the day. At the end of the day after putting on cream I felt an itch on my forehead and gently glided my finger over my forehead, and pretty much all the scabs fell off.

Day 6:

After a shower I had no scabs left on my forehead, i did help along the scabs on my eyes, cause they were so caked up I couldn't handle it anymore. There's still scabs in my eyelid crease, but now because the cream can touch the skin underneath, it doesn't cake up and it feels more comfortable. My skin is still very red and sore, but I'm now starting the serums the lady at the clinique gave me, plus I'm adding my own cocktail of Rosehip oil, which is good for healing and hydrating the skin, and Matricium, which helps speed up regeneration in the skin - this is not something I was told to do, but the products are good and they've helped me a lot in the past with very good results, so I figured they'd come to the rescue again!

DAY 7:

For the first time in a week i gently washed my forehead to try and get the cream off of it, because the cream was starting to break me out, and because I didn't like the pigment in the cream, which would get all over my clothes and pillow. I also had very stinging eyes, that would hurt a lot, so that's why I chose to use another cream I had at home. This would also make it easier to see if the redness was going down or not.

Day 8:

I don't know if you can tell from the picture or not, but pretty much all my scabs came off after my shower. This was pretty nice for my left eye, which has healed up pretty well, however for my right eye is was very painful, because it was not at all healed.

The skin was red and raw, and it was bleeding a little, and he skin was wet, meaning the scab was not supposed to have come off yet. The reason the scabs came off was because I dabbed them dry after a shower with toilet paper, which the lady from the clinique had instructed me to do.

Day 9:

 My forehead is healing very nicely, and I'm starting to think it's okay to use my normal products on my skin, since my forehead isn't raw anymore. My skin is in serious need of moisture at the moment, and my forehead is especially drinking up all the serum I've been putting on. Plus I'm dealing with some small whiteheads all along my brows from the cream I got from the clinique.
At this point I'm staring to get a good idea of how it'll look when everything is healed up, but I'm honestly a bit worried. I got my eyelids done because they were hooded and uneven, now they aren't that hooded, but still uneven, which I'm still sad about. I hope when my left eye heals (which is the more saggy one) that it'll lift up a bit more and make my eyes look more even.

Day 10:

Still dealing with the breakout from the cream, but I've started to use my own skincare again, and using vitamin c serum to brighten the redness so hopefully it'll heal evenly and not be darker than my normal skin color.
I also wore makeup for the first time after the treatment, and my skin did look a bit dry and felt slightly sensitive when I washed the makeup off, but otherwise it was fine. I don't expect much more to happen to my eyes, so they're still uneven.

Day 11:

No new since yesterday, I think at this point I'll give an update if something happens or if the redness goes down completely, like said before I think my eyes have settled and they won't change.
On a good note I have managed to calm down the breakout - woop!

Day 20:

 So after another week the redness has gone down a lot, and so have my eyes, they are now both hooded and look pretty even. At this point I don't think the treatment on the eyes have helped at all honestly. The skin on both my eyes and forehead is extremely thin, and I have scratched the areas gently and still made it bleed. I hope my skin will go back to normal soon.

If any changes happen I will update this post, but for now I think it's settled like this. I would not recommend the eye treatment, it was painful and expensive and didn't help me or my sister the way we had hoped, and the way it was advertised. The pigmentation on my forehead I'm still unsure about. I feel like it could still fade more, so it's a maybe on the recommendation.

~Kira

Essences - expensive vs. affordable dupes

I tried the 7 skin method almost a year ago and I haven't looked back since. And since my skin likes it so much I've become a bit obsessed with finding the best essence for my skin, at a reasonable price of course. 

Disclaimer:

In this blog I'm using the term "toner" and "essence" a lot. both words to me, mean the same, because both are supposed to be hydrating and balance and plump the skin with moisture. Do not use an acid toner or a toner with alcohol in it for the 7 skin method, it will ruin your skin! -disclaimer over-

My curiosity started with the hyped SKII First Treatment Essence, which from what I know is very loved, but also very expensive. I got a small bottle off of eBay and tried it for a few months. It has a light scent but nothing too noticeable, and it does a good job at hydrating the skin and making it feel soft and smooth, however for the price there are tons of more affordable options on the market, the best one probably being the Missha Time Revolution First Treatment Essence, which claims to actually have the SKII formula beat and even improved. 

My quest to find better essence led me to YuriPibu Artichoke Power Toner which is a bit thicker in consistency than the SKII and the Missha toners. this toner is great for the 7 skin method and really packs in the moisture without feeling heavy on the skin. Another toner great for this method is the Klairs Subtle Preparation Toner which is very similar to the YuriPibu toner, except that the Klairs toner has a pretty strong scent of, what I'd describe as smelling like the dentist. Its not too bad but I prefer the YuriPibu toner because it has no scent. 

Next my search for the best essence I heard about two essences that were really hyped on youtube and peoples raved about how good they were, so I bought both. First off is the Whamisa Organic Flowers Toner a very well known and loved brand by many who uses korean skincare products. The essence is very thick and super moisturizing, and as the name suggest it is organic. However, the smell of this one is too much for me. Its smells very floral and I can't stand i to b honest. I know a lot of other people really enjoy the smell of this but I just can't deal with it. Which leads me to the HadaLabo Super Hyaluronic Moisturizing Lotion which had a thick texture like the Whamisa toner but no scent! I love this product and the best part is that its super affordable! If you have dry skin I would really recommed trying this out, and as you can see from the picture above, you can get a smaller size to start out with, if you just want to try it out without buying a full bottle first. 

Now last on my essence list for the time being is the Blithe 8 nourishing beans toner which is unlike any other essence on this list. This toner is similar to the YuriPibu in consistency but has small beads of vitamin E suspended in the formula, and when you pat the essence into your skin, the beads will burst. This is probably my favorite toner of them all, however the price is pretty high so I usually use this toner for 2 of the 7 skins I do in the evening. 

My top recommendations are:  

Missha Time Revolution First Treatment Essence, which you can read a full review on here.

YuriPibu Artichoke Power Toner

HadaLabo Super Hyaluronic Moisturizing Lotion

Blithe 8 nourishing beans

I use those 4 essences or toners every day and mix and match them in the 7 skin method for the best hydration for my skin. I love them all and have repurchased them all. I buy all my korean skincare on eBay and I have never had any problem with the products or the sellers. 

I hope this was helpful!

~Kira

LJH Vita propolis ampoule + cream - Review

Lately my skin has been craving a lot more moisture than usual, so I added in some "honey" products which are moisturizing and not irritating for my acne prone skin.

I've used the ampoule before, where I added one drop to my moisturizer at night, but since my skin still needs more hydration, I now add two drops and it seems to do the trick. The LJH ampoule is very small but the point is, that ampoules are more concentrated than regular serums so just a drop or two will do the same as a maybe 5-6 drops of serum - at least in my experience.
The ampoule hydrates without feeling heavy and it will give a nice glow to the skin!

The cream has a texture like nothing I've ever tried before. It feels light and hydrating on the skin and looks wonderful under makeup! It's smells slightly sweet like honey but it disappears quickly. The texture looks like it would be sticky because of the "strings" that will form between your fingers and face when you're applying it, but it's not sticky at all! It glides on the skin super easily and absorbs quickly, leaving the skin feeling smooth and moisturized.

I absolutely love both products and I have bought backups of both! I have tried other creams for my daytime routine, but it seems like nothing has the LJH cream beat so far. The ampoule is a god send for my skin and it really packs in some major hydrating in a small bottle.
I would highly recommend these two - plus they're pretty affordable too!

I bought mine from roserose shop - they ship internationally!

I hope this was helpful!
~Kira

Klairs Manuka Honey & Choco Body soap - Review

For a long time now I've been struggling with spots on my back. Usually I would wash my back with my face wash and try to keep my hair away from my back as much as possible.
I saw someone on YouTube review this soap, and they said it was really good at keeping your skin on your back clean and spot free, so I ordered it right away.

I've tried it out for about a month and it's a good soap, and it makes the skin feel clean after you use it. It has a nice smell of sweet coco and it lathers up nicely in your hands. It does help with the spots on my back, it's not a miracle but I don't get the big painful spots anymore and the small spot that pops up here and there goes away quicky.

I can't give this soap the full credit for making my back clearer, I do have a routine for keeping my back clean, and it seems to be working really well so far.
I start of with a dry scrub glove (or brush if you can't reach your whole back) and I scrub my whole back. After the scrub I use the Klairs soap and lather it in my hands and rub it all over my back, and rinse under the shower. To end the routine I use the Blithe splash mask on my face and take it down my chest and back as well (read my Blithe review here)

I hope this was helpful!

~Kira

Charlotte Tilbury - Haul and Review

I've had a lot of products from Charlotte Tilbury on my wishlist for a long time, and I finally saved up enough money, and got most of the things on my list.

Wonderglow - is like a golden glow primer, I've tried a little tester before and I really like the effects that it gives. I don't think its the best at keeping the makeup on your face longer than any other primer, but I like that this can double up as a liquid highlighter, and it looks very natural and beautiful on the skin.

Matte Revolution lipstick - I got the shades Bond Girl and Very Victoria, which are both very natural everyday colors. I like the matte formula because it feels more moisturizing than a liquid lipstick but it still gives you that matte lip look, and I love that!

Cheek to chic swish and pop - a two toned blush that looks very natural and blends like a dream! I got the shade First Love which is the lightest shade, and on me, it looks like my natural cheek color, and it makes me look fresh and healthy. All the blushes in her line has some sheen to them, so if you don't like that, the blushes are not for you. 

Beauty Glow Palette - I loved this palette from the second I saw it, and honestly the palette was the reason I did the haul. The eyeshadows are nice everyday shades that can be build up for a nice bronzy smokey eye. The bronzer has a tiny bit of sheen, but I don't mind that because it makes the skin look healthy and natural. The shade of the bronzer is a bit pale and even on my skintone it donesn't show up too much, so if your even medium to dark skintoned this bronzer is way too light.The highlight is a pale yellowy gold and looks very natural, but again it would be too pale for medium to dark skintones. The blushes are beautiful! the swish shade is a gorgeous redish brown color and the pop is a fresh pink color, they work really well together or even separately.  
Everything in this palette has decent pigment and is buildable and blends like a dream! If you have pale skin like me this palette is absolutely stunning!

Powder and Sculpt brush - I really wanted this brush because I thought it would be the perfect size for the palette, and I've seen so many beauty gurus use this brush and everyone seems to love it. I don't! this sheds like crazy! even my cheap elf brushes are softer and don't even shed like this brush does. save your money! this is not worth the money at all, and if I could take it back I would. The only good thing about this brush is the shape, but other brands do similar brushes for a better prize and honestly also better quality.

Beauty Glow palette - bottom to top

eyeshadows 1,2,3, Bronzer, Highlight, blush swish, pop

Lipsticks and blush bottom to top

Very Victoria, Bond Girl, First Love blush swish, pop, together

Here's the look I did with the palette. I used Wonderglow as a base under my foundation. On the eyes I used shade 1 on the inner corner and on the inner part of my lower lash line, shade 2 I used all over the lid, and shade 3 as a soft liner on both top and bottom lash line. 

I used the bronzer to sculpt my cheekbones and hairline and took a bit on my nose to make it look like a natural sunkissed glow. Highlight on the top of my cheekbones and on the top of my nose and upper lip. I used the palette swish color on my cheek to blend highlight and bronzer into a natural looking gradiant on the cheek. and the pop shade on the round apples of my cheeks for a fresh looking complexion. On my lips I used Very Victoria for a "my lips but better" look. 

I love all the makeup from Charlotte Tilbury and everything she does seems to follow a theme of natural and healthy looking beauty which is just what I'm looking for in my makeup products and the looks I do. 

I reach for all these products on a daily basis and they are my favorites in my collection right now. I would highly recommend them, except for the brush, don't waste your time or money on that!

Hope this was helpful!

~Kira

Troiareuke ampoule set - Review + How to use

Troiareuke is Korea's No.1 professional use skincare brand and their products are mostly natural - no paraben and no animal testing. I heard about the brand from a couple of Korean youtuber's and I was excited to try their ampoule set, since it's easy to mix and match for your own needs. 

The ampoules are from what I've seen most commonly used to mix with Troiareuke's skincomplex which is a face mist. Since I'm not a big user of face mists I'm going to tell you all how I use these ampoules.

Green ampoule: Called the "Anti- trouble ampoule" helps skin with troubles and redness. It claims to be a super moisturizer and to have a calming effect on the skin. The main ingredient is Aloe vera fermented extract. 
I use this in my essence every morning and night. I add a drop or two and pat the mix on my skin until it is absorbed. I've used up the whole ampoule at this point, and I like it, but I don't see a huge difference in my skins moisture when I use it. I thought this was going to be my favorite ampoule out of the set, because I need more moisture in my dehydrated skin, but sadly it doesn't make a noticeable difference. 

Yellow ampoule: Called the "Mela C ampoule" claims to be a brightening and whitening solution that will minimize the melano synthesis to reduce the melanin process. Which means it will help reduce the appearance of sunspot and acne scars. The main ingredients are Ellagic acid, Mandarin oil,  pomegranate extract and Green tea catechin extract.
I mix two drops of this in my vitamin c serum in the morning (always finish your routine with SPF!). I've been really liking my vitamin c serum but for me it's hard to tell if the ampoule boosts the effect or not. I still have a lot of the ampoule left and if I see a difference in my sunspots when I run out of this ampoule I would repurchase this again for sure.  

Blue ampoule: Called the "Akne-C ampoule" it claims to cool down the skins temperature while also being anti-inflammatory and an anti-bacterial solution for acne prone skin. The main ingredients are Lavender oil, Green tea catechin extract, Spirullina and Sephora extract. 
I wasn't that excited about this when I ordered it. I liked the spot treatment i was using, and didn't really expect this ampule to do a whole lot. Boy was I wrong! I use this as a spot treatment and dab a bit on any spot or bump I have on my face, and usually by morning it's clearing up or completely gone! This is by far the best spot treatment I've ever used and it is a HG product for sure. 

Red ampoule: Called the "Cell Repair Formula ampoule" and it claims to be a super anti-ageing solution that visibly improve skins elasticity and reduce wrinkles.  The main ingredients are Pycnogenol, Anthocyanin and Pentapeptide. 
I use a drop of this ampoule under each eye every morning and evening before I put on my eye cream. I have noticed a slight improvement in my fine lines and I do believe that continued use of this ampoule with reduce the risk of those fine lines getting more noticeable. I wouldn't use this all over my face, just because I have other anti aging serums in my routine, but since my eye area is a big concern of mine, I would definitely repurchase this again as an anti age eye serum.  

 
Just to clear up any confusion - ampoules are in the same family as essences and serums. An ampoule is a supercharged serum with higher concentrations of active ingredients that you are meant to use as a booster, to mix in with other essences, serums or creams. Ampoules usually come in smaller bottles with a dropper.

In the above picture the products I mixed the ampoules with are: 
 
Green - Missha Time Revolution First Treatment Essence
Yellow - Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin C Drop
Blue - Klairs Midnight Blue Calming Cream (HG combo!)
Red - Clarins Super Restortive Total Eye Concentrate

The reviewed product is a trial set of the four ampoules at 5ml each priced at $68. A full size ampoule is 20ml and costs $60 each. A kit of all four full size ampoules is $240.
 
I bought my set on w2beauty.com

Hope this was helpful! 
~Kira 

Tried and Tested #2

This is basically a YouTube made me buy it, cause I've heard a lot of people rave about these products and I had to try them out for myself.

L'Oreal Lash Paradise mascara: A lot of people claim that this is a dupe for the Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara, but I have never tried it, so I can't compare. To me this is a very good lengthening mascara and the design of the wand makes it easy to separate the lashes to get them fanned out nicely. It doesn't give as much volume as I would have liked, but that's easily achieved with another coat of mascara.  
I really like this mascara and I think it has taken the top spot in my mascara stash for now!

Troiareuke H+ cream: This is a BB cream or tinted moisturizer that is 99% skincare and 1% makeup. It's pretty thick in consistency and very pigmented for advertising to be more skincare than a makeup product. It looks very natural on the skin but it does have better coverage than a lot of my other BB creams. Usually I use this on days where I have more spots and don't really feel like wearing makeup but I need to actually wear makeup - does that make sense? I feel like its the perfect solution for blemish prone skin since it's makeup, but not really. Only downside to this product is that it's hella expensive! The company do make a cushion version of this, which is half the price cheaper, but you only get half the amount of product.

Tarte Shape Tape: I've heard so many YouTuber's talk about this concealer and I couldn't wait any longer to try it. It's a very thick concealer with super good coverage. For me though, it's too thick to use under my eyes, and because the wand is so huge it's hard to conceal spots with it because I usually end up with a big blob of concealer, that ends up covering half my face. I really hoped the hype was real, but for me it just wasn't the case. 

In the above picture I'm wearing the Troiareuke H+ cream all over my face, the Tarte Shape Tape under my eyes and a single coat of the L'Oreal Lash paradise mascara on my lashes. I really liked this look since it was very natural and felt really light on the skin, the only downside was the Tarte Shape Tape that ended up looking pretty dry under my eyes after a few hours. 

Hope this was helpful!
~Kira

Huxley skincare - Review

Huxley is a Korean skincare brand, and all their products contain Prickly Pear Cactus Seed Oil which is supposed to help with hydration. I was really interested in the brand since I was looking for hydrating products that wouldn't feel heavy on the skin.

Extract It Toner: This is a hydrating toner, which I use as an essence. I use this as part of a "7 skin method" where I layer toners or essences 7 times for extra hydration without the heavy feel. To me all the Huxley products smell like a garden or kind of like grass, and I don't really like the smell, but it is a light scent. This product claims to provide superior hydration, which I don't agree with at all. I have toners that are way more hydrating than this one and when I use this toner it does sting around my mouth where my skin is very sensitive. I'm using this product up, but I will not repurchase or recommend it. 
 
Oil Essence: Is a hybrid products as the name suggest. It's a great product for people who doesn't like the feel of an oil on their skin, but still want a boost of hydration. The products claims to provide lasting hydration and intense nourishment, which I sadly don't fully agree with. It provides hydration but on my skin it doesn't last more than a couple hours, and my skin will start to feel a bit tight and dry, which also means that on me, this product is not giving me intense nourishment. It is my fave product from Huxley, and because it is a hybrid product it's very easy to layer with other products and it will not feel heavy on the skin. I would recommend this if you have combo skin, and you're looking for  lightweight serum that provides a bit of hydration.

Fresh and More Cream: I wanted a light cream to use in the morning that wouldn't feel heavy, and this is a nice lightweight cream that sits well under makeup. This product claims to lock in hydration for a lasting, all-day glow, which I do agree that it locks in the hydration you've put on before the cream, but it doesn't give an all-day glow because there is no glow when you put makeup on top of it. This cream pretty much does what it is supposed to, but it's nothing special and I'm currently on the lookout for a new morning moisturizer. I would recommend this cream if your looking for a light cream to use in the morning, but I do think there are better things out there for the price.

Grab Water Essence: I was really excited to try this product since it claimed to be an oasis for tired skin and will fill and plump skin with intensive hydration. I was pretty disappointed when it didn't make much of a difference in my skin. I don't think it's a bad product, I just don't think it does what it claims. On me it's a lightly hydrating serum, very lightweight, and good if you don't like oil serums. But sadly for me it's not hydrating enough and doesn't make enough of a difference in my skin. I will use it up but I will not repurchase. If you have oily skin I think you'd like this serum.

A very negative review, but it's my honest opinion, and I won't be buying any of these again. I might look at the brand again in the future if they come out with new products, but until then I can find better and more affordable alternatives.   

Hope this helps!
~Kira

Make P:rem - in shower masks

 I've been trying out these masks for a while now and I do have some pro's and con's. 

Clean me. - is a clay based mask that you can put on 10 minutes before you shower on a clean face, and then wash it off when you take your shower. It's not a drying mask since they clay stays wet on your skin, even if you leave it for longer than 10 minutes. The idea with this mask is that when you get in the shower you wet your hands and rub your face, turning the mask into a more milky face wash, making this mask a mask and cleanser in one.
I do like the multitask effect of this product and it is a nice clay based cleanser, but as a clay mask its too mild for me to see any difference in my skin after using it. If you have trouble with large pores and oily skin this might be a good product to try.
The packaging of this mask is a plastic squeeze bottle, which can slip around if you have went hands. The writing on my bottle rubbed off after the 2nd time I used it. 

Wonderful me. - is a hydrating mask that you put on while your showering. It's sticky enough to stay on your face even it you have water in your face. I love using this when I wash my hair with purple shampoo cause the mask will protect my skin from being tinted purple, plus it will keep moisture in my skin while I'm the the shower, and my skin wont have that tight feeling afterwards.
This mask is my fave of the two and it's a really easy mask to use. If I know I'm gonna have a long shower I will usually out this mask on my face and let it sit until I'm done with my hair routine and then wash it off. I felt a difference in my skin from first use.
The bottle of this mask feels a bit rubbery which is great cause it makes it very easy to grip in the shower, and it wont slip out of your hand when your pumping out the product. 

Hope this was helpful!
~Kira

Tried and Tested #1

I'm gonna try and test a couple new items and give mini reviews on them, since I've bought a lot of Korean skincare that I need to try out.

Kanebo 3D Rose Cleansing Foam: This foam is really cool and has been hyped a bit on social media lately. It looks and smells like a rose. The foam is soft and smooth and feels really good on the skin. I found that my skin had a very squeaky clean feeling, so it will get all the oil and dirt off of your skin.

I got my rose cleanser from eBay here.

The Face Shop - The solution soothing face mask madecassoside: This sheet mask was very soothing and left my skin very hydrated and soft. I have all the other sheet masks from this line and I will be reviewing them over time. So far I recommend this one!
I bought this mask from roseroseshop.com here.

Make P:rem - UV defense me blue ray sun gel: This is a lightweight sun gel with SPF 50+ and PA++++ that protects the skin from both UVA and UVB rays as well as blue ray light from your computer, phone and other devices. This sunscreen sits well under makeup and doesn't leave a white cast. I can't say about the blue rays, but I wore it on some of the most sunny days and I didn't get a sunburn, and the sunspots I have on my forehead didn't get darker, so I think this gives a good protecting against the sun. Big thumbs up from me!
I bought this sun gel on eBay here.

I hope this was helpful!

~Kira

Blithe Splash Mask - review

Recently I've heard a lot about Splash masks, which is a new type of mask from Korea, which is supposed to give you results in just 15 seconds, and as the name suggest, you just have to splash it on your face.

Blithe is a Korean brand and their splash mask is one of the most hyped ones out there. They make 3 different versions, a green tea, a purple berry and a yellow citrus honey.

Green tea: Formulated with green tea extract and tea tree leaf oil to quickly soothe and calm irritated skin.
Purple berry: Formulated with antioxidant packed berries to help leave skin looking brighter and more youthful.
Yellow citrus honey: Formulated with citrus fruit extracts and honey to help brighten skin for a natural, youthful glow.

These masks contains lactic acid and botanical extracts that will help re-texturize and smooth your skin instantly and increase radiance over time. You can either fill your sink with water and add a cap full of the splash mask to the water, and splash it on your face and pat it in. Alternatively you can use it in the shower and put about half a cap full in your palm, and pat it on your wet face while having the shower water hit your face. 
I find the best way for me is to use it in the shower. I feel like I waste less product, plus I can use it on my body as well. 

It sounds to good to be true, but the results are instant with this mask. My skin feels softer and smoother right after I use it. I highly recommend these masks, though you don't need all three of them. I don't see any difference between the purple and the green mask, and I doubt the yellow is much different, so choose the one you'd like best. They do smell very different though, the green one smells like herbs and green tea, and the purple one smells like sweet berries. I haven't smelled the yellow one, but from what I've heard it smells like citrus, which makes sense. 

I bought my splash masks from Sasa.com but they are sold in Sephora and other online stores as well. The mask cost 45$ for a 200ml bottle, which is about 30 uses (if you use a whole cap full every time, but I find I use way less product with the shower method). 

I hope this was helpful!

~Kira

Sheet masks

A while ago I ordered a ton of different sheet masks, and since I read a lot of posts about doing a sheet mask every day I wanted to try it out and see what would happen.
I used 4 sheet masks, one mask every day for 4 days straight, and my skin did get hydrated and felt nice and plump, but I didn't feel a different benefits from each mask and honestly I don't think I will with any of the masks I bought.
The masks shown are very affordable and cost from less than $1 to about $3 each. The masks are all supposed to be good for different things and concerns, but honestly I only expect sheet masks to hydrate my skin, since it is essentially just a cloth with serum on it. 

I do recommend buying some sheet masks and try to do the "7 days of sheet masks challenge", if not for the benefit of the masks then at least to just have 30 minutes of relax time every day.

~Kira

Empties - mini reviews

I love skincare, and I buy a lot of it, but I always read reviews before buying anything, and I never really seem to buy a product that doesn't work for me or breaks me out, which is why I have a lot of empties. I like all the products in the picture above, some I have already repurchased and others I've found better alternatives.

Clarins Hydra Quench serum - I love this serum so much! It's light but moisturizing and I saw a big difference in my skin after using it only for a couple days. My skin looked healthier and my makeup went on a lot better. I have repurchased this one!

Antipodes Divine Face Oil - I've tried many rosehip oils but I think this is the best one I've tried and it's a lot more affordable than many other brands. This oil helps my acne scars fade super quickly and it's hydrating. I have repurchased!

Ebryolisse Lait Creme Consentre - A very hydrating cream and a nice base for makeup. The only problem I had with this cream was that it never really seemed to sink in completely. I think it'll be great for dry skin but I will not be repurchasing this one.

Mario Badescu Glycolic Acid Toner - I use this toner every morning and I love it. It very gently exfoliates the skin so it's smooth and ready to absorb the rest of your skincare. I've been using this product for years and I'm already using a fresh bottle of this!

Taaj Himalaya Micellar Water - This is the best micellar water I've used. For me this works better than Bioderma and it's a bit cheaper too. I've made a video comparing the two here. I have repurchased the Taaj micellar water!

Nuxe Creme Fraiche Beauty Cream - I've repurchased this cream many times and I love the scent of it, but it is a bit strong and some people might not like it. I am using another tub of this cream, but I think I might look for something different because I've noticed I'm getting some milia on my forehead and I tend to get those when I use too much of heavy creams on my skin, but if you have dry skin this is a good one!

Secret Key Starting Treatment Essence - My first ever Korean essence and I fell in love! this is a great essence to start of with if you've never tried essences before. It's good for all skin types, it's hydrating and anti- aging and very affordable! I only use this product for DIY essence masks now since I've found another essence I love more to use in my daily skincare routine. But I will still repurchase this one!

Nuxe Reve de Miel Lip Balm - I use this every night as an overnight lip treatment mask. It's very thick and moisturizing which is why I love to use it at night. I have repurchased!

Kiehl's Skin Rescuer - A light but hydrating cream, it claims to help with stressed and troubled skin but for me it didn't do anything else than moisturize my skin. I think it's good for normal to combo skin but it really is just a moisturizer and I will not be repurchasing this one.

Clarins Booster Detox - I add in these drops to my facial oil at night for an extra boost of detoxing my skin, and getting spots cleared up faster. The product is really small but I only use 2 drops every night and it lasted me a good 6 months or so. I have already repurchased!

Hope it was helpful!
~Kira

Korean Skincare - Essence

A few months ago I added an essence to my skincare routine and it is an absolute game changer for my skin! My skin is less oily and feels more plump and balanced. I get less breakouts and if one pops up it'll heal a lot faster when I use the essence.

Secret Key - Starting Treatment Essence: This was the first essence I tried and it didn't take long before I knew I loved the effects it had on my skin. This essence contains "galactomyces" which is basically a fancy way of saying it contains a fermented ingredient. It was my first time trying a fermented product, so I chose this essence because it is very affordable, and the amount of galactomyces wasn't as high as in other essences I looked at, so in case my skin didn't like fermented products I started out with a mild one.

It feels and looks like water and it has no scent. I used it morning and night after my toner, and I pat it on my face gently till it is absorbed. I didn't see results right away, it took my about 4 weeks to really notice the huge difference it had made. I wasn't breaking out like usual and my skin was less oily and just looked healthier.

I highly recommend this product!

Missha - Time Revolution First Treatment Essence (Intensive): After loving the Secret Key essence so much I quickly placed an order for an essence with a higher content of ferment in it, and since Missha has claimed that their Time Revolution Essence is a dupe for the SKII essence I knew I had to try it!

The essence is like water but has a slight yellow-ish color and has a very slight scent, but hardly noticeable. I use it morning and night after toning and pat it in till it is absorbed. This is my all over essence and I use the Secret Key essence as a "mask" where I wet cotton pads in the essence and place them on my face where there's spots or dryness or irritation and leave it on for about 15-20 minutes. By the next day my skin looks a lot better, but since I'll use up a lot of essence with this method I only use the Secret Key like this, since it is a lot cheaper than the Missha essence.

I will repurchase both essences since I love the Missha as an all over face essence and the Secret Key as a mask essence.

Both products can be bought on www.roseroseshop.com
The Missha essence is currently on sale for 26.25 US$
The Secret Key essence is curently on sale for 8.30 US$

Hope it was helpful!
~Kira

New in Beauty - Tried and Reviewed!

Recently I've seen a lot of interesting products be released, but either there wasn't a review on it, or the people reviewing the product had it sent to them, which I feel like is not as honest as if you bought it yourself, but maybe that's just me? So I bought a few items and tried them out!

Clarins Detox Booster - I love this product so much! These drops claims to detox congested skin and is aimed at people who party and over indulge on bad food, and people who spend a lot of time in smokey and extreme polluted environments. It claims to detox, revive radiance and plump the skin.
I've used this every day for a little over a week now, and I feel like my skin looks more radiant and plump. I've been having less breakouts and my blackheads are pretty much all gone! Love these drops and I'll recommend them to anyone. I might even try some of the other Boosters!

Clarins Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil - This is a new addition to the popular range of lip oils clarins has. This is the Red Berry shade and it's just as good as the other lips oils. It smells just like the Raspberry shade and honestly looks the same on the lips. I would recommend any of the 3 shades of this lip oil, though I prefer the smell of the Raspberry and Red Berry over the Honey shade.

Review of the Raspberry and Honey shade here.

Origins Maskimizer - This is a spray on mask primer. It is the first of it's kind and when I saw it I was very curious to find out, if it works or not. I've tried it a couple times and then tried my mask without it as well, to really see if there was any difference. Honestly it doesn't do much. It's like a hydrating toner that makes your mask glide on your skin a bit smoother than usual. I did feel like my skin looked great after using the Maskimizer and then my mask, but honestly I credit the mask for that and not this Maskimizer. I do tend to break out slightly after using a clay mask but when I used this I didn't, so maybe it does help get the grime out of your pores. 
If you're very curious to try it, I'd say to get a sample, cause I don't think there's much of a difference when I use it.

Hope this was helpful!

~Kira

Aliexpress Haul and Review #3

Hi everyone!

I always start this kind of post off with a disclaimer. If you don't like replicas or copies of items, sold on Aliexpress then this post isn't for you. 

BB cushions are everywhere now, and more and more brands are coming out with their own versions. Personally with this kind of product I have to love the packaging to use it, especially because it is something that's good for taking around with you.

When I saw this cushion compact  I was sold. I love the peony print on the top and I figured that if I didn't like the BB cream inside I could always mix my own and put it in the compact, in any case I had nothing to lose! 

This box came with the compact with a BB cream and application sponge inside and an extra refill. I bought the shade 13. Light pink. 

It's hard to tell from the swatch in the picture above, but the BB cream isn't pink but more on the yellow side. The coverage is sheer but slightly buildable, but don't expect anything over a light to medium coverage with this. 

I really like this BB cream and I'm very happy I got this beautiful compact! Sadly the item is sold out and the seller has taken down the add and I can't find it anywhere. I will update if I find it!

Not only are BB cushions all over the place right now, but correcting is the new big thing in makeup so naturally correcting cushions are a thing now. 

I have a lot of redness in my skin, so I went for the green corrector cushion in hopes that I could get my redness corrected, and not have to cake on so much concealer. 

The color of this corrector cushion is very sheer, to the point where you can't even tell this is green. It looks white on the skin and it blends into nothing on the skin, and trying to build it up is impossible because of it's very slippery texture. 

I tried this once. It did nothing to correct my trouble areas and my other makeup didn't sit well on top of it. Whats worse is, it broke me out like crazy. The day after I used it, I had a lot of zits but only in the areas where I used this, which makes me even more sure that it was this product breaking me out. 

I won't recommend this product at all!

hope this was helpful!

~Kira

Origins Clean Energy Cleansing Oil - Review

After the fail I had with the Taaj cleansing oil I had to quickly find another cleansing oil to use and hope that it wouldn't break me out. I had a feeling that it was the fragrance in the Taaj product that made me break out, so I looked for products without fragrance and I found this oil.

This is a really nice cleansing oil, it has citrus oils in it so it smells like citrus which is nice. It cleanses my skin nicely and doesn't leave my skin feeling stripped from moisture.

One very big con for me about this product is the packaging. There's no pump or stopper, so when you take the lid off there's just a big hole and you have to pour the cleansing oil out into your hands. I've wasted so much product because of this since I find it very hard to control, so I have to think of a way to decant this into another bottle (maybe the Taaj bottle which had a pump!).

I really like this cleansing oil, and I would probably buy it again if I can't get a hold of my fave cleansing oil which is the Boscia makeup breakup cool cleansing oil.

Hope this was helpful!

~Kira

Aliexpress Haul and Review #2

Hi everyone!

Just like my last post, about my haul from Aliexpress, I'll do a disclaimer and say that if you don't like replicas or "dupes" for expensive high end products, then this post is not for you.

I got a set of 6 "ysl stains" and as far as packaging goes they look like the real thing. However the products is more like a gloss and I don't think they're similar to the real product. The product isn't bad it's just not what I expected.

The colors look pretty similar but I chose the colors myself so that's partly my fault, because I'm more into neutral shades. I have the shades 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 8 (bottom to top). When I made the order I messaged the seller which colors I'd like and they sent them to me which is very nice. 

I got mine here.

I got this "Nars" blush and the packaging is spot on! I have a real Nars eyeshadow duo and the Pakaging is completely the same. The blush is very nice too. It's very pigmented and blends nicely. The only downside from this product is that the colors of the blush aren't dupes for the Nars blushes, only the packaging is a dupe, but if you like me love the Nars pakaging and like affordable and great blushes then these are awesome!

I chose nr. 7 which is a nice peachy shade perfect for spring and summer. Though I like the shade it was very hard to choose a shade because the pictures on the site turns out not to be that accurate in real life. 

 This is the reference picture on Aliexpress and as you can tell the nr. 7 shade doesn't look like the picture I took. Other than that I really like this product and I would by more!

I got mine here.

I hope you enjoyed this post and found it helpful!

~Kira

Taaj Cleansing oil - Review

In my last post I talked about how the Taaj micellar water had quickly become my go to cleansing water, so when I saw they had a cleansing oil I quickly picked it up and tried it out.

The first thing I noticed was the scent. It's very strong and smells more like a hair oil than something I'd put on my face. It's not a bad smell just not something I've ever smelled before in a face product, so if you don't like your skincare to have a strong smell this is not for you!

The oil feels nice going on the skin and when you add water it turns milky. I used it like I normally would with my Foreo dupe and my konjac sponge and I did feel like my skin was clean without being stripped of it's natural moisture.

However, only few hours after using this cleansing oil my skin broke out. I usually don't break out from products I use on my skin and I've only ever broken out from a cleanser once before, which was the Boscia Detoxifying Black Cleanser (review here).  

I waited a few days for my skin to heal and tried the Taaj cleansing oil again, since I have used stuff in the past, I thought broke me out, but then later it turned out it was something else, like stress or hormones or something else not related to the product I was trying out.

But the same thing happened, my skin broke out and I haven't used the product since. I might try using it to clean my makeup brushes and put it to use that way, but I'm never putting it straight on my face again.

I really wanted to like this product but I really can't recommend it, since I don't even have skin that normally reacts like that to skincare products.

I hope this was helpful.

~Kira