My Night Time Skin Care Routine (combination to oliy skin in early 20s)

Hi guys!
I'm starting my finals this week but I couldn't help to sneek up here and talk to you lol.
So I'm showing you my night time skin care routine really quickly.

I am in my early 20s and I have combination skin,
meaning my cheeks are prone to dryness while my t-zone is quite oily.
I don't have a lot of acnes, I normally only get one or two due to change in hormone( I don't think there's much I can do about it), but my face is quite sensitive, for example some chemical sunblocks and all kinds of heavy dust makes my skin red and irritated instantly, and I would get red itchy little bumps.
This routine has really calm down my face. Now I have a lot less irritation then before.

First of all, I remove my makeup using bioderma, and I have a full review of this in previous posts.

And then I wash my face with philosophy's purity, this is a very gentle cleanser with slight citricy and rosemary scent. I really really love it. It does foam up a little bit but it felt so creamy on my face. It washes away any makeup residues and it's so gentle that I use it on my eyes too. I think it is absolutely normal that my face feel dry after cleansing, but this one is definitely the less drying one of all the cleansers I tried.

I do have a clarisonic (forgot to take a picture of it =P) but I don't use it everyday because I think it could be a bit too abrasive. I usually use it 3 times a week and it really brightens up my skin.

After cleaning my face, I use Hada Labo's Gokujyun Lotion (the second bottle from left):a thick toner (almost like serum). You can purchase it on drugstore.com.
http://www.drugstore.com/hada-labo-gokujyun-lotion/qxp406852?catid=307920
I love it because it is so moisturizing and calming. My skin just drinks up all the toner and becomes so soft afterwawrds. And it is supposed to maximize the next products you use on your skin. Plus it's made in Japan! I alwasys believe that Japanese make excellent skin care for asian skin.

I have been using Michael Todd's Concentrated C Antidioxidant Moisturizing Serum because I've got a few sun spots after my trip to Miami during spring break. Vitamin C can brighten up skintone and boost moisture. I had a sample of truth serum vitamin C collagen booster from Ole Henriksen and don't really care for it. I think instead of moisturize my face, Old Henriksen's serum actually makes my skin dryier right after I apply it. So I bought the Michael Todd one since it is cheaper and also get many good reviews. Can't say it's fantastic, but it does moisturize and brighten up my skintone. My sun spot becomes lighter too. And it smells like orange.
Caution: Serums containing vitamin C are recommended to use at night only, because if you use it in daytime, the sun may work with vitamin C and actually makes your skin even darker.

For moisturizor, I use ultra face cream from Kiehl's religiously. See how big a jar I got here? haha. I have tried many face creams and lotions, both high end and drugstore and I like this one the best. It is so light weight but yet super moisturizing. My face feel so supple after using it. And it never break me out.

For my eyes, I started to use Hyaluronic Eye Cream from Mario Badescu recently. You can find it in ulta and sometimes nordstrom. This jar cost only $18 but works so well. It is very mosturizing and a tiny little bit goes a super long way. I found this because my favorite youtuber Miss Jen from Fromheadtotoe talked about this in one of her hits and misses and she mentioned this eye cream is perfect for combating dryness. The skin around my eyes have been so dry that I can see fine lines now. I bought a of eye creams but nothing really works. After using this eye cream, my skin got a lot softer, but the fine lines are still there. But I am happy now because I don't feel dry anymore.

The little purple wand at the bottom is eyeosonic from Michael Todd, it is a vibrating little thing that helps eye cream to absorb more quickly. It claims to deliver the eye cream into the skin deeply. You just press the little metal part onto your eye area and move in circular motions. I don't know if it works or not because I just got it a little while ago and I'm too lazy to use it every day. But people have been raving about how soft their skin feel after using this.

So this is it for today,

now I'm going back to my huge pile of assignments.

See you next time!

Review: Wet n Wild Color Icon Collection Eyeshadow Set in Petal Pusher

Hello there!
Haven't talk to you in a week now lol.
I want to review a drugstore product today, and it is the popular wet n wild eyeshadow set!
Wet n wild is a American drugstore brand.
But can you believe it? The first time I know about this brand is because my sister went to Hong Kong and bought some dirt cheap but super pigmented eyeshadow singles and did a makeup look on me.
Haha, anyways, onto the product,
These babies retail for $4.99 and as we all know..it's been raved by bloggers and youtubers for a really looong time...
For me, I think this palette, petal pusher, is not the perfect one. Unlike the wet n wild eyeshadow set in comfort zone, the quality of this palette is not 100% garanteed, meaning some shades are pigmented, but some are not pigmented at all.

Here is the packaging, standard wet n wild, simple plastic case, very vulnerable. So you might not want to carry them around in your purse..I actually bought a trio from wet n wild in a drugstore and right after I walked out of the store, I accidentally dropped it..and the shadows were completely cracked..so was my heart..=P

Now onto the shades, so basically you get two quads, as you can see there is a name on each shadow, giving you an idea how to use them. It actually has a more detailed instruction on how to create natural to dramatic look at the back. And generally the first row helps you create natural purple looks while the second row is more smoky. Of course you don't have to follow it strictly. It is a 4.99 palette, play with it!

First vertical line:
Browbone: looks like a iridescent frosty white color, but it is not pigmented at all. I can barely see the color after some serious digging into the eyeshadow.

Eyelid: a nice lilac, quite pigmented.

Crease: vivid satin purple, very pigmented, very pretty. I use this shade the most out of the whole palette. I normally use a brown eyeliner to line my lids very thickly and smudge them out a little bit, and then press this shade onto my eyelids, and I define my crease a little bit with a dark color like the crease color in the second row. I find this look very flattering on monolids.

Definer: a shimmery bright purple, not very pigmented. I wonder how can a color unpigmented like this be a definer.

Swatches: browbone and eyelid on top and crease and definer at the bottom. (from left to right)

Second vertical line:
Browbone: pretty frosty pink. Very pigmented. But it is too frosty to be a browbone color to me. You don't want something too shiny and attracts all the attentions on your browbone. Could be a cool color on my eyelids for heavier party looks.

Eyelid: marrom with light purple glitters. Very unique shade. Very pigmented.

Crease: deep plum (almost black) with bright purple glitters. It has been compared to Beauty marked by MAC. I have nevered owned a beauty marked so I cannot say. But they do seem very similar in pictures. My picture doesn't do it justice. Sorry about my horrible photography skills..You should see purple glitters when you swatch it by yourself. Nice crease color for dark smoky eyes. Or you can use it lightly to create everyday look like I did with thr bright purple on its left. This eyeshodow is extremely pigmented, a dab into the pan gives you enough color, so go light with it, and add it gradually. To prevent fallout, I recommande using a primer since there eyeshadows are quite soft, it is easier for them to form fallouts.

Definer: dark black with green glitters. Extremely pigmented. I don't use this shade very often because I generally don't like greens...But it is very pretty and dark. Could be perfect as a liner or a crease color for very strong smoky eyes.

Conclusion:
In this palette, two colors are not very pgmented and the rest six is really pretty. I have to say I am a little disapointed but hey, it's only 4.99, can't complain about the price right? Plus I find it hard to find the right purples in drugstore, most of times the purples I find in other drugstore brands are either not pigmented and true to color at all or too shimmery. However, I find some perfect purple shades in this palette. I especially love the crease color in the left line, it is not too cool or too warm. However, these shades are all shimmery or glittering, if you want a completely matte purple, you might want to find it somewhere else, I think revlon makes a quad that has a bright matte purple.
If you like natural colors and you would like to try more color shadows, purple is a good way to start, it is not too bright and obvious. You can never go wrong with using a little purple as a pop of color. Plus, it works particularly well with brown eyes. It made my brown eyes really pop and makes my look super soft and gentle.
SO I think this palette is worth purchasing if you want to try out purple shades and don't want to spend a lot of money.

OK that is it for my review.
If you have any questions and opinions about my review,
please feel free to leave a comment so we can talk about it.
I love makeup products and I would love to share my thoughts with you guys.
Gotta head back and write my homework now.
Until next time my friends.
Bye!

Bioderma Micelle Solution review and possible dupes

Hello everyone!
Today I have a makeup removing water to share with you,
and it is the famous BIODERMA! Woohoo!
This is a product from French drugstore that has been raved by youtubers and bloggers for a long time. It claims to remove makeup without the need to rinse you face afterwards.
They don't have any counters in US.
But you can find it on Amazon.
I bought Bioderma Crealine H2O (250ml) for a little less than $30 plus shipping.
It has 100ml and 500ml versions as well.
Here's the link of the selections you have on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_8?url=search-alias%3Dbeauty&field-keywords=bioderma&sprefix=bioderma%2Caps%2C306
I think Crealine H2O is the old version, now they call it Sensibio H2O. It is for sentive skin, they have a oily skin version in a green bottle as well. But honestly I don't think they have a huge difference, maybe the red one is a bit more gentle.

 Function: It is used to remove facial makeup and as well as lip and eye makeup without rinsing because it is very gentle.

For me, it is good enough to completely remove simple everyday makeup (I normally wear sunscreen, powder or bb cream, water resistent mascara and urban decay's jumbo eyeshadow pencil), it can even remove some waterproof eyeliners. However, it cannot remove water proof mascara. It did a very good job at removing facial makeup like foundations and powers without irritating my sensitive combination skin.

Some may think how can something look like water remove makeup. I have that doubt at first too, but now I find it really amazing. Here I'm gonna test out how well it removes makeup for you,

I chose these quite longlasting products to test out Bioderma.
 On my hand from left to right, I have missha's bb cream, l'oreal infallible eyeshadow in midnight blue, maybelline color tatoo in tough as taupe, rimmel scandle eyes eyeliner in nude, below that i have a eyeliner pencil from mally in gunmetal, and up right is urban decay's jumbo eyeshodow pencil in rehab, below is baremineral's waterprrof eyeliner in midnight.

 

I poured some Bioderma onto a cotton pad and swiped my hand. Here's the after look, Bioderma removed all the makeup on my hand. The eyeliners are tougher to remove compare to the bb cream and eyeshadows. I  rubbed the eyeliners with my cotton pad a little bit and they come off at last.After using it my hand feel quite soft.

Conclusion: Overall I think this is a great gentle makeup remover that thoroughly removes everyday makeup. But if you like to wear waterproof mascara everyday, I don't think this will work on removing eye makeup, but it's still great for face.

I saw many youtubers use this as a toner sometimes. I personally don't like that because I find it leave a sticky feeling on my face after using it, so actually I would rinse my face with water and rewash my face with cleanser. I find it works the best for me.

Possible Dupe: It is obvious that the markup is high since it is supposed to be  french drugstore product. But I find two very similar products that can be purchased on drugstore.com:
La Roche-Posay - Physiological Micellar Solution, Sensitive Skin - 6.76 fl oz ($20.99)
Avene - Micellar Lotion Cleanser and Make-up Remover - 6.76 fl oz  ($20)

As you can see, they are both from europe drugstores, and they both look like clear water and doesn't require rinsing. And they are a little bit cheaper since drugstore.com gives free shipping on order over $25.

I think they might be some good dupes. I haven't tried them out yet, but I will definitely try them after I use up my Bioderma.

So this is it for today.
I hope you all have a great day (although it's not really possible coz it's Monday...)
And man it is raining like crazy here in Seattle...
Okay better stop rambling!
See you all next time!

NARS AND GOD CREATED THE WOMAN PALETTE: review and swatches

Hello there!
Today I'm back for a new review!
And it is And God Created The Woman palette by NARS!!!
Woo, what a sexy name!!!
Now you can get this on Sephora for $59.
It is a limited edition.
I got this a few monthes ago as a birthday gift.
I think it is a good palette of a reasonable value, but you don't really need it if you already have a neutral palette like urban decay nake palettes and other similar natural color palettes.
But if you are a makeup maniac and you want to try out NARS eyeshadows, this might be a good way to start since you are getting so many colors for almost 60 bucks.

The palette consists of a #3 eyeshadow brush, a travel size eye primer and a six color eyeshadow palette.

The actual product is smaller than I thought it would be. As you can see from the photo, it is smaller than my palm. But..I mean this is the glorious pricy NARS, you can't expect too many products for 59 bucks right?...

 

The primer has been raved by many bloggers and youtubers, and I have been wanting to try it for a long time. It looks like a white cream, but it actually dries down quickly to form a smooth surface. Eyeshadows does look a lot more vivid and stay put all day with this underneath. I like this better than urban decay primer potion because this primer feels smoother. =P

 The eyeshadow brush is actually very nice. It is a very dense domed brush. Works well to pack on color on lids or to blend colors in the crease. Very versatile. I think it serves the function as well as MAC 217. Although it might be too big for my small monolid eyes, but it is still manageable.

Now onto the shadows. Each eyeshadow weigh 0.03 onze, yes, not a lot, but the shades are actually very pigmented, so a little goes a long way.

Row1(from left to right)
Alhamba: pretty metallic rose. Also available in NARS duo eyeshadow. Pretty color as highlight shades or all over the lid shade.

Bellisima: Grey brown with very slight glitter (almost unnoticable, looks like a matte color). Available in duo. Gorgeous crease color. Makes the whole look super natural and fresh.

Kalahari: warm medium bronze (with a slight rose gold undertone). Available in duo. It is hard to describe the color. It could be a all over lid color or a crease color. Gives skin a warm glow.

Row2 (left to right)
Galapagos: Rich brown with gold flecks. Available in NARS single eyeshadow. Creates a rich look with very little product. Beautiful crease color for a fun night out look.

Coconut Grove: Matte deep taupe brown. Available in single. Dark enough as a liner. Or you can create a very dark smokey eye look.

Night clubbing: Black with gold pearl glitters. Very unique black shade because it has gold glitters in it and the glitters actually does show on eyelids. I think it is a great color to set balck gel liners just to get everyday look a pop. Or you can use it to create night out look, just like the name says, it is pergect for night clubbing!

Here are the swatches:

Conclusion:
The palette has many useful natural colors but I think it is lacking medium tone shades to use in the crease. The Bellisima is okay for everyday look but the colors on the second row are all very deep dark and pigmented.

The top row gives a natural and fresh look to my monolids, and I use the bottom row to line my eyes very thickly so that it gives a more natural look than harsh black eyeliners. Sometimes I use eyeliners and set it with the bottom line as well, if I have more time to spare in the morning..=P

If you like deep looks, go for it.
If you like natural looks but want to try NARS products like the primer and the eyeshadows, go for it.
Otherwise, I don't think it is necessary to own this palette. Don't get me wrong, the shades are absolutely beautiful and quality's supreme, but it is just on the pricier side. I would recommand you to go to sephora and swatch the colors in person and purchase some singles or duos if you really really like some particular shades and if you have a good primer already and don't really need one more.

Okay that is all I wanna say about this palette. I am still glad that I have it, but honestly, I don't use it a lot..
I hope my opinions are helpful.
And please stay tuned for more reviews.
Now, until next time my friends. Ciao. =]

Good news! The Balm is back on Hautelook tomorow!!

Hi guys! Just finished 2/3 of my midterms today! SO excited!!

Anyways I just wanna let you guys know that the Balm is back on Hautelook tomorrow, and the nudetude palette will be there!!!

Now for those who don't know Hautelook,
It is a website that sells discounted products like makeup, shoes, clothes and home decoration stuff.
It is said that nordstrom build this website.
I have purchased a few times on this website and I will say their products are of good quality and very affordable prices.
The only thing I don't like is the slow shipping. It took almost 2-4 weeks to get my purchase.
But I would say it is worth the wait.

Here is the link for Hautelook. I am not affiliated with it at all.
http://www.hautelook.com/

I have a full review on the nudetude palette if you wanna check it out~

Lastly, I hope you have a wonderful day and stay tuned for more products I wanna share with you.